TMZ Sports - Page 50

Kendrick Norton -- bionic man!??!

The former NFL lineman -- who lost half of his left arm in a July car crash -- says doctors told him he's a prime candidate for a state-of-the art prosthetic limb ... one he can control with HIS MIND!

"I had a good case where they preserved a lot of my nerves from my arm, so I'll be able to get a prosthetic I'll be able to control with my mind."

SERIOUSLY!!!

The 22-year-old joined the guys on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (weeknights on FS1) -- and told us how he's adjusting to life after losing his arm from the elbow down.

The good news ... technology in the prosthetic limb industry is CRAZY GOOD right now and Norton says he's a top candidate for a bionic limb that will allow him to control robotic fingers as easily as he controlled his old ones.

We did some research and the science is fascinating -- there are limbs that harness signals transmitted from the brain and essentially tell a robotic hand how to function. It's amazing.

Norton still has some healing to do before he gets fitted ... but he's learning all about his options in the meantime.

"In the medical field, there's a lot of new technology out here I'm just now finding out about."

As for his future, we asked Norton if he's considering finding a new sport where he can compete with one hand ... and while he hasn't ruled it out, it's just not his priority at the moment.

Instead, Norton says he's focusing on starting a non-profit charity and wants to use his platform to inspire kids who are living without limbs.

Kevin Durant wants to make it crystal clear his old team deserves ZERO blame for his NBA Finals injury ... saying the Warriors didn't mishandle his calf injury and no one forced him to play.

KD is finally addressing the ruptured Achilles he suffered during game 5 against the Toronto Raptors ... saying Golden State didn't pressure him to come back early from a calf strain he sustained earlier in the playoffs.

“Hell, no. How can you blame [the Warriors]? Hell, no,” Durant told Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.

"Nobody never said a word to me during rehab as I was coming back ... Right when the series started, I targeted Game 5."

"Hell, nah. It just happened. It’s basketball. Sh*t happens. Nobody was responsible for it. It was just the game. We just need to move on from that sh*t because I’m going to be back playing.”

There ya go, critics ... straight from KD's mouth.

Durant also addressed the claims that Raps fans were applauding his injury ... saying he was in a daze and didn't hear anything, but added, "It will probably be the last time they will be in the Finals."

Of course ... the 30-year-old is slowly recovering from the injury ... and TMZ Sports even spotted him walking without crutches last week.

As for his decision to leave the Dubs for Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets ... KD's reason is very simple.

Pete Carroll might have to find a new LB less than a quarter of the way into the Seahawks' season ... TMZ Sports has learned Mychal Kendricks' insider trading sentencing has been set for Sept. 25.

The 28-year-old confessed and pled guilty to insider trading back in September 2018 ... and he was slated to be punished for the crime last April.

But, the Seahawks stud had his hearing postponed for unknown reasons ... and according to new court docs obtained by TMZ Sports, that date has finally been set for Week 4 of the NFL season.

The 'Hawks are scheduled to play the Arizona Cardinals that week ... but there's a chance Kendricks might not be with the team -- and instead, be behind bars.

Mychal is facing up to 25 YEARS in prison for the offense.

As we previously reported, Kendricks pled guilty to an insider trading scheme where he allegedly made more than $1.2 MILLION by plying a Goldman Sachs analyst with perks like cash and NFL tickets in exchange for private information.

Mychal was cut by the Cleveland Browns shortly after his guilty plea, but he was later picked up by Seattle -- where he served an 8-game suspension from the NFL for violating the league's personal conduct policy.

Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey had the most millennial way of messing with opponents back at Florida State ... he'd make WRs think he was trying to bang their GFs.

"Say I was playing a big receiver at whatever school, I would look up his Instagram and slide in his girlfriend's DMs before the game," Ramsey said on the Bussin' with the Boys podcast with Titans lineman Taylor Lewan and NFLer Will Compton.

And, would it work? Hell yeah it did -- "People get hot about that."

Ramsey -- who played at FSU from 2013 to 2015 -- didn't name any of the WRs he messed with ... but he lined up against future NFL players like Mike Williams and Hunter Renfrow. 

So, did the attempted home-wrecking continue when he got to the League? Ramsey addressed that too.

"I'll say when I got to the league, though, I stopped that 'cause now people got wives and stuff. Somebody get shot over talking about somebody's wives."

Colin Kaepernick is still busting his ass to get back in the NFL ... the ex-49ers superstar just posted a workout video -- and it's INTENSE.

The video shows Kap getting after it in the weight room -- there's push-ups, bench presses, rows, tricep pull-downs and dips ... the guy is CLEARLY still in fantastic shape.

