TMZ Sports - Page 4

Larsa Pippen and Michael Jordan's son, Marcus, just went Instagram official ... and Scottie Pippen may have taken a stray in the process!

Scottie's ex-wife of 24+ years (they divorced in 2021) posed in a see-through shirt and short-shorts with 32-year-old Marcus on Monday at his Trophy Room retail boutique in Orlando ... and the two are clearly holding hands.

But, what makes the whole thing a bit awkward ... the two are standing right in front of a floral arrangement designed to look like the Chicago Bulls legend's number 23 jersey.

Of course, Scottie and MJ had a notoriously rocky relationship ... and the all-time legendary teammates are far from best friends.

Larsa has downplayed the situation from the jump, claiming several times it's not an issue because the families don't hang out.

Marcus and Larsa first sparked dating rumors when they were spotted in Miami late last year, and haven't shied away from cameras since.

Damar Hamlin's presence at the Bills' playoff game has fueled wild conspiracies on the Internet among the tin foil hat-wearing crowd ... with some suggesting a body double was used in the 24-year-old safety's place.

But, multiple sources tell TMZ Sports that's simply not true ... sorry, conspiracy theorists.

Hamlin attended the Bills-Bengals game Sunday afternoon at Highmark Stadium ... his first time back at an NFL game since he went into cardiac arrest on the field in Cincinnati on January 2.

Damar, wearing a mask, hoodie, and sunglasses, was shown on television and the stadium scoreboard ... but between the accessories and bad weather in Buffalo, it was difficult to see Hamlin.

FYI, it was 30 degrees in western New York on Sunday.

Given Hamlin didn't speak with the media, and his face wasn't seen clearly, some people went to Twitter and online forums, suggesting a stand-in was used in DH's place.

The speculation has even gotten to the point where people were dissecting other pictures of Damar ... including the one teammate Matt Milano posted last weekend, which was believed to be Hamlin's first return to the Bills facility.

In the interest of debunking Internet conspiracy theories, we made some calls ... and multiple people close to Damar say it's absolute nonsense.

Bottom line -- Damar Hamlin was at the Bills game.

Amazing gesture from AEW ... the wrestling org. is now selling Jay Briscoe shirts following the wrestler's tragic death, noting that all of the tee's sales will go toward his family.

The shirts officially launched this week -- just days after Briscoe, real name Jamin Pugh, was killed in a car crash in Delaware.

The black-and-red threads feature an image of Briscoe with a championship belt, as well as the words "Reach for the sky." They also have his name and the years of his birth and death on them.

Each tee costs $24.99 -- money the AEW, which purchased the Ring of Honor promotion that Briscoe wrestled for last March, says will go entirely "to benefit the Pugh family."

"The Pugh family lost a husband, a father, a brother, a son," the wrestling org. said in a statement Monday, "and in an effort to both honor Jay's memory as well as support those left behind, we are offering this 'Reach For The Sky' t-shirt with 100% of the proceeds going to benefit the Pugh family as they cope with this tragic loss."

As we reported, Briscoe was killed on Jan. 17 after a car suddenly veered into his lane and collided with his 2016 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 head-on. He was just 38 years old.

Briscoe's two daughters were in the car at the time of the wreck, but, thankfully, survived. The wrester's wife asked for prayers for the two girls in a social media post following the crash.

Soccer superstar Vinícius Júnior will be among the G.O.A.T.s when he sweats it out at home from now on ... 'cause he just got an incredible new mural of his favorite athletes inside his gym!!

TMZ Sports has learned -- the 22-year-old Real Madrid winger hit up famous artist René Mäkelä for a truly one-of-a-kind art piece inside his home ... which features realistic images of Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and fellow Brazilian footballers Ronaldo and the late Pelé.

We're told Vini Jr. idolizes these superstars ... and ya gotta assume staring at the legends will provide some extra motivation during workouts.

Dubbed the "Idols Wall," the whole thing stands almost 23 feet wide and over 7 feet tall ... and was made with oil and acrylic paint.

It's a very fitting piece for the guy -- Vini Jr. is one of the best young stars in the sport ... and he's fresh off his first World Cup appearance for Brazil.

As for the artist, Mäkelä has worked with a ton of big celebrities in the past ... including Madonna, Chris Brown, Cam Newton, Manny Machado, Jarvis Landry, Matt Kemp and more.

Lorenzo Hunt and Mike Richman, Bare Knuckle Fighting champions, were involved in a full-on brawl at a media event promoting their upcoming fight ... after some back-and-forth smack talk turned physical.

40-year-old Hunt, the BKFC light heavyweight (and cruiserweight, too) champ and 37-year-old Richman, the interim light heavyweight champ, came to blows while promoting their BKFC Knucklemania 3 main event on February 17 in New Mexico.

