Controversial S#!T

Byron Scott shares LeBron James' hatred for the NBA's play-in tournament ... telling TMZ Sports he wishes the league would cut the crap and stick to its regular postseason format.

Remember, King James teed off on the NBA's postseason rule for 2021 earlier this week ... saying, "Whoever came with that s*** needs to be fired."

We spoke with Scott outside Il Pastaio in Beverly Hills about James' take ... and while the ex-player/coach says nobody needs to be canned over the concept, he makes it clear he thinks the idea sucks.

"I agree with him ... it should be the first 8 teams just like it's been for so many years," Scott tells us. "I don't believe in that play-in and all that stuff."

The play-in format has garnered mixed reviews ... with folks like Stephen Curry loving the idea ... and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban calling it an "enormous mistake."

Byron says it's obvious why guys like the current 8-seed Warriors would welcome the idea ... simply because it gives them a better shot at making the playoffs.

While the current 6-seed Lakers are a sneeze away from being forced into the play-in tournament, Scott says L.A. fans should take a chill pill ... 'cause it'll be "nearly impossible" for them to be sent home early.

"When LeBron gets back and he's healthy, Anthony Davis is back healthy, they're too good."

He added ... "They were together all last year. They know each other well enough. They know what they gotta do, so I'm not worried about it one bit."

Scott thinks the Lakers -- despite struggling with injuries and bad losses late into the season -- can "absolutely" repeat as champions in 2021 ... and has full faith in the organization.

A woman called a Latino cop a "murderer" over and over during a traffic stop -- seemingly afraid for her life ... until she spewed the racist venom she really wanted to get off her chest.

Check out this wild video showing a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy pulling a lady over in San Dimas last month, only to be insulted to his face repeatedly with one final sprinkle of racism for good measure. It's insane.

The guy has his body cam rolling, and right out the gate ... the woman is recording him as well with her phone, demanding to know why she was pulled over and insisting she'd done nothing wrong.

She's pretty hostile while the deputy, who is Hispanic, keeps his cool ... telling her he pulled her over for using her phone while driving. She says she did that because she wanted to capture any bad behavior -- but he points out you can't do that while driving.

Eventually, the woman asks him to get his supervisor on the scene over, which he did, but the deputy still calmly handed her a ticket. Once it was clear she wasn't getting off the hook, she really went off, calling the deputy a "Mexican racist" and then proceeding to tell him that he'll never be white and that he'll always be Mexican.

Basically, she tried taking cover under the police brutality blanket ... but really just seemed to hate the fact she was getting pulled over by a Latino cop, showing her true colors in the end.

Tennessee Titans draft pick Rashad Weaver has been charged with assault ... stemming from an April incident in which he allegedly punched a woman.

Court records show Weaver -- who was selected by the Titans in the 4th round of the draft -- was hit with a misdemeanor simple assault charge on Friday, just hours before he was drafted on Saturday.

The former Univ. of Pittsburgh star pass rusher is accused of socking a woman in Pittsburgh at around 2:28 AM on April 18, according to court docs obtained by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

In the docs, investigators say Weaver and the woman were involved in a verbal confrontation at the Foxtail bar that escalated.

Investigators say one witness told them they saw Weaver punch the woman. Investigators added another witness told them they did not see Weaver punch her, though they did observe the woman crashing to the ground.

In the docs, an officer noted he did NOT observe an injury to the woman "consistent with a punch to the head."

According to the docs, investigators say the woman was tended to by medics at the scene and was released ... but they say she told them she needed to go to the hospital days later "because she was vomiting."

Investigators in the docs say the woman said she was diagnosed with a concussion at the hospital.

Weaver has a court date on the matter currently set for Oct. 5, 2021.

The 23-year-old was a star at Pitt ... recording 7.5 sacks in his senior season last year.

Justin Bieber's fortunate there were no birds around as he headed in for his dinner date with Hailey, or they might have tried to set up shop on his new 'do -- a pulled-back take on locks.

