TMZ Sports - Page 19

Anthony Edwards is a dog on the court, and a dog lover off it ... and that's why the NBA star's agent commissioned an artist in Los Angeles to paint a picture of his beloved bulldog, Ant Jr., and gifted it to the hooper.

Edward's agent, Omar Wilkes, knows how much Ant Jr. means to his client, so he hit up L.A.-based artist Andre Simmons to create a portrait of the pup.

We're told Wilkes -- who also reps Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young -- contacted Simmons with the idea for Anthony's birthday.

Dre tells us he started working on the painting on a Friday, and dropped it off at Klutch Sports agency the following Tuesday.

Ant Jr.'s rocking a custom No. 1 home jersey in the painting like Edwards ... who averaged over 20 points per game in his 2nd NBA season.

James Harden's yacht birthday party literally takes the cake -- takes the cake and throws the whole 4-tier dessert overboard -- during the NBA star's wild bday celebration!

The Philadelphia Sixers guard was caught on video partying with his friends and family on a yacht this week in Marina Del Rey in California, celebrating his 33rd birthday.

Everyone was taking photos of Harden, dressed in all white, holding the large cake near the side rail of the yacht, when out of nowhere, he tossed the dessert overboard.

The party DJ was in complete shock ... saying on the mic, "Happy Birthday -- oh my God!"

But, was it real?! The cake's large, and while Harden is obviously a big, strong, world-class athlete, the cake seems awfully light! So, likely fake, but still super funny.

Thankfully, the fun didn't stop when the cake departed the boat ... Harden even showed off his "sexy" dance moves in front of the camera to Pretty Ricky's 'On The Hotline'.

There was also a cool ice sculpture of Harden aboard the yacht.

Harden and his guests celebrated the big 3-3 by sipping on Tequila Diamante, according to the party drink menu. They also enjoyed JH's new vino, J-Harden Wines.

Little League World Series player Easton Oliverson has taken yet another huge step toward a full recovery from his terrifying bunk bed fall ... his family just announced he underwent successful skull surgery Friday morning.

Oliverson's relatives shared a picture of the 12-year-old -- who suffered severe injuries in a near-fatal fall in the Williamsport dormitory on Aug. 14 -- showing the little boy resting comfortably in his hospital bed after doctors replaced a piece of his skull that they initially removed following his accident.

"This sweet boy is out of surgery.🤍," the family said in a caption on the photo. "We couldn’t be any more thrilled to let everyone know that his surgery went perfect."

Oliverson's family also said in the social media post that doctors "are very happy with the outcome" -- adding that Easton would be staying the night in the PICU for observations.

"THANK YOU for the thoughts, prayers, and messages concerning this procedure," they said. "Easton, his parents, and our entire family will be forever grateful 🤍💙"

"We are so grateful."

Easton has slowly but surely recovered since he needed emergency surgery earlier this month ... taking his first bites of food and his first steps just days after suffering the injuries.

He's even been spotted playing catch with stuffed animals in his hospital room.

Easton's family said Thursday they anticipate him returning home to Utah soon "if he continues to work hard and listen to his doctors."

Bills punter Matt Araiza will NOT be participating in Buffalo's final preseason game ... after a woman made serious rape allegations against him in a lawsuit earlier this week.

22-year-old Araiza -- AKA the "Punt God" -- was originally slated to suit up and play in the Bills' matchup against the Carolina Panthers on Friday night ... but before kickoff, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported the team reversed course and will sit him down.

The decision comes following a civil lawsuit in which a woman accused the former San Diego State star of raping her with his SDSU football teammates during a Halloween party in October 2021.

In the suit, the woman -- who's 18 now but said she was 17 at the time of the incident -- claimed she was sexually assaulted by the punter (who was 21 at the time) and two other Aztecs football players for over an hour at his SD home.

The Bills released a statement on Thursday ... saying the team was aware of the allegations and was investigating the situation.

Araiza's attorney denied the allegations in a statement to the Los Angeles Times, saying, "It's a shakedown because he's now with the Buffalo Bills."

"There is no doubt in my mind that Matt Araiza ever raped that girl," the attorney added.

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Taurean Prince was arrested in Miami on Thursday night ... TMZ Sports has confirmed.

Jail records show the 28-year-old was booked at 7:51 PM due to an outstanding warrant. A police spokesperson tells us it stems from an alleged drug-related incident in Texas.

Further details have not yet been released.

Prince -- who looked stern in his mug shot -- is still in custody, the records show.

Prince, a star at Baylor, was taken by the Jazz in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft, but was traded to the Atlanta Hawks just days later. He's bounced around the league since, but played well for the T-Wolves after being traded to the team last year.

