TMZ Sports

Future NBA lottery pick Obi Toppin and his brother are taking each other to new heights during the COVID-19 pandemic ... by literally JUMPING over each other in an insane dunk session!!!

Of course, Obi was one of the best players in college basketball with the Dayton Flyers last season ... and younger bro, Jacob, will star at Kentucky after playing one season at Rhode Island.

The brothers proved they BOTH got incredible hops in a vid posted to IG on Friday ... doing one-handed windmill dunks while soaring over each other.

To put things into perspective -- Obi is 6'9" ... and Jacob is 6'8". So yeah, impressive as hell.

It's nice to see Jacob helping keep Obi -- this season's Wooden Award winner -- prepared for the Association ... with the NBA Draft set to go down in October.

A Championship league soccer team is backtracking big time after they used a cardboard cutout of Osama Bin Laden to fill seats at a game this week ... yeah, BIG PROBLEM!!!

Leeds United had banned live fans from attending games during the COVID-19 pandemic ... but welcomed supporters to send in photos which they would place in the seats to simulate a crowd.

Someone sent in Bin Laden -- and NO ONE CAUGHT IT.

So, when Leeds took the field to play Cardiff City at Elland Road stadium on Sunday ... there was the world's most hated dead terrorist sitting right in the front row.

A spokesperson for Leeds United told BBC the team "will ensure there are no more offensive images" used in the future.

And, to add insult to embarrassment, Leeds lost the game 2-0.

Of course, the real OBL was killed by U.S. Navy SEALS during a raid on his compound in 2011.

Pretty cool emotional moment from two Green Bay Packers legends ...

Long story short, we were talking with LeRoy Butler about race issues in the NFL when he brought up Brett Favre as an example of a perfect teammate.

So, we played the video for Brett ... and man, it got misty real quick!

"He was the best teammate, in my opinion, ever and probably in all of sports because nothing bothered him -- especially not color, especially not a guy's religion or sexuality or anything like that," Butler said.

"We had a teammate, Esera Tuaolo (who is openly gay) ... we love Esera. It didn't matter what you were, we just saw one color and that was Green and Gold."

"That's pretty much Brett Favre and that's the reason why this state pretty much and all his teammates love him."

Of course, ya gotta see Brett's reaction to the whole thing -- it's clear Butler's words meant a lot.

"I love my teammates," Favre said ... "I didn't see color."

"I loved LeRoy. We had something special here. We had the chemistry and it wasn't about black and white. We laughed, we had fun together, we fought together, we cried together, we lost together. Obviously ... won a Super Bowl together."

"He's telling the truth. I would have done anything for my teammates."

Someone or someTHING keeps murdering Jay Cutler's beloved chickens ... and the ex-NFL QB is so fed up, he's pulling out the big guns -- AND the night vision goggles -- to stop the culprit.

The retired Chicago Bears star went public with his troubles on Instagram earlier this week ... saying a "chicken serial killer" has been ripping the heads off his birds at his home in Tennessee.

So ... is it a coyote? A raccoon? A monster?!?

Cutler initially thought his own cat, Thelma, had blood on her paws ... but he later determined the pet was not responsible.

After eliminating Thelma as a suspect, Cutler came up with a plan to catch the REAL murderer -- an all-night stakeout!!!

So #6 grabbed his night vision goggles, camo and a nice stogie and assumed his position in his kids' treehouse to look over his rooster, Old Blue after sundown ... updating his 500k followers throughout the night.

"Obviously things have escalated," Jay said on IG. "We're gonna sit here and make sure Old Blue has a good night tonight and whatever happens, happens."

But, the whole stakeout had an anticlimactic ending Friday morning -- Cutler says he was unable to find the killer ... but he's vowed to continue the hunt.

"No culprit last night, which is okay. Stayed up way too late. Super tired this morning. But, Old Blue's gonna be on the case today."

Dustin Poirier says he's only interested in taking fights that will help him get closer to a title shot -- and a rematch with Conor McGregor wouldn't help his cause.

Remember, Poirier fought Conor bad in 2014 and lost in the 1st round -- but Dustin's been an ANIMAL ever since, beating stars like Justin Gaethje, Anthony Pettis and Max Holloway.

In fact, Dustin is currently the #3 ranked UFC lightweight fighter -- with Conor behind him at #4.

Poirier tells TMZ Sports he thinks a win over Dan "The Hangman" Hooker on Saturday will get him closer to a title shot ... but he might need one more victory to seal the deal.

So, we asked if he'd be interested in McGregor after Hooker -- but Dustin says it just doesn't make sense.

"I mean I'd love to for the financial part of it but I'm not chasing grudge matches at this point in my life," Poirier says.

"I'd rather fight Tony Ferguson and get closer to the title but we'll see what happens."

