TMZ Sports - Page 50

Karl-Anthony Towns says he had a "5 percent chance of surviving" the scary car accident he was involved in last week ... and he's "blessed to be alive" and mostly uninjured.

The Minnesota Timberwolves star was heading to the Minneapolis airport for the team's trip to New York last Thursday ... when the car KAT was traveling in was hit by a semitruck traveling at 45 miles per hour.

Towns -- who missed the Wolves' past 2 games as a part of being in concussion protocol -- gave details on the accident at practice on Monday ... saying he knows it could have been MUCH worse.

"I'd say I had a 5 percent chance of making it out alive," KAT says, "I hit the 5 percent mark. I'd say 4 percent was to be seriously injured and 1 percent was to be minorly injured ... and I came out in the 1 percent."

No word on who was behind the wheel, but Towns -- who was also traveling with the team's assistant strength and conditioning coach -- was NOT driving.

"In all honesty, I probably should not have made it out like I did."

KAT didn't suffer any major injuries from the crash ... but he missed the first 2 games of his career ... ending his games played streak at 303.

Tom Brady and Gisele are standing by Robert Kraft in the wake of his prostitution scandal -- with Tom hugging his boss Monday morning after flying with him on a private jet from L.A. to Boston.

Tom, Gisele and Robert were all spotted getting off the same private jet at an airport in Boston early Monday ... all of the celebrity passengers smiling after the 5 to 6-hour flight.

In fact, Tom and Robert were seen talking on the tarmac -- with Tom eventually bringing his Patriots boss in for a big hug.

The big question ... did Tom and Gisele talk with Kraft about the criminal case against him in Jupiter, Florida -- where the 77-year-old is accused of paying for sex acts at an Asian spa on two different occasions?

The New England Patriots owner has adamantly denied wrongdoing in the prostitution case -- despite officials claiming to have graphic surveillance video showing Kraft engaging in a sex act.

Kraft had been in Los Angeles for a pre-Oscars bash over the weekend. Tom and Gisele had been hanging out in L.A. after their family vacation in Costa Rica. Clearly, they all felt it was better to fly back to Boston on the same plane.

As the stars got off the jet, one of their assistants could be seen grabbing a framed L.A. Times newspaper article commemorating the Patriots victory over the Rams in the Super Bowl. The headline on the paper says, "Ramshackled."

They both looked pretty amused when they saw that!

Of course, the Patriots silenced the Rams in Super Bowl LIII earlier this month -- holding L.A. to a measly field goal in a 13-3 win. Tom threw for 262 yards and a TD en route to winning his 6th Super Bowl ring.

Brady and Kraft have been close for almost 20 years -- it was Kraft's Patriots who selected the Michigan quarterback in the 6th round of the 2000 NFL Draft.

Joel Embiid thinks Wilt Chamberlain, NOT Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player ever ... and Dennis Rodman thinks ... well, he thinks Embiid should "shut the f**k up!!!"

TMZ Sports saw Rodman at LAX on Sunday ... and asked him about the 76ers star's comments about his former Bulls teammate.

Embiid sent the NBA world into a frenzy during a recent episode of Ringer's NBA Desktop, when he said ... "[Jordan] is not the G.O.A.T."

"To me, you got Wilt Chamberlain. He’s got all the records, and no one is ever gonna beat them. I don’t see anyone ever getting 100 points in a game. That’s it, he’s the G.O.A.T.”

Rodman's take?

"Joel Embiid, you're doing a great job for your little island or country where you're from. Shut the f**k up, go do your goddamn job and do Philly proud. That's the 1 thing they need, a championship."

Just to be crystal clear DR didn't agree with Joel's take ... we followed up -- so, you're saying Embiid's wrong about Michael not being the greatest of all time???

"You're goddamn right he's wrong."

Rodman might be a little biased ... he played 3 years with Michael in Chicago -- winning an NBA championship each season.

Michael ('84-'03) and Wilt ('59-'73) played in different eras ... and both had ridiculous stats and an insane amount of accolades.

