TMZ Sports - Page 43

73-year-old Ric Flair is returning to the ring as a wrestler for the last time -- just years after cheating death following a medical emergency in 2019 -- something Nature Boy tells us wouldn't be happening if he wasn't cleared by his doctor.

"I don't have any aches or pains. I know I've had the health issues, but I asked 40 different doctors, and I decided I'm only gonna listen to one. Not necessarily the one that was gonna give me the right answer, but that I felt the most comfortable with," Naitch told Babcock and Mojo on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (weekdays on FS1).

Ric says the physician gave him a clean bill of health, paving the way for him to return to the ring on July 31 in Nashville, TN ... under Jim Crockett Promotions.

Naitch and his team are still looking for an opponent ... something they expect to be squared away over the next few days.

Question is, why is the 16x world champ -- an immortal figure in the sport -- wrestling again?

Ric tells us he just wasn't happy with his last few performances ... and knows he can be better.

"I couldn't stand the last couple of matches I had. Couldn't stand the last year I had," Flair, who last wrestled against Sting in 2011, told us.

Flair says he's been training with Rob MacIntyre from John Cena's gym (as well as with Jay Lethal) ... and the fitness guru has been pushing him hard.

"I needed someone to motivate me. And, what motivates me is doing something I like to do, and that's wrestle."

Nature Boy admits he'll never be the exact guy he was in his 30s, 40s, and 50s, but he'll be pretty damn close.

"I'll never run at 100% again. But, I'll be running at 80, 85%."

And, let's face it ... just wrestling into your 70s is pretty damn impressive. Factor in decades of wrecking your body in the ring, a plane crash in 1975, and a near-death medical emergency in 2019, and it's nothing short of incredible that Naitch is about to kick ass in the ring.

Woooooooooo!!

We also talked to Ric and Wendy Barlow about her humanitarian trip to Ukraine.

LeBron James and Kyrie Irving were one of the greatest 1-2 punches in NBA history -- so says NBA vet Tristan Thompson ... who tells TMZ Sports he has nothing but praise for his old teammates.

TT's comments come after Irving recently admitted on the "I AM ATHLETE" podcast that he and LeBron would have won more championships together if he had been more mature.

Of course, that admission has to sting a little bit for Thompson (hey, at least he got one off the Warriors!!) ... but he explained to us Bron and Kyrie will always hold a special place in his heart after what they accomplished in 2016.

"I win a 'ship with somebody, they're always my favorite," Thompson said.

Tristan knows firsthand what the two guys are capable of -- he was a part of the Cavaliers team led by James and Irving that erased a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals to beat the Golden State Warriors ... and was a key role player in the series.

Before the breakup, LBJ and Kyrie enjoyed success together in Cleveland ... dominating the Eastern Conference and making four consecutive Finals appearances.

Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, and Shaquille O' Neal and Kobe Bryant are generally touted as the standard for best duos ... and, rightfully so, considering the careers they had.

A Kobe Bryant game-worn jersey has just hit the auction block ... and TMZ Sports has learned the piece is so rare, the seller could net a FORTUNE for it.

The #8 Lakers uni was worn by Kobe during home games -- including two playoff games -- during his 1996-1997 rookie season.

Experts at SCP Auctions say it's the only jersey ever photo-matched from Mamba's rookie campaign -- making it one of the most valuable pieces of NBA memorabilia to exist.

In fact, David Kohler, CEO/President at SCP, tells us it could ultimately fetch $5 MILLION.

Experts say Bryant, who entered the league straight out of high school, wore the specific jersey five times on April 11, April 13, April 17, May 8, and May 10, 1997.

In the May games, Bryant played against Karl Malone and the Utah Jazz in the Western Conference Semifinals, marking the first time he played in the postseason.

The jersey is gold in color with purple trim and has the #8 on the front ... along with the name Bryant stitched on the back. It has two patches at the bottom ... one indicating Kob wore a size 44.

The Lower Merion product ended up spending 19 more seasons in the league -- all with the Lakers -- eventually retiring with 5 NBA championships, 2 Finals MVP awards ... and is regarded as one of the greatest players in league history.

WWE Superstars Sasha Banks and Naomi have been "suspended indefinitely" and stripped of their tag team title after walking out of 'Monday Night Raw' earlier this week ... the company just announced during Friday Night Smackdown.

