TMZ Sports - Page 50

Vanessa Bryant has settled a lawsuit filed by her mother, TMZ Sports has learned.

Sofia Laine had claimed she worked as a nanny for Vanessa and Kobe for nearly 20 years and said she was owed $200,000 ... computed at a rate of $96 an hour.

She also claimed Kobe promised to take care of her for the rest of her life. She says after Kobe died, Vanessa kicked her out of the home Kobe had allegedly bought for her.

Vanessa called the lawsuit "frivolous, disgraceful and unimaginably hurtful." She went on ... "My husband never promised my mother anything, and he would be so disappointed in her behavior and lack of empathy."

As for getting money for working as a nanny, Vanessa said, "I have supported her for nearly 20 years, and was never my or Kobe's personal assistant, nor was she a nanny."

Vanessa went on ... "In reality, she only occasionally babysat my older girls when they were toddlers," adding, "As of ten years ago, our kids were full-time students and athletes and I didn't have another child until 2016."

Khabib is breaking his silence on Conor McGregor's ugly comments about the undefeated fighter's deceased father ... saying "The Notorious" flat-out has a bad heart.

Nurmagomedov joined "Hotboxin' with Mike Tyson" (and Henry Cejudo) ... when the topic turned to McGregor's now-deleted Tweet about Khabib's late dad, Abdulmanap.

"When [Conor] talked about this, only evil can talk about your father, wife, kids, religion. If you’re normal human, you’re never going to talk about this stuff," Khabib told the combat legends.

"For me, I think he post this tweet while drunk too much or something. Then the next day, he always delete these tweets. When he become normal life he says, ‘Oh, look what I did.’ Then he delete. This is my opinion what he do all the time."

In case you missed it (Conor deleted the message not long after posting), McGregor tweeted ... “Covid is good and father is evil?”

That was presumably in response to Khabib tweeting "Good always defeats evil" after Dustin Poirier beat McGregor in their trilogy fight last month.

Nurmagomedov had more to say about Conor, digging into his past mistakes ... including when he socked a man in a Dublin bar for turning down a drink of his Proper 12 whiskey.

“When someone is not with us, he is not even alive, this shows you what you have inside, this shows, like, how dirty you are. When you are one of the best in the world, and you come and you punch someone like 70 years old, like an old man, this shows your heart."

Bottom line, Khabib says he doesn't understand why someone close to McGregor doesn't speak up ... and tell him he's out of line.

"When you have parents and you have kids, how can you show yourself like this? I don’t understand why [Conor's] close people don’t tell him, ‘Hey, what’s going on?’”

The Juventus FC Women's Twitter decided to send out a picture of a player wearing a cone on her head and making a wildly racist gesture on Thursday ... and now, the team is apologizing.

The Italian club's social media team kept the post live on their Twitter account for roughly 25 minutes before it got taken down ... but it received more than 7,500 negative replies before it was deleted.

The team released a statement on the disgusting tweet shortly after ... saying, "We sincerely apologise that our tweet, which was not meant to cause controversy or have any racial undertones, may have offended anyone."

"Juventus has always been against racism and discrimination. #DifferencesMakeTheDifference."

No word on why the team -- which was founded in 2017 -- decided to post a super racist pic out of the blue on a random Thursday ... but the screenshots will certainly last forever.

It's not the first time the club has been at the center of controversy -- back in 2019, men's player Moise Kean was on the receiving end of racist abuse from fans.

LeBron James is back on the movie scene -- this time, it's behind the camera ... producing a new flick about Native American basketball!!

SpringHill Company -- LBJ and Maverick Carter's production business -- will be teaming up with director Sydney Freeland to make the sports drama for Netflix called 'Rez Ball.'

The movie is about the Chuska Warriors -- a Native American high school basketball team in New Mexico that has to step it up to win a championship after losing their star players, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

FYI, Rez Ball is actually short for Reservation Basketball ... which is a different form of hoops that is played by Native Americans in Arizona, New Mexico and other states.

No word on the casting but the filming will take place in NM and is scheduled to be released in 2022 or early 2023.

Freeland -- who is known for her 2014 film, "Drunktown's Finest" -- is stoked to work on this project ... saying, "basketball on the Rez is like high school football in West Texas."

"What we want to do is bring people into our world, to tell a story about the people and places we know, and what better way to do that than through a sports movie?"

"We are so excited with the team we’ve assembled and can’t wait to bring this to the screen.”

James just finished acting and co-producing 'Space Jam: A New Legacy' that blew up the box office, making $31.7 million opening weekend.