Plus, as Dustin pointed out ... McGregor says he's retired from MMA ... so, it's not on the table anyway!

As for Dan Hooker -- who's on a 3-fight win streak -- Dustin says the key to victory is patience.

An NC racetrack owner is being called "horrific", "shameful" and even a downright racist ... and it's all because he advertised the sale of "Bubba Rope" in the wake of NASCAR's noose incident.

Here's the deal ... Mike Fulp, a 55-year-old who owns 311 Speedway in Stokes County, NC -- threw up an ad on Facebook earlier this week for "Bubba Rope."

In the post -- which has since been deleted -- Fulp wrote, "Buy your Bubba Rope today for only $9.99 each, they come with a lifetime warranty and work great.’’

The ad was immediately hit with backlash ... with people outraged over the insensitivity, considering everything Bubba Wallace had just gone through regarding a garage rope pulldown at Talledega Superspeedway over the weekend.

A spokesperson for NC Governor Roy Cooper ripped the post apart in a statement to the Winston-Salem Journal, saying, "This incident of racism is horrific and shameful."

"North Carolina is better than this.''

Hundreds of people also took to social media to blast Fulp ... calling him a racist and threatening to boycott his track's events.

Multiple attempts to reach Fulp for comment by multiple news outlets have been unsuccessful.

Per the Winston-Salem Journal, NAACP officials are now looking to see if bringing criminal charges against Fulp over the post is a possibility.

"It is horrible that someone would post something of that nature," Reidsville NAACP chapter president Jeff Crisp said. "It's just absolutely unnecessary in these times of tension."

An event at Fulp's 311 Speedway, titled "America We Stand" on Facebook, is still scheduled to take place Saturday night.

Family over everything ... including the NBA.

Dallas Mavericks center Willie Cauley-Stein will NOT join his team in the Orlando bubble when the NBA season resumes ... and it's all because he's got a kid on the way.

The 26-year-old -- the 6th overall pick of the 2015 Draft -- has a baby due in July with his partner and clearly doesn't want to miss that experience, according to The Athletic.

Plus, Florida is experiencing a surge in positive COVID-19 tests ... so it also seems Willie doesn't want to put himself in harm's way while preparing to parent a newborn.

Cauley-Stein was only traded to the Mavs back in January -- and has just played in 13 games with Dallas.

The Mavs are the 7th ranked team in the Western Conference playoff standings -- which means they'll be included in the playoffs.

The regular season resumes on July 30 -- but Mavs players will report on July 8. If the Mavs make a run to the Finals, they would be in the bubble environment all the way until October.

Roberto Duran -- the boxing legend who famously battled Sugar Ray Leonard in the '80s -- has been hospitalized with COVID-19, his family confirms.

The 69-year-old was admitted to a hospital in Panama City, Panama on Thursday ... but the good news, he seems to be doing okay so far.

"My father's tests have just arrived and confirm that he is positive for COVID-19," Roberto's son, Robin Duran, posted on IG.

"Thank God he is not having symptoms beyond something similar to a cold."

Duran is NOT in intensive care or on a ventilator, according to his son ... but he is still under observation.

Duran's son also notes that his father already had a bad lung due to a 2001 accident in Argentina ... and because of that injury, they can't mess around with coronavirus.

"We just talked to the doctor and he tells us that the lungs are fine and there are no signs of serious damage."

"Let's continue to have faith that everything will turn serious injury well. I keep you informed."

Duran -- who was born in Panama -- was a monster in the ring ... winning titles in 4 different weight classes during his 33-year pro career!!

He retired with 119 fights under his belt ... racking up 103 wins and only 16 losses.

Of course, everyone remembers his fight with Sugar Ray -- Duran won their first bout in 1980 but lost the rematch later that year.

In his loss to Leonard, Duran refused to come off the stool in the 8th-round ... saying, "No Mas" -- which became one of the biggest moments in boxing history.

The two actually became friends after their fighting careers ended.

A pool cleaner claims she required surgery and will likely be scarred for life after Ezekiel Elliott's dogs violently attacked her in March ... and now she's suing the NFL star.

But Zeke's attorney tells us the NFL star adamantly denies wrongdoing and now he's digging in for a legal war.

It's all spelled out in new court docs, obtained by TMZ Sports, in which a woman says she went to clean Elliott's pool at his home in Frisco, TX on March 11 ... when she was "ambushed" by his 3 dogs -- a Rottweiler and two bulldogs.

In the docs, the woman claims the Rottweiler bit her arm and dragged her ... before the two bulldogs began attacking her legs.

The woman says the dogs bit her multiple times ... and after she was able to free herself from the animals, she went straight to the emergency room "in immense pain."

She claims the injuries were so bad ... 2 weeks later, she required surgery to repair the damage done by the Rottweiler's bite to her forearm.

