Source: Cui Xinyu / Getty

Last week, we learned that the Los Angeles Laker great’s childhood home was sold for $810,000, but the most exciting part of the house was that the hoop Bryant practiced on as a kid was still hanging in the driveway. And now, it’s been detached, and a lucky fan will be able to cop it. The cool novelty item was originally included in the sale, but the buyer had no interest in coughing up extra bread, so the seller tore it down.

The seller gave the basketball hoop to John Romani at Sales By Helen to sell at an auction. Romani told TMZ Sports that the hoop will be sold at Heritage’s Platinum Night Auction on February 20; he thinks the prized possession will go for six-figures.

And Romani says the lot has a bunch of other Bryant memorabilia collected from the house that will also be available to bid on, including a Michael Jordan Sports Illustrated magazine addressed to Kobe, Duke basketballs Kobe had when he was being recruited by the Blue Devils, several of his old Italian magazines Kobe owned, and a book that Kobe appeared to have written on as a kid.

“Dreams really do come true,” the property’s realtor, TJ Sokso of Compass, told TODAY Home. “Kobe moved back stateside, he had gotten to see professional athletes up close and personal, he was inspired by that. He had this dream of becoming an NBA player.”

Source: NBC / Getty

It’s no secret that while Mike Tyson was issuing fades in the ring, he was also partying like a rockstar out of it. The 54-year-old boxer hasn’t been shy when it comes to talking about past use of booger sugar (cocaine) and weed during his storied boxing career, but it’s always been a mystery how was he able to get around the sports strict testing leading up to his fights.

Speaking with UFC’s Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance, Jeff Novitzky, Tyson revealed that he used a prosthetic penis called the “Whizzinator” to pass his drug tests. The device has a built-in bag where he stored his “baby’s urine.”

Tyson’s fake schlong usage wasn’t foolproof. He revealed there were some close calls, especially when using his wife’s urine.

Novitzky followed-up Tyson by pointing that might have definitely happened in the world of sports already.

“A male provided a urine sample, and it came back, and they said ‘Sir, you’re pregnant. Either you’re pregnant, or this is somebody else’s urine!’”

When collecting urine samples from athletes, officials have to get up and close and personal with the athletes while draining the lizard. So that means the athletes have to make sure their “Whizzinator” actually matches their skin tone. Novitzky asked Tyson if his prosthetic hammer looked like his actual penis Tyson responded, “Yeah, hell yeah, I had a brown one.”

Tyson isn’t the only athlete who utilized prosthetic penises to beat drug tests. Former NFL running back Onterrio Smith tried and failed at fooling drug testing officials while using the device in 2005. The original fake penis that Tyson used actually hit the auction block and sold for only $750. Whoever happens to own can now fetch even more money for it after Tyson shared even more details about his use of it.

Since Tyson spoke on his “Whizzinator” use, reps for the boxer reached out to TMZ Sports, claiming he only used the device once while in his 20s.

Riiiggghhht.

Well, he definitely won’t need it in his upcoming fight with fellow boxing great Roy Jones Jr. 

You can watch the entire Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson episode Jeff Novitzky below.

Photo: NBC / Getty

Source: Boston Globe / Getty

The NBA Bubble was a huge success, but its got its downsides too.

The coronavirus delayed the season that usually ends in June by a few months. On March 11, the league suspended the season following Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert testing positive. At the time, no one knew when it’d resume. Still, eventually, after taking over hotels at Disney World’s Florida campus, the seasons started up again in July and concluded on October 11 with the Los Angeles Lakers taking home the Larry O’Brien trophy. Now, NBA officials have pitched the idea of beginning the season on December 22– just in time for the famous Christmas games.

While fans are ready to see their favorites back on the hardwood floor, beginning the 2020-21 season, that quickly means the teams who participated in the bubble would barely have two months to rest their bodies. That’s just 71 days off, which is the shortest in major sports history. The NBA has knocked the season down to 72 games, but health officials are still worried about how players will physically respond to the change.

“I’d be more worried about travel, because we saw in the bubble, not having travel really helped guys recover,” said one official intimately involved with player health told ABC. “So I don’t know if it’s actually the amount of games [72], but it’s just the fact that you’re getting to 2 a.m. in the morning and you’re traveling now — that becomes a bigger issue.”

