Kishele Shipley, Kawhi Leonard’s Girlfriend: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

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Kawhi Leonard and his girlfriend, Kishele Shipley have been dating since 2014.

Shipley was born on April 10, 1989. She and her two sisters, Kasandra and Kenisha, grew up together in California. Kishele graduated from San Diego State University with a degree in Public Administration and worked in human resources in San Diego, before meeting Leonard.

The two ended up falling in love, and when Leonard went to play for the San Antonio Spurs, Shipley left her friends and family behind to move to Texas with her boyfriend. The couple has one daughter together.

Here’s what you need to know:


1. She Is Extremely Private & Doesn’t Have Public-Facing Social Media Accounts

Kawhi Leonard girlfriend

Shipley is an extremely private person, especially now that she is dating an NBA star. In fact, it looks like she once had a LinkedIn account, but has since removed all of her information from the platform.

Shipley does not appear to have any public-facing social media accounts. There are very few photos of her on the internet — and even her family seems to respect her decision to live out of the public eye. Shipley’s sister Kasandra, for example, has a Facebook page, but doesn’t post anything about Shipley or her private life with Leonard.

Leonard himself doesn’t have his own social media page. Also a very private person, Leonard has only an official “fan page” which is managed by his sister. Her most recent photo was posted on January 2.

“Great win tonight against the Jazz. Career high of 45 points tonight,” his sister captioned the pic.

Leonard’s sister has also been encouraging fans to vote for her brother to make the NBA All-Star team. You can see one of her recent posts below.

Although Leonard’s sister shares candid posts on that “fan” account as well as her own, you won’t find any photos of Leonard and Shipley. She too seems to respect the couple’s wishes for privacy.


2. She Has a Daughter With Leonard

In 2016, ESPN reported that Shipley and Leonard welcomed a baby girl. While ESPN revealed the news in October of that year, it’s unclear exactly when the couple’s daughter was born.

“It’s just a great feeling, once you have a child,” Leonard told the publication. Interestingly, ESPN referred to Shipley as Leonard’s “fiancee,” though it is unclear if the two are engaged or if they ever ended up getting married.

In July 2017, a video of Leonard at a birthday party surfaced on Facebook and started to go viral. According to My San Antonio, many believe that the party was thrown to celebrate Shipley and Leonard’s daughter’s first birthday, suggesting that she was born in July 2016.

The video has since been deleted from Facebook, but you can watch it on YouTube below.


3. She Graduated From San Diego State University

Kawhi Leonard girlfriend

Shipley graduated from San Diego State University with a degree in Public Administration. She worked in human resources in San Diego for a few years, before moving to Texas with Leonard.

San Diego State University’s Public Administration degree is a four-year program. Those who graduate are considered qualified to work as urban redevelopment planners, housing policy analysts, and labor relations specialists, to name a few.

“Effective leadership and competence in the administration of public affairs are needed more urgently today than ever before in the nation’s history. The growth of all levels of government and public service organizations and their increasing responsibilities in a complex society have led directly to the need for more capable public administrators. The primary purpose of the Public Administration major at SDSU is to provide knowledge and skills for students who wish to prepare themselves for management careers in government and community agencies and to instill in students the necessary analytical tools to develop and evaluate programs and policies in public administration,” reads the university’s website.

It is believed that Shipley met Leonard at school, as SDSU is also his alma mater.


4. Her Sister Kenisha Has a Master’s Degree in Environmental Science- Hydrology

Kawhi Leonard girlfriend

Shipley’s sister, Kenisha, earned her master’s in environmental science from California State University, Los Angeles. She graduated from the university in 2014, enrolling after she earned her bachelor’s in chemistry from San Diego State in 2012.

According to her LinkedIn page, Kenisha is currently a graduate student researcher at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, located in San Diego.

“The Scripps mission is to seek, teach, and communicate scientific understanding of the oceans, atmosphere, Earth, and other planets for the benefit of society and the environment,” reads the institution’s mission statement.


5. Her Sister Kasandra Graduated From California State University-Long Beach, in 2016

Kasandra Shipley graduated from Cal State University, Long Beach, in 2016. Although her LinkedIn page is sparse, it is believed that Kasandra works in the education field.

Two months ago, it looks like she may have uploaded a YouTube video about reciprocal reading strategy. According to Reading Rockets, “Reciprocal teaching refers to an instructional activity in which students become the teacher in small group reading sessions. Teachers model, then help students learn to guide group discussions using four strategies: summarizing, question generating, clarifying, and predicting.”

You can watch the video below.