TMZ Sports - Page 45

Trevor Etienne -- the college football star and brother to Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne -- has been arrested for DUI ... TMZ has confirmed.

A representative with the Athens-Clarke County jail tells TMZ ... Trevor was booked at 4:35 AM ET on a DUI charge.

He was also charged with reckless driving, failure to maintain lane/improper driving on the road, and affixing materials that reduce visibility of windows/windshield.

Mike Perry's the face of BKFC ... so, we asked Platinum, what's your dream bare-knuckle fight?!

His answer ... "Jake Paul!"

32-year-old Perry sat down with Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weeknights on FS1) from the TMZ office this week when we asked him who resided at the top of his hit list.

"Jake Paul, man," Mike said ... "If he hurts Mike Tyson, bro, let me get that, bro."

Perry's a huge fan of Iron Mike Tyson, BTW ... and obviously stands ready to get some payback if The Problem Child hurts Tyson during their July 20th scrap at AT&T Stadium in Texas.

Perry and Paul -- 9-1 as a pro boxer -- have some history. Mike briefly served as a sparring partner for Jake in 2021 before his fight with Ben Askren (Jake knocked out the retired MMA star). Suffice it to say, the men have different views on who got the best of the other.

But, before we start dreaming of a Perry vs. Paul mega fight, Mike has his gloveless hands full with Thiago Alves ... the combat sports vet he's set to scrap with at Knucklemania 4 on April 27 at the Peacock Theater.

Perry, who may well have been made for bare-knuckle boxing, is 4-0 in the promotion ... with wins over Eddie Alvarez, Julian Lane, Michael Venom Page, and Luke Rockhold.

Mike says he plans to show up next month in an even more dangerous form ... a scary proposition.

Bronny James might not have broken any scoring records during his freshman season at USC, but Metta World Peace isn't worried one bit about LeBron's son's potential at the next level ... telling TMZ Sports the young hooper has a promising future in the NBA.

Bronny's hopes of playing alongside his pops took a hit this season ... with critics pointing out his stats (4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists a game) don't necessarily scream top draft prospect.

Metta came to Bronny's defense when asked about the 19-year-old's impending decision to either stay in school or enter the draft this week ... saying, "He's only a freshman."

"A lot of people was talking about his numbers, but name a freshman that never averaged more than 4 or 5 and then had no chance going pro? Freshman numbers are freshman numbers."

Metta -- who played college basketball at St. John's in the late '90s -- believes Bronny already has some qualities that make him a pro, especially his selfless plays on the court ... but he just has to develop and mature a little more.

"I think he has a shot to be a really good point guard. A starting point guard," the former NBA star said. "Maybe even All-Star!"

Of course, LeBron thinks so, too ... even going as far as saying his son is better than some of the current NBA players he's been watching, calling it "lightweight hilarious."

Celebrity jeweler Shuki International tells TMZ Sports he's willing to tear up his court judgment against Antonio Brown ... if the former NFL star simply gives him back his diamonds.

Shuki's been in a war with AB over the jewels for years -- writing in a lawsuit back in 2023 that the ex-Tampa Bay Buccaneers wideout borrowed his iconic "Shuki International" finger covers and other prized possessions in 2022 ... but never paid for them or returned them.

Shuki actually won the case against Brown last month after the footballer failed to fight the suit ... with a judge ordering AB to pony up $1,095,000 million.

But when we spotted Shuki out in LA this week ... he told us Brown hasn't paid yet -- nor has he attempted to give back the items.

Shuki said he actually had a conversation with Brown over it all -- and AB apparently made it clear to him "he's not going to pay."

"Which is OK," Shuki continued, "just tell him to bring back the rings so we can settle."

Shuki said he doesn't harbor any animosity toward Brown despite the tense situation -- in fact, he said if AB hops on a new music track with him, he might be willing to forgive the whole thing right then and there.

But, getting his items back is obviously priority No. 1 for the jeweler.

"'Hey, bring back the ring,'" Shuki said in a message to Brown. "'Be cool. Be nice. I love you like a brother. But I don't think it's fair to hold something that you don't own. Especially with a court order now.'"

Gisele Bündchen's addressing rumors head-on ... claiming she never stepped out on her marriage to Tom Brady -- and, claiming the rumors started 'cause she's a woman.

The model -- who was married to Tom from 2009 to 2022 -- sat down for an interview with The New York Times where she finally addressed claims she cheated on Brady with jiu-jitsu instructor Joaquim Valente.

