TMZ Sports - Page 50

Zlatan Ibrahimovic doesn't think he became a legend overnight in Los Angeles after his stellar MLS debut -- telling TMZ Sports, "I was BORN a legend."

And he meant it!

Zlatan is an international superstar who just signed with the L.A. Galaxy and scored 2 insane goals in his debut this past Saturday ... including a rocket from 40 yards out.

The Swedish-born striker was leaving Mastro's Steakhouse in Bev Hills with his family where he told us he's enjoying his time in L.A. and hopes to lead his team to an MLS title -- explaining, "Train hard, work hard and hopefully!"

No pressure ...

Villanova star Donte DiVincenzo had a busy night -- after he led the Wildcats to an NCAA title, he deleted thousands of old tweets ... including one that featured the n-word.

As DiVincenzo heated up during the game, people started combing through the 21-year-old's social media history ... and found a tweet from 2011 that read, "Ballin on these n**gas like I'm derrick rose!"

The line is actually a lyric from a Meek Mill track that came out a week before the tweet -- but the Internet freaked out anyway.

There were more questionable tweets that also surfaced.

After the game, Donte confirmed the Twitter account was his, but said he didn't remember ever posting the n-word tweet.

"It’s my account, yes ... but I never remember doing that.”

Villanova reportedly put out a statement saying Donte's account had been hacked, but later took back the statement.

All of the tweets on the account have since been deleted.

Donte DiVincenzo wasn't the only thing on fire last night ... the students at Villanova blazed up several bonfires near campus Monday night after the Wildcats beat Michigan.

Thousands of Nova fans flooded the streets to celebrate. Others set off fireworks.

Some climbed light poles -- despite the fact the Radnor Township Police Dept. had said they would be greasing the poles as a deterrent.

Still, the police were out in force and so far it doesn't appear there were riots or any kind of student vs. police fighting. We're calling cops to confirm.

Most of the celebration consisted of dancing and yelling and drinking ... and one of the guys on the light pole appeared to be chuggin' a beer.

To the victor ...

New York Yankees star Giancarlo Stanton has no problem hitting them out of the ballpark, and same goes for his choice of homes.

The former Miami Marlins right fielder was renting this $8 million crib in the Hollywood Hills during the offseason. He's from L.A. and was training in town.

The 3-bedroom, 4-bath contemporary home boasts panoramic views of L.A. There's a wine cellar, massage room, sauna, and pool with a sitting area and fireplace built in the middle of it, but the coolest thing about the pad is the interior lighting and suede-lined closet. It was also once Sammy Davis Jr.'s home.

Dennis Rodman is GOING IN on LiAngelo Ball ... telling TMZ Sports the dude sucks at hoops and has a snowball's chance in hell of making the NBA.

"He's not good at all," Rodman says ... "He's awful."

We pointed out LiAngelo dropped 72 points during a game in Lithuania on the day he announced he'd be entering the 2018 NBA Draft ... but that didn't seem to impress Rodman one bit.

"Teams over there [in Lithuania] just pretty much suck."

Still, Rodman says he gives LiAngelo a 10% chance at getting drafted "just because of social media."

On a positive note, Rodman says he's still sober and feeling great.

He's also excited for his son, Dennis Rodman Jr., who's a baller in his own right ... and getting offers from some of the biggest college programs in the country!

UFC star Brian Ortega told Dana White 'HELL YEAH" when he called and offered him the chance to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov for the 155-pound title at UFC 223.

Of course, that shot ended up going to Max Holloway ... who Ortega was scheduled to fight later this year with Max's 145-pound title on the line.

But, Brian says he ain't sweatin' the double whammy -- 'cause all it means is he's gotta wait a little longer to take out BOTH of 'em!

"My shot with Max (at 145) is already secure ... but then, there's always Khabib. I've always been interested in this fight with Khabib," Ortega told TMZ Sports.

Plus, Ortega's got some cool stuff cookin' on the side -- including a charitable project with Iron Man himself, Robert Downey Jr.!!

