It was announced early Tuesday morning (Nov 10) that retired NBA star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was diagnosed with cancer, marking his very first public disclosure about the disease. The 62-year-old NBA legend was officially diagnosed with “chronic myeloid leukemia” back in December 2008 and has been coping well with treatment ever since.

Abdul-Jabbar says: “Having lost one of my closest friends to a different, highly aggressive form of leukemia, I knew how serious my diagnosis was. My own life expectancy became a question mark.”

Before he retired in 1989, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar earned the title of all-time leading scorer of the NBA and he also won six championships (1 with the Bucks and 5 with the Lakers). In December 2008 he was diagnosed with CML and is being treated with a medicine that targets the abnormal protein that causes his leukemia.

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Pro wrestler Hulk Hogan held a book signing/meet and greet to support the promotion of his new book, “My Life Outside The Ring,” Tuesday (Oct 27) at Barnes & Noble 5th Avenue in New York City.

Hogan (real name: Terry Bollea) has reportedly come out of retirement and has returned to the world of wrestling. The 56-year-old actor/wrestler recently signed with TNA (Total Nonstop Action), the company responsible for Spike TV’s Thursday night series TNA Impact.

“I’m thrilled to be jumping back into the world of professional wrestling,” said Hulk. “My fans have been asking me to return to the business for many years on a full time basis, but the timing or the opportunity has never been right until now.”

SOURCE

Former NY Giants footballer Plaxico Burress plead guilty to illegally possessing a weapon Thursday morning (Aug 20). 32-year-old Burress is free on bail and will officially be sentenced on September 22nd, where he faces a two-year prison sentence, according to a spokeswoman for the District Attorney’s office. Upon release from prison, Burress will spend two years on house arrest.

The former NY Giants wide receiver accidentally shot himself in the leg at a Manhattan nightclub on November 29th 2008 with a pistol he was carrying in the waistband of his jeans. Burress wasn’t licensed to carry a pistol in neither New York nor New Jersey, where his teammate, linebacker Antonio Pierce, arranged to have the pistol delivered after driving Burress to the hospital immediately following the incident. The district attorney wanted to charge Pierce as well, but the grand jury didn’t indict him on any charges. No one, not even employees of the hospital Burress was admitted to, or anyone in the NFL, called the police to report the gunshot wound or the incident, which was required by law. In fact, one of the hospital works was suspended following the incident.

Immediately following the shooting incident, the Giants suspended Burress and released him in April of 2009.

So it looks as though Michael Vick is going to get a second chance in the NFL after all. The former Atlanta Falcon was given a one-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles, with an option for a second year. The first year is worth $1.6 million while the second year is worth $5.2 million, according to AP. A special clause in his contract says that none of the money is 100% guaranteed, so the Eagles won’t be facing any financial risk if Vick doesn’t make the team.

“I think everybody deserves a second chance,” a somber Vick said Friday, a day after signing with the Philadelphia Eagles. “We all have issues, we all deal with certain things and we all have our own set of inequities. I think as long as you are willing to come back and do it the right way and do the right things and that you’re committed, then I think you deserve it. But you only get one shot at a second chance, and I am conscious of that.”

The three-time Pro Bowl pick served 18 months in federal prison for running an illegal dogfighting ring and was reinstated into the NFL after being shunned in 2006.

For more on this story, visit this link here.

NBA star Richard Jefferson of the San Antonio Spurs made his radio station rounds Thursday (Jul 16) to clear his name … sort of. Yes, he did call off his $2 million via e-mail to his then-fiancee, former New Jersey Nets dancer Kesha Ni’Cole Nichols. But it wasn’t done the night before or a few days prior, as some reports would have you to believe. In fact, the former Nets basketballer informed Nichols of the split an entire week before.

According to the NY Post, Jefferson sent Nichols “the message” after a tense Fourth of July wekend.

“There was a lot of stress and tension in the relationship. We’ve been through a lot — but we just couldn’t continue,” said Jefferson, sounding upset during a telephone interview.

