TMZ Sports - Page 50

George Lopez is all about NFL players taking a knee to protest -- but he thinks the locking arms thing is stupid.

The comedian was leaving TAO in L.A. on Sunday when he was asked if it was out of line for players to take a knee after President Donald Trump condemned the action.

"Not at all," Lopez said ... "That's part of the Constitution. That's part of freedom of expression."

Lopez continued ... "Now, locking hands? That's different. That's more Rockettes. Taking a knee is [good]."

George also referenced Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan -- who locked arms with players before the Ravens game on Sunday -- and called the action "invalid" since he reportedly donated $1 mil to the Trump campaign.

Lonzo Ball's rap career just got real 'cause DJ Mustard, one of the greatest rap producers on planet Earth, just told TMZ Sports he's down to work with the Big Baller prince, for a big baller price.

If you don't know who Mustard is (you don't listen to music), he's made beats for peeps like YG, Rihanna, 2 Chainz, Travis Scott, Nicki Minaj, T.I., Big Sean, and Fergie.

He told us he'd be down to add Lonzo -- who just kicked off his rap career -- to that list when we got him out in Beverly Hills (shutting down Balenciaga), as long as the price is right.

Get your checkbook, LaVar.

The mother of NY Giants cornerback Eli Apple is locked in a bitter war with the husband she JUST divorced -- cops are involved ... and Eli's college championship rings are caught in the middle.

You know Eli's mom -- her big, outgoing personality earned her a gig on ESPN right around the time he was drafted in 2016.

TMZ Sports has learned ... Annie Apple and Tim Apple (the man who raised Eli) split and their divorce was finalized back in June. They were married for 16 years and Eli even took Tim's last name in 2012.

But things have gotten bad and the family is divided.

Eli's brother, Dane Blackson, tells us ... Annie arrived to the family home in NJ on Wednesday with a police officer in tow looking to take back a bunch of Eli's football memorabilia.

Some of the items she wanted include the 2014 Big Ten and National Championship rings Eli won at Ohio State.

But Dane says he refused to hand over the rings, claiming Eli gifted them to Tim as a thank-you for helping him get a scholarship to OSU in the first place.

Things got contentious ... but police tell TMZ Sports no one was arrested and Annie eventually left without incident.

So, what will happen with the rings? Both sides believe they have a valid claim to them. Sounds like Eli will have to personally get involved to help work things out.

We reached out to Eli and Annie for comment -- so far, no word back.

Donald Trump is no master of subtlety ... 'cause it DEFINITELY looks like he just gave New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft the finger on national television.

A reporter asked Trump Sunday what he made of his friend, Kraft, releasing a statement that was -- in no shortage of words -- clearly anti-Trump, at least in this case. Trump said he thinks Kraft's ideas are disrespectful to the country ... then wiped his brow with his middle finger.

Kraft released a statement Sunday saying he was "deeply disappointed" by the tone of Trump's comments earlier this week -- ya know, how owners should fire the "sons of bitches" who kneel in protest, and that fans should boycott the NFL if players keep doing it.

Trump also said he hadn't been tuning in to the actual games Sunday ... even though he was tweeting about NFL-National Anthem related matters all day.

Tom Brady seems to be on the fence about showing respect for his country but also being united with his teammates against Trump -- so he's doing both ... and the Prez is down.

Tom was seen locking arms with a teammate Sunday during the National Anthem before his game against the Texans ... but he also had his right hand over his heart.

The dynamic is interesting -- lots of NFL teams reacted during their Sunday games to Trump's comments about players kneeling and how owners and coaches should fire anyone doing it ... some knelt, some dodged, others linked up in solidarity. Tom chose the latter.

Here's the kicker ... Trump just commented on the arm locking, and he seems to prefer it as opposed to kneeling. The question -- did he do it just because Tom got involved?

The Patriots' fans, on the other hand, didn't take too kindly to the perceived protest of the National Anthem.

1:00 PM PT -- The Seattle Seahawks and Tennessee Titans have followed the Steelers' lead ... and have both announced they will not be on the sidelines for the National Anthem prior to their game.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin just announced his team won't be on the field for the National Anthem before their game against the Bears ... saying "we're not gonna be divided by anything said by anyone."

While he doesn't mention Donald Trump specifically, it's clear Tomlin is firing back at the president's call to fire the "sons of bitches" who kneel during the anthem.

The decision to stay in the locker rooms is "not to be disrespectful to the anthem, but to remove ourselves from this circumstance," Tomlin says.

Around 20 Baltimore Ravens and Jacksonville Jaguars players took a knee prior to their game in London earlier today ... with many other teams sharing plans to show signs of solidarity.

Around 20 NFL players kneeled in the most intense protest yet ... a protest clearly triggered by Donald Trump.

Players from both the Ravens and the Jaguars took a knee before their game in London as the National Anthem played. Ray Lewis cried as he took a knee.

What's especially interesting ... Jaguars owner Shad Khan, who donated $1 million to Trump's campaign, locked arms with 2 players.

Dakota Gonzalez definitely has a type as far as hot male bods go -- she's even got a top 3 when it comes to pro athletes in the game right now.

