TMZ Sports - Page 17

4:04 PM PT -- It's a good thing Wemby is a great basketball player, 'cause the prospect's first pitch was quite the stinker ... flying waaaay outta the strike zone and past the catcher.

Wemby was a good sport over it all ... smiling as he made his way to home plate after the toss.

It was pretty expected, though -- after all, baseball ain't the biggest sport in France.

Keep your head up, buddy!!

Future NBA star Victor Wembanyama is throwing the first pitch at the New York Yankees game on Tuesday ... and the giant hooper showed off just how massive he is prior to the ceremonial toss by covering a baseball with his whole hand!!

The soon-to-be San Antonio Spur shared a snap of himself holding a baseball leading up to the big moment ... and the 7'5" athlete made the damn thing look more like a golf ball.

"Lmaooooo," Wemby said on Instagram ... fully aware that he is a freak of nature.

The French superstar was friendly as usual with fans before the game ... signing autographs as he rocked a Yankee jersey and a pair of unreleased Nike x Drake kicks.

As we previously reported, Wemby touched down in the States on Monday ... and was bombarded by supporters, which was a glimpse of what the rest of his life will look like.

The game starts at 4 PM PT ... and Wemby will take the mound prior to the Yankees' tilt against the Seattle Mariners.

There's now really no way Michael Malone ever forgets this year's NBA championship ... 'cause TMZ Sports has learned the Nuggets head coach just got a tattoo on his shoulder commemorating the title!

The 51-year-old newly crowned champ hit up Mike Diaz's Triple W Tattoos shop in Colorado on Tuesday to get the work done ... ensuring he'll always remember his 2022-23 squad.

The piece is hilarious ... it features an image of the Nuggets' first-ever mascot, Maxie the Miner, holding the Larry O'Brien Trophy.

And, check out Malone's smile after he sat for the tat -- he loved it!!

Diaz tells us ... the body art is Malone's second-ever -- and the first one he's gotten in a couple decades -- proving this was not a decision the Nugs' head man took lightly.

Malone, though, wasn't the only member of the NBA champions to put title ink on his skin Tuesday ... Diaz also tatted the same Maxie image on Denver assistant video coordinator Connor Griffin. The artist says he's planning to tat up assistant coach Ryan Bowen on Wednesday as well.

As for how the Nuggets coaches got a hold of Diaz -- he went viral earlier this postseason when he offered Denver fans $52.80 flash tattoos (in honor of the Mile High City) during the team's series against the Lakers ... and Malone and his guys clearly appreciated the support.

Zion Williamson can breathe a sigh of relief for now -- his alleged former fling just had her Twitter account suspended after threatening to release a sex tape involving the NBA star.

As we previously reported, an adult model named Moriah Mills has gone scorched earth on the New Orleans Pelicans forward ever since he revealed he was having a baby with his girlfriend earlier this month ... claiming she, too, was in an intimate relationship with him at the same time -- and she was blindsided by the news.

Moriah aired out her frustrations with the 22-year-old on social media ... spilling tea about alleged wire transfers and moving plans ... as well as some other REALLY X-rated claims.

The whole Twitter spat lasted two weeks before Elon Musk's company pulled the plug on Tuesday ... with her page that sports more than a million followers getting scrubbed from the platform.

Moriah previously claimed Zion was begging her to stop posting ... which she didn't until she literally could not anymore.

Kirk Herbstreit's son, Zak -- a junior tight end for the Ohio State Buckeyes football team -- was hospitalized Tuesday with an undisclosed health issue, the school announced.

Details surrounding the situation have not been disclosed ... but officials described Zak's condition as "stable," and said he is being monitored and evaluated at OSU's Wexner Medical Center.

The ESPN analyst spoke about the news to ABC 6 in Columbus ... saying, "His family is with him and appreciate everyone's concerns and prayers."

Zak is a third-generation Buckeye -- his dad and grandfather, Jim, were both captains for the Buckeyes. His mother, Alison, was also a cheerleader at OSU.

Zak was recently featured in a Father's Day video with his OSU teammates ... where he gave a special shout-out to his dad.

"This journey hasn't been easy for me, but you have been there every step of the way. I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. I love you."

