TMZ Sports - Page 50

LeBron James took it in the crotch Friday ... and it cost him $15k.

LeBron was in Indiana with the Lakers, and after making a pretty awesome shot, he grabbed his crotch. Now there's a backstory here. Two Indiana fans had just been ejected for grabbing their crotch -- presumably taunting LeBron and it apparently caught his eye. After making the next shot, LeBron returned the favor to the crowd by grabbing his crotch.

LeBron said after the game, "When obscene gestures and language come into it, can't be tolerated. There's a difference between cheering for your team and not wanting the other team to win, and things I would never say to a fan and they shouldn't say to me."

The Lakers won in overtime 124 to 116 ... nevertheless, it's been a rough November for one of the best players ever. As you know, LeBron was suspended a week ago after elbowing Detroit center Isaiah Stewart. After a bloodied Stewart went after LeBron, both players were booted from the game.

LeBron was also suspended for a game, which enraged him. He called "bulls***" on NBA officials who benched him, saying the elbow was unintentional. He said he merely "grazed" Stewart. BTW ... the "bulls***" comment didn't sit well with NBA officials ... they gave him a warning.

LeBron explained the contact with Stewart this way ... "His elbow got kinda high, got me off balance a little bit. His elbow lifted my arm. I basically tried to swim move down on his arm. When I went down on his arm, he got off balance, and the left side of my hand grazed his face ... definitely accidental."

Floyd Mayweather may not be WBC champ anymore ... but his face will forever be part of the organization's famous green championship belt, 'cause TMZ Sports has learned the undefeated fighter's portrait was permanently added to the strap.

WBC prez Mauricio Sulaiman tells us the World Boxing Council has permanently added Mayweather's portrait to every future belt ... joining Muhammad Ali.

The belt above is Tyson Fury's ... hence why the Gypsy King is on the strap.

Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis -- both great former WBC champs -- also have their portraits on the heavyweight belts (other divisions have other legendary fighters).

The belt also features a photograph of José Sulaiman ... Mauricio's late dad.

Of course, the WBC is one of the 4 major organizations (IBF, WBA, WBO) that sanction professional boxing matches.

In other words, being WBC champ is a big deal ... and having your face on the belt for the rest of time is absolutely awesome.

Why Floyd? Well, he held WBC belts across multiple weight classes for many years ... and at 50-0, is regarded as one of the greatest boxers ever.

Should the Miami Heat retire Udonis Haslem's jersey??

Dwayne Wade says it's a matter of when, not if -- telling TMZ Sports he knows his former teammate's jersey will hang from the rafters in Miami one day.

Haslem -- who was drafted by Miami in 2002 -- has spent his entire career with the org ... and is considered a Heat legend for the longevity he has with the team.

Of course, D-Wade and Haslem have a strong bond -- the two played together for the Heat franchise for a number of years ... winning 3 championships in that span.

UD postponed retiring this past offseason and signed on with the Heat for year 19 ... and even though the veteran doesn't see much playing time these days, his impact on the sideline and locker room is certainly felt by the players.

As for Wade -- who was in New York for the release of his new book "Dwyane" -- we asked him if he had any advice for players on the Phoenix Suns ... whose owner -- Robert Sarver -- has been embroiled in allegations of racism and misogyny.

"You know, I'm in ownership now," the Utah Jazz part-owner said. "I don't comment on other teams."

Alexi Lalas -- United States soccer legend -- wholeheartedly believes Christian Pulisic could be the greatest soccer player to ever rock the red, white, and blue ... but, there's an IF.

IF ... Christian stays healthy, Lalas tells TMZ Sports.

"We have yet to see Christian Pulisic at the highest level from an international perspective, play in a World Cup. Knock on wood he's there in November and December. And, knock on wood he's healthy because unfortunately he has a propensity to get injured and he is a little bit fragile," Lalas says.

"He doesn't have that skill, and it is a skill, to stay healthy. So, I hope it all goes well because when he's on the field it is special. And, not special like he's a special American player. He is a special player in the world who just happens to be American."

FYI, CP has made 42 appearances with the USMNT ... scoring 17 goals with 9 assists.

Just how good can he be?

"I think Christian Pulisic is already an American soccer star, and well on his way to being an American soccer legend."

The 2022 FIFA World Cup is less than a year away, and the U.S. Men's National Team has been killin' it on the field, going 3-1-1 in WC qualifiers.

