TMZ Sports - Page 50

Floyd Mayweather is putting aside some brutal facts and paying for the funeral of the rapper who gunned down his wife in the bathtub and then shot himself.

We're told Floyd thinks Earl Hayes' family deserves a proper funeral, despite the horrific thing he did.

TMZ broke the story ... Floyd was FaceTiming with Hayes earlier this month when the rapper snapped as they discussed how his wife, "Hit the Floor" star Stephanie Moseley was cheating on him. He went in the bathroom and pumped 10-12 shots as she lay in the tub. He then killed himself.

We don't know if Floyd foot the bill for Stephanie's funeral Friday in Canada. Floyd was urging Hayes to dump her just before he lost it.

Hayes' funeral is set for today.

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Ray Rice and then fiancee Janay Palmer were handcuffed the night of the Atlantic City elevator fight ... and even kissed each other in an elevator as police escorted them out of the casino.

The surveillance video posted by ABC News shows cops seated with Ray and Janay at separate tables in the Revel Hotel and Casino.

About 1 minute into the video police start to walk Ray and Janay out, they put them both together in the same elevator. Remember this isn't long after Ray knocked out Janay in an elevator.

Master P has a sure fire plan to turnaround this painful Lakers season -- just give him a little run, and he'll do what Kobe Bryant hasn't been able to do ... not yet, anyway.

Mr. "Make Em' Say Uhh" told us he can provide something for the Lake show no one else can. Master P even called out the Mamba, saying ... "I played against Kobe. He knows what's up!"

It's true ... P did play in a couple of NBA preseasons with the Hornets and Raptors in the late '90s. We're guessing Kobe doesn't remember much about their match ups.

Milwaukee Bucks star O.J. Mayo has a $19k problem on his hands ... because a charter airline company says he didn't pony up the cash to fly -- and put the crew in danger by using "illegal narcotics" ... TMZ Sports has learned.

According to a lawsuit filed today by Quantum Jets ... Mayo booked a flight from Houston to L.A. on July 16th, but couldn't pay for the entire flight. The airline agreed he could give them a down payment, and pay the rest the next day.

But Quantum claims he never coughed up the dough. Further, they say he used illegal narcotics during the flight. The suit doesn't specify what kind of drugs.

Quantum Jets is suing Mayo for breach of contract and negligence. It wants at least $19,200 in damages, plus interest.

Taylor Swift just gave a pro snowboarder a heart attack we're guessing ... 'cause all Greg Bretz wanted for his birthday was for Taylor to show him some love -- and it just happened.

T Swizzle recorded a shout out to Greg -- posted by a mutual friend of theirs -- telling him, "Happy birthday, Greg. Amazing!"

Bretz turned 24 Friday -- and earlier this week he was crushing hard on Taylor. First, he posted videos of himself doing snowmobile tricks ... using "Blank Space" as the soundtrack.

He even came on TMZ Hollywood Sports to talk about how Taylor inspires him when he's on the mountain.

In the video, Taylor mentions something about Greg scoring -- could be a sports reference, or y'know ... ;)

If Ray McDonald is pissed off about getting cut from the San Francisco 49ers -- he did a bang up job of hiding it outside his attorney's office.

The defensive lineman let out a massive yawn as he strolled to his car after meeting his lawyer in San Jose Friday -- 2 days after he was named a suspect in an alleged rape investigation ... and subsequently 86'd by the Niners.

Ray's pretty chill -- especially for a guy facing his second criminal investigation in 6 months, and suddenly out of work.

Watch ... Ray's got a friend with him who says new information will be "coming out soon." Unclear if he's talking about Ray's future in the NFL ... or the alleged rape case.

Michael Vick is winning -- not with the Jets, but in business -- because his already super popular brush line just got an adorable celebrity endorser ... Dwight Howard's seven-year-old son Braylon.

Dwight's baby's mama Royce Reed took to Instagram to show off Bray using the Wavemasterz brush ... along with a glowing review on how the product makes the little tyke's hair all ocean like.

Listen up, President Obama ... Joe Flacco wants to make sure you know he's never been in "127 Hours" or "Spring Breakers" ... and he's definitely not the co-star of "The Interview."

POTUS made a huge flub during his news conference Friday -- mashing up James Franco's name with Joe's -- and the Ravens QB quickly responded.

