TMZ Sports - Page 50

NBA star Jason Collins -- who instantly became a national symbol as the first openly gay professional athlete currently playing -- says he doesn't know any other gay players in the NBA.

Collins appeared on GMA this morning ... saying he always knew he was gay but fought it hard.

Collins says he was engaged at one point but called it off, because he felt he would be getting married for the wrong reasons -- he felt he was doing it to convince himself that was the life he should lead.

Collins praised the Prez for calling him and voicing support, and also said one of his true heroes is tennis legend Martina Navratilova ... who has been openly gay for years.

The daughter of a MLB pitcher who threw at Jackie Robinson's head in the movie "42" tells TMZ ... producers blatantly disregarded the truth and unfairly portrayed her dad as a racist.

It was one of the most important scenes in the flick ... big, bad Fritz Ostermueller (pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates at the time) fired a baseball at Jackie's head ... and then shouted at him, "You don't belong here!!!"

Problem is ... Fritz never beaned Jackie in the head in real life -- according to multiple reports at the time of the incident, the ball struck Jackie's arm.

Now, Fritz's daughter, Sherrill, is lashing out to TMZ -- "The producers of ‘42’ certainly owe my father an apology. If they were going to portray my father falsely, they should have used a fictional name."

Sherrill wants to make it clear -- her beef is NOT with Jackie ... "I have the deepest respect for Jackie Robinson and the courage he had to change baseball.”

However, Sherrill says producers have damaged her father's reputation beyond repair -- she tells us he was a "good man" who was never as angry or violent as he was portrayed in the movie.

We asked Sherrill if she believed her father was a racist -- to which she replied, "My dad, to my knowledge, was not a racist. I was not raised in that type of home."

Michael Jordan had to invite a friend as close as Tiger Woods to his huge wedding -- but with his track record ... let's hope TW didn't get too close to the bride, the bridesmaids, the mother of the bride, the cake ...

​Not everyone in the NBA is thrilled about having a gay dude in the league -- in fact, there are definitely some "closed-minded" haters who are gonna have a hard time with Jason Collins ... so says NBA star Antawn Jamison.

The Los Angeles Lakers player was hangin' out in Beverly Hills today when we asked about Jason's big announcement ... and the 36-year-old veteran had a lot to say.

Antawn -- who's been in the league since 1998 -- told us he's glad Jason came out ... and he's happy the guy can "be who he really is."

But Antawn says not everyone feels the same way -- telling us, "Of course, you're going to have some closed-minded people, let's be realistic."

"That's life."

Mike Wallace needs to learn how to RESPECT gay people ... so says the Miami Dolphins organization, which says it strongly condemns the comments made by their star receiver.

A rep for the NFL team tells TMZ ... the Dolphins took immediate action once they learned about Wallace's homophobic tweet, in which he condescendingly questions why Collins would want to "mess with other guys" when there are so many beautiful girls in the world.

The Dolphins tell us ..."Mike Wallace has apologized for his comments, and we have addressed the matter with him."

"Mike’s comments do not reflect the views of the Miami Dolphins. We believe in a culture of inclusiveness and respect, and any statements to the contrary are in no way acceptable to our organization."

"We will address the entire team about our policy of inclusion and make sure they all understand the importance of respecting individual choices.”

Wallace has since deleted the tweet.

Here's hoping Tim Tebow has developed a taste for women's undergarments ... because TMZ has learned, the teamless QB has just been offered a new job with the "Lingerie" Football League.

The LFL -- now known as Legends Football League -- sent Tebow's agent a letter moments ago, offering the former Jets QB a swanky new coaching position ... after the Jets fired his ass this morning.

LFL President Mitchell Mortaza writes, "Now that it appears Mr. Tim Tebow's career in the National Football League may be coming to an end, we at Legends Football League would like to extend him an offer to become our Quarterbacks Coach nationally."

Well, that was quick ... TMZ has learned Jason Collins has officially been asked to lead Boston's pride parade this summer, hours after the NBA star announced that he's gay.

A rep for parade tells TMZ, “Boston Pride is formally inviting Jason Collins to be a Marshal in the 2013 Boston Pride Parade ... Boston Pride is proud that our annual celebration helped to inspire Jason Collins to make his groundbreaking decision to come out."

You'll recall ... Collins told Sports Illustrated that the Boston Pride Parade was one of the main reasons he came out, claiming he always wanted to participate ... but couldn't because he was scared of public scrutiny.

Collins said he planned to march this year on June 8th -- but now he could be getting the VIP treatment instead ... which may or may not involve a bunch of half-naked men dancing in briefs.

... Miami Dolphins wide receiver Mike Wallace!!

Just HOURS after NBA player Jason Collins announced he's gay, 26-year-old Wallace took right to Twitter to provide the first ignorant comment.

