TMZ Sports - Page 50

Here's Rick Fox ... basically saying Phil Jackson tanked the Knicks this season -- while trying to be super politically correct at the same time.

Rick -- who we love by the way (super nice guy) -- was out in L.A. this weekend ... when we asked if the man who coached him on the Lakers intentionally shut down the Knicks to get a better draft pick.

There was some serious tap dancing ... and he doesn't specifically say "yes" -- but he talks about how Phil "made a decision to purge the team of whatever personnel was there."

Hillary Clinton's already got one MAJOR celebrity supporter -- Magic Johnson ... who says he's FIRED UP that HRC is gunning for the White House.

Johnson is staunch Democrat -- who supported Hillary in her first run for the Presidency back in 2007 ... and now with Clinton announcing that she's running for President again, Magic's making it clear he's still got her back.

"[Cookie] and I are thrilled that @HillaryClinton announced today that she will be running for President!" Johnson tweeted.

"I feel @HillaryClinton will be a great President for the American people and she will make sure that everyone has a voice!"

Seems the "old" Yasiel Puig is finally coming back ... 'cause after a quiet, slumping, terrible start to the MLB season ... Puig hit his 1st home run of the year yesterday -- and then he hit the clubs!

The 24-year-old star partied at Greystone Manor in West Hollywood late Sunday night ... hours after his 1-5 performance helped the Dodgers defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Puig is in a pretty nasty slump this season -- he's only 3 for 22 with a .136 average ... not ideal for a guy in a $42 million contract.

In the past, Puig's been a staple on the club scene -- and Dodgers owner Magic Johnson has said that he's totally cool with it as long as the team wins.

Now that he's been booted from "Dancing with the Stars," NFL wannabe Michael Sam was looking to drown his sorrows in Las Vegas this weekend -- by kickin' it at the pool with Sammy Hagar.

The former Van Halen frontman and the former NFL player hung out at the Azure Luxury Pool at the Palazzo hotel ... where Sammy was trying to promote his new poolside bar.

Move over Michael Bolton ... there's a new king of the super emotional music video -- and it's Manny Pacquiao.

The boxer just dropped his music video for his new song "Lalaban Ako Para Sa Filipino" ... which he recorded specifically for his walkout music for the Floyd Mayweather fight.

It roughly translates to "I Fight for the Filipino People" -- and the video is essentially a touching tribute to the people of his home country.

The video has everything from dramatic montages of children ... street fires ... stray pigs ... and of course, all the Manny training footage you could want!

BTW -- Manny directed the whole thing.

The person who shot NFL running back Chris Johnson -- and killed his friend -- now has a $5,000 bounty on his (or her) head ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... investigators have been working like hell trying to identify and locate whoever fired the shots in that fatal drive-by shooting in Tampa on March 8th. Johnson was hit in the shoulder. His pal "Rollie" was struck in the head and died from his injuries.

Sources tell us ... cops have received several tips -- but so far, no arrests have been made.

We're told cops are hoping a $5,000 reward -- offered through the Central Florida Crimeline -- will motivate people to share information that will lead to the killer's arrest.

The cash was raised through donations -- and tipsters can be as anonymous as they want.

Willie Gault was a Picasso on the gridiron ... but Manny Pacquiao thinks Gault's son Gabriel is a regular Picasso ... hiring the kid to capture the Pac Man's essence in two custom paintings.

It went down when Willie got a call from Manny's manager who told him he'd seen Gabriel's artwork ... and he was a HUGE fan.

He spread the word to Manny, who commissioned two pieces from Gabriel about a month ago -- one solo Manny shot ... and one with him and his son.

We're told it took Gabriel about a week to sketch and paint the artwork (speed runs in the family) but then he really turnt it up ... making each painting into a 3D image that "JUMPS" out of the frame.

Gabe did the job for free ... But since Manny signed each piece and gave one back to Gabriel, he now has a piece of memorabilia that could be worth thousands of dollars ... although we're told he plans to keep it.

FYI -- Both Gabe and Willie say they are squarely in Pac Man's corner ... so add another celeb to Manny's stable of supporters.

Adrien Broner only knows one way to celebrate a dominating win -- well 750 ways ... cause TMZ Sports has learned he just scooped up a ton of fresh bling.

"The Problem," still feeling euphoric over his butt whipping of John Molina last month ... hit up Avianne and Co. in NYC and treated himself to $750k worth of ridiculous jewelry.

Avianne and Co. has hooked up the likes of Justin Bieber and Chris Brown, but AB's haul of custom pieces has to rival anything they bought.

Owner Joe Avianne tells us he copped 10 icy pieces -- some of the highlights:

- 50 karat diamond chain
- 10 karat diamond and platinum ring
- 30 karat custom Avianne watch with AB's initials
- 10 karat diamond earrings

Understatement of the century alert -- Avianne says Broner is one of his best customers.

The Game allegedly attacked a photog who was part of a team serving him with a lawsuit for allegedly assaulting a cop ... lots of allegeds here.

TMZ broke the story ... Game got into it with an off duty cop during a basketball game last month and sucker punched the guy. The cop has sued game, claiming the punch may have caused brain damage.

