TMZ Sports - Page 18

The NBA is retiring Bill Russell's number, but Hall of Famer Ben Wallace wants to see the league do the opposite on opening night ... telling TMZ Sports it would be awesome to have every player wear #6 in honor of the late Celtics legend.

As we previously reported, the league decided to permanently make #6 off-limits throughout the league after Russell's passing in July ... with exception of those who are already donning the digit, like LeBron James and DeAndre Jordan.

Wallace -- who wore #6 at one point during his stellar career with the Pistons -- says he's cool with those who decided to keep their current number ... telling us, "I don't think it's a problem with them wearing number six. They couldn't foresee the passing of Mr. Russell."

The four-time Defensive Player of the Year goes on to make a suggestion of his own ... adding, "If it was up to me, I'd start the season where everybody would have to wear #6."

Russell -- who won 13 titles (11 as a player, two as a player-coach) -- passed away at the age of 88 ... after contributing decades of his life to the Association.

Hall of Fame point guard Magic Johnson said in the aftermath of Russell's death that the NBA should retire #6 across the league in honor of his legacy -- and that's exactly what happened.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver explained the decision at the time ... saying, "Bill Russell's unparalleled success on the court and pioneering civil rights activism deserves to be honored in a unique and historic way."

"Permanently retiring his No. 6 across every NBA team ensures that Bill's transcendent career will always be recognized."

Last year it was Snoop Dogg ... and Shaq's calling on some of his celebrity friends once again to help him raise cash for a great cause -- the NBA Hall of Famer's throwing his 2nd annual "The Event" in Las Vegas -- and the lineup's packing serious star power!

"We've got some great performers," Shaq told Babcock on the TMZ Sports TV show (airs weekdays on FS1), saying ... "H.E.R., Pitbull, Maroon 5, Maren Morris, John Mulaney, you know this is one of the biggest fundraisers of the year. You know the mission of the Shaquille O'Neal Foundation is to help underserved youth reach their full potential."

The event goes down at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Sin City on Saturday ... and Shaq has partnered with Boys & Girls Clubs and Communities in Schools. All of the money raised will go directly towards charity ... not administrative fees or anyone's pockets.

"All proceeds, all proceeds go to helping underserved youth. Not 85 cents on the dollar, not 95 cents, 100 percent. All proceeds go to helping underserved youth."

Shaq, of course, wants people who are financially able to help ... but if you can't, O'Neal still wants you to come out and enjoy the show.

"We just want people to come and have fun because if you look at the stars we have now, this is a big-time concert."

And, if last year's event is any indication, Saturday's party will be lit. Snoop and Shaq took the stage together in 2021, and performed "Nuthin' but a G Thang."

New police video, obtained by TMZ Sports, shows Myles Garrett admitted to an officer that he was going around 20 MPH over the speed limit before he crashed his Porsche on Monday.

In the Ohio State Highway Patrol body cam footage, Garrett can be seen in an ambulance moments after the accident in Sharon Township, Medina County ... when an officer began questioning him about the wreck.

The two talked for several minutes about what the Cleveland Browns superstar remembered from the crash ... before the cop eventually asked, "What was your speed approximately?"

Garrett replied, "I think I got up to, like, 65."

The speed limit in the area was 45.

The video also shows Garrett complained of pain all over his upper body -- before he told EMTs that his hand was "burning." He also told the medical personnel he thought his eye was swelling and bruising.

Garrett had a conversation with the medical technicians about whether he actually needed to go to the hospital -- but they encouraged him to do it.

The video also showed several people recognized the football player at the scene -- and at one point, an officer told the 26-year-old pass rusher, "Hopefully you're not out too long. We need ya!"

Garrett -- who was diagnosed with a shoulder sprain and a bicep strain -- was ultimately hit with a citation for failure to control his car.

The Splash Brothers probably won't be called the Sumo Brothers any time soon ... 'cause Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson both went head-to-head against wrestling legend Hakuhō Shō -- and they hilariously failed to make him budge!!

The Golden State Warriors met up with Hakuhō while visiting Japan for a slate of preseason games this week ... and naturally, they had to test their strength against the highly decorated retired pro.

Despite getting pointers from Hakuhō, both Steph and Klay have a heck of a time getting him to move an inch ... but you gotta give them credit for trying against one of the greatest sumo wrestlers of all time.

But, the craziest part?? Hakuhō appeared to be wearing socks on the hardwood floor ... but there was no slippage issue here!!

