TMZ Sports - Page 50

The L.A. Lakers got a visit Monday night from a fan that was so furry and so cute -- even the game's broadcasters just had to take a paws to stop and recognize him!!

The Lake Show's No. 1 K9 supporter was none other than Brodie The Goldendoodle -- a doggo who's gained so much notoriety over the past few years, he's garnered 1 million followers on Instagram.

Somehow, the pup scored one of the best seats in the house for L.A.'s contest against the Knicks at Crypto.com Arena -- snagging a chair that was actually so good, it might have been better than Timothée Chalamet's.

And, the ball of fuzz certainly took advantage of the center-court spotlight ... dancing his tail off so hard during a break in the action, he actually caught the attention of ESPN play-by-play man Mike Breen.

"That's Brodie," Breen said on live television as the dog waved its legs in the air. "I've never seen this in 30-plus years!!"

Brodie, of course, is used to the limelight by now ... the 3-year-old's owner and he have trekked all over the country together while hitting sporting events sporadically.

In fact, he's been a star at Marlins games and Heats games in the past -- though apparently he's big into L.A. too ... 'cause he rocked an Austin Reaves shirt for most of the Lakers' contest vs. NY.

But, Monday did have a bit of a ruff ending for Brodie ... as LeBron James and co. couldn't get him a win, falling to the Knicks, 114-109.

AEW star CJ Perry has been hospitalized for several days with a gruesome infection in her finger that has since spread up her arm ... a complication that has required surgery.

The 38-year-old shared photos with her millions of social media followers this week ... initially saying on Saturday she went to the ER after realizing a problem with her middle finger and arm.

"Please keep me in your prayers I’m at the ER @vphcares," Perry said on X ... explaining the medical emergency is the reason why she has not been competing recently.

"The infection from my small finger has gone up my arm. I am so sorry I had to miss last night and @AEW tonight. I look forward to debuting in Mexico with @AndradeElIdolo. Good luck @ToBeMiro and my client."

Perry -- who went by the ring name Lana during her WWE tenure -- provided an update on Monday ... revealing she had to undergo a procedure to address the ailment.

"The infection has gotten worse and I'm going into surgery tonight," Perry said. "Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers. I love you all."

Perry joined AEW this year ... making her debut with her husband and fellow wrestler Miro, on September 3 at the All Out PPV event. She's also an AEW manager and signed El Idolo as her first client.

Before All Elite, Perry was a WWE Superstar who also managed other wrestlers like Rusev.

Derrick Ward, a former NFL running back and Super Bowl champion, was arrested this week in Los Angeles for allegedly committing multiple robberies around the city, TMZ Sports has learned.

43-year-old Ward, an L.A. native, is accused of robbing several businesses, including gas stations, over a recent period of time.

Law enforcement tells us ... Ward did not use a gun during the alleged robberies -- but officers say he did use force and fear to get money from the stores.

Ward was taken into custody on Monday afternoon and booked into jail around 6:30 PM. His booking information lists him at 6 feet tall, and 230 lbs.

DW was a 7th-round pick (NY Jets) in 2004 ... and also spent time with the NY Giants, Tampa Bay Bucs and Houston Texans over his 8-year professional football career.

Derrick -- who at one point signed a $17 million contract -- was a member of the NYG Super Bowl-winning squad that beat Tom Brady's undefeated New England Patriots to cap the 2007 season.

Ward played in 93 NFL games, carrying the rock 551 times for 2,628 yards. He had 15 total touchdowns ... 12 of them rushing.

Derrick is still in custody, according to jail records ... and bail has been set at $250K.

Drew Lock was rightfully feeling himself after leading the Seattle Seahawks to a comeback win over the Philadelphia Eagles on "Monday Night Football" ... turning up right in front of the cameras and appearing to let the expletives fly!!

The backup quarterback threw an absolute dime to Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the final minute of Seattle's 20-17 win ... and the guy couldn't contain his emotions as he celebrated the 29-yard tuddy.

"Put that f***ing s*** on, motherf***er!!" the lip readers over at The Sporting News believe Lock said during the broadcast ... although mics didn't exactly pick up the message.

Lock was filling in for starter Geno Smith, who has missed the past two games due to a groin injury.

Many didn't expect Lock to lead his team down the field to hand the Eagles their third-straight loss and fourth on the season ... and after the game, he gave an emotional interview on what the accomplishment meant to him.

"I'll remember that play call for the rest of my life," Lock said.

"It's so hard to describe the feeling of not playing for so long -- or at least what feels like a really long time to me -- and then you sit there and watch games, you wonder, 'Can I do this still?' I haven't been out there on the field. That's the human nature of it."

