TMZ Sports - Page 44

Deshaun Watson clearly ain't sweating the NFL investigation that's hanging over his head ... he just posted video showing he's out in the Bahamas golfing with his new teammates and enjoying life.

In the footage that Cleveland's new QB threw up on his social media page on Thursday, Watson can be seen draining a 30-foot-or-so putt while on a hole with a couple of Browns players.

The sun's setting. Watson's laughing. And, his teammates are fired up for him.

It looks like a great time -- especially considering Cleveland superstar Nick Chubb is also on the trip with the quarterback -- but, reportedly, this week was a big one when it comes to potential NFL punishment for Watson.

The 26-year-old -- who's been accused of sexual misconduct by more than 20 female massage therapists -- reportedly met with league investigators over the masseuses' allegations ... in what could be the last step before the NFL decides on a possible suspension.

No word on how the meeting went -- but the league has been investigating the claims against the star for over a year ... and is expected to make a decision on a potential punishment in the upcoming weeks/months.

Micah Parsons did his best Simone Biles impression at a trampoline park this month -- hitting some insane flips on the mat ... and TMZ Sports has video of it all!!!

The Dallas Cowboys superstar performed the wild tricks on a trip with his toddler son to Altitude Trampoline Park in Dallas ... and you can see clear as day, his All-Pro athleticism on the field definitely translates off of it.

Parsons hit front flips with ease -- and got some SERIOUS air every time he went for the stunts.

The 22-year-old looked like he was having a blast too ... wrestling around and laughing with his young son on the floor.

We're told Micah was super nice to everyone at the place -- and even posed for pics with some people while there.

And, yes, Cowboys fans, his knees and body were just fine when he got done horsing around.

Crazy scene following a Premier League game on Thursday ... ex-soccer star Patrick Vieira -- who now manages Crystal Palace -- kicked a fan in a wild altercation on the field.

It all went down after C.P. lost in heartbreaking fashion to Everton ... when a bunch of Toffees supporters stormed the pitch to celebrate their team's big win.

At one point in the chaos, one of the fans appeared to taunt Vieira -- and an altercation quickly ensued.

You can see in video, Vieira grabbed the man, took a swipe at the fan's face, and then kicked him so hard in the leg -- he fell to the turf.

Another fan then appeared to shove Vieira -- but, thankfully, others intervened ... and the fracas died down before it could escalate any further.

Vieira -- who starred for Arsenal from the late 1990s to 2005 and took over the Crystal Palace managerial role in 2021 -- was asked about the incident by reporters just minutes after it happened ... but he said, "I've got nothing to say on that."

Shocking news coming from Stephanie McMahon -- the chief brand officer of WWE is temporarily stepping down from her role on Friday to be with her family.

"As of tomorrow, I am taking a leave of absence from the majority of my responsibilities at WWE," she said on Twitter. "WWE is a lifelong legacy for me and I look forward to returning to the company that I love after taking this time to focus on my family."

The announcement is a complete surprise ... but the response has been overly supportive from wrestling fans.

It's unclear what the reason behind the absence is -- although 45-year-old Steph's husband, Triple H, recently revealed he nearly died due to a health scare ... vowing his wrestling career was over.

McMahon -- Vince's daughter -- has been part of WWE since 2000 ... and was an in-ring performer for 18 years.

Stephanie was made EVP of Creative Writing in 2007 ... and switched over to CBO in 2013, where she has remained ever since.

McMahon and Triple H got married in 2003 ... and have 3 kids together, Aurora (15), Murphy (13) and Vaughn (11).

Dominique Wilkins -- one of the greatest high flyers in NBA history -- says he knows how to fix the (broken) slam dunk contest, telling TMZ Sports superstars must participate ... just like he and Michael Jordan did back in the day.

We spoke with the Hall of Famer -- a 2x Slam Dunk champ known for his prowess as a dunker -- about why the dunk contest has fallen out of favor with NBA fans, and how he would fix it.

"Until you get star athletes, your best players who are athletic to get in the dunk contest," Wilkins said, continuing ... "It takes a lot away from it. You don't have that same pop -- that same energy."

'Nique then lamented about the old days ... when bonafide superstars, legends, entered the contest each and every year.

"When we did the dunk contest Michael [Jordan] myself, Dr. J, Larry Nance, you talking Spud [Webb] ... they wanted to know who the best was."

Of course, Dominique was part of the greatest and most memorable DC ever ... a showdown against MJ in 1988. Jordan won ... but it was controversial.

Wilkins says during his day the dunk contest set the tone for All-Star weekend, giving fans something to look forward to. But, Wilkins admits as of late, it's been less than stellar.