The prez was talking about the Sony cyber attack and "The Interview" ... saying, "a satirical movie starring Seth Rogen and James FLACCO. I love Seth ... I love James."

Flacco razzed the president by tweeting, "@barackobama: It's James Franco, not James Flacco ;)" He also shouted out James ... welcoming him to the fam.

Still ... imagine Franco putting on the pads to take on J.J. Watt and the Texans this weekend. THAT would be awesome.

The 1980s are long over and Milwaukee Bucks forward Jared Dudley says NBA players have evolved ... and now they shave their armpits.

Jared apparently solved a life-long mystery for our photog when he left 1Oak Thursday night ... because our guy was just DYING to know if the NBA made players shave ... or if it was a choice.

Dudley said that shaving was the thing to do these days ... unlike the Patrick Ewing days of yore.

Floyd Mayweather is giving Santa Claus a run for his money -- he dropped more than $250,000 in New York City this week on platinum, gold, and diamond encrusted gifts for his family and friends.

TMZ Sports spoke with AVI, Ofir, and Richie -- the guys at Pristine Jewelers and Leon Diamond in NYC -- who tell us Floyd came in after hours Wednesday night ... right after his infamous Saks Fifth Avenue bathroom incident.

Among the gifts: a diamond tennis necklace with 70 carats of diamonds and a matching tennis bracelet, a diamond encrusted watch with over 40 carats of diamonds, and a diamond pendant -- just to name a few.

We're told each piece Floyd picked out ran between $5,000-$10,000.

Merry freakin' Christmas.

10:50 AM PT -- Phelps must abstain from booze, and can't abusively use drugs. He'll have to submit to drug and alcohol testing ...at the discretion of his probation officer ... and attend self-help group meetings.

He will be allowed to travel out of state for training sessions.

Michael Phelps showed up to a Baltimore court Friday morning where he pled guilty to driving under the influence.

Phelps was given a one-year suspended sentence and 18 months probation ... meaning if he screws up in the next 18 months, he goes behind bars for a year.

The Olympic hero arrived with his mom, sister and girlfriend -- Miss California 2010 Nicole Johnson.

We broke the story... Phelps was busted on September 30 at 1:40 AM for DUI. His B.A.C. was nearly twice the legal limit.

He checked himself into rehab following the arrest.

Major League Baseball's about to be just like kick-ass cigars and Ricky Ricardo -- as in super Cuban ... at least that's what former pitcher John Rocker is predicting.

The ex-closer tells TMZ Sports ... the new warm and friendly relations between the U.S. and Cuba will open up the majors to throngs of badass ball players from the island.

As Rocker puts it ... it's just a matter of time until baseball is full of Yasiel Puigs -- which, c'mon ... would be awesome!

Two bonuses in this clip: 1. Rocker talks "Eastbound & Down" (he's the rumored inspiration for Kenny Powers) and 2. Rocker's smoke show GF Julie McGee ... who he met on "Survivor."

Former NBA All-Star Kenny Anderson says Sony Pictures absolutely did the right thing by pulling "The Interview" out of theaters ... and adds he can't figure out why they made it in the first place.

Kenny actually met Kim Jong-un when he went to North Korea in January as part of Dennis Rodman's goodwill team of ex-NBA players. He tells TMZ Sports ... "I was trippin' when I saw the movie preview. Why would they want to ruffle their feathers? They already hate America."

Kenny says Kim Jong-un actually treated him very well while he was there -- but admits he was ignorant to the atrocities committed by Kim's regime ... until he got back stateside.

He says he's confused about the plan to greenlight 'Interview' .. but adds, "I think they might've been trying to make Americans aware of some of the stuff that happens over there."

Floyd Mayweather Jr. has won yet another fight … this time against a woman at Saks Fifth Avenue who tried to stop him from using the bathroom -- even though he's undefeated at department store pissers!

Yes, even when there's a private event going down.

Former New Orleans Saints star Darren Sharper now faces federal charges for distributing prescription meds -- on top of the slew of charges he's already been hit with in multiple states.

Sharper was indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiracy to distribute generic versions of Valium, Xanax, and Ambien ... with intent to commit rape between January 2010 and May 2014. He was also charged with 2 counts of actually distributing the drugs with intent to rape.

An Ex-sheriff's deputy in New Orleans, Brandon Licciardi, was hit with the same charges ... in addition to witness tampering and impeding an investigation.