He's since signed a 2-year, $16 million extension with Minnesota ... and is expected to be a key player on the team this season.

First up, the "Road House" remake ... after that, a Mark Wahlberg flick?!

If Wahlberg had it his way, that's the Hollywood career path Conor McGregor would take ... 'cause the face of the "Ted" franchise said this week he wants to put the UFC superstar in one of his upcoming films!!

Walhberg made the revelation on Barstool Sports' "Pardon My Take" podcast ... explaining he truly believes McGregor has the chops to kill it on the silver screen.

"In the right movie," the 51-year-old actor said, "absolutely!"

Conor will get his first shot to prove that later this year ... when he stars alongside Jake Gyllenhaal in the upcoming "Road House" remake.

And, if that goes well, seems his next stop could be on a Wahlberg film.

"I gotta get Conor to be in a movie," Wahlberg said.

Of course, Mark has tried to get the 34-year-old fighter to be in a movie for years -- he told us in 2015 he was attempting even back then to cast him.

If it doesn't go down -- don't count on Wahlberg stepping into McGregor's world instead ... Mark told the 'PMT' guys that his son absolutely won't let him get in a ring with the fighter.

"My son comes up to me and goes, 'Dad, don't you dare! Don't you even think about it!'"

AEW star Darby Allin is known for his death-defying stunts in the ring -- but this time, he's reached new heights OUT of it ... pulling off a 96-foot jump over his home in a Jeep!!

"Sketchiest stunt I ever did!" Allin wrote on social media.

In the video, Allin's Jeep gains some speed as it zooms up a makeshift ramp and launches into the air ... and man, was it close to the roof of his home!!

At one point, the Jeep's right back tire skids off the side of it ... but Allin, somehow, was still able to nail a sick landing into a bunch of trailers.

No word on how fast Allin was going or what led him to try the stunt ... but the 29-year-old pro wrestler naturally has a penchant for defying the norm.

You'll recall ... during a match against Jeff Hardy in May, Allin took the meaning of extreme to another level when he hit Jeff with his signature Swanton Bomb finisher off the ladder.

Hardy -- who's no stranger to pulling off jaw-dropping stunts inside the squared circle -- went crashing into 8 steel chairs set up directly behind him ... and the whole crowd lost it!!

As crazy as that Swanton Bomb was, it's not shocking for Allin ... who has a reputation for defying gravity and pushing his limits.

A wild fight broke out in the stands at a high school football game in Mississippi Thursday night ... leaving one man bloodied, and the chaotic scene was captured on video!!

It all went down during a football game between the Wayne County War Eagles and the Quitman Panthers ... when two men began screaming at each other during the contest.

In the clip, a man wearing a blue Heidelberg football shirt stood up and told the other guy, who appeared to be wearing a navy shirt, "I'll whoop your ass," as the two went back and forth.

The video shows the guy responding by saying, "Come on out to the parking lot. Come whoop my ass" ... and that's when all hell broke loose!!

The guy in the Heidelberg football shirt walked down the stadium stairs, and that's when the guy in the navy shirt attempts to pick him up and unloads a series of punches.

It's unclear how many punches were thrown, but the fight left one guy bloodied ... as spectators nearby tried to separate the two parties and restore some semblance of peace.

We reached out to Wayne County H.S. and Quitman H.S., and they tell us they have no reason to believe either individual seen fighting in the video was affiliated with either H.S.

The Chief of Police with Wayne County School District's Police Department told us he had "no comment" at this time.

Jay Gruden's casa es Carson Wentz's casa now -- the Washington Commanders QB bought the former coach's Virginia home after being traded this offseason, TMZ Sports has confirmed.

The 7,280-square foot home sits on 3 acres in Leesburg -- an hour west of Commanders' FedEx Field stadium -- and we're told it's a popular area for pro athletes.

The crib -- detailed as a "magnificent French-Provincial estate" -- comes with 5 bedrooms, 5.5 baths, a chef's kitchen, a home gym and a 3-car garage.

There's plenty of space to watch some game tape -- from the Great Room (which has a fireplace) to the game room, where Wentz can sip on some wine from the cellar that holds over 300 bottles.

This amazing pad was listed by Bill Davis from Century 21 -- who confirmed Gruden used to hang his hat there.

Remember, Gruden started coaching the Commanders in 2014 and was fired in 2019 after a 35-49-1 record with the franchise. He's currently the L.A. Rams' offensive consultant.

Wentz was traded to the Commanders in March ... and bought the place for $3,675,000 in July.

