The Australian professional basketball player, Ben Simmons has been reportedly engaged to the British TV show host, Maya Jama over the Christmas holiday.
According to The Sun, Ben Simmons took the chance of Christmas holiday and secretly proposed Maya Jama in less than a year of dating.
An insider claimed that the 25 year old NBA player had fallen hard for his girlfriend, Maya and got engaged to her saying, “Ben adores Maya and has fallen head over heels for her. He picked up the ring on Jewelers’ Row in the diamond district of Philadelphia the day before he proposed. He chose the ring himself and felt he knew exactly what she would want. Mama said yes, and they’re both thrilled.”
The source also shared, “He and Maya have been together for much less time but, thankfully, she said yes. Ben was so excited, but they’ve decided to keep the news low-key and tell only those closest to them.”
“Maya flew to New Jersey to spend Christmas with him and is still there now. They had a small family gathering last weekend and announced their engagement,” added the source.
It was also reported that the couple have matching tattoos done by an artist, Philly Joe who accidentally revealed their engagement by posting on his Instagram which is deleted now. He had written, “Honored and humbled to have gotten this opportunity to tattoo my boy @bensimmons and his fiancee.”
An informant also told, “news is going to get out eventually but they’re keen to keep it under wraps until the new year. Ben fell for Maya almost immediately and was absolutely taken by her sheer beauty. Ben loves the fact that she has her own career and is smitten by her British accent.”
Ben Simmons Dating History
The NBA player, Ben Simmons has dated many famous models before getting engaged to his new girlfriend, Maya Jama.
He was first spotted with IG model Brittany Renner in 2016 and they dated for only 8 months as they broke up in December of 2016. Brittany Renner is a popular Instagram influencer and model and her contents are related to fitness.
He also dated former basketball player Dylan Gonzalez in 2017, who played for UNLV Women Running Rebels’ basketball team. However, their relationship ended quickly the same year.
He then moved on to another short relationship with singer Tinashe Jorgensen Kachingwe from November 2017 to May 2018.
Ben also dated the famous model Kendall Jenner after breaking up with Tinashe the same month. This caused speculation that Ben cheated on Tinashe with Kendall Jenner. However, their relationship was on and off relationship. They first dated in May 2018 and broke up during the summer of 2018. They again dated in the fall of 2018 and lasted till May 2019. But they took a break and reconciled in the end of 2019. Finally, they both decided to call it quit in April 2020.
Ben Simmons quickly moved on with Australian model, Talia Richman and they were spotted at the AFL game. But their relationship was lowkey and not much was known about their time together.
Ben Simmons then finally dated his fiancée, Maya James in early 2021. They confirmed their relationship on July 15 with a kiss on Wimbledon game.
His fiancée, Maya Jama has a full name Maya Indea Jama born in 1994 in Bristol, England. Her ethnicity is Multiracial, Somalian and Swedish. She is a British radio presenter, DJ, TV host, model and actress with a net worth of $2 million approximately.
Maya has hosted FIFA World Cup Cities for Copa90 and a travelogue covering Brazil’s 2014 FIFA World Cup in 2014. She has presented various shows like 2017 Pre-Brit Awards Party, Saturday night game show Cannonball and was the youngest person to co-host the MOBO Awards in 2017.
She has also worked as a Radio Presenter in BBC Radio 1 and left in 2020. She has launched a clothing line along with face and eye masks range. She is also a brand ambassador for Adidas.
Net Worth And Salary Of Ben Simmons
The Australian NBA player, Ben Simmons has an estimated net worth of $6 million. He first signed to the Sixers in 2016 with a rookie-level contract. As per Wtfoot reports, the player earned a hefty annual salary of up to $33million.
He signed a five year $177M deal with the sixers during the 2019-20 season as a point guard for the Philadelphia 76ers. The athlete is reported to have earned approximately $90 million from the contract. The contract has a feature of a 15 percent trade kicker and he would also get compensation if he earns an All-NBA selection in 2019-20.
According to Tommy Beer’s Tweet in 2019, “Ben Simmons is one of only three players in NBA history to score more than 1,000 points, grab more than 1,000 rebounds and dish out more than 1,000 assists over his first two seasons in the league.” He named the other two players; Oscar Roberston and LeBron James as a part of the elite club.
However, the player, Ben Simmons was not paid his $8.25 million which was supposed to be given to him as the part of his current contract. The Philadelphia president, Daryl Morey had made it clear to him about the significant financial penalties for the missed practices and games. Morey said, “We’re not gonna talk about the specifics of fines or things like that, but I will say that it’s pretty, very clearly spelled out in the (collective bargaining agreement) and his contract what happens.”
It was revealed that Simmons will lose $227,613 for each missed game and any future fines will be deducted from the due $8.25 million which has been in an escrow account.