Rumors

The long-awaited design for the Los Angeles Dodgers' Kobe Bryant bobblehead night was unveiled Thursday. The Los Angeles Lakers legend's figurine is in a batting stance and sporting a gold No. 24 Lakers jersey. The bobblehead appears to have been inspired by a photo of the five-time NBA champion during Lakers media day in 2009. Bryant is also wearing the Zoom Kobe 6 Protro "Dodgers" sneaker, which was officially released in May.

ESPN

Bryant's bobblehead will be given away to the first 40,000 ticketed fans of the Dodgers' home matchup against the Toronto Blue Jays on Aug. 8 -- aka 8/8, doubling down on the number Bryant wore during the first half of his 20-year NBA career.

ESPN

Jabari Smith, at $24.4 million, would have been the highest paid NBA player as late as the 2007-08 season. Stephen Curry was the NBA’s highest paid player during the 2019-20 season and the first to crack the $40 million threshold; that would make him just the 29th-highest paid player next season. The NBA will have 16 players earn at least $50 million during the 2025-26 season; the NFL, MLB and NHL will have six between them.

New York Times

Could that future — one broadcast channel and one streaming app for the Dodgers and Lakers — become reality now that Mark Walter, the controlling owner of the Dodgers, is the new controlling owner of the Lakers? Walter hasn’t yet talked publicly about the Lakers deal, so we floated the idea by sports business insiders. The Lakers are on Spectrum SportsNet. The Dodgers are on SportsNet LA. Who owns those channels? Charter Communications, the parent company of Spectrum, owns SportsNet. The Dodgers, through an affiliated company, own SportsNet LA, although Charter operates it and pays the team a rights fee every year, just as it does with the Lakers.

Los Angeles Times

Could Walter buy out Charter and put the Dodgers and Lakers on the same channel? In theory, yes. Charter probably would give him the Lakers’ channel for free. In reality? That appears unlikely any time soon. Walter didn’t get to be a billionaire by turning down half a billion dollars every year.

Los Angeles Times

Before hearing their names called by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver at Barclays Center in Brooklyn next week, Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey will be taking center stage at two other iconic New York sports venues. The former Rutgers basketball stars will each throw out the first pitch at a local MLB game over the next week.

Newark Star-Ledger

Harper, a 6-foot-4 guard who is projected to be picked No. 2 overall in next Wednesday’s first round, will throw out the first pitch at Yankees Stadium on Sunday, when the Yankees host the Baltimore Orioles. Bailey, the 6-foot-7 forward whose potential draft position is all over the map, will throw out the first pitch at Citi Field on Tuesday, when the Mets host the Atlanta Braves.

Newark Star-Ledger

Jerry Reinsdorf and Justin Ishbia reached a long-term investment agreement that establishes a framework for Ishbia to obtain a future controlling interest in the Chicago White Sox, the team announced Thursday.

Chicago Tribune

The Sox said that in the event of any such transaction, all limited partners would have the opportunity to sell to Ishbia at that time. Ishbia’s brother, Mat, and father, Jeff, also will be significant investors.

Chicago Tribune

The Yankees were playing again Saturday on the other side of the country as the Knicks hosted Game 3 of the second round against the Celtics at the Garden, where they suffered a lopsided 115-93 loss. “It’s been tough to catch a game,” Judge said before Saturday’s 11-7 loss to the A’s at Sutter Health Park. “But I’ve been seeing the highlights, seeing what they’re doing. It’s impressive, especially going up against Boston. They just won it, the former champs. “And for [the Knicks] to have a two-game lead, it’s pretty impressive. They’ve been up. They’ve been down big. Come back with some great clutch plays at the end on the offensive side and defensive side. I wish we could catch a game.”

New York Post

Scott Agness: Tyrese Haliburton told @PatMcAfeeShow he supposed to throw out the first pitch at a Milwaukee Brewers game last summer. But then the Brewers nixed it after the Pacers knocked the Bucks out of the 2024 playoffs.

Twitter

"Debut games are truly one-of-a-kind moments in an athlete's career," said Brahm Wachter, Sotheby's head of modern collectibles, in a statement. "They mark the nascency of an extraordinary journey, and for iconic athletes like Kobe Bryant, these milestones hold even more significance as they represent a singular moment in time that can never be replicated." The $7 million Bryant jersey is the fourth-most-expensive game-worn sports jersey of all time behind the $24 million Babe Ruth "called shot" jersey, Michael Jordan's $10.1 million "Last Dance" jersey and Diego Maradona's $9.3 million "Hand of God" Argentina jersey from the 1986 FIFA World Cup.

ESPN

The National Basketball Association (NBA) has joined Major League Baseball (MLB) in launching an account on Bluesky. An official presence was set up over the All-Star Weekend, which has rapidly become a technological showcase for the NBA, which is widely considered to be one of the most digitally progressive properties in the world sport.

sportspro.com

While guesting on “The Chris Rose Rotation,” Lowe momentarily left the frame and returned with the World Series ring he won in 2023 with the Rangers. Lowe then took a swipe at the 25-year-old Lakers guard for being a ringless Dallas star during his time with the Mavericks. “I'm sure your guests come back with surprises because Luka [Doncic] is not sporting one of those,” Lowe said while flaunting his World Series ring. “Luka's not sporting one of those. You know, no knock. He had a fabulous Dallas sports career, but yeah.”

Clutch Points