TMZ Sports - Page 50

WNBA player Glory Johnson made a public plea to estranged wife Brittney Griner -- hours after Griner filed to annul their marriage -- and then apparently decided, screw it ... and took it back.

Glory posted a popular Internet meme about true relationships and "unperfect" partners not giving up on each other. It seemed like she was extending an olive branch to Brittney -- but then she deleted the post within the last hour or so.

Woman's prerogative?

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Griner shockingly filed annulment papers on Friday, less than a month after they tied the knot.

Lil Wayne's face off with a referee in a charity hoops game was definitely violent -- we've got new video to prove that -- but Weezy denies ever unloading a loogie on the guy.

As we reported ... Wayne lost his temper when the ref repeatedly made calls against his Young Money squad during the recent game in St. Louis. Sources close to Tunechi tell us he went after him dead set on starting a fight.

In the clip, you clearly see him charge at the ref and try to slap the whistle right out of his mouth. But we're told Wayne didn't spit on him. There's no evidence of it from this angle, although the ref does towel off his face at one point.

Funny moment in the vid -- as the melee erupts, someone yells ... "No! We can't do this two times in a row!!" We think he's referring to the promoter, Loose Cannon Slim's last attempt at a St. Louis stop the violence event.

LeBron James is a 1-man stimulus package in Cleveland -- with several businesses around the Cavs arena telling TMZ Sports they've been CRUSHING IT during the playoffs ... and they're all crediting #23.

Don't forget, the Cavs didn't make the playoffs once during the 4 years LeBron was in Miami -- which means 4 years of low foot traffic for the restaurants and stores near Quicken Loans Arena.

But with this year's run, Cleveland has already hosted an additional 7 playoff games (with more to come) ... and the 8 establishments we spoke with say the extra business has been HUGE.

Here's what a few of the owners and managers told us.

"Every business owner, hotel, restaurant, grocery store owner ... anyone who owns a business in downtown Cleveland should be kissing [LeBron's] ass, including me."
-Owner, Zocala Mexican Grill

"It's certainly a nice bonus for local businesses and we are happy to have LeBron back here. On the day of home playoff games, I'd say business increases by more than 40 percent."
-Manager, The Greenhouse Tavern

"We just opened in the beginning of the year. One of the reasons we came to downtown Cleveland is because of the downtown boom, and a lot of that's LeBron James being back in Cleveland."
-Owner, A Bar + Kitchen

Embattled Team USA track star Tyson Gay tells TMZ Sports he'll DEFINITELY be running in Rio next year ... with the full backing of the entire U.S. track community ... despite his 2013 doping scandal.

Gay tested positive for a banned substance a couple years back ... leading many to believe that he'd be persona non grata for the U.S. team at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.

But when we got the former world champ at LAX he was singing a whole different tune ... telling our cameras that it's all gravy with his fellow speedsters ... and it's all because he was HONEST about his missteps.

"I'm getting ready, man, making sure I stay healthy. USA Track and Field is behind me."

Nia Long might NEVER want the San Antonio Spurs to win another ring ... telling TMZ Sports she sometimes roots for her fiance's team to lose in the postseason ... so he can come home.

Nia's fiance' is former Spurs stud -- and current assistant coach -- Ime Udoka and when we got the two out on date night earlier this week we had to ask if she was secretly excited when the Spurs got knocked out of the NBA playoffs.

Check out the clip -- Nia keeps it all the way real -- maybe too real for Spurs fans -- before dialing it back a little so she's actually allowed back in south Texas.

Glory Johnson says she was "blindsided" by Brittney Griner's decision to file for an annulment today -- telling TMZ Sports she's "extremely hurt" by Brittney's actions.

We spoke with Johnson's sports marketing agent, D.J. Fisher, who tells us "Glory was unaware of the filing and still loves and cares for Brittney."

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Griner filed the court docs Friday -- saying Johnson essentially threatened her into getting married ... and claims the whole thing was a fraud.

Griner issued a statement saying, "Last Wednesday, Glory and I agreed to either legally separate, get divorced, or annul our marriage. In the week prior to the wedding, I attempted to postpone the wedding several times until I completed counseling, but I still went through with it. I now realize that was a mistake."

But Johnson's camp says Brittney's full of crap -- saying they NEVER agreed to annul the marriage.

Johnson's rep adds, "Glory loves Brittney and made a huge sacrifice to carry a child, put her career on hold, to invest in their relationship and their future. As a result she won't be playing this season."

"Glory wouldn't intentionally do anything to hurt Brittney and has tried her best to protect her and their marriage. Obviously this marriage was about them starting their life together. Glory is the sweetest thing in the world and she was dedicated to their partnership."

4:31 PM PT -- In court docs obtained by TMZ Sports, Griner says she has NO biological connection to the baby ... and she doesn't know any of the key details about Johnson's pregnancy.

In short, it seems like Griner is suggesting they were not on the same page when it came to the pregnancy.

Griner also says the marriage to Johnson is based on "fraud and duress" -- because Griner was "pressured into marriage under duress by [Johnson's] threatening statements."

Griner does not specify the nature of the threats.

Griner also says there was fraud -- but does not say why. It seems to be related to the pregnancy.

As for the fetus, Griner does not say if she wants to have any type of parenting arrangement with the child.

IT'S OVER -- WNBA superstar Brittney Griner has officially filed papers seeking to annul her 28 day marriage to her pregnant new wife Glory Johnson ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Griner and Johnson tied the knot on May 8th in a small ceremony in Arizona ... just weeks after they were both arrested in a domestic violence incident at their home.

The move is especially shocking considering Johnson just announced she's pregnant.

