TMZ Sports - Page 11

No shirts were necessary for Novak Djokovic following his Cincinnati Open win on Sunday ... 'cause the tennis star ripped the tee right off his chest in celebration of his big victory!!!

Just seconds after the 36-year-old won a grueling, 3-hour-and-49-minute match over Carlos Alcaraz in Ohio ... he ditched his top to commemorate the occasion.

At first, Djokovic dropped to the ground in disbelief over his thrilling win ... and then, after sharing an embrace with Alcaraz, he decided to tear the polo straight off his body.

Djokovic ripped the piece from his neck down -- revealing a shredded bod -- and everyone in attendance loved it.

Of course, the celly was much deserved ... Djokovic needed every ounce of his talent to beat Alcaraz in a final that featured 90-degree heat and multiple lengthy rallies.

Afterward, Djokovic told media members the evening was "one of the exciting matches I've ever played in any tournament."

"It felt like a Grand Slam," he said.

Djokovic became the oldest man to ever win the event ... locking up a victory over Alcaraz for the first time since the 20-year-old beat him at Wimbledon last month.

"You never give up, do you?" Djokovic told Alcaraz after the match. "I love that about you."

He went on to say he hopes to compete against the young star at the U.S. Open later this month.

Giannis Antetokounmpo has already made a ton of money in the NBA, but he's looking to rake in even more in retirement ... telling TMZ Sports he wants to take his talents to Saudi Arabia.

It's becoming quite the trend in sports ... with soccer and golf stars getting massive checks made out to them to play in the Middle Eastern country -- like Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo and all the LIV Golf guys.

Giannis has cracked jokes in the past after seeing the offers being thrown at the biggest names in sports ... so when we caught up with him in L.A. this week, we asked if he was really down to suit up in Saudi Arabia after his NBA days.

"Of course," the 28-year-old said with a smile on his face.

"If the NBA worked out, maybe like a trade between the NBA and Saudi Arabia League, I'm there!" the champ said ... although it's unclear if he meant suiting up for a hoops team, or alongside his buddy Neymar on the soccer pitch.

Giannis isn't the only NBA superstar who likes the idea -- after French soccer star Kylian Mbappe was offered $776 million to play for Al-Hilal, LeBron James tweeted he was also heading to Saudi Arabia.

While it may all be in good fun, many see a serious issue with players going to Saudi Arabia for a big payday ... considering the country's history of human rights violations.

It's not often you see fans cheering on the same team get in a nasty brawl -- but that's exactly what happened in San Francisco -- with haymakers flying ... and even a knockout!!!

Unclear what led to the massive melee Saturday night at Levis Stadium as the 49ers hosted the Denver Broncos in a preseason matchup, but it got messy fast. You can see lots of pushing, shouting and confusion before blows are exchanged.

At one point, a guy in a Jerry Rice jersey starts absolutely unleashing some fists on a dude in a white t-shirt, connecting several times with his face.

One of the blows appears to knock the dude out, sending him into a chair. After things calm down, the same guy -- wobbly on his feet -- gets up with blood on his mouth and shirt.

Event staff leads the battered dude up and out of the section, while he struggles to take on the stairs.

All seems to be back to normal in the James' household -- as Lebron, Bronny and Bryce all hit Dodgers Stadium to honor LeBron -- about a month after Bronny's scary health emergency.

It was LeBron bobble-head night Saturday in L.A. and fans packed the stadium to get their hands on one of the free souvenirs. Even more special -- LeBron was there in person to show his gratitude while also accepting a $100k check for his LeBron James Family Foundation.

Of course, it was even more special to see Bronny with Dad considering it was less than 2 months ago when he collapsed at a USC basketball practice.

TMZ broke the story -- Bronny was rushed to Cedars Sinai Hospital after he went into cardiac arrest. At the time, the family told us, "Yesterday while practicing Bronny James suffered a cardiac arrest. Medical staff was able to treat Bronny and take him to the hospital. He is now in stable condition and no longer in ICU."

We've seen Bronny out and about since the incident, but the guys seemed totally carefree while taking in Friday night's game.

