TMZ Sports - Page 50

LeBron James is gonna be happy to hear this ...

Kenny "The Jet" Smith says he loves the idea of Mark Jackson becoming the Los Angeles Lakers' next head ... telling TMZ Sports he can lead the team to a championship.

The Lake Show just fired Frank Vogel after a horrendous 2021 season ... and there are reports the 4-time NBA champ favors the former Golden State Warriors head coach to take the reins.

We spoke with The Jet about the vacancy ... and he thinks landing Jackson would add trophies to the Lakers' already-stuffed case.

"Mark Jackson, he knows how to handle that kind of environment," Smith said at LAX this week ... pointing out the success he had with the Dubs before he was fired in 2014.

Remember, the Warriors went on to win three championships over the next 4 years after Jackson's ousting ... while coach went on to work as an analyst for ESPN.

"He put the Warriors in contention of what they are," Smith said. "The way they play, their style of play. Steph Curry owes a lot to his career, because before Mark got there, Steph Curry wouldn't even play in 4th quarters. We wouldn't think he was a great player, a great defender."

"Mark Jackson could coach the Lakers to a championship, for sure."

UFC contender Belal Muhammad says Khamzat Chimaev proved he's the real deal in his battle with bonafide title contender Gilbert Burns ... and now the 6th ranked welterweight says he's aiming to be the man who ruins Borz's undefeated record.

"[Khamzat] fought with the #2 guy in the world in his 11th fight, so I think we learned how tough he is. I still think he's a great fighter and a great challenge for me, cause he's still undefeated now. I want to take his '0.'"

Of course, Chimaev fought Burns at UFC 273 ... and won by unanimous decision. The fight was great -- a Fight Of The Year candidate.

It was the first time Khamzat was pushed in a fight. In fact, in his first four UFC fights, Khamzat was only hit one time.

But, Burns landed over 100 strikes ... and many were big, heavy shots.

33-year-old Muhammad -- who hasn't lost since January 2019 -- is set to face #5 welterweight, Vicente Luque, Saturday at UFC Fight Night.

And, Belal says watching GB and KC perform made him want to push himself.

"That fight was amazing, it was a great back and forth war and it just made me wanna level up," Muhammad says, adding, "Later, I hopped on the treadmill, I started jogging five miles right away while the main event was still on. I was like, 'alright now I know what I need to do.'"

We also talked to Luque ... and like Belal, he says the Khamzat and Gilbert fight has him pumped up and ready to go!

Errol Spence is putting all his belts on the line Saturday night when he steps in the ring with Yordenis Ugas ... but it's the guy the undefeated boxing star wants next that'll be music to fan's ears -- Terence Crawford!!

TMZ Sports spoke with the champ ahead of his unification bout against 27-4 (12 KOs) Ugas ... his first fight since he had surgery on a retinal tear in his left eye in 2021.

"I'm 100% healthy and 100% ready," Spence tells us.

"My message to anyone doubting, please tune in. Even if you wanna see me lose, please tune in, watch the fight."

But, don't count on that L ... 'cause the 27-0 (21 KOs) boxer says he's taking home the win -- the only question is whether he can turn Ugas' lights out.

"Hopefully I can get the knockout but if I can't, I'll take the victory," Spence says.

"Definitely in the back of my mind to get the knockout"

Spence tells us right after this bout, he's coming for Crawford's WBO welterweight belt  -- one of the most highly sought-after fights among boxing fans.

"That's the fight I feel like only makes sense because it would just be one belt left," Spence says.

"That's the next fight I'll be campaigning for."

But first, Spence has to win this weekend.

And, this bout's even more special because it's at AT&T Stadium ... in his home state of Texas. The mayor of Dallas even proclaimed April 16 "Errol 'The Truth' Spence Jr. Day."

"It's dope, man," Spence said, "I've never had my own day in Dallas and just fortunate that it's gonna be on April 16th when I gain another title, too."

It's also just his second bout since his 2019 car crash that nearly took his life ... which we learned wasn't the only crash Errol got into. Spence says he was involved in a second accident (his insurance company is the only one who has successfully dropped Errol).

