TMZ Sports - Page 50

Feeling lost now that the Kentucky Derby favorite "Omaha Beach" is a scratch?!

Good news -- TMZ Sports has some betting advice straight from the mouth of the greatest racehorse trainer of all time ... Bob Baffert