TMZ Sports - Page 18

Iman Shumpert is addressing the rumors surrounding his dating life head-on ... telling TMZ Sports that Amber Rose is nothing but a friend -- despite the two recently hitting the beach together.

The NBA champ and the TV personality/model caused quite a stir after they were spotted in Miami last month, smiling and loungin' with one another near the water.

Our sources said at the time it was a platonic meet-up ... and Shumpert and Rose were simply just friends.

Travis Kelce is now on the backside of 30 having celebrated his 35th birthday Saturday, and Taylor Swift was MIA, but fear not Swifties ... this will all course correct Monday night.

Travis hit up his Kelce Car Jam spectacle in Kansas City, and he broke the news to the staff Taylor was not showing up.

As you know, there's this crazy buzz that when Taylor is not at every Travis game or event, there's trouble in paradise, but not the case. Travis said Taylor will be cheering him on Monday night when the Chiefs take on the Saints in K.C.

Vanderbilt Univ. scored a stunning win over Alabama on Saturday -- one of the biggest ever for the team -- and they celebrated with one of the craziest celebrations ever ... ripping the goalpost out of the ground and dragging it miles away for its new home in a famous river!!!

The Commodores crushed the Crimson Tide by a score of 40-35, and Nashville fans went nuts ... rushing the field at FirstBank Stadium and somehow dislodging the goalpost from the ground.

But that wasn't the end ... fans lugged the gigantic object more than 3 miles to its new home -- in the Cumberland River.

Dwayne Johnson wanted to shed his wrestling nickname when he became an actor, but Saturday night he was absolutely The Rock as he made a thunderous return to the ring!

Here's how it went down ... Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes were celebrating their victory against Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu at the State Farm Arena in Georgia, when The Rock's theme song began reverberating through the arena and the crowd went wild.

As Cody held the belt over his head, The Rock appeared with his own hardware -- the People's Champion belt -- and gave Cody a blank stare as he counted down from 3 with his fingers.

The two people who say they sustained gnarly wounds in the Rashee Rice car crash earlier this year are now hoping the Chiefs star's own recent injury will expedite an amicable resolution to their impending lawsuit.

Edvard Petrovskiy and Irina Gromova said in court documents filed back in April that they suffered brain trauma, lacerations to their face, bruises on their bodies, as well as internal bleeding after Rice and his friend lost control of their sports cars on March 30 and crashed into their ride while speeding down a Texas highway.

Petrovskiy and Gromova asked for no less than $10 million in punitive damages -- but there appears to be no disposition to the suit in sight ... as court records show a trial in the case isn't slated to begin until June 2025.

But, Sanjay S. Mathur, the attorney representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement to TMZ Sports this week that following the wide receiver's knee injury Sunday ... he's hopeful things will now change.

"We are saddened to hear about Rashee Rice's injury on the football field and hope for his quick recovery," Mathur said. "We recognize that injuries can significantly impact one's life, causing both physical pain and mental distress. They disrupt routines, hobbies, daily chores, and activities. Injuries often lead to medical procedures and bills, and they can hinder one’s ability to earn a living."

"We are struck by the fact that Rice was injured at a time when the plaintiffs in our case against him are seeking justice for their own injuries," Mathur continued. "We hope that these recent developments will foster empathy, a resolve to seek resolution, and, most importantly, an acceptance of responsibility toward the injured parties in our case."

Rice, who has previously expressed remorse for his role in the wreck, was hurt while attempting to make a tackle following a Patrick Mahomes interception against the Chargers at SoFi Stadium. The extent of his injury has not yet been revealed -- although the Chiefs have placed him on injured reserve ... meaning he'll miss at least the next four Kansas City games.

Despite suffering yet another scary head injury, Tua Tagovailoa is still going to try to return to the NFL -- so says his close family friend, Manti Te'o.

The former New Orleans Saints linebacker made the revelation to us out in Los Angeles this week -- some 21 days after Tagovailoa sustained his third diagnosed concussion in a "Thursday Night Football" matchup with the Bills.

Te'o says while he's tried to give the 26-year-old signal-caller his space as he recovers from the brain trauma ... he did recently speak with the Dolphins star's father -- and from everything he's hearing, Tua is "going to try to get back."

Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets are stumbling out the gates in 2024 ... but ex-NFL QB Mark Sanchez says the last thing they need to do is make a change on the sidelines -- telling TMZ Sports they need to ride it out with Robert Saleh.

We caught up with the Fox Sports commentator at LAX amid Gang Green's 2-2 start ... and asked what he felt about folks saying NY's head coach should be on the hot seat following a 10-9 loss to the Denver Broncos.

"This past game was just an ugly game, they would had to win ugly," Sanchez said. "And they lost by a point, or whatever it was. In a rainy game like that, you need one ball to bounce your way; you need to make a field goal, something."

