Vanessa Bryant awarded $16M in privacy lawsuit, Lakers made surprising trade for Patrick Beverley, and Chet Holmgren to miss the entire 2022-23 NBA season.

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VANESSA BRYANT

Vanessa Bryant Awarded $16M in Privacy Lawsuit

The jury has awarded Vanessa Bryant and co-plaintiff Christopher Chester $31M in damages against the Los Angeles County Sheriff and Fire departments. The jury found the defendants guilty of infringing on their constitutional rights for taking and sharing gruesome photos of the January 2020 helicopter crash that left nine people dead. Vanessa Bryant was awarded $16M and Christopher Chester was awarded $15 million.

The photos taken in the aftermath that killed Kobe and Gianna Bryant, as well as Chester's wife, Sarah, his daughter Payton, and five others, included not just the wreckage of the helicopter but close-up images of the mangled bodies of the deceased.

Bryant and Chester successfully argued that the existence of such photos was a violation of their privacy and caused them emotional distress. They also testified that they lived in fear that the photos may surface, despite the county’s insistence they had all been deleted.

The trial lasted 11 days and included graphic, emotional testimony as well as witnesses who testified that they had been shown some of these photos. Hopefully, for Bryant and Chester, this legal victory can help them move on from this horrible tragedy and invasion of privacy.

PATRICK BEVERLEY

Lakers Make Surprising Trade for Patrick Beverley

Yesterday the Los Angeles Lakers completed their trade with the Utah Jazz, acquiring veteran point guard Pat Beverley in exchange for Talen Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johnson.

Beverley was acquired by the Jazz as part of the Rudy Gobert trade and never fit the rebuilding timeline of the team. We all knew he would be traded — it was just a matter of when and where.

Horton-Tucker is coming off a down year but is not far removed from being the Lakers' top prospect. Over two games in the 2020 preseason, THT put up a combined 52 points and was the talk of the town. He's still young, and this move will likely give him more minutes and opportunity than he would have had in LA.

As of now, it appears that the Lakers backcourt will be shared by Beverley and Russell Westbrook, two people who have been publicly beefing with one another for nearly a decade. Hopefully, for Laker Nation, they’ll be able to patch things up.

CHET HOLMGREN

Chet Holmgren to Miss Entire 2022-23 NBA Season

Chet Holmgren, the second overall pick in the 2022 Draft, will miss the entire 2022-23 season with a foot injury. The 7-foot-1 rookie reportedly suffered a Lisfranc injury to his right foot while defending LeBron James on a fast break during the recent CrawsOver Pro-Am event.

This Seattle Pro-Am event included several NBA stars such as LeBron James, Jayson Tatum, Dejounte Murray, Aaron Gordon, and number one pick Paolo Banchero. The game ended up getting canceled in the second quarter due to repeated wet spots and condensation issues on the court. These conditions were attributed to the particularly bad humidity and overwhelming crowd presence.

Chet's ball-handling and three-point shooting are well above the norm for 7-footers, which has made him one of the most tantalizing NBA prospects in recent memory. We're wishing Chet a speedy recovery and can't wait to see him back on the NBA hardwood.

THE RUMOR MILL

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