TMZ Sports - Page 50

Logan Paul has exactly ZERO chance of beating Floyd Mayweather when they clash on June 6, so says Max Kellerman ... but he still thinks the event could be GREAT for boxing.

Kellerman is one of the top experts in the world when it comes to the sweet science -- he's like a walking encyclopedia. And, while some people are crapping on the fight as a mockery to the sport, Max says there's a silver lining.

"It's a good introduction for a lot of people to combat sports," the ESPN star explains ... saying it reminds him of when the UFC burst onto the scene.

"A lot of boxing industry [people] felt threatened by UFC back in the day. I always felt, not only did I like the UFC, but that boxing should also welcome it, not feel threatened by it because they were exposing a new generation of fans to combat sports."

"So, you say, 'Hey, you like combat sports? Come over here and check us out' and Logan Paul is doing the same thing with Floyd Mayweather now."

As for his fight prediction -- "No, Logan Paul doesn't have a chance to beat Floyd Mayweather in a boxing ring but he's gonna try. Good for him."

The King is BACK!!!

LeBron James is slated to make his highly-anticipated return to the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday ... after missing more than a month due to injury.

Bron -- who suffered a high ankle sprain against the Atlanta Hawks on March 20 -- is expected to play in the Lake Show's matchup against the Sacramento Kings as long as warmups go according to plan, Shams Charania reports.

The injury was tough on James -- he was having an MVP-caliber season with 25 points and nearly 8 rebounds and 8 assists before going down with the injury.

LeBron's absence during the 2021 season marks the longest of his career.

The Lakers have certainly missed his presence ... going 8-12 and falling to 5th in the Western Conference during his time away from the court.

Of course, Anthony Davis also missed several games this season with a calf strain and Achilles tendinosis ... so the Purple & Gold have got to be excited to have the gang back together.

Did Julian Edelman think about joining Tom Brady with the Bucs before retirement???

Tom's at least joking about it ... saying Thursday, "We know Julian didn't retire. Let's be honest. He's just too scared to tell Bill [Belichick] he wanted to come to Tampa!"

Brady was laughing the entire time he said it -- so it's tough to say if that's actually what went down ... but Thursday's interaction between the two pals and other celebs was hilarious nonetheless!!

The former Patriots teammates joined up with Kevin Hart, Michael Strahan, Mark Wahlberg, Deion Sanders and Kay Adams for a roundtable Zoom call during the NFL draft -- and their entire interaction together was pretty damn funny.

Everyone was ribbin' each other ... but it was Brady's joke that raised eyebrows.

You can see in the clip, after Brady made the comment ... others on the call kind of lost their minds!!

Of course, 34-year-old Edelman said just a few weeks ago Tom and Tampa had NOTHING to do with his retirement ... explaining his injuries just wouldn't allow him to play football any longer.

But, when Hart asked Edelman if he was SERIOUSLY done with football -- Julian didn't exactly give a convincing "no" ... with the receiver winking several times while saying, "I am done."

Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar -- one of the greatest second basemen of all time -- has been banned from Major League Baseball ... after an investigation into sexual misconduct claims from 2014.

Commissioner Robert Manfred announced the move on Friday ... saying 53-year-old Alomar has been terminated from his gig as a league consultant and placed on the "Ineligible List."

The ban, Manfred says, comes after MLB hired a law firm to investigate claims of sexual misconduct made by a "baseball industry employee," who came forward earlier this year about the alleged incident that happened in 2014.

After the investigation, it was determined Alomar violated MLB's policies ... resulting in severe punishment.

"We are grateful for the courage of the individual who came forward," Manfred said Friday. "MLB will continue to strive to create environments in which people feel comfortable speaking up without fear of recrimination, retaliation, or exclusion."

The Toronto Blue Jays followed suit by severing ties with Alomar, who was serving as a special assistant to the team ... and going one step further by scrubbing him from the team's "Level of Excellence."

Of course, Alomar was a star in the '90s -- he made 12 All-Star teams, won 10 Gold Gloves and won 2 World Series championships ... and was inducted into Cooperstown in 2011.

The Jays are also taking down Alomar's banner at the stadium, which honored his retired number #12 with the organization.

Alomar addressed the punishment minutes ago ... saying, "I am disappointed, surprised, and upset with today's news."

"With the current social climate, I understand why Major League Baseball has taken the position they have."

Disgusting moment during a video game sesh for T-Pain this month ... a group of players hurled the n-word and other racist insults at the singer -- and it was all captured on video that's hard to watch.