And, of course, the most talented player on the squad is 23-year-old Pulisic ... a native of Pennsylvania.

Pulisic made his international debut as a 17-year-old in 2016 ... and has gone on to play for Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea.

Speaking of the best, Lalas himself is regarded as one of the greatest soccer players in America's history. Alexi was a member of the national team from 1991 to 1998. He was one of the breakout stars during the 1994 World Cup.

Frank Mir's daughter Isabella is an MMA fighter ... but it wasn't (only) her former UFC champion dad who inspired her to fight in a locked cage -- that honor belongs to Ronda Rousey.

TMZ Sports spoke to Frank about his 18-year-old daughter ... and while he admits to initially being hesitant to see his girl fight, he says he rather help her win, as opposed to simply being a spectator.

"She loves it. She wants to do it. I said a long time ago, I'd rather be the captain of the ship than be watching from the shoreline."

FYI, Bella is 2-0 in the cage. She had her first pro fight in 2020. She's also a badass wrestler who routinely beat boys in high school. Bella also won the SMC Girls Folkstyle National Wrestling Championships earlier this year.

Mir says years ago neither he nor his daughter believed there was a path to becoming a UFC fighter for a woman ... but Frank says that changed when Ronda burst on the scene.

Of course, Rousey was the female fighter who changed Dana White's mind ... after the UFC prez once vowed women wouldn't fight in his organization.

But, Ronda made her UFC debut in 2013 and became a global superstar ... inspiring many young girls along the way, including Bella.

Mir's daughter might be a pro fighter, but he isn't done in the cage, despite being 42 years old.

Frank, who once beat Brock Lesnar, is fighting boxer Kubrat Pulev Saturday night in Triller's new Triad Combat organization ... where MMA fighters and boxers will fight in a triangular-shaped ring.

We also talked to Rampage Jackson, captain of Mir's MMA team. He's been locked in a war of words with Shannon Briggs, the boxing team captain.

The penalties in the Raiders-Cowboys game were nothing compared to what went down at a concession stand -- at least 3 women throwing, and landing, big punches in an ugly brawl.

So much for all that Thanksgiving spirit crap ... these ladies clearly checked theirs at the door Thursday when they entered AT&T Stadium. From the video, all we can tell is something or someone pissed off a female staffer serving refreshments ... because she hurled herself over the counter, ready to fight.

Unfortunately for her, the floor was covered in nachos, so she slipped down ... giving her opponent a chance to punch her square in the face!!! Ball caps and the combatants' long hair went flying.

As the fight raged on, at least one other woman and a male concession worker made some feeble attempts to break it up.

Cops tell TMZ ... there was a lot of this sorta thing happening during the game. They made several arrests for intoxication, but it's unclear if either of these women were taken into custody.

Maybe it's overly passionate fans returning to stadiums post-quarantine, or maybe it's fans being overly served ... but we've seen some gnarly fights at NFL games lately. Earlier this month a Titans fan was hurled down several rows at SoFi Stadium during a wild brawl at a Rams game.

LeBron James seems furious he was booted from a game and then suspended, saying he never intended to bloody an opponent.

LeBron calls, "bulls***" on officials who took action against him, for elbowing Detroit Pistons forward Isaiah Stewart last Sunday.

The injury was gnarly, and Isaiah went after LeBron, sending both men back to the locker room. Officials called the elbow intentional.

LeBron begs to differ, calling the incident accidental ... adding he simply "grazed" Stewart's face.

LeBron said, "His elbow got kinda high, got me off balance a little bit. His elbow lifted my arm. I basically tried to swim move down on his arm. When I went down on his arm, he got off balance, and the left side of my hand grazed his face ... definitely accidental."

He said he could understand why he was booted from the game, but really kind of blamed Stewart, saying, "I thought it warranted an ejection because of what happened after that" -- referring to the fight, adding, "But a suspension, I didn't think it was warranted. But, the league made that call."

Iman Shumpert might've been focusing on mirror balls more than basketballs recently, but the NBA champ says he's NOT done hooping ... telling TMZ Sports he's got a lot left in his tank.

We caught up with the 31-year-old fresh off winning the 30th season of "Dancing With the Stars" this week ... and we asked with all the moves he displayed on the dancefloor, is he going to take his talents back to the basketball court??

"Tryna see what we can get done," Shumpert said, "I love basketball. I never stopped playing."