But hey, at least Nichols didn’t walk away empty handed. Jefferson revealed to the gossip rag that he’s giving her a settlement worth six figures so that she can start a new life.

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NFL quarterback Steve McNair was buried Saturday after what is being called one of the biggest funerals in Mississippi’s recent history. The service was held in the Reed Green Coliseum on the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi. Almost 5,000 fans and old friends showed up to pay their last respects to the late athlete. Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young got emotional while speaking briefly about McNair:

“Steve was like a hero to me, and heroes are not supposed to die,” Young said before stopping to rub his eyes as he talked about the man he knew from football camps as a teenager.

SOURCE: FOX SPORTS

Steve McNair was shot and killed on July 4th by his girlfriend, who then shot herself in the head. The death was ruled a “murder-suicide” shortly thereafter.

The mystery surrounding Steve McNair’s death has been solved. According to an official report from the coroner, his death has been ruled a murder-suicide. The four fatal gunshot wounds the former NFL player sustained (two to the head, two the chest) were from a gun his girlfriend, 20-year-old Sahel Kazemi, purchased just days before McNair’s roommate found them both dead in a Tennessee condo. Kazami shot McNair before turning the gun on herself, police said.

The girlfriend of former NFL star Steve McNair first shot him in his right temple, then fired three more shots at close range, most likely as he slept, police said Wednesday. She then sat on the couch next to his body, and killed herself so that she would fall into his lap, they said.

“The totality of the evidence clearly points to a murder-suicide,” Nashville, Tennessee, Police Chief Ronal Serpas told reporters at an afternoon news conference.

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Former Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds (two to the head and two to the chest) at an apartment complex in Nashville, Tennessee early Saturday morning (Jul 4). After receiving a phone call about an injured person, police say they found the former pro footballer and another woman, later identified as 20-year-old Sahel Kazemi, shot to death.

According to authorities, McNair’s body was found seated on a living room sofa and Kazemi is said to have sustained a lone gunshot wound to the head. Police also said that a pistol was found near her body.

As of Sunday (Jul 5), McNair’s death had been ruled a suicide, though police said they have not classified Kazemi’s death. Kazemi is said to have been involved in a romantic relationship with McNair.

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As of Friday (Jun 11), Michael Vick is a free agent. He was officially released by his home team, the Atlanta falcons, and is free to sign with any team in the National Football League (NFL). Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff says it’s something they’ve been thinking about for a while now.

“We did our due diligence. We’ve been searching around the league and were looking for some interest as far as a trade. In the very end, we came to a conclusion that it was time. It was best for both us and Michael Vick to move on, to turn the chapter,” Dimitroff said in a statement.

What about other teams? Are they looking to sign the now ex convict?

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Dwyane Wade brought real Christmas joy and hope to a local Miami family whose house had been accidentally torched by a South Florida woman’s nephew.  Most, if not all, of their possessions were destroyed in the fire. Ironically, Wade, the Miami’s Heat Guard, decided he had to help this family out with not only shelter but a huge Christmas wish … a home. Along with the home, Wade furnished the house, replaced clothing and even a few gifts under the tree. Wade spoke about the teachings that can be greater than just materialism.

“That’s what I try to teach my kids,” Wade continued. “It’s not about what you’re going to receive – It’s what you can give others from what you’ve recieved.”

It’s always good to see that successful celebrities have huge bank accounts and even bigger hearts.

Merry Christmas GOT Readers!

The cheating defending champions, the Boston Celtics, have accomplished their best streak in franchise to start a winning streak from 21-2. The Celtics defeated the New Orleans Hornets last night to win their 22-2 addition. Paul Pierce responded in joy of the recognition.

“It all goes out the window if we don’t win the championship,” Pierce said.

This year belongs to the Lakers. I’m not going to hop on the Celtics’ bandwagon, I’m sticking with my team (coughs) L.A. Lakers! But no haterade over here, congratulations Celtics. Enjoy … for now.