The Biebs and his wife hit up Craig's restaurant in WeHo Monday night, arriving with very contrasting styles -- Hailey dressed to the nines, while JB had a more chill teen look ... at least it matched his bird's nest-like hair.

Speaking of that new coif, Justin partially covered -- or wrapped -- his locks with a black bandana, and umm ... pulled them back into pigtails. Ya can't say he's half-stepping into the new look.

Justin rounded out his ensemble with sneakers, jeans and a baggy red sweatshirt ... and seemed to be in his own world on his phone.

Andrew Brown Jr. is being laid to rest -- but even as his family says goodbye, they're still pressuring the county for the video of his death ... and Al Sharpton helped lead the charge.

Scores of people gathered Monday at the Fountain of Life church in Elizabeth City, NC for Brown's funeral proceedings, and Reverend Sharpton was one of the people who delivered a eulogy.

He made it clear that while Andrew was being buried ... his loved ones were NOT going to let go or let up in their fight for Pasquotank County to release body cam footage showing him being killed by cops.

He had an interesting analogy to the games he perceives are being played by the county right now ... likening their tactics to an NYC con artist dealing a three-card Monte hustle.

The reverend is pretty irate here ... as is the crowd. Of course, this all comes less than a week after officials said they wouldn't even entertain posting the video until at least a month from now, following a judge's ruling that it isn't necessary or prudent for the time being.

BTW ... speaking of noteworthy speakers, one of George Floyd's own sisters, Bridgett, showed up to Monday's service as well and delivered some remarks for the Brown family.

Caitlyn Jenner's take on banning trans girls from competing in girls' sports is unfounded and unjust ... so says Dr. Veronica Ivy whose view is the polar opposite.

Veronica, a trans activist, athlete and associate professor of philosophy at the College of Charleston, appeared Monday on "TMZ Live" and said there's no evidence trans girls perform better in sports than cisgender girls.

Dr. Ivy says the whole thing about biologically-born boys having a competitive advantage over biologically-born girls has been disproven ... she says there is no evidence normal testosterone levels have any impact on performance.

The Doc does say there is undeniably a difference in performance between biologically-born boys and girls in the world of sports, but she says the reason is unknown ... it's either biological, sociological or a combination of both. She goes on to say the data that's available actually doesn't show trans girls have any real advantage over cisgender girls, but until there's proof to the contrary the default should be inclusion rather than exclusion.

Dr. Ivy points out, Caitlyn had a different take last year ... when she told the Outsports podcast "The Trans Sporter Room," "I think every trans person, if they’re into athletics, should have an opportunity to compete and to improve themselves."

Cops in California's capital are using technology to improve their training in the wake of several deadly police encounters across the country -- and the hope is virtual reality translates to the real world.

Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn joined us Monday on "TMZ Live", and downloaded us on his department's new training tool ... a virtual reality headset capable of recreating real police encounters in different environments.

Hahn says the VR training blends hypothetical situations officers might face in Sacramento with lessons learned from the regular training program, like implicit bias and intervention ... telling us why it's proving to be an important training tool in the wake of George Floyd's murder.

The technology sounds incredible ... not only can instructors place officers in different parts of town, but they can also replay the virtual scenarios so other cops can see what worked and what didn't.

NFL free agent Mark Walton argued with Pizza Hut employees, yelled at cops, got violent with his cousin, and then peed on himself before being arrested last January ... and the entire, wild scene was all caught on police video obtained by TMZ Sports.

It all went down back on Jan. 31 ... when around 11:24 PM, the 24-year-old running back got into a tiff with workers at a Miami Pizza Hut shop.

In the police footage, you can see officers rolled up to Walton while he was in a heated dispute at the pizza joint's ordering counter.

In the clip, Walton says he was pissed at employees because after they canceled one of his orders ... he claims one of them called him a "f*** n***a."

Walton says he personally came to the store to confront them over it ... and that's when all the drama began.

