TMZ Sports - Page 50

Yasiel Puig has settled his sexual battery case after cutting a check to his accuser, TMZ Sports has learned.

We broke the story, a woman -- ID'd as Jane Roe in court docs -- alleged the former L.A. Dodgers star forced her into a bathroom while at a Lakers game at Staples Center in 2018 and was sexually inappropriate with her.

The woman claimed she did not know Puig before the incident ... and eventually sued him in 2020 over it all, asking for more than $50,000.

At the time, Puig denied any wrongdoing ... saying in a statement, "The fact is that I had consensual sex with a woman I met at a Lakers game after she propositioned me."

He continued, "Afterward, we talked about going out together, but she said she did not want her fiancé to find out. We messaged each other afterward and planned to get together again, but we never did. She's now suing me based on completely made-up allegations."

The two battled it out in court over the last year ... but sources tell us the sides settled this week after Puig paid the accuser an undisclosed amount.

Court documents confirmed the settlement.

We've reached out to Puig's attorneys for comment, but so far, no word back yet.

As for the accuser, her attorney, Vince Finaldi, tells us the case "has been resolved to the satisfaction of all parties."

Puig, meanwhile, has been out of the MLB since 2019 ... when he last played for the Cleveland Indians.

Jake Paul's proving revenge really is a dish best served cold ... 'cause after almost 2 years, he's finally responding to Gigi Hadid, brutally clapping back over the drama surrounding Zayn Malik and her family.

"Your 'rEsPeCtFuL KiNg' punched your mom in the face," Paul Tweeted on Friday.

Let's explain.

Jake's beef with the model started back at the Wilder vs. Fury II fight in 2020, when the YouTuber claimed the singer told him to "f*** off" for no reason, saying he almost had to "clap up" Malik.

Gigi defended her man at the time, writing, "Lol cause he doesn’t care to hang w you and your embarrassing crew of YouTube groupies ..? Home alone with his best friends like a respectful king cause he has me, sweetie. Unbothered by your irrelevant ugly ass. Go to bed"

While the feud seemed long over, Paul reignited the beef after Zayn recently got in a blowout fight with Gigi's mom, Yolanda Hadid ... who claimed the father of her granddaughter pushed her into a dresser.

We broke the story ... Malik pled no contest to 4 charges he criminally harassed Yolanda and a security guard. He must take an anger management class and domestic violence program ... and he was also given 360 days of probation.

Zayn denies getting physical with Yolanda.

Jake obviously saw the situation as a perfect opportunity to troll the hell out of Malik and Hadid ... using her own words against her.

Logan Paul even weighed in, clowning his bro with a simple Tweet.

After a Halloween away from the office, TMZ is back together in person for another spooktacular day ... sharing costumes and some scary good times!!!

It's definitely been the year of Britney, and lots of costumes in the office reflected the singer's many eras ... from "Toxic" to "Slave 4 U." There was also some politics, billionaires and even Kim K at The Met Gala mixed in.

Jake Paul, Jeff Bezos, AOC, Run-D.M.C., Dog the Bounty Hunter, Kanye West, Morgan Wallen, Olivia Rodrigo and Bernie Sanders were all fair game ... and it wouldn't be Halloween 2021 without a 'Squid Game' costume.

Halloween falls on a weekend this year, so be sure to check the website for plenty more celeb looks, haunted parties and holiday treats.

Khloe Kardashian and her daughter True are battling COVID together, and both need some time to recover, which means canceled commitments for Khloe.

Khloe announced Friday, "Hi guys I wanted to let you know True and I tested positive for Covid ... Luckily I have been vaccinated so all will be ok. We will be over here in quarantine and following current guidelines."

It's the second time Khloe's had COVID, she revealed in October of last year she had recently recovered from the virus, but had a bad case ... with vomiting, shaking, headaches and hot and cold flashes.

Khloe was just one of several members from the family who have publicly said they've had COVID ... Kanye, Kim and their kids also tested positive in 2020.

Halloween falling on an NFL Sunday doesn't happen often ... so Robert Woods made sure to take advantage of the occasion -- by coppin' awesome "'Freddy Vs. Jason" movie cleats!

TMZ Sports has learned the L.A. Rams receiver wanted to make sure he was all set with some scary cleats for the spooky holiday ... so he hit up his go-to artist, Joe Castro, to get the spikes done for his game against the Texans.

