TMZ Sports - Page 50

A court with homages to Kobe and Gianna Bryant could be cropping up at a local park near you ... 'cause Vanessa Bryant just announced plans to renovate courts across the country with Mamba and Mambacita themes.

Vanessa posted the news on her Instagram page on Wednesday ... saying in collaboration with BodyArmor and the Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation, 10 courts throughout the U.S. will be renovated, and feature nods to Kobe and Gigi.

According to BodyArmor officials ... the courts will appear in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Miami, Phoenix and Detroit.

Vanessa and BodyArmor shared a "sneak peek" of what the courts will look like ... and they're set to feature a few nods to Kobe and Gigi, including the Nos. 8 and 2 (jersey digits Kobe and Gigi wore in their basketball careers) just above the keys.

The cool gesture comes just 24 hours after BodyArmor's founder, Mike Repole, donated $24 million to the Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation.

"I’m going to make sure this foundation gets bigger than the Ronald McDonald House," Repole told the Boardroom following the generous gift.

"It’s not just about getting them the physical tools or on the courts in the right uniforms. It’s about what it does for kids mentally and confidence-wise."

BodyArmor also announced it's releasing a new "Mamba Forever" drink.

FYI -- Kobe invested $6 million into BodyArmor back in 2014 ... and when Coca-Cola bought out the brand in 2021, Bryant's estate cashed in over $400 million.

Armando Bacot is entering the world of the Pogues and Kooks -- the North Carolina hoops star just landed a role with the super-popular Netflix show "Outer Banks" ... and he's been on set hanging with John B. himself, Chase Stokes!!

The breakout Tar Heels center will appear in several episodes of Season 3 of the series ... playing the fittingly-named character, "Mando," according to Inside Carolina.

The 22-year-old posted vid of his time on set ... bro'ing down with Stokes and Rudy Pankow, who plays JJ Maybank on the thriller series.

Now, Bacot taking an acting role might sound super random, but it actually makes a lot of sense ... especially considering two of the show's creators -- Josh and Jonas Pate -- are North Carolina natives.

On top of that, Josh and the other creator, Shannon Burke, are UNC alums ... so that Tar Heel network definitely had to help the 6'10", 240-lb. baller land the gig.

The big question -- is Bacot a Pogue or a Kook in the NC-based show?? We'll have to wait until the season drops ... and that might be quite a bit away.

'90s heartthrob Freddie Prinze Jr. is starting his own wrestling company ... and says in order to make his dreams happen, he had to get back in front of the camera.

The 46-year-old discussed his exciting plans on his "Wrestling With Freddie" podcast on Wednesday ... revealing he's already in the process of launching an independent promotion.

Of course, FPJ is most known for starring in movies like "I Know What You Did Last Summer," "Scooby-Doo" and "She's All That" ... but when it comes to wrestling fans, he's as passionate as they come -- he's even stepped in the ring for WWE in the past.

Freddie says after taking pitch meetings with a different promotion that didn't go as he had hoped, he decided to take matters into his own hands and set up his own shop.

But first, the guy had to figure out the financials -- so, after a discussion with his accountant, he knew it was time to get back to work ... taking a Netflix project called, "Christmas With You" in order to fund his new venture.

Freddie -- who was a face of the 1990s -- had pretty much only done voice acting roles over the past decade ... so his return to the screen is a big deal.

As it turns out, Freddie says he fell in love with acting again ... but his desire to start a wrasslin' company remained his focus.

Prinze Jr. details his whole plan in his podcast ... saying he wants to be up and running in 18 months, own the venue in Los Angeles and have every wrestler unionized.

A Citi Field security guard was forced to leave a game on Wednesday afternoon ... after he was drilled on the top of the head by a towering foul ball.

The scary moment just happened in the second inning of the Mets vs. Braves game in New York ... when Atlanta catcher, Travis D'Arnaud, hit a pitch way into the air down the third-base line.

As the ball was coming down in foul ground, though, a security guard couldn't track it -- and it ended up plunking him.

The ball hit the man so hard, D'Arnaud visibly winced at the sight.

The guard rubbed his head and appeared to be dazed -- and just seconds later, he left his post with a stadium official.

Unclear if he suffered significant injuries ... we've reached out to the Mets for comment on the situation, but so far, no word back yet.

Santi Mina, forward for professional soccer team Celta Vigo, was just sentenced to 4 years in prison after being found guilty of sexual abuse.

