TMZ Sports - Page 5

The most wonderful time of the year always comes with a full slate of basketball matchups ... which means it's also TMZ Sports' cue to present the wives and girlfriends of the NBA's Christmas Day games!!

The first matchup is at the iconic Madison Square Garden where the New York Knicks will host the San Antonio Spurs ... and Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart's wives, Ali and Shannon, will certainly be rooting for the home team.

Chris Paul's wife, Jada, will likely be there, too ... as this could very well be the last holiday game for the future Hall of Fame guard, who's in his 20th season.

Jayden Daniels sure seems confident Travis Hunter can continue dominating on both offense and defense even in the pros ... telling TMZ Sports the Colorado star is "a special player."

Hunter, of course, just won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday for the way he played both wide receiver and cornerback for the Buffs in 2024 ... but many in the NFL world have wondered if he can keep that two-way stardom going after he gets drafted in April.

Daniels -- who's currently tearing up the league in his rookie season with the Commanders -- certainly believes he can ... and, in fact, he's cheering for him to do so.

Martin Gramatica is opening up about his difficult childhood ... saying he didn't truly realize how hard life as a young boy was until he had children of his own -- something he writes about in his new memoir.

TMZ Sports recently chatted with the longtime NFL kicker and Super Bowl champion about "Beyond The Uprights: The Intimate Memoir Of Martin Gramatica."

"I had a very abusive father that I speak about," Gramatica told Babcock, adding he wasn't broaching the topic for sympathy. The opposite, as a matter of fact.

Sophie Hediger -- a Swiss snowboarder who competed in the 2022 Beijing Games -- was tragically killed in an avalanche on Monday. She was just 26 years old.

Switzerland's skiing federation announced the heartbreaking news on Tuesday -- revealing the incident happened at the Arosa resort.

"We are stunned," Swiss-Ski CEO Walter Reusser said in a statement, "and our thoughts are with Sophie's family, to whom we express our deepest condolences."

Forget the Polar Express, Livvy Dunne's opting for the Polar Plunge this Christmas Eve ... taking a freezing ocean dip in nothing but a tiny bikini!!

The LSU gymnast performed the impressive feat in 32-degree weather just before Santa Claus came to her town ... and fortunately for all of her followers, she filmed the whole thing.

Dunne -- wearing a red two-piece -- took to the water like a champ ... and dove head first into the icy aqua, before she raced out to grab a warm towel.

Floyd Mayweather is adding yet another jewel to his already impressive real estate portfolio ... TMZ Sports has learned he's entered into an agreement to buy a prominent New York City building for over $20 MILLION.

We're told The Best Ever is snatching up a corner unit on 6th Avenue (and 47th Street) in Manhattan ... a place where he used to go on lavish shopping sprees.

The property, located at 1196 6th Ave., comes with offices, a diamond exchange ... and even a large, income generating billboard.

Pacman Jones is clearly sick and tired of hearing people give their thoughts on Travis Hunter's relationship ... because he just told Dez Bryant to "shut the f*** up" about the couple.

The former NFL cornerback went in on the ex-Cowboys superstar during a rant on his "Pacman Jones Show" this week ... saying straight up Dez needs to keep his thoughts on Hunter and his fiancée, Leanna Lenee, to himself.

The 41-year-old added that anyone else with hot takes on the issue should pipe down as well.

NBA superstar Joel Embiid was ejected from a game Monday night ... after he relentlessly screamed in the face of a female ref.

The unnerving scene went down in the second quarter of the 76ers' tilt with the San Antonio Spurs ... after Embiid was whistled for an offensive foul.

The Philadelphia big man, wearing a mask to protect a sinus injury he suffered earlier this month, was so livid over the call, he raced to Jenna Schroeder and began melting down. He yelled at the woman repeatedly -- at one point getting mere inches from her nose.

A National Lacrosse League player snapped on some hecklers following a game over the weekend -- attacking the fans with his fist before swinging his stick at them ... and the wild incident was all captured on video.

