TMZ Sports - Page 24

It's been nearly three years since Floyd Mayweather threatened to "kill" Jake Paul ... but Logan Paul says his little brother is still taking the remark seriously, employing 24-hour security to this day.

Logan first explained to TMZ Sports back in 2021 that he and Jake were afraid Mayweather was being for real when he exclaimed "I'll kill you motherf***er" to the younger Paul following their now-famous "gotcha hat" encounter in Miami.

In a recent interview with Graham Bensinger, Logan said his brother is still so concerned over the words ... he's making sure a guard watches his back at all times.

"Jake has not been without a security guard since that moment," Logan said in a sitdown chat with Bensinger.

Logan said his brother's main worry was all the connections Floyd has in Miami ... alleging, "He's got goons who kill a man for $200."

The two didn't have any real issues, however, in the wake of the '21 incident -- at least, that was the case until 2023 ... when they both attended a Heat game in Miami.

You'll recall, Mayweather confronted Jake outside the arena following the tilt ... forcing the social media star to seek protection from cops.

Since then, it's been quiet ... although according to Logan, Jake's not taking any chances.

Logan also talked to Bensinger about potentially fighting Floyd again -- saying TBE actually offered him a rematch of their '21 bout in 2022 on short notice. But Logan said he didn't take it, knowing he'd need more time to prep.

12:14 PM -- LeBron James was clearly watching every second of the first-round matchup ... 'cause the Lakers superstar was quick to congratulate his former coach on the 71-67 upset win over BYU.

"YEAAAAHHHH @DruOnDemand LFG!!!! Go Dukes @DuqMBB," Bron said on Thursday.

As the saying goes ... it's gotta be the shoes!!

The Duquesne basketball team got a sweet surprise before their first-round game in the NCAA Tournament ... brand new LeBron James XXI kicks -- from the King himself!

The Lakers superstar had the white and light blue sneakers delivered to the 11th-seeded team this week before Thursday's game against 6th-seeded BYU ... in the tourney's East Region.

The players were HYPED when they saw the new shoes ... and were super appreciative of the gift.

FYI, the LeBron 21s "Blue Diver" dropped this month ... with Air Zoom cushioning and a glow-in-the-dark outsole. The shoe was modeled after an Oyster shell.

There's a deeper meaning ... and it's a tribute to Bron's daughter, Zhuri, and how the proud dad protects his daughter just as a shell shelters a pearl.

You're probably asking, why Duquesne? Well, James' former high school basketball coach is their current HC ... Keith Dambrot, who has been the coach of the Dukes since 2017.

The special delivery comes on the heels of Duquesne's biggest basketball game in decades ... they haven't been in the NCAA tourney in 47 years, and last made a trip to the Final 4 in 1940, 84 years ago.

Conor McGregor got fully naked for his role in the new "Road House" movie ... and we can't even front -- the dude has a nice ass.

The UFC superstar's cheeks make a brief cameo in the new Prime Video project that dropped on Thursday ... when at one point, Conor shows up wearing nothing but a smile on his face.

We're not going to reveal any spoilers -- the flick literally just dropped -- but considering Conor has talked about the nude scene in the promo tour leading up to the release, it's fair game to talk about the dude's peach.

It's pretty funny -- Conor previously stated he had no idea his "Knox" character would be shown in the buff ... but his dedication to the role kept him from turning down the opportunity to lay it all on the line.

Of course, "Road House" is a re-imagining of the 1989 cult classic ... and the late Patrick Swayze also shows off his tush in the original, too -- so apparently it's become quite the tradition for dudes to show skin in these flicks.

There's been a ton of hype around the Jake Gyllenhaal-led movie -- not only does Conor have a big role, but Post Malone also shows off his acting chops as well.

Metta World Peace says St. John's was snubbed by the NCAA Tourney committee, but he isn't trippin' ... 'cause the former Red Storm star says the squad will be dancing next season!

TMZ Sports talked to the Queens-born, ex-SJU and NBA star after St. John's was left out of the 68-team field, despite finishing with a 20-13 (11-9 in the Big East) record. St. Johns won 6 of their last 7, with the one loss coming to UCONN, the number 1 overall seed.

Still, the Big East, one of the most talented and competitive conferences in the sport, was disrespected ... only receiving 3 bids, while SJU and Seton Hall were shafted.

"Rick Pitino is getting it going back in the right direction," Metta told us earlier this week. "It was unfortunate, but I think next year, they'll go to the NCAA tournament."

Of course, if anyone can do it, it's Pitino. The legendary coach, who just finished his first season in Queens, has been to seven Final Fours ... and won two NCAA titles. He has over 850 collegiate wins. Rick's also spent time in the NBA, with coaching the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics.

