TMZ Sports - Page 50

Jose Flores, a Pennsylvanian jockey who earned $64 MIL in his storied career, is dead at 57 after a headfirst fall during a race Monday in Philly.

Flores suffered major head and spine injuries as a result of the accident ... and was pulled off life support on Thursday.

The tragic incident happened Monday at Parx Racing in Bensalem, Pennsylvania ... when Jose's horse, Love Rules, went down -- launching him from his saddle.

Flores had compiled 4,650 wins across 3 decades in the sport ... and was reportedly going for the magic number of 5,000.

Jose is the 157th North American rider to die from a horse-racing accident since 1940.

Was Donald Trump REALLY a baller athlete growing up ... or was it all just a bunch of fake news??

TMZ Sports spoke with Donald's younger bro, Robert, about POTUS' skills on the field ... and he admits that while he's a good athlete himself, Donald's got him beat.

FYI -- Trump has boasted about his athletic career in the past, claiming to have been the best high school baseball player in the state of New York back in the day. His football teammates have also raved about his talent on the field.

Robert backs it all up ... saying Donald is "a great sportsman" and while they never went head-to-head on the field, it was fun to ball out together growing up.

Johnny Manziel just put on a show in SoCal -- rippin' passes in front of NFL scouts to prove he's ready for another crack at the big show.

It all went down at the University of San Diego's pro day ... where Manziel put on his 1st public showcase since getting cut by the Browns in 2016.

Johnny Football fired off a few dozen passes in front of a larger-than-normal crowd (wonder why?) ... including some end-zone bombs that he uncorked from about 40 yards out!

He also took the time to do a quick Q&A with Fernando Ramirez of NBC San Diego afterwards ... addressing how he's "changed drastically" and is focused on becoming the best version of himself.

Great stuff -- but let it be known that TMZ Sports got his first comeback pass on camera!!

The Rock, Jamie Foxx, and NFL star Todd Gurley are about to be stylin’ and profilin’ just like The Nature Boy ... 'cause they’re getting fitted for custom Ric Flair suits!!

We spoke with Ric’s business partner -- suit maker Adam Marks (aka Mr. Custom Made) -- before their official launch on Monday ... and asked him about the biggest names picking something out from Naitch's collection.

We're told over 6,000 people in total have expressed interest in swaggin' out like Offset's favorite wrestler. As for the celebs, Ric is personally picking out the fabrics, colors, and patterns for Gurley, Foxx and Rock's suits.

But ya don't gotta have celeb money to be wheelin' n' dealin' like Flair ... they're offering hundreds of fabrics in all styles ranging from around $700 to $2,500.

"I've always been custom made from head to toe," Ric tells us ... "now anyone can have a chance to style and profile like me."

WOOOOO!!!

LeBron James switched gears from Basketball God to animated movie star in just a matter of hours Thursday morning ... showing off a voice over session for an upcoming flick!!

James -- fresh off an insane 35 points, 17 assists, and 7 rebounds in a win against the Raptors Wednesday night -- took his talents to the studio to put in work for his role as Gwangi in "Smallfoot" early Thursday.

The movie is about a yeti who finds out humans exist (think Big Foot, but the other way around) ... and features other huge stars like Channing Tatum, Zendaya and Common.

So, LeBron can do his Hollywood thing AND play in Cleveland ...

Just sayin'.

Canelo Alvarez is pissed GGG publicly blasted him as a longtime steroids user -- and the Mexican boxing star is firing back with some good ol' fashioned American trash talk.

"I'm gonna kick your f**king ass ... little bitch," Canelo wrote on social media.

Alvarez ain't just talking ... he's also showing Gennady Golovkin how he plans to do it with some lightning-fast shadow boxing!!

FYI, GGG destroyed Canelo in an interview on Wednesday ... calling his tainted beef excuse a bunch of BS -- "It’s not Mexican meat. Canelo is cheating. They’re using these drugs, and everybody is just trying to pretend it’s not happening."

It's a good thing John Kasich ain't gonna be in the Browns' war room at the draft next month ... 'cause as much as he loves Sam Darnold, the Ohio Gov. says he has no clue if he's the guy for Cleveland.

TMZ Sports spoke with Kasich -- our unofficial Ohio sports analyst -- about who the Browns should take with the No. 1 overall pick ... and he says the experts have him 2nd-guessing his love for the USC star.

BTW -- Darnold CRUSHED his pro day (in the rain!!) on Wednesday ... and now there's buzz he's a lock for the top pick.

Kevin Hart is about to break the hearts of a lot of fans in Philly ... because according to the pint-sized funnyman, LeBron James has no plans to come to the cheesesteak land, and Kevin knows, cause Kevin tried.

We got Hart leaving UCLA and asked if he's tried to recruit his buddy, James, to bolt Cleveland and join the young core of Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid in the city of brotherly love.

Kevin says he definitely put on for his hometown, trying to get LeBron to make a move ... but that LeBron's response was not very promising.

"He said kiss his ass."

Hart said he only sweetened the deal with $40 bucks (c'mon Kev), but when we asked seriously he says no city has a real shot at LeBron, because Hart believes he'll stay put.

