La La Vazquez on the Cover of Latina Magazine April 2010

Posted on March 12, 2010 - 7:10pm by loretta La La Vazquez is no NBA trophy wife. Sure, she's engaged to NBA star Carmelo Anthony, but in the April 2010 issue of Latina magazine, Vasquez (30) makes it clear that she's been calling her own shots for a long time.

On Carmelo's proposal: "It was Christmas Eve. We were in bed. And he said, La La, I love you. I want to be with you forever. Will you marry me? On Carmelo marrying her: "Even with all that I've accomplished on my own... I know the story out there about me: '[Carmelo] ain't gonna marry her. She got that ring but now he's making her wait. He don't really love her...' For once... I'd like to tell the story as it is. Not as it's told."

Carmelo on marrying La La: "I wasn't making her wait. If anything, I was waiting for her to slow down. She was doing her own thing, handling her business and we were happy. When it was time to take it to the next step we did. Period."

La La on being Puerto Rican and Black: "People got it twisted and thought I was saying, I'm Puerto Rican. I'm not black. That isn't what I was saying. It's just that when I tell someone I'm Puerto Rican, I don't want to hear someone say, 'You ain't Puerto Rican. You black.' As if I can only be one or the other. Do I look like Jennifer Lopez? No. Clearly, I'm a black woman. However you want to define that, that's what I am. And I'm also a Spanish-speaking Puerto Rican woman. Period." Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons on with La La on their upcoming reality show, Love and Basketball: "La La is a person who is brilliant in the communications business. A lot of people come with ideas. But she follows through." For more on La La Vazquez pick up the April issue of Latina magazine.