The Los Angeles Lakers have officially hung up a banner to celebrate their In-Season Tournament Championship ... and, as expected, it was met with some serious mixed reviews.

The team revealed Monday night the flag will stay in the rafters at Crypto.com Arena for the foreseeable future ... something that ain't exactly sitting right with plenty of fans of the storied NBA franchise.

After all, the team's won SEVENTEEN world championships -- and as you can hear in video from the pregame banner-raising ceremony prior to the contest against the Knicks, when L.A. officially hung the IST title keepsake, Lakers supporters didn't seem thrilled.

There was merely a smattering of applause ... and even LeBron James and his teammates didn't look all that pumped while watching the festivities from the court.

Of course, there were some who liked it, including Metta World Peace -- who told TMZ Sports last week he was definitely in favor of keeping the memento at the Lakers' home facility.

Several celebs in attendance at the game didn't seem to mind it much either ... Timothee Chalamet was all smiles in his courtside seat -- although his New York ballcap showed he probably could care less what L.A. does when it comes to decorating its arena.

Kevin Bacon, Dustin Hoffman, Mookie Betts and several other A-listers were there too ... and while it's not entirely clear what their stances were on the banner -- we take it they probably don't care much either way.

"Mob Wives" star Renee Graziano is 40 days sober following a stint at a Texas rehab ... and is now continuing to receive treatment thanks to the assistance of Lamar Odom.

A rep for Renee tells TMZ she's now focusing on trauma therapy at Lamar's wellness facility -- which aims to fight substance abuse, a cause near and dear to Lamar following his own near-fatal overdose in 2015.

A rep for Lamar says he actually reached out to Renee via IG when she made headlines for her rehab stay in November ... telling her if she needed anything while in treatment, to just let him know.

We're told the ex-NBA star also informed her of the services offered at Vanity Wellness Treatment Center, his facility in Sherman Oaks, CA.

Two weeks ago, Renee reached back out to Lamar ... saying she needed treatment for extensive trauma, and the program she currently was in at that time didn't offer that type of care.

Lamar immediately put the gears in motion ... connecting Renee with admissions for his facility -- and she checked in last Thursday after flying to Cali from Texas.

So far, so good ... Renee is loving the program and plans on staying for another 60+ days while working on her mental health, sobriety and physical health.

Omri Miran is among the Israeli hostages being held captive by Hamas ... and his brother-in-law, a former captain in the Israel Defense Forces, is calling for his safe return ASAP.

Moshe Lavi, the former IDF captain, says Omri was held at gunpoint by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, when he was kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz. Moshe says Omri's wife, his sister Lishay, and the couple's 2 daughters, Roni and Alma, were also held at gunpoint with Omri before ultimately being left behind and rescued by the IDF.

Some hostages have since been released by Hamas, but Omri was not among them ... so Moshe and family members of other hostages are pressuring public officials in Israel and across the globe to do whatever is necessary to bring more hostages home.

Moshe tells TMZ ... his family hasn't received any official word of how Omri is doing in captivity, though hostages released 2 weeks ago claimed Omri was seen alive in one of the Hamas tunnels in Gaza.

Still, Moshe says just because Omri was said to be safe back then doesn't mean he's in good shape now ... as Moshe points out, "Every second in captivity is eternity" ... which is why time is of the essence here.

Of grave concern to all the families is the fact 3 of the remaining hostages were accidentally killed during IDF efforts to take out Hamas militants. The victims have been identified, and Omri is not among them.

But, Moshe is calling on public officials to work day and night to bring Omri and his fellow captives back safely to their loved ones.

What's next for Jake Paul?!

That's the question many fans are asking after The Problem Child dispatched Andre August with a vicious uppercut less than 3 minutes into their boxing match on Friday in Orlando.

TMZ Sports asked Tyron Woodley, who was behind the microphone for Paul's scrap with August last week, who the YouTuber-turned-combat sports star should challenge next.

"I think if you're gonna fight anyone in MMA, you fight me MMA. I'm the one that did the numbers with you. I'm the one that did the millions and millions of views in the press conference. I'm the one that was a 5x champion. I'm the one who took the fight on 2 weeks' notice," Woodley told us.

The UFC legend continued ... "I was doing Cobra Kai for 14 hours straight. I trained at 3 AM and I saved that card. That card was not going to happen. People would not have been buying Christmas gifts had I not stepped up to the plate. So to talk about fighting anyone in MMA outside of me is disrespect."

Tyron added ... "If you really, really wanna prove that you can do it in my world, you fight the number one guy in that world."

