Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Adele stepped out to attend Game 5 of the NBA finals in Phoenix, Arizona, on Saturday, July 17. Though much of the early coverage of her attendance focused on her style and radiant smile while sitting courtside, attention is now being directed at her seatmate, with speculation growing that the “Rolling in the Deep” singer is officially in a new relationship.
Sportswriter Brian Windhorst fueled the fire on the ESPN podcast The Lowe Post by saying the 33-year-old star is dating Rich Paul, who happens to be the agent of Los Angeles Lakers megastar and recent Space Jam 2: A New Legacy lead LeBron James. “Rich Paul brings his girlfriend to the game to sit next to LeBron. His girlfriend is Adele,” Windhorst said, according to USA Today. “This is the first time that they’ve come out in public together. So this will be all over the tabloids, especially in England tomorrow.”
So far, no statement has come from either Adele or Paul about their relationship. (Bustle has reached out to their teams for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publishing.) The two did appear to be enjoying each other’s company, but that, of course, isn’t confirmation of anything.
This isn’t the first recent relationship rumor regarding the English singer since she finalized her divorce with Simon Konecki earlier this year. Last year, she was linked to British rapper Skepta, with a source claiming things between the two were “heating up.” At the time, she’d just hosted NBC’s Saturday Night Live, and while taking the time to thank the cast and crew of the sketch comedy show, she decided to also dispel any dating rumors by adding, quote, “I’m going back to my cave now to be the (single) cat lady that I am!”
The “Rumor Has It” singer has been living up to the song title as of late, however. Not only has she kept fans guessing about who she’s with but also when she’ll be releasing new music. Earlier this month, Taylor Swift sleuths found a song titled “Broken Hearts” registered with the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers (SESAC) that listed “Adele Laurie Blue Adkins” and “Taylor Alison Swift” as co-writers. It caused quite the stir with fans, who crossed their fingers that the two singers would duet soon, but a source later told E! “there is no truth” to the reports.
Adele’s most recent release was 2015’s 25 and she has been famously been working on her long-awaited follow-up album for years. In October, she shared that her “album’s not finished,” though one of her friends claimed she’d previewed some new tracks for him. “I’ve actually heard some tracks on it. Oh my God, it’s amazing — so amazing,” Alan Carr told Grazia UK this January. “That voice is like an old friend because there are some people in the charts who sound a bit like Adele, and then when you hear Adele’s voice, you go, ‘Oh, no, there’s only one.’”
