TMZ Sports - Page 50

LeBron James might not be playing right now, but he's still gaming -- the NBA superstar recently teamed up with PlayStation for a limited edition console cover and controllers -- designed by the King himself!

Eric Lempel, PlayStations' SVP and Head of Global Marketing, made the announcement on Wednesday ... saying the video game giant and LBJ joined forces and created an exclusive PS5 console cover and DualSense wireless controller.

"We couldn’t have asked for a more ideal partner to be the first-ever collaborator to design limited-edition PlayStation products," Lempel said.

"It was great to see LeBron’s vision for the design come to life and showcase his passions for gaming and community. We hope PlayStation fans will love this design as much as we enjoyed helping create it."

It came out dope -- the black cover and controller have bright images of King James' crown and the middle touch panel features, "Nothing is given. Everything is earned."

It also pays tribute to LBJ's "I Promise" charity on the right-hand side, including phrases "Chosen Ones" and "Build. Uplift. Empower."

"Had fun with this one @playstation!! 🎮," the 38-year-old said on Instagram.

"These words inspire me and my I Promise students and I hope do the same for gamers all over. Still crazy to think a kid from Akron who grew up playing games is getting to create something like this!"

The partnership is pretty much perfect for LeBron -- he was famous for traveling around with his own PS2 console when he entered the league in 2003.

And, if you're a fan of LBJ, then you know he's still a big gamer at 38 years old ... and his wife, Savannah, has caught him on camera several times goin' in on PS5, especially when it comes to 'Madden.'

In fact, the 5-time NBA champ recently featured in the "God of War Ragnarök" video game trailer with his son, Bronny Jr.

Cops have just issued an arrest warrant for top NFL draft prospect Jalen Carter ... after they said he was racing a Univ. of Georgia football assistant moments before her fatal car crash in January.

The Athens-Clarke County Police Dept. said Wednesday morning an investigation into the Jan. 15 wreck -- the one that claimed the lives of UGA staffer Chandler LeCroy and Bulldogs football player Devin Willock -- revealed Carter and LeCroy had been driving recklessly "in an apparent attempt to outdistance each other."

They said the probe into the crash revealed Carter, driving a 2021 Jeep Trackhawk, and LeCroy, driving a 2021 Ford Expedition, "switched between lanes, drove in the center turn lane, drove in opposite lanes of travel, overtook other motorists, and drove at high rates of speed" at around 2:30 AM after leaving the downtown Athens area.

They added that LeCroy made it up to 104 MPH ... before she ultimately veered off the road and struck two power poles and trees -- killing her and Willock, while injuring the other two passengers in the vehicle.

Cops said they've now secured arrest warrants against Carter, a star defensive lineman for Georgia the past three years, for reckless driving and racing.

Police also said Tuesday that a toxicology report showed LeCroy's BAC was .197 at the time of the accident. They officially deemed alcohol impairment, racing, reckless driving, and speed as "significant contributing factors to the crash."

LeCroy was just 24 years old. Willock was just 20.

21-year-old Carter, meanwhile, is projected to be a top-five pick in next month's NFL draft -- with some insiders believing he could go No. 1 overall. He was slated to speak at the NFL's combine in Indianapolis later Tuesday. It's unclear if that will still happen.

If Jake Paul and Tommy Fury don't run it back, there's one guy who's already lining up to be TNT's next boxing opponent ... and it's none other than Logan Paul.

Logan expressed his wishes in a sit-down interview with the Problem Child on the "BS W/ Jake Paul" podcast (recorded the day after the Fury fight) ... and he admitted the result had him wanting to, as their mom put it, "kill that kid."

Logan initially asked Jake what he was planning to do in the ring following the loss ... and he made it clear he wants a rematch with Tyson's little bro.

But if Paul vs. Fury II doesn't work out ... Logan's ready to step in and avenge the family name.

"If you don't [have a rematch], I'd like to handle that," Logan told Jake. "That was like, my first instinct, obviously."