It went down when the 35-year-old hopped on a Call Of Duty Twitch stream ... when, before a match started, a group of racist scumbags verbally attacked.

In the footage, you can hear players repeatedly call T-Pain the n-word ... and, at one point, some of the players even said to the singer, "F*** Black Lives Matter."

T-Pain was clearly bothered by it all ... he let out a sigh and said, "Jesus Christ."

"I mean, I don't know at this point," he added. "Randoms."

T-Pain shook it all off, though, and stayed in the game ... and tried to make some light of a horrible situation.

The "Bartender" singer -- who's a HUGE video game nut -- ended up dominating the match, helping his team win 200-152, and then he rubbed some salt in his racist opponents' wounds.

"Ladies and gentlemen, looks like the n******s win," T-Pain said after letting out a long dance. "Stupid idiots!"

He later added, "Looks like the n*****s took it home. F***ed up. Stupid idiots. F***ing a**holes."

We've reached out to reps for Call of Duty for comment, but so far, no word back yet.

Do better, people.

Before Najee Harris’ life changed with his big NFL moment Thursday night, the rookie revisited a homeless shelter he and his family lived in years ago ... and hosted a draft party!!

But, the 23-year-old star running back out of Alabama wasn’t just there to say hello -- Harris decided to give back in a big way by providing food for all the current residents!!

Harris transformed the Greater Richmond Interfaith Program (GRIP) homeless shelter in Richmond, CA into an awesome party scene ... decking the place out in football decor and bringing positive vibes to all in attendance.

The Pittsburgh Steelers draftee explained his decision to return to his roots on a monumental day ... telling reporters, "There was a time I needed a helping hand. They gave us an opportunity to get back on our feet. So it is my job to give back."

FYI -- GRIP housed Najee, his sister and his parents for years while the future 24th pick was in middle school.

Eventually, the family would move to Antioch, Calif., where Harris burst onto the high school football scene ... catching the national spotlight and keen eye of Nick Saban. Harris committed to the Crimson Tide in 2015, and the rest is history.

Harris caught up with reporter Kylen Mills outside of GRIP before the draft, and he told her just how special the return meant for him and his family.

"It was really emotional for my mom. Almost as if she was crying, in a way, because we have a lot of memories here. That was a time in my life when it was really low."

The pick is in ... and the Jacksonville Jaguars have officially taken Clemson superstar QB Trevor Lawrence first overall in the 2021 NFL Draft!!

The selection should surprise literally no one -- the 21-year-old has been at the top of the draft boards ever since he declared for the draft in January.

Lawrence -- who decided to spend his big moment with his fam in South Carolina -- was visibly pleased to hear his name called Thursday night ... hugging his new wife, Marissa Mowry as Roger Goodell announced the pick.

Lawrence was as good as it gets for the Tigers -- winning a national title as a true freshman in 2018.

He also led Clemson to the championship game in 2020, but fell to Joe Burrow and the LSU Tigers ... marking his first collegiate loss. In fact, dating back to his high school football days, Lawrence has yet to lose a regular-season game.

Lawrence finished his college career with an insane 34-2 record -- the most wins in school history.

Unfortunately, that winning streak is most likely coming to an end during his rookie season -- the Jags were pretty bad in 2020 with a 1-15 record.

But, now, JAX has college football coaching legend Urban Meyer on board ... and he's teaming up with the Heisman finalist to change the culture within the organization.

Now that the first domino has fallen, the next question is -- where the heck are the rest of the QBs in the draft going??

Danica Patrick has found new love after ending things with Aaron Rodgers ... the former racecar driver says she has a new BF -- and she couldn't be happier with him!!

The 39-year-old -- who split with Rodgers last summer after the two had dated for two years -- confirmed to ExtraTV this week she's in a new relationship with Carter Comstock.

And, in an interview where Danica gushed over her new man, she revealed Comstock is already fulfilling one of her "grand visions" for a relationship.

"We both love to travel and we're both super open-minded," Patrick said. "And, like, I had this sort of grand vision for finding someone that I could just sit on the couch with and, like, have a glass of wine and literally come up with any topic at all, simple or complicated, and just go, 'Let's talk about a tree.'"

"And, just go for two hours on like the nature of a tree. I just always imagined how great it would be to like find someone that you just sit on the couch and talk to for hours and that's just what we do."

It's unclear how and when Patrick and Comstock -- who's reportedly a cofounder of the meal prep service company, Freshly -- first linked up ... but she did post a photo of the two on a beach vacay earlier this month, saying, "Beach workouts are fun for one, but better with you."

