Sports

Blake Griffin and his fiancée, Francesca Aiello, embraced the amore during what looks like their wedding weekend ... living it up with friends.

The former NBA star and his better half were spotted locking lips in Porto Ercole, Italy, on Saturday ... while wearing just their bathing suits.

Each of them was enjoying an afternoon drink, and they seemed smiley while chatting and later dancing at the shoreside event.

Carlos Alcaraz always captures attention while on the court ... but this time his tennis play had nothing to do with the eyes on him -- his hot body did!

The 23-year-old Spanish pro took the court in New York City for the third round of the U.S. Open Friday ... and slipped off his brown sleeveless shirt in full view of the audience -- giving fans a chance to drink in his physique.

You've gotta watch the clip ... members of the crowd go crazy -- flashing lecherous smiles as they watched him disrobe.

Michael Irvin says it doesn't matter if San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York pays a woman to have sex with him ... because even guys who don't hook up with sex workers have to pay to get a little action!

The former NFL wide receiver defended the billionaire owner on N3on's stream recently ... saying it really shouldn't be anyone's business if a dude doles out cash to sleep with a woman.

Mike argues people are always paying for it ... whether by buying someone else's dinner, giving someone an expensive present, or whatever else -- noting all relationships have an inherently transactional component.

Kohl Laren's a professional MMA fighter, but he may be best known for his adorable and unique pet, Daisy the opossum ... who's become a social media star!

Laren, 31, and Daisy stopped by the TMZ offices for a chat with Babcock this week, where the pro fighter explained how he started rescuing the marsupials, the misconceptions people have, and more.

Daisy's become a thing online -- with millions of views on her videos -- but the journey for Kohl started with a simple bike ride.

"I just found one little opossum in Seal Beach when I was riding my bike. I took it into a bush, it was by itself, teeny, tiny. When I set it down, I was like, 'I don't know if you're gonna live if I leave you here,' and I couldn't do that," Laren said.

So, he took the opossum (not Daisy) ... and quickly realized he had his hands full. But, Kohl, after doing some research, found out there were resources available to him.

Laren, with some help, nursed the sick animal back to health ... and it was ultimately released back into the wild.

Thanks to some attention Kohl received after successfully saving the first opossum, people began to come to him when there was an animal in need ... and that's exactly how he got Daisy.

A farmhand reached out to Kohl a few months ago and asked if he could take her ... and he said yes.

"I gave her a once over when I got her, she didn't seem to have any injuries, but she was so teeny, tiny," Laren said.

"I just held her. She took to me immediately. It got to the point where she would be with me while I was brushing my teeth. She hangs out with me all night. Even when she's running around doing her thing, she makes her way back to me, and I take care of her, love on her, and she just loves being with me."

Kenny Smith admits the NBA went straight for the Clippers' neck, but he doesn't think the punishment was excessive ... when you consider Steve Ballmer's team skirted the rules in a major way!

TMZ Sports spotted the hooper-turned-analyst at LAX on Friday, and asked him whether The Association went too hard.

"You're gonna have to suffer consequences for that kind of behavior," Smith told us.

"You're vehemently cheating. You're not just toeing the line. You're actually cheating and you're cheating at a high level. You're circumventing the salary cap. You're giving yourself an unfair advantage that no one else has, and you have to have severe penalties for that or other people will say, 'Well we can do it.'"

Aaron Rodgers is looking forward to retirement ... and says he hopes to start a family with his wife.

The Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback opened up about his future during an interview with SiriusXM's "Mad Dog Sports Radio," saying he's hoping to be "supporting my pregnant wife" by this time next year.

Rodgers said he and his wife, publicly known as Brittani, plan to start a family after he steps away from football following the 2026 season.

"I'm looking forward to a life of quiet after 22 years in the pros and three in college," he said ... adding he's also focused on healing his body and building a family.

Aaron Donald feared his ex Jaelynn Blakey’s dog may harm their kids and rushed to court weeks before the NFL season starts, TMZ has learned. 

According to court docs obtained by TMZ, Aaron, who shares two minor kids with Jaelynn, requested primary custody until the dog was removed from Jaelynn’s home. The California Post was the first to report the news. 

Aaron said their kids were in immediate danger each time they were at her home and came close to the French bulldog. 

WNBA boss Cathy Engelbert is heading for the exit ... the league's commissioner will retire at the end of the year after a firestorm of controversy plagued this season.

Engelbert, at the helm for seven seasons, will step away at the end of the year, TMZ Sports has confirmed.

Her time at the top of the league was a mixed bag.

The W grew in many ways, from viewership and attendance to lucrative media deals. They're also expanding, with six more teams joining the league by 2030.

But many of the gains have been overshadowed by controversy.

Kurt Busch opened up about his brother Kyle's sudden death in a new interview ... and he's clearly still stunned by the development -- especially because he insists no one knew how sick he was.