And, with the NFL season starting ... it's obvious Kaepernick wants people to know that despite a settlement in his collusion case with the NFL -- he's still working to make a roster.

In fact, the video starts with the number 889 -- the amount of days Kaepernick says he has been "denied" a job in the league.

Of course, the 31-year-old last played in the NFL in 2016 when he was San Francisco's quarterback ... but he claims controversial kneeling protests during the national anthem forced him to be blackballed from the league.

By the way, Houston Texans backup quarterback AJ McCarron suffered a thumb injury this week and the team is reportedly looking to sign a quarterback for camp ASAP.

Clearly, Kap is hoping to get the call.

Rich Paul's peers are coming to his defense in the wake of a new NCAA rule that seems to be aimed at him ... with NBA agent Daniel Hazan saying the NCAA is making a terrible mistake.

The NCAA's new rule -- dubbed the "Rich Paul Rule" -- is geared toward dissuading players from working with agents who don't have a bachelor's degree, among other requirements.

Long story short ... the NCAA says it will not allow players with remaining eligibility to return to college to play IF they establish a professional relationship with a non-degree holding agent.

The most famous NBA agent without a degree is Rich Paul, who represents everyone from LeBron James to Anthony Davis, Ben Simmons, John Wall ... you get the point.

Enter Hazan -- who at the beginning of his career was the youngest NBA agent to sign a client -- and currently reps a slate of pro ballers.

Not only does Hazan explain why the rule is bad for young agents, but says it will ultimately hurt the NCAA by driving players out of college basketball.

Hazan thinks young players will be more motivated to find other avenues to the NBA -- whether it's playing overseas or other semi-pro leagues in the U.S.

Remember, we just spoke with Al Harrington -- who's a part-owner of a pro team in Australia -- and he says he's gunning to recruit guys to plays for him INSTEAD of playing college ball because he'll cut fat ass checks that the NCAA refuses to do.

Hazan says he doesn't think the rule will last more than a year before the NCAA realizes its mistake.

Kendrick Norton -- the NFL player who lost most of his left arm in a horrific car crash -- wants to SHOW what life is like as an amputee ... and he's keeping it all the way real in an inspiring new video.

As we previously reported, Norton (a 7th-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft) was battling for a roster spot with the Miami Dolphins when he crashed his truck on July 4 with his girlfriend, Kira, in the vehicle.

Now, more than a month after the accident, the 22-year-old is showing his daily cleaning regimen -- and talking extremely candidly about how his life has changed.

The funniest part of the video (yes, he mixes in humor) is that he's nicknamed his left arm, "Little Kenny" ... and considers it a "mini-arm" instead of a total loss.

Kendrick says he refuses to cry about the accident and the subsequent loss of his NFL career -- explaining, "Ain't no point in crying every day and being sad and stuff. Still got stuff to be done."

The good news ... Kendrick says his other injuries (mostly road rash wounds) are healing nicely and doesn't seem to be in pain.

His girlfriend, Kira, says she suffered internal bleeding from the crash -- but insists she's doing well now.

Kendrick says some of his daily tasks take longer to perform due to his amputated arm -- and admits it's frustrating -- but his attitude is remarkably positive.

"Don't worry about me too much," Kendrick says ... noting he's going to be okay and he's not suicidal.

He even gave a message to some of his fellow amputees who are looking up to him as a role model ...

The perfect complement to Ty Law's Hall of Fame gold jacket -- custom Air Jordans -- featured 12,000 crystals ... and TMZ Sports has learned the insane kicks took 40 HOURS to customize!!!

The New England Patriots legend hit up Leah Miller at Bella Artistry to make sure his footwear was right for the biggest day of his post-football life ... and the results were incredible.

The shoes feature 12,000 black, gold and New England Patriot-colored Swarovski crystals ... and we're told they were all HAND-PLACED one by one.

The kicks -- which took nearly two FULL days to complete -- have Law's famous No. 24 on them ... as well as the No. 323 to represent his spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The shoes also have the letters "H.O.F." on the back with the Patriots logo on the front ... and Law clearly loved them, wearing them during his induction speech.

In fact, 45-year-old Law thought so highly of them, he placed them on his grandparents' graves just 2 days after the ceremony, saying, "The journey is now complete!!"

Support is flooding in for 'Mr. Olympia' Shawn Rhoden ... as more than 12,000 fans are petitioning to allow him to defend his title in 2019 ... despite his ongoing rape case.

As we previously reported, Rhoden -- who goes by Flexatron -- has been charged with multiple felonies for allegedly raping a female bodybuilder during a hotel encounter back in Oct. 2018.

