TMZ Sports - Page 39

The death of John Wall's mother took a massive toll on him ... to the point the NBA star put a gun to his head twice, contemplating suicide.

The former Wizards guard made the shocking revelation on "The OGs" podcast with ex-NBA stars Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller ... saying he struggled badly when his mom died of breast cancer in 2019.

"My mom was my best friend," the 33-year-old said.

"I put a gun to my head twice and a lot of people that are close to me, friends at the time didn't know."

Wall explains dealing with his mom's death was his "darkest moment," combined with a litany of injuries after signing a $170 million contract extension with the Wizards.

But, Wall chose not to pull the trigger ... 'cause he couldn't bear the thought of leaving his two sons behind.

"If I take myself away from this Earth, I'm failing my kids, like, who gon' be able to raise them," Wall said.

"I know I gotta be there for them."

Instead, the 5x NBA All-Star went to see a therapist -- which he continues to do -- and now he's advising other men who are struggling with mental health to do the same.

"If you ever feel like you in a spot where you not comfortable as a Black man, African American, or any race, no offense to that, go get help. It's okay, there's nothing wrong with that," Wall said.

"I had to figure that out or I wouldn't be here today."

Wall was the first overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft and has spent time starring for the Wizards, Rockets, and Clippers. He averaged 18.7 points and 8.9 assists during his 11 seasons.

Travis Kelce took a break from Taylor Swift Wednesday night, getting his groove on at Justin Timberlake's concert in Los Angeles -- where he saw a special performance by *NSYNC.

The Kansas City Chiefs star tight end popped in for the show and saw the pop group's first live performance since the 2013 VMAs.

Alongside Justin, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick and Lance Bass showed off their many dance moves to all the screaming girls in the Wiltern theater audience.

Turns out Travis is a huge fan too -- it IS his era, after all. Check out this video posted by a music producer on IG showing Travis staring at the stage, looking pretty captivated by the surprise *NYSYNC reunion.

Travis got to enjoy the singers performing some of their biggest hits like "Bye Bye Bye" and "It's Gonna Be Me," as well as a new song, "Paradise."

Sources with knowledge tell us Travis greeted the guys in a hallway backstage after the performance.

Travis was seen leaving the Wiltern in the passenger seat of a vehicle, probably to go see his famous girlfriend at her ritzy abode.

Taylor has been taking some time off from her international "Eras" tour after her recent performances in Singapore, where Travis was right beside her.

The lovebirds then jetted back to stateside to attend Madonna's Oscars after-party in the Hollywood Hills last Sunday. While both have stayed in L.A., they haven't been seen out much with each other in the last few days.

Floyd Mayweather sent thousands of pounds of supplies to Israel in October, and now the boxing legend has delivered himself ... touching down in Tel Aviv, and lifting the spirits of soldiers, rescue workers, and civilians.

Since the October 7 Hamas attack, you'd be hard-pressed to find a celebrity more outwardly supportive of the Israeli cause than the 50-0 fighter ... but Floyd wanted to do more, so he hopped on his private jet and flew to Israel, where he recently touched down in Tel Aviv.

Mayweather has been all over the place, including a stop at an Israel Defense Forces base where we're told he hosted a BBQ for the military!

Of course, Floyd's one of the greatest boxers ever ... and since the IDF base had a boxing ring, Mayweather sparred with some of the IDF. No word if he took his first L.

Floyd also made a stop at the headquarters of United Hatzalah, an ambulatory service, in Jerusalem ... in addition to the Magen David Adom blood bank.

Mayweather, who is in Israel with friends Jona Rechnitz and Avi Hiaeve (of Avi & Co.), spent time at the Western Wall, a holy site ... where we're told he prayed for peace.

Floyd was gifted a custom blinged-out TMT kippah from Rabbi Steven Burg, in addition to an awesome Star of David necklace pendant from the jewelers at Diamond Club Miami.

Last but not least, Mayweather received a one-of-a-kind painting as well ... which was presented to him, from Israeli musician Osher Cohen.

UFC star Marlon "Chito" Vera says his personal belongings were jacked from his home while he was in Miami for his title fight against Sean O'Malley ... and now he's on the hunt for the people responsible.

The Ecuadorian fighter went all five rounds with Suga at the Keseya Center on Saturday ... ultimately losing via unanimous decision.

But, it isn't the L in the Octagon that's got him pissed now ... 'cause he shared an image of his home forcefully broken into -- and he's vowing to find the culprits.

Vera provided more information on the matter on Wednesday ... saying he's working with authorities in hopes of getting to the bottom of it.

