Tennis great Serena Williams could be fined more than $500,000 and barred from participating in the next Grand Slam tennis event for her appearance in the ESPN the Magazine Body Issue.

According to YBF.com, the International Tennis Federation “is not amused” with her posing nude in the magazine.  Moreover, issues remain with her tirade against an official during the 2009 US.Open last September .

Baseball superstar was nearly suspended. The baseball star who recently passed up a $45 million offer from his current team was nearly suspended by his old one. Manny Ramirez, who’s testing the market after helping the Dodgers to a successful season, faced pending discipline before his trade West. The Boston Red Sox had delivered a letter to Ramirez July 25 after he refused to play in a second straight game, ESPN reports. Ramirez would be suspended without pay effective the next day, according to the letter, but he called to say he was willing to suit up. His refusals to play were part of ongoing conflict between Ramirez and the organization. News of the planned suspension of Boston’s best hitter comes as Ramirez and his agent Scott Boras are holding out for what Boras calls “serious financial offers.” A week after receiving the letter, Ramirez was traded to L.A. The Dodgers withdrew their proposed $45 million renewal deal last week after Ramirez didn’t accept it. Negotiations are expected to continue. In response to the ESPN report, Boras emphasized that Ramirez never actually served a suspension. The player is vacationing with his family in Brazil.

Jaguars coach fines, benches team captain. Nine-hundred tackles in a 10-year career wasn’t enough to keep the NFL’s Mike Peterson off the bench. Jacksonville coach Jack Del Rio has busted the team captain and starting inside linebacker down to second string and special teams after saying Peterson was insubordinate. Del Rio sent the player home from practice last week and fined him $10,000 before replacing him in the line-up. Daryl Smith is Jacksonville’s new starting middle linebacker. The permanent loss of a position for insubordination is unusual in pro sports – but some would call it a bold move by Del Rio in an age of unprecedented arrogance by millionaire athletes.

Iverson, Culpepper both Motown-bound.  The Detroit Pistons and Detroit Lions have received significant additions to their rosters on the same day. Daunte Culpepper announced that he’d join the Detroit Lions in a two-year deal, following his passing a physical. The 0-8 Lions hope Culpepper can help reverse their non-fortune this season, while the Pistons hope Allen Iverson can lead them back to championship glory. Iverson goes to Detroit in a swap for Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb, who’ll join the Denver Nuggets. Iverson’s expected to be introduced as a Piston in a news conference this afternoon.

Chiefs player feels fallout from fracas. NFL running back Larry Johnson will lose a $147,000 check due to suspension from next weekend’s game versus San Diego, but he’s already lost his agent. The Kansas City Chiefs player whose name has come up in more than a few unflattering headlines recently is being disciplined after cops charged him with assault for spitting on a woman at a bar last month. Johnson already has been sidelined by the Chiefs for the last two weeks. Johnson’s agent declined to say why he resigned as the player’s representative.

Maya Moore expected to lead Huskies. The women’s basketball squad at UConn is No. 1 in pre-season Associated Press rankings, in no small part because of sophomore Maya Moore’s return this season. Moore, who holds the all-time scoring record for boys or girls at her alma mater Collins Hill High, is expected to start again for UConn. “For this team to have a pre-season No. 1 ranking is special,” says coach Geno Auriemma. “They have battled through a lot. Finally making the Final Four last year and, now, earning this ranking means something to them.”

Adam “Pacman” Jones to miss four games.

A Dallas Cowboys cornerback finds himself in a familiar position this week: watching the regular season from his living room.  Days after apologizing to his teammates for a recent incident in which police were called to a Dallas hotel, Adam “Pacman” Jones is suspended from playing with his team for the second time in his career. Jones missed last season for having violated the player code of conduct after he was arrested multiple times in connection with criminal incidents. He was reinstated this summer and traded to Dallas from Tennessee after repeatedly vowing to change his ways. But it appears that alcohol was involved in the hotel episode in which Jones had a confrontation with a bodyguard assigned to his side by the Cowboys. Cops filed no charges, but asked both to leave the premises. Commissioner Roger Goodell, who reinstated Jones, has decided to suspend the cornerback indefinitely – again. Goodell’s letter informing Jones of his latest discipline notes that a “disturbing pattern of behavior was clearly inconsistent with the conditions I set for your continued participation in the NFL.” Get more at Playa Hater.

Troubled Bengal is close to return

Despite a four-game suspension and five arrests in three years, the Cincinnati Bengals are close to signing a deal that would reunite them with wide receiver Chris Henry. Why the sudden interest in Henry? For answers, go to Playa Hater.

USA enters hoops quarter-finals Wednesday. The USA men’s basketball squad begins its final chase for gold medals tomorrow at the Beijing Olympics. Having beaten Germany this week, the American “Redeem Team” takes on Australia. Quarter-finals begin the determination of which remaining teams will receive bronze, silver or gold medals in the elimination match-ups. Team member LeBron James, who scored 18 points in the win over Germany, has guaranteed a gold for the USA.

Shawn Kemp to ball overseas. Former NBA scoring threat Shawn Kemp has announced that he’ll play in Italy beginning in November. “I am happy that a player that has made basketball history would come to Montegranaro,” says coach Alessandro Finelli, of team Pemiata Montegranaro. Kemp, 38, played most of his NBA career with Seattle , averaging 14.6 points and 8.4 rebounds over 14 total seasons. He last played in the NBA in 2003