During golden hour on the beach in St. George’s, Grenada, on Sept. 1, 2023, Justin Alexander Jackson suggested that he and Monica Corin McNutt take a couple of selfies. After setting a timer on his phone, Mr. Jackson posed for a photo with Ms. McNutt, then pulled out an engagement ring, bent to his knee and asked her to marry him.
“I was so shocked, and then a wave came and knocked his phone into the water,” Ms. McNutt said. As she expressed concern about his phone, Mr. Jackson expressed concern about her answer. “He was like, ‘Is that a yes?’” she said. “And I was like, ‘Yes, but your phone!’”
After rescuing the phone, the two returned to their hotel room, which was decorated with balloons and flowers. They celebrated their engagement with their friends during the rest of the trip, which they described as a “framily vacation.”
Ms. McNutt, 34, is a basketball commentator for MSG Networks and ESPN. She grew up in Suitland, Md., and has a bachelor’s degree in English from Georgetown and a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Maryland.
[Click here to binge read this week’s featured couples.]
Mr. Jackson, 37, was raised in Fairfax and Fredericksburg, Va., and received a bachelor’s degree in sport management and a master’s degree in sport psychology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He is the director of basketball operations for the National Basketball Players Association.
A mutual friend introduced Ms. McNutt and Mr. Jackson in May 2019 at the NBA Draft Combine. They quickly connected over work.
“It’s an industry with a lot of travel and unconventional hours,” Mr. Jackson said. “It’s competitive to get into and stay in. The circles are small so we had a lot of mutual friends before we knew each other.”
At the time, Ms. McNutt lived in Suitland but traveled often for work, so Mr. Jackson asked her to join him for dinner the next time she came through New York City, where he lived.
In June, they went to Versa restaurant in Midtown Manhattan. “I don’t know if I’ve ever met anyone like this,” Mr. Jackson remembered thinking, especially when Ms. McNutt pulled out a tangram puzzle she had been working on and asked if he wanted to help. “You meet a lot of people who are guarded and you don’t know if it’s the real them. But with her, from the jump, it was like this is who she is.”
Soon after they became exclusive — in January 2020 — the coronavirus pandemic began and they were forced to continue their relationship from afar. They often talked on the phone, and watched movies and TV shows in sync.
“It kind of forced us to be still, to slow down,” Mr. Jackson said. “It was a blessing in disguise to get to know each other.”
For Ms. McNutt, the time apart under the strain of isolation and lockdowns was a chance to see some of Mr. Jackson’s strengths. “He’s so solution-oriented, so selfless,” she said. “Those are traits that he demonstrates at a far more consistent level than I do. I’m inspired and challenged to be better for him.”
Ms. McNutt moved to New York City in October 2021 mainly for her job at MSG Networks, but chose to live in an apartment six blocks from Mr. Jackson’s in Harlem. “I want you to see how I live, and I want to see how you live,” she said of her decision. “I don’t want to play house.” (The two plan to move in together after the honeymoon.)
Mr. Jackson and Ms. McNutt were wed on Aug. 17 at the Conrad hotel in Washington, in front of 140 guests. The ceremony was officiated by Warren Mackey, who is affiliated with the Transformation Church.
A particularly emotional moment for Ms. McNutt was when Mr. Jackson read his vows. “I felt like this is his show, too,” she said. “He’s a big behind-the-scenes guy, and he let it all go in that moment.”
At the reception, they danced the evening away to the tunes of Too Much Talent Band, which performed covers and go-go music, a genre popular in the Washington area. When the celebrations ended at midnight, Ms. McNutt and Mr. Jackson remained in the ballroom for one final dance alone. When the couple came out, they found a few dozen friends in the lobby and continued the evening with an after-party at a nearby rooftop bar called Wild Days.
“It was all love,” Mr. Jackson said of the wedding. “That collection of family and friends, when are you going to get them together from all over the country? It was wild to have them all in the same room, but that’s what made it feel special.”
The post Slow and Steady Wins the Game of Love for These Sports Professionals appeared first on New York Times.