Speaking of coaching, Metta -- who played at St. John's from 1997 to 1999 -- is no stranger to the sidelines himself. MWP has served as an assistant for Cal State L.A.'s women's basketball team.

Planet Fitness seems to be going through the exact same thing Bud Light did last year -- and yes, it's once again all about a transgender person ... who's got a certain group fired up.

You've probably heard about this by now ... a woman in Alaska posted a photo of a trans woman in the women's locker room at her Fairbanks location -- accusing the company of allowing men in a space that she thinks should be exclusive to cisgender women.

The original pic appeared to show the trans woman in question shaving over a sink in the locker room, and the lady who took it ranted and raved on a video that went viral afterward.

In the aftermath ... her local Planet Fitness reportedly revoked her membership, and let the unidentified trans woman stick around -- who has continued using the locker room. Planet Fitness has also explicitly defended the transgender member, saying their policy allows people with certain gender identities to use the locker rooms that they see fit.

With that said, they also say people can't act in bad faith on this ... or they'll get booted.

Now, more photos of this trans woman have been taken and circulated in the days since all this first kicked off ... and as you can imagine, it's drummed up a lot of outraged reactions.

Specifically, a lot of folks on the right have been blowing this story up over the past week or so -- and they've been calling on people to cancel their Planet Fitness memberships nationwide ... and on its face, it would appear a good handful of members are doing so.

The reason that seems apparent ... PF's stock price has taken a somewhat big hit, and their market value has also plummeted -- with the stock going from $66 to about $56 over the course of 12 days or so, the amount of time that's passed since this firestorm has taken off.

As a result of the stock dip, their market cap has also fallen around $400 million -- going from about $5.3 billion to about $4.9 bil over the course of 5 days, starting last week.

A.J. Hoggard's NCAA tournament run didn't get off to the best start -- the dude accidentally played the first few minutes of Michigan State's game Thursday with his shorts on backward!!!

Eagle-eyed fans noticed the wardrobe mishap just seconds into the Spartans' tourney-opening game against Mississippi State ... pointing out that his uniform certainly looked different from his teammates'.

You can see in images from the game's broadcast, while every other MSU player on the floor had a Spartan on the left side of their leg and a design on the right ... but Hoggard's were flipped.

Thankfully, it seems somebody informed the senior of the issue after just a few minutes on the court ... because following a break in the action, the direction of his shorts suddenly changed.

Doesn't seem it had any effect on his game, though ... the point guard balled out in the first half, piling up five points, two rebounds and five assists -- as MSU leads Mississippi St., 31-24, at the break.

L.A. Lakers big man Christian Wood's ex, Yasmine Lopez, is opening up on the wild allegations made against her in court documents ... owning up to keying a car and hopping his fence -- but claiming she's seeking help following the incidents.

TMZ Sports broke the story -- Wood accused Lopez of wreaking havoc on his personal life ... abusing and stalking him, damaging his property (including two luxury vehicles) on multiple occasions, and keeping their child from him.

Lopez weighed in on the recent events during an Instagram livestream ... and she expressed her regret with how their business has been thrown into the spotlight.

The influencer and model seemingly defended her actions while speaking with her followers on Wednesday ... saying, "I wouldn't be hopping nobody's fence for no f***ing reason, but I don't condone violence. I don't."

She also claimed the car she wrecked did not belong to Wood, but rather his new girl's vehicle -- regardless, she did go to jail over the February incident.

Lopez revealed she is taking the proper measures in hopes of preventing issues in the future ... including therapy.

"I'm working on myself to become a better woman, a better mom, just all around," she added. "I don't have time for the bulls***."

"The s*** I tolerated in the past, I'll never tolerate again."

Shakira's all about that single life ... straight-up saying being married weighed her down, and put a damper on her music career.

The Colombian singer was with soccer player Gerard Piqué for 11 years before they separated in 2022 amid infidelity rumors ... and she told Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1 that with Gerard outta the picture, she's now got a compulsive urge to work and make music like never before.

Shakira's singledom ain't all sunshine and rainbows though ... she's also keeping it real about the challenges of being a single parent to her sons, 11-year-old Milan and 9-year-old Sasha.

The "Hips Don't Lie" queen, who made the move from Spain to the U.S. post-split, dishes that her 2 kiddos are leaning on her big time ... and with no hubby in the picture, she's holding down the fort all by herself.

This ain't the first time Shakira's gently lashed out about how Gerard negatively impacted her career -- she also told the Sunday Times she sacrificed her music-making journey in the name of love.

But, Shakira's back in action ... after 7 long years, she's dropping her much-awaited studio album, "Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran" (Women Don't Cry Anymore), this Friday!