We got one half of the Gonzalez Twins -- the former star college basketball duo -- in Vegas Saturday for the first game of Master P's coed basketball league, and asked who she thought had the best bod in male sports.

Listen up Aaron Gordon, Paul George and Cristiano Ronaldo ... 'cause Dakota's calling you out by name. As for everyone else ... start working on getting cut and bulking up your arms -- that's kinda her thing.

Dakota also says P's league is off to an interesting start regarding the locker room situation. Sounds like it's sticking to the coed aspect in there too.

Stevie Wonder joined the solidarity movement which now targets Donald Trump ... by taking a knee at a NYC festival.

Stevie performed at the 2017 Global Citizen Festival in Central Park Saturday night. Stevie was onstage with his son Kwame Morris when he made his move ... unsteadily but purposefully.

Stevie doubled down and took 2 knees, clearly in response to Trump's tirade Friday night when he called for NFL owners to fire those "son's of bitches" who dare to take a knee during the National Anthem.

Trump has clearly fueled the fires of protest.

2:42 PM PT -- Wonder isn't the only musician taking a knee ... John Legend just posted a pic from his Darkness and Light tour ... showing support during a performance of his song "Glory."

Prince Harry joined Melania Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Saturday to celebrate the Invictus Games.

They joined forces in Toronto for the event -- featuring sporting events for men and women who served in the military and suffered debilitating injuries.

Harry, who created the event back in 2014, took the stage and addressed the crowd ...which cheered him wildly.

Jim Brown tells TMZ Sports he's got a big problem with the 8-year-old football team that took a knee during the national anthem this week ... saying, "I thought that was exploitation."

The NFL legend has previously spoken out against Colin Kaepernick's national anthem demonstration and feels the kids who emulated him in Illinois on Sept. 17 were manipulated by coaches and parents.

"I don't personally do anything against my country, against my flag, against my national anthem," Brown said during an outing in Beverly Hills.

"I work out the problems that we have and I try to contribute to the solution. I don't ever disrespect the flag."

For the record, the coach of the youth football team says the idea to kneel came from the players as a way to support protests in St. Louis over the not-guilty verdict in the case of a cop who shot and killed a black man.

There's more to the clip ... Brown also weighs in on the NFL's handling of the Ezekiel Elliott situation -- telling us he believes the league is "really trying to do the right thing."

He also says Zeke will be okay because Jerry Jones has his back.

Ex-Lakers player Jordan Hill is getting called out by one of the most famous booty models on the 'Gram -- with Ghetto Barbie claiming Hill tried to fly her out to smash, but she burned him good instead.

Here's the deal ... Ghetto Barbie and 'Love and Hip Hop' star Jhonni Blaze appeared on "Raq Rants" where they talked about some of their NBA crushes.

Blaze shouted out Hill as her crush -- and that's when Ghetto Barbie revealed that he once slid into her DMs and bought her a ticket to fly.

Why, you ask?

Barbie says she wanted to teach Hill a lesson -- don't think a free airplane ticket means you automatically get the booty.

Lesson learned.

It's the L.A. Rams vs. the L.A. Chargers in the ultimate football showdown ... the battle for the hottest cheerleaders!

Get your game face ready as you flip through the gallery and vote for the squad with the winning babes.

Marlon Wayans agrees with LeBron James -- going to the White House is no longer an honor now that Donald Trump's in office ... and his dis-invitation to the Golden State Warriors was BS.

The "Marlon" star blasted the Prez at LAX Saturday, referring to him as the "a**hole kid" in the sandbox who tells everyone they can't come to his party ... even though nobody wanted to go in the first place.

Funny stuff, but Wayans is more hilarious when our guy asks him about Suge Knight suggesting Tupac might still be alive.

As we reported ... Trump went on the attack against Steph Curry Saturday morning and withdrew an invite to the W.H. for his team, not long after bashing "son of a bitch" NFL players for kneeling during the National Anthem.

LeBron was having none of it.

Donald Trump's withdrawal of the Golden State Warriors' invitation to the White House is no skin off the team's nose ... because they're already making other plans for their trip to D.C.

The Dubs just released a statement, saying since the Prez made it clear they aren't welcome at the W.H. ... they've decided they'll "constructively use our trip to the nation's capital in February to celebrate equality, diversity and inclusion -- the values that we embrace as an organization."

The Warriors say the team planned to meet this morning to discuss a potential trip to the White House, but scrapped it when Trump went on the attack against Steph Curry Saturday morning and took back the team's invite.

Common's responding to President Trump's bashing of "son of a bitch" NFL players who take a knee during the anthem by going another route -- calmly praising the man who did it first as a hero.

We got the rapper at LAX Friday night, shortly after Trump's comments at a rally in Alabama, and he says it's every American's right to express themselves and stand up for what they believe in ... and thinks guys like Colin Kaepernick have saved people's lives by doing so.

Common also took time to commend the 8-year-old youth football team who held a protest of their own in Illinois ... calling them an inspiration.

As we reported ... Trump encouraged NFL owners to fire players who don't stand for the anthem and told fans to walk out of stadiums if they see a player doing it.

Roger Goodell clapped back at the prez ... calling him disrespectful.