Jordan is a 6x NBA champion, 6x Finals MVP, 5x NBA MVP, 14x All-Star, 10x NBA scoring champ, 10x All-NBA 1st Team, 9x NBA All-Defensive 1st Team who averaged 30 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists a game over his 15 season career.

Wilt was a 2x NBA champion, 1x Finals MVP, 4x NBA MVP, 13x All-Star, 7x NBA scoring champ, 7x All-NBA 1st Team, 11x NBA rebounding champ who once scored 100 points in a game and averaged 30 points, 23 rebounds, 4 assists a game over his 14 season career.

MJ is in the Basketball Hall of Fame and the FIBA HOF ... and Wilt's in the Basketball HOF and College B-Ball HOF.

We also asked Rodman if Embiid -- who's a pretty good hooper himself (he's arguably the league's most skilled big man) -- will ever himself be considered one of the all-time greats.

Jason Brown -- the head football coach featured on seasons 3 and 4 of "Last Chance U" -- has resigned after sending texts to one of his players saying, "I'm your new Hitler."

The scandal broke last week after the Montgomery County Chronicle newspaper published text messages Brown sent to freshman Alexandros Alexiou, who was born in Germany.

Brown's controversial career at Independence Community College in Kansas has been documented on the Netflix series "Last Chance U" for the past 2 seasons ... where he often used strong, explicit language to chew out players.

Regarding Alexiou, Brown had reached out via text to scold the player for racking up more "points" in the team's disciplinary point system -- in which players get dinged every time they violate team rules.

"410pm on field u German f*ck," Brown texted to Alexiou ... “u have 17 points toward your 25 points. U got an extra point for not hanging the lion poster as instructed."

"I’m your new Hitler," Brown added ... "Figure out your life.”

The school launched an investigation into Brown last week -- but on Sunday, the coach announced his resignation.

"It is with strong emotions that I announce my decision to resign as Head Football Coach at Independent Community College," Brown said in a statement.

After listing his accomplishments, Brown said ... "The events of the past few weeks has led me to resign."

"Given what has most recently been allowed to transpire, it is clear, that it will be nearly impossible to stay here."

"More plainly, the Montgomery County Chronicle has greatly diminished my ability to do my job, and has set this football program back significantly, and the cumulative effect of all these detrimental factors I believe clearly constitute a constructive discharge of my employment."

Brown added, "I urge all the naysayers on campus and in town to really look at yourself in the mirror and do a self-evaluation of yourself before so harshly judging others."

Brown has coached at ICC for 3.5 years.

Want a health update on Todd Gurley's knee? Also, want to see a very drunk "Very Cavallari" star try and hijack the spotlight?

Well, this is the clip for you!

The L.A. Rams star was leaving the 1818 Club Ballroom in Duluth, Georgia over the weekend -- where he helped celebrate Ric Flair's 70th birthday with TONS of celebs like Charles Barkley, Triple H, Jeff Hardy and more.

But, when we saw Todd leaving the shindig, we had to ask if there's any update with that knee injury he suffered during the 2018 season.

The good news, Todd says the knee is "fantastic."

The bad news, there were so many drunk people around Todd, that's really the only update we could get.

But, if you're interested in Reagan Agee from Kristin Cavallari's reality show, "Very Cavallari" -- we know she was there too.

And, how did we know? Well, she kept telling us ... over and over again.

Despite the drunken craziness at the end of the night, Todd seemed to be doing well -- and was even jumping around on his knee at the end of the clip.

8:18 AM PT -- Sources close to the Kardashians say the family is calling BS on Jordyn's story -- citing the fact party-goers were told to put their phones away when Jordyn arrived -- which shows Woods wanted her rendezvous with Thompson private. Our sources say Jordyn also drove herself home from the party ... something she wouldn't have done if she was wasted.

Jordyn Woods can't handle her booze and that's why she was down to make out with Tristan Thompson and blow up her relationship with the Kardashians ... that's her story, anyway.

Sources close to Jordyn tell TMZ ... she has been begging her ex-bestie, Kylie Jenner, for forgiveness ... ditto with Khloe. And, while she admits she made a stupid decision ... we're told she's blaming it on the a--a-a-a-a-alcohol, as they say.

