TMZ Sports - Page 19

Byron Scott won't be shedding any tears over "Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty" getting shelved anytime soon ... 'cause the Lakers champ tells TMZ Sports he wasn't tuning into the series anyway.

We caught up with Byron just days after HBO announced the fate of the show based on the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers after just two seasons ... and asked him if he was bummed the storyline never got the chance to shine a light on his tenure with the purple and gold.

Safe to say he's not losing any sleep over it ... 'cause Scott told us straight up, "Nah, I'm good."

"I wasn't a big fan of the show because I know a lot of it was fabricated in certain ways just to make it more interesting for the fans which is cool, that's TV. That's Hollywood. That's what they do."

Scott -- who won 3 NBA championships with the Lakers -- said he, Magic Johnson and his former teammates don't even discuss the show ... and if it's ever brought up, it's their wives doing the talking.

Of course, it's no surprise the real Showtime Lakers are saying "good riddance" to the series -- Magic, James Worthy and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have all spoken out against it.

Byron -- who entered the picture (for real) in 1983 -- said he didn't feel as strongly about it as his teammates ... admitting he didn't care all that much.

USC head coach Lincoln Riley has lifted the controversial ban he placed on journalist Luca Evans this week ... after the two had a "long conversation" about the Trojans' beef with the beat writer.

Riley and his team initially suspended the Orange County Register reporter after they said he violated their media policies when he documented the pre-press-conference mannerisms of a Trojans player in a recent article.

The school said Evans shouldn't have written about the student-athlete's actions ... explaining they happened outside of the Trojans' allotted media availability period. Riley then suspended Evans for two weeks in response.

But, following days of backlash, Riley agreed to talk with Evans on Wednesday ... and on Thursday, he decided to remove the punishment.

"We had a very candid and productive conversation," Riley said. "We agreed that we both could have handled the situation differently. I appreciate Luca recognizing the policies we have in place to protect our student-athletes and acknowledging to adhere to those in the future."

"We welcome Luca back to practice and look forward to his continuing coverage of the Trojans."

Added Evans, "I respect and understand the program's outlined policies regarding media access, and any missteps came through the intent of doing my job and pursuing relationship-building and storytelling."

"I will continue the same reporting an writing with fairness, accuracy and depth, and we reached an agreement to lift the restriction on access."

Cam'ron is rewinding it back to 2002 when he starred in the Roc-A-Fella-produced film "Paid In Full" ... a cult classic still getting its props today thanks to Damian Lillard.

The (probably) soon-to-be ex-Blazer released his "Paid In Full" video Thursday from his new album "Don D.O.L.L.A." album featuring Cam reprising his old role.

Cam'ron played "Rico" in the popular gangsta flick ... which was a loose exposé on the life and times of Harlem drug dealers Rich Porter, Alpo Martinez and Azie "AZ" Faison.

Song costar Tobe Nwigwe also pops up in the clip, which he helped direct with Keoni Mars.

The Dallas Cowboys' blistering start to the season just hit its first major roadblock ... the team's best cornerback, Trevon Diggs, tore his ACL on Thursday -- almost certainly ending his 2023 season.

According to multiple reports, Diggs suffered the serious knee injury during 1-on-1 drills at Cowboys practice ... and was seen on crutches afterward.

Several minutes later ... he took an MRI, and the results reportedly revealed the torn ligament.

Diggs had been playing at an All-Pro level for the 'Boys in their first two games of the year ... recording an interception, a forced fumble and four tackles. He was a big reason the 2-0 team had allowed just 10 points through eight quarters.

The Cowboys have yet to publicly comment on Diggs' injury ... although quarterback Dak Prescott asked for prayers for the defensive back while he was undergoing testing on the knee.

"Hoping for the best," Dak told reporters. "Simple as that."

Kroy Biermann might have a light at the end of his massive debt tunnel, and it's all thanks to a male strip club willing to dish out some serious cash if Kroy's willing to get down 'n dirty.

Kings of Hustler in Sin City is giving Kroy the chance to make a sweet $150k to "perform a live strip tease" at its location. The club's manager, Brittany Rose, says she's certain he'll also "make a ton of money in tips."

There are conditions, of course -- Kroy will have to perform on stage for 15 minutes, strip down to his underwear, and give the crowd lap dances "at the request of big spenders."

He'll also have to take a ride on the club's "Golden Boner" -- a mechanical bull that's shaped to look like ... well, a golden boner.

Kings of Hustler says it sent Kroy's team the lucrative offer Wednesday ... though he hasn't yet accepted the offer.

