Basketball

Sports fans with deep pockets are currently in a bidding war over a one-of-a-kind Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant basketball card expected to sell for over $6 million.

Check out the card -- it's from the 2007-08 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection and features autographs from each basketball legend alongside different NBA logo patches. Kobe's signature parallels a blue, white and red patch, while Michael's patch is gold and white.

The unique card is up for grabs on Heritage Auctions' site and has a bid of just over $5 million as of Saturday morning ... with the final auction price expected to be at least $6.1 million.

The Portland Trail Blazers will be under new management ... as the estate of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has reportedly agreed to sell the team to Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon for a whopping $4 billion!!

Dundon will be one of three people in the group set to purchase the organization, according to Sportico. The outlet also stated the plan is to keep the team in Rip City once the deal goes through.

Allen's estate put the for-sale sign on the Trail Blazers back in May. In the announcement, they said the sale was "consistent with Allen's directive to eventually sell his sports holdings and direct all estate proceeds to philanthropy."

Sophie Cunningham is breathing more life into her beef with Jacy Sheldon after the two were involved in a scuffle during a game back in June ... 'cause the Indiana Fever star autographed her nemesis' card -- and included a savage diss alongside it!!

The moment went down at a recent signing event ... when a fan presented a Sheldon card in front of Cunningham to sign. The hooper got a chuckle out of it before getting to work and etching "Property of Sophie Cunningham" on the item.

"No way," said Lexi Hull, Cunningham's teammate.

Darcy Connolly-Brunner -- the mother of former WNBA and Arizona State basketball player Sophie Brunner -- was tragically killed in a head-on collision in Illinois. She was 61 years old.

The Stephenson County Sheriff's Office said deputies responded to a fatal incident on Route 26 North in Freeport on Saturday.

Officials said preliminary investigation findings indicated the driver of a Nissan Altima, Rolando Ico-Choc, 30, was heading southbound when he entered the northbound lane, crashing directly into a Ford Edge.

Sebastian Telfair is now behind bars ... TMZ Sports has learned the former NBA star has officially begun his prison sentence.

Records show the 40-year-old reported to Fort Dix FCI in New Jersey, where he's expected to remain for the next six months.

A judge, as you know, ordered Telfair earlier this summer to the time in a cell ... after he violated the conditions of his supervised release in his healthcare fraud case.

Alyssa Thomas has had to rely on the support of numerous teammates over the length of her career in the WNBA ... including her fiancée, DeWanna Bonner!

The professional basketball player and her partner have stuck together on and off the court, and the two have wedding bells planned for their future!

We're going to take a look at the background of Thomas' soon-to-be wife and see how they were brought together by their love for sports.

Bonner began receiving attention for her skills on the court in high school, and she continued with the sport, playing college basketball at Auburn University.

The athlete became the first player from Auburn to lead the SEC in scoring, which she accomplished in her 2008-2009 season.

Bonner also set a scoring record at her school, racking up a total of 2,162 points, according to her WNBA profile.

The WNBA star finished out her career with Auburn in 2009, graduating from the institution with a degree in psychology.

Bonner's WNBA career kicked off shortly after she finished college, when she was drafted by the Phoenix Mercury in 2009, where she played guard and forward.

She remained with the team until 2020, when she was traded and began a four-year stint with the Connecticut Sun.

The professional athlete concluded her time with the Sun in 2024, and she returned to the Mercury for the 2025 season.

In addition to her work in the WNBA, Bonner's played for various international teams over the length of her career.

The thing is, Thomas wasn't Bonner's first partner, as the athlete was briefly married to fellow WNBA player Candice Dupree.

Bonner, who played alongside Dupree on the Mercury, tied the knot in the fall of 2016, according to the WNBA's official website.

Bonner announced she was pregnant in March 2017, and she gave birth to a pair of twin girls that July.

The professional basketball players eventually split up, and Bonner moved on with another teammate.

Bonner and Thomas first met when they were both playing for the Sun in 2020, and their relationship developed when they were mandated to stay in what were described as "bubbles" for much of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bonner told CBS News she "stalked" her now-fiancée by watching her Instagram Stories prior to the start of their relationship.

The pair eventually began dating, and the guard-forward asked Thomas to marry her following the 2023 WNBA All-Star Game in Las Vegas.

A'Ja Wilson's earned herself plenty of supporters over her time in professional basketball -- including her boyfriend, NBA star Bam Adebayo!

Wilson revealed the news about her romance in February 2025 ... although she claimed she'd been close with Bam for an extended period of time, prior to the start of their relationship.

