TMZ Sports - Page 50

Take a chill pill, Laker Nation -- Magic Johnson is NOT ready to give up on his beloved team this season ... 'cause the Lakers legend tells TMZ Sports that despite their early struggles, they've still got time to turn things around.

We asked the Hall of Famer if LeBron James and Co. -- who've been inconsistent all season -- needed to make changes ... especially as trade rumors surface surrounding one of their biggest stars, Russell Westbrook.

"You know, you gotta give him time," Magic told us on Friday, "Gotta give the whole team time. 16-13 is not where we wanna be, but we still got time. Still got time."

Magic also told us that although Anthony Davis has gotten off to a slow start ... he's not worried about the Lakers big man.

"Sometimes people get off to a start that they know they can play better," Johnson said. "Sometimes you struggle in the beginning. AD knows he can play better so he'll put it together. I'm not worried about him. He got a lot of talent."

Johnson believes that any aspirations the Lakers have of winning a championship this season is contingent on their defensive effort -- an area Magic says the team needs to improve in significantly.

"Well, defensively we gotta get better," Magic said. "That's it right there." "We cant win no championship unless we play defense. We gotta play better defense, but again, you know, we can't be impatient."

Ultimately, the 5-time NBA champ hasn't lost any faith ... saying, "I still believe in the Lakers, that's the main thing. Now its just the matter of can they put it together."

Justin Gaethje says he -- NOT Conor McGregor -- deserves the next title shot against Charles Oliveira ... and he's gonna lose it if that doesn't happen.

TMZ Sports talked to the 33-year-old #1 ranked UFC lightweight -- the guy who almost everyone believes will fight for the belt -- about McGregor's recent social media post.

If ya missed it, Conor fired off a message ... "So what date am I fighting Oliveira?" shortly after the UFC 269 fight between Oliveira and Dustin Poirier.

"I'll burn it all down, dude! What do you mean? F***ing burn it down, that's what I'd do," Gaethje told us when we asked how he'd react to Conor (#9 ranked) leapfrogging him.

Justin continued ... "[Conor's] so irrelevant. He has not won a fight since 2016 in the lightweight division. I'm ranked number one."

But, how about this ... if Gaethje wins, would he want to defend his strap vs. McGregor ... who he's been lowkey beefing with for years?

Nope.

"I would absolutely not allow him fight for the title. He did not win to go through the process. He's not gonna s*** on everything that we -- there's too many. Beneil Dariush, Islam Makhachev. Those are the guys that we fight. Not Conor McGregor. That's not how it works. He's becoming more and more irrelevant as time goes on. Pretty soon you won't be even asking me these questions. It's gonna be a beautiful f***ing day."

It's pretty cool ... Justin says he's finally on the doorstep of the moment he's been waiting for since he got into fighting.

"My whole life I've been working towards this. That is what's next. If not, I f***ing burn it down. It doesn't matter. I'll show up and start throwing dollies everywhere."

Tiger Woods is back to playing pro golf again -- this after his nasty car wreck -- and he's doing alongside none other than his own ... both of whom have some ground to gain.

Round one of the PNC Championship is underway Saturday at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club Grande Lakes in Orlando, where TW and Charlie Woods joined forces anew to play in a little father-son competition among other golfers and their kids.

As you can imagine, the fanfare was at an all-time high for the Woods family ... as this marks the first time Tiger has played in an actual tourney of any kind since getting crumpled in his automobile accident in February ... which left his legs shattered.

For Tiger's tee-off, everybody's eyes were on him ... and he hit a pretty decent shot to kick things off, with one guy clearly excited behind him -- shouting, "Welcome back, Big Cat!"

From there, Charlie started getting into his groove as well ... looking like a chip off the old block as he teed off himself with a beautiful drive -- which his dad later sunk with a putt.

From the outset, they were looking pretty good as a team ... but at the moment, they're well behind. As it stands, Team Woods is tied for 13th place as they approach the 11th hole. There's 36 holes total that they'll get through between today and tomorrow, and they're just past the midway point for today's round.

Basically, they're playing from behind right now ... but they have a ways to go before the day's out -- and could easily pull ahead, especially if they play as well as they have been thus far. And, as most everyone knows by now, never count Tiger Woods out.

Bigger picture though -- Tiger is looking fantastic out there ... as is his boy.

It's pretty miraculous to see the guy out here after everything he's been through. He addressed that before hitting the links, writing ... "Although it's been a long and challenging year, I am very excited to close it out by competing in the @PNCchampionship with my son Charlie. I'm playing as a Dad and couldn't be more excited and proud."

As you well know by now, Tiger's been on a long road of recovery since his February crash ... but steadily, he's been rehabbing and getting back onto golf courses. The only question now is ... will he eventually feel good enough to hop back into a solo PGA tournament???

