TMZ Sports

Note to future broadcasters ... an on-air tribute to a dead pet is the WORST time to get fired up over a crazy dunk!!!

Want proof? Check out this clip from a high school basketball team in Minnesota on Nov. 30 (captured by Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools) when one announcer reveals that his dog recently died after being run over by a car.

While making the emotional announcement during a "Gone But Not Forgotten" moment, his co-announcer gets FIRED UP about an aggressive slam dunk happening in real time on the court ... and the exchange is SUPER AWKWARD.

Here's the transcript ...

Announcer 1: "Our sweet Lucy, at the age of 12 she was run over in our driveway ..."

Announcer 2: "LIKE THAT?!!! Was she run over like that?!!"

Yeesh.

Thankfully, there was a time out in the game that gave everyone a chance to calm down and reset ... and later on, Announcer 2 offered his condolences to his broadcasting partner.

Tim Tebow will get yet another shot to play in the big leagues ... the NY Mets just announced they invited the former NFL QB to their spring training camp for the 4th straight year.

Tebow's been trying to make it to The Show since 2016 ... when he decided to quit playing football to pursue the chance of being the MLB's next big slugger.

But, the road has been pretty rocky for the former Heisman Trophy winner ... in the 2016 and 2017 seasons in the Mets' minor league system, he stunk up the diamond.

2018 was MUCH more promising for the ex-NFL first-round pick ... he batted .273 and hit 6 home runs in 84 games -- but his year was cut short because of a broken hand.

Last season, meanwhile, was another down year for Tim ... he batted just .163 in 77 games and was forced to miss most of the season yet again because of another hand injury.

But, the Mets seem determined to give him every chance in the world to make their Opening Day roster ... 'cause the invite they handed down to him Friday is no joke.

Tebow was 1 of 8 non-roster invitees to the Mets' 2020 Spring Training camp ... and the other seven dudes that got the coveted honor are LEGIT prospects.

So, with Tebow being treated like one of the org's best ... could this be the year he gets Big League ABs???

Just 'cause Steph Curry and Draymond Green can't play together right now doesn't mean they can't date together ... the Warriors superstars teamed up for a double date night with their wife and finacee!!

The Dubs are in town to play the Clippers on Friday ... and their 2 superstars kicked off their trip with a night on the town at Matsuhisa in Beverly Hills.

Of course, Steph has been sidelined with a broken left hand since October ... but has slowly worked his way to getting back to practice with the team.

Steph and Ayesha -- who have been married since 2011 and have 3 kids together -- met up with engaged Draymond and Hazel Renee on Thursday night. Maybe they were discussing marriage advice??

While the wedding date for Green and Hazel hasn't been made public, Draymond has said they planned the big day around the Tokyo Olympics ... so the wedding bells may be coming soon.

Did you know ... Philadelphia Eagles QB Carson Wentz has a super-customized green Dodge Challenger, with his jersey number etched into the seats?!

It's true ... but now he's parting with his pimped out whip and it could be yours if you've got $150,000 to spend!

Wentz has decided to sell off his 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon Coupe -- which features a SuperCharged 6.2-liter HEMI SRT V8 engine.

If that's too shop-talky for you ... here's what you need to know -- it can do a quarter mile in 9.65 seconds and has a top speed of 199 mph!!!

Unclear when Wentz got the car but it seems he's selling it because his wife's pregnant and they don't feel it's an appropriate family vehicle. Asking price, $149,984.

The good news, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to Wentz's AO1 Foundation -- a religious-based charity that helps various groups of people, from special needs children to impoverished communities.

Kendrick Perkins thinks Kevin Durant is a "coward" for signing with Golden State in 2016.

Kevin Durant thinks Perkins was a trash player who constantly underperformed.

... This was just the beginning of an epic Twitter war between the former NBA teammates on Thursday -- and it's clear, the beef is REAL.

It all started with Perkins saying Russell Westbrook is the best OKC Thunder player ever -- even calling Russ, "Mr. Thunder!"

When NBA analyst Marc D'Amico challenged Perk, saying KD has the better resume, Perk took another swipe at Durant.

"KD lost in the second round without Russ when I was there. So what that mean?"

That's when Durant got involved -- clapping back HARD at Perk.

"Yeah and our starting center [Kendrick Perkins] averaged a whopping 2 and 3 during that series. U played hard tho champ lol."

Perk didn't back down and responded again ... burning Durant for leaving OKC to go to the Warriors.

"Boy stop you did the weakest move in NBA History!!! Up on a team 3-1 in the western conference finals and then go join them the following season?! Heart of Champion right there."

Again, KD clapped back ...

"Weak is starting at center, playing real minutes with no production. Should've worked on your skills as much as I did."

Perk ...

"That's fine!!! You worked that hard and still had to go join a 73-9 team. Truth be told, you don't even feel like a real champ, you have hard time sleeping at night huh knowing that you took the coward way out!!!"

Jennifer Lopez has friends in high places ... and her star power was on display while shooting a Super Bowl commercial.

