TMZ Sports - Page 18

LeBron James and his wife, Savannah, kept the birthday vibes going at the Kendrick Lamar concert on Sunday ... 'cause they were straight-up grooving to the rap superstar's music!!

The King and his Queen hit up the Rogers Arena in Vancouver one day after her special day ... and by the looks of it, they were having the time of their lives.

In the clip, you see James and Savannah posted up in what appears to be a private seating area ... but they weren't just standing around -- they were definitely feeling themselves.

Naturally, once fans noticed the 4-time champ in the building, many swarmed to the James Gang's spot ... taking pics and videos of LBJ.

Of course, Kendrick is on tour for his latest studio album, "Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers," but rather than wait for K. Dot to perform in L.A., LBJ decided to check it out while up North.

You can tell LeBron was feeling the song selection ... and when the California MC started performing his hit song "Humble," James went crazy and even engaged with the crowd.

Bron has regularly shown love to Kendrick, especially when he releases new music ... posting videos of him jamming to K. Dot's bars and giving the rapper his flowers.

Parting ways with his Super Bowl ring just got much easier for Hakeem Nicks ... 'cause TMZ Sports has learned the former NY Giants star's bling fetched a whopping $117,000 at auction this weekend.

The gavel officially dropped on Saturday -- netting Nicks around $40K more than what Heritage Auctions officials had initially expected it to sell for.

It's great news for not only Nicks ... but charities as well -- as we're told the former wideout had planned to donate a portion of the proceeds to those in need.

Nicks initially put the piece up for sale earlier this month ... after he helped Eli Manning and the G-men win it back in 2012.

Nicks piled up 10 catches and 109 yards in the SBXLVI win over Tom Brady's New England Patriots.

Colin Kaepernick and his partner, Nessa Diab, are parents -- the couple just announced they recently welcomed a baby to the world.

This is the first child for Kap and Nessa, who started dating back in 2015.

"I thought long and hard about sharing our life changing news today," the radio personality said. "I decided to do so because today is the first day in a few weeks where I stepped out for work with a new life title -- MOM!"

"Colin and I welcomed our amazing baby to the world a few weeks ago and we are over the moon with our growing family."

Nessa says the free agent quarterback has been the "most amazing dad" and fully supportive throughout her recovery ... which she implies has been a challenging process.

Diab says the newest member of their family has already taught her "how to love in ways I never knew."

Kap has been out of the league since 2016 ... which he firmly believes is due to his controversial national anthem protest, which sparked backlash from many -- including President Donald Trump.

Kap sued the NFL in 2017 ... which resulted in a settlement.

He recently worked out for the Las Vegas Raiders ... but left the tryout without a gig.

Several hooded men reportedly broke into FC Barcelona striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's home in Spain on Monday morning, beat him and then robbed him at gunpoint.

The horrifying incident, according to Spanish newspaper El Pais, happened at Aubameyang's residence in Castelldefels at around 1 AM ... when at least four people invaded the soccer player's home while armed with guns and iron bars.

Once inside, the men allegedly forced Aubameyang and his wife to open a safe inside the home. They then, according to El Pais, took several pieces of jewelry and other valuables, before fleeing the property.

Thankfully, Barcelona team officials have told multiple media outlets the 33-year-old footballer and his wife are doing OK, and did not suffer serious injuries.

Aubameyang had been with FC Barcelona just hours before the incident for its game against Real Valladolid. He was an unused substitute in the team's 4-0 victory.

Cops have reportedly launched an investigation into the robbery, though arrests have not been made.

Kamaru Usman dominated Leon Edwards for the better part of 21 minutes, so why didn't the former welterweight champ just chill -- grab, wrestle, stay away -- in the 5th round of their UFC title fight? 'Cause that just ain't the Nigerian Nightmare's personality.

TMZ Sports talked to 35-year-old Usman -- one of the greatest mixed martial artists to ever step foot in a cage -- just two days after his UFC 278 loss ... and we asked if he considered running out the clock over the fight's final 4 minutes.

