NBA

Devastating news for the OKC Thunder ... Chet Holmgren, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft, is expected to miss his entire rookie season due to a foot injury.

Shams Charania of The Athletic reported on Wednesday that the Thunder fear Holmgren -- who stands 7'0" tall and weighs 190 lbs -- suffered ligament damage in his foot.

The worst possible scenario was confirmed just minutes ago -- he suffered a Lisfranc injury to his right foot, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Lisfranc injuries vary widely in seriousness ... but often require surgery to the midfoot, where bones are broken and/or ligaments torn. The injury isn't particularly common, but has occurred to NBA players in the past.

Oklahoma City selected Holmgren behind Duke star Paolo Banchero, who went to the Orlando Magic, hoping Chet could be the cornerstone of their franchise moving forward.

Holmgren sustained the foot injury in Jamal Crawford's Pro-Am game in Seattle ... where he was shown limping awkwardly after guarding LeBron James.

In the clip, you see LBJ one-on-one with Chet, who was in retreat mode, and after the 7-footer contested James' bucket, he appears to favor his right foot.

Thunder GM Sam Presti released a statement on Holmgren's injury ... saying, "Certainly, we are disappointed for Chet, especially given the excitement he had about getting on the floor with his teammates this season.

"We know Chet has a long career ahead of him within our organization and the Oklahoma City community. One of the things that most impressed us during the process of selecting Chet was his determination and focus."

"We expect that same tenacity will carry him through this period of time as we work together and support him during his rehabilitation."

Dennis Rodman won't be getting involved in the Brittney Griner case after all -- the Hall of Famer has reportedly decided not to travel to Russia ... after the U.S. government strongly advised against his plans.

Rodman claimed earlier this week he had permission to go to Russia to try to get Griner -- who was sentenced to 9 years in prison earlier this month -- back on U.S. soil ... saying he knew president Vladimir Putin "too well."

It's no secret -- Rodman is well-connected overseas ... especially with North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un, so the ex-Bulls great was trying to see how much international pull he really had.

But, the folks at the White House made it clear if the Worm planned to go, he would not have D.C.'s blessing ... with State Department spokesperson Ned Price saying, "He would not be traveling on behalf of the U.S. government."

In fact, the government felt Rodman's involvement might mess up the U.S.'s current negotiations with Russia to get Griner out ... so ultimately, the hooper decided to take a back seat.

Griner has been behind bars since she was arrested for having cannabis oil in her luggage at the airport. The U.S. has remained adamant she's being wrongfully detained.

Vanessa Bryant has won her lawsuit against Los Angeles County ... after a jury of ten decided she has suffered and will continue to suffer severe emotional distress as a result of the death scene photos captured on the cell phones of 8 L.A. County Sheriff's deputies -- photos she fears will someday surface publicly. That fear was the basis of her lawsuit.

The jury awarded Vanessa $16 million. Chris Chester -- who lost his daughter and wife in the helicopter crash -- was awarded $15 million.

Chester's attorney, Jerry Jackson, tells TMZ ... "Grateful to a jury and judge that gave us a fair trial."

Vanessa broke down sobbing when the verdict was read. The jury was polled and Vanessa looked at them one by one in approval.

The verdicts were against both the L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. and the L.A. County Fire Dept.

The deputies not only took the photos but shared them with friends, family and even strangers at a bar. The photos were even shared at a party with fire officials.

Lawyers for the County had argued the photos have never surfaced and they have been deleted from the cell phones in question ... so there was no cause for alarm that they might leak.

During closing arguments, the lawyer for Chester asked for up to $32.5 million. Bryant's attorney did not ask for a specific amount ... rather asking the jury to award what's right.

The trial lasted two weeks and was at times so laden with graphic descriptions, Vanessa cried and periodically left the courtroom.

Kobe and Gigi Bryant, along with Sarah and Payton Chester, were killed along with 5 others in the January 26, 2020 crash.

Amazing news for Zach LaVine and his wife, Hunter Mar -- the couple just welcomed their first child together ... Saint Thomas LaVine!!

The LaVines revealed their little nugget on Wednesday ... saying the baby boy was born on Sunday.

"My heart in human form," Hunter said on Instagram. "I love you, baby boy! 💙"

Zach added ... "Best feeling I’ve had is now being a Father."

As we previously reported, the duo broke the news of their new addition earlier last month ... saying, "God has blessed us with the most special gift and we couldn’t be happier."

Zach and Hunter have been together for a long time now ... and first got engaged back in April 2020.

