TMZ Sports - Page 2

The Phoenix Mercury and Los Angeles Sparks game nearly turned into a boxing match ... Brittney Griner squared up with Rickea Jackson after the hoopers got into a scuffle!

The Mercury -- who just locked in the 7 seed in the WNBA playoffs -- faced the Sparks on Tuesday at the Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles ... and tempers flared late in the first half.

Mercury guard Celeste Taylor makes a free throw with only a few seconds left in the first half ... when it appears Griner threw an elbow at Jackson, who was trying to box her out.

That didn't go over well with the Sparks rookie ... and she confronted Griner right on the court.

Griner wasn't havin' it ... and the two started shoving each other near the Mercury bench.

Step aside, Joe Jackson ... Jose Altuve now might have the rightful claim to the "Shoeless" moniker -- after he ditched not only his cleat, but his sock during a wild tiff with an umpire on Tuesday night.

The bizarre scene all unfolded in the top of the ninth inning of the Astros' close game against the Padres in San Diego -- when the Houston superstar hit a grounder to third base.

Jose was adamant the ball clanked off his foot and should have been ruled foul. But, the ump didn't see that way, and called him out.

LeBron James is rallying behind Bryce Young ... telling the second-year quarterback to stay focused on his goals after losing his starting job with the Carolina Panthers.

King James -- a fellow No. 1 overall pick himself -- went to X to show support for the young signal-caller on Tuesday ... making sure his 53 million followers saw his encouraging message.

"Bryce Young hold ya head Young 🤴🏾!! Rooting for you and know this ain't on you! Continue to put the work in and it shall prevail! 🙏🏾👑"

If basketball ends anytime soon for NBA star Tyrese Haliburton ... he's clearly got a career in the wrestling world -- as during another WWE appearance on Tuesday, he played the heel role perfectly, taking a swipe at Orlando Magic fans!!

The 24-year-old Indiana Pacers forward stopped by NXT -- the company's developmental brand -- in Orlando with initial goals of helping set up a match contract between Trick Williams and Ethan Page.

Haliburton wasn't alone, though ... he rolled to the squared circle with a ton of his Pacers teammates -- and when the Florida fans weren't happy to see him, he showed off his villain skills on the mic.

Patrick Mahomes seemingly has everything -- a loving family, three Super Bowl rings and an NFL contract worth roughly half a billion dollars -- but Travis Kelce still tried to hook him up with a sweet birthday gift this week nonetheless.

The Chiefs' star signal-caller revealed during an interview with "The Drive" on Tuesday his favorite pass catcher got him a swanky Louis Vuitton golf bag for his big 2-9.

It's unclear how much Kelce dropped on the present -- but on the designer's website, there are a few different models that range from $22,600 to $31,500.

The Eagles superfan who wrecked his knee after chest-bumping Jason Kelce says he's doing just fine now ... not only because he'll eventually recover, but also thanks to the Philly legend for reaching out and making his dreams come true!!

Rob Dunphy went to social media to provide a pretty hilarious medical update on Tuesday ... saying he got some x-rays done on his knee after the "Monday Night Countdown" catastrophe -- and the results were essentially, "Man the f*** up."

Dunphy added he's hoping to get an MRI done in the next few days ... but in the meantime, he'll be getting around on some crutches.

Police officers raced to Joey Bosa's home late Monday afternoon and pulled up to the NFL star's door with their weapons drawn ... but, thankfully, no one was in any danger -- and the whole ordeal ended up being a false alarm.

TMZ Sports has learned ... the LAPD received a call of a possible burglary in progress at Bosa's Los Angeles-area home at around 5 PM -- after a security system at the residence was triggered.

Law enforcement said there might've been suspects inside the house -- and as you can see in the video from the scene ... they took no chances as they entered the home with guns in their hands.

It's about to be Prime Time in Tallahassee once again -- at least, that's what Adam "Pacman" Jones is willing to put his hard-earned money on ... 'cause the ex-NFL star believes Deion Sanders will be the next head coach of the Florida State Seminoles!!

The former Bengals star defensive back laid out the prediction on The Pacman Jones Show this week, his new BetOnline gig ... prefacing it by saying he doesn't have any inside information, he just thinks the move makes way too much sense.

