After years of living separate lives, Carmelo Anthony and La La Anthony have reportedly reached a divorce settlement. The agreement still needed a judge’s imprint in New York as of this week, according to reporting summarized by the Los Angeles Times on November 5, citing People and earlier reporting from TMZ. This piece sticks to what those outlets have published and does not invent private details.

What was reported this week

The Los Angeles Times said the former MTV VJ and the NBA Hall of Famer have a settlement agreement after an almost decade-long split. Terms are confidential. People reported that a pending judgment of divorce still needed approval from the New York County Supreme Court as of Wednesday. Once a judge signs off, both will be legally single.

TMZ was first to report the settlement on Wednesday, according to the Times. La La filed for divorce in 2021, citing irreconcilable differences.

A long on-and-off timeline

The couple began dating in 2003 after being introduced through a mutual friend, DJ Clue, the Times reported. They became engaged on Christmas Day 2004 and welcomed their son, Kiyan Anthony, three years later. Kiyan is now a 19-year-old sophomore at Syracuse University, where he plays college basketball.

They married in July 2010 in a large New York ceremony that included sports and entertainment guests such as LeBron James, Spike Lee, Serena Williams, Ciara, Kim Kardashian and Ludacris, according to prior Times reporting cited in the new story.

Reports of a separation surfaced in April 2017. By August of that year, Carmelo had welcomed a daughter with ex Mia Burks. The Anthonys reconciled in late 2018 but ultimately split again in July 2019, People has reported.

How La La has talked about the split

Even before the paperwork was final, La La had discussed the breakup publicly. In a 2022 episode of Alex Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy” podcast, she said there were still difficult moments, especially around co-parenting Kiyan, and that she had learned how strong she was when strength was the only option.

She also said the demise of the marriage began around the time Carmelo was traded from the Denver Nuggets to the New York Knicks in 2011. In a more recent October interview on “The Jennifer Hudson Show,” she said she was “open” to dating and described this as her “season of being open.”

Where Carmelo stands

Carmelo, a Hall of Famer, was rumored to be dating Racquel Smith, the widow of former NFL defensive end Will Smith; the two were seen together in June, the Times noted. Beyond that, the new reporting focuses on the legal milestone rather than a fresh personal interview.

Why the story still resonates

Celebrity divorces often linger in public view long after the private relationship ends. In this case, the couple’s fame, Kiyan’s basketball path at Syracuse, and years of on-and-off headlines made the settlement news feel like the closing of a chapter that started in the early 2000s.

Co-parenting stays in public view

Kiyan Anthony’s basketball career at Syracuse means the family’s next chapter will not be entirely private even after the judgment is signed. Sports coverage of the son and entertainment coverage of the parents have overlapped for years. The settlement changes the legal status; it does not erase a public timeline that began with a 2003 introduction and a 2010 wedding that doubled as a celebrity guest list.

Until the New York judge signs, both parties remain in a familiar celebrity limbo: settlement reported, marriage not yet dissolved on paper. That is why outlets carefully say “reportedly reached” rather than treating the divorce as finished business.

The bottom line

A confidential settlement and a pending New York judgment do not rewrite the past, but they do mark a formal end that filing papers in 2021 never fully delivered. Until a judge signs, the divorce is not final. Until then, the confirmed public record is simple: after nearly a decade apart, Carmelo and La La Anthony have agreed on terms.

Image: Close-up view of the wall-mounted basketball hoop structure at OAU Gymnasium by Eminence190 via Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0