LA LA ANTHONY: NYC’S MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

“I’m married to a basketball player. I love being [Carmelo’s] wife, so I don’t look at it as a negative thing. I think it’s just like anything else and what you are doing with whatever title you have,” she says. “I’m a lot of other things, too, so that’s not the only thing that defines me.”Indeed, it is just one of many titles La La juggles in being married to an NBA player. After Carmelo’s trade to the New York Knicks in February 2011, the press branded her as the First Lady of New York City and the First Lady of the NBA. La La laughs off both labels and makes it clear that she’s not responsible for the expectations that come with being married to a professional 
baller. “It’s an honor. Something like that comes with work. You are not going to be labeled that by just sitting around with Louboutins on and not doing anything,” she says. “I want to get out there as I have been and make a difference in N.Y.” And by getting out there, she’s lent her name and efforts to several charitable initiatives since settling in N.Y.C., serving as a co-chair for the 2011 Angel Ball, the Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation annual gala that raised over three million dollars for cancer research – in addition to work she has done with countless other local charities like Fiver Children’s Foundation and Oxfam America, which works to eradicate poverty and fight social justice.

“I don’t have to think about being a role model or doing things a certain way because all I do is really just be myself, and so far, that’s worked for me,” she says. The responsibilities might become overwhelming for another personality, but it’s all in a day’s work for La La. “This is what comes with the territory of who I am. I would never complain about it. It’s a blessing to be in this position and do something that I love. I’m happy with my life, I’m happy with the position I’m in, and I’m happy to be in a position 
to help others and be a role model to girls out there. That’s a wonderful thing.”