TMZ Sports - Page 50

LaVar Ball says he's definitely open to the idea of teaming with Puma for a Big Baller Brand shoe collab ... saying "the possibilities are unlimited" now that his boys signed with Roc Nation.

"If everything goes right, this thing can be explosive," Ball tells TMZ Sports about joining forces with Jay-Z.

As we previously reported, all 3 of LaVar's sons -- LaMelo, LiAngelo and Lonzo -- are signing with Roc Nation to handle "marketing opportunities" off the court ... which includes shoe deals.

And, with Jay-Z being the creative director for Puma Basketball -- there have been questions about if the boys will jump ship from Big Baller Brand and sign with Hov's company instead.

But, LaVar says it doesn't have to be one or the other -- when asked if there was a possibility of BBB and Puma collaborating on a shoe, he seemed very into the idea.

"That could be," LaVar said ... "See, that's a good thing about dealing with Roc Nation. The possibilities are unlimited."

"They said something I liked which is 'Lavar, we wanna change the game. We wanna do something special.' Now, that terminology right there means I'm supposed to be with you guys. Because my boys are special and like I said, I wanna change so it's all good."

LaVar also told us the decision to join Roc Nation was a FAMILY decision made after thoroughly vetting several agencies.

"I think you have to go through different agencies to see the one that you need that's going to have the same mindset as you. I feel that Roc Nation is trying to move in a direction that we moving in."

As for Jay-Z -- who famously supported LaVar's initial foray into the shoe business back in the day -- Ball says he's "cool" with Hov, but the decision to sign wasn't just about one man.

"All those folks is good man ... Roc Nation wants to do exactly what me and my boys want to do."

There's more ... LaVar is still having fun promoting the Big Baller Brand -- and he's even hosting an online pop-up shop where fans can Zoom with him as they cop BBB march.

"I got a great team around me where my newest guys always thinking of new ideas and things to do to make the brand grow."

Vanessa Bryant is paying tribute to her daughter, Gianna -- who would have turned 14 years old today ... saying, "You are part of MY SOUL forever."

"Happy 14th Birthday to my sweet baby girl, Gianna," Vanessa posted on social media.

"Mommy loves you more than I can ever show you. You are part of MY SOUL forever. I miss you so much everyday."

"I wish I could wake up and have you here with me. I miss your smile, your hugs and your giggles. I miss EVERYTHING about YOU, Gigi."

"I LOVE YOU so much!!!!!!!"

Gianna passed away on January 26 in a helicopter crash in Calabasas -- along with her father, Kobe Bryant, and 7 others.

In the days after the crash, Vanessa said, "My brain refuses to accept that both Kobe and Gigi are gone."

Gigi was an unbelievable basketball player with dreams of playing in the WNBA along with her Mamba Academy teammates, Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester.

In fact, all 3 of the girls were announced as the first three honorary picks of the 2020 WNBA Draft.

Vanessa said of the Draft ... "It would have been a dream come true for [Gianna]. She worked tirelessly every single day. She wanted to be one of the greatest athletes of all-time, just like her daddy. So thank you, thank you for honoring my little girl."

Saquon Barkley is stepping up in a huge way for a police officer badly injured in a car accident ... offering Giants tickets and sending a special personal message of support.

Port Authority police officer Peter Siano was hospitalized in critical condition Tuesday after he was hit by a car while securing a crash scene.

Siano -- along with 3 Jersey City PD officers -- were handling traffic control around the crash when a driver sped through warnings and smashed into a JCPD cruiser, which hit Siano.

Officials say Siano suffered "serious" injuries -- and the driver responsible for the collision has been arrested and charged with assault by auto.

When the NY Giants found out about the situation, a bunch of players decided to make get-well videos for Siano ... including Barkley, Sterling Shepard and Grant Haley.

And, get this ... Barkley is even offering Siano a VIP experience with the team once he recovers.

"Thinking about you guys and once everything gets better, I would like to invite you guys to a Giants game," Barkley said.

"And to the police department, appreciate everything you guys are doing for us during this time."

Outta the way, glowing dolphins -- surfers are getting in on the action to SoCal's rad, glowing blue waves!!!

Here's some awesome late night video of a wake surfer and his buds enjoying Mother Nature at its finest. The crew headed out Wednesday night, about a mile off shore from Redondo Beach and photographer Bo Bridges captured the neon action.

Bo says it's the best bioluminescence he's seen in about 15 years, and as soon as they headed out you could see why. The water was glowing all around them. The super cool visuals are caused by an annual algae bloom.

There is a bit of a fear factor, though. The surfer went down at one point, which means floating in the pitch dark ocean ... all alone. Well, except for the creatures swimming around that you can now suddenly see glowing.

Think neon "Jaws" -- and that might explain the surfer's reaction at the end of this video.

Tons of surfers -- human and otherwise -- have been riding the bioluminescent waves. Last week, a photog captured a pod of dolphins soaking up the glow.

BTW, Bo chalks up this year's vivid bioluminescence to good timing -- a warm swell of warm coinciding with the algae bloom. He says in the daylight the water actually looks brown and muddy.

This. Is. INSANE!!!

As if we needed more proof Myles Garrett's athleticism is not from this planet ... here's the Cleveland Browns superstar box jumping 60 INCHES -- from a standstill position!!!

The vert is CRAZY high -- most normies have trouble getting over just 24 inches -- and you can see in the footage, it didn't even take all that much effort for Myles to complete.

"It's nothing but vert, baby!" Garrett said afterward.