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Houston Rockets’ guard Tracy McGrady will not be returning to the court until his full recovery of his left knee has healed. After starting the first 15 games after his arthroscopic surgery he had on his knee and returned to the court almost to re-injure his knee. Before McGrady left his was averaging 15 points per game.

“Obviously, I came back a little bit too early, I’m just not ready.” McGrady continued. “Now I’ve got some sort of peace of mind, I don’t have to worry about whether it’s going to take the whole season for me to get healthy and what I’ve got to do for me to get back to 100 percent. I don’t have to have to go under the knife again. I’m relieved.”

Hopefully T-Mac will get back on the court healthy and revved up full throttle.

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Denver Nuggets All-Star guard Allen Iverson has been traded to the Detroit Pistons. The Pistons released players Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess AND Cheikh Samb in exchange for Iverson. Jon Dumars, Pistons President Basketball Operations, is excited to welcome A.I. to Detroit.

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PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

The most famous Dallas Cowboy in American football history, cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones has finally entered rehab for his alcohol problem. While tightlipped about the location of Pacman’s rehab facility, Dallas Cowboys team owner Jerry Jones talked to the Associated Press and told them that everything is handled through the NFL.

Now, if you know anything about Pacman “make it rain in the strip club and take it right back” Jones, then you would joing in on in the excitement of people all over the nation right about now.

The league suspended Jones for at least four games last Tuesday for violating its personal conduct policy. Six weeks after being reinstated from a 17-month suspension because of repeated legal problems, Pacman was involved in an alcohol-related scuffle Oct. 7 with one of his bodyguards at a private party in Dallas. Team officials hired the bodyguards to try and keep Jones out of trouble.

“They lost their job when he got suspended. They lost it because there’s no more Adam to look out for,” Jerry Jones said. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will determine the full length of the suspension after the Cowboys play Nov. 16 at Washington. Goodell has said a lifetime ban remains a possibility.

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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA // WEDNESDAY, JULY 23RD 2008 » The star players of the USA Basketball team are now currently training for the 2008 Olympics as we speak. They were actually practicing at a local high school to prepare them for the official games. They played against selected rookies including Derrick Rose as well for preparation. Check out more photos from their practice after the cut.

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The very first WNBA brawl involved on of the most respected WNBA teams, The Los Angeles Sparks, in yesterday’s game against the Detroit Shocks. Candace Parker, Lisa Leslie and Plnette Pearson were all involved in a brawl and were ejected from the court moments after. The Los Angeles Sparks also took the victory of the game by 3 points (84-81).

(PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES) No. 1 Chicago Bulls draft pick, Derrick Rose, is going to be sitting the rest of the 2008 NBA Summer League games because of straining tendinitis in his right knee. It looks like he won’t be playing again until the regular season starts in October 2008. Derrick Rose talked about his injury after the loss against the New Jersey Nets:

“It’s just tendinitis and nothing like, super bad with the knee,” said Rose, “They say it keeps happening because I’m young and my legs aren’t strong enough and they have to work on my legs.”

I never did get to see D-Rose murder the court and scoreboard but I guess we’ll have to see what’s in store for the new season. I knew it had to be a better explanation of why D-Rose wasn’t performing as well as he could have. I look forward to watching him when the new season starts.

[ READ FULL STORY ]

Justin Timberlake is going to be hosting the annual sports awards show known as the 2008 ESPY Awards Presented By ESPN. The awards are going to be awarding the best athletes and recapping some of the most memorable sports moments throughout the entire year. Tune in the ESPNHD on Sunday, July 20th @ 9PM/ET to watch the 2008 EPSY Awards. Click play on the video above to view the ESPYs commercial.

(PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES) The New Orleans Hornets proposed a contract Chris Paul aka CP3 could not refuse reaching an agreement to stay with the Hornets for the next four seasons for a total of $68 Million! Chris Paul, along with many all-star players, has been selected to compete in the 2008 USA Basketball Olympics this year. Under the leagues’ rules the Hornets can’t finalize the contract until July 9th. Last season, Chris Paul led the NBA with averages of 11.6 assists, 2.7 steals. He was the Hornets’ second-leading scorer, averaging 21.1 points in helping the Hornets reach a franchise-record 56 regular season victories. Congrats CP3 make that dough!

[ READ FULL STORY ]

ESPN Magazine recently sat down with star players, Kobe Bryant; LeBron James; Dwayne Wade; and Carmelo Anthony, of the USA Basketball Team and asked them about playing with the new teammates and how they thought this years’ Olympics are gonna be like. Stay tuned for more Olympics news soon! Check out the video above.

NEW YORK // MONDAY, JUNE 30TH 2008 » The USA Basketball Team was in New York today on a media tour promoting the upcoming 2008 World Basketball Olympics. We have an amazing lineup team! Carmelo Anthony (Denver Nuggets); Carlos Boozer (Utah Jazz); Chris Bosh (Toronto Raptors); Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers); Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic); LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers); Jason Kidd (Dallas Mavericks); Chris Paul (New Orleans Hornets); TayShaun Prince (Detroit Pistons); Michael Redd (Milwaukee Bucks); Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat); and Deron Williams (Utah Jazz) are all on USA Basketball Olympians this year. I’ve been waiting for this and I can’t wait til’ it starts! I hope we win it all this year! ESPN is even doing a five-part documentary series called “Road To Redemption presented by NIKE”. The first episode will air Wednesday, July 2 @ 7PM ET on ESPN2. View the trailer now!

Check out more photos after the cut!

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(IMAGES: GETTY IMAGES) A chicago-native basketball player, Derrick Rose, got the number one draft pick in the past 2008 NBA Draft to play for the Chicago Bulls. He’s only a freshman getting recognized by the NBA. He played for the Memphis Tigers in the NCAA. Derrick Rose didn’t show no shyness away from being picked first in the NBA Draft:

“I’m so competitive. I always have that little thing in my mind that I want to be number one.”

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After Cedric Benson second time getting arrested for the same thing in a single month, Chicago Bears wave Benson goodbye! Benson was arrested for a DUI charge for the second time last Sunday in Austin, Texas. Apparently, Chicago Bears general manager, Jerry Angelo was not satisfied with his recent behavior and said:

“Cedric displayed a pattern of behavior we will not tolerate,” Angelo said, “As I said this past weekend, you have to protect your job. Everyone in this organization is held accountable for their actions. When individual priorities overshadow team goals, we suffer the consequences as a team. Those who fail to understand the importance of ‘team’ will not play for the Chicago Bears.”

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Chicago Bears quarterback Cedric Benson was arrested for the second time for drunk driving in Austin, Texas yesterday. He was also ordered by his team to not consume alcohol to protect him from a situation like this. To me, looking at this picture, it seems a though he was tickled about this arrest. Cedric’s career isn’t looking too promising with the Chicago Bears either. Benson’s attorney spoke on the recent accusations and said:

“He’s probably in trouble with his team for breaking curfew and having anything to drink under the circumstances.”

Floyd Mayweather Jr. announced his retirement eariler this week after a decline for the Welterweight Championship rematch. Mayweather has joked about his retirement for a while but this time, it seems as though he’s serious. I doubt if he doesn’t comeback and makes everyone tune in to an “exclusive first time back since retirement match”. I personally think it’s too early. Leaving at the top of your game like that. Tell me what you guys think! Leave a comment.

