Florida Sentinel Bulletin

Two Olympic gold medals and a bronze are likely going to be enough for LeBron James, who is reportedly finished with Team USA and his international basketball career.
James, 28, will not play for USA Basketball during the 2013 world championships in Spain and is doubtful to participate in the 2016 Olympics in Brazil, a source close to the Miami Heat forward told reporters on Wednesday. USA Basketball executive director Jerry Colangelo also confirmed to reporters he doesn’t expect James to play next summer—and doesn’t plan to ask him.

DEREK JETER

Derek Jeter made another return to the lineup and the field for the Yankees on Sunday. (AP Photo)

NEW YORK— Tampan/ New York Yankee Derek Jeter homered on the first pitch he saw to give the Yankees a jolt in his return from the disabled list and Alfonso Soriano made the captain a winner with a game-ending single that lifted New York over the Tampa Bay Rays 6-5 Sunday to avoid a three-game sweep.
Playing with Jeter for the first time since being re-acquired by New York from the Cubs on Friday, Soriano homered among his first four hits with the Yankees and drove in three runs.
Jeter was activated from the DL for the second time this month and connected against Matt Moore, sending a drive to right-center that ended the Yankees’ nine-game homerless drought.

KEITH THURMAN

Just when Keith Thurman thought he’d gotten through the toughest night of his pro life, it got worse.
The unbeaten welterweight prospect was bleeding from the nose and found himself behind on the scorecards for much of the showdown with fellow unbeaten fighter Diego Chaves, but his most memorable struggle didn’t arrive until shortly after he’d finished the rugged Argentine less than 30 seconds into Round 10.
It was then, while being interviewed in the ring by Showtime’s Jim Gray, that the boxer chose to return the love directed his way by an appreciative crowd at a raucous AT&T Center—and quickly saw it disintegrate into a moment appropriate for a Southwest Airlines spot.
“I want to thank this city right here, San Diegooooo!” he said, drawing audible groans from the crowd and a quick interjection from Gray, who pointed out the mistake to the sheepish visitor.
“San Antonio. My bad, baby. My bad. I love San Antonio. This is my first time here. I’m a foreigner. This is a beautiful city. Thank you for coming out. Thank you for the support.”
Thurman, 24, a native of Clearwater, FL and client of the trainer (Dan Birmingham) who steered former world champions Jeff Lacy and Winky Wright, had scored 18 KOs in the initial 20 victories of his nearly six-year pro career—all of them coming in six rounds or less.

SPIKE LEE

In an attempt to raise money for his next feature film, Spike Lee has begun a Kick starter campaign. According to reporters, Lee is looking to generate $1.25 million in funding over the next month.
In exchange for any “donations,” Lee is promising a wide-ranging assortment of gifts.
Five bucks gets you a thank you tweet from Lee himself and access to behind-the-scenes project updates. Pitching in $500 will get you a pair of autographed, Spike-worn Nikes. A thousand big ones puts you on screen, as an extra in the movie. Forking over $5,000 will net you an Associate Producer credit at the end of the film.
And the coup de grace, a $10,000 pledge, will put you courtside at a Knicks game next to the diehard fanatic himself:
“This Award Is For All Playa-Playas. For 10 Grand I’m Taking You to Dinner, Then You Will Have The Honor And Privilege To Sit Next To Me (in my wife’s Tonya’s seat) courtside – front row in the best seat in the house at the world’s most famous arena – Madison Square Garden to see our beloved New York Knickerbockers, orange and blue skies. If you don’t know this is one of the true great sporting events today. You will remember this experience as long as you live. This is a very limited item. You slow – you blow. This is big, big time. Ps. Knicks will be great this coming new season.”

