Mother of ex-WNBA player killed in car crash
The mother of a former WNBA player was killed in a car accident over the weekend.
Darcy Connolly-Brunner, the mother of former Phoenix Mercury and San Antonio Stars forward Sophie Brunner, was one of two people who were killed in a head-on collision on Saturday in Freeport, Ill. Connolly-Brunner was 61.
Police revealed in a press conference on Tuesday that the driver of the other vehicle was 30-year-old Rolando Ico-Choc, who was from Guatemala. Ico-Choc was driving a Nissan Altima driving when he allegedly crossed over the middle line hit a Ford Edge that was being driven by Connolly-Brunner. Both drivers were pronounced dead at the scene, and no passengers were in either vehicle.
Stephenson County Sheriff’s Office Sheriff Steve Stovall said Ico-Choc has a criminal record and was believed to have been in the United States illegally.
According to court records that were obtained by WREX in Illinois, Ico-Choc was arrested in March 2022 and charged with driving while under the influence, not having a valid driver’s license and illegally transporting alcohol. He was arrested for DUI again in February 2023 while his license was suspended.
Ico-Choc was also arrested in June 2023 on charges of domestic battery and pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge.
Brunner was a standout basketball player at Arizona State from 2013-2017. She averaged 13.6 points per game as a senior and then signed with Phoenix as an undrafted free agent. Brunner played professionally in Italy following brief stints with the Mercury and Stars.
Fans all said the same thing about Colts’ gross stadium food item
The Indianapolis Colts may have one of the most unappealing food items in sports.
Pretzels are an extremely popular snack at sporting events, but the Colts have managed to show us that there is nothing appetizing about a horseshoe-shaped pretzel. The pretzel, which was first introduced last year, began circulating on social media ahead of Indy’s upcoming Saturday preseason game against the Green Bay Packers at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind.
Simply put, the pretzel looks like a giant turd.
Phone eats first 🤳
— Colts Life (@ColtsLife) August 6, 2024
Thanks to @sodexo_live, we debuted our new menu items for the 2024 season! pic.twitter.com/wNXL0boAc1
Fans have had predictable reactions to the snack, which the Colts must have thought was cleverly designed.
@Colts can’t believe y’all made 💩 pretzel in honor of Daniel Jones pic.twitter.com/U92f5ird3u
— El Cabron de Los-Cabrones (@LightningBoxing) August 11, 2025
I know this is supposed to be a pretzel but I’m not eating that @Colts pic.twitter.com/85RG8pAsdF
— Fat Kid Deals (@FatKidDeals) August 12, 2025
𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚: The Colts' new stadium pretzel looks like a giant piece of sh*t 💀💀 pic.twitter.com/qd8CQ5XOwe
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) August 13, 2025
The Colts tried to make a pretzel that represents their logo and just made it look like their Quarterbacks 😭 pic.twitter.com/DcT5eFRGCS
— Daily Athlete (@idailyathlete) August 13, 2025
Expectations surrounding the Colts are fairly low headed into the 2025. They have yet to name a starting quarterback between Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones, but there is very little optimism surrounding either player.
The Colts went 8-9 last season and missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year. Unless they become one of the surprise teams of 2025, they are probably going to hear plenty more jokes about their horseshoe-shaped pretzel.
Mets hit so many home runs they ran out of fireworks
The New York Mets finally snapped their losing streak on Tuesday night, and they did so in such dramatic fashion that they ran out of pyrotechnics.
The Mets hit six home runs as a team in their 13-5 win over the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field in Queens, N.Y. Pete Alonso and Francisco Alvarez belted two homers each to help the Mets win just their second game in their last 13 tries.
When a Mets player hits a home run at Citi Field, there is usually a brief fireworks display. The team apparently was not prepared for six homers, however, which led to a message being shown on the stadium video board that read “NO MORE PYRO.”
“Due to too many Mets home runs, we have unfortunately run out of fireworks for the night. We apologized for the inconvenience,” the message read.
After the Mets’ 6th homer of the night, Citi Field announced they’ve run out of fireworks 🤣 pic.twitter.com/oDXVUWLHnE
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) August 13, 2025
That was a welcome announcement for Mets fans given how poorly the team has played lately.