Cops say Pizza Hut employees claimed Walton was "banging on the windows" prior to their arrival ... and you can see in video, Walton was yelling at the employees when the officers showed up.

Mark continued to bicker with the Pizza Hut staffers while cops were present ... and eventually, he became combative toward the officers themselves.

At one point, as the cops tried to get him to calm down and leave the area, Walton screamed at an officer, "You don't know who I am! I don't care! I'm about money!"

Walton eventually walked away from the scene with his cousin -- though the two didn't get very far, because they ended up in a physical altercation at the back of the Pizza Hut.

You can see in footage, when cops turned the corner to check in on the two ... Walton was standing over his cousin, who appeared to be knocked out while bleeding profusely from his forehead area.

Cops ordered Walton to the ground at taser-point ... and while they put him in handcuffs, the NFL player told them his cousin had fallen after grabbing him during their dispute.

While detained, Walton argued with officers more ... and then asked them if he could "pee on myself." When cops said yes, Walton let it go.

Eventually, Walton admitted to an officer on video that he had been drinking earlier in the day.

Walton was ultimately hit with 2 charges over the incident, misdemeanor trespassing and misdemeanor disorderly conduct.

But, court records show he reached a deal with prosecutors last month to have the case closed ... though we're working on the specifics of that agreement.

Walton was a Cincinnati Bengals fourth-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft ... but he was eventually cut by the team in 2019 following multiple arrests.

Walton eventually signed on with the Dolphins in '19 ... but they too cut him after he ran into more trouble with the law.

The S.I. Swimsuit issue is looking to break barriers with its FIRST EVER male model finalist ... and cover model Camille Kostek tells TMZ Sports she couldn't be more excited for the move!!

21-year-old Lewis Freese is one of 15 finalists in the "SI Swim Search" ... an international competition to bring newcomers to the magazine.

Kostek -- who won the same contest in 2018 -- raved about Freese's chances at making history ... applauding the publication for its continuous efforts towards inclusion.

"Lewis is the best," Camille told us at LAX this week. "I've been watching through his whole swimsuit journey. It is, like, unbelievable."

"I had a feeling with just everything that's evolving and things that are changing. I mean, all walks of life are meant to be celebrated. I had a feeling this was going to happen and I'm so happy it's Lewis that's gonna break the mold."

Camille also has a message for any haters against bringing change to the iconic swim issue ... saying it's time they learned to be with the times.

"If you're not with it, you're gonna get left behind because everyone's got one life to live. Live your authentic self, live your best self."

"Those people that are the first that are brave enough to do that, I can't applaud those enough going for it."

The newest swimsuit issue hits stands in July ... and will feature huge names like Kostek, Olivia Culpo, Kate Bock and more.

Camille says she'll be alongside Freese for his debut photoshoot with SI ... and has a bit of advice for the newbie -- even though she says he doesn't need any.

"Own it, baby." she said. "I saw your video. I've been watching you, I've been listening to you and I can't wait to hug you in person."

Michael Flynn either forgot the words to the Pledge of Allegiance, or he's a master at working for the crowd with MC call-backs ... and a lot of people think it's the former.

President Trump's former National Security Advisor -- and a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general, no less -- showed up Sunday at a pro-Trump rally down in South Carolina ... an event called "Bikers for Trump" which was held at the HonkyTonk Saloon.

At one point, Mike got on stage and led the audience in reciting the pledge ... and he kinda made a big show about it too, which made his weird silence look even worse.

Check it out ... Flynn starts out strong with the memorable words, but once he got past the initial sentence -- he seemed to have gotten his tongue-tied on the exact phrasing, and stopped talking altogether. Luckily, the crowd knew the rest ... and they finished it out.

MF hopped back in at "under God, indivisible." Unclear if he truly forgot -- or if he was doing that for dramatic effect ... but in any case, the pro-Trumpers didn't really mind. They gave him a big round of applause afterward, and it looked like they appreciated the gesture.