Mina was also charged with rape ... but was acquitted on that charge.

The sentence was handed down to the 26-year-old in a court in Almeria, Spain, on Wednesday. The Spanish footballer was also ordered to stay away from the victim for at least 12 years.

The state prosecutor lobbied for an 8-year prison sentence, according to ESPN, but ultimately, the Spanish court hit the player with just half.

David Goldar, a former player for Celta Vigo and current defender for UD Ibiza, was charged with failing to prevent the alleged sexual abuse from happening.

However, Goldar was found not guilty of being an accomplice to the crime.

As for the original allegation ... a woman, who allegedly went off with Goldar, accused Mina of sexually assaulting her in a camper van in 2017 in the southern province of Almeria.

LaLiga club Celta released a statement on the sentencing ... saying, "As a result of the ruling of the Provincial Court of Almeria ruling issued today, RC Celta has decided to open a disciplinary file on the player Santiago Mina to elucidate his work responsibilities in view of this resolution."

They continued ... "For this reason and as a precautionary measure, it has been decided to provisionally remove the player from first team training, without prejudice to his continuing to carry out the activities indicated by the club for this purpose."

"RC Celta respects the player's right to defense but is obliged to take measures against those events that notoriously undermine the image of the club and directly attack its values, once again showing its most absolute rejection of the offense defined in the judicial resolution."

Madison Bumgarner just lost his mind on the baseball diamond ... needing to be physically restrained from an umpire after the guy threw him out of a game.

The Diamondbacks pitcher's blowup just went down after the first inning of Arizona's game against the Miami Marlins in Florida ... following an incident with an on-field ump.

Mad Bum was pissed during the frame over some balls and strikes calls ... and when he walked toward the dugout and got checked by an ump for foreign substances -- he had some words for the official.

In footage of the altercation, picked up by broadcast cameras, Bumgarner was seen clearly arguing with the ump -- before he was eventually tossed.

The ejection set the former World Series MVP off ... and footage shows he went so ballistic, he needed several teammates and coaches to hold him back from going after the dude.

Bumgarner, thankfully, ultimately left the field without further incident.

PSA for all the Internet trolls out there -- if you come at Drake, he WILL DM your significant other ... and the 6 God proved it during a heated debate over NBA star Ja Morant's dad.

Here's the deal -- Drizzy hit the Instagram comments to defend Tee Morant over a meme criticizing his support for the Grizzlies guard throughout the playoffs, which some have deemed "annoying."

Drake was having none of it -- saying, "Imagine your son makes the league and he’s Ja Or Melo (Ball) or Lonzo (Ball) all you can do is be elated and competitive and over supportive and it’s a right of passage to that the OG’s talk s*** 😂😂😂😂."

"I know I’mma be this way even if my son is in a rubix cube competition 😎."

One troll thought it would be wise to crack back at Drake by referencing the rumor he doesn't write his own songs ... saying, "ya son prolly play with ghost writers."

Big mistake -- 'cause Drake fired right back in the most ruthless way possible.

"I just followed your girl cause she prob miserable and needs some excitement in her life."

Sheesh.

And, get this -- Drake wasn't kidding ... because the troll later posted a screenshot of his wife getting a DM from Champagne Papi himself, which read, "I'm here for u ma."

Chalk this one up as a win for Drake ... and a teachable moment for anyone else looking to go after him.

G-Eazy suffered a sneaker catastrophe at the Celtics game on Tuesday -- when his expensive and rare pair of Air Yeezys CRACKED on him ... but luckily, he had a backup pair of Jordans ready to sub in.

The Bay Area rapper was showing off his Kanye West x Nike kicks in several IG photos before the Celtics tipped off against the Bucks in Boston ... when a sneakerhead's worst nightmare happened.

As it turns out, the kicks completely gave out on the "Provide" rapper during the game ... showing off a crack in the rubber outsole.

"One of the last wears I might get out of these babys," Gerald said on social media ... clearly heartbroken over the situation.

And, these aren't just any Yeezys -- these are one of three colorways of the Air Yeezy "Zen" release -- Ye's first sneaker he made with the Swoosh in 2009, before he eventually switched over to Adidas.

Of course, not everyone wants to give up on the sneaks just yet -- one fan responded, "Last wears? Boy give me that s***. I'll fix em."

But, Mr. Eazy didn't have to go home barefoot -- it appears his buddy, Walid Samaha, was able to secure some Union LA x Air Jordan 2 "Rattan" kicks and have them delivered right to him at his courtside seat!!

