TMZ Sports - Page 50

Team USA soccer superstar Megan Rapinoe is making it crystal clear ... if the U.S. wins the World Cup, there's NO WAY IN HELL she's visiting Donald Trump at The White House.

"I'm not going to the f*cking White House," the 33-year-old co-captain told Eight By Eight Magazine ... "We're not going to be invited."

She's probably right about the second part ... Megan -- and other teammates have been very outspoken when it comes to their disapproval of President Trump and Rapinoe is confident Trump knows it.

"[Trump] tries to avoid inviting a team that might decline. Or, like he did when the Warriors turned him down, he’ll claim they hadn’t been invited in the first place"

When asked if she was speaking for the whole team, Rapinoe replied ... "I don’t know everyone’s voting patterns on our team, but I would hope no one voted for him."

Rapinoe has been VERY political in the past -- she was the first white pro athlete in America to take a knee during the National Anthem ... following Colin Kaepernick's lead.

She no longer takes a knee, but Megan doesn't put her hand over her heart or sing along with the lyrics anymore.

Trump was asked if Rapinoe's form of protest was appropriate on Monday -- and he told The Hill, "No. I don't think so."

Not that Rapinoe cares anyway ...

As for Team USA, they're on a tear right now ... they just beat Spain in the Round of 16 and are set to battle with France on Friday.

Tom Brady's avocado ice cream is the NY Jets of dessert ... as in, IT SUUUUCKS!

... at least according to Tom's #1 target Julian Edelman.

Tom has raved about the avo ice cream for years -- and even featured the recipe for the alleged treat in his book, "The TB12 Method."

Per the legendary QB, the healthy confection calls for an avocado, some cashews, some coconut, some dates, some cacao powder and water.

Brady's said of it in the past that it's "just as delicious but much healthier" than normal ice cream. Sure.

So, how does it REALLY taste!?!? We asked Jules ... and he hit us with a truth bomb!!!

"I DON'T LIKE IT."

That's it. Short statement. But, to the point. We finally have our answer.

Kyler Murray ain't going to have a cakewalk to the Arizona Cardinals' starting QB spot ... so says Brett Hundley, who tells TMZ Sports, "My No. 1 goal is to get that starting job."

"I don't play to be second," Hundley says.

Don't get it twisted ... Brett still respects the hell out of Kyler, saying the Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 overall draft pick is an "unbelievable guy" and a "very good young man."

But, Brett -- who signed with the Cards this offseason after spending the 2018 season as Russell Wilson's backup in Seattle -- says he wants to be Kliff Kingsbury's No. 1 guy in the desert.

"For me, my goal always has been to start, no matter where I'm at, no matter what the position is in," Hundley says ... "You know, I don't play to be second."

The competition will officially kick off in August during training camp ... but, in the meantime, Hundley's been enjoying his offseason with some serious traveling.

The 26-year-old has been moving all around Israel and Greece this month, and says he's still got trips planned for Egypt and South Africa in the coming weeks.

Brett tells us he's really fallen in love with all the globetrotting ... and says this will be his hobby once his playing days are done.

Here's some math for you ...

Lingerie model + thong bikini + ripped soccer star + makeout session + Greece = ONE HELLUVA TUESDAY!

Yes, smokin' hot Brazilian model Izabel Goulart and her Team Germany soccer star fiance, Kevin Trapp, are heating things up in Mykonos ... smothering each other by the pool.

The two have been dating for years -- but got engaged in 2018 ... and clearly, the sparks are still flying!

34-year-old Goulart is a former Victoria's Secret Angel who's also made the pages of Sports Illustrated, FHM, GQ, Glamour ... you get the point.

28-year-old Trapp is a pretty solid goalkeeper who's under contract with Paris Saint-Germain ... though he's currently on loan to Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany's famous Bundesliga league.

But, he's clearly got some downtime ... so why not take your insanely hot fiancee on a beach vacation to Greece, right?

There was kissing ... and back rubs ... and kissing ... and sunbathing ... and more kissing.