We're told Woods was wasted before she even went to the house party where witnesses say she snuggled up to Tristan. She's saying she was actually blackout drunk ... as in, she doesn't even remember how she got to the party or anything that happened there.

Our sources say Jordyn started crying when she was told what she did and as we told you, Kylie also couldn't fathom the news. We're told Jordyn rarely drinks, but when she does ... it usually ends badly. Although, this time it's next level.

We're told the hookup seems to be a one-off -- Jordyn and Tristan don't follow each other on social media, and even Kylie doesn't believe they had secret texts or DMs. As one source put it, there'd be NO way for Jordyn to hide it ... she and Kylie were that tight.

Woods seemed to address the situation at a launch event for her new eyelash line Thursday night, saying ... "It's been real."

So are hangovers.

Al Harrington says people need to chill out before comparing Robert Kraft to Donald Sterling ... telling TMZ Sports Kraft's prostitution scandal just proves "he's human" like everyone else.

We spoke with the ex-NBA star and asked how he would feel about the allegations against Kraft if he was currently playing for the Patriots. Remember, officials say Kraft paid for sex acts at a Florida massage parlor on two occasions.

The good news for Kraft, Harrington says it's no big deal -- and Patriots players shouldn't freak out over it.

"It just lets you know that he's human," Harrington says. "People like to do sh*t to have a good time."

"I don't think it's that big of a deal as long as he had nothing to do with the trafficking or whatever. I mean, who doesn't go to a massage parlor and may end up having a happy ending or something like that?"

Officials say Kraft was one of more than 100 men paying for sex acts at various massage parlors around Florida.

Investigators say the two women accused of running the prostitution ring were importing women from foreign countries and forcing them into sex slavery at the massage parlors.

Cops say it's the people using the establishments who help to fund the alleged human trafficking taking place behind the scenes.

Harrington says there's a huge difference between Kraft and Donald Sterling -- because Sterling was aggressively racist while Kraft seems to just be horny and making ill-informed decisions.

Of course, Sterling was blackballed by the NBA after his racism was captured on audiotape while explaining why he didn't want black people like Magic Johnson at his games.

Cool moment at the Vanity Fair party after the Oscars ... when Caitlyn Jenner and Kobe Bryant spotted each other on the way out of the event and stopped on the red carpet to hug it out.

Kobe has been a Caitlyn supporter for YEARS -- the NBA legend was one of the first big stars to throw his support behind Caitlyn getting ESPN's Arthur Ashe award at the ESPYs back in 2015.

Remember, there was controversy surrounding the award at the time with many people claiming there were other people far more deserving.

At the time, Kobe told us he appreciated Caitlyn for educating people about being comfortable being themselves -- "Doesn't matter what walk of life you're in man, you gotta be comfortable being you."

Kobe was at the party with his wife, Vanessa -- who's pregnant with their 4th child.

Other huge stars at the party -- Odell Beckham Jr., Russel Wilson and Ciara.

Kobe is no stranger to the Oscars -- he won the 2018 Academy Award for Best Animated Short for his film, "Dear Basketball."

The flick was based off a poem Kobe wrote to announce his retirement from the NBA back in 2016.

Boxing star Gervonta Davis is the subject of a police investigation after an alleged physical altercation with police, TMZ Sports has learned.

Davis -- Floyd Mayweather's top protege -- was at an upscale mall in Virginia on February 17 when he got into it with another man at an ATM machine.

One witness tells us ... Davis began shouting at the man and cops were called to the scene. When officers arrived, we're told Gervonta acted hostile toward the cops.

One person we spoke with says he watched Gervonta shove one of the officers while screaming obscenities while his friends were desperately trying to restrain him.

We spoke with the Fairfax County Police Dept. who would only confirm there was an "interaction" and/or an "encounter" with Davis ... and that an investigation is ongoing.

Cops also tell us Davis was not formally arrested.

Davis is 21-00 as a pro fighter -- and is already a 2-time super featherweight world champ. Mayweather recently told TMZ Sports he's got big plans for Davis as a fighter ... with a potential superfight on the horizon with rising star Ryan Garcia.

