TMZ Sports - Page 50

Pay attention, normies -- here's how you turn up for your birthday if you're worth over $300 MILLION like MLB superstar Giancarlo Stanton (even though you're probably not).

Stanton turned 28 on Nov. 8, but celebrated this past Friday at Hyde in West Hollywood with rap stars Wiz Khalifa and G-Eazy ... plus a bunch of hot chicks with signs spelling out his name, 'cause why not??

But the slugger's rumored boo Lexy Panterra was MVP of the night -- serenading the b-day boy with a booty-ful rendition of her new song, "So Good."

FYI, Giancarlo and Lexy spawned all kinds of hookup rumors after they got half naked together in a music video ... and this Marilyn Monroe-esque performance won't do anything to calm that down.

We just got Congresswoman Maxine Waters out in NYC and asked what she thought about Colin Kaepernick being named GQ's Citizen of the Year.

To put it simply ... she LOVES it.

"I think he has absolutely sacrificed an awful lot for what he believes in. And people with courage to do what they think is right -- despite the consequences -- must be respected and honored."

Obviously, not everyone in D.C. feels the same way -- especially President Donald Trump who has essentially called for NFL owners to blackball Kaepernick from the league.

Meek Mill is getting some high-powered support -- Rick Ross and NBA legend Dr. J will lead a rally Monday afternoon in Philadelphia ... TMZ has learned.

Sources connected to the rap honcho tell us Rick and Julius Erving are on a private jet right now heading to Philly. Several Philadelphia Eagles and other local entertainers are scheduled to show up at the event ... which has also been promoted by Kevin Hart and Diddy.

The rally comes on the heels of Meek being handed a controversial sentence last week that has sent him back to prison for 2-4 years after he violated his probation.

As we reported ... Meek's attorney, Joe Tacopina, says the judge's harsh sentence is nothing more than the result of a personal vendetta against the rapper. His team has since said they'll be requesting a new judge ... and filing a petition to reverse his prison stint.

Sammy Sosa hates himself and that's why he's turning himself whiter ... that's according to T.I. who went in on the ex-MLB star when we got him out at LAX.

Sammy's complexion has very obviously changed over the years. We can only find one interview where he addressed it -- from 2009 -- saying the lightening was an unexpected result of a skin softening cream.

But T.I. ain't buyin' Sammy's excuse -- shaking his head and saying it was more about "self-hate" than moisturizing.

If you don't know what Tip means, he's referring to the idea that black people who bleach their skin are doing it to fit in with a European beauty standard and are selling out their race, something a lot of black people think is despicable.

Then again, it's his life ...

It's all water under the bridge for Allen Iverson and the BIG3 basketball league -- we're told the NBA legend will RETURN after a rocky 2017 season.

Iverson -- who was a player coach last season -- was in the BIG3 dog house after no-showing for a game without a reason. He was suspended 1 game.

It seemed his future with the league may have been in doubt at the end of the season -- but now we're told he WILL get another go ... this time as a coach only.

One of Iverson's issues ... he gambles A LOT. He was spotted out in a casino in almost every city he traveled to during the BIG3 season and there are concerns the gambling could have interfered with his commitment to the league.

Here it is ... Josh Beckett's mug shot -- taken moments after the ex-World Series MVP was arrested for drunkenly diving onto a country music band.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... the former pitcher was arrested in Texas on Oct. 26 for public intoxication after cops say he was boozed out of his mind and tackled the singer of a country music band while he was performing at an open mic night.

The lead singer says he suffered injuries -- and cops tell us they have opened an assault investigation into Beckett.

Beckett's attorney told us the whole thing was simply "horseplay" -- he meant no harm and he's vowed to make things right with the singer.

FYI, Beckett reportedly made more than $124 MILLION during his MLB career. We're sure he can find a way to make things right.

Want the ultimate proof that heated rivals can become total bros??

Michael Jordan not only attended Patrick Ewing's head coaching debut for Georgetown on Sunday ... he got invited into his locker room for a post-game photo op!!

Pretty dope shot -- M.J. huddled up with the G-Town ballers up front ... while all 7 feet of Coach Ewing kept as low of a profile as humanly possible so his guys could fanboy out.

Classy move from Pat -- who went toe-to-toe with His Airness for years way back when the Bulls and Knicks were the beasts of the East ... and before that in college:

The UCLA shoplifting situation has been escalated to the White House -- with President Donald Trump calling Chinese President Xi Jinping to ask for help.

Trump spoke with President Jinping about the issue while in Beijing last week -- one day after LiAngelo Ball and 2 teammates were arrested for allegedly stealing sunglasses from Louis Vuitton.

According to the Washington Post, President Xi promised to look into the issue -- and said the players would be treated fairly.

Sources told the Post charges against the players have already been reduced and a resolution is expected shortly.

As TMZ Sports previously reported, Alibaba founder Jack Ma -- one of the richest and most powerful men in China -- has also personally gotten involved to help get the players home quickly.

If convicted, Ball and the other players could reportedly face up to 10 years in prison.

Tom Brady says Colin Kaepernick is a "damn good quarterback" who's proven he can play at a high level -- but the Pats superstar says he "has no idea" if Kaep's actually being blackballed.

Brady appeared on WEEI's "Kirk and Callahan" Monday morning where he was asked straight-up if NFGL owners are colluding to keep Kaepernick out of the NFL.

