TMZ Sports - Page 50

New mom Serena Williams just penned a powerful letter to her own mother -- thanking Oracene Price for showing her how to be a strong, black woman in a world filled with ignorance and hate.

"I'm not sure how you did not go off on every single reporter, person, announcer and quite frankly, hater, who was too ignorant to understand the power of a black woman," Williams wrote.

"Thank you for being the role model I needed to endure all the hardships that I now regard as a challenges -- ones that I enjoy."

In the letter, Serena addresses all the harsh criticism she heard on her way to the top -- including being labeled a man and a steroid user -- and says she never could've overcome it without her mom's guidance.

"I've been called man because I appeared outwardly strong. It has been said I don't belong in women's sports -- that I belong in men's -- because I look stronger than many other women do."

"It has been said that that I use drugs (No, I have always had far too much integrity to behave dishonestly in order to gain an advantage)."

"I am proud we were able to show them what some women look like. We don't all look the same."

Serena says she's gonna pass on those life lessons to her newborn daughter, Alexis Olympia ... and asks for her mom's continued help along the way.

Kevin Durant says it was "childish" and "idiotic" to slam his former OKC Thunder coach and teammates on Twitter this week ... but insists he was NOT trying to do it from a secret 2nd account.

KD just addressed the situation at TechCrunch Disrupt -- where he was asked straight-up if he intended to post the anti-OKC tweets from an anonymous account so nobody would know it was him.

Durant denied the allegation ... only admitting to another Instagram account -- "but that's just for my friends and family so I wouldn't say I was using that to clap back at anybody."

KD says he enjoys engaging with basketball fans on Twitter but, "I happened to take it a little too far" when he told 1 fan that he left OKC because he "didn't like the organization or playing for Billy Donovan."

"I don't regret clapping back at anybody or talking to my fans on Twitter," Durant said at TechCrunch ... "I do regret using my former coach's name and the former organization that I played for."

"That was childish. That was idiotic. All those type of words ... I regret doing that and I apologize to him for doing that."

KD says he felt bad about it ... but will continue to use Twitter.

With his driving privileges officially suspended, Wayne Rooney did what any mega-rich star would do to get to soccer practice ... he hired a driver.

Check out a stone-faced Rooney riding shotgun on his way to Everton F.C.'s training facility on Tuesday -- ridin' shotgun in a black Range Rover.

24 hours before this photo, Rooney plead guilty to the British version of DUI and the judge pulled his driver's license for 2 years.

FYI, Wayne was arrested on Sept. 1 after officials say he was driving a VW Beetle while HAMMERED. He also had a female passenger in the car at the time.

Cris Cyborg says she's OVER her feud with Ronda Rousey -- because Ronda is no longer on her level and belongs in the WWE instead of the octagon.

Cyborg called out Rousey for years -- once telling TMZ Sports she wanted to kill the first UFC women's champ to end their soap opera ... but Cris says Ronda ain't worthy of the scrap anymore after a pair of brutal losses.

"When I wanted to fight her it was because she was at the top of her game and she had all of the confidence in the world," Cyborg said in a statement.

"She had not been KO'd twice in a row and some people were actually saying she could beat Floyd Mayweather in a fight."

"Both of us are now at different chapters in our careers and for me that chapter is finished."

Cris says she'd only take on Rousey in the WWE ring ... cause that's the only place they'd be on even ground.

Cyborg's message is in response to Ronda's trainer Edmond Tarverdyan ... who called for the super-fight in an interview with Ariel Helwani on Monday, saying Cris was "too slow" to beat Rousey.

Cyborg responded by saying Edmond's "nothing but a joke of a coach."

As for Ronda ... she's rumored to be transitioning to WWE after cutting a backstage promo earlier this month.

The NFL tells TMZ Sports the league is looking into claims of domestic violence against line judge Carl Johnson.

