Kobie Turner and Myles Turner share a last name and compete at the highest levels of professional sports, so many fans understandably wonder if the Los Angeles Rams star and Milwaukee Bucks center are related.
Let’s take a look at whether they have any familial ties, Kobie’s NFL journey, and more.
Breaking Down Whether Kobie Turner and Myles Turner Are Relatives
No, Kobie and Myles are not related despite sharing a surname.
Kobie was born in the Washington, D.C. area on April 26, 1999, to parents Lamar Turner Jr. and Latesa Valentine-Turner. His father hails from Melbourne, Florida, while his mother graduated from Florida A&M University in 1996. The youngest of four children, Kobie grew up in Clifton, Virginia, alongside brothers Lamar III and AJ, and sister Olivia.
Meanwhile, the 6-foot-11 Myles was born on March 24, 1996, in Bedford, Texas, to David and Mary Turner and has one sibling, a younger sister named Mya. While they aren’t related,
The more compelling story is how Turner got to the NFL. He started at Richmond as a walk-on in 2018, a defensive lineman who lacked elite speed and dealt with a late growth spurt, which made him difficult to evaluate coming out of Centreville High School in Fairfax County.
His father always told him he had an instinct for finding the football. Turner built on that at Richmond, where he played 37 games with 27 starts, recorded 158 tackles and 15 sacks, and earned CAA Co-Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2021. He then transferred to Wake Forest for his final college season before the Rams selected him with the 89th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
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Turner led all NFL rookies with 9.0 sacks in his first season, tying the franchise rookie record set by Aaron Donald in 2014 and finishing third in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting behind Will Anderson Jr. and Jalen Carter. He did this playing alongside Donald, learning from one of the greatest interior defenders in league history.
Now in his third season, Turner has continued to produce. He’s recorded 27.5 sacks (including the postseason) throughout his career. He was named a team captain for the second consecutive season during the 2025 campaign and became a central piece of a Rams defense that helped Los Angeles reach the NFC Championship.
A Name Inspired by a Fish, a Soul Rooted in Music
Turner’s first name carries its own origin story. His father caught a cobia fish while his mother was pregnant, and Lamar wanted to name his son after it. His mother refused, but they compromised by combining cobia with Hobie, the outdoor brand, and landed on Kobie.
That creativity runs through the family. Turner grew up listening to gospel, reggae, and R&B around the house. His mother brought him to church choir practices in Tallahassee, FL, and his oldest brother’s guitar playing inspired him to pick up the instrument. He led three a cappella groups at Centreville High, earning him the nickname “The Conductor.”
Turner earned degrees in music theory and composition as well as mathematics at Richmond. He still aspired to become a high school choir director before football took over. In 2024, he competed on “The Masked Singer” as Goo, reaching the quarterfinals. He has performed the national anthem at Lakers and Kings games.
Rams coach Sean McVay has embraced Turner’s multidimensional personality. “We want him to be himself and that’s what he’s done,” McVay said. “He’s naturally ascending and asserting himself as a leader with just such a good awareness level.”
Turner married his high school sweetheart, Alissa Villanueva, in March 2025 in Maidens, Virginia. The couple announced in October 2025 that they are expecting their first child.
As for Myles, the Bucks center is having his own productive season. He signed a four-year, $108.9 million contract with Milwaukee in July 2025 after spending 10 seasons in Indiana, where he helped lead the Pacers to the 2025 NBA Finals and became the franchise’s all-time leader in blocked shots. He’s averaging 12.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game.
