TMZ Sports - Page 50

Isaiah Thomas is hell-bent on continuing his career in the NBA ... telling TMZ Sports his No. 1 -- and only -- plan right now is getting back into the Association.

"My only option is the league," Thomas said while out at LAX this month. "For sure."

The former Boston Celtics star, though, said right now there hasn't been much movement on his quest to land on a team. But, he told us he is staying patient.

"Just waiting it out," said the 34-year-old, who last played for the Charlotte Hornets in the 2021-22 season. "Staying ready to be on an NBA roster."

Of course, there are other pro leagues outside the NBA that Thomas could thrive in -- including the EuroLeague, the Australian National Basketball League and the Chinese Basketball Association ... but the two-time All-Star made it clear he wants to see NBA hardwoods only.

We also talked to Thomas about his former teammate, LeBron James, recruiting players for the 2024 Olympics following the country's loss in this year's FIBA World Cup semifinals ... and he told us if LBJ gets the guys he wants, it should be an easy win for Team USA.

"If LeBron wanted to fight with me, it wouldn't be close!"

That's UFC fighter Bobby Green aka "King" saying he'd wash Bron in a purely hypothetical fight for the royal nickname.

See, TMZ Sports was talking to the 37-year-old lightweight before his Fight Night main event scrap against 29-year-old Grant Dawson, the 10th ranked 155 pounder.

Dawson's nickname is "KGD" ... said to stand for "King Grant Dawson"

When we asked Green if he had a message for Grant, he told us ... "There can only be one King. I just found out that Grant Dawson's fight name is KGD. There can only be one king. Let's go find out. The other one's gonna get his head cut off!"

Okay, okay. Obviously, the most famous "King" going right now this side of Charles is LeBron ... and given the age-old debate about skill vs. size, we asked BG if he could beat the 6'8" hoops legend.

"It wouldn't be close!" Bobby said.

We mentioned the size discrepancy ... Bobby's 5'10" and fights at 155 lbs. (we'll assume he walks around in the neighborhood of 185). James is 10 inches taller, and weighs 250 lbs., according to the Lakers website.

Irrelevant, according to Bobby.

"He's a big dude but he doesn't have the skills I'm sorry. Skills pay the bills, sir."

But, would Green actually fight King James?

"In a drop of a dime. In a heartbeat, without even thinking about it. Hell yeah. I'll wax his ass!"

Damian Lillard's trade to the Milwaukee Bucks is bittersweet for Giannis Antetokounmpo -- the Greek Freak finally opened up about the deal that sent his "brother" Jrue Holiday to the Trail Blazers ... saying he's both excited and crushed.

"Jrue is my f***ing brother for life," Antetokounmpo told Bleacher Report. "I love his family. I love him. I appreciate him. I wish him nothing but the best."

Giannis' reaction comes days after the Blazers-Bucks-Sun blockbuster trade, where the Bucks gave Portland their 2029 unprotected first-round pick and several players -- including Holiday -- for Lillard.

It's understandable why Antetokounmpo is sad -- he's been teammates with Holiday since 2020, and they won the NBA Finals a year later.

"He blessed me with a f***ing championship," Antetokounmpo said.

"He’s the one who made that huge steal in Game 5 of the Finals. I went to battle with him multiple times. F*** basketball. F*** the media s***."

On the flip side, Giannis said he's stoked to play with Lillard ... explaining the 7-time All-Star gives them a legit shot at another NBA title.

"I’m excited to play with the caliber of player that he is," Antetokounmpo said. "He can score the ball in his sleep and shoot the lights out."

Lillard -- who requested the trade out of Portland in July -- is hyped to play with Giannis and the Bucks as well ... but admits he will miss his teammates, fans, and Portland dearly.

"I do believe a day will come where I put a Blazers uniform on again," the 33-year-old said in a farewell letter on Thursday.

"Hopefully by then, I'll be forgiven for breaking your hearts along with my own."

A.J. Brown is annoyed at the NFL for making him take off his custom cleats during the Eagles' game on Monday night ... saying the league's policy regarding footwear "sucks."

The Philadelphia star didn't hold back when talking about his beef with the NFL's uniform rules with a gaggle of reporters at his locker on Friday ... saying he thinks it's BS that he couldn't wear his highlighter-green kicks during the Birds' "Monday Night Football" game against Tampa Bay.

Brown says he tried to wear the shoes so his daughter could see him more easily on TV ... but when officials told him they'd pull him from the game if he didn't remove the spikes -- he switched to black ones.

"You know," he said, "I'm trying to stay on the field."

Brown said because he complied with the rules, he avoided a $7,000 fine from the league ... but now, he wants players throughout the NFL to revolt against the policy so guys can wear whatever they want on gamedays going forward.