The Mets have fallen to five games behind the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East, but they are third in the Wild Card hunt. They played so well prior to their recent skid that their playoff hopes are still very much alive.
With all the problems the Mets have had recently, running out of fireworks because they hit too many home runs was a welcome issue for the team.
James Cook agrees to new contract with Bills
The contract standoff between James Cook and the Buffalo Bills has come to an end.
Cook and the Bills agreed to a four-year, $48 million extension on Wednesday, according to multiple reports. The deal includes $30 million guaranteed.
🚨 🚨 🚨
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 13, 2025
The #Bills have agreed to terms on a big new contract for Pro Bowl RB James Cook, agent Zac Hiller of @LAASportsEnt tells me and @TomPelissero.
It’s a 4-year, $48M deal with $30 guaranteed, locking in another young star in Buffalo for years to come. pic.twitter.com/7fNXjkVsLw
Cook’s new contract is worth slightly more than the three-year, $33 million extension that Kyren Williams recently signed with the Los Angeles Rams.
Cook had participated fully in the first full week of training camp but then began sitting out. When reporters asked what led to the change, Cook would only repeat the same one-word response.
It then appeared that Cook was going to play in Buffalo’s preseason game against the New York Giants on Saturday night, but the 25-year-old pulled a strange move.
The issues all seem to be resolved now. The $12 million average annual salary places Cook just inside the top-five highest-paid running backs in the NFL. There had been reports that he was seeking to become one of the highest-paid backs in the league, but his production is a lot more similar to Williams’ than it is to Saquon Barkley’s, who currently earns $20 million per year.
Cook rushed for over 1,000 yards in each of the last two seasons and made the Pro Bowl both years. He led the NFL with 16 rushing touchdowns last season and has been the focus of Buffalo’s running game.
UFC legend has serious problem with promotion ending pay-per-view model
MMA legend Georges St-Pierre has a major gripe with the UFC putting an end to pay-per-view events.
UFC announced Monday an agreement with Paramount and CBS on a seven-year contract, which will pay the fighting promotion over $1 billion annually for the rights to stream UFC events. Read about the UFC-Paramount deal in further detail here.
One inclusion in the deal was that Paramount will discontinue the pay-per-view (PPV) model the UFC has historically relied on to broadcast its top events. Instead, the UFC will provide Paramount and CBS with 13 annual marquee events and 30 “Fight Nights” that will be made available to Paramount+ subscribers.
On Monday, St-Pierre spoke to Covers about the UFC’s new deal. The former welterweight champion explained how the new model sounded “terrible” for fighters.
“It could be good for the UFC as a promoter, but terrible for the fighters,” said GSP, via Bloody Elbow’s Curtis Calhoun. “Because when I was competing, I was able to have a great argument to negotiate on my contract.”
“I could tell the UFC, ‘Hey, if you want me to do all of the promotion, I want to become a partner. I want a piece of the pie to negotiate a part of the pay-per-view revenue. Because if I’m doing all the promotion, I’m helping you, but you need to help me. You need to make me a partner.’ So it might be a bad thing for the fighters in a way that they have less leverage.”
St-Pierre added that the UFC’s “big names” would be hurt the most by the new model.
Top UFC fighters have historically been able to negotiate a percentage of ticket sales and PPV buys as part of their payout to headline an event. But with the PPV era coming to an end, it remains to be seen how marquee fighters can gain additional compensation in the new revenue model.
Shohei Ohtani hits into triple play against Angels
Shohei Ohtani on Tuesday made the wrong kind of history at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif.
The Los Angeles Dodgers star had a golden opportunity to break a 5-5 tie against the Los Angeles Angels with two runners on and nobody out in the top of the sixth inning.
Ohtani hit a 2-2 pitch up the middle, which appeared to be headed for the center field grass. Instead, the contact play turned into a Zach Neto defensive showcase.
The Angels shortstop snagged the liner near second base, stepped on the bag to get Miguel Rojas out, then threw to first base to gun down Dalton Rushing for a triple play.
THE @ANGELS TURN A TRIPLE PLAY! pic.twitter.com/QImHsg9T7T
— MLB (@MLB) August 13, 2025
Here’s another angle showing Neto’s brilliant play.
