TMZ Sports - Page 50

Mark Cuban is CONGRATULATING LaVar Ball for his celebrity beef with Donald Trump ... saying the way LaVar has handled the China shoplifting crisis is straight out of Trump's playbook.

The Dallas Mavericks owner says the twist in the whole Ball vs. Trump war is that Ball and Trump are kinda like the same person.

They both know what to say to stay relevant. They both refuse to apologize for anything. They're both news media masters.

And, in the end ... Cuban says the real winner is the BIG. BALLER. BRAND.

Congrats.

Here’s the latest evidence that Justin Verlander’s life is infinitely better than 99.9% of men in America ... his brand spankin' new 2017 Ford GT -- a supercar worth AT LEAST $450k!!!

Ford has only released 500 of the '17 GTs -- despite more than 7,000 people reportedly applying to buy one. Verlander made the cut. NASCAR phenom Joey Logano and WWE superstar John Cena did too.

You can tell from the video ... Verlander's PUMPED to be joining the club.

It's been an epic month for Justin -- winning the World Series and locking down Kate Upton for life -- so why not keep the party going with another half-million-dollar whip, right?!

#ItsGoodToBeRich

Cam Newton says he thought his life and his career were OVER when he was arrested for stealing a student's laptop computer in 2008 ... but now he wants people to learn from his mistakes.

It was this exact date in 2008 that Newton was busted at the University of Florida (when he was Tim Tebow's backup). He was charged with felony counts of burglary, larceny and obstructing justice.

Newton struck a plea deal and all charges were dropped after he completed a pretrial diversion program.

But now, 9 years later ... the NFL star is opening up about the arrest and how it affected his life.

"I contemplated posting this and even reluctant about it, but as I think about my life and the MANY things I'm THANKFUL for, I tant to be an OPEN book so people can here my testimony and learn from the FLAWS and mistakes I MADE!"

"On this day 11/21/2008 I was arrested for a stolen laptop and I'm sure your asking yourself where is he going with this story."

"The moral of the story is this ... on this date I THOUGHT my life and my career was OVER and the fact that I had shamed my family with the media coverage surrounding this situation I vowed to myself on this day (9 years ago) that 'I will be BETTER from this situation'."

"What you must learn from this story is this: If you live your life listening to what OTHER people are saying what you should do AND NOT YOUR OWN, shame on YOU!"

NBA #1 overall pick Markelle Fultz has a new BFF -- 17-year-old cancer survivor Mike Shelly, who's insane half-court shot at Saturday's 76ers game led to a once-in-a-lifetime VIP experience.

Here's the deal ... Mike balled out in a shooting contest during Sixers vs. Warriors, winning Chick-fil-A (Markelle's favorite thing ever) for all the fans in the arena.

Pretty epic -- but Shelly's no stranger to overcoming the odds ... crushing stage 4 cancer to suit up for his high school football team.

So when Mike got an invite back to the Wells Fargo Center, Fultz gave him a hero's welcome -- telling him he had a better jumper and asking if they could bro out over some chicken sandwiches! (The 76ers hooked Mike up with 76 Chick-fil-A gift cards, FYI).

The franchise also gave Shelly courtside seats, a future road trip with the squad and more!

Awesome story.

Ray Allen claims he was catfished by a man pretending to be a number of attractive women -- and now he's filed legal docs to make sure the alleged catfisher doesn't leak his private information.

It's all in legal docs obtained by TMZ Sports ... the ex-NBA superstar claims he met these "women" in "various online forums" and communicated with them ... sometimes sharing "private information."

Ray claims he eventually figured out he was being catfished and ended the relationships -- but the man behind the rouse became obsessed and began posting items on social media about Ray and his family.

In the docs, Allen claims the man would physically go to Ray's wife's restaurant in Orlando and post about Ray -- tagging family members in the posts. Creepy stuff.

Ray says he got the guy to sign a confidentiality agreement in which he agreed to stop posting about Ray -- but the guy violated the deal.

Things continued to escalate -- and the man eventually filed for a restraining order against Ray claiming the NBA star was stalking him, which the court granted.

