Pop Culture Hot List

SI Staff | Nov 12, 2009

Pop Culture Hot List /

Pop Culture Hot List

Maria Sharapova and Sasha Vujacic

Apparently you need to be linked with a celebrity to play for the Lakers these days. The latest Laker to cross over into the celebrity gossip columns is Vujacic, who is dating Sharapova. The two were spotted cozying up at a U2 concert and later Sharapova watched Vujacic from a seat across from the Lakers' bench.

Lamar Odom and Khloe Kardashian

The Lakers' other happy couple are doing just fine. The wedding episode of Kardashian's reality show on E! drew a healthy 3.2 million viewers on Sunday. And Odom went on Chelsea Handler's talk show and said he wants to have kids with Kardashian soon and wouldn't mind starring in his own reality show with his wife.

Larry Johnson

Can we count this as the first player casualty thanks to Twitter? After Johnson tweeted some controversial remarks following an Oct. 25 loss to the Chargers, the Chiefs waived the running back this week. No truth to the rumor that they informed him of his release in 140 characters or fewer.

Coolio & DMX

Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images, Larry Busacca/Getty Images

Everyone knows boxing matches are fixed ... at least that's what DMX thought when he signed on for a celebrity bout. He backed out after promoters refused to fix the fight in his favor, causing them to get a replacement fighter -- Coolio. Of course, who else?

Jon Gosselin and Shane Victorino

As if losing to the Yankees in the World Series wasn't bad enough, now Victorino is jinxing his very own wedding by inviting Gosselin, formerly of <i>Jon & Kate Plus 8</i>. What? Was Kevin Federline not available?

Sammy Sosa

No one's a bigger Michael Jackson fan than I am, but I draw the line at dying my skin to look like the King of Pop. Apparently that line doesn't exist for Sosa.

LeBron James

With James in New York to face the Knicks, the Yankees couldn't have picked a better time to throw a parade. Sure, the ceremony was for the 27-time World Series champions, but they could have easily made a float for James and told him the celebration was for him in an effort to get him to sign with the Knicks in 2010.

DeAngelo Hall & Mike Smith

Not sure what's most embarrassing: Hall getting into it with the 50-year-old Smith on the sideline during the Falcons-Redskins game; Hall filing a complaint to the NFL about the incident; or Hall basically challenging the Falcons' coach to a fight after the game, saying Smith knows where to find him in Atlanta.

Fedor Emelianenko

Fedor finally got some national exposure last week, beating Brett Rogers on CBS in a fight that surprisingly didn't end within the first 30 seconds. Unfortunately for MMA fans, until Fedor and the UFC can come to an agreement, we'll continue to see the best fighter in the world beat up on subpar competition on national television instead of fighting, for example, Brock Lesnar on pay-per-view. As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for.

Zenyatta

Even novice horse racing fans had chills watching Zenyatta somehow fly from the back of the pack to the front to win the Breeders' Cup Classic in dramatic fashion. Equally impressive was the call by Trevor Denman, who helped make it an immortal moment for the struggling sport.

Published Nov 12, 2009