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Pretty bold allegation from Bill Simmons ... who claims the NFL co-opted several ESPN employees to smear Tom Brady's image during the Deflategate saga ... including Stephen A. Smith.

Stephen A. had tweeted about Brady's 4-game suspension on Wednesday -- saying, "Tom Brady was ARROGANT, UPPITY, SELFISH and in the end he brought this on himself."

That's when Simmons -- who famously left ESPN on bad terms -- chimed in about his former colleague.

"One of multiple ESPN employees used by the NFL to leak anti-Brady info during this saga decides to weigh in."

Gonna guess Stephen A. will have some thoughts on this ...

FYI, we reached out to ESPN -- but the network had no comment.

Tom Brady's running out of options ... because a federal appeals court just shot down his request to get a rehearing in the Deflategate case -- meaning it's unlikely he'll get out of serving his 4 game suspension.

Brady had filed a request for a rehearing with the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals -- but Wednesday, the court formally denied Brady's request.

The New England Patriots QB can still appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court -- but there's no guarantee the court would take the case ... and even if it did, it's unlikely the case would be decided before the 2016 NFL season begins.

Now we know how Kobe Bryant's been keeping himself busy in retirement ...

Vanessa Bryant just announced she's with child -- the couple's 3rd kid -- and it's a girl!

Mrs. Mamba broke the news on social media -- saying, "Beyond blessed and excited to share that we are expecting our third baby girl!!! #Blessed #BabyMamba #Thankful."

It's been a while since Kobe's changed a diaper -- his oldest daughter Natalia is 13 and Gianna is 10.

Congrats!

Pokemon Go creators want players to catch 'em all, but to avoid getting jacked while you're doing it ... they're warning you not to play on your own.

Alleged robbers in Missouri used the GPS location features on the game to lure in unsuspecting gamers -- then pulled guns on them, according to cops. Four suspects were arrested.

The Pokemon Company International and Niantic, Inc tells TMZ it's aware of the incidents while playing the game, and encourage all people playing to "be aware of their surroundings and to play with friends when going to new or unfamiliar places."

For the uninitiated ... Pokemon Go is a mobile app that uses GPS location to encourage players to walk around their immediate surroundings and collect digital creatures.

BTW, in just a few days ... Pokemon Go has added over $7 billion in market value to Nintendo.

NBA superstar Draymond Green was arrested for assault early Sunday morning in East Lansing, Michigan.

Tim Duncan made it official ... he's retiring from the NBA after 19 seasons, all with the San Antonio Spurs.

40-year-old Duncan's leaving the game with a ton of hardware -- 5 NBA rings, a Rookie of the Year award and 2 MVP trophies.

The surefire future Hall of Famer will be replaced by Pau Gasol, who the Spurs signed last week.

Duncan was never the most thrilling player, but he consistently dominated enough to become the 14th highest scorer in NBA history.

One of the greatest moves of his career happened in defeat -- dragging his wasted teammate Aron Baynes out of a Hollywood nightclub. Solid effort, TD!

The body of Craig Morgan's son has been found. The family has released a statement thanking fans for the "outpouring of support."

The 19-year-old son of country star Craig Morgan is missing after an inner tube accident.

Jerry Greer was with friends on the Tennessee River Sunday, when a boat pulling an inner tube got involved in some sort of accident. Greer, the son of Morgan and wife Karen Greer, has not been found.

We're told there were no signs of drinking ... at least not initially. One source called it "a freak accident."

We're also told Greer had some type of flotation device on at the time of the accident.

Dallas Police Chief David Brown just confirmed the obvious ... one of the shooters was gunning to kill white people, and especially cops.

The Chief said the killer was angry over the 2 recent shootings and also upset with the Black Lives Matter movement.

The end of his comments is heart-wrenching, talking about the lack of support police feel everyday.

6:45 AM PT -- Police have ended the lockdown. Cops say an employee had passed through security with an item in a backup that appeared to be a weapon.

Once they determined it was not ... everything went back to normal.

The U.S. Capitol is on lockdown while police search for an individual -- possibly armed -- and people already in the building have been told to take shelter.

According to law enforcement there was a report of a person with a gun in a subway near Capitol. It's unclear if the person has actually entered the Capitol.

Right now authorities are saying the lockdown is being done out of "an abundance of caution."

Story developing ...

Jon Jones wept openly while insisting he never knowingly cheated by taking performance-enhancing drugs, and vowed to return to the UFC.

Surprisingly, Jones opened his news conference by apologizing to Daniel Cormier for ruining their long-awaited rematch that was supposed to go down Saturday at UFC 200.

