TMZ Sports - Page 50

Close your eyes, Clippers fans ... here's the first footage of James Harden & Chris Paul hooping together since CP3 joined the Rockets, and the guys look pretty freakin' good together.

The game went down in L.A., and Paul and Harden weren't the only NBA guys playing -- they were joined by Rockets teammate Trevor Ariza and NBA champion JaVale McGee.

It's a pretty sick video uploaded by YouBall Training honchos Thomas Scott and Anthony Davis (not that one).

Ready to call 'em a superteam yet?

Andre Drummond is keeping it pretty real when it comes to his future -- telling TMZ Sports when it comes to blockbuster trade rumors, "Anything is possible in this league."

The rumors are heating up that the Detroit Pistons star could be shipped out before the season starts -- and even engaged with a Twitter fan this week who suggested Drummond could be part of a mega trade to Cleveland for Kyrie Irving.

But when we asked about it, he didn't exactly rule it out -- "I play for Detroit now, so we'll keep it at that."

That said, Drummond still has big hopes for the Motor City -- telling us the Pistons picked up a lot of great talents in the off-season including Avery Bradley.

"We got a lot of great pieces to be a great team."

Golf superstar Jordan Spieth brought his 2017 British Open trophy to Dallas Tuesday night -- where he filled it with booze and chugged it onstage at the Randy Rogers concert!!!

Randy and fellow country star Wade Bowen were performing their Hold My Beer & Watch This show at the House of Blues in Dallas when Spieth made a cameo with the Claret Jug.

Everyone took turns swiggin' out of the trophy -- and the crowd went wild!

No word on what was inside ... but it's a safe bet it wasn't water.

Spieth won the British Open last weekend and he's been using his trophy as a cup nonstop.

Hey, it's your trophy ... do whatcha want.

Les Moonves has as much interest in landing the first O.J. Simpson interview as he does in having his tongue nailed to a table -- ZERO.

The CBS honcho was leaving Craig's Tuesday night when we asked if he's gunning for that first sit-down after Simpson's released from prison. He'll be out on parole as early as October 1, and it's anticipated he could get as much as $1 million for the interview.

One of Floyd Mayweather's TMT members tells TMZ Sports ... he's courting Nate Diaz to walk out with Floyd for the McGregor fight -- and says there's a REAL chance it will happen.

The man with the plan is "Love & Hip Hop" star, Jason Lee -- who's so close with Floyd, he was part of the boxer's entourage during the McGregor news conference in London.

Lee also happens to be from Stockton, CA -- home of Nate Diaz -- and says he's making a serious run to get Nate to be a special TMT VIP for the fight ... to essentially troll Conor.

Venus Williams accelerated from 0 to almost 20 MPH in about 4 seconds as she pulled through the intersection where she had a fatal accident ... according to the attorney for the victims' family.

Michael Steinger, who reps the estate of Jerome Barson -- the man who died -- tells TMZ Sports his team obtained the black box data Tuesday from Venus' SUV. He says it shows she was traveling at 19.9 MPH when Jerome and his wife T-boned her.

He also says the numbers show Venus got up to that speed in 4.2 seconds. His take on the data -- Venus probably "looked up, saw the red light and gunned it."

Remember, the surveillance video shows Venus start into the intersection, but stop to allow another vehicle to turn left in front of her. Up to now, we only knew Venus told cops she was doing about 5 MPH as she started into the intersection. The police report also put the Barson's Hyundai at 25 MPH.

If, as Steinger says, Venus was doing 20 MPH after the light had changed, the obvious question becomes -- was she reckless in her attempt to clear the intersection?

Aaron Judge is killin' it, but don't go retiring his number just yet ... so says Yankees legend Reggie Jackson, who told us the rookie phenom still has a lot more to prove.

Mr. October was RAVING about Judge when we ran into him at LAX -- saying he's showing serious signs that he could be one of the best to ever do it -- but notes, "One half season doesn't make a great player."

It's been a helluva 1/2 season -- already racking up 32 HRs (tied for the MLB lead).

But Reggie warns it doesn't get easier -- Judge is gonna have to make some key adjustments if he wants to be one of the greats.

BONUS -- Reggie also talks sex at the end of the clip ... by accident.

One less problem for the Dallas Cowboys ...

Rookie cornerback Jourdan Lewis was just found not guilty of attacking his then-girlfriend after a 2-day domestic violence trial.

The 3rd round draft pick had been charged with domestic violence after allegedly roughing up his then-girlfriend at their apartment in Ann Arbor on March 15.

