They wait, and wait. A technical glitch causes the interview to be ditched, and nobody — especially not Lonzo or LiAngelo — seems bothered. LaVar, quiet no longer, is accepting congratulations and telling the room, “Tell MJ: Here we come! Tell MJ we’re coming!” LaVar punctuates his proclamations by raising both arms in the air. Michael Jordan, the man LaVar famously claimed he could beat in a one-on-one, is the owner of the Hornets and now his son’s boss. LaVar tells me the world might finally get to see that one-on-one, but first he has to discuss the business side with Jordan: pay-per-view, guaranteed money, that kind of thing. He laughs and says, “Hey, if people are willing to pay to see 50-year-old Mike Tyson fight, why not?” He likes the idea of Jordan guiding his son. “Greatness recognizes greatness,” he says. “I always told my boys, ‘Someone has to be better than the best — why not you?'”
Mike Tyson Rumors
Nate Robinson’s alarm goes off before the sun rises. The NBA’s lone three-time Slam Dunk Contest champion rolls out of bed — no snooze button allowed — to get ready to train. He isn’t currently focused on returning to the basketball court but is instead pursuing a new endeavor that has him at the gym six days a week, twice a day.
At age 36, with no prior professional or amateur experience, Robinson is getting ready for his first boxing match. “It’s brutal. Waking up early, running six or seven miles, it’s something I’ve never done in my life, and I’m doing it at 36, so it’s definitely making me feel young and energetic,” Robinson told ESPN. “It’s really tuning me in to another part of myself that I never knew I had.
“But I just want people to respect me as a person, as an athlete and as a boxer because I’m going through it,” he continued. “I’m not taking it easy and going through the motions. What they’ll see Nov. 28 is a Nate Robinson that really put in work to really get to this point, and I hope I surprise a lot of people, because a lot of people think I’m gonna lose.”
Robinson will enter the ring that night for a six-round bout against famed YouTuber Jake Paul (1-0, 1 KO) on the Mike Tyson-Roy Jones Jr. undercard. Robinson’s camp started at the end of August and is expected to wrap almost a week and a half before the fight date. His team includes strength and conditioning coach Chris Denina — who typically works with Robinson in the mornings — and boxing trainer Francisco “Paco” Reyes of Tenochtitlan Boxing Club in Renton, Washington. Reyes oversees the evening sessions.
Imagine being at a restaurant … and in walks Mike Tyson, Michael Jordan, Walter Payton, Richard Dent and Don King. That’s exactly what happened to a couple back in 1988, who commemorated the moment by getting all the legends to sign their menu … and now it’s up for auction!!! Hindman Auctions tells TMZ Sports … the power squad showed up at Lino’s Ristorante in Chicago to celebrate Dent’s 28th birthday.
Rony Seikaly: The GOAT debate is something that people have fun with, but when you’re comparing two great players of two different eras, it’s very difficult to make a call. We’re talking about two immensely talented players and we can go back and forth on who’s better, depending on whether you’re a fan of the 90s or of today. If you’re the latter, you probably don’t know what Michael Jordan did in the 90s and you would automatically think that LeBron James is the best player. If you grew up watching Kobe Bryant, you’d think that he’s the GOAT. The debate is endless, but the only reason I’d give the nod to Michael Jordan is because he had more of an assassin mentality. If he smelled a little bit of blood, he would come after you and you were finished. It’s always the same with Mike Tyson. He was like a shark. LeBron is an extremely talented player, just as talented as Michael, but sometimes he’s more of a Magic Johnson when he has the ball; more of a facilitator and less of a finisher, like Michael Jordan was.