Even LeBron James seemed annoyed by the proposition.

Games occurred way more often in the bubble, but players were rid of one of the most arduous tasks of being a professional athlete– traveling so much.

“I’d be more worried about travel, because we saw in the bubble, not having travel really helped guys recover,” the source said. “So I don’t know if it’s actually the amount of games [72], but it’s just the fact that you’re getting to 2 a.m. in the morning and you’re traveling now — that becomes a bigger issue.”

At this rate, it might be easier to build the NBA Bubble 2.0 to ensure players’ health.

Source: Star Tribune via Getty Images / Getty

As the world finds itself in the ninth month of the pandemic, the virus has even touched celebrities and their families.

One of those people, sadly, includes Karl-Anthony Towns’ mother, Jacqueline who passed away after being in a medically induced coma for more than a week after battling the virus for about a month. It’s now been 6 months since her death, and Towns and his father are still reeling from the tragedy, but he decided to take to YouTube to open up about how he’s been feeling in a video titled, “The Toughest Year of My Life.”

And unsurprisingly, he thanked everyone who has looked out for him since April.

“Thank you everyone for the prayers, well wishes, and condolences during this time,” he wrote in the caption of the video. “I also want to give a double thank you to all the true fans that support me as more than just a basketball player. My love for ya knows no bounds.”

In the video, he speaks on the months-long sickness that his mother had to deal with, explaining that towards the end, she seemed to be recovering, but that was hindered once she had a stroke in the middle of the night. The doctors then said it would be best to take her off life support, which Towns admits was tough to tell his grandmother.

“The worst call, the most difficult one, it was calling her mom,” he said towards the middle of the video. “It was calling my grandmother. Telling her, mostly, you lost your daughter. I done everything as a grandson I could do to protect her. I got to let her go. There’s nothing worse than losing your kid.”

His family’s battle with the virus started on March 25 when he took to Instagram to say that both his parents tested positive, though his father made a full recovery.

Source: picture alliance / Getty

And one of those things is its players partaking in smoking weed. Many have come forward admitting how it helps with the aches and pains of stresses of such a hectic schedule, and the latest is none other than Shawn Kemp. The Seattle Supersonics legend recently revealed that he was smoking it up during his lengthy career from 1989 until he retired in 2003.

Kemp says that even though players smoked back then, they never overindulged.

“When I played, absolutely we smoked pot back in the day when we played. We was responsible with it, but we definitely smoked,” Kemp says.

The 50-year-old explained that it was a way safer way of dealing with the pain that comes with the arduous game of basketball than the highly addictive pain pills.

“For me, with arthritis and different pains in your body, [marijuana] is the perfect solution,” Kemp told TMZ.

“Sometimes guys don’t like to pop the pills, some guys, they don’t wanna take those chances, so this is another way of taking care of yourself professionally, with doing it the right way.”

Kemp’s gone from smoking while playing in the league 23 years ago to turning it into a profitable business. Kemp is now the partner of a cannabis store in Seattle, simply called Shawn Kemp’s Cannabis.

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Kemp was arrested twice in the early 2000s for possession, but thankfully the world’s view on weed has changed and enabled him to employ 35 people at his dispensary.

“I think we’re finding out the cannabis to be valuable to us in a lot of different ways, whether it be through medicine or to athletic skills,” Kemp told Yahoo Sports. “And I think that’s why you see the NBA bending their rules, and I think you’ll see several other leagues probably do the same.”

Source: Mike Stobe / Getty

JAY-Z is no longer a minority owner of the Brooklyn Nets, but in a way, his influence over the team he helped bring to his home borough is still being felt. The team does it best to honor the best borough in New York City (not up for debate). The team already has jerseys that paid homage to the late but forever great Notorious BIG and the Bedstuy neighborhood he called home. Now, the Nets will honor another Brooklynite, who also just happens to be one of Jigga’s favorite artists, the late Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Two authentic images of the jersey leaked on social media this week hinted that the Nets planned to honor Basquiat with a City Edition uniform that draws inspiration directly from his work. Now it has been officially confirmed that the Nets will debut jerseys this upcoming season.

