TMZ Sports - Page 50

Allen Iverson was rolling like a big shot on the roulette table this week ... 'cause by looks of it he was gambling with thousands worth of chips.

Clippers rookie and SEC hoops star Sindarius Thornwell had a seriously funny run-in with cops in South Carolina -- but he's probably not laughing about the fact it ended up on live TV!

It all went down Friday night on the A&E show "Live PD" ... when police pulled over Sindarius' gf for speeding. Apparently, she was chasing him at the time, and Sindarius -- rocking a Clippers t-shirt -- stopped too when she got pulled over.

The hysterical part came when the officer recognized Sindarius -- he was SEC player of the year for the Gamecocks, after all. The cop said, "I know you from somewhere. Where you work at?"

ST's response ... "I don't got a job."

Why so shy? Well, Sindarius juuust signed his rookie contract on Thursday, and probably didn't want to rock the boat. He even tried to hide his Clippers tee from the cop.

To be clear -- cops had no issue with Sindarius, just his gf ... who apparently was riding around with all HIS stuff in the car.

The Mini Team.

Floyd Mayweather's tiny doppelganger has signed his contract and will go toe-to-toe with "Irishman Mini McGregor" ... and it's all thanks to Larry Flynt.

The night before the real Floyd and Conor face off in Vegas, these two guys will step in the ring at the Hustler Club just down the way.

We're told it will be a 3 round fight for the very, very lightweight championship of the world.

You may remember Mini Mayweather from his epic bout with Mini Pacquiao ... a fight that had more action than the real MayPac throwdown.

Hopefully this fight will live up to the hype ... hate to see it fall short.

Shaun Weiss -- the guy who played "Mighty Ducks" goalie Goldberg -- is getting major penalty box time in real life for petty theft.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Shaun was at a Fry's Electronics earlier this month and stole $151 in merchandise. Two days after his arrest, he pled no contest to petty theft, and was sentenced to 150 days in L.A. County Jail.

We're told he got a stiff sentence because this was second petty theft bust.

His manager, Don Gibble, tells TMZ, "[Shaun] hopes jail will help him, and maybe while he is in jail he will write something."

Not a diary, but a script or jokes. Shaun's been known to do a little standup.

Listen up McGregor ... one of the greatest warriors in the history of boxing is gonna give you the key to doing what some think is impossible ... beating Floyd Mayweather.

We got 4-time heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield out at the "Pat Cairo Annual Golf Outing and Dinner to Battle Cancer" on Long Island and talked with him about the biggest subject in sports, McGregor vs. Mayweather.

Holyfield won some of the biggest upsets of all time, so the question is, how does Conor do it?

A powerful U.S. congressmen is calling out NFL owners on behalf of Colin Kaepernick -- he clearly feels the QB is being punished for speaking his conscience ... and "it's unfair."

TMZ Sports spoke with Cedric Richmond -- a democrat from Louisiana who's also the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. He's also a big football fan.

So, when we asked how he felt about Kaepernick still being unemployed -- the congressman didn't hold back.

"I think it's unfair. I think that he has a lot of talent. He was the starting QB in the Super Bowl and he's a great athlete. And the fact that he spoke up means he's a great person and he spoke his conscience."

"I don't think we should penalize people in this country for doing that."

He continued, "As I look around the NFL at some backup quarterbacks, it's clear that his talent is superior to a lot of people who are on teams already."

"I would hope that people would give him a chance and sign him and see what he has to offer."

Richmond concludes, "We should not penalize somebody for exercising their 1st amendment right."

He pimp, meet she pimp!

Memphis Grizzlies star Chandler Parsons and Arianny Celeste hit up Craig's in L.A. on Thursday -- essentially confirming rumors the CP and the smokin' hot UFC Octagon girl have been quietly dating.

Yeah, he's only in sweatpants -- but he also signed a $94 million contract so he can wear whatever he wants.

It's another solid score for both parties -- Chandler's been connected to everyone from Bella Thorne to Hailey Baldwin and model Toni Garrn.

Arianny dated Travis Barker back in 2015. She also dated UFC fighter Josh Burkman.

Game respect game.

BOOM!!!!

Shaq Diesel just responded to LaVar Ball a la Tupac -- with a brand new killer 3 minute diss track going right after the Big Baller.

O'Neal's flow is straight fire over a classic Jay-Z beat -- and he mocks LaVar's basketball career right off the bat.

"I been doing this a long time ... when you were averaging 2 points riding the pine."

There's more ... Shaq also responds to LaVar's claim that he could beat him in 1-on-1.

"You having a dream and when you wake up apologize. And bow down to my Staples Center statue hanging off the side (of the building)."