THE @ANGELS TURN A TRIPLE PLAY! pic.twitter.com/QImHsg9T7T
— MLB (@MLB) August 13, 2025
Ohtani became the 740th player ever to hit into a triple play in MLB history. It was the third triple play this season and the first since the Washington Nationals turned one on April 25.
The play proved crucial because the two teams went into extra innings. The home Angels beat the visiting Dodgers 7-6 in the 10th inning thanks to a walk-off RBI single off the bat of Angels slugger Jo Adell.
THE JO SHOW GOES ON!!!! pic.twitter.com/HbzY7kwWML
— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) August 13, 2025
The Angels have dominated the Dodgers throughout the season. The Angels have a 5-0 record against their inter-conference rivals heading into their final matchup of the season on Wednesday.
NBA All-Star sends desperate plea for help to use a can opener
Tyrese Maxey can do some incredible things on an NBA court. But the Philadelphia 76ers point guard has a lot less versatility in the kitchen.
Maxey went live on Instagram to ask for help from his 800,000 followers. The assistance he was looking for? How to use a can opener. The All-Star guard desperately needed to open a can of dog food to feed his pets.
“I need help,” Maxey said to begin the livestream. “Normally, Chef helps me use the can opener for my dogs. Tell me what I need to do. Somebody on here, help me out. Show me how to work this thing.”
Maxey then proceeded to attempt to open the can like he was performing a sketch on “Saturday Night Live.”
Sixers' Tyrese Maxey is currently on Instagram Live asking for help on how to use a can opener 😂 pic.twitter.com/LydrBwH284
— Erin Grugan (@eringrugan) August 11, 2025
To his credit, Maxey wasn’t ashamed to ask for help. The 76ers star posted the entire 12-minute stream on his Instagram account. Why he didn’t look for a YouTube tutorial first is anyone’s guess.
Maxey signed a $204 million contract extension last July. The man can afford to have personal chefs and household help open cans for him for the rest of his life.
But one would think Maxey would have learned how to open a can as a child, before the wealth and fame allowed him to rely on others for kitchen duties.
The cry for help at least revealed that Maxey gave his chef a day off. He’ll likely be back to opening cans for Tyrese in no time.
Kiyan Anthony pays tribute to father Carmelo with sizable new tattoo
Kiyan Anthony is really intent on continuing the family legacy.
The 18-year-old shooting guard Kiyan, the son of retired former NBA scoring champion Carmelo Anthony, went viral this week over his large new tattoo. The tattoo paid tribute to Carmelo’s memorable run in college.
In 2003, Carmelo led Syracuse University to the national championship as the Final Four Most Outstanding Player. An iconic photo at the time showed Carmelo holding up a newspaper reading, “CHAMPS” after the victory.
Kiyan recently got a sizable tattoo on his left arm in almost the exact same style. But while the tattoo features Carmelo holding up the newspaper, the headline instead reads, “LEGACY.”
Kiyan Anthony shows off new tattoo honoring his dad’s National Championship
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) August 12, 2025
(via @inkednba, h/t @sportyspicce) pic.twitter.com/m5hqlV7xdh
That is obviously a fitting tattoo for Kiyan. Most notably, he himself decided to commit to Syracuse for college earlier this year and is about to begin his freshman season with them. Kiyan chose to carry on his father’s legacy and picked Syracuse over several other big-name programs.
A consensus four-star recruit, Kiyan is the only child of the 10-time NBA All-Star Carmelo and his ex-wife La La Anthony. Kiyan stands 6-foot-5 and averaged 15.4 points and 2.9 rebounds per contest as a senior last season for Long Island Lutheran in Brookville, N.Y. Now Kiyan is remaining in the state and will be suiting up for the alma mater of his father Carmelo, who was predictably plenty pleased about Kiyan’s decision to commit to Syracuse.
Travis Kelce admits ‘being an entertainer’ hurt his play
Travis Kelce is blaming his declining play on his rising stardom in Hollywood.
The Kansas City Chiefs tight end has always had an outsized personality. With the Super Bowl success of the Chiefs and his high-profile relationship with Taylor Swift, Kelce has seen the number of his off-field projects skyrocket. But that has not necessarily helped his play on the field.
In a recent interview with Variety, Kelce partly blamed “acting and being an entertainer” for his declining play over the last two seasons.