"In game substitution," G-Eazy said, "Bye Yeezys!"

FYI -- the Zens cost up to $10k on popular sneaker app GOAT and up to $50k on StockX (in a size 14) ... but we're pretty sure the award-winning rapper will cop another pair.

Kevin Durant now has as many soccer teams as he does championship rings -- the NBA superstar just invested in Gotham FC!!

The new NWSL club announced KD and his business partner, Rich Kleiman, just made a "significant" investment in the franchise ... joining U.S. women's team legend Carli Lloyd in the ownership group.

Of course, KD's Thirty Five Ventures first dipped its toe into soccer back in 2020 ... when it bought a minority stake in the MLS' Philadelphia Union.

No word on how much KD and Kleiman shelled out for their piece of Gotham FC, but the team hints it was substantial.

KD shares his excitement on Wednesday ... tweeting out, "Let’s get it @GothamFC."

Kleiman commented on the business move ... saying, "As a New York-based company, the opportunity for us to partner with a forward-thinking team like Gotham FC was a no brainer,"

"There’s been so much growth in the NWSL in recent years, and the chance to be a part of that growth and work directly with the Gotham FC executive team and players is really exciting."

KD's company is slated to be hands-on -- helping out with player relations, community outreach, producing content and building a social media presence.

Several Chicago Cubs fans tried to beat the hell out of each other in the bleacher seats at Wrigley on Tuesday night -- and the wild scene was all captured on video!!

The melee went down at some point during the Cubs' tilt with the White Sox ... when, for some reason, Cubbies fans turned on each other and began whaling on each other.

In a clip of the fracas, shot by a bystander near the action, you can see as one fan had another pinned to the ground -- another Cubs supporter was kicking another guy in the head.

Security rushed in to try to break things up -- but that still didn't stop one of the men from getting some extra punches in.

Eventually, the scrap was broken up ... but, sadly for one fan, he said one of the combatants who was undoubtedly booted from the section was "my ride home!"

Will Smith isn't down to fight Chris Rock's brother after an open invite, but another Philly native -- and former 'Real World' star -- is ready to take his place in the ring.

Josh Colon, known for his time on "The Real World: D.C.," has signed on to go up against Chris' brother, Kenny, at the South Florida Rumble in June, presented by Bitcoin Rodney.

Josh, who was on 14 episodes of the reality series, says he's doing this for Will ... and is ready to represent the entire city of Philadelphia, from where they both hail.

As you know, Kenny was ready to fight Will in April after first signing onto the event ... he was confident he could take a W over W, even though Will once played Muhammad Ali on the big screen.

Kenny slammed Will for slapping his brother at the Academy Awards, and was looking for some payback.

The event's got a bunch of celebs attached -- Omarosa, Flavor Flav and Rashad Evans will all be involved ... and the evening's main event has Benzino up against Aaron Carter. Blac Chyna will also be on the card, but her opponent has not been announced.

Those of you who wanna see Francis Ngannou box Tyson Fury -- the world's best heavyweight fighter -- ear muffs ... 'cause Dana White tells TMZ Sports it's just silly talk.

"Nobody is beating my door down for this fight. And I love Tyson Fury, I'm friends with Tyson. He's one of the greatest boxers of all time. One of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time going in against one of my MMA guys. We saw this movie before. We know how this story ends," the UFC president plainly told us.

There's been some discussion around Francis and Tyson boxing in the past ... but it really heated up once Ngannou went into the ring following Fury's brutal 6th round knockout of fellow British heavyweight star Dillian Whyte.

The champs in their respective sports exchanged some friendly talk ... and hinted they'd face each other in a hybrid boxing match (say MMA gloves, boxing rules).

The issue for Francis ... he's currently under contract with the UFC. So, in order to box Fury, Dana's got to give the fight his blessing.

And, of course, White's done it before ... allowing, and then promoting, Conor McGregor in his quest to defeat the undefeated legend, Floyd Mayweather.

But, Dana doesn't believe the interest in Ngannou-Fury is anywhere near where it was for McGregor and Mayweather.

"The difference was the Conor-Floyd thing became bigger than -- everywhere I went people were talking about it. All the media was talking about it, fans wanted to see it."

FWIW, according to stats online, Conor and Floyd is the 2nd most bought pay-per-view fight ever ... with 4.2 million buys at $100 a pop.