A boxing super-fight between Blueface and Tekashi 6ix9ine is NEVER gonna happen ... so says Blueface himself, who tells TMZ Sports the controversial rapper is simply too chicken to step in the ring with him.

Remember, the "Thotiana" MC showed he's got some hands after taking down TikToker Kane Trujillo -- and a spectator who invaded the ring -- at BKFC 19 last month.

When we ran into Blueface at The Highlight Room this week, we had to ask if his rival Tekashi could be his next big opponent ... and the guy shut that idea down FAST.

"He ain’t gonna take that, bro." Blueface tells us. "He wouldn’t take that if his mom was on her deathbed and it was her last breath and she said, 'Tekashi just fight Blueface and they’ll give me a new heart.'"

"He still wouldn’t do it."

Of course, there's quite a bit of history between the two -- Blueface recently called Tekashi a "snitch" for allegedly getting his Instagram account deleted ... as a result of their back-and-forth over the LA native's tattoo shoutout to his favorite jeweler.

Long story short, Tekashi accused Blueface of owing NYC Luxury money due to the ink ... something the tattoo artist flat-out denied.

So, if 6ix9ine's out, who will it be?? We asked if Blueface would take a fight with Jake Paul ... and he doesn't shut it down, saying, "It doesn't matter who it is, bro."

Something tells us Tekashi's gonna get wind of this and want to respond.

Trevor Bauer says he has proof his accuser admitted in writing that at least one of their sexual encounters was "consensual."

The L.A. Dodgers star made the claims in a new court filing this week ... saying he and his reps have obtained text messages between his accuser and her cousin that show she admitted that at least one night of Bauer's rough sexual acts were consensual.

In the text message exchange ... which Bauer claims went down on May 16 -- the morning after the second of their two sexual encounters -- the Dodgers star says the woman was having a conversation with her cousin about having sex with the pitcher.

"How you doing there dude," Bauer claims the cousin asked.

"Dude. Not good," the woman allegedly responded.

When asked what happened, in the document Bauer says the woman showed her cousin a picture of her bruised and swollen face, adding, "He felt so bad. I literally had no idea it was gonna be that bad!? Like im ok but holy sh*t!?!?"

Bauer says the cousin responded, "Ok ok I thought he actually got violent. As long as it was consensual I don't have to kill him."

The woman, according to Bauer, said, "It was consensual but like didnt expect two black eyes!? Like he def took it too far dont you think lol."

In the docs, Bauer and his attorneys claim the messages help prove the MLB player did not sexually assault the woman.

The accuser's attorney, though, is calling B.S. on it all ... with Bryan Freedman saying in a statement to the L.A. Times, "Mr. Bauer’s defense team is deliberately twisting the tone of text messages exchanged with an assault victim within hours of her being attacked to try to minimize the long-lasting impact on her physical and mental well-being to this day.”

Freedman continued, "[She] did not consent to be punched in her face, punched in her head, punched in her buttocks or repeatedly punched in her vagina."

Police have said they are investigating Bauer -- who's currently on administrative leave from the Dodgers.

Further court hearings, meanwhile, to determine if a permanent restraining order against Bauer should be put in place are slated to continue later this month.

Huge news in the soccer world -- superstar Lionel Messi will NOT be returning to FC Barcelona ... the team announced Thursday.

The 34-year-old is now free to sign with the club of his choice ... and will undoubtedly come with a massive price tag.

The team released a statement ... saying both sides agreed to make a deal, but due to "financial and structural obstacles (Spanish Liga regulations)," there was no way to make it happen.

"As a result of this situation, Messi shall not be staying on at FC Barcelona. Both parties deeply regret that the wishes of the player and the club will ultimately not be fulfilled."

Messi is one of the greatest soccer players ever -- he's won the Ballon d'Or a record 6 times -- and has spent his entire pro career with Barcelona.

The club added ... "FC Barcelona wholeheartedly expresses its gratitude to the player for his contribution to the aggrandisement of the club and wishes him all the very best for the future in his personal and professional life."

Messi was #2 on Forbes' highest-paid athletes list this year ... and in 2020, became the second player to ever have $1 billion in career earnings, behind Cristiano Ronaldo.

Adrian Griffin -- Toronto Raptors assistant coach and ex-NBA player -- is firing back at his ex-wife, suing for libel after she accused the hoops coach of domestic violence on social media.

47-year-old Griffin filed a defamation suit in New York ... blasting ex, Audrey Sterling, as a bitter woman, hell-bent on destroying his life and career by any means necessary.

As we previously reported, Sterling accused Griffin of getting physical with her while she was pregnant, accusing Adrian of choking her, throwing her against the wall, and dragging her across the lawn. She also claimed he wasn't taking care of their kids.

