TMZ Sports - Page 4

Ayesha Curry is putting an end to "ridiculous" rumors she's in an open relationship with her NBA superstar husband, Stephen Curry ... saying it's 100% not true.

Ayesha -- who married Steph in 2011 -- is breaking her silence weeks after gossip blogs reported (citing an anonymous tip) the adored couple wasn't monogamous ... denying the claims in a response to an Instagram troll.

"Don't believe everything you read," Curry said on Monday. "Do you know how ridiculous that is? Don't disrespect my marriage like that. Please and thank you."

Of course, the Currys first met as teens in Charlotte, N.C. ... but didn't start dating until years later.

The couple got hitched on July 30, 2011 ... and went on to have 3 kids together -- Riley (9), Ryan (6), and Canon (3).

The Currys have found success in both of their fields -- Steph is a 3-time champ and a perennial MVP candidate ... while Ayesha has her own cooking line and show.

Halsey is not letting Grizzlies player Desmond Bane get away with coming at the King ... ripping the guard for being rude to LeBron James and having a "big a** f***in' mouth."

23-year-old Bane was clearly chirping throughout the Lakers' home game against Memphis ... and it got so heated at one point, LBJ shoved the guy for continuously running his mouth.

The award-winning singer -- who's a die-hard Lakers fan -- was sitting courtside through it all ... and had some words for DB after the game.

"Courtside observations: Bane got an unnaturally loud and rude big a** f***in mouth," Halsey said via Twitter.

Grizzlies fans quickly replied with shots of their own ... but Halsey wasn't having it.

"Bruh shut the f*** up," Halsey replied, "This man LeBron almost had to give him a masterclass in decorum."

"Everyone s*** talks but word on the court was 'he’s a problem.'"

FYI, Bane -- who's in his second season with the Grizz -- replied to Halsey's analysis with a few laughing emojis and a thumbs down ... but he later deleted the tweet.

Is there anything Mookie Betts can't do?

The Dodgers star showed he's still both an elite baseball player AND bowler ... rolling yet another perfect game on Sunday.

The 29-year-old posted footage of the incredible feat over the weekend -- showing off video of the last one of his 12 strikes in a row.

Check out the clip, Mookie hit all of the pins with ease -- and he's such a good bowler, he hardly even celebrated the absurdly difficult accomplishment.

"Just call me Mr. 300," he said smoothly in the caption on the clip.

Of course, Mookie acted like had been there before because, well, he has ... back in 2017, while still a member of the Red Sox, he bowled a perfect 300 too.

Mookie has never been shy about showing off his skills in the alleys ... in 2019, he competed in Chris Paul's PBA Celebrity Invitational with his partner, professional bowler Tommy Jones, and beat Terrell Owens and Pete Weber for the tournament title.

The Philadelphia Eagles weren't the only ones getting whooped on Saturday ... a couple of their fans got the same treatment from Dallas Cowboys supporters in the stands at Lincoln Financial Field.

Video shot by bystanders caught all the action ... showing two men in 'Boys jerseys getting into a verbal altercation with a man in a Randall Cunningham Eagles uniform.

The argument quickly turned physical ... when one of the Dallas supporters -- who was decked out in a CeeDee Lamb jersey -- walked straight to the Eagles fan and started throwing punches.

You can see in the clip, the fan in the Lamb jersey got the better of the Eagles supporter quickly ... and then the Cowboys fans moved on to fighting another guy in the same row.

Security and others in the area eventually came to the scene to break it all up.

Of course, the melee was a microcosm of the Eagles' bad night ... 'cause on the field, the Cowboys blew Philly out, 51-26.

Buccaneers QB Tom Brady refused to come out of Sunday's game against the Panthers ... until his tight end and good friend, Rob Gronkowski, got the stats he needed to trigger two separate $500,000 bonuses in his contract.

Gronk entered Week 18 -- Tampa's regular season finale -- with 48 catches and 665 receiving yards. He needed 7 catches and 85 yards to trigger both bonuses.

Well, TB12 was gonna make sure he got 'em, 'cause with under 7 mins left to go in the game, the Bucs were up 31-17 in the fourth quarter ... and head coach Bruce Arians was preparing to pull his starters.

But, check out the video ... you see a defiant Brady appear to tell Tampa's coaching staff "he's not coming out of the game" as he grabs his helmet and heads back onto the field.

The reason?? Likely 'cause Gronk -- who already hit his yardage bonus earlier in the second half on a 42-yard reception -- was still one catch shy of hitting his receptions bonus.

