AceShowbiz - It looks like Dwight Howard is going to be a married man soon. Rumors have been swirling since earlier this year that the basketball player is engaged to his girlfriend T'ea Cooper, and now he appears to confirm the speculation through an Instagram comment.

It all started when Cooper shared on the photo-sharing platform a video of her playing with her hair in front of the mirror while making a duck face. Looking absolutely stunning, her abs were fully on display in a black crop top and matching track pants. The college basketball star simply captioned the post, "I don't play tag....."

Many were entranced by her beauty, flooding the comment section of the post with gushing messages. Among them was Howard, who reminded others who planned to hit on Cooper that she already belongs to him. "Mine," the Memphis Grizzlies star said, adding a lot of emojis. This prompted one fan to ask him directly whether or not they are engaged, to which Howard responded, "Duh."

Rumors of Howard and Cooper's, who have been dating since October 2018, emerged back in January, when she was seen sporting a huge band on her ring finger in several social media posts. However, not all people believed the rumors because they were still convinced that Howard is gay, with one telling the 33-year-old athlete, "You lying n***a you don't even like girlies."

Howard was rumored to be gay after his alleged ex-boyfriend, Masin Elije, claimed that he used to date Howard before he cheated on him with other gay men. Howard has since shut down the rumors, noting in an interview, "It's a lot of people who are [gay] and they have to hide, and there's people who have mental issues and they have to hide. There's people who have different problems in life and they have to hide. They have to put on the mask every day, and it's like, I don't wanna wear no mask."