Kobe Bryant‘s father, Joe Bryantauctions off the replica of the championship ring given to him by his late son.

The 14-karat gold and 40 diamond ring was listed on the online auction website Goudin on the 8th of March. The frame includes several photos of the band, with the words “Lakers” and “World Champions” engraved at the top. The ring also features the phrase “Bling Bling” and Kobe’s name engraved on the side.

The description revealed that the jewelry was a token Kobe gave to his father after the athlete won his first championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2000. According to the site, Kobe had an exact replica of his own championship ring made for his father, and it is the only ring Joe received from his son. The ring came directly from the Bryant family and has a letter of authenticity from Kobe’s mother, Pam Bryant.

Bidding started at $30,000 and is up to $141,000 as of this writing. The auction runs until March 30.

This isn’t the first time Kobe’s parents have tried to sell the ring and other memorabilia. After attempting to sell some of Kobe’s items in 2013, Kobe sued his parents and the auction company, saying he had not allowed them to put the items up for sale. The matter was settled and Kobe’s mother and father eventually apologized.

“We regret our actions and statements regarding the Kobe Bryant auction memorabilia,” they said ESPN at the time. “We apologize for any misunderstandings and unintended pain we may have caused our son and appreciate the financial support he has provided over the years. We also apologize to Goldin Auctions for their inadvertent involvement in this matter and thank them for their assistance.”

The decision to sell the ring comes three years after Kobe died in a helicopter crash at the age of 41, along with daughter Gianna, 13, and seven of their friends. Kobe leaves behind a wife Vanessa Bryant and their daughters Natalia, 21, Bianka, 7, and Capri, 4.

Earlier this year, Kobe was honored with a statue in the Lakers’ home stadium. Kobe was a beloved member of the team, winning five championships with them during his career. Vanessa, 41, and her daughters were present when the statue was unveiled.

“It goes without saying that today is an especially sad day for us as Kobe and Gigi are not here for what should be an incredibly joyful moment and for Kobe’s legacy,” Vanessa said as she addressed the crowd. “Kobe has so many people who have supported him from the beginning all over the world. And this moment is not just for Kobe, but for everyone who has supported him all these years.”

The former stadium of a CHAMPIONSHIP club looks unrecognizable after being transformed into a rugby pitch with a capacity of just 2,000.

The Sheffield Olympic Legacy Stadium is the home of the Sheffield Eagles rugby league.

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It was built between 2021 and 2022 and opened two years ago following a £10 million construction project.

The arena seats 2,000 people and also hosts the American football team Sheffield Giants.

It was also the previous home of Sheffield United Women.

But it looked very different when Championship side Rotherham played there.

The Sheffield Olympic Legacy Stadium was built on the site of Don Valley Stadium, which closed in 2013 and was demolished a year later.

Opened in 1990, the £29 million arena was the second largest athletics stadium in the country, seating 25,000 spectators.

That number doubled for concerts and similar events.

But it also played host to Rotherham when the club was without a home for four years.

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Between 2008 and 2012, up to 10,000 fans were allowed in for each match before Rotherham moved into New York’s stadium – where they remain to this day.

However, Don Valley Stadium was closed by Sheffield City Council 11 years ago as part of a £50 million budget cut.

The site, which was previously renovated in 2008, was completely demolished.

But in 2014 it was announced that an Olympic Legacy Park would be built over the remains.

In addition to the new stadium, the site now also contains an indoor sports arena and various schools.

It now hosts the Sheffield Eagles, who had also played at Don Valley Stadium and were forced to share ground in Doncaster, Rotherham and Wakefield until the Legacy Stadium opens in 2022.

Captain Anthony Thackeray said ahead of the opening: “It has been a long time coming.

“It’s very important for the club, the fans and everyone involved.”

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ARSENAL gave two first-team players some much-needed minutes in a 4-0 behind-closed-doors friendly defeat to QPR today.

The Gunners are making the most of the break to give those not on international duty the chance to get up to full strength ahead of the pre-season and title challenge.