Ringside announcer Michael Cole dropped the bombshell during the telecast ... saying the now-former women's tag team champions won't be wrestling until further notice while they serve the suspension.

In addition to the suspension, Cole stated there will be a future tournament to crown new WWE women's tag team champions.

As we previously reported, Sasha and Naomi were slated to take part in a six-pack challenge to determine the number one contender for Bianca Belair, the women's champ.

However, Banks, a former women's champ herself, reportedly got frustrated with Vince McMahon and management's vision for the show ... resulting in her and Naomi blowing off the show and leaving the arena.

Calvin Magee, former Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end and coach at Jacksonville State University, has died ... the school announced on Friday.

He was 59.

"Our hearts are broken with the loss of our beloved friend Calvin Magee," Rich Rodriguez, head coach for the JSU Gamecocks said in a statement. "Calvin was a great husband, great father, and grandfather, great coach, great friend and great man."

"He impacted my life and the lives of so many others in such a positive way. Our thoughts and prayers are with his beautiful family - wife Rose, daughters Jade and Jasmine, son Bryson, his grandchildren, and all his friends and relatives. Our world is less, but heaven got better."

"I miss him dearly already. I love you, my brother," Rich added.

Magee, whose coaching career began in the early '90s at Tampa Catholic High School in Florida, joined Rodriguez's staff after leaving Duke University this past December.

During his more than two decades of coaching experience, Magee made stops at South Florida, West Virginia, Michigan, Pittsburgh, Arizona, New Mexico, and Ole Miss.

In 2007, Magee was named the AFCA's Assistant Coach of the Year after he helped lead WVU to an 11-2 record, a Big East Championship, and a Fiesta Bowl victory over Oklahoma.

Magee spent 4 seasons in the NFL after being drafted out of Southern college, where he played in 56 games for the Bucs org.

In those games, Magee started in 34 and recorded 114 receptions, 1379 yards, and 11 touchdowns.

Magee is survived by his wife Rose, and their children, Jade, Jasmine, and Bryson.

Pro golfer Aaron Wise was hit in the head by Cameron Smith's tee shot during the PGA Championship on Friday ... but somehow, he was able to brush it off and finish his round!!

Smith was teeing off on the 2nd hole at the Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma ... when his shot went far to the right -- forcing him and his caddie to yell "fore."

Unfortunately, Wise -- who was at the 7th hole -- didn't hear the warnings and was smacked right on his head.

Wise ended up kneeling on the ground with a water bottle placed on his head after the hit ... but he managed to get up after a few seconds.

"There was a little bit of ringing in my head and I was down on the fairway," the 25-year-old golfer said. according to golf reporter Garrett Johnston.

"That lasted for about 20 seconds. Then I felt pretty normal after that."

Talk about TOUGH!!

Wise completed his round 2-over 72 and is one over par in the tournament. Shortly after, he was checked by medical staff and is doing okay.

Wise wasn't the only one taking shots to the head -- ESPN's Sage Steele was also struck by Jon Rahm's tee shot on Thursday.

Travis Scott still has the golden touch, or at least a VERY loyal group of fans, because his first merchandise drop since Astroworld just went crazy online.

Travis released a new collab Friday with pants, jackets, shirts and vests -- but it's the two pairs of Travis Scott Air Trainer 1's that really had fans in a frenzy, trying to score some of their own.

In fact, the hype was so wild for the shoe, Travis and his team needed to create a raffle to make everything fair.

A source close to Trav tells us more than a million people signed up for the raffle for the shoes in just 30 mins ... proving he's obviously still got it when it comes to hawking merch.

Security and the ability to prevent bots from scoring a pair was also a must for TS and team -- we're told they worked with web developers to set up anti-bot protection -- as his drops are some of the most heavily poached online.

This isn't it for Travis and Nike ... we've also heard there's rumblings of additional Nike releases next week, including an Airmax next Friday.

Of course, Travis has also had insanely successful releases with McDonald's, Fortnite and his Cacti hard seltzer flew off the shelves when it was released.

Kansas City Chiefs cornerback L'Jarius Sneed's car was shot up in Louisiana ... but cops say he was not inside of the ride at the time and has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

The Minden Police Department tells TMZ Sports ... the gunfire went down at some point on Friday afternoon in Minden, where Sneed played high school football.