We also got video of LeBron and Bronny in Minnesota a couple weeks back visiting the Mayo Clinic -- one of the top medical heart facilities in the world -- safe to say the family's been doing all they can to get to the cause of the scary issue.

UFC star Sean O'Malley delivered the goods in spectacular fashion Saturday night in Boston, knocking out Aljamain Sterling and snagging the Bantamweight title, and dude has all the makings of the next Conor McGregor.

After a slow first round, Sean delivered a crushing blow to Sterling's noggin, and then pummeled him until the ref called it a night.

Sean, sporting Pepto Bismol-colored hair, was humble after the win, telling reporters, "Honestly, this is the most nervous I've ever been for a fight. In my eyes, Aljamain Sterling is the greatest bantamweight of all time," adding, "I always say it only takes one mistake with me. I don't even know if that's a mistake. I'm just that f---ing good!"

It's been smooth sailing for the Dodgers on the field in the second half of the MLB season, but off the field, two of the team's biggest stars have had a much tougher time, having to deal with some scary break-ins at their homes.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ Sports ... at least two burglars got into Max Muncy's L.A.-area residence last week. And, about a month prior, Freddie Freeman's place was hit too.

In the Muncy case, authorities tell us the infielder was with his family on the way home from a game at Dodger Stadium earlier this month when his alarm company alerted him that thieves had broken into his place. We're told they were seen on video ransacking the unit -- but they took off before cops arrived.

It's unclear what was taken.

Back in July, law enforcement sources tell us a similar incident happened at Freeman's L.A.-area pad ... though it's not yet known if the two burglaries were related.

We're told cops are investigating both matters -- and are actively trying to see if the burglars were targeting athletes, or if they were simply just random break-ins.

Mark Jackson ain't sure what's next for him following his abrupt exit from his role as ESPN's top NBA color analyst ... but one thing he does know is he has no hard feelings toward the man who's replacing him -- Doc Rivers.

We caught up with the former Golden State Warriors head coach out in Beverly Hills on Friday ... and despite being let go from ESPN just a couple weeks ago, he was in great spirits.

While he said he doesn't know if his next career move will include coaching or broadcasting ... he told us he's confident it'll be a good one for him regardless.

"It's going to work out," he said. "Figuring it out now. But the next move will be my best move."

"Excited about what God has for me," he added.

As for Rivers, who will replace Jackson on ESPN's top broadcast team alongside Mike Breen and Doris Burke, Jackson says he hopes for all kinds of success for the guy.

In fact, he said he's actually spoken with Rivers recently ... and there's no beef whatsoever.

If you expect Mark Zuckerberg to fight a professional fighter and get slaughtered, you may be in for a rude awakening ... ONE Championship star Mikey Musumeci has trained with the Meta boss on several occasions, and says Zuck would 100% win a fight.

"I was pretty shocked. [Mark's] a grinder. He has that grind in him. The second I saw that I said, 'Okay, he can be very good at MMA or jiu-jitsu' because first of all, he has the highest IQ, but he's also tough as f***!" Mikey told TMZ Sports.

It's high praise coming from Musumeci ... a 5x IBJJF world champion and current ONE Championship flyweight grappling champ. He's quite literally the best in the world!

Mikey and Mark are friends who not only train together ... but also talk when they aren't working out.

We doubled down ... asking Musumeci if he really believed Zuck could "hang with a professional fighter?"

"100%. 100%, and I think he could win."

Of course, we asked Mikey the question because all signs point to Zuckerberg, now that the Elon Musk fight is seemingly done, fighting against an actual pro fighter in a top MMA promotion.

"Not holding my breath for Elon, but I'll share details on my next fight when I'm ready," Mark said on Threads.

"When I compete, I want to do it in a way that puts a spotlight on the elite athletes at the top of the game. You do that by working with professional orgs like the UFC or ONE to pull this off well and create a great card."

There's more ... we also talked to ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong -- who is also friends with Mark -- about the billionaire's foray into MMA.

If the NBA wants to keep renaming awards after former players, Lou Williams would be thrilled to get picked for the Sixth Man trophy ... telling TMZ Sports it would be a "huge honor" if that happened.