But, the ex-Seton Hall star is adamant that's straight-up BS intended to keep Griffin from getting an NBA head coaching gig.

"These were all lies, completely fabricated to take advantage of the current online climate where a woman’s unsupported accusation would be inherently believed, no matter how false or far-fetched," Griffin's attorney wrote in the lawsuit.

"In today’s lost cancel culture, where angry mobs patrol the bowels of social media ready to pounce, an accusation, with or without evidence, is the equivalent of a conviction. Sterling knew her accusations to be false. She made them anyway, and persisted in making them, until her thirst for blood was quenched."

AG's lawyer went as far as to call the ploy a "Twitter jihad" where his client had a choice ... "either pay off his ex-wife to end her campaign of lies, or see his career destroyed."

FYI, Adrian and Audrey were married in 1996 ... and have 4 children together. They divorced in 2015.

Since they split, Griffin's attorney says "[Audrey] has harbored an extreme hatred towards [Adrian], in addition to an undying thirst to sabotage [his] career, ruin [his] life, in general, and make [his] miserable as often as possible."

Griffin is considered one of the best players in Seton Hall history ... and played 9 years in the NBA. He's been an assistant coach since 2008 ... working with teams like the Milwaukee Bucks, Chicago Bulls, OKC Thunder.

He joined the Toronto Raptors in 2018 ... and is still currently on the coaching staff.

The New England Patriots are helping 30,000 kids of military families prepare for the next school year ... with the team doing a huge giveaway with backpacks stuffed with supplies!!

Of course, coach Bill Belichick would be the first to admit preparation is a key element of winning ... so naturally, the team is making sure kids throughout the area will have all the tools to succeed in the classroom this fall.

Josh Kraft, the president of Kraft Family Philanthropies is pumped to give back to his community.

"With the support of our fans, 30,000 students will be well-equipped for the upcoming school year," he said.

The founder of the Massachusetts Military Support Fund, Don Cox, explained the importance to help children in the area ... especially those in military fams.

"Military children often face moving multiple times and changing schools or having a parent deploy. We are proud to partner with the Patriots, Revolution, Operation Homefront and Dollar Tree Stores to provide military children with the basic tools needed to participate in school."

"It is just one small way to show them they are supported by the community."

Donald Trump just unloaded on Megan Rapinoe and the USWNT ... calling them "leftist maniacs" who cost the United States a gold medal at the Olympics.

The former President went off Thursday morning ... stunningly claiming the women's team's kneeling protests and political comments were the reasons they didn't win gold in Tokyo this summer.

"If our soccer team, headed by a radical group of Leftist Maniacs, wasn’t woke, they would have won the Gold Medal instead of the Bronze," Trump said.

"Woke means you lose, everything that is woke goes bad, and our soccer team certainly has."

Trump's rant didn't stop there ... he went on to say the team's protestors should be kicked off the squad, and then criticized Rapinoe for her political statements and her play.

"They should replace the wokesters with Patriots and start winning again," he said.

"The woman with the purple hair played terribly and spends too much time thinking about Radical Left politics and not doing her job!"

As we previously reported, several members of the USWNT took knees prior to the kickoff of the Olympic games this summer ... a continuing effort by the squad to raise awareness for injustice across the globe.

Several members from other national squads also took part in the kneeling protests during the Games as well.

"Completely unacceptable for a USA team to look worse than the AAU kids I saw!!!"

That's legendary track star Carl Lewis going OFF on the U.S. men's relay team for the sloppy performance that disqualified them from the Tokyo Olympic finals ... holding nothing back after their not so good performance.

The 4x100-meter team had trouble with the baton exchange on Thursday ... with sprinter Ronnie Baker grabbing Fred Kerley's uniform the first time ... and on the second exchange, Baker missed.

The third was the charm -- Baker shoved the baton into Kerley's hands -- but Lewis was clearly not happy with their performance.

"The USA team did everything wrong in the men's relay," Lewis said.

"The passing system is wrong, athletes running the wrong legs, and it was clear that there was no leadership."

Team USA finished in 6th place and fell short of making the Finals, ruining their chances at a gold medal -- something the 4x100m relay team hasn't won since 2000.

Lewis -- who won 8 Olympic gold medals and 10 World Championships during his 16-year career -- set records in the 4x100m and many more ... so the guy knows his stuff.

"It was a total embarrassment, and completely unacceptable for a USA team to look worse than the AAU kids I saw."

"Jeopardy!" has finally settled on a new permanent host to take over for the late Alex Trebek ... and no, it's not Aaron Rodgers, it's not LeVar Burton, and it's not Anderson Cooper.

