Nelly lives out his dreams in the inspirational video for “The Champ,” his triumphant tune created for ESPN’s Bowl Week. The St. Louis rapper, who almost pursued a professional career in baseball, plays a football player who gets pumped up for the big game. He takes to the field and locker room as a marching band provides the soundtrack to his anthem. Taste the victory.

Forget the old regimens. Kanye West helps introduce the KobeSystem, Kobe Bryant’s new initiative with Nike. A dapper Mr. West throws his support behind the star-studded campaign, which also features testimonials from power players including Serena Williams, Aziz Ansari, Jerry Rice, Paul Rodriguez, and Richard Branson. Yeezy knows best.

Lil Wayne charges into 2012 with his first “Sports Corner” of the year. After missing the first weekend due to the New Year’s holiday, the sports enthusiast returns with eight brand new episodes of his online sports series. Wearing a T-Shirt from his new Trukfit clothing line, he discusses the NBA, NFL, college sports, and skateboarding. His guest for this week is one of his favorite players, San Francisco 49ers linebacker Aldon Smith. Touch down with Weezy.

Watch: Episode 1

Derrick Rose, the NBA’s reigning MVP, reportedly could be in line for a quarter billion dollar shoe deal. Yes, billion with a “B”.

ESPN.com reports that the Chicago Bulls point guard could make as much as $250 million in endorsement money from athletic apparel manufacturer adidas.

One industry source insisted to ESPN.com this week that Rose’s new shoe deal with adidas will easily crack nine figures and could legitimately approach the $250 million range — as in $25 million annually over a 10-year span — in what is known in the shoe game as a “lifetime” deal.

How can the reigning MVP possibly command those kind of dollars as a shoe endorser? Here’s how: Rose, as it was explained to me, is adidas’ only counter to Kobe Bryant in China. I’m told Rose already outsells LeBron James there.

Shoe endorsement deal specifics are notoriously difficult to pin down and verify. But, at $10 million per year or $25 million per year, Rose would be in a salary range rarely, if ever, broached by professional basketball players.

For comparison’s sake, Miami Heat All-Star forward LeBron James signed a 7-year, $93 million shoe deal in May 2003, according to CNBC.com. He re-upped with Nike in 2010 but terms of that deal were not disclosed. Heat All-Star guard Dwyane Wade reportedly made roughly $10 million per year in shoe endorsement money in a 2005 deal, according to BusinessWeek.com. Former Philadelphia 76ers guard Allen Iverson’s lifetime contract with Reebok was reportedly worth $50 million over 10 years, according to AskMen.com.

Rose, 23, signed a 5-year, $94 million extension with the Bulls earlier this month. 

Rose recently starred in an adidas spot where he dodged Spanish bullfighters to slam dunk a basketball in a bull ring.

What a way to end the year and start the year!

Friday (12-30-11) was LeBron James’ 27th birthday and on Saturday, New Year’s eve, the NBA superstar threw himself a party and also used the occasion to propose to longtime girlfriend Savannah Brinson.

And the answer to what you’re thinking is … yes, she said YES.

Cue the congratulatory Tweets:

“Happy for my brother @KingJames and sis @SavannahRB on their engagement!!! Extremely happy for them and the good times to come,” Clippers point guard Chris Paul tweeted.

Heat team owner Micky Arison added his congratulations, tweeting “Congrats to Lebron. @KingJames and Savannah so happy 4 u guys.”

“CONGRATS are in order!! 2012 has already come in w/a BANG!! Congrats to @KingJames and @SavannahRB on their engagement!! We love u guys!!” is what LaLa Vasquez, Mrs. Carmelo Anthony, tweeted

If you don’t know their history, James and Brinson have been dating since high school. They have two boys together – LeBron Jr., who is seven, and Bryce, who is four.

Michael Jordan is officially off the market, again.

The NBA legend is reportedly engaged to longtime girlfriend and Cuban-born model Yvette Prieto. The couple has been dating for more than three years.

