TMZ Sports - Page 50

Steve Francis is about to feel the pressure ... of his massive gold chain -- which his friend and rap mogul J. Prince got back for him, and is now proudly showing it off for cameras.

Rap-A-Lot Recrords honcho J. Prince held up the chain like a fisherman who bagged a great white shark ... and told the local FOX station in Houston he can't wait to return it to its proper owner.

TMZ Sports broke the story -- Stevie Francis was on stage at a Sauce Twinz show when someone jacked the chain off his neck. As we also first told you ... Steve's pal J. Prince put out word on the street that it better be returned, or else.

The man gets results ... can't argue with that.

Ex-NBA star Kenny Smith taught his daughter well ... because she busted on Shaquille O'Neal's rap skills like she was one of the boys -- telling us she will NEVER duet with the Diesel.

Kayla Brianna was on TMZ Hollywood Sports ... telling us all about her rising R&B career, when she mentioned she's open to sharing the stage with her dad's "Inside The NBA" co-host -- but only if he's DJing.

Kayla proved she can talk smack with the best of 'em when we asked if she might have Shaq rap on one of her tracks, telling us ... "No! Who's going to buy that new Shaq album?"

Papa would be proud.

Of course Sam Simon is famous for "The Simpsons" and his philanthropy -- but he was also hugely into boxing ... managing former WBO Champ Lamon Brewster, and even stepping in the ring with him!

Brewster was emotional about the loss of his manager and friend when he spoke to TMZ Sports ... telling us, "Sam would spar with me to help me get ready for my fights." That's pretty crazy when you consider Brewster was a beast at 6'2" and 226 pounds!

Brewster says Simon was always a big fan of boxing in general, but after legendary trainer Freddie Roach introduced them -- Simon became his manager from 1999 to 2006.

Simon's guy got the WBO belt in 2004 by knocking out Wladimir Klitschko -- and Simon was right by his side to celebrate in the ring. Brewster says Simon was like a father to him ... who "was always giving me life advice and cracking jokes."

As for Simon's skills in the ring ... Brewster says, "He could hit! He had a good heart, man ... and so down to Earth."

He added, "Sam is now in a great place and I am pretty sure he is up there telling jokes."

Police in Orlando are operating under the assumption that shooters targeted the Jeep NFL star Chris Johnson was in Sunday morning ... which led to his injuries and the death of another man.

While cops believe the Jeep was the intended target, they are unsure if the shooters were specifically going after Chris or anyone else in the vehicle.

According to the report, Chris was "uncooperative and would only state that he saw 'a car roll by, and they shot.'"

Police say Chris was riding in the front passenger seat when an unknown driver pulled up at a stoplight and opened fire - shooting him in the shoulder. The driver was declared dead on the scene with a gunshot wound to the head. Reggie Johnson, the other passenger - was shot twice in his right leg.

Neighbors near the crime scene tell TMZ Sports they heard at least 4 shots Sunday morning from what sounded like a large handgun - before hearing police arrive a few minutes later.

Kim Kardashian's power has increased by 50 times and she now has the power to destroy most beings in the galaxy ... at least according to Minnesota Vikings LB/cartoon nerd Anthony Barr. We'll explain ...

Anthony -- who just finished up his rookie year -- was out in L.A. Sunday night when we asked the former UCLA stud what he thought of Kim K's new blonde look.

That's when Barr went full comic book nerd ... comparing KK to a Super Saiyan, a type of character from the show "Dragon Ball Z" that has achieved nearly unlimited power through training.

You be the judge.

There's one fight retired four-star general Colin Powell wants no piece of -- and it's the upcoming fight of the century ... Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao.

The former U.S. Secretary of State was in Washington, D.C. over the weekend when a photog tried to get his prediction for the fight. Ever the politician, Colin danced around giving an answer better than Floyd or Manny dance around the ring. He also weighs in on getting a high-priced ticket to the fight.

Local businesses in Orlando say police are hoping surveillance video may hold the key to solving the shooting involving NFL star Chris Johnson ... and they're making the rounds in the hopes one of them caught the shooting on video.

TMZ Sports spoke to a local Goodwill near where the shooting took place. They say they spoke to police and told them their cameras show the intersection where shots were fired ... but aren't sure if they recorded a good enough look of the shooting.

The Goodwill says they were visited by law enforcement Monday morning and turned over their surveillance video to them.

A local IHOP tells TMZ Sports they were contacted by law enforcement as well. They say they have yet to turn over their tapes, but want to help in the investigation any way they can.

Johnson was shot in the shoulder early Sunday morning while riding in a car that was stopped at an intersection. Another man in the car was also shot in the shoulder, but a third man, the driver, was killed.

The Alex Rodriguez storyline has grown tiresome ... so says MLB superfan Jerry Seinfeld who says plain and simple, "It's not very interesting."

Seinfeld was leaving Craig's in West Hollywood when we tried to ask if he thinks A-Rod's return to the Yanks will be a good thing or a bad thing for the ball club.

Jerry's response? He couldn't care less.

But he DID care about his beloved NY Mets ... and told us if the team is gonna be competitive this year, it's all gonna come down to one guy.

Some bad news/good news for L.A. Clippers star Glen "Big Baby" Davis.

The Bad News -- His marriage to his longtime sweetheart and baby mama Jenna Gomez is officially over.

The Good News -- He's got a brand new girlfriend ... and she's a model!!!

