TMZ Sports - Page 50

Bad news for Kobe Bryant ... his old pal, Rick Fox, says he probably won't have anything to do with nurturing Mamba's kids to hoops greatness ... but he has a perfectly good reason why.

We got Fox out at LAX and asked if he'd met Kobe's new daughter, Bianka Bella (he hasn't yet) -- but more importantly we wanted to know if Fox would be down to help train Kobe's girls in hoops.

Word is that Kobe's youngest, Gianna, is already flashing signs of the Mamba talent gene on the court ... but she'll still need some expert tutelage if she's gonna make it big, right?

Jossie Ochoa is going for the gold just in time for awards season ... and her body paint pics are getting a lot of buzz.

The model and beauty vlogger went mostly nude for the hot photo shoot, with some artistically placed paint worthy of serious award consideration.

Conor McGregor cannot be mocked, and if you try he'll hunt you down ... which is exactly what happened Friday night to 2 Dublin dudes.

The guys were horse playing in the street, doing a rough imitation of Ireland's biggest export, when suddenly an SUV appeared, and guess who was in the passenger seat!??!!

John Calipari says people hating on players leaving college after one year wouldn't be hating if it were THEIR KID ... saying sometimes a short college stay is best for the the athlete.

Calipari is the head man in Kentucky -- a college bball powerhouse that routinely recruits the best players in the nation ... players who routinely leave after one season.

NBA stars like Anthony Davis, John Wall, Karl Anthony-Towns, and DeMarcus Cousins were one & dones for Coach Cal ... but when we got him out in NYC he says that's okay with him.

"If it's your son, you want him out in a year to go to the NBA. If it's someone else's son, you want him in for 4 years."

So, how does J.C. feel about the issues?

Here's Yasiel Puig proving that the turn up NEVER expires ... video of the Dodgers star cutting a rug with some sassy senior citizens in South Florida.

Puig popped into the Clinica Las Mercedes in Miami ... on what was apparently Move Your Body Day, and jumped into a pretty mean conga line with some of the folks there.

You gotta check out the vid ... some of the ladies seem to really be digging what Puig was puttin' down ... and did a serious shimmy on the slugger when they got the chance.

Jay Glazer says there's no doubt that NFL star Michael Floyd needs help with his drinking ... but still thinks the New England Patriots made a smart decision picking up the troubled wide out.

We got Glazer out at Craig's in West Hollywood and asked his thoughts on the disturbing video of Floyd completely passed out in his car on the streets of Arizona.

Floyd wasn't just a little drunk ... his BAC was .21 which in Arizona is defined as a "Super Extreme" DUI and carries a stiffer penalty by law enforcement.

Glazer says Floyd -- who had another DUI while balling at Notre Dame -- needs some help -- but still thinks the Pats picking him up after the Cardinals cut him was nothing but good football.

The barrage of smack talk between UFC fighters Cody Garbrandt and Dominick Cruz continues ... with Cruz telling TMZ Sports the only thing emptier than Cody's threats are his head ... 'cause he's dumb.

These two are scheduled to meet up at UFC 207 December 30th ... and have been destroying each other in the media, with the most recent shot coming from Garbrandt about Cruz's new beard.

Well, Cruz checked in with the guys on the "TMZ Sports" TV show ... and UNLOADED on Cody ... saying his insults are coming from a very small place ... his brain.

Be sure to watch "TMZ Sports" weeknights on FS1.

Kenny Smith says George Karl will suffer consequences & repercussions for his verbal assault on Carmelo Anthony & Kenyon Martin ... never being trusted in NBA circles again.

We got Kenny out at LAX and asked him about Karl's thoughts on his two former players ... thoughts that include him saying the guys had character issues because they lacked fathers in their lives.

Kenny says Karl's statements were totally wrong ... because you shouldn't air out the dirty laundry of the NBA inner circle for public consumption.

