TMZ Sports - Page 50

The moment Dave Chappelle was attacked on stage in front of thousands of fans was crazy as hell ... so says former NFL star Marcellus Wiley who tells TMZ Sports he was in the building for the whole thing!!

We spoke with the star of FS1's "Speak For Yourself" ... who wasn't the only celeb in attendance, and he told us the scary incident unfolded right in front of his own eyes.

"Yea, I was in the building man, and it was crazy to be there," Wiley said. "Lot of stars in the building, but the moment it occurred is crazy 'cause it was time to leave. Dave was leaving the stage and coming back for an encore."

Wiley says he was eagerly awaiting the musical act Chappelle was introducing, Black Star, when suddenly, a guy from the crowd rushed the stage and attacked the comedian.

"Now, I'm gonna say he missed his moment, too, because he missed that tackle," the ex-NFL star said. "As a former football player, he could have got a lot cleaner hit, but he's not a former linebacker. But, he tackled Dave, and then next thing you know, the dude gets up, takes off running thinking he Barry Sanders."

He continued ... "And boy, that's when security started working. About 50 people -- including Dave, Jamie Foxx -- you just saw everyone just bum rush this dude in the corner right in the back. It took about 3-5 minutes to finally get the dude out of there. It was a lot of elbows, a lot of stomping, and a lot of people who were upset at that moment."

Of course, we had to ask Marcellus if he initially believed the attack was fake ... a skit of sorts aimed at poking fun at Will Smith's attack on Chris Rock at the Oscars.

"In the moment I was like, 'Yo, that's crazy,'" Wiley said. "Then I was like 'Yo, that's some Will Smith stuff.'" Wiley admits he thought Chappelle was making light of the Smith incident, but quickly realized that wasn't the case when he saw the beatdown the attacker was receiving.

Despite the chaotic scene, Marcellus told us the craziest part of the night wasn't even the guy getting hammered after the failed ambush attack.

Is Michael Jordan looking to get into Formula 1??

If so, he's already bumping elbows with drivers ... enjoying a dinner with AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly ahead of Sunday's Grand Prix in Miami!!

The French star posted pics of his time with #23 to social media ... showing MJ trying on his helmet and signing a few autographs.

"Unforgettable dinner! @jumpman23👑" Gasly said on IG ... and naturally, his fellow F1 bros are jealous.

"I actually think I would cry," Daniel Ricciardo said in the comments.

The GOAT is one of several megastars reportedly slated to attend the race this weekend ... including LeBron James, David Beckham, Tom Brady, James Corden, Serena and Venus Williams and more.

Of course, His Airness is no stranger to racing -- he launched his 23XI NASCAR team with Denny Hamlin in 2020 ... signing Bubba Wallace and Kurt Busch to his roster.

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.