The couple will have no problem finding a babysitter ... as all their friends shared their excitement over Saint's big introduction.

"Congrats broski 🙏🏾," Tristan Thompson said ... with Dejounte Murray adding, "I Love This For Y’all!!!! 🖤 @zachlavine8 @hunter_lavine."

Even the city of Chicago's Instagram got into the comment section to congratulate the LaVines ... saying, "👏👏👏."

G Leaguer Perri’on Callandret is already thinking of the important things ... joking, "Anyone in these comments know what size shoe babies this size wear? 😂"

Retired NBA star Gilbert Arenas says he's happy to still be breathing after he cost Irv Gotti and Ja Rule $175k ... claiming he purposely busted up a bet they had on a game he was playing in -- and they were FURIOUS over it!!

Arenas -- who was on the Warriors at the time -- said he was playing a road game against the Rockets when he overheard Gotti and Ja mentioning they had bet on the Dubs to cover the spread that night.

Agent Zero says he had no idea what the spread was, but made it his mission to spoil their night ... knowing he had to score some more points to kill the bet.

Arenas said his Warriors were losing to the Rockets, led by Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley, and with the game out of reach, he came down the court and threw up a half-court three-pointer.

Naturally, the wild shot went in ... sinking any hopes Gotti and Ja had of cashing out that night.

"[I] came down and shot it," Arenas said. "And I could see the disappointment in their face. I won. I won the game. We're going back to the locker room, and I'm sitting there like, 'Yeah, I hurt somebody's feelings today.'"

"I didn't know how much money they had on the game. I didn't really know it was about betting, but I knew I hurt [Gotti's] feelings. I knew I hurt his feelings. He was disappointed even though they won. He was disappointed, so that means I won."

Thanks to a recent interview on the "Drink Champs" podcast, we now know that Gotti and Ja bet $175K on the Rockets to cover the spread against Gilbert's Warriors.

"We wanted to kill Gilbert Arenas after that," Gotti said on the podcast. "The whole arena knew we had 175 [thousand dollars] on this. The refs knew. Everyone knew."

Vanessa Bryant has endured two weeks of emotional testimony ... thankfully, she hasn't done it alone 'cause her support system is strong -- with U.S. soccer star Sydney Leroux joining VB and Natalia Bryant in court Wednesday.

The 32-year-old Olympic gold medalist and World Cup winner was photographed walking into a Los Angeles courtroom this morning with Kobe's 19-year-old daughter, Natalia, and Vanessa ... for closing arguments in the trial over photographs taken by L.A. County Sheriff's Deputies, who are accused of taking and showing off gruesome photos from the crash scene.

Leroux, who also attended court late last week, is a longtime friend of the Bryant family. In fact, Kobe was a mentor to the 2012 London Olympics and 2015 Women's World Cup winner.

After Kobe and Gianna tragically died, Leroux, who like Gigi, wore #2 ... the soccer star got the number tattooed on her body as a tribute to Vanessa's daughter.

Sydney isn't the only famous friend supporting Vanessa. Ciara and Monica have also attended the trial this week.

The attorney for Chris Chester, the co-plaintiff in the lawsuit, who tragically lost his wife and daughter in the helicopter crash, has asked for up to $32.5 million from L.A. County, calling the county's actions "inhuman and inhumane."

Vanessa Bryant has not specified the amount she is seeking.

The Los Angeles Lakers paid tribute to Kobe Bryant on what would have been his 44th birthday, giving UCLA newborns -- who were born on the same day as Mamba (8/23) -- gear inspired by the Hall of Fame legend.

The Lakers posted pics of the babies wearing white hats featuring Kobe's iconic No. 8 ... along with a welcome note from the team and staff at UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital.

"WELCOME TO THE WORLD!” the note reads. “One of your family’s most special days has landed on one of our organization’s most celebrated days."

"On this year's Kobe day, here's to your next-generation Lakers fan. They've already got a little of the Mamba Mentality in them."

This is the second straight year the Lakers have donated the KB24-inspired care package to babies born on the Mamba's bday ... since he tragically passed away in 2020.

Kobe -- who won five NBA championships and broke numerous NBA records -- played 20 seasons, all with the Lake Show ... retiring in 2016 after dropping 60 points in his final game.

Vanessa Bryant's co-plaintiff Chris Chester is seeking millions in damages as the trial over the Kobe crash photos nears an end ... with his attorney asking for up to $32.5 million in damages.

The Chester and Bryant family attorney's both made closing statements ... but only Chester's specified a dollar amount.