"Came back home to fill police reports and try to get all my legal documents & watches inside the safe that some piece of s*** stole from my house," Vera said. "First stop Italian consulate thanks for take care of us."

Despite the crappy situation, Vera added he knows everything will be okay ... and proceeded to send a message to his opponent.

"Who braid your hair @SugaSeanMMA you where grease to the bone I wonder how much gel they use ?" ... to which Sean replied, "Send pic of your face."

Sean did feel bad for Vera's home situation, though ... commenting his disapproval after the news broke.

Aaron Rodgers' VP bid won't last long, but the Democratic party's still taking him plenty seriously ... at least, according to some high-ranking party members.

Top officials of the Democratic National Committee tell TMZ ... they're not taking any chances with Rodgers, even though they're expecting his VP candidacy to last as long as his first season with the New York Jets.

Basically, sources at the DNC tell us they're not writing off Rodgers or any other celebrity candidate no matter what they may think of them ... just look what happened with Trump.

DNC members acknowledge third-party candidates can easily play spoiler in a close election ... so all the more reason to face Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and possibly Rodgers head-on.

Moving forward, we're told Democrats will be looking through old Rodgers interviews and dredging up the skeletons in the QB's locker. Essentially, they're welcoming AR to a whole new kind of gridiron ... one where Rodgers isn't likely to get an unnecessary roughness call in his favor.

As for how they feel about Kennedy and Rodgers teaming up ... our sources tell us it makes a lot of sense -- since they're both "self-important blowhards," as it was put to us. Sounds like the attack ads are already writing themselves!

Of course, RFK Jr. hasn't officially named Aaron Rodgers yet ... though he is at the top of the presidential hopeful's short list which also reportedly features WWE star Jesse Ventura, Rand Paul and Tulsi Gabbard.

Three men are facing federal gun charges in connection with the Chiefs Super Bowl parade shooting after the U.S. Attorney in Missouri says the investigation turned up an illegal gun operation.

The defendants, 22-year-old Fedo Manning, 21-year-old Ronnel Williams Jr., and 19-year-old Chaelyn Groves are not accused of opening fire at the parade ... but instead, prosecutors believe they were part of "illegal firearms trafficking and straw purchases of firearms."

During their investigation into the shooting, police recovered multiple firearms at the scene ... at least two of which they were able to trace back to the alleged illegal gun ring.

One of the weapons, an Anderson Manufacturing AM-15 .223-caliber pistol, was allegedly bought by Manning from a gun store in 2022. He's accused of illegally trafficking dozens of guns.

The second weapon was a Stag Arms 300-caliber pistol was allegedly purchased by Williams for Groves at a gun show in 2023 ... as the latter was too young at the time.

In total, Manning is facing 12 federal charges, while Williams Jr. and Groves were both hit with 4 charges.

None of the men are charged with shooting anyone ... though officials aren't ruling out the possibility that the illegal guns were fired.

In fact, according to court docs, 12 people brandished firearms, and at least 6 fired their weapons during the parade.

"Stopping straw buyers and preventing illegal firearms trafficking is our first line of defense against gun violence," U.S. Attorney Teresa Moore said.

"At least two of the firearms recovered from the scene of the mass shooting at Union Station were illegally purchased or trafficked. We work diligently with our law enforcement partners to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals by investigating and prosecuting those who illegally buy and sell dangerous weapons."

FYI, a straw gun sale is when someone purchases a weapon for another individual.

Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Zay Jones is off the hook in his domestic battery case -- the charge he was facing was dropped a day before he was scheduled to be arraigned, TMZ Sports has confirmed.

According to a disposition notice from the Florida Assistant State Attorney filed on Tuesday ... prosecutors declined to move forward against Jones after reviewing evidence from the alleged incident back on November 13.

As we previously reported, cops said Jones -- a 2nd round pick out of the 2017 NFL Draft -- and the mother of his child got into a heated argument that turned physical at a Jacksonville condo/apartment after she allegedly told him she was taking their child to Orlando.

Cops said in the report that they "observed several small scratches on the victim's neck, consistent with marks from a fingernail" ... and Jones was arrested for first-degree domestic battery causing bodily harm.

The team had no comment on the situation at the time.

Jones played college football at East Carolina, where he broke several school records including receptions in a game (22) ... and has suited up for the Bills, Raiders and Jags.

Forget luxury cars and diamonds ... Landon Dickerson's headed to Home Depot to cop a new lawn mower after inking a historic extension with the Philadelphia Eagles this week!

The 25-year-old was asked by reporters on Tuesday what he planned to buy with his fat new 4-year/$84 million contract extension, making him the highest-paid guard in NFL history.

