Veronica Gutierrez raised Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker largely on her own in Grand Rapids, Michigan, working as a cosmetologist. At the same time, his father built a professional basketball career on three different continents.
Devin is the middle of three children, each with a different father. She never married Devin’s father, former NBA guard Melvin Booker, and she has kept nearly everything else about her life deliberately private, even as her son has become one of the league’s biggest stars and a fixture of celebrity tabloid coverage in his own right.
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Veronica Gutierrez Biography
She was born in Puerto Rico, though her exact birth date has never been made public. Veronica Gutierrez is of Puerto Rican and Mexican descent, her father, Jesus Gutierrez, having come from Los Nogales, Mexico.
She grew up primarily around Grand Rapids, Michigan, into what her son has described as a closely knit family. She has stayed close to her father into adulthood, regularly making a two-hour drive from Grand Rapids to Detroit to see him.
Devin has spoken about those visits directly, describing his grandfather as someone who always helped his mother when she needed it and who was, in his words, the backbone of the family, adding that his mother always talked about her father’s character and how loving he was.
Devin has said he was too young at the time to understand the significance of those trips fully, but has since called them refreshing and full of love.
Veronica trained and graduated from a cosmetology program at a Michigan-based college before her relationship with Melvin Booker began, and had already been raising her firstborn son as a single mother by that point.
Devin Booker’s Mother
Veronica Gutierrez has three children, each by a different father. Her eldest, Davon Wade, was born from an earlier relationship before she met Melvin Booker.
Wade went on to graduate from Western Michigan University and now works as a real estate broker in Arizona, the same state where his younger brother built his NBA career.
Her second child, Devin Booker, was born October 30, 1996, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to Veronica and Melvin Booker.
Her third child, daughter Mya Powell, was born from a separate relationship after Devin.
Veronica met Melvin Booker during the 1995-96 season, while he was playing for the Grand Rapids Hoops, also referred to as the Grand Rapids Mackers depending on the source, in the Continental Basketball Association.
The two began dating quickly, and Veronica became pregnant with Devin within months of meeting him.
They chose not to marry, a decision both have described as tied to the unpredictable, constantly traveling nature of Melvin’s basketball career, which took him overseas to play professionally in Italy, Turkey, Russia and China after his run through the NBA with the Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks.
Veronica stayed based in Grand Rapids and later Grandville, Michigan, raising Devin day to day while Melvin remained involved from a distance, with Devin joining him for stretches during summers starting from when he was just eight months old.
Melvin has credited Veronica directly for making that long-distance arrangement work, telling Undefeated simply that she made it happen.
Once Melvin retired from professional basketball and settled back in his hometown of Moss Point, Mississippi, he encouraged Veronica to send Devin to live with him so he could continue developing as a player under closer supervision, which is how Devin ended up attending Moss Point High School, where Melvin later worked as an assistant coach.
Despite growing up largely apart from his father during his early childhood, Devin has since said he now considers Melvin one of his best friends.
This relationship grew stronger once the two spent more consistent time together during his teenage years.
Veronica and Melvin have remained on good terms as co-parents in the years since, despite never marrying.
Devin has continued to publicly celebrate his mother well into his NBA career, including gifting her a Mercedes-Benz G550 for her birthday, a moment he shared on his Instagram story showing her posing in front of the vehicle with a red bow on the hood.
Career
Veronica Gutierrez has worked as a cosmetologist and makeup artist for years, building a business around that trade rather than pursuing any career tied to basketball or public life.
She has intentionally avoided building any social media presence of her own, which is a significant part of why so little independently verified information about her exists beyond what has come from her son and Melvin Booker in interviews.
Devin Booker’s Career
Devin Booker has spent his entire NBA career with the Phoenix Suns since being drafted 13th overall in 2015 out of the University of Kentucky.
He has grown into one of the league’s most prolific scorers, making multiple NBA All-Star teams, helping lead the Suns to the 2021 NBA Finals, and winning an Olympic gold medal with Team USA at the 2024 Paris Games.
Off the court, he was in a widely covered relationship with media personality Kendall Jenner from 2018, with the two on and off before ultimately separating in November 2022, a relationship that kept the Booker family name in entertainment coverage well beyond basketball circles.
He remains one of the centerpieces of the Suns franchise and one of the most recognizable young stars in the league.
