TMZ Sports - Page 50

Jay Gruden just took his beef with Robert Griffin III to a whole 'nother level ... firing off a shot at his former quarterback that was so petty, he actually felt the need to delete it.

If you haven't been following on X this week ... the former Washington head coach and his ex-QB have been at each other's necks ever since Gruden sent off a comment during the Eagles vs. Buccaneers playoff game Monday night.

Jay wrote on his X page, "If I ever put a QB through what Philly is putting Jalen [Hurts] through, I apologize." RGIII -- who played for Gruden in 2014 -- quickly clapped back, writing, "Say WHATTTT???" ... and the two then proceeded to go at it.

The guys threw a few barbs back and forth ... and just when it looked like the squabble had ended -- Griffin III revived it on his podcast Thursday evening.

During his show, the 33-year-old accused Gruden of asking him to call out his teammates following a game in '14 -- before he claims the coach turned his back on him.

That's when Gruden went nuclear ... and shot out a tweet where he insinuated no one in the NFL liked RGIII.

"You weren't good enough," Jay wrote. "Kirk [Cousins] was better."

"Cleveland didn't want you." he continued. "Baltimore [didn't] either. Quit blaming me."

Jay deleted the post a short time later ... and replaced it with a video of RGIII running alongside the Seahawks' live mascot during pregame festivities in Seattle earlier this season.

"Go race a pigeon," he said.

RGIII has since responded with yet another dig at Gruden -- writing, "The Pigeon name is more respected than your last name."

Taylor Swift hit the recording studio in NYC Thursday night -- and considering her eventful past several months ... ya gotta figure she might be cooking up a new love song.

The pop superstar rolled up in a black SUV to the West Village's Electric Lady Studios – stepping out with the help of her chauffeur. As she quickly walked inside, Taylor turned her head away from the flashing cameras of the paparazzi who had assembled outside the building.

She was wearing a stylish long black jacket, a tan maxi dress, and black leather boots.

In the few seconds we saw her, Taylor seemed focused on her mission to create some more magical tunes, and maybe even a bit pensive about her BF – Kansas City Chiefs tight end, Travis Kelce. The big question on everyone's mind is will Travis pop the question and make Taylor Mrs. Kelce?

Our sources say all the talk about the two getting engaged is just that -- talk. We're told a marriage proposal is simply not in the cards right now ... but that's not stopping people from speculating and even putting a timetable on a potential proposal.

Whatever happens, it's certainly gonna be interesting to watch -- especially on the creative side if TayTay is, in fact, cranking out new material.

Stayed tuned!

Despite their differences over the years, NeNe Leakes is letting her former 'RHOA' costar Kim Zolciak know she's got a friend in her -- especially during her divorce.

We got NeNe at LAX this week ... and she revealed to us that she and Kim ran into each other not that long ago -- noting KZ briefly mentioned she was having a hard time lately as it pertains to uncoupling with Kroy Biermann.

Check it out ... NNL says didn't elaborate on the statement .... and they kept the rest of their catch-up positive. Good to hear, considering how much they've beefed in the past.

NeNe says she wishes Kim nothing but happiness cause nobody ever wants to see a family break up ... especially when kids are involved.

Whether they choose to be together or apart, Nene says she hopes K&K can come to an amicable agreement ... cause their happiness and peace are most important.

Other than that, Nene gushes over Kim's tiny figure ... telling us she looked great -- the girl power much-welcomed after years of animosity between them.

But Kim's focus is probably geared toward her estrangement from her husband, Kroy ... rather than rebuilding her friendship with NeNe for now.

KZ & KB have been at each other's throats for months -- we broke the story ... police were called to their home in Nov following a nasty fight between them and body cam footage shows Kroy blaming Kim for their financial struggles while also accusing her of "f***ing other men."

They're still living under the same roof at their Georgia mansion ... which they're desperately trying to sell ... though they've had to slash the price a few times cause there's been no serious takers.

TMZ got into the thick of things on Thursday -- covering a canceled reboot of an old Disney show ... to Jillian Michaels calling out Oprah over Ozempic, and everything in between.

Let's get right into it with "TMZ Live" ... where we dove into the legendary fitness guru JM going after Ms. Winfrey for what she claimed were financial reasons on the issue of Ozempic.

Check out the full segment to get the gist of what exactly this was all about -- but basically, Jillian was suggesting Oprah has a vested interest in making sure the magic weight loss drug does well on the market ... and it all has to do with a stake she owns in WeightWatchers.

Up next, we got "TMZ on TV" ... where the gang tackled this "Lizzie McGuire" reboot that was scrapped by the Mouse House -- all 'cause some of the material they were writing/shooting at the time wasn't exactly family-friendly.

You'll see what we mean by the convo here ... Hilary Duff was living as a full-grown 30-something woman -- that is, until Disney pulled the plug.