"I think all players should just wear whatever they want to wear," the wideout said. "They're not going to be able to fine everybody in the league. So I think we should start that movement as players."

9/30 -- 1:16 PM PT -- Jones' days as a Las Vegas Raider are over -- the team is set to release the defensive end as a result of his arrest, according to reports.

11:16 AM PT -- The Raiders just released a statement on the arrest ... saying the team is "hopeful Chandler Jones receives the care that he needs. He, his family, and all those involved are in our thoughts"

The NFL also addressed the Jones news ... adding, "We have been closely monitoring the matter and have been in constant communication with the Raiders."

Chandler Jones was arrested early Thursday morning in Las Vegas, TMZ Sports has learned ... just hours after the Raiders star broke down in tears on social media.

The 33-year-old All-Pro was booked into Clark County Detention Center in Nevada around midnight ... where Jones still remains behind bars.

The exact details surrounding the arrest are currently unclear, but our sources tell us Chandler violated a protective order, so cops responded and arrested him.

Our law enforcement sources tell us the Super Bowl champion was cooperative while being taken into custody.

Jones has been away from the Raiders since September 5 after an alleged dispute over access to the team's facility. He has not played in any of their three games this season. The team's 1-2.

Chandler's behavior has caused some concern of late ... earlier this week Jones claimed he was forced into a mental health hospital against his will, and pumped with medicine he didn't want to take.

On Thursday, CJ went live on social media and made serious (and unfounded) allegations about Josh McDaniels and Aaron Hernandez's death, causing Jones to break down crying.

Chandler's behavior has worried the football community ... but he's been adamant that he's okay, and even wants to resume his career with the Raiders.

Rick Ross and Meek Mill are solidifying their union as a dynamic duo with a joint album that'll be here right around the time you're handing out candy to costumed kids.

The Maybach Music rappers dropped their new track "Shaq & Kobe" on Friday, the first sounds from their upcoming project entitled, "Too Good to Be True. " A source close to the album's production tells TMZ Hip Hop it'll drop at the end of October.

On the lead track, Meek sets up the alley-oop to Rozay as they flex jewelry and cars inside an airplane hangar near the Boss' private jet -- the references to winning big like the Lakers legends make perfect sense here.

The album will drop on the MMG imprint and the duo's chemistry in the clip surprised many fans who thought they were beefing after Rozay was absent from Meek's last album.

Our source tells us contrary to public opinion, Rozay and Meek have always remained cool ... Meek's rants in the past year were directed at outside parties as the two never had a dispute over money.

They'll have the opportunity to make even more when the project drops.

The Swifties are crossing the line when it comes to being a passionate fanbase ... so says Travis Kelce's ex-girlfriend, who claims she's been getting death threats from Taylor Swift supporters after speaking out about her past relationship with the Chiefs superstar.

Maya Benberry -- who won the "Catching Kelce" reality show back in 2016 -- has been sharing her dating experience with the All-Pro tight end following Swift's appearance at the Chiefs game on Sunday ... accusing TK of infidelity during their time together.

Benberry's comments apparently set the Swifties off ... 'cause she alleges she has been the target of serious hate, according to Inside Edition.

"Swifties are aggressive," Benberry said. "Very negative, very hypocritical. It's really crazy to me that someone that I think is positive and really nice has such a negative and angry fanbase."

As for Swift, Benberry -- who referred to Kelce as a "narcissist" -- says she has no issue with the "Anti-Hero" singer ... insisting she doesn't care one bit if she ends up dating her ex -- but pointing out, "I had him first."

Benberry also addressed those close to Kelce claiming she's looking for her "15 minutes of fame" ... adamantly denying she's clout chasing.

"It's nothing about Taylor. It's more about, you led me to believe that we had a future. And now, five years later, you're laughing and I feel like you're mocking me."

"I'm not jealous or bitter about Taylor. She's beautiful, she's successful. We're in two different lanes. My issue is more with Travis in the sense of, now you're trying to turn me into, I don't know -- a bitter person, a liar, like I'm delusional, and I'm the furthest thing from that."

Michael Oher's conservatorship is officially over.

A Shelby County Probate Court judge just ordered that the conservatorship that's been in place since Oher was 18 will come to an end, TMZ Sports has confirmed.

The ruling breaks up a legal arrangement that the former NFL star put in place with Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy back when he was living with the couple before he went to college.

As we reported, Oher had requested its termination in August ... after essentially alleging the Touhys tricked him into getting into it. In a court filing, he said he initially believed the legal docs were a way for the Touhys to formally adopt him.

He claimed in his filing, however, that he later found out it allowed the Touhys to control contract negotiations on his behalf -- potentially screwing him out of a ton of cash ... especially in the deal that led to the creation of the blockbuster movie based on his life, "The Blind Side."

