TMZ Sports - Page 50

Cromartie's rep says the only reason he didn't pay the support is because he was fighting Pierre over custody. The rep claims she had ongoing legal issues, and says Cro felt Alonzo wasn't safe with her.

Antonio Cromartie took his $3 million deal from the Coltsand immediately used it to settle a child support dispute with a baby mama ... and avoided a possible arrest in the process.

Cromartie was delinquent on child support payments to Rosemita Pierre -- the mother of Alonzo, his oldest child ... aka #1 of 13. According to docs, AC was ordered to pay her $4,000 per month, starting in January 2016 but failed to do so.

He was due in a Florida court last week to either pay up or explain why he couldn't -- but Cro was a no-show. Then the cavalry arrived in the form of the Colts one-year contract ... which he signed Monday.

We're told Cromartie made a payment Tuesday afternoon. It's unclear how much he forked over, but it was enough for the judge to withdraw a warrant that had been issued earlier in the day.

Magic Johnson says he's rooting hard for Kobe Bryant to kill it in the business world -- saying he hopes Mamba becomes the next ex-NBA star to make it BIG off the court.

Kobe just announced that he launched his own $100 million venture capital firm -- and people are saying he's well on his way to become a Magic-esque businessman.

So, what does Johnson think? He's all about it.

Magic's also still fired up about the big Hillary Clinton fundraiser at his home Monday night -- and revealed her favorite part of his mansion.

Steve Largent did it ... so did Heath Shuler and Jack Kemp -- and now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is calling on MORE pro athletes to run for political office.

The NBA legend recently appeared on "SI Now" and made the case for Dwyane Wade to run for mayor of Chicago ... claiming he's smart and tuned into the city and could really make a difference.

So, when we saw KAJ in NYC Monday -- he told us it shouldn't stop with Wade -- saying people like Kobe Bryant should also consider politics ... because athletes have the popularity to be great leaders.

More VIOLENT THREATS in the Mickey Rourke vs. Lenny Dykstra beef ... this time coming from Lenny, who says if the two actually brawl ... IT WILL BE TO THE DEATH!!!

Nails called in to the 'Drew and Mike' podcast Monday and responded to vicious and serious threats Rourke made ... when he told us he was going to break Lenny's face if he saw him.

If you thought Lenny was going to play peacemaker YOU THOUGHT WRONG ... he absolutely unloads on Rourke calling him a p***y and saying if their fight ever does happen it can only end one way.

"Someone said he can fight and all this ... I don't know. Well, he better be able to fight ... you have to kill me motherf***er."

You gotta listen ... Lenny absolutely skewers Mickey on EVERYTHING ... accusing him of being an old, broken down, juiced up former domestic abuser.

This one is definitely 100% real.

It's a good thing Michael Bisping can multitask ... 'cause the UFC middleweight champ says he'll be training for his next fight against Dan Henderson while shooting his new movie in London.

Bisping locked up a role in the bare-knuckle boxing flick, "My Name Is Lenny" -- which starts filming this week. Bisping says his part will take roughly 2 weeks to complete.

But he also has a huge fight coming up against Hendo at UFC 204 in October -- just 7 weeks away.

So, how will he be able to prep for the fight and shoot the flick?

"My trainer's gonna come with me. I'm still gonna train every day. Film the movie. Come back. Focus on the fight. Kick some ass."

FYI, other fighters like Paige VanZant and Conor McGregor have turned down roles to focus on training camp -- but clearly, Bisping thinks he can handle both.

PETA has declared WAR on the scumbag Baylor football player who beat up his dog -- calling for an immediate steroids test, claiming increased testosterone may have contributed to his violent rage.

Sophomore wide receiver Ishmael Zamora has been under serious fire ever since footage surfaced from June showing him mercilessly whipping and kicking a small dog.

Baylor interim coach Jim Grobe has said Zamora will be disciplined for his actions -- but the exact punishment is unclear.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals are asking the school and the court system to drop the hammer.

"PETA is calling for drug testing, since testosterone is particularly aggression-inducing, as well as psychiatric counseling and anger management, for everyone's sake, at his own expense," Stephanie Bell tells TMZ Sports.

"And he should be suspended and banned from ever owning animals again."

Bell -- PETA's senior director of cruelty casework -- is also praising Baylor for "recognizing that this man's behavior is dangerous to animals and that such a violent outburst against a defenseless individual does not bode well for his future."

Doc Gooden says he's officially ending his public feud with Darryl Strawberry ... telling TMZ Sports, "I'm moving on with my life" after trading nasty barbs with his ex-Mets teammate.

Things went south between Doc and Darryl on Thursday -- when Doc no-showed at an event and Strawberry chalked it up to drugs.

"My fear is that -- and I know addiction -- and my fear is people that don’t change, they die," Strawberry told the crowd ... "I just hope the light comes on soon before it’s too late."