The jerseys will be black and feature “BKLYN NETS” written in Basquiat’s famed handwriting. Other cool details include the rainbow trim outlines as well as Basquiat’s signature. Nike’s Swoosh logo also gets a two-tone blue and gold to complement the jersey.

This design is one of the many that will be featured in the newest line of NBA’s “City Editions” jerseys that the league redesigns and drops yearly for the teams.

Are you feeling the Basquiat-inspired jerseys? Let us know in the comment section below.

Photo: Mike Stobe / Getty

Source: Michael Reaves / Getty

“Every night I go to sleep I’m like, ‘Lord, please, let me like wake up in the morning feeling good.’” That’s what it like for the Saints wide receiver as he battles COVID-19 and fears that his condition could deteriorate at any given moment. Sanders worries put in perspective just how much we still don’t know about the coronavirus that is raging around the globe.

“Like, I don’t want to wake up in the middle of the night and like, can’t breathe,” he said on this week’s episode of the podcast.“And like, sh*t just goes south, right?” 

“That’s like my biggest fear in watching that sh*t. It intensifies my fears, right?” he added.

Since his positive diagnosis last week, Sanders revealed he has been dealing with some significant symptoms like fever, body aches, and “loopy feelings.” He also revealed his wife caught the virus and is experiencing the effects of it.

Breaking down how COVID-19 is affecting him and his wife, he stated:

“Like, it feels like we’re glitchy. Like when I’m walking, it feels like if my wife was to talk to me, it feels like I’m skipping a beat every now and then.”

“It’s like the weirdest sh*t ever.” 

Sanders has been placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list by Saints and missed last week’s win against the Panthers, and has already been ruled out against this week’s matchup with the Chicago Bears.

“It’s a situation that sucks, you know? I’m missing two games, but it is what it is.”

We wish Sanders and his wife a full and speedy recovery.

Photo: Michael Reaves / Getty

Source: Sean M. Haffey / Getty

There have been several satisfying sports moments in 2020– but the latest might be the best.

Last night, October 17, the Houston Astros were eliminated in the seventh game of the ALCS at Petco Park in San Diego. Baseball fans were very happy to see the Tampa Bay Rays advance to the World Series for just the second time in franchise history, but the real happiness came from watching the Astros lose 4-2 in the series.

And that’s because most things are tolerated on the field or court, except when it comes to cheating. During the 2017 World Series, the Texas team began stealing signs, noting what the opposing pitcher was throwing next and properly preparing the batter for it. Stealing signs isn’t technically against official MLB rules, but because the Astros went above and beyond by using a camera and monitor system to gain more information and they’ve been heavily penalized.

What made it worse is that the team won the World Series again in 2019, and neither title was stripped.

We will admit that it did look a bit rocky when the Astros were able to beat the Minnesota Twins in the Wild Card series and knocked off the A’s in the ALDS– but the story has finally come full circle. Not only are other teams that were affected by the scandal relieved, but baseball Twitter didn’t hesitate to hop online and revel in the team’s loss and make jokes.

Check out some of the most heated reactions below as we wait to see who will be taking on the Rays in the World Series.

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Source: Jason Miller / Getty

The Cleveland Browns and Odell Beckham Jr. can breathe a sigh of relief.

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. has been cleared to play in this Sunday’s game against AFC rival the Pittsburgh Steelers after receiving a second a negative COVID-19 test. This news comes after Beckham was sent home from Thursday (Oct.15) practice with an unspecified illness Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reported on Saturday (Oct.17).

Not willing to take a risk during these crazy times, Browns’ head coach Kevin Stefanski said he sent Beckham home despite not testing positive for COVID-19 at the time out of “abundance of caution.” Speaking with reporters on Thursday, Stefanski said:

“I think we’ve been on high alert. I think that’s just 2020. We just make sure that we’re following every protocol there is and keep everybody safe.”

“With this day and age, you just have to be so careful in this environment. So just want to make sure we’re being proactive in that regard.”

As he should.