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SunSport understands Thomas Partey and Takehiro Tomiyasu were involved. Partey was credited with 60 minutes, while Tomiyasu played 45 minutes.

But Jurrien Timber did NOT playing as he continues his rehabilitation from ACL surgery.

The match took place at one of QPR’s training grounds and there were a lot of Arsenal U21s in attendance who had the chance to impress Mikel Arteta.

Arsenal had not played since beating Porto on March 12 to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League, with their next meeting against Manchester City on March 31.

Partey made his official return from the bench on March 4 against Sheffield United, having been out for five months following thigh surgery in October.

Before that, the Ghanaian had only been on the field for half an hour since August.

Partey also played the final few minutes of Arsenal’s 2–1 win over Brentford on 9 March, as he returned to regular football.

Boss Arteta hopes Partey can play a big role with just 10 league games remaining in the Premier League and a Champions League quarter-final next month.

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Tomiyasu has also struggled with injuries this season and has been dealing with a calf problem, meaning the Japan international is yet to play for Arsenal this calendar year.

But after signing a new two-year contract this week – with the option of a further 12 months – Tomiyasu was given game time against QPR.

The return of Tomiyasu gives Arteta plenty of options at the back and can rotate players like Oleksandr Zinchenko, Ben White and Jakub Kiwior if necessary.

However, Dutch full-back Timber – who was injured on the opening day of the Prem against Nottingham Forest in August – is not yet ready to participate in a match situation.

Timber has been involved in full training with the seniors in recent weeks and is building up to be able to perform again sometime next month.

However, Arteta won’t be taking any chances with a player he sees as crucial to his setup, and internally the club is very excited about what Timber can bring to the side next season when he is fully fit.

SIR GEOFF HURST is backing Gareth Southgate to lead England to Euro 2024 glory – thanks to Jude Bellingham and his fellow boys.

The 1966 World Cup hat-trick legend believes there is a “good chance” Three Lions boss Southgate will end 58 years of pain this summer.

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And he tips Real Madrid midfielder Bellingham for inspiring England to success.

The Euro 2020 final was the closest England have come to winning a major tournament since Hurst’s exploits.

Southgate also guided England to the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2018.

Hurst, 82, said: “Our chances of winning the European Championship this summer are very good.

“The leadership under Gareth has been really great and it is good to have reached the semi-finals of the World Cup and the final of the European Championship.

“There was a period a few years ago when players thought it was more important to play European football for a club than to represent their country. That has all changed now under Southgate, although I recognize that there is still a section of people who will moan about the way he is getting England to play.

“But you look at what he’s done and how he works. A giant step forward has been taken, so we have a great opportunity.”

The former England and West Ham forward sang Southgate’s praises at Bristol’s Redgrave Theater during An Evening with Sir Geoff Hurst: The Farewell Tour, but he was less complimentary about some of England’s previous efforts on the biggest stages.

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Hurst explained: “Some past performances have been very poor, especially at the World Cup in Brazil (2014). We had three qualifying matches and before we knew it we were off and back home.

“Some foreign managers have not done so well and some of our performances in tournaments have been shocking. But it won’t be a shock to me if we win this summer.

“I say that because I think we have THE best group of young players, even though it will be difficult.”

With Bellingham going from strength to strength in Spain, Hurst is optimistic that England fans can finally celebrate as he continued: “Jude Bellingham is an incredible talent – ​​what he has done with his career so far is incredible.

“He went to Real Madrid and it seems he can’t stop scoring, which shows what a fantastic player he is.

“But Jude is also part of a great group of young players, which is great. He’s only 20, which is amazing and he’s brilliant.

‘Plus, he seems like a nice guy and doesn’t seem to get carried away with anything.

“I can’t speak enough about him. But he is just one of many young English players who will only get better, so we have a very good chance.”

Hurst scored one of the sport’s most controversial goals in the 1966 final. But while he agrees VAR would have shown his shot was a yard over the line at Wembley, he is far from impressed of the new system.

