TMZ Sports - Page 50

Damar Hamlin is continuing to make steps in his road to returning to NFL action -- on Tuesday, the defensive back got in some work at Bills practice ... and he looked GOOD!!!

Just over four months after he went into cardiac arrest on the field during a "Monday Night Football" game ... Hamlin was out at Buffalo's organized team activities -- and while he didn't fully participate in the practice, he still showed off some athleticism at the workout nonetheless.

According to reporters on the scene, Hamlin did some calisthenics with his teammates, got in some agility work ... and even hit some drills with his fellow DBs.

Video from the sidelines shows the guy doesn't appear to have lost a step at all since his Jan. 2 medical episode ... he caught the ball with ease and flashed some big-time burst.

Following the practice, Bills head coach Sean McDermott insisted Hamlin didn't do a whole lot on the field ... telling reporters they're taking things very slowly with the 25-year-old.

"We're taking it one day at a time and just support Damar in every way possible," McDermott said.

For now, there's no public timetable for an official return to practices -- or games, for that matter -- for the Bills safety ... though docs have cleared him to play, and it seems like only a matter of time before he's got a helmet and shoulder pads strapped on.

Foster Moreau is back doing what he loves ... the Saints tight end took the field for New Orleans offseason workouts on Tuesday -- the first time he's been able to practice since his March cancer diagnosis.

The 26-year-old participated in Day 1 of the Saints' organized team activities ... and he looked like he hasn't lost a step whatsoever.

The former Raider caught balls, ran crisp routes ... and got in some blocking work too.

Of course, he spent a lot of the afternoon snagging passes from new Saints quarterback Derek Carr ... and the former Las Vegas teammates sure appeared to have some great chemistry.

Saints head coach Dennis Allen spoke with reporters following the workout about Foster -- who signed a three-year, $12 million deal with New Orleans earlier this month -- and he praised the tight end, saying the guy "looks good physically."

The whole scene is pretty incredible ... considering in early March, doctors discovered Moreau had Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a type of cancer that affects the body's immune system.

Scary moment at Indianapolis 500 practice on Monday ... Stefan Wilson was taken off the track on a stretcher after his car violently collided with a wall during a wild wreck.

The crash happened just moments ago at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway ... when Katherine Legge got into Wilson's ride in Turn 1.

You can see in video of the accident, Legge struck Wilson with so much force ... both of their cars skidded into a nearby wall -- with Wilson's vehicle seemingly getting the worst of the impact.

Trainers immediately raced to tend to both drivers ... and, eventually, Wilson was strapped to a backboard and loaded into an ambulance.

Thankfully, Wilson was able to give a thumbs up just before he was transported to a nearby hospital ... and, according to IndyCar medical director Dr. Julia Vaizer, he's now "doing well" and is "in good spirits."

Legge, meanwhile, was evaluated by medics following the crash -- but has since been cleared to drive again.

The scene couldn't have been scarier for the 33-year-old Wilson and his family ... as Wilson's older brother, Justin, tragically died in an on-track accident back in 2015.

It's unclear if Stefan or Legge will now be able to race in the 107th iteration of the Indy 500 on Sunday.

Carmelo Anthony says he's unbothered that he's retiring without an NBA championship on his resume ... 'cause, at the end of the day, he feels he's "won at life" by simply making it to the league!

The 38-year-old forward announced his retirement on Monday after 19 seasons in the NBA, and despite all his accomplishments, including becoming a 10x All-Star and scoring champ, he never won a ring.

Many sports fans and even some media refuse to label a player an all-time great if they haven't won a ring. For years, it's been said about guys like Patrick Ewing and Charles Barkley, because neither earned a chip.

Obviously, if you watched Chuck play, you know he's one of the best players to step foot on a basketball court.

Championships are also used to compare players ... like Michael Jordan (6 titles in 6 appearances) and LeBron James (4 titles in 10 appearances).

"I’m at peace," Melo said to Sports Illustrated after the announcement.

"That doesn’t bother me no more; that idea that you’re a loser if you don’t win a championship."

But, Melo -- who won an NCAA Championship with Syracuse 20 years ago -- said he's been a winner since the day he was selected as the third overall pick in the NBA Draft, making it out of Brooklyn.

“For me, I’ve won. I won back in 2003, the night I shook David Stern’s hand on that [draft] stage," Anthony said. "I made it out of Red Hook. I’ve won at life."

"The ring is the only thing I didn’t get. It would’ve been a great accomplishment, but I don’t regret it, because I feel like I did everything I could to get it."

Melo said he's now focused on his 16-year-old son, Kiyan, who received several offers to play college basketball ... including from Melo's alma mater, Cuse.