The NASCAR star opened up about Kyle's final days in an interview on Anderson Cooper's "All There Is" podcast ... telling the veteran journalist that people around Kyle noticed he had a little cough -- but he seemed totally fine otherwise.

He notes Kyle won a race -- the 2026 Ecosave 200 Craftsman Truck Series race at Dover Motor Speedway -- days before he died ... and even visited an indoor go-kart track with his son two days before he passed.

Kurt says these aren't the actions of a man so close to death ... and one look at him shows he's still shocked.

Matt Barnes believes LeBron James bolting to Philly was the best thing for Bronny James' career!

TMZ Sports caught up with the retired NBA player-turned-podcasting star at Ryan Garcia's open workout in Los Angeles this week ... and Barnes weighed in on one of the league's most polarizing hoopers.

“A lot of people wanna say his dad got him drafted, and that may be true, may not be true,” Matt told us. “But Bronny has a lot of talent, and I just thought if he would’ve stayed just one more year, he could’ve did it on his own.”

Dianna Russini was in "clear violation" of The Athletic's newsroom standards because of her relationship with Mike Vrabel ... an internal investigation found.

The Athletic's editorial director, Mike Semel, published the findings Thursday, saying ... "Russini's relationship with Vrabel was in clear violation of The Athletic's standards. Regardless of whether the relationship was romantic, it was a breach and should have been disclosed."

Semel went through 903 videos, 77 videos, 204 episodes of her "Scoop City" podcast -- he also interviewed her coworkers and listened to her off-platform appearances and interviews -- and says he didn't find "a clear link" that shows Russini used her position to give Vrabel a leg up.

Semel write ... "That said, there are examples of Russini writing glowingly of Vrabel that in hindsight are awkward or even uncomfortable."

Aryna Sabalenka -- the world's No. 1 women's tennis player -- is kicking ass on and off the U.S. Open courts ... blasting a reporter for asking what she views as a ridiculous question about NYC parties.

Sabalenka talked to the media Wednesday night after beating Polina Iatcenko 6-1, 6-1 to advance to the third round ... and one journalist dared to ask about her mood at the tournament after she was seen partying last week. Wrong move, pal, 'cause Sabalenka lost it.

Like a calm before the storm ... Sabalenka sighs, shakes her head, rolls her eyes and then lit into him, saying, “You guys are, like, a joke. Parties, fun. Like, why would you even say that? Why would you even think about that? Like, what kind of question is that?"

She went on ... "Just because I posted some, like, activities with brands and you think I've been partying, not training?

The New Level -- Kofi and Austin Creed -- made their debut Sunday night at AEW All In, and the team is already high on their new boss ... Tony Khan.

Kofi -- formerly known as Kofi Kingston -- and Austin Creed -- formerly known as Xavier Woods -- joined the TMZ “Inside the Ring” podcast to discuss their new home ... after spending more than a decade in WWE.

The 12-time tag team champions made their shocking debut at Wembley Stadium alongside Swerve Strickland ... and the trio immediately captured the AEW World Trios Championships.

“There’s a lot of things in there that are very wrestler-friendly ... in terms of being able to go out and do what it is that you want to do, there’s not really a lot of restrictions,” the duo told us.

Women of the Bay Area, listen up ... if you're considering (allegedly) giving money to any self-proclaimed 49ers, run it by E-40 first!

That's the official word from 40 Water himself, who pulled up to the TMZ offices this week to chop it up with Babcock, who asked the legendary Bay Area rapper about Daejon Love, the most talked-about story in sports.

"If he don't know Water, if he don't know 40 Water, and he claims 49er, if I ain't never heard of him or met him, he's not a Niner," 40 said.

"They should have asked me before they gave him the money or whatever and all the scamming s***."

Alphonso Smith Jr. -- a former NFL player and standout cornerback at Wake Forest University -- has died ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ Sports ... the former cornerback died by suicide on Wednesday at a housing community in Florida.

Alphonso's final Facebook post highlighted his unstable emotional state before his death.

In the post, Alphonso wrote, "Do not cry for me! I tried everything in my power to fight the demons behind the ones that someone put into ME! I did not want to be that WAY! I know I have disappointed so many folks. This is a DEMON in me! But not only me! It’s EVERYONE! I have HURT so many! I needed help & did not get it!"

The NBA just unloaded on the Los Angeles Clippers, snatching five first-round draft picks, fining them $30 million, and suspending owner Steve Ballmer for an entire season!

The stiff punishment was all part of the league's investigation into whether superstar Kawhi Leonard circumvented the NBA's salary cap rules ... as a way to get compensation that wasn't on the books.

"The NBA announced today that the LA Clippers and Kawhi Leonard have been penalized for violating the salary cap circumvention rules contained in the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA)," the league said.