Sports

Two years after their tragic accident, a statue of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna was placed at the site of the tragic helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. The 160-pound statue created by sculptor Dan Medina shows Kobe Bryant in full Lakers uniform with his arm around his daughter Gigi who is also seen in her uniform clutching a basketball. “Heroes come and go but legends are forever” is inscribed on the platform below along with the names of the nine victims who lost their lives in the January 26, 2020 crash. “You come up here and it is kind of emotional,” Medina told the Los Angeles Times. “The flowers, the jerseys, the hats blow away, and I think we need something more permanent.” Medina plans for the statue will reside there temporarily, originally set to appear from sunrise...

Following Tom Brady‘s retirement address, his long time teammate Rob Gronkowski has revealed that he might just be thinking about calling it quits once again. Gronkowski and Brady have played together on the same team for 11 years, first on the New England Patriots and most recently on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers team. In 2019, Gronk briefly retired from the NFL but later came back in 2020 to play alongside Brady for the Bucs. As Brady is contemplating retirement, it seems as if Gronk might be as well. The tight end recently said that if he was forced to make the decision to day, he would walk away from the sport, “If they’re like, ‘Rob, you’ve got to decide right now, right this second if you’re playing next year,’ I would say no right now. It’s two days after the season. I would be like, ‘N...

Falling the Tampa Bay Buccaneers‘ season-ending loss to the Los Angeles Rams, many have raised the question of whether or not star quarterback Tom Brady will decide to hang up his jersey. The seven-time Super Bowl champion has not yet confirmed if this would be his final season, though reports have indicated that he is currently noncommital about playing in the NFL in 2022. After the loss, Brady admitted that he has “not put a lot of thought into it” and is “taking it day by day.” Earlier this week, Brady spoke with Jim Gray on his Let’s Go podcast regarding what the future might hold for the quarterback. While he has not yet made a decision, he has confirmed that his decision will focus on the well-being of his family. “I said this a few years ago, it’s what relationships are all about. I...

Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday evening. Ortiz received 77.9% of the votes cast by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, putting him just over the 75% necessary to be admitted. A three-time World Series and 10-time All-Star champion, Ortiz was the only member of this year’s class to gain entry into the Hall of Fame. The Association passed over former San Francisco Giants left fielder Barry Bonds and former Red Sox pitcher Roger Clemens, both of whom were in their tenth and final year on the ballot. Bonds had 66% of the vote and Clemens got 65.2%. Curt Schilling, who asked the Hall of Fame to be removed from the vote, was named on 58.6% of ballots. While Bonds, Clemens and Schilling will no longer show up on the ballot in the co...

The NBA has announced several major changes to this year’s Rising Stars Challenge game set to take place at All-Star Weekend this February. The Rising Stars Challenge, which has traditionally been an exhibition match between the league’s top rookies and sophomores, will now include prospects from the G League Ignite team. Instead of just two teams competing in a timed game, there will now be four seven-man teams consisting of 12 rookies, 12 sophomores, and four G League Ignite players playing a score-capped tournament. Ignite is a developmental basketball team founded in 2020, featuring players who decided to forego the college route to enter the G League program straight from high school in order to prepare for the NBA draft. Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green is a notable graduate from Ig...

Jake Paul recently called out Dana White in a series of Tweets regarding his potential UFC debut. He voiced that he would only make the move over from boxing to the UFC if Dana White agreed on improving the conditions of fighters. Now it appears that Paul is taking his demands one step further. To show just how serious he is regarding the UFC, Paul has invested in the UFC with his business partner Geoffrey Woo. Paul took to Twitter to make his announcement stating, “I’ve invested in EDR (UFC) stock with my partner @geoffreywoo 2 focus on UFCs ESG standards relating to fighters. We believe EDR can drive long-term economic value by increasing UFC fighter pay & providing them healthcare. Reaching out to @EngineNo_1 to partner on this ‘endeavor.’” Woo also took to Twitter to echo Paul’s se...

