Now that Kobe Bryant has finally established himself as the best player in the world, period, who’ll carry the torch once he’s done?

The only thing constant in the NBA is change and we all know that once Kobe Bryant is done, there’ll be another guy who’ll be carrying the sport by his shoulders while the rest of us start proclaiming that guy as the new king of the sport. Unless, of course, you’re still stuck in the past, masturbating over Michael Jordan.

When Kobe Bryant leaves the game of basketball, which everybody knows will take some time before he does that, who will follow his footsteps and be named as the next best thing in the NBA? Well, we already have the usual suspects in LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. These guys are already ”Kobe-esque” at this point of their careers. It’s just a question on how long can both guys keep playing at this level.

LeBron James and Dwyane Wade have already proven that they are among the elite players in the league. Wade has already won a championship ring with the Miami Heat back in 2006 with Shaquille O’Neal while LeBron James has already won the best single accolade an NBA player can get, winning the MVP trophy last season.

Any of these guys can carry the torch after Kobe Bryant and the NBA is definitely in good hands. We also…

At best.

Yep, you read it, because there are rumors that claim that this latest injury hitting the seven-foot Chinese giant coming to the 2009 NBA basketball season is so severe that they’re calling it career-threatening.

Apparently, Yao Ming hasn’t fully recovered yet from the broken foot he suffered from during the NBA playoffs. And while the brand new season is still a few months away, Yao’s recovery is so behind schedule that they are already ruling the big guy out for the entire season, or worse, his NBA career.

”At this point, the injury has the potential for him missing this next season and could be career threatening,” team physician Tom Clanton said.

”One of the things we are trying to get is a consensus opinion on that, to make certain there is no option we are overlooking that would provide an earlier return or would be an option for treatment that he would prefer rather than doing additional surgery.”

Yao Ming suffered a hairline fracture of the tarsal navicular bone of his left foot when his Houston Rockets were playing the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round of the NBA playoffs. The team initially ruled Yao to be out for eight to 12 weeks but they found out that he could be missing a lot more time after a bone scan revealed that the fracture is not healing properly.

This leaves the Houston Rockets with no choice but to…

Yes, they’re still around.

With the hot and sexy Maria Sharapova out followed by Ana Ivanovic tapping out of center court because of an injury, having the Williams sisters STILL around is really one big swift kick to the balls.

In case you didn’t get that, I don’t really expect you to. What I know is that the two huge reasons why the male population watch tennis is now long gone and there isn’t really nothing to look forward to in the 2009 Wimbledon Championships anymore but for it to be over, and soon.

For the rest of you, well, both Venus and Serena Williams are still around, each hoping for a possible Williams sisters face-off in the semifinals. Of course, they have to get rid of their respective quarterfinals matches first.

First, Serena. The younger Williams will look for revenge as she faces off with the same beyatch who kicked her ass in the final of last April’s Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Victoria Azarenka. Serena knows that Azarenka is a good player and if there was one player with everything to lose, it would have to be her.

”She’s obviously a good player, and she’s really young,” said Serena Williams, a winner in 56 minutes over another hottie, Daniela Hantuchova in Monday’s fourth round. ”She has nothing to lose. It will be a really good match.”

Older sister Venus Williams, on the other hand, was…

Looks like the Suns are really serious in rebuilding their underachieving franchise.

Either that or they just wanna catch one of the big fishes that will be in the market once the 2010 free agency period gets here. And with the way the Suns traded away Shaquille O’Neal as if he was nothing but just another run – of – the – mil seven-footer, it looks like these guys could care less how will their 2009 NBA basketball season go.

Merely days after the Phoenix Suns virtually gave away Shaquille O’Neal to the Cleveland Cavaliers, rumors came out that the team is willing to give up another one of their bigger stars.

You read it, there are rumors that claim the Phoenix Suns are willing to give up Amare Stoudemire to the Golden State Warriors, completing arguably the biggest roster disassembly the NBA has seen in quite a while. Apparently, the Warriors wanted Stoudemire since February when Phoenix first made their prized forward available. And now that the Suns proved that NO ONE is safe after trading Shaq, seeing Stoudemire in Golden State just became more…

Because milking on hurricanes to establish a fan base has gone long enough.

The New Orleans Saints, like any other year in the NFL, is entering the 2009 NFL football season with a lot of promise. After all, they still have one of the best quarterbacks in the league in Drew Brees and one of the most promising running backs in the game in Reggie Bush.

But when will the New Orleans Saints finally come out of their shell and live up to the hype for a change? They are an exciting bunch to watch on that football field, we all know that, the problem is, they just can’t generate enough momentum to win enough games for a post season run.

As always, Drew Brees is the preseason front runner to be MVP of the NFL. This guy is just a freak behind center and if it wasn’t for him, the Saints would be playing somewhere in Canada for all we know.

The receivers are young and talented. If Marques Colston can stay healthy for a change, Brees would be celebrating more touchdowns instead of wasting his time arguing with Jeremey Shockey.

The they also have Pierre Thomas, an undrafted player two years ago who is on the verge of becoming a top ten halfback in the NFL. He’s a nice guy to have if this Reggie Bush…

The U.S. almost pulled off the big one alright.

With a shocking 2-0 lead over the five-time World Cup champions Brazil after the first half of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup final, it looked like this Cinderella run the Americans have been having will get them their first big championship in the sport.

After the United States soccer team shocked the world by beating a football-crazy nation like Spain in the semifinals, they started to want more than just respectability in the arena of international football. And you can tell that the Americans were inspired to win it all last Sunday too, jumping on the Brazilians right from the get-go with Clint Dempsey kicking it off with a goal on the 9th minute.

