Browsing: Kobe

WWE

49ers’ Fred Warner Drops Kobe Bryant Post After Being Ruled Out for Season with Injury

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The San Francisco 49ers have already been depleted by injuries this season, and another key member of the defense has been lost for the season.

After being carted off in the first quarter of Sunday’s 30-19 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with an air cast on his right leg, linebacker Fred Warner was diagnosed with a dislocated and broken right ankle, head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters.

He will need surgery and miss the remainder of the season. On Monday, Warner released a statement to fans on Instagram and included an inspirational quote from Kobe Bryant:

“There’s certain games you wake up knowing it’s gonna be your day, and yesterday was one of those days,” Warner posted on Instagram on Monday. “I knew I was bout to go off, and then boom everything over in one instant that was completely unpreventable. The love everyone has shown me and the prayers being had for me mean the world to me. Some ask why I was able to smile on the cart heading in and it’s because (aside from the shock) I have complete peace in knowing Gods plan is so completely perfect and I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. I’ve had the privilege of being able to have a very healthy 8 seasons and now it’s time to inspire through the comeback I’m bout to have. It will be LEGENDARY and right on time God willing. Thank you guys, love always GO NINERSðŸðŸ¾â¤ï¸”

Warner, who agreed to a three-year, $63 million extension that made him the league’s highest-paid linebacker this offseason, is not only one of the 49ers’ best defensive players, but one of the best players in the entire NFL.

Through five games, the veteran had racked up 50 tackles, two tackles for loss and two forced fumbles. His 28 solo tackles are the fifth-most in the NFL this year. Needless to say, losing Warner for any amount of time would be a huge loss for the 49ers defense.

San Francisco has arguably had the worst injury luck of any team so far this season. The Niners came into Sunday’s matchup missing Nick Bosa, Brandon Aiyuk, George Kittle, Brock Purdy and Ricky Pearsall and more, and a depleted roster has been the story all year.

Yet the 49ers have managed to thrive even with all the injuries. They came into Sunday 4-1, sitting in first place in the NFC West after last week’s overtime win over the Los Angeles Rams.

Much of San Francisco’s success can be attributed to the unexpected breakout of backup quarterback Mac Jones, who came into Sunday having thrown for 905 yards, six touchdowns and an interception in three starts, all of which were wins.

Even if Jones keeps up his tremendous play, losing Warner will be a significant downgrade.

Warner, who has spent his entire eight-year career with the Niners, has missed just one game since coming into the league, and he played through a broken bone in his ankle in 2024.

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Basketball

First No. 24 jersey worn by Lakers’ Kobe Bryant sells for $889K

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    Dan HajduckyOct 2, 2025, 02:37 PM ET

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      Dan Hajducky is a staff writer for ESPN. He has an MFA in creative writing from Fairfield University and played on the men’s soccer teams at Fordham and Southern Connecticut State universities.

The first No. 24 jersey worn by Kobe Bryant with the Los Angeles Lakers recently sold for $889,000, including buyer’s premium, at Sotheby’s.

A jersey used by Jerry West from 1964 to 1967 also sold for $533,400 on the same night.

Bryant wore the jersey while posting 23 points in a 118-112 victory against the Seattle Supersonics on Nov. 3, 2006. He would score 50 points or more in a game on 10 occasions in that 2006-07 season en route to his second straight — and final — league scoring title.

Lakers star Kobe Bryant wore this jersey — his first with No. 24 — while scoring 23 points in a 118-112 victory against the Seattle Supersonics on Nov. 3, 2006. It recently sold for $889,000 at auction. Courtesy of Sotheby’s

The jersey is signed by him with the inscriptions “FIRST 24” and “1/1” on the jersey’s numbers, including an Upper Deck hologram, as the company had an autograph and memorabilia deal with Bryant until 2009.

MeiGray Authenticated also photo-matched the jersey to the Lakers’ 2006 media day in October.

The most ever paid for any Bryant jersey is $7 million — for a jersey that was photo-matched to seven games from his 1996-97 rookie season. That jersey was sold by Sotheby’s in April.