Lastly, we have "TMZ Sports" ... where Michael Babcock and Mojo talked about Reba and Post Malone taking a crack at the anthem and "America the Beautiful" for the upcoming Super Bowl.

Rob Gronkowski says there's plenty of heat left on Bill Belichick's fastball ... telling TMZ Sports his former head coach is still every bit the "powerhouse" he used to be.

"I think, 100 percent, he's still the great Bill Belichick," the Patriots legend said. "No doubt about that."

Of course, it's all come into question recently ... after Belichick struggled to find success in New England following Tom Brady's departure.

In his four seasons without the GOAT under center, Belichick recorded just a 29-38 record ... and only made one playoff appearance.

Now that he's officially out of Foxborough, though, Gronk says he believes Belichick can prove once more he's still the best ever to put on a headset ... telling us if he gets a hold of a roster with stars on it, watch out.

"If he goes to a team with great players with great talent, he will be successful," Rob said, "because he's still the powerhouse coach that we all have seen throughout the years."

For now, Belichick seems more likely than not to end up in Atlanta ... he already interviewed for the Falcons' vacant job earlier this month -- and, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, he'll have a second meeting with the team's brass this weekend.

As for The Hoodie's replacement in New England ... Gronkowski had nothing but good things to say about Jerod Mayo -- telling us all he's heard so far about his former teammate is that he's become a helluva a leader on the sidelines.

There's much more with Gronk ... we also talked to the NFL legend about his upcoming Super Bowl party, Gronk Beach, at Encore Beach Club on Saturday, February 10.

The 5,000-person strong pool party/music festival will have all kinds of entertainment, including Afrojack and DJ Irie, in addition to other surprise musical guests.

In past years, Rob's brought some of his famous to the party ... like Travis Kelce, Julian Edelman, Guy Fieri, Deebo Samuel, Johnny Damon, Camille Kostek and even Bill Belichick!

Here's your chance to party with Gronk ... don't drop the ball!

Richard Simmons made very clear this week that he doesn't approve of Pauly Shore making a movie about him/his life -- but Pauly thinks he'll win the guy over ... eventually.

The actor touched down at the Salt Lake City Int'l Airport Thursday, where he's in town for the Sundance Film Festival that's going down this weekend in neighboring Park City. Right off the bat, photogs on hand were ready to pepper him with questions about this film of his.

Of course, the big one being ... do you think it's right to proceed with this Richard Simmons biopic -- even though the man himself hasn't given his blessing ... explicitly so.

Check out Pauly's take here, 'cause he touches on a few different things. For starters, he thinks RS might be singing this tune today ... but could well be feeling completely different about it by tomorrow. More importantly, though, he thinks intention is everything with this.

From Pauly's view, he's not coming from a vindictive place -- and he vows to do Richard justice in his portrayal of him. He also says straight up ... build it, and they'll come!

Pauly goes on to explain that he genuinely believes once Richard can see this new short film of his -- on which the forthcoming biopic will be based -- RS will come around to seeing his things his way, basically suggesting the work will be good ... and it'll be done right by Rich.

Bottom line for Pauly here ... people love Richard, and they also love him -- and he says folks are itching to see both of them make a comeback in a big way.

His question is ... what's wrong with giving the people what they want?!?

Pole vaulter Shawn Barber -- a 3x NCAA champion who also competed in the Olympics -- died on Wednesday. He was only 29 years old.

Barber's agent Paul Doyle made the devastating announcement earlier today on social media, calling Barber "a friend that will never be forgotten."

The cause of death is unknown but reports indicate Barber was dealing with health issues.

Barber, while at the University of Akron, won back-to-back NCAA indoor championships in 2014 and 2015, and the 2015 outdoor championship. Shawn also placed first in the 2015 World Championships in Beijing and the Pan American Games that same year.

He also set the Canadian indoor record with a vault of 6 meters in 2016 ... a record that still stands 'til this day.

Barber also in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro ... where he placed 10th in subpar weather conditions.

As news of his passing spread, fans and fellow competitors alike paid tribute to Barber, including star Olympic hurdler Lolo Jones who's heartbroken over the death.

"The last time I saw him was years ago in Poland. We all hung out after the race," Jones said on IG.

"Praying for his family right now."

A golf fan had to a get himself a new drink at a PGA Tour event on Thursday ... and it's all 'cause one of the pros hit his approach shot right into his cup.

The crazy moment happened just minutes ago out at The American Express tournament in La Quinta, Calif. ... when Adam Schenk was attempting to hit one of his first-round shots close to the green on the 16th hole.

The 31-year-old, however, pushed his ball to the right ... and when it came crashing down from the sky, it improbably landed in a spectator's beverage!!