He said: “Decisions must be made quickly. It’s c**p. Fans can’t celebrate properly, players can’t celebrate and the referee leaves the field to watch the screen for ten minutes.

“And somehow they’re still making just as many bad decisions, which is amazing. It’s just terrible.”

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GARY ROWETT has returned to Birmingham as interim manager until the end of the season.

The 50-year-old previously spent two years in charge at St Andrew’s between 2014 and 2016.

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He succeeds Mark Venus, who has been at the helm since Tony Mowbray resigned in February to undergo medical treatment.

The club confirmed that Mowbray would miss the rest of the season.

Rowett will now take charge for the remainder of the campaign in an attempt to beat the decline.

A club statement read: “Birmingham City Football Club can confirm that manager Tony Mowbray will take formal medical leave until the start of the 2024/25 pre-season.

“The Club has appointed interim manager Gary Rowett for the remaining eight matches of the Sky Bet Championship season with immediate effect.

“Rowett has significant management experience in the division, having previously managed Birmingham from October 2014 to December 2016.

“The decision to act was taken at the start of the international breakthrough by the board and leadership team, in partnership with Mowbray, who was instrumental in identifying Rowett as the right manager to lead the team through to the end of the season moving forward.

“The medical leave will allow Mowbray to focus 100 percent on being with his family and making a full recovery following his recent health issues.

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“Assistant manager Mark Venus will also take leave with immediate effect and rejoin the Club at the same time as Mowbray.

“First team coaches, Ashley Cole and Peter Shuttleworth, and goalkeeping coach, Maik Taylor, will remain with the Club as part of Rowett’s coaching staff.”

Birmingham have not won any of their six games since Mowbray left and picked up just one point under Venus.

Their poor results leave the Blues in 21st place in the Championship and only above the drop zone on goal difference.

Rowett will play eight matches for the first time since 1994 to avoid relegation to the third tier.

The former Millwall boss has disappeared from management since leaving The Den in October.

He previously managed Birmingham for two years and led the club to a successive 10th-place finish in the Championship.

However, he was sacked in December 2016 when the Blues were seventh in the table.

Rowett has also had spells in charge of Derby and Stoke since leaving Birmingham more than seven years ago.

Speaking on the news, Birmingham co-owner Tom Wagner said: “The board and club management fully support Tony’s decision to take time to focus on his health and his family. We continue to wish Tony and his family all the best.

“Based on Tony’s decision to take some additional time off, we have agreed that it is in the best interests of the Club to appoint Gary Rowett to lead the team forward from the sidelines for the final eight games of the season.

“Gary is an experienced leader and has our full support.”

CEO Garry Cook said: “The team is in a challenging position. A strong leader is needed to guide the players to the end of the season.

“Tony wanted to be part of the solution, so we agreed together to identify an interim manager. Gary Rowett was the number one choice.

“We are pleased to welcome Gary back to Blues. He has the experience and passion for the Club and our loyal fans.

“Gary will have all the support needed to keep the club in the Sky Bet Championship.

“We all look forward to welcoming Tony and Mark back to the Club for the start of next season and continue to wish Tony a speedy recovery.”

The Championship play-off final will be postponed to JUNE if Coventry City pull off a big FA Cup victory, it has been claimed.

The Sky Blues are still in a good bid to qualify for the richest competition in football.

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Mark Robins’ troops are four points behind in sixth place Norwich cityalready finished them The Canaries a match in hand.

The play-off final will take place on May 26 at Wembley Stadium, but the match will be postponed if Coventry shock the world and reach the FA Cup final.

Coventry will face Premier League giants Manchester United in the semi-final of the tournament on April 20.

And the FA The cup final will take place on May 25, the day before the play-off final.

And according to The daily emailthe EFL will postpone the match for seven days until June 2 if both scenarios come to fruition.

Wembley staff will be busy for 48 hours if Coventry reach both finals, with the Champions League final taking place on June 1.

