TMZ Sports - Page 20

Owners of Spencer, the late Boston Marathon dog, will keep the decade-long tradition alive, tapping their new pups, Jimmy and Jade, to hold the #BostonStrong flag at the famous race!

TMZ Sports spoke with Rich Powers following Spencer's statue unveiling in Ashland State Park -- just over a year after the doggo passed away following a cancer battle -- about the golden retriever's importance to runners, as well as the dogs who will attempt to follow in his paws.

"It is an amazing statue for such an amazing pup," Powers told us. "It was like having an angel living in my house for almost 14 years. We shared him as best we could and this was a way to keep sharing him and inspiring."

After Spencer died, Powers got new therapy dogs, two English cream golden retrievers named Jimmy and Jade, and the plan is for them to hold the flags as thousands of runners pass by along the marathon route.

"[Spencer] was buried with one of his sets of flags along with a marathon medal," Powers said. "One, if not both, will be there on marathon Monday in front of the statue holding a set of Spencer’s flags."

"Jimmy is doing well with holding the flag. Jade is only 4 months old and is in process."

It's Sunday, and -- before we head back for another hard week at work -- let's take a look at some of last week's hottest topics.

On "TMZ Live," Harvey and Charles discuss Angelina Jolie's claim Brad Pitt abused her for years during their marriage as well as a new super restrictive NDA Angelina says Brad's trying to get her to sign.

Are you ready to take down the fighting physiques of WrestleMania 40?! These WWE wrestlers are in tip-top shape, but now it's on you to match a face to the wrestling bod in order to go head-to-head!

From the mat to the 'gram, this year's WrestleMania stars have clearly upped their fitness regimen shown in these post-fight pics and gym mirror selfies. They've been totally locked in and fighting it out at the Lincoln Financial Field stage.

And, once you've taken down these shredded bods, we dare you to take on a civilized round of Who'd You Rather with this year's WrestleMania pros!

The Rock cooked up some beef during the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony, but it wasn't with a fellow wrestler ... instead, he got into it with a WWE fan.

Dwayne Johnson attended Friday night's ceremony in Philadelphia to pay tribute to his late grandmother Lia Maivia -- a wrestling promoter -- who earned a spot in the WWE HOF.

While walking off a platform, a fan appears to yell something at DJ ... who stops on a dime and walks over to the barricade for a convo.

4/8 8 AM PT -- Jones is further clearing the air regarding his interaction with the drug tester ... saying he was NOT arrested over the incident.

"I must admit, it's disappointing to have to clarify these things again, but I understand that I may be an easy target given some of my past issues," Jones said. "It's important to set the record straight and make sure the truth is told."

Jones reiterated he was upset when the tester showed up to his home ... and he was "caught off guard" as he was taking a nap at the time. Jones admitted to using profanity after growing frustrated with the administrator's "unprofessionalism and protocol," but other than that ... he claims he did nothing wrong.

"It's unfortunate that false news has been spread without proper fact-checking," he added. "I want to assure you that I will vigorously defend myself against these baseless accusations. The truth is, the incident simply did not occur."

UFC champion Jon Jones is adamantly denying any wrongdoing after a drug tester showed up at his place unannounced ... saying the whole interaction was as cordial as could be.

Jones -- a 36-year-old fighter -- claims he was at his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico last weekend ... when out of nowhere, a UFC-certified official showed up to test his blood while he was celebrating a birthday.

In a police report filed by the alleged tester, Jones is accused of grabbing the official's phone and threatening to kill her ... but he says there's video to prove there was no bad blood.

Victoria Beckham's drawing attention to her man's zipper ... cracking a scandalous joke revolving around her own dark brunette locks and her hubby's crotch.

The former Spice Girls singer shared a pic to Instagram featuring her husband David Beckham's lower half clad in blue jeans ... with a thick lock of her hair hanging out of the zipper.

VB jokingly wrote as a caption, "Told my husband he missed a bit" ... not hard to decipher her meaning.