But lawsuits must get served, so Saturday afternoon a process server went to Game's Calabasas home to get the job done. He brought along a guy to record the service on video.

Apparently Game didn't much like the spotlight, because the photog says the rapper attacked him, pushing him to the ground.

The guy called 911, cops rushed over but by that time Game was gone. So the photog filed a police report for battery.

T.J. Lavin rides for America ... literally ... 'cause the BMX star and host of MTV's "The Challenge" is overseas putting on a two-wheeled show for the U.S.A.'s bravest warriors.

T.J. and a group of riders including Ron Kilmer, Morgan Wade, and "Catfish" Zack Yankush are tearing it up in the Middle East for their "Bikes Over Baghdad" stunt tour.

TMZ Sports spoke with T.J. and he says the tour -- which travels to top secret "undisclosed" locations -- is all about "bringing some joy to the men and women serving our country in harm's way."

It turns out songs about killing people sometimes prevent violence ... 'cause Webbie says his $1 million boxing bet with 50 Cent is settled ... and all it took was 50 spittin' some hot fire on the mic.

As we previously reported ... Webbie's been peeved at Fiddy over a $1 million dollar wager the two made on a fight between Terence Crawford and Yuriorkis Gamboa last May.

Webbie's guy Crawford KO'd Gamboa ... but he claims when it was time to pay up 50 pulled a PSY (remember Gangnam Style?) ... suddenly disappearing without a trace.

It seems like things were gonna go all Biggie and Pac for a second ... (with Webbie actually threatening 50 on a recent track) -- basically telling him to pay up or else.

Well according to Webbie ... 50 paid his debt ... but not in cash -- payback came in the form of a guest verse on a track for Webbie's friend and label mate Lil Boosie.

"I told him we dont need no money man, we need some verses, get on my boy song."

Check out the video -- Webbie says 50 asked for a week to finish the song but Webbie demanded payment by that night or there was no deal ... and 50 acquiesced.

DeAndre Jordan makes about $139,514 per game, and strippers are getting exactly none of that cash -- the Clippers star tells TMZ Sports he doesn't spend any money in gentlemen's clubs!

DeAndre's Clips teammate -- Matt Barnes -- recently told S.I. that Allen Iverson used to drop 30k to 40k ... EVERY TIME he went to the strip club.

So, we asked Jordan -- who was with Odell Beckham Jr. at Katsuya in Hollywood -- about A.I.'s spending habits and his own. His response is pretty shocking for a pro athlete.

DJ also talked a little about Thabo Sefolosha's controversial arrest.

Seems Aaron Hernandez got jacked for his official jail I.D. card during his stint in the slammer -- 'cause it just surfaced on eBay ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... the item appears to be a legit identification card from Suffolk County Jail in Mass where Hernandez arrived in July 2014.

Starting bid -- $500.

As for the seller -- that person has not revealed his own identity ... but explained in the eBay post, "I was in jail with Arron Hernandes [sic] the for patriot super star.. I happen to com [sic] across his jail id."

Wonder how that happened?

We reached out to the Suffolk County Sheriff's Department -- but they're not saying jack squat about the situation.

With so much violence on reality TV, the chicks from "Rica Famosa Latina" have decided to get the upper hand -- by training in jiu jitsu at an MMA gym where Ronda Rousey gets down!!

It's no joke ... after the massive BRAWL at the premiere party last year (video below) Sandra Vidal and Victoria Del Rosal decided it was probably time to learn how to fight.

So, they hit up the famous Gracie Barra Burbank Monday for some real deal training in grappling ... since most reality show fights end up on the ground anyway.

FYI -- the gym is owned by ex-UFC fighter Alberto Crane ... and they don't mess around at this place.

We're told the ladies learned everything from punch defense to rear-naked chokes ... and their trainer Donny says they were "pretty good" for having no formal training.

Senoritas ... you've been warned.

Atlanta Hawks star Thabo Sefolosha appeared to suffer a severe blow from an NYPD officer's nightstick during his arrest Wednesday night ... based on this new video of the violent take down.

TMZ Sports just obtained this new angle of Sefolosha's arrest, shot by a witness outside 1Oak Nightclub in NYC ... moments after Pacers Chris Copeland was stabbed.

In this video you can clearly see Sefolosha being tugged in different directions by 6 officers. Additionally ... you can see one of the officers take a big swing with his baton, and it sounds like he makes contact with something.

A witness says Thabo told police, "Calm down."

As we've reported ... Sefolosha broke his fibula during the scuffle with cops, and based on this video it's possible it could've been caused by the officer's baton.

In their report, police said Thabo was aggressively charging at one of the officers before they got physical with him. That's not evident from either video we've obtained ... since they start after the scuffle began.

Real bad news for Chris Brown ... Jay Z's hosting a Las Vegas bash the night of Mayweather-Pacquiao -- which means Chris, Nicki Minaj, and every other celeb can pack up their party balloons and go home.

Only problem for non-celebs ... it'll cost ya $50k for a table at Jay's party! So, don't torch that Dennis Rodman invite just yet.