"No, that's not who I am. When I fight, there's a reason I'm pedal to the medal and I don't look at the clock," Usman flatly told us.

Kamaru then continued ... "That's the way that I fight. I wanted to finish. It was just a beautiful technique. I could've taken him down, but I really wanted to finish and when I was setting up, you know only God knows what I was setting up, I didn't land it."

Despite the loss, Usman, who hadn't taken an L since May 2013, isn't bitter ... in fact, he's very impressed with the head kick with which 31-year-old Edwards ended the fight.

"It was just a beautiful technique. Beautifully timed, and he threw head kicks throughout the fight, but I blocked them all. That one was just money. I'm almost in awe on how good it was but it happens. Champions fall and then they get back and show you why they're champions."

As for all the memes, the people talking crap online, the other fights like Jake Paul and Canelo Alvarez, Kamaru's paying all that no mind at all.

"I am mixed martial artist and I am the best mixed martial artist in the world. So, that's what I need to do. I need to prove that. I think of nothing else right now except that."

"When you sit on top of that thrown, then you can branch out and do other things. Right now, I don't sit on top of that throne right now. I'm not paying attention to all this side noise and side talk or anything like that. Let's focus on what we need to focus on first which is getting that back and then we'll decide."

Brian Robinson of the Washington Commanders was shot in D.C. this weekend ... TMZ Sports has confirmed.

The 23-year-old running back was struck by two bullets Sunday, which his lower half -- this during an attempted carjacking ... according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. We've been told he's been hospitalized and is in stable condition. He's expected to survive his injuries.

MPDC tells TMZ Sports ... a handgun was recovered not too far from the scene of the crime -- which occurred shortly before 6 PM ET -- but no arrests have been made yet.

The Commanders just played a game on Saturday against Ravens. Robinson was selected during the NFL Draft earlier this year.

Aaron Rodgers gave a full play-by-play breakdown of what exactly happened with his vaccine controversy last year ... dishing the deets to none other than Joe Rogan.

The Packers quarterback was on the 'JRE' this week, and he drilled down on how things unfolded, through his perspective, from the start of training camp to the day he was asked if he'd been vaccinated ... and it sounds like he thinks he got a raw deal in the whole thing.

Watch ... AR explains that he's allergic to a certain part of the vaccine -- the polyethylene glycol found in both the Moderna and Pfizer jabs -- and was all set to take the Johnson & Johnson shot ... until it got pulled for causing blood clots in certain recipients.

When that was out, Aaron says he researched another alternative to protect himself -- one that involved holistic medicine, he says -- and went that route ... without getting a vaccine.

Aaron says he showed up to camp with everyone knowing what his status was -- something that was hard to miss, because he says the NFL would literally separate players both physically and symbolically ... giving out different colored wristbands to differentiate.

He also says he was appealing for a waiver with the league, but he felt he wouldn't get one -- especially when they allegedly called him a conspiracy theorist after he refuted that vaxxed people couldn't contract or spread the virus ... something we now know is possible.

Aaron says he eventually caught COVID -- from an already-vaccinated player, he says -- and that's when word got out officially. He says he felt it was a witch hunt environment to begin with, and when the truth came out ... Aaron says he felt betrayed by the media.

Tom Brady just can't take a day off without people writing a book about it -- well, unless it's missing the first two weeks of training camp -- so he's addressing it again, essentially saying he went through a lot of s**t.

Brady showed up Saturday for the preseason debut in the exhibition final, and said post-game, "Everyone has different situations they're dealing with and we all have unique challenges to our lives."

Then he said this ... "I'm 45 years old, man. There's a lot of shit going on, so you just have to try and figure out life the best you can. You know, it's a continuous process."

Brady, who performed at the Brady level, kinda said the obvious after the game ... "I feel good. I've played football for a long time. I'm pretty good at it," Brady said. "Doesn't take me long for me to remember how to play it."

Brady did not get specific about the 11-day absence -- remember, he initially said he was self-benching for "personal reasons."

The Bucs played 2 preseason games while Brady was out ... losing to Miami on Aug. 13 and to the Titans on Aug. 20.