NFL star Danny Amendola isn't ready to open up about his breakup with Olivia Culpo yet -- but he's handling the split pretty well based on the way he answered our questions.

We spotted the WR at Gjusta in Venice Beach ... and asked him how he was doing in the week after the news of the split went public.

You gotta watch the clip ... Amendola says he's doing OK and seemed to be in a good mood -- but busted out the ol' "no comment" when we asked if the two were on good terms.

FYI, Danny and Olivia had been dating for several years and seemed to be doing well during the NFL playoffs ... when she famously jumped into his arms for a celebratory kiss after the AFC Championship.

There's more ... we also spoke with Danny about his new squad, the Miami Dolphins -- and if he's bonding with his QB, Ryan Tannehill.

"My first option when Tony's out, I tell, 'Hey, where's Conor? I need Conor. He's champ. Bring this guy.'"

That was Khabib Nurmagomedov's reaction when he found out Tony Ferguson injured himself and couldn't fight at UFC 223 ... he wanted Conor McGregor first, not Max Holloway.

"When UFC call [Conor], he say, 'Oh, I am not ready,'" Khabib tells TMZ Sports.

For the record, Dana White says he didn't want to rush Conor into a short-notice fight because he wants more time to promote a McGregor scrap. Plus, weight could have been an issue.

Instead, UFC booked Holloway -- and Khabib says he's 100% confident he'll smash the Hawaiian easily.

In fact, Khabib says he's already thinking about his next opponent ... and it ain't Conor -- it's another UFC legend.

"After this fight, I'm gonna ask UFC -- 'Hey, Madison Square Garden, me vs. Georges St. Pierre. November. 155 (pounds)."

Khabib had a message for Ferguson, too ... and he didn't hold back.

Before Offset took the field for Quavo's charity football game in Georgia, the Migos MC was stylin', profilin' and DRIPPIN' with Ric Flair on the sidelines ... and TMZ Sports has the video.

WOOOOO!!!

FYI, Offset LOVES The Nature Boy -- and his track paying tribute to Naitch's swag, "Ric Flair Drip," has been blowin' up.

Flair's got love for Offset, too ... so, he crashed "Huncho Day" at Berkmar High and got the rap star on a video call with his WWE superstar daughter, Charlotte!

It's pretty awesome -- Offset tells Charlotte how dope he thinks her dad is, gives her props for killin' it in WWE, and, of course, shows off his QUARTER-MILLION-DOLLAR ice.

The whole time, Naitch is cheesin' hard in the background -- clearly impressed by his protege.

Sister Jean needs a break -- which means no raging party for the NCAA title game Monday night ... so says a rep for Loyola-Chicago.

The 98-year-old superstar is apparently exhausted after rolling with the Ramblers during the team's incredible run to the Final Four after traveling with the team for 2 weeks of March Madness.

"Sr. Jean is getting a much needed break after all of our travel and her media commitments these last few weeks," a rep for the school tells TMZ Sports.

"I am not certain if she will be watching the game in the confines of her room, but she will not be watching with the team."

As for her future, the school seems to be easing back on her travel schedule as well -- saying, "[She will not] travel with any our other teams this spring."

Kendra Wilkinson says she and NFL star husband Hank Baskett are officially no more in an emotional video.

Wilkinson posted several videos Monday after rumors swirled in recent months of ongoing issues in their relationship that signaled a split was imminent.

She also broke down in tears on video recounting her time with Hank, saying she'll always love him and, "I did everything I could."

She and Hank have 2 kids together -- 8-year-old Hank IV, and 3-year-old Alijah. The couple got hitched in 2009 at the Playboy Mansion -- with Hugh Hefner and her other 'Girls Next Door' castmates in attendance. When we saw Kendra last week in Calabasas, she tried to keep a positive outlook ... but she was, pretty obviously, stressed.

She wished for Gronk ... SHE GOT GRONK!!

