‘SI’ Model Anne De Paula & Joel Embiid Make Their Relationship Instagram Official On Valentine’s Day

Anne De Paula and Joel Embiid have finally formalized their rumored relationship — at least as far as social media goes. On Thursday, the Sports Illustrated swimsuit model and the NBA player both took to their Instagram pages to share sweet snapshots of themselves as a couple in honor of Valentine’s Day.

Both De Paula and Embiid started the series with the same photo, one that features the Brazilian stunner in front of the Philadelphia 76ers star as he hugs her from behind. Boyfriend and girlfriend are donning a matching white sweatshirt with the words “lovers” in red on the left sleeve. The Cameroonian basketball player, 24, has his right arm wrapped around De Paula, 23, who is leaning into his embrace with her hand resting on his arm. De Paula paired her sweatshirt with a pair of PVC pants, while Embiid is wearing gray sweatpants to complete his comfy look.

The second shot De Paula shared with her Instagram followers shows the two in front of a tower viewer as Embiid has his arms around De Paula’s shoulders. In addition to the “lovers” photo, Embiid also shared another two shots with his own Instagram fans. The second one is of De Paula in a dark green bikini, while the third shows the two sharing a kiss in front of the Eiffel Tower.

“I wish I could explain your eyes, and how the sound of your voice gives me butterflies. How your smile makes my heart skip a beat and how every time I’m with you, I feel so complete,” De Paula captioned her series of photos. Her post garnered more than 34,000 likes, averaging more than double the number of likes that her photos usually get. Embiid’s post was also a success, garnering more than 407,000 likes and more than 6,500 comments.

In the Paris photo, De Paula is wearing a skimpy black top while Embiid is in a T-shirt, suggesting they posed for the snap several months ago when it was still warm. As the Inquisitr previously reported, rumors of their romance began to circulate in October — not long after De Paula separated from Danny O’Donoghue, the frontman of the Irish alternative rock band The Script. De Paula dated Danny for four years, ever since she had starred in the band’s music video “No Good in Goodbye” when she was 19 years old.

In an October interview with GQ, the 7-foot-tall basketball player revealed that he was dating someone, but didn’t specify who, saying only that “she’s pretty big at what she does.” Shortly after, Philadelphia 76ers co-owner Michael Rubin posted a photo to Instagram showing Embiid kissing the Sports Illustrated swimsuit model, giving rise to the rumors.