Rhoden has lawyered up and pled not guilty to all charges -- vowing to prove his innocence in court.

The honchos behind Mr. Olympia (American Media Inc.) announced that Rhoden will NOT be allowed to compete in any Mr. Olympia competitions (including Mr. Olympia 2019) until his case is resolved.

But, a large number of fans believe the decision is simply not fair -- claiming he should be considered innocent until proven guilty ... and allowed to defend his title.

In fact, more than 12,000 people signed a Change.org petition in the hopes of getting the Mr. Olympia competition to ALLOW Rhoden to compete.

The petition argues that the temporary ban is "absolutely unfair" and "would cost him a consequent loss of income."

"Even worst [sic], this decision from AMI (American Media Inc) goes against Human Rights and the presumption of Innocence which should consider Shawn Rhoden innocent until proven otherwise."

Rhoden is a superstar in the bodybuilding world ... with more than 1.6 million followers on Instagram.

Dave Bautista is PISSED -- claiming he was denied entry into a New Mexico movie theater because he arrived a few minutes late ... a violation of the place's strict no late arrival policy.

The "Guardians of the Galaxy" star hit up the Flix Brewhouse in Albuquerque ... a movie theater and brewery all in one. The place also has a policy DENYING entry to ticket holders if they arrive late to their scheduled movie.

Bautista bought tickets to a 3:15 PM showing of "Once Upon a Time In Hollywood" -- but arrived to the theater at 3:30 and was subsequently turned away. Dave claims the feature hadn't started playing when he arrived, they were still showing trailers for other flicks.

Bautista called the place out on social media ... saying, "Worse experience at a novie theater in my life. Yourr manager Tiffany needs some serious help with her people skills. You’re welcome for taking pictures with all your customers while Tiffany was treating me & @OmariHardwick just like 💩 #badbusiness"

The Flix Brewhouse responded to Dave ... saying, "We do try to protect the movie experience for our guests which is why we don't allow late arrivals. We'd welcome the opportunity to chat with you and try to make it right."

Bautista responded again ... "Policies are policies but how about treating people with some sense of courtesy!"

BUT THERE'S A TWIST -- Dave suggested the reason he was late was because he was taking pictures with fans in the lobby who recognized him.

"Maybe you can protect your guests novie experience by not allowing a photo session in your lobby while being turned away for being a minute late from the theater doors closing. I didn’t mind because I like to treat people with courtesy. But that’s just me."

Seems like a pretty valid excuse ... and guess what -- the movie theater agreed!!!

"You’re right, we could have done better. We’d like to make it right now. Is there a way we can follow up directly to do that?"

There's a rule for Baltimore Ravens rookies ... you don't bring the cinnamon rolls to team meetings -- YOU GET YOUR CAR PACKED WITH JUNK!!!

5th-round pick Daylon Mack learned that the hard way ... because after failing to deliver delicious pastries to his teammates, they stuffed the D-lineman's truck with packing peanuts!!!

Mack recorded the aftermath of the hilarious assault ... showing his ride packed to the brim with the foam popcorn.

In the clip, you can see the stuff spilling out of both sides of his whip ... and just to make sure he got the point, they even filled up the bed!!!

"Who even has the time to put all this stuff up?!" Mack said while surveying the damage.

Of course, 22-year-old Daylon got off somewhat easy ... most teams aren't as nice as the Ravens, and use interior-killing popcorn for the gag.

In fact, we've seen firsthand the kind of damage using the buttery stuff can do ... remember Kenyon Martin?!

Antonio Brown is no John Spartan ...

Turns out, the foot injury that's been plaguing him during Oakland Raiders training camp stems from a "cryogenic chamber mishap" ... this according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

31-year-old Brown, who signed a 3-year, $50 MILLION deal with the Raiders, has been nursing some pretty gross-looking feet ... but he hasn't been clear on what caused the injury.

There's been rumblings that he went into a cryogenic chamber without proper foot protection -- but neither Brown nor his representatives have said anything on the record about it.

FYI, cryo chambers can get to about 200 degree below Fahrenheit -- and they're typically used for workout recovery.

There have been cryogenic chamber mishaps to high-profile athletes in the past -- including U.S. sprinter Justin Gatlin who suffered frostbite on his feet in 2011 due to wearing sweaty socks during the treatment.

Unclear what exactly caused Brown's injury.

Brown and his situation were featured on Tuesday's episode of "Hard Knocks" -- which showed AB trying to run sprints and workout despite having sore feet.

Brown is reportedly seeing a specialist and is considered day-to-day.

