TMZ Sports - Page 50

It's pretty incredible ... Donald Sterling goes on the attack against Magic Johnson during his interview with Anderson Cooper.

As you know, a photo of Magic with V. Stiviano that she posted on Instagram was the catalyst for the now-famous recording first posted on TMZ Sports.

Sterling told Cooper he's spoken with Magic twice since the recording became public, and then gratuitously added that Magic has not done enough to help minorities.

But then he went on ... saying Magic was not a good example for the children of L.A.

The interview airs tonight on CNN at 8P.

Michael Sam is well aware of all of the nasty comments being said about his celebratory guy-on-guy kiss during the NFL Draft -- but he's "not bothered by it at all" ... his agent tells TMZ Sports.

At least two major sports stars -- and countless normies -- have attacked ESPN for airing footage of Sam kissing his boyfriend in the moments after he learned he had been drafted by the St. Louis Rams.

Sam's agent Cameron Weiss tells us ... Michael is very aware of the criticism, but he's making it a point to not let himself get caught up in the negativity.

"He's got really broad shoulders, he can handle this," Weiss says ... "He understands people are going to say positive and negative things. He's the perfect person to handle this."

Weiss says Sam has been "completely even keel" over the past couple of months -- but he's making sure to stay focused on the ultimate goal ... making the team."

8:13 AM PT -- Henderson is backtracking BIG TIME ... claiming his homophobic tweet was part of a twisted psychology experiment to see how the public would react. Suuuure.

Henderson wrote, "One of my best friends, WHO IS GAY, is about to graduate in psychology, asked me to say these things so he can have responses."

"The point of his study was to see how people react when others say things or act a certain way against another group of people."

He added, "Sorry for messing with everyone like that!!! Everyone really helped my boy AND FOR THAT WE ARE EXTREMELY APPRECIATIVE!!!"

Meantime, Ole' Miss is already distancing itself from Henderson -- with Athletic Director Ross Bjork telling us, "I am extremely disappointed and we do not condone the statements made by our former bball player. We believe in respect and dignity for all."

"We use significant resources to educate our student-athletes about respect and dignity for all people and unfortunately not everyone gets it."

Another sports star spitting homophobic venom over Michael Sam -- this time a college basketball star says he's going to boycott ESPN for showing Sam's "sickening" post-Draft kiss.

Vladimir Putin took some time away from riding horses and being scary ... to strap on some skates and hit the ice for a celebrity hockey game in Russia ... and shocker, THEY LET HIM SCORE!!

Putin, sporting the #11 jersey, played for the red team (naturally) during something called the "All-Russia Festival of Night Hockey League" in Sochi.

Russia's 62-year-old leader lined up with former NHL stars Viacheslav Fetisov and Pavel Bure -- to take on other famous Russian people who were probably way too scared to check Putin into the boards.

Donald Sterling has been REJECTED by at least 8 big law firms in his quest to sue the NBA ... we're told because they think he's toxic and would piss off their existing clients.

Multiple sources in the legal world tell TMZ ... Sterling has reached out to a number of extremely large, prestigious firms, both in L.A. and San Francisco, looking for representation ... but none were receptive.

Our sources say partners in the firms feel representing Sterling would alienate both their African American clients and corporate clients that are hyper-sensitive to controversy.

One source closely connected with Sterling tells TMZ ... it's especially galling for the Clippers owner, because a number of partners in these firms have called him from time to time asking for favors, including tickets to games.

Charles Barkley says HELL WILL FREEZE OVER before he apologizes to the fat community for making fun of the large women of San Antonio ... claiming, "That's not gonna happen."

Barkley came under fire from MULTIPLE obesity organizations after he went on "Inside the NBA" and said S.A. is a "gold mine" for Weight Watchers because the women there are so huge.

But last night, Sir Charles addressed the situation head on -- saying, "They want me to apologize? That's not gonna happen."

In fact, Charles doubled-down on the fat jokes ... and took even more shots ... telling his critics if they don't like what he's saying on the show, "Turn it off."

**WARNING -- THE FOLLOWING POST CONTAINS SERIOUS "GAME OF THRONES" SPOILERS ... GOOD ONES, TOO ... PROCEED WITH CAUTION**

Atlanta Falcons great Jamal Anderson -- the creator of the Dirty Bird -- is a HARDCORE "Game of Thrones" fan ... like, borderline obsessed.