The 29-year-old decided to go with the 2003 horror film, "Freddy Vs. Jason" ... and Castro delivered.

You can see the pieces came out awesome ... they feature Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger on the side of the Nike cleats ... with a splash of blood painted on them too.

Castro tells us it took 7 hours to create the hockey-masked slasher and the bladed-glove slayer pieces ... and there's a good chance you'll see Woods wearing 'em during pregame warmups Sunday.

Metta loves Meta.

Ex-NBA star Metta Sandiford-Artest is giving his stamp of approval on Facebook's new look ... saying it's an awesome change!!

Mark Zuckerberg just announced Thursday his company is switching to "Meta" ... as it plans to expand from social media to the "metaverse."

Of course, shortly after the change was made public, the NBA champ's name started to trend ... with jokes starting to pour in.

But, Metta finally shared his thoughts on the company's similar name ... tweeting, "Very happy that @Meta is doing this. Metta / Meta is an awesome name."

Metta adds he's excited to see what Zuck's company does moving forward.

"I was literally working, and my phone was ringing non stop. Lol. Congrats FB / #meta."

The company responded to the shoutout ... saying, "Best name ever, right? Can't wait to see you on court in the meTTaverse."

Miami Marlins pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. -- one of the best managers of arms in baseball -- had surgery this month to remove his prostate and lymph nodes after being diagnosed with cancer last February.

Thankfully, though, Stottlemyre says he's recovering well and is optimistic about his prognosis.

The 57-year-old revealed to the Miami Herald this week that after feeling rundown toward the end of 2020 ... doctors ran tests on him and discovered prostate cancer.

The pitching coach said he kept it all a secret during this past season ... explaining only team CEO Derek Jeter, general manager Kim Ng and coach Don Mattingly were the only ones who knew of his battle.

"I didn't want anyone to know," said Stottlemyre, who added even his team's aces weren't aware. "I didn’t want people feeling sorry for me."

Stottlemyre says doctors quickly identified that he needed surgery in order to remedy the situation ... and he had initially planned to have the operation done during the All-Star break in July.

But, Stottlemyre explained he ultimately waited 'til this month to go under the knife ... saying the cancer was slow-developing enough to hold off until after the season.

"We talked about the risk of waiting, and because it was a relatively slower-growing cancer, they inevitably decided it was OK to have it after the season," Stottlemyre said.

"I wanted to do it during the All-Star break, but I wanted to be there for my pitchers so I chose to do it after the season."

Stottlemyre says the operation was intense -- "my insides are obviously a mess" -- but he's exercising daily and is planning to return to Miami's coaching staff in 2022.

"I feel good," said Stottlemyre, who's been coaching for the Marlins since 2018. "I'm walking five miles a day and I'm going to stay in shape and I am going to return to Miami."

Dana White has entered the Jake Paul vs. Claressa Shields beef ... eviscerating the YouTube superstar for calling the boxer/MMA fighter a "loser" ... saying, "I hope he runs into her somewhere and she knocks him the f*** out."

Jake recently called out "T-Rex" after her first loss as a pro fighter with PFL earlier this week ... saying, "Claressa Shields is a loser. In MMA, and even more so with her prima donna attitude."

Dana -- who hates the Paul bros. with a burning passion -- got wind of Jake's comments ... and he didn't hold back.

"Jake Paul calls Claressa Shields a loser? Claressa Shields is nothing but a winner who actually fought real people in her weight class, in her own age, in her own sport and then goes over to MMA and tries to win a world title," he told MMA Fighting. "That's not a loser, that's a winner."

There's more -- "When are you gonna start fighting somebody your own f***ng age, your own weight, that actually fights in your own f***ing sport that you're claiming you're in? Shut the f*** up, you goofball. For you to call Claressa Shields a loser is f***ing unbelievable!!"

Dana also showered Shields with praise ... adding, "Nothing but respect for Claressa Shields."

"To be looked at as the best female boxer, right, and to come over here and start training and start to do this, not easy. Nothing but respect for her."

Famously tatted Team USA superstar Caeleb Dressel just got some new ink -- in the form of a MASSIVE leg piece that took 14 HOURS to complete!!

Remember, TMZ Sports spoke with the 7-time gold medalist fresh off dominating the 2020 Olympic games back in August ... and he hinted he was looking to add to his trademark body art.

Now, we know just what the 25-year-old was envisioning ... showing off a wild Western-themed piece complete with a skeleton cowboy, cacti, an eagle and flowers.

