TMZ Sports - Page 50

Former NBA star Shawn Kemp was arrested following an alleged drive-by shooting Wednesday in Washington ... TMZ Sports has confirmed.

According to Tacoma PD, an altercation between two cars broke out around 2 PM ... which resulted in shots being fired in a shopping mall parking lot.

Cops say one car fled the scene and a gun was recovered. No injuries were reported.

53-year-old Kemp -- a six-time All-Star -- was booked for felony drive-by shooting at 5:58 PM and is still in custody at the Pierce County Jail, according to records.

FYI -- drive-by shooting is a class B felony ... which carries up to a 10-year prison sentence.

Kemp -- AKA the "Reign Man" was the 17th overall pick in the 1989 NBA Draft ... and played for the Seattle SuperSonics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Portland Trail Blazers and Orlando Magic over the course of his 14-year career, averaging 14 points and eight rebounds a game.

The former big man has been at the forefront of the push to bring an NBA franchise back to Seattle ... in hopes of reviving the Sonics.

Kemp was previously arrested on two drug-related incidents in 2005 and 2006. He has since ventured into the cannabis industry ... opening a dispensary in 2020.

Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim is no longer the head coach of the Syracuse men's basketball team -- the school just announced the legend is being replaced after 47 years with the Orange.

78-year-old Boeheim started his career at 'Cuse as an assistant coach in 1969 before becoming the head coach in 1976. He racked up four Final Four appearances, five Big East tournament championships over the course of nearly 5 decades ... and won a national championship with Carmelo Anthony in 2003.

Boeheim -- a Syracuse alum -- also earned several awards ... as he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005, and the College Basketball HoF in 2006.

Coach spoke with reporters after 'Cuse's 77-74 loss to Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament on Tuesday ... tiptoeing around straight-up saying he was retiring -- claiming he already made his goodbye speech, but no one noticed.

Syracuse athletic director John Wildhack addressed the move ... saying, "I have spent my entire career surrounded by the biggest and best names in professional and intercollegiate athletics. Few people are on the same playing field as Coach Boeheim."

"Jim Boeheim is synonymous with excellence, grit and determination. Jim is a rare breed of coach, building a program that is among the best in college basketball for nearly five decades. I am incredibly grateful for what he has done for Syracuse Basketball, Syracuse Athletics and Syracuse University as a whole."

Boeheim finishes his career with the second-most wins in NCAA history.

Tiger Woods' split from his ex-girlfriend is way nastier -- and potentially more expensive for him -- than we thought ... TMZ Sports has learned she's suing him for $30 million, claiming he cooked up a scheme to toss her out of their home.

According to docs we've obtained, Erica Herman and Tiger actually broke up last fall. The then-couple had been living together in his Hobe Sound, FL home for 6 years, during which time Erica says she performed "valuable services" for Tiger in exchange for living there rent-free.

She admits she doesn't have that in writing, but refers to an "oral tenancy agreement," which was supposed to last 5 more years after their split.

About that breakup ... Erica claims Tiger's people convinced her to pack a suitcase last fall for a "short vacation" -- without Tiger -- and drove her to the airport. Once they arrived at the airport, she was told she'd been "locked out" of the house and could not go back.

In the docs, Erica alleges one of Tiger's lawyers even met her at the airport with a proposal to resolve any outstanding issues between Tiger and her. She also claims they confiscated more than $40K in cash she had at the house, and accused her of doing something shady to get the money.

She's suing Tiger's trust -- the titleholder on the house -- for $30 mil because she claims that's the "reasonable rental value" of Tiger's house for the 5 remaining years on their oral agreement.

Tiger's trust filed docs in response to the suit, and said Tiger had broken up with her and asked her to leave the home, which he shares with his 2 children. The trust denies there was ever any oral agreement about her living in the home ... instead, Tiger's team says she was only there as his girlfriend.

Basically, once the relationship ended ... so did her right to live there.

Ja Morant is off the hook in his gun video case -- at least criminally -- cops just announced the NBA star will not face charges ... even though he recorded himself brandishing a firearm at a Denver-area club over the weekend.

The Glendale Police Dept. cleared the 23-year-old on Wednesday afternoon ... saying in a statement that despite the "concerning" images on Morant's Instagram Live stream Saturday morning -- "there was not enough available evidence to charge anyone with a crime."