FYI, former boxing champ Austin Trout and MMA legend Diego Sanchez are also fighting on the card.

The men started jawing at each other, while BKFC founder David Feldman stood in between them attempting to keep the peace.

It didn't work ... at all.

Hunt, done with the talking, smacked Richman right in the face, and the fight was on.

Lorenzo and Mike then began pushing, before ultimately going to the ground.

Peace was eventually restored ... and we're guessing the guys won't soon find themselves in the same room with each other without a whole gang of security.

But, fortunately for them, they can legally put hands on each other in less than one month!

Josh Allen's girlfriend is proud of her man despite the loss on Sunday -- saying the Bills quarterback is a "true leader," especially after everything the team went through this season.

Brittany Williams -- who started dating Allen in 2015 -- published a sweet note to her Instagram page on Monday ... a day after the Bills' 27-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

"So proud of this man," the 25-year-old said. "You are the most amazing & selfless person I know."

"Through all the highs of this season and the many many trials of adversity your team faced, you remained the same & never wavered."

Some of those hardships the Bills experienced this season include the deadly snowstorm in Buffalo that killed more than 35 people, the racially-motivated mass shooting at a Buffalo grocery store that left 10 dead, the sudden passing of tight end Dawson Knox's brother ... and most recently, Damar Hamlin's medical emergency.

"A true leader," Williams continued.

"The story is already written. So much to be proud of. So much to be thankful for. Riding with you til the end 17!"

Allen -- the Bills' top pick of the 2018 NFL draft -- was only able to score one touchdown against the Bengals defense, which he gave a lot of credit to during his post-game interview.

"Obviously, you wanna win all of them," the 26-year-old said. "They had a good game plan. Credit to those guys. They came out and play hard."

"We just didn't have it today."

Mike McCarthy issued an apology on Sunday night -- but it wasn't for his team's poor play ... rather, the Dallas Cowboys head coach had to say sorry to a cameraman after he pushed the guy's lens away following his team's loss to the Niners.

The incident happened just seconds after the Dallas vs. S.F. playoff game had ended ... when photojournalist Noah Bullard was attempting to get a shot of the 59-year-old leaving the field.

In Bullard's video, you can see McCarthy clearly didn't want to be filmed ... and put his hand on the camera to get it away from him. A photo of the incident seemed to show McCarthy used some force when touching the lens, too.

But Bullard insisted on social media on Monday that it wasn't that bad ... writing in a tweet, "I can see how the photo appeared like he pushed me but it was more of a hand to the lens."

Bullard said he and McCarthy ended up talking things over following the incident ... and said the Cowboys' head man ultimately told him he was sorry during their chat.

Formula 1 superstar Lewis Hamilton is opening up on the racism and bullying he faced as a kid ... saying his classmates called him the N-word during "the most traumatizing and most difficult part of my life."

The 7-time world champion made a rare podcast appearance with "On Purpose with Jay Shetty" this week ... where he spoke about the impact his childhood experiences had on his life.

"I was already being bullied at the age of six," Hamilton said. "I think at the time of that particular school, I was probably one of three kids of color and just bigger and stronger bullying kids were throwing me around a lot of the time."

"I was always the last picked, you know, when you're standing at the playground, and you're in the line of when they're picking teams for football, I was always the last one chosen, or not even chosen, even if I was better than somebody else."

38-year-old Hamilton -- who is mixed-race -- said the way his peers treated him made him question his identity and sense of belonging ... claiming people even threw bananas at him and used the N-word "just so relaxed."

"People calling you half cast and, you know, just really not knowing where you fit in," he added.

"That, for me, was difficult. When you then go into like history class and everything you learn in history, there are no pictures of people of color in the history that they were teaching us.”

FYI, Lewis' father, Anthony Hamilton, is Black and of Grenadian descent, and his mother, Carmen Larbalestier, is White British, hailing from Birmingham in England.

Hamilton, a prominent advocate against racism and champion of diversity in motorsport, suppressed the traumas he was experiencing ... but said racing helped him channel his emotions properly.

"I didn't want my dad to think I was not strong," he said. "And so, I would, if I had tears, I would hold them back. If I had emotions, it would be in a quiet place."

"It wasn't really 'til I started racing that I was able to channel this emotion that I had into my driving," Hamilton said. "And, it's like when I put this helmet on, Superman was my favorite. I loved how he fought for the people, and I loved how he did the right things."

"And, he was a really inspiring character for me. But again, no superhero was of color, so, you know, but you can still aspire to be someone that's if they don't look like you, you know?"