We're going to take a look at the life and times of the WNBA star's partner and see how their love story unfolded.

Adebayo's career in the NBA kicked off in 2017, and he's played as both a center and a power forward over the length of his time in the league.

The athlete, who played college ball for the University of Kentucky, was drafted by the Miami Heat after only one season of collegiate sports.

He's earned a fair amount of accolades over the course of his career, and he's played in the NBA's All-Star Game on three separate occasions.

Adebayo earned two gold medals in his appearances at the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympic Games, where he played on the USA's National Team.

Wilson and Adebayo were first linked when they were spotted together just prior to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, when the WNBA star was a member of the USA Women's National Basketball Team, according to People.

The two sparked rumors about a potential relationship when they began sharing cryptic social media posts that appeared to point to their connection after the Games concluded.

Oh yeah, and we caught them leaving a restaurant in Beverly Hills on what appeared to be a date night in January 2025.

The thing is, the athletes had been friends "for years" before they ever started officially dating, and the Las Vegas Aces star confirmed their relationship just after Valentine's Day in 2025 -- which they had to spend apart, as he needed "rest."

Adebayo and Wilson have been openly supportive of each other's efforts off the court, and Adebayo was pictured wearing the Nike A'One Basketball Shoes when the Heat played the Brooklyn Nets in January 2025.

The WNBA star told People her boyfriend was incredibly supportive of her collaboration with Nike and wanted to be at the "forefront of pushing my shoes."

Wilson said she was "thankful" Adebayo wanted to be the one to promote her shoes, and described him as "a good person all around."

Fantasy basketball players searching for a breakout NBAer in 2025-26, look no further ... Scotty Pippen Jr. just guaranteed to TMZ Sports "this year is going to be big for me!"

The Grizzlies guard -- who's the son of Scottie Pippen -- chopped it up with us out at LAX this week ... and he made it clear, his third season in the NBA will be his best.

He told us he's been training out in Los Angeles ... and while there's still a few months left until Memphis' first game, he's "confident."

Lance Stephenson is demanding an end to the sex toy-throwing chaos at WNBA games -- not just out of respect for the players, but also for the young fans in the crowd.

The longtime NBA star made things crystal clear to TMZ Sports this week ... following a fourth incident where a dildo was launched onto the court during a W contest.

"I got kids," Stephenson said. "For them to see that on the floor, man, I mean like, I'd be devastated."

Everyone knows basketballs are going to get tossed around at WNBA games, but no one expected throwing dildos on the court at matches to become a trend in 2025.

As crazy as it sounds, sex toys have been thrown onto the court in the middle of multiple games, and both players and officials have had some choice words about the immature practice.

We're going to take a look at the history of the trend and see how a few people who've been caught in the act have learned some hard lessons about actions and consequences.

The first recorded instance of a dildo being thrown onto a court during a WNBA matchup was on July 29, 2025, when a fan tossed a sex toy in the fourth quarter of the Golden State Valkyries game against the Atlanta Dream in Georgia.

There were several more instances of sex toys being hurled onto basketball courts in early August 2025 ... and although the Indiana Fever's Sophie Cunningham pleaded with spectators on her X account to end the practice, it continued.

Cunningham dealt with another dildo-throwing incident on August 5, and she wrote on X her initial message "did not age well."

In the Atlanta Dream's game against the Connecticut Sun on August 7, not one, but TWO dildos were chucked onto the court in the final quarter.

While most arenas require security checks before entering the premises, sex toys carried by fans can be hard to detect.

Allied Universal Security's President of Event Services Division Ty Richmond told the Associated Press event venues faced a "conflict of expediency," as extensive searches of fans would slow down the process of getting ticket holders into their seats.

He said publicizing the prosecution of individuals who've thrown dildos on courts at games would likely "make a difference" with unruly fans and potential perpetrators.

The WNBA's policy regarding spectators throwing objects on courts at games is a minimum ban of one year from its events.

As immature as the act is, several individuals accused of throwing sex toys at WNBA games have faced legal consequences.

A spectator alleged to have launched a dildo onto the court during the Valkyries-Dream game on July 29 was arrested for disorderly conduct, public indecency/indecent exposure, and criminal trespass, according to USA Today.

Another fan was arrested after a dildo he reportedly threw at a Phoenix Mercury game on August 5 hit a spectator and his young niece.

The suspect claimed his action was just a "stupid prank that was trending on social media," according to Fox 10 in Phoenix.

We know dumb antics like these are usually done by lone knuckleheads ... but a group of cryptocurrency meme coin creators who created GDC -- Green Dildo Coin, in case you were wondering -- have claimed the dildo-throwing incidents are meant to drum up attention for their product, according to USA Today.