Big Papi David Ortiz Goes Nuts After Ejection

Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz was ejected from Saturday night’s road game against the Baltimore Orioles after smashing the bullpen phone in the visiting dugout.
Ortiz walked twice but was hitless in his two other plate appearances, including the final one, when he struck out swinging in the top of the seventh inning. The veteran argued balls and strikes throughout, and once he had the dugout tantrum, home plate umpire Tim Timmons tossed him.
Getting kicked out of the game only made Ortiz even more upset, as he walked to the top of the dugout shouting at Timmons for the bad calls he apparently made.
An unfortunate by product of the situation was that Ortiz nearly hit his teammate, Dustin Pedroia, with the bat shards that flew as a result of his anger.
It would be one thing for Ortiz to get this upset in the friendly confines of Fenway Park, but the fact that this took place in another team’s stadium is sure to draw the ire of those interested in the Orioles.

LeBRON JAMES

ATLANTA –NBA Champion LeBron James is taking some of his talents during the offseason to a best-selling basketball video game franchise as a music curator.
2K Sports announced Friday that the two-time NBA champion of the Miami Heat selected 20 songs for the soundtrack of the upcoming “NBA 2K14.” The league’s four-time MVP is also the cover athlete of the popular video game. T. James said in a statement that he is honored to be the first cover athlete to choose songs for the soundtrack. He follows his friend and Grammy-winning rapper Jay Z, who was the executive producer of the last year’s installment that sold more than 4.5 million copies.
“2K is letting me take control of some important elements in NBA 2K14, including this year’s soundtrack,” James said. “I love that I’m the first NBA 2K cover athlete to choose the soundtrack.”
Some of the songs featured on the game’s soundtrack are Drake’s “Started From The Bottom,” Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight,” Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky,” featuring Pharrell Williams and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Can’t Hold Us,” with Ray Dalton.
Other music acts featured are Jay-Z, Coldplay, Robin Thicke, The Black Keys, Eminem, Fly Union, Gorillaz, Imagine Dragons, Jada Kiss, John Legend, Kanye West, Rick Ross, Kendrick Lamar, Nas and Puff Daddy.
James is the first solo cover athlete to cover the game in two years since Michael Jordan. The game is expected to go on sale Oct. 1.

Free agent guard Gary Neal reached an agreement on a two-year guaranteed contract with the Milwaukee Bucks.
The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly until the deal was official. The deal is worth nearly $3 million per season.
Neal turned into a late unrestricted free agent find after the San Antonio Spurs withdrew their $1.1 million qualifying offer last week. The Spurs already had signed free agent guard Marco Belinelli and were satisfied with their depth at that position.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Williams has been a consistent contri-butor over the past three seasons, and on Wednesday the team rewarded him with a five-year extension through the 2018 season, according to the Bucs’ Twitter account.

Since Williams was already under contract for the upcoming season, the signing ensures that he will be a Buc for the next six seasons barring a trade or release. Williams’ six-year deal is worth a total of $40.25 million, although it’s unclear how much of that is guaranteed.

After a subpar 2011 campaign, Williams bounced back in a big way last season. With Vincent Jackson pulling attention away from him, Williams got back to his rookie form as he reeled in 63 passes for 996 yards and nine touchdowns.

Kobe Bryant is now a couple of championship rings short.

Actually, the rings he gifted to his parents—which at one point were part of a lawsuit he filed against his mother—have been sold at auction.

The NBA championship rings that Kobe Bryant gave to his parents each sold for more than $100,000. Goldin Auctions said six items of Bryant memorabilia sold for a combined $433,531 in the monthlong auction that closed early Saturday morning.

A 2000 Lakers championship ring gifted by Bryant to his father, Joe, sold for $174,184. A ring given to his mother, Pamela, from the same championship season went for $108,153. Bryant had filed a suit against the auction company, saying his mother didn’t have the right to sell the items. A settlement was reached last month allowing six items to be auctioned after the five-time NBA champion’s pa-rents apologized to their son and thanked him for his financial support.

The other items included Bryant’s 2000 NBA All-Star game ring, which sold for $55,597, two game-worn uniforms from high school and a medallion and ribbon from the 1996 Magic’s Roundball Classic.