The scene unfolded at the end of the Halifax Thunderbirds' loss to the Colorado Mammoth in Denver.

In footage shot by a spectator in the stands ... you can see as Halifax's players were walking toward their locker room, several fans seemed to throw insults their way. Most of the players walked by without incident ... but Tyson Bell for some reason decided to turn things physical.

Struggling to come up with food ideas for Beyoncé's Christmas Day halftime show? Fear not ... celeb chef Andrew Zimmern is offering up some snack hacks to help you crush it at the Dec. 25 party!!

The host of "Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern" tells TMZ Sports ... the real key is variety.

According Zimmern, there will be two types of people at Yoncé's concert -- ones who will be glued to the TV ... and the others who will enjoy the audio while making their way to the food table.

The Baltimore Ravens better hope they don't need to make many offensive halftime adjustments on Wednesday -- 'cause Lamar Jackson says he's skipping the intermission locker room talk for Beyoncé.

The quarterback -- who many feel is currently the frontrunner for the NFL's MVP award -- let his team and fans know on Monday he'll be on the sidelines for Yoncé's Christmas Day concert at NRG Stadium in Houston.

It's, of course, extremely rare for players to opt out of halftime meetings in favor of shows -- the last guy who did it, Bengals kicker Evan McPherson at Super Bowl LVI, received a ton of backlash.

Le'Veon Bell is so confident in his newfound skills in the boxing ring ... he's ready for a fight with Oleksandr Usyk -- and he tells TMZ Sports he's sure he can beat the heavyweight champ!

Bell called out the 37-year-old just after his impressive win over Tyson Fury on Saturday night -- explaining to us that he truly thinks he can take the belt away from the Ukrainian pugilist.

"If I ever get the opportunity to share the ring with him," the former All-Pro running back said, "that'd be that time where preparation meets opportunity and I'd get to show everybody what the hell I've been working on, bro."

Aaron Rodgers just revealed he has a new girlfriend!!!

The New York Jets star dropped the bombshell minutes ago on "The Pat McAfee Show" ... telling Pat McAfee, A.J. Hawk and the rest of the guys he's now dating a woman named Brittani.

No word on who she is or how they met -- but Rodgers certainly appears to be really into her ... as he said on the show he got her a Christmas gift -- and he didn't push back when McAfee ribbed him about being "in love."

Houston Texans wide receiver Tank Dell won't play again this season -- and he might miss 2025 too -- as his coach just revealed he sustained a dislocated knee and a torn ACL during Saturday's game against the Chiefs.

DeMeco Ryans just announced the news to media members ... explaining Dell also damaged "some other things" in his knee after he collided with his teammate following a touchdown catch in the loss at Arrowhead Stadium.

Ryans said Dell will have surgery soon -- and while there's been no timeline for a return just yet, the injury usually takes a full year to come back from.

Joe Burrow is finally revealing why he bought his offensive linemen swords for Christmas ... explaining it was a bit of a compromise -- as his teammates initially said they wanted firearms.

The Cincinnati quarterback went into detail about the unique presents following the Bengals' 24-6 win over the Browns ... telling media members he didn't want to get his pals guns, so he opted for a little safer weapon.

"I was like, 'I don't know about guns, guys,'" he said with a smile. "And, so, I was in the weapon mindset, and I was like, 'What's a cool weapon?' And Samurai swords, I think, are pretty dang cool."

Dave Stewart -- Rickey Henderson's former teammate and good friend -- is encouraging baseball fans everywhere to remember the outfielder in the wake of his death as a kind man who was "one of the five best players to ever play Major League Baseball."

Stewart sat down with TMZ Sports on Sunday -- just two days after Henderson passed away at 65 following a battle with pneumonia -- and he gushed over the Hall of Famer ... calling him "a tremendous human being."

Stewart says he first met Rickey when they were teenagers ... but formed a real bond with him when they turned pro.