Lauren Meizo -- a hardcore Patriots fan waiting for her 2nd heart transplant in 5 years -- got a helluva surprise Monday when Rob Gronkowski and his brother, Gordie, visited her in the hospital!

27-year-old Meizo had made a YouTube video saying her wish was to meet the Pats tight end and begged her friends to share the message with anyone who knew Gronk.

Her plan worked ... the video went viral and Gronk answered the call -- rolling up to the Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Massachusetts with his brother Gordie to hang with Lauren!

"Surprised Lauren Meizo w @gronk," Gordie posted on Instagram ... "It was great you allowed us to have a meet and greet with you! #gronksandwich #meizostrong."

FYI, Meizo has been living in the hospital for the past 3 months awaiting her heart transplant and a kidney transplant.

Get well soon!

Tiger Woods got his ex-girlfriend Kristin Smith to sign a non-disclosure agreement to make sure she kept her mouth shut about their nuclear breakup ... but she wants out of their deal -- and now they're locked in a nasty legal war.

TMZ Sports has learned ... Woods and Smith (who dated from 2015 to 2017) are currently in arbitration -- and sources familiar with the situation tell us it's all over a non-disclosure agreement.

We're told Smith believes Woods cheated on her in 2017 and that's what ended their relationship. To save himself from another embarrassing sex-fueled PR nightmare, we're told Woods offered Smith money to sign an NDA, but it's unclear if she ever accepted it.

But now, something's changed ... and Smith is trying to invalidate the NDA claiming it's not enforceable.

Our sources say Smith claims Woods has threatened to release embarrassing pictures of her if she doesn't honor the NDA -- and the situation has escalated enough to get lawyers involved.

Of course, Woods' history of cheating is no secret -- with his ex-wife, Elin Nordegren, divorcing the golfer after it came out he was nailing all sorts of women behind her back.

NFL linebacker turned actor Anthony "Spice" Adams pulled out one of the coldest April Fools' pranks we've ever seen -- sending his own kids on a FAKE Easter egg hunt!

It's heartless, but also hilarious ... and we still can't decide whether it's OK to laugh.

In the video, Spice describes his devious plot before bustin' up in laughter ... and sending his kids on the pointless search through their backyard.

You'd think he'd let them in on the joke after a couple minutes ... but it seems like he let his youngins loose for A LOT longer.

But don't feel too bad for 'em ... TMZ Sports spoke to the "Ballers" star and he told us they got PLENTY of candy before the fake-out.

Here's former NCAA stud Derrick Williams answering a question that always gets asked -- but to some here at TMZ Sports, it doesn't make any damn sense.

We got Williams at LAX and after talking to him about the turmoil his Arizona Wildcats program is going through -- we wanted to know if he thought Villanova could beat an NBA team.

Before you drag our camera guy, we should say this came after 'Nova obliterating Kansas in their Final Four matchup ... looking every bit like the most dominant team in COLLEGE basketball.

Obviously, Derrick understands that COLLEGE hoops is a different game than the pros, because he says "No way" ... which is obviously the right answer.

BTW ... the worst team in the league right now is the Phoenix Suns, and they're pretty bad so MAYBE if 'Nova got hot from 3 ... they could lose by 30 instead of 40.

Ex-USC quarterback Todd Marinovich is back in jail after getting arrested twice in 4 days in March.

48-year-old Marinovich -- who has a long history of substance abuse -- was arrested on March 19 (he was released the same day) AND March 23. According to jail records, he's still behind bars.

It's unclear why Marinovich was arrested ... however, in March '17, the former star QB was sentenced to a year probation for an August '16 incident where TM was caught wandering naked in a random person's backyard -- with meth and weed in his possession.

As we reported, Marinovich sought help ... and seemed to be sober and doing well.

In fact, when we spoke with Todd back in April 2017, he told us he was fighting like hell to stay clean for the sake of his kids.

"I've been running [from my addiction] for years and it definitely came a time, especially after the arrest, the humiliation that that brought, the self-loathing that I was feeling, where I was finally willing to do the things necessary to get better."