According to a department spokesperson, Sneed's Ford Bronco -- which the 25-year-old football player was not an occupant in at the time -- was hit by bullets ... and Sneed later showed up on the scene to check things out.

We're told Sneed and others were detained on the scene and questioned by officers, but ultimately, Sneed was not arrested and not charged with a crime ... and was let go.

Sources close to Sneed say two of his friends were driving the vehicle at the time ... and believe the shooting was random.

The spokesperson said cops are investigating the situation to find out who fired on the vehicle. No arrests have been made at this time, the spokesperson added.

We've reached out to the Chiefs for comment.

Sneed was picked in the fourth round by the Chiefs in the 2020 NFL Draft ... and quickly became one of K.C.'s best players.

Ryan Garcia is covered in tattoos ... but the star boxer revealed this week that he's actually "so insecure" about them.

The 23-year-old -- who just got most of his body art done in the last couple years -- explained he's self-conscious about his ink while reading some "Mean Tweets" with Jomboy's Dan Canobbio.

On the "Inside Boxing Live" show on Friday, the 22-0 fighter read a string of tweets directed toward him -- and one of them mentioned his tats.

"All that money and Ryan Garcia's tattoos look like he downloaded them off 2k," Garcia read.

Even though the pugilist giggled initially, he later admitted he's not always feeling super confident about his body ink.

"Yo, I'm so insecure about my tattoos!" Garcia responded. "You're a d***head!"

Garcia has double-digit tattoos on his chest, shoulders and arms -- with the most notable being two lions on his pecs.

Who needs weights when you've got an NBA Hall of Famer sitting around!?!

Shaquille O'Neal proved he's still the "Big Aristotle" at 50 years old ... 'cause the legend just curled Reggie Miller -- with ease!!

A video of The Diesel's recent swole sesh was posted to the 'NBA on TNT's Twitter this week ... and for someone who's been retired from the NBA since 2010, Shaq looks to be in great shape.

In the clip, you see the legendary Pacers guard jump into Shaq's arms -- O'Neal didn't budge a bit -- and the former Lakers big man completes 4 full curls!!

"Don't drop me man," Reggie said, before leaping into Shaq's arms.

During his career, Shaq was one of the most dominant forces in NBA history, breaking backboards, blocking shots, and routinely punishing defenders who challenged him.

However, and he'll admit, fitness wasn't always Shaq's priority, especially as his career waned and he started bouncing around from team to team after his prime.

But, that's a thing of the past, because O'Neal looks shredded for a 50-year-old, and the way he was able to curl Miller -- who weighs close to 200 pounds -- was pretty sick.

Michael Vick is back!!!

The NFL legend is pulling out his cleats again and will play in a Fan Controlled Football game later this month, TMZ Sports has confirmed with league sources.

The 41-year-old four-time Pro Bowler hasn't played since the 2015 season -- officially retiring in 2017 -- but we're told after seeing the success Terrell Owens had in the league earlier this year, MV decided to make a comeback.

It's unclear which team Vick will play for or for how long ... but our sources say the quarterback is just looking to be like Owens and have some football fun in his 40s.

Vick has clearly still been keeping his arm in shape despite retirement ... he filmed a video earlier this month with Rich Eisen where he proved he can still throw a football out of a stadium.

We're told Vick is currently targeting May 28 for the comeback.

A Texas Rangers farmhand completely befuddled a Houston Astros prospect with a perfectly executed hidden ball trick on Thursday ... and the epic play was all captured on video!

The trickery happened in the third inning of the Corpus Christi Hooks game against the Frisco RoughRiders -- after 'Stros prospect Justin Dirden knocked a base hit into right field.

As Dirden was celebrating the feat with his first base coach, Trey Hair devised a plan. The Rangers prospect hid the ball in the back of his glove and slowly made his way to Dirden.

In footage of the play, you can see Hair made a swipe at the bag, which caused Dirden to leave it -- and then he casually tagged the runner out.

Dirden was left perplexed, and questioned the umpire about the call. But, it turns out the ump said everything was legal -- and Dirden was ruled out!

John Daly relaxed after the first round of the PGA Championship in the most John Daly way possible -- grabbing some wings at Hooters and hitting the casino.

