Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant and wife Vanessa Bryant are officially back together, happy, reconciled and dismissing their divorce papers. They confirmed the un-split on Instagram! Friday, Vanessa’s page read: “We are pleased to announce that we have reconciled. Our divorce action will be dismissed. We are looking forward to our future.” Kobe Bryant posted a message on Facebook: “When the show ends and the music stops, the journey is made beautiful by having that someone to share it with. Thank you all for your support and prayers.” “I am happy to say that Vanessa and I are moving on with our lives together as a family.” Vanessa Bryant filed for divorce in December 2011, citing irreconcilable differences, nearly 10 years after she stuck by him during his Colorado rape trial. Kobe was acquitted of all charges, but admitted straying from Vanessa with the desk clerk at a Vail-area resort hotel in a memorable public apology. Vanessa filing to leave Kobe was rumored to be a product of his cheating, as well. This was never confirmed, but he definitely did not want to get divorced. The future NBA Hall of Fame member spent pretty much all of 2012 trying to win his wife back , privately and publicly, and it appears it finally worked. The couple has two daughters. We wish them all the best!
Carmelo Anthony told CBS that he just wanted to talk to Kevin Garnett outside Madison Square Garden after their altercation during the Knicks’ loss to…
Baby on board… NBA Couple Announces That They’re Expecting Another Child One of these four superfly twosomes just announced that they’ll have another silver spooned mouth to feed sometime this year. Each one of these NBA ballers and their banger wifeys all ready have a child or two, so here’s a hint: this will be baby number four for the proud parents. Figure it out yet? The reveal is on the flip…
Are Professional Team Sports Too Intolerant To Accept Openly Gay Players In 2013, will professional team sports see the very first openly gay athlete? We have to ask, especially after reading an insightful piece in the Los Angeles Times about homophobia in professional sports. Here’s an excerpt: About 4,000 players spent time on active rosters in the NBA, NHL, NFL and Major League Baseball in 2012. With the best estimates of the gay population in U.S. ranging from 2% to 10%, it’s likely many of those 4,000 athletes are gay. Yet not one has come out of the closet. Not this year, not last year, not ever. There are openly gay congressmen and two senators-elect. There has been a gay governor and a cable TV network anchor. Just never an openly gay shortstop, quarterback or power forward. And changing that would require more than simply challenging convention. It could require a player to challenge his teammates as well. “It’s still taboo in the locker room,” explains the Clippers’ Grant Hill. Like in the New England Patriots’ locker room. Earlier this season linebacker Brandon Spikes sent out a tweet claiming to be homophobic “just like I’m arachnophobic. I have nothing against ho*****uals or spiders but I’d still scream if I found one in my bathtub.” Spikes later said he was joking. But former Angels outfielder Torii Hunter, among baseball’s most thoughtful and intelligent players, isn’t kidding when he says an “out” teammate could divide a team. “For me, as a Christian … I will be uncomfortable because in all my teachings and all my learning, biblically, it’s not right,” he says. “It will be difficult and uncomfortable.” David Kopay (Redskins running back), Billy Bean (Dodgers and Padres outfielder) and John Amaechi (NBA center-forward) are gay athletes who waited, like former NFL’er Wade Davis, to come out after their playing careers ended. Yet an active player coming out may be inevitable. In the last six months Puerto Rican boxer Orlando Cruz, a featherweight contender, and Kevin McClatchy, former owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates, revealed they were homosexual. And hyper-masculine males such as Brendon Ayanbadejo of the Baltimore Ravens, Scott Fujita of the Cleveland Browns and Chris Kluwe of the Minnesota Vikings — all of whom are straight — have become impassioned spokesmen for same-sex marriage. Then there’s NBA Commissioner David Stern, who last year said it’s no longer a matter of “if” but “when” basketball welcomes its first openly gay player. “It will happen,” he said. “I have no doubt about it.” And talk like that, insists a cross section of professional athletes, former athletes, scouts and team executives, is laying the groundwork for a new locker room culture that will be more welcoming for gays. The views of older players, they say, are at odds with younger players, such as 26-year running back Arian Foster of the Houston Texans who, when asked this month about a gay player being in the NFL, told TV’s Jim Rome “People are more accepting of it…. I don’t think it will be long.” As older players retire and younger ones take their place, attitudes in professional sports are bound to change. That generation gap in social thinking mirrors public opinion polls on gay marriage, with a CBS News poll released last month showing the greatest support — 72% — among Americans ages 18 to 29. But journalist Cyd Zeigler, co-founder of the gay sports website Outsports.com, says something else may be at work. Zeigler interviewed more than two dozen current and former NFL players — including Redskins rookie Robert Griffin III, New England tight end Rob Gronkowski and Titans quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, plus retired Pro Bowlers Jevon Kearse, Ahman Green and Eddie George — over the last seven months and found just one who said he would be uncomfortable with a gay teammate. “When I talk to these guys, the majority of them have a gay family member. And all of them know at least one gay person,” Zeigler says. Griffin had a gay teammate in high school, for example, Green has a gay brother and lesbian sister and Hasselbeck insists he must have played with at least one closeted teammate during his NFL career. Do you think that knowing someone gay makes people more tolerant of homosexuality or has it just become more acceptable thanks to public awareness about marriage equality and other issues? Which pro team sport do you think will have the first openly gay player? Any ideas about who the player may be? Photo Credit: John Loomis/WENN