Kelce spoke candidly about the issue when asked about the Chiefs’ recent Super Bowl loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in February.
“I think it might have slipped a little bit because I did have a little bit more focus in trying to set myself up,” said Kelce. “And opportunities came up where I was excited to venture into a new world of acting and being an entertainer.”
“I don’t say this as ‘I shouldn’t have done it. I’m just saying that my work ethic is such that I have so much pride in how I do things that I never want the product to tail off, and I feel like these past two years haven’t been to my standard.”
Kelce, who recently starred in “Happy Gilmore 2,” added that he has added “motivation” this coming season to get back to his All-Pro standard, particularly to “show up for my guys.”
After seven straight seasons of tallying over 1,000 receiving yards from 2016 to 2022, Kelce dipped below that number in 2023 and 2024. He also recorded just eight touchdowns combined in those two seasons.
Kelce may be promising to perform better next season. But that doesn’t mean he’s shying away from the off-field spotlight entirely, having just recently dropped a “New Heights” podcast episode with Swift.
Sophie Cunningham trolls Jacy Sheldon at autograph signing
Sophie Cunningham is more than happy to give the people what they want.
The Indiana Fever guard Cunningham went viral this week over her recent troll job on Washington Mystics counterpart Jacy Sheldon. Cunningham was doing an autograph signing along with teammate Lexie Hull when a fan asked Cunningham to sign an unusual item for him — a rookie card of Sheldon.
After having a good laugh about it, Cunningham obliged and proceeded to write, “PROPERTY OF:” along with her own signature on the front of the Sheldon card.
Fanatics Collect shared photos and video of the great moment.
In fairness to Cunningham, the troll job on Sheldon was entirely initiated by the fan. But nevertheless, Cunningham was happy to play along.
Cunningham and Sheldon have some obvious history. When Sheldon was still a member of the Connecticut Sun in June (Sheldon was traded to the Mystics for Aaliyah Edwards earlier this month), she hit Fever star Caitlin Clark with a flagrant foul during a game. As a result, Cunningham retalitated later on in the same game with a flagrant foul of her own on Sheldon.
The 28-year-old Cunningham saw a surge in her popularity as a result of the incident as her jersey sales blew up and she was even able to land a fantastic endorsement deal out of it. Thus, it makes sense that Cunningham would be happy to give a nod to the incident that triggered her newfound stardom in the first place.
Disappointing news emerges about ESPN’s plans for ‘Inside the NBA’
It did not take ESPN long to plot out major changes to “Inside the NBA.”
ESPN is planning to air the popular television program “Inside the NBA” in a half-hour timeslot following the network’s first doubleheader of the 2025-26 NBA season on Oct. 22, Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch reported on Tuesday. Lewis notes that “Inside the NBA” typically ran for around 50 minutes in previous years and rarely dipped below the 40-minute mark.
Additionally, Lewis reports that “Inside the NBA” is not currently scheduled to run during ESPN’s second NBA doubleheader on Oct. 23 and, after Opening Week of the NBA season, is not even guaranteed to run again until Christmas Day. You can read Lewis’ full report on the situation here.
“Inside the NBA” has been on the air ever since 1989 and has featured the iconic four-man crew of Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal since 2011. With 19 Sports Emmy Awards to its name, “Inside the NBA” has firmly established itself as one of the most popular and renowned sports shows on television.
After airing on TNT all throughout its illustrious run though, “Inside the NBA” is now getting a new home with TNT having just lost the broadcast rights to the NBA. While the program will still be produced by TNT and will still feature its classic four-man crew, it will be aired on ESPN moving forward.
Fans universally reacted with disappointment to this week’s news about ESPN’s plans for “Inside the NBA.” It is hard to blame them too given that the program is apparently set to lose roughly 40 percent of its runtime (meaning that some popular segments will inevitably have to be cut) and may be off the air for two whole months in between Opening Week and Christmas Day.
In an interview last month, the “Inside the NBA” co-host Barkley expressed some notable concerns about the show’s move from TNT to ESPN. Now it appears that at least some of those concerns are already coming to pass.
Aaron Rodgers throws shade at Joe Biden after his latest awkward moment
Aaron Rodgers admitted that he felt like an old geezer after the Pittsburgh Steelers’ preseason opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Rodgers did not take the field for the contest as his Steelers beat the Jaguars 31-25 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. But he faced a different kind of adversity once the game ended.