Jake Paul is only 24, but he's suffering from memory loss and slurred speech, and it's largely because of boxing -- and it could get even worse with tonight's fight.

Jake appeared on "In Depth With Graham Besinger," and talked about something boxers rarely discuss when they're still in the game -- how boxing messes up their head.

Jake told Graham, "I notice it in conversations with like, with my girlfriend or friends, like, not remembering something that I should be able to remember that happened a couple days ago."

He went on ... "Sometimes in my speech, where like every hundredth or two hundredth word, I'll mess up or, like, slur, which I didn't do that before."

Jake says his problems actually started with football, but are clearly worsened by boxing. He doesn't even remember how many concussions he's suffered -- somewhere between 20 and 30.

Again, something boxers don't say ... Jake says he's scared about the long-term effects, although he thinks certain psychedelic drugs could help abate the problems.

It's pretty shocking he's saying all this when he's about to square off with former UFC Champ Tyron Woodley Saturday night. He beat Tyron by split decision in the past and the rematch promises to be fierce.

Jake said his doctor was blunt -- stay away from the ring, but that's not gonna happen.

Jake Paul knows Tommy Fury will be glued to the TV when he faces off against Tyron Woodley on Saturday ... and that's why he tells TMZ Sports he's planning to troll the hell outta TNT before his big fight.

You surprised??

We spoke with the Problem Child before his big rematch with the former UFC champ ... and asked if he thought his original opponent would be tuning in.

"100%," Jake said. "Tommy, you know, this could've been you."

"I have a message to send to him during my walkout. People will see my message for Tommy Fury while I'm walking out. It's pretty funny."

Now, Jake is known to be a world-class troll, even when it's time to rumble -- remember, this is the guy who wore a basketball chain and had matching music for his entrance before the Nate Robinson fight.

We also talked all about the upcoming fight ... and Jake says he can't wait to silence his critics again.

"I'm feeling really good," he added. "To me, it doesn't matter who I fight and this is an opportunity to right my wrongs. Last fight, obviously, I still won. But now, I wanna knock him out. That's a big opportunity to show people how much better I've gotten since then."

We also spoke with Tyron ... and he's guaranteeing to knock Jake out and make that extra money.

The fight card -- also featuring Deron Williams and Frank Gore -- is set to go down at 6 PM PT on Showtime.

Amanda Serrano's fighting on the Jake Paul-Tyron Woodley II card ... and the boxing star tells TMZ Sports she's looking to flatten her opponent, and set up a multi-million dollar bout with one of the baddest women in the world, Katie Taylor!

33-year-old Serrano -- the 41-1-1 featherweight champ -- recently signed to Paul's MVP Promotions ... and is boxing 38-year-old Miriam Gutierrez (14-1) Saturday night on Showtime PPV.

Amanda, who routinely KO's her opponents, is always fun to watch ... but this fight has some added juice because a win could set AS on a collision course with Taylor.

"[Me vs. Taylor is a] mega-fight for women's boxing. But, right now I have Miriam in front of me. This is my test. This is my measuring stick. If I knock Miriam out, it's gonna be a statement fight," Serrano told us.

If you're not familiar with the women (first, ya should be) ... Serrano and Taylor (in addition to Claressa Shields) are considered the top 3 female boxers in the world.

Who's the best? That's a surefire way to start a debate.

As for the payday with a Serrano-Taylor fight ... Amanda's coach, Jordan Maldonado, says both boxers can expect a fat check.

"Kudos to Jake Paul. Amanda's upcoming fight with Katie Taylor is a 7-figure fight, and it's because of him that that's happening. It'll be the first time in the history of female boxing that both girls are making 7 figures."

Obviously, we're talking a minimum of $1 million ... but first, Serrano needs to win in Tampa.

And, there's a reason the checks would be so big ... AS vs. KT would without doubt be one of the biggest women's boxing events ever.

"That's why Saturday night is a big night for me," Amanda said, adding "I'm not overlooking Miriam because she's a tough girl, she's a great test for me, but this fight definitely means a lot."

Maldonado broke it down like this.

Jake Paul is lettin' it be known he has no issue with being the "Problem Child" -- 'cause he turned his nickname into an insane diamond chain -- that's worth $225,000!!!

The YouTuber debuted the ice at his pre-fight event with Tyron Woodley on Thursday in Tampa, Fla. -- and TMZ Sports has learned it's an absolutely gaudy piece.

We're told Paul hit up his old pals at BlueMoon and Co. in Los Angeles to put the bling together ... and they pulled out all the stops for it.