Unfortunately for Davis, he's no stranger to police drama ... he was arrested back in September after allegedly getting into a fist fight in the streets in Washington D.C.

According to the police report, Davis and another man duked it out -- "punching each other with a closed fist about the upper body."

Several people tried to break it up but the two guys tried to flee -- until cops swooped in and picked them both up.

6:14 PM PT -- It looks like Tyga has made peace with whoever he was beefing with Saturday night, including the security guard who dragged him out of the Sunset Room.

He posted a photo on his IG story Sunday with a group of guys, which he suggests were the ones he got into a scuffle with. You can see the security guard who yanked him out standing right next to him ... no hands on him this time around.

Tyga captioned the photo, "No rap cap. Real street s***. Sat down face 2 face & spoke, & turned it into some real men s***. All love. Back 2 the bag."

It's still unclear what exactly happened to kick all this off, but at least it had a happy ending.

Tyga was dragged out of Floyd Mayweather's birthday party Saturday night by his neck ... and during the melee, he reached for a gun.

Tyga was at the Sunset Room in Hollywood, celebrating Floyd's 42nd, when someone in the crowd got into it with the rapper. It's unclear what they were beefing about, but whatever it was, security wanted Tyga out, and he was grabbed by the neck yanked out of the club.

Once outside, it escalated and at one point Tyga reaches for a grabs his security guard's gun.

The security guard knew trouble was brewing and made sure it never left his holster, so Tyga never actually took possession of the firearm.

It took a while for things to calm down, but eventually, Tyga and his crew left the club.

By the way ... we asked about the latest drama with Khloe, Jordyn Woods and Tristan Thompson -- wondering if Khloe and Jordyn could reconcile -- but he had other things on his mind.

Ja Rule performed Saturday night at the Milwaukee Bucks vs Minnesota Timberwolves game in Milwaukee ... and no one gave a crap.

Ja was booked to perform during the halftime show, which was a '90s theme, but he mocked it by saying it was ridiculous to book an act that was all about the 2000s for a '90s event.

The crowd was clearly not impressed, and you just gotta watch the video and wince.

It got so bad ... Bucks players came out on to the court to warm up while Ja was still performing.

Ja's clearly still feeling the heat from his participation in the Fyre Festival. As we reported, he's actually trying to plan a Fyre Festival II.

BTW ... the Bucks won the game 140 - 128. Ja, on the other hand, clearly lost.

Kim Kardashian West blasted 'Bachelor' creator Mike Fleiss for claiming he's in talks to make Khloe the next 'Bachelorette' ... and shared texts showing he's full of it.

Kim went off on Twitter Saturday in response to Mike's earlier tweet that he'd been in contact with his "dear friend" Kris Jenner about Khloe being "The Bachelorette" next season ... by calling it "Fake f***ing news big time!!!!"

Fleiss replied saying Kim wouldn't know ... so she fired back with a screenshot of a text between her mom and her sister denying his claims.

Khloe also went after Mike with a little extra animosity and a threat, tweeting ... "I’m not f***ing clickbait right now. Stop or you will be hearing from my lawyers. How insensitive!!"

Fleiss responded by saying he's just trying to help people find true love.

As you know, Khloe is single after splitting with Tristan Thompson because he allegedly cheated on her again ... this time with Kylie's BFF Jordyn Woods.

NFL yacht wars are in full effect ... 'cause just like Jerry Jones and Dan Snyder, the mega-rich owner of the Atlanta Falcons, Arthur Blank, just bought a superyacht -- for $180 MILLION!!!

The brand spankin' new 240-ft. yacht -- with 11 cabins holding 23 guests plus 33 crew -- is named DreAMBoat (AMB are Blank's initials) ... and it's insanely beautiful.

There's a swimming pool and hot tub on the ship's deck -- plus a bunch of other bells and whistles -- and Blank's private quarters also has its own private hot tub.

A luxury yacht company called Oceanco built the boat ... and we're told 76-year-old Blank was VERY involved in the process -- flying to the Netherlands several times to meet with the ship makers.

