The Philadelphia 76ers' radical rebuilding plan took a big blow, but also became clearer over the weekend.

The 76ers announced Joel Embiid, the No. 3 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, will get a bone graft on his fractured foot and likely miss the 2015-16 season.

Embiid missed his entire rookie year after fracturing his foot and undergoing surgery before the draft.

For the Sixers this is a big blow — Embiid was thought to be the top talent before injuring his foot prior to the draft. He slid to No. 3, where the Sixers took him in hopes of building a dynamic front-court duo with Nerlens Noel. Embiid will turn 22 this season without a single minute of NBA experience under his belt and recurring foot problems.

However, Embiid's injury also clarifies the Sixers' decision to draft a third center, Jahlil Okafor, in the 2015 NBA Draft.

Two weeks before the draft there was a report that there was a chance Embiid could miss all of this coming season. When the Sixers went on the clock with the No. 3 pick in the draft and point guard D'Angelo Russell was off the board, they took the best player available in Okafor. 

At the time, it seemed like a strange fit — how would the Sixers fit three seven-footers with limited range on offense into the fast-paced, small-ball NBA?

Now, the fit seems less problematic. At some point it seems the Sixers will have to move one of Noel, Embiid, or Okafor. All three coexisting on one team would create too much of a logjam and keep at least one player from fully developing.

Though Embiid may recover from surgery, get back on the court, and have a productive career, it seems more and more clear that the selection of Okafor, who has already shown promise in Summer League, was insurance for Embiid. Okafor has a polished skill set on offense and may be a more natural fit next to Noel, a defensive presence with an unpolished offensive game. 

Similarly, the Sixers could also split time at center between Okafor and Noel when they're not playing together, allowing for more traditional lineups or small-ball lineups.

Unfortunately for Embiid, after two years of sitting out with injuries, his development will be well behind Noel's and Okafor's. When the Sixers took Okafor at the draft, they weren't just taking the best player available, they were grabbing another big man in case Embiid couldn't play this season or in the future.

Though losing Embiid for another season and facing the possibility that injuries may limit his potential has to hurt the Sixers, it does make their rebuilding plan a little  more clear. They don't have to worry about the awkward three-center fit with Noel, Okafor, and Embiid, and can now target other positions in the draft and free agency.

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NOW WATCH: WHERE ARE THEY NOW? The historic 1996 Chicago Bulls championship team

After playing what he called his best golf in two years at the Greenbriar, Tiger Woods is going into the British Open looking better than he did before last month's US Open.

On Saturday he played three holes at St. Andrews as part of a Nike event. Afterward, he had some interesting things to say about the course where he has won two of his three Open titles.

He told ESPN that the Old Course at St. Andrews was way softer than he expected, and it's going to change his game plan.

"I was shocked. I had seen photos of it a month ago. It was bone dry. It looked like it was going to be one of those dust bowls again; hard, fast, like the years I've played St. Andrews. It's changed. They got big rain and a lot of sun. It's totally changed.

He said everything he worked on last week is out the window:

"I wasn't expecting it to be this soft. The shot selections I was working on last week and some of the trajectories I was envisioning on certain holes and certain winds and the ball chasing and what I need to do to make it move on the ground. It's going to be different. It's going to be more forced carries than I was expecting coming into the event."

ESPN's Bob Harig said on SportsCenter that it'd be a different sort of British Open. 

"It looks greener than Chambers Bay did," he said, referring to the US Open course.

Golf writer Geoff Shackleford checked out the course and said he thought Tiger was overstating how soft it was. But he added that the winning score might be super low given the conditions:

"What the spitting rain is doing today or the forecasted weather later in the week remains to be seen. Either way, it must be remembered that with such impeccable turf conditions the scoring will be excellent. Records may fall."

When asked about what he has heard about St. Andrews after winning the John Deere Classic, Jordan Spieth said word on the street is the course is soft.

"Only thing I've heard so far is that it's playing softer than usual, which that's kind of nice for having come from here," he said.

A month ago the US Open was played at a links course that resembled something you'd find in the UK. While St. Andrews certainly won't play like a traditional US Open this week, it might be different than many expect.

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NOW WATCH: This is why LeBron James is in such good shape

Last week I visited the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club to go to Wimbledon for the first time.

Having never watched professional tennis live, let alone attended a major tournament, I had no idea what to expect. But Wimbledon still surpassed my wildest expectations.

Between the tradition, pageantry, revelry, and history, Wimbledon is unlike any other sporting event in the world. 

Here's why.

Getting into Wimbledon is no small feat. If you do not have a ticket to one of the show courts (which can cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars) you must get to the grounds early and wait in a long line, or queue as the Brits call it.

When I arrived at around 7 a.m., the queue was already 3,000 people long. Many people camp out overnight to be first in line the next day.

Fortunately for me, the first 8,000 people are guaranteed access to the grounds.

