TMZ Sports - Page 3

Bobby Shmurda's getting back to work for NBA All-Star Weekend in Atlanta ... and he's set to bank big bucks for his first performances since getting sprung from prison.

Sources close to the situation tell TMZ ... after the rapper takes the mic Friday night for his triumphant return at Compound nightclub in the ATL, he'll walk away with $125,000.

Bobby's hosting the event -- dubbed his "Welcome Home Party" -- with 50 Cent, but it's just one of several gigs he has on the books for the hoops and hip-hop weekend.

We're told Shmurda's also signed on for smaller, private events that will ultimately bring his haul to more than $300K for a few days' work.

Of course, Bobby's not the only rapper taking advantage of the All-Star festivities. Our sources say his pal Rowdy Rebel -- who was also released from prison early this year -- will make $59k for his show at Halo Lounge.

Likewise, Lil Durk's set to score $100k for his Saturday night gig at Opera Nightclub.

Karl-Anthony Towns' newest car purchase features an incredible tribute to his late mother ... with the NBA star having her signature embroidered into the headrests.

KAT's mother, Jackie, tragically passed away back in April 2020 after a lengthy battle with COVID-19.

The Minnesota Timberwolves center's GF, Jordyn Woods, revealed his new red Maybach in an Instagram video Thursday ... showing off the touching honor to Jackie in the interior of the high-end whip.

"Baby boys new car 😍," Woods said. "Proud of him. One of the most intelligent and hardest working people I know!!"

The car appears to be a Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600, which reportedly comes with a $200k price tag ... that is, without all the bells and whistles that KAT likely added.

It's been a tough year for KAT, to say the least -- several family members have died from COVID, including his mother.

Karl and his father Karl Sr. later tested positive for the virus -- but they have both since recovered.

Plus, Karl was also hit by a drunk driver before the 2020-21 season ... he recovered from that as well.

So, yeah ... we're happy to see KAT happy. You deserve it. Enjoy the new car.

NBA star Donovan Mitchell says the refs straight-up "screwed" the Utah Jazz out of a win Wednesday night against the 76ers ... slamming the officiating as "f**king ridiculous."

The All-Star guard was booted from the game in the final minute of the Jazz's 131-123 loss to Philadelphia in OT ... after receiving two technical fouls for arguing with refs over calls.

Mitchell was LIVID as he headed to the locker room ... unleashing his frustrations on a nearby water cooler as he left the court.

After the game, Mitchell continued to blast the refs ... saying, "It's tough to go out there and see how we fight and compete, and to have a game like that taken from us."

"This whole refereeing stuff ... We're nice, we don't complain, like, we don't get frustrated, we fight through things, and the fact that we continually get ... screwed, in a way, by this. You know?”

Spida -- an MVP candidate for the Western Conference-leading Jazz -- had a fantastic game leading up to the ejection with 33 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists ... and feels the Jazz should have gone home with the W.

"We won this game, in my personal opinion," Mitchell said. "But like I said, I’m going to give them credit. They won. Whatever. Cool."

"But it’s been a consistent thing, and the question is, ‘Can we do it? Can we sustain it? Are we for real #1? And, yeah, the hell we are. And it’s getting f**king ridiculous that this is what is happening."

Jazz big man Rudy Gobert had Mitchell's back after the game ... telling the media he hopes the refs are embarrassed by their performance.

"I think it's disrespectful, to be honest, to the game of basketball and to our team, and hopefully, they're going to watch the game when they get home," Gobert said.

"Hopefully, they feel ashamed when they watch the game."

It’s a good bet Mitchell and Gobert can expect a letter in the mail from the league in the near future.

Blake Griffin is officially a free agent -- the 6-time All-Star has agreed to a contract buyout with the Detroit Pistons ... and now the big question is: where's he gonna go next?!

31-year-old Griffin -- the #1 overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft -- can now join any team he wishes ... and there are some serious contenders reportedly interested in adding Griffin for a playoff run.

One of those teams?? The Los Angeles Lakers, a squad that's already stacked ... but could really use the depth in the hunt to repeat as NBA champions in 2021.

There are 3 other teams that have expressed interest in Griffin -- the Miami Heat, Golden State Warriors and Brooklyn Nets, according to reporter Marc Stein.

Of course, Griffin hasn't played for the Pistons since Feb. 12 ... when Detroit announced he would remain inactive while they explored trades and the possibility of buying out his contract.

Considering Blake has a player option worth nearly $39 million for next season, it's no surprise Motor City couldn't find a suitable offer.

Griffin played in L.A. for 9 years with the Clippers ... but there's a real possibility he could return to his old home as a Laker this time around.

Alex Smith's run in D.C. is over ... the QB has officially been released by the Washington Football Team.

Now, the 36-year-old signal-caller with quite possibly the greatest comeback story EVER will try and continue his NFL career somewhere else.

Remember, Smith suffered a catastrophic injury to his right leg in 2018 -- a spiral and compound fracture to his tibia and fibula -- when he was sacked during a game against the Houston Texans.

The injury was so bad, Smith ultimately needed 17 operations to repair the damage -- and at one point, doctors seriously considered amputating the limb at the knee!

Smith missed the entire 2019 season -- but trained his ass off ... and ultimately returned to the field in 2020.

Miraculously, Smith got the green light from his doctors to resume football activities in July 2020 -- and was activated in August 2020.

Smith served as a backup for most of the season -- but when the starters all went down ... he stepped up and led the WFT in an unlikely Week 13 victory against the then-undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers!

Overall, Smith was 5-1 in games he started in 2020 -- and was named NFL Comeback Player of the Year.

His wife also commissioned an artist to turn his knee brace into a piece that resembled the Lombardi Trophy to commemorate his comeback.

So, what's next for Alex Smith? He reportedly still wants to play ... the question is, will any team make an offer??

Hey, he's defied the odds before ...

"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."