The golf legend -- who is tied for 58th after shooting 2-over on Thursday -- posed with 6 Hooters girls in Tulsa just hours after hitting the links ... thanking the workers for their hospitality.

As it turns out, the dude didn't stop there -- he was spotted posted up at the slots on Thursday night as well ... with a Diet Coke and a pack of cigs sitting next to his machine.

Naturally, TMZ Sports had to hit Daly up to see if he had any luck at the casino ... and unfortunately, it just wasn't his day.

"The slots weren't hitting," Daly told us this morning.

Of course, Daly is known for his obsession with the wing joint ... and his love for the place eventually landed him a sponsorship with the chain.

We'll have to see if Daly's post-golf routine keeps him in the groove for round 2 -- he tees off at 12:25 PM Central time.

Good news for Calum von Moger ... the star bodybuilder is resting at home and walking without any assistance -- just days after he was in the ICU after reportedly jumping out of a window -- according to a news outlet in Australia.

The Geelong Advertiser is reporting Calum was back at his Mount Duneed home in Australia on Thursday ... where the alleged near-death incident took place.

Remember, von Moger was seriously injured after reportedly crashing through a second-story window earlier this month.

At the time, Generation Iron reported that 31-year-old Calum was fighting for his life ... after suffering a severe injury to his spine. CVM was reportedly in a medically induced coma, too.

We're told von Moger underwent successful surgery for his injuries. A friend of Calum's also told The Sun he was "awake and recovering" in the hospital after surgery, surrounded by loved ones.

The former Mr. Universe -- who also played a young Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 2018 movie, "Bigger" -- has had a rough go these past few months, but, before the accident, vowed to be a better person in an emotional Instagram post where he addressed his actions.

"Everyone has a past. We've all been through hard times. I admit. I messed up bad many times," he wrote.

Move over, Will Smith and Chris Rock -- Bob Cousy and JJ Redick are now the biggest beef of 2022 ... 'cause the Celtic legend is defending his entire era, saying, "we must have had the best firemen and plumbers on the planet."

Remember, the ex-NBAer ripped into Chris Russo on ESPN's "First Take" last month ... after "Mad Dog" brought Cousy into the discussion when debating Chris Paul's legacy.

Redick said 93-year-old Cousy was great for his time, but claimed the 1957 MVP "was being guarded by plumbers and firemen."

Cousy -- a 13-time All-Star from 1951-63 -- got wind of Redick's comments ... and said he wasn't going to give the ex-Duke legend the reaction he wanted ... claiming the guy just wanted attention.

"People with less talent will always try to make a name for themselves by criticizing other people and hopefully getting some attention and perhaps increasing their credibility," the 6-time champ said.

"So, when you respond to something like this, you play into their hands," he added. "I won’t do that, but I will defend the firemen and the plumbers that he referenced."

Those firemen and plumbers?? Cousy names them off, and they're some of the all-time greats.

Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, Oscar Robertson and Jerry West?? Yeah, pretty damn good!!

Cousy plays into Redick's comments ... saying, "We must have had the best firemen and plumbers on the planet at the time. And, I was very proud to play with all of them."

The Action Jackson nickname for Lamar Jackson just got a whole other meaning -- as in Lights Camera Action -- 'cause the Baltimore Ravens star just made an appearance in a music video with Kodak Black!!!

The quarterback's cameo came about two minutes into the vid for Loe Shimmy's rap song, "Bounty," which features Kodak on the track.

In the flick that was released Thursday night, you can see Jackson rockin' gold chains and wearing an all-black fit while chillin' with Kodak in a hotel room.

Loe also pays homage to the former NFL MVP in the video by showing a shrine of the 25-year-old signal-callers helmets and framed jerseys.

Jackson was hyped about the appearance ... sharing it on his IG and saying, "Motion Boyz 🚀🚀"

Of course, the guest star role shouldn't surprise many ... Jackson and Kodak go way back, growing up together in Pompano Beach, Florida. The two actually went to the same elementary school!

In fact, when Kodak was serving a 46-month sentence in federal prison back in 2019, LJ reached out to then-President Donald Trump to plead for an early release.

"Hey Donald Trump, my friend Kodak Black deserves to be commuted," Jackson said on Twitter last January.

"The system punished him way to hard for a paperwork crime #freekodak."