My two-week cruise and Santorini vacation was a blast, but it is good to be back. The vacation took me from Venice to Dubrovnik to Olympia to Athens to Split and then finally five nights in Santorini. If you want to see some pics, you can follow me on Instagram. It was definitely a needed break from the action and now I’m refreshed to grind out the rest of the year. How about that Kawhi Leonard trade to the Toronto Raptors? Before I left on vacation, no one was even speaking about Kawhi potentially moving across the border. I bet he didn’t even envision that Toronto was a real possibility when he began to play hardball. Meanwhile, my Miami Heat have done little-to-nothing this offseason and I’m quietly preparing for the worst.
Thanks this week goes out to BetOnIt.org.
This week on Forbes:
(1) 5 Pieces Of Advice For States Considering The Legalization of Sports Betting;
(2) DraftKings Partners With New York Casino In Preparation For Launch In Empire State;
(3) Mark Cuban, Steve Nash, Sam Hinkie Involved In $4 Million Seed Round For Basketball Training App;
(4) The Players’ Tribune Finds New Revenue Stream Through Deal With Amazon Prime Video;
(5) Texas A&M Succeeds In 12th Man Trademark Battle Against Soap Company
And as always, the weekly wrap-up:
Football
- Adisa Bakari says Bell will do what he did last year, and report before Week 1 to sign franchise tender [Le’Veon Bell’s agent confirms RB likely will skip camp].
- His agent Jason Staroszik says Owens wants to play in the NFL, but if he can’t, the CFL is the next-best option [Terrell Owens still wants to get back in the NFL, will settle for the CFL].
- “This was a long process. Randy has worked extremely hard and is excited to resume his career,” says agent Steve Weinberg [What does Randy Gregory’s reinstatement mean for the Cowboys?].
Basketball
- Mitchell Robinson dropped Raymond Brothers and signed with John Spencer [Knicks rookie switches agents over failed strategy].
- Warren LeGarie credits the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston for hurting the Reebok Pro Summer Legaue and helping the Vegas Summery League’s growth [How NBA’s inaugural Vegas Summer League was kick-started by the Democratic National Convention].
- Stephen A. Smith is apparently not too fond of him [Dennis Robertson, Kawhi Leonard’s Uncle: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know].
Baseball
- Brodie van Wagenen: “The inertia of current situation could complicate Jacob’s relationship with the club and creates an atmosphere of indecision” [Jacob deGrom says ball is in Mets’ court as his agent gives an ultimatum].