As we reported, Kroy says he and Kim Zolciak are DEEP in the red amid their divorce -- he's already asked a judge to let them sell their Georgia home at haste ... the one that recently entered pre-foreclosure again.

Kroy filed new docs this week, begging the court to prevent Kim from slowing down his attempt to sell the property. Don't forget, Kroy said he had to sell his own personal belongings to try and make their mortgage payments, which he wasn't able to cover in July.

Travis Kelce just confirmed he has at least made contact with Taylor Swift amid rumors the two have been hanging out recently ... revealing he invited the pop superstar to an upcoming Chiefs game.

Pat McAfee got the tight end to open up about rumors he's been quietly seeing Swift the last few weeks on Thursday's episode of the "The Pat McAfee Show" ... and while Kelce didn't exactly address any details head on -- he did admit he's been talking to the "Cruel Summer" singer.

"It's hilarious how much traction this has actually got," the 33-year-old said. "I think it's, right now, it's like that old game in school called 'Telephone,' where everybody is just whispering in each other's ear, just hearing some random stuff."

Kelce said his brother, Jason, has been one of the main reasons the gossip has exploded recently ... and he playfully scolded the Eagles star for it.

"The guy is absolutely ridiculous," Kelce said of his older bro, who's commented a few times on the potential relationship since last Thursday. "He can't stay out of the frickin' headlines."

"Please," Travis added, "everybody stop asking my brother about my love life."

Kelce previously said he wanted to shoot his shot in the form of a friendship bracelet with his phone number on it when she performed at Arrowhead Stadium in July, but had no luck connecting with her.

It certainly sounds like it eventually worked ... 'cause Kelce said he has, in fact, been in communication with Swift.

"I threw the ball in her court and, you know, I told her, 'I've seen you rock the stage at Arrowhead,'" he told McAfee. "'You might have to come see me rock the stage at Arrowhead and see which one's a little more lit.'"

Minkah Fitzpatrick says he was not trying to end Nick Chubb's season when his goal line tackle resulted in a devastating injury ... defending himself and claiming the controversial hit wasn't a dirty play.

The three-time Pro Bowler broke his silence on the incident with reporters on Thursday ... clapping back at critics who say the result could have been prevented.

"You can tell me how to tackle him low, but it's a fast game," Fitzpatrick said. "It's a game where you make decisions in milliseconds."

"Can't really control what happens after you choose to make your decision. I already chose to go low. Somebody got on his back when I was going low, and what happened happened. There's nothing I really would do differently."

Chubb will be sidelined for the rest of the season ... and his football career remains up in the air as a long road to recovery awaits him.

Fitzpatrick said it's still unfortunate what happened and he hopes Chubb gets well soon.

"Nick Chubb's a great player," Fitzpatrick said. "He makes the game a lot better when he's playing."

"I’ve been doing horrible and I realize that now and I’m doing everything I can to change it."

That's "Mayhem" Miller getting real with his thousands of followers ... sharing he's been seriously struggling after years of bad behavior that often left him in handcuffs and behind bars.

But, the 42-year-old retired MMA fighter is vowing to change his life for the better.

"I went away for a couple of years to pay my debt to society, and when I got out, I realized that I have much more paying to do," Mayhem wrote on social media.

He continued ... "I thought I could smoothly transition from prison to the regular world, but things have been more difficult than I imagined, especially interpersonal relationships and the burden of being free."

Of course, Jason has been in an almost constant state of legal trouble over the years ... getting arrested for everything from fighting in bars to allegedly choking a fan in August 2023. He's been in and out of jail.

Mayhem isn't looking to go back, though ... and is now opening up about asking for help, something he wasn't willing to do in the past.

"Until recently I viewed asking for help as something for the weak, but a very special person has shown me that the actual opposite is true; asking for help shows strength. Strength of character and strength of mind."

Miller also offered a heartfelt apology to his family ... for what they've been through.

"My family has bore the brunt of my frustration and self destructive behavior, so to them I offer a sincere apology and if I have directly affected you in a negative manner, I am sorry."

Mayhem, who beat beasts like Tim Kennedy and Robbie Lawler during his fighting career, says he now plans to step away from social media and his everyday routine and work on himself.

"I’ve been doing horrible and I realize that now and I’m doing everything I can to change it. Thank you for your support, but I’m not reading comments. I’m going to work on me now for the good of my family."

Shannon Sharpe is a Hall of Famer, Super Bowl champion, and on TV every day, but the NFL legend is learning a lesson in Hollywood hierarchy ... 'cause his convo with cameras outside an L.A. hotspot got derailed by Selena Gomez.