Unlike the NBA, WNBA, and NHL, which managed to keep COVID-19 from ruining their restarted seasons, the NFL has seen an alarming number of positive cases being that the league has opted not to put its players in a bubble, like those other professional sports leagues. Just recently, the Indianapolis Colts announced on Friday (Oct.16) the team facilities will be closed while they confirmed several positive COVID-19 test results within the organization.

The Jacksonville Jaguars also announced today that it will be closing its facility after a player tested positive for COVID-19, ESPN reports.  The team is scheduled to play host to the Detroit Lions at 1 p.m. ET at TIAA Bank Field on Sunday and, according to a statement, are still preparing to play that game.

The Patriots, who had several players test positive for COVID-19, including star quarterback Cam Newton, and All-Pro defensive back Stephon Gilmore, announced another player had tested positive for the virus. The team abruptly closed its facility on Friday after the positive result but have since reopened it on Saturday. Newtown and Gilmore have also returned to practice, and the team is still on schedule to host the Denver Broncos.

The NFL has a COVID-19 problem. The league will be shuffling games and closing facilities all season long until they decide they should follow the NBA’s footsteps and figure out some sort of bubble situation.

Photo: Jason Miller / Getty

Source: Joe Robbins / Getty

LeBron’s time in the bubble is up, and he is packing up all of his kicks and putting the Larry O’Brien trophy back in its Louis Vuitton luggage case and heading back to California. That should be a great thing for his family, who hasn’t seen the head of the James gang in three months. Well, everyone except for Bronny according to social media.

Back in September, Bronny became a victim of what every young teenager seems to do on social media, and that is sharing too damn much of what is going on. He “accidentally” posted a video of him experimenting with marijuana, a substance that is no longer seen in the once highly negative light it used to be. He quickly removed the video from his Instagram Stories, but, of course, it was already too late, and social media got its hands on it. At the time, his dad was handling business against the Denver Nuggets, but social media was already telling the young teenager to wait till his father gets home.

That day is quickly is approaching now that the NBA’s successful bubble has wrapped up, and the jokes began to immediately fly once Bron, Anthony Davis, and the Lakers gang handled their business for Kobe. Exhibiting no chill whatsoever, social media had the memes ready, forecasting an ass-whooping of epic proportions for Bronny.

LOL

We are sure that Bron has probably already had a talk with his son, and let’s not forget the Bronny’s mom, Savannah, don’t play either and handled the disciplining while King James was working on winning a chip.

Bronny has nothing to fear, but these jokes, though, they still gonna fly. You can peep more reactions in the gallery below.

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Photo: Joe Robbins / Getty

Source: Sam Greenwood / Getty

Everything was lined up perfectly for the Lakers. They were rocking their Black Mamba jerseys, which at the time they were undefeated in, so that means they are going to do this for Kobe and bring home the chip, right? Jimmy Butler says aht aht aht, not so fast.

The Miami Heat, who are grossly undersized, is proving to be one scrappy team, and Jimmy Butler put them on his back once again and willed them to a victory keeping their chances alive. Coming into game 5, the Lakers, especially LeBron James, knows how hard closeout games are, especially ones in the NBA Finals. Game 5 of the 2019-20 NBA Finals was a classic one with James and Butler trading big baskets in the game’s closing seconds.

After Butler made two clutch free throws putting the Heat up, the Lakers had the final possession of the game, and it looked like we were going to get one of those classic NBA “defining moments.” LeBron got the inbound pass, drove to the basket, drew the double team, and kicked it out to a very wide-open Danny Green, who missed the game-winning shot terribly.

Danny Green is no stranger to hitting big shots in the NBA Finals. In fact, he’s made quite a career of it during stints with the San Antonio Spurs and Toronto Raptors…except for last night.

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As you can imagine, Green was catching serious heat from Laker Nation, especially from Lakers superfan, Snoop Dogg. The “Gin & Juice” never bites his tongue when it comes to his favorite team, and he viciously clowned the “sharpshooter” on Instagram before deleting the posts. Fortunately for us, nothing is really truly deleted on social media thanks to screenshots.

Green definitely missed his “Steve Kerr moment.”