Leonardo DiCaprio's game face looks pretty damn painful ... especially when there's a volleyball smashing into it.

The Oscar winner was down in Malibu getting into his latest favorite pastime -- aside from dating models, of course ... good, old-fashioned beach volleyball!

Leo was diving left and right over the weekend, going low for saves and rising high for spikes as he played alongside Robin Thicke and the rest of his 'Bu crew, which included at least one woman on his side. At one point, Leo missed the ball and it hit him right in the kisser.

He's certainly a trooper -- Leo got right back into the game after the face splat, shook it off like a champ. Still though ... ouch.

We already know Leo's a fiend for the sport -- he got a lot of sets in last summer, and it looks like 2019 ain't gonna be much different. He's also consistent with his game gear -- T-shirt, shades and a ball cap ... front or backward, your preference.

The dude's got a big movie coming out soon -- Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" -- with his costars, Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt.

NBA star Andre Iguodala believes ex-Golden State Warriors head coach Mark Jackson has been blackballed from coaching in the NBA ... and it's all over his religious views.

Andre has been playing for the Warriors since 2013 -- and spent one year under coach Jackson -- who's been often credited with building the Warriors into the dynasty they are today.

But, ever since Jackson was fired, he hasn't been hired as a coach by any other NBA team -- and when Andre went on "The Breakfast Club," he explained his theory to Charlamagne tha God.

"One particular issue was -- from what I heard -- was his views on gender, or marriage, or what the bible said on your sexuality."

FYI, Jackson is a very religious Christian minister -- who would often livestream his church services to his congregation from the Warriors team facility.

Jackson also came under fire back in 2013 for comments he made when NBA player Jason Collins came out as gay.

"As a Christian man, I have beliefs of what’s right and what’s wrong," Jackson said at the time ... "That being said, I know Jason Collins, I know his family, and am certainly praying for them at this time."

Iguodala suggested Jackson's views were not received well by Warriors exec Rick Welts -- who's openly gay -- and the relationship between Mark and the team deteriorated from there.

"There was conflicts with that that were widespread," Andre said.

Jackson was fired in 2014 -- and Iguodala believes other powerful NBA execs have essentially conspired to keep Mark out of the league ever since.

Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri is speaking for the first time about an altercation where he allegedly shoved a cop after Game 6 of the NBA Finals ... saying, "I respect authority."

Ujiri is accused of pushing an officer both in the chest AND the face after the cop stopped him from stepping on the court to celebrate Toronto's championship win earlier this month.

Ujiri didn't want to get into specifics of the investigation during his press conference Tuesday ... but said, "My lawyers are updating me ... With that incident, I'm just going to respect what the process is there and the investigation."

"I am confident about who I am as a person, my character and as a human being."

Ujiri added, "I honestly am going to leave all my comments until the whole investigation is done. I think that's the fair way and the right way to operate when things like this do happen."

"I respect authority and I'll wait until that happens."

As we previously reported, the Alameda County Sheriff's Office says it's pursuing a criminal misdemeanor battery charge against Ujiri for the altercation.

As for the officer ... his attorney tells TMZ Sports the man suffered a concussion and a serious jaw injury -- and, as of last week, had yet to return to work.

NBA star Karl-Anthony Towns was looking to make a fashion statement on Rodeo Drive on Monday ... so he busted out a Colin Kaepernick jersey!

The 7'0" center for the Minnesota Timberwolves was doing some shopping in Beverly Hills (he had a giant Louis Vuitton bag in his hand), where our photog spotted the giant #7 jersey walking down the street.

"Kap's the man," the 23-year-old told us.

It's not the first time Towns has used fashion -- football jerseys in particular -- to make a statement on social issues ... remember, he rocked a "Free Meek Mill" jersey to the Super Bowl back in 2018.

Oh, and also ... FUN QUESTION!!! We also asked Karl -- who's MASSIVELY TALL -- if he has to get all of his clothes custom made or if he can ever buy a suit off the rack.

Bryce Harper, Christian Yelich and Nolan Arenado ... you are NOT better than Cody Bellinger, so says Jerry Hairston Jr., who tells TMZ Sports the Dodgers star is the 2nd best player in the MLB!!