Kamaru Usman -- the UFC welterweight champ and top pound-for-pound MMA fighter in the world -- is breaking his silence on (likely) future opponent Khamzat ... telling TMZ Sports, he's down to fight Chimaev, but it's gonna cost him that undefeated record!

"I've never had a doubt that I can and will or would beat anyone in the world," Usman plainly told us when we asked if he had any uncertainty that he could beat Khamzat after watching the Burns fight.

It's the first time the 34-year-old star -- who hasn't lost in nearly a decade -- has talked about Chimaev, who is now the #3 ranked UFC welterweight, since UFC 273.

Prior to the fight, Khamzat had literally been hit a grand total of one time during his four UFC fights. However, that all changed when Burns put a hurtin' on Chimaev, landing over 100 strikes during their three-round brawl which KC won by unanimous decision.

We asked Usman if he saw any weaknesses he could take advantage of in Chimaev's game.

"Absolutely. That's what I'm supposed to do. That's my job. That's just how I roll, what I do. I dissect each and every situation all the time, and I definitely did in that fight. But, there were a lot of things there that I knew were present all along."

Holes in his game aside, Kamaru isn't downplaying Chimaev's accomplishments, admitting he's been pretty impressive.

"This kid has done a good job going out there and defeating the #2 guy in the division. So, yeah, if that's the next fight after Edwards, then that's the next fight. But, Edwards is our focus right now," Usman says.

FYI, Kamaru and #2 ranked Leon Edwards are supposed to fight sometime this year ... though contracts haven't yet been signed.

And, whenever the Chimaev fight makes sense, Usman is ready to roll.

"I'm just focused on the next one, and if it's Edwards, so be it, I'll be prepared, I'll be ready to go in there and do what I do best."

"If it's Chimaev, I'll be ready to do what I do best. If it's the little Irish guy [Conor McGregor], I'll be ready to do what I do. That's why you're given the title of pound-for-pound best."

Brian Wallace, a former lineman at the University of Arkansas, has died at the age of 26, the school announced on Friday.

The Razorbacks organization confirmed the sad news in a statement, saying, "Our hearts are broken."

The team added, "Brian will always be a Razorback."

"Our thoughts and love are with Brian's family and friends."

Wallace was reportedly struggling to breathe while at work, so he went outside to sit in his car to gather himself. When Wallace returned, the 26-year-old collapsed after he suffered a heart attack, according to FOX 16.

Medical personnel tried to restore Wallace's breathing on scene -- and they were successful -- but when Brian arrived at the hospital, he suffered another heart attack.

His father, Brian Sr., said Wallace was in the Intensive Care Unit of a St. Louis hospital because the heart attacks left him in a coma and with apparent brain damage, according to the outlet.

Wallace was a standout with the Razorbacks after redshirting his first season with the program ... and was a fan favorite after choosing Arkansas over Iowa.

In his senior year, Wallace started all 12 games for the Razorbacks at right tackle allowing only three sacks in 411 pass-blocking snaps, per the team's official website.

Wallace finished his career as a Razorback playing 1,998 total snaps on the O-line ... allowing 10 total sacks during his four-year career.

Russell Wilson and Ciara are officially making Denver their new home -- 'cause the Broncos QB just plunked down $25 million on a gorgeous mansion ... an all-time high for a single-family home in the area!

The 33-year-old copped the new crib -- which sits on 5.34 acres -- earlier this month in Englewood, CO ... a 24-minute drive from the Empower Field at Mile High stadium.

The 20,060 square foot estate has plenty of room for Russ, Ciara and their three children. The house features four bedrooms, 12 bathrooms, a nine-car garage and a large fireplace for those cold Rocky mountain nights.

There's also a 2,590-square-foot indoor pool, game room, home theater and full basketball court.

The Wilsons bought the place (in an off-market deal) for a record-breaking $26 million -- the most expensive price tag for a single family home in the Denver area.

The previous record was a penthouse at the Four Seasons building that sold for $16M in 2020 ... and former Broncos coach Mike Shanahan's mansion which sold for $15.7M.