The former Broncos tight end was choppin' it up with photogs after his dinner Monday night at Giorgio Baldi ... when out of nowhere, the singer and actress showed up behind him to make her way to her car.

The camera guy quickly shifted his focus to Selena ... asking Shannon to hold his thought on Team USA's performance at the FIBA World Cup so he could get his shot of the former Disney star.

After securing his footage of Selena, the photog made his way back to Shannon and apologized for the interruption .... but the ESPN host took it like a champ, saying, "Nah, bro. You good."

The two finished their chat about sports ... with Shannon praising Deion Sanders' successful season with the Colorado Buffaloes and how he handled the death threats surrounding Colorado State player Henry Blackburn.

The clip is the perfect example of the levels of Hollywood fame -- Shannon's massive in the sports world, but Selena is undoubtedly the bigger fish overall. No one's immune to it ... except for maybe Beyoncé, Taylor Swift or Barack Obama.

A golfer absolutely lost it during an altercation on the course this week ... ripping off his shirt and challenging at least one man to a fight on a tee box -- and the unreal scene was all caught on video.

It's unclear where and when exactly the dispute happened ... but it appeared it went down after a man in a green polo and khaki shorts nabbed someone else's ball.

You can hear in the video, several golfers seem to approach the guy and ask for the ball back ... but the man is clearly in no mood to return it.

"You'll leave after I don't give you a goddamn thing," the guy says.

He and the others trade words for a few more minutes ... until the man blows a gasket -- and challenges someone to a fight.

"I'll plant you, bitch boy," he says. "Now get the f*** off the cart!"

He then rips off his shirt, flexes ... and screams, "You see that! That's a dude that's been to heaven, bitch. And you want to test God? You f***ing come get it, s*** stack!"

After calling the man mentally ill, the group of golfers disperses ... and the video ends.

The best play in Wednesday's Braves game wasn't made by Ronald Acuna Jr. or Matt Olson ... no, a fan in the stands nabbed that honor when he impressively caught a home run ball -- while holding a baby!!

The wild scene played out in the second inning of Atlanta's tilt with Philadelphia at Truist Park ... when Phillies star Nick Castellanos smashed a ball 432 feet to dead center field.

As the ball cleared the wall, a Braves fan holding his child in one arm decided to make an attempt at pulling the souvenir in. And, as it turns out, the guy had some great hands ... 'cause he caught it -- without even remotely bothering his kid!!

Then, he showed off his arm too ... chucking the ball back onto the field in support of his hometown team.

The play was so impressive ... even the game's broadcasters had to highlight it while live on-air.

The afternoon at the park, though, didn't come with the happiest of endings for the Braves fan or his team ... the Phils won, 6-5.

Pippen and Jordan are teaming up to win it all again ... but it ain't MJ and Scottie -- it's Larsa and Marcus on a reality TV show.

Larsa Pippen and her boyfriend, Marcus Jordan, have signed on for season 2 of the Peacock series, "The Traitors" ... a competition where 20 contestants try to smoke out the backstabbers of the group in hopes of securing a $250,000 prize.

The couple is already on location in Scotland for filming ... and they're basically treating the business trip like a vacation as well, posting several selfies together on social media during their downtime.

The addition of Larcus to the competition will be interesting -- they're the first public couple to be on the show together, which could cause some problems with fellow contestants who may not like their established alliance.

The entire cast has not been announced yet, but it will consist of other famous faces in reality TV and other industries, according to People, who first broke the news.

"Survivor" star Cirie Fields won it all the first time around ... securing the quarter milli after outlasting names like Brandi Glanville, Rachel Reilly and Cody Calafiore.

Larsa and Marcus -- who started dating last year -- are used to having cameras in their faces ... as they've documented parts of their relationship for "Real Housewives of Miami."

James Harrison says it's the NFL's fault Nick Chubb is done for the season -- not Minkah Fitzpatrick's -- telling TMZ Sports he believes the league's rules forced the Steelers safety to go low on Monday night.

The former Pittsburgh superstar didn't mince words when talking about the hit that ended Chubb's season ... explaining he thinks Fitzpatrick had no other choice than to aim for the Browns tailback's knees on the controversial play.

"You've made it to where if a guy goes in there and comes in high and hits him in the head, now he's getting fined," Harrison said. "So what do you have to do? You've got guys shooting low now. That's just what you've done made the game into."