Brady took a long pause and then delivered his answer ...

"You know, I don't ... I have no idea if he's being blackballed."

"I think he was a ... I competed against him. I thought he was a damn good quarterback. And he's played at a high level, brought his team to Super Bowls."

"You know ... that's how I feel about him."

Jay-Z stopped down his 4:44 Tour concert Sunday night in Miami to explain why he's thrown his support behind NFL player protests -- and also to take a shot at his haters.

On Veterans Day weekend ... Jay directly addressed critics who say the movement started by Colin Kaepernick is an insult to the U.S. flag and military. His point was those critics are twisting the message, which is really "about justice and injustice" ... regardless of race.

During this tour, Hova's made it abundantly clear he's fully in Kaepernick's corner -- sometimes wearing jerseys bearing his name.

Conor McGregor is explaining why he "lost it" at an MMA fight in Dublin on Friday -- saying the ref had no business trying to throw him out of the cage.

He also offered up a "f**k yous" to all of his critics.

You remember the incident -- Conor illegally scaled the cage at Bellator 187 after his training partner, Charlie Ward, won by knockout ... and EXPLODED on veteran UFC ref Marc Goddard for breaking up the party. He slapped a regulatory official square in the dome too.

After the fight, everyone was asking the same question -- why did Conor go batsh*t insane?

McGregor tweeted (and then deleted) early Monday morning, saying:

"Bloke KO'd on floor bout a minute straight and ref trying to say fight's not over, Conor. That's when I lost it. F**k yous all."

So, what happens next? Will McGregor be disciplined for getting physical with multiple officials?

We've reached out to the UFC to see if they'll take action. Stay tuned ...

Jim Brown is softening his opinion on Colin Kaepernick's kneeling demonstration -- telling TMZ Sports he's decided he's "fine" with NFL players protesting during the national anthem.

The NFL legend had previously lashed out against the protesters back in August -- saying, "I'm an American. I don't desecrate my flag and my national anthem."

But that was months ago ... and when the Cleveland Browns icon was leaving Mastro's Steakhouse in Bev Hills on Sunday, he wanted to make it clear he's changed his tune.

"I think if [NFL players] wanted to kneel and it was within the rules of the game, it's fine with me," Brown said.

He added, "I really don't want to speak for anyone else, and I don't want to be negative about too many things."

Brown's comments came just a few hours before Colin Kaepernick was named GQ's Citizen of the Year.

Todd Gurley had a hell of a Sunday.

After putting a 33-7 beatdown on the Houston Texans, the L.A. Rams superstar running back dashed over to Nightingale Plaza in Hollywood to celebrate with a smokeshow date.

We're told the two got the VIP treatment on the way in -- and the way out. Let's face it, the Rams are finally getting treated like rockstars in Los Angeles.

No word on who Todd's attractive lady friend is -- but we're workin' on it.

Congrats!

NY Giants linebacker Jonathan Casillas should've been a running back -- because it took 5 SECURITY OFFICERS to bring him down during a violent casino clash back in 2012.

We've been making calls for days trying to gather all the info about this crazy video -- and though the details are scarce, here's what we know ...

-- It happened at 6 AM on May 12, 2012 at the Harrah's Casino in Atlantic City

-- Before the video begins, Casillas was pissed ... and walked outside to cool off. You see him throw a potted plant across the valet area.

-- Casillas went back inside and was confronted by several security officers. Things get testy, Casillas tucks his chain, a security officer shoves Casillas and Casillas shoves back

-- Things went nuclear from there. 5 guys tried to take Casillas down. They struggled, but eventually got him to the ground. He was handcuffed and detained.

-- Two Atlantic City PD officers were involved.

We've reached out to the Atlantic City PD to find out if criminal charges were filed. One source connected to the incident says a civil suit was filed ... but unclear who filed it or if it's still active.

Multiple attempts to reach Casillas and his reps were unsuccessful.

Good news Gronk, the star of such classics as "Dynamic Booty 5" and "Bubble Butt Bonanza" says you have a future in the skin biz ... and she's being totally serious.

TMZ Sports talked to Richelle Ryan -- star on over 200 adult movies -- who happens to be a hardcore football fan ... in addition to the other hardcore stuff she's into.

So, naturally, we asked which NFL player would make the best horizontal All-Pro -- and that's when she gave Rob G the XXX stamp of approval.

Don't rule it out Gronk, when the star of "Baby Got Boobs 8" gives you career advice you take it ...

Shaq and his ex-wife Shaunie O'Neal spared no expense for their daughter's sweet 16 ... and by expense, we mean they dropped almost a mil for the kid.

The O'Neals threw Amirah -- aka Mimi -- an EPIC 16th birthday party Saturday night in L.A. that was fit for royalty -- 'cause the proud parents spent nearly a million dollars on the whole shebang. Yep, you read that right ... $1,000,000.

Sources close to the family tell TMZ Sports that Shaq and Shaunie rented out out the entire rooftop area of the W Hotel in Hollywood, and they gifted Mimi a brand new Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen.

Oh, and they also booked YG to perform ... who we're told did 8 songs, including his hits "Toot It And Boot It" and "Why You Always Hatin?"

From the looks of the party, we'd say it was money well spent. Especially if you were lucky enough to end up at Mimi's.