TMZ Sports - Page 50

It's been 5 years since the NBA forced Donald Sterling to sell the L.A. Clippers -- but the billionaire tells TMZ Sports he's STILL a fan of his former team and rooting for them in the playoffs.

Remember, Commissioner Adam Silver banned Sterling for life on April 29, 2014 over racist comments recorded by V. Stiviano and published on TMZ.

The league forced Sterling to sell the team -- which he did a few months later for the whopping price of $2 BILLION.

Sterling has since moved on with his life -- but when we spotted him in Beverly Hills, we had to know if he's still following the Clippers, and rooting for them in the playoffs.

"Of course," the 84-year-old billionaire told us on his way out of Nate'n Al ... "And, I wish them the best!"

We also asked Sterling how he felt about Magic Johnson stepping down as the President of the Lakers -- and that's when Sterling looked up and gave a devious smirk.

It's Sterling's previous comments about Magic that led to his own demise -- when he told V. Stiviano he didn't want her bringing black people to Clippers games, including Magic Johnson.

Weeks after we published the recordings, Sterling went on CNN to attack Magic again -- calling him an unfit role model for children because "he's got AIDS."

Johnson fired back at the time -- saying Sterling was an ignorant old man who's still living in the stone ages.

Getchya popcorn ready for the biggest boxing match in women's history ... 'cause Cecilia Braekhus tells TMZ Sports she's down for a superfight with Claressa Shields!!!

"I wanna be in a ring with that," Braekhus says.

Of course, Cecilia and Claressa are considered the two best female boxers on the planet -- Cecilia is 35-0 while Claressa is 9-0 -- and Cecilia says she's willing to duke it out in the ring to see who's No. 1.

The only problem??? The two are in totally different weight classes -- Claressa has about 13 pounds on Cecilia -- but Braekhus tells us she'll come up in weight if Claressa will go down.

"It's three weight divisions between us," Cecilia says ... "So, that issue needs to be resolved."

The good news??? Claressa says she's willing to meet Cecilia in the middle ... 'cause she just told us this week she'll fight the boxing superstar at 154!!!

So ... LET'S GET IT ON!!!!!

Steve Sarkisian says he's super excited to return to Tuscaloosa ... telling TMZ Sports he can't wait to get back to work as the offensive coordinator at Alabama.

Sark had a stint under Nick Saban as an offensive analyst back in 2016 -- where he helped the Tide get all the way to the National Championship game against Clemson.

After the '16 season, Sark was hired as the offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons -- but he was let go at the end of the 2018 season.

Enter, Saban ... who swooped in and hired Sarkisian back as the new O-Coordinator -- and the 45-year-old coach tells us he's "fired up" about the job.

"I'm excited man," Sark told us at LAX ... "It's a great opportunity!"

When asked if he's still hoping to get back to the NFL one day, Sark told us, "Ya never know. Just focus on the job you have now. I'm fired up to have it."

And, he's already talking like a mini-Saban -- we asked if he's got his sights set on avenging the championship loss to Clemson and Sark told us, "Just take it one day at a time, man. You know the process at Alabama."

Justin Bieber better learn to love whiskey and potatoes ... 'cause he's Irish!!!

The Biebs ecstatically revealed Saturday he's around 60% Irish ... prompting him to give Ireland a shout-out on his Instagram story. This was in response to his pops, Jeremy, posting on IG showing him holding a bottle of Conor McGregor's Proper Twelve Irish whiskey.

Naturally, all of this got Conor's attention who jumped on Twitter and embraced his fellow deartháir -- don't look it up, it means brother.

Justin, of course, was born in Canada and not long ago had huge plans on applying to become an American citizen. The kid's literally taking over the world, eh?!

The Biebs' got good timing ... Conor sent his love all the way from Dublin where he was there taking part of an exhibition boxing match. Conor kicked ass ... and now he has 2 reasons to slam back a few Proper Twelve shots.

Gavin DeGraw's probably hurtin' bad right now ... after slipping and planting his face on some hard ice.