Davis and his new flame Jasmin Jaye his up Mastro's Steakhouse in Beverly Hills last night where they were on a mission to shoot down rumors that they were dating behind Glen's wife's back.

"I am divorced," Davis said. Davis and Gomez married on December 31st, 2013.

Glen also explained where he and Jasmin met and what first attracted him to her ... and it was all because "she had a big, ol ..."

Laila Ali tells TMZ Sports ... there's NO WOMAN ALIVE who could beat her in a fight ... and that includes UFC superstar Ronda Rousey.

Muhammad Ali's daughter -- who was 24-0 in her boxing career -- was at LAX this weekend when we asked if she thought she could hang with the MMA superstar if the two ever decided to fight.

At first, the 37-year-old champ was shy ... saying it's hard to compare a boxer to an MMA fighter ... but ultimately declared, "No woman can beat me, period."

The 5'10" Ali also pointed out her size advantage over the 5'7" Rousey -- "She's like the size of my daughter ... my 3-year-old."

"The Real L Word" star Sara Bettencourt is now rolling around with dudes to learn some new moves ... in a wrestling ring.

Sara has been training with Pro Wrestling Revolution in San Jose, CA for the past month and last weekend she made her debut as a ring valet ... managing a tag team called Los Chicanos.

Bettencourt is going by the name Sada Simone -- and even though she's still got work to do before her first official match as a pro wrestler ... we're told coaches are impressed with her progress.

Watch this clip from her debut -- she has quite the body ... of work.

One of the women Warren Sapp allegedly paid for "sex acts" on the night after the Super Bowl has pled NOT GUILTY to misdemeanor prostitution ... TMZ Sports has learned.

As we previously reported ... Sapp told the Phoenix PD he paid Britney Osbourne and Quying Boyd each $300 to come to his hotel room and perform "sex acts" on him on February 2nd.

Sapp said Osbourne performed oral sex on him (and he recorded it on his cell phone) ... but things went south when he asked for vaginal sex and she demanded more money.

Osbourne was later charged with prostitution. If convicted she could do time behind bars.

As for Boyd, she was charged with not having proper escort identification ... and she has also pled not guilty. She faces a fine if convicted.

Warren was charged with two counts of assault (for allegedly attacking Osbourne during the vaginal sex dispute) and one count of soliciting prostitution. If convicted, he faces up to six months in jail.

Sapp is due back in court later this month.

Kenny "The Jet" Smith's daughter Kayla Brianna is blowin' up in the hip-hop world ... 'cause TMZ Sports has learned the 21-year-old singer is in talks to sign with Birdman's Rich Gang label.

The "Inside the NBA" star has been RAVING about Kayla's singing talents for years -- and all sorts of big stars have taken notice, including Meek Mill who featured her on his track "I Got That."

Now, we've learned ... Kayla has been talking with Birdman for the past couple of months -- and sources connected to both sides tell us they're close on a deal.

We reached out to Kayla about the situation -- and while she wouldn't get into details, she said her father is just as pumped as she is.

1:25 PM PT -- TMZ Sports has obtained footage taken moments after the shooting ... showing bullet holes in Johnson's ride.

12:02 PM PT -- A source very close with Johnson tell us ... "When the driver got shot, Chris was leaning back in his seat texting like he always does. If he wasn't leaning back that shot would have killed him."

"It wasn't his time."

NFL running back Chris Johnson was shot in the shoulder during a drive-by in Orlando, FL early Sunday morning ... and one of the people in his car was killed.

Orange County Sheriff officials say the shooting took place around 4:09 AM -- when a mystery shooter opened fire on a Jeep that Chris was in ... along with two other people.

The victims told police they were stopped at a red light when another car pulled up next to them and began shooting.

29-year-old Chris was hit in the shoulder ... and another person in the car was also hit and died from his wounds. We're told Chris was taken to a nearby hospital -- and cops say he's in stable condition.

Sources close to Johnson tell us the former NY Jets and Tennessee Titans player was returning from a concert and was heading to a recording studio when he was shot.

Johnson posted a picture of himself and a friend together before the show.

Chris had been in L.A. training at Jay Glazer's Unbreakable gym but went home for the weekend to hang with friends and family.

When Captain America makes a promise ... he always follows through -- especially when it involves a deal he made with Chris Pratt over the Super Bowl.

As you may recall ... Pratt, a Seahawks fan, lost a bet to Chris Evans over the big game last month and visited a children's hospital dressed as Star-Lord from "Guardians of the Galaxy." Afterward, Evans agreed to the do the same, as Cap.

The 33 year-old hunk visited Seattle Children's Hospital Saturday in his Captain America costume ... and it's clear by the looks on these kids faces that their day was made.

NFL player Kareem Jackson spares no expense for his feelings ... 'cause the Houston Texans star paid over $15k for a tiny blinged-out replica of his favorite pair of cleats ... and they're pretty freakin' awesome.

We spoke with the guys down at AJ's Jewelers in Miami who tell us Jackson made a special request to transform his Nike Vapor Cleats into a miniature charm he could rock around his neck.

That's when they sprung into action ... taking over three weeks to create a VVS diamond-encrusted, 3D version of the shoes ... and when all was said and done, the pieces were worth more than $15k.

FYI -- AJ's has also created some pretty sweet stuff for other NFL stars ... including iced-out mini-jerseys for guys like T.Y. Hilton and Michael Huff.