Craig Lavoie, Vanessa's attorney, asked the jury to hold the officers accountable for allegedly taking and sharing gruesome photos of her late husband and daughter.

Bryant's lawyer reiterated Vanessa will constantly live in fear, knowing the photographs could hit the internet at any moment.

"Anytime, any day, that can be the day," Lavoie said. "Every day they will live in the fear that that is the day they will resurface."

It's been an emotional couple of weeks for Vanessa ... who's been in the courtroom every day, forced to listen to painful details about the tragic accident and the subsequent investigation into whether law enforcement inappropriately shared the images.

But, Vanessa hasn't been alone. On Monday, Ciara and Monica were on hand to support Bryant, with the latter showing up on Tuesday, as well.

In Chester's attorney, Jerome Jackson's closing remarks, he asked for $2.5 million for his client ... citing emotional damages sustained over the last two years.

Jackson's also asking for between $100K and $1 million for the rest of Chris' life ... which based off life expectancy data, is 30 years.

FYI, Chester lost his wife and 13-year-old daughter in the crash.

Vanessa's attorney, while addressing the court, made it clear the case was not about the accident ... but rather the alleged improper behavior of the deputies.

"44 years ago, today Kobe was born. It’s an honor to stand here beside Vanessa and ask for justice. Tragedy took both Kobe & Gigi away. We’re not here because of an accident, here because of intentional conduct. We’re going to ask you to deliver justice."

NBA stars Nikola Jokić and Boban Marjanović went all out for Bogdan Bogdanović's 30th birthday party ... raging their faces off with their national hoops teammates -- and the vid is nuts!!

The Serbian trio hit up the Lafayette Cuisine Cabaret Club in Beograd for the festivities .. which included live music, dancing, singing and chugging out of massive champagne bottles.

The party scene was captured by Jokić's wife ... showing the back-to-back Most Valuable Player drinking his face off throughout the night -- having an absolute blast to celebrate Bogdan's 30th.

7'4" Boban was also getting into it ... hopping around as music blared in the background.

Hotsport says the hoopers' Serbian teammates Miloš Teodosić and Pero Antić were also in attendance ... as well as a number of celebrities to keep the party going.

On top of Bogdan's cake day, Jokić has a lot to celebrate ... he just inked a five-year, $264 supermax extension this offseason, which is the richest contract in NBA history.

Magic Johnson just shot down a rumor claiming he recently donated blood ... with the Hall of Famer calling the story a flat-out lie.

A Twitter account posted what appeared to be a picture of Magic donating blood back on Aug. 18 -- and it quickly went viral, as it claimed the Lakers legend, who was diagnosed with HIV in the early 1990s, was giving blood in order to help those affected by COVID.

But, Johnson said Tuesday it's all completely fabricated.

"I'm aware of the false story circling the internet," the 63-year-old said, "and to be clear, I have never donated blood."

Johnson initially went public with his HIV diagnosis in 1991 -- announcing he was retiring after contracting the virus.

The former point guard did ultimately come back to play in the 1992 All-Star Game, and he also returned to the Lakers in the 1995-96 season.

So much for a blockbuster deal involving Kevin Durant this offseason -- the Brooklyn Nets just announced both sides have agreed to "move forward with our partnership" and NOT fulfill the superstar's trade request.

Durant initially requested the change of scenery back in June ... and previously gave the Nets an ultimatum -- either trade him or get rid of head coach Steve Nash and GM Sean Marks.

After meeting with Nets brass on Monday, it sounds like KD is satisfied with what he heard and is ready to give it another shot.

"Steve Nash and I, together with Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai, met with Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman in Los Angeles yesterday," Marks said.

"We have agreed to move forward with our partnership. We are focusing on basketball, with one collective goal in mind: build a lasting franchise to bring a championship to Brooklyn."

Durant is in the middle of a 4-year, $194 million extension to stay with the Nets in 2021 ... but reports claimed the 2-time champ was unhappy with the direction the squad was going.

Dwyane Wade was eating peaches while vacationing in Spain this week ... getting down on all fours and taking a bite out of Gabrielle Union's booty -- and the video is 🔥!!

The inseparable couple has been posting a ton of content while sailing through Europe over the past couple days to celebrate their 8th anniversary ... chilling on a fancy boat, dancing and getting in some quality R&R.

Wade and Union -- who dubbed the trip the "Wade World Tour" -- even got in some athletics ... tossing a football into the water as they tried to make impossible catches.

But, D-Wade decided to take things to another level while sharing his Monday activities ... which included some wild PDA.

The Heat legend's followers loved it ... with a ton of positive comments piling in below the post.