The group reportedly created the coin in an attempt at a humorous protest of influencers and scam artists coming up with their own forms of cryptocurrency ... and a GDC spokesperson said they thought of dildo-throwing at WNBA games "in order to get a voice in the space."

The spokesperson said the group had nothing against women's sports or female athletes ... and its collective members have apparently been advised to only throw sex toys if they're confident no one will be struck by the objects.

DeWanna Bonner and Alyssa Thomas are a pretty great team on the court, as they've helped the Phoenix Mercury become the second-highest-ranking team in the WNBA's Western Conference for the 2025 season.

The thing is, they're even closer off the court, as the pair got engaged in September 2023!

We're going to take a look into Thomas' background and see how her love story with her teammate and future wife unfolded.

Thomas began receiving attention for her basketball skills playing for Central Dauphin High School in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

The athlete graduated in 2010, and she signed on to play basketball for the University of Maryland.

Thomas became the Terrapins' all-time leader in several categories, including points, rebounds and free throws made, according to the team's official website.

The basketball star graduated from the University of Maryland in 2014, and the school retired her jersey number on her Senior Day.

Thomas' career in the WNBA began in 2014, when she was drafted by the New York Liberty ... before being traded to the Connecticut Sun.

The athlete, who plays as a power forward, remained with the team for several seasons, and she ultimately left the Sun in 2024.

Thomas has also been associated with various international teams over the length of her career, which has seen her play in countries like South Korea and the Czech Republic.

Thomas' career with the Phoenix Mercury began in February 2025, when the team announced it had acquired the athlete as part of a trade.

In case it wasn't apparent already, Bonner and Thomas met through their involvement with the WNBA, and Bonner jokingly told CBS News she'd "stalked" her now-fiancée's Instagram account in the beginning stages of their relationship.

The pair's connection deepened further when they were required to remain in bubbles with the rest of their team for part of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The happy couple went public with their relationship in 2021, and the Mercury revealed their engagement in a post on its official X account two years later.

Police in Oklahoma City have arrested a man they say was responsible for the shooting after Game 7 of the NBA Finals, which put a teenager in the hospital.

On Wednesday, OKCPD said they identified their suspect after a handgun was found during a June 24 traffic stop (just a couple of days after the shooting) ... resulting in the arrest of 20-year-old Kaziya Penn. He was initially charged with unlawfully carrying a firearm.

Law enforcement officials test-fired the weapon through the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN), and they say it matched the same gun used in the June 22 shooting, which occurred shortly after the conclusion of the deciding game between the Thunder and Pacers.

LiAngelo Ball says his decision to fire up a rap career was purely money-motivated ... the NBA G League's puny paychecks couldn't satisfy this grown-ass man!!!

The "Tweaker" rapper recently joined DJ Clue, Esso World, and Hynaken on the "BagFuel" podcast, where he admitted that just because his brothers Lonzo and LaMelo Ball were rich, it didn't mean that he was.

LiAngelo -- who raps under his nickname Gelo -- told the hosts that the G League only paid him $3,000 every month, and once he learned he could make real money from Hip Hop, he split!!!

Megan Rapinoe and her fiancée, Sue Bird, jumped into the viral Coldplay concert cam trend headfirst -- but the couple added a twist -- and they had the whole arena cracking up!

The legendary soccer player and Bird -- who retired from the WNBA in 2022 -- pulled off the stunt on Tuesday during the 2nd quarter of the Minnesota Lynx and Seattle Storm game at Climate Pledge Arena.

During a break in the action, Rapinoe -- seated courtside -- was shown on the big screens in the arena ... when cameras cut to Bird, who was cuddling up with the Storm's mascot, Doppler.

A WNBA game was once again put on pause due to a flying sex toy.

The latest incident went down at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Tuesday night ... as the Caitlin Clark-less Fever were taking on the Sparks.

In the second quarter of the action, just after Kelsey Plum nailed a free throw, a neon-green pleasure stick was hurled onto the court by a fan in the stands.

A former Miami Heat security officer has been charged with a felony after he allegedly stole millions of dollars worth of items from the team, including over 400 game-worn jerseys.

The U.S. Attorney's Office of the Southern District of Florida claimed on Tuesday that 62-year-old Marcos Thomas Perez stole items when he had access to the Kaseya Center equipment room during his time as a Heat staffer -- and later, an NBA security employee -- from 2016 to 2025.

"This equipment room stored hundreds of game-worn jerseys," the feds said, "and other memorabilia that the organization intended to display in a future Miami Heat museum."