Getty Marcus Smart
Marcus Smart is engaged to Maisa Hallum, and he proudly shared his engagement story with the world in December 2022, revealing that Will Smith played a role in the proposal. Smart and Hallum have been dating for several years now but have kept their relationship as private as possible, although Hallum can often be seen cheering on her significant other at Boston Celtics games.
Here’s what you need to know about Marcus Smart’s fiancée Maisa Hallum:
1. Maisa Hallum Was Born & Raised in California & She Has a Sister, Who Is Also Her Business Partner
Not much is known about Hallum’s life as the Celtics star’s fiancée is pretty private and doesn’t feature much on social media. However, she participated in an interview for Blueprint Concepts’ “Women Making Waves” series in April 2020, where it was revealed that she is an entrepreneur who launched her own swimwear brand, Sousa Swim.
In fact, while Sousa Swim’s Instagram page has since been wiped, Hallum’s Facebook page still bears the brand’s logo as her cover photo.
Hallum was introduced in the interview as the “founder and creative director” of the company. She revealed that she was born and raised in California and has a sister. Her parents, who are both entrepreneurs, told them to “pursue what we’re passionate about,” she explained, and said, “After trial and error, my sister and I decided to create our swimwear line, Sousa Swim.”
Hallum’s aunt is Amena Alwareeth, an actress and author of Yemeni descent who is also a mother of two. Alwareeth has shared a few photos of herself and her two daughters spending time with Smart and Hallum and also cheering him on courtside.
2. Maisa Hallum Is the Founder & Creative Director of a Swimwear Line & She Said She Wanted to Create Pieces That Make Women Feel Confident
Hallum said she and her sister were raised close to the beach and often ended up wearing swimwear more often than regular clothes. “Being able to create pieces that make women feel confident in their skin is rewarding in itself,” she told Blueprint Concepts as her motivation to create the company.
Hallum revealed that she began focusing on the design of the swimwear pieces in earnest once she graduated college and said she loved designing them. “What inspired our first season was the need for basics and essentials,” Hallum shared. She said they wanted to keep it simple at the onset, but were now on their third season and shared, “We’re working with a lot of unique pieces [to] dress it up or dress it down.”
She said Sousa Swim was a small business that was “women-owned, women brand, women funded.” She said the most difficult part of her business and as an entrepreneur was “finding a trustworthy manufacturer.” Hallum explained, “You know you have to decide whether you wanna manufacture stateside or overseas and then once you do your research on the companies, you have to establish a strong working relationship before even moving forward.”
3. Maisa Hallum Has Often Been By Marcus Smart’s Side at Charity Events
Hallum and Smart have kept their relationship fairly private over the years, although they’ve been dating since at least December 2017. The two were pictured for the first time as a couple on December 6, 2017, as they attended an event hosted by Smart’s charitable foundation, YounGameChangers, titled “An Evening With Marcus Smart.”
The foundation’s Facebook page posted several hundred photos of the event, including a few which showed Smart and Hallum posing for photos with their arms around each other. In fact, Hallum is very supportive of her partner’s charitable initiatives as she’s since been pictured at several other charity events, including his annual Bowling Bash events.
She was photographed at his Bowling Bash event in 2018 by the Boston Herald, which reported that Hallum was there as Smart’s girlfriend. In October 2018, Hallum was photographed on Halloween handing out candy to children at the Boston Children’s Hospital. According to the report, Hallum was there as part of the Celtics Women’s Group.
4. Marcus Smart Posted a Video of His Proposal to Maisa Hallum, Which Included the Help of Will Smith
While Hallum and Smart are very private about their relationship and the Celtics star rarely posts photos of his significant other on social media, he did broadcast to the world their very special engagement, which involved the help of Will Smith.
On December 25, 2022, Smart posted a photo of the happy couple on Instagram in which they wore matching pajamas and Hallum flashed her ring to the camera. “She said ‘Y E S’! (Whew!),” Smart captioned the post. “Thanks @willsmith for the setup help.” Along with the photo, Smart posted a video of the moment in question.
The video showed Hallum and Smart standing in a room of people watching a video message on the TV from the famous actor, who said, “This is Will Smith.” He showed his surroundings and said he was currently in Antarctica and making his way back from the South Pole. “I just wanted to take a minute to wish you a very, very Merry Christmas,” he continued, as Hallum appeared confused about what was going on.
“I know that you may not have gotten the stuff that you wanted,” he added. “I promise you, you’re not going to end this Christmas empty-handed.” As Smith concluded his message, the video showed Smart behind Hallum getting down on one knee. When she turned around, she appeared overwhelmed with emotion as the entire room cheered and she nodded yes.
Smart later revealed that Hallum is a fan of Smith’s. “He’s one of her favorite actors,” he told reporters, before acknowledging that a lot of people love Smith. “So I think Will’s one of our favorite actors for everybody,” he said. “Growing up, being a ’90s kid, Fresh Prince (of Bel-Air) and things like that.”
Smart also said he really appreciated Smith taking time out of his day, especially from Antarctica, to record and send that video message. “It was cool, it was cool,” he shared.
5. Maisa Hallum Is a Supportive Partner to Marcus Smart & Is Often at His Games, & Described Him as the ‘Ultimate Competitor’
In addition to being a supportive partner when it comes to his charities, Hallum is also really encouraging of her partner on the court. When the Celtics were in the Bubble during their 2020 playoff run, Smart was surprised by his then-girlfriend with a supportive video message.
“Marcus is honestly like the ultimate competitor,” she began, as he exclaimed over the video. “He just makes you wanna play hard, you know, because he gives it his all every second of every game and he always says, ‘I’m gonna play like it’s my last game.’ So I feel like people feed off of that energy and it makes you want to compete at the level that he’s competing at at all times.”
After Smart saw the video, he laughed and said it was “awesome” and then pointed out that he couldn’t stop smiling about it.