It's definitely an upgrade in size for the Wilson family ... their Washington home -- that just went on the market for $36 million -- was a little over 11,000 square feet.

Of course, the recent real estate moves happened due to the Seattle Seahawks trading the 9x Pro Bowler to the Broncos last month.

A Toronto Maple Leafs fan ruthlessly pummeled another man -- raining punches down from the full mount position -- in one of the most violent fan fights ever, and the altercation was captured on video.

The fight allegedly went down during Thursday's Maple Leafs game against the Washington Capitals game at Scotiabank Arena in Canada.

The man on top delivers at least two punches to the face ... appearing to break the man's eyeglasses, while other fans attempt to stop the violence.

It's unclear why the fight started, but, the man doling out the beating is heard saying something about the man touching a woman inappropriately, yelling "you can't touch a girl like that."

FYI, the guy getting beat up is never seen on video doing anything out of line to a woman.

The man was also heard saying "I will f***ing kill you!" and "I'm not a fighter, but don't f***ing touch me!"

You wouldn't know the guy doesn't fight. He got himself into one of the most dominant positions in MMA -- full mount.

"Full mount" is a dominant grappling position where one opponent sits on top of another's torso. It allows the person in the superior position to attack with a flurry of big punches, effectively leaving the person on the bottom defenseless.

Peace was eventually restored, and the guy who received the punches was helped to his feet ... face bloodied, appearing dazed and wobbly.

We reached out to police in Toronto, the arena, and the Maple Leafs organization. So far, no word back from anyone.

Cowboys cornerback Kelvin Joseph is a person of interest in a homicide investigation, according to various reports ... and now detectives in Dallas want to talk to the 2nd-round draft pick about a shooting that left a man dead.

The tragic shooting occurred on March 18 in Dallas. 20-year-old Cameron Ray -- a Lower Greenville, Texas native -- was in Dallas with his buddies for a fun weekend. However, the night took a terrible turn when another group of men picked a fight with Cameron's group. Ray was NOT the aggressor, according to police.

After the altercation ended, Ray and his friends began to walk to their car, when an SUV, driven by the men who'd just jumped the group, opened fire, striking and killing Cameron, according to cops.

The group police believe was behind the shooting was caught on surveillance video ... and Dallas PD believes Joseph to be one of the men who are seen around the time of the homicide, according to Yahoo.

According to ESPN, one of the men involved in the fight was wearing a necklace with a pendant reading "YKDV." Kelvin's rap name is reportedly "YKDV Bossman Fat."

Dallas police detectives say Ray was a man who did absolutely nothing wrong, and needlessly had his life taken.

"He was enjoying himself, doing nothing wrong, but that night, as it ended, he was walking with some friends. They encountered a disturbance that they did not start," DPD Detective Tonya McDaniel said.

We reached out to the Cowboys ... who declined comment.

But, Yahoo says they've spoken with sources inside the organization who reportedly told the outlet they were aware of the investigation, and had urged Joseph to speak with authorities.

Joseph -- who played college ball at LSU before transferring to Kentucky -- was the 44th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Kelvin played in 10 games for the Cowboys last season, racking up 16 tackles and 2 pass deflections.

Story developing ...

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle reached their destination after a layover in London to meet with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles ... they're in the Netherlands for a famous sporting event.

Harry and Meghan just arrived at The Hague, where they were all smiles Friday for a reception ahead of the start of the Invictus Games.

The couple, who are not traveling with kids Archie and Lilibet, both wore suits as they mixed and mingled with other distinguished guests ... and it looks like folks were lining up to meet Harry and Meghan.

As we reported ... the pair stopped in England to meet with Harry's father and grandmother on their way from Los Angels to the Netherlands ... with the face-to-face meeting a clear attempt to smooth things over after Harry and Meghan stepped down as senior members of the Royal Family, and the infamous Oprah interview.

With the family business out of the way, Harry and Meghan look ready for the fun part, the Invictus Games ... an international sporting event for injured, wounded and sick servicemen and women, including veterans and those still serving.