His answer ... was unexpected.

"I may go get a new lawn mower," Dickerson said at his press conference on Tuesday. "It's something I've been looking into."

Landon even has his eye on a particular riding mower, a Zero Turn model, which start at over $2k!

With that new deal, get a few!

Jokes aside, it's clear the stud OL is just happy to remain in the City of Brotherly Love.

Landon's also excited to block for Saquon Barkley, the former NY Giants running back who jumped ship for the NFC East rival this week.

"Bringing in a guy like Saquon I think, for us, is adding to the amount of talent that we have and I'm really excited to see what he does," the 2x Pro Bowler said.

The 6-foot-6 athlete -- who played for Florida State and Alabama -- was drafted by the Eagles in the 2nd round of the 2021 draft and has been as dominant as any guard in the NFL over the last two seasons!

Dickerson also shared an aerial shot of his yard ... and it's safe to say the riding mower is a solid investment, 'cause that's a TON of grass.

Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal are moving their heated rivalry from the Octagon to the ring -- the two MMA superstars just announced they're going to duke it out once again ... this time, in a 10-round professional boxing match.

The light heavyweight fight is being dubbed "Last Man Standing" ... and will settle the score after their first fight -- for the UFC's inaugural BMF belt -- ended in controversy.

Of course, Masvidal won by TKO at UFC 244 back in 2019 ... after refs stopped the fight due to a nasty cut above Diaz's eyebrow.

A lot of fight fans felt it wasn't the right call ... so now, Diaz and Masvidal hope to give viewers the whole package.

Gamebred spoke about the fight ... and he had some harsh words for his opponent, saying, "Nate's a dead man walking."

"I can’t wait to prove that last time was no fluke. He got saved by the referee. Now we are boxing, which he says is his forte, but he’s got no shot at beating me. I’m not going to give him an inch in that ring to even breathe. If he thought our MMA match was bad, this is going to be much worse. I’m going to drown him. I want to put away any talk that him and I are the same, or that the referee saved the day."

The big event is slated to go down at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles on June 1 ... and will be put on by both fighters' promotions.

MLB star Aroldis Chapman is apparently quite the mama's boy ... 'cause the Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher shared a bizarre video of himself grabbing an older lady's boobs this week -- and many believe it is his very own mother.

The two-time World Series champion posted the disturbing clip to his Instagram story ... showing him cozying up on a couch with a woman who resembles his mom, Maria Caridad De La Cruz.

Chapman -- who's grinning from ear to ear -- is super handsy throughout the vid ... squeezing both boobs as the woman pats his back.

At one point, the woman seemingly tries to get the Cuban Missile to move his hand ... but the groping continues.

Naturally, Chapman -- who signed a one-year, $10.5 million deal with the Pirates in January -- started trending on X shortly after the video surfaced ... with a lot of folks sharing their horror.

Mark Coleman's heroic actions are coming to light in the wake of the terrible blaze that burned down his home, severely injuring the UFC legend, and tragically taking the life of his family pup, Hammer.

As we previously reported, 59-year-old Coleman is currently in a hospital in Ohio where he's fighting for his life as a result of injuries sustained in the fire ... and now we're learning more about what Coleman did early Tuesday morning.

Coleman, who was visiting his parents at his childhood home, was woken up around 4 AM by his rottweiler Hammer as the fire began to burn, according to his daughter Morgan.

Mark sprung into action, immediately rushing to Mom and Dad, and escorting them to safety. They were unharmed.

Knowing Hammer was still inside, Coleman rushed back into the burning house in an attempt to save his beloved dog, risking his own life.

Tragically, Hammer didn't survive ... and the home was totally lost.

Mark's daughter confirms he was airlifted to a local hospital where he is receiving around-the-clock treatment.

MC's friend, Wes Sims, provided a bit of a medical update late last night, saying Mark "made movements" at the hospital ... though it's clear he'll have a long road to recovery, and it won't be cheap.

Mark's daughter even started a GoFundMe on Wednesday to raise money for expenses related to her dad's care ... with a goal of raising $50k.

Travis Kelce isn't sick of Taylor Swift concerts just yet -- the Kansas City Chiefs superstar raved about his girlfriend's latest tour dates in Singapore ... saying it was an "amazing" experience.

The Super Bowl champion -- who was spotted at two of Swift's six sold-out shows in Asia last week -- praised Tay's performance on his "New Heights" podcast with his brother, Jason ... and even though he's seen the same setlist several times, he clearly can't get enough.

