If you’ve come across the search “Valeria’s daughter,” it almost always leads back to Draya Michele — a public figure whose name has made that question widely searched. Valeria Diaz is still alive and has been described across multiple sources as "supportive of her daughter's endeavors" and an entrepreneur in her own right. Now 41 and based in Los Angeles, she has built a career that spans acting, modeling, fashion, and social media, best known for appearing on Basketball Wives on VH1 from 2011 to 2015 — and currently, for her high-profile relationship with Houston Rockets NBA star Jalen Green. On Draya Michele on Instagram, she has built over 8 million followers.
Her relationship with her mother, Valeria Diaz, has largely remained private by choice. Draya has referenced her mother in a Mother's Day post that also addressed the loss of her father in 2021. "In 2021, on Mother's Day, my dad passed away," she wrote. "Since then, it's been extremely hard to celebrate that day without remembering the earth-shattering phone call I received that morning. Well, this Mother's Day was different. My daughter was safely brought into this world, and I'm forever grateful for the new memories we all get to experience moving forward." That post offers a rare glimpse into how she holds both grief and gratitude at the same time, and it connects Valeria Diaz to both of those threads simultaneously: the mother who raised her, and the daughter she became a mother to.
Who Is Valeria Diaz? The Italian Mother Behind Draya Michele
Valeria Diaz, an Italian-American from Reading, Pennsylvania, is best known as the mother of Draya Michele— then Andraya Howard — in Reading before Draya eventually moved to Los Angeles to pursue modeling and entertainment. Valeria Diaz's own background is Italian, which gives Draya her mixed African-American and Italian heritage — a combination Draya has referenced often in discussing her appearance, her skin, and her aesthetic.
She raised her daughter in Reading, Pennsylvania — a city with a strong Italian-American community, which is the cultural context in which Valeria Diaz raised her daughter. Multiple sources describe Valeria as an entrepreneur. Draya has shared childhood photographs with her mother on social media — at least one circulated broadly enough to be referenced in multiple biographical profiles.
Details about her extended family, including Draya’s grandfather, have not been publicly disclosed. Draya's own father, whose name has not been confirmed in public records, passed away on Mother's Day 2021. The loss was profound enough that Draya described it as "earth-shattering" in a post that also announced her new daughter's arrival — a sentence that carries the full weight of what it is to lose one parent and bring a new child into the world in the same calendar year.
Valeria Diaz has not been a public figure. She does not have confirmed social media accounts or public appearances. The reason people search "Valeria's daughter" is because Draya's mother has a striking name and Italian-American in a way that makes it memorable, and Draya's biography pages — IMDB, FamousBirthdays, multiple celebrity wikis — all list Valeria Diaz prominently in the parents section.
Draya Michele's Career — From Reading to Basketball Wives to Fashion
Her career didn’t begin with a clear roadmap — it developed over time through persistence. She grew up in Reading, graduated from Reading Senior High School, and moved to Los Angeles with the goal of modeling. The first years were hard. Early in her career, she faced rejections that might have discouraged others. She kept going. She was eventually picked up by magazines including XXL, King, and Black Man, and booked music video roles for artists including Kanye West and Usher.
The turning point came in 2011, when she was cast as a series regular on Basketball Wives on VH1 — a reality series following women connected to professional basketball players. The show had an already established format of interpersonal conflict, candid commentary, and the specific social world of NBA-adjacent celebrity. Draya became one of the most memorable cast members almost immediately — outspoken, confident, and telegenic in a way that the show's format rewards. She remained on the cast through Season 4, departing in 2015.
Also in 2011, she launched her swimwear line Mint Swim — timing that, in retrospect, looks like a deliberate parallel strategy: build a public profile through the show, then monetize the visibility through fashion. Mint Swim became successful enough to generate real celebrity interest. Rihanna, Kylie Jenner, Karrueche Tran, and Cassie were among the public figures photographed wearing pieces from the line. She followed it with Fine Ass Girls (2013) and Beige & Coco (2016). In 2026, she launched Draya Michele's Doting Beauty alongside manager Devain Doolaramani — a beauty brand that extends her business portfolio beyond fashion into skincare and cosmetics.
Her acting work beyond the reality format has included Will to Love (2015) with Keshia Knight-Pulliam, The Perfect Match (2016) opposite Terrence J and Cassie Ventura, and appearances in Star (2018) on Fox, L.A.'s Finest (2020), and Be Someone (2021). In 2024, she appeared in the film Somnium. She has also produced through her own production entity.
She is 5 feet 5 inches tall, was born an Aquarius, and holds American nationality with the mixed African-American and Italian heritage her mother, Valeria Diaz, passed down.
Draya Michele and Jalen Green — The Relationship That Made Her Even More Visible
Her relationship with Jalen Green has become one of the most talked-about aspects of her public life. The relationship went public in August 2023 and quickly drew attention due to their 18-year age gap — Green was born in 2001, Michele in 1985 — commentary that Draya has addressed with a directness that has become its own part of her public persona.
They welcomed a daughter named Lyght Green in May 2024. The baby's name and the circumstances of the pregnancy were both public before the birth, with Draya discussing her expected arrival in terms that were emotionally layered — connecting the new arrival explicitly to the grief around her own father's death years earlier, and to the joy of her mother, Valeria Diaz, now having a new grandchild.