So, when we asked him to put together a Monday morning "GoT" recap, dude was ALL ABOUT IT.

Soooo ... without further ado, here's Jamal's breakdown of last night's ep "The Laws of Gods and Men."
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"I saved you, I saved this city, and all of your worthless lives!" -- Tyrion Lannister

Welcome to the Iron Bank. If you remember a few episodes back, Tywin Lannister was explaining to Cersei how the Iron Bank is ONLY loyal to one thing -- the coin. Apparently so.

Can't help but think how lucky Stannis Baretheon is to have Sir Davos as his representative. "T.V. Stannis" isn't like "Book Stannis" (that's another blog entirely) but bottom line ... it seems he'll now have the funds again to fight for the throne ... Look out!

Never thought I would write this next sentence about a man stuck in an animal cage, but, it's hard to feel bad to Theon Greyjoy.

We first met him as a ward of the Starks in Season One. Now, broken, captured and penisless ... he's "Reek" ... and he sleeps with Ramsey Snow's hunting dogs.

Enter the rescue team led by Theon's sister Yara Greyjoy, who rallies the Ironborn to save their mutilated prince. It's safe to say we all want a sister like Yara. First class badass!

Problem is, Theon's so messed up in the head (thanks to Ramsey) he thinks the rescue is a trick and retreats to his cage refusing to be saved.

Yara flees.

Reek gets a weird sponge bath for refusing to betray his master. A new plot begins ..

Moving on ... because last night WE GOT DRAGONS AGAIN, BABY! However, they aren't babies anymore.

They're hungry. The see goats. They eat the goats. Darwinism thrives in Meereen.

I understand Khalessi (Daenarys Stormborn) feeling some responsibility to rule the territory she has recently conquered -- talk about being sidetracked, though. Khalessi recently received the news of a new, even younger King sitting on the Iron Throne, yet she has chooses to stay put. An army, three dragons, seasoned counselors. Yet our Khalessi is camped out in Mareen. Ramifications folks. This decision by Khalessi certainly comes with them. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, back in King's Landing ...

Meek in its appearance, modestly dark in its shade. But don't be fooled, last nights counsel meeting is the beginning of those aforementioned ramifications for Khalessi. Tywin Lannister is not the kind of guy who sits around and lets someone else make the first move. Ramifications.

Here's a shocker ... Lord Varys isn't gay. He isn't straight either. He's completely asexual and THRILLED about it, claiming it frees him up to pursue the one thing he wants to mount ... the Iron Throne. That scene was gold.

The best scenes of the week were saved for the end. Finally, the trial of Tyrion Lannister!

I hesitated to write the word "trial" because it was more like an inquisition. Was there ever a chance for Tyrion? With a witness list he could never defend himself against, the little fella was doomed from the start. The painful final punishing blow was Shae (Tyrion's mistress) taking the stand against him. A women scored, indeed. With only Jamie Lannister as an ally, who could blame Tyrion for being fed up with this charade of a trial?

"I'm guilty of a far more monstrous crime, I'm guilty of being a dwarf!"

Tyrion finally let them have it, thankfully! This is going to get better folks ... with T calling for a "Trial by Combat?!" Oh. Hell. Yes.

If you've learned nothing else from watching this series, you should know Tyrion is usually a step ahead ...

The Internet troll who got his face BLOWN UP in a real-life fight with boxing champ Deontay Wilder last week claims it was just a "lucky punch" ... and wants a rematch to prove Wilder's just a "phony."

"I was caught off-guard. He just got lucky," Charlie Zelenoff tells TMZ Sports.

We broke the story ... Wilder put a serious hurtin' on wannabe fighter Charlie Zelenoff in a Hollywood boxing gym last week. Wilder claims Charlie had been harassing him through texts, phone calls and online for years -- calling him the n-word and threatening to harm his daughter.

Zelenoff didn't deny the harassment -- in fact, he documented some of the phone calls on YouTube -- but insists he's not a racist.