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West’s jersey was definitively worn during Game 6 of the 1965 and 1966 Western Division finals and Game 2 of the 1966 NBA Finals, according to photo-matching by Sports Investors Authentication.

SIA’s letter of authenticity states the jersey was “likely” worn during both the 1965 and 1966 NBA Finals. The Lakers lost to the Boston Celtics in both those series, with West averaging 33.8 and 33.9 points per game, respectively.

The West jersey lot also included a warm-up jacket, shorts and socks, which the auction house “also believes to be game-worn.” In 1967, Frank O’Neill, a former Lakers trainer, received the items when the team moved to The Forum and they’ve remained in a private collection until now.

A collector purchased a jersey photo-matched to four games from the 1969-70 Lakers season for $868,000 in May, an all-time record for a West item.

The jersey that Wayne Gretzky wore in his final NHL game for the New York Rangers on April 18, 1999, was predicted to sell for more than $1 million, but Sotheby’s confirmed that bidding didn’t meet a set reserve price and the jersey went unsold.

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NJPW Destruction in Kobe notes: New champions crowned, NOAH, King of Pro Wrestling

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News and notes stemming from Sunday morningâ€s NJPW Destruction in Kobe.

New IWGP Tag Team Champions were crowned at Destruction, with The Knockout Brothers (Yuto-Ice & OSKAR) defeating Tomohiro Ishii and Taichi to win the titles for the first time. They pinned Ishii after they hit their finish, the KOB. After the match, Shota Umino and Yuya Uemura came out and confronted the new champions, setting up a potential title match down the road.

Other matches were also set up during the show. After Boltin Oleg defeated Don Fale to retain the NEVER Openweight title, EVIL attacked him and made his claim for the title by laying out Oleg with the Everything is Evil. After the opening bout, DOUKI made it clear he wanted the next shot at Desperadoâ€s IWGP Junior Heavyweight title. The two had a match earlier this year at Wrestle Kingdom, but it ended early after DOUKI suffered an elbow injury early into the match.

In the co-main event, Gabe Kidd defeated Shingo Takagi to retain the IWGP Global Championship. After the match, Yota Tsuji, who was successful against David Finlay in the previous match, came out and challenged Kidd for the title at King of Pro Wrestling on October 13.

Pro Wrestling NOAH stars also appeared to promote the group’s upcoming Wrestle Odyssey event on October 11 at Sumo Hall. After Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Great-O-Khan, Kaito Kiyomiya came out and asked to team with him at the upcoming show, which Tanahashi accepted. Later in the night, NOAHâ€s Eita superkicked Hiromu Takahashi after he successfully retained the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship against Taiji Ishimori. The two are planned to square off for the title at Sumo Hall.

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NJPW Destruction in Kobe live results: Sabre vs. Narita IWGP title match

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The IWGP World Heavyweight title is on the line in the main event of NJPW Destruction in Kobe today.

Zack Sabre Jr. defends the title against Ren Narita by way of Narita defeating Sabre in a non-title match in this year’s G1 Climax 35 tournament. Narita also holds a victory over Sabre from the 2024 New Japan Cup, and is 2-1 overall in singles matches against the champion.

Shingo Takagi challenges Gabe Kidd for the IWGP Global Championship in the semi-main event today. David Finlay and Yota Tsuji square off in a special singles match second from the top, their third singles meeting of 2025, each holding a victory over the other.

Hiromu Takahashi will defend the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship against Taiji Ishimori, Taichi and Tomohiro Ishii defend the IWGP Tag titles against Oskar and Yuto-Ice, plus Boltin Oleg defends the NEVER Openweight title against Don Fale in the night’s other championship matches.

Hiroshi Tanahashi wrestles Great-O-Khan for perhaps the final time in a special singles match second on today’s card.

The show opens with Shota Umino, YOSHI-HASHI, and Yuya Uemura taking on EVIL, SANADA, and Dick Togo in a trios bout.