In the interview, Bündchen straight up calls the claims she cheated lies, and while also saying she's not looking to make her life one big tabloid story.

But, Gisele did offer her theory on why the rumors seem to gather steam ... chalking it up to a sexist attitude toward women in breakups -- claiming ladies always take the blame when they leave unhealthy relationships.

The mother-of-two says the same goes for any woman who breaks up with their man ... it's just amplified with her because of her public platform.

She also confirmed she's dating someone -- though she didn't say Joaquim's name -- adding this relationship is so much different than any of her past couplings ... way more open and honest, according to GB.

We broke the story ... sources close to Tom told us he isn't buying the relationship timeline Gisele's selling -- saying he thinks they started dating way back in 2021.

Meanwhile, Bündchen got really emotional when talking about Tom during an interview with ABC's Robin Roberts earlier this month -- saying she didn't want to divorce Tom, but ultimately needed to make the change.

Kim Kardashian was keeping the peace with her ex Kanye West on Friday ... despite their obvious tension over how to raise their kids.

KK and Ye showed up at their son Saint's basketball game in LA last evening, and they acted like everything was hunky dory between them.

Check out these images obtained by TMZ ... Kim and Kanye were smiling as they posed for photos snapped by their fans. Kanye went one step further, putting his arm around Kim at one point.

Pretty bold move considering their 7-year marriage ended in a bitter divorce in 2022. Their four young children created much of the tension between the former couple.

TMZ broke the story ... . Kim and Kanye are not seeing eye to eye on how to raise Saint, North, Chicago and Psalm. The main issue has to do with where the youngsters are going to school.

Kanye wants them out of Sierra Canyon School, whereas Kim wants them to stay enrolled. There's also the added stress of Kanye's antisemitic rants praising Hitler and the Nazis.

But now it seems Kim is playing nicely with Kanye and his current wife, Bianca Censori. You may recall, Kim recently showed up alongside Bianca at Ye's listening party for his new rap record, "Vultures 1."

Comeback SZN 2.0 could be on the horizon ... 'cause there's one organization clamoring to get Johnny Manziel to suit up once again -- the Arena Football League!!

That's right -- the AFL is relaunching in 2024 under new leadership ... forming 16 teams for a 10-game season.

TMZ Sports spoke with new AFL commissioner Lee Hutton III -- the first black pro league commish in United States history -- on the exciting times for the country's favorite sport ... and he's eyeing some big names to join in.

"Absolutely," Hutton said. "Some of them have received personal [direct messages] from me. I reached out to Johnny Manziel. So, Johnny, I'm a Texas guy. So, if you're ready to come back and indoors -- because you did very well -- we will take you. We will find a spot for you."

31-year-old Manziel was one of the most electric players on the gridiron once upon a time ... winning the Heisman in 2012 and eventually going in the first round of the NFL Draft two years later.

But things fizzled out ... and the former Texas A&M superstar bounced around to the CFL and other leagues before walking away from the sport for good.

Manziel has been open about his struggles with addiction and mental health ... but it appears he's doing much better and is on a good path, so perhaps he gets the itch to give it another go??

Regardless of whether Manziel hops aboard the AFL ship, Hutton -- an attorney for high-profile cases and celebrities -- said there are exciting times ahead for the org ... and they're expecting to satisfy fans' hunger for football throughout the year.

Hutton added he's been picking the brains of former owners, coaches and commissioners of the AFL ... and everyone's been super helpful as he transitions into the new position.

Tim McKyer -- a three-time Super Bowl champion -- reached a deal with prosecutors on Friday in order to close out his hit-and-run case, TMZ Sports has learned.

Court records show the former San Francisco 49ers defensive back agreed to enter into a pretrial diversion program ... and in exchange, officials said they'd drop the charges against him if he successfully completed it.

According to court documents, in order to accomplish that ... McKyer must do 16 hours of community service, take four hours of defensive driving courses, pay $100 and keep his nose clean. A hearing has been set for late May to determine if McKyer has fulfilled all of the requirements.

It appears to be a good deal for McKyer -- as the ex-NFL player was facing serious time behind bars after he was charged with five counts of leaving the scene of an accident with property damage stemming from an alleged incident in a Riviera Beach, FL parking garage back on Feb. 19.

You'll recall, authorities accused McKyer of slamming his Tesla into five parked vehicles ... before leaving the scene without notifying anybody.