But there's a twist ... with Shaq giving LaVar props for his parenting skills at the end of the track -- plus, he praises LaMelo's jump shot.

Enjoy ... and let's pray LaVar responds.

With The Rock revealing that he considered a UFC career roughly 10 years ago, we wanted to know which WWE superstars have the chops to compete in a REAL mixed martial arts fight.

For the answer ... we went right to the Nature Boy Ric Flair -- who didn't even hesitate when he fired out one name, Kurt Angle.

He's probably right ... Angle famously won an Olympic gold medal for freestyle wrestling at the '96 Games after he took 1st place at the world wrestling championships in '95.

Accomplished wrestlers tend to do pretty damn well in the UFC ... Cormier, Lesnar, Jones and Velasquez to name a few.

Still, we were talking this out in the office and could all agree on one pro wrestler we woulda loved to see in the Octagon -- Andre the Giant.

Here's Warriors big man JaVale McGee Shaqtin' a fool on horseback -- 'cause life is good after you re-up with one of the greatest NBA teams of all time.

The Dubs officially completed their 2017-18 squad by bringing back JaVale on Thursday ... and the 7-footer celebrated by riding around on what looks to be a pony -- but that's only 'cause JaVale's HUGE.

McGee signed for the vet minimum (less than $3 mil) ... but dude's clearly pumped to be back in the saddle with the superteam.

More proof:

Craziness behind the scenes at the UFC 214 weigh-in Friday morning -- when Jon Jones' NFL brother, Arthur Jones, got into a heated exchange with several members of Daniel Cormier's camp.

We spoke with Arthur who says 6 members of Cormier's team were running their mouths at him during the weigh-in ... so he started jawing back.

Don't worry, it didn't get violent ... but you can tell everyone hates each other.

As we previously reported, Arthur and D.C. traded insults following UFC 210 a few months ago -- they don't like each other either.

Arthur says Jon's sick of talking -- he's ready to fight.

OKC center Steven Adams says he's ALL ABOUT playing with Carmelo Anthony -- but warns that talk of Melo being signed by the Thunder is still just a fantasy.

The 7-footer was flying out of LAX when we asked about the possible move.

"That's just like saying if Michael Jordan could play for us. That would be awesome too."

He added that the rumblings don't really matter right now -- "It's all just like fantasizing."

Speaking of which, Adams says he's a hardcore video gamer -- particularly when it comes to "Dota 2."

Kyrie Irving & LeBron James need to beat the hell out of each other immediately ... so says an ex-teammate of LBJ who tells TMZ Sports a healthy dose of fisticuffs can fix the beef.

We got Drew Gooden at LAX, who played with LeBron from '04 - '08 and asked him if there's any way these two NBA titans can put the bad blood behind them and get back to losing to Golden State.

According to Drew there is, and involves some fists, 'cause he told our guy the two men need to just kick the crap out of each other, get all the bad vibes out, and then start over.

There were reports LeBron wanted to do just that, which he refuted, but still, maybe Drew has a point?

Magic Johnson ain't mincing his words -- guaranteeing his L.A. Dodgers are going ALL THE WAY this year and winning the World Series.

Magic grabbed the mic at Clayton Kershaw's Ping Pong 4 Purpose charity event at Dodger Stadium -- and told everyone straight-up, "The Dodgers are going to win the World Series this year."

"This is our year."

He then turned to the injured Kershaw and said, "Get healthy, lead us."

No pressure, bro.

Could be a big year for Johnson -- since LaVar Ball has also guaranteed a deep playoff run for Magic's Lakers.

Allen Iverson tested his luck in Chicago this week ... hitting up a local casino while his BIG3 team was in town for a game.

The Answer posted up at the roulette table at the Rivers Casino on Thursday -- where witnesses say he was flanked by private security during his gambling run.

No word on how much he was betting. We're told he was drinking water.

A.I. has a penchant for the casinos -- he was spotted at the SugarHouse Casino in Philly earlier this month while the BIG3 was there.

There have been reports over the years that Iverson has a gambling problem -- but he's publicly denied that.

Luke Rockhold says his boy, Daniel Cormier, WILL DEFEAT Jon Jones at UFC 214 this weekend -- but it'll be a war.

"I just think they beat the living crap out of each other for 5 rounds," Rockhold tells TMZ Sports ... "and I think we can come out on top."

Yeah, he's a little biased -- the two are extremely close and have been for years.

"Me and D.C. have been together from the beginning," Rockhold says ... "Living in my manager's house. I'm living in the garage and he's living in the shanty house in front in Gilroy, CA."

"Rags to riches. It's been a long road."

We also spoke with D.C.'s boxing coach Rosendo Sanchez who tells us the beef with Jon Jones couldn't be more real.