TMZ Sports - Page 50

His FATHER was a baseball star. HE was a baseball star. But Ken Griffey Jr.'s son WON'T carry on the MLB legacy 'cause he chose football instead ... and KG2 tells TMZ he's totally cool with it.

Turns out, Ken's kid Trey Griffey is a freshman wide receiver for the University of Arizona ... and Ken's in L.A. to watch the Wildcats take on USC tonight.

But when we asked if he was a little disappointed that his 6'3", 190 pound kid won't be following in his Major League footsteps, Ken gave a pretty heartfelt reply.

"He loves football ... and as a parent, I've got to be supportive of that," Ken told us ... adding, "You can't tell your child what to love and not to love."

But that's not all ... we also asked Ken about his kid's chances of making the NFL, if he considers himself the greatest HR hitter of his generation, and his encounter with Charlie Sheen.

Oklahoma City Thunder big man Kendrick Perkins was arrested today after allegedly punching a woman in the face outside of a nightclub in July.

Officials say 28-year-old Perkins and his brother-in-law Quincy Alpough were outside Nox nightclub in Harris County, Texas when they got into an altercation with a woman named Mikeeta Cotton.

Cotton claims she was driving her car in front of the club and got into a fender bender with Alpough's female cousin.

Cotton says the woman attacked her ... and Alpough quickly joined in, pushing her and yelling.

Cotton claims Perkins -- who's 6'10" also entered the fracas and punched her brother in the head ... and then smacked her in the face with a closed fist.

A third person says Alpough elbowed her in the throat -- knocking her unconscious.

You don't go to Italy and not eat the pasta, you don't go to Japan and not try the sushi ... and Dwight Howard knows you can't go to the Philippines and not hit up the karaoke nightclubs.

The 6'11" Houston Rockets star has been in the Philippines to play a couple of NBA exhibition games ... but a few nights before he hit the court, Dwight blew off some steam at one of the country's most famous karaoke clubs.

But the karaoke joints over there aren't like the karaoke joints over here -- Filipinos take their karaoke VERY seriously and the clubs are the epicenter of the nightlife.

In fact, roughly SIX people have been MURDERED in the Philippines over disputes stemming from someone botching Frank Sinatra's version of "My Way" during a karaoke sesh.

Fortunately, Dwight didn't have that problem .. and emerged unscathed after spending his Monday night in the V.I.P. section of the Liberty Island karaoke bar in Manila.

We're told Dwight had a blast -- with dancing and full bottle service. We're told Howard was very cool inside the club and even signed some autographs for some of the staffers.

Dwight didn't play ball until Thursday ... and put up 9 points and 3 rebounds in 24 minutes against the Pacers.

Deion Sanders tells TMZ ... he did not CHOKE SLAM an employee at the school he co-founded ... but acknowledges there was a physical confrontation.

Cops in Dallas are investigating violent allegations made by Kevin Jefferson, the CFO of Prime Prep Academy ... a charter school Deion co-founded last year.

According to Jefferson, Sanders flew off the handle after learning that some of the school's student athletes were not doing well in their classes.

Jefferson says Sanders got "upset and a little emotional" and then "grabbed me by my throat and kind of threw me to the ground."

But Sanders says it's all BS -- telling TMZ, "We locked up with one another ... but he was not physically assaulted."

He adds, "He's looking for a pay day. I did nothing to that gentleman that warranted an assault."

Sanders later tweeted, "The Person claiming assault is a fake administrator whom does absolutely nothing to help the school,kids or teachers reach our goals. Truth."

He added, "I won’t sit&witness my PrimePrep kids receive 2nds when they deserve the BEST EDUCATION!"

NFL star Major Wright just got into serious heat over his side hustle -- AFRICAN DIAMONDS -- and now he's being chased down by a couple of scary loan sharks.