Lewis' girlfriend told cops that the U of M cornerback threw pillows at her during a fight about the electricity bill and then locked himself in a closet for a while.

She said he then dragged her across the living room floor and grabbed her by the throat.

Lewis told cops she had been hitting him in the face, so he picked her up by the shoulders to try to get out of the room.

The case went to trial and a jury found him not guilty. After court, Lewis told the media, "I'm elated."

Lewis' attorney John Shea says, "It’s always gratifying to represent someone that you believe in and have the jury tell me I’m right."

"We’re just happy it came out the way it did. He’s letting it sink in. He’s been under this cloud for awhile and he’ll need some time to put it behind him but this is a good first start."

Michael Phelps isn't taking a shred of blame for viewers' disappointment over him not racing an actual great white shark, and says he stands by the "incredible" made-for-TV event.

The 23-time Olympic gold medal winner opened himself up to his critics on Facebook and addressed the backlash from his Discovery Channel special. You'll recall, no doubt, Phelps lost to the shark ... but it was a CGI shark.

Phelps claims everyone involved in the man vs. beast production made it very clear what the "race" would entail, but people chose not to listen and now they're hatin' ... which he calls "shocking."

Speaking of shocking -- Michael didn't race a real shark, but REALLY did swim in 53 degree water!

Hot chicks in bikinis, anyone?

SI's model search hit the runway to cap off Miami Swim Week ... and it was good.

Rob Gronkowski's on-again, off-again GF, Camille Kostek, was one of 15 finalists rocking the new beachwear line ... which is for ladies of "all shapes and sizes."

There's a lot of All-Pro talent in the field -- but just 1 is getting picked to be in next year's swimsuit issue.

Bonus video: Some of the ladies got loose in a behind-the-scenes dance-off ... and it was kinda goofy. But still really hot.

Jason Garrett says the Cowboys are standing by their decision to cut Lucky Whitehead ... despite cops in Virginia admitting they incorrectly arrested the wrong guy for shoplifting in June.

Garrett addressed the Whitehead drama at training camp on Tuesday ... saying the team has no intention of bringing the kick return specialist back.

"In evaluating the particular situation, and the context of that situation, we felt like we made a decision in regards to Lucky that was right for our team. And we stand by that decision."

Garrett initially pulled a Marshawn Lynch and repeated the same answer to every Lucky-related question, saying "We made a decision that we thought was in the best interest of the Dallas Cowboys. We stand by it and we're moving on."

Lucky Whitehead says he isn't ruling out a lawsuit after he was wrongly identified by police in a shoplifting arrest ... but it's unclear if his target will be the cops or the Cowboys.

The NFL receiver spoke with KDFW4 in Dallas about last crazy 24 hours in his life -- in which he was cut by the Cowboys after cops incorrectly said he was arrested for shoplifting on June 22.

Officials later determined the arrestee was NOT Whitehead, but rather an imposter -- but Dallas had already sent Lucky to the chopping block.

Whitehead is now venting about the situation, saying he was "blindsided," and was clearly upset because "nobody had my back."

When asked if he was considering legal action, Whitehead replied, "Somebody need to" -- and then said he would be talking with his agent about how to proceed.

The man who claims he was punched in the face by Draymond Green last summer says he got violent threats after the incident and still wakes up crying ... and now he's suing the NBA star.

The man behind the suit is ex-Michigan State football player Jermaine Edmondson -- who says Draymond's posse attacked him and his GF at an East Lansing bar on July 10, 2016.

Edmonson says he confronted Green the next night -- and Draymond punched him in the face. A cop who witnessed the attack arrested the Warriors star for assault.

But Edmondson says his life has been hell since the incident -- and things got so bad at MSU (where Draymond went to school) that he quit the team and left the university for a while.

Edmondson says he's still haunted by the attacks -- and feels his name has been turned into a joke thanks to Green.

"I think about what happened with Draymond every day. I still feel his hand on my jaw."

Now, he and his GF have lawyered up with Lisa Bloom -- who's repped stars like Blac Chyna and Kathy Griffin -- and have sued Green for assault and battery.

As for Green, he cut a sweet deal in the criminal case -- he agreed to stay out of trouble for a year and the charge was reduced from a misdemeanor to a civil infraction. The year ended on July 22 so he's basically in the clear with prosecutors.

11:22 AM PT -- Draymond's camp issued a statement saying, "This lawsuit relates to an incident that occurred in East Lansing, Michigan over a year ago, for which Draymond paid a noise violation fine."