The Touhys, meanwhile, have called BS on Oher's allegations ... with their attorney, Marty Singer, saying in a statement that the conservatorship was simply "established to assist with Mr. Oher's needs, ranging from getting him health insurance and obtaining a driver's license to helping with college admissions."

The Touhys were adamant they'd have no objection to dissolving it.

The NBA has suspended former San Antonio Spurs guard Joshua Primo for four games ... after it says it found he exposed his private parts to multiple women.

The league announced the ban on Friday morning ... saying an investigation into the free agent revealed he had "engaged in inappropriate and offensive behavior."

NBA officials called his actions "conduct detrimental to the league." They did, however, note that they "did not find evidence that he engaged in any sexual or other misconduct apart from these brief exposures."

"Primo maintains that his conduct was not intentional," the league said.

Dr. Hillary Cauthen, Primo's former therapist, was the first to bring the allegations against Primo to light after she claimed last fall that he exposed himself to her on nine separate occasions.

Dr. Cauthen's attorney, Tony Buzbee, alleged the Spurs were aware of Primo's actions, but didn't take action.

Cauthen went on to file a lawsuit against Primo and the Spurs ... though Primo's attorney at the time was adamant that the allegations were "a complete fabrication, a gross embellishment or utter fantasy."

Colorado State DB Henry Blackburn is opening up about the death threats he received after his late hit on Travis Hunter ... saying his number one concern was the safety of his little sisters.

Blackburn discussed the threats during a sit-down with Hunter, himself ... after the star CB/WR invited his former foe for a sit-down chat (in one of the most awesome shows of sportsmanship and positivity by Trav) on his YouTube channel.

Henry opened up, saying, "All that stuff that went down after the game, like, I can take it. I'm not trippin' about me," before adding ... "It's just like I got two little sisters at the house still, in elementary school. That's what was mainly [what] I was worried about. Their safety and everything."

Thankfully, Blackburn says things have calmed down after Hunter -- who suffered a lacerated liver on the tackle -- came to the defense of the CSU safety, and Henry's grateful.

"You can't do that, like, sending death threats," Hunter said, "Even just like trying to bash a person. That's not what I'm about. I can't even do that."

"Y'all stop bashing people! It's not good for the community. If we was all nice to each other, the world would be 10 times better," Travis implored.

In fact, Hunter and Blackburn believe the tackle was a blessing in disguise as they were brought together to "show people the other side of football."

To prove their point, both of 'em went bowling ... and the guys even found a way to do good while having fun. Travis and Henry both agreed to put up $1,000 ... for a total of $2k, which would go to a charity picked by the person with the high score at the lanes.

Hunter ended up victorious but he let Blackburn pick the charity ... and he selected Realities For Children which aims to help abused, neglected, abandoned, or at-risk kids in Colorado.

A Green Bay Packers fan was so annoyed with Amon-Ra St. Brown following his touchdown on Thursday night, he dumped his beer all over the Lions star's head.

The incident happened in the first quarter of Detroit's "Thursday Night Football" game against Green Bay ... when St. Brown hauled in a 24-yard TD -- and then headed for some front-row seats to celebrate with Lions fans.

The 23-year-old did his version of the Lambeau Leap -- jumping over a wall behind the end zone into the waiting arms of several people decked out in blue and silver -- and while he initially was having a good time, a Green Bay fan decided to ruin the moment.

You can see in a replay of the celly, the Packers fan reached out with his drink and poured it on St. Brown's helmet. Just seconds later, the wide receiver hopped down and rejoined his team.

It's unclear if the fan was punished for the act ... or if St. Brown even noticed amid all the chaos in the stands. After the game, though, he did joke about the celebration to reporters, saying, "I lost my Lambeau Leap virginity."

In the past, cops have investigated similar incidents at NFL stadiums -- you'll recall, in 2018, the Foxborough Police Dept. launched a probe into a fan after he was seen throwing beer on Tyreek Hill following a touchdown at Gillette Stadium.

No word yet if the Green Bay Police Dept. is involved in Thursday night's incident ... we've reached out to cops for comment, but haven't heard back.

"I can't imagine after all the talk he's done on X, after all the s*** he said, what it's going to be like to be trapped in a ring with me -- he has made a grave error. And assuming he shows up, October 14 will be the worst night of his life."

Logan Paul is champing at the bit to get revenge on Dillon Danis when they officially face off in their boxing match next month ... telling TMZ Sports his opponent is going to regret making it personal.

Of course, the former Bellator fighter has been on a tear on social media leading up to the bout ... targeting Paul's model fiancee, Nina Agdal, to the point she had to file a restraining order and lawsuit against him.

We spoke with Paul about the pre-fight antics ... and while he said he knew D.D. would bring the trash talk, he pointed out it's a bit different when lawyers gotta get involved.