Of course, 26-year-old Paul signed with PFL earlier this year, and he hasn't been shy about his desire to fight MMA.

Jake and Tyron fought twice previously ... but in a boxing ring.

The first bout in August 2021 went to the judges ... and Paul won by split decision. Later that year, T-Wood stepped up on short notice in place of Tommy Fury, saving the event. The former longtime UFC welterweight champion lost by 6th round knockout.

As for how 8-1 (5 KOs) Jake looked against August -- billed as the first true boxer he faced -- Woodley was impressed with the performance.

"I thought he did a great job."

"I literally said, 'Hey man, Andre better watch ducking his head 'cause he's gonna get hit with an up, I couldn't even say uppercut. I just got the U-P off and then he was sending him to the moon."

Tyron also talked about the experience of being on the losing side of things against Jake.

"I know how it is to be on both sides of it, thinking I won the fight, and then two judges thought it went the other way, and also being in there winning the fight every millisecond of the fight, and then all of the sudden you drop your hands one time, he got enough power to get the job done," Woodley said.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is clearly recovering nicely after breaking his hip during a nasty fall last week -- 'cause he's now firing off jokes about the situation, calling himself "Humpty Kareem!"

The NBA legend shared an update on his status on his Substack page on Monday ... revealing he was actually on his way to delivering a speech at The Manhattan Transfer's concert on Friday at Disney Hall in Los Angeles when the spill happened.

"I'd like to say I fell while trying to save a child from plunging over a balcony," he wrote, "but I just tripped."

"Hard for me to accept that a once world-class athlete just stumbled. But age is the great equalizer and humbles us all."

The 76-year-old, though, shared a snap of him in a hospital bed with a huge grin -- appearing to show that his rehab is moving smoothly.

Abdul-Jabbar also thanked all the first responders who cared for him after he went down ... and he vowed to be up and at 'em again shortly.

"All my best to you from my hospital bed," he wrote. "Me and my new hip will be dancing to [The Manhattan Transfer's] tunes again."

"Well," he continued, "gently swaying."

Rejoice, Eagles fans ... Jalen Hurts has just arrived at Lumen Field despite dealing with a gnarly illness -- and, as of right now, the quarterback looks set to play in the pivotal game against the Seahawks.

Of course, about 24 hours ago, it was unclear if Philadelphians would see the sight -- because the signal-caller had reportedly been battling some bad flu-like symptoms last week that worsened overnight Saturday.

In fact, things apparently got so miserable for Hurts over the weekend, the Eagles officially downgraded his status for the Seattle game to "questionable."

However, Hurts eventually made his way to Washington on Sunday -- and on Monday afternoon, just a couple hours before "Monday Night Football" kickoff, he strolled into the stadium looking OK.

The 25-year-old rocked sunglasses and carried his own bags ... moving without any noticeable hitch in his gait.

The Eagles could certainly use his presence -- they need to keep winning if they want to hold off the Dallas Cowboys for the NFC East crown.

Rashard Mendenhall wants to see the NFL's annual All-Star game get a big-time makeover ... suggesting the Pro Bowl evolve into -- get this -- a contest that pits the league's Black players vs. its white ones.

The ex-Pittsburgh Steelers star came up with the eyebrow-raising idea after he said he became agitated listening to white people break down NFL action.

"I'm sick of average white guys commenting on football," the former Super Bowl champion said in a post on X.

"Y’all not even good at football. Can we please replace the Pro Bowl with an All-Black vs. All-White bowl so these cats can stop trying to teach me who’s good at football."

The statement was polarizing ... though ex-NFL star J.J. Watt actually seemed to have some kind of fun entertaining the idea.

"We’d get cooked at corner, not gonna lie," Watt said in a comment on the post. "Nobody on our squad is covering Tyreek [Hill]." He added a crying/laughing emoji as well.

Shohei Ohtani has only been a Dodger for about a week, but he's already getting the superstar treatment in L.A. ... with brand-new murals popping up all over the city!!

TMZ Sports has learned ... famous street artist Jonas Never -- who has done work featuring LeBron James and Anthony Bourdain in the past -- decided to welcome Ohtani to the Dodgers by whipping together a new piece near downtown L.A.

JN used the Prociety shop as his canvas ... and we're told the whole thing took a day and a half to complete.

Of course, Ohtani is no stranger to the area -- after all, he spent the first six years of his MLB career with the Angels.

Jonas also had help from fellow artist Droyce on the project ... and we gotta say, it came out great!!

Steelers safety Damontae Kazee has just been sidelined for the rest of this season ... after the NFL slapped him with a suspension for his dangerous hit on Michael Pittman Jr. over the weekend.