UFC fighters Robbie Lawler and Rory MacDonald were both taken to the hospital after what many are calling "one of the bloodiest fights ever" at UFC 189 on Saturday night.

Lawler suffered a split lip, swollen face, and other minor injuries. MacDonald suffered a broken foot, broken nose, and both of his eyes appeared severely swollen. MacDonald's trainer Firas Zahabi posted a picture of the two in the hospital on his Instagram:

Zahabi captioned the photo, "In the end you find admiration and respect for one another. Thank you @ruthless_rl and @romac_gorilla for the amazing fight! Thank u to all the fans for the support!! #blessed"

Lawler and MacDonald's title fight was the co-main event of UFC 189. Lawler opened the fight strong, breaking MacDonald's nose in the first round. MacDonald, however, responded by winning the next three rounds and nearly knocking out Lawler with a flurry of attacks at the end of the third.

Down 3-1 on all three of the judges scorecards, Lawler's camp knew he needed a knockout to win. Rather than quickly think of a new game plan, Lawler told UFC's Megan Olivi that his corner told him to simply "show his heart."

"Just go out there, it's all heart," Lawler recalled his corner telling him. "All strategy is done, let's just go show your heart."

A minute into the fifth and final round Lawler, landed a hard right left and repeatedly pummeled a helpless MacDonald before the referee stopped the fight, giving Lawler the win by knockout. In the immediate aftermath, MacDonald appeared almost lifeless in a disturbing GIF that made its way around the internet.

Images showing a closer look of both fighter's injuries were posted to Twitter by UFC president Dana White and MacDonald himself.

(WARNING: Tweets below contain graphic images)

White named the fight the event's "Fight of the Night," and went to say it "might be the Fight of the Ever" in his post-event press conference. Here's what White said about the fight (via SB Nation's Shaun Al-Shatti):

"Robbie Lawler's lip, if you could've been in the Octagon and saw this lip, he would talk and this part of the lip would move and the other part wouldn't. [Rory MacDonald's] nose was broken. They asked him, when Rory got out back, they said, ‘what year is it?' He didn't know what year it was. First of all, it was a war. And a complete display of chin, heart, grit, dogged determination, and the will to win from both guys. When you talk about [the best] fights ever, that's what I'm talking about."

Lawler improved to 26-10 with one no decision, while MacDonald dropped to 18-3.

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NOW WATCH: Here's how Floyd Mayweather spends his millions

Jason Sobel of ESPN threw out an interesting stat that shows how commanding Jordan Spieth's lead is in the FedEx Cup standings.

"The FedEx Cup point differential between No. 1 Jordan Spieth and No. 2 Jimmy Walker is the same as between Walker and No. 165 Angel Cabrera," Sobel pointed out on Twitter.

We can take that a step further. With Spieth's win at the John Deere Classic, he has now won $8.7 million on the PGA Tour this year. The money difference between No. 1 Spieth and No. 2 Dustin Johnson ($4.3 million) is more than the difference between Johnson and you.

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NOW WATCH: WWE superstar John Cena just posted a video of himself squatting 396 pounds

After being devastated by injuries last season, the Oklahoma City Thunder are making a $98-million bet that they can compete for a championship this season.

The Thunder handled their biggest business of the offseason, deciding to match a four-year, $70 million deal for center Enes Kanter.

As ESPN's Royce Young notes, the Thunder are now nearly $28 million over the salary cap, creating about a $24 million luxury tax payment for this season if they don't make any other moves.

This is a departure for the Thunder, who have been labeled cheap for trading James Harden in 2012 instead of making a long-term financial commitment to him while they also had to lock up Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and Serge Ibaka.

However, with Kevin Durant set to hit free agency next summer, the Thunder are trying to prove they're willing to spend to compete for a championship. When Durant is a free agent, the salary cap is set to explode, and more than half of the league will have cap space to try to recruit him.

The Thunder still have their core of Durant, Westbrook, and Ibaka, but last season made trades to get Dion Waiters, Kanter, Kyle Singler, D.J. Augustin, and Steve Novak, all of whom they've kept on the roster this summer. With Kanter and Waiters, the Thunder have some youth and upside, while Singler, Augustin, and Novak all provide depth. If healthy, this could be the best Thunder team of the Westbrook/Durant era.

OKC has been wrecked by injuries over the last three years. In the 2013 playoffs, Russell Westbrook tore his meniscus and the Thunder were eliminated in the second round. In the 2014 playoffs, the Thunder looked poised to knock off the Spurs in the conference finals before Ibaka got hurt. Last season, Durant missed all but 27 games with foot injuries.

Oklahoma City will have to play in the stacked Western Conference, which has seen the Warriors keep their core together while the Spurs and Clippers both improved their rosters. However, the Thunder are putting their money on the line to compete for a championship and hope that they can convince Durant to re-sign.