The 41-year-old opened up to reporters on Tuesday about feeling his age as he tried to socialize with the Jaguars, who have one of the youngest rosters in the NFL.
“I’m 21 years in the league. So I’m over there like, ‘Who do I know on Jacksonville?’ … I was kind of looking around, doing the Joe Biden. ‘I guess I don’t know anybody here, so I’m going to just walk off.’”
Aaron Rodgers said after 21 years in the league, he “gravitates toward the old heads,” so when he was walking off the field in Jacksonville and started looking around, he did the “Joe Biden,” realized he didn’t know anyone, and then joined up with Cam Heyward and TJ Watt. pic.twitter.com/QuFoBF6Ghv
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) August 12, 2025
The four-time MVP later spotted a couple of his old head teammates, Cam Heyward and TJ Watt, and decided to walk toward them instead.
Biden, who turns 83 in November, is double the age of Rodgers. But it’s understandable why Rodgers feels like a senior citizen in a sea of youngsters.
Rodgers was able to name the people who knew from the other team on one hand. He was familiar with Jaguars special teams coach Heath Farwell and running backs coach Chad Morton. Both coaches played in the NFL during Rodgers’ early years and are now well into their new careers.
The 10-time Pro Bowler is also acquainted with Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, whom Aaron has “met a few times.”
Rodgers’ unfamiliarity with the Jaguars players is a testament to his longevity. He has been in the league since 2005, which means he’s starting the third decade of his NFL career. His age definitely contributed to the Steelers being one of the oldest teams in the NFL coming into next season.
Minor leaguer gets RBI hit with absurd 1-handed swing
George Wolkow managed to improvise, adapt, and overcome during Tuesday’s game.
Wolkow, a 19-year-old outfielder who plays in the Chicago White Sox organization for the Single-A Kannapolis Cannon Ballers, went viral for a ludicrous play this week. The Cannon Ballers hosted the Augusta GreenJackets on Tuesday at Atrium Health Ballpark in Kannapolis, N.C.
During the bottom of the first inning, Wolkow was up at the plate with runners on first and second and one out. Wolkow attempted to call for time before the first pitch of the at-bat, but the home plate umpire did not grant it.
As a result, Wolkow, who had already taken a step out of the box, took a one-handed hack at the incoming pitch. By some kind of miracle, Wolkow not only made contact with the ball but shot it down the first base line for an infield single. With the throw coming to first, the lead runner (who was attempting to steal third before the pitch) was able to come all the way around to score.
Here is the ridiculous video.
He wasn’t allowed to call timeout and his emergency swing was legendary pic.twitter.com/YyFjAmqbRs
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) August 12, 2025
Some would argue that Wolkow would have been better off taking the pitch on an 0-0 count. But Wolkow decided to take the risk … and ended up getting his reward.
Wolkow was a seventh-round pick by the White Sox in the 2023 MLB Draft (No. 209 overall). While he is only batting .216 in the minors this season, Wolkow’s fast-thinking mentality might eventually be an asset to a White Sox team that doesn’t exactly have much situational awareness.
Michael Porter Jr. speaks out on NBA players getting tempted by sports betting
Michael Porter Jr. has spoken up about NBA players facing a sports betting landscape that has only gotten worse.
During his recent appearance on the “One Night with Steiny” podcast, the Brooklyn Nets forward addressed the compromised authenticity of basketball among young people. He highlighted teenagers making large sums of money by turning their basketball games into content, which he believes takes away from the purity of the game.
The discussion then turned to sports gambling. Podcast host Steiny initially tried to steer clear of the topic, given that the NBA banned MPJ’s older brother Jontay Porter for allegedly gambling on games.
But Porter Jr. did not shy away from the conversation. Instead, the Nets star tried to explain the temptation athletes face amid the rise of sports betting.
“The integrity of the game, the sports gambling stuff can affect that a lot,” said Porter Jr. “Think about it. You get mad at these dudes that do the sports betting. But think about if you could get all your homies rich by telling them, ‘Yo, bet $10,000 on my under. This one game, I’m going to act like I’ve got an injury. I’ll sit out and come out after three minutes. And they all get a little bag because you did it one game.