There have been massive rumors he was MIA so he could appear on " The Masked Singer," but Brady flatly denied that. But here's the thing ... when he was retired for that nanosecond, he signed a massive, $375 million deal with Fox, and it's not inconceivable part of the deal might have been to appear on Fox shows, the biggest of which is the 'Masked Singer.'

So the theory goes ... when he un-retired, he went back to the Bucs and said he had signed the deal so part of the terms of coming back would be the 11-day hiatus.

Julius Erving loves Kobe Bryant and even played with the Mamba's father ... but he tells TMZ Sports the NBA shouldn't retire the Lakers legend's numbers league-wide like it did with Bill Russell earlier this summer.

Most believe that following Adam Silver's decision to honor Russell by permanently hanging up his #6 following the Celtics legend's death -- he should do the same for Kobe, who tragically passed away in 2020.

But, Dr. J -- who called Russell a good friend of his -- clearly feels differently.

"I don't think he should be compared with the Russell situation," Erving said of Kobe out at LAX. "We're fresh into that but let's see how that works out. Maybe at some point in time. Bill was 86 years old, so address it like that to an 86-year-old -- multiple champions, multiple coaching champions, multiple on-and-off the court champion, or whatever -- there's no comparison."

"I wouldn't even try to compare Kobe Bryant to Russell."

Instead, Erving said he believes the posthumous honors that Bryant receives should be left up to his former L.A. team.

"It's more of a franchise situation with the Lakers," Erving said. "If they wanted to do it, which I think they already have, that makes sense -- but for the whole league to do it, probably not."

Christopher Martin -- one half of the iconic rap duo Kid 'n Play -- says the "House Party" reboot is in great hands with LeBron James ... telling TMZ Sports the NBA superstar is working nonstop to make sure the movie is a success.

As we previously reported, the modern version of KnP's iconic flick has been delayed a bit ... with star actor Jacob Latimore saying it was for the best.

We spoke with Martin at LAX about the project ... and he said he heard from sources -- AKA King James himself -- the reason behind the pushback is because it will be a theatrical release instead of on HBO Max as originally planned.

Speaking of the King, Martin couldn't say enough nice things about the hooper/big time producer ... adding he's "very involved" and has "complete ownership" over the operation.

To top things off, Martin says LeBron even hooked him up with some of his signature Nike shoes ... which he was wearing when we spoke with him!!

Also -- we know what everyone's asking ... will Kid 'n Play make it into the reboot??

Fedor Emelianenko, Wanderlei Silva, Chael Sonnen, Rashad Evans, Forrest Griffin, Dan Henderson, Chuck Liddell, Glover Teixeira ... all MMA legends Quinton Jackson fought (some wins, some losses) -- but none of these beasts qualify as the greatest fighter Rampage has faced -- that honor belongs to Jon Jones.

TMZ Sports caught up with the 44-year-old (don't say retired -- more on that later) fighter last month at LAX ... where we asked the former MMA champ what advice he's given to Jones as he (fingers crossed 🤞) gets closer to his first fight in the heavyweight division.

"Honestly, no cap," Rampage flatly told us, adding, "Jon Jones is the best person I ever fought. I don't think I can give him advice. He's a better fighter than me, you know what I'm saying. I keep it 100."

It's high praise coming from one of the most well-known (and badass) MMA fighters to ever grace a cage.

FYI, Jon and Rampage fought in September 2011. Bones won by rear naked choke in the 4th round.

Of course, all of Jon's incredible exploits have come in the light heavyweight division (205 lbs.) ... but now he's facing men who weigh up to 265 lbs. More weight, more power. Will that be an issue for Jones? We asked Rampage.

"I don't know about Jon Jones' chin. It's been rumors that he don't got a strong chin. The heavyweights, man, you know they hit harder but I feel like Jones is a smart fighter. It was really hard for me to hit him, he wouldn't let me hit him. Granted, Jones is a dirty fighter. When you get close to him, he gon' poke you in the eye and kick ya knee backward."