Fernando Tatis Jr. had some solid pump-up music as he prepared for his game against the Dodgers on Thursday ... casually stretching just feet away from K-pop group (G)I-dle's pregame show!!

The San Diego Padres superstar was spotted limbering up prior to Game 2 of the MLB Seoul Series at Gocheok Sky Dome ... and just like the day prior with aespa, the host city booked a big-name act to get the crowd ready for the contest.

Soyeon, Minnie, Miyeon, Yuqi and Shuhua made their way onto the field to belt out some tunes prior to the Dodgers vs. Padres game ... doing renditions of "Super Lady," "Tomboy" and "Queencard."

Tatis Jr. had the best seat in the house for the 10-minute set ... and he didn't seem to mind one bit that there was a full-blown concert going on right in front of him.

Perhaps the music helped ... 'cause FTJ had a much better outing on Thursday ... going 2-4 with two runs and an RBI.

As for (G)I-dle, it also marked the first time since member Shuhua rejoined the group after a month-long hiatus to focus on her health ... so it was quite the special day for Neverland all around.

Tennis star Aryna Sabalenka is breaking her silence on Konstantin Koltsov's passing ... calling it "an unthinkable tragedy" -- while confirming the two had split prior to his death.

Sabalenka -- who dated the former NHL player from 2021 until recently -- penned a heartfelt message on her Instagram page Wednesday evening ... two days after Koltsov had died in Miami.

"Konstantin's death is an unthinkable tragedy," she wrote, "and while we were no longer together, my heart is broken."

"Please respect my privacy and his family's privacy during this difficult time."

It's unclear when Sabalenka and Koltsov officially called things off ... but she had just posted a collage of photos and videos of them together for his birthday last April.

Sabalenka is still expected to compete in this weekend's Miami Open in the wake of the tragedy, although she reportedly will not speak to media members throughout the event. She's slated to play her first match at the tournament on Friday.

As we reported, Koltsov -- an ex-Pittsburgh Penguins first-round pick -- was found dead at around 12:39 AM on Monday at the St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort. Cops suspect he died by suicide ... saying in a statement that no foul play was apparent.

Shohei Ohtani has a new righthand man in Korea ... the Dodgers have appointed Will Ireton to be his interpreter -- this less than 24 hours after Ippei Mizuhara was canned due to his alleged role in a gambling scandal.

L.A. manager Dave Roberts refused to comment on the entire Mizuhara saga in a pregame meeting with reporters Thursday ... but he did confirm Ireton -- the team's manager of performance operations who previously helped Kenta Maeda with communicating -- will fill in for Ohtani's former translator for the time being.

Roberts also said Ireton would handle interpreting duties for Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

And, it didn't take long for Ireton to make his impact felt during the Dodgers' second game of the season against the Padres in Seoul. As Yamamoto struggled in his debut versus San Diego, it was Ireton who hit the mound to help relay coaches' words.

Ireton was also seen standing close by to Ohtani in the dugout throughout the game.

So far, Ohtani's looked solid despite all of the distractions surrounding him, he's currently 1-for-4 with a run and an RBI -- and he just nearly missed hitting a home run in the seventh inning.

As we previously reported, Mizuhara -- who had just worked as Ohtani's translator during the season-opener against the Pads on Wednesday -- was fired in the hours following Game 1 after Ohtani's attorneys accused him of stealing money from the two-way star in order to place bets with an alleged illegal bookmaker.

Roberts told media members he "can't say anything" regarding the matter ... but he did tell journalists Ohtani was "ready" for game action in spite of the outside noise.

L.A. is currently down 12-9.

Conor McGregor tells TMZ Sports his role in the new "Road House" reboot will be far from his last appearance on the silver screen ... saying this week he's got a whole lot more irons in the cinema fire.

The UFC superstar made no bones about it when we asked him about his acting future while he was out in NYC promoting the new Jake Gyllenhaal flick ... telling us "of course" he's planning to keep pursuing the new career.

It's unclear exactly what's coming next for the 35-year-old fighter ... but when we asked if he had any more roles lined up at the moment -- he said straight up, "For sure, for sure!"

"Oh, yes!" he added.

As for how job No. 1 in the new industry went for The Notorious, so far, it seems so good. Early reviews for the "Road House" reimagining are positive ... and the clips we've gotten to see so far show McGregor certainly knows how to kick ass on command on cam.

Of course, McGregor's still keeping up with his day job despite the foray into Hollywood ... he's been training hard for a future bout with Michael Chandler.

We're almost at the finish line of the week here at TMZ, but we're still chugging along on TV.

Let's start out on "TMZ Live," where Harvey and Charles talked about the latest development in Kate-Gate -- namely, a hospital staffer allegedly trying to access her medical records from when she was being treated at the London Clinic this year ... a major security breach, if true.