Ray is adamantly denying the stalking allegations and is now seeking a restraining order of his own.

"Ray wants nothing to do with [the alleged catfisher] and merely wants to be left alone," Allen says in the court docs.

We spoke with Allen's attorney, David Oscar Markus, who tells us, "Ray Allen was the victim of an online scheme to extract money and embarrass him by someone who appears to be troubled."

"The person who perpetrated this scheme has now started to stalk him and make threats against Ray and his family. Ray has taken legal action to put an end to the threats and to expose his manipulation and wrongdoing."

"Ray regrets ever engaging with this person online and is thankful they never met in person. This experience has negatively impacted Ray, and he hopes that others might use his mistake to learn the dangers of communicating online with strangers."

Here's Common saying he had NO IDEA his ex-girlfriend, Serena Williams, tied the knot last week ... but he's congratulating her anyway in one of the most interesting clips of the day.

Common and Serena were one of Hollywood's "It" couples earlier this decade -- so when we got him out at Equinox gym in L.A. we asked him what he thought of his old flame tying the knot.

"Nah, I didn't see it ... but God bless her. That's the queen! She's the queen! Congratulations to them!"

Serena's wedding was a massive celebrity-filled mega-event -- with stars like Beyonce, Kim Kardashian and Ciara in attendance.

One last thing ... Common follows both Serena and Vogue on Instagram (Vogue posted a ton of Serena's wedding pics) -- so, we gotta ask ...

MLB Hall of Famer Joe Morgan hates steroid users ... 'cause he just destroyed them all in a SCATHING letter to Hall of Fame voters BEGGING them to keep all the alleged dopers out.

Morgan was elected to the Hall in 1990, and it's clear he doesn't want to share it with any science projects, writing an open letter on behalf of all clean members of the hall.

It's long, but here are some of the most Tupac Hit-Em-Up style gems.

"We hope the day never comes when known steroid users are voted in to the Hall of Fame. They cheated. Steroid users don't belong there."

"The cheating that tainted an era now risks tainting the Hall of Fame too."

Pretty gangsta, we know, but nothing compared to the most potent bar from the salvo ... we like to call it "The Ultimatum."

"It's gotten to the point where Hall of Famers are saying if steroid users get in, they'll no longer come to Cooperstown for induction ceremonies or other events."

Nick Swardson is a die-hard Vikings fan -- "I like the Vikings more than my family."

So, when we asked how he felt about Vikings QB Case Keenum leading his team to victory over the team that let him go last year, the Rams -- Swardson was LOVING it.

Backstory ... the Rams let Keenum go after the 2016 season after benching him for Jared Goff. The Vikings swooped him up and the rest is history.

Herschel Walker says he's always been a huge Marshawn Lynch fan ... until Beast Mode dropped the ultimate diss on America this past weekend.

"To stand for the Mexico anthem and sit for the American anthem is total disrespect," Herschel told TMZ Sports in NYC. "Lost respect for you ... that’s just not right.”

Walker says disagreeing with Donald Trump is fine -- but clearly thinks the way Marshawn expressed it is outta line. As the former NFL superstar's told us in the past, he believes taking the fight to Congress AFTER the season is the way to go.

LaVar Ball says he would've given President Trump a "thank you" had the Prez brought LiAngelo Ball and his UCLA teammates back home from China on Air Force One.

Ball appeared on CNN with Chris Cuomo Monday night to discuss the ongoing battle with Trump -- and to nobody's surprise -- LaVar held his ground in NOT thanking 45. Ball's main argument ... there's no proof Trump was the primary reason his son and teammates were sprung from the country.

There was one thing, however, that LaVar says would've granted the Prez an automatic "thank you" from father Ball ... a free ride home on AF1.

LaVar went on to say ... Trump's got bigger fish to fry, so let the UCLA thing go.

Floyd Mayweather is closing 2017 with one last business deal -- and it's easier money than boxing Conor McGregor.

TBE has signed on to be the new face of "Wild Poker" -- a "social casino adventure" game for mobile devices. Sources say Floyd's making around 6-figures and will make additional cash on the back end based on how well the game does.