“All these beautiful women in the world and guys wanna mess with other guys SMH (shakin' my head) …”

30 minutes later, Wallace deleted his tweet and replaced it with a half-assed explanation:

"Never said anything was right or wrong I just said I don't understand!! Deeply sorry for anyone that I offended."

There are a lot of things Louisville Cardinals guard Kevin Ware can't do since suffering one of the more gruesome injuries in sports history ... but he told our photog yesterday in DC ... he can still get down with the ladies.

And really ... that's all that matters, right?

Washington Wizards center Jason Collins -- who's been playing in the NBA since 2001 -- has revealed he's gay ... making him the first major active American male pro athlete to come out of the closet .

Collins revealed the news in an article for Sports Illustrated ... saying, "I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay."

He continued, "I didn't set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I'm happy to start the conversation."

Collins -- and his twin brother Jarron -- have been high profile athletes since high school ... when they were two of the highest rated prep players in the country.

They both went on to become standouts at Stanford ... and were each drafted into the NBA in 2001.

Jason says he didn't come out to his twin until last summer. "I'm glad I can stop hiding and refocus on my 13th NBA season."

NBA stars Kobe Bryant and Tony Parker are rallying behind Collins, tweeting messages of support. Kobe wrote, "Proud of @jasoncollins34. Don't suffocate who u r because of the ignorance of others." Tony added, "Really hope people will RESPECT Jason Collins for his decision to come out. Just glad he can now relax and not be afraid to be who he is."

Meanwhile, NFL player Mike Wallace made a homophobic comment.

Moments after tying the knot in a lavish wedding to his new hot wife Yvette Prieto, Michael Jordan was spotted making a quiet exit in a classy white Rolls-Royce in Palm Beach, FL this weekend.

Tony Parker feels really, REALLY bad for leading his San Antonio Spurs in a 4-game massacre of the Los Angeles Lakers ... and now he's even apologizing for it.

Parker and his hot french girlfriend, Axelle, hit up Katsuya in Hollywood on Friday night ... after destroying the Lakers in Game 3 of the 1st round of the NBA Playoffs.

Our photog -- huuuge Lakers fan -- thanked Parker for the ass kicking ... to which the 30-year-old actually APOLOGIZED.

Brad Lesley -- who played a few years of Major League Baseball before appearing in a slew of '90s sports movies -- passed away this weekend. He was 54.

Lesley's ex-wife, Chiho Svimonoff, tells TMZ ... Lesley had been suffering from kidney problems and had been living in a nursing home for the past seven months, where he was receiving dialysis.

Svimonoff says Lesley was rushed to a hospital in Marina Del Rey on Saturday night and ultimately died from kidney failure.

Lesley played for the Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers from 1982 to 1985 before switching to acting. In the '90s, he appeared in "Mr. Baseball," "Space Jam" ... and, of course, he played that angry pitcher with the goatee in "Little Big League."

R.I.P.

Our quarterback, which art in New York ... Tim Tebow be thy name ... YOU'RE FIRED!!!

Tebow will no longer have the opportunity to deliver the New York Jets from evil, 'cause the team cut his ass ... just days after drafting another QB with a more fluid throwing motion (Geno Smith).

Jets coach Rex Ryan said in a release today, "We have a great deal of respect for Tim Tebow. Unfortunately, things did not work out the way we all had hoped. Tim is an extremely hard worker, evident by the shape he came back in this offseason. We wish him the best moving forward."

The Jets acquired Tebow last year in a trade, but he threw only eight passes this past season. The move cost the Jets over $4 million.

You may be seated.

On a day meant to celebrate love, commitment, honesty and faithfulness ... Michael Jordan chose to invite the man who has come to symbolize the OPPOSITE of all that, Tiger Woods, to his wedding.

L.A. Lakers star Steve Nash thinks he has a good reason NOT to pay child support -- if he does, he thinks his ex-wife will spoil the kids with limos and other luxuries.

Nash is locked in a legal war with Alejandra Nash over their 3 kids. She currently lives in Arizona, where a judge handled their divorce and ruled she was not entitled to child support. She's appealing the ruling and we now know what they're arguing over.

Steve convinced the divorce judge -- Alejandra doesn't need child support because he made her a millionaire 5 times over in the divorce settlement. On top of that, she pulls in more than $30k a month.

For her part, Alejandra says Steve makes a million bucks more than her every month, and it's unfair he's not forced to use some of it for the benefit of their kids.

Steve is saying he's paying plenty -- 90% of medical, school and extracurricular activities, and 82% of the nanny's $2k a month salary. He says he's worried if he pays more, she's an excessive spender who will spoil and damage the kids with crazy luxuries.

But there's more going on here. As we previously reported ... Alejandra wants to move to L.A. but Steve is objecting. It's really weird, because the b-baller has said he chose to go to the Lakers rather than the Knicks so he could be closer to his kids.