Quinton continued ... "Heavyweights, they a different monster. They hit hard. They catch you slippin' -- look at Francis Ngannou. That guy hits you, it lights out. Game over."

We also asked Rampage -- who hasn't fought since December 2019 -- if he was done fighting for good.

"Nah, man. I ain't done. I'm not happy with my performance last fight. I can't leave the MMA fans like that."

Jackson's referring to his Bellator 237 scrap with the legend, Fedor. Emelianenko defeated QJ halfway through the first round by technical knockout (TKO).

But, if there's one more fight, Rampage says it might not be MMA ... there's a good chance it's a boxing match against former champ Shannon Briggs.

"I'm in talks with fighting Shannon. That fight has been almost a year in the making, but I wanna do some boxing before I retire," Quinton says.

Buffalo Bills Punter Matt Araiza -- accused of gang-raping a 17-year-old girl while in college -- has been released by the team, the organization announced Saturday.

As TMZ Sports previously reported, 22-year-old Araiza was sued in San Diego County Superior Court earlier this week.

Araiza, nicknamed the "Punt God," is accused of gang-raping a 17-year-old woman, only identified as "Jane Doe" in the suit, at a Halloween party at his house on October 17, 2021.

The woman, who says she was inebriated upon arriving at the party, says Araiza gave her a drink that she later believed contained "other intoxicating substances."

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

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

Doe is suing Araiza, Ewaliko and Leonard for unspecified damages.

Araiza, shortly after the allegations came to light, adamantly denied the claims, saying ... “The facts of the incident are not what they are portrayed in the lawsuit or in the press. I look forward to quickly setting the record straight.”

The Bills initially issued a statement saying they were aware of the allegations, saying they “conducted a thorough examination,” but couldn't comment further due to the active suit.

However, after sitting Araiza (the team's starting P) during Friday night's preseason game, the Bills, a Super Bowl favorite, announced Saturday afternoon they were parting ways with the league's most talked about punter.

Buffalo GM Brandon Beane and head coach Sean McDermott briefly met with the media, telling reporters the situation was bigger than football, adding Matt must deal with the serious issue.

As for specifically when the organization learned or the incredibly troubling allegations, Beane said the following.

"I know it's a question of when did we hear this or what was the timeline -- late July from her representative spoke to [Bills attorney Kathryn D'Angelo] and laid out some of the things that they were accusing Matt and others of. At that time, our process, we tried to be thorough and thoughtful. Not rush to judgment, and I would say it's not easy. You're trying to put facts around a legal situation, sometimes with limited information. So, ultimately that's where we're at today with the decision."

Araiza was selected in the 6th round of the 2022 NFL Draft ... and recently went viral after he boomed an 82-yard punt during his first game.

Araiza has not been arrested or charged with a crime.

Baseball is known as 'America's National Pastime' ... but in Canada it looks more like a rerun of the Jerry Springer show.

Check out this video, obtained by TMZ, showing 2 women getting into a free-for-all with others in the nosebleed section of Rogers Centre in Toronto last night.

As the L.A. Angels were routing the Blue Jays 12-0, the women started going at it after they got into some sort of nasty argument. Over what? We don't know.

But our sources tell us one of the women, who was sitting in her seat watching the game, had her hair pulled by the other woman from behind.

That's when everybody went all Springer -- and fists started to fly!! One guy planted his fist in the face of the woman who had her hair pulled. Onlookers were astonished, yelling, "Oh s---t" and "Wow!!"

Other people jumped in and yanked the women off each other ... the hair-puller then screamed as she dashed down a flight of stairs.

We're told her rival went after her and the two got into it again inside a tunnel at the stadium.

We're not sure what happened after that ... but we've called police ... so far no word back. Fingers crossed that no one got hurt too badly.

Gotta love those Canadians, though. They really know how to fight.

Hailey Davidson -- the transgender golfer aiming to make the LPGA Tour -- tells TMZ Sports she's very grateful for Caitlyn Jenner's support this week ... but she's striving to have a further chat with the former Olympian with the hopes that it will help "clear up some assumptions" going forward.