"He fit Florida State," Jones said. "My opinion, he would have picked Florida State over Colorado, but Florida State f***ed that up."

The Carolina Panthers have no one to blame but themselves for how things played out with Bryce Young ... so says former No. 2 overall pick Ryan Leaf, who tells TMZ Sports the entire organization is a complete mess -- and he's hoping the quarterback gets the hell outta town.

We caught up with Leaf shortly after the Panthers announced they would go with veteran signal-caller Andy Dalton under center in Week 3 ... and he thinks the former Alabama superstar was dealt a crappy hand with his first NFL home.

"They screwed this thing up from the get-go, though. I mean, this organization is horrible," Leaf said.

Diddy is being jailed on sex trafficking charges, Kim Zolciak is shutting down Kroy Biermann and Demario Davis is breaking down his NFL team's hot start ... all this on today's TMZ TV Hot Takes.

First up on "TMZ Live," Harvey and Charles dive into the Diddy indictment out of New York.

Social media detectives can relax ... Shaquille O'Neal says he is NOT the man in the PDA photo making the rounds all over the internet Tuesday.

If you haven't seen it yet ... the selfie was posted by Maria Ozuna Teachey to her 200K-plus followers on Instagram earlier this week -- and it featured her in front of a mirror with a large man's arms wrapped around her.

Because of the dude's size, many believed it was the Big Diesel -- after all, the dude appeared super tall and really buff -- and he seemingly had big hands and feet as well.

TikTok star Tianna Robillard appears to be moving from the AFC North to its NFC counterpart ... 'cause her recent social media activity has folks convinced she's now dating Minnesota Vikings player Ivan Pace Jr. after her dramatic split from Cody Ford.

The influencer -- who boasts more than 2 million followers on the video app -- went to her Instagram to show she was at U.S. Bank Stadium for Minnesota's win over the San Francisco 49ers this past Sunday ... rocking a Vikings shirt, jean shorts and some white cowboy boots.

While Pace is not in Robillard's photos, the two were spotted together on the sidelines prior to kickoff -- hugging and posing for a quick photo together before Pace returned to his team warmups.

Kristin Cavallari is an emotional wreck over her son's first foray into tackle football ... breaking down in tears as she admitted watching him get roughed up on the field is "one of the hardest things I've had to sit through."

Cavallari -- who shares her 6th grader, Camden, with ex-NFL quarterback Jay Cutler -- opened up about her struggles on her "Let's Be Honest" podcast ... explaining how her boy is old for his class, but outsized by his 7th and 8th grade opponents.

While KC said Camden's first two games went off without a hitch, the third was a different story ... and he was on the receiving end of some "really bad" hits and "went flying."

Kareem Hunt is returning to Kansas City ... the Chiefs have just re-signed their former star running back -- some six years after they unceremoniously cut him.

Hunt will initially be on the team's practice squad, according to multiple reports ... as Kansas City will first look to replace injured starter Isiah Pacheco with backups Carson Steele and Samaje Perine.

But, should the duo fail to produce ... Hunt could log snaps in the same backfield as Patrick Mahomes for the first time since the 2018 season.

Sean O'Malley will have to wait to get back in the win column -- the former bantamweight champion just announced he is scheduled for surgery following his loss at UFC 306.

The 29-year-old made the announcement after hopping on a call with streamer Adin Ross -- saying he suffered a torn labrum in his hip 10 weeks ago -- but still managed to get through fight camp for his title bout against Merab Dvalishvili.

"I tore my left labrum in my hip," O'Malley said. "That's the only reason I'm going to be out for so long. This surgery should only take two months to come back from, then a couple months recovery. A year is a long time, could be six to eight months. You never know."

Emily Gold -- the teenage "America's Got Talent" cheerleader who tragically died last Friday -- will be honored by her high school football team and its student body later this week ... TMZ Sports has learned.

The Chaffey Joint Union High School District in Southern California tells us ... Los Osos H.S. -- where Gold attended before her death -- will have several tributes at its football game Thursday, including a "gold game," where fans are strongly encouraged to wear gold.

Officials added there will also be a moment of silence for Gold at the event ... which is slated to kick off less than one week after the 17-year-old was found dead under a bridge on the 210 Freeway in Rancho Cucamonga.