In addition to the words "Prblm Child" written in diamonds on the front of the pendant ... the ice also has his full name inscribed on the back. There's also a spinning star on top.

We're told the chain is infused with 95 carats of VS quality diamonds and 14k of gold -- and in total it weighs a pound (545 grams)!

The whole thing is handmade by the company ... and we're told it's all valued at $225K.

Of course, the bling wasn't the only thing screamin' money during Paul's presser with Woodley -- JP also had a Most Valuable Boxer belt with him, which he says is worth $500K!

Mexican boxer Gilberto "Zurdo" Ramirez tells TMZ Sports he'll be honoring the late Vicente Fernandez during his fight tonight ... by rocking some custom tribute shoes and playing the singer's music in the arena.

The 30-year-old is set to scrap with Yunieski Gonzalez at AT&T Center in San Antonio later today ... and he tells us he's going to do everything in his power to make sure Fernandez's presence is felt.

Ramirez says on one of his shoes there will be an image of Vicente ... and when he walks out to the ring for his match, he'll play "El Rey."

"He was a legend," Ramirez said of Fernandez this week ... "It's sad for his family, for everyone too because everyone knew about Chente."

"It's really sad that he just passed away."

Ramirez said he grew up listening to Fernandez ... and had artist Ali Gonzalez add the Fernandez imagery to his shoes shortly after the singer's death earlier this month.

Welp, the fights were supposed to be tomorrow ... but, fighters gon' fight.

Nate Diaz, UFC fighter Nick Maximov, Chris Avila and the 209 crew nearly came to blows with Bellator champ A.J. McKee, Anthony Taylor, and their guys on Friday ... and we got the vid.

Of course, 28-year-old Avila is fighting 32-year-old Taylor Saturday night in Tampa ... before Jake and Tyron square up for a second time.

There's a history here -- both guys fought in Bellator in 2020, with Taylor getting the win.

There was pushing and shoving just minutes ago ... but thankfully, it doesn't appear any punches were thrown, and nobody was hurt.

It actually adds even more juice to undercard bout ... 'cause the guys clearly don't like each other.

During the press conference on Thursday, Taylor clowned Avila for the way he talks, saying he was trying to imitate the Diaz bros.

If you aren't familiar with Chris ... he's been one of Nate's closest friends for years.

NFL legend Lawrence Taylor was arrested in Florida on Thursday ... TMZ Sports has confirmed.

The former New York Giants superstar was booked at around 8:45 PM ET and released hours later, jail records show. The 62-year-old posed for a mug shot before his release.

The news was first reported by Andy Slater.

Details surrounding the arrest are unclear -- we're working on it -- but according to a spokesperson for the Broward County Sheriff's Office, Taylor was booked on charges of sex offender violations.

As we previously reported, Lawrence was declared a sex offender back in 2011 ... after he pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct and patronizing a prostitute.

In the case, Taylor was accused of having sex with a 16-year-old girl ... though he said at the time he thought she was 19.

Due to his status as a sex offender, Taylor is required to be on top of several things ... including letting law enforcement know of any residence or name changes.

Of course, Taylor is no stranger to run-ins with the law ... the former football player has been arrested several times in his life, including multiple times in the late 1990s after he allegedly tried to buy drugs from undercover police officers.

Horrifying scene during the Chargers vs. Chiefs game Thursday ... L.A. tight end, Donald Parham, was rushed to the hospital after he violently slammed his head on the turf during a play.

Parham was attempting to catch a touchdown pass in the first quarter of the game at SoFi Stadium ... when his head forcefully hit the ground after he dove for the ball.

The 24-year-old appeared to be knocked unconscious immediately ... with his arms stiffening in the bent position.

Trainers rushed out to the football player ... and unscrewed his facemask, before securing him to a backboard and placing him on a stretcher.

Parham was seen moving his hands and legs while talking with trainers ... but, terrifyingly, his arms were shaking as he was being stretchered off the field.

The Chargers say he was ultimately taken to nearby UCLA Harbor Medical Center with a head injury ... adding that he was "in stable condition." No further update has been given.

"I'm just hoping for the best," star quarterback Justin Herbert said of Parham after the game. "Parham has been an incredible teammate and an incredible friend. He's been nice to everyone in that locker room, and everyone loves him."

Parham has started nine games for L.A. this season ... scoring three touchdowns.

Kyrie Irving is BACK -- well, partially -- the NBA superstar will soon play in road games and practice at home with the Brooklyn Nets, the team just announced Friday.

Irving has already begun the process of returning to the team ... as he's undergoing team COVID-19 testing, according to Shams Charania.

Due to NYC's current mandates, Irving hasn't played a game or practiced with the Nets all season ... as he remained unvaccinated.