DreAMBoat just touched the water for the first time earlier this week ... and will soon undergo sea trials -- where they'll make sure she's seaworthy. Dutch Yachting got footage of the action.

The yacht company expects to deliver the boat to Blank in time for this Summer.

Blank is just the latest NFL owner to drop hundreds of millions of dollars on a mega yacht ... Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder threw down $100,000,000 on a 305-ft. yacht that has its own freakin' IMAX theatre.

Not to be outdone ... Cowboys owner Jerry Jones dropped $250 MILLION on a 357-ft. yacht with 2 helipads, steam room, full gym and a massage room -- which he named after his wife of over 50 years and counting, Gene Jones.

Now, add Arthur to the NFL owners yacht club.

Blank amassed his reported $4.8 BILLION (according to Forbes) by co-founding Home Depot in 1978 ... making him one of the wealthiest owners in the NFL.

He purchased the Falcons for $545 million in 2002 ... and they've made the playoffs (and 1 Super Bowl) since he assumed control of the organization.

The Falcons have quadrupled in value and are now estimated to be worth $2.1 BILLION.

Evander Holyfield says Deontay Wilder is the best heavyweight in the world ... and he believes that because the most skilled guy, Anthony Joshua, is too scared to put it on the line to be the best.

We got the Real Deal at LAX, and asked the former 4-time Heavyweight champ who he thinks is the best fighter out of Wilder, Joshua, and the unkillable Tyson Fury.

Holyfield seems to think the argument is between Wilder and Joshua and gives Deontay the edge because of one HUGE problem he has with AJ.

"Skills-wise, I can say Anthony Joshua, but he won't fight. Until you fight somebody it don't really make a difference."

Evander isn't the only one critical of Joshua's matchmaking ... AJ has been widely mocked for ducking Wilder, and now some people don't think he's in any rush to fight Fury either.

Random boxing Twitter peeps are one thing ... criticism from a top heavyweight fighter of all-time? That might be enough to make Joshua pay attention.

Conor McGregor is scared. Scared of Khabib, and scared of a rematch ... and they ain't fighting, at least according to Khabib's manager.

Manager Ali Abdelaziz told TMZ Sports his superstar fighter wants to return to the Octagon in September ... so we asked, is there a shot Khabib fights Conor in a rematch of their record-setting UFC 229 bout?

Ali's answer ...

"Conor McGregor did not ask for the rematch. He don't want to have nothing to do with the rematch."

In fact, Ali says it ain't just Conor who's shook ... his whole family and homeland is terrified of Khabib.

"His father don't wan't nothing to do with rematch. His mother don't want nothing to do with rematch. His kids. His wife. The whole country of Ireland. They don't want to spell the word rematch. They are fear. It's fear going around Ireland."

"They don't wan't to see anything that starts with 'K.'"

So, if it's not Conor ... who will Khabib fight?

Well, Ali says it could be Tony Ferguson -- but the Eagle's down to fight anyone ... or anything.

"[Khabib] will fight a camel. A donkey. He will fight a bear. He will fight a tiger. But, I know one thing, we're gonna let Conor live rest of his life in peace."

Ali left us with a message for McGregor ... "If you can't inhale the smoke, don't talk about the smoke."

Not even Zion Williamson's shoe falling apart on national TV could sway hoopers from the Swoosh ... so says Dahntay Jones, who tells TMZ Sports Nike will face ZERO backlash for the incident.

As we previously reported ... Nike execs held an emergency meeting after the most popular college basketball player had his PG 2.5 sneaker give out just 30 seconds into the Duke/UNC game.

But, Jones -- who played at Duke from 2001-03 -- says all the flippin' out is unnecessary, 'cause there's no way athletes will turn their backs on Nike over a "freak accident."

"Nike's been the best in shoes for years, especially basketball shoes," Jones says.

DJ also weighs in on whether Z-Dub should call it a season and start prepping for the draft.

We also spoke to Kenny Smith -- who previously told us Zion needs to sharpen his iron and continue to play (prior to Wednesday's injury).

Check out if he's changed his mind.