Kirk responded ... saying, "Love you Zak!!! So proud of you!!"

Drew Rosenhaus went from being a proverbial shark on Tuesday ... to wrestling an actual one -- and the wild scene was all captured on video!!!

The NFL super agent's chaotic meeting with the sea beast happened just minutes ago while he was out fishing with his client, Dolphins superstar Tyreek Hill.

You can see in footage that Rosenhaus just posted to his Twitter page ... as he was out in the ocean snorkeling, a shark pulled up to the boat -- but instead of swimming away in fear, he went toward it!!

People on the ship urged Drew to think twice ... but the man who's helped negotiate over $7 BILLION in NFL contracts put his hands on the shark nonetheless, and then pulled it toward him!

Rosenhaus could be seen in the footage then urging people on the boat to then take a picture.

One of the best parts of the clip? One of the fisherman asked Hill if he wanted to join in on the water party with Drew ... and Tyreek's answer was priceless.

"Hell nah!" the wide receiver exclaimed.

Canelo Alvarez's Italian vacation continues ... the boxing superstar and his wife ditched their clothes for a couple of tiny swimsuits, hopping aboard a luxury yacht for a day of fun in the sun near Portofino!

32-year-old Alvarez and his 26-year-old wife, Fernanda Gómez, are vacationing in Northern Italy ... and after some luxury retail therapy earlier in the week, the couple decided to take things to the water.

Canelo, wearing red trunks, and Fernanda, in a teeny bikini, were spotted jumping off the back of the yacht, before going for a dip.

Alvarez, who is arguably the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, also worked on his diving.

When the couple, who married in May 2021, were done aboard the big boat, they threw on clothes (a Dolce & Gabbana shirt in Canelo's case) and grabbed a bite to eat outside a local cafe.

Wyndham Clark wasted no time celebrating his U.S. Open victory on Sunday ... TMZ Sports has learned he hit up an L.A. hot spot just hours after securing the big win -- and while he was there, he chugged booze right out of his new trophy!!

The scene at Delilah was awesome ... the 29-year-old got up on a platform in between some tables at the West Hollywood lounge -- and after one of the guys he was with threw some alcohol in his new prize, Clark went to town!!

You can see in video we obtained, he slurped down the drink ... before he fired up the small crowd that had gathered near him with a series of fist pumps.

Eventually, Clark went back to his trophy for more booze too!!

Witnesses tell us ... everyone inside the joint was going crazy for the golfing star -- who kept the bash going into the wee hours of Monday morning.

Of course, Clark had every right to party his face off ... he fended off Rickie Fowler, Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler to take home his first-ever major at the tough Los Angeles Country Club course.

LeBron James and Draymond Green were spotted enjoying the fruits of their labor in Europe over the weekend ... and the timing is pretty interesting, considering the Warriors star is slated to test the market in free agency in a matter of days.

The NBA stars both rocked bucket hats and sunglasses as they shared a meal and chatted with restaurateur Samy Sass in a pic posted to Instagram ... which also showed Draymond holding a cigar in his hand.

The duo of 4-time NBA champions have been friends off the court for years and there is a ton of mutual respect between the two ... so it's not necessarily earth-shattering to see them hanging out.

But the timing is something of note, as many believe Green and James -- who share agent Rich Paul -- could end up on the Lakers together next season.

Green -- who will hit free agency after declining his $27.5 million player option to stay with the Dubs -- has had nothing but high praise for the King over the years ... going as far as to say he's the greatest player of all time over Michael Jordan.

Maybe it was just two friends chilling during the offseason ... or perhaps it was much more.

Detroit Tigers star Spencer Torkelson absolutely lost it on an umpire after a strike call on Monday night ... going on an f-bomb-laced rant -- and the first baseman's whole temper tantrum was picked up on a hot mic!!!

The PG-13 scene played out in the bottom of the seventh inning of the Tigers' tilt with the Royals at Comerica Park ... when Torkelson was up to bat with two runners on.

Down by just a run, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft was looking to help his team take a late lead ... but, instead, the game's homeplate ump rang him up on a borderline pitch.

Torkelson clearly hated the call -- and he immediately laid into the guy.

"Oh my f***ing God!" the 23-year-old screamed. "The f*** are you looking at?!?"