Executive producer Mike Richards is expected to take the reins of the famous game show that was hosted by Trebek for 36 years ... according to Variety. Richards is reportedly in advanced negotiations with Sony Pictures Television to become the host of "Jeopardy!" and launch a new era.

It's super interesting ... the entire season was all about big celebs vying for the dream job ... Mayim Bialik, Katie Couric, George Stephanopoulos and more. But, in the end, they went in-house. It's not like Mike Richards chose himself -- Sony bigwigs did that. But, well, interesting.

Fact is ... Richards guest-hosted the show in February and crushed it. He's hosted game shows before ... "Divided" and "The Pyramid" for Sony Pictures’ GSN cabler. He's also produced more than 4,000 hours of game shows.

Usually, the last thing you wanna see while stranded in the water is a shark ... but this time, it was a GOOD thing -- 'cause "Shark Tank" star Robert Herjavec saved the day by rescuing an ex-hockey player and his family during a boat trip on the lake!!

Here's the deal ... 41-year-old Tom Lawson -- who played 10 years in several different leagues -- was out with his wife and kids on Lake Joseph in Ontario, Canada ... when their boat ran out of gas.

To make matters worse, the sun was going down and Lawson's boat was not meant to be out at night ... so the whole family started flailing their arms and calling for help.

As it turns out, the businessman was out on his jet ski at the same time ... and noticed the family trying to get his attention.

"My first thought was they must love 'Shark Tank,' but then I realized they were out of gas and stranded," Herjavec told People.

The Shark says he immediately sprang into action and found a rope to tie to Lawson's boat ... and towed them back to land with his jet ski!!!

"Did my good deed for the day," Herjavec said on Instagram.

The group was extremely thankful for the rescue ... and even posed for a pic with their hero.

Dodgers fans clearly still despise Jose Altuve -- even after L.A. destroyed the Astros star Wednesday -- 'cause they broke out multiple in-game AND postgame "F*** Altuve" chants, and they were LOUD!!

The raucous scenes all went down at Dodger Stadium at the end of L.A.'s big 7-5 win over the Astros ... with broadcast mics picking up the jeers throughout the evening.

In fact, the chants were so sharp ... ex-Dodger Jerry Hairston -- who was working on the team's postgame show -- couldn't help but laugh at them all!!

Of course, Dodgers fans are still VERY bitter at Altuve and his Houston teammates ... after Los Angelinos feel they were cheated out of a World Series title in 2017.

You'll recall, the 'Stros were found to have used an elaborate, illegal sign-stealing scheme to help them win games in both the '17 and '18 seasons.

And, Dodgers fans haven't forgotten about any of it even four years removed from it all ... 'cause they trolled Houston HARD at every turn of their 2-game series this week.

Seems the Dodgers got the last laugh for now, too ... 'cause Altuve was horrible in Wednesday's loss, going 0-for-4 with four strikeouts.

How's Steph Curry celebrating yet another massive contract extension with the Warriors??

Apparently by jettisoning to L.A. with his wife, Ayesha, to enjoy a fancy meal!!!

We got the NBA superstar out at TAO in Hollywood Wednesday night just one day after he agreed to a new $215 MILLION extension with Golden State ... and dude certainly looked happy!!

The 33-year-old was swagged out in a tight, buttoned-up polo, some black pants, fresh white kicks and a purple hat. He was also carrying bags of delicious goodies from one of the best restaurants in L.A.!

Ayesha, meanwhile, looked great as always ... and it's clear the couple is thrilled to have Steph's immediate basketball future all set up perfectly.

Of course, Tuesday's contract extension marks the SECOND time in Steph's career that he's inked a $200-plus million deal with the Warriors ... so, yeah, he's got PLENTY of reasons to celebrate.

NBA offseason is set to last a few more months, too ... so we fully expect to see the Currys keep on living it up for a while.

"I’ve abandoned all hope, so you should too. [Khabib's] done. Believe me, I threw the kitchen sink at this kid, tried to get him to stick around and I think he’s done."

That's UFC president Dana White completely shutting the door on a Khabib return, telling TMZ Sports despite rumors swirling the undefeated fighter misses the sport, it simply ain't happening.

"I think he’s sliding into this coach’s role. You know, he went undefeated in his career and retired undefeated, and now he’s undefeated as a coach too. So, the guy has had nothing but success, he continues to be successful, and I think he’s moving on to that next chapter of his life."

But, Khabib's longtime coach, Javier Mendez, recently said his 29-0 fighter missed the competition.

But, last week Nurmagomedov straight-up told us an Octagon return ain't happening, saying ... "No. No. No. No. No."