Here's the short of it ... when he's not playing ball, Wright operates a diamond trading company called TDW Diamonds, and allegedly borrowed $75,000 last year in order to purchase raw South African diamonds (ranging from 21-31.5 carats).

Problem is ... the lenders are saying they still haven't been repaid, and the interest rate is borderline mafia-level.

According to their lawsuit, lenders Jimmy Michel and Marc Geffrard claim Wright promised to repay the loan PLUS 100% interest by March 2012 ... a total of $150,000 ... but that never happened.

It's now been more than a year and Michel and Geffrard say they still haven't been paid. They're suing for the full $150,000 plus even more interest.

P.S. -- the loan sharks are gonna get screwed because under Florida law, if anyone charges more than 18 percent on a loan, they forfeit their right to collect any interest at all. So, by (allegedly) signing a dumb contract, the two footballers may have outsmarted the sharks in the end.

Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan didn't pull any punches -- his team sucks ... in fact, they might suck too much for even Tim Tebow to work his usual miracles.

The good news for Khan? He's still stupid rich.

11:20 PM PT -- Lamar bailed on the flight to NYC. We're told he became uneasy about making the trip after we posted this story about his plans -- and he has not rescheduled.

Lamar Odom is flying to New York later today ... to meet with honchos from several basketball teams, and he's carrying what he claims is proof that he's clean and sober ... sources connected with Lamar tell TMZ.

Our sources say on Tuesday ... Lamar underwent blood and urine tests for drugs, and he tested NEGATIVE for drugs.

This is consistent with what other sources have told us about his time with the Kardashians on Tuesday. We're told he was lucid and showed no signs of being under the influence of drugs.

We're told Lamar has had private conversations with execs from several teams who have expressed interest in him, provided he could show he was clean ... and the purpose of the trip is to meet with them and possibly strike a deal.

Our sources also say Lamar wanted to go to New York to visit his family, and get away from "the negative energy."

And finally, our sources tell us Lamar says he's had his fun with drugs and is ready to re-start his basketball career. Fact is ... he's done that before.

Ex-New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez just took the witness stand for the first time in his high-profile murder case ... and told the court he's not mentally ill.

During the hearing, the judge peppered Hernandez with a barrage of questions about his overall health and mental state. Hernandez -- who was pretty composed on the stand -- insisted he's A-OK.

Hernandez has pled not guilty to the murder of 27-year-old Odin Lloyd.

San Francisco 49ers superstar Aldon Smith has reportedly been hit with 3 felony charges for possession of ASSAULT WEAPONS ... stemming from a shooting at his home back in 2012.

Smith -- who's currently in rehab following a DUI last month -- was stabbed at a party at the NFL star's 8,000 square foot home in San Jose, CA. Two other people were shot that night.

The identity of the shooter is unknown -- but officials do say there were several guns found in Smith's home, including 3 kinds of assault rifles (below) which are illegal in California ... and an unregistered .45 handgun.

According to cops, Smith fired the handgun into the air several times during the party, but did not hit anyone. They say the unknown shooter later used the same handgun.

Authorities also say they found several magazines of ammunition in Smith's bedroom.

Just two weeks ago, the two alleged shooting victims filed lawsuits against Aldon -- but never accused the football player of firing the shots that struck them that night.

Everyone knows the Jacksonville Jaguars SUUUCK ... including owner Shahid Khan, who scoffed at the idea of signing Tim Tebow ... and told us his team needs A WHOLE LOT of good players.

Khan -- one of the richest men in America -- was leaving the Ritz-Carlton in Washington D.C. yesterday when we asked him if he would consider adding Tebow to his pathetic roster.

Khan's response -- laughter -- followed by, "Ah, we need a lot of good players, OK."

Then, something even more shocking happened -- SHAHID GRABBED A NEWSPAPER.

Snoop Lion's calling out a "homie" for shorting his giant sack of marijuana winnings -- because a pound of weed is supposed to be a full POUND ... and you know this man!