In the lawsuit, the woman says she's still having issues with her surgically repaired arm ... and says she constantly suffers from mental and physical pain over the attack.

She's asking for over $200,000 in the suit from the Dallas Cowboys superstar ... but less than $1 million.

The woman also claims this wasn't the first time Elliott's dogs have attacked a pool cleaner ... she alleges that around Dec. 2019, the Rottweiler bit someone else who worked for her company.

We reached out to the Frisco Police Dept. over the allegations ... and a spokesperson said animal services did respond to an incident at Elliott's home on March 11, but the spokesperson says no criminal charges were filed.

As for Zeke, his attorney Frank Salzano tells us his client did nothing wrong, saying ... "Ezekiel was in no way negligent in connection with the alleged incident and intends to vigorously defend the lawsuit."

Elliott has made no attempts to hide his infatuation with his dogs ... he's created an Instagram page for the three -- and even has his Rottweiler, Ace, tattooed on his forearm.

In fact, Zeke just showed off all three dogs on a Twitch stream this week ... giving each one a kiss for the camera.

Indianapolis Colts superstar linebacker Darius Leonard claims he was wrongly kicked out of a Chipotle restaurant in South Carolina ... insisting it's all because he's Black.

The 24-year-old All-Pro says he was eating with his family Thursday -- "3 other Black guys and a mixed woman" -- when another patron (who is white) complained to management that Leonard was "verbally abusing him."

Leonard says the allegation is a straight-up lie -- but the restaurant manager walked over to his table and treated him like a criminal anyway ... booting him from the restaurant and threatening to call the police.

Leonard says what really pisses him off is the white patron got the benefit of the doubt without a shred of evidence -- and says this is the type of crap Black people have to deal with all the time.

"We’re talking about Black Lives Matter and for the guy to look at us and lie and laugh in our face as we walk out and the manger ... just come up here and just basically kick us out of Chipotle?! And, we felt like he was very disrespectful and that’s the white privilege that we are talking about.”

"We are tired of this," Leonard says ... "I'm telling you what I go through as a Black man in America. Ya'll don't understand what I go through."

"Ya'll see the police killing us. Ya'll seeing all the injustices that we go through. I live it. Day in and day out. And, I'm f*cking tired of it. Yes, I'm upset. I'm tired of it."

We reached out to the Chipotle where the incident took place but they offered no comment. We also reached out to the corporate office but so far no word back.

Jon Jones says there's a silver lining to his March drunk driving arrest -- "it set me free in so many ways" -- and now he's focused on staying clean.

"It embarrassed me, it reality-checked me," Jones said on Steve-O's "Wild Ride" podcast ... "I've never been on camera drunk for the public to see like that."

"It was humiliating, and somewhat of a bottom for me -- and I'm ready to snap it into high gear."

As we previously reported, Jones was arrested around 1 AM on March 26 after cops responded to reports of gunfire in the Albuquerque area.

When cops found Jones alone in his Jeep, he appeared intoxicated and admitted to drinking earlier in the evening.

32-year-old Jones later plead guilty to DWI and was sentenced to 1 year probation, ordered to house arrest and forced to wear an ankle monitor.

During Steve-O's podcast, Jones said he's been thinking deeply about his life ever since his arrest ... and he's trying to cut out the bad influences who have led him astray in the past.

Jones also says the COVID-19 pandemic is helping him learn how to stay away from the party scene -- "detach from the nightlife."

"The coronavirus really helped though -- it helped me learn how to stay home on Fridays and Saturdays."

"Before the world got put on hold, I had this fear of missing out ... and coronavirus helped me realize 'Jon you're not missing anything out there.' And, anything that really matters is happening during the day time with your wife and kids."

Jones also talked about his work with the C.A.R.E. project -- which is raising money and support for communities impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in NM.

"In this moment in history, we can't be silent."

Pretty amazing video from the Alabama football team -- with Nick Saban teaming up with his players to deliver a powerful "Black Lives Matter" message.

The video was written by Bama's offensive tackle Alex Leatherwood -- and features players like QB Mac Jones, Emil Ekiyor and Evan Neal.

"We are a team. Black, white brown," the players say in the video. "Together we are a family. We are brothers."

"On the field we are relentless. We are strong. We are conquerors. But we are human beings first."

"And in this moment in history, we can’t be silent. We must speak up for our brothers and sisters, for our sons and daughters."

The idea to share the message came after the players met with Stephen A. Smith and Condoleezza Rice ... who inspired the team to use their platform for good, according to al.com.

The message continued ... "When we see our families, our neighbors, our classmates subjected to violence, we recognize the fear in their eyes."

"We believe the solutions to our challenges are within us. We choose to listen. We choose to hear, and understand other’s perspectives."

"Let’s listen. Let’s unite. Because all lives can’t matter until Black lives matter."