U.S. team captain Landon Donovan followed it up with another goal on the 26th minute, giving the U.S. a 2-0 lead over the Brazil football team before halftime.

Unfortunately, that’s where the Cinderella run ended for the Americans as the Brazilians took over in the second half. Down 2-0 with the Confederations Cup at stake, Brazil rallied as Luis Fabiano kicked off his team’s comeback with two goals, one on the 46th minute and another on the 73rd minute to tie it 2-2.

And just before the fixture could go the full 90 minutes, Lucio came up with Brazil’s third goal of the night, giving the Brazilians the 3-2 lead on the 83rd minute. Just then, it dawned on the Americans that the dream is over as Brazil marched on towards…

Yep, apparently, Arum wants to keep Pacquiao’s third world ass safe from big bad Sugar Shane.

Manny ”Pacman” Pacquiao really did it now. With the way he’s been pissing all over the tradition of boxing, one by one, the sport’s legends came out, each hoping to finally save the sport that we love from the mediocrity Pacquiao has slapped it with.

First came Oscar De La Hoya, coming out of retirement to save us from the biggest joke in boxing. Then came Ricky Hatton. But as great as both fighters have been in their careers, they were simply not the same when they fought Pacquiao, both failing to lead boxing to its salvation.

But when Floyd Mayweather Jr., the BEST POUND FOR POUND FIGHTER IN THE WORLD, came back from retirement to reclaim his spot back on the spotlight, we knew then that Pacquiao’s time as paper champion is about to come to a close.

Now, with this ”other” guy wanting to get a shot at Pacquiao’s third world ass as well, Pacquiao’s people is just determined to delay the inevitable. Apparently, ”Sugar” Shane Mosley wants Manny Pacquiao and Pacquiao’s people knows that Sugar Shane always gets what he wants. They know too that the moment Sugar Shane set his mind into kicking Pacquiao’s ass, it’s only a matter of time before Mosley does just that.

The problem is, Pacquiao’s people is getting in the…

Since this is the final one, we’ll try to finish strong.

The final batch of our rookies from the 2009 NBA Draft is here and we hope that you already have an idea on who should you be betting on once the brand new season gets here.

Let’s kick this one off with the first draft pick of the Eastern Conference, Jordan Hill. Hill made a name for himself in the NCAA this past season, when he put up 18.3 points, 11.0 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks per game. Taken no.8 overall by the New York Knicks, Hill has the potential to grow into one of the more skilled big men in the league if he continues his upward learning curve.

The New York Knicks initially wanted Stephen Curry but since he was taken by the Warriors before the Knicks got on the clock, they ended up with Hill. He’s a good choice too. He’s a hard worker with decent strength for his size and can step in and contribute immediately in the right NBA system. Problem is, Knicks fans don’t know better, booing their draft selection as he made his way to the stage.

Yup, Knicks fans wanted Stephen Curry THAT BAD. Hell, they would probably boo anyone not named Stephen Curry. You can’t really blame them too. Curry is a straight-up shooter with great confidence, demeanor and ability to fill it up from anywhere on the floor.

Considered as the sweetheart of the 2008 NCAA tournament, Curry is already considered a national star. That’s probably why the Golden State Warriors wasted no time in…

Too bad he’s quitting the boxing gig even before he got the chance to split Manny Pacquiao in half eh?

YouTube sensation Kimbo Slice wants to salvage what’s left of his MMA career. After his war of words with UFC President Dana White in the past, he has finally acknowledged how big the UFC is to the sport of MMA and he wants to be a part of it.

You read it, Kimbo Slice is jumping on the UFC bandwagon and his only shot of finally setting foot inside the Octagon is by winning the Ultimate Fighter 10. Yes, the guy is actually entering the tournament for a chance to win a contract with the UFC. And since the guy really doesn’t have anything going for him right now, any contract would do.

”I don’t think there’s anybody I’ve talked more smack about than this guy,” UFC President Dana White said of the street fighting sensation while he was a guest on the Carmichael Dave show.

”I said the only way this guy ever gets in to the UFC is through The Ultimate Fighter and here he is, I gotta respect that. I tell you what, [on the first day of shooting] he walked in the gym, let me tell you what he’s pretty serious. He wasn’t messing around, he wasn’t joking, he wasn’t laughing.”

With the way his stint with EliteXC turned out, you wouldn’t be laughing either.

”A lot of people were offering him a lot of money and he wants to be…”

You read it, the City of Brotherly Love, for the first time ever, will feel just how intense the ”brotherly love” inside the Octagon really is.

Yep, UFC 101: Declaration will be bringing Philadelphia its first taste of the UFC on August 8 at the Wachovia Center. And since this will be the first time Dana White will be bringing his sport on this part of the Eastern time zone, they’re bringing the big guns with them.

Highlighting the event will be the BJ Penn – Kenny Florian UFC Lightweight Championship as Penn defends his title for the second time against Florian, the number one contender.

Without a shadow of a doubt, UFC Lightweight Champion BJ Penn is the undisputed king of the division. At 35-5-1, Penn is practically on everyone’s list of best fighters in the world, pound for pound.

And I’m assuming Manny ”The Pacman” Pacquiao is NOT INCLUDED in any of these lists. (And it should be…)

Penn is undefeated at 155 pounds since 2002, beating the likes of Jens Pulver, Joe Stevenson and Sean Sherk in successive contests. Thanks to a humbling loss to Georges St-Pierre when Penn challenged GSP for his Welterweight title, Penn was shunned back to the Lightweight division much to the dismay of other fighters in the weight class.

And since BJ Penn has been simply unstoppable as a…