We broke the story ... a woman claiming to be Johnson's former live-in girlfriend filed court documents and went to police claiming Johnson physically abused her in 2016 and 2017.

The woman tells TMZ Sports she also went to the NFL back in March 2017 asking for counseling.

An NFL spokesperson tells us, "The matter is under review under the league's personal conduct policy."

The PCP not only applies to players -- but ALL league personnel including coaches, owners and officials.

Johnson has denied the allegations in court -- but had no comment on the matter when contacted by TMZ Sports.

Robert Griffin III is flat-out denying Santana Moss' story claiming he bragged about getting Mike Shanahan fired from the Redskins ... saying "to openly lie about me is a betrayal."

ICYMI -- Moss opened up about his time with RG3 and the Redskins on Monday ... saying the Heisman-winning QB gloated about Shanahan presumably getting canned over his lack of playing time.

But RG3 says the story is complete B.S. ... and just responded to Moss on Twitter "No subtweeting needed. Santana Moss, I treat you like a brother & have always had your back. To openly lie about me is a betrayal....."

"Some so desperately want me to fit this negative narrative that has been pushed about me. But I don't fit it. Never have. Never will."

"Proved it in Cleveland. Voted Captain. Came back to play for my teammates just to help us win 1 game. With a broken shoulder. Stop the lies."

There's a lot more in Moss' interview with 'Dukes vs. The World' on 106.7 The Fan ... he hints that RG3's current unemployment is karma for the way he acted in Washington.

LeBron James just smashed all rumors about the Cavs not liking Khloe Kardashian -- because he gave her a big ol' bear hug after a night out with her in L.A. and TMZ Sports has the video.

LeBron hit up Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios on Friday with teammate Tristan Thompson and his girlfriend, Khloe K.

Witnesses at the park say Kourtney Kardashian and Russell Westbrook were also there -- but you don't see them in the video.

After the big night out, the group said their goodbyes at the valet stand -- with LeBron and Tristan sharing one of their famous dancing handshakes before going their separate ways.

Lonzo Ball is gonna give it all to you in this video ... get ready.

You know dude's got hops ... so maybe the INSANE dunk is ho-hum everyday action for you (crazy). But check out the dance he busts after freakin' the dunk at the Lakers practice facility and ask yourself ...

Should Odell Beckham Jr. be looking over his shoulder? Is there a new king of the dance ready to take over professional sports and captivate us with his pre-game and in-game gyrations?

Neymar and Lewis Hamilton went out in London together on Monday -- in what turned out to be a VERY expensive battle for fashion supremacy.

See Neymar's red jacket? Yeah ... that's a Louis Vuitton x Supreme bomber varsity piece that's being sold on one fashion site for $23,000!

Hamilton was sporting a bunch of designer stuff that hasn't even been released to the public yet --including a Balenciaga sweatshirt and special gold Off White high top sneakers.

The two hit up Zuma restaurant together before rollin' over to the famous Cirque Le Soir nightclub.

Wonder who paid ... considering Neymar just signed a massive deal with Paris Saint-Germain that's expected to pay him more than $265 MILLION!

Hamilton reportedly made $46 MILLION just last year.

UFC superstar Luke Rockhold kicked so much ass this weekend, his foot exploded.

Well, it certainly blew the hell up.

Take a look at video of Luke's insanely swollen and bruised right foot -- which he earned during Saturday night's dominant TKO victory over David Branch at 'UFC Fight Night' in Pittsburgh.

Maybe put some ice on it?

The good news ... Rockhold seems pretty comfortable recovering while chillin' at a rooftop pool in the Steel City.

Could be worse ... could be David Branch's face.

Draymond Green's reaction when asked about Kevin Durant's alleged secret Twitter account might be the funniest thing you watch all day.

The Golden State Warriors star was leaving Catch in West Hollywood with DeAndre Jordan when we asked about one of the biggest stories in the NBA ... KD allegedly setting up an anonymous 2nd Twitter account to deal with trolls.

