TMZ Sports - Page 41

The USA men's basketball team almost saw their gold medal dreams disappear on Thursday ... as the Red, White and Blue narrowly escaped an upset in a nail-biter against Serbia in the Olympics semifinals.

America was playing catchup for the majority of the game ... with Nikola Jokic and Bojan Bogdanović ballin' out for Serbia. The Joker finished with 17 points and Bogdanović led the squad with 20 of his own.

But in the waning moments of the contest, Stephen Curry, LeBron James and the rest of Team USA found enough in the tank to erase the lead and pull out the dramatic victory -- punching their tickets to a finals matchup with Team France and Victor Wembanyama.

The CrossFit community is coming together to support Serbian athlete Lazar Dukic's family after he drowned at the 2024 CrossFit Games ... with hundreds of people donating tens of thousands of dollars in wake of the tragedy.

FITAID -- a drink company who was one of Dukic's business partners -- started a GoFundMe on Thursday ... with an initial goal of raising $30K.

But, the contributions are pouring in by the minute ... with more than $75,000 raised at the time of this post. The new goal has been set at $100,000.

9:42 AM PT -- CrossFit CEO Don Faul just confirmed the competitor has died ... saying the organization is "deeply saddened" by the loss.

"We're doing everything in our power during this tragic time to support the family, to support our community," he said in a press conference minutes ago.

The fire department added it used drones and a dive team to locate the body after an hour.

Faul said CrossFit is working with authorities on the investigation ... and the remainder of the day's events have been canceled -- but the future of this year's Games has not been determined at this time.

Tragedy struck the beginning of the 2024 CrossFit Games on Thursday ... as a drowning was reported during the run-swim event.

According to local reports, Fort Worth Fire Department rushed to Marine Creek Lake after receiving a call for service at approximately 8 AM.

A live stream of the competition showed who is believed to be athlete Lazar Dukic struggling and going underwater near the finish line. Later in the stream, a spectator appeared to dive into the water and sprint to where the person was last seen.

The U.S. women's basketball team serenaded star hooper A'ja Wilson ... who is celebrating her 28th trip around the sun in Paris!

The 2x WNBA champ is in France for the 2024 Olympics, and with it being Wilson's big day, the team gathered around her at practice to sing HBD -- the Stevie Wonder version!

A'ja dances a bit ... but ya gotta imagine Wilson and the rest of the women are exhausted.

The Chicago White Sox are on track to have one of the worst seasons in the history of Major League Baseball ... but the club made a move in an attempt to right the ship in the future, announcing they've canned their manager, Pedro Grifol.

The team made the announcement after squandering a 2-0 lead to the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday ... as the team just ended their 21-game losing streak earlier in the week. It tied the longest streak in American League history.

"As we all recognize, our team's performance this season has been disappointing on so many levels." White Sox GM Chris Getz said.

Travis Kelce just gave his fans a glimpse of how he'll look in his new role as a game show host -- and check it out, the NFL star appears to be a natural on set.

The Chiefs tight end -- along with Amazon Prime Video -- dropped the teaser for the new "Are You Smarter Than A Celebrity?" show on Instagram on Thursday morning ... and you can see Kelce in a blue suit sportin' a big smile on his face as he posed inside the studios.

As part of the promo, the football player and the network also revealed the show will officially hit screens beginning on October 16.

Scary scene during the Olympic men's steeplechase race in Paris ... Ethiopian star Lamecha Girma took a terrifying fall, crashing to the ground where he lay motionless -- before being loaded on a stretcher and rushed to the hospital.

The accident happened during the final lap of the 3000m race on Wednesday where Girma -- the world record holder and 2020 silver medalist -- attempted, in a crowded pack, to clear one of the race's final obstacles when his right leg made contact with the hurdle.

Girma went down hard, with his back/neck/head area seemingly taking the brunt of the impact.

Tim Walz has power with people from his past ... 'cause he's changed the mind of a former player he mentored decades ago when he was a Minnesota high school athletics coach.

Walz -- the current Minnesota governor and Kamala Harris' VP choice -- was the football coach at Mankato West High School in Mankato, MN, for several seasons in the '90s -- and he took a student named Dan Clement under his wing.