The guy holding the cup was stunned ... but in perhaps even more shocking news, once Schenk fished the ball out of the dude's refreshment -- he birdied the hole!!

No word yet if Schenk replaced the fan's drink -- or if he gave him some cash to go grab another one.

1:44 PM PT -- Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ that Arnold Schwarzenegger's prized Audemars Piguet watch found a buyer at the auction today -- and the price it went for is pretty staggering.

We're told the timepiece ended up going for 270,000 euros ... which translates to about $293k in greenbacks. Remember, this thing was valued at around $100,000 or so -- and you gotta wonder if Arnold's escapade with it in Germany boosted its value among bidders.

They raised a total of 1.3 million euros at the fundraiser -- which is a record for the org!! This is especially big because the fundraisers in Europe don't generally raise as much as they do in the U.S.

In any case, it's all going toward a great cause ... the cash goes toward Arnold's Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative. You're welcome, Mother Earth!!!

Arnold Schwarzenegger's customs detention was a serious matter that held him in Germany -- but now that he's where he needs to be ... the dude's cracking jokes, kinky ones too!

The Terminator finally made it to his big auction in Austria Thursday -- where he took the stage at the famed Stanglwirt Resort ... where he was hosting a bidding war on behalf of his Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative, with that pricey watch being one of the items.

Check out this video, obtained by TMZ, where AS is intro'd and comes out to address everyone in the room. The dude dives right into what happened to him at the Munich airport.

He was in a real fun mood -- 'cause Arnold basically did a couple minutes of stand-up comedy here ... joking about the fact he'd been handcuffed the day prior, but noting it had nothing to do with the customs thing. Instead, he pins it on a hot night with his GF. 😅

Yep, he's in full dad-joke mode here ... and the hits just kept coming. Arnold went on to say that the guys in customs were actually looking for a 2nd watch in their search of his stuff -- but they never found it, and he suggests it's because he put it where the sun don't shine.

Arnie got some laughs, for sure ... and he was working the room like a seasoned comic. BTW, we're told this event was packed -- upwards of 350 people were there, and he ended up talking for a total of 8 minutes, not entirely about the Germany incident of course.

Unclear if Arnold ended up selling off the Audemars Piguet watch in question -- which, BTW, had a starting bid of 50,000 euros! -- but at least he rattled off some good one-liners.

Gotta love Arnold, man ... dude knows how to tell a good story.

An embarrassing playoff loss suddenly got easier to swallow for Dallas Cowboys star Jake Ferguson ... 'cause he just received an adorable birthday shout-out from his smokin' hot GF, Haley Cavinder!!

One half of the famous Cavinder twins dropped the happy b-day wishes to the tight end on her Instagram page Thursday morning ... sharing a collage of pics of her snuggled up with her man to celebrate his 25th trip around the sun.

"Ocho siete day," she wrote with a party emoji. "Twentyyyy five oldhead!"

Ferguson, of course, could use the TLC from Cavinder ... after all, while he did ball out against the Packers in a playoff game on Sunday, his Cowboys team got smacked, 48-32.

Cavinder, meanwhile, seems to have no problem sharing her love for the football player ... after they took their relationship public a few months ago, she's been nothing but a loyal GF.

The 23-year-old TCU women's basketball player -- who's sitting out this season after transferring from Miami -- was at most of his games .... rockin' his jersey number loudly and proudly.

Josh Giddey might be in the clear legally, but he is still under his employer's microscope -- the NBA's review into claims he had an improper relationship with a minor remains ongoing, TMZ Sports has learned.

Sources tell us nothing has changed as far as the Association is concerned ... despite Newport Beach PD recently closing its investigation without the 21-year-old Oklahoma City Thunder guard being charged.

As we previously reported, the Giddey case ended after officials found no corroborating evidence ... as the minor and her family declined to speak with officials.

"After a thorough and exhaustive examination, we have completed our investigation into information that was circulating on social media involving Josh Giddey," Newport Beach PD said in a statement.

"Our detectives have reviewed all of the available information and were unable to corroborate any criminal activity related to Mr. Giddey."

Adam Silver said in December the league would take a "backseat" while police conducted its investigation ... so with that being over, it sounds like the NBA is grabbing the wheel once again.

Giddey has not spoken on the scandal ... and has remained active for the Thunder throughout both investigations.

Warriors coach Dejan Milojević's tragic death has resulted in heartbreak throughout the NBA ... including Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic, who gave a touching tribute to his friend in Wednesday's postgame press conference.

The Serbian coach was visibly emotional when asked about the shocking news following the Raptors' 121-97 win over the Miami Heat ... a victory he dedicated to Dejan.

Rajakovic -- who became the Raptors HC last June -- explained he addressed the team prior to tipoff ... and shared a special message from the heart.

"I told my guys that I love them," the 44-year-old coach said, fighting back tears.