Jake Paul is coming to terms with the fact he may never get a shot at whooping KSI in the ring ... claiming his nemesis was just using him to promote his own fights.

As we previously reported, the Problem Child and KSI made a Twitter deal earlier this month ... agreeing to finally settle their beef and set up a boxing match at Wembley Stadium in 2023.

The plan didn't stop the two YouTube superstars from throwing jabs at each other ever since ... with Jake most recently trashing KSI's event on Saturday, where he's slated to take two opponents in the same night.

Once the details of the fights against Swarmz and Luis Alcaraz Pineda were made public -- 3-round bouts with a 3-hour break in between -- Paul made his opinion known ... trashing the whole event.

"It's way easier than one 6 round fight," Paul tweeted.

"KSI & Minions Boxing doing the fans dirty with this fake s***. Mislead after mislead."

KSI clapped back by pointing out he's actually getting in the ring in 2022, unlike Paul, and taking on an actual boxing pro, also unlike Paul ... Jake unleashed his response.

"What you doing isn’t fighting. It’s an exhibition against a nice young man and your mate you make music with."

He added ... "KSI will never fight me. That is obvious and I'm ok with it. He is trying to hype his exhibition fights."

The realization comes days after TMZ Sports reported Rick Ross is putting up $10 million to try and find an opponent for his buddy, Jake.

Sylvester Stallone is still showing up for work, and putting on a face that seems to hide the fact his wife just pulled the trigger on ending their 25 years of marriage.

Sly surprised a bunch of excited fans Thursday at a special screening for his new movie "Samaritan" ... popping up at the AMC Empire 25 theater in New York. Some folks whipped out their cameras to snap the moment, while others clapped and greeted him with smiles.

And, despite it being a difficult time, he seemed to be in pretty good spirits. At one point he grabbed the mic and gave a guy in the audience a warm embrace.

As we reported ... his now-estranged wife Jennifer Flavin filed for divorce a week ago, and in the docs, she claims he's been moving around marital assets to hide them from her and her attorneys -- although Sly denies that.

There's been a lot of back and forth about what might have caused the divorce -- much of it centering on Sly's new Rottweiler, Dwight, which Stallone got tatted on his shoulder ... OVER Jennifer's face!

While sources connected to Sly said an argument about the dog triggered the divorce ... Sly himself tells us that wasn't it.

He says he and Jennifer "just went in different directions," and adds he was totally caught off guard by her filing divorce papers.

Interestingly, though, Jennifer was out in WeHo in early August, and wasn't wearing her wedding ring.

Fake Drake is missing out on his big celebrity turn with Lamar Odom, and he's blaming real deal Drake for sabotaging his money bag!!!

Fake, Izzy, whatever ... that guy was a recent guest on the WeInMiami podcast, where he got candid about his recent encounter with Drake … who allegedly cold-shouldered Frake and team when approached about the nixed celebrity boxing match with Lamar Odom.

Champagne Papi seemed fine with coexisting with his clone in the past, but lately, he's got no patience for the whole scene. During the podcast, Fake Drake claimed the megastar rapper threatened to pull up to the fight and slap him ... free of charge.

Frizzy also accused Drake of paying off LO to stay out of the ring, but sources involved in the celebrity boxing deal tell TMZ Hip Hop ... Drake cashing out the ex-NBA star is false, and LO simply backed out on his own.

Speaking of fights, one almost broke out during the podcast taping when Sparkling Cider Papi's new opponent, YouTuber M2thaK, promised to remove all signs of Drake … with his fists.

The fight is scheduled to happen in October, and should be worth the price of admission … especially if real Drake shows up to get in a few shots. Hey, we can dream.

Cincinnati Reds outfielder Jake Fraley was so pissed with Phillies fans on Thursday night, he straight-up screamed at the guys and eventually told them to "shut the f**k up!"

It all went down at Citizens Bank Ballpark during the Reds' tilt with Philadelphia, when at some point during the contest, Fraley had clearly heard enough from chirping Phils fans.

Video from the scene shows Fraley and a man wearing a navy blue shirt that read Philadelphia Fire Department jawing back and forth with each other, exchanging cuss words.

Then, after Fraley told the guy he didn't want a problem with him ... he said to the group of people in the seats, "Shut the f**k up!" before he walked away from the situation.

The fans kept telling Fraley he got the wrong guy, with one man repeatedly yelling, "It wasn't me!"

Jake, however, clearly wasn't buying the explanation, and seemed infuriated over it all. Luckily for all parties, cooler heads prevailed before things escalated.

The sculptor who made the iconic Kobe and Gigi Bryant statue that was placed at the crash site earlier this year has made several replicas of the tribute ... and he tells TMZ Sports he's giving them out to fans in honor of Mamba Day.