Kelce's comments are no surprise -- after all, the guy danced like no one was watching during his appearances ... and the Swifties made sure to show him some serious love as well.

Kelce also gushed over a "cool as f***" greenhouse he visited during his trip ... and it turns out he's not just a zoo dude, he is also a big fan of plants.

Of course, the Traylor romance all came to be after Travis hit up Taylor's show at Arrowhead Stadium back in July ... and the two have written quite the love story ever since.

A California yacht owner's vicious beef with a dock worker has reached death-threat levels -- and their exchange was caught on camera and included a nude, and very rude, gesture!

Check out the clip ... it all unfolds when San Diego entrepreneur Ajay Thakore swings by the swanky Marriott Marquis Marina in his rare $4.5M Tecnomar for Lamborghini 63 yacht to pick up one of his employees -- but things boil over when dock worker Joseph Holt tells him he can't be there.

Thakore, the CEO of medical advertising firm Doctor Multimedia, flips out on Holt big time ... and starts spewing threats like, "I will kill you, you know I will kill you, I will kill."

And it doesn't stop there -- as Thakore's pulling out of the harbor, he drops trou to make a full frontal salute in Holt's direction. Stay classy, San Diego!

Holt's only retaliation was flipping the bird, and he later told CBS8 that was all he could do to keep his cool and avoid escalating the situation.

Holt says parts of the altercation were not captured on camera, and he adds ... Thakore not only threatened to kill him, but also claimed to have connections who could totally mess up his life.

Holt also says Thakore pulled out $100 bills and tossed them at him, even chucking some in the water.

BTW, Thakore's done some backpedaling since the ugly exchange -- he now says, "The interaction that occurred yesterday was regrettable. What started as a minor misunderstanding escalated into an argument, and I apologize for my actions and to those who witnessed the unfortunate exchange."

FWIW ... One of Thakore’s employees claims the whole thing began because other dock workers blocked him from boarding the yacht.

Single ladies, Ryan Garcia is looking for you!

The boxing star posted a casting call video of sorts, making it clear he is on the lookout for a partner to hold him down ... this a few months after he filed for divorce from his ex.

The 24-1 super lightweight boxer, posing shirtless, announced on Instagram he was accepting applications ... with a caption claiming he's seriously looking for a loyal lady to hold him down.

"Someone who is going to be my ride or live cause we ain't dying," the 25-year-old said.

"I'm DEAD SERIOUS QUEEN WHERE YOU AT?!"

Garcia continued his pitch, explaining he needs a woman's support.

"Right now, I do need a Queen," Ryan said, "I need a friend first, to be honest. I need someone I can trust and rock with me in any situation."

We're guessing the young, talented, handsome, and wealthy Garcia won't have problems finding a girlfriend.

Of course, Ryan was previously married to Drea Celina for nearly three years ... until they split in December 2023.

Bronny James and Isaiah Collier are making their case for teammates of the year ... 'cause the two USC hoopers just hooked the whole Trojans squad up with some custom Beats headphones!!

James and Collier revealed the nice gesture ahead of the Pac-12 Tournament ... with the Lakers superstar's son explaining they wanted to show appreciation for all the support they've gotten this season.

The team clearly loved the presents ... with everyone freaking out over the Trojan-themed colorway.

Worth noting -- Bronny and Zay have NIL deals with the brand, so we take it they didn't have to open up their wallets ... but it's a dope move nonetheless.

It wasn't the greatest season for the Trojans -- they're currently 14-17 -- but perhaps James and Collier's gesture will help turn things around.

James is currently averaging 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 23 appearances this season ... while Collier is putting up 16.6 points, 2.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists a contest.

You better not blink if Mike Tyson connects during his bout with Jake Paul ... 'cause Chuck Liddell tells TMZ Sports a KO is guaranteed if an Iron Mike haymaker lands.

"As soon as Tyson hits him," the UFC legend said of the upcoming boxing match, "it's over."

Liddell didn't mince any words when giving his thoughts on the superfight out at LAX this month ... saying he believes even at 57 years old, Tyson's got to be the favorite.

As for why, the Iceman made it clear he's still a huge believer in the former heavyweight champ's hands.

"The last thing to go is power," Liddell said. "Last thing to go is power."

"If he hits him, it's over."

Most betting websites feel differently -- Paul is the favorite on the majority of them. After all, he is only 27 years old and 9-1 in his career -- and he's coming off two easy victories.

But, listen to Liddell ... he seems to think there's just no chance.

"If you've seen Mike," he said, "he still hits."

As for any advice he's got for Paul ... Chuck made it short and sweet -- "Keep covered up, man."