"A lot of my friends are black," Zelenoff says ... "I just hate Wilder as a person. He's a phony. I'm the best"

Zelenoff says he wants a rematch with Wilder to prove the knock-out was just a fluke -- even though Deontay claims he made his point and WON'T fight the guy a second time.

Don't worry, Charlie has a Plan B -- "Bring on Floyd Mayweather Jr. ... I've got something coming for him too."

Josh Booty is super judgy when it comes to footwear ... in fact, he's kind of a jerk about it ... this according a man who claims the former LSU star mocked his kicks and booted him out of an L.A. home.

It's all part of a nasty legal war raging in the Hollywood Hills -- Booty is accused of being a freeloader who won't leave the fancy home that his GF is staying in.

Now, the GF's housemate has filed new docs claiming he sent a rep over to check if Booty was still in the home -- and he was confronted by the ex-QB in a "threatening manner."

According to legal docs, Booty screamed at the rep and told him he had 3 seconds to get out of the house -- and then "mocked me as I exited by saying 'nice boots, by the way.'"

The rep notes that he was NOT wearing boots ... but rather "Nike athletic shoes."

Barbara Walters may have gotten the mistress and the wife, but Anderson Cooper got the grand prize Sunday ... a sit down with Donald Sterling ... TMZ has learned.

Cooper flew in to Los Angeles this morning, checked into his hotel, and made a bee-line to Sterling's Beverly Hills house, where the interview went down.

Before the interview, Sterling met with his lawyer, who was not present during the interview with Cooper. The interview will air Monday night on "Anderson Cooper 360."

TMZ shot video of Anderson leaving the house after the interview, but he was mum.

Our sources say Sterling has been champing at the bit to publicly defend himself against racism allegations after TMZ Sports posted the now famous recording.

Donald Sterling believes V. Stiviano is a calculating viper who pretended to care for him while she set out to destroy him ... that's the upshot of what Sterling told Anderson Cooper.

Cooper, who scored the interview Sunday at Sterling's Bev Hills home, asked the suspended Clippers owner if he felt she set him up. He said, "Well yes, I was baited. I mean that's not the way I talk."

Sterling claims he's not a racist ... never been one. He says he feels used by Stiviano: "I don't know, an 80-year-old man is kind of foolish, and I'm kind of foolish. I thought she liked me and really cared for me. I guess being 51 years older than her, I was deluding myself."

Sterling also said of the Clippers players, "They are clippers and they're mine and I'm theirs. That's how I feel."

Shelly Sterling says she will file for divorce from Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling "eventually" ... telling Barbara Walters she has signed papers before ... just never filed them.

In an interview scheduled to air later on Sunday, Sterling says she has not followed through with the divorce yet on the advice of her financial advisors.

Like a good son should, Justin Bieber is spending his Mother's Day with his mom ... hangin' out courtside at the Clippers vs. Thunder playoff game in L.A. ... and TMZ Sports has the pic.

Sources at the game tell us ... Bieber and his mom Pattie Mallette seem like they've been having a good time -- and spent some time chattin' with other huge stars including Mark Wahlberg and Floyd Mayweather.

Bieber even wore a shirt to the game ... though, he left his sleeves at home.

Despite saying he'd never attend a Los Angeles Clippers game as long as Donald Sterling was the owner, Magic Johnson showed up at Staples Center for today's game against the OKC Thunder.

According to one reporter for ESPN, it's the first Clippers home game Johnson has attended all season.

It was a photo of Magic with V. Stiviano that triggered Sterling's racist tirade.

Reggie Bush says "it's great" that Michael Sam was drafted by the Rams yesterday ... becoming the first openly gay player in NFL history ... but tells TMZ Sports it's time to get to work.

Bush was leaving Boa Steakhouse in L.A. with his finacee Lilit when we asked about Sam -- a story so big, even President Obama called Michael to congratulate him.

Adam Lambert was also pumped for Sam -- saying the selection was "good news"... and explaining why the NFL is welcoming the reigning SEC Defensive Player of the Year with open arms.

While Reggie praised the move -- not everyone in the NFL has felt the same way. Miami Dolphins safety Don Jones tweeted "OMG" and "horrible" after Sam was selected. He has since taken the Tweet down.

The Miami Dolphins GM said he was "disappointed" by Jones' comments and explained, "This is not what we stand for as an organization."