Cops said the incident took place on March 4 just hours after the Grizzlies game against the Nuggets at Shotgun Willie's -- a Gentleman's club located five or so miles from Ball Arena.

"In this case," police said, "it should be noted that on the night in question the GPD did not receive any calls for service at the nightclub regarding a weapon of any type. Subsequently, no disturbances were reported, and no citizens or patrons of the club came forward to make a complaint."

"The investigation also concluded that no one was threatened or menaced with the firearm," they added, "and in fact no firearm was ever located."

While cleared legally ... Morant is still facing potential punishment from the NBA -- the league announced it launched its own investigation into the matter that has not yet concluded.

While the probe continues onward, Morant -- who apologized for the video and vowed to seek out help afterward -- has remained away from the Grizzlies.

A timetable for his return to the hardwood has not been set yet.

Alabama basketball star Brandon Miller is breaking his silence on the death of 23-year-old Jamea Harris ... saying Wednesday the tragedy is "heartbreaking."

"I never lose sight of the fact that a family has lost one of their loved ones that night," Miller told reporters. "This whole situation is just really heartbreaking."

He added, "Respectfully, that's all I’m going to be able to say on that."

Miller's brief remarks come just two days after he was named SEC Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year.

As we previously reported, cops say Miller -- Alabama's best player this season -- brought the gun to his friend and former teammate, Darius Miles, on January 15 in Tuscaloosa.

Miles' friend, Michael Davis, allegedly fired the fatal shot.

Despite his connection to the murder case, Miller did not face trouble with Alabama or the law ... and has been performing at a high level on the court. He even dropped 41 points against South Carolina last month.

Miller's availability has been met with criticism -- the victim's parents expressed to USA Today they believe 'Bama is prioritizing Miller over the tragedy.

"They're worried about his career, but what about this 5-year-old boy (Harris' son, Kaine)," Harris' mother, DeCarla Cotton, told the outlet.

Joe Mixon's trainer called 911 on Monday night from the NFL star's home to report hearing gunshots outside of the residence ... this according to new police audio, obtained by TMZ Sports.

Sean Pena -- a famed personal trainer who's worked out with high-profile athletes like Antonio Brown in the past -- put in the call from Mixon's Cincinnati-area house at around 8:25 PM ... police records show.

In the call, you can hear Pena say several "kids" were playing near Mixon's home ... and had, at one point, blocked off the street with their cars.

"One kid was running around brandishing a weapon and he went back to his car and it looked like it was a fake weapon," Pena said. "But then I kept watching, watching, watching and then he was screaming something and he went back to his car and he pulled out another weapon. It looked like a Kel-Tec or something and ran up the back driveway of this house that he had been going up and down, and said, 'F*** yeah.'"

That's when Pena said he heard what sounded like five gunshots.

"Then all the sudden I heard him running, running down there, and you heard 'Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop,'" Pena told dispatch.

Pena said three of the cars in the area then "sped off."

The trainer, who described the home he was in as "my athlete's house," went on to say he had been watching the group of individuals playing outside for 10-15 minutes.

Police documents show when officers arrived on the scene they found a juvenile suffering from a gunshot wound to his foot. They noted he did not want medical attention, saying his dad is a doctor. Later in the report, police noted the victim "believes he has a bullet fragment in his foot."

Police also said in the documents a shell casing had been found in the rear of Mixon's house.

The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, meanwhile, has shed little details on the incident publicly. It said in a press release Tuesday officers responded to the area for a report of shots fired. It added that officials conducted a search warrant on a home in the area -- and did confirm a residence belonging to Mixon is "part of the crime scene."

"We hope to provide a more comprehensive update to the investigation later this week," an HCSO spokesperson said.

We've reached out to Pena for comment, but so far, no word back yet.

Calvin Ridley is opening up for the first time on his year-long suspension for gambling on NFL games, explaining he was battling depression and anxiety. Still, the Jaguars WR isn't making excuses, flat out saying he "f***ed up."

Jacksonville's new receiver wrote a piece for The Players Tribune on Wednesday ... titled "A Letter to the Game."

"I f***ed up," the 28-year-old said. "I’m not here to sugarcoat anything. In 2021, I made the worst mistake of my life by gambling on football."

Remember, CR was suspended indefinitely for wagering on NFL games -- a huge no-no -- and ultimately missed all of last season.