Somehow, Torkelson was able to make it back to his dugout without being ejected from the game.

It all ended up well for Torkelson despite the blowup -- the Tigers' next batter, Kerry Carpenter, hit a three-run home run that ultimately gave Detroit the win.

Bam Margera's son Phoenix is inspiring him to detox and sober up following a psych hold ... and his estranged wife is allowing him to talk to their kid again.

Nikki Margera's attorney, David Glass, tells TMZ ... she's given the green light for Bam and Phoenix to start communicating, and they're talking over FaceTime while Bam's in rehab.

We're told Bam's FaceTime sessions with Phoenix are being modulated by one of Bam's therapists ... and, so far, things are going well.

Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ ... Bam is still in treatment at one of Lamar Odom's rehab facilities, and Nikki is not talking to him on the FaceTime calls.

There's been a lot of bad blood between Bam and Nikki ever since she filed for legal separation, including a series of angry texts Bam recently sent her, so it's not a surprise she's staying off the calls.

Our sources say Bam usually dominates the FaceTime convos with 5-year-old Phoenix, with Dad typically going on for about 5 minutes.

Andrew Tate is officially facing charges of human trafficking, rape and more in Romania ... this coming 6 months after the kickboxer-turned-social media influencer's arrest overseas.

According to Romanian prosecutors, Tate, his brother Tristan, and 2 local women were all indicted Tuesday. The Tate brothers, in particular, are also facing charges for allegedly setting up a criminal gang.

The brothers' legal team sounded optimistic in the wake of the indictment, telling local outlet Antena 3 ... they'll "embrace the opportunity to fight in court."

As we reported, Andrew and Tristan were arrested back in December -- they tried, but failed, to appeal a couple of 30-day extensions that kept them locked up until they finally got released from a Romanian jail in March.

They both were placed under house arrest after their release ... and Andrew's been busy on social media retweeting support from followers since Tuesday's indictment.

Donald Trump is floating a strange theory for why he didn’t return classified documents to the U.S. government … and it has everything to do with his golf attire.

Trump sat down with Fox News anchor Bret Baier for a wide-ranging interview Monday night ... and the 45th Prez gave an odd response when the questioning turned to why he held on to sensitive materials that belong to the National Archives in D.C.

DT said he was "very busy" and needed time to sort through the boxes because his personal effects were mixed in with the top secret documents, adding ... "These boxes were interspersed with all sorts of things: golf shirts, pants, shoes."

Baier followed up with ... "Iran war plans?" Trump responded, "Not that I know."

Baier was referring to an audio recording of Trump allegedly saying he wanted to share Iranian war plans with others -- something DT fervently denied, even though it's part of his federal case. Trump also shot down the notion he boasted about having classified docs to guests at his Bedminster, NJ estate ... an allegation also included in the indictment.

Of course, Trump also suggested the feds might have planted some of the classified docs when they raided Mar-a-Lago in August 2022.

Trump told Baier ... "All of a sudden we got raided…what I’m concerned about [is] they took everything. Right? I don’t know what they took."

He continued ... "They could be stuffing it. I don’t know what they put in there. They have never treated a president like this."

As we reported, Trump was arraigned last week in a Miami courthouse on a 37-count indictment charging him with, among other things, willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and withholding a document or record.

Prosecutors claim Trump squirreled away stacks of boxes containing classified docs in his Palm Beach resort, including on a ballroom stage and next to a bathroom toilet.

NFL star Maxx Crosby just got a permanent reminder to chase greatness daily ... getting pictures of Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, and Kobe Bryant tattooed all over his torso!!

The Las Vegas Raiders pass rusher got the work done last week ... hitting up Andres Ortega at Onder Ink for the massive piece, and check out the images of the artwork -- it came out awesome.

Just above his right hip, Crosby got a shot of Jordan in the middle of a free-throw stroke. To the left of that, the football player had an iconic snap of Ali put down. And, just above his left hip, Crosby also got a photo of Kobe mid-celebration inked too.

Ortega tells the reasoning for the trio of tats was simple ... Crosby wanted to make sure he always keeps his focus on his journey to being one of the best ever -- hence why he also got the words "Be Legendary" put near his rib cage as well.

