Tim Duncan's rumored new girlfriend has a reputation for being feisty, evidenced by comments she made to a TV Guide reporter about Amazing Race competitors she openly feuded on-air with. "What was interesting was once I knew I could get under her skin, then it was more - I dunno - not like a pastime."

Vanessa Macias, who competed on the show in 2012 with then boyfriend Ryan Kelley as her partner, later added of the team's dealings with nemesis Brendon Villegas and Rachel Reilly "they challenged my political views pretty viciously. I'm fairly liberal and by "fairly," I mean pretty strongly liberal. They said something along the lines of "Oh, so you kill babies?" I'm like, "Yes, a--holes, that's what I do. I kill babies and go around shooting puppies. What the hell is the matter with you?"

The much more openly mellow Duncan and Macias recently began dating with the one-time reality TV star all but confirming it to the San Antonio Express last month by coyly telling reporters "I respect Tim's preference for privacy."

Longtime friend Luis Munoz later raved to The Express "she is the happiest I've seen her in a long time. Tim's such a cool dude. Vanessa has such a glow about her."

In dating Macias, Duncan appears to have put his tumultuous summer behind him. He and Amy Duncan, his college sweetheart and wife of 12 years, divorced over the summer in proceedings that grew so contentious she openly implied she long suspected her NBA husband might be gay.

As for her overall fiery personality and her regular encounters with Reilly and Villegas, Macias told TV Guide "it's behavior that I'm trying to modify. "I didn't realize that my words would hurt people so much and seeing how vicious I could be while not thinking twice about it and seeing it firsthand on camera has kind of opened my eyes a little bit to be nicer."