The NFL season kicks off in just 4 weeks -- and it's safe to say the Raiders are working like hell to get him healthy ASAP.

Bam Margera going to rehab has a celeb boxing promoter in a tough spot -- he's looking to get back the dough he just fronted Bam to ref a high profile match.

Damon Feldman, the promoter putting on a bout featuring the infamous Bagel Boss, tells TMZ ... Bam got half of his fee up front -- a cool $2,500 -- after signing a deal last week agreeing to be a ref. The deal called for Bam to get another $2,500 after the event. Damon says he hopes Bam gets better soon, and he won't hold the "Jackass" star to his contract.

The only catch ... Feldman says he wants his money back.

As we reported ... the "Viva La Bam" star is spending the next 60-90 days in treatment, meaning he's unavailable for the September 7 event in Atlantic City. Damon says he's contacted Bam's team to get the money back, but so far, radio silence.

TMZ broke the story ... Damon and Bam agreed to the deal just before Margera went off the rails last weekend -- berating a Southwest Airlines employee and getting booted from the flight.

New video obtained by TMZ Sports shows all of the drama that led up to an intense conversation between Marshawn Lynch and football camp moms ... and everything started with a hitting drill.

At Lynch's Fam 1st Family camp in the Seattle area on July 28 ... Lynch had the kids -- some as young as 9 years old -- line up to hit each other without pads.

The exercise got pretty violent, with several kids hitting each other hard ... and throwing each other to the ground.

It appears at some point during the drill, some of the kids had objections toward the workout ... because you can see in the vid, Lynch rounds up about a dozen of them and sent them to run laps.

As we previously reported, according to one of the camp moms, Stephanie Siva, Lynch used curse words while sending the kids to run ... which caused some of them to cry.

In our new video, you can see Siva confronting Lynch about it all on the field ... throwing her son's camp shirt directly at the feet of the former NFL superstar.

Lynch tries to speak with her ... and later, you can see the 32-year-old bolting from the field and sprinting up into the bleachers to try to calm things down with Siva and other outraged parents.

The parents and their kids eventually left the camp ... and in new video we obtained, you can see Lynch grab the mic to address everyone in the crowd over the incident.

"I wanted to say I apologize to the young lady that took off," Lynch said. "She's probably ran off already. But, that is no excuse for what I got going on on this field."

"When they on this field, they belong to me. But, as soon as I'm done, you can have them back. And you can do what you going to do."

Lynch went on to conclude his camp with a sprinting competition ... and it appears the event ended without further incident.

We've reached out to Lynch's camp, but so far, no official comment on the situation.

By the way, we've included the entire, uncut 20-minute video essentially showing the whole camp -- from the drill to the conflict to the apology ... so you can see it all start to finish without edits.

The person who shot the footage (and providing commentary) was a parent who was attending the event and NOT a TMZ staffer.

LeBron James is taking shots at the NCAA's new agent certification criteria ... claiming the organization is directly attacking his partner, Rich Paul, but "nothing will stop this movement."

The NCAA sent out a memo to NBPA certified agents on Monday ... saying any players looking to test the NBA Draft waters must be repped by an NCAA approved agent -- if they want to keep the door open to return to college.

The criteria to become an approved agent ... a bachelor's degree, certification from the players' association for at least 3 years, and pass an in-person exam at NCAA headquarters.

These guidelines will preclude Paul -- who reps Bron, Anthony Davis, Ben Simmons and other huge names -- from repping this group of college players ... 'cause he doesn't have a bachelors degree.

In a memo sent by the NCAA to agents, obtained by the Athletic, the NCAA's reasoning behind the rules is to "protect collegiate eligibility of their athlete clients."

LeBron -- who dubbed the new criteria the "Rich Paul Rule" -- doesn't see it that way ... tweeting "Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop! They BIG MAD and Scared. Nothing will stop this movement and culture over here. Sorry! Not sorry.."

As for Paul's roster of superstar clients ... the new rule will have no effect on their representation.

White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease had no time to celebrate his win against the Tigers on Tuesday .... 'cause he had to make a mad dash for Starbucks IN FULL UNIFORM!!

The Sox are playing a doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers ... and the team sent their winning starting pitcher to get them some drinks to recharge at a nearby Starbs in Motor City.

Catcher James McCann caught the whole thing on video ... saying Cease had to make 17 orders to complete the run.

It's become a thing for MLB teams to show up to the coffee joint in full uniform lately ... Chicago Cubs star Javy Baez pulled up before a game back in June.

23-year-old Cease made his debut for Chicago last month ... so we take it the rook is still getting through his initiation phase with the squad.