In Ft. Lauderdale, Shandel Richardson profiles former NBAer JAMAL MASHBURN, who retired more than 10 years ago and now "runs more than 90 businesses." Mashburn used a portion of the more than $75M he made during his career to "purchase an Outback Steakhouse." From there, it "'snowballed' into other opportunities." In '12, Mashburn "formed a group that attempted to buy the then-New Orleans Hornets." While the bid "fell short," it was a "valuable learning experience." Mashburn said that he "still has aspirations of owning an NBA franchise" (South Florida SUN SENTINEL, 7/5).
COURSE PRESENCE: PRESIDENT TRUMP on Tuesday night was the featured speaker at The Greenbrier's "Salute to Service" dinner ahead of this week's PGA Tour event at the resort. While Trump "spent time honoring military service members, he also took a few moments to shower praise" on members of the Tour. He even "singled out" PHIL MICKELSON. Trump is "friends" with Greenbrier Owner and West Virginia Gov. JIM JUSTICE (GOLF.com, 7/4).
STEEL CURTAIN CALL: A new SCARLETT JOHANSSON film has "roots in Pittsburgh and ties to the Steelers." Johansson is "playing DANTE 'TEX' GILL, a notorious Pittsburgh figure from the 1970s" who was "in charge of an anabolic steroids ring that helped fuel" the Steelers' dynasty. There is "no word on how much or how little the Steelers connection will be involved with the movie." There is also "no word on a release date" (TRIBLIVE.com, 7/3).
JUSTICE LEAGUE: Just before last year’s NFL Draft, prospect GAREON CONLEY was "accused of raping a woman in a hotel room." Conley, now a Raiders CB, "ultimately was not charged." Now he has "filed a lawsuit saying she made false statements, damaged his reputation, hurt his draft stock and cost him multiple endorsement deals" (PROFOOTBALLTALK.com, 7/5)....A federal judge ruled MLBer DUSTIN FOWLER’s negligence lawsuit against the White Sox and the state agency that manages Guaranteed Rate Field "can proceed in Cook County Circuit Court." Fowler last summer while with the Yankees was "seriously injured when he crashed into the stadium’s right field wall while chasing a fly ball in foul territory." Fowler, now with the A's, "claims the Sox and the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority were negligent in not securing the unpadded electrical box he collided with along the right field line" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 7/4).
NAMES: Lightning Owner JEFF VINIK “recently invested” $12M in venture capital firm Dreamit Ventures, which plans to “invest in 15 to 20 companies per year that work in three distinct but related areas related to security” (TAMPABAY.com, 7/5)....The National Football Foundation named ISP Sports Founder BEN SUTTON to its Leadership HOF (BIZJOURNALS.com, 7/5)....Capitals Equipment Manager CRAIG LEYDIG, an Annapolis resident, “made a point of bringing” the Stanley Cup trophy to the newspaper's temporary office (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 7/3)....The Library of Congress has opened a new exhibit called “Baseball Americana.” The exhibit “features 148 objects plus plenty of video highlights of the great and not-so-great moments” in baseball. The exhibit also has the handwritten “Laws of Baseball.” The exhibit is “free and open to the public” (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 7/3)....Warriors G STEPHEN CURRY and his wife, AYESHA, “welcomed their third child,” CANON W. JACK CURRY (SFCHRONICLE.com, 7/4)....Buccaneers QB JAMEIS WINSTON and his fiancee BREION ALLEN on Friday welcomed their first child, a baby boy named ANTONOR (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 7/5).