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NOW WATCH: Everything you didn't know about Manny Pacquiao's incredible life outside of boxing

PAU, France (AP) — Stunning the Tour de France on its first rest day, doctors diagnosed a tumor in the left testicle of two-time Giro d'Italia winner Ivan Basso on Monday, forcing him out of the showcase race.

His former rival Lance Armstrong, who survived testicular cancer that spread to his lungs and brain, immediately tweeted his support.

At age 37, Basso wasn't a contender to win the race, as the Italian was in his heyday before he was banned for doping. But his experience and pedigree — Basso finished second at the 2005 Tour and third in 2004 — meant his withdrawal was keenly felt by his team leader Alberto Contador.

The 2007 and 2009 champion must now tackle the most arduous two weeks of the Tour, with decisive climbs in the Pyrenees and Alps, without the assistance and moral support of his veteran teammate and training partner.

On what is often an uneventful day of rest and relaxation when riders recharge their batteries before the high mountains, a visibly shaken Basso appeared with Contador at a news conference and announced that just two hours earlier, doctors diagnosed a tumor in his left testicle that had been painful since he crashed on Stage 5.

Contador put his arm around Basso and vowed, his voice cracking with emotion, to do his best to win the race to honor his teammate.

Basso said he has cancer.

"I have a small cancer in the left testicle," he said. "I have to stop and go back to Italy."

But his Tinkoff-Saxo team said more tests are needed to be certain the tumor is cancerous.

"Probabilities are very high," Pierre Orphanidis, a team spokesman, said in an Associated Press interview. "We still need the further analysis to be 100 percent sure."

Tumors can be benign, meaning they're not cancerous and don't spread to other parts of the body, or malignant, which means they are cancerous and can spread.

Armstrong, who came back from cancer to win the Tour in seven victories later stripped from him for doping, tweeted: "Thinking about @ivanbasso and wishing him the very best as he embarks on his cancer journey. #IvanSTRONG!!"

He and Basso had memorable battles on the Tour's roads when both were in their prime, long before Armstrong eventually confessed to doping. Basso served a two-year ban for his involvement in a blood-doping ring.

In what he called "a moment of weakness," Basso said at the time that he "attempted doping" but never actually went through with it. His wins at the Giro, one of cycling's three biggest stage races along with the tours of France and Spain, came on either side of that suspension, in 2006 and 2010.

Now dedicated at this 102nd Tour to helping Contador win, Basso was in 158th place — out of 185 remaining competitors — and trailing race leader Chris Froome by more than 50 minutes after nine stages.

His team said Basso will have surgery to remove the tumor and that other treatment will depend on the findings of more checkups.

"It has been a blow to all of us," said Contador. "The entire team will give its best in order to get the yellow jersey and enjoy it in Paris with him."

Contador, who won his second Giro d'Italia this May, is attempting to become the first rider since Marco Pantani in 1998 to win that race and the Tour in the same year. But he heads into the Pyrenees already trailing Froome by 1 minute, 3 seconds.

The time gaps will force Froome's main rivals to attack him in the mountains. Unlike last year, when the-then defending champion had to pull out injured on Stage 5, he safely negotiated bone-breaking crashes, peloton-splitting winds and, on Stage 4, teeth-rattling cobblestones on this Tour's opening swing from Utrecht in the Netherlands, through Belgium and across northern France.

"If nobody attacks, we've won the race," the manager of Froome's Sky team, Dave Brailsford, said Monday.

Tuesday's 15-kilometer (9-mile) final ascent to the Stage 10 finish at La-Pierre-Saint-Martin is sufficiently long and arduous to provide the first acid test of which riders are genuine contenders for victory in Paris. The ski station perched high in the Pyrenees is known for its underground network of caves. The climb up there, with leg-burning 10-percent gradients in parts, could swallow the podium ambitions of contenders who struggle.

It's the first big chance for lithe, lean climbers to shine. Froome, a human toothpick in Lycra, looks to be the strongest of them and seemed to actually be looking forward to the pain. His closest challenger, Tejay van Garderen of the BMC team, is 12 seconds back.

"This is the heart of the race," Froome said Monday. "All the action is going to be happening. We are going to see who has done their homework, who has got what in the mountains. This is where the real race for yellow truly starts. "

___

Jamey Keaten in Pau contributed to this report.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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NOW WATCH: How to build strength and muscle in your legs superfast

Kevin Garnett has signed a contract to return to the Minnesota Timberwolves on a two-year deal that will increase his career earnings to $343.4 million, the most in NBA history.

Garnett has never been considered one of the five or 10 best players of all time, but he has used talent and some good fortune to make nearly $330 million and counting.

Let's take a look at how more than once, Garnett was just the right player, in the right place, at the right time.

In 1995, Kevin Garnett was a 6-foot-11, 220-pound senior in high school and it had been 20 years since a high school player went straight to the NBA.