In fact, Harrison says if he were still playing today ... he fears he would have caused similar injuries in an effort to avoid penalties and fines from NFL officials.

"To be honest with you, there would probably be a whole lot more people getting hurt," he said. "Because I'm going to shoot at your legs."

Not all have agreed with Harrison ... former NFL wideout-turned-broadcaster Nate Burleson said on Tuesday he thought Fitzpatrick could have done a whole lot more to avoid hurting Chubb.

A poker player who lied about having terminal cancer in order to raise funds to get into the World Series of Poker Main Event is now apologizing for his fib ... saying this week, "What I did was wrong."

Rob Mercer -- a 37-year-old Vallejo, Calif. native -- came up with the tale back in June, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, in an effort to gather the $10,000 he needed to buy in to the world's most prestigious poker event in July in Las Vegas.

Mercer created a GoFundMe with the hopes of gathering the cash -- and it touched so many, it reportedly led to him earning between $30,000 and $50,000 ... allowing him entry into the tournament.

But, the Review-Journal reports several in the poker community became suspicious of Mercer over the way he had acted at the event. Mercer had reportedly provided vague responses to questions about his illness and failed to share concrete proof of his alleged terminal colon cancer diagnosis as well.

The outlet also reports several people saw him gambling in a casino, and when he was approached about the poor optics of that ... he was said to have been defensive.

Eventually, Mercer fessed up about everything, telling the Review-Journal on Tuesday, "I shouldn't have told people I have colon cancer. I did that just as a spur-of-the-moment thing when someone asked me what kind of cancer I had."

Mercer, however, said his story wasn't without at least some merit. He told the outlet he believes he does have undiagnosed breast cancer -- and he made up the colon cancer story because he was embarrassed to say he was dealing with a disease not as commonly found in men.

"I did lie about having colon cancer," said Mercer, who ended up getting eliminated from the Main Event early on. "I don't have colon cancer. I used that to cover my situation."

Mercer said due to his belief that he does have breast cancer, he has no intentions of returning the money he obtained through his GoFundMe.

As for his future on poker tables, Mercer told the Review-Journal he has quit playing due to "his deteriorating health." He told the news organization that he now spends around 18 hours a day in bed.

Tristan Thompson has been granted temporary guardianship over his little brother after he was left unable to care for himself following the sudden death of his mother.

A court hearing Wednesday determined the NBA player will now act as guardian to 17-year-old Amari. In the end, Tristan's petition for temporary guardianship was granted ... and a hearing on permanent guardianship was scheduled for November.

Tristan wasn't present in court during the hearing, but his attorney spoke on his behalf via Zoom.

TMZ broke the story ... Tristan filed for this a couple weeks ago, and the result today was expected. Nobody was contesting it, including Amari's father -- who Tristan says has been absent from his life.

Amari's dad, Trevor Douglas Thompson, did not receive notice of Wednesday's proceeding because his whereabouts are apparently unknown. Tristan's side claims Trevor has no involvement in Amari's life.

Now that Tristan has been given the green light to take responsibility for Amari, the issue of conservatorship is also on the table as he approaches 18. Amari cannot take care of himself, as he faces mental and physical disabilities, so Tristan is stepping in.

TMZ broke the story -- Tristan's mother, Andrea, died suddenly earlier this year -- which is why Tristan is making the moves to protect his brother. Amari has already been introduced to the KarJenners -- and Tristan will presumably continue to have their support through this.

The last thing that was touched on was money left behind in Andrea's probate estate -- which amounts to about $103k. It's not available for disbursement yet, but Tristan is going to oversee that cash for Amari as well.

Nina Agdal's restraining order against Dillon Danis is now in full effect ... after Logan Paul's boxing opponent failed to show up to a hearing on Tuesday.

A temporary restraining order was originally granted on September 7 ... forbidding Danis and anyone associated with him from posting any sexually explicit images of Agdal.

Danis was given nearly two weeks to file his opposition papers ... but after failing to do so, a New Jersey judge granted the restraining order on Wednesday, court docs obtained by TMZ Sports show.

The restraining order will remain active until further order from the judge. You'll recall, Agdal sued Danis over his incessant trolling posts about her on social media since his fight against Paul was announced last month.

The judge found Danis posting any explicit images of Agdal could result in her experiencing "irreparable emotional distress and reputational harm if Defendant continues to post such photographs on the internet."

The docs also lay out Agdal's repeated attempts to serve Danis the papers.

Video we obtained appears to show Danis telling the process server on Monday they had the wrong guy ... but his identifiable features look like a dead giveaway.