We reached out to McKyer's attorney for comment, but so far, no word back yet.

Give Jaxson Hayes another assist on his career stats ... the Lakers center was seen handing out cash to kids in LA on Thursday night!!!

The 23-year-old performed the sweet gesture while outside of a Louis Vuitton event on Rodeo Drive ... after some tykes who were selling candy bars asked him for his business.

Hayes didn't want any of their chocolate -- but he decided to kick some money their way regardless.

Check out the video ... Hayes got one of the boys' numbers and then sent what appeared to be a Venmo. Seconds later, the kid jumped for joy and screamed, "He just sent me $100!"

Hayes was also spotted taking some pics with the little fans who had gathered around the storefront.

It's the weekend, and what better to unwind than touch base on our TV show topics?!

Let's start with "TMZ Live," where the biggest news of the day dominated our entire show -- namely, the fact Kate Middleton publicly announced she'd been diagnosed with cancer ... and was now undergoing preventative chemotherapy ... this after weeks of speculation.

Next up, we have "TMZ on TV," where the gang talked about conservative firebrand Candace Owens getting fired from the Daily Wire -- this amid claims she'd embraced antisemitism.

Finally, we land on "TMZ Sports," where Babcock and Mojo talked about Shohei Ohtani.

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

Dolph Lundgren's not against recasting an iconic character -- telling fans to give David Corenswet's Superman a chance ... even if he's not entirely sure who he is.

We talked to the action movie star in Los Angeles Friday, and asked him all about the DC Universe coming to an end -- 'memba, Dolph starred as King Nereus in the 'Aquaman' films -- and he says he's sad to see it go 'cause of his great time working on the flick.

DL name-drops a few of his costars from the flick before moving on to the outrage surrounding Henry Cavill being dropped as Superman for Corenswet.

Lundgren says he isn't familiar with David -- by name or reputation -- but he says fans always get up in arms when one of their fav characters ends up being played by someone else ... and they need to give the guy a chance to flex his superhero muscles.

It seems like Dolph doesn't know Corenswet's work very well -- and yet, he's very positive here, saying he's rooting for DC's newest Man of Steel ... which is pretty awesome.

That said, Dolph's very clear there's one character he doesn't want recast ... Apollo Creed, played by the late great Carl Weathers.

95% of brackets had Kentucky beating Oakland in the first round of the NCAA Tourney, so while nearly no one in the outside world believed in the Golden Grizzlies, their squad did, including star hooper Trey Townsend who hopes this proves rankings ain't everything!

As you know, the 14th-ranked Oakland Golden Grizzlies officially kicked off the Madness in March when they defeated John Calipari's number 3-seeded Kentucky Wildcats ... the tournament's biggest upset (so far).

"You can't put that mindset on yourself going to a game thinking you're lesser than your opponent, because you're, per se, shooting yourself in the foot and giving yourself a disadvantage mentally," Townsend said.

"We come in confident and play our best game, play as hard as we can and we're just as good and can compete with anyone in the country. We proved it [Thursday]," the team leader told us.

Now, Oakland (located in Michigan, not California) will face No. 11 North Carolina State in the second round on Saturday ... and Townsend believes they've got a real path to the Sweet 16! Especially with Jack Gohlke shooting lights out (he knocked down 10 threes)!

"I think it's just playing the way we have all season," Townsend said. "The biggest thing, especially at this time of the year, is to stay consistent to what you've done to get you to this point."

"We're not gonna take anything lightly, even though we just had a big win. You gotta keep that in your back pocket for now and we can celebrate after a long run in this tournament."

As if Trey and Oakland's story wasn't already cool enough, his dad Skip Townsend, who was not only a credentialed media member working Thursday's game, but also a former hooper on the Golden Grizzlies team.

In fact, Skip played for Oakland's CURRENT coach, Greg Kampe, way back in the 80s! His mom Nicole was also on the women's basketball team.

"I always wanted to be an Oakland uniform and be like my dad," Trey said.

3/22 -- 3:18 PM PT -- MLB just announced it has officially launched its probe into the matter ... saying, "Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhari from the news media."

"Earlier today, our DOI began their formal process investigating the matter."

MLB is doing its due diligence with Shohei Ohtani ... with sources telling TMZ Sports that league officials are gathering information to determine if the face of baseball was involved in the gambling scandal surrounding his translator.