In fact, Melo admits Kiyan is the only reason why he signed with the Lakers for the 2021-22 season ... or he would've retired back then.

"I always told him, ’When you get to high school, I’m retiring.’ That was always our thing," Melo said.

"Then [as he started high school] the Lakers called, and he told me, ‘Dad, I’ll be O.K., you should go.’ Even with LeBron there, I wouldn’t have done it without Kiyan pushing me."

"So to be able to spend time with him in the gym, on his work ethic? With school? I can be a father to him every day. It’s perfect timing.”

No, Goldberg didn't get into a WWE hardcore match on Tuesday ... but he certainly looked like he did -- suffering a gnarly head wound while out on his farm in Texas.

A rep for the wrestling legend tells TMZ Sports ... Goldberg was getting work done on his property, when he accidentally knocked his noggin on his tractor -- opening up a big gash near his forehead.

In photos of the injury that the 56-year-old shared on his social media page ... you can see the cut was so bad, it poured blood everywhere.

Fortunately, Goldberg told us it was nothing serious ... explaining it was all "just a flesh wound."

In fact, in true Goldberg fashion, he said he's simply super gluing the thing shut!!!

Of course, bleeding profusely isn't anything new for the WWE Hall of Famer ... he's found himself leaking in the squared circle more often than not over the years.

It's a REALLY bad time to be a bird at an MLB ballpark these days ... because for the second time in less than a week, one was killed in the field of play.

The latest fowl situation happened during the second inning of the Guardians' game against the White Sox in Cleveland on Monday night ... when Will Brennan was up at the plate.

You can see in video of his at-bat ... after he cracked a ball to the left side of the infield, the baseball accidentally landed right on top of a bird -- before it skidded into the outfield for a base hit.

Sadly, the bird died from the impact ... and it didn't take long for players around the diamond to realize what had just happened.

Check out the broadcast footage -- all of the guys had stunned looks on their faces ... as a member of Cleveland's grounds crew came out to scoop up the dead bird with a shovel.

Once the infield was cleared of the carcass, the game resumed ... and Cleveland ended up winning, 3-0.

But, Brennan's victory celebration was muted ... 'cause afterward, he took to Twitter to apologize for the play.

"I truly am sorry @peta and bird enthusiasts," the outfielder wrote. "An unfortunate sacrifice."

Unfortunately, this was the second time in five days that a bird lost its life on the field ... you'll recall, Arizona Diamondbacks star Zac Gallen killed one with a warmup pitch in Oakland on May 17.

Kris Jenner was sitting courtside Monday night, supporting Tristan Thompson -- and perhaps bringing the NBA vet some luck -- 'cause not only did TT get a decent amount of burn, but he also scored his first points in weeks!

Unfortunately for fans of the purple and gold, it wasn't enough to keep the brooms at bay ... and the Lakers were swept by the Nuggets.

Jenner showed up to Crypto.com Arena with bae Corey Gamble ... and the two sat front row, along the baseline for the pivotal game.

32-year-old Thompson ultimately played 10 minutes, making 2 of his 4 attempted field goals for 4 points and 1 rebound.

Before game 4, Tristan had only played 1 minute total in the first 3 games.

Jenner's presence is seemingly further proof everything is good on the Thompson-Kardashian-Jenner front. In fact, when Tristan was first signed by the organization, Corey not only attended a game but also partied with TT afterward.

Kim Kardashian has also been to multiple games ... although Tristan didn't play.

Kris wasn't the only celeb in the building last night ... the place was jam-packed with celebs.

Everyone from Vin Diesel, to Floyd Mayweather, Alex Rodriguez, Kyrie Irving and Edward Norton attended the game.

The Nuggets didn't just eliminate the Lakers from the postseason on Monday night -- they may have ended LeBron James' career too ... 'cause the L.A. superstar said after the Game 4 loss he's now seriously considering retirement.

A somber James met with reporters after Denver completed its sweep of the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals ... and after fielding questions for about a dozen minutes, 'Bron made it clear, he might not be back for the 2023-24 season.

"We'll see what happens going forward," James said to a throng of media members following the 113-111 defeat. "I don't know. I don't know. I got a lot to think about, to be honest. I got a lot to think about, to be honest."

While James is 38 years old, no one saw retirement coming this soon ... after all, he's still the Lakers' best player -- and in the series-clinching loss Monday night, he still dropped 40 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.

But, James -- who just wrapped up his 20th year in the NBA -- did battle a foot injury for most of the season ... and L.A. doesn't much room to significantly improve its roster next season due to the team's current salary cap situation.