Forget Big Ben and Tom Brady ... Antonio Brown has turned to a high school quarterback to gear up for his NFL return!!

Meet Peter Zamora, a 17-year-old rising junior, who tells TMZ Sports he's been working with Brown for the past few months to help the embattled wide receiver get back in the league.

As for how Pete got that role ... the story is wild -- Pete says he stumbled on a workout with Brown and other NFL stars like Jerry Jeudy and Deshaun Watson at a Florida field back in March.

The Deerfield Beach HS QB tells us they saw his big right arm ... invited him to Brown's gym -- and just a few weeks later, he ended up being one of AB's personal QBs.

Zamora says he throws passes regularly to Brown now ... working out for a couple hours at a time and tossing somewhere between 50-to-75 passes to the former NFL All-Pro.

Pete tells us he hasn't seen AB lose a single step despite not playing in the NFL since September ... and says the guy still belongs on a pro field.

"He hasn't lost any gears," Zamora said. "He's still fast as ever and he's still a top receiver in the league. I feel like a team should definitely sign him."

As for off-the-field, Pete says Brown's been but nothing but a gentleman to him ... adding, "I think he's a well-spoken guy. A very encouraging, very positive guy."

Lane Kiffin and Mike Leach were part of a group of nearly 50 people who met with the Mississippi state legislature on Thursday ... calling for the Confederate symbol to be removed from the state flag immediately!

Kiffin is the head football coach at Ole Miss. Leach runs the program at Mississippi State -- but both are on the same page when it comes to the Confederate battle flag image on the MS state flag.

Other coaches and athletic directors from other colleges in Mississippi were also in attendance on Thursday -- all hoping they can persuade lawmakers to remove the image for good.

Earlier this week, Miss. State star RB Kylin Hill said he would no longer represent the state if the flag wasn't changed -- and other players have echoed his statement.

After Kiffin attended Thursday's conference, Hill said the move "Put a smile on my face."

Kiffin spoke with ESPN about the decision to attend the event ... saying, "We removed the flag from our campus five years ago, so we've made it clear that it doesn't represent who we are at Ole Miss."

"Today is another big step in doing our part to move the state forward and ensure a more welcoming environment for everyone. This is extremely important to me and to our players. Time to change!"

In related news, the SEC and NCAA both announced conference championships and other postseason games will not take place in Mississippi until a change is made to the state flag.

House Speaker Philip Gunn seemed to get the message on Thursday ... saying, "The image of our state is at stake here. The nation is watching. They want to know what we stand for."

NASCAR has released a photo of the rope found in Bubba Wallace's garage at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday ... and yeah, THAT'S A NOOSE.

Of course, NASCAR has said the rope had been fashioned into a noose by an unknown person back in October 2019. Investigators determined it was NOT made as a specific threat to Wallace, who is Black.

The FBI -- which also worked the case -- says their agents have also determined Wallace was not the victim of a hate crime.

NASCAR says the item is a garage pull rope. Wallace says he's raced out of hundreds of garages in his life and has never seen one fashioned as a noose until Talladega.

In fact, NASCAR president Steve Phelps said Thursday his organization thoroughly searched all 29 NASCAR tracks -- which includes 1,684 garage stalls -- and only ONE of the ropes was fashioned into a noose: "the one discovered Sunday in the No. 43 [Bubba Wallace] garage stall."

Phelps added, “As you can see from the photo, the noose was real, as was our concern for Bubba."

He added, "With similar emotion, others across our industry and our media stood up to defend the NASCAR family. Our NASCAR family. Because they are part of the NASCAR family, too. We are proud to see so many stand up for what’s right.”

Earlier this week, Bubba praised the FBI and NASCAR for "acting swiftly and treating this as a real threat."

"I think we’ll gladly take a little embarrassment over what the alternatives could have been," Wallace added.

Bubba admits he's had an emotional few days but he's relieved "that the investigation revealed that this wasn’t what we feared it was."

"Make no mistake, though some will try, this should not detract from the show of unity we had on Monday, and the progress we've made as a sport to be a more welcoming environment for all."

After the results of the investigation were made public, Wallace spoke with CNN's Don Lemon about the backlash he had been receiving --  saying, "I'm mad because people are trying to test my character."

"The image that I have and I have seen of what was hanging in my garage is not a garage pull. I've been racing all my life, we've raced out of hundreds of garages that never had garage pulls like that."

"It was a noose," Wallace continued ... "whether tied in 2019 or whatever, it was a noose."

"So, it wasn't directed at me but somebody tied a noose. That's what I'm saying."

Wallace says he's still very grateful to NASCAR for supporting him -- and now feels more motivated than ever to win.

"This will not break me. None of the allegations of being a hoax will break me or tear me down."

"It will piss me off, absolutely. But, that only fuels the competitive drive in me to shut everybody up."