Next up, we have "TMZ on TV" ... where the gang discussed Megan Fox's new interview on "Call Her Daddy," with her addressing where things stand with Machine Gun Kelly.

Finally on "TMZ Sports" ... Babcock and Mojo talked about Larsa Pippen and Marcus Jordan.

Check your local listings for when TMZ is on in your area or catch up on past episodes!

3/21, 7:10 AM -- Ippei Mizuhara told ESPN that Ohtani knew of his gambling debts and agreed to pay them off in exchange for a promise -- the interpreter would never gamble again.

"Obviously, [Ohtani] wasn't happy about it and said he would help me out to make sure I never do this again," Ippei initially said, adding, "He decided to pay it off for me.

But, Mizuhara then seemingly changed his story, saying, "I want everyone to know Shohei had zero involvement in betting. I want people to know I did not know this was illegal. I learned my lesson the hard way. I will never do sports betting ever again."

Ippei Mizuhara -- the Japanese interpreter who's been Shohei Ohtani's righthand man for nearly a decade -- has been fired by the Dodgers ... after Ohtani's attorneys claim he engaged in a "massive theft" of the two-way star's fortune.

The lawyers -- from the LA-based law firm Berk Brettler -- said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times they uncovered the alleged stealing after Ohtani's name had surfaced in a federal investigation of an alleged illegal bookmaker, Mathew Bowyer.

According to The Times, Mizuhara was accused of taking some of Ohtani's funds and using them to place bets with Bowyer. Ohtani's attorneys told the outlet they're now going to cops to have them investigate their findings further.

"In the course of responding to recent media inquiries," the lawyers said, "we discovered that Shohei has been the victim of a massive theft and we are turning the matter over to the authorities."

The Dodgers confirmed Wednesday afternoon they let go of Mizuhara following the claims. No further comment from the team was added.

Mizuhara and Ohtani just joined the Dodgers this season ... after the two-time MVP signed with them in free agency on a 10-year, $700 million deal.

Prior to putting on Dodger Blue, the duo worked together throughout Ohtani's six historic seasons as an L.A. Angel.

Story developing ...

Aaron Rodgers almost scored the coveted position of "Jeopardy!" host in the aftermath of Alex Trebek's death ... so says the show's former producer and one-time host.

Mike Richards -- who infamously lost the "Jeopardy!" hosting gig after one day due to old controversial comments he'd made -- told People that the NFL star was a frontrunner for the job after impressing as a guest host on the trivia show.

As Mike puts it ... Aaron was the most prepared guest host -- which is saying something since he guest hosted alongside TV pros like Anderson Cooper, Bill Whitaker, Savannah Guthrie, George Stephanopoulos, LeVar Burton, and Robin Roberts, among other notable names.

But, according to MR, Aaron prepped for the show very intensely and was still lovely to everyone on the staff. So, the professional quarterback was seriously considered to replace Alex -- and he was apparently interested, too.

When asked how he would juggle both hosting duties and football, Aaron supposedly told Mike that the "Jeopardy!" team would figure it out.

Alas, the job ultimately went to Mike ... who was eventually replaced by famed "Jeopardy!" champ Ken Jennings and actress Mayim Bialik after his swift firing. A less surprising contender was Katie Couric, who Mike says brought a different look to the quiz show.

On the issue of his infamous exit from the show ... Mike notes that a lot of half-truths led to his exile from the entertainment industry. For starters, he defends that he did not pick himself for the highly sought-after gig -- a panel selected him for the role in 2021.

The Detroit Pistons will be without Ausar Thompson for the rest of the season ... after it was revealed the rookie guard is receiving treatment for blood clot issues.

The Pistons announced the unfortunate news ahead of their game against the Pacers on Wednesday ... saying Thompson will not play tonight or the last 13 games of the regular season due to the medical situation.

The good news?? The 6'6" athlete is expected to recover and return in time for next season.

Detroit released a statement on Thompson's status ... saying, "Under the guidance of Pistons team physician Dr. Ramsey Shehab of Henry Ford Health, Thompson has been cleared to resume conditioning and will begin non-contact basketball activities at the conclusion of the regular season with a gradual ramp up over the summer months in preparation for a full return next season."

Thompson last played on March 9th ... scoring 4 points in the Pistons' 124-142 loss to the Mavericks.

In 63 games this season, the former No. 5 overall pick averaged 8.8 points and 6.4 rebounds. He also became the youngest player (20) to earn at least 5 blocks in their first NBA game.

The Pistons also announced Isaiah Stewart is also out for the season with a right hamstring strain he suffered during Monday's game.