The Association made a couple changes to its most prestigious awards last season ... officially naming the MVP award in honor of Michael Jordan, and giving Hakeem Olajuwon the same treatment for Defensive Player of the Year.

With that being said, Hawks star Trae Young believes the Sixth Man of the Year Award -- which goes to the best-performing player off the bench -- should be named after Lou Will, who thrived in that role and earned the trophy three times during his 17-year career.

When we talked to the 6th man himself at LAX this week, he made it clear he wouldn't decline ... but also gave a few suggestions of his own.

"That would be an honor," the 36-year-old said.

"If not me, Jamal [Crawford]. If not Jamal, Manu [Ginóbili]. I think we're three guys that champion that. We made it a lifestyle."

"I think we've changed the way people view it," Williams added. "We changed the way the players view it, most importantly."

Williams believes all three of them should be Hall of Famers as well (Ginóbili was inducted in 2022) ... saying they all "championed" and played an important role on their respective teams.

"I think the Hall of Fame is what you bring to the table and being the best at what you do in the realm of basketball. I think we all did that."

Jimmy Graham's NFL comeback has hit a roadblock -- the New Orleans Saints tight end was arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance Friday night ... after cops say they saw him wandering in traffic.

TMZ Sports has learned ... law enforcement responded to a call for a suspicious person acting erratically near a Southern California resort.

At the scene, cops claim they witnessed Graham walking in the streets ... and they attempted to arrest him, but he resisted.

The 36-year-old was eventually taken into custody for suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance and resisting, delaying and obstructing a police officer -- both misdemeanors.

Graham has since been released. The incident is currently under investigation.

FYI -- the Saints are in town in preparation for their preseason matchup against the Chargers on Sunday ... and spent part of their training camp in joint practice with their upcoming opponent earlier this week.

In fact, Graham commented on a video of him chatting with his former quarterback, Drew Brees, during Friday's practice at Jack Hammett Sports Complex in Costa Mesa.

Graham has played for the Saints, Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears over the course of his 12-year career ... and is slated to return this season after sitting out the 2022 campaign.

He signed a one-year deal to return to New Orleans in July.

Graham has 713 career catches, 8,506 receiving yards and 85 touchdowns. He is a five-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro.

We're reached out to the Saints and the NFL ... so far, no word back.

The Drake concert was far from a drag, but NBA superstar Kevin Durant was spotted taking one at the rapper's big show on Wednesday ... blowing smoke in the air right from his VIP seats.

TMZ Sports has obtained video of the Phoenix Suns hooper vibin' out at the 6 God's "It's All A Blur" tour stop at KIA Forum ... and he appeared to be locked in on the performance.

Now, it's unclear which of God's Plants K.D. was enjoying ... but we have our guess, considering the two-time champion was at the forefront of getting cannabis removed from the NBA's banned substances list.

In fact, Durant even admitted commissioner Adam Silver could smell weed on him when they met on the matter ... claiming he didn't have to do much persuading, as they were both on the same page.

The bantamweights are anchoring UFC 292 Saturday night -- with Aljamain Sterling and rival "Suga" Sean O'Malley fighting -- and the greatest 135er of all-time is breaking down the matchup!

"You're looking at pure dominance in grappling as a specialist or a knockout artist in Sean O'Malley, so that's a fun fight," UFC legend Dominick Cruz told Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weekdays on FS1).

"There's no way that this can't be fun!"

To make the fight even better, outside of the guy's incredible talents, there's also been a lot of trash talk.

"Especially because of the talking on the line. All the things O'Malley is saying, 'You're not gonna be able to hold me down. I'm gonna knock you down first,'" Dom explained.

"Well, now he has to prove that, we've all heard it. And Sterling has to prove he can get in there and not get knocked out. I mean they've all talked so much, that's what builds this thing. That's what makes this fun, and gets me excited about it."

Of course, 34-year-old Sterling is the champion, and 28-year-old O'Malley is the #2 contender, behind Merab Dvalishvili. Aljo and Suga have been talking trash to each other for years.

Sterling is in the midst of a 9-fight win streak and has beaten the likes of Henry Cejudo, Petr Yan, TJ Dillashaw and Cory Sandhagen. Some of the best fighters in the world.