J Lo put in some serious work Thursday at the Hard Rock Hotel in Ft. Lauderdale, where she was on set with her fiance Alex Rodriguez, mega-producer DJ Khaled, rockstar Steven Van Zandt and NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

TMZ's obtained behind-the-scenes pics and vids showing Jennifer rocking a tight white outfit from head-to-toe, and flanked by a huge filming crew. A-Rod's wardrobe included a blue sport coat, while DJ Khaled was, of course, wearing an eye-catching, bright yellow tracksuit -- and cracking up everyone on set.

"Screw you, motherf**ker! You suck too! Hey! You suck too, motherf**ker!!!"

That's Texans head coach Bill O'Brien going absolutely ballistic on a heckler during the Broncos game earlier this season ... and the EPIC rant was all caught on video!!!

Houston fans were pretty pissed off at their team during their Dec. 8 game -- when the Texans were down 31-3 at half -- and one fan decided to let O'Brien hear it in the team's tunnel.

As the coach was on his way back to the locker room with star quarterback Deshaun Watson -- you can hear a man clearly yell "YOU SUCK!" at the guys.

That's when 50-year-old Billy O went OFF ... turning toward the fan and unleashing a tirade for the ages!!!

"You suck too!" O'Brien screamed. "F**k you!"

You can see in the video, star receiver DeAndre Hopkins tried to break up the scene ... but that didn't stop O'Brien from firing at the heckler, "Go the f**k home, motherf**ker!"

Clearly, there are much happier times in Houston these days ... since that blowup loss -- the Texans have gone 3-1, including a massive playoff win over Buffalo last weekend.

And, of course, the team is now just two wins away from its first-EVER Super Bowl appearance.

Which begs the question ... wonder how the heckler's feelin' now?

Derrick Henry wanted to give a lil' "thank you" gift to his offensive line for making him look so damn good ... and nothing shows gratitude like a BRAND NEW ROLEX!!!

Of course, the Tennessee Titans just beat Tom Brady and the Patriots in the AFC Wildcard game 20-13 ... and Henry went BEAST MODE in that game with 182 yards and a TD!

Obviously, Henry couldn't have done it without his lineman --- so the Titans RB showed up to practice with a Rolex for each of 'em ... and they went CRAZY!!!

"Appreciate you big dog!!!" Titans guard Jamil Douglas told Henry.

This is not the first time the 26-year old hooked his line up. Last January, he gifted 'em custom diamond chains after he ran for 238 yards against the Jaguars!

Longtime NFL executive Marc Ross says the "Rooney Rule" is a "mockery" and a "sham" and if it isn't fixed, talented minority coaches will continue to be overlooked.

If you're not familiar with Ross ... he has 21 years of front office experience and was most recently the NY Giants VP of Player Evaluation. Ross was responsible for helping draft players like Odell Beckham Jr., Landon Collins, and Jason Pierre-Paul.

In December 2017, Ross interviewed for Big Blues general manager job after the organization fired Jerry Reese.

Ross didn't get the gig ... and he says that's not the only time he's interviewed and been passed over for a GM job.

In fact, Ross -- who graduated from Princeton and was at one time the youngest college scouting director in the NFL (27 years old) -- says he interviewed 12 times for the position ... but was never hired.

So, why are we talking about this?

The NFL's "Rooney Rule" has been under major scrutiny this off-season after all but 1 (Ron Rivera in Washington) of the available head coaching jobs went to white coaches.

The Rooney Rule is a policy that was instituted in 2003 ... which mandated all teams interview a minority candidate prior to hiring a coach or GM.

In theory, it was designed to help minorities land jobs ... but Ross says it clearly hasn't worked.

"The intent of it was to put minority candidates in front of the owners and think that once the owners saw these candidates that were qualified and capable of the job that they would start hiring them," Ross tells us.

"The problem was that the owners already in their mind, for the most part, knew who they wanted to hire and were just going through the routine of interviewing a minority candidate without any true intentions of making them a viable candidate for the job, so it turned to just kind of a mockery or a sham."

Ross says although the Rooney Rule hasn't been effective, it's not a complete lost cause ... but changes need to be made.

Olympic athletes looking to follow Colin Kaepernick's lead will have to do it somewhere other than Tokyo ... 'cause the IOC has banned kneeling and raising fists in protests at the 2020 games.

The International Olympic Committee released its guidelines for the upcoming Summer Games ... and it's clear the committee is trying very hard to keep politics out of it.

"The unique nature of the Olympic Games enables athletes from all over the world to come together in peace and harmony," the guidelines say.

"We believe that the example we set by competing with the world’s best while living in harmony in the Olympic Village is a uniquely positive message to send to an increasingly divided world."

"This is why it is important, on both a personal and a global level, that we keep the venues, the Olympic Village and the podium neutral and free from any form of political, religious or ethnic demonstrations."

Don't write off Julianne Hough and Brooks Laich's marriage just yet! If the couple's having marital issues, they sure as hell didn't show it during a very loving airport embrace.