Draya has three children in total. Her first son, Kniko Howard, was born when she was 17 in Pennsylvania. Her second son, Jru Scandrick, was born April 8, 2016, with ex-fiancé and NFL cornerback Orlando Scandrick, with whom she was engaged. Lyght Green (2024) is her daughter with Jalen Green. The public timeline of her family — spanning from her teenage years in Reading to a daughter born in Los Angeles in 2024 — tracks the arc of a life that has moved considerably from where it started.
She has not confirmed or denied ongoing rumors about the status of her relationship with Jalen Green as of 2026. Legit.ng reported: "As of 2026, Draya and Jalen remain together, balancing NBA life, business ventures, and parenthood amid public scrutiny."
Draya Michele and the Women Who Run Their Own Narrative
She has consistently operated on her own terms in an industry that rarely makes that easy. She built Mint Swim without a major financial backer. She left Basketball Wives when the format stopped serving her. She was open about having her first son at 17 in a media environment that was not always kind about that fact. She launched beauty brands and fashion lines and kept her mother out of the spotlight even as Valeria Diaz's name appears in every biography her daughter has ever had written.
That last point is worth noting. The reason "Valeria's daughter" is a search people make is because Draya has never made her mother invisible — Valeria Diaz appears in the parent section of Draya's IMDB, her FamousBirthdays page, and her celebrity wikis. But Valeria herself has not given interviews. She has not become a social media presence. She does not appear in her daughter's content in any documented, regular way. She raised a daughter who became one of the most photographed women in Los Angeles, and she has apparently watched that happen from a private life in Pennsylvania.
Among the women who have navigated the distance between a parent who stayed private and a daughter who did not, the dynamic maps onto a different version of the same question that Keyla Richardson navigated — a woman whose mother, whose church, whose community were the foundation of who she became as a performer, even if those people were never on the stage with her. Sara Cohen — the author who wrote 25+ novels as Freida McFadden — kept her whole professional identity private until 2026. Simone Henault built a career at Google and as a DJ before anyone outside music industry circles knew her name. The women who are most interesting to read about are often the ones who were building something specific long before anyone thought to search for them.
Valeria Diaz raised one of those women. Whether she considers that a credit or simply a fact, she has not said publicly. She does not need to. Her daughter's career speaks for the household she came from.
Valeria Diaz & Draya Michele at a Glance
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Valeria Diaz | Italian-American entrepreneur from Reading, Pennsylvania |
| Valeria Diaz's heritage | Italian descent |
| Valeria Diaz's status | Living, not a public figure, supportive per multiple sources |
| Draya Michele's birth name | Andraya Michele Howard |
| Born | January 23, 1985, Reading, Pennsylvania |
| Age (2026) | 41 |
| Heritage | African-American (father) and Italian-American (Valeria Diaz, mother) |
| Father | Deceased — passed away on Mother's Day, 2021 |
| Education | Reading Senior High School, Reading, PA |
| @drayamichele — 8.2M+ followers | |
| TV | Basketball Wives LA (VH1, 2011-2015); Star; L.A.'s Finest; Be Someone; Somnium (2024) |
| Fashion | Mint Swim (2011), Fine Ass Girls (2013), Beige & Coco (2016), Doting Beauty (2026) |
| Son 1 | Kniko Howard (born 2002 — Draya was 17) |
| Son 2 | Jru Scandrick (born April 8, 2016 — with Orlando Scandrick) |
| Daughter | Lyght Green (born May 2024 — with Jalen Green) |
| Partner (2026) | Jalen Green, Houston Rockets — began dating in August 2023 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Who is the daughter of Valeria Diaz?
Valeria's daughter is Draya Michele — full birth name Andraya Michele Howard — born January 23, 1985, in Reading, Pennsylvania. Her mother, Valeria Diaz, is Italian-American, and her father was African-American. Draya is 41 years old (as of 2026) and is an actress, model, swimwear designer, and social media personality based in Los Angeles, known for Basketball Wives LA on VH1.
Q: Who is Valeria Diaz?
Valeria Diaz is the Italian-American mother of actress and model Draya Michele. She is from Reading, Pennsylvania, and has been described as an entrepreneur in sources referencing her background. She has not been a public figure in her own right — she does not have confirmed public social media accounts or media appearances — but she is listed prominently in Draya's biographical records, including IMDB, FamousBirthdays, and multiple celebrity wikis. Valeria Diaz is alive as of 2026.
Q: Who is Draya Michele?
Draya Michele (Andraya Michele Howard) is a 41-year-old American actress, model, fashion designer, and social media personality from Reading, Pennsylvania. She is best known for Basketball Wives LA on VH1 (2011-2015), her swimwear brand Mint Swim, and her relationship with Houston Rockets NBA player Jalen Green. She has over 8 million Instagram followers. She has three children: sons Kniko Howard and Jru Scandrick, and daughter Lyght Green (born May 2024 with Jalen Green).
Q: Are Draya Michele and Jalen Green still together in 2026?
As of 2026, available reports indicate Draya Michele and Jalen Green are still together, co-parenting their daughter Lyght Green and continuing their relationship despite ongoing public speculation about their 18-year age gap. Neither has confirmed nor denied breakup rumors in verified, direct statements.
Q: How many kids does Draya Michele have?
Draya Michele has three children. Kniko Howard, her first son, was born in 2002 when Draya was 17. Jru Scandrick, her second son, was born April 8, 2016, during her engagement to NFL cornerback Orlando Scandrick. Lyght Green, her daughter, was born in May 2024 with Jalen Green.
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