Of course, Twitter was having a field day with the awkward moment ... with many cracking jokes at Flynn's expense, saying a lot of guys from Putin's inner circle tend to have trouble with the pledge.

He was also accused of being a traitor -- which harkens back to his early tenure in the Trump WH ... when he was found to have been feeding intel to Russian operatives during the transition, something he lied about to Mike Pence (and the FBI) and ultimately got convicted for amid Robert Mueller's Russia probe.

An elementary school principal went full 19th-century headmaster on a 6-year-old student -- paddling her a few times ... all while the mom recorded it.

This is coming out of Clewiston, FL ... where Central Elementary School Principal Melissa Carter and her clerk, Cecilia Self, were captured on video bending a little girl over and giving her a few whacks with an old-school paddle ... all in front of the kid's mom, who filmed it.

The student's mother says she was called to the school recently, with a claim that her daughter had damaged a school computer ... with a repair cost of nothing more than $50.

The mom says she was told by the school that her kid would be getting paddled as punishment, with her and a "deputy" present ... but says she didn't understand the process as it was being explained to her, as she doesn't speak much English.

Anyway, when the mom showed up to pay the fee and get her daughter ... she says she was led to a room where Carter and Self were present, along with her child. No law enforcement deputy was in sight. Before she knew it, Carter was meting out a beating.

The mom, who hasn't been ID'd for privacy, insists she didn't step in because she felt she would get in trouble ... and figured the only thing she could do was to document it to expose the abuse. So, that's what she did ... secretly filming the encounter and standing by.

The mom justifies her action -- or a lack thereof -- by saying she felt she needed to "sacrifice" her daughter to blow the lid on what was going on there.

Ben Crump, attorney for George Floyd's family, says Derek Chauvin has no chance to successfully appeal his guilty verdict ... and it's all because of what at least one juror is saying about the murder trial.

Crump tells TMZ ... Juror #52, Brandon Mitchell, shed a lot of light on the Chauvin deliberations and, in the process, "completely obliterates" any argument the defense is planning to make about outside public opinions swaying the jury.

You'll recall, Chauvin's defense attorney, Eric Nelson, asked Judge Cahill for a mistrial because Rep. Maxine Waters had encouraged folks to "get more confrontational" while protesting if Chauvin wasn't found guilty.

Nelson felt that her remarks might pressure the jury to return a guilty verdict, but Judge Cahill wouldn't bite -- and now, Crump says Brandon confirms that didn't happen.

He told Gayle King this week ... he and his fellow jurors felt no outside pressure to reach a guilty verdict, and reached their decision based on the facts presented in court.

Crump says Brandon's comments will play a big factor when and if an appeal is filed.

As you know, the jury found Chauvin guilty on all counts and he could get up to 40 years in prison when he's sentenced in June.

If you thought Utah Republicans forgot all about Senator Mitt Romney turning his back on Donald Trump -- welp, they haven't. Exhibit A ... this tidal wave of boos.

The Utah U.S. Senator showed face Saturday at a GOP convention at the Maverik Center in his home state -- but not one of the 2,000 or so delegates on hand seemed all too happy to see him step to the podium ... and they made their displeasure known, very loudly.

Check out this brutal scene ... the entire building is straight-up booing the man, with no shame whatsoever. He was also reportedly met with taunts and jeers, likening him to a "communist" and a "traitor." Unfortunately for Romney, he got booed the hell off stage.

We'll give him credit -- he tried holding his own up there for a while, even bringing up Biden's first 100 days, seemingly in an effort to curry favor with the Utah crowd. They weren't having any of it, though ... and Romney eventually addressed the elephant in the room.

He said it's no secret he wasn't the biggest fan of Trump's "character" before someone came to get him. That's an understatement if we ever heard one -- and big-time downplaying.