The "I Don't Want To Be" hitmaker hit up Bridgestone Arena in Nashville Saturday for Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs between the Stars and Predators. He was there to sing the National Anthem and absolutely KILLED. But, as he was hyping up the crowd ... he took one step too many backward and BAM!!!

It ain't pretty ... Gavin's face met the ice and it looked like it was a hard collision. Tough break for the local kid. He not only lives in Nashville, but he also owns the very popular joint, Nashville Underground ... a massive 4-level joint and bar just blocks away from the arena and on the famous Honky Tonk Highway.

Colts owner Jim Irsay just added another sweet piece of history to his impressive collection ... a super famous John Lennon piano!!!

We're told Jim paid a whopping $718,750 for the piano Lennon used to write The Beatles' eighth studio album, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." As we first reported ... the famous piano went up for auction earlier this month ... with Irsay rising above the rest.

The piano is one of several Lennon stored and used at his famous Kenwood house on St. George's Hill estate in Weybridge, England. Legend has it, this was his favorite piano, which itself is a piece of history ... it's a John Broadwood & Sons piano that dates back to 1872!!!

The piano also features a plaque that says, "On this piano was written: A Day in the Life, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, Good Morning, Good morning, Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite and Many others. John Lennon. 1971."

Jim's clearly ecstatic after hauling the relic piece.

He's a HUGE music memorabilia collector. Jim also owns the Yellow Cloud electric guitar Prince used in concerts from the late 80s. He also paid nearly $1 million for Jerry Garcia's one-of-a-kind "Tiger" guitar. And, he's also the proud owner of the Fender Stratocaster used by Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival back in 1965 ... after dropping another near $1 million.

Paging Floyd Mayweather ... Conor McGregor is boxing again!!!

The UFC superstar competed in an exhibition match late Friday night at his OG gym in Crumlin, Ireland. Sure, Conor's wearing headgear so already you know it's basically a sparring sesh. But, he looked great and, in typical Conor fashion, he showboated throughout the match.

Check out the video ... Conor squares off against amateur Michael McGrane, reportedly an electrician who competes in Dublin. The Irishmen put on a show for the packed crowd with a four-round bout.

McGrane was no match for Conor, obviously ... as the superstar smothered his opponent with jabs while deftly switching stances -- from Orthodox to Southpaw -- throughout the match. He did a great job cutting the ring too.

The match was reportedly a secret ... cause McGrane was listed on the "Good Friday Show" card but his opponent was marked as "A. Another." After the fight ... McGregor mugged for the cameras with fans while showing off his Proper 12 whiskey.

The event helped raise money for the boxing club ... with the money going to help young fighters cover their travel expenses as they set out to compete throughout the year.

"I think prosecutors in this country should have something much better to do."

That's Robert Shapiro -- a famous piece of O.J. Simpson's dream team -- going scorched Earth on prosecutors in the Robert Kraft case, telling TMZ Sports they ALL should be ashamed of themselves.

"You know what, I think this case is something that the people that are prosecuting and the people that are investigating should be ashamed of," Shapiro said leaving the restaurant, E Baldi, this week.

"There is so much crime going on in this country and to take valuable assets and time from law enforcement to enforce something that has nothing to do with the allegations they're bringing, I think it's just irresponsible."

Of course, Kraft is currently in the fight of his life down in Florida ... fending off charges of soliciting prostitutes and scrapping like hell to block videos of the alleged incident from getting out to the public.

Shapiro thinks it's straight-up ridiculous that the 77-year-old is going through this ... telling us prosecutors in the case should just drop the charges now and move on.

"It's a very private, personal matter," Shapiro says ... "He's moved on and I think prosecutors in this country should have something much better to do."

Boxing superstar Terence Crawford says he's confident Claressa Shields wouldn't just hold her own in a boxing match with Conor McGregor ... "she would do well!!!"

Of course, Shields sent shockwaves through the boxing world when she called out several MALE fighters by name ... Keith Thurman, Shawn Porter and Gennady Golovkin.