The game sounds cool ... players pick a character (you can even be Floyd) and ya gotta figure out strategic ways to become the most dominant gambler in a virtual casino world.

Players don't gamble with real money -- but you can use real money to buy in-app upgrades to give your character an advantage at the tables.

"I'm constantly asked to put my name on stuff, but Wild Poker is different than any game I've ever seen," Floyd says.

"It's poker, but it goes to the next level. There's a whole new level of strategy with the power ups. It's a cutting edge game -- this is that next thing."

Eddie George says he'll always remember Terry Glenn as a "good kid with a big heart" ... telling TMZ Sports he was honored to call the late NFL receiver his teammate.

George and Glenn played together at Ohio State in the '90s and later in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys. The Heisman trophy winner says he admired how well Glenn thrived despite losing his mother at 13 years old.

"He was a great guy to be around. Great person," George says ... "Just always full of laughter and joy despite his troubles."

"He overcame a lot of that stuff and didn't succumb to the pressures around him and really made something positive out of his life."

George goes on to share his favorite memories of playing with Glenn ... and says he'll do whatever he can to help his family.

Pro wrestling legend Kamala is on life support after undergoing emergency surgery at an Oxford, Mississippi hospital on Sunday ... according to social media posts from his friends and family.

Kamala's stepdaughter says doctors didn't think he would make it out of surgery alive ... but he managed to pull through and is now "showing signs of improvement," reports ProWrestlingSheet.

Kamala -- real name James Harris -- was a mainstay for the WWF in the '80s and '90s ... feuding with Hall of Fame superstars like Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant and Jake "The Snake" Roberts.

Harris fell on hard times after leaving the pro wrestling scene. Both of his legs were amputated below the knees between 2011-2012 due to complications from diabetes ... and in 2014, he revealed that he and his wife were scraping by on his disability checks.

Roy Halladay was flying dangerously close to homes -- and making wild turns and adjustments in altitude -- moments before his fatal crash ... this according to the NTSB.

The National Transportation Safety Board released the preliminary report regarding the Nov. 7 crash in Florida that killed the former MLB pitcher.

GPS data obtained from the plane shows Halladay was climbing and diving around the crash site -- and at one point, flew "as close as 75 feet to the Gulf Harbor South Beach houses."

The report also references video of Halladay's plane taken before the crash which shows the aircraft flying around 10 feet above the water. Unclear if the report is referencing the video obtained by TMZ Sports, but the description is very similar.

One witness also told the NTSB that he saw the plane perform a 300 to 500 foot climb before heading "a 45 degree nose-down attitude."

The witness says he then saw the plane crash into the water and "nose over."

The plane was recovered for inspection -- and investigators say the parachute was NOT deployed.

The report says Roy had only taken delivery of the plane on Oct. 10 ... just 28 days before the crash.

Halladay was 40.

Ron Goldman's father is demanding O.J. Simpson get before a judge ASAP ... because he's concerned Simpson is pocketing cash he owes to the Goldman and Brown families.

In docs obtained by TMZ ... Fred Goldman says the first available hearing date isn't until July 3, 2018 ... which he says is way too far away. He believes in that 7-month span O.J. "could flood the market with sports memorabilia" and try to keep all the money for himself.

O.J. responded in his own docs, saying the secret autograph session he held in October was a one-off ... and he's just trying to "readjust to civilian life." O.J. says even though he's had a lot of money-making offers ... he's rejected all of them except for that one autograph sesh.

Reeeeelax ... Donald Trump's mouthpiece says POTUS was only tweeting "rhetorically" when suggesting he should have left LaVar Ball's son in a Chinese jail.

Yep.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders just addressed the media ... and was asked about Trump's tweets in which he said LaVar was "unaccepting" of what he did for LiAngelo Ball and said, "I should have left them in jail."

When questioned at Monday's White House news conference, SHS said, "It was a rhetorical response to a criticism by the father."

"Frankly it didn't seem like the father wanted the President to intervene which I think would've been a sad thing if he hadn't."