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NBA guard Cameron Payne dialed 911 just before he was arrested in Arizona last month ... and in a tense conversation with dispatch, he said his name was "Terry Johnson."

The chat with the Scottsdale Police Department -- which lasted more than five minutes -- happened on June 14 at around 2:30 AM ... after the 29-year-old hooper said he had gotten into a verbal dispute with his girlfriend.

Initially, you can hear in audio of the call -- obtained by TMZ Sports -- that Payne wanted officers to come to his house ASAP. But, in an ensuing back and forth with dispatch, Payne pled with the official to drop the matter.

50 Cent took full advantage of his song "Many Men" trending alongside the Donald Trump assassination attempt -- but the song's producer, Darrell "Digga" Branch, sees it as a bittersweet moment.

The veteran beatmaker tells TMZ Hip Hop ... having the classic record go viral in 2024 is definitely a plus, but he's not down with it being used to make Trump look gangsta -- as it turns out, he can't stand the guy.

Digga says his notifications began to light up shortly after DT got hit in Bethel, PA. He admits wondering at the time if it was real or a prank, but of course, we now know the shooting was the real deal.

Long before the catastrophic Biden vs Trump showdown, Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy squared off in the first-ever televised Presidential debate -- and now, you can snag a slice of that historic moment for yourself!

Momentsintime.com is offering an ultra-rare B&W snapshot of Nixon and JFK from the 1960 debate, signed by both legends -- and it’s yours if you drop $54K!

The photo is gold-framed, pristine, and was signed for Oliver Treyz, the then-prez of ABC News.

The UFC will host the first-ever live sporting event at The Sphere in Las Vegas, but, there are only 10 fights. So, who gets a spot?? Well, 19-year-old Raul Rosas Jr. said earlier this week one should be reserved for him!

TMZ Sports talked to the rising star -- prior to reports he made the cut for the Noche UFC event going down on September 14 -- and he pleaded his case for why he should be involved.

"My manager is talking with the UFC right now, and I think the possibility is high," Rosas Jr. said of landing the coveted spot.

A woman accused of shooting a 7-month-old infant on the streets of Philadelphia has been arrested ... and TMZ has obtained her mug shot.

Dominique Billips -- the 28-year-old accused of the crime -- has been arrested and charged with aggravated assault, violation of the Uniform Firearms Act (VUFA), and related offenses according to a press release from Philly PD.

PPD says they arrested Billips Friday -- the day after the caught-on-camera shooting -- apprehending her without incident.

Thomas Matthew Crooks clearly put in serious practice at a gun range before trying to kill Donald Trump -- because now we know just how bad of a shot he was in high school, and why he didn't make his rifle team.

TMZ has spoken to sources who are directly familiar with Crooks' attempt to get on that team at Bethel Park High School, and we're told he had a disastrous effort on the shooting range ... sometime between 2018 and 2019 which resulted in him not making the squad.

Our sources -- who knew Crooks personally -- tell us he wasn't just a bad shot ... he was a total mess with a firearm, which was proven when he accidentally shot into a completely different lane from his own.

Chet Hanks is explaining why he's finally doing reality TV after years of offers coming his way ... and Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson are a big reason why he's popping his cherry.

Chet tells TMZ ... he turned down tons of reality TV opportunities over the years because the shows felt too negative, dramatic and messy ... until MTV came calling with a spot on "The Surreal Life."

After doing his homework and vibing with the producers, Chet says he felt good about joining the cast ... and a discussion with his parents pushed the deal across the finish line.

Everyone from Muhammad Ali, to Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather, have fought in the United States ... so when Eddie Hearn says the upcoming "Riyadh Season" event in L.A., featuring a bunch of top-notch fights, as well as a performance by Eminem, will be the biggest in the history of boxing in 'Merica, that's saying a lot!

"I mean, it's the biggest night of boxing I think America's ever seen," Hearn told Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs nightly on FS1).

The August 3 event goes down at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles ... and features a main event bout between Terence Crawford and Israil Madrimov, in addition to scraps between Andy Ruiz and Jarrell "Big Baby" Miller, Jared Anderson and Martin Bakole, "Pitbull" Cruz and Jose Valenzuela, amongst other compelling matchups.