"He's my little brother. F*** that. Inflatable arm ass, motherf***er. F***."

Jake then joked that they could both avenge each other's losses if he were to go up against the Maverick's former nemesis, KSI ... and they could "start an Avenger movie."

But as of right now, it sounds like Tommy will grant Jake a rematch ... and the two will add another installment to their rivalry.

There's more in the interview -- Jake said he predicts the Tommy fight had more than half a MILLION Pay-Per-View buys ... which would explain his claim he made $30 million for one night of work.

When you gotta go, ya gotta go ... and that's exactly what one adorable pooch did while performing during the halftime performance at a college basketball game!!

The whole bathroom break was caught on camera by one of the hoop fans in the stands -- showing the cute canine doing tricks with a frisbee for the Virginia Tech-Louisville game on Tuesday.

But the show eventually started to stink -- literally -- when the dog walked up to its trainer near the baseline to do another move ... when out of nowhere, it pops a squat and lets it all out!!

The trainer quickly reacted and grabbed the dog, but the doo doo still remained ... and the crowd's reaction was priceless.

To add to the crappy night, the Cardinals lost again, making it their third consecutive loss. They currently hold a 4-26 record under new head coach Kenny Payne.

FYI, this ain't the first time a dog has dropped a deuce at a sporting event ... Klay Thompson's dog did it at Dodger Stadium in 2016, and a Philadelphia Police Department K-9 handled its business right on the Flyers' center-ice logo in 2021.

Draymond Green wants Black History Month to be a thing of the past ... delivering a powerful speech to make his case, saying, "Why we gotta keep getting the shortest month to celebrate our history?"

"At some point, can we get rid of it?" Green asked reporters following the Warriors' 123-105 win over the Portland Trail Blazers Tuesday night at the Chase Center.

The Warriors superstar accused current politicians of trying to wipe Black History out of schools ... and said he won't settle for celebrating just one month as a consolation prize.

FYI -- According to the ACLU, more than 30 state legislatures have recently been introduced to dampen Black history education, and hundreds of books written by Black authors about race history have been pulled from the shelves.

"I’m not going to be the fool to say, 'Yeah, we can celebrate it for 28 days,'" Green said. "So at some point, I’d like to get rid of it. We're making all these changes in the world -- can't talk about these people. Can't talk about those people. Can’t say this. Can’t say that."

Green -- who was wearing a blue shirt that read "Built By Black History" during his postgame conference -- said his choice of clothing was intentional as he made his point.

The 4-time NBA champion and 2017 Defensive Player of the Year said he doesn't want people to misconstrue his call to end Black History Month with him trying to downplay Black people.

"At some point, it’s time to get rid of Black History Month," Green reiterated. "Not get rid of Black history, like they’re trying to do. But Black History Month? Nah, teach my history from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, and then do it again. And then again. And then again. And then again."

Mike Perry says Jake Paul's trainer was livid he posted a fake "script" purporting to break down what'd happen during each round of Paul vs. Fury ... telling TMZ Sports he received an angry message in his DMs.

Once Perry shared the document titled "Jake Paul vs Tommy Fury Script - Revision #4 - Final" with his hundreds of thousands of followers, it went viral. The script indicated Jake would beat Tommy Fury by TKO in the 8th round of their fight.

Obviously, that's not what happened (Fury beat Paul via split decision). Still, the script played into the conspiracy theorists' narrative that Jake's fights aren't real, and that clearly ticked off his team. The timing didn't help, either. It was released just hours before the fight and caused a headache for all involved.

"It was an Instagram post I think my buddy sent me," Perry said, explaining how he wound up with the script.

"I tweeted it and it's probably my best tweet of all time, probably. It got a lot of attention. People talked a lot of trash on me for it. Whatever."

But, Mike says it wasn't just Jake's fans that were angry, but also people close to the Problem Child.

"Jake's coach wrote me and was upset about his reputation," Perry says, explaining how Paul's coach made the case they always treated the former UFC star with respect.