In a statement announcing the ban on Monday, the league said the blow -- which happened in the second quarter of Pittsburgh's loss to Indianapolis on Saturday -- was "a serious violation of the playing rules."

The play was one of the most violent of the season -- Kazee left his feet and made contact with Pittman Jr.'s head/neck -- and the NFL made it clear when revealing Kazee's punishment it doesn't want that kind of act ever repeated again.

"You had an unobstructed path to your opponent and the illegal contact could have been avoided," NFL exec Jon Runyan said in a letter to Kazee revealing the suspension. "Your actions were flagrant, and as a result, you were disqualified from the game."

Kazee will now miss Pittsburgh's games against the Bengals, Seahawks, Ravens and any potential playoff games this season.

Runyan noted in his letter that previous violations factored into Kazee's lengthy ban.

"When players violate the rules intended to protect player safety on a repeated basis, and particularly when the violations carry with them a significant risk of injury to an opposing player, it is appropriate to impose substantially greater penalties," he said.

If Red Bull gives you wings, Logan Paul and KSI have rockets strapped to their backs ... Prime Hydration is exploding, and now the company has struck an endorsement deal with one of the biggest athletes in the world, Patrick Mahomes!

28-year-old Mahomes inked a deal with the YouTubers-turned-drink moguls ... as the two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback becomes the face of Prime Hydration, joining other athletes like Israel Adesanya, Alex Volkanovski and "Bud" Crawford.

"PRIME is a disruptive brand that has taken over the beverage industry since it first launched. They are gamechangers, and that's exactly what I strive to be on the field. Our partnership is a winning play, merging innovation and excellence, setting a new standard both on and off the field," Mahomes said.

"It's an honor to join the PRIME family alongside some of the greatest athletes, leagues and teams in the world."

The deal is different than your run-of-the-mill sponsorship agreement ... we're told Logan, KSI, Patrick, and Prime have plans to collaborate on a bunch of different charitable efforts.

In fact, Prime has already donated $100k in support of Patrick's 15 and the Mahomies Foundation.

KSI and Paul are clearly thrilled they've landed a guy like Mahomes, who fits right in with the brand.

"At PRIME, we believe in teaming up with greatness, and Patrick Mahomes isn't just one of the best quarterbacks of all time; he's rewriting the record book and bringing a whole new level of excitement to the game," Logan and KSI said.

Anthony Edwards is breaking his silence after a woman claimed he told her to get an abortion ... saying his comments were made "in the heat of a moment" and do not reflect his beliefs.

The 22-year-old Minnesota Timberwolves star was put on blast in a series of social media posts this weekend ... with user Paige Jordae, who has more than a million followers, sharing a recent text conversation that she says lays out Edwards' wishes to terminate her pregnancy.

The woman also shared a screenshot of a $100,000 wire transfer appearing to be from the former No. 1-overall pick after providing proof of the procedure.

Edwards seemingly owned up to it all on Monday ... releasing a statement on the matter saying, "I made comments in the heat of a moment that are not me, and that are not aligned with what I believe and who I want to be as a man."

The All-Star guard continued in a post on X, "All women should be supported and empowered to make their own decisions about their bodies and what is best for them."

"I am handling my personal matters privately and will not be commenting on them any further at this time."

Chandler Jones was recently involved in another run-in with cops -- this time the NFL star's confrontation with police happened while he was in Arizona.

According to a video the former Las Vegas Raiders pass rusher posted to his Instagram on Monday morning, several officers from the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office pulled up to a residence he was at looking to speak to him.

In the footage, you can see Jones exchanged words with the officers ... before one of them told the football player, "Mr. Jones, we've got to talk about why we're here now."

Suddenly, the camera falls and Jones can be heard screaming.

"Wait!" Jones yells. "Wait! No!"

You can hear in the clip officers trying to explain to him they're "there to help" -- before the video cuts out.

It's unclear when the footage was captured and what officers were there for -- we've reached out to cops for comment, but so far, no word back yet.

It's hardly the first time Jones has garnered seemingly unwanted attention from cops over the last few months -- he was arrested in Las Vegas two times in the fall for violations of a domestic violence temporary protection order.

And, according to a second video Jones shared on his IG on Monday morning, cops were also apparently at his home in Arizona another time recently to talk about a fire he had seemingly made in his backyard.

"We got a phone call that you were burning your furniture," the officers told Jones.

Jones denied the allegation, explained the fire was contained -- and even offered to bring out firewood to prove it all. The video stops before a resolution to the situation is seen.