Now's your chance to cop an incredibly rare pair of Jordans -- originally created a few years back to commemorate Biggie's birthday -- and now the kicks are hitting the auction block, but they won't come cheap!

The Air Jordan 13s were designed in 2017 to honor what would've been Notorious B.I.G's 45th trip around the sun ... but the sneakers were never released. They remained locked away ... until now.

23 pairs of the AJs will be auctioned off at Sotheby's ... sizes 7 to 13. The auction tells us they expect each pair to sell between $2,300 to $5,200! There's no reserve price, meaning bidding starts at $1 (and goes way up from there).

As for the design of the sneakers ... the 13s are black with a hint of red. The silhouette of the Brooklyn rapper is stitched on the tongue.

They also feature the words ... "it was all a dream" and "if you don't know, now you know" on the inside of the tongue, which, of course, are some of Biggie's most iconic bars from his 6-time platinum hit "Juicy".

As for why they picked 23 pairs to auction, and chose to auction the sneakers now ... we're told it's to honor Michael Jordan's jersey number and mark the 50-year anniversary of hip hop music.

"This auction marks the only opportunity for collectors and enthusiasts alike to acquire these special limited-edition sneakers that bring together the legacies of the greatest athlete of all time with the greatest rapper ever," Sotheby's exec Brahm Wachter said.

Proceeds from the online auction, which ends February 3, will go towards the Christopher Wallace Memorial Foundation ... an organization that helps inner-city kids excel in school by providing sponsorships and grants, among much more.

Notorious B.I.G. -- who was shot and killed in Los Angeles in 1997 -- is considered one of the greatest rappers of all time and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020.

Shannon Sharpe offered a mea culpa Monday morning, apologizing for getting into an altercation with several Grizzlies players and Ja Morant's dad near his floor seats at the Lakers game Friday night, saying he takes full responsibility for his actions.

"I want to apologize for my behavior," Sharpe said this morning on "Undisputed," adding ... "For the last six and a half years, I've preached accountability and responsibility. And I take full responsibility for what transpired. It does not matter what Dillon Brooks said or how many times he said it."

"Me being the responsible person. Me having the platform that I have and having so many people look up to me, I was wrong. I should have lowered the temperature in the arena. Instead, I turned the temperature up, and I let it get out of hand."

Sharpe then apologized to Jeanie Buss, the Lakers organization, and their fans for "any harm or unwanted attention" he may have caused. The FS1 commentator also apologized to the Grizzlies, Dillon Brooks, and Morant, whom he raved about after witnessing him play in person.

Of course, sitting courtside for the Grizzlies-Lakers game Friday night, Shannon got into a heated back-and-forth with Brooks, causing Ja and Steven Adams to come to Dillon's defense.

The Pro Football Hall of Famer was also jawing with Ja's dad, Tee, "saying, "I bet you won't," multiple times as security, arena staffers, referees, and players tried to separate them.

Despite the chaotic scene, Sharpe returned to his seat a quarter later to finish watching the game -- and even made amends with Tee later in the night.

M&M's jumped on the culture war over its green spokesperson ... and Tucker Carlson played right into the candy's hand!

The hubbub is over the green spokescandy, formally Miss Green. Back in the day, she was the sexy piece of candy, but last year the company decided to recreate Miss Green, and turn her more "inclusive." They put her in tennis shoes, toned down her eyelashes and took away references to gender.

The company also changed up the orange M&M ... to actually make it look even more anxious, embracing its true self.

It didn't sit well with Carlson, who accused the company of being too woke, adding he no longer was attracted to M&M's.

Whatever floats his boat, right?

So now, the company says it's 86'ing the spokescandies ... Maya Rudolph will now do the honors of representing the delicious chocolates.

If this smells tastes like M&M/Mars doing some brilliant marketing -- making lemonade outta Carlson's lemon of a rant -- that's because it is. Maya confirms it's all leading up to a Super Bowl ad.

Micah Parsons and Deebo Samuel kept battling long after San Francisco booted Dallas from the playoffs on Sunday ... with the Cowboys superstar ripping the Niners receiver for dissing him on social media.

Deebo was quick to gloat about the 19-12 win on his Instagram page after advancing to the NFC Championship Game ... mocking Parsons for saying "This is who I wanted" prior to the matchup.

Deebo's post included a text graphic of Parsons' quote alongside the caption, "Don't Poke The Bear" ... which didn't sit well with the All-Pro defensive star.

"Lol what did you do today fam lol?!" Parsons said in the comment section.

FYI -- Samuel finished the game with four catches for 45 yards ... adding four rushing attempts for 11 more yards on the ground.

Parsons clearly thinks Deebo had no business bragging about the win with those kind of numbers ... telling the wideout to keep him out of his victory celebration.