At 19, he chose to enter the NBA draft after failing to reach the minimum score on the ACT necessary for NCAA eligibility.

SOURCE: ESPN

The Minnesota Timberwolves made Garnett the fifth pick of the 1995 NBA Draft.

A Puerto Rican golf club branded with Donald Trump's name has filed for bankruptcy, Bloomberg's Dawn McCarty reported.

The Trump International Golf Club Puerto Rico listed $9.2 million in assets against $78 million in debt, according to the course's petition filed Monday.

However, the golf club's ties to Trump, who is seeking the Republican presidential nomination, go no further than the name.

“We have zero financial investment in this course,” Eric Trump, his son and an executive in the company, said in a phone interview to Bloomberg. “This has absolutely nothing to do with Trump. This is a separate owner. We purely manage the golf course.”

The resort has been in default of its obligations to Trump, Eric Trump said.

It is one of the 17 golf properties affiliated with Trump Organization Inc. The club which opened in March 2004, licensed the Trump name in 2008 and renamed itself from Coco Beach Golf to its current name. 

The club received $26.4 million in municipal bonds four years ago to finance the resort's construction, Bloomberg reported. They were downgraded to CCC- last month by the Standard & Poor — earning junk bonk status where it used to have investment grade — mirroring Puerto Rico's debt.

It's biggest lender is the Puerto Rico Tourism Development Fund, with a claim of $32.6 million.

The golf resort doesn't affect the company financially, though the Trump Golf business hasn't been completely untouched by the real estate billionaire's comments on immigration. According to the Orange County Register, Sports network ESPN also became on of Trump's detractors — recently moving its ESPY Celebrity Golf Classics from a Trump-owned course in Rancho Palos Verdes to the Pelican Hill Golf Club in Newport Beach.

 Read the the whole story at Bloomberg.

SEE ALSO: Trump calls for a Macy's Boycott after retailer said it would pull Trump-brand products

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NOW WATCH: 6 scientifically proven features men find attractive in women

As a woman in the public eye, it seems like even being one of the most gifted athletes isn't enough to stop the media from calling you fat. 

On Friday, just as Serena Williams was preparing to clean up her historic sixth Wimbledon victory, the New York Times decided it was a good time to critique her body:

Williams, who will be vying for the Wimbledon title against Garbiñe Muguruza on Saturday, has large biceps and a mold-breaking muscular frame, which packs the power and athleticism that have dominated women’s tennis for years. Her rivals could try to emulate her physique, but most of them choose not to.

The real disgusting part of this, though, is that the Times didn’t really critique Williams. Instead, it let her competitors do it by explaining that they don't envy Williams' physique even as she uses it to dominate them.

In the story, the Times printed the words of several top female tennis players unloading about their body image issues and describing their wish to be seen as small.

“People say, ‘Oh, you’re so skinny, I always thought you were huge,’ ” [Andrea Petkovic] said. “And then I feel like there are 80 million people in Germany who think I’m a bodybuilder. Then, when they see me in person, they think I’m O.K.”

Body image issues are something that should be discussed with a therapist, not a New York Times reporter. That women everywhere have body image issues isn’t exactly news. It’s the opposite of news. It helps no one to have those insecurities validated as worthy of considering by being paraded around in the pages of the New York Times.

I don’t really understand how publishing female tennis players expressing their desire to be perceived as petite does anything other than adding to the public perception that women should be constantly critical of their bodies. And it's all especially silly since Williams' body type that they're belittling is regularly beating them at their own game. 

Saying we shouldn't attack muscular women like Williams for their body types isn’t just about sexism or body positivity. It’s about health. According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, elite athletes have a significantly higher rate of eating disorders (20%) than the average group of women (about 9%), who in turn have a higher rate of eating disorders than men.

That’s in part because many of the personality traits that a person needs to be an elite athlete also show up in patients with eating disorders. The ANAD says these are all the common psychological profiles in common between elite athletes and people who develop anorexia:

• perfectionism
• high self-expectations
• competitiveness
• hyperactivity
• repetitive exercise routines
• compulsiveness
• drive
• tendency toward depression
• body image distortion
• pre-occupation with dieting and weight

Let's just say that's ten reasons beyond sexism that the media needs to lay off the body shaming.

SEE ALSO: Here's why it's fair that female athletes make less than men

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: You've been folding your socks wrong your entire life

As a woman in the public eye, it seems like even being one of the most gifted athletes isn't enough to stop the media from calling you fat. 

On Friday, just as Serena Williams was preparing to clean up her historic sixth Wimbledon victory, the New York Times decided it was a good time to critique her body:

Williams, who will be vying for the Wimbledon title against Garbiñe Muguruza on Saturday, has large biceps and a mold-breaking muscular frame, which packs the power and athleticism that have dominated women’s tennis for years. Her rivals could try to emulate her physique, but most of them choose not to.