As for her ex-flame... Rodgers got engaged to actress Shailene Woodley shortly after the Patrick breakup, and has said he's very happy now too.

NFL rookie Jamin Davis had TWO dreams come true this week -- not only did the Kentucky star get drafted to the Washington Football Team ... but his childhood idol, Jimmie Johnson, invited him to a NASCAR race!!

The awesome moment went down on Twitter early Friday morning ... when the 7-time NASCAR Cup champ noticed one of Davis' fun tidbits from Thursday's draft broadcast.

The slide read, "Wanted to race in NASCAR as a child, hoping to meet Jimmie Johnson one day."

And, guess what, Davis -- your wish is about to come true ... 'cause JJ responded by personally inviting the linebacker to a race in the future!!

"I want to wish you the best of luck chasing your dream @jamindavis25 and let’s get you to a race ASAP," Johnson tweeted.

So cool!!!

It doesn't get much better for the 22-year-old, whose name was called with the 19th overall pick Thursday night.

Davis has yet to respond to the racing legend's offer ... but we're sure he'll hit him back with a resounding "HELL YES" soon.

Like it or not, it seems Aaron Rodgers will HAVE to play for the Packers this season ... 'cause the team's GM said Thursday night Green Bay has zero plans to trade the QB.

Brian Gutekunst, who took over GM duties for the Pack back in 2018, acknowledged there is a bit of a rift with their star signal-caller at the moment ... though he insisted the issues won't be resolved with a trade.

"We're not going to trade Aaron Rodgers," Gutekunst said after the 2021 NFL Draft's first round wrapped up.

"The value that he adds to our football is really immeasurable, you know what I mean?" Gutekunst added. "He brings so much to the table not only as a player but as a leader."

Of course, Rodgers has reportedly reached his breaking point with the team ... with multiple reports saying Thursday Aaron wants out BADLY.

Rodgers has been upset with his contract ... and he's made it clear he hasn't loved some of the team's personnel moves -- including when the Packers drafted a quarterback (Jordan Love) in the 2020 NFL Draft's 1st round instead of a wideout.

But, Gutekunst seemed confident both sides will work things out for the 2021 season ... telling reporters, "I do think he'll play for us again."

"We're going to work towards that and we've been working towards that on a number of different fronts."

In fact, the Packers have already rebuked trade offers from at least one team ... 49ers GM John Lynch told reporters Thursday he inquired about the QB before the draft -- but added, "It wasn't happening."

Kobe Bryant’s earliest known, game-worn L.A. Lakers jersey -- rocked by the Mamba during his '96 rookie season -- is about to hit the auction block ... and we’re told it could rake in over $500k!!

Bidding for the awesome piece of sports memorabilia opens Monday at Goldin Auctions ... and Ken Goldin tells TMZ Sports the ultra-special threads have a chance to break the record for most expensive regular season NBA jersey of all-time.

FYI, the current record belongs to Michael Jordan's Washington Wizards jersey from his last ever NBA game in 2003 ... which a collector dropped $570k on.

As for the KB jersey ... it's pretty special.

An 18-year-old Kobe -- fresh off being selected with the 13th overall pick in the NBA draft -- donned the gold Lakers jersey during his 23rd NBA game ever ... when Bryant and Shaq's squad took on the Minnesota Timberwolves on December 8, 1996 at The Forum.

Kobe wasn't (yet) a starter, but played 22 minutes ... and dropped 11 points, 3 assists and 3 rebounds in the Lakers' 110-86 victory.

And, get this, Goldin Auctions officials say Bryant didn't only wear the jersey once ... they say it's been expertly photo matched to at least 4 games during his rookie campaign -- AND his rookie photo shoot before the season started.

If half a milli's a little too high a price to pay, Goldin says they have over 360 other pieces of Kobe memorabilia -- including a rare, mint-graded '97-'98 Metal Universe Precious Metal Gems Kobe card -- that they expect to go for over $300k.

Police officers were perplexed to find Stefon Diggs' Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon abandoned by Miami train tracks this month, with one cop even noting, "That's at least a $160,000 car!"

It's all captured on new police video obtained by TMZ Sports ... which shows Miami-Dade Police Dept. officers in the seconds after they were dispatched on April 18 to look at an abandoned vehicle near the Miami airport.

In the footage, you can see officers and other authorities discussing the ride ... and wondering out loud what it was doing there and how it got there.