5:32 PM PT -- Keanu Reeves lost control of his car in his pro auto racing debut at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, narrowly avoiding a crash.

Keanu was coming out of Turn 9 when his car spun into the grass ... though he was able to avoid smashing into the wall.

Video shows Keanu spinning out, and after a brief pause he gets back on the track and finishes out the race.

Keanu was uninjured and he qualified 31st out of 35 cars. Next up for Keanu is another race on Sunday.

Keanu Reeves sure knows a lot more than kung fu ... and he's gearin' up to prove it Saturday as he readied to make his professional auto racing debut at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

In exclusive pictures and video obtained by TMZ ... Keanu can be seen preparing for practice runs Saturday morning behind the wheel of the No. 92 Eagles Canyon Racing Toyota GR86.

The GR Cup Series races happening over the weekend are a part of the Indianapolis 8-hour event ... but separate from the endurance race.

Nikki Garcia (AKA Bella) looks happy doing the single mom thing ... taking her son to his dance class after getting a restraining order against his famous father.

Nikki was spotted Friday in Napa, CA for the first time since a judge gave her court-ordered protection from "Dancing With the Stars" pro Artem Chigvintsev.

She was smiling as she carried their son, Matteo, in her arms ... and they had matching all-black outfits.

Richard Simmons is up in heaven with his trademark tank top and shorts, working up a sweat ... at least that's what his brother said at Richard's celebration of life.

The late fitness guru was remembered Saturday in his hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana ... and his brother, Leonard, compared him to Clark Kent during a touching eulogy at St. Louis Cathedral.

Leonard says Richard was like Superman in that he always had his tank top and shorts on under his outfit -- like Clark keeping his superhero getup under his civilian clothes.

Travis Kelce's "Grotesquerie" character was a stripper back in the day, but he's now getting opportunities to bring Ed Lachlan's past back to the present ... with several male revues telling TMZ Sports they would love "Big Peter and His Banana Splitter" to make a special appearance!!

The Kansas City Chiefs superstar made his debut on the Ryan Murphy show this past week ... and in one scene, his role was revealed as a former dancer at a male strip club in Juneau, Alaska, where he was "jiggling it for horny mamas coming off of cruise ships."

Unfortunately, there weren't any flashback scenes.

Boyz II Men will be keeping an extra close eye on UFC 307 on Saturday night ... 'cause the legendary R&B group has a special and tragic connection to Khalil Rountree.

Shawn Stockman and Nathan Morris, two-thirds of the 4x Grammy Award-winning group, joined Babcock on the TMZ Sports TV show (airs nightly on FS1) this week where they talked about the Rountrees.

Back in 1992, Khalil's dad, Roderick "Khalil" Rountree, was Boyz II Men's road manager. After a May 1992 show in the Chicago area, Khalil was gunned down by three men who'd been caught trying to break into his hotel room, according to reports.

If it were up to David Ortiz, there would be no debate over Pete Rose's Hall of Fame candidacy ... as he tells TMZ Sports the Reds legend should have been inducted years ago.

Big Papi made his opinion loud and clear while out at LAX on Friday -- just four days after Rose died from heart disease -- saying straight up, "I thought he should have been a Hall of Famer a long time ago."

"Mistakes are mistakes," the former Red Sox star said. "But sometimes there's exceptions to the rules, you know what I'm saying? And, he's one-of-a-kind."

What a wild week it's been!!! So, be sure to settle in for a roundup of all the juicy TMZ TV hot takes you may've missed.

Kicking things off on "TMZ Live," Harvey and Babcock dive into all the latest Diddy developments, including his eyebrow-raising talk show appearance with a teenage Justin Bieber back in 2011.

Kayla Harrison is locked in on her UFC 307 opp Ketlen Vieira ... but the 2x Olympic gold medalist tells TMZ Sports she's SO prepared, she's ready to also kick both Julianna Peña and Raquel Pennington's asses, too -- same night!

We caught up with the UFC bantamweight contender this week ... ahead of what'll almost surely be a title eliminator when she squares off with Vieira in Salt Lake City on Saturday night.

While she is not scheduled to face Pennington or Peña ... Harrison said she's heard that if either the champ or challenger drops out of the title fight, she could be called upon to step in.

Bronny James' NBA gear is rakin' in bank before ever playing a regular season game ... 'cause the young hooper's first Summer League jersey sold for over $38K!!

The purple and gold uniform top from the July 12 tilt between the Lakers and Houston Rockets at the Las Vegas SL was recently sold by Sotheby's (in mid-September) ... and is now part of "Lakers Shrine," one of if not the most impressive private collection of Lakers memorabilia in the world.

Bronny played 27 minutes, scoring 8 points in the contest.