"Outside of Mike Trout, he's the best player in baseball," the former World Series champ says ... "I think he will be the MVP."

Of course, Belli is in the middle of an EPIC season ... dude has 25 home runs, 62 RBIs and is batting .353 -- but most baseball experts still have him outside of the MLB's ultra-elite.

But, Hairston tells us Bellinger not only deserves to be in the top 5 ... he's No. 2 just behind Trout, saying, "I really believe it."

"He does everything well. He's right there with Mike. Cody is awesome."

We also spoke with the former Dodgers stud about Walker Buehler ... and Hairston says he's a true ace now -- but he tells us why the 24-year-old still ain't better than Clayton Kershaw yet!

Wladimir Klitschko and his family were SAVED by emergency responders in Spain on Monday -- after the luxury yacht they were traveling on, caught fire at sea!!

The rescue was all captured on video ... as firefighters and other emergency workers rushed to the boat off the coast of Mallorca around 2 AM and sprayed fire-suppressing foam on the boat.

"The boat was on fire, we're hanging out outside," the former boxing champ says on the dramatic video ... "We're in the sea getting rescued from the Mallorcan/Spanish fire department."

The yacht crew had already controlled the fire by the time rescuers showed up -- so responders mostly did some thorough inspection, made sure the fire was out ... and then towed the ship to port.

But, during the tow, smoke began to billow out of the engine room -- so the rest of the crew was evacuated to a rescue ship.

After the incident, 43-year-old Klitschko tweeted about the rescue ... saying, "Be careful what you wish for: fate took my wish for "some #adrenalin" a bit too literally and our boat-trip Sunday night ended up in our boat #igniting and family & friends being evacuated by coast guard and fire rescue-team."

"No worries: we are all fine!"

"Justin Bieber seems like a wimp" -- UFC star Ben Askren.

Yep, the biggest stars in the UFC are well aware of the possible Tom Cruise vs. Justin Bieber superfight ... and top-ranked welterweight Ben Askren is already picking a winner.

"I'm gonna say Tom Cruise," Askren says ... "Like, Tom Cruise at least seems like he's probably been through some sh*t."

As we previously reported, Bieber's rep, Scooter Braun, recently told Dana White he'd be down to fight FOR REAL if Tom signs on ... and Dana says it would be the biggest Pay-Per-View fight of all time.

Ben agrees ... "That would make a whole bunch of money!"

Meantime, Askren has his fight to worry about ... he's throwing down with Jorge Masvidal at UFC 239 on July 6.

But, if 56-year-old Tom Cruise does agree to fight 25-year-old Bieber, Askren says he'd be down to train the 'Mission Impossible' star ... and he's already got a game plan for him.

"All I'd teach him is [the double leg takedown] and then beat his ass ... little typewriter action on his face!"

Tiger Woods is no longer a defendant in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of a former employee at Tiger's Florida restaurant, who died last year in a DUI crash.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... the estate of Nicholas Immesberger sued The Woods -- along with Tiger and his girlfriend, Erica Herman, the restaurant's GM -- claiming Nicholas was overserved alcohol at the restaurant in the hours before the crash.

In the original suit, the Immesberger estate claimed Nicholas -- who was a bartender -- stayed after a shift on 12/10/2018 and was served to the point of "severe intoxication" before being allowed to get in his car and drive. He crashed and died shortly after.

The family claimed Tiger and Erica knew Nicholas personally -- knew he had an alcohol problem -- and should never have allowed him to be served alcohol.

But, Tiger's attorney, Barry Postman, says the family has had a change of heart when it comes to Woods personally ... and have voluntarily dismissed his name from the lawsuit.

"The decision was clearly appropriate and reflected the fact that Mr. Woods should not have been included in the lawsuit in the first place because he had nothing to do with Mr. Immesberger's death,'' Postman said in a statement.

"While the situation was tragic, the facts will ultimately show that the cause of Mr. Immesberger's car accident were the many decisions made by Mr. Immesberger on the night of his passing.''