Crawford says Shields is a BEAST -- but he's not super confident she'd beat a top-level pro male fighter.

A lesser pro -- like Conor McGregor, perhaps? Crawford's got some thoughts ...

Remember that insane video of Amir Khan chugging a protein shake and then juggling the bottle in midair with punches???

Yeah ... dude says it was 100 percent real -- telling TMZ Sports it took AN HOUR of practicing before he got it right!!!

The trick is wild ... Khan tosses a plastic bottle in the air, hits it just right so it stays spinning ... and then he keeps it in the air with punch after punch until he's bored with it.

Khan tells us the trick ain't easy to do ... saying, "I was standing there for about an hour until I got it right!!"

In fact, Amir says it's SO difficult, he's only been able to do it twice since!!!

As for his upcoming mega-fight with Terence Crawford on Saturday night ... Khan says he's feeling extra motivated to get the win because he's such a huge underdog.

Erik Kramer just caught a huge break in his domestic violence case ... the ex-Bears QB won't spend a day behind bars despite admitting to roughing up his wife last year.

Kramer was arrested after he told cops he got physical with Cortney Baird during a fight at their Agoura Hills home in June 2018.

Baird claimed Kramer flipped out after she confronted him about an argument the two previously had ... saying Erik got violent and threw various household items at her.

Kramer was eventually charged with one count of misdemeanor battery for the incident ... and faced up to six months in jail if convicted.

But, TMZ Sports has learned the judge ordered Erik into an 18-month mental health diversion program ... meaning if he keeps his nose clean for the next year and a half, his charge will be dropped.

We're told Kramer is due back in court in August for a progress report hearing.

Danny Amendola just word-vomited an ESSAY about his relationship with Olivia Culpo -- venting about why they broke up, bragging about their "f*cking crazy" sex ... and bashing her new love interest.

The NFL player started off his IG rant talking about how he and Olivia have polar opposite views when it comes to fame and social media.

Amendola says he's a private person and had a problem dealing with Olivia wanting to live her life in the public eye ... saying it was a "fundamental difference" in their relationship.

"Olivia chooses and wants to be noticed on the internet and in Hollywood to make money. Which was hard for me to understand but quickly had to learn," Amendola wrote.

"Where as the cost of fame in this world doesn’t appeal to me. I play ball for one reason and that’s RESPECT."

Danny says there were ups and downs in their relationship ...

The Ups ...

-- "I’ve met some of the nicest people from all over the world and Olivia and I had some amazing times together."

-- "The sex was f*cking crazy too"

The Downs ...

-- "jus like any other loving relationship we fought. A lot of the time it was my fault bc let’s be honest I can be an idiot."

-- "But! Yup! She’s f*cked up too! and if you cross me I’m a hard mfer to deal with."

The Shot at Her New Love Interest ...

Remember, Olivia has been getting close with DJ Zedd and was spotted hanging out with him at Coachella last weekend. Danny obviously took notice.

"Not sure what’s in the future but the only thing I care about is her HAPPINESS. And if that’s dancing with scrony little f*cks, so be it."

Yeah, that's a reference to Zedd.

Amendola ended on this note ...

"With that said! Liv! My beautiful ex-Gf! Providence’s finest and Bakers Bay Pancakes. Carry on IG. @oliviaculpo."

Wasn't a Good Friday for Esteban Loaiza ...

The ex-MLB star surrendered to authorities in San Diego on Friday to begin his 3-year prison sentence in his cocaine case -- and after his sentence, he's expected to be deported to Mexico.

As we previously reported, Loaiza -- who made more than $40 MILLION during his 14-year MLB career -- was arrested last year after cops say he was trying to move 44 pounds of cocaine from a house located near a school.

Cops say the coke stash is worth more than $500,000!!!

The 47-year-old was quiet and stone-faced as he walked into the federal courthouse on Friday -- not saying a word to the waiting media.

The whole story is insane ... Loaiza was busted by the San Diego County Sheriff's Dept. back in Feb. 2018 during a routine traffic stop.