2:25 PM PT -- Barson's attorney, Michael Steinger, tells TMZ he has documentation showing their 2016 Hyundai was in perfect working order. Also, he says data collected from the car's computer proves Jerome and Linda were both wearing their seat belts at the time of collision.

Venus Williams says at least one of the victims in the Florida crash that left one man dead was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident ... this according to new court docs obtained by TMZ.

The tennis star is firing back at the estate of Jerome Barson -- which is suing Williams for wrongful death, claiming she was responsible for the T-bone accident that killed the 78-year-old and seriously injured his wife.

In new court docs, Williams doesn't point out which person wasn't belted in -- but says the injuries could have been reduced had they both been buckled up.

As for the injuries, Williams also says in the docs Jerome's wife's injuries were NOT bad enough to recover damages in a lawsuit under FL law. It's puzzling since Linda Barson claims she suffered a cracked sternum, a shattered right arm and a broken wrist, hand and fingers.

Williams also alleges the Barsons failed to adequately maintain and repair the vehicle in a safe condition -- suggesting they could have avoided the crash with a properly functioning car.

There's more ... Williams points out that "third parties" -- presumably the other cars besides her and the Barsons -- contributed to the hectic scene at the intersection that led to the crash. Williams says those drivers should be held responsible as well.

Video of the crash shows Venus was trying to drive through an intersection when another car turned in front of her, causing her to stop before clearing the intersection. The Barsons T-boned Venus claiming they had the right of way and couldn't avoid her car, which was stopped in an area where it shouldn't have been.

The documents were first obtained by the DailyMail.

The police officers who thought they arrested Lucky Whitehead -- when in reality they arrested an imposter -- will not be suspended for the mistake ... officials tell TMZ Sports.

We spoke with Prince William PD's Sgt. Perok, who believes the officers acted reasonably on June 22 when they identified the man who allegedly shoplifted from a convenience store as "Rodney Darnell Whitehead, Jr."

Officers say the man did not have an official I.D. on him so they asked for his name, birthday and social security number -- ran that information through the DMV system and matched the suspect up with the photo of Lucky Whitehead on file.

Sgt. Perok says despite the mistaken identity, "The officers' actions were reasonable and they acted in good faith."

We're also told there will not be an internal investigation.

Lucky Whitehead was telling the TRUTH -- he was not the man arrested for shoplifting on June 22, this according to Prince William County officials who say the REAL perp was an imposter.

We spoke with Commonwealth's attorney, Paul Ebert, who says the case against ex-Dallas Cowboys WR Lucky Whitehead has been dropped after an internal investigation into the arrest.

Long story short ... Ebert says the man was only "verbally identified" by the arresting officer at the crime scene. The arrestee did not have I.D. on him.

The man told cops he was Lucky Whitehead and gave them Lucky's information, including birthday and social security number, Ebert says.

The officers ran the information through the DMV system and believed the man they had arrested matched the photo of "Lucky Whitehead" that was on file.

After Lucky publicly declared his innocence, claiming he wasn't even in the state of Virgnia at the time of the arrest, officers went back and reviewed surveillance video at the convenience store. Footage showed the suspect was NOT Lucky Whitehead.

Cops are now on the hunt for the man in the video.

Lucky's agent, Dave Rich, tells TMZ Sports, "Lucky is thrilled justice was served and his name was cleared. It's a shame that he came into town to do a camp for kids and he ended up getting cut by his professional football team."

The Prince William County Police Dept. has also issued a statement:

"Upon reviewing the June 22, 2017 arrest of an individual named 'Rodney Darnell Whitehead, Jr.', the police department is confident that the man charged with petit larceny, and who is subsequently being sought on an active warrant for failure to appear in court, is not Lucky Whitehead of the Dallas Cowboys."

"The man charged on the morning of June 22 was not in possession of identification at the time of the encounter; however, did verbally provide identifying information to officers, which included a name, date of birth, and social security number matching that of Rodney Darnell Whitehead, Jr."

"Officers then checked this information through the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) database. The DMV photo on file was then used to compare to the man who was in custody."

"Officers acted in good faith that, at the time, the man in custody was the same man matching the information provided. At this point, the police department is also confident in confirming that Mr. Whitehead’s identify was falsely provided to police during the investigation."

"The police department is currently seeking the identity of the man involved in the incident. Since the identifying information provided by the arrestee during the investigation was apparently false, the police department is working with the Prince William County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office to clear Mr. Whitehead from this investigation."

"The police department regrets the impact these events had on Mr. Whitehead and his family."