Plus, James' kids are going through some years of their lives that LeBron certainly wouldn't mind being home for more often than not.

"Just for me personally," he said, "going forward with the game of basketball, I got a lot to think about."

Dolph Lundgren is turning his pain into purpose ... saying he couldn't be happier to inspire others, after opening up about his 8-year battle with cancer.

We caught up with the "Rocky" icon Monday at LAX, where he gave us an update on how he's been feeling since revealing he was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2015.

Dolph told us, health-wise, he's feeling good at the moment, and he feels even better that his ordeal is inspiring so many others. He's had producers and other folks come up to him and ask for advice and says those exchanges are truly rewarding.

He's clearly focusing on the silver lining, saying even inspiring one person was enough, which is the reason why he talked about it in the first place.

As we reported, Dolph was on "In Depth With Graham Bensinger" earlier this month when he spoke for the first time about his cancer diagnosis.

He said he went into remission in 2020, but when the cancer came back, a doctor gave him a terminal diagnosis ... saying he had tumors in his lungs, stomach, spine, and kidneys and he only had a few years to live.

Thankfully, he got a second opinion from Dr. Alexandra Drakaki, who he credits for shrinking his tumors.

Hulk Hogan has endured 28 surgeries over the last decade after years of wrestling injuries ravaged his body ... but the WWE Hall of Famer tells us thanks to his THC and CBD use, he feels better than he has in 45 years!

"I always joke about I didn't get the memo that this stuff was 'fake' and after the 10 back surgery and two knees and two hips, it's just a situation of you do get hurt out there all the time," Hogan told Babcock on the TMZ Sports TV show (airs weekdays on FS1).

Hogan continued, flat out saying ... "I feel better than I've ever felt at 69 years old, I feel like I'm 25 again."

If you know anything about Hulk's physical ailments (Hogan's publicly talked about enduring horrific pain on a daily basis), it's truly an incredible comeback.

"It definitely helped me because as I said the slow walk back from the prescription drugs ended with me downing the Tylenol and the Advil and Aleve's and finally even that wasn't working for me," Hogan said.

"As I moved away from that and got into the CBD world, it really changed the game from my sleep to the inflammation, the way my wrists and my joints hurt, across the board, it helped me with my health."

In fact, Hulk is such a proponent of THC and CBD, he's actually launching his own brand with the company behind Mike Tyson's "Tyson 2.0" and Ric Flair's "Ric Flair Drip," Carma HoldCo.

"When I saw what Ric and Mike were doing, I instantly wanted to get on the team because you use CBD for energy, for sleep, for fitness -- it just made sense. It's a logical extension of where I already was but this is the safe way to approach things instead of that wild card way of doctor's prescription stuff. It just didn't make sense anymore."

Hulk's new partner, Chad Bronstein, Carma's President, also joined us to preview the new health and wellness brand ... which he says will feature not just CBD and THC products but also "functional mushrooms."

Facing a 3-0 deficit in the Western Conference Finals, the Lakers haven't looked good ... but the women cheering them on throughout the playoffs sure have!

It's been tough being a fan of the purple and gold lately ... but Laker Girls Anoukka, Sammy, and Juliette have done their best to give the fans at Crypto.com Arena something to cheer about.

Of course, we can't forget Quori-Tyler ... a New York native who is in her second year with the Lakers.

Alongside Quori and the rest of the squad is Taylor from Dallas, and a handful of other beautiful and talented women.

Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals goes down Monday night ... and it's win or Cancun for LeBron and company as they try and stave off the Nuggets.

Glen Kuiper has been fired from his role as Oakland A's broadcaster ... after he used the n-word while on-air earlier this month.

NBC Sports California said in a statement Monday it came to the decision to part ways with the longtime play-by-play man following a weekslong investigation into the incident.

"We thank Glen for his dedication to Bay Area baseball over the years," the network said in announcing the news.

Kuiper had initially been suspended on May 6 for using the racial slur while talking with Dallas Braden just before the A's vs. Royals game on May 5.

During their conversation, Kuiper had been trying to explain to viewers what they did during the leadup to Oakland's contest in Kansas City ... but in an attempt to say they had gone to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, he muttered the n-word instead.

Later in the game, the 60-year-old apologized for it all ... saying he had said something that didn't come out the way he intended.

"I could not be more sorry and horrified by what I said," he added in another apology later in the week. "I hope you will accept my sincerest apologies."

Jalen Ramsey is saying goodbye to both L.A.'s football team this year AND the insane mansion he called home in the city ... TMZ Sports has learned he's put his pad up for sale following his trade to the Dolphins.