"He's a crybaby, legitimately," Paul said. "I'm not just saying this to be like a mean fight companion trying to rile him up. He's a coward. He's made this fight entirely about a woman -- he chose to pick a fight with a woman. She fought back. He's whining about it. He's upset. He's making excuses left, right and center."

Logan added he believes Danis never planned to actually go through with the fight ... and only agreed to it so he could get clout and attention.

"He's the king of the ducks, all bark, no bite."

Despite going after Agdal, Logan said he's not worried one bit about getting too angry before entering the ring with his nemesis ... saying there's nothing Danis could do to get under his skin.

Speaking of Agdal, Logan said she WILL be at the fight in Manchester ... as they've both been fighting their own wars against Danis in their own ways.

Strange time for a nap ... Alex Jones literally went to sleep while appearing as a guest on Craig Jones' (no relation!) show on Thursday after the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu champ sent the controversial host to La La Land with a super tight rear-naked choke! 😴

49-year-old Jones' was appearing on Craig's "El Segundo Podcast" when the IBJJF world champ got to live out the real-life fantasy of many of Alex's opponents, literally putting the Infowars host to sleep square in his chair on set.

It's unclear what led up to the submission (Alex was clearly down with it) ... and given Craig's one of the best in the world when it comes to strangling people (he coaches Alex Volkanovski and Israel Adesanya), it didn't take him long.

Craig posted video of the incident ... and had some fun with the caption, writing, "The CIA sent me but I couldn’t do my dad like that"

Again, no father-son relation here.

The clip starts with the choke already in deep. After about 8 seconds of pressure, Jones' eyes rolled back, and he was out cold.

Almost 10 seconds later, Alex finally wakes up ... but clearly had no idea what the hell just happened -- common among people who have been choked out.

"What? What'd I just do?" Alex asked, looking around.

Presumably, Craig will drop more videos with Alex when the pod episode debuts.

Even with a loss or a draw on Thursday evening, Lions defensive tackle Benito Jones is still leaving Lambeau Field a winner regardless ... 'cause he just earned the honor of best pregame 'fit by far!!!

The 25-year-old rolled up to the big "Thursday Night Football" matchup against the Packers in nothing but orange overalls, boots, and a cowboy hat.

The guy absolutely crushed the look ... and it was so great -- the Lions just had to make it the final picture of their pregame Instagram carousel.

"All I can say is...," the team wrote on its social media page, "swipe until the end 😂."

The rest of the Lions opted for more muted outfits ahead of their NFC North clash ... with star quarterback Jared Goff sportin' simply jeans and a flannel.

No matter which look you prefer -- ya gotta give Jones credit for putting it all out there.

Jonathan Owens is firing back at a fan who said his wife, Simone Biles, was a complete jerk while out on a recent shopping trip ... saying the accusations are all a lie.

The fan claimed the unpleasant run-in with the gymnastics star happened several months ago at a makeup store she had been working at.

In a series of tweets, the woman said Biles was "so f***ing rude" ... and, at one point during the shopping spree, denied her coworker a picture with her daughter while at check out.

She claimed Biles said at the time, "Absolutely not. Your daughter is 4 she doesn't even know me." She also said the 26-year-old complained to the store manager about being watched while she was perusing through items.

"For months after," the woman wrote in one of her tweets, "every time I'd see new about her and they would call her sweet I just recall how mean she was for no reason. When she left we all were like 'what the f*** just happened.'"

But, Owens -- the Green Bay Packers defensive back who married Biles earlier this year -- called cap on the story in his own series of posts on X on Thursday ... saying Biles is the "sweetest person in the world."

"Spreading lies on the internet is crazy," he said. "It's okay for her to deny a picture. People don't understand sometimes you just want to shop in peace, if she stops and takes one picture people will just keep following her and won’t leave us alone."

"And another thing," he continued, "I've never heard her talk to someone like that, especially to someone who asked her for a picture, like why would you try to make her look like that."

"I’m not going for that, I don't play bout my baby."

Folks who made a killing reselling tickets to some of the year's hottest concerts like Taylor Swift, Beyoncé -- or even big sporting events like Lionel Messi's Miami games -- are gonna have to pay up, courtesy of the IRS.

New rules for the 1099-K form say those who unloaded tickets on StubHub or Ticketmaster, selling more than $600 worth of tickets this year, are now required to put the earnings down as taxable income.

The 1099-K form focuses on payments received from credit and debit cards, gift cards, and third-party payment networks and online marketplaces -- which fits Ticketmaster and StubHub right in that lineup.

As you know, resellers were practically top dogs in the world of live events this year ... whether it be selling back to Swifties at the Eras Tour, or fans of Queen Bey wanting to go to her Renaissance Tour.

Even tickets for Messi's soccer games were getting resold for a steep markup.