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  • El Desperado, Shota Umino, YOH, YOSHI-HASHI & Yuya Uemura defeated House Of Torture

Main Card

El Desperado, Shota Umino, YOH, YOSHI-HASHI & Yuya Uemura defeated House Of Torture (Dick Togo, DOUKI, EVIL, SANADA & SHO)

(Couldn’t have asked for a more exciting opener for tonight. I think there might be some magic in an alliance between Uemura and Umino.)

Narita joined DOUKI in assaulting Desperado that resulted in the latter two brawling outside. YOSHI-HASHI and YOH did the same to SHO; the former’s legs collided with the ring post courtesy of DOUKI and SHO. Chaos erupted, but Umino distinguished it, scoring a comeback with athleticism. SANADA hampered this with a dropkick to Umino and a low blow to Uemura.

EVIL rescued Togo after a failed Dick-to-Dick Contact, only to receive a double-dropkick by Uemura and Umino for his troubles. Uemura snapped Togo in for a hurricanrana, capturing him for a pinfall.

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Basketball

Hawks trade point guard Kobe Bufkin to Nets for cash considerations

Kobe Bufkin has played in just 27 NBA games across two seasons — because of time in the G-League and injuries — but at Summer League in Las Vegas this July he showed some potential as a point guard who could run the pick-and-roll, like during his 29-point outing against the Heat (17 in the fourth quarter to spark a comeback win).

That was enough to get the Nets to take a chance on him.

Atlanta is trading Bufkin to Brooklyn for cash considerations, a story broken by Shams Charania of ESPN.

For Atlanta, this is a salary dump. The Hawks save Bufkinâ€s $4.5 million salary, putting them $7.7 million below the luxury tax line and $15.4 million below the first apron, where they are hard-capped (plus they create a trade exception they can use for the next year). For the Nets, this move puts them above the leagueâ€s salary floor, but they still have $11.4 million in cap space to facilitate trades.

The Nets also get a one-year roll of the dice on Bufkin, to see if he is the point guard who was putting up so many points in Las Vegas, or if he is more the guy who was committing turnovers and not shooting consistently while he was doing so. This is the kind of move Nets GM Sean Marks made a lot during his first rebuild, taking a shot on a flawed player with potential to see if other teams have given up too quickly. Sometimes that works out, sometimes it doesnâ€t, but itâ€s a risk worth taking for the Nets, who are in the middle of another rebuild.

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Basketball

Hawks reportedly trading guard Kobe Bufkin to the Nets for cash considerations

Kobe Bufkin is getting a fresh start.

The Atlanta Hawks struck a deal to send Bufkin to the Brooklyn Nets on Monday afternoon, according to ESPNâ€s Shams Charania. In exchange, the Hawks will receive cash considerations from the Nets.

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The Hawks selected Bufkin with the No. 15 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft out of Michigan, though heâ€s struggled so far in the league. Bufkin has appeared in just 27 games over the last two seasons, and he underwent season-ending shoulder surgery in December after playing in just 10 games.

Bufkin spent some time with the Hawks†G League affiliate during his rookie campaign. He averaged 23.6 points and 5.9 assists per game with the College Park Skyhawks during the 2023-24 season. Heâ€s averaged 5 points, 2 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 27 NBA games throughout his career. Bufkin has two years left on his initial four-year, $19.8 million rookie deal.

While his NBA career has yet to take off, Bufkin will get a bit of a restart with the Nets. The franchise went just 26-56 last season, and then used all five of its first-round draft picks earlier this summer to help jumpstart a rebuild under second-year head coach Jordi Fernández. Bufkin, now healthy, should play a significant part in that push.

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The Hawks went just 40-42 last season and missed the playoffs for a second straight year. They traded back with the New Orleans Pelicans in the NBA draft to acquire former Georgia star Asa Newell. Though the return isn’t great for a former first-round draft pick, the Hawks have now cleared up a roster spot. That’ll give them some added flexibility as they head into the season this fall.

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