TMZ Sports - Page 18

Duke Blue Devils star Jared McCain is offering up his apologies to anyone up in arms over a little bit of nail polish ... saying painting his fingertips is a form of self-care for him -- and he's gonna keep being himself.

Dudes wearing nail polish has always been a pearl-clutching controversy for some reason ... despite big celebs like Harry Styles, Machine Gun Kelly and Heisman winner Caleb Williams famously rocking the look lately.

The freshman guard -- who dropped 30 points in Duke's win over James Madison on Sunday -- has also donned flashy nails on the court throughout his college career ... showing team spirit with some blue and white paint during games.

McCain's fashion choice even landed him a Name, Image and Likeness deal with Sally Hansen ... and when he was doing a paid promo with the brand, he explained why he made it a tradition.

"Just do some self care time, I think everybody should do some self care for themselves," McCain said. "For me, it's nail painting. Sorry if that offends any of you guys."

McCain revealed "there's really no crazy reason to it" -- ultimately, it's a practical move as it keeps him from biting his nails ... and one day, he thought it would be cool to add some color.

McCain explained he then had a basketball game after that appointment ... and when he had a good performance, he decided to keep up with it (even though he doesn't consider himself superstitious).

Seems pretty harmless, but some folks can't get over it -- even Williams has faced backlash during his stellar college career for painting his nails, too.

Damar Hamlin went in on Antonio Brown on Friday morning -- firing away at the ex-NFL star in two separate social media posts ... calling AB not only a "weirdo," but a "burnt out old head" too.

The Buffalo Bills star unleashed his rant minutes after Brown responded to the prompt "A fictional character’s death that you have NOT gotten over" with a picture of Hamlin.

"I pray God don’t ever let me turn into a burnt out old head like you..," Hamlin said. "I used to look up to you damn near s*** sad frfr. Talk bout a clone bring the real AB back!"

Hamlin added that he believed Brown made the post because he didn't respond to the former Buccaneers receiver's direct message earlier this week.

"guess you playing lame games on twitter with my situation because I ain’t DM you back," he said.

But, Hamlin didn't stop there, in a follow-up, he called Brown "the biggest weirdo we know!"

"You was supposed to be an example setter," he said, including a screen shot of Brown's apparent DMs to him. "Get off twitter & go do some work with some kids or something. #PrayForAB."

Of course, Brown -- who appears to be spending most of his free time on social media these days -- clapped back with a multitude of tweets ... seeming to imply that he was just joking around.

Although, he did add, "I’ll leave your ass sleep in a field fr boy u don’t know me like that."

J.J. Watt has time today -- the retired NFL superstar just teed off on a social media user for criticizing his son's wardrobe ... saying the negative comment has him feeling super uncomfortable.

The former Houston Texans defensive end was a proud pops when he shared a mini photoshoot of his 1-year-old son, Koa, on Friday ... showing him decked out in a matching grey coat and sweats, and a beanie while on vacation in London.

Adorable, right?? Well one troll took issue with the look ... accusing Watt of going too far with Koa's threads.

"Instead of dressing him as an infant model, why not put him in COMFORTABLE clothes that fit," the X user said. "We will still think he is cute no matter what he is wearing."

J.J. was quick to reply ... firing back with a bit of sarcasm before explaining it's actually the tyke who chose to rock the coat.

"I appreciate the parenting advice!" Watt said.

"Koa has other jackets, but he runs and grabs this one every single morning when he wants to go on a walk."

"Want to know what’s not comfortable?" he added. "You thinking you know when my son is comfortable."

Watt -- who welcomed his son with wife, Kealia, in October 2022 -- appears to have receipts ... 'cause just three weeks ago, he published a pic on Instagram showing a clearly happy Koa wearing the exact same coat.

But the critic doubled down on her take ... adding, "At his age he is grabbing what he is used to wearing/you ooo'd and aww'd about. Not what is a wise choice. As a parent you know this."

"My comment was about his comfort. Full stop."

Diddy created the image, "What me worry?" Thursday night as he took his twins to hit up Topgolf in Miami ... the same town where feds raided one of his homes earlier this week.