Was this a fair call?? According to ESPN , Wade’s not too happy and took his frustration out via twitter : Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade has been suspended one game without pay by the NBA for flailing his leg and making contact with the groin of the Charlotte Bobcats’ Ramon Sessions. The suspension was announced Thursday by Stu Jackson, the NBA’s executive vice president for basketball operations. “I’m far from being a dirty player + my intent was never 2 kick Ramon Sessions,” Wade tweeted Thursday night in reaction to the suspension. “I just reacted to the contact that I got from him…. More than anything, I think of my boys watchin me be4 retaliating 2ward any player. Im moving 4ward + ready 2 get back on the court in MIL.” The incident happened with 8:12 left in the fourth quarter of the Heat’s 105-92 victory over the Bobcats on Wednesday night. Sessions was called for a foul on the play. Wade will serve the suspension Friday night when the Heat visit the Detroit Pistons. What are your thoughts on this one??? Images via youtube/AP
Since most of you are always curious as to who NBA players are wifing up, dating, marrying, etc. , here’s a list of pro-basketball players and their current boos… Enjoy!
Frank Ocean had one amazing year. Before 2012 comes to close, the Odd Future member and soul crooner drops a song called “Wiseman” that was originally intended to appear on the Django Unchained soundtrack…. Continue
Are you going to see it?? According to Essence , Spike isn’t givin’ the film any of his time: Although opening night tickets for Quentin Tarantino’s latest film, Django Unchained, are selling out left and right, there’s one Hollywood filmmaker who doesn’t plan to see the film. In a recent interview with VIBETV, Spike Lee had very little to say about the film, which is a love story based in the days of slavery, and insisted he hadn’t seen it and wasn’t planning on it. “All I’m going to say is that it’s disrespectful to my ancestors,” says Lee. “That’s just me…I’m not speaking on behalf of anybody else.” The Red Hook Summer director is known for his outspoken opinions, and for ruffling a few feathers with his own projects. Django stars Jamie Foxx and Kerry Washington and has received mixed reviews from top critics across the country. The movie hits theaters on Christmas Day. Hmmmm…what do you think? Images via tumblr/twitter
Spike Lee talking about basketball and the New York Knicks will always be entertaining. For the latest spot in the NBA’s BIG campaign, the renowned director stars and directs a commercial called “The King Of New York” that praises NBA great Bernard King…. Continue
Clifford Harris ain’t the only trouble man in the news Ex-Washington Wizards Player Javaris Crittenton Arrested For Domestic Abuse According to TMZ reports : Javaris Crittenton — ex-NBA star and accused murderer — is now being accused of slapping his baby mama in the face while she was breastfeeding their 1-day-old child … TMZ has learned. Crittenton has temporarily been ordered to stay at least 100 yards away from Tyress Daniels and their newborn son … after she filed court docs outlining a pattern of domestic violence. In the docs, filed in L.A. County Superior Court, Daniels claims JC attacked her on three separate occasions. The first incident allegedly took place when she was pregnant and he roughed her up in a hotel room. According to Daniels, the 2nd incident occurred at a hospital on Nov. 1 — less than 24 hours after she gave birth to their son. Daniels claims, “I was breastfeeding the baby and we got into an argument over what the baby would wear for pictures. Javaris hit me in the face while I was breastfeeding because he said I had a smart mouth.” Not while ya seed is on the tidday playa…SMH! Daniels claims Javaris tried to grab the baby and leave … but hospital security rushed in and stopped him. He was eventually kicked out of the room. According to the docs, Daniels claims JC got rough with her a 3rd time on Nov. 26 … scratching her face and busting her lip. She also claims Javaris later sent her a text message saying she would end up like her “dead mother” and he will have the child. Cotdamn ni**a! Is it REALLY that serious??? After Daniels filed the docs, a judge awarded temporary custody of the kid to Daniels — and set a hearing for next month … when the judge will decide if the restraining order will become more permanent. It’s another major legal fight for the 24-year-old former Washington Wizards player … who’s facing a murder charge for the shooting death of a 22-year-old woman in 2011. Javaris has denied any wrongdoing in the murder case. Just put this azzhole in prison already, clearly he isn’t doing anything productive with his current freedom. Image via AP