Charles Barkley -- who's become extremely political over the years -- says the issue of reparations for slavery is a "serious subject" ... but admits he doesn't see a real clear way to make it happen.

The issue of reparations for the descendants for people enslaved in America has heated up recently -- just last week, there was a heated hearing about reparations at the House of Representatives.

The current debate is over a bill -- H.R. 40 -- which calls for a commission to be created with the mission of studying and coming up with proposals to compensate the descendants of slaves.

There are passionate people on both sides of the argument ... with author/journalist/activist Ta-Nehisi Coates clashing with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell during last week's hearing.

McConnell argued that slavery "happened 150 years ago for whom none of us currently living are responsible."

Coates fired back ... saying the U.S. paid out pensions to the families of Civil War soldiers "well into this century." He also noted the govt. still honors treaties made by people who are long dead.

So, where does Barkley stand on the issue? He's conflicted.

"It's a very difficult subject," Charles said ... "I don't know how you would do it, that's the problem."

"I don't think there's a right or wrong answer ... 'cause I don't know how you would do that actually. I don't know who would get it and who would not get it."

Ex-Dallas Cowboys RB Joseph Randle's rape case has been put on pause ... TMZ Sports has learned a Kansas court is ordering him to take a mental health evaluation to determine if he's fit to be tried.

Randle is accused of raping a woman for hours last September in Sedgwick County, Kansas ... and he's been fighting 11 serious charges in court ever since.

But, the attorneys for Randle -- who's been in and out of jail and mental health facilities for the past few years -- have argued the former NFL player is not in the right state of mind to defend himself.

Now, Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett tells us the case has been taken off the docket ... with officials wanting to see if Randle is, in fact, mentally fit to face the charges.

Bennett tells us if Randle is NOT able to pass the testing ... he will be placed in a state mental institution until he can "regain competency."

For his part, Randle said at his last hearing date on Feb. 12 that he did NOT rape his accuser ... saying, "she never said no."

Wanna throw a killer elbow strike like UFC legend Jon Jones?!

Well, good news, the reigning UFC light heavyweight champ came to our office and gave a live demonstration ... right on a TMZ staffer!

Of course, Jones is gearing up to fight Thiago Santos at UFC 239 on July 6 -- and he stopped by the office to talk with the guys from "TMZ Sports" about how he's planning to end Thiago's 4 fight win streak.

Jones hit on a ton of topics during the conversation -- here's a cheat sheet.

On Daniel Cormier ...

Jones doesn't think Cormier will ever agree to fight him for a 3rd time.

"I’ve been hearing things about him fighting [Stipe Miocic] then ending his career fighting me down at light heavyweight, and I don’t believe him," Jones says.

"I don’t think he’s ever going to fight me again."

"I think it’s a lot of pressure for him to get down to the light heavyweight division, and then to get down there, to climb such a mountain and not get to the actual top? It has to be so crushing to come up short against me for a 3rd time, I don’t think he’d put himself through that."

Julian Edelman ... Super Bowl champ -- and Super Dad???

The New England Patriots star says his new documentary, "100%: Julian Edelman," is set to show off his father side ... and he tells TMZ Sports it's the coolest part of the film.

"There's some unbelievable shots of me and my daughter," the wide receiver says ... "That was dope."

Of course, Edelman had a baby girl with Swedish model Ella Rose back in 2016 ... and for one of the first times since, Edelman is giving a rare glimpse of his dad side in the documentary.

Edelman tells us the footage is unbelievable, saying, "It was, like, just great memories."

The documentary -- which shows off Edelman's ride from his ACL tear in 2017 to his PED suspension in 2018 to his Super Bowl MVP performance in 2019 -- is set to air on June 28 on SHOWTIME.

Julian says he was super active in the editing process, and joked he's spent so much time on the project, he's "sick of it!"

By the way, Edelman also spoke with us about Rob Gronkowski earlier in the day ... and ya gotta watch the clip to find out if he'll miss off-the-field Gronk more than on-the-field Gronk!!