Cops say a search of the baseball player's car led to the discovery of a "sophisticated aftermarket compartment used to conceal contraband."

Cops then got a warrant to search a home that Loaiza had been renting since early February -- located "steps away from an area preschool" -- and found roughly 20 kilograms of suspected cocaine.

Loaiza was initially booked into San Diego County Jail for 3 felonies -- Possession of cocaine over 20 kilograms, possession of cocaine for sale, and transportation of cocaine.

He later pled guilty to felony cocaine possession with intent to distribute.

Loaiza, the second-winningest pitcher from Mexico in MLB history, played for 8 different teams in his career -- earning over $43 million.

Matt Barnes is FED UP with the Derek Fisher jokes ... going scorched earth on an internet troll for heckling him about his old enemy, saying, "He already caught these hands. You can be nxt."

Here's the backstory -- Barnes went to Twitter on Thursday to talk about the Warriors and Clippers game, saying "Hopefully y’all will stop w this PatBev locking up or shutting down KD.. Only person that can stop KD is Westbrook."

Harmless tweet, right? Except, of course, someone had to disagree. After all, this *is* the internet we're talking about ... and the troll had to reference Barnes' infamous incident with the then-Knicks coach.

"This exactly why Derek Fisher be f*cking ya baby momma you slow corny motherf*cker f*ck you for ruining all those Lob City squads with your sh*tty defense," the troll said to Barnes.

Anyone who knows Barnes knows the dude ain't gonna ignore that, so he hit the troll back with "After you done being mad go wash that green off your neck from that fake ass chain B*tch!"

The troll's response is a bit too NSFW to post word-for-word ... so we'll just say he mentioned Fisher and Barnes' ex-wife, Gloria Govan, again ... as well as calling him out for not being in the league anymore.

Barnes' response?? "I retired d*ckhead.. 15yrs & still being paid until November 2020! You gotta do better than DFish jokes. He already caught these hands. You can be nxt "

The Cleveland Indians game got rained out on Friday ... but there's still a lot to celebrate, 'cause Carlos Santana was officially sworn in as United States citizen!!

The Dominican slugger took his oath of citizenship in front of his family and friends in federal court in Cleveland early Friday ... after passing all the requirements to get dual citizenship.

Santana ain't the only Tribe player to earn his citizenship ... his teammate Hanley Ramirez -- who is also from the Dominican Republic -- was sworn in at a ceremony last week.

The best part?? Santana and Ramirez's teammates held a little party to congratulate them after passing their tests last week ... presenting the guys with their own patriotic cake!!

“I hope I can get a home run for this special day today,” Santana said on Friday (before the game got rained out) ... but now he'll have 2 chances in a doubleheader against the Braves.

11:57 AM PT -- A rep for Banks tells TMZ Sports the allegations are simply not true -- adding, "Evidence exists that proves this false."

Ex-NFL player Brian Banks -- who was famously exonerated in a previous rape case -- is facing new allegations of sexual assault in a lawsuit ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Banks is being sued by a woman who claims the former Atlanta Falcons player hired her to clean his apartment in Feb. 2018 -- and while she went to work, he pulled out his penis and started masturbating in front of her.

In her suit, the woman claims Banks showed her porn on his computer and asked her to join in -- and when she refused, he got up and started forcing himself on her.

The woman claims Banks forcefully kissed her breasts and began groping her butt. She also claims Banks forced her to touch his penis while she "repeatedly" asked Banks to stop and let her go.

Eventually, the woman left -- and now she claims she was so traumatized, she can no longer clean homes out of fear she might be assaulted or raped.

She's suing Banks for $10 MILLION for assault, battery, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

We reached out to Banks for comment -- so far, no word back.

Brian's story is famous -- he was a high school football phenom when a classmate accused of him of rape in 2002. He eventually served 5 YEARS in prison.

But, after he was released, the accuser admitted she LIED -- and a judge overturned the conviction in 2012.

Banks resumed his football career and even signed a contract with the Falcons in 2013.