So, the G.O.A.T completed a short pass to Rob in the flat ... giving him the numbers he needed to cash in.

Gronkowski ultimately finished the day with 7 catches for 137 yards.

Of course, Tom is no stranger to looking out for his teammates ... despite some of the comments Antonio Brown recently made about him.

Oh, and TB also set a new career-high in passing yards (5,316) -- eclipsing his previous career-high mark set back in 2011 ... as the Bucs defeated Carolina 41-17.

The New York Yankees are on the verge of making an incredibly historic move ... with the franchise reportedly set to hire Rachel Balkovec as the first female manager in Minor League Baseball history.

The 34-year-old former college softball catcher -- who first joined the Yanks in 2019 -- will be promoted as skipper of the Low A Tampa Tarpons, according to the AP.

Balkovec has been working in pro baseball since 2012, when she became the strength and conditioning coach in the St. Louis Cardinals' farm system.

She later joined the Houston Astros organization in 2016 ... eventually holding the same position for their Double-A Corpus Christi affiliate.

Balkovec is a trailblazer in the sport -- she already made history when she was hired as a minor league hitting coach for the Yanks 3 years ago, the first woman to be named to that position.

Balkovec also participated in last season's Futures Game as a coach, becoming the first woman to do so.

Novak Djokovic has just been set free Down Under -- a judge ruled in his favor in his visa appeal case, clearing the way for the tennis star to compete in the Australian Open next week.

Djokovic had been in a quarantine hotel in Melbourne the last few nights ... after Australian government officials canceled his visa shortly after his arrival in the country last Wednesday.

Authorities argued Djokovic did not meet the proper requirements to be formally granted an exemption to Australia's strict COVID-19 vaccination rules.

Djokovic, though, argued he did meet all the criteria ... saying he had been infected with COVID last month and therefore did not need to be vaccinated.

At a visa appeal hearing in an Australian courtroom on Monday -- a judge overturned the government's decision, pointing out that the 34-year-old had received vaccine exemption status from Tennis Australia and two medical panels prior to his arrival.

"The point I’m somewhat agitated about is what more could this man have done?" the judge said in the courtroom.

The judge's decision now paves the way for Djokovic to compete in The Open, which begins on Jan. 17.

"I'm pleased and grateful that the Judge overturned my visa cancellation," Djokovic said in a statement on Twitter following the decision. "Despite all that has happened, I want to stay and try to compete @AustralianOpen."

"I remain focused on that. I flew here to play at one of the most important events we have in front of the amazing fans."

There could still be more hurdles for Djokovic to leap ... Australian authorities have suggested they could still cancel his visa once again.

If that does happen, and Djokovic is deported, he could be faced with a 3-year ban from the country.

It remains unclear what the likelihood of a second cancellation is.

Sideline reporter Kristina Pink needed to be helped off the Crypto.com Arena floor on Sunday ... after she slipped on water and fell HARD following a postgame interview.

Pink had just finished up a post-win chat with L.A. shooting guard Amir Coffey, when she lost her balance and went crashing to the floor.

Pink horrifyingly landed on the court face-first ... and the thud of her fall could be heard loud and clear on broadcast microphones.

Somehow, though, Pink avoided serious injuries in the tumble ... writing on her social media page after the game that she's expected to be fine.

"For everyone asking, I’m ok," said Pink, who does games for NFL on Fox in addition to her role with the Clippers. "There was water on the court... Appreciate all the messages."

Bola Osundairo -- one of the brothers at the center of the Jussie Smollett scandal -- has a message for Jake Paul ... think you can fight?? Well, I'm coming for your ass!!

TMZ Sports talks to Abimbola -- aka Bola -- about his burgeoning boxing career ... when the conversation turned to The Problem Child.

"Kick rocks. More like the great white hype. And I want you Jake Paul, and I'm coming after you. And we're gonna wipe the hype."

Osundairo then had a message for Paul.

"Quit running. It's time for you to face a boxer. I'm not too advanced, you probably started before me. So we probably have the same amount of experience. What are you running from?"

He also took a shot at the opponents Jake's beaten.

"Stop going after old washed-up UFC fighters. They're not boxers. They don't want to box you. Leave them alone."

Of course, Bola and his brother became overnight celebs after admitting Smollett paid them to carry out the hoax attack in Chicago back in 2019.

That's about when Bola got into the sport of boxing ... and he's no joke in the ring.

Team USA Boxing ranks him the #1 86 kg (189 lbs.) fighter in their rankings. He also told us he recently fought 4 nights in a row, winning all the by unanimous decision.

But, the 24-year-old YouTuber turned undefeated boxer -- who just brutally KO'd Tyron Woodley -- isn't the only one on Bola's hit list. He's also got his eyes on a couple of other well-known fighters.

"We'll fight Tommy Fury. We'll fight Julio Cesar Chavez. Anderson Silva. See I'm naming real boxers, or people who actually do stuff in boxing. We'll fight any of them."

The artwork on Stefon Diggs' cleats knows no bounds, evidenced in his latest offering ... a tribute to the late Betty White.

The Buffalo Bills wide receiver honored the iconic actress Sunday with a pair of pregame footwear that featured BW's likeness, plus a famous song attributed to her as well. You can see a cartoon rendering of Betty throwing up the 'rock on' hand sign ... while smirking.

On the other cleat, the words "Thank You For Being a Friend" are emblazoned -- obviously a nod to the 'Golden Girls' theme song of the same name. The artwork was done by footwear designer Mache, who's famous for doing these mockups for athletes, especially Stefon.

No word if these babies made it on the gridiron or not -- SD usually flashes his custom cleats before kickoff, and then changes into what he'll actually wear for the game. But, it's not unheard of for him to rock tribute cleats on the field, like he did for Michael K. Williams.

Anyway, it's clear Betty left her mark on Stefon ... who proved himself to be a fan with a tweet he sent on the day she passed. He simply wrote, "Rip Betty White" ... and now, his love for her comes full circle.

We broke the story ... Betty died on New Year's Eve, not far from what would've been her 100th birthday this month.

An incredibly rare, autographed card from Tom Brady's 2000 rookie NFL season just hit the auction block ... and TMZ Sports has learned that it could sell for $2,000,000!!

The classic card features TB12's authentic signature on the front, with him in a Patriots away uniform ... and the back of the card has his stats from when he was a quarterback at Michigan.

The G.O.A.T.'s rookie autographed card is already one of the highest-valued cards in the industry ... making it one of the most coveted items a collector in the hobby could own.

Brady -- who was drafted by the Patriots org. with the 199th overall pick -- would go onto have one of the most decorated careers as a quarterback in NFL history ... winning a record-setting 7 Super Bowl championships and 3 MVP awards (and counting).

Tom also led New England to 16 division titles during his tenure with the team ... and he played in 13 AFC championship games -- winning 9 of them.

Atlanta Hawks hooper John Collins has high hopes for his clothing line ... telling TMZ Sports he wants his brand to reach iconic heights like Adidas and Supreme.

24-year-old Collins recently launched his very own line -- "The Baptist" -- which recently hit the shelves in places like Foot Locker and Champs.

The former Wake Forest star tells us he's just getting started ... and his dream is to make his business a household name among some of the biggest clothing brands in the industry.

"I wanna be looked at like Supreme," Collins tells us. "I wanna be looked at like Adidas ... I wanna be looked at in that sphere, so I just gotta keep working. Be consistent."

As for whether he's been speaking with any designers who have come before him, Collins says he's taken inspiration while also being true to himself.

You can tell the guy's seriously passionate about the brand -- Collins says he's as hands-on as they come ... making every choice from design down to the fabrics.

As for who he'd like to model his Baptist clothing line on the runway?!? He's got some huge names in mind.

Naomi Osaka announced she's pulling out of the semi-finals of an Australian Open warm-up tournament after she says her body went into "shock" from playing hard tennis ... after she took months off to focus on herself.

Now, the Australian Open -- already possibly without superstar Novak Djokovic -- could also be without one of women's tennis' biggest stars, Osaka.

Naomi, clearly bummed, announced she was withdrawing from the Melbourne Summer Set over an ab injury.

“I had a lot of fun playing here in Melbourne,” Osaka said in an official statement. “Unfortunately I have an abdominal injury which I need to rest and prepare for the Australian Open.”

Osaka expanded on the injury on social media, tweeting her body "got a shock from playing back to back intense matches after the break she took" ... forcing the former No.1 ranked women's tennis player to pull out at the last minute.

As we previously reported, Naomi returned to the tennis court in November ... after stepping away from the game to focus on herself following an emotional loss at the U.S. Open in September.

Osaka -- a four-time Grand Slam singles champion -- has been outspoken about her struggles with mental health in the past, infamously boycotting the media at the French Open.

And now, 24-year-old Osaka -- who was scheduled to play Veronika Kudermetova of Russia -- is sidelined once again ... as she tries to rehab her way back to competition.

Novak Djokovic's attorneys say Australian border officials screwed up when they denied the tennis star entry into the country ... claiming he had COVID-19 last month, meaning he didn't have to comply with the vaccine mandate.

Attorneys for the 34-year-old tennis superstar filed docs with an Australian court on Saturday, according to the NY Times, arguing officials went against the advice of their own immunization advisory group when they canceled Novak's visa, believing he received a bogus exemption allowing him to skirt Australia's strict vaccine mandate.

Djokovic's lawyers say Australian health officials previously suggested recent COVID infections could exempt travelers from needing the vaccine. Novak's lawyers say their client had COVID in mid-December ... and should've been granted entry.

In fact, the attorneys say border officials "radically and fundamentally" misapplied guidelines set forth by the immunization health officials.

FYI, it wasn't publicly known that Djokovic had COVID in December 2021. However, it was known he contracted the virus in June 2020.

Of course, the defending Australian Open champ had his visa canceled when he landed in Melbourne on Thursday. Novak opted to appeal the decision, so rather than instantly being deported, he was taken to a quarantine hotel run by government officials.

Novak's family says he's being held captive ... while Australian officials have insisted the #1 tennis player in the world can leave whenever he wants.

Even before Djokovic touched down in Melbourne, his impending arrival kicked off a raging debate in the country ... with many upset, believing the tennis star was going to get preferential treatment.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison even got involved ... vowing to investigate the medical exemption Djokovic received, in order to check its legitimacy.

Djokovic has a hearing on Monday ... where his fate will be determined. If the cancelation of the visa is upheld, Novak won't only have to worry about missing this year's tournament. He could be banned from entering Australia for several years.

Antonio Brown's NFL career is over -- at least, that's what legendary NFL coach Dick Vermeil thinks ... telling TMZ Sports he can't see another team giving him a shot after his wild, shirtless exit from the Buccaneers.

"I can't believe somebody would," Dick tells us. "A man demonstrates what he is by what he does and he answered everybody's evaluation questions when we saw him doing that stuff."

Of course, Vermeil is referring to AB taking his pads and jersey off and heading to the locker room -- in the middle of Sunday's game against the Jets -- after a disagreement with coach Bruce Arians.

"I have never in my 30-something years of coaching from high school, junior college, Division I and the NFL -- I have never seen anything like that," he added.

Vermeil -- who coached the Eagles, Rams, and Chiefs -- gives Tampa Bay credit for trying to help AB get his career back on track by signing him last season ... but says the controversial star was never going to change his ways.

"I think sometimes even though you're trying to do the right thing that you bring your own problems," Vermeil said.

"You create your own problems by bringing people that have been a problem," he continued, "What makes you think that you're gonna change 'em?"

Vermeil says he never would have given AB a shot to begin with ... saying, "I try to stay away with players that had problems because you have enough problems with players who don't have problems."

"To bring somebody in with a profile like he has, you only asking for problems."

A 100-year-old contract, hand-written by Babe Ruth, is available for auction ... and is expected to rake in a FORTUNE -- up to a million bucks.

The document -- an endorsement deal with bat company Hillerich & Bradsby -- was written entirely by the then 23-year-old Ruth, and is dated September 9, 1918.

Ruth signed his name, "Geo. H. Ruth," 6 times on the paper ... so Hillerich & Bradsby could take the best version of his John Hancock and stamp it on bats.

The signatures were all authenticated by PSA ... and given a grade of MINT 9.

The contract also comes with the original mailing envelope, also addressed entirely by Ruth.

"Mr. Bradsby/Louisville Base Ball Bats/Louisville, Ky." the MLB legend wrote. The envelope in which the contract was sent was from the Hotel Metropole in Chicago.

The deal came together when the company approached Ruth, and asked to use his name. For his troubles, the Bambino requested $100.

Yes, $100 for arguably the greatest baseball player ever. Compare it to current players who regularly sign contract and endorsement deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

FYI, a lot of the game's early-day sluggers used Hillerich & Bradsby bats ... including Ty Cobb and Lou Gehrig, in addition to Babe.

The unique piece is now available for bidding at MINT25/Lelands. Bidding started at $100K ... but there have already been 8 bids, with the high bid reaching 145K.

But, you can expect the contract to sell for much more ... 'cause people behind the auction tell us they expect it'll ultimately go for around $800K to $1 million!