Of course, we should've seen this coming ... Garrett's been a monster in the weight room for YEARS -- remember when he deadlifted over 400 pounds for reps just a few weeks ago?!?!

As for his vert ... that's always been impressive -- he jumped 41 inches at the NFL Combine in 2017 -- but, clearly, his hops have improved further.

Great news for Von Miller ... the Denver Broncos superstar is now COVID-19 negative -- this after he battled the virus for over two weeks.

Von tested positive back on April 16 ... saying his symptoms started a few days earlier with trouble breathing and a bad cough.

"My girlfriend she told me when I was asleep she said my cough it didn’t sound normal," Miller said at the time.

Von spent the next couple weeks fighting through the illness ... and you can see in video of him celebrating the Broncos' first-round draft pick on April 21, his cough was pretty gnarly.

But, Miller tweeted Thursday that a new test revealed he had beaten the virus ... saying, "Got my results back. Im 'negative' for Covid-19."

So far, Miller, Saints coach Sean Payton and L.A. Rams center Brian Allen are the only known NFLers to have contracted the virus.

Will Ferrell dropped in on a Seattle Seahawks Zoom meeting this week ... making fun of new tight end Greg Olsen and showing off his "yoga bod" -- and it was all absolutely hilarious!!

Ferrell and 'Hawks coach Pete Carroll have a friendship that dates back more than a decade (it's a USC connection) ... and to liven up a mundane football talk Thursday -- PC had the comedian call in.

The results?? They were laugh out loud funny ... with Ferrell pretending to be Olsen and firing off jokes left and right.

"Coach [Brian] Schneider, I just want to let you know -- I want to be real clear -- I do not do special teams," Ferrell said. "Not ever. Not if all 52 guys are hurt."

Ferrell also joked about a bromance with Russell Wilson -- "let's make a baby" -- and even took shots at Olsen's aspiring broadcast career.

But, the best part ... Ferrell poked fun at his bod -- and when the comedy legend pulled up his shirt, everyone on the call busted out in laughter.

"Does this look like the body of a 36-year-old!?" Ferrell said, still pretending to be Olsen. "I don't think so! I don't think so!"

The call eventually ended with the real Olsen joining ... and even he couldn't help but laugh at all the jokes, saying, "That was awesome!"

Forget sweatpants, Georgina Rodriguez is all about NO PANTS -- showing off her butt during quarantine ... and yeah, she's hot!

Yep, that's Cristiano Ronaldo's girlfriend -- who has a daughter with the soccer star -- doing some outdoor ironing while stuck at home in Portugal during the COVID-19 pandemic.

She also happens to be a fitness-aholic (duh, she's with CR7) so, it's no surprise she's got a killer body.

"Paños al aire," she wrote ... which means, "Pants in the air."

Rodriguez and Ronaldo have been together for years -- she gave birth to their daughter, Alana, back in 2017.

Ronaldo has 3 other kids -- 10-year-old Cristiano Jr. along with 3-year-old twins Eva and Matteo.

The ultra-fit family has been working out at their Portugal home like maniacs since the pandemic began ... constantly posting pics from their top-of-the-line home gym.

There are reports Ronaldo could head back to Italy soon to rejoin his Juventus soccer team as early as May 4 ... but with everything still so uncertain, we won't believe it until we see it.

UFC star Tyron Woodley says he's sick of talking -- if Israel Adesanya wants the smoke, "stop being a bitch" and let's scrap.

Tyron and Israel have been going back and forth on social media lately -- but Woodley wants to set the record straight ... he's down to fight, period.

It's actually more respectful than it sounds ... Woodley thinks Israel -- the reigning middleweight champ -- is a dope fighter. He's said so multiple times.

But, Tyron recently said he wants to jump up a weight class from welterweight to middleweight ... which could set up a showdown with Izzy.

Tyron thinks Adesanya took his comments as a threat -- which escalated the trash talk.

Now, Woodley says he senses "a little bitch in the blood" and is basically calling out Izzy.

"If you ever wanna do it, get in touch with me. I'm not hard to find."

There's more ... Tyron also tells us about his immediate fight plans and why he's itching to get back in the Octagon as soon as possible.

Plus, hear why he's saluting Halle Berry!

Michael Irvin rocked it. So did Dez Bryant ... but the Dallas Cowboys officially have a new #88 -- 1st round pick CeeDee Lamb!!

It's a HUGE deal to rock that number in Big D -- especially following in the footsteps of legends like Mike, Dez and Drew Pearson -- but Jerry Jones made it clear he wanted to see the rookie in #88.

And, what Jerry wants, Jerry usually gets.

Remember, Lamb rocked #2 at Oklahoma -- but the NFL won't allow WRs to wear single-digit numbers in the league.

Lamb initially said he wanted #10 in Dallas ... but Jones made a compelling argument to switch to #88 ... telling reporters he hoped CeeDee would take the number to pay tribute to his friend and former Arkansas teammate, Jerry Lamb, who passed away this year.

"He was number 88," Jones said ... "I said in honor of my great friend that just passed this year we’re going to have his namesake come on here and wear old number 88."

"Just like Michael and Dez and those guys, and we’ve got us a wide receiver. And let me tell you one thing if he’s got the competes and heart of that Jerry Lamb he’ll be bad to the bone."

The jersey assignment hasn't been officially announced by the team yet ... but the NFL is already selling the Lamb 88s in the league store -- so you know it's only a matter of time.

As for CeeDee's say in the jersey process ... it's unclear how much influence he had on the pick -- but we do know one thing, this probably officially closes the door on Dez's dreams of coming back to the Cowboys.

Sad times ... but here's to new beginnings!