As a matter of fact ... Kenny says he doesn't see how any ex-association guys will be able to feel comfortable with George ever again.

"You gotta watch what you say, you gotta check him for mics."

Stanley Panther says he was BETRAYED by his own NHL team -- claiming he was unfairly fired as the team mascot after a serious bout with depression because the honchos didn't like his attitude.

'SNL' star Pete Davidson is sticking to his guns in his beef with the NFL's weed policy ... saying the league suspending a player for using marijuana to deal with his Crohn's disease is "terrible."

The player Davidson's talking about is Buffalo Bills lineman Seantrel Henderson ... who was hit with a 10 game ban after a 2nd violation of the league's substance abuse policy earlier this year.

Henderson suffers from Crohn's -- a painful, chronic, disease of the digestive tract -- and has argued that he needs pot to manage the pain associated with the condition.

Marcedes Lewis says there's one thing UCLA stud athlete Lonzo Ball needs to avoid like the plague while he's tearing it up for the Bruins ... the one thing that can derail his entire college career.

THE DREADED THOTS OF WESTWOOD.

Ball is DOMINATING for UCLA right now ... with a lot of people saying he's already a lock for Player of the Year honors ... and maybe even the #1 pick in the draft.

We got Marcedes -- who was a stud football player for UCLA last decade -- at LAX and asked if he had any advice for Lonzo on dealing with the ladies ... and Marcedes said there's one type to watch out for.

Can't ignore the obvious ... Gisele Bundchen had a pretty obvious bump during a modeling shoot in Brazil earlier this month -- begging the question ... preggo???

Gisele and Tom Brady were extra touchy-feely during a DeflateGate vacation to Italy back in September ... back when G's belly was its typical flat self.

So, could baby #3 be on the way for the 36-year-old supermodel ... or was it just a big lunch?

How does Ezekiel Elliott say thank you around the holidays? With 8 badass, custom, off-road whips that cost over $16k each ... for every one of his offensive lineman.

Zeke gifted his O-line with a bunch of John Deere 855D S4 Crossovers. They start at $16,099.

FYI -- Elliott's had a monster year rushing behind the Cowboys line ... arguably the best in football. In other words, they deserve the gifts.

Just be SAFE!!!!

Joe Mixon has apologized to the woman he brutalized in 2014 -- saying, "It's never okay to retaliate and hit a woman the way I did."

"I apologize. I regret what happened. And I'm sorry."

Mixon held a news conference in Oklahoma -- and got emotional as he apologized to the victim, his teammates and his family.

Mixon said he let his mother down ... "I disappointed her."

Mixon says he's still haunted by the incident and says he thinks about it every day. He would have done things much differently and wouldn't have put himself in that situation in the first place.

Mixon says he's grown up a lot in the 2.5 years since the incident and appreciates the University for giving him a second chance.

Mixon says he's still undergoing counseling.

Two rich guys went golfing together today ... each wearing their own signature hats.

Donald Trump and Tiger Woods met up Friday at the Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach to play together ... Tiger still rocking the bleached goatee from his "Mac Daddy Santa" look.

Trump and Tiger have been friends for years -- and Donald actually named the golfer as one of the top athletes he admired during an interview with Harvey Levin for the show 'OBJECT-ified.'

The two are currently on the links -- we'll let you know who wins.

[h/t Golf Digest]

Ray Rice loaded 50 kids into limousines and treated them all to the fanciest toy shopping spree of their lives ... and TMZ Sports has the video.

It all went down in Baltimore -- where the ex-NFL running back hooked up with some families in need and used his own money to play Santa.

The limos took the kids to a local Toys "R" Us ... where each of the tykes got to pick out two toys for themselves. Pretty cool, right?

If that wasn't enough ... Rice also raised more than $10k this holiday season to help send minority kids to college.

Rice is still training to get back into the NFL -- but even if that doesn't happen, it's clear he's still dedicated to the community.