Rajakovic -- who had been close with Dejan for years -- revealed the opening play of the game had been designed by the late coach ... something he did on purpose.

"Opening play in the game was [an] ATO that Decky, my friend, I learned that play from him," Rajakovic said.

"That's what he brought to [the] NBA, that's what he brought to Golden State. I stole that play from him and that was our opening play tonight and we were able to score on that one."

Several NBA players and coaches also paid tribute to Milojević since his unexpected death ... including Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic and Boban Marjanovic, who is also from Serbia.

"You inspired me to be the best version of myself every day and your influence has changed my life," the Houston Rockets center said.

"Thank you for helping me accomplish my dreams! You’re one of the best coaches I was blessed to play for. I pray for your family and friends during this time as we will miss you greatly. God received an angel today. Forever in our hearts. 🙏"

Jennifer Hudson and Common have a strong bond between them ... they were holding hands and joined at the hip sitting courtside at a Lakers game.

The couple strolled hand in hand into Crypto Arena for Wednesday's matchup against the Dallas Mavericks, plopping down in their seats for a front-row experience ... and looking pretty fashionable.

J-Hud and Common's date night is proof they're still going strong as a pair ... they were smiling and chatting, and Jennifer even introduced Common to another couple sitting beside her.

LeBron James and the Lakers won in a blowout, 127-110, and Jennifer and Common hit the exits together before the final buzzer ... saying goodbye to some folks on their way out.

Jennifer and Common have been together for a while now, and this outing means they're showing no signs of slowing down. He's said they might make a record together eventually, but it's got to happen organically.

"Put some respect" on Mercy Miller's name ... Master P's high school hoops star son once again proved he's one of the best basketball players in the country after defeating the top-ranked squad in California!

Mercy's coach Matt Sargeant channeled Birdman after Notre Dame's big win over #1 Harvard-Westlake, glowingly speaking about his senior guard ... “Put some respect on that name!"

“That’s an All-American player. [Mercy's] will to win is an unparallel.”

Miller dropped 29 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the 59-54 win ... in front of a packed crowd that included Gonzaga HC Mark Few.

“I think this is definitely a statement game for our team just to show how good we are as a team and what we’re all about,” Mercy said after the game.

“We go in the gym and work hard every day so it’s definitely good to go out there and improve against one of the top teams in the country.”

Notre Dame improved to 21-0, and is 4-0 in league play.

Miller has been nearly unguardable this season. Mercy dropped 68 points during a game last month.

Just last weekend, MM scored 38, and grabbed 10 boards at ND's Senior Night at Crypto.com Arena.

The Warriors' home matchup against the Mavericks slated for Friday has been postponed ... with the NBA making the decision to move the game following Golden State assistant coach Dejan Milojević's tragic death.

The Association made the announcement just minutes ago ... saying the contest will be made up at a later date, and the Brooklyn Nets vs. Los Angeles Lakers game will air on ESPN instead.

The move is understandable -- the entire organization is grieving over the loss of Milojević ... with Golden State head coach Steve Kerr saying Wednesday it was "a shocking and tragic blow for everyone associated with the Warriors and an incredibly difficult time for his family, friends, and all of us who had the incredible pleasure to work with him."

As we previously reported, the team stated 46-year-old Milojević -- a former pro in Europe -- suffered a heart attack during dinner in Salt Lake City on Tuesday ... and he tragically passed away Wednesday morning.

The league also postponed the Warriors' game against the Utah Jazz, which was scheduled for Wednesday.

Another year, another huge price dip on Kim Zolciak and Kroy Biermann's Georgia mansion ... and still no serious takers as of now.

The estranged reality star couple have reduced the listing for their estate once again ... coming down from $5.5 million to $4.5 million -- about a month after they brought it down $500k from $6 million.

You know the drill by now ... the pair's got money issues -- with multiple financial lawsuits pending, and the IRS is coming after KZ and KB hard. Selling the house could be a saving grace for the couple ... however, they seem to be having trouble unloading it.

Keep in mind ... houses in the area were going for way less money than what they listed it for when they made the first price cut in December, and they can only hope this new price drop will entice a buyer to take it off their hands.

These financial struggles are causing a massive strain on their personal relationship too ... we broke the story, body cam footage from November showed a nasty fight between the couple in which Kroy blamed Kim for their financial struggles while also accusing her of "f***ing other men."

They've since calmed down enough to continue living in their shared space (unclear if they're still hooking up like they were right after Kroy filed for divorce for the second time) ... and KZ even made sure their kids got Christmas gifts despite their financial woes.

Kim & Kroy bought their mansion back in 2012 for the bargain price of $880k, so even $4.5 mil would be an impressive ROI for them ... but they really gotta sell quick because Truist Bank says they defaulted on their mortgage -- adding the bank is well within its rights to foreclose at any time.