Jones says he "can't even pronounce" the drug the UFC says showed up in a blood test he took in June. He would not say the drug by name, but said he has no idea how it ended up in his system.

Jones says he will "go through the process" and try to find out what caused the dirty test. He admitted to taking a few supplements, but said he didn't think they were performance-enhancing.

At one point, he got so emotional, he walked out of the room. He returned several minutes later, but then couldn't hold back tears when he was asked if he'd spoken to Cormier.

Jon Jones hit the self-destruct button ... again.

The UFC superstar has failed a drug test and has been removed from his fight against Daniel Cormier at UFC 200. Yes ... seriously.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission notified the UFC that Jones tested positive for a banned substance -- though UFC has not revealed what the substance was. The test went down in June.

Brief history lesson -- Jones failed a drug test last year ... and that time it was for cocaine. Following the test, Jones said he wasn't an addict but rather made a bad decision.

Dana White says the situation is “obviously super, super disappointing."

Daniel Cormier has already weighed in saying -- "More than anything, just really disappointed."

Story developing ...

Colin Kaepernick says the police killing of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge is nothing short of a modern day lynching -- saying, "Another murder in the streets because the color of a man's skin."

37-year-old Sterling was shot dead in the parking lot of a convenient store Tuesday night by a police officer. Sterling was selling CDs. The person who called police said Sterling had a gun and was making threats.

Cops pinned Sterling to the ground -- and that's when someone shouts, "He's got a gun." One of the officers opened fire on Sterling, shooting him in his chest and back. He died at the scene.

The incident has infuriated people all over the world ... including the San Francisco 49ers QB.

"This is what lynchings look like in 2016!" Kaepernick wrote.

"Another murder in the streets because the color of a man's skin, at the hands of the people who they say will protect us."

"When will they be held accountable? or did he fear for his life as he executed this man?"

The officers involved in the shooting have been placed on leave. Mass protests have already begun in Baton Rouge.

Cops in Jacksonville say Jaguars running back Denard Robinson had to climb out of a window of a car that was sinking in a pond this weekend ... after the 25-year-old fell asleep behind the wheel.

According to the police report, obtained by FOX 30, Robinson's Chevy Impala had gone down an embankment and into a retention pond around 4:20 AM on July 3rd ... and was slowly sinking.

When officers arrived on scene, they saw a passed out Robinson in the driver's seat and a female passenger next to him. The driver's side door was submerged in the water.

An officer knocked on the door -- but Robinson opened his eyes and then went back to sleep.

The responding officer explained ... "I continued to knock on the window until the passenger woke up and rolled the window down and said, 'What's up.'"

"I explained that their vehicle was in a pond and that they needed to exit," the officer wrote in the report.

Despite the sinking situation, the officer says the woman REFUSED to exit the car and had to be physically pulled to safety.

The cop says he was able to unlock the car -- and went back for Robinson.

Problem is ... Robinson believed he was on the road and refused to step out of the vehicle.

Eventually, Robinson realized the situation -- but the drama continued.

"The driver tried about three times to open the driver’s door which was the side that was underwater. I had to keep reminding the driver to climb out of the passenger side because his door was in the water."

Robinson got out -- and officers immediately checked him out to see if he was drunk or high ... but cops concluded he was NOT impaired.

Another O.J. ... from USC ... in big trouble.

Milwaukee Bucks star O.J. Mayo has been BANNED from playing in the NBA for 2 years -- after league officials say he violated the NBA's anti-drug policy.

Unclear what caused the violation or when it occurred.

The league says 28-year-old Mayo "is eligible to apply for reinstatement in two years."

WWE legend Jerry "The King" Lawler is off the hook in his domestic violence case -- prosecutors have dropped the charges against him and his fiancee.

66-year-old Lawler and his 27-year-old fiancee, Lauryn McBride, were arrested in Memphis on June 17th -- after they both accused each other of violence ... and someone broke out a GUN.

Officials were initially unable to determine who was the aggressor -- so they arrested both Lawler and McBride. They were then ordered to stay away from each other.

But now, officials have dismissed the assault charges against both parties -- we're guessing the decision was based on the fact there were no major injuries and neither side wanted to go forward and testify against the other.

Adnan Syed -- whose '99 murder conviction was documented on the popular "Serial" podcast -- was just granted a retrial by a Maryland judge.

Syed won his motion Thursday after a judge ruled his original lawyer failed to cross-examine an expert witness.

Adnan has always proclaimed his innocence in the murder of Hae Min Lee.

When a reporter asked Syed's attorney, C. Justin Brown, if the turn of events would have been possible without the podcast, he said, "I don't think so."