Reality star Nikki “Hoopz” Alexander has become a real-life sleep saver for Boston Celtics star Shaquille O’Neal.

The Odd Couple recently teamed up with Harvard Medical School’s Division of Sleep Medicine after Hoopz convinced the hoopster to get checked out for sleep apnea.

“It happens when he’s on his back. He gets into this deep snore and then goes like this…” she says, imitating his snore. “It’s like he stops; his chest will stop moving and everything. It’s like he stops breathing.”

According to The Boston Herald: “Sleep apnea is a common problem defined by pauses in breathing while someone sleeps. The most common kind is obstructive sleep apnea, where the airway collapses or gets blocked throughout the night. If left untreated, it can increase the risk of high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, and diabetes. It can also make a person chronically tired from, well, lack of deep sleep. Sleep apnea is often — but not always — accompanied by snoring and is far more common in those who are overweight and/or have thick neck circumferences. Shaq, at 7’1″ tall, purportedly weighs 325 pounds, making him one of the heaviest players in the NBA…”

Are womanizing NBA star Shaquille O’Neal and reality star Nicole “Hoopz” Alexandar headed toward wedded bliss?

Unconfirmed online reports claim the Boston Celtics center popped the question to Alexander at the Sahara Mediterranean Cuisine and Hookah Lounge in St. Louis Monday night. According to The St. Louis Post Dispatch, Shaq got down on one knee and put a ring on it. O’Neal and Alexander reportedly own a home together in Maryville, Tennessee.

The marriage will be Shaq’s second. The NBA veteran’s 7-year marriage to Shaunie O’Neal ended earlier this year. The former couple share four children.

Hoopz, as you may recall, competed for and won the heart of Flava Flav on the rapper’s reality show Flavor of Love. She also competed on the reality show I Love Money and won the $250,000 prize.

Less than a week after R&B singing stars Cassie and Rihanna were both publicly shamed when nude photos hit the Net, a VH1 reality hunny has joined the list of urban entertainment notables outed after the arrival of a new sex tape.

Hoopz — perhaps best known for winning Flavor of Love 1 and Season One of I Love Money — has been caught with her pants down — literally — in a new sex tape trailer that arrived online late Sunday.

Hoopz is best known as the woman who successfully sparred with Tiffany Pollard for a place in Flavor Flav’s heart on Season One of Flavor of Love. She’s also known for her barely-clothed centerfolds in urban men’s mags. Here she is on the October issue of King Magazine.