But, Mike doesn't see the situation the same way.

"Ya know I was thinking, well, Jake never cared about my reputation when he posted a video of what I said to him at practice, trying to coach him up and be a part of the team, and give him that work. And he put that [training footage] out there," Perry countered, referencing Jake's decision to post training footage where Paul got the best of Perry while sparring.

We asked Mike how he responded to Jake's trainer BJ Flores -- whom Perry implies was the coach who sent the message.

"I didn't really respond to his coach's messages. I didn't respond to it. I just kind of looked past it. It's part of the game."

FYI, Flores is Jake's head coach and was a respected boxer in his own right. In fact, BJ fought for a cruiserweight world title in 2016.

Despite the drama, MP says ... "I like BJ Flores," but clearly he has no regrets about posting the script.

"The script was hilarious, it was funny, I guess just a joke."

We also talked to Mike about his thoughts on the actual fight (he says he wasn't very impressed with either boxer), and whether he has any interest in fighting Jake and/or Tommy.

"I could beat either one of those guys. Maybe they're not ready for me, and someone of my experience," while making it clear he's open if fans want to see either bout.

Larsa Pippen and Marcus Jordan have reached the "meet the parents" level of their relationship ... which means Scottie Pippen's ex-wife spoke face-to-face with Michael Jordan about dating his son -- and apparently, the G.O.A.T. is totally cool with it.

48-year-old Larsa opened up on going full BF and GF with Marcus, 32, on the "Tamron Hall Show" on Tuesday ... and she said Marcus' mom and pops have no issue with them coupling up -- despite MJ's well-documented beef with his on-court wingman over the years.

Larsa added both families are happy and fine ... and when pressed on whether she's gotten His Airness' blessing, she's adamant Michael isn't intervening and trying to sink their ship.

"Yeah, I feel like we're great, yeah," Larsa told Hall. "I feel like -- we've spent holidays together and it's good. We're in a great place."

Larsa also spoke about the 16-year age difference with Marcus ... and she believes age doesn't determine one's maturity -- and all that matters is that she's happy.

As for why she's dating MJ's son of all people, Larsa said she doesn't care one bit about how Scottie feels about the Jordan clan ... and their relationship wasn't something that was planned.

Larsa said she first met Marcus four years ago at a party in L.A. ... shutting down any notion she knew her man as a kid when they both lived in Chicago as MJ and Scottie racked up championships with the Bulls.

When asked if they're in love ... Larsa said, "I think so. We're in a really good place."

Aaron Rodgers went from the darkness to some neon lights -- hitting up a trendy Colorado bar just days after emerging from his isolation retreat.

The Green Bay Packers quarterback bolted for the venue in Vail less than a week after spending a few days and nights in complete darkness in a room in Oregon. In video of the GB QB, obtained by TMZ Sports, you can see the time away from sunlight and human touch didn't do any harm.

Rodgers dressed well for the night out with a group of friends at Chasing Rabbits' The Rabbit Hole ... playing Skee-Ball, Pop-A-Shot and even Twister.

Witnesses tell us Rodgers arrived around 9 PM with roughly 15 people in his crew ... including some very beautiful women. They drank champagne throughout the evening -- and we're told Rodgers seemed to be carefree, sharing laughs with his pals.

Eventually, the NFL superstar and co. headed off to a private room for dinner.

Vanessa Bryant just received a heck of a lot more money from L.A. County after her initial $15 million win last year ... another $13 mil or so, in fact, which now accounts for her kids.

Kobe Bryant's widow has settled with L.A. County, amounting to a total of $28.8 million -- this according to her lawyer, who says this resolves both Vanessa's original complaint and subsequent award ... as well as any potential future claims from her surviving daughters.

Unclear when, but it seems Vanessa amended her initial lawsuit to add 20-year-old Natalia, 6-year-old Bianka and 3-year-old Capri. The settlement resolves all claims.