Since his MCL sprain injury in late December 2021, Anthony Davis has been rehabilitating, leaving LeBron James to lead the Los Angeles Lakers in his absence. The injury placed Davis on a four-week break, as he recovers from a sprained ligament in his left knee. However, according to the team’s injury reports, Davis might be making a probable return to the court in the upcoming game against Brooklyn Nets on January 25. Davis has been sidelined since December 17, 2021. Without Davis, the Lakers currently hold a 7-10 record. His return would help to alleviate some of the load from LeBron James, who is in his 19th season. Davis ahs averaged 23.3 points this season, his lowest in his career, 9.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists. The Lakers are currently eighth in the West. Anthony Davis is expected to ...

When the Cleveland Browns decided to drop Odell Beckham Jr. from their team, the Los Angeles Rams signed the wide receiver, OBJ opted to take his entire NFL salary in Bitcoin. At the time, Bitcoin was hitting all-time highs and breaking currency records and was even worth approximately $64,000 USD per coin. While it appeared to be a great decision then, Bitcoins dip in the market has shattered the price of the coin. The cryptocurrency is now worth around half of the aforementioned price, hovering at $35,000 USD. The news of Bitcoin’s price drop is unfortunate for Beckham’s earnings. Darren Rovell reported that his entire salary is now worth only $413,000 USD as opposed to the $750,000 USD, excluding taxes. Once taxes are factored in, OBJ makes around $35,000 USD which equates to just one B...

The artist formerly known as Kanye West and his Donda Academy basketball players are on the cover of the latest issue of SLAM Magazine, where they talked about coming together to fulfil Ye’s vision, its unorthodox structure and being the cornerstone of the academy. Jalen Hooks revealed that most of his teammates on the Donda Doves — which includes high-profile prospects like Jahki Howard, Chuck Bailey, Braeden Moore, Robert Dillingham, Zion Cruz, JJ Taylor, Brandon White, Omarion Bodrick, Seven Bahati and Bryce Baker — already knew each other either from Instagram or from games when they went up against each other. Hooks added, “We had to make sure it was the right position for us [with] so many of the top players playing with each other.” Moore, who is originally from Nashville, also...

Australia’s Middleweight contender Robert Whittaker and New Zealand’s reigning champion Israel Adesanya are set to face off this February at the UFC 271 main event. The last time the two met was at UFC 243 in which “The Last Stylebender” entered the arena with a dance routine and proceeded to win via second-round knockout, securing his place as the king of the middleweight division. Since then, Adesanya has defended his title thrice against Yoel Romero, Paulo Costa, and Marvin Vettori, before moving up to Light Heavyweight to challenge then-champion Jan Blachowicz, in which he was defeated via unanimous decision. [embedded content] On the other end, Whittaker has powered through the top contenders in the Middleweight division including Darren Till, Jared Cannonier, and Kevin Gastelum, to e...

The saga between Francis Ngannou and the UFC continues, as the heavyweight champion continues to openly voice his issues with the promotion. During Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour, Ngannou revealed that the UFC threatened to issue a lawsuit against his agent, Marquel Martin, for allegedly talking to a member of Jake Paul‘s camp about the possibility of Ngannou competing in boxing. Ngannou’s agent is said to have received the email from the UFC just a few hours before his UFC 270 championship bout against Ciryl Gane, which Ngannou won via unanimous decision. UFC President Dana White was noticeably absent at the fight and post-fight press conference. The person Martin was in contact with is Nakisa Bidarian, Jake Paul’s advisor, the co-founder of Most Valuable Promotions in partnership with Paul...

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has unveiled its official short-film ahead of the start of the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing on February 4. Directed by Salomon Ligthelm, a self-taught filmmaker who has won awards for his work across the world, alongside Uncommon Creative Studio, Every Rise, Every Fall, Every Victory — We’re In It Together highlights the power of solidarity the Olympics offers, and spotlights the relationship between Olympians and their supporters across the world as they mirror the athletes’ movements, demonstrating the impact of this human connection and that belief of others power people. It forms a part of the IOC’s “Stronger Together” campaign, which highlights the IOC’s belief in solidarity and the power of sport and the Olympics to unite people and commun...