TMZ Sports - Page 50

Dennis Rodman has a big supporter ... John Salley -- who says he LIKES the idea of The Worm as an NBA coach and thinks Phil Jackson should give him a shot.

Rodman threw his hat in the ring for Knicks job earlier this week after Derek Fisher got the ax -- and even called in to the "TMZ Sports" show on FS1 to make his pitch to the team.

Salley says his former Detroit Pistons is a defensive genius -- and could definitely help a team ... and should be taken seriously!!

Question is ... will Phil take the chance?

It takes more than 1,000 thread count sheets to sway Magic Johnson's presidential loyalty ... cause Mr. Laker says he's 100% voting for Hillary Clinton ... even as he leaves one of Donald Trump's hotels.

Magic's endorsement is a HUGE deal in the political world ... so when we got him leaving a Trump hotel in NYC we wanted to know if he was kinda thinking about making America great again.

The answer is NO ... We didn't even get our question out before Magic assured us that he's still in Clinton's corner and there doesn't seem to be anything that can change that.

Bonus NBA talk? Magic also told us that he hopes former Knicks head coach Derek Fisher gets another job in the league, saying in his opinion D-Fish is "a good leader."

Check out the clip.

Kobe Bryant is leaving the NBA but his memory will live forever ... in Brandy's closet ... 'cause the R&B singer says she still has the dress she wore 20 years ago ... when Mamba took her to prom.

Once upon a time in '96 Brandy was the worldwide superstar adored by all and Kobe was a young Philly hoops prodigy who somehow managed to score a prom date with the princess.

So when we got Brandy out in NYC promoting her new show we had know ... what happened to the dress that she wore on her big night with KB?

If you remember, she already told us she kept the corsage Kobe gave her ... and it turns out she still has the dress too.

Chill Vanessa ... this all happened when 'Pac was still alive.

Eddie George is a master thespian -- so, with O.J. Simpson back in the news, we had to ask ... how did O.J. measure up as an actor???

The answer, according to George ... dude, had real potential!

Besides starring in 3 'Naked Gun' movies -- which people really liked him in -- Simpson also had roles in some big projects like "Roots" and "The Towering Inferno."

But that was before he ... ya know ... killed two people.

Blake Griffin will be suspended 4 games -- without pay -- for punching the Clippers equipment assistant manager during a violent altercation in Toronto last month.

Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank has just revealed he's been diagnosed with prostate cancer -- but says he's battling like hell ... and vows to defeat it.

73-year-old Blank says he was diagnosed in December -- and has since visited with several doctors and hospitals to come up with the best battle plan.

Blank -- who co-founded The Home Depot in 1978 -- says he has chosen an "aggressive approach" which will require surgery -- and the overall prognosis is good.

Ex-college football superstar Maurice Clarett just struck a sweet plea deal in his drunk driving case -- but if he screws up even a little bit in the next 2 years, he'll do 57 days in jail.

As we previously reported, the former Ohio State running back was arrested on January 3rd after cops say he was driving while intoxicated in Ohio around 1:50 PM.

Clarett agreed to plead guilty to OVI (operating a vehicle while impaired) -- and was given a 60 day suspended jail sentence with 3 days of credit for time served.

Here's the rub ... Clarett was also put on probation for 2 years -- and as long as he stays out of trouble, he will NOT have to serve the 57 days.

In fact, the court spells it out for Maurice -- saying, "[Clarett] shall have no similar alcohol or drug related law violations" during his probation period ... or else.

Clarett has also been ordered to complete a drunk driving education course and his license has been suspended for the time being.

TMZ Sports spoke with Maurice who says the incident was a mistake -- but says he intends to learn from it and grow as a person.

"All I can do is accept responsibility, evaluate what went wrong, take the consequences, and push forward. That's life."

Serena Williams might have lost her last time on the court ... but here's more proof she's winning in life ... the RIDICULOUS crib she's calling home while on vacay in Jamaica.

The 10,000 sq ft spot is located in Ocho Rios, Jamaica and rents for an insane $20k per week ... but with 7 bedrooms and 9 bathrooms it sleeps 14 freakin' people ... so you can go halfsies.

It ain't just space she's buying though ... according to the listing site FlipKey.com ... the home gives you access to a pool, hot tub, and get this ... your own private boat to cruise the high sea.

Serena's been Snapchatting like crazy from inside the place ... including the now instant classic vid of her reppin' the USA to the fullest ... in an ASSTACULAR star-spangled one piece swimsuit.

Of course, we included that below ... so you can see the home in the flesh. All its beautiful perfect flesh.

Deontay Wilder is promising to give fellow heavyweight champ Tyson Fury a religious experience ... saying he's going to "baptize" the Irish brawler when they step in the ring together.

We got the bronze bomber leaving Super Bowl 50 and asked him what he has in store for Fury if Tyson can get past Wladimir Klitschko in their upcoming rematch.