Fact is ... Romney drew his line in the sand many times over, especially with his impeachment votes. You might recall ... he twice voted to convict Trump at his trials, agreeing that the guy had either 1) abused his presidential power or 2) incited an insurrection. Trump was acquitted in both instances.

Caitlyn Jenner has a take on trans athletes you might not expect -- namely, if you're born as a biological boy, you shouldn't be allowed to compete in girls' sports ... at least while you're still in school, anyway.

We got the California gubernatorial hopeful Saturday in Malibu, and she weighed in on her first big political issue as she takes center stage in her run for Gavin Newsom's job -- telling TMZ she doesn't support trans girls born as boys participating in all-female school sports.

Yeah, we know ... it's a pretty interesting stance -- especially coming from Caitlyn ... who of course, is a trans woman herself AND a former Olympic champion. But, check out her rationale ... she chalks it up to fairness and protecting the integrity of girls' sports.

It's a hot-button issue right now across the country -- upwards of 34 states are considering legislation that would ban trans athletes from competing based on their gender identity ... and at least five have already turned the bills into law.

Caitlyn's words here are HUGE ... She's staked out her position and it's a stark contrast to Newsom's views.

Now, for some numbers -- because this isn't as black and white as it may seem. While some argue trans girls would naturally perform better in athletics because of higher testosterone levels ... that's not entirely true, at least not across the board, anyway -- so say scientists.

There are studies examining this topic -- and they suggest that while, yes, trans women have tended to perform better against their cisgender counterparts in certain activities -- running events appear to be the big one -- it's not conclusive that their testosterone levels alone are the sole cause for that ... and it's not always the case either.

More importantly, the studies suggest that once trans girls start getting hormone therapy ... their performances tend to level out across different sports -- and by and large, all things end up being roughly equal. It also appears most athletic orgs require trans athletes to be on hormone therapy.

A California college professor was borderline enraged when one of her students said he believed cops were heroes, and the exchange is fascinating.

19-year-old Braden Ellis was in a zoom lecture with his professor at Cypress College. Ellis told the class he believed the majority of police were good people and acknowledged there were bad cops who should be disciplined.

The professor shot back there is little to no accountability when cops cross the line ... and the stats support her position. Ellis didn't disagree but stood his ground and maintained most cops joined their police forces to protect and serve and therefore deserved hero status.

The professor wasn't having it, saying, "So what is your bottom line point? You're saying police officers should be revered, viewed as heroes? They belong on TV shows with children?"

Ellis's response ... "I think they are heroes in a sense because they come to your need and help you."

That escalated the argument, with the professor saying she wouldn't call the cops even if she was in harm's way because she doesn't trust them.

Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar -- one of the greatest second basemen of all time -- has been banned from Major League Baseball ... after an investigation into sexual misconduct claims from 2014.

Commissioner Robert Manfred announced the move on Friday ... saying 53-year-old Alomar has been terminated from his gig as a league consultant and placed on the "Ineligible List."

The ban, Manfred says, comes after MLB hired a law firm to investigate claims of sexual misconduct made by a "baseball industry employee," who came forward earlier this year about the alleged incident that happened in 2014.

After the investigation, it was determined Alomar violated MLB's policies ... resulting in severe punishment.

"We are grateful for the courage of the individual who came forward," Manfred said Friday. "MLB will continue to strive to create environments in which people feel comfortable speaking up without fear of recrimination, retaliation, or exclusion."

The Toronto Blue Jays followed suit by severing ties with Alomar, who was serving as a special assistant to the team ... and going one step further by scrubbing him from the team's "Level of Excellence."

Of course, Alomar was a star in the '90s -- he made 12 All-Star teams, won 10 Gold Gloves and won 2 World Series championships ... and was inducted into Cooperstown in 2011.

The Jays are also taking down Alomar's banner at the stadium, which honored his retired number #12 with the organization.

Alomar addressed the punishment minutes ago ... saying, "I am disappointed, surprised, and upset with today's news."

"With the current social climate, I understand why Major League Baseball has taken the position they have."