On the 2nd anniversary of Kobe and Gigi's death, Dan Medina made a 160-pound bronze statue of the NBA legend and his 13-year-old daughter ... and brought it to the Calabasas location on January 26.

That monument was only temporary (since the city of Calabasas told us a permanent one won't be installed anytime soon) ... but Medina created four miniature ones just like it for a special giveaway that started on 8/24 -- AKA Mamba Day.

"I will be giving away 4 Bronze sculptures in the near future," Medina tells us.

"The designs are 12 inches tall and are an exact replica of the larger design I displayed last January 26."

The replicas all sit on black granite and each one has a different finish -- bronze patina, polished gold, Black Mamba patina and stainless steel.

"I'm genuinely humbled by my opportunity in keeping their legacy alive," Medina says. "The world needs this."

To be eligible, Medina fans have to donate $24 or more to the Mamba and Mambacita Foundation starting on Mamba Day ... and after following instructions from his Instagram account, he will randomly pick 4 winners by January 2023 -- which marks the third anniversary of the tragedy.

"My plan is when anyone donates a specified dollar amount they will need to input an email that puts them in a pool, then I will randomly choose a winner," Medina said.

Buffalo Bills punter Matt Araiza -- who earned the nickname "Punt God" for his kicking abilities at San Diego State -- is being sued ... after he allegedly participated in the gang rape of a minor at a party in 2021.

The lawsuit, obtained by TMZ Sports, was filed in San Diego County Superior Court this week.

In the docs, a woman identified only as Jane Doe says when she was 17 years old, she and several of her friends attended a Halloween party on Oct. 17, 2021 at Araiza's home.

She claims in the documents she was inebriated upon arriving at the residence, and encountered Araiza in the yard of his home a short time later. She said the former SDSU football player, who was 21 at the time, handed her a drink that she later believed contained alcohol and "other intoxicating substances."

Doe says in the docs the two engaged in sexual acts outside of the home. Araiza then allegedly led her inside, and threw her onto a bed. The woman claims he then gang raped her with two of his Aztecs teammates at the time -- Nowlin "Pa'a" Ewaliko and Zavier Leonard, who are also named as defendants in the suit.

The woman claims the sexual abuse went on for about an hour and a half, before the party was eventually shut down. She said in the suit she "stumbled out of the room bloody and crying."

She's suing Araiza, Ewaliko and Leonard for unspecified damages.

Araiza's attorney denied the allegations in a statement to the Los Angeles Times, saying, "It's a shakedown because he's now with the Buffalo Bills."

"There is no doubt in my mind that Matt Araiza ever raped that girl," the attorney added.

Attorneys for Leonard and Ewaliko declined to comment, the Times reported.

The Bills -- who took Araiza in the sixth round of this year's NFL Draft and named him their starting punter earlier this month -- released a statement on the allegations Thursday afternoon, saying, "We were recently made aware of a civil complaint involving Matt from October 2021."

"Due to the serious nature of the complaint, we conducted a thorough examination of this matter. As this is an ongoing civil case, we will have no other comment at this point."

Vanessa Bryant is sinking the $16 million she won from L.A. County into the cause near and dear to her late husband Kobe Bryant -- she says it will all be donated to the Mamba & Mambacita Foundation.

Bryant and co-plaintiff Chris Chester won their lawsuit against L.A. County over the distribution of photos taken at the helicopter crash scene in Jan. 2020 ... with the jury awarding Vanessa the $16 mil, and $15 million to Chris.

Vanessa's attorney Luis Li tells TMZ, "From the beginning, Vanessa Bryant has sought only accountability, but our legal system does not permit her to force better policies, more training or officer discipline."

Li's statement, first posted by the L.A. Times, continues ... "Those measures are the responsibility of the sheriff’s and fire departments -- responsibilities that Mrs. Bryant’s efforts have exposed as woefully deficient, even giving amnesty to the wrongdoers. Mrs. Bryant was courageous and never faltered, even when the County attempted to force her to submit to an involuntary psychiatric examination. She is deeply grateful to Ralph Mendez and Luella Weireter, the good Samaritans who brought to light the decades old practice of taking and sharing photos of accident and crime victims for no legitimate purpose."

Li says Vanessa hopes this case will help to change the "callous behavior" of the sheriff and fire departments' first responders.

She also wants the $16 mil to "shine a light on Kobe and Gigi's legacy."

As we reported, during closing arguments in the trial Chester's attorney proposed the jury should award Chris $32.5 million, but Vanessa's team did not suggest a dollar amount during their closing.