As we previously reported, the Nets took a strong stance against Irving's unwillingness to get the jab ... telling him in October to stay home instead of playing when he could.

While there were reports Irving was anti-vax, he adamantly denied it ... saying he was standing up for local workers who were being forced into getting vaccinated in order to save their jobs.

Now, it appears both Irving and the Nets have reached an agreement that will allow him to suit up for the Nets in some capacity soon, but his return date has not been determined yet.

Irving even teased his comeback earlier this week ... showing himself putting on his sneakers.

If you thought Frank Gore and Deron Williams were just gonna spar for a few rounds on Saturday, think again -- the NFL star tells TMZ Sports he's gunning to put a hurt on the ex-NBAer ... and come away with the win!!

Frank and Deron will both be making their boxing debuts on the Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley II undercard in Tampa ... and with just over 24 hours to go, we asked Gore what he's expecting in the fight.

"I wanna look good, man," he tells us. "I wanna show everybody whatever you put your head to, you can do it."

"I'm going for the W. I'm gonna do whatever it takes to win. If the knockout come, it will come. I wanna show everybody that I got skills."

BTW -- Frank and Deron weighed in on Friday ... and they both looked GOOD. Since Gore's been training like crazy, we had to ask if this was just a one-time thing, or if we'll see him in the ring for years to come.

"If I have a good time and feel like I want to do it again, I'll do it," he said. "I'm very happy about my decision to take this fight."

Gore admits he's a bit nervous as he gets closer to stepping in the ring ... but he's looking forward to showing the world what he's got.

Baker Mayfield is getting his wish -- Cleveland's matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders on Saturday has been pushed back 'til Monday ... after a crap ton of Browns players tested positive for COVID-19.

The league had been dragging its feet all week ... insisting it would NOT move the schedule around -- even with Baker, head coach Kevin Stefanski and a constantly growing list of players getting added to the COVID-19/reserve list.

But, with safety -- and quality of play -- becoming an even bigger issue if the Browns and Raiders took the field as planned, Roger Goodell made the decision to have the game go down on Monday.

There's more -- the Seahawks and Rams game is potentially moving to Tuesday ... and the Washington Football Team and Philadelphia Eagles' matchup could be moved as well.

As we previously reported, Mayfield was pissed with the league's handling of the COVID-19 outbreaks this week ... saying, "Make up your damn mind on protocols."

Famed civil rights attorney Ben Crump says evidence shows ex-NFL defensive lineman Glenn Foster was choked before he died in police custody earlier this month.

The renowned lawyer made the claim in a statement Friday ... saying an independent autopsy revealed that Foster's body showed "some evidence of neck compressions and strangulation."

Crump said he and medical experts believe it all reveals that Foster did not die of "natural causes" on Dec. 6 ... just two days after he was arrested in Alabama on Dec. 4.

"As we continue to investigate the case," Crump said, "we are learning that Mr. Foster's death in Pickens County appears to be part of a disturbing trend of Black men dying while in the custody of the Pickens County Sheriff's Office."

"Keeping people in your custody alive is literally the lowest bar we can set for a law enforcement agency," Crump added, "and is something that the Pickens County Sheriff's Office failed to do."

"Pickens County owes the family the truth relating to Mr. Foster's tragic death."

Law enforcement officials have been mum about the details surrounding Foster's passing ... with reps from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency only saying that Foster did, in fact, die while in police custody.

"Nothing further is available as the investigation is ongoing," officials said in a statement the day after Foster's death.

We've reached out to the ALEA for comment on Crump's claims ... but so far, no word back yet.

Foster -- who signed with the Saints as an undrafted free agent in 2013 and played two seasons for the team -- was just 31 years old.

Brittany Matthews finally wasn't the only one going crazy after a Chiefs win ... 'cause her BFF and Travis Kelce's GF, Kayla Nicole, joined her for the wild celebration -- with the two losing their minds following K.C.'s walk-off dub!

Patrick Mahomes' fiancee filmed it all on Thursday night ... showing the two WAGs going absolutely insane after the star QB and Kelce came back to beat the Chargers in overtime in L.A.

Check out the footage ... after Kelce caught a 34-yard touchdown pass from Mahomes in the extra period to win the game 34-28, Matthews and Nicole completely lost it.

The two were up in a suite dancing and screaming their heads off -- with Matthews yelling loudly, "Let's goooooo!!!!"

At one point, Matthews turned to Nicole and asked, "How does it feel to be dating the best tight end in the league?!"

Nicole's response? Nothing but pure joy!

"Travis Michael Kelce just had the best game of his career ladies and gentleman," Nicole said. "Period!!!"

The Chiefs are now the No. 1 seed in the AFC ... and are pretty much a lock to make the playoffs.