Rumors

Ben Fawkes: Jay-Z placed a $1 million wager on the Oklahoma City Thunder to win the NBA Finals in five games at +230 odds at @FanaticsBook. Bet would've won $3.3 million. He lost that wager tonight.

x.com

LeBron James: And MJ — we all know MJ. Even if you don’t know him personally, he’s one of the most ruthless competitors there is. And until I’m done — and he doesn’t have to look at me running up and down wearing the number 23, and every time my name is mentioned, it’s mentioned with his — Don’t talk to me right now. I’m on the back nine. Do not call me. (...) I mean, like I said — I wear 23 because of MJ. The inspiration he gave me as a kid in Akron, Ohio — where we didn’t have much inspiration in the hometown — you look at someone. It’s gotta be somebody in sports, somebody in music, somebody on the TV screen. Will Smith from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Michael Jordan playing for the Bulls, Jay-Z, Biggie, Tupac — That was my inspiration. You know what I’m saying? I needed that.

YouTube

Andrew Barber: Shaq’s third album ‘You Can’t Stop The Reign’ FINALLY comes to DSPs this Friday, June 28th… And for the first time ever, the previously unreleased original version of “No Love Lost” featuring both Nas & Jay-Z will be included (their first-ever collab) 🌧️🌧️🌧️

Twitter

"In a perfect world, I would be a part of it," Durant told ESPN. "I would love to do it. I would love to give a little bit of my money to be a part of the Commanders, but we'll see. Hopefully it's somebody nice. I heard [Amazon CEO Jeff] Bezos and Jay-Z, but you never know." A person with knowledge of the situation told ESPN's John Keim that Bezos has interest in the team, with multiple reports saying Jay-Z might partner with a Bezos bid. Mat Ishbia, a finalist for the Denver Broncos' ownership bid, released a statement expressing interest, as well. Byron Allen, who also made a bid on the Broncos, has also said he'd be interested.

ESPN

Anthony Puccio: Jay-Z is sitting next to the Brooklyn Nets bench.

Twitter

Nets Daily: Beyonce, Jay-Z, Trevor Noah joined a crowd 15,750 last night, 98% vaccinated. That's a sellout and only 2,000 short of normal NBA capacity at Barclays. Unlike Knicks (who no longer are playing ICYMI), Barclays is selling tickets to unvaccinated who sit in reserved sections.

Twitter

“Jay and I spoke this morning.” Paul said. “We are competitors, and a lot of times, the industry puts you against each other. But we compete in one area. … When Jay found out I was doing a book, he was like, man, I’ve got to have it. Sometimes, we want to do everything. Well, you can’t do everything. If Jay has a publishing company, I’ll go to his publishing company.” Paul says he wants to stay in the representation space because “this is the one space where you can change lives,” and his book will be for any kid who has to make the same tough choices growing up that he had to do — and who doesn’t want to change because of material success.

The Athletic

Rich Paul built a career representing others. Now he’s telling his own story, with the help of Jay-Z. Paul, one of the most influential agents in the NBA, will publish his memoir, Lucky Me, with Roc Lit 101, the publishing division of Jay-Z’s Roc Nation.

Front Office Sports

“When Wes said ‘we,’ people weren’t sure if he was referring to the Knicks or Kentucky,” one NBA source said, referring to his longtime friendship with Kentucky coach John Calipari. Wesley would direct all sorts of conversations back to the school. Prospects from other programs — they weren’t tough enough to handle Kentucky. NBA stars who had played for Duke, like Jayson Tatum and Zion Williamson — Kentucky hadn’t actually wanted them. When conversations centered around players not connected to the school — or Creative Artists Agency, where he and Rose had worked — he’d often close his eyes. Wesley participated in some calls while driving. He went on all sorts of tangents, once making the group listen to the Jay-Z song “Empire State of Mind” because he had played it during the private pre-draft workout for Kevin Knox. One time he changed his shirt on camera, revealing his bare chest to the group.

New York Post

A week earlier, just after 11 a.m. on July 1, the Nets arrived at the IMG building in downtown Cleveland as the first of six teams to meet with James. Out of one side of a Lincoln Town Car emerged Mikhail Prokhorov, the billionaire Russian oligarch who had bought the Nets less than two months prior. Out of the other side emerged Jay-Z. "It was a circus show," said Avery Johnson, who had been hired to coach the team. "We were very excited. But in all honesty, we weren't ready as an organization. And we were playing in Newark for the next two years -- not New York. But Jay-Z really gave a great pitch. He appealed to their friendship and sold New York."

ESPN

On his appearance on Complex’s Load Management podcast, Ball was asked about Jay-Z’s involvement in the recruiting of the family to Roc Nation. “You know Jay got to get involved. Here’s the thing. I ain’t talked to Jay. He’s got people that work for him so we have to talk to them first. But he’s done talked to my boys. I just haven’t talked to him but my boys have talked to them. And the guys that he’s got lined up that’s on his team, I’ve talked to them. I talked to them over the phone…but with the pandemic going on, nobody can fly around and get that collaboration. We were actually going to meet up right before everything happened. It was a Clipper game and he was going to come down and watch the Pelicans play the Clippers and that was perfect time but we never got a chance to do that.”

Lonzo Wire

LaMelo, Lonzo and LiAngelo Ball are planning to sign with Roc Nation Sports, according to ESPN's Jonathan Givony. "This was a family decision," Jermaine Jackson, LaMelo Ball's agent, told ESPN. "This is now an extended family. They put together a beautiful game plan with Jay-Z. The basketball game is about to change. They are going to create something totally new." Roc Nation Sports is a branch of Jay-Z's music management company, which he started in 2013. The company represents multiple sports and top NBA players like Kyrie Irving and Markelle Fultz.

Sports Illustrated

Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson: Yo, help me understand something. You have had the royal privilege to get in the studio with Biggie Smalls. Many people who rap can’t say that. What was Biggie like in the studio? Shaquille O’Neal: It was only four people that were the same way: Biggie, Jay-Z, KRS-One, and Nas. So a lot of times with me playing, it was the traditional – okay see if Biggie wanna rap with me. So we called Puff, Oh yeah Big likes you. Send the beat down. So we sent ‘You Can’t Stop the Reign’. Big said that he’ll jump on that. He’ll see you in two weeks. So now I’m in the studio that I built in my house and I go over the verse a million times because one: can’t be whack for Biggie. I can’t disrespect Biggie like that. So I went over my verse a million times. So when he came in, I was nervous. I played it and he started bobbin’ and said, ‘Okay big dog!’ That’s tight! That’s tight! I like that!… and I said, ‘You sure?’ and said, ‘Yeah that’s tight.’ I like that.

Heavy.com

Jay-Z is opening up about the final conversation he had with Kobe Bryant just weeks before the NBA star's untimely death. "'You've gotta see Gianna play basketball,'" Jay-Z said Bryant told him as they celebrated New Year's at the hip hop mogul's home.

FOXnews.com