TMZ Sports - Page 50

Colin Kaepernick is starting the new year off reconnecting with middle America ... hanging out with someone the bible belt loves almost as much as they love Kaep ... Chris Brown.

The two men posed for a picture together on Instagram ... with Chris referring to Kaep as his "Brother" and using the hashtag #IKNOWMYRIGHTS.

"I Know My Rights" refers to the movement Colin has started to educate young people of color on exactly on what their rights in America are and when they can assert them.

How cool is this?

"Greek Freak" Giannis Antetokounmpo hit the game-winning shot against the Knicks in NYC Wednesday night ... and then GOT OFF THE TEAM BUS to celebrate with Greek fans who were chanting his name.

Giannis was born and raised in Greece -- and played pro ball there before being drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in 2013. His career has been on the rise ever since.

Fast forward to last night ... there were a TON of Greek fans in the crowd, some holding Greek flags, and they all went INSANE went Giannis hit the buzzer beater that won the game in the 4th.

After the game, he got on the team bus to leave when he noticed a group of fans holding a Greek flag and cheering for him ... so he got off the bus to sign autos and take pics.

John Travolta says he's PUMPED to be the inspiration for Nick Young's 3-point shot celebratory hip-thrusting dance ... telling TMZ Sports, "I love it!"

Nick's dance went viral after he hit a long-range bomb against the Grizzlies on Tuesday. The Lakers star later said God came to him in a dream the night before and told him to dance like John Travolta.

When we told Travolta about the situation at Barney's in Bev Hills Wednesday night ... he made it clear Nick has his blessing.

Soulja Boy is breaking out the big guns in his boxing war with Chris Brown -- he's recruited Floyd Mayweather to help him gear up for the "fight of the century."

After Soulja and Chris challenged each other to a charity boxing match, Soulja met up with the head of The Money Team ... who seems to have Soulja's back.

Soulja says Floyd's gonna promote the bout -- and Floyd insists the two are gonna "get that money, man."

No word if Floyd plans to train Soulja ... but it would be a great move for the rapper since he already turned Bieber into a bruiser.

Michael Rapaport just got counted out by UFC ref Herb Dean ... who says the actor should stay in his lane when talking MMA ... and not tell the veteran ref how to do a job Rapaport knows nothing about.

Rapaport went hard on Dean about how he handled the Rousey/Nunes ass kicking ... saying on FS1's "Undisputed" that Dean was too quick to stop the fight because of Ronda's "white girl privilege."

Translation -- Dean stopped the fight early to protect the blonde-haired, blue-eyed Rousey ... something he wouldn't have done for Nunes or any other non-white female fighter.

But Dean says that's a bunch of crap -- telling our guy MR doesn't have a CLUE what goes on in the Octagon and should keep his trap shut.

BTW, Dean was training at Fight Academy of Pasadena with former MMA star Savant "Black Superman" Young ... who gave us an exclusive demo of how Ronda could've avoided that ass kicking.

Hailey Baldwin is blocking NBA star Chandler Parsons' shot ... or at least rumors he's taking a shot at dating her.

Sources close to Hailey tell us ... she's been friends with Chandler for a long time, but just isn't into him like that. They were spotted together in November for Hailey's birthday, sparking the rumors, but we're told it was just a meal between pals.

As for Chandler hooking up with Kendall Jenner -- our sources say that's also just a friendly thing ... at least for now. He knows her through Hailey.

#friendzone

Warren Sapp says allegations he drunkenly bowled over a woman at a Super Bowl party on January 30, 2015 are completely bogus ... claiming the accuser is lying through her teeth.

The woman suing Sapp is Paula Trickey -- an actress who's appeared in "Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2" and "The O.C."

According to her suit, filed in Broward County, FL ... Trickey claims a drunk Sapp was being kicked out of an ESPN Super Bowl party in Scottsdale, AZ around 1 AM when he began running through the crowd and slammed into her.

Trickey claims she suffered serious injuries in the collision including "significant and permanent loss of bodily functions." She's demanding more than $15k.

Trickey told the Miami Herald, "There are places in my body I didn’t know existed that are still hurting two years later."

But Sapp says the allegations are untrue -- and issued a statement on Twitter saying, "On Jan. 30 2015 I was at the JBL/Harmon private event where I was scheduled to introduce Pitbull."

Sapp added, "It's impossible to be @ 2 places at 1 time."

Amanda Nunes can't understand why so many people LOST to Ronda Rousey -- telling TMZ Sports the UFC star is incredibly overrated and the fight was WAY EASIER than she thought it was gonna be.

Nunes joined the guys on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs tonight on FS1) -- and said she's always thought Ronda was overhyped -- "I knew I could beat Ronda Rousey since I saw her first fight."

In fact, Nunes says she trained way harder to fight Miesha Tate ... who she also demolished.