Check out the clip -- Deontay seems confident he's going to beat the hell out of Fury if they ever step into the ring together ... saying he'd knock him out inside four rounds.

This is awesome!!

Amazing finish at a Special Olympics high school basketball game in Washington Monday night -- when one of the players hit a shot with time winding down to win the game ... AND THE CROWD GOES WILD!!!

The big hero is Dustin Walston of Sumner High ... who got the ball in his hands with the score tied at 32 in a thrilling game against state powerhouse Rogers High School.

But as time expired, Walston didn't buckle under the pressure -- he summoned his inner Steph Curry ... and hit the game winner!!!

Congrats to both teams -- but mad props to Walston!!

TMZ Sports has obtained footage of the LeSean McCoy bar fight video -- in which you can see the NFL star's face ... as mayhem ensues in a brawl that left 2 off-duty cops badly injured.

Ciara and Future's war just got way more heated -- she's suing him for allegedly blasting her mothering skills and attacking her relationship with Russell Wilson ... all to publicize his music.

In the suit ... obtained by TMZ, Ciara calls out Future for a radio interview in which he discussed a now infamous photo of Wilson pushing Ciara and Future's son in his stroller. Future said, "She probably set him [Russell] up. You letting them catch that photo. Leave my son out of all the publicity stunts."

Ciara points out several other interviews, but she's also pissed about her baby daddy's Twitter rant in January when Future said, "This bitch got control problems ... I gotta go through lawyers to see baby future ... the f***ery for 15k a month."

In the suit, Ciara says she goes out of her way to make sure Future sees their son -- and says they've had at least 19 visitations (some spanning several days) since December 2014.

Just last week TMZ got video of Future and his son in L.A. while Ciara was on vacay with Wilson. We thought it was a sign they were settling their differences, but that's clearly not the case.

Ciara believes Future's comments were said with malice. She's suing for slander and libel, wants all his nasty tweets deleted, and wants him blocked from saying anything about private family matters regarding baby Future ... in the future.

Check out the video below ... a process server was scoping out Future's SUV at LAX as he arrived, and apparently served him with the lawsuit. The process server was also carrying pics of Future so she could ID him. Future never got out of the van and left the airport.

He hasn't "officially" made up his mind -- but Peyton Manning ain't coming back ... so says senior NFL exec Joe Browne.

FYI -- Browne is a legend with the NFL ... he's been with the league since 1965 and attended 49 consecutive Super Bowls (he missed the first one in 1967).

So, we had to ask if he had any special insight on the Peyton Manning retirement watch.

Lamar Odom is doing so well, if you didn't know he was at death's door in October, you would never know he suffered 12 strokes and was unable to walk or speak.

As we reported, Lamar went hiking with Kim and Khloe over the weekend. The doctors never thought they would see the day. But even more surprising ... Lamar's cognitive functions have significantly returned ... he's able to process thoughts, speak them and carry on conversations.

Lamar had significant problems recognizing people -- even family members -- for several months after he was rushed to the hospital. But now his recall is back.

We're told Lamar's not completely back. He's still "a bit slow," and has memory lapses and sometimes has problems speaking. But the issues are subtle.

As for the hike, we're told his goal is to be able to run again. He's not there, but he's determined and believes he still has a shot at playing basketball again.

We're told Lamar's trajectory is so miraculous, he has a shot at living independently in a matter of months.

It's the meme question everyone wants to know -- how does Michael Jordan feel about the crying face image that's taken over the Internet?

Finally, we have an answer ...

A rep for the NBA legend says MJ is actually cool with the phenomenon ... telling us, "Everyone seems to be having fun with the meme."

As everyone knows, Michael is fiercely protective of his brand -- but his rep says, "We haven’t seen anyone using it to promote their commercial interests, which is something that we’re monitoring."

Translation: you're free to continue using MJ's mug to mock people on social media. But the second you try to exploit it for cash ... you're Bryon Russell in '98 -- done.

Blac Chyna and Amber Rose are headed to Toronto Takeover for the NBA All-Star Weekend to host a huge event -- though only one is returning with more dough than the other.

Sources close to the event say the two friends were hired to co-host the party at the Stadium club this Friday night -- yet Amber is pulling in $30,000 while Blac gets smaller pockets with $25,000. The $5,000 difference is because Amber Rose is a bigger draw.

Although Blac will probably not bring her man Rob Kardashian -- we're told the promoters didn't want to shell out the $75,000 to $100,000 they think he would've wanted.

Tix for the event range from $50 to $3,500 -- but there's a $10,000 VIP baller rate not even sold to the general public. The VIP package is only open to athletes or celebs because they'll be the ones next to Blac and Amber.

$55,000 to co-host one night? And by co-host, we mean stand there, look pretty and party. Sounds like a win-win for both Rose and Chyna.