They noted it had tire damage, they saw it was locked, and they made it clear nobody was in it or around it.

Eventually, one cop told another on the scene, "Nobody's inside the car, man. But, that's at least a $160,000 car!"

The officers then tried to piece together how the vehicle could have ended up abandoned there ... with one cop saying, "He was just coming southbound and then he lost a piece of his tire and came all the way down."

An official on the scene then joked, "Unless a helicopter dropped him there."

Ultimately, cops ran a search on the car and found out it was Diggs' ... and you can see in the clip, the cop recognized the name right away.

"He's a wide receiver," the officer said. "He's a wide receiver for the Bills, boo."

In an incident report, officers noted the car was "stuck in gravel, off the driving road" and had "scratches - dents" on it. They also noted they towed it shortly after discovering it.

It does NOT seem cops are investigating the incident further ... the report lists the case as "closed."

A rep for Diggs tells us there was NO wrongdoing involved in the incident ... saying the car was NOT stolen and adding that Diggs wasn't even in town at the time of its abandonment.

The rep tells us Diggs had lent the ride to a friend, who left it abandoned after it had gotten a flat tire.

"[Stefon] was not driving the car," Diggs' rep says. "He allowed a friend to use the car while he was gone. Unfortunately, the friend had got a flat tire with the car."

Joe Rogan's walking back his COVID-19 comments suggesting young, healthy people don't need to get vaccinated, and he wants to make it clear he's not a doctor, not an anti-vaxxer ... but he IS a "f***ing moron."

The immensely popular podcast host and UFC commentator addressed the backlash he got this week on Thursday's episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience," saying ... "I am not an anti-vaxx person. In fact, I said I believe they are safe and I encourage many people to take them."

Rogan explained that he felt if you're a young healthy person, you don't need it -- something widely refuted by experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci -- but Joe now concedes what he said was misguided amid the pandemic.

Joe says ... "Their argument was you need it for other people. That makes more sense, but that's a different argument. That's a different conversation." He later repeated it makes sense to consider other people's health and safety.

He went on to blame media "clickbait" for blowing the whole thing out of proportion, but added ... "I'm not a doctor. I am a f***ing moron. And, I'm a cage-fighting commentator who's a dirty standup comedian ... I'm not a respected source of information even for me."

The NFL draft festivities have made a return to normalcy ... which means one thing -- EXPENSIVE SUITS ARE BACK, BABY!!!

Twelve of college football's best players have arrived in Cleveland for the big night ... and so far, most of the dudes are looking dapper as hell!

Check out this incredible look -- Michigan pass-rusher Kwity Paye paid tribute to the late, great Chadwick Boseman with a "Black Panther" inspired fit.

Heisman Trophy winner DeVonta Smith crushed it in a bowtie and a pin with his initials on it!

Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons CRUSHED it in a navy blue suit with a black turtle neck ... while Florida tight end Kyle Pitts killed it in a green suit and bow tie.

LSU's Ja'Marr Chase and Alabama's Jaylen Waddle opted for the no-tie fit.

Northwestern cornerback Greg Newsome II added a powerful message to his look for Thursday night ... rocking a black suit with red lettering tha read "Black Lives Matter."

Two of the top quarterbacks in the selection show, meanwhile, went with more muted looks ... both Alabama signal-caller Mac Jones and BYU QB Zach Wilson had little to no flash at all.

Of course, it's all a welcome site regardless ... 'cause just 12 months ago, there was NO in-person draft due to the COVID pandemic.

The 2020 show was held entirely virtually ... and most prospects opted for casual loungewear.

Green Bay Packers tight end Marcedes Lewis REALLY hopes Aaron Rodgers sticks around ... admitting he'll be heartbroken to lose his QB.

Lewis and Rodgers have become close friends since Marcedes joined the Pack back in 2018 ... and knows how special of a player he is.

So, when he saw the reports Thursday about Aaron wanting out of Green Bay -- Lewis admitted he's sad about the whole situation ... but ultimately respects whatever decision Rodgers makes.

"I hope it's something that can get worked out," Lewis told us in L.A. on Thursday ... "He IS Green Bay and we need him to do what we want to do next year."

Lewis says whatever is happening behind the scenes is "between him and the front office and I'm just hoping they can figure it out and A-Rodge returns so we can handle business."

Marcedes gives Rodgers -- the league's reigning MVP -- a TON of credit for leading the team to the NFC championship game the past 2 seasons ... but admits he wants a RING and knows Aaron gives him the best chance to win it.