"They call me a 'former', 'ex' but I told them the league just didn't pay me this year."

The reason for the past tense verbiage is 'cause Shumpert hasn't played a game since Feb. 23, 2021 ... when he was a member of the Brooklyn Nets. He scored 2 points in 6 minutes during that game.

But, he insists he's still an NBA player saying, "it's not an 'ex' thing. Me and the league didn't break up!"

Now that 'DWTS' is over, we could see Shumpert in a jersey again soon -- the guard's been in the league since 2011 ... winning an NBA title in 2016 with LeBron James and the Cavs, making more than $48 million in his career.

LaVar Ball says the Charlotte Hornets are screwing up the LiAngelo Ball situation ... telling TMZ Sports he's convinced the team is making a massive mistake by not pairing Gelo with his brother, LaMelo Ball, on its NBA roster.

"They don't understand what they got," the Big Baller said of the Hornets out in L.A. this week. "They need to let my boy go ahead and play."

"I dropped them a superstar in the G-League and they don't know what to do with him."

The Hornets actually signed Gelo back in October ... but waived him just a day later, and he's been on the team's G-League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, ever since.

Gelo has played decently with the Swarm -- he scored 22 points in the season opener earlier this month -- but the Hornets have still yet to pull him up to their roster.

LaVar clearly thinks that's a mistake ... saying the team needs to "bring him in" and "let him play with Melo."

A rare piece of memorabilia is hitting the auction block -- a concert ad signed by both Marilyn Monroe AND Joe DiMaggio ... and the item could sell for some serious coin!!!

Here's the backstory -- TMZ Sports is told an 11-year-old girl saw the couple having dinner at The Beverly Hills Hotel in 1952 ... and approached the Yankees legend for an autograph.

Shockingly, the girl had no idea who Monroe was ... so Joe asked if she wanted the model's Hancock as well.

Both Joe and Marilyn signed the inside of a folded concert advertisement that was on their dining table ... scribbling the words, "Warmest Regards, Marilyn Monroe" and "Best Wishes, Joe DiMaggio."

As for the ad, it's for Eddie Bergman and his orchestra at the hotel's Palm Terrace (we're assuming the dude had bangers).

Get this -- there are 9 holes in the old flyer, which came after the girl used a tack to pin her prized possession on her corkboard in her room!

Now, she's ready to part ways with the item -- it's hitting the market Dec. 11 ... and there's a chance it sells for a fortune!!!

A massive amount is not unusual for the celebrity couple ... just this summer, an autographed baseball by Monroe and DiMaggio sold for $384k.

DiMaggio was one of the greatest MLB players ever ... some of his accolades during his 13-year career with the Yanks include winning 9 World Series, 3-time AL MVP and 2-time AL batting champion.

Amanda Serrano recently signed with Jake Paul's boxing promotion, and the boxing star says it was literally the best professional move she's ever made ... 'cause she's finally getting the respect she deserves.

TMZ Sports talked to the 33-year-old unified welterweight champ ... and we asked her if she's gotten more shine since signing with the Problem Child.

"Definitely! 100%! It's about time we get recognition, that I get recognition. I've been training and working so hard and all of the stuff I accomplished. With boxing, I never really been acknowledged and it's the best decision I've made."

Jake's Most Valuable Promotion is his boxing promotion organization ... and Serrano was the first fighter he signed. He previously told us he plans to sign a stable of fighters.

Despite the added attention, Amanda is still a super humble person.

"I'm still an average woman and I still have two feet that I walk on every day to the gym and work hard. It's just now it's a little more pressure. I gotta work even harder because I'm under a big platform with Jake Paul so I just want to continue to prove that I'm the best," Serrano told us.

Serrano's first test under the MVP banner is a December 18th bout with 14-1 Miriam Gutiérrez in Florida ... the card that features Jake and Tommy Fury.

Former NFL star Frank Gore and former NBA star Deron Williams are also fighting that night.

And, one thing's clear ... Serrano is looking to put on a show, and show the world why Paul locked her up.

"I'm gonna win no matter what but if it's in the first -- I have 10 rounds to do it, but I'm definitely going in there for a knockout."

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is spreading some holiday cheer -- and jokes -- this Thanksgiving, surprising an unsuspecting group of fans with a funny warning.

The WWE superstar turned Hollywood megastar posted a video Thursday of himself driving up on a Hollywood tour bus. You can see, the passengers are stunned, everyone's got their phones out ... and Rock asks, "Have you seen my house yet?"