The homages to the sports icons, though, were far from the only tats he got ... Ortega also put a sweet tribute to Crosby's baby daughter on his chest, before rounding out the nod to the newborn with diamonds and a rose.

In total, Ortega says it took about 11 hours to complete.

1,500 entrepreneurs in Florida got quite the stylin' and profilin' surprise from WWE legend Ric Flair ... who shocked the audience, crashing longtime friend Magic Johnson's keynote speech to the packed crowd!

63-year-old Johnson spoke about building a billion-dollar empire and the importance of charity at the RiseCon conference in Tampa Friday morning ... but his speech was interrupted by a familiar voice and famous phrase.

"There's only one man at the top," 74-year-old Flair yelled when he hit the stage, as many in the crowd gave their best "woooooo!"

The WWE Hall of Famer continued ... "The limousine ridin', kiss stealin', wheelin' dealin', son of a gun that's having a hard time holding these crocodiles down, woo!"

Ric continued, taking a shot at the 5x NBA champs rival, Larry Legend.

"By the way, I hated Larry Bird. You beat him in college. You kicked his ass in the pros. You're the man! You're the man!"

The surprise was arranged by RiseCon CEO Vick Tipnes through agent Darren Prince, who reps both men.

Of course, outside of his incredible accomplishments on the basketball court, Magic is one of the most successful retired athletes turned business tycoons.

Aside from Johnson, the 3-day event, designed to "maximize every area of your life," featured other stars like David Goggins, who may be the toughest man on the face of the Earth, 4x Mr. Olympia winner Jay Cutler, and author, trainer, and motivational speaker Tim Grover, who trained Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, also spoke.

Bellator star Cris Lencioni is currently "in his biggest fight yet" after suffering cardiac arrest earlier this month ... with a family member revealing he is currently receiving treatment in the ICU.

The featherweight's relative shared the tragic news on Monday ... saying the health-related incident happened while he was training on June 8.

"As you can imagine this was completely unexpected considering he is only 28 and in peak physical condition," Angela Hibbard said on a GoFundMe page set up for Lencioni.

"We believe in the goodness of God, and we don’t know anyone with more will, strength, and determination than Cris. Cris has already overcome so much in his life, and we have faith in his ability to overcome any obstacle."

Hubbard added Lencioni is known throughout the MMA community for his positive personality and willingness to help others ... and now she is asking for financial support for his family as he deals with his medical situation.

Lencioni's wife, Marca, also provided more information ... saying those present at the time of the incident acted quickly, called 911 and catered to his needs as they waited for paramedics to arrive.

Chael Sonnen, who trains with Lencioni, tweeted about his friend on Monday ... saying, "This is a young man who prepared his whole life for a fight and it appears he just found one."

Another record for Wilt Chamberlain ... the "Big Dipper's" uniform from his '59-'60 rookie season, worn in virtually every home game, sold at auction for an astounding $1.79 MILLION!!

The #13 "PHILA" jersey and shorts combo were on the block at SCP Auctions ... where after 16 massive bids, the threads sold Saturday night for 7 figures.

With a nearly $1.8 million sale price (the minimum bid was $200k), SCP says the jersey easily set the record for vintage hoops memorabilia.

As we previously reported, the 4x NBA MVP rocked the uni for virtually all, if not all, regular season and playoff home games, including a series with Bill Russell's Boston Celtics in the Eastern Division Finals (Philly lost in 6 games).

The uniform was photo matched by three of the leading authenticators in the sports memorabilia business, all confirming Wilt wore the shorts and jersey numerous times starting in '59.

7'1" Wilt's rookie season is probably the most impressive in the history of American sports. He averaged almost 38 points and 27 rebounds per game, on the way to setting eight rookie records.

Aside from (obviously) winning Rookie of the Year, Chamberlain was also named league MVP.

Chamberlain went on to play for 14 seasons in the NBA, averaging over 30 points and nearly 23 rebounds a game. Wilt was a 13x All-Star, 11 rebounding champ, and 7x scoring champ. He famously scored 100 points in a game in 1962, a record. Many basketball fans believe Wilt was the most unstoppable force in basketball history.

The identity of the buyer is not known at this time.