Coventry boss Robins will have added incentive to reach the FA Cup final as he used to play for the Red Devils.

He said of United’s stunning 4-3 win over Liverpool: “I watched it and I thought the whole weekend was excellent.

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“The games were all entertaining and many goals were scored.

“I thought ours set the tone and it was just incredible.

“The feeling everyone was left with is that it’s one of those games you’ll never forget. It was brilliant.”

He added: “Sunday’s match was an open game and Man United were brave.

“They had to make changes and put midfield players and forwards at full-back and they went for it and it paid off.

And Amad Diallo’s goal made it complete for them.

“In the end, United did enough to win, but I think our play set the tone for everyone else.”

THE FA CUP final could be hit by major scheduling chaos over the date of the championship play-off final.

That’s because the FA Cup final is scheduled for May 25 – just one day before the Championship play-off final on May 26.

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And that potentially poses a major problem for Mark Robins’ Coventry side.

The second-tier team is just four points behind the top six with a game in hand.

This means they are fighting for a place in the play-off final at Wembley, which they lost to Luton on penalties last year.

However, they are also just one game away from the FA Cup final.

A dramatic 3-2 win over Wolves on Saturday secured a place in the last four.

They were then drawn against Manchester United in the semi-finals after Erik ten Hag’s side defeated Liverpool 4–3 in a classic encounter.

A win for Coventry over Man Utd would make them the first second-tier club since Cardiff in 2008 to reach the FA Cup final.

And it could also cause a major problem in terms of scheduling, as The Sky Blues would have two games in the same weekend if they also reached the play-off final.

Since the introduction of the play-offs in 1987, such an event has never occurred, with second division teams that have reached the FA Cup final not appearing in the play-off final.

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There is also no plan for this to happen.

SunSport understands that if this did happen, the Championship match would be moved to accommodate the FA Cup, with the EFL making a final decision on a potential new date.

But before that there’s the FA Cup semi-finals, not to mention the rest of the Championship season.

ISAAK DAVIES is attracting interest from across Europe, with clubs in France, Germany and Belgium all keen to sign him.

The 22-year-old forward from Wales is on loan to Belgian side Kortrijk from Cardiff for a season and has scored eight goals in twenty games in the Jupiler Pro League.

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Davies’ impressive performances on the continent have alerted Euro hopefuls, with Monaco, Freiburg and Genk all leading the hunt for his signature.

Davies is under contract with the Bluebirds until the summer of 2025, but his emergence means the forward is likely to make a move this summer.

Kortrijk are second in the table but Davies’ winner at second-placed Anderlecht on Saturday inflicted their first home defeat of the season.

Davies was a youth team product of Cardiff and was previously the subject of a £2.5 million bid from Burnley.

While the highly rated Davies, who joined the Championship club at the age of seven, had also attracted the attention of Brentford and Southampton.

Uncapped Davies was left out of Wales’ Robert Page squad for Thursday’s Euro 2024 play-off semi-final against Finland in Cardiff.

But the versatile forward has represented Wales at all levels between U17 and U21 and if he continues his form in Europe, Page will have to take that into account.

Cardiff could do with Davies’ goals and assists at the moment as they sit 11th in the Championship.

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They are currently eight points away from a play-off spot, with the season at risk of coming to naught.

Adding to the misery is the fact that they lost the South Wales derby 2-0 to Swansea City this weekend.

In more positive news, Aaron Ramsey returned for the Blue Birds this weekend after coming off the bench.

His fitness will be key for Wales if they want to qualify for the European Championship.

Zendaya And Tom Holland were spotted on the court watching the Indian Wells Open on Sunday, March 17.

The pair were spotted singing along Whitney Houston‘s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” while sitting in the stands at the 2024 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California.

Holland, 27, wore a brown button-down shirt with white trim over a white T-shirt, while Zendaya, also 27, modeled a white Louis Vuitton sweater and tennis skirt.