College basketball phenom Caitlin Clark reached major celebrity status at her Final Four game Friday night – drawing the likes of MGK and Jason Sudeikis to see for themselves what everyone has been talking about.

Clark and her fellow Iowa Hawkeyes teammates went head-to-head against the UConn Huskies during their NCAA Tournament matchup at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio.

As America's new favorite dribbler, Clark helped her team beat UConn in a squeaker 71 to 69.

J. Cole threw Kendrick Lamar's iconic "To Pimp a Butterfly" album under the bus on his "7 Minute Drill" diss -- an ultimate no-no from Baron Davis' POV.

It's one of the proud L.A. native's fav albums of all time ... point, blank period!!!

TMZ Hip Hop got up with B. Diddy at LAX on Friday and the "NBA on TNT" cohost repped his beloved West Coast and sided with Kendrick in his battle with Cole ... but still wants to hear from Drake like the rest of us!!!

Baron saluted all parties involved for giving hip hop some pizazz again ... and even thinks Kendrick should follow through and diss Cole again.

Cole knocked the jazzy 'TPAB' as all hype when he rapped, "Your second s*** put n****s to sleep, but they gassed it" ... Baron notes 'TPAB' as a cultural movement that would go on to soundtrack the George Floyd protests of 2020.

The 'Butterfly' nerve was also struck for several L.A.-based rappers, including Kendrick's former label prez who now believes the "King Kunta" MC has secret haters in the industry!!!

Baron's been dabbling in rap under the name "Bart Oatmeal" for the past few years himself and tells us it's been a new creative outlet for him.

There's apparently a green thumb attached to Tom Brady's golden arm ... check out a recent pic of his Miami mansion -- a garden he's growing in his front yard is flourishing!!!

The NFL legend had planter boxes installed next to a tennis court near the entrance of his new pad ... and just recently, dirt and food were placed inside of them.

And, from the looks of things, Brady's doing a great job tending to it all -- 'cause it seems the crops are already bearing goods!!

Saturdays are for the boys ... and TMZ TV hot takes, too. Check out the best clips from the past week!

Starting on "TMZ Live," where Harvey and Charles talk Taylor Swift hanging out in a West Hollywood dive bar ... without her better half, Travis Kelce.

Bronny James is doing the right thing by keeping his basketball options open ... so says ex-NBA player and coach Byron Scott, who tells TMZ Sports he personally thinks the young hooper should stay in school another year.

The 19-year-old USC Trojan announced his plans to enter the NBA Draft on Friday ... saying he will explore the interest from teams at the next level while maintaining his NCAA eligibility and entering the transfer protocol.

We spoke with Scott about the big hoop news ... and he tells us the former four-star recruit's smart by leaving doors open.

"Not surprised, not shocked," Scott said of James' announcement. "I think Bronny and, obviously, his dad and Klutch Sports, they've probably been thinking about this for a while and how to kind of go about it."

"So him entering his name in the draft and also in the portal -- I think he’s just weighing his options to see where he can probably get drafted, and then if he doesn’t like that and likes a situation where he can go play college basketball for another year, then I think it’s the best of both worlds. I think he’s in a great position."

Bronny will almost certainly have a new home no matter what he decides to do ... and if that's a different university, Scott sees LeBron's eldest son being highly coveted in the 2025 NBA Draft.

"You know what, to be honest with you, I think one more year of college wouldn’t hurt him," Scott added. "I think he has some great skills, there’s no doubt about that -- he knows how to play the game, he’s got a great basketball IQ, but playing one more year and being almost kind of featured, I think would really really solidify him in the next NBA Draft."

"American Idol" contestant and former NFL pro Blake Proehl's biggest fan has been revealed -- it's his two-time Super Bowl champ dad, Ricky ... 'cause he tells TMZ Sports his son's singing career has left him speechless!!

Blake -- a star receiver for East Carolina before joining the Minnesota Vikings in 2021 -- has kickstarted quite the second career after transitioning from football ... he's currently crushing it on the popular competition show.