FYI -- Hakuhō holds the record for most wins in the top division with 1,093 ... more than 200 victories over second place.

Hakuhō wasn't the only big name hanging with the Warriors this week -- BTS' Suga was also in attendance ... and gifted the players autographed albums!!

More troubling allegations surrounding Brett Favre ... the NFL legend's charity -- whose mission is to help underserved and disabled children and breast cancer patients -- reportedly gifted donated funds to his alma maters' athletic department.

Favre's charity, Favre 4 Hope, donated more than $130,000 to the University of Southern Mississippi Athletic Foundation between 2018-2020, according to The Athletic ... money meant for children and cancer patients.

The outlet reports tax records show Favre's charity gave the USM foundation $60,000 in 2018 and $46,817 in 2019. In 2020, the foundation received $26,715 from Brett's charity.

Other organizations received money, according to The Athletic, but those amounts were typically under $10K.

The donations all came while Favre allegedly tried to obtain $5 million from Mississippi's welfare fund, meant for the state's most vulnerable, to build Univ. of Southern Miss. a new multi-million volleyball facility.

Favre's daughter was a volleyball player at the university at the time.

Favre's attorney, Bud Holmes, issued ESPN a statement Wednesday night, saying, "He has been very generous to Southern Miss since he played ball there."

"Those particular things [the donations in question] I don't know, but I know he has always given back, something most athletes don't do."

Favre -- who is being sued by the state of Mississippi over the alleged funds -- claims he didn't know where the money originated ... though texts appear to show the HOF'er was worried about being caught.

Cops have issued Myles Garrett a citation over his car crash on Monday -- saying the Cleveland Browns star appeared to be speeding before he wrecked his Porsche.

According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, Garrett seemed to be using an "unsafe speed for the type of roadway being traveled" just before the accident in Sharon Township, Medina County.

Officers issued him a citation for failure to control his car.

According to a crash report, obtained by TMZ Sports, Ohio State Highway Patrol officers arrived on the scene of the accident at around 3:13 PM -- and said a witness told them Garrett "came over the hill flyin', went airborne, took the fire hydrant out and rolled three times."

Officers say they then made contact with Garrett -- who had a laceration on his right hand. They say Garrett complained of pain in his wrist/hand, right bicep, and left shoulder. They also say he told them the left side of his face was hurting.

Garrett told officers, according to the docs, that he wasn't sure how he ended up wrecking the vehicle.

"I don't know if something came," cops say Garrett told them, "I moved out the way of that."

Officers noted in the docs Garrett had been traveling 65 MPH in a 45 zone.

Cops reiterated on Thursday that they don't believe alcohol or drugs played a role in the crash. They also said distracted driving was not suspected.

Officers also revealed Thursday that Garrett's passenger was a 23-year-old woman who was not seriously injured.

Khloe Kardashian was torn up over the latest Tristan Thompson cheating scandal ... and now she has medical proof it messed with her brain.

Dr. Daniel Amen was at the ready for a scientific stunt for the Kardashian's Hulu show, to show there's medical proof she was experiencing brain trauma ... presumably from the scandal.

So Khloe laid down on the MRI machine and got a brain scan, and the good doc then sat her down with some interesting results.

Dr. Amen showed Khloe the telltale signs showing brain trauma. Who knew, but you can see the subtleties in changes in brain patterns that expose such trauma.

Fact is ... it didn't take a brain scan for Khloe to know she was traumatized. As we reported, Tristan egged Khloe on to have another baby back in July 2021, when he knew he was having a baby with another woman. The fertilized embryo was implanted in a surrogate in November, and weeks later Khloe learned Tristan was having a baby with another woman.

Another interesting tidbit from the episode ... Khloe reveals Tristan proposed to her back in December 2020. Something she kept a secret from her sisters for months, saying she wanted to be proud of the relationship before going public with the announcement.

Famous NBA commentator Mike Breen's home in Long Island was completely destroyed in a massive fire over the weekend ... and officials tell TMZ Sports the blaze is under investigation.

The incident happened on Sunday at 4:03 AM when the Manhasset-Lakeville F.D. received calls from Breen's neighbors ... as well as an alert by the residential automatic fire alarm.

When MLFD arrived on the scene, they "encountered a fully involved house fire."

You can see in a video -- captured by MLFD -- the home was engulfed in flames and the roof of the garage was collapsing in the inferno.

"Numerous hand lines, as well as 2 ladder pipes and a deck gun, were used to battle the fire," officials said.