Gooden was PISSED -- and responded on Monday night by not only declaring he's been sober for 4 years ... but also accusing Strawberry of infidelity.

"Darryl has a drug rehab in his name, he is supposed to be a pastor. I call him Lucifer," Doc said.

But Gooden now tells TMZ Sports he's calling off his attack -- and officially ENDING his war on Strawberry.

With Kobe Bryant launching his own $100 million venture capital fund, he's right on pace to be the next Magic Johnson of the business world ... so says Damian Lillard.

The Portland Trail Blazers superstar says Kobe's got all the right skills to follow Magic's lead -- he's smart, driven and a winner.

It was "Showtime" at Magic Johnson's house Monday night -- when the NBA legend teamed up with Denzel Washington and Samuel L. Jackson to throw a massive fundraiser for Hillary Clinton.

Tre Mason's mother has told police ... her son should NOT be playing football anymore -- because the head injuries he suffered in the NFL have had a devastating impact on his mental health.

TMZ Sports has obtained police footage from a July 27th incident when cops cited the L.A. Rams running back for illegally riding his ATV around his neighborhood in Palm Beach, Florida.

When they got to his home, cops told his family they were concerned Mason was too busy "f***ing around" and "should be playing football."

That's when Tre's mother dropped some real talk on the cops.

"No, he actually shouldn't," she said ..."because this is the [side of] football that nobody knows about."

"He's 22 in a 10-year-old's mindset right now ... Tre's not himself at all."

Tre's mother says the family could see an obvious change in Tre's personality after the 2015 NFL season ended.

As we previously reported, Tre has been at the center of several police incidents in the past few months -- and his family clearly believes football is the root of the problem.

Billy Bush says Matt Lauer did NOT bigfoot him out of the coveted first sit-down interview with Ryan Lochte ... telling TMZ Sports it was Lochte who called the shots.

Mickey Rourke says he's done messing around -- and vows to bash Lenny Dykstra's face in the next time he seem him ... and he's DEAD. SERIOUS.

Remember, Rourke initially called Dykstra out after the ex-MLB star went on Howard Stern and claimed Mickey owes him $30k from back in the day ... insinuating it was drug related.

Dykstra fired back -- saying Mickey's face was an insult to the facelift industry.

Now, Rourke has apparently had enough -- and in one of the most rage-filled, angry rants we've ever seen ... the actor swears on everything he loves that he will "knock all his f***ing teeth out again."

Carmelo Anthony is the single greatest Olympic basketball player in history ... so says his Knicks teammate Brandon Jennings ... who says Melo is no doubt the international GOAT.

We got Brandon out in L.A. Sunday and asked about Anthony taking home his record-breaking 3rd gold medal ... and if it puts him ahead of other greats who've donned the red, white, and blue.

Brandon says Melo has done more than enough to prove he's the MAN on the world's biggest stage.

One thing's for sure ... Michael Jordan is gonna be annoyed by this.

Oh, and get this ... Jennings also explains why he has ZERO desire to play for Team USA.

Sorry, Matt Barnes ... LeBron James would beat that ass in a street fight -- so says someone who would know, UFC tough guy Brad Tavares.

Tavares was chillin' at Sake Rok in Vegas for the UFC 202 fight when he admitted he's not really a Bron fan -- but knows what the guy could be capable of if he truly trained for a real deal fight.

Fun fact -- Tavares is fighting in LeBron's home state at UFC 203 next month.

Karl Malone came through with an assist John Stockton would be proud of -- hooking up 5 members of the National Guard on Louisiana flood relief duty with free food and cigars.

Malone was at Walk-On's Bistreaux in Baton Rouge on Thursday -- when he ran into Staff Sergeant Doug Sevier and 4 of his fellow responders.

We're told Malone -- who's from Louisiana -- thanked the guys for their service ... and refused to let them pay their tab.

But the coolest part, Staff Sgt. Sevier says Malone went to his car and grabbed 6 cigars from his personal collection -- and handed them out (with one for himself, of course).

"He was very, very easy to talk to," Sevier tells TMZ Sports. "He was engaging and seemed to genuinely care what each of us had to say. It was an extremely positive experience."

Swimmer Jimmy Feigen's nearly $11k deal to avoid a Rio jail could backfire against future Team USA Olympians.

TMZ has learned Feigen's $10,800 donation has been tagged to spruce up training facilities for the Reaction Institute in the Rio favela known as City of God. Specifically, we're told the money is going to help fix walls and prevent weather damage to judo equipment.

That equipment is used to give children from the favelas judo training, and put them on the road to becoming Olympians -- who might one day whoop-up on American judo fighters. Brazil's judo gold medalist this year, Rafaela Silva, once trained at the Institute ... so it has a good track record.

As we reported, Feigen struck a deal with prosecutors in Rio ... who agreed to let him off the hook, if he made the donation.