Dana also mentioned Francis' last fight ... when he took on interim champ Ciryl Gane. Ngannou used more wrestling in that fight against Ciryl -- an incredibly athletic striker -- than ever before in his MMA career. It's also worth noting the UFC champ sustained a serious leg injury leading up to the bout.

As good as Gane is, Fury's boxing ability is so freakin' good it's hard to imagine an MMA fighter, even with otherworldly power like Francis, have the ability to land flush shots on Tyson ... a sentiment with which Dana agrees.

"100% and he just fought Ciryl Gane and wrestled him. Silly conversation."

😬😬😬😬😬😬😬

There's more.

We also talked to Dana about Tuesday's premiere of The Ultimate Fighter 30 (a show near and dear to  ... starring coaches Amanda Nunes and Julianna Peña.

The UFC honcho talks about everything from Peña still believing she's the underdog to the Lioness, to Julianna's desire to fight on the same card as her buddy Jon Jones -- something Dana says isn't happening.

Las Vegas Raiders running back Brandon Bolden is heading into the 2022 season in style ... the NFL vet just copped a sick, new $150,000 custom Ford Bronco.

TMZ Sports has learned that Bolden, who's been in the NFL for nine years, went all out for his newest whip ... dropping a comfy bag on the set of wheels to make sure it's as luxurious as possible.

We're told Bolden's Bronco -- which was tricked out by South Florida Jeeps -- features a 400-horsepower, supercharged V6 engine ... and also comes with an armored exterior shell that actually has Kevlar fibers woven into it.

The car also has bronze rims, super-strength leather interior -- and it looks like a BEAST.

We're told the ride was delivered to the tailback in Vegas just recently.

As for the price tag -- don't worry about it, Bolden can certainly afford it ... he signed a 2-year, $5 million with the Raiders this offseason.

Conor McGregor took some time out of his Tuesday to gush over his fiancee ... showering her with compliments and calling her "my big busty woman!"

The Notorious left the sweet message on Dee Devlin's most recent social media post ... one that showed the couple cheesin' in bathing suits while on a boat in France.

"My big busty woman I love you baby what floor we on again ?" McGregor wrote. "And which yacht 😂😂😂"

The fighter added, "ah stop don't stop my baby I love you so much dee I do all of this for you, for us, I hate everyone else, I love you ❤️ #forever"

McGregor and Devlin have been dating for years and have three kids together ... and are clearly still very much in love. Dee actually captioned her photos Tuesday by writing, "mine," with a heart emoji.

The two have plenty of time to spend together these days ... because while Conor is gunning to make a comeback to the UFC eventually -- he's still rehabbing his injured leg and slowly working his way back to octagon shape.

Wrestling icon CM Punk is not here for the Supreme Court's alleged decision on abortion ... emotionally clapping back at internet trolls in defense of women's rights.

The AEW superstar shared a throwback pic of himself wearing a pro-choice shirt just hours after it was reported the SC took a private vote, which if made official, would overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision ... which pissed off a number of his followers.

CM decided to share the hateful messages he got to his 922k followers on Tuesday ... and he's not holding back.

One message read ... "Are you going to cry little bitch," to which Punk responded, "A little bit, yeah."

"For my wife, my sisters, for mothers and women who are helplessly watching their rights over their own bodies stripped away by elite, rich white, terrorist religious fascists. Being human means I cry when injustices masquerade as religious right. HER BODY, HER CHOICE."

Another troll praised Punk's wrestling skills and bashed his politics ... and his response was short and sweet.

"Unfollow me. We respect women here."

Unreal scene in San Francisco on Tuesday morning ... a daredevil is climbing up the city's tallest skyscraper -- with no ropes or safety nets.

The urban climber began his ascent on the Salesforce Tower in the middle of downtown S.F. shortly after sunrise -- and as of this posting, he's nearly made it to the top of the 60-floor, 1,070-foot tall building.

Videos shot by bystanders outside of the building are breathtaking ... showing the guy scaling the structure seemingly without any issues at all.

In footage shot from people inside of the skyscraper, you can see the climber was calm and cool -- and even smiling -- as he made his way toward the top.

Authorities in San Francisco are on the scene ... and are condemning the man for the stunt.

"This person is placing firefighters' lives and the public's safety at risk," S.F. Fire Dept. officials said in a statement. "AVOID THE AREA and join us in condemning this action."

No word on who the climber is yet or if he's facing arrest if/when he makes it down.