Sean has only lost once in his career -- to Marlon "Chito" Vera in 2020 -- and last defeated Yan.

We also asked Dom about his future. He's injured, but not retired ... not at all. In fact, Cruz is still the 9th-ranked bantamweight and is eyeing another run at the belt once he gets healthy.

Oz Pearlman stunned Aaron Rodgers and the NY Jets on this week's episode of "Hard Knocks" ... but his mind-blowing performance didn't stop there, 'cause the mentalist hopped on TMZ Sports to prove his skills still work from thousands of miles away!

"Oz the Mentalist" joined Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weekdays on FS1) and told him to think of an NFL player ... someone underrated who could have a big season (it's no fun if it's Patrick Mahomes).

FYI, there are 32 NFL teams ... and each active roster contains 53 players. That's nearly 1,700 guys.

Pearlman asked Babcock to write down the player's name ... which he did.

That's when Oz stunned us.

"I think the exciting moment is who gets the ball in the end zone. It's not who threw it to you," Oz said ...  "I think I got that. Not a tight end, wide receiver. The Giants, Darius Slayton is who you wrote down, isn't it!"

Sure enough ... Babcock -- who had never spoken to Oz prior to doing the interview -- had written "Darius Slayton"

We also talked to Pearlman about his trip to Florham Park, NJ ... where he performed for the 4x NFL MVP and the rest of Gang Green.

Drake debuting a new look -- while kicking it with Kevin Durant -- has the creator of FUBU thinking hard about his brand's place in hip hop history, as more and more young rappers discover it.

He was on the sidelines in L.A. this week to take in NBA open runs, while randomly rocking a shirt with the FUBU logo ... proudly repping one of the most dominant fashion houses ever within the culture.

Founder Daymond John tells TMZ Hip Hop ... seeing Drizzy in the FUBU tee certainly surprised him, but he says it's a testament to the foundation he and his partners carved out nearly 30 years ago.

For the record, the pink barrettes aren't FUBU ... but we guess they work with Drake's 'do, nonetheless.

Daymond also credited Megan Thee Stallion, SZA and Chris Brown for also keeping FUBU's name strong in the streets -- on the 50th anniversary of hip hop, at that!!!

Shareef O'Neal just dropped some great news ... telling TMZ Sports Bronny James is doing well following his health scare -- and all signs seem to indicate the medical emergency won't affect his basketball career "at all."

Shaq's son -- who famously battled his own heart problems in 2018 -- provided the positive update while out at LAX on Friday ... saying he's been in contact with his good pal and LeBron James' kid since the 18-year-old returned from the hospital after suffering cardiac arrest.

"He's good," O'Neal said.

As for the recovery process and how he anticipates all of it impacting Bronny's future goals on the hardwood ... Shareef said he believes the young James should be just fine moving forward.

"I don't think it'll affect anything," he said.

Of course, Shareef knows a thing or two about it all ... after he had open-heart surgery five years ago -- he went on to make a full recovery and returned to the court without issue.

It's still not yet known publicly what exactly caused Bronny's ailment or if it's even remotely similar to O'Neal's ... but we learned earlier this month he hit up doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. to try to pinpoint the exact problem.

Wrestling star Cash Wheeler -- one-half of the AEW World Tag Team Champions -- was arrested on Friday and charged with a felony, TMZ Sports has confirmed.

According to online records, the 36-year-old was booked into an Orange County, Fla. jail at around midnight ... on a charge of aggravated assault with a firearm.

Further details of the allegations against Wheeler were not made immediately available ... though court records indicate the arrest stemmed from a July incident.

Wheeler joined the AEW in 2020 after a notable WWE career ... and has since become a fan favorite in the org. -- wrestling alongside his tag team partner, Dax Harwood.

The two won the tag team title together in April ... and had been slated to co-main event at AEW: All In London at Wembley Stadium in two weeks.

It's unclear if Friday's arrest will alter those plans ... the AEW said in a statement that it "has been made aware of the charge, and we are closely monitoring the situation."

The org. added Wheeler "is fully cooperating with local authorities."