TMZ caught up with Dan on Wednesday and asked about his experiences with Walz as a teenager. Dan told us Walz had such an impact on his life that he went from an undecided vote to the Harris/Walz Democratic ticket in the upcoming presidential election.

Canadian pole vaulter Alysha Newman had an all-time celebration after securing a bronze medal at the Olympics ... busting out a quick twerk in front of the entire stadium!!

The epic moment went down on Wednesday ... after the 30-year-old cleared the crossbar at 4.85 meters -- a new record for her country.

Newman initially faked an ailment after hopping off the mat ... before putting her hands on her knees and shakin' it for all to see.

Hulk Hogan can't be happy Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are doing a movie on what we're told is the "darkest period of his life," and if Ben and Matt cross the line, he's ready, willing and able to take legal action ... TMZ has learned.

B&M are producing a flick on the lawsuit the WWE legend filed and won against Gawker, after the site posted a sex tape video of Hogan and the wife of a friend. A racial epithet was captured on the vid. Hulk sued Gawker for invasion of privacy and in 2016 won a whopping $140 million verdict ... which eventually tanked Gawker.

Sources connected to Hulk tell TMZ he has no involvement whatsoever in the film project and is currently "indifferent" about it. HOWEVER, if the movie treads into territory that a jury already found was protected by his right to privacy, Hulk will not hesitate to pursue legal options ... which he's clearly done before.

Former NFL defensive lineman Brandon Mebane -- who helped the Seahawks win Super Bowl XLVIII -- says he got screwed over in a deal to buy a Los Angeles mansion ... and now, he's suing to try to rectify things.

TMZ Sports has learned ... the 39-year-old ex-nose tackle filed the lawsuit in L.A. County this week -- some five years after he purchased a property in Encino for $4.85 million.

Mebane says as part of the agreement he made to snag the home from the builders -- which included Roi Edery and Ofir Grushkovski -- they would handle all of the repairs he found following inspection.

Ben Stiller wishes he was Black, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz kick off their campaign and Lionel Messi has a mess at home ... all this on today's TMZ TV Hot Takes.

First up on "TMZ Live," Harvey and Babcock react to Ben's racial joke about Jewish guys wanting to be Black.

A recent Appalachian State football practice descended into chaos ... as a player ripped off his teammate's helmet and then beat him with it -- and the entire ordeal was caught on video.

Check it out ... footage from an App State summer workout posted online shows the team in an 11-on-11 play -- when a pass rusher in a black No. 12 jersey gets into it with a blocker in a white No. 73 uniform.

You can see the two get in a bit of a shoving match ... before the guy in the black jersey snaps. He grabs his teammate's facemask and pulls so hard, it removes the dude's headgear. The defensive player then swings the helmet violently at his foe's head.

Tim Walz's experience as a high school football coach and geography teacher is going to translate well to the Kamala Harris campaign ... so says one of his former students and players.

Nate Hood, who played football for Coach Walz and took one of his classes at Mankato West High School in southern Minnesota, joined us on "TMZ Live" Wednesday and told us how the Minnesota Governor's background will serve him well moving forward.

The way Nate remembers it ... Walz was a master motivator who knew how to bring out the best in kids -- in the classroom and on the playing field.

French Olympian Alice Finot might not have earned a spot on the podium during the women's 3000-meter steeplechase, but she did win in the love category ... 'cause she dropped to one knee and proposed to her boyfriend -- and he said yes!!!

The wholesome moment happened after Tuesday's final ... when Finot approached her man, peeled back her race tag -- which had a bag attached to it -- and pulled out an Olympic pin in lieu of a traditional ring.

Her BF -- Bruno Martínez Bargiela -- was understandably emotional about it all ... and once he was able to get it together, he gladly accepted the proposal and embraced his bride-to-be.

Harrison Butker just addressed his controversial commencement speech with a roomful of Chiefs reporters for the first time since he made the polarizing remarks ... and he was adamant he is NOT a misogynist.

In fact, the Kansas City kicker insisted he's actually the opposite ... telling media members at Chiefs' training camp practice Wednesday, "I love women."

Of course, there were plenty who felt differently after the 29-year-old said at a talk to Benedictine College graduates back in May that a woman's "most important title" should be "homemaker."