The real disgusting part of this, though, is that the Times didn’t really critique Williams. Instead, it let her competitors do it by explaining that they don't envy Williams' physique even as she uses it to dominate them.

In the story, the Times printed the words of several top female tennis players unloading about their body image issues and describing their wish to be seen as small.

“People say, ‘Oh, you’re so skinny, I always thought you were huge,’ ” [Andrea Petkovic] said. “And then I feel like there are 80 million people in Germany who think I’m a bodybuilder. Then, when they see me in person, they think I’m O.K.”

Body image issues are something that should be discussed with a therapist, not a New York Times reporter. That women everywhere have body image issues isn’t exactly news. It’s the opposite of news. It helps no one to have those insecurities validated as worthy of considering by being paraded around in the pages of the New York Times.

I don’t really understand how publishing female tennis players expressing their desire to be perceived as petite does anything other than adding to the public perception that women should be constantly critical of their bodies. And it's all especially silly since Williams' body type that they're belittling is regularly beating them at their own game. 

Saying we shouldn't attack muscular women like Williams for their body types isn’t just about sexism or body positivity. It’s about health. According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, elite athletes have a significantly higher rate of eating disorders (20%) than the average group of women (about 9%), who in turn have a higher rate of eating disorders than men.

That’s in part because many of the personality traits that a person needs to be an elite athlete also show up in patients with eating disorders. The ANAD says these are all the common psychological profiles in common between elite athletes and people who develop anorexia:

• perfectionism
• high self-expectations
• competitiveness
• hyperactivity
• repetitive exercise routines
• compulsiveness
• drive
• tendency toward depression
• body image distortion
• pre-occupation with dieting and weight

Let's just say that's ten reasons beyond sexism that the media needs to lay off the body shaming.

SEE ALSO: Here's why it's fair that female athletes make less than men

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NOW WATCH: You've been folding your socks wrong your entire life

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant personally informed Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones that he intends to miss training camp and sit out regular season games if he does not receive a long-term deal by Wednesday, according to ESPN's Ed Werder.

Jones first denied it:

But then Bryant took to Twitter Monday afternoon to confirm he will not join the Cowboys until he receives a new contract:

The Cowboys placed the franchise tag — effectively a one year, $12.8 million contract — on Bryant earlier this offseason, and Wednesday marks the last day teams can sign tagged players to multiyear contract extensions. If Bryant doesn't get a long-term contract in the next 48 hours, he can't get one until the summer of 2016.

While Bryant would make nearly $13 million this season if he played on the franchise tag, he's repeatedly reaffirmed his desire to receive a long-term contract extension. Throughout the process, Bryant has posted on Twitter defending his stance:

Bryant's representatives have reportedly only had one face-to-face meeting with the Cowboys, and have exchanged proposals just a single time — right before July 4th weekend, according to Werder. Bryant can't be fined for missing training camp if he does not sign his franchise tender. He will, however, lose $752,000 for each regular season game he misses.

Threatening to sit out regular season games is one of the only tools Bryant can use to get leverage in negotiations with the team. The Cowboys let running back DeMarco Murray go in free agency, and losing Bryant for any games at all would leave them devoid of playmaking options.

Bryant led all receivers with 16 touchdowns last season. If he does miss regular season games, the Cowboys will open the season with Terrance Williams and Cole Beasley as their top receivers.

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NOW WATCH: EA Sports just showed off the new Madden NFL game and it looks unbelievably realistic

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher A.J. Burnett is having the best season of his career and yet when it is over, he will walk away from the sport and forgo what would certainly be another lucrative contract as a free agent this winter.

The 38-year-old Burnett — who has a 2.11 ERA in 18 starts this season and will pitch in his first All-Star game on Tuesday — spoke with ESPN's "Sunday Night Baseball" crew and explained why his 17th season will be his last despite pitching better than he ever has before. Burnett cites his health, his wife, and his children.

The full quote:

"It's that time. My wife has done a lot of things. She hasn't had a summer to herself in a long, long time. My boys are at an age now where I started coaching their basketball team in the winter time and they want me to start coaching others things too. And like I mentioned, the body tells you. I believe I could still pitch for a couple more years but I want to be able to walk away and be active around my kids for couple of years before I start hobbling."

Burnett will have made $144.3 million in his career, with his biggest payday coming before the 2009 season when the New York Yankees gave him a huge five-year, $82.5 million contract. So money is probably no longer an issue.

Still, it is surprising to see a player retire from a sport at their peak. It is one thing to go out on top as a champion who is past their prime, à la John Elway. But it is something else to see a player go out just as they are reaching a potential that has only previously been seen in glimpses.

But at the same time, it is a reminder of just how grueling the sport of baseball can be, not just on the player, but on the families. It is 162 games in 180 days, with half of those on the road and that is not counting six weeks of spring training and any postseason play if the player is lucky and good enough to get there. 

After a while it takes its toll and as Burnett said, it is just time.