Men, you might wanna close your eyes.

Pirates pitcher J.T. Brubaker drilled Nationals shortstop Alcides Escobar in the balls ... in what will go down as one of the most painful pickoff attempts in MLB history.

The wild play went down in the fourth inning of Thursday's game between the Nationals and the Pirates ... Brubaker's throw over to first base hit Escobar square in the groin area.

In the video, you can see Escobar taking a lead off first base when Brubaker turns and fires a throw towards the bag (foreshadowing) that misses everything ... except, well, you know the rest.

Escobar immediately grabbed his marbles as he was falling backward to the ground ... and signaled with his right hand to the first base ump that he needed a few to gather himself.

Play was temporarily stopped (understandably so, if you've ever experienced that pain before) as Escobar rolled around on the ground in clear discomfort.

Fortunately, though, the veteran shortstop was able to laugh about it all as one of his coaches and the team's trainer helped him back to his feet.

Escobar would stay in to finish the game, going 1-for-4 at the plate with two strikeouts ... but the biggest hit of the day came unexpectedly, if you catch our drift.

Paul George is out ... the Clippers star has entered the league's health & safety protocols and will miss tonight's game against the New Orleans Pelicans.

... a gigantic blow for the Clips.

Adrian Wojnarowski reports sources told him the L.A. forward will not play in his team's win-or-go game against the Pelicans.

It's unclear if PG tested positive for COVID or is just experiencing symptoms, but either way the 7x All-Star won't be seeing the court in the biggest game of the season.

George was already sidelined for a number of games for the Clippers this season ... as he was dealing with a torn ligament in his elbow.

However, since returning to the Clips lineup, the team has enjoyed some success with one of the game's premier two-way players back in the mix.

George averaged over 24.3 points per game, 6.9 assists, and 5.7 rebounds despite only playing in 31 games for the Clippers this season.

The Clippers will have an uphill battle if they want to get past a tough New Orleans team ... and losing one of their best players certainly won't make it any easier.

Story developing ...

Paige VanZant is super pissed at JetBlue for apparently canceling her flight without letting her know ... and the AEW star let them have it, blasting them online.

The 28-year-old fighter/wrestler ripped the airline on Thursday via Instagram -- alleging JB royally screwed her over at a Florida airport.

"F U JetBlue," VanZant said, "Just sat at my gate for over an hour waiting for my flight."

"Never got an updated gate or delay info. Went to ask where the flight is. Apparently, they changed the gate and didn't tell anymore."

Her flight was pushed to Friday, which sent PVZ through the roof when she realized other families were stranded, too.

"They will not get us on a flight until tomorrow. I'm lucky I live in Florida. What about all these other families!!!!"

"Multiple families with nowhere to sleep. JetBlue you suck."

To make matters worse, VanZant says her flight was delayed again on Friday but finally took off this morning.

We reached out to JetBlue for a comment ... but so far, no word back.

According to VanZant's IG, it looks like she's heading to LAX ... where we spoke to her last month about her new AEW deal.

Mike Krzyzewski may not be coaching the Duke hoops team anymore ... but the team is making sure he keeps at it -- with this new puppy!

The adorable moment happened during the Blue Devils' annual banquet and award ceremony at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Thursday to celebrate their Final Four run.

Jon Scheyer -- Coach K's replacement as head coach -- was at the podium with the basketball team, Krzyzewski and his wife, Mickie, when JS introduced their "new family member."

"We can't repay you for what you done for all of us but we're gonna try," Scheyer said.

"Since you have a lot more time now coach, we felt you needed something to train."

That's when a player handed Coach K an 8-week-old Silver Lab -- and he LOVED it!

Coach K even kissed his new pup and the sweet dog gave him one right back -- a true Kodak moment.

FYI ... Coach K planned on getting a puppy after the season following the death of his dog Blue. But, his team beat him to it.

Besides the furry gift, Krzyzewski thanked the team for an "unbelievable season" despite the loss to their rivals, the UNC Tarheels in the Final Four.

"You guys were winners," Coach K said at the event. "For me, you made my final season one of the happiest that I've ever had."