Vanessa's lawyer, Luis Li, says, "Today marks the successful culmination of Mrs. Bryant’s courageous battle to hold accountable those who engaged in this grotesque conduct." He adds, "She fought for her husband, her daughter, and all those in the community whose deceased family were treated with similar disrespect. We hope her victory at trial and this settlement will put an end to this practice."

You'll recall ... Vanessa actually went to trial over this, taking the stand with emotional testimony about how the thought of those photos of Kobe and Gigi's remains possibly being leaked out publicly tortured her -- something a jury agreed with in the end.

They awarded her $16M ... but a mil got knocked down afterward due to a clerical error. Vanessa and her team had previously said she'd be donating the money from this to her Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation -- and in light of this, there's more to go around.

Here's one accessory no Laker fan ever wants to see the stylish LeBron James wearing -- a huge walking boot on his right leg ... that could signal his season is very much in jeopardy of being over.

The King wore the massive foot protector to L.A.'s game against Memphis on Tuesday night -- just two days after he initially injured the lower leg playing against the Dallas Mavericks.

James walked gingerly in the brace as he made his way around the Tennessee arena in street clothes -- a horrible sign for the Lakers, who need to win the majority of their remaining 20 games to have a chance at making the playoffs next month.

To make matters worse for LeBron's L.A. squad -- the Lakers took it on the chin without their star player ... falling to Ja Morant and the Grizzlies, 121-109.

It's not clear when -- or even if -- LeBron can make it back to the team at some point this season ... he's reportedly been shut down for at least two weeks to allow the foot a chance to heal.

And, if the team isn't in striking distance of making the postseason by the end of those 14 days, he reportedly could be done until the 2023-24 season.

James clearly ain't happy about it all -- he posted an Instagram of his injured leg on Monday night saying, "Fkn sucks!!!!"

UNLV defensive lineman Ryan Keeler had been dealing with nausea and had felt sick for at least seven days prior to his tragic death on Feb. 20 ... this according to a new police report, obtained by TMZ Sports.

In the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department documents, cops say that after Keeler was found dead in his bed, they interviewed a friend of the football player's who told them Keeler had been fighting an illness since at least Feb. 13.

Cops say the friend, though, had told them he had just seen Keeler at dinner on Feb. 19 ... and Keeler was "feeling a little better."

In the report, cops say a man with the title of "director sports medicine" told them Keeler had been prescribed medication on Feb. 17 ... and had just visited him on Feb. 19 as well.

It's not clear what the prescribed medication was -- the report was redacted.

The new documents also revealed that UNLV assistant coach Julio Garcia was the one who had initially discovered Keeler after doing a welfare check on the defensive end earlier in the day.

According to the report, Garcia had knocked on Keeler's door, and when he got no answer, he kicked the door down, found Ryan unconscious and noted the 20-year-old was "cold to the touch." He then called 911, the report states.

Police also noted in the documents Keeler was found deceased laying face-up in his bed. They said an empty prescription medication bottle was found at the scene.

Keeler had just joined the UNLV football team in 2022 -- after he transferred from Rutgers following his freshman season. In his lone year with the Rebels, he played in two games ... recording a sack and eight total tackles.

George Toma -- the NFL's longtime groundskeeper who goes by the nickname, "The Sodfather" -- is pissed off at the league over its terrible Super Bowl LVII field conditions ... saying he "can't take it anymore."

Toma, who spent 18 months preparing the rye grass that was used during the Chiefs vs. Eagles matchup on Feb. 12, unloaded in an interview with ESPN on Tuesday ... claiming the sod was overwatered four days before the big game at State Farm Stadium.

Of course, there were numerous instances of players slipping all over the field during SB LVII ... with many questioning how the league could mess up on its biggest stage. The NFL refuted any problems the day after the game, though ... saying the grass was tested and met the required standards.

Toma is pointing fingers right at the NFL's field director, Ed Mangan, for the grass being slick the day of the game ... claiming, "he waters the hell out of it and puts it right into the stadium and that's it. Never sees sunlight again. He can't do that."