There's A LOT more in the full interview which airs Wednesday on FS1.

Another NBA star shooting down ANOTHER claim from George Karl's book -- this time it's Doc Rivers who says George is wrong ... the league does NOT have a doping problem.

Karl wrote in his book, 'Furious George,' that it's "obvious" players in the league are doping ... saying:

"How are some guys getting older—yet thinner and fitter? How are they recovering from injuries so fast? Why the hell are they going to Germany in the off-season? I doubt it’s for the sauerkraut."

So, we asked Rivers what he thought about the very serious allegation ... and the Clippers honcho was quick to shoot it down.

But the question remains, why is Karl going H.A.M. on the league?

Ronda Rousey is still off the grid following her crushing loss at UFC 207 ... but her MMA star boyfriend has finally emerged.

Travis Browne was spotted out at an L.A. park --- looking pretty relaxed while sitting on a park bench.

Seems he's finally cooled off ... because 1 day after Rousey lost, Browne attacked MMA fighter Michael "Venom" Page on Twitter for mocking Ronda after her loss.

Page had posted a video for a dance he made up called the "Rousey" -- in which he pretends to get punched in the face.

Travis didn't like it and challenged him to a fight.

Page didn't respond -- but Amanda Nunes did. She thought it was "funny."

Ronda Rousey's former training partner, Kayla Harrison -- who's still friends with the UFC superstar -- says Ronda is surrounded by some people who don't have her best interests at heart ... and she needs to ditch them ASAP.

FYI, Kayla is a 2-time Olympic gold medalist in judo -- and trained with Ronda on a daily basis for years. They're still friends and spoke on the phone just a few weeks ago.

Harrison says Ronda seemed to be in a great mental space before the fight and "expected her to come back with a vengeance."

But the one thing that concerns Kayla ... she believes there are people who have latched on to the UFC star "that maybe don't have Ronda's best interest at heart."

She didn't call anyone out by name -- but wants to remind Ronda that she still has TRUE FRIENDS and family members out there who care about her ... and those are the people she should surround herself with.

By the way, Harrison also tells TMZ Sports she's one step closer to fighting MMA ... and got the itch while announcing at the World Series of Fighting this past weekend.

QUESTION: When is a horrible, embarrassing criminal moment a good thing?

ANSWER: When it lands you with the best team in the NFL ... according to David Spade who says Michael Floyd's extreme DUI arrest in AZ last month did WONDERS for his career.

WATCH THIS VIDEO ... Spade makes a pretty amazing, hilarious and ACCURATE point about how the former Cardinals star may have DUI'd his way into a Lombardi Trophy.

And if you need a recap on the Floyd story, click here.

64-year-old Mickey Rourke says his boxing career ain't over yet -- he wants TWO bouts in 2017 ... telling TMZ Sports he's definitely still in fighting shape.

Rourke hasn't fought since 2014 -- when the "Iron Man 2" actor beat Elliot Seymour in an exhibition fight in Russia. Seymour later claimed he threw the fight but Mickey had no knowledge of the fix.

Still, Rourke says his body is "like a piece of cold steel" -- and he's looking to close the deal with 2 more opponents so he can retire with a final record of 10-0-2.

Wonder if Lenny Dykstra's free?

The Harlem Globetrotters are at it again ... this time nailing a death-defying shot from the stadium roof where the Golden State Warriors play ... over 100 feet in the air, no harness, no net.

Globetrotters star Buckets -- with his teammate Scooter -- climbed the the top of Oracle Arena ... walked to the ledge of the over 100 foot high roof ... and took the shot.

Boom.

FYI -- if the shot wasn't impressive enough ... the hoop was positioned over 100 feet away from the base of the arena. 100 feet up, 100 feet out.

Antonio Gates needs just 1 TD to break Tony Gonzalez's all-time record -- but that's NOT why he's coming back next year ... telling TMZ Sports the Chargers can be "special" in 2017.

Gates tied TG at 111 touchdowns in the last game of the season -- then immediately announced he was returning for a 15th NFL year ... one that will see him playing at age 37.

Most thought it was so he could snag one TD to put him over the top ... but when we got Antonio out in L.A. he made it clear it's about the team's chances to be great ... not his chance to be legendary.

"I'm not coming back just for one touchdown."

The New York Giants are in hot water now ... Steve Tisch, the co-owner of the team, is seriously PISSED OFF about the WR boat party in Miami ... because he wasn't invited.

You've heard by now ... the Giants wideouts -- including Odell Beckham Jr. -- chose not to fly back to NYC with the team after the Washington game ... instead opting to hit a boat party in Miami with Trey Songz.

The guys have been raked over the coals for the move -- they have a playoff game on Sunday -- but when we got Tisch out at Craig's in L.A., he wasn't mad. He was jealous.