You can also see a car in the driveway during the clip ... but an MLFD spokesman tells us no one was in the residence and there were no injuries.

We're told the fire is currently under investigation.

Breen is in his 30th season as an NBA broadcaster and is currently the play-by-play commentator for NBA on ABC and lead announcer for the Knicks on MSG Network.

He is famously known for yelling "BANG!" after major shots during games and has been the lead play-by-play announcer for the NBA Finals since 2006.

The 61-year-old has also announced Olympic games, NFL games, and college basketball.

Breen was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021 and received the Curt Gowdy Media Award that's given to the best basketball writers and broadcasters.

Williams driver Alex Albon says he feels as "fit as I can be" after battling a serious health scare just weeks ago ... and his plan is to race this weekend at the Singapore Grand Prix.

The 26-year-old suffered respiratory failure and spent time in the Intensive Care Unit after being treated for appendicitis on September 10 ... just hours before he was slated to race in Monza.

Albon opened up on his recovery on Thursday ... and he feels confident he'll be behind the wheel once again for Williams this weekend.

"I feel ready. I feel as fit as I can be -- no pain," Albon told reporters.

"We had a good week of training or two weeks almost to get back to where we are today. We're realistic and we know that we're coming to the most difficult race of the year."

The Singapore GP is known to be one of the most challenging races on the calendar ... large in part due to the humid conditions taking a toll on drivers.

Albon says he's well aware of the task ahead ... but makes it clear he intends to be out on the street circuit.

Adam Levine's getting dragged for his cheating scandal, but as he gets ready for a big gig in Vegas ... he's getting strong support from the man throwing the event ... Shaquille O'Neal.

Shaq tells TMZ Sports ... Adam is still good in his book, despite the Maroon 5 frontman's alleged infidelity, because Adam's always done charity work for children in need.

Adam and Maroon 5 are getting set to perform this weekend at The Shaquille O'Neal Foundation's annual fundraising gala, "The Event" in Las Vegas ... and Shaq says Adam's dedication to charity shows his true character, in his book.

While there's a lot of anticipation to see Adam on stage for the first time since multiple women accused him of sliding into their DMs -- including one who says they had a physical relationship -- Shaq says the only thing that matters is having Adam and Maroon 5 there to help raise money.

The way Shaq sees it ... he's not in a position to cast judgment on Adam.

For what it's worth, Adam and his pregnant wife, supermodel Behati Prinsloo, are presenting a united front -- this week they hopped on a private jet for a getaway before his Sin City gig. Adam's also denying having sex with any of his accusers, but admits he "crossed a line."

37,008 showed up to watch Aaron Judge hit his 61st home run Wednesday night -- but one of the fans in attendance couldn't have been sicker to see history ... 'cause he dropped the historic baseball, costing himself a small fortune!!

Judge hit the blast in the seventh inning of the Yankees' blowout win over the Blue Jays in Toronto -- officially tying the American League watermark set by Roger Maris back in 1961 -- and one fan was in a perfect position to nab the ball as it crossed over the left field wall.

He had his glove ready ... and when he reached over some railing in front of him to catch it -- the legendary cowhide touched his mitt's webbing!!!

Unfortunately for the guy, it caromed off his hand and landed safely in the Jays' bullpen ... something that clearly crushed the man.

Video from the game's broadcast in Canada showed the guy was absolutely devastated over the fumble -- throwing his mitt and hat in disgust afterward.

Of course, the guy had every right to be sad ... the ball would have been worth a HUGE payday for the Jays fan.

David Kohler of SCP Auctions told TMZ Sports earlier this month it could sell for as much as $250,000 on the auction block!!

As for what ultimately ended up happening to the ball -- Toronto bullpen coach Matt Buschmann initially grabbed it. He gave it to Jays closer Jordan Romano ... who then passed it off to Yankees reliever Zack Britton, who returned it to Judge.

Judge held onto it for a while -- but in a super sweet moment, he turned it over to his mother.

Mark Zuckerberg's Little League "career" is worth a lot of money to some folks ... because a baseball card from when he was a kid sold at auction for six figures!!!

The Facebook honcho's autographed Little League card from back in the day hauled in $120,750 in a fierce, five-day long auction.

The folks at ComicConnect.com started the bidding at $1 ... so the final sale price shows there was a ton of interest in the card.

The anonymous buyer told the auction house the Zuckerberg card would join a collection already featuring rookie cards for MLB legends Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle, plus an Action Comics #1 ... summing up Zuck as "the Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle and Superman of social media rolled up into one."