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NOW WATCH: WWE superstar John Cena just posted a video of himself squatting 396 pounds

Every year, a handful of the tech elite gather in Aspen, Colorado, for the Fortune Brainstorm conference. A pre-conference bike ride, sponsored by the NYSE has become the tradition.

This year, the folks got an added surprise, Aspen's most famous (notorious?) cyclist, Lance Armstrong, joined the group.

(We understand he's associated with the company that led the tour.)

He was the subject of a ongoing parade of selfies, including one taken with yours truly. The group did the annual 25-mile bike ride to Maroon Bells, a steady climb that gained about 1,600 feet to an elevation of about a 9,500 feet. Some of the people in attendance included Zynga co-founder Mark Pincus, NYSE president Tom Farley, Quatrics CEO Ryan Smith, Fortune's Adam Lashinsky (the editorial director of the conference).

Armstrong led the descent down the mountain, telling the group, "Take it easy on the downhill." People have been clocked doing 70MPH on that stretch of downhill on a road where the speed limit is 30.

Naturally everyone ignored that advice and took off as fast as they could to stay with Armstrong, including the author of this post, who managed to stick with the lead group for a few seconds.

As Armstrong was leading by example and going easy, others managed to keep up, including Banjo CEO Damien Patton (who just raised $100 million for his social media company from Softbank in May, $121 million total raised. Patton knows a thing or two about going fast. He was a former Former NASCAR chief mechanic. After the ride, he tweeted this:

SEE ALSO: There's a big controversy over the electric bike that raised $3.3 million on Indiegogo

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NOW WATCH: 5 scientifically proven ways to make someone fall in love with you

Floyd Mayweather's last fight against Manny Pacquiao shattered Pay-Per-View (PPV) records and expectations by tens of millions of dollars, and yet his next fight could reportedly be given away for free to anybody who wants to watch.

According to a source for Lyle Fitzsimmons of CBSSports.com, Mayweather's next, and presumably final, fight could be broadcast live on CBS on September 12:

Mayweather insisted after the May 2 defeat of Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas that he'd return for a 49th and final fight in September, and an industry source told CBSSports.com on Wednesday that a short list of opponents is being pondered for a Sept. 12 event that could be broadcast live on CBS ... An announcement is possible as soon as the end of the week, the source said.

Mayweather has one fight left on his six-fight contract with Showtime, which has handled the PPV for the first five fights of the deal, sharing that privilege with HBO in the recent fight against Pacquiao. However, as Fitzsimmons notes, Showtime is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the CBS Corporation, so moving a fight to broadcast television was always considered a possibility.

CBS recently brought live boxing back to the network with "Premier Boxing Champions" a program scheduled to air eight live boxing matches in 2015. Adding a Mayweather bout to that package would be a huge step toward getting the program on the national radar, and it just so happens that CBS has no college football games scheduled for that night.

There is also the Les Moonves factor. It was the CBS chairman who helped seal the deal on the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight when it was still up in the air.

Still, putting the fight on free TV would almost certainly be a huge financial gamble for the network.

With the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight generating more than $550 million in revenue and with Mayweather's share somewhere in the neighborhood of $210 million, he is still going to want a big pay day as if the fight were being shown on PPV. Even if Mayweather's next fight is against a lesser opponent, it can be argued that any Mayweather fight would still be one of the top 5-10 PPV fights of all time due to the momentum of the MayPac fight alone.

With a PPV fight, the boxers get a percentage of the revenue after-the-fact. With a fight on broadcast TV, CBS will have to commit to a payment for Mayweather based on what they expect in ad revenue.

Will CBS be willing to commit $50 million to Mayweather based on the sales of commercials?

While the Super Bowl can sell a 30-second TV ad for $4.2 million, most of the top sporting events charge somewhere in the $400,000-750,000 range per 30 seconds. That is a lot of commercials that would need to be sold just to cover Mayweather's share of the proceeds.

Of course, CBS could also go into this knowing they are going to take a loss hoping that the publicity will make up for it with higher revenues later on. But that is a huge gamble on a sport that has seen more misses than hits in the last 20 years.

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NOW WATCH: WWE superstar John Cena just posted a video of himself squatting 396 pounds

Despite making a few decent free agent signings this offseason, the Sacramento Kings' largely remain a mess.

The biggest problem is a feud between star center DeMarcus Cousins and head coach George Karl.

During the offseason, Cousins was involved in trade rumors, with Karl pushing those rumors and trying to gather support in the Kings' front office, according to Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Wojnarowski added in that report that Karl and Cousins hadn't spoken since April.

If they truly hadn't spoken since April — the report came out in late June, before the NBA Draft — Cousins and Karl broke their silence when they shared an awkward handshake at the NBA's Las Vegas Summer League Monday night.