Diddy flashed a peace sign as he left with 17-year-old daughters Jessie and D'Lila. The girls smiled as Diddy walked behind raising his 2 fingers. You can't look more chill than the Sergio Tacchini velour tracksuit he was rocking.

We're told everyone was in good spirits as they played for 2 hours, although behind the scenes it's anything but calm in the Diddy camp.

Patrick Mahomes is distancing himself from Diddy as the rap mogul faces a mountain of troubling allegations ... with the Kansas City Chiefs superstar's social media accounts deleting posts that reference Sean Combs' stage name.

Back in the year 2014, Mahomes shared two posts that included the phrase "P Diddy" -- which is what the Bad Boy founder went by from 2001-2004.

At least one of the tweets appears to be completely unrelated to the artist ... as it mentioned a friend with the username "@Pat_Day_75," who seems to be a longtime friend from Texas.

Forget poppin' bubbly, the Illinois men's basketball team got in a water gun fight to celebrate its big Sweet 16 win on Thursday ... and the celly got so wild, head coach Brad Underwood actually ditched his top for it!

The H2O battle happened just minutes after the Fighting Illini pulled off a 72-69 upset win over No. 2-seeded Iowa State in the NCAA tournament.

Underwood -- sans tee -- kicked off the war by busting through a curtain with his staff and blasting a giant super soaker on his players.

Quincy Guerrier, Max Williams, AJ Redd and the rest of the dudes came prepared, though, and returned fire with their own smaller water pistols.

The whole celebration was a vibe ... and the team certainly deserved it -- as this is the first Elite Eight they've reached since 2005.

"This team's got swag," Underwood said after the win. "They don't fear the moment, they don't fear anything, they compete."

Taylor Swift's apparently a good luck charm for Travis Kelce on the golf course too!

The Chiefs star hit the links with Chandler Parsons on Thursday -- and in an effort to get the tight end to screw up a shot, CP threw on some "Bad Blood."

But, check out the video the former NBA player posted to his Instagram page, Kelce actually thrived with the tunes on in the background!!

Jeremy Roach isn't planning on letting a dislocated finger get in the way of him putting on a show in the Sweet Sixteen on Friday ... the Duke hoops star tells TMZ Sports he'll be good to go against Houston!

ICYMI, the senior guard injured his pinky during the Blue Devils' NCAA tournament win over James Madison on Sunday.

Even though it looked painful as hell, it thankfully wasn't broken ... and according to Roach, he won't be limited much by the dinged digit when Duke faces off with the Cougars.

Another week is coming to a close ... and with it, some hot takes courtesy of the TMZ team.

Let's kick things off with "TMZ Live," where Harvey and Charles shared an update on the saga surrounding the raids on Diddy's L.A. and Miami homes. As discussed, Diddy's camp called out the excessive force -- their words -- used in the search ... but they were unable to offer up footage of the feds' incursion as agents disabled the rapper's security system during the raid.

Teyana Taylor is convinced Iman Shumpert's relationship with a woman is negatively impacting their children -- so much so, she wants an expert to get involved in their divorce ... TMZ has learned.

In new court documents, obtained by TMZ, Teyana's attorney asks the court to let her call on a child psychologist to testify about something she says went down a couple weeks ago, when their daughters were staying with their father.

According to the docs, the ex-NBA star had a female friend and her daughter staying at his home during his parenting weekend with the daughters. Teyana's attorney says they know this because Teyana saw the woman's daughter and heard the woman during a FaceTime check-in with their daughters.

Michigan politician Matt Maddock is adamant that several buses filled with the Gonzaga men's basketball team were actually packed with "illegal invaders" -- and despite being proven wrong ... he's still insisting it's true.

Maddock posted the nonsense on his X page on Wednesday night ... after seeing three large buses get a police escort away from the Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

The MI House of Representatives member -- a Republican -- said to his nearly 2,000 followers, "Happening right now. Three buses just loaded up with illegal invaders at Detroit Metro."

NBA center Isaiah Hartenstein is opening up on how people react when they find out he's actually Black ... saying the experience is like something straight out of a "Key and Peele" sketch.