Ridley says the bets started when he stepped away from the Atlanta Falcons to focus on his mental health. He was battling depression and anxiety, which he says started when he suffered a foot injury. He says his wife was also dealing with trauma from their house being burglarized. So, it was a difficult time for his family.

"I was looking for anything to take my mind off of things and make the day go by faster," Ridley wrote. "One day, I saw a TV commercial for a betting app, and for whatever reason, I downloaded it on my phone."

He says he deposited $1,500 and started placing bets on NBA games, as well as the Falcons, which he says was just his way of rooting for his team.

"I didn’t have any inside information. I wasn’t even talking to anybody on the team at the time. I was totally off the grid," Ridley said adamantly.

Of course, the NFL ultimately found out and threw the book at Calvin ... a moment he calls "probably the worst day of my life." The trash-talking and trolling didn't help either.

"I paid the price, believe me. I’ve seen all the jokes. I’ve seen all the hate," Ridley said.

"All I want is for people to understand that, when I made those bets, there was a hell of a lot more going on with me."

But, now the Florida native -- who was reinstated on Monday -- is ready to turn up with his new team in Jacksonville, and he feels stronger than ever, mentally and physically.

"It feels so good to be back home in Florida, where this dream started, with a clean slate," Ridley said.

Michael Irvin's attorney says he's finally seen the video of the interaction the NFL Hall of Famer had with his misconduct accuser last month ... and he claims the footage shows his client did nothing inappropriate with the woman whatsoever.

Levi McCathern told reporters at a press conference in Dallas on Wednesday afternoon he was able to view the Marriott footage this week after a court ordered the hotel giant to turn it over in a ruling earlier this month.

He says Marriott representatives wouldn't provide him with a copy of the vid -- nor would they allow him to record it. But, he said the clip -- which was captured on Feb. 5 at the Arizona establishment -- showed an innocuous meetup between the hotel worker and Irvin regardless.

McCathern claims you can see Irvin and the woman initially meet up behind a pole in the hotel's lobby -- before they come into clear view of the camera.

McCathern says Irvin can be seen only touching the woman four times -- once with an initial handshake, twice on the elbow, and once more with a handshake to say goodbye.

"She never acts upset," McCathern said of the woman's demeanor on the video. "She doesn't act like there's any problems at all."

McCathern then brought out two witnesses on Zoom who said they were in the lobby when the meeting went down. Both told the room of reporters they didn't see anything inappropriate between Irvin and his accuser.

Irvin, meanwhile, was present at the press conference -- and he did speak to media members ... calling the whole ordeal "sickening."

"This takes me back to a time where a white woman would accuse a Black man of something and they would take a bunch of guys that were above the law, run in the barn, put a rope around his foot and drag him through the mud and hang him by the tree," he said.

Irvin -- who later broke down in tears while the witnesses recounted their memories of the evening -- added that he has still yet to see the video of his encounter with his accuser.

Master P's son, Mercy, balled out with 18 points in a huge playoff win over Sierra Canyon on Tuesday ... officially bringing Bronny James' high school basketball career to an end.

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame -- the #1 seed -- easily handled S.C. in the CIF Southern California Division 1 Regional, 80-61 ... punching its ticket to the state finals later this week.

There were some big names in the crowd as N.D. secured the win ... including Mercy's rap legend dad and French Montana.

Notre Dame's Caleb Foster -- who's committed to play for Duke -- dropped 28 points in the win ... with Isaiah Elohim, a Kansas and Illinois recruit, adding 16 for Sierra Canyon.

Mercy -- a junior -- has a bright future on the hardwood ... and is set to play college ball at Houston.

Bronny had 10 points in his final high school game ... but his NBA superstar dad, LeBron, was not in attendance for the contest (the Lakers had a game).

AEW star Wardlow appears to have already lost his championship belt just days after winning it -- but it wasn't a wrestler who took it from him in a match ... no, he claims thieves jacked it from his rental car on Tuesday.

Wardlow said in a video posted to his social media page that his ride was broken into -- and the culprits took off with a bunch of his stuff ... including the title strap that he earned in a win over Samoa Joe on Sunday at AEW Revolution in San Francisco.

The 6-foot-2, 277-pound wrestler showed his car had busted windows ... and he was clearly furious with the situation.

"Thanks to the person who broke into my rental car and took absolutely everything from me," Wardlow said. "My TNT title. My gear, my boots, my whole life were in those bags."

It's unclear when and where the alleged break-in happened ... we've reached out to cops, but so far, no word back yet.