Neither men looked particularly excited to see each other:

Last week, Vlade Divac, vice president of basketball operations for the Kings, admitted the relationship between Karl and Cousins is "not pretty right now." He added that he believes he could help mend the relationship, though:

"Well, I'll be honest with you, it's not pretty right now, but I'm focused on bringing a better team this year and I think I did a pretty good job in this free agency and now I'm going to be focused on the two of them."

....

"I really think I can create a healthy environment here and everybody should be on the same page by October."

If Divac knew both Cousins and Karl would be at Summer League at the same time, perhaps he instructed Karl to go over and say hello. Some of it may have been for optics, too, as a cameraman and photographer followed Karl over and captured the moment.

The Kings are in a tough spot and forcing the two to make amends may be the best option. Trading one of the best centers in the NBA isn't a good way to rebuild a team that hasn't made the playoffs in 11 years, but firing one of the most respected head coaches in the NBA because your star player doesn't like him doesn't make your team an appealing destination for future coaches.

As Divac suggested, this icy handshake may just be the first step to repairing a relationship over the next three months.

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NOW WATCH: A famous surfer is trying to revolutionize the sport of golf with a new gadget

A week after the LPGA released a statement saying it was too late to move next month's Women's British Open from the Donald Trump-owned Trump Turnberry in Scotland, the Republican presidential candidate has fired back in an sardonic letter.

In the letter, which was sent to LPGA commissioner Michael Whan and subsequently obtained by a number of golf media outlets, Trump essentially dares the LPGA to move the event.

"You have an absolutely binding contract to play the great Turnberry Ailsa course but, based on your rude comment to the press, please let this letter serve to represent that, subject to a conversation with me on the details, I would be willing to let you play the Women's British Open, in two weeks, at another course rather than magnificent Turnberry (which I own)," he wrote. "I think you have done an extraordinary disservice to women's golf, but in no way will that diminish my respect for the women on the LPGA tour of their great golfing talent."

"Obviously, you will have to move quickly!" he adds.

The "rude comment" that Trump refers to is an LPGA statement released last week that said they disagreed with Trump's attacks on Mexican immigrants, but didn't have time to move the tournament.

"With just three weeks until the championship, a change in venue for this prestigious major simply isn’t feasible without significantly diminishing the event," the statement said. "By no means, however, does this decision suggest support for Mr. Trump’s comments."

Trump calls the statement "nasty" in his letter, and tells Whan, "You never called me to tell me this, as common decency would have dictated, but rather just put it out to the media."

Now, Trump is effectively challenging the LPGA to move the tournament with two weeks to go. This is a problem because the Women's British Open is organized by the Ladies' Golf Union of Britain, according to GolfWeek, not the LPGA.

The LGU released its own statement saying, "We do not agree with Mr. Trump’s comments and we would reiterate the views in the statement made earlier this month by the LPGA, PGA of America, PGA Tour and USGA. With 21 days to go to the start of the Championship, there is no consideration of changing venue and the Championship will take place exactly as scheduled."

In his letter, Trump positions himself as a friend of women's golf, saying he has supported the sport even when "others wanted nothing to do with it, and many thought that the LPGA tour was a thing of the past and had absolutely no future." He also attaches Republican primary polling tables, writing, "P.S. Apparently, the American public disagrees with you in that I have just gone to #1 and #2 in the polls."

Here's the full letter (via GolfWeek):

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Dez Bryant wants a big, long-term contract from the Dallas Cowboys.

Thus far, the Cowboys haven't relented, instead offering Bryant the $12.8 million, one-year franchise tender, which he has yet to sign.

After reports that Bryant was threatening to sit out of training camp and possibly games if he doesn't get paid, Bryant made it official by tweeting that he will "not be there" if he doesn't get a deal by Wednesday (the last day to give franchise-tagged players a multiyear extension):

Nobody is quite sure what "not be there" means. Is Bryant referring to missing training camp? Missing training camp and preseason? Would he actually miss games? The common belief is that Bryant wouldn't actually sit out regular season games, as he'd lose about $750,000 for each game missed.

However, according to ProFootball Talk's Mike Florio, Bryant actually has some incentive to miss games if he thinks it will ultimately force the Cowboys to give him a new contract.

Under the collective bargaining agreement, Bryant has until the Tuesday after Week 10 to sign the franchise tender and play games. If that date comes and goes without Bryant signing, he'll miss the whole season. As Florio reports, Bryant could sit out until Week 10, sign the tender, and still make $5.25 million for the remaining six weeks — more than double what he made last season, according to Spotrac.

Threatening to sit out games and forfeit some of that $12.8 million creates leverage for Bryant to get a long-term deal by Wednesday's deadline. Even if the Cowboys refuse to budge, he would still receive a bigger paycheck than he did in years past for six weeks of work.