Earlier this week, KD seemingly exposed himself when trashing the OKC Thunder in a tweet that appeared to be meant for posting on his 2nd account. Instead he posted it using his official account. Oops.

So, we had to ask the guys about it ... and the reaction is priceless.

Rick Caruso says O.J. Simpson is free to roam the grounds of The Grove once he gets out of prison later this year ... just so long as he's nicer, and more respectful than Donald Trump.

We got the billionaire developer, who owns The Grove, Monday at his famous shopping center and asked if O.J. was welcome. Surprise! Holiday shopping just got more interesting in L.A.!

Rick explained he only has issues with folks who are, essentially, meanies ... like he once thought Trump was when he initially banned him. Ditto for Manny Pacquiao.

As we told you, O.J.'s Florida-bound, so the point could be moot -- but Caruso, at least, is open to give him a second third chance.

NFL line judge Carl Johnson -- the former head of officiating for the league -- is under investigation for an alleged pattern of domestic violence in Louisiana, though he's adamant the accusations are BS, TMZ Sports has learned.

Johnson's accuser is a 49-year-old woman who told police she and Johnson had been living together in 2016 when the NFL official became aggressive. She claims Johnson first got violent in December and during the incident, Johnson hit her so hard, he busted one of her breast implants.

The woman claims she went to the NFL in March hoping the league could help her out. Unclear what happened next but a few months later, she went to police.

Court officials in Louisiana confirmed the accuser requested a temporary restraining order against Johnson and it was granted. But a request to make the restraining order permanent was rejected at a later hearing.

But it's not case closed ... a rep for the Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office confirmed to TMZ Sports that the case involving Johnson and his accuser is still under investigation.

Sources connected to the case tell us Johnson has denied all allegations of domestic violence and vows to continue to fight the case.

We spoke with the accuser who claims she has photos and audio recordings to back up her allegations.

Of course, in the wake of the Ezekiel Elliott situation -- the league believes it has the right to impose punishment on NFL players and other staff for domestic violence without a conviction in a court of law. Elliott feels differently.

We reached to the NFL to see if it was investigating Johnson -- so far, no word back. But we do know Johnson has been working NFL games. He was the line judge during Monday Night Football in Week 1.

TMZ Sports reached out to Johnson who told us, "No comment."

Pras from The Fugees says he's incredibly grateful to Tom Brady -- because the QB has helped him win roughly $250,000 in NFL bets!

Yeah, he's dead serious.

Pras is a huge New England Patriots fan -- and tells TMZ Sports he's used some of his hip hop fortune to fund some massive sports betting over the years ... including a $100k bet on Super Bowl LI.

"In the Super Bowl this year, at the end of the 3rd quarter, my friend called me and bet me $100,000 'cause he thought it was over ... and I took him on, and I won $100,000."

The only catch -- Pras says his boy still owes him $30K ... and he's callin' him out to pay up!

A high end 4-star resort in Florida has hired an armed security team to protect the building from looters in the wake of Hurricane Irma ... and one of the officers is ex-boxing champ Michael Moorer.

Moorer was an absolute animal in the ring -- winning light heavyweight and heavyweight titles during his career with notable wins over guys like Evander Holyfield and Francois Botha.

Now, 49-year-old Moorer works for the famous Pinkerton Armed Response Security team -- which has been hired by the Hawks Cay Resort in Duck Key.

One source close to Moorer tells us Michael has been a private investigator for years and is also a licensed armed private security officer.

So how's he doing in Florida? We're told his team's undefeated.

Hollywood superstar Taylor Lautner didn't watch the Emmys. He didn't care.

Football comes first.

At least, that's what the "Twilight" star told us at LAX on Monday -- and we think he's being pretty serious.

Kind of a big statement for Lautner ... a movie and TV star (he was one of the main characters on "Scream Queens") who told us he chose to watch NFL games instead of the award show that honors his peers on the small screen.