The 25-year-old hooper's teammates, Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart, got right to the point when they invited him on their "Roommates" podcast this week ... when the former asked Hartenstein straight-up, "Are you Black?"

The six-year vet broke it all down ... explaining his dad, Florian, is Black.

"You know how it's like lightskin? I'm brightskin," Hartenstein said. "I'm above lightskin."

The 7'0" big man went on to point out there's one big difference he notices after folks learn he's Black ... and he compared it to the famous skit from the Comedy Central show, when Jordan Peele's Barack Obama character bases his handshake approach on race.

"When they find out I'm Black, it changes," Hartenstein added. "The whole vibe changes -- it goes from, 'Hey Zay, how are you doing?' to 'Yo, Zay, what up, man? You good?'"

It's been a VERY good year for Terrel Bernard ... 'cause not only is the Buffalo Bills linebacker fresh off a breakout season on the field, his longtime girlfriend just agreed to marry him!!

The newly engaged couple announced the huge news this week ... with Tayler Timmons, a doctor of physical therapy, sharing a photo of her beautiful diamond ring on Instagram.

Fans congratulated the soon-to-be Mr. and Mrs. in the comments ... including Rachel Bush who is married to former Bills safety Jordan Poyer.

Bernard and Timmons go wayyyy back -- they both started dating at La Porte High School in Texas, where they were crowned Homecoming king and queen ... and continued their relationship when they both attended Baylor University.

Now, Bernard is one of the best rising defensive stars on the Bills ... after he had 143 total tackles, 6.5 sacks, and three interceptions this past season.

Buffalo coach Sean McDermott spoke highly of the 24-year-old after the Bills' playoff run ended in late January ... saying he was blown away by his production on the field.

"I thought he had a magnificent year, I really did," McDermott said on One Bills Live after the season. "And not only just on the field, but also in terms of his leadership."

Logan Paul is beyond pissed about the new documentary about him that just dropped ... and he's blaming Graham Bensinger, the guy who spent 5 months interviewing him for the film.

We had Logan and Graham on "TMZ Live" Thursday, and we thought they were both going to promote, "5 Months with Logan Paul" ... the documentary -- in which Logan opens up about suicidal thoughts after a failed business deal. Well, instead it turned into a verbal Royal Rumble, with Logan hurling a lot of accusations at Graham.

His main beef is the platform on which '5 Months' debuted ... namely, Graham's YouTube channel. Logan ripped into Graham, claiming he'd promised it would debut on Apple TV+. Dude came with receipts, too -- Logan held up several emails he claims Graham sent him about the Apple TV+ deal.

It's MLB Opening Day -- and this year, ya better bring a ticket, glove AND an appetite to the ballpark ... 'cause several teams are offering some massive dishes for fans to enjoy!!

Some of the most popular, of course, include spins on the classic hot dog.

The Texas Rangers unveiled a footlong one that will come with two burger patties, a bunch of chili and cheese, Tostitos chips and a whole lot more.

A hefty fine is surely coming Kelly Oubre Jr.'s way -- the Philadelphia 76ers hooper absolutely unloaded on referees over a blown call at the end of Wednesday's game ... appearing to call them a bunch of bitches.

The Sixers' 108-107 loss to the LA Clippers ended in controversy ... when KO drove the lane in hopes of getting the lead in the final seconds of the contest, but made contact with Paul George instead.

Oubre and Sixers coach Nick Nurse were both LIVID over the non-call after the buzzer ... yelling at officials and needing to be restrained.

The internet lipreaders seemed to figure out what Oubre said in the confrontation ... claiming Oubre pointed at Kevin Scott, Brandon Adair and JB DeRosa individually and said, "you're a bitch, you're a bitch, you're a bitch."

It didn't stop there -- some believe Oubre even started talking about their relatives ... also referring to them as bitches.

Some on the internet have felt the 28-year-old's frustration was perhaps warranted ... as Scott admitted after the game a foul should've been called on the play.

Despite being technically right, Oubre expressed remorse for his actions in the locker rooms ... saying, "I want to apologize for just losing my cool, because that's something I try to work on each and every day, and try to represent God in the best way I possibly can, and that wasn't it."

"So I just ask for forgiveness."