“That is so not okay. But some people probably think like that. They come from nothing and all their homies have nothing. … Obviously, my brother went through his situation. Malik Beasley’s going through a situation. Terry Rozier’s in some hot water. But the whole sports gambling entity, it’s bad, and it’s only going to get worse, bro.”
Nothing would make one question the integrity of a sport more than discovering that players are manipulating results based on sports bets. The messages Jontay Porter allegedly sent his co-conspirators are evidence of that.
While Porter Jr.’s explanation holds some truth to it, it’s hard to sympathize with players who would even consider taking a dive for a bet to help their friends. Beasley and Rozier have earned a combined $200 million in career earnings. While Jontay Porter had yet to land a huge deal before getting banned, he was still making an NBA salary and had a brother signed to a nine-figure contract.
Porter Jr. also spoke openly about players receiving death threats from salty sports bettors. He singled out Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews, who had a backbreaking drop in the last two minutes of his team’s AFC Divisional Round game against the Buffalo Bills. The on-field mistake had some fans threatening Andrews for losing them a bet or parlay.
Mets demote big-money offseason signing
The New York Mets are working hard to avoid the sunk cost fallacy.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza announced on Tuesday that righty pitcher Frankie Montas is being demoted. Montas has been removed from the rotation and will now pitch out of the bullpen, per SportsNet New York.
The 32-year-old Montas just signed with the Mets this past offseason on a two-year, $34 million contract. That made Montas the third-highest-paid pitcher on the roster by average annual value (trailing only Sean Manaea and Edwin Diaz).
But Montas’ time with the Mets got off to a bad start after he suffered a lat injury in February that sidelined him for the start of the 2025 season. Montas did not debut for the Mets until late June and had posted an ugly 6.38 ERA with a 1.56 WHIP over seven total starts for them this season.
The Mets were clearly banking on Montas being a meaningful rotation piece for them in 2025, perhaps hoping for Montas to recover the form that allowed him to finish sixth in AL Cy Young voting for the then-Oakland Athletics in 2022. But instead, the Mets now just have an expensive new reliever.
At 63-55 overall this season, the Mets are fortunate that they have a stellar bullpen featuring some All-Star pieces, including one whom they just acquired at the trade deadline. That means that they can afford to use Montas in lower-leverage relief situations to try to get him right again. Still, this was obviously not at all what the Mets envisioned when they decided to pay Montas a whopping $17 million per year last winter.
New image of Zion Williamson draws attention online
2025-26 might be shaping up to be more of the same for Zion Williamson.
A new image went viral this week of the New Orleans Pelicans star forward Williamson. In the image, Williamson was posing with a friend and was not wearing an undershirt. Take a look.
Zion Williamson enjoying summer
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) August 12, 2025
(h/t @big_business_) pic.twitter.com/vkTtK2ZcrZ
Many X users commented that Williamson appeared to be looking a little hefty in that photo. While there is still roughly a month-and-a-half to go before the start of training camp, the picture was not too encouraging given Williamson’s reputation.
The 25-year-old Williamson has struggled with weight and conditioning all throughout his NBA career. Officially listed at 284 pounds, Williamson even has clauses in his contract with the Pelicans that involve meeting certain benchmarks for weight and body fat percentage (read the details here).
Williamson also regressed last season, appearing in only 30 games due to hamstring and back injuries. The Pelicans finished a dismal 21-61 on the year as well, so they clearly need Williamson to be available as often as possible.
On top of it all, Williamson has had a challenging offseason and was the subject of a disturbing lawsuit filed by his ex-girlfriend in May. In the lawsuit, the woman accused Williamson of rape, assault, and other crimes (though Williamson has strongly denied all of the allegations contained in the lawsuit).
Somewhat remarkably, the Pelicans (under their new president of basketball operations Joe Dumars) still seem to be committed to Williamson as a long-term piece. But Williamson will obviously need to show them much more in order for their continued faith in him to be rewarded.
Former NBA player claims LeBron James once offered him a contract
A former NBA player revealed that LeBron James once took the lead on offering him a contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Mirza Teletovic, who played six seasons in the NBA, said in a new interview that James reached out to his agent during the 2015 offseason. Teletovic had suffered a pulmonary embolism the previous season and was struggling to attract interest, but James apparently made him an offer.