The bus responds with a resounding "no" ... to which Johnson jokes, "Good, keep it that way! Happy Thanksgiving!"

It's not the first time Rock has surprised and interacted with a tour bus, we got him a few years back on The TMZ Celebrity Tour where he was just as gracious, chatting it up with passengers for a while before heading into a meeting in L.A.

It would make sense for Johnson to continue to act as a man of the people, remember it was earlier this year when a poll suggested nearly 50% of people asked would be happy to have him as President.

Tom Brady assiduously avoids caffeine, sugar, dairy, tomatoes, eggplant, even mushrooms ... but on Thanksgiving day ... f*** it!!!

Tom and Oprah had a chitchat, but this one was different because it was Tom mostly asking the questions. O jumped on Tom's SiriusXM show, "Let's Go," and it was only a matter of time before she took the reigns.

Oprah wanted to know what we were thinking ... what the hell does Tom eat on Turkey day ... given his aversion to food that causes inflammation.

Tom revealed Thanksgiving is his cheat day ... "That's the one meal where I'm just like, 'screw it, let's go for it."

The convo pivoted to retirement, and Tom seems to have that in his head. He told Oprah, "Thanksgiving, there's a lot to be thankful for, but you only get 4 hours to enjoy it. Practice usually ends at about 1 or 2. You eat about 3:30, then you're getting ready for the next day of practice.  Same with XMAS."

He went on ... "I'm looking forward to the time when I'm done playing football, so I can have those more normal holidays that I had growing up that were important where the family's all together."

The reality ... the 44-year-old QB is on a roll, with the Bucs Super Bowl Win this year. He's threatened to retire at 45, but sometimes threats are hollow.

LeBron James was ejected on Sunday, but it was his turn to do the booting on Wednesday ... with the Lakers superstar getting two courtside fans removed from the game during an overtime thriller.

The moment went down with 2 minutes left in OT against the Indiana Pacers ... right after Bron hit a three-pointer to put L.A. up 117-114.

It's unclear what set James off, but whatever it was triggered him to approach an official and point at a man and a woman sitting in the front row.

In the video, you can hear a fuming LeBron say "right f***ing here" and pointing directly at the fans.

Shortly after, they were being escorted out of the arena by security ... with the female fan getting one last jab in at Bron by making an animated crying gesture towards him.

Eventually, the game was resumed and the Lakers held on for the win, 124-116.

It's not the first time James has had fans removed -- last season, he had a "Courtside Karen" escorted out after being heckled in a game against the Atlanta Hawks.

Ever wonder how quickly two competitive eaters could take down a Thanksgiving turkey??

Well, you're in luck ... 'cause Major League Eating stars Miki Sudo and her fiancé, Nick Wehry, just ate it on camera -- and, check out the clip, they devoured the big bird in 7 minutes!!!

Sudo and Wehry took on the holiday challenge just a few days ago ... grabbing a 21.6-pound turkey for the occasion.

The two dug in without any silverware -- and they ate it all the way down to the bone in a matter of minutes!!

Of course, the super-speedy meal should come as a surprise to nobody -- Sudo is the #1-ranked female eater in the world, while Wehry is the #6-ranked male eater.

In fact, Sudo and Wehry have both impressively eaten alongside Joey Chestnut for years at the famous Nathan's 4th of July hot dog contest.

The two have feasted on Thanksgiving before -- they famously ate a meal prepped for 12 in right around 20 minutes back in 2020.

Erin Andrews says working Thanksgiving Day games is a real bummer ... telling TMZ Sports her dinners don't consist of decadent turkey on the holiday anymore -- but rather, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!!!

The FOX sideline reporter broke it all down for us at LAX ... explaining even though she has a blast getting paid to watch the NFL on the holiday -- it's still a downer.

"I mean, it stinks," said Andrews, who's been sideline reporting on Turkey Day for years and is slated to help call Thursday's Lions vs. Bears game this year. "But it is great to be able to work and watch football."

Andrews said she can't even celebrate the holiday with her family on Black Friday or even on the Saturday following Thanksgiving ... telling us her Sunday game schedule just won't allow that.

Instead, she says she's just got to work, eat PB&Js and get through it.

As for Christmas and New Year's ... Andrews says there's no reprieve there either -- telling us the NFL schedule has her working those days too!