Johnson and Griner have been together for a while -- and even appeared on an episode of "Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta" together back in January.

As we previously reported, Griner and Johnson were taken into custody for domestic violence on April 22nd. Both women say it was mutual combat after a heated argument got physical.

Griner later pled guilty to disorderly conduct and was ordered to complete a 26 week domestic violence counseling program. Johnson's case is still pending.

Both women were hit with 7 game suspensions from the WNBA ... though it's unclear how the league will handle the situation with Johnson, considering she's missing the entire 2015 season due to pregnancy.

Much like George Costanza, Jason Alexander had to pretend at a job he was pretending to have.

Alexander was out and about in New York City when our photog tried to chat him up about the New York Yankees, figuring Alexander was a fan from his "Seinfeld" days.

But as it turns out ... Alexander knows NOTHING about sports and says he had no idea who George Steinbrenner even was ... even though he shot several memorable scenes poking fun of the notorious Yankees owner.

In the immortal words of Mr. Costanza ... it's not a lie, if you believe it.

He's already got an entourage ... now American Pharoah has a private security team too -- hired to watch the horse's back in the days before the biggest race of his life.

TMZ Sports has learned ... the people who own American Pharoah hired a private security company to keep an eye on A.P. just to make sure nobody screws with him before the Belmont Stakes.

We spoke with Ashley Zayat, whose family owns Pharoah -- and she tells us, "He has a large group of people following him -- so the security is there to protect him from camera flashes and loud noises, which he doesn't like. And there are a lot of people around, you never know what someone might do."

There's more ... Pharoah also has a team of personal assistants who tend to the horse 24/7 -- "In case he needs anything. If he's hungry, thirsty ... if he gets restless, and needs to be walked around, they'll do that."

#Diva

Johnny Manziel has a BIG BIG supporter in his camp -- Cleveland Browns legend Jim Brown ... who says he still believes the young QB ... and explains why the water bottle incident was no big deal.

The 79-year-old NFL Hall of Famer was at Book Soup in L.A. supporting his friend Lea Black when we asked about the drama surrounding Manziel.

"He's doing the right thing. His intentions are great," Brown said ... "He went to rehab and he's coming back working every day and he's a good kid."

TMZ Sports has obtained the bizarre 911 call recording from the domestic dispute involving the son of Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen ... in which he claims to be "the blood of the city."

John Bowlen's girlfriend initially called 911 on Wednesday night ... but the call was cut short ... and the last thing the operator heard was the woman screaming.

So, the operator called back ... only this time, John picked up ... and goes on a bizarre rant in which he claims to be the owner of the Denver Broncos ... says he's dealing with a "crazy girlfriend" ... and swears on his life that everything is fine.

"As the blood of the city, I'm telling you nothing is wrong."

He also dropped some names ... "I'm a man of the city. A friend of the mayor. And everybody knows exactly who I am. I'm going through a lot."

Bowlen continued ... "She is leaving right now, nothing is wrong. I love you guys. Thank you. Bye bye."

Obviously, the operator didn't buy Bowlen's story -- cops went to the scene and Bowlen was arrested on domestic violence charges.

A former NFL lineman has a STERN WARNING for Kyrie Irving ... don't let the doctors pressure you into coming back early ... or you could wind up with an OBLITERATED KNEE!!!!

The man behind the warning is LeCharles Bentley ... a former 2-time Pro Bowler who played for the Cleveland Browns ... who suffered a pretty major knee injury of his own during his playing days.

As for Kyrie -- the Cavs said he'd been suffering from a "bad case of tendonitis" over the past few weeks and wanted him to play last night. Kyrie's father had reportedly been pushing for Irving to take it easy.

Enter Bentley ... who added his perspective on social media after the game:

"So the doc tells Kyrie it's 'just tendonitis' ... Yea, I tore my patella from having 'just tendonitis'. I tried to 'tough it out'... ."

He then posted a picture of what his knee looks like now -- and said, "Oh, 'it just tendonitis'... I'm out, about to go 'tough out' this leg workout. Could be worse! #Blessed."

Bottom line -- Bentley says, "Athletes better listen to their bodies, not Twitter & Docs."

How do you make NASCAR even whiter than it already is???

Just watch this video of Jeff Gordon rapping with a 7-year-old kid.

Rugby superstar Jerry Collins -- a former captain for the New Zealand All Blacks -- was killed in a car crash in France early Friday morning.

The 34-year-old -- who captained the greatest rugby team on the planet 3 times during his career -- was in a vehicle with his wife and 3-month-old daughter when they collided with a bus.

According to reports, Collins' wife also died. Their daughter is in critical condition.

Collins' wife was driving the car at the time of the accident -- and lost control, eventually colliding with a tour bus. The bus driver reportedly jumped into action and freed Collins' daughter from the wreck.

Collins' manager says the family is "distraught at the death of a much-loved son, brother and friend, and his partner Alana, whom I got to know recently."

Oscar De La Hoya is calling out the SCARIEST boxer in the world -- telling TMZ Sports if he does decide to get back in the ring, he wants to fight undefeated human annihilator Gennady Golovkin!!!!!

The 42-year-old Golden Boy was leaving the Belasco Theater in L.A. when we asked how he felt about being called out by Shane Mosley and Roy Jones Jr.

That's when Oscar dropped the bombshell ... saying, "If I ever come back, and I think about it every day, I'll fight Triple G!"

BOOOOOOOOM!!!!!

For the record, Golovkin is 33-0 ... with 20 CONSECUTIVE KNOCKOUTS!!!!!

So, does Oscar have a death wish?? Or does he truly believe he could beat one of the most dangerous fighters alive???