The more extreme option would be for Bryant to sit out the whole season. As Florio notes (though the CBA is language is confusing and an argument could be made for the opposite) even if Bryant sits out the whole season and doesn't sign the franchise tender, he could still get a 20% raise next season if the Cowboys once again offer him the franchise tender. For Bryant, if worst comes to worst, he could miss the 2015 season and sign an even higher franchise tender next season and play out the year. Or, by sitting out the 2015 season, he could show the Cowboys he's serious about getting a new contract, thus forcing them to budge and get a long-term deal done.

There's inherent risk in all of this for Bryant. Nobody wants to skip games and he'd be losing money in the short term. Additionally, if the Cowboys don't offer him a long-term deal, he may be forced to play on the franchise tag and go through this whole process again next summer.

It's a staring contest for both sides, and if Wednesday passes without a long-term deal, the Cowboys will see how serious Bryant is about getting a new deal.

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NOW WATCH: Here's how Cristiano Ronaldo spends his money

Bubba Watson's most expensive piece of equipment at the British Open costs more than three-quarters of a million dollars, and all it can do is tell him how hard he is swinging and whether or not he will make his tee time.

In 2014 Richard Mille introduced a new $825,000 RM 38-01, a mechanical tourbillon watch with a titanium case designed just for Watson. Only 50 were made.

Beyond the light weight and style Richard Mille watches are known for, the most striking feature of the 38-01 is a g-sensor on the face that's capable of measuring the g-force of Watson's swing up to 20 Gs.

It also comes in Watson's favorite color, green, matching the green jacket he won at the Masters.

This is actually the third watch designed for Watson by Richard Mille. Watson has been wearing the watches in tournaments since 2011.

He was even wearing a previous model when he won the Masters in 2012.

And he was wearing what looks like the same model Richard Mille watch during Tuesday's press conference at the Open Championship to be played at St. Andrews.

The high-end Richard Mille watches are no strangers to the world of professional sports.

Rafael Nadal has worn Richard Mille watches since 2010, even while playing. His latest model is the RM27-02 which has a retail price of $775,000.

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NOW WATCH: A famous surfer is trying to revolutionize the sport of golf with a new gadget

There's some cautious optimism around Tiger Woods going into the British Open.

His old swing coach Hank Haney, who has been critical of Tiger and even wrote a tell-all book about their relationship, said on Twitter that he has a "real shot to win." Tiger himself has sounded relatively confident in interviews.

"I feel good. Sunday at Greenbrier is probably the best I hit it in two years. That was fun," he told ESPN, adding, "I feel like everything's coming around."

Tiger is in the middle of yet another swing change. Typically when he changes his swing he's awful for a few months, and then he starts to turn things around. Maybe that started at the Greenbrier, where he broke 70 in three of four rounds. He's also playing competitive golf somewhat consistently for the first time in two years, which has to help, right?

Combine that with his past success at St. Andrews, and you have the makings of a theory that Tiger might be BACK this week.

Enter Brandel Chamblee, the lead Golf Channel analyst who has been outspoken about some of Tiger's career decisions in recent years. In a four-minute, nearly uninterrupted monologue on the Golf Channel, Chamblee threw cold water on the idea that we should be excited about Tiger this week.

He said the Greenbrier was a really easy course, so it doesn't mean much that Tiger played well there:

"Coming from where he was to where he ended up at Greenbrier, yeah I'd be pleased as well. People have talked about his proximity to the hole but you have to take into account that the greens were pretty soft there, it's a pretty short golf course. The proximity to the hole for the field there was almost eight feet shorter, or closer to the hole, than the tour average. So it was a very easy golf course to hit good iron shots on. There were 78 players in that field, he was 70th in total driving. He hit a golf ball out of bounds. Another one should have gone out of bounds. He hit one in the water. It wasn't his best ball striking by a long stretch of the imagination. He only got it up and down half the time, he was ranked near the bottom of the statistics."

Chamblee's referring to the fact that Tiger had his best "proximity of the hole" week of his career at the Greenbrier:

He said Tiger is "a shell of the man" he was when he won at St. Andrews 10 years ago:

"Watching Tiger Woods from 2000 to now I'm reminded that there are progressively powerful forms of cost and expense. It's called a human budget. And it's just as true mentally as it is physically. Watching Tiger Woods go from belief to doubt, watching him build his body up and then watching it break down, and then watching him having to reconcile all those difficulties and try to manufacture a game and to see how much he struggles with that mentally, he is a shell of the man that he was when he came here in 2000 and 2005."

He says Tiger's issues around the greens aren't solved:

"I do like the changes he's making in his golf swing, but I do think he'll have to get a little thinner to get the hands a little higher and get that golf swing a little longer. And then the speed would come back. But that's a different issue than the problems that he's still having around and on the greens. You cannot play golf at the highest level if you're not brilliant around the greens. And all of those issues that everybody thought were shored up at Augusta National, and certainly they looked well that week, they have become an issue again."

Pretty brutal.

Here's the whole thing:

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NOW WATCH: Here's how Cristiano Ronaldo spends his money