Mark Curry's learning the hard way ... Ford Broncos went out with O.J. Simpson -- something Mother Nature had to pound into the comedian's head ... and his SUV.

The "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper" star fell victim to a huge tree falling over Wednesday during the massive rain storm blowing through the L.A. area. The tree was so big the fire department had to come out for cleanup duty, but the video is pretty bizarre. They had a huge circular saw for the job, but instead of chopping up the tree ... they buzzed through Mark's Bronco!

He didn't seem to be too bent out of shape over it. Pretty sure it's totaled, especially with the giant sawing of its hood.

John Cena says the WWE doesn't discriminate if you got chops in the ring and on the mic ... so if the right transgender wrestler were to come through, he'd be all for it.

We got on the topic by asking Cena about intergender matches -- which have become more of a thing lately with the Mixed Match Challenge ... and Ronda Rousey tossin' Triple H through a damn table!!

Since the 16-time world champ was down with it, we asked if a transgender competitor could be next -- and John didn't bat an eye.

"I'm a storyteller, my friend -- and that's what we do in WWE," Cena told TMZ Sports leaving Mastro's in L.A. "It's not segregated to sex, race, creed, religion, any of that -- so as long as the story's good, it belongs in WWE."

Give Ben Simmons the Rookie of the Year award RIGHT NOW ... 'cause the NBA star has finally gone Instagram official with smokin' hot pop singer Tinashe!!

As we previously reported, the "No Drama" singer told us earlier this month that Simmons was her "little boo thang." Things appear to have heated up since then ... with the couple posting identical pics on IG.

Simmons -- who's averaging damn near a triple-double this season -- captioned his romantic pic with the clever line "This is a dime I can’t pass."

But the winning didn't stop for the 21-year-old phenom ... Philly ended up beating up on the Grizzlies, too, and his Sixers are now tied for the 4th spot in the East!!

Don't turn it over, Ben.

Mick Foley says he so believes in his old WWE partner Kane's Mayoral run, that he's willing to stump for the guy personally, even though they're from two different parties.

Kane (real name Glenn Jacobs) is running for mayor in Knox County, Tennessee ... and he's getting a big help from his old running buddy, Mick -- who told TMZ Sports why Jacobs is the man for the job.

"One of the wisest, best read, most well-read, compassionate people I've ever met."

Foley says he feels like public service is Glenn's true calling ... which is why Mick is campaigning for Kane at an event in Tennessee -- despite him being a democrat, and the Big Red Machine being a republican.

"He's a republican, and I'm not, and that doesn't really matter. He's an honorable man and a great person, and he wouldn't be doing this if he didn't think he could do a great job for the people of Knox County."

We also talked to the WWE HOF'er about the wrestling bombshell of the week -- Daniel Bryan's return to the squared circle.

Impact Wrestling star Tyrus says he knows exactly how to STOP SCHOOL SHOOTINGS ... put up walls, install metal detectors, and station armed security outside entrances.

TMZ Sports talked to Tyrus -- who's also a contributor on FOX News -- after the latest act of violence at a Maryland high school.

FYI -- "The Fixer" knows a thing or two about protecting people ... he used to be Snoop Dogg's bodyguard.

Tyrus' plan to stop the killings in schools? Walls, guards with guns, and metal detectors ... not teachers with handguns.

"We need walls around the schools. We need to protect our schools. You can't get 10 feet within our school unless you're supposed to be there."

"And if you're bringing a backpack in and it's not a clear backpack, you gotta get searched. That's the world we live in right now."

For anyone who thinks that's an overreaction ... Tyrus has a message for you.

Buffalo Bills wide receiver Zay Jones is home with his parents and going to be okay after the penthouse meltdown that led to his arrest Monday night ... this according to Jones' dad.

We broke the story ... Jones was busted for felony vandalism after a bloody, naked struggle with his brother at a downtown L.A. apartment. We're told Zay smashed a hole in a balcony window on the 30th floor of the apartment ... and his brother Cayleb was fighting to save him from jumping.

Robert Jones -- who played 10 seasons in the NFL -- tweeted the update Wednesday afternoon ... thanking his followers for praying for his son.

Zay -- a 2nd round draft pick in 2017 -- was released from custody earlier this morning. He's due in court next month.

The Bills released a statement Tuesday night, saying "We are still in the process of gathering more information on the matter. At this point, we will have no further comment.”

Former NBA star Baron Davis is pumped Nancy Lieberman got tapped to head coach a BIG3 team ... and says her hiring proves their sport is inclusive of all people.

"That's my girl. Well deserved," Baron -- a recent BIG3 signee -- told TMZ Sports.

"The thing about basketball is there ain't no discrimination. If you got game, if you know the game, we gonna accept you."

He ain't wrong -- Nancy (Kings) and Becky Hammon (Spurs) got gigs as NBA assistants in recent years ... and Adam Silver's league has also seen more minority coaches come through the ranks than other major pro sports leagues.

Lindsey Vonn is super EX-cited Tiger Woods doesn't suck at his job anymore ... telling TMZ Sports she's really happy her old boyfriend's showing signs of his old dominance.

ICYMI -- Tiger has been CRUSHING it on the links recently. He's had 2 top-5 finishes in the last 2 PGA Tournaments -- his best finishes in over 4 years.