"I am obsessed with the two of you," actor Aaron Paul said ... with Jasmine Sanders adding, "😍😍😍 i love y’all!"

Kobe Bryant would've turned 44 on Tuesday ... and his wife, Vanessa, penned a heartfelt birthday note on Instagram, writing she loves and misses him so much.

Vanessa posted a photo of her and her NBA legend hubby from 2009 ... when Kobe won his 4th NBA title and 1st NBA Finals MVP.

You can see Bryant -- wearing his 2009 NBA championship shirt and hat -- hugging Vanessa post-game ... and they were both all smiles.

"Happy birthday, baby!" the 40-year-old said Tuesday.

"I love you and miss you so much! #44 ❤️ @kobebryant"

Since Kobe -- who she married in April 2001 -- and daughter Gigi's untimely death, Vanessa has been honoring them in countless ways ... including getting tattoos in their honor, launching the Mambacita clothing line, and taking her 3 other daughters to Italy -- where Kobe was raised.

"Visited Reggio Calabria," Vanessa said in July, "a city my husband lived in when he was about 8 years old."

Of course, Bryant went on to play 20 seasons in the NBA -- winning 5 championships and 2 NBA Finals MVP ... was an 18-time NBA All-Star, broke numerous records, and is known as one of the best NBA players ever.

Vanessa Bryant had some emotional support Monday in her trial against L.A. County over crash-site photos ... walking in shoulder to shoulder with Ciara and Monica.

The 2 singers arrived with VB and her daughter Natalia ... all the women forming a united front. They sat behind Vanessa during testimony from an internal officer with the Sheriff's Dept.

They never left her side ... at certain points in Monday's proceedings, Vanessa had to step outside -- and both Monica and Ciara went out with her.

The trial's been going on for nearly two weeks, and it's been an emotional rollercoaster for the Bryant family ... and Vanessa in particular. She got on the stand herself last week to testify about how the thought of photos of her late husband and daughter's remains being circulated among County employees -- including first responders -- mortified her to this day.

As you know ... she's suing L.A. County for emotional distress, among other claims, and the jury got to hear firsthand how this whole ordeal has affected her since Kobe and Gigi's passing.

Vanessa has remained stoic as she comes and goes each day -- but inside it's been difficult for her ... especially during graphic testimony.

LeBron James will now have a crown everywhere he goes -- 'cause the King just got his iconic "LJ" logo imprinted on his tooth!!

The Lakers shared a pic of James -- who's gearing up for his 20th NBA season -- on social media minutes ago ... showing the 4-time NBA champ sporting his new bling.

In the pic, you see James' signature "LJ" logo -- which was created to go on all his shoes and apparel when he signed his deal with Nike -- etched on his tooth.

It's plausible Bron got the idea from his homie Odell Beckham Jr. ... who dropped $1.8 million on 13-carat diamond porcelain veneers in 2021.

The flashy wide receiver didn't stop there, though ... 'cause Odell then spent $5K to get diamonds implanted on his teeth -- which aren't removable!!

No word yet on who hooked LBJ up or how much it cost, but he just signed a 2-year, $97.1 million contract extension with the Lake Show ... so he can definitely afford it.

Dennis Rodman says he's going to put his dictator diplomacy to good use soon in an attempt to free Brittney Griner, who's currently jailed in Russia.

The ex-NBA star told NBC News this weekend that he's planning on jetting off this week, adding that he got "permission" to head over there and "help that girl" in a would-be prisoner swap. Unclear if Rodman is serious or not ... but his track record suggests he could be.

As we all know ... DR has visited North Korea a lot over the years and built a relationship with Kim Jong Un. Rodman has always insisted his connections in N. Korea have helped U.S. diplomatic efforts -- including the release of an American prisoner, Kenneth Bae.

Of course, he also tagged along with then-President Donald Trump for a 2018 trip to the communist country. That said, his actual influence has always gotten a raised eyebrow.

There isn't much more to the NBC interview -- which sounds like it was fast and on the move, as there's no video or anything beyond text quotes -- other than Rodman suggesting that he's also familiar with Vladimir Putin, adding that he knows the leader "well."

As NBC and other outlets have noted ... Rodman doesn't actually need permission to head to Russia right now -- and there's no word yet on whether this is a U.S.-sanctioned effort.

The feds have advised Americans not to travel to Russia at the moment -- and they're already actively working on securing BG's release -- but we suppose we'll see if DR actually touches down in the near future to do something that isn't already happening. BTW, he was in town in D.C. this weekend for an event ... so maybe geopolitics were top of mind for him.