Julianne picked up her hockey star husband Thursday morning at the Hollywood Burbank Airport Thursday, where they exchanged smiles and a loooooong hug before driving off together.

The PDA didn't include any kissing, but the reunion was romantic enough ... especially considering all the rumors about them separating. It is interesting, though ... while Julianne picked up Brooks, she still wasn't wearing her wedding ring -- part of what started the rumors. Brooks was wearing his.

Mark Wahlberg's nine days into 2020 and it appears he's never wearing a shirt ever again ... not that anyone's complaining.

Marky Mark's still in vacay mode and this time he's enjoying the picturesque beaches of Hawaii. The action star's actually in town competing in the Hawaii Sony Open Pro-Am. Talented actor and athlete. Yeah ... dude can hit a mean stroke. He's been known to do "golf cardio" ... where astoundingly he plays 18 holes in an hour.

And, like every star who works hard, he's still partying hard ... putting everyone's New Year's resolution diet/exercising plan to shame with his ripped bod. Seems he's got zero plans to slow down his R&R sesh.

Imagine riding the subway to work on a totally normal morning ... and sharing your commute with the entire Toronto Maple Leafs roster!!!

That's exactly what happened on Thursday ... when Auston Matthews and his boys headed to their annual outdoor practice by using public transit.

It's become a tradition for Toronto to give the fans a cool, up-close experience at Nathan Phillips Square in the 6 ... and give subway-goers a ride they'll never forget!!

Maple Leafs star Mitchell Marner -- who just signed a 6-year, $65.3 MILLION with Toronto this past offseason -- was even signing autographs while hanging with the normies.

Of course, the boys ended up getting to the ice for a full day of practice ... which includes a 3-on-3 tournament for all the fans to watch. Cool stuff.

Kobe Bryant is an 18x All-Star and 5x NBA champ, but Mamba says there's one career achievement he lacks, and it makes him mad ... not winning a 6th chip and catching Michael Jordan!!

Bryant chopped it up with Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes on the "All The Smoke" podcast ... where he talked about his (friendly) rivalry with MJ, and his frustration from not winning another ring, and tying Jordan.

"It pissed me off. But, things are what they are. You push for a goal, and my original goal was to try to win 8. You push for it. Push for it. Push for it, and you do the best you can," Kobe says.

"But at the end of the day you can be comfortable with the results and where they landed and where they ended up. And so that's the most important thing."

"That's why I can be really really comfortable with the career that I've had. Cause I worked as hard as I possibly could."

Let's be real ... 5 titles is crazy impressive. In fact, only 13 men -- including legendary hoopers like Bill Russell and John Havlicek -- have won more than 5 rings.

There's more Mamba-MJ talk ... Kobe also tells the story of the time he and Jordan debated who'd win in a dream matchup -- Michael's 1991 Bulls vs. Bryant's 2003 Lakers.

15-year-old rising tennis star Coco Gauff might have to put her dad in a time-out -- he accidentally cursed while coaching her during a match ... and she called him out for it!!

The whole interaction was thankfully caught on camera because Coco and her dad/coach were mic'd up for her ASB Classic match in New Zealand ... and in between sets, he gave her a pep talk.

Her dad, Corey, is heard giving out compliments left and right ... but got a bit carried away when he said, "There's one thing you did the last 3 games, you ain't give up no free points on no damn serve. That serve is weak."

That's when Coco chastised pops for using a bad word while mic'd ... saying, "You can't curse."

Dad's reaction is priceless ... at first he can't believe he cussed on a hot mic, but then directly apologized into the microphone for the slip-up.

But then Corey, still in disbelief, asks Coco again if he really cussed ... and she tells him he did, in fact, say "the d word."

"Oh, well that don't even count," Dad responded.

Coco wasn't havin' it, though ... saying, "in some places, it does!!"

Dad apologized once again ... and Gauff went on to lose the match to Laura Siegemund.

Jillian Michaels stands by her comment about Lizzo's weight, but says don't for a second think she was fat shaming her over her worth as an entertainer ... it was all about her health.

We got the fitness guru Thursday morning in NYC, and she was playing a little defense over her Wednesday interview where she said, "Why are we celebrating [Lizzo's] body? Why does it matter? Why aren't we celebrating her music? 'Cause it isn't gonna be awesome if she gets diabetes."

Lizzo fans came for JM's head immediately, but she says everyone's got it twisted. Jillian told us she's always preached, "Your weight and your size have no bearing or merit on your value, your beauty, your worth, your ability."

Now, health? That's a whole other issue, and Jillian ain't about to back down on that front!

She told us why she believes acting like Lizzo's size isn't opening her up to several serious health risks ... is downright irresponsible. She runs down a few of the dangers the singer could be facing ... again, in Jillian's eyes.

Watch the clip, as a health and fitness expert, Jillian's definitely confident in what she's saying here -- but will Lizzo fans feel good as hell about it?

We highly doubt it.