"The dunk contest raised the bar for All-Star weekend," he said. "It's been hard to watch as of late."

FYI, last year's contest featured Cassius Stanley, Anfernee Simons, and Obi Toppin, who won.

Nice players and super athletic guys ... but not exactly Ja Morant and Zion Williamson battling each other like MJ and DW.

Ultimately, Dominique thinks players are too worried about their image ... rather than just going out and putting on a show for the crowd.

"Guys look at it the wrong way," 'Nique said. "I don't want to get in it because maybe it'll affect my legacy."

Wilkins told us when he was going at it with Jordan, it wasn't about who won or lost, but rather two great players matching each other's will.

We also asked the Hawks legend if Atlanta's superstar point guard Trae Young can be the best player on a championship team despite recent criticism saying he can't.

"Trae's a special talent, and a special young man that loves the game of basketball," 'Nique said. "Anytime you don't win, there's always going to be that doubt, 'well, can he lead a team to a championship?'"

Wilkins says although the Hawks -- who made the Eastern Conference Finals last year -- seemingly regressed this season, he believes Ice Trae can lead his team to a chip.

We also talked to 'Nique about his new collab with NFT Genius ... they've partnered up to create a super exclusive, 1-of-1 BALLERZ NFT.

In addition to being able to bid on the unique piece of digital art, there are also a bunch of other cool prizes like signed memorabilia, meet and greets with the NBA legend, and rack NFT packs like NBA Topshot, UFC Strike and NFL All Day.

Jimbo Fisher just annihilated Nick Saban over the Alabama coach's claims that Texas A&M "bought" all of its recruits ... calling him a narcissist and saying their relationship is now over.

The TAMU head man didn't hold a thing back at a press conference on Thursday morning, firing away at Saban for several minutes during the meeting with the media.

"It's despicable that a reputable head coach can come out and say this when he doesn't get his way or things don't go his way," Fisher said, just hours after the Tide coach made the dig Wednesday night.

"The narcissist in him doesn't allow those things to happen and it's ridiculous when he's not on top."

Fisher continued, "Some people think they're God. Go dig into how God did his deal. You may find out about a guy, a lot of things you don't want to know. You make him the czar of college football. Go dig into his past."

Fisher said Saban tried to reach out to him following the comments ... but he refused to take the call.

"We're done," Fisher said of his relationship with Nick. "He showed you who he is. He's the greatest ever, huh?"

Fisher reiterated over and over again that TAMU did NOT do anything illegal or unethical to obtain its top-ranked recruiting class this season.

Jimbo is now the second high-profile coach to be pissed at Saban following his remarks ... Deion Sanders -- Jackson State's head man -- called the 70-year-old a "liar" after the comments as well.

Saban has yet to respond to the backlash ... but when he eventually does, it's clear, he's got some serious fences to mend.

This will definitely put a smile on your face!!

A youth tee-ball player turned his walk to the batter's box into an all-out dancing sesh -- showing off his moves as Big Pun's "Still Not a Player" blared over the speakers ... and the video is adorable.

The clip is going viral on TikTok ... and once you see it, it's not hard to understand why -- the kid starts strutting his stuff as soon as he steps out of the dugout ... and he's REALLY feeling the classic tune.

The young kid shakes it, drops it low, flails his arms around and does about every other move in the book ... before the music cuts off and a coach intervenes to get him to focus on the game.

The crowd can be heard laughing over what they just witnessed ... and a lot more people get to enjoy it now, too -- it has more than a million views already on the social media platform.

But the best part?? The kid can play, too -- getting back to business and hitting a popup for a single.

Robert Griffin III is firing back at the racist haters attacking LeBron James' son, Bronny, for taking a white classmate to prom ... saying, "LEAVE THESE KIDS ALONE!!!"

That's right -- grown ass people are mad about who a 17-year-old kid took to a dance.

Here's the deal -- LeBron's wife, Savannah, shared shots of Bronny's big day to social media on Wednesday ... showing the junior hooper and his date, a senior student at Sierra Canyon, all dressed up for the event.

Bronny was decked out in a flashy blue and black suit ... and his transportation of choice was a custom-print Mercedes with a sporty spoiler, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Pretty awesome, right??

Well, some disgusting haters took issue with Bronny's date not being black ... commenting some awful responses under Savannah's post -- even accusing the girl of being a gold digger.

Enter RG3, who defended the teenagers in a passionate tweet this week.

"LEAVE THESE KIDS ALONE!" Griffin -- who is married to Estonian athlete Grete Sadeiko -- said on Wednesday.

"People clowning Bronny for his prom date are just miserable. Let them enjoy their day."