Sports Illustrated composed a list together of some of the top paid athletes in the game using 2007’s calendar year. Here is the following numbers:

1. Tiger Woods: $127 Million

2. Phil Mickelson: $62.4 Million

3. LeBron James: $40.5 Million

4. Floyd Mayweather Jr.: $40.3 Million

5. Kobe Bryant: $35.5 Million

6. (Tie) Shaquille ‘O Neal: $35 Million

6. (Tie) Alex Rodriguez: $35 Million

8. Kevin Garnett: $31 Million

9. Peyton Manning: $30.5 Million

10. Derek Jeter: $30 Million

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The best player in the league, Kobe Bryant, finally got what he deserves today and was crowned MVP of the year. Kobe Bryant should have received this award years ago but now he has to wait no longer. Kobe had some words in honor of him winning MVP:

“I really don’t know what to say to be honest with you. It’s a blessing and such an honor to be here. To recieve this award, I can go through a list of thank you’s. My family, they enabled me to be the best I can be.., training everyday and they give up so much to sacrifice for me to be able to train and prepare for games and I’m just very honored and blessed to be here.” Bryant said.

He also mentioned that his team [The Los Angeles Lakers] helped him out a great deal:

“I couldn’t have won without my players, my teammates. This is a team award. This is not an individual award. This is an award I couldn’ve won on my own. If that was the case I would’ve won when I was averaging 40,” He laughs and continues. “This gets done because we all do it as a union. I can’t thank these guys enough. These are my guys, these are my brothers. Let’s get ready for tomorrow.”

Game 2 airs Wednesday (May 7) @ 10:30PM on TNT

After only four years of coaching, Dallas Mavericks coach, Avery Johnson was fired Wednesday (Apr. 30th). Johnson is of course not “cool” about losing his job, but does understand that this is a part of his career. This is what the former Mavs coach had to say:

“When that happens, then sometimes you need a new voice,” Johnson said, “During the course of some games, I wasn’t getting that response. This particular team, especially in the last quarter of the season, last half of the season, just wasn’t responding the way I needed it to.

“I’m not necessarily cool about this, but what am I supposed to do? My life has to continue. This is a part of coaching. Coaches, we’re going to resign or get fired.”

Johnson bowed out gracefully and had a good few years coaching the Mavericks, and I wish him good luck with the rest of his career.

[ SOURCE ]

Ballots for MVP are already in and Kobe Bryant is the winner, but LeBron James agrees that Kobe deserves the award. Lebron recently said:

”I’d give it to Kobe,” Lebron says ”What he’s done this whole year, to carry that team to the No. 1 team in the West right now. He’s playing his best basketball all around. I’ve watched him the whole year. I saw it last summer when I played with him with USA Basketball and the sacrifices he’s made for the team and he’s done that with the Lakers.”

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Houston Astros’ Miguel Tejada lied to the MLB (Major League Baseball) about his real age. Records show that he signed out of the Dominican Republic when he was 17 but he was really 19. In the video above he states that he’s 32, that’s not even his recorded birth age, but he’s actually 33. In the “E:60″ interview airing on April 22th, Tejada states:

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Tiger Woods was hospitalized two days after becoming 2nd place at The Masters tournament. He was put in the hospital to undergo knee surgery. This is supposedly the second surgery on his same left knee in five years! It should take him about a month to recover. He held off the surgery until after the Masters, he responded with this quote:

“I made the decision to deal with the pain and schedule the surgery for after the Masters. The upside is that I have been through this process before and know how to handle it. I look forward to working through the rehabilitation process and getting back to action as quickly as I can.”

Tiger might miss out on the Players’ Championship, but he should return in time enough to prepare for the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines on June 12th.

(Photo: Getty Images) NFL Star and Balitmore Ravens’ quarterback, Steve McNair, is calling it quits after 13 long seasons. McNair intended to finish the 3 year contract with the Ravens but he proposed that he wasn’t physically fit for the position:

“Coming out and making this decision, it was hard, in your mind, you feel like you can play, that you can still compete. But when your mind and your body are not in accord, it’s not going to work in the National Football League.”

“My mind was there. Mentally, I could go out and play. But physically, I couldn’t do it anymore. Not to the capacity that I need to help my teammates win a football game.”

He received a standing ovation from his fellow teammates and they respectively accepted his decision. Steve McNair won a NFL MVP Award and led the Tennessee Titans to a Super Bowl. Happy Retirement Steve.