But H20 apparently wasn't the only mess-up -- Toma also claims Mangan made the mistake of not sanding the field enough.

"He sanded it two weeks too late," Toma told the outlet. "He had only one sanding. He should have had two or three sandings, but he didn't do s***. And that was it."

"And not only that, he didn't take care of it. He wouldn't listen to anybody."

After 80 years in the biz, Toma announced his plans to retire prior to SB LVII ... citing headaches caused by the league's handling of field issues in the past as well.

"Me and the league are finished. They can't tell me what to do anymore. We're done."

Pro boxer Joseph "JoJo" Diaz -- a former champ who fought Devin Haney back in 2021 -- was arrested in the Los Angeles area on Monday ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Jail records show Diaz was taken into custody by the Claremont Police Dept. just before 7 PM. Law enforcement sources tell us he was booked on a charge of misdemeanor child neglect.

The specific allegations against Diaz are still not clear ... but records show he was released on Tuesday afternoon.

The 30-year-old fighter holds a 32-3-1 pro record. He famously won the IBF super featherweight title back in 2020.

Diaz went on to fight Haney in 2021 -- but lost. Earlier that year, he was in talks for a match with Ryan Garcia, but they ultimately fell through.

Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe went at it Tuesday morning on their FS1 show "Undisputed" ... after Skip insinuated LeBron James is lying about his injury.

Of course, it was reported Monday that James might miss substantial time with a right foot injury ... but Skip isn't buying he's hurt, questioning the legitimacy of LeBron's injury.

Bayless told Sharpe he hasn't seen any difference in Bron since the Lakers superstar turned 38 in December, and said he appeared to be fine during Sunday's game vs. Dallas.

Sharpe, however, took issue with Skip's comments, especially since LBJ said he "heard it pop" against the Mavs, prompting a war of words between the two hosts.

“Why is it when someone says something is wrong with LeBron James you either say it’s not that serious or he’s lying?” Sharpe asked. "But you’ve never called into question when Tom Brady said anything."

James, meanwhile, posted a pic of his right foot on Instagram Monday ... with the caption, "Fkn Sucks!!!! "

Former NFL running back Zac Stacy took a new mug shot on Monday ... before he was officially put behind bars for six months for attacking his ex-girlfriend in 2021.

Stacy posed for the photo at the Orange County Jail in Florida after he was remanded into custody following a judge's ruling at a sentencing hearing on Monday.

In the new picture, obtained by TMZ Sports, Stacy, wearing a striped shirt with a black collar, looked stoic -- and perhaps even a bit emotional.

Stacy was ordered to serve the jail time -- as well as one year of probation -- after he cut deals with prosecutors earlier this month following allegations he was violent with Kristin Evans, the mother of his child, on multiple occasions in '21.

Despite the attacks, though, Evans said Tuesday in a social media post she had hoped Stacy would not serve any jail time.

"Please give me some grace in understanding that I’m not being easy on Zac," she said, "rather I am trying to protect our son from anymore trauma."

K'Andre Miller's spit will keep him off the ice for a bit ... 'cause the New York Rangers defenseman was suspended three games for hocking a loogie on an opponent during Sunday's matchup against the Los Angeles Kings.

The 23-year-old was caught on live TV spitting right in Kings star Drew Doughty's face during a skirmish in the first period of the game at Madison Square Garden.

The official saw it, too, and removed Miller from the game ... and handed down a match penalty to go along with it.

Miller did apologize shortly after ... releasing a statement the following day saying it was "completely accidental," as he has respect for Doughty.

"I would never intend to do something like that on purpose, it goes against everything I am as a person and player," Miller said on Monday.

The sorry didn't do much for the NHL Department of Player Safety ... which handed down a three-game suspension on Tuesday.

"NY Rangers’ K'Andre Miller has been suspended for three games for unsportsmanlike conduct on Los Angeles’ Drew Doughty," the NHL Player Safety said.