"But congrats on the win!" Parsons added. "But don’t put me in this weak ass slide."

Fans were quick to grab their popcorn and enter the drama with their own comments ... with a ton of Niner fans showing love for #19.

The Cowboys didn't show much fight on Sunday night -- but their fans sure as hell did ... getting into wild brawls at a playoff watch party at AT&T Stadium.

One of the bigger scraps at the event happened following Dallas' lifeless 19-12 loss to the 49ers ... when a fan in a CeeDee Lamb jersey slammed a man in Ezekiel Elliott gear straight to the ground.

Fists immediately began flying between the two ... with both guys landing huge blows on each other's faces.

At one point, several other fans jumped in ... kicking and punching the Elliott fan -- before, thankfully, the fracas was broken up.

In a different part of the stadium, though, another squabble broke out as the Cowboys' game was winding down ... with multiple people pushing each other and attempting to strike one another with punches.

You can see in the clip, security workers did their best to break things up ... as fans continued to try to get after each other.

No word yet on if any arrests were made, we've reached out to cops -- but so far, we've yet to hear back.

Charlotte FC will honor its beloved soccer player Anton Walkes this week -- with a celebration of life memorial service at the Bank of America Stadium.

The Major League Soccer team released the details on the event ... days after the defender and midfielder tragically died following a boat accident in Miami.

The ceremony will be held on Tuesday at CFC's home facility, which holds over 70,000 seats.

"Anton was an incredible father, friend, and teammate, who shared his joy for football and life with all those around him," the team said in a statement.

"We ask that you join us in remembering the impact he had on us all."

The team is asking fans in attendance to wear Charlotte FC merch in Walkes' honor.

As we previously reported, Walkes was found unconscious after a two-boat crash in Miami on Jan 18. Anton was driving one of the vessels.

He was pronounced dead the following morning at a local hospital. The crash is under investigation.

Fans and fellow athletes have paid tribute to the 25-year-old including Lakers' Dennis Schroder who penned a message on his sneakers for the team's Jan. 20 game.

"RIP 🕊️🕊️🕊️ Anton Walkes," Schroder said in an Instagram post, "This Win was for you My dawg. We gonna miss you brother!"

"Hope you in a better place right now & I’m gonna make sure you going to be proud of us all!"

Brett Maher can't catch a break ... even the governor of Texas jumped in to pile on the Dallas Cowboys kicker after he missed yet another PAT on Sunday night.

Greg Abbott's trolling came just minutes after Maher had his second quarter point after attempt blocked in Dallas' playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers.

"I swear," Abbott tweeted. "I can kick as good as the Dallas Cowboys kicker."

Of course, Abbott is paralyzed from the waist down ... after he sustained significant injuries when an oak tree fell on him during a morning jog in 1984.

The missed PAT was Maher's fifth in his last two games -- remember, the 33-year-old whiffed on four extra point attempts against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Cowboys' Wild Card Round win.

To his credit, Maher did come back to make two field goals in the game ... hitting a 25-yarder in the third quarter and a 43-yarder in the fourth. Abbott didn't care to comment on those.

The kicks, though, ultimately weren't enough to get Dallas a win ... they dropped the game, 19-12.

Luke Rockhold has two hands and he wants to use them to punch Jake Paul.

Hard.

TMZ Sports ran into the 38-year-old (retired, for now, at least) former UFC champion at LAX on Friday ... and asked him about the Problem Child's foray into MMA.

"Stop trying to fight little dudes. F***ing [155] pounders. You're a middleweight. If you want to fight a middleweight, I got hands. We can do anything we want. I really don't care. I'd beat that guy in my sleep."

As we previously reported, 26-year-old Paul recently signed a multi-fight, multi-year deal with PFL ... and wasted no time by calling out Nate Diaz for a boxing and MMA fight.

Diaz hasn't yet accepted the challenge ... and if he doesn't, Rockhold is more than ready to step in.

"I got some freedom to do some things and as you can see, I like throwing hands these days," Luke said, adding, "fight people your own f***ing weight. Straight up. And champions, a real champion, a real contender. A real someone who can put you on your ass. not old guys, 55-year-olds, or lightweights. You can't even get above a welterweight, dog, So, step up."

Of course, Jake's 6-0 as a professional boxer ... with wins over Ben Askren, Tyron Woodley (twice) and Anderson Silva.

Paul also recently started training in jiu-jitsu ... and was an amateur wrestler through high school.

Luke and Jake have some history. Paul was critical of Rockhold after his last UFC fight in August, when he lost a decision to Paulo Costa.

Jake tweeted, calling Luke's performance "dog s**t", saying it was an "embarrassment for the sport."