Wardlow, meanwhile, is supposed to put his newly acquired title on the line against Powerhouse Hobbs at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento later Wednesday ... and he says despite not actually having the belt in his possession anymore, he still plans on showing up.

"I don't know if this means I'm going to have beat the s*** out of Hobbs in these clothes I'm wearing right now," Wardlow said, "but one way or another, I'm going to make it to Sacramento and we're going to get this s*** done."

Wardlow also sent a message to the individuals he believes stole his stuff ... and it didn't seem like he was in character or putting on a show.

"Whoever did do this better thank God that I didn't catch you in the act because you're jaw would be as shattered as this glass is."

"He's the reason a lot of my nation was inspired to do MMA. He's the reason we all believed we could do it. He inspired me to follow my dream and be where I am now."

That's rising Irish UFC star Ian Garry gushing about the impact Conor McGregor's had on not just his career, but so many MMA fighters coming out of Ireland.

25-year-old Garry increased his record to 11-0 with a win over Kenan Song on Saturday at UFC 285 ... but it likely wasn't the most thrilling part of the night. After IG left the Octagon, the 6'2" welterweight fighter ran into "The Notorious" and shared a moment with the world's most famous MMA fighter.

"I wouldn't say spend time, but we crossed paths," Ian told us, before describing the interaction.

"For me to even hear some of the words that came out of [Conor's] mouth that he had to say about me was kind of breathtaking. It's like 'holy s**t, this is real?'"

Garry continued ... "I'm such a massive fan of Conor's I always have been, I always will be no matter what, and to have him beat my chest and tell me I'm a champion and that he's got me, that he's behind me, it's something that I'll never forget."

Of course, McGregor was watching the fights Octagon-side with Jake Gyllenhaal. The A-list actor and Conor are starring alongside each other in the new remake of "Road House."

As for his next move, Ian says because he didn't take any real damage during the Song fight, he wants to fight on the UFC 287 card (Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira II) on April 8 in Miami ... close to his Kill Cliff MMA gym in Deerfield, FL.

"I don't see any reason why I wouldn't be able to fight in 5 weeks. I'm uninjured, I took 1 shot in the fight. Other than that Im ready and raring to go again."

Against who? Garry doesn't care.

"There's a whole roster of welterweights that Sean Shelby can choose from. At the end of the day I don't really give a f**k who it is. Sean will send me an email. He'll have a name in that email. I'll sign it, send it back and say 'Yeah, cool.'"

Super emotional night at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday ... Kobe Bryant's good friend, Pau Gasol, had his jersey retired next to the Mamba's -- and both Gasol and Vanessa Bryant had to wipe away tears during the ceremony.

The festivities went down at halftime of the Lakers' game against the Grizzlies ... when L.A. formally retired Pau's No. 16 after he helped Kobe win two NBA championships in his seven seasons in the purple and gold.

Vanessa kicked everything off with a pre-recorded video ... where she blew a kiss to Pau, and then played him a clip of Kobe saying back in 2018 that he couldn't wait for the day when the duo's jerseys would hang next to each other in the L.A. arena's rafters.

Pau's yellow uniform was then revealed next to Kobe's No. 24 -- and Gasol immediately began crying.

TV cameras showed he had to wipe away tears multiple times. Later during the ceremony, Vanessa could be seen appearing to tear up as well.

During his speech, Pau said he missed Kobe dearly ... telling the crowd in attendance, "I love him. I wish he was here with Gigi. I really do."

A bunch of Kobe and Gasol's former teammates were there ... Lamar Odom, Derek Fisher, Sasha Vujačić and Metta Sandiford-Artest showed up. Jimmy Butler, who flew to L.A. in between Miami's two home games, was in attendance too.

NBA Hall of Famers Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar also had seats for the ceremony ... along with their former teammates, James Worthy and Jamaal Wilkes.

Magic commended the Lakers for the touching tribute to Gasol ... tweeting, "A big thumbs up to Laker Owner Jeanie Buss & the entire organization for a tremendous evening honoring Pau Gasol!"

"Congratulations @paugasol on your jersey retirement!"

WWE Superstar Liv Morgan appeared annoyed and uninterested as some dude chatted her up at the Knicks game on Tuesday ... but as it turns out, that guy is a WWE executive!!