RG3 followed up with a passionate video ... saying the hate is giving off creepy energy.

Griffin has previously shut down his own criticism for not marrying a black woman ... saying, "It is not anti-black to love someone outside your race."

Tiger Woods clearly felt a little claustrophobic to start the first round of the PGA Championship on Thursday ... 'cause the golf legend asked a cameraman to give him some space THREE times on the tourney's opening hole.

Woods had just teed off at the Southern Hills Championship Course in Tulsa, Oklahoma ... when a man holding a giant camera approached him to record him as he walked down the fairway to his ball.

Hot microphones picked up Woods almost immediately asking the guy to scram.

"Would you mind giving me some breathing space?" Tiger asked. "Please?"

The camera guy clearly didn't move too much -- which caused Woods to ask again more sternly, "Would you mind giving me some breathing space, please?"

Finally, after a few more feet side-by-side, Woods asked, "Could you back off a little bit and give me some breathing space?"

Apparently, the camera guy finally got the memo -- and moved far enough away from the 46-year-old.

The interaction was awkward ... but it apparently didn't bother Woods too much, 'cause the second shot he hit was a dart -- and he later went on to birdie the hole.

Baby Future is not a baby anymore -- and Russell Wilson just sent his stepson a heartfelt message on his 8th birthday ... calling him the "greatest blessing in the world."

Russ was spreading love to the lil' man bright and early on Thursday -- posting a side-by-side pic of the two on social media ... expressing what Ciara's child with rapper Future means to him.

"Happy Bday Future!" Russ said on Twitter. "8yrs old! You are the greatest blessing in the world to me!"

"So full of the fruit of the Spirit of Jesus! Love, Joy, Peace, Forbearance, Kindness, Goodness, & Faithfulness! Galatians 5:22."

He added ... "Mommy, Daddy, Sienna, & Win love you to Heaven & back!"

Of course, Russ' relationship with the rapper's son has sparked drama in the past -- Future previously called the Super Bowl champ out for being seen out in public with his son ... saying, "At the end of the day, I'm not for the publicity stunts. Leave my son out of the publicity stunts. Just leave him out of your relationship."

No word on Russ and Future's status now ... but as we previously reported, the Wilsons booked it after the "I Never Liked You" spitter popped up at a Super Bowl party earlier this year.

Russ also shared a pic of Future Zahir rocking a baseball jersey and holding a trophy ... so the kid is definitely following in his stepdad's footsteps.

While Wilson was a two-sport athlete -- he was drafted by the Rockies in 2010 -- he seems fully supportive of Future's future on the diamond, once calling him "The next Griffey Jr."

Major League Baseball reporter Kelsey Wingert was drilled in the face by a line drive earlier this week ... and in a new photo she posted on Wednesday, you can see the ball did some serious damage to her forehead.

The incident happened during the ninth inning of the Colorado Rockies vs. San Francisco Giants game in Denver on Monday ... when Austin Slater belted a foul ball into the Rockies' dugout area.

The 95 MPH shot made a beeline right at Wingert, a Rockies reporter, and, unfortunately, she wasn't able to move out of the way.

The aftermath of the strike was caught on video -- and you can hear in the clip, one TV broadcaster was very concerned and asked, "Kelsey, you okay?"

Wingert was able to walk out of the dugout and did give a thumbs up ... but in an update on Wednesday, she revealed the strike caused a gnarly injury.

The 29-year-old said she had to spend five hours at a local hospital and needed several stitches to close the wound. She added that she required a CT scan as well.

Thankfully, Wingert said the testing went well and she's now doing OK -- and thanked the Rockies and her colleagues for all of the support in the wake of the incident.

"I've never experienced support like this," she said. "Thank you for the prayers."

Tristan Thompson is finally opening up about ejecting a fan from an NBA game earlier this season ... explaining he had the man booted from the arena after he claims the guy called Khloe Kardashian "a whore."

The incident went down back in November during a Sacramento Kings road game against the Memphis Grizzlies ... but Tristan and the Kings never explained exactly what happened.

Sacramento head coach Alvin Gentry simply said at the time the heckler was spewing "inappropriate things."

On Wednesday's episode of "The Kardashians," though, Tristan, in a conversation with Khloe at the gym, revealed what the heckler told him.

"'She talks to different basketball players, and you're just the next one,'" Tristan said the fan yelled.

"I said, 'Listen here, man,'" Tristan explained. "'Enjoy the game with your girl because she's coming here to see me.'"

He added in the convo with Khloe, who he was dating at the time of the episode's filming, "He called you a whore. Said you date basketball players."