The signed card -- which is from 1992 -- was also sold as an NFT, and that went for $1,345.

Mark played Little League in Westchester County, NY ... where the trading cards were a novelty offered to families.

The card previously belonged to Mark's former camp counselor, Allie Tarantino, and Zuckerberg signed it when he was 8 years old. Allie says he sold the card to help pay for his kids to go to college.

Mark even posted about the card last month on social media, fueling speculation he might try to swoop the card for himself. The buyer is anonymous, but as far as we know, Zuck doesn't own Babe and Mantle cards ... so, seems like someone else got it.

LeBron James has a new team -- the four-time NBA champ is the newest owner of a professional pickleball team ... and he's teaming up with a group of other hoops stars!

Major League Pickleball announced Wednesday an ownership group, LRMR ventures, led by LeBron James and business partner, Maverick Carter, had purchased a new squad.

Joining the four-time MVP in his latest business venture is his former teammate in Cleveland, Kevin Love, and his good friend and rival over the years, Warriors star Draymond Green.

As MLP expands, the list of high-profile names wanting to associate with the growing sport rises.

Retired NFL quarterback Drew Brees became the owner of the Mad Drops Pickleball Club in July ... joining Lakers co-owner Jim Buss who is a part of the ownership group.

James already has an ownership stake in Fenway Sports Group, the owner of the Boston Red Sox, Fenway Park, and Liverpool F.C., the English Premier League soccer team.

And now, James can add this latest acquisition to his impressive portfolio.

A fan at Tuesday night's Nationals game got so upset with a stadium usher that he hit the man in the face -- before biting him.

The wild altercation happened at Nationals Park during the ninth inning of the Nats' loss to the Atlanta Braves ... when several venue staffers appeared to try to boot a fan from his seat.

A video shot by a bystander shows fans near the guy chanting, "Get him out!" over and over again -- but the two staffers were having trouble getting him to leave.

Eventually, another usher came to the area to nudge the man away from his seat ... and that's when things took a violent turn.

You can see in the footage, the fan elbowed the usher in the face two times -- before he seemed to bite the man's hand.

Thankfully, two police officers arrived and separated the men before the situation escalated further.

Video shows the fan suffered a bloody head in the skirmish. It's unclear if the usher was injured.

We've reached out to both police and the Nationals for comment on it all, but so far, no word back yet.

Ryan Garcia and Gervonta "Tank" Davis were apparently close to fighting recently -- but, it wasn't inside of the ring ... it was at a nightclub, where Garcia says the two boxers got into a heated altercation.

Garcia explained the situation on an Instagram Live stream on Wednesday ... saying he and his friend approached Tank's table at a club and asked the 27-0 boxer when they were going finally set up a fight.

"I guess he got offended by that," Garcia said of Davis. "Got all worked up."

Garcia says Tank grabbed onto his chain ... but, thankfully, the star fighter claims to have kept his cool.

"There's so many security guards there," Garcia said. "I knew he wasn't gonna take my chain or do anything really. He just wanted to seem tough."

Garcia says Tank eventually let go of his chain ... but they continued to exchange words.

"Outside the ring, you can act tough all you want," Garcia said. "Inside the ring, it all changes. I'm not with the acting tough. I'm tough only when I need to be."

Garcia and his promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, have been clamoring for a fight with Tank for a while ... in fact, the 23-0 boxer told us this summer he's ready to put his rival to sleep.

Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski says there's still a chance Myles Garrett could play on Sunday against the Falcons ... this despite the Cleveland star being involved in a wild rollover crash on Monday.

Of course, there's still a very good chance Garrett could sit out the game ... but Stefanski told reporters Wednesday, "I'm not ruling anybody out on Wednesday."

"We'll kind of do what we always do," Stefanski said, "which is take in information every single day."

Garrett suffered a shoulder sprain and a bicep strain when he flipped his Porsche 911 Turbo S in Sharon Township, Ohio a few hours after Cleveland's workout on Monday. Police video showed he was also bleeding from his right hand.

But Stefanski said he's spoken to the 26-year-old defensive end recently, and "he's doing OK." The coach expected the pass rusher to return to the Browns facility on Thursday.

"I'm grateful that he's OK," Stefanski said. "We'll see him in here tomorrow."

Police say they are still investigating the cause of the accident. Sources close to Garrett, though, told NFL Network's Tom Pelissero -- he crashed the car while trying to avoid an animal in the roadway.

Cops do not believe alcohol or drugs were involved.