“Few people really know who King James is,” Teletovic said, via Eurohoops. “After my pulmonary embolism, when no one wanted to sign me, he called my agent and offered me a contract with Cleveland.”
For whatever reason, nothing ever came to fruition with the Cavaliers. Teletovic ended up signing with the Phoenix Suns for the 2015-16 season, then parlayed a successful campaign there into a three-year, $30 million deal with the Milwaukee Bucks. A recurrence of his pulmonary embolism ultimately ended his career in 2018.
It’s a pretty cool story that demonstrates how much respect James had for Teletovic, who had spent three seasons with the Brooklyn Nets up to that point. It will also be more fuel for those who believe that James essentially acted as de facto general manager of those Cleveland teams. It may also reveal why James is thought to be a bit perturbed by his recent loss of influence with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Jon Gruden issues warning to the NFL
Jon Gruden sent another warning shot toward the NFL after scoring a major win in court.
On Tuesday, Gruden welcomed a ruling that will force the NFL to litigate the circumstances of his firing in court rather than closed-door arbitration. The former Las Vegas Raiders coach made clear that he intends to continue his legal challenge to the NFL to ensure that they are held accountable.
“I’m looking forward to having the truth come out and I want to make sure what happened to me doesn’t happen to anyone else,” Gruden said in a statement provided to ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. “The league’s actions disrupted the whole season. We were leading the division at the time and they completely blindsided me and the team.”
The Raiders were 3-1 in 2021 when Gruden was forced to resign after some offensive emails that he sent between 2011 and 2018 were leaked. Gruden has alleged that the NFL leaked the emails to force him out of a job after obtaining them during an investigation into the Washington Commanders.
The NFL is set to appeal Monday’s ruling, but if that appeal fails, the league may be forced into public discovery. One alternative would be to offer Gruden a settlement, but he has not said whether or not he would be interested in such a resolution.
Gruden has not held an NFL coaching job since the Raiders forced him out. He has recently spoken about possibly making a return to coaching at the college level.
49ers could face contract standoff with breakout player
The San Francisco 49ers may be on the brink of a contract dispute with a breakout player from their 2024 team.
49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings wants a new deal from the team, but the Niners are not eager to give him one, according to Tim Kawakami of the San Francisco Standard. Jennings just signed a new deal in May 2024, but after handing out a number of big contracts this summer, the 49ers do not have a lot of money left to spare.
Jennings and the 49ers are reportedly not close on a new contract. Further complicating the situation is the fact that Jennings is currently sidelined from training camp with a calf injury.
Jennings caught 77 passes for 975 yards and six touchdowns last season in a breakout campaign. With Brandon Aiyuk set to miss the first part of the regular season, he figures to be a key part of the offense again this season. That could raise his value even further, but the Niners already owe him $7.5 million in 2025 under the terms of his previous contract extension.
Previous reports indicated that Jennings could seek a trade if the 49ers do not give him a new contract. That has not happened yet, but if the two sides remain at odds for a few more weeks, that could change quickly.
Najee Harris may have role reduced after fireworks accident
Los Angeles Chargers running back Najee Harris still has yet to return to action after a July 4 fireworks accident, and it sounds like he does not necessarily have a job guaranteed to him when he does.
Chargers offensive coordinator Greg Roman admitted Tuesday that the team is planning a steady rotation at running back whether or not Harris is available to play in Week 1. First-round draft pick Omarion Hampton, however, is the player who has part of the rotation locked down, not Harris.
Chargers OC Greg Roman on if Najee Harris isn't back by Week 1: "There will be rotation no matter what happens."
— Alex Insdorf (@alexinsdorf99) August 12, 2025
"The day of the one running back taking every rep, it's kinda gone the way of the prehistoric creatures."
The Chargers likely intended to use Harris as a part-time back no matter what. However, he certainly cannot have helped himself with his eye injury. The issue was described as superficial after it happened and Harris was expected to be ready for the season, but he is still on the non-football injury list and has yet to participate in a full practice.
Harris, 27, is entering his first season with the Chargers after signing with them in March. He can earn up to $9.25 million on his one-year deal, but that will require him to remain part of the rotation with Hampton.
