TMZ Sports - Page 50

Happy wife, happy life ... so says UConn basketball coach Kevin Ollie who tells TMZ Sports the smartest guys in the NBA are the ones who let their wives call the shots.

Ollie was out in D.C. on Monday ... and since he spent so many years playing in the NBA, we had to ask how the players decide where to vacation when the season ends.

Brittney Palmer won't let a fractured wrist keep her from ring girl duties at UFC 174 in Vancouver later this month -- refusing doctors orders to wear a cast because ... well ... it's not hot.

Brittney says she was riding her skateboard through the Hollywood Hills last week and crashed hard -- fracturing her wrist in the process.

An orthopedic surgeon wanted to put the wrist in a hard cast -- and that's when Brittney put her foot down, telling the doc it simply wasn't gonna happen.

And why not? Simple ... Brit's gotta hold the cards at 174 and doesn't want a clunky cast on her arm to clash with her tiny bikini.

Or as she puts it, "No one wants to see an octagon girl sporting a dorky cast."

Call him Vlade Divac, 'cause Donald Sterling has flip-flopped once again ... now the disgraced Clippers owner says he WILL sue the NBA for one billion dollars because "I must fight to protect my rights."

Sterling's attorney released a statement saying Donald never wanted to sell the team ... though he never explained why he ever changed his mind in the first place.

"I have decided that I must fight to protect my rights," Sterling said in the statement

"While my position may not be popular, I believe that my rights to privacy and the preservation of my rights to due process should not be trampled. I love the team and have dedicated 33 years of my life to the organization. I intend to fight to keep the team."

So, you know how California Chrome owner Steve Coburn threw around the C-bomb after his horse lost the Belmont?

He's not the only who likes to call people "cowards" -- right Walter from "The Big Lebowski" ... and Harry Potter ... and guy from "Back to the Future III???"

Check out this clip made by the grandpa from the CW show "Famous In 12" -- who bears an uncanny resemblance to Coburn (and Wilfred Brimley).

A University of Miami superfan LOST HIS MIND at his wedding -- when the school mascot AND the starting running back crashed the party during the 1st dance ... and the whole thing was caught on video.

It went down like this... Pedro, the groom (and UM season ticket holder) called up the school and asked if he could get Sebastian the mascot (and aggressive looking White Ibis) to be a guest at his wedding.

The 'Canes shot him down ... or so he thought.

Behind the scenes, his fiance was secretly organizing the ultimate surprise -- and got Sebastian AND star football player Duke Johnson to show up at the reception.

Needless to say, Pedro went crazy ... and Sebastian lit up the dance floor.

Olympic swimming legend Amy Van Dyken severed her spinal cord in her ATV accident this weekend -- and doctors performed emergency surgery to repair her spine ... this according to her family.

According to a witness, Van Dyken "launched" over a curb Friday afternoon in an ATV area in Arizona known as Torreon ... and plummeted 5 to 7 feet ... before crashing into the ground.

Paramedics raced to the scene and found Amy conscious but unable to move her toes or her feet. She also could not feel anything touching her legs.

According to the crash report, obtained by TMZ Sports, Amy's husband told officials Amy was NOT consuming any alcohol that evening.

Her husband, Thomas Rouen, also told officials "just a couple days prior he had switched the throttle mechanism on the ATV from a thumb accelerator to a twist accelerator. [He] was unsure if that may have caused a problem in how Amy was used to operating the ATV."

The report notes Amy was not wearing a helmet at the time of the crash.

Now, Amy's family has released a statement saying her husband Tom was by her side when a helicopter arrived to transport her to a hospital in Scottsdale where "an amazing team of doctors performed emergency surgery to repair her spine and stabilize her."

The family says, "Amy's spinal cord was completely severed at the T11 vertebrae, but, miraculously, a broken vertebrae stopped within millimeters of rupturing her aorta, and she did not suffer any head trauma."

