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Gucci Mane got engaged, performed and gave a fan a Rolex at Hawks-Pelicans

dan devine
Senior NBA writer
Hip-hop artist Gucci Mane (right) laughs with Keyshia Ka'oir after he proposed to her in the fourth quarter of Hawks-Pelicans on Tuesday. (AP)
Hip-hop artist Gucci Mane (right) laughs with Keyshia Ka’oir after he proposed to her in the fourth quarter of Hawks-Pelicans on Tuesday. (AP)

In a verse on the remix to Mario’s 2009 single “Break Up,” Gucci Mane rapped the line, “Girls are like buses / Miss one? Next 15, one coming.” But 2009 was a long time ago, and as we learned during Tuesday night’s meeting between the Atlanta Hawks and New Orleans Pelicans, Guwop has changed his mind on the matter of matrimony:

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Yes, that’s right: Gucci proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Keyshia Ka’oir, during a stoppage in play midway through the fourth quarter of Hawks-Pelicans. Under normal circumstances, I tend not to love the idea of popping the question during a sporting event — especially not one where your hometown team’s getting drilled by 23 on a random Tuesday in late November — but when you’re proposing with enough carats to make Bugs Bunny jealous:

OMG!!! Babeeeeeeee thank u! I LOVE U !! Yessssssse???? 25karats @laflare1017

A photo posted by Keyshia Ka'oir (@keyshiakaoir) on Nov 22, 2016 at 7:05pm PST

… you become kind of the exception that proves the rule. (Including, apparently, the rule about getting down on one knee.)

The two have been together for a half-dozen years and, as Jon Caramanica of the New York Times wrote this past summer, have been largely “attached at the hip” since Gucci’s release from federal prison back in May:

For the first time, they’re living together, rather than shuttling between Atlanta and her home in South Florida. The two met in 2010, when he requested she appear in a music video — he had seen her in XXL magazine while he was in jail — and they soon began dating. “We had our ups and downs, ’cause I would mess up and do stupid junk, but she had my back through all of it,” Gucci said.

Ms. Ka’oir, who has 1.[7] million Instagram followers, runs two businesses: one for makeup, and one for fitness equipment, including a waist eraser that both she and Gucci wear during their daily morning workouts.

To her, the new Gucci — the one that professes love for his girlfriend, the one that eats kale (if she prepares it), the one that smiles easily and speaks in funny accents, the one that sings R&B songs into his phone camera — is old hat. “The person everyone is seeing today,” Ms. Ka’oir said, “I’ve always known that person. This is nothing new for me.” She added, “He’s grown up now, like, ‘I no longer have to hide this part of me — either you like it or you don’t.’”

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She does like it, and he does like her, and the affirmation of those facts made for a lovely little moment that reportedly met with the appreciation of Pelicans center and noted romantic Omer Asik:

It was a glorious capper to a stellar evening for Gucci Mane that began with the commemoration of a new chain (“Eskimo Joe”) and quite a lot of money:

… continued with the kind-hearted giveaway of a freaking Rolex to a fan who won a contest between quarters:

… and included a halftime performance that featured Gucci trying to get everyone in attendance to participate in the Mannequin Challenge with him as “Black Beatles,” the smash hit by Rae Sremmurd on which he appears, banged throughout Philips Arena:

… before culminating in the wondrous engagement.

There wasn’t much for Hawks fans to cheer for in a 112-94 blowout loss to a Pelicans team led not by superstar Anthony Davis (limited to just 18 1/2 minutes by a first-half knee injury from which he’d later return) but rather by point guard Tim Frazier (21 points, 14 assists, five rebounds, three steals), reserve forward Terrence Jones (17 points, six rebounds) and recently returned linchpin guard Jrue Holiday (15 points, four rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block). Getting to see Gucci home, Gucci happy and Gucci betrothed, though, helped ease the sting at least a bit.

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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!

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