Jenner threw her support behind Davidson on Fox News on Wednesday, saying she believed Davidson -- unlike transgender swimmer Lia Thomas -- had no unfair advantage over her female opponents because "golf is a totally different game."

Davidson called Jenner's backing "awesome" ... but tells us she did find at least part of the conversation as a whole "a bit vague."

Specifically, the 29-year-old, who underwent gender reassignment surgery last year, says she wished Jenner had left out the sweeping assumption that she can still crush a golf ball.

"My big thing is just, I appreciate the love and support, but definitely to clear up some assumptions would be awesome," she said.

"Because I definitely don't hit it as far as people say. Like, nowhere close."

Davidson said she's reached out to Jenner in an attempt to have a conversation with her about it all. She's yet, though, to hear back.

But if the conversation does take place, Davidson tells us she's hopeful Jenner would hear her out about her golf game ... and more.

"I would love to talk to her in regards to more about how we are athletes and her experience may not be everyone's experience," she said.

"Everyone's experiences are different and everyone's built different. With what she was training to do, yeah, I'm pretty sure she's pretty big and strong."

Davidson said she, however, is not necessarily like that. In fact, she tells us after undergoing hormone treatment, she's lost a ton of power and clubhead speed.

Ultimately, Davidson said she's just hoping everyone can one day be treated equally.

"I understand [Caitlyn's] point that golf is a little different," she said. "But again, all sports are really the same in the end when it comes to the athlete."

AEW star Darby Allin says moments before he drove a Jeep 96 feet over his home and into trailers, legendary stunt performer Travis Pastrana gave him a scary warning -- you're gonna break your back, dude!!!

TMZ Sports spoke with Allin right after he pulled off the insane, death-defying stunt ... and the 29-year-old told us Pastrana -- who set the whole thing up -- gave him some chilling parting words.

"Travis Pastrana helped set it up," Darby said. "And he's like from Nitro Circus, [the] first-ever double backflip. He's a wild man. So he helped set it up."

"And he straight up told me like before I went, 'There's a good chance you're going to break your back doing this.'"

Allin told us the stunt was far more dangerous than he initially led on -- 'cause his car was missing some VERY key parts!!

"I was terrified because when I got the stunt car, it didn't have any brakes, and it didn't have a speedometer," Allin said. "So, I was just like, 'Alright, here we go, dude.' I literally didn't know how fast I was going."

"If I got scared and decided to pull out at the last minute, I couldn't because I had no brakes," Allin said. "So, I just winged it."

Darby said the experts told him to go 36 MPH during the stunt, but because he was without brakes or a speedometer, he couldn't tell how fast he was going.

DA says he lost track of where he was while flying through the air, but the moment he hit the trailers, he immediately told his AEW boss Tony Khan, who was on FaceTime with him for the entire stunt -- "I can make it Wednesday."

Allin's pulled off a lot of wild stunts in the ring ... but he describes this one as a "totally different feeling."

A Roberto Clemente rookie card -- one of the greatest outfielders in MLB history -- is hitting the auction block next month ... and is expected to sell for over $1,000,000!!

TMZ Sports has learned Clemente's 1955 Topps rookie card -- recently graded a PSA 9, indicating "mint" condition -- will go up for auction in September at PWCC Marketplace and could rival the previous record for a Clemente card, $1.107 million.

PWCC officials tell us the '55 Clemente rookie card is in the "upper echelon of quality for vintage trading cards."

The card's front features two images of Clemente in his Pittsburgh Pirates uniform and baseball cap, and the back has stats from when Roberto played in the minor leagues.

"There are just so few copies of this card in this quality in existence that they require the highest level of custodianship possible," said PWCC exec Jesse Craig.

"We're talking about a museum-quality piece here."

During his rookie season, Clemente played 124 games for the Pirates, tallying 121 hits, 23 doubles, and a .255 batting average.

A 12-time Gold Glove winner and 15-time All-Star, Clemente finished his career with four batting titles, 2 World Series rings and a World Series MVP award.

Clemente was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973.

The auction is still a few weeks away ... so bidders start saving.