The tat is huge ... so naturally, it took more than half a day to finish.

"It was a long 14 hours but I had some great company with @travisbrucetattoos," Dressel said via Instagram on Thursday.

"Things got weird for sure but we had good music and good conversation, can’t ask for more than that. Thanks for bringing this idea to life."

We do have one question, though -- how is the bathroom break sitch??

Florida Panthers head coach Joel Quenneville has resigned from his position ... this after he admitted to bungling the handling of sexual abuse allegations during his time as the Chicago Blackhawks coach.

The NHL announced the move Thursday night ... explaining after Quenneville had a meeting with league commissioner Gary Bettman, both parties were in favor of the Panthers' bench boss stepping down.

"All parties agreed that it was no longer appropriate that he continue to serve as Florida's head coach," Bettman said in a statement.

"We thank the Panthers' organization for working with us to ensure that a thorough process was followed."

Quenneville was the coach of the Blackhawks back in 2010 ... when a player -- who later ID'ed himself as forward Kyle Beach -- claimed he was sexually assaulted by the team's video coach.

Beach said in a civil lawsuit filed in May 2021 that the coach, Brad Aldrich, told Beach he wouldn't play in the NHL if he turned down the coach's sexual advances -- so Beach claims he was forced into a sexual encounter with the man.

Aldrich has not denied having a relationship with Beach, though he's claimed the encounter was consensual.

Beach says despite bringing the issue up to Blackhawks brass ... he didn't feel enough was done to remedy the situation -- and after a lengthy investigation into the case, the NHL agreed.

Bettman hit the Blackhawks with a $2 million fine last week ... saying it was a "direct and necessary response to the failure of the Club to follow-up and address the 2010 incident in a timely and appropriate manner."

The NHL's probe, meanwhile, also revealed Quenneville did have knowledge of Beach's claims at the time ... which was damning for the coach, who had previously denied knowing about the allegations until 2021.

As a result, Quenneville stepped down from his role -- and Bettman says the two will have to have another meeting if he ever wants to get back into the league.

"I want to express my sorrow for the pain this young man, Kyle Beach, has suffered. My former team, the Blackhawks, failed Kyle and I own my share of that," Quenneville said in a statement. "I want to reflect on how all of this happened and take the time to educate myself on ensuring hockey spaces are safe for everyone."

Billiards star Jeanette "The Black Widow" Lee has come through her cancer treatments "like a champion," according to her agent, and now, her prognosis going forward has improved.

The 50-year-old pool legend was diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer back in the winter ... and her friends at the time feared she only had months left to live.

But, Tom George -- who's been Lee's agent for years -- tells TMZ Sports Lee handled her treatments so well ... doctors have now told her she could live several more years.

George says Lee's cancer treatments were extremely difficult ... they required 6 rounds of chemotherapy and a major surgery.

But, he says she was able to get through it all "remarkably well" ... adding that Lee is "in the upper five percent of the people that go through that regimen."

In fact, George tells us Lee was able to participate in a billiards tournament since wrapping up her chemotherapy -- competing in South Carolina earlier this month.

And, get this ... George said she did well, managing to cash out!

George says there are still challenges -- Lee does still have cancer in her system and still battles pain, fatigue and other issues daily.

Klay Thompson won’t let people forget that he was left off the NBA’s 75th-Anniversary team any time soon ... 'cause he showed up to the Warriors practice rocking a #77 Jackie Moon jersey!!

Remember, Klay said he was going to channel Will Ferrell's "Semi-Pro" character this season ... saying, "We goin full Jackie Moon this year."

While Moon sports #33, Klay repped #77, which he's been trolled with after being left off the NBA's 75th-anniversary team.

Thompson wasn’t pleased when the list (which had 76 players due to a tie) dropped at the beginning of the season ... saying, "Maybe I'm just naïve in my ability to play basketball, but in my head, I'm TOP 75 of all time."

Thompson has a reason to be pissed -- he's a 3-time champ, 5-time All-Star, holds the record for most points in a quarter, the most 3 pointers made in a game and is tied for most 3-pointers made in a single playoff (98) with his teammate, Stephen Curry.

Despite his beef with the list, that didn’t stop his teammates -- Curry and Draymond Green -- from having fun at his expense.

Steph and Dray left a #77 jersey with Thompson on the back in Klay’s locker as the Dubs prepared for practice earlier this week … and Klay, being the good sport that he is, decided to roll with the joke.