Tristan said it was important to him to have the guy booted for the comments, saying to Khloe that people are "not going to keep talking about my family like that."

A horrifying and heartbreaking video has surfaced of a kid's game of tag interrupted by gunfire which killed a man near a California playground.

The clip starts with two young kids going back and forth and then gunshots ring out, sending the kids running for their lives. In the video, you can hear parents screaming and a little girl yelling for help as she fights back tears.

Cops say more than 33 shots were fired in the exchange between the two groups in a Palo Alto neighborhood on Tuesday. 3 people were injured and 1 killed. It does not appear any kids were hurt.

In a press conference Tuesday, Police Chief Jeff Liu, said, "Shooting and violence, especially at our parks with kids playing is completely unacceptable. We need to come together as a community and send a message that this type of activity will not be tolerated."

Deion Sanders is going after Nick Saban ... calling the Alabama coach a liar for claiming Jackson State University -- where Prime is the head coach -- paid one of its top players $1 million to sign with their program ... then bragged about it!

Sanders was pissed after a clip made rounds on social media, where Saban accused the up-and-coming program of signing good players by paying them off ... and then boasting about it to the media.

"You best believe I will address that LIE Coach SABAN told tomorrow," Sanders wrote on Twitter. "I was & awakened by my son @ShedeurSanders that sent me the article stating that WE PAYED @TravisHunterJr a Million to play at @GoJSUTigersFB!"

"We as a PEOPLE don’t have to pay our PEOPLE to play with our PEOPLE," he added.

Of course, coach Prime is referring to Saban's claim that JSU signed one of its marquee players, Travis Hunter, by giving him $1 million to commit to the HBCU.

"We have a rule right now that says you cannot use name, image, and likeness to entice a player to come to your school," Saban said. "Hell, read about it in the paper."

"I mean Jackson State paid a guy a million dollars last year that was a really good Division 1 player to come to school -- it was in the paper, and then bragged about it. Nobody did anything about it."

Saban didn't stop at JSU, though ... the legendary coach also went after Texas A&M University, accusing the school of "buying every player on their team," thanks to NIL deals.

"I mean, we were second in recruiting last year," Saban told an audience at an Alabama booster event. "A&M was first. A&M bought every player on their team -- made a deal for name, image, likeness. We didn't buy one player, all right?"

Charles Barkley had a ruthless comeback after a bunch of Warriors fans heckled him on Wednesday ... saying, "If you don't leave me alone, I'm going to come to your house and f*** your mama!!"

Chuck was in the Bay Area to cover the Western Conference Finals with TNT's "Inside the NBA" ... and as he sat on set outside Golden State's Chase Center, some spectators in the background went after him about having zero rings.

"Charles, spell championship," one fan yelled out ... as others shouted to get his attention.

But, the Hall of Famer wasn't about to let the jab slide -- turning around and firing off his response.

Surprisingly, the Dubs fans loved the burn, with several dudes in the crowd smiling and laughing it off.

Chances are Barkley was just having some fun with the trolls -- he wasn't smiling as he clapped back, but he doesn't seem too pissed.

Barkley has had a love-hate relationship with hecklers for years -- he previously told TMZ Sports in 2018 how athletes need to handle trolls ... saying pros can't put their hands on anybody -- 'cause they could literally kill an average Joe.

After all, this is the guy who unapologetically threw a man through a window back in 1997 ... so take his word for it.

Newly retired Tyson Fury might be done throwing his hands ... but he's clearly not opposed to still using his feet -- 'cause the star boxer attempted to kick a cabbie's car after an apparent altercation with the driver in France.

The incident went down sometime Wednesday ... when Fury seemed to be roaming the streets of Cannes after having just a little too much to drink.

In video shot by a bystander, Fury -- wearing a white shirt and dark-colored shorts -- can be seen needing some assistance as he stumbled to a cab in the middle of the road.

But, even though Tyson and his entourage were attempting to get a lift from the cabbie, it seemed the driver wanted no part of it -- because the guy was continuously waving them off.

Eventually, the driver pulled away from the pugilist and his buddies -- and that's when the 33-year-old fight attempted to stick his boot into the car's bumper.

You can see in the video, Fury appeared to just barely miss. Fury's friend, meanwhile, also seemed to throw a kick at the ride too.

Thankfully, it doesn't seem the altercation escalated any further -- and Fury appeared to joke about his level of intoxication in an IG post on Thursday morning.

"Strong beer!" Fury said while on a run with his father.

Fury -- who retired after beating Dillian Whyte last month -- has been in France for the last several days enjoying his newfound time off ... being spotted on a yacht as well as at different restaurants and watering holes in the country.