You'll recall (or not if you smoke like Snoop does) ... we told you about Snoop winning a massive bag of Mexican buds off a bet on the Mayweather-Canelo fight.

But now Snoop is complaining to Jim Rome that the guy he made the bet with, Lui, apparently doesn't own a scale.

Check out how Snoop put Lui on blast, and then bragged about the sticky icky spoils of victory.

Rome's show -- which now features one seriously smoked-out dressing room -- airs Wednesday nights on Showtime.

He talked the talk, but now 49ers safety Donte Whitner is walking the walk ... officially filing an application with the court to legally change his last name to "Hitner," TMZ has learned.

Donte has been talking about making the move ever since the NFL fined him $21k for an illegal hit on a Rams wide receiver earlier this season.

But now, we've learned ... on Tuesday, Whitner sent his attorney Larry Zukerman to file the official request at Probate Court of Cuyahoga County, Ohio.

In the doc, Donte explains that he wants to make the change because it will be beneficial to his career as a pro football player and in other business ventures.

TMZ has obtained the mug shot for Jerry Sandusky's son Jon Sandusky -- taken moments after the Cleveland Browns director of player personnel was arrested for DUI yesterday.

36-year-old Jon was initially pulled over in Fargo, ND early Tuesday morning after cops say he made an illegal turn. During the stop, cops suspected he was hammered and tried to administer a breathalyzer test ... but Jon refused.

Instead, cops ordered Jon to do field sobriety tests -- and he clearly didn't perform well enough, 'cause he was immediately arrested for driving under the influence.

Sandusky was hauled to a nearby station where he was booked -- posed for his mug shot -- and was eventually released.

It's been a rough couple of years for the Sandusky family -- Jon's sick pedophile father Jerry was arrested in 2011 for raping a bunch of boys in the Penn State locker room.

He's currently rotting in prison ... where he will most likely die.

Abby Wambach is officially off the market ... TMZ has learned the Team USA soccer superstar got hitched to her longtime girlfriend this weekend at a fancy resort in Hawaii.

Multiple sources confirm ... Abby and pro soccer player Sarah Huffman swapped "I dos" on Saturday at the Villas at Po'ipu Kai on the island of Kauai.

We're told the ceremony went down at sunset ... right on the beach ... in front of the couple's closest friends and family members.

Sources say it was a very intimate gathering -- attended by several members of the Team USA soccer team, including Alex Morgan and Sydney Leroux (see below).

The couple -- and their guests -- spent the past few days doing all sorts of fun activities, including hikes, cliff diving and even a boat trip.

Sure, he's bummed out about the heart-breaking loss to the Jets last night, but Atlanta Falcons lineman Justin Blalock didn't spend Tuesday morning sulking about it ... TMZ has learned he spent his day off teaching high school kids about finance.

Blalock -- who's in the middle of a 6-year, $38 million contract -- rolled up to Meadow Creek High School in Atlanta earlier today to meet with the kids.

We're told Blalock was in tow with Brian Gilder -- a member of his financial team -- and the two spoke to the students about the importance of financial literacy.

Blalock also donated several copies of a guide called, "The Financial Playbook" ... which covers everything from insurance, to budgets to stocks and retirement plans.

Adam "Pacman" Jones was found not guilty today of punching a woman at an Ohio nightclub ... and surveillance video of the whole confrontation may be what saved his frequently arrested ass.

A judge ruled in Jones' favor in the misdemeanor assault case stemming from the June 5 incident ... where he appeared to punch, or at least slap, the alleged victim as she stood in an outdoor area of the club.

But the attorney for the Cincinnati Bengals cornerback argued Jones was only acting in self-defense because the woman had hit him with a beer bottle.

The surveillance video clearly shows her making the first move -- and although prosecutors claimed Jones started everything by calling the woman and her friends "fat and ugly" ... that wasn't enough to convict.

Translation -- the judge told the woman to follow 3rd grade rules: Sticks and stones ...