You've seen geese, gators and birds interrupting golfers on the course ... but ever seen kangaroos do it?!?!

Well, it just happened in Australia ... and the video is hilarious!!

Wendy Powick, an amateur golfer, shared footage of the incident on Monday ... explaining she was teeing off at Arundel Hills Country Club (eight hours north of Sydney) when the large animals popped up.

The video shows Powick was just about to swing her driver on the 11th hole ... when more than a dozen kangaroos charged right at her!

"Never ever seen this happen before," said Powick, who laughed as all of the animals stared at her on the tee box.

"Absolutely gold and only in Australia," she added.

Don't worry, the kangaroos all eventually hopped away ... and Powick was able to finish off her round.

"There's a lot of them at this course," Powick said of the kangaroos to 7News. "Usually they stick to the sides and watch you play."

Tristan Thompson just started his NBA season with a new squad, but his busy schedule isn't stopping him from making sure some underprivileged kids have a memorable Halloween.

The Sacramento Kings' power forward is teaming up with Alexandria House Friday to provide costumes, candy, games and prizes to children experiencing homelessness in L.A. We're told there will also be arts and crafts, face painting and special treats for those in attendance.

TT won't be able to attend the event in person -- the Kings are on the road -- but his generosity is helping to make the event possible.

Tristan has nothing but praise for Alexandria House, telling us, "This is a small way to express my support for the work Alexandria House does for our community, and I am grateful to be in a position to help my community celebrate the holiday."

Judy Vaughan, Founding Director of AH, tells us, "... it is a major significance that Tristan Thompson is not only providing a fun day for impoverished families but is also giving a national platform on homelessness, the housing crisis and the difficulties in healing from trauma and becoming stable."

A St. Louis Cardinals prospect is fortunate to be alive today ... 'cause he was involved in a horrifying bear attack earlier this month, but thankfully, he escaped with only minor injuries.

The terrifying incident went down in Wisconsin ... when Dalton Roach -- a pitcher for the Cards' Double-A affiliate, the Springfield Cardinals -- was trying to hunt some deer.

Roach told the Leader-Telegram at one point during his outing while he was in a hunting perch, a bear got close to his tree -- and then shockingly began to climb up it.

"The next thing I know I can hear him right behind me and feel him breathing on my back," said Roach, who shot video of the bear while it was on the ground.

"Then I feel a paw on my lap. He just kind of left the paw sitting there."

A few seconds later, Roach said he felt the bear biting him -- so he made an attempt to get big and scare off the beast, and fortunately, it worked.

"Luckily, he kind of leaned back, seemed to say, 'What the heck?'" the 25-year-old pitcher said, "and eventually got out of the tree."

Roach said he went to the hospital to have the wound cleaned out and to get some precautionary shots -- but he added the injury shouldn't affect his baseball career going forward.

"I'm very fortunate that this whole scenario went the way it did," Roach said, "and now I have a heck of a story to tell."

Can you imagine being the youngest athlete ever to sign with Puma??

Just ask 17-year-old basketball prodigy Mikey Williams about it … ‘cause the five-star recruit just inked a historic multi-year deal with the athletic brand!!

Terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed, but the agreement makes Williams the youngest athlete to sign with Puma Hoops ... joining an already star-studded roster featuring LaMelo Ball, Deandre Ayton, Breanna Stewart and RJ Barrett, and Katie Lou Samuelson.

"Mikey joining our Puma family is exciting news for our brand," Puma global brand director Adam Petrick said in a statement.

"His talent on the court and his ability to connect with young athletes and fans alike, will help drive hoops culture forward and inspire the next generation of athletes. He has a bright future ahead of him and we are proud to be a part of his journey."

Puma will be getting more than just a basketball sensation ... 'cause the rising star is also a social media force with more than 3.3 million followers on Instagram.

The 6'2" guard will be rocking various Puma styles, including the Court Rider Line … and will be featured in an upcoming “Not Yet Rated” marketing promotion, 'cause "his ceiling hasn't yet been determined" the company explained.

Williams spoke about the historic deal ... saying, "I am excited to join the Puma family this early in my basketball journey."

"Puma really understands how to mix hoops and culture, two things I am passionate about."

It'll be interesting to see what happens if Williams decides to take his talents to a college program that is NOT sponsored by Puma ... 'cause those deals normally force every player to rock the same brand.