A piece of tennis history is up for auction -- the shirt worn by Rafael Nadal en route to his first-ever Grand Slam title at the 2005 French Open ... and it's expected to fetch a pretty penny!!

TMZ Sports is told the match-worn shirt -- which Nadal wore during the quarterfinal, semifinal, and final at Roland Garros -- is being made available via Prestige Memorabilia.

We're told the legendary green sleeveless tee had a starting bid of $25,000 ... but is expected to sell for $100k -- and that's understandable given its history. Besides being the first time Nadal competed in the French Open, it marked the first showdown between the man who would become a longtime rival of his -- Roger Federer.

Glen Powell welcoming little pup Brisket into his life while he was filming "Twisters" is having a paw-sitive impact, not just on Glen and Brisket, but on the rescue org that helped connect them.

Samantha Peraino, Head of Operations for The Labelle Foundation, tells TMZ the whole process kickstarted when someone from the actor's team slid into their IG DMs after they posted a gallery back in June 2023, revealing the 10 ½-week-old puppy up for adoption.

She says Glen's rep notified them of his interest and asked about the next steps. Glen then filled out an application and met the pup in person, and it was love at first bark. He then paid the $700 adoption fee (which includes chipping and spaying/neutering) to make it official ... and they hooked up shortly thereafter.

Team USA volleyball star Kristen Nuss says she's fired up to play in the Eiffel Tower's shadow at the Olympics this month ... telling TMZ Sports the picturesque court straight up "gives me chills."

If you haven't seen it yet ... the volleyballers who qualified for the Paris Games will get to play their matchups starting next week just feet away from France's most iconic monument.

Check out some of the photos from the sand -- it's literally right next to the famed structure!!!

Mike Perry will be across from Jake Paul in just over 24 hours (more on that in a minute), but before fight night Platinum made a huge announcement, telling us he's launching his very own combat sports promotion, Dirty Boxing Championship!

"We are friends for fighters and fans," 32-year-old Perry told Babcock on the TMZ Sports TV show (airs nightly on FS1).

"Me and my team have been working on this for quite some time," Mike added. "We've tried to hint at this, we've been making way and we're ready to make the announcement that this is coming very soon. We're very close to being sanctioned by commissions and we're ready to get some athletes and get a card together and put a fight on sometime this year."

Blueface could be released from jail very soon -- and his mother Karlissa Saffold hopes to spoil him rotten with a surprise party to make it official!!!

Karlissa chopped it up with TMZ Hip Hop in Burbank on Thursday and she told us she's eyeing Blue's upcoming July 29 court hearing, which could be the last barrier to his freedom.

The L.A. rap star's been locked up since January on a probation violation and Karlissa is confident she'll be able to follow through with her party plans the very next day.

Count Joel Kinnaman among the mass of air travelers grounded by a massive tech outage ... he got stuck in an airport overnight, and had to use the ground as a mattress.

We got the 'Suicide Squad' star Friday at LAX and our photog asked him how the outage impacted his travel plans ... and Joel told us about his nightmare situation, which a helluva lot of other people also went through to cap off the week.

The weary traveler says it took him almost 24 hours to get across the country ... because his flight from Atlanta to Los Angeles was delayed due to the tech snafu -- so he was right there with everyone else suffering through it.

Glen Powell's crushing it in Hollywood -- but he's got other priorities these days that have nothing to do with movies ... like trading a bit of the spotlight to hit the books.

We got the A-list actor outside NYC's ABC Studio Thursday -- and we asked him about his recently-revealed plans to enroll at the University of Texas at Austin ... where he'll be gunning for a degree in Radio, Television and Film.

Glen tells us he's doing this to finish what he started -- sounds like he hit the pause button on school to pursue a career in front of the camera -- but he's got other people to please too.

Jordin Sparks isn't feeling great about her chances to replace Katy Perry as a judge on "American Idol" ... but she's still open to a call, and even has a sense of how she'd do it.

We caught up with the 'Idol' alum in L.A., where she confirmed she was totally serious when she pitched herself as the new judge for season 23 -- and while she believes that fell on deaf ears ... she also says she'd still love to return to her 'Idol' roots.

Jordin says hiring someone like her to fill in for Katy makes sense in her mind -- 'cause she's been on the show and has the experience ... but of course, it ain't really her call.