Now that Blake is in the top 24 on "Idol," we talked to Ricky about watching his talented son on the stage instead of the field ... and he's unbelievably proud, especially considering he had no idea where it came from!!

"It's just amazing because none of us can sing!" Ricky told us this week. "I can't sing, my wife can't sign, my parents, her parents -- it's a gift!"

Ricky -- who played for six teams in the NFL from 1990-2006 -- recalled the first time he heard Blake belt out a tune ... and it was so powerful, he got a frog in his throat.

"For me, it was an emotional moment because I couldn't believe it. Then we heard him in person and we started hearing it more and more and how talented he was and how good he sounded just blew me away in that short period of time."

Ricky said it's super easy to support Blake's new career path ... 'cause he can tell just how much he loves music, just like he was with football.

"I think it took a lot for him to walk away from a game that he loves. A game that his dad played, his brother played and to have the courage to say, 'Hey, Dad, I'm going to pursue music.' I thought that said a lot about who he is as a person and I respect the guy. I love him for that."

WrestleMania 40 is set in motion this weekend with WWE's most amped-up wrestlers, and TMZ is kicking off the madness by seeing which pro wrestler you'd pick out of a HOT N' SWEATY match!

Stepping into the ring ... the highly-anticipated face-off between Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins teaming up against Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Roman Reigns. Remember, if The Rock and Roman take the reins and win, tomorrow's main event will be held under Bloodline Rules!

And, the women are also MORE than ready for a total knockout like Rhea Ripley -- the current World Champion known for her Riptide Finisher -- versus Becky Lynch who's deemed as one of the greatest of ALL TIME!

It takes quite a bit to rattle residents of New York City -- so much so, in fact, that not even a 4.8-magnitude earthquake can make them break their stride.

Check out this wild footage that shows people in Times Square Friday not being fazed at all by the massive quake that hit the area. As you can see, barely anybody reacts as the tremor hits the Big Apple Friday morning.

It's totally business as usual, despite the noticeable rattling ... with sightseers snapping selfies, etc. Traffic is barely even impacted ... as cars are seen whizzing by Times Square with no issue. The shaking reportedly only lasted about 20 to 30 seconds.

The Ravens and the Orioles are coming together for the city of Baltimore ... donating a combined $10 million to the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse emergency relief fund.

The two professional sports organizations announced the amazing gesture on Friday ... 10 days after a cargo ship crashed into the bridge over the Patapsco River and outer Baltimore port.

Two of the six victims were found dead in a pickup truck recovered in the water. The four others are presumed dead.

Scary moment for Cody Rhodes in the leadup to this weekend's WrestleMania in Philadelphia -- he says his tour bus caught on fire ... but, thankfully, he made it out unscathed.

The American Nightmare told Pat McAfee on Friday morning the blaze started just hours earlier -- at around 1 AM -- just as he had settled into his bed to get a little bit of shuteye.

Rhodes says his driver noticed the flames -- and urged him to get out quickly. The 38-year-old WWE Superstar says he then grabbed a few pictures and his 'Mania boots -- before jetting off the ride.

Rhodes said the vehicle didn't burn down completely -- but, "it was up in a big fireball for a moment."

Fortunately, he said there were no injuries ... and he gave a big shoutout to the Philadelphia Fire Department for assisting in putting out the blaze.

Rhodes is slated to wrestle twice in the WWE's Super Bowl ... taking on The Rock and Roman Reigns with Seth Rollins on Saturday night -- and then wrestling against Reigns on Sunday night.

Rhodes says he didn't take the blaze as a bad omen -- especially considering The Rock beat him down in front of that bus just a few days ago -- in fact, he told McAfee he was viewing it as just the opposite.

"I think the universe was saying, 'Hey, we're going to set your bus on fire and you're still going to go in and wipe the floor with The Bloodline on Saturday,'" he said.

"'You're still going to do it.'"