The former Rams cornerback -- with the help of Compass agent Lee Mintz -- just listed the property on Monday for $13,995,000 ... and while it's a hefty price tag, it ain't hard to see that it's definitely worth it.

The home, located in the swanky Hidden Hills, has seven bedrooms, eight and a half bathrooms ... and comes with its own basketball court and sauna.

It's also got a theatre room, a wine room, and an insane fitness room.

The backyard also has a luxury pool, a newly built guest house -- and plenty of incredible landscaping. There's even an area in the yard to train for uphill sprints!!

The 28-year-old, who initially bought the place from Howie Mandel in 2020 for $9.5 million, sure didn't seem thrilled to have to part ways with the home ... saying in a statement Monday, "It is tough coming to terms with selling it because I do love it."

"You can relax, play basketball, be healthy, workout," he added, "you can do it all here."

Of course, Ramsey doesn't have much use for the place these days ... after being traded to Miami back in March -- he won't be needing to be in L.A. too often for the foreseeable future.

Univ. of New Mexico tight end Jaden Hullaby, who started his collegiate football career at the Univ. of Texas, has tragically died at just 21 years old.

Hullaby's family said in a statement on social media on Sunday that they had feared for his safety ... after they hadn't been able to make contact with him since last Thursday. He was last seen on a freeway in Dallas, the family said.

In an update on Monday -- Hullaby's brother, Landon, announced the UNM athlete had sadly passed away.

"Forever living through you big brudda," Landon wrote. "I love you so much and I got you and the family forever I swear get your rest King 🕊💔 LLJAY"

No other details surrounding his death have been revealed.

UNM said in a statement following the news that it was praying for "Jaden’s family and all who knew him." UT head coach Steve Sarkisian added in a statement of his own that he and the Longhorns were heartbroken as well.

"He was a great person and someone we all enjoyed being around, coaching and spending time with," Sarkisian said. "All of our thoughts are with his family, friends and teammates, and we want to send our deepest condolences to them in such a difficult time."

Hullaby was a touted running back prospect in the Longhorns' 2020 class who switched to linebacker when he got to the Austin campus. He played in just two games in his two seasons for the school ... before he transferred to UNM prior to the 2022 season.

In his one year with the Lobos, he played tight end, and piled up 44 receiving yards and 59 rushing yards in eight games.

Tom Brady is one step closer to going from under center to overseeing a team ... the ex-quarterback has reportedly struck a deal with Mark Davis to buy a piece of the Raiders.

The future of Hall of Famer and the Las Vegas owner had been in talks for weeks about a potential agreement ... but according to NFL insider Albert Breer, the deal is now done.

All that's needed for TB12 to be referred to as Owner Brady going forward is an approval from at least 24 of the league's other owners. Breer reported Monday that vote will not happen in the spring, but is expected to happen soon.

If and when the move becomes official ... Brady will reportedly not have a say in the team's business or football affairs -- though FOX's Jay Glazer still told us earlier this month he expects the future Hall of Famer to have a huge impact on the org. nonetheless.

Of course, this would not be Brady's first foray into sports ownership ... he's already a Major League Pickleball Team owner -- and he's got a part of Davis' WNBA team, the Las Vegas Aces, as well.

The XFL is bringing back their HBCU Showcase ... the league announced they're hosting a tryout at Clark Atlanta University in Georgia this June, and are hoping to find a bunch of players for the upcoming season!

On Monday, the professional football league revealed the showcase will be open to all HBCU athletes on June 17 at the ATL campus, where league hopefuls can display their skills in front of scouts.

"When the XFL says it’s a 'League of Opportunity,’ we mean it and you can see it in the actions we take to offer equal opportunities to players across the country," XFL Senior VP Doug Whaley said.

"This showcase at the historic Clark Atlanta University allows us to shine a spotlight on HBCU players and give them a chance to showcase their skills for our personnel evaluators."

The XFL -- which was purchased by Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and business partner Dany Garcia for $15 million in 2020 -- held their first HBCU showcase last year at Jackson State University ... and 100 players from historically black colleges and universities played in the 2023 season.

D.C. Defenders head coach Reggie Barlow -- who coached at two HBCUs before moving to the XFL -- said the league is doing a great job when it comes to creating opportunities for athletes outside of Division I schools, and he's proud to be a part of it.

"I know firsthand the number of talented players that attend a historically Black school who aren’t able to continue their careers past the collegiate level," Barlow said.

"I’m humbled to be part of a League that gives players – and coaches – of all backgrounds an opportunity to continue their football careers."

The NFL also welcomes HBCU athletes ... in fact, last year 33 players from HBCUs were on 17 teams last year.