TMZ Sports has learned ... the dude who went viral for talking a mile a minute as the Knicks lost to the Charlotte Hornets at Madison Square Garden is Justin Scalise, the wrestling org.'s senior vice president for live events.

A clip of Scalise and Morgan's courtside interaction was quickly clipped and posted on social media ... with many assuming he was trying to shoot his shot with the wrestler.

That wasn't the case ... but that didn't stop Twitter users from posting memes and poking fun about how Scalise was probably trying to impress Liv with his NFT and crypto knowledge.

Morgan was a VIP guest at the game ... just a few days before she's slated to enter the squared circle at WWE's Road to WrestleMania Supershow at MSG on Sunday.

She got a ton of special perks on Tuesday -- including a custom jersey, video board shout-out and pics with the Knicks' dance team.

Shaquille O'Neal is weighing in on Ja Morant's controversial gun-flashing Instagram Live session ... telling the Memphis Grizzlies star he has to be smarter moving forward -- saying, "You're not a rapper, you're an NBA player!"

Shaq conveyed his memo to the 2-time All-Star during NBA on TNT on Tuesday ... saying Morant put himself in his current position with the NBA, Grizzlies, and fans as he chose to push the IG Live button and brandish a gun.

"You don't go live, nobody knows he has a weapon, [then] we're not talking about this, but HE did that," the 51-year-old said.

"We have to stop putting ourselves in positions where they can take away the things that we worked hard for."

Shaq emphasizes the fact that Morant chose to share with the world that he was in a strip club, shirtless, with a gun ... and he should've known there would be repercussions for it.

"You got to have enough common sense to know that wasn't going to go how you wanted it to go," O'Neal said. "You're not a rapper. You're an NBA player."

Shaq proposed Morant thinks about his "higher powers" before making bad choices -- and he's talking about Ja's parents and 2-year-old daughter, Kaari.

Speaking of his parents, NFL Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe told TMZ Sports Morant's dad, who he had an altercation with in January, needs to be a father and not a friend in this situation.

"It's okay to be a friend," Sharpe said at LAX. "But you gotta be a father, too, and when you see your son doing something wrong, you gotta step to him and say it's wrong."

Tiger Woods' latest girlfriend of about 6 years is taking the golf legend to court over an NDA she claims he made her sign ... and she's citing a law that prohibits NDAs when there's evidence of sexual assault or harassment.

Erica Herman filed legal docs, obtained by TMZ, which spell her grievances out clear as day ... namely, she alleges TW made her sign an NDA at the start of their relationship -- around August 2017, according to her -- which she now says is being wrongfully enforced on her.

In the paperwork, Herman says a private trust that Tiger runs is attempting to steamroll her into keeping quiet about their relationship by aggressively enforcing the NDA she signed.

She argues in her legal docs the NDA should be declared unenforceable under the federal Speak Out Act, which prohibits the enforceability of an NDA agreed to before a dispute arises involving sexual assault or sexual harassment.

By the sounds of it ... she and Tiger are no longer together, but she doesn't specify when they broke up. Publicly, there's been no sign of a split -- although, we haven't quite seen Herman and Tiger together for a while now, even at his latest golf outing a few weeks ago.

In any case, Herman says she's seeking clarity from the court here ... because, according to her, she's eager to share her experiences with Tiger. She wants a judge to declare the NDA invalid and unenforceable.

Zaya Wade looks every bit like a superstar model, and now, she's celebrating like one too -- hitting a swanky after-party in a pair of oversized sunglasses following her Paris Fashion Week debut.

Dwyane Wade's daughter attended the Miu Miu dinner and aftershow celebration at Gigi Paris on Tuesday after crushing her runway walk earlier in the day ... and the 15-year-old certainly looked like she belonged.

Rockin' some dark sunnies, a blazer and a miniskirt, Zaya -- as she did hours before on the catwalk -- turned heads as she was ushered into the festivities.

She appeared calm, cool, confident and stoic at the event -- but we know she was absolutely thrilled with the day nonetheless ... as she and Dwyane celebrated her big moment earlier Tuesday with smiles and a big hug.

"I'm not crying," Dwyane said after Zaya walked on the PFW runway for the first time in a green, wool ensemble, "you are."

Dwyane and Gabrielle Union got in an after-party of sorts of their own too ... smashing some cheeseburgers and fries together in the back of a car after Zaya's widely successful Tuesday.

"This is how you end fashion week," the NBA legend said with a laugh.