Leadoff with Lee 4.16.16

By Chris Lee, @TripleThreatLee

- Johnny Manziel rented a West Hollywood home for two days last week, trashed it, and caused $32,000 worth of damage, according to property owner Nicholas Goodwin. A man who identified himself as Josh Gordon was with Manziel over the two day party. Goodwin has demanded pay for the damages and says that he went to the house two hours after the checkout time and found Manziel on the sofa passed out, with cocaine and mushrooms lying out on tables, and booze and broken glass everywhere, and cigarette burns on the carpet.

Manziel's agent Drew Rosenhaus spoke with Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk Live Friday morning and says,

"Unfortunately there hasn't been any movement toward getting help that I'm aware of. I'm trying diligently to recommend this to Johnny. I'm not the first one, certainly not the only one. There are a lot of friends, family and people that want the best for this young man. He's got a plan, it's just different from than the one I talked about and what I would recommend to him."

This comes on the heels of Rosenhaus stating Johnny has five days to seek treatment or he will terminate the representation of Johnny Manziel. 

- The Cleveland Browns claimed outside linebacker Jackson Jeffcoat waivers from Washington on Friday. The 25 year old Jeffcoat stands 6'3", 253-pounds and spent two seasons with Washington, appearing in nine games with one start. He recorded nine tackles, including a sack, to go along with one forced fumble and an interception.

- During the 2017-2018 season, NBA players will sport corporate logos on their uniforms, according to an announcement from the NBA on Friday. The patches will appear on the left shoulder of players’ uniforms — where the NBA logo used to be. The league’s logo was moved to the back of jerseys two years ago. Each team will have to sell its own ad space to sponsors. Teams will reportedly net half of the sponsorship money from the jersey ads, while the rest will go to the league’s revenue-sharing pool. The NBA is the first of the four major professional sports leagues to approve ads on jerseys.

- LeBron James has been named Eastern Conference Player of the Month for April, marking the 3rd straight month he's won the award. James averaged 28.8 ppg on 66% shooting, 8.4 rebounds & 7.8 assists in April.

- Don't look for any Dwayne Wade to Chris Bosh alley-oops in the playoffs this year. Bosh informed his teammates of his current status on Friday, and the Miami Heat are ready to play without Bosh for the NBA playoffs due to his ongoing battle with a blood clot condition that he has dealt with since the All-Star Break. It’s the second-straight year that he has dealt with a blood clot issue. It has not been confirmed by Bosh or the Heat that he has developed blood clots as he did last year, but the situation is considered serious.

- NBA Commissioner Adam Silver calls North Carolina's "Public Facilities Privary & Security" law problematic but no decision to keep or move the 2017 All-Star game in Charlotte.  The Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act passed a bill last month that requires transgender people to use the bathroom that aligns with the gender on their birth certificate, rather than that with which they identify. The new law also prohibits local governments from adopting or enforcing anti-discrimination policies not already contained in the state's anti-discrimination laws. Both the NBA and Hornets issued statements condemning the bill. This is the statement released by the NBA:

- Un-employed head coach Tom Thibodeau and ESPN broadcaster Jeff Van Gundy are the Timberwolves' top targets for vacant head coach. Minnesota owner Glen Taylor will be a part of the interviews that will include the executive firm Korn Ferry, which has been coordinating the search.

The Korn Ferry firm assisted Jimmy and Dee Haslem in the Browns coaching search which landed Hue Jackson.