Now, he wasn’t alone in catching the vitriol of Lakers fans who were denied a socially distanced NBA championship celebration Friday night. Markieff Morris got clowned when he threw the ball away after catching the offensive rebound following Danny Green’s brick that rocked the entire state of California.

LOL.

The Lakers are still up 3-2 and have another chance to put the Miami Heat away on Sunday (Oct.11). Until then, they are going to get these jokes. You can peep more reactions to Danny Green and Markieff Morris in the gallery below.

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Photo: Sam Greenwood / Getty

Source: Allen Berezovsky / Getty

No, he didn’t say it was himself even though he was a critical member of the BIG THREE. When asked if Anthony Davis is LeBron’s greatest teammate, Bosh made a compelling argument for Dwyane Wade. According to the retired NBA superstar and future Hall-of-Famer, Wade gets that title because he deferred to Bron during their run, enabling LBJ to go to another level and, of course, the fantastic highlights.

Per Yahoo Sports:

“Do they (Bron and Davis) complement each other? Hell yeah, they do. Has LeBron always had that No. 2 guy? Every time he’s won, yeah, he has. But as far as ranking teammates, it’s tough to rank. You know who I’m going to choose. It’s Dwyane Wade for me because Dwyane said, LeBron, you need to be the guy, you’re the No. 1 option, and I’ll figure everything out, you just go ahead and be comfortable being who you are. On top of that, just the effect they had on the game, I’ve never seen anybody do what they did. The steals. The lobs. The dunks. You could play highlights of those two forever. That stuff is classic. I haven’t seen anything like that before or after. As far as I’m concerned, that’s how I feel. Dwyane was a great compliment to him. Just cue the highlights.”

Honestly, no lies were detected in that answer.

Bosh also touched on whether there should be an asterisk attached to this season’s NBA championship, and how would he feel if he was on the Lakers and heard that?  He emphatically disagreed with that notion.

“It would piss me off. It’s weird. I don’t know why they want to put an asterisk on it. It’s like they’re playing Euro teams, or playing a whole different league. No. It’s the same league, same players, and training camp was like, over a year ago. Can you imagine? You’re telling me it takes longer than any other season, and you’ve gotta go away, and you’re not playing in Staples Center, you don’t get any of the joy of seeing everybody there, of seeing Jack Nicholson at the games, and you’re in the NBA Finals and missing that atmosphere. In my opinion, it’s probably one of the hardest championships to win in history. An NBA championship is an NBA championship.”

LeBron James and Anthony Davis are just one win away from securing the Los Angeles Lakers 18th NBA championship, which would be the most in the league.

Do you agree with Chris Bosh? Is Dwyane Wade the greatest teammate LeBron James has ever had? Let us know in the comment section below.

Photo: Allen Berezovsky / Getty

Source: Puma / PUMA

Stylist and industry legend June Ambrose has been named the Creative Director of the German-based athletic brand.

“June will take a holistic brand approach, extending her design eye across categories and age groups for girls and women’s collections throughout 2021 and beyond,” reads the press release. “She will also lend her expertise to a number of moments and collections with PUMA throughout next year including, but not limited to, an exciting exclusive for PUMA Hoops and a Title Nine collection inspired by June’s passion to celebrate bold, fearless women everywhere who rise above and go the distance no matter how big the challenge might be.”

As part of Puma’s aggressive push to regain a stronghold in the basketball market for the first time in the past few decades, it tapped JAY Z in a senior role. His influence was immediate as he wasted no time signing Deandre Ayton,  Marvin Bagley III, and Zhaire Smith. Ambrose is a long time friend and stylist for Hov and is responsible for some of his most iconic looks– from his double-breasted teal suit in Apesh-t, to his tour looks and everything in between since 1999.

Source: Puma / PUMA

“I’ve always envisioned being of service to, not just to my community, to my peers, to the future generation,” she told Vogue of the new gig. “I know that I have a big responsibility—to show people it’s not just about dressing up. [It’s] how do we affect change? And how do we use, visually, what we’re wearing to tell a story? To feel confident and worthy, and fashion serves as the catalyst to say the things that we want.”

And we won’t have to wait very long since Ambrose’s first designs at Puma are set to hit shelves in 2021 and includes a collection inspired by Title Nine, with aims to end sexism in education.