After the competition, the Emmy-winning actress met the winner Iga Świątek and posed for photos. Świątek defeated his opponent Maria Sakkari with a score of 6–4, giving Świątek her second victory in Indian Wells.

“I already got used to all this madness after the match,” 22-year-old Świątek said at a post-match press conference. “Sure, meeting Zendaya was crazy, but on the other hand, she’s a human being like all of us. So I was just happy that she enjoys tennis and that she has, you know, a tennis-themed movie [Challengers] get out. So that should be very exciting.”

Świątek is ready to take the field with Zendaya as well. “She can practice with me anytime she wants,” the tennis champion added. “But it was definitely fun and she’s a really great person. I feel quite privileged to be in this place where I can meet these kinds of people.”

While Zendaya also got to spend time with Holland, the game served as a work event. She starts the press tour for her film Challengersin which she plays a famous tennis star named Tashi Duncan who gets caught in a love triangle with two other athletes, played by Mike Faist And Josh O’Connor. Challengers will hit theaters on April 26.

The Tennis Channel even called her the fictional one Challengers character in their caption (while also acknowledging Holland’s best-known role as Spider-Man). “tashi duncan and peter parker? ,” the network wrote alongside a video of the couple.

While Tashi’s love life contains a lot of drama, Zendaya’s real-life romance is much quieter. Zendaya and Holland’s love became public after they were spotted kissing in a car in July 2021. Since then, the two have slowly opened up about their relationship.

“Zendaya and Tom really tried their best to keep their romance under wraps when they first started dating,” a source exclusively shared We weekly in July 2023. “Before they started seeing each other, they had both always been very private when it came to their personal lives. It was something that bonded them in the early stages of their relationship as they were both on the same page when it came to avoiding public speculation.”

However, that changed after their relationship became public knowledge. “That has changed over time and they recognize that everyone knows they are together,” the source continued. “So Tom is proud to call Zendaya his girlfriend and express how much he loves her because he wants the world to know.”

In the midst of her Dune: part two during a press tour, Zendaya even brought up Holland several times without being asked. During the BuzzFeed Puppy interview, the Euphoria star was asked which of hers Dune costars had the most ‘rizz,’ and she wasn’t even considering her castmates.

“I think that someone with a beautiful charisma is not in the foreground Dune cast, but personally working for me is Mr. Tom Holland,” Zendaya replied. “I’m shy and quite quiet, so it takes a little more to attract me. He is naturally very good at that. I definitely had to take it out of myself a bit. He has that natural gift.”

Her comments came just months after Holland claimed he had no “rizz” at all.

“I have no rizz at all, I have a limited rizz,” he said. ‘I want you to really fall in love with me for it to work. So long game, probably making a movie together. It certainly helps when the characters you play fall in love with each other.”

Holland concluded, “I’m cooped up, so I’m happy and in love, so I don’t need to fizz.”

The England native met Zendaya on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2016 while playing Peter Parker and MJ, who eventually started dating.

EVERTON are keeping tabs on Sunderland’s left-back Oli Bainbridge.

The powerful 18-year-old prospect is tipped to move to the Black Cats squad before the end of the season.

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Bainbridge signed a contract with Sunderland last summer.

The contract, which was signed in June, keeps the youngster tied to the club until 2025.

Sunderland also have the option to extend the deal for a further 12 months.

Academy manager Robin Nicholls was delighted after confirming Bainbridge’s new deal.

He told the club website: “It is great news that Ollie has committed his future to the club for the coming seasons.

“He is someone who showed strong performances and potential last season and who always wants to develop himself as a player.

“This contract is a reflection of the hard work he and his family have put in over the years.”

Bainbridge was part of Sunderland’s selection for the first time on Saturday.

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He was an unused substitute in their goalless draw with QPR at the Stadium of Light.

The result ended a run of six consecutive defeats for Sunderland, who have not won since a 3-1 victory over Plymouth on February 10.

They have fallen from play-off contention to obscurity in the middle of the Championship, 13 points behind the top six.