NFL quarterback Caleb Williams made an unconventional ask in his rookie contract. Williams is signed to the Chicago Bears as a first-round draft pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, ESPN reports. View this post on Instagram A post shared by USC Football ✌️ (@uscfb) The outlet added that the stakes are at an all-time high at the moment, as the team has not had an All-Pro since 1939. The team is currently working to ensure Williams is prepared for the 2024 season in training camp, which began July 20, 2024. Athlon Sports mentioned that Williams is expected to start in the preseason game against the Houston Texans on August 1, 2024. “You can just tell he’s in a better space,” D’Andre Swift, Chicago Bears’ running back, said, per NBC Sports. “That comes along with time. Getting a better understanding of the offense. He had time off, so he had more time to study the offense. So you can tell he’s made strides since he’s been back [from the break]. I know he’s got a lot on his plate, a lot being...

Former University of North Carolina (UNC) basketball player Armando Bacot is investing his earnings from name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals. During an interview on the “Run Your Race” podcast, Bacot said he earned “life-changing” money — more than $2 million — during his time at the university. He even opted to stay for a fifth season to reap the full benefits. Per On3, his deals have included Wingstop, Intuit TurboTax, and Topps. “That speaks on the brand of Carolina. If I didn’t go to Carolina, doing deals with TurboTax, all those people, they wouldn’t do it with me… If you go to Carolina, you handle business, you go out there and play, somewhat be marketable… it pays,” he explained. “I could never say a bad word about Carolina and everything ’cause I got life-changing money. I’m from Richmond. I got life-changing money in college just off playing basketball.” Bacot emphasized his gratitude to UNC, crediting his success to the college. He believes he would not have landed...

Upon retiring, Lisa Leslie sought new ways to move the needle in women’s basketball. The WNBA superstar and hall of famer said goodbye to the game after her 2009 season, as reported by ESPN. Recently, Leslie discussed her involvement in another industry since the big decision. During the South by Southwest (SXSW) 2024 Conference, Leslie stated that she started developing an interest in the digital space shortly after her retirement. This new passion prompted her to become an investor in LootMogul, a company enhancing relationships among fans, athletes, teams, and brands through the sports metaverse, its LinkedIn page mentions. “Once I retired, you saw where everything just started to shift, whether it was the NFTs or just different ways to engage,” Leslie said during SXSW 2024. “So, I became an investor in LootMogul, which is one of the digital platforms that also can help with fan engagement and how they see it and giving fans the in-arena opportunity in a stadium or if they’re at...

Seventy-six-year-old Sue Taylor sees great promise in the cannabis sector. During an interview with ABC-7 News, the former Catholic school principal shares her joy in owning a Berkeley, CA, dispensary. She reportedly owns the first and only Black-woman-owned dispensary in the city. “It was quite an honor. To be that representative,” Taylor mentioned to the outlet. “So many African Americans — it’s people of color who were incarcerated for cannabis from the get, right, from the beginning. It was us. And so to have an African-American family open up a dispensary such as this, it gave us a lot of pride.” The feat would not have been possible if she had not adjusted her initial hesitation surrounding the use of cannabis, she says. Only when she witnessed its benefits for seniors combined with the the loss of a dear friend to cancer did she finally understand. “I feel some kind of way in my heart that I didn’t serve her well because my mindset wasn’t on cannabis. Because I was secretly...

DeMarcus Cousins has had quite the professional basketball journey. After playing for NBA teams like the Sacramento Kings, Milwaukee Bucks, the Golden State Warriors, and more, the Alabama native now plays for the Mets de Guaynabo in Puerto Rico, according to a news release.

It’s an undisputed fact that Stephen Curry has been a leading force for the Golden State Warriors since he was drafted to the team in 2009. Over a decade, the NBA star has counted off leading them to three championships and being crowned MVP twice. The achievements put him up there with the greats that the league’s court has ever seen and transformed the Warriors into a super-team. The Golden State Warriors took early notice of what he brought to the franchise — prior to the aforementioned acclaimed success — in 2012 with a four-year, $44 million extension. According to Insider, although others thought the deal was far from reflecting his foreshadowed worth, in Curry’s eyes, it was “maybe the most favorable in NBA history.”

Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala just became the latest professional athletes to get paid in Bitcoin, joining others like Odell Beckham Jr. I’m BACK and changing it up: excited to take part of my paycheck in bitcoin thanks to Cash App! I’m with bitcoin because I believe it’s the future of money 🌚 Plus I’m giving out $1M in btc with @andre right NOW. Just follow @CashApp + drop your $cashtag below w/ #PaidInBitcoin pic.twitter.com/bUYC6SxkMj — klay thompson (@KlayThompson) January 10, 2022 “I’m BACK and changing it up: excited to take part of my paycheck in bitcoin thanks to Cash App! I’m with bitcoin because I believe it’s the future of money,” Klay Thompson wrote on Twitter. “Plus I’m giving out $1M in btc with @andre right NOW. Just follow @CashApp + drop your $cashtag below w/ #PaidInBitcoin.” His teammate Andre Iguodala echoes the same sentiment as Klay Thompson and adds that he, too, will receive a portion of his salary in Bitcoin. And, what’s more, is that the move marks a...

In his NBA prime, Charles Smith was an Olympic athlete who took home both a gold and a bronze medal, and played as a power forward for the likes of the Los Angeles Clippers, the New York Knicks, and the San Antonio Spurs. Today, however, Smith is bringing his talents from the basketball court to the boardroom thanks to his new partnership with Fierce Conversations. And, he says, he specializes in mentoring professionals who are looking to change careers. “Fierce Conversations has over 250 blue-chip companies as clients,” he told AfroTech. “I am a Master Facilitator helping companies increase their bottom line through effective communications. What gets talked about in a company, how it gets talked about, and who is invited to the conversation determines what will happen and what won’t happen. The skills have changed my life professionally and personally. I understand the Fierce technology virtual training solutions because the learning process is similar to my portfolio of patents...