A Jordan spokeswoman first confirmed the news to WCNC in Charlotte, NC, that he popped the question on Christmas. Prieto is 32 years old, while Jordan is 48.

This would be Jordan’s second marriage.

He was married for 17 years to Juanita Jordan, but the couple divorced in 2006, and settled for a reported amount of $168 million. They have two sons, Jeffrey Michael and Marcus James, and a daughter, Jasmine.

Jordan is the current owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, and can often be seen on the sideline of Bobcats games with Prieto.

There is no announcement for a wedding date.

Kanye West and Lil Wayne welcomed back the Lakers at their first home game of the season on Christmas Day in Los Angeles. A cheerful Yeezy spent the holiday courtside with his father Ray, while sports enthusiast Weezy brought along his main squeeze Dhea. The rap titans linked up for photos inside the Staples Center as the Lakers took on the Chicago Bulls. Other celebrity sightings included Snoop Dogg and Maroon 5’s Adam Levine.

Lil Wayne is sharing his love for sports. Surrounded by Green Bay Packers memorabilia, the sports fanatic introduced his new online show “Weezy’s Sports Corner.” The idea originally started when he was in prison. He used his blog to talk sports and communicate with his fans. The unscripted web series will be posted every Saturday and viewers will be able to interact with Wayne by submitting questions. If he is “intrigued,” he will answer them on the next show.

“My love for sports started when I was about zero years old. That means I was born a sports child,” said Wayne. “It was mostly the women in my family. My mom and my grandmother, they were just super sporty… They loved their teams, they loved football, they loved baseball, they loved basketball.”

The Young Money chief will also be a co-host on the upcoming ESPN show

“The Sports Rap” with Rob Parker and Jalen Rose. “It will be no holds barred,” explained Weezy.

Watch him discuss the NBA, NFL, skateboarding, and college sports in the inaugural seven episodes.

According to the National Enquirer, the real reason Vanessa is dissolving the marriage is that she suspected 33 year old Kobe was cheating on her and a private detective confirm her suspicions.

“[Vanessa] estimated that he was averaging at least 10 affairs a year with different women over the course of their marriage and puts his number of conquests at 105,” a friend told the tabloid. “The lies and deceit hurt, of course, but racking up those kinds of numbers is mind-blowing and left her devastated. And when she discovered he was cheating during the recent NBA lockout, that was the final straw. her private detective caught him redhanded with incriminating photos.”

Not even former teammate Shaquille O’Neal had those kind of numbers. Tiger Woods, on the other hand, had Kobe beat. Vanessa is apparently telling friends she believes Kobe had a jumpoff in “every NBA city.”

One of his alleged jumpoffs, whom he was seeing since 2008, sat court side at games and openly flirted with Kobe. Vanessa was livid and reportedly told Kobe to dump the chic. Kobe allegedly was also having an affair with an 18-year-old Lakers cheerleader and they reportedly sexted intimated photos of one another.

That evidence is in Vanessa’s divorce lawyer’s possession, too. SMDH! When Vanessa confronted him about these two women, Kobe reportedly confessed and promised her he would change his ways and sought forgiveness by showering Vanessa with jewelry, cars and other expensive gifts.

But after Vanessa’s private investigator hit her with the incriminating photos, she decided it was time to bail and that’s when she filed for divorce. Kobe reportedly begged and pleaded for her to give him another shot, but Vanessa was tired of being humiliated, according to the friend. Now she’s going to walk away with half of his $300 million fortune because they had no prenup and California is a community property state. The divorce is pretty much finalized and Vanessa is gonna get her money.

Nelly rises to the occasion on “The Champ,” the song he recorded for ESPN’s “Bowl Week” coverage. “Today is the day I’ve always dreamed of,” Nelly sings on the uplifting tune. The St. Louis rapper will be releasing more music for his fans over the next few days leading up to the release of his mixtape O.E.MO on Christmas Eve.