Where there's smoke, there's a brand new celeb couple -- Aaron Rodgers and "Newsroom" star Olivia Munn ... who kissed each other in public this weekend, proving the dating rumors are apparently TRUE.

The Green Bay Packers quarterback was cuddling up with Munn -- who's been on the cover of everything from Maxim to Shape and even Playboy -- on the L.A. set of Munn's HBO show.

Beast Mode was switched to the "off" position at a San Francisco nightclub this weekend ... so says a famous rapper who tells us Marshawn Lynch was in the building during a heated altercation between two rival rap crews, but the RB kept his nose clean.

TMZ Sports spoke with Mistah F.A.B. ... who was at Mezzanine nightclub when things got heated between his crew and D.J. Mustard's crew during a Sunday night event called "Young California."

Sources told FantasyAlarm.com that Lynch, F.A.B. and their friends rushed Mustard and his crew and attacked them over comments Mustard made on a NYC radio station.

While F.A.B. tells us there was definitely high tensions between the two crews -- things never came to blows ... with the rappers adamant that Marshawn was NOT involved in anything physical.

NY Mets 2nd baseman Daniel Murphy says his teammates gave him HELL after his son was born back in April -- but not because he missed games, it's for something much worse.

Murphy was giving a speech at the White House today (pretty cool, right?) as part of an event called the Working Dads Summit ... when he revealed the one thing he did after his kid was born that ticked off his clubhouse.

Donald Sterling may not like his friends to be seen in public with black people ... but he clearly doesn't practice what he preaches ... because he publicly paraded 2 hot black chicks in Bev Hills.

Sterling and a few extremely attractive women hit up Mr. Chow in Beverly Hills ... a restaurant that -- not coincidentally -- ALWAYS has a paps waiting out front.

The embattled soon-to-be former Clippers owner walked in with the girls, but they walked out with friends ... leaving us to wonder just how many hot chicks Sterling was able to wrangle for the meal.

Colin Kaepernick's idea of a pool party is a lot different from Johnny Manziel's.

After signing his $126 MILLION contract with the San Francisco 49ers, the QB decided to celebrate by meeting up with family members for a private day of fun in the sun.

Kap took pics and tweeted about it -- "How do you celebrate a new contract? You throw a pool party! Turn Up! #troll."

If Colin's family looks happy, they have good reason -- Kap told reporters the first thing he's gonna do with the money is "make sure everyone in my family is set."

Former Olympic swimmer Amy Van Dyken is in intensive care at an Arizona hospital -- after suffering serious injuries in an ATV crash.

The 41-year-old -- who's married to former Denver Broncos punter Tom Rouen -- was riding in Show Low, AZ on Friday when she crashed.

Amy's sister posted a message on Facebook saying she was airlifted to a hospital in Scottsdale. She is currently being treated in the intensive care unit, according to AZcentral.com.

Van Dyken is a national hero -- who won gold medals at the '96 and 2000 games.

Johnny Manziel continued to crush it this weekend ... partying his face off at a pool party in Austin with a smokin' hot chick ... who appeared to be clingin' to the NFL star for dear life.

TMZ Sports has footage from Rio Austin -- a rooftop pool, restaurant and lounge -- where the Cleveland Browns QB kicked it before attending the NBA finals game in San Antonio on Sunday.

Sources at the party tell us Johnny was having a blast -- and just by looking at the pics, you can see why.

Love this guy.

Master P's youth basketball game got straight up WWE ... when a fight broke out on the court and someone in the crowd got HIT WITH A STEEL CHAIR ... and TMZ Sports has the insane footage.

James Woods never got the chance to hold 'em or fold 'em in a World Series of Poker event ... due to a heart attack scare in Las Vegas.

Woods was scheduled to take part in a card game at the Rio on Sunday ... but according to reports EMTs were spotted giving him oxygen before the event while Woods pointed to his chest.

James tweeted about the incident afterward saying he flagged down the medics for help after he experienced sudden cardiac related symptoms.