Following his sudden death back in January, there were numerous murals erected in dedication of Kobe Bryant across the world, but especially in Los Angeles. In front of one mural in L.A., an HBO billboard was placed directly in front of it. After an outcry, the billboard has since been removed by the company.

Bryant and his 13-year old daughter were killed along with seven others in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. The owners of the space where the billboard was placed commented on the billboard and its removal. “We actually commissioned the artist to paint this mural up there because we had a couple open months on it,” they said. “This idea was all approved by the artist and we preserved the mural so in between ad campaigns the mural will be back. The artist told us that he will reach out to anyone that says anything to let them know that he approved this idea and he was trying to find a creative way to support Kobe’s foundation. This mural is owned by us and we are protecting it.”

Marshawn Lynch has traded his spot on the field for a spot on the screen, appearing in the trailer for Season 3 of HBO’s Westworld on Thursday.

“Beast Mode” Lynch can be seen around the 55-second mark of the trailer, standing behind actor Aaron Paul while the two walk down a dimly lit hallway. An HBO spokesperson told ESPN that Lynch has a “fun and pretty substantial” role.

This is not Lynch’s first acting credit. He has appeared in two episodes of the The League and one episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, playing himself in both.

Westworld is a critically acclaimed sci-fi/western drama that has been nominated and has won multiple awards since it debuted in 2016.

SLIDESHOW: 50 GREAT SPORTS FIGURES WHO DIED IN 2019

Lynch, 33, has retired from the NFL twice already, only to return. In 2016, he retired from the Seattle Seahawks, but returned in 2017 and 2018 to play for the Oakland Raiders. He then returned to the Seahawks late in the 2019 season.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers might be shooting for a career in film once he retires, similar to former New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski.

While Rodgers is a longtime fan of HBO’s hit show Game of Thrones, not many expected the two-time NFL MVP winner to make a cameo appearance. On Sunday night’s episode, he did.

In the second-to-last episode of the series, now in its eighth and final season, Rodgers appeared. He said: “I have a bit of inside information about who is alive in one of the episodes, but I’ll share that down the line.” Rumors had swirled about the quarterback possibly showing up and he did nothing to stop them when he tweeted: “Episode 5 should be good.”

On Sunday night, Rodgers posted to Instagram about the experience. He wrote: “It was just for a few seconds, but I’ll always be thankful to have been on the penultimate episode of @gameofthrones #crazyepisodetonight #????.”

Rodgers, 35, is a hardcore fan of the show. He’s spoken several times about his 24-hour rule, meaning that he doesn’t allow the show to be spoken about around him for 24 hours after its showing because sometimes, like in the case of a late Sunday night game, he isn’t able to watch it live.

30 SPORTS FIGURES WHO DIED IN 2018 – TRIBUTE SLIDESHOW 

Also, Rodgers was burnt to a crisp and NFL Twitter was given what may be one of the best GIFs of all time. Here’s some of the best tweets about Rodgers and GoT:

Since 2001, HBO’s documentary series Hard Knocks has taken us inside the training camps of 12 different NFL teams, with each season featuring providing first-hand insight into a different franchise and its players and coaches, both on and off the field. On Thursday, HBO announced that the Cleveland Browns will be the subject of the show’s 13th season, and it’s sure to be a pretty wild one.

SLIDESHOW: SPORTS FIGURES WHO DIED IN 2017

While Hard Knocks has shown us the immense amount of tension that exists within NFL organizations, it’s hard to imagine that any of them were more desperate for success than the Browns. Over the last two seasons, Cleveland has garnered a historically bad 1-31 record, with their no-win 2017 season arguably being the worst single-season performance by any team in the Super Bowl era. Not only were they constantly losing, but they looked absolutely hideous in doing so. Rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer was dreadful over the 15 games in which he played, completing 53.6% of his passes for 2,894 yards, 11 touchdowns, and a whopping 22 interceptions. That’s not to say that the Browns’ lack of any kind of success rests solely on Kizer’s shoulders, as really every aspect of their team save for their run defense was among the league’s worst. The good news is that the Browns can really only go up from there, and they’ve made some significant improvements this offseason in order to do so, including the signings of quarterback Tyrod Taylor and wide receiver Jarvis Landry.

However, the biggest story of the Browns offseason has to be their decision to take Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield with the first overall pick of the 2018 NFL draft. With such a strong incoming quarterback class featuring college standouts like Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen, and Josh Allen, Mayfield was easily the most controversial of the bunch. While his on-the-field performance during his college career was great enough to garner a Heisman Trophy win, Mayfield has had several off the field issues, including having been arrested while drunk in public. He’s also undeniably cocky and style of play may not transition well from college to the pros, which makes critics worried he could very well become Johnny Manziel 2.0. Thanks to all this, it’s fairly safe to assume that Mayfield will be one of the key focuses of Hard Knocks this year.

Mayfield aside, we’ve never seen a season of Hard Knocks like this one is looking to be. No featured team has ever been at a point lower than the Browns are right now, so we’re bound to see gain some really interesting perspectives on what the inner-workings of such a notoriously bad franchise, what goes on that causes them to be so horrible year in and year out, and what they plan on doing to improve.

Hard Knocks featuring the Cleveland Browns is set to premiere on HBO on August 7, 2018.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is not a fan of Ballers, a hit HBO show some have called an NFL version of Entourage, and is therefore prepared to do anything to ensure none of the players in his league are involved with the show.

Roger Goodell Tried To Stop NFL Players From Appearing On HBO’s ‘Ballers’

Ballers producer Mark Wahlberg said on ESPN’s Mike & Mike Friday that Goodell and NFL owners called the show’s producers and told them not to allow their players to make cameos.

Victor Cruz, Antonio Brown, Terrell Suggs, and DeSean Jackson are among those who appeared in Season 1. Season 2 premiered Sunday, and is expected to boast more cameos like Ndamukong Suh and Jarvis Landry.

“The first season of the show, the only call that I was getting was from guys like Roger Goodell saying ‘you can’t do this,’ and various owners in the league,” Wahlberg said. “And we’re saying is it’s actually a good thing for the league and for the players because hopefully you get the word out there with the crazy stuff and the financial side of it, we’ll hopefully get these guys to realize they gotta be more careful with what they do with their money.”

The series includes many suggestive themes — drugs, sex, fiscal irresponsiblity — although it also attempts to capture the highs and lows of life as a professional athlete. Cameos by NFL players seem to have given it more authenticity according to some, although Goodell clearly isn’t among those.

The show tells the story of former NFL player turned financial manager Spencer (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) and his quest to build a client base of high profile athletes while guiding them through their lives as professionals.

NFL Communications SVP Natalie Ravitz tweeted, however, that Goodell’s call to prohibit football players from appearing on the show wasn’t true: