TMZ Sports - Page 50

"Yeah, it's over guys!!!"

Giannis Antetokounmpo had an epic reaction to Team LeBron's stacked lineup for the All-Star Game ... declaring an early victory while chowing down on some delicious lemon pepper wings!!

LeBron James' starting 5 is about as dominant as you can get -- with the Lakers superstar adding the Greek Freak, Stephen Curry, Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic to his team Thursday night.

The Milwaukee Bucks star wasn't able to watch the ASG draft since he was on the court against the Grizzlies at the time ... but he was brought up to speed in a postgame interview after the close win over Memphis.

"That's the starting 5?!," Giannis asked, surprised. "Yeah, it's over guys!"

"Me, Lebron, Luka, Jokic and Steph?! Man, that's a good starting 5. That's a good starting 5!"

Side note -- this is all happening while Giannis is eating some of the most beautiful chicken wings you'll ever see. Why?? 'Cause he's in Memphis and that's what you do.

Back to the All-Star draft -- Giannis joked about being the first player picked out of the pool for the game ... asking if he gets any kind of special treatment.

"Do I get a hat? Do I get something? Do I gotta wear the suit now being number one overall?" Antetokounmpo joked ... before getting real for a sec.

"It's a compliment. I'ma just go there, have fun, try to represent the city the right way. Try to get a win for team Lebron and just have fun."

This marks the first time Giannis isn't a captain during the "draft-era" of the All-Star Game ... with Kevin Durant taking over duties in 2021.

KD's lineup is pretty scary, too -- with Bradley Beal, Joel Embiid, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard and Jayson Tatum.

Scary situation for Chicago Bulls star Zach LaVine -- cops were called to his home Thursday night after an allegedly obsessed woman showed up at his door and refused to leave.

Our law enforcement sources tell us ... 25-year-old LaVine was at his residence when the woman arrived.

We're told Zach did not know the woman -- but she had traveled from another state demanding to have a conversation with the young superstar.

When asked to leave the property, we're told the woman refused -- so cops were called.

Once help arrived, we're told officers took her to a local hospital for a mental health evaluation -- she was not formally arrested and has not been charged with a crime.

We reached out to LaVine's camp -- so far, no comment.

It's been a big week for LaVine -- who was just named to the NBA All-Star team for the first time in his career.

The sports card market is still ON FIRE -- and the proof is this Tom Brady signed rookie card which just sold for $1.32 MILLION!!

The card is a hand-signed 2000 Playoff Contenders Championship Rookie Ticket card -- one of only 100 ever produced.

The card was graded by the folks at PSA -- one of the top authentication and grading companies in the industry -- and received an "8" on card quality and a perfect "10" on signature quality.

The card was put up for sale at PWCC Marketplace and ultimately snatched up earlier this month by James Park -- the super wealthy CEO of FitBit, who also happens to be a hardcore sports card collector.

In fact, Park issued a statement on the purchase -- saying, "Given Brady’s uncontested status as GOAT in football, this card is an important piece of sports history and of any collection and I’m incredibly excited to now own 1 of only 100 of Brady’s best rookie card."

He added, "I lived in Boston for 10 years and so am a huge fan of Brady. The last Super Bowl win was just a mind-blowing accomplishment. I’ve also had a love of collecting cards since I was a kid."

There are reports the item is the highest selling football card of all time -- however, Darren Rovell reports the same Tom Brady card with a better grade, 8.5, sold in a private transaction for $1.7 million just last month.

When Claressa Shields hits the ring on Friday night -- she'll be rocking custom fight trunks paying tribute to Kobe Bryant and Gianna.

25-year-old Shields is taking on IBF super welterweight champion Marie-Eve Dicaire -- in a fight to unify the super welterweight division.

Claressa has established herself as the top fighter in women's boxing -- she's 10-0 as a pro ... with TWO gold medals in the Olympics.

She was clearly inspired by the greatness of Kobe and his daughter Gianna -- which is why she decided to put their names on her trunks.

Shields tells TMZ Sports she's laser-focused on her fight with Dicaire -- explaining, "I wanna knock her out but I also wanna have a great performance."

"She's gonna come out there and try to perform but I just know that I can get her out between rounds 5 and 7. It just depends which round that I'm really feeling it."

As we previously reported, Shields is also training to make the jump from boxing to MMA ... with her first MMA fight scheduled to take place in the summer.

Still no word on who Claressa's first MMA opponent will be -- but she doesn't care! Bring on ANYONE!

"My only job is just to prepare. I don't really care who they put me in there with I'm just gonna do my best."

Don't get it twisted ... Shields says she'll continue to box -- maybe the first true two-sport star in all of combat sports?

"I fight my first MMA fight in the middle of June and I'll be having a boxing match in maybe December and maybe another MMA fight in August, September. I'm not even sure but I know for sure June I'll be back, I'll be in the cage for sure."

Sad news out of Canada ... Wayne Gretzky's father, Walter Gretzky, has died after a battle with Parkinson's disease. He was 82.

"It's with deep sadness that Janet and I share the news of the passing of my dad," Wayne said in a statement late Thursday evening.

"He bravely battled Parkinson's and other health issues these last few years, but he never let it get him down."

"For me, he was the reason I fell in love with the game of hockey. He inspired me to be the best I could be not just in the game of hockey, but in life."

The stories about Walter Gretzky's role in Wayne's career are legendary -- he served as The Great One's personal coach growing up, hammering home the fundamentals of the game.

One of his most famous lessons for Wayne focused on ANTICIPATING the action -- skate to where the puck is going, not where it's been.

Walter loved hockey -- but never played at the pro level. He played junior and senior hockey growing up in Canada but realized he wasn't good enough to make a career out of it.

His son, however ... well, we all know how that turned out.

In fact, Walter basically built a shrine to his son at the family home in Ontario -- which somebody actually burglarized back in 2020.

Family members reported roughly $500,000 worth of Wayne Gretzky memorabilia was stolen from the home .. including game-used sticks, jerseys, gloves, pants and even a Player of the Year award.

But, the story had a happy ending for Walter ... after a 3-month investigation, cops recovered a bunch of the items.

Wayne concluded his tribute to his father by saying the family is at peace knowing Wayne has been reunited with his late wife, Phyllis, who passed away in 2005.

Former NHL star Sean Avery busted a man's car mirror during a heated altercation in L.A. Thursday morning ... but he tells TMZ Sports he's the real victim in the situation.

Here's the deal ... law enforcement tells us cops were called out to the 8300 block of the Yucca Trail near West Hollywood around 10 AM to respond to a call of vandalism.

What happened preceding the call, though seems to boil down to two sides.

On one end, there's Niku. On the other, there's Avery ... and both guys claim the other dude was the aggressor in the incident.

Niku says a couple weeks ago, back in mid-February, he got into a confrontation with Avery in the neighborhood after unintentionally blocking the former hockey player down a two-way, one-lane road.

Niku says when he backed up to let Avery by ... the 40-year-old ex-NY Ranger became aggressive, rolled down his window and yelled "slow down you fat f***" over and over.

Niku says he hadn't had any contact with Avery since ... until Thursday morning, when he drove by the NHL player, who was on a jog.

Niku claims Avery recognized him from their February incident, and became incensed, and chased after him.

In video of the incident, you can see what happened next ... Avery caught up to Niku and opened his door -- before Niku quickly pulled it shut.

Niku then rolled down his window and called Avery a "psychopath."

Avery then stood in front of Niku's car ... until Niku drove slowly towards him while honking his horn.

Avery eventually got out of the way, but elbowed the dude's driver's side mirror as he stepped aside.

Avery, though, claims the whole thing was started because Niku hit him while he was jogging.

Avery says he chased Niku down to try to get him to stop ... saying Niku, "Tried to run me over." Avery added, "My leg's a little hurt."

Cops wouldn't reveal any more details from their investigation into the incident Thursday ... only telling us that a report was taken. They added no arrests were made.

Jimmy Graham was reportedly involved in a terrifying rollover car crash Thursday morning ... but, thankfully, the NFL star says he walked away from the accident "unscathed."

Details surrounding the specifics of the incident are unclear ... but according to Andy Slater, Graham flipped his car in the Miami area avoiding a vehicle "that was blocking the road."

Graham confirmed the accident on Twitter, writing that he's OK despite the reported scary details.

"Just wanted to get ahead of this and tell everybody I’m fine," the 34-year-old said. "Was in an accident this morning trying to avoid a disabled vehicle in the center lane."

"I walked away from it unscathed. Blessings."

It's amazing news ... everyone knows the dangers of rollover crashes -- especially after Tiger Woods shattered his right leg in one just days ago in Los Angeles.

The Big Ticket will not become the Big Owner -- Kevin Garnett's investment group is out of the race to buy the Minnesota Timberwolves, the ex-NBA star announced Thursday.

As we previously reported, billionaire Glen Taylor -- who has owned the team since 1995 -- began listening to offers to sell the team back in July 2020 ... with KG "seriously interested" in taking over the reins with a group of investors.

But, that dream is officially dead ... with Garnett sounding off on the outcome in a fiery Instagram post.

"Sooo just got the news that this process in trying to acquire the TWOLVES IS OVER for me n my group," KG said. "Thx Glen for being yourself n what I Kno you to be!!! GOOD LUCK n aww the best with WHAT WE BUILT."

Remember, KG -- easily the best player in franchise history -- HATED Taylor for years ... but extended an olive branch in hopes of working together to rebuild the organization.

But, that strategy ultimately didn't work ... and Garnett says he's "not hurt, just disappointed" in losing out on the opportunity.

"Crazy that some of these players that helped build these fuxin Franchises like a home but can never own them, only rent them," he said.

"GTFOH ISHHH IS A JOKE ... Fux em doe ... your loss."

Garnett seems to be holding out hope on being an owner in the future, however ... listing cities like Las Vegas and Seattle as possibilities.

As for the Wolves?? He's taking the Chris Brown approach.

The 2021 NBA All-Star Game will feature a special court designed to honor historically black colleges and universities ... and the first images look amazing!

NBA officials previously announced the March 7 event at State Farm Arena in Atlanta will be dedicated to "elevating Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and COVID-19 equity."

In other words, the league wants to help get resources to HBCU students and staff who have been impacted by the pandemic.

And, to put a spotlight on the issue, the league reached out to several HBCU alumni to create custom artwork for the court.

The final product is pretty cool -- it celebrates the culture of HBCUs ... from the spirited marching bands to the focus on education and more.

As part of the festivities, the official student marching bands from Grambling State and Florida A&M will perform during player introductions.

The NBA has also committed $500,000 in scholarship funding to both the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) and the United Negro College Fund.

There's an additional $750,000 in funding that will be awarded to the organizations based on various challenges taking place during the game.

For example, whichever team is leading at the end of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd quarter will be awarded $150k (for each quarter) to donate to one of the orgs.

And, get this ... the 3 main officials working the All-Star Game are all HBCU graduates -- Tom Washington, Courtney Kirkland and Tony Brown.

"Nothing happened behind the scenes. They’re both great guys who have had incredible careers here."

That's Dana White telling TMZ Sports his decision to release Alistair Overeem and Junior dos Santos from the UFC wasn't personal, just business ... and everyone's still on good terms.

Junior dos Santos signed with the UFC in 2008. Overeem has been with UFC since 2011.

Both guys were cut from the UFC roster this week -- so when we spoke with Dana on Thursday ... we asked why.

"People get cut every week … I think those two are pretty self-explanatory. It's nothing negative, it's just part of the sport.

40-year-old Alistair is coming off a loss to Alexander Volkov -- he was 6 and 4 in his last 10 fights.

37-year-old JDS is on a 4-fight losing streak -- most recently suffering a TKO loss to Ciryl Gane in Dec. 2020.

"If you look up what they’ve done recently ... you look at their age ... you look at everything that's going on, it's pretty self-explanatory," White said.

White praised both guys as being super tough and consummate pros.

"Alistair Overeem never said no to a fight, never turned down a fight … would fight anybody."

"And, JDS is one of the nicest human beings in the sport, I have nothing but amazing things to say about both guys."

Bottom line -- "Age, it gets us all man."

There's more ...

Dana is FIRED UP for UFC 259 on Saturday -- especially the main event, middleweight champ Israel Adesanya vs. light heavyweight champ Jan Blachowicz.

Only Jan's belt is on the line on Saturday -- so, if Israel wins, he'll be the UFC's next Champ Champ!

"Jan Blachowicz might not be very well known but I feel like this is his coming-out party," White says.

"If he can beat the undefeated midweight champion Israel Adesanya, everybody will know him and be talking about him on Sunday."

Another big fight is UFC superstar Amanda Nunes vs. Megan Anderson.

"The thing that makes this fight real fun is both of these women have knockout power. We'll see lots of fun female fights that are very technical, fast pace, etc -- these two women can knock other women unconscious and the fact that they have that kinda power, makes this fight very badass."

June 2 will now be "Lou Gehrig Day" in Major League Baseball ... league officials just created the tradition to honor the baseball legend and to help try to find a cure for ALS.

MLB execs say they picked the day for two reasons -- June 2, 1925 was when the former Yankees superstar took over at first base for Wally Pipp and never looked back. June 2, 1941 was the day he tragically died.

Teams are expected to honor Gehrig by wearing patches on their uniforms. Players, according to MLB, will also have the opportunity to wear wristbands with "4-ALS" on them during games.

Gehrig passed away just days before he turned 38 ... after a two-year battle with ALS, which is also known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease."

The MLB is hopeful the new annual tradition of Lou Gehrig Day will help remember Gehrig as well as raise funds and awareness for ALS research.

"While ALS has been closely identified with our game since Lou's legendary career, the pressing need to find cures remains," league commish Rob Manfred said Thursday.

"We look forward to honoring all the individuals and families, baseball and beyond, who have been affected by ALS and hope Lou Gehrig Day advances efforts to end this disease."

New Space Jam, new Lola Bunny.

The director of "Space Jam: A New Legacy" has "reworked" Lola Bunny's role for the reboot -- claiming he wasn't comfortable with the "very sexualized" way she came off in the original back in 1996.

The man behind the film is Malcolm D. Lee -- who has worked on flicks like "Girls Trip," "Undercover Brother" and "Night School" ... he's also Spike Lee's cousin!!

Now that he's taken over the reins of the legendary "Space Jam" franchise, Lee wanted to make sure Lola Bunny would be a strong role model for young people.

"This is 2021," Lee told Entertainment Weekly. "It's important to reflect the authenticity of strong, capable female characters."

We went back and checked out the Lola scenes from the original 'Space Jam' and Lee has a solid point.

The scene where Lola first enters the basketball gym is scored with sexy bombshell music — and the rest of the Tune Squad players are so taken by her appearance, they are literally paralyzed.

Lola, after showing off her impressive basketball skills, saunters out of the gym and admonishes Bugs Bunny for previously referring to her as "Doll."

So, what can we expect in the LeBron James reboot? Gone are Lola's short shorts — replaced by typical workout gear with compression shorts underneath.

It seems the director was hoping to model Lola after a typical high-level female athlete -- which makes sense considering real-life WNBA superstars Diana Taurasi and Nneka Ogwumike both have key roles in the reboot.

As for LeBron, the Lakers superstar has spoken about how important the movie is to him ... and being able to share his own example of fatherhood in the flick.

Disgraced ex-Team USA Gymnastics coach John Geddert took his own life next to a dumpster at a rest area in Michigan ... minutes before he was scheduled to surrender to authorities.

A family member called 911 on Feb. 25 when Geddert failed to turn himself in to law enforcement officials to face 24 criminal charges stemming from alleged misconduct during his career as a gymnastics coach.

As we previously reported, 63-year-old Geddert was facing 20 counts of human trafficking, 2 counts of sexual assault, 1 count of racketeering and 1 count of lying to a peace officer -- he was facing life in prison.

According to a 911 call released by officials, a woman who claims to be a family member says they started tracking Geddert's phone when he didn't show up at the scheduled surrender site ... and used GPS to locate him at a rest area in Michigan.

When they got to the scene, they found Geddert dead next to a dumpster with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

The woman on the 911 call is in tears as she describes the scene to the dispatcher.

"He's not in a vehicle ... he's on the ground by the dumpster."

Officials had announced the charges against Geddert in a press release earlier in the day -- and he was scheduled to be arraigned in the afternoon. He never made it to court.

As we previously reported, Geddert's death essentially ends the criminal case against him -- because there's really no point in prosecuting a dead person.

Alleged victims will likely take action against Geddert's estate in civil court -- but it's usually more difficult to win a civil case without a criminal conviction.

The L.A. County Sheriff got a search warrant to seize the black box in the vehicle Tiger Woods crashed ... because a judge believed there was probable cause to believe a crime may have been committed, and law enforcement sources say the possible offense is misdemeanor reckless driving.

Multiple law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the search warrant prepared by the Sheriff's Dept. outlined details of the crash that left Tiger badly injured. Some of the items go to the heart of the warrant -- establishing probable cause -- the fact there were no skid marks, the objects struck by the SUV before it came to rest, the fact it was a single-vehicle crash, Tiger's horrendous injuries as well as damage to the vehicle and apparent excessive speed.

Our sources say the words "reckless driving" are not mentioned in the warrant. In fact, our sources say no specific crime is listed in the warrant. Nevertheless, a judge is prohibited from signing a search warrant unless there's probable cause of a crime. That's the essence of the 4th Amendment to the Constitution.

Our law enforcement sources say one of 2 things occurred ... either a member of the Sheriff's Dept. went into the judge's chambers to discuss the warrant -- something that is frequently done -- and mentioned reckless driving, or the judge simply looked at the documents and determined there was probable cause of possible reckless driving. Nevertheless, our law enforcement sources say examining the black box for possible reckless driving was the object of the search warrant.

Alex Ovechkin's wallet is now $5,000 lighter ... the NHL just hit him with a fine after it says he "speared" a Boston player in the man junk during their game Wednesday night.

Ovi and Bruins winger Trent Frederic went after each other often during the Washington Capitals' tilt with Boston ... with Frederic even challenging the NHL legend to a fight at one point mid-game.

35-year-old Ovechkin declined the scrap ... but the drama didn't end there, 'cause later in the night in the 3rd period, Frederic tried to get under Ovi's skin once again.

The Bruins' 23-year-old stole a puck from Ovechkin and then cross-checked him with his stick several times.

The Caps superstar eventually had enough, and slashed the hell out of Frederic's groin!!!

Both players were hit with penalties for the incident ... each being forced to sit for 2 minutes.

The NHL clearly felt Ovi's penalty, though, needed more ... with the league slapping him with a fine Thursday morning, explaining the dollar amount was "the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement."

All in all, it was probably worth it for Ovechkin -- dude's made over $120 MILLION in his NHL career AND his team came out with the 2-1, shootout win.

FILE UNDER: Things a pending NFL free agent should NOT be doing!!

Here's JuJu Smith-Schuster eating over TWENTY punches from boxing superstar Ryan Garcia for a "body shot challenge" video ... just days before he's set to sign a new, mega-contract!!

JuJu -- who will likely move on from the Steelers and ink a multi-million dollar deal with a new team later this month -- decided to hit the gym with Garcia and take a pounding.

If you're unfamiliar, Garcia has made the "body shot challenge" famous over the last few months ... both taking and giving punches to and from celebs in wild, viral videos.

To his credit, JuJu held up pretty well despite the barrage of violent left and right hooks from one of the world's best boxers ... but in the end, the NFL wideout was hit so many times, he crumpled to the ground.

Don't worry, the 24-year-old is going to be okay -- at least, it appears that way -- he posted on social media afterward, "Amazing workout with @kingryan, so much respect for Pro Boxers! This was no joke!"

Garcia also commented on the clip, joking he KO'ed one of the NFL's best receivers!

"DOWN GOES JUJU 🗣 😂😂 Body Shot Challenge claims another 🥊🥊 Respect to Juju for doing it with little to no protection."