The buyer who purchased Tom Brady's last touchdown ball at auction just caught a $518,000 break ... 'cause the sale of the pigskin has reportedly been voided, saving the wealthy collector over half a mil!!

Remember, the ball was on the auction block at Leland's -- a popular sports memorabilia website -- and sold for over $500K. Unfortunately for the buyer, Brady came out of retirement literally the day after the ball sold.

The issue? Brady is surely going to throw many more touchdowns this season for the Bucs ... rendering the 624th TD pass of his career virtually worthless (we're told it's worth about $50K -- which is great, unless you dropped $520K on it).

But, in a stroke of amazing luck, Darren Rovell reports NY attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman, was able to strike a deal with the seller and auction house, freeing the buyer of his obligation to buy the ball.

It's unclear if the buyer had to make any sort of payment to the seller ... though, if so, we're told it wouldn't be a large amount of money.

It's not all that surprising that the sale didn't ultimately go through. Shortly after Brady returned, we spoke with an industry expert who predicted the sale would NOT go through ... for several reasons.

Now, the ball -- a 55-yard TD pass thrown to Mike Evans in the 4th quarter of a playoff game against the Rams -- will likely be returned to the seller.

Buyer, meet your lucky ✨✨✨

GREAT NEWS for Dick Vitale ... the legendary college hoops announcer is officially cancer-free (again) after completing 6 months of chemotherapy treatment.

82-year-old Vitale shared the announcement on Twitter ... posting a video of him ringing a bell at Sarasota Memorial Hospital in Florida where he received his treatment.

"It was RING THE BELL TIME!" Vitale wrote. "Yes it was a tough 7 months but it was super hearing Dr Brown @SMHCS say that I have zero cancer currently."

"I was inspired daily by the famous words of my late buddy Jimmy V 'Don't Give up DON'T EVER GIVE UP!'"

Last fall, Vitale revealed he'd been diagnosed with cancer for a second time, but said he still planned to call games during his treatment for lymphoma.

"They're going to try to plan the chemo so I can be free to do some games," Vitale said. "Which I've got to do -- that's my best medicine of all."

Dickie V made his return to the broadcast booth -- with his partner Dave O'Brien -- for the Gonzaga and UCLA game ... and was visibly emotional as he detailed his difficult journey back.

Unfortunately for the Hall of Fame broadcaster, Vitale's return was short-lived ... as he was instructed to undergo "4 weeks of total rest" following his vocal cord surgery.

But, after successful surgery and learning that his cat scans came back clean, Vitale can finally rejoice ... 'cause he no longer has cancer.

Sad news in the hockey world ... New York Islander legend and Hall of Famer Mike Bossy has passed away after battling lung cancer.

He was only 65.

The right winger -- who's the all-time leader in average goals scored per regular season -- announced his diagnosis last October on TVA Sports, a Canadian network he worked for at the time.

"Today, it is with great sorrow that I have to withdraw from your screens, for an obligatory break," Bossy said.

"A necessary stop during which I will have to receive treatment for lung cancer."

"I can assure you that I intend to fight with all the determination and all the passion that you have seen me display on the ice and in my game."

Tragically, Bossy passed away on Friday.

Bossy's hockey career started in 1977 and he instantly became a scoring machine on skates. He was a key factor to Islanders' four consecutive championships in the early '80s ... and he was named MVP of the 1982 Stanley Cup.

He broke several franchise records during his 10 seasons with New York -- including all-time regular-season goal leader (573).

Bossy also won NHL rookie of the year in 1978, was inducted into the HOF in 1991. He was was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL players of all-time in 2017.

"The New York Islanders organization mourns the loss of Mike Bossy, an icon not only on Long Island but across the entire hockey world," Lou Lamoriello, the Islanders President of Hockey Operations, said hearing of Bossy's death.

"Along with his teammates, he helped win four straight Stanley Cup championships, shaping the history of this franchise forever."

Bossy is survived by his wife -- who he met at a snack bar rink and married in 1977 -- two daughters and two grandchildren.