Ohtani's inteprator and best friend Ippei Mizuhara has given conflicting stories on Shohei's involvement ... first saying the Dodgers superstar was well aware of his huge gambling debts, and loaned him millions of dollars to get out of the hole. He later backtracked, saying the Japanese two-way athlete had no idea.

As for Ohtani, his attorney claims he's been the victim of a "massive theft."

Now, MLB's trying to figure out what the hell is going on -- not necessarily because they believe Shohei did anything wrong -- but because gambling is an existential threat to any pro sport.

Look no further than Pete Rose ... who despite his exploits on the diamond, was banned for life in 1989 after he admitted to wagering on games -- although no one has accused Ohtani of betting on baseball, or any other sport for that matter.

It's worth noting, it sounds like Ohtani -- who signed a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers this offseason -- has nothing to hide.

We're told his team alerted authorities to the "theft" ... and the feds are currently investigating.

No one connected to the probe has been arrested.

The Dodgers are 1-1 on the season, and their newly signed star is off to a solid start, despite the scandal ... collecting 3 hits and 2 RBIs in 10 plate appearances on the season.

1:10 PM -- Bijan Robinson is perfect no more ... Marquette just ruined the NFL star's previously unblemished NCAA tournament bracket.

The No. 2-seed Golden Eagles defeated No. 15-seed Western Kentucky, 87-69, making it the only game so far that Robinson hasn't gotten right.

What a run!!!

NCAA tournament bracket already busted? Bijan Robinson can't relate -- the NFL superstar is perfect through Day One!!

The Atlanta Falcons tailback didn't get one of his 16 picks wrong on Thursday -- somehow nailing Oakland's upset over Kentucky AND Duquesne's big victory over BYU.

The feat is incredibly rare ... out of the 22 million-or-so brackets that were filled out this week -- less than 2,000 remain unblemished!!

The 22-year-old was thrilled to be right ... he posted a pic to his Instagram page late Thursday night, flashing a million-dollar grin with the caption, "They said it was crazy."

"Yessirski," he added.

The running back will have quite the hill to climb in order to stay undefeated going forward. He's got No. 11-seed North Carolina State and No. 12-seed Grand Canyon advancing to the Elite Eight ... as well as his alma mater, Texas -- a No. 7 seed -- winning the whole thing.

But, hey, if the guy made it this far this good, perhaps the choices aren't that wild after all!!

His NFL team, meanwhile, celebrated the feat with a late-night tweet Thursday -- writing, "A PERFECT bracket for @Bijan5Robinson on day one?! 🤯"

Tip-off for Day Two is just a couple hours away -- if you need betting tips for the afternoon, probably best to check out Robinson's bracket above!!

NC State might wanna triple team Jack Gohlke in their second round matchup of the NCAA tournament … 'cause Oakland's March Madness hero simply cannot miss -- nailing a full-court shot at practice!!

Gohlke drained 10 three-pointers en route to the Golden Grizzlies' first tourney win in school history on Thursday ... helping No. 14 Oakland get the upset win over No. 3 Kentucky.

The hot streak continued on Friday ... with the sharp shooter pulling up from the opposite baseline and connecting on the loooooooooong three-point attempt.

Luckily, Gohlke's teammate, Evan Solomon, was recording the whole thing ... and the dude celebrated by yelling and chest-bumping his squad.

"That's a good sign," someone is heard saying in the video ... and it could be bad news for the Wolfpack.

Gohlke oozed confidence following the Grizzlies' huge 80-76 win ... saying he knew his team would be able to pull it off.

"I know they have draft picks, and I know I’m not going to the NBA … but on any given I can compete with those type of guys and our team can compete with those type of guys," Gohlke said after the win.

"That’s why I say we're not a Cinderella."

Even the college basketball world took a momentary pause to digest Kate Middleton's cancer announcement on Friday ... with CBS interrupting its NCAA tournament coverage to bring the news to fans.

With around five minutes remaining in the FAU vs. Northwestern game ... Norah O'Donnell came on the screen to inform CBS' audience that Middleton had just revealed she's been diagnosed with cancer.

The broadcast then played around 30 seconds of Middleton's video explaining her prognosis.

O'Donnell spoke on camera for roughly a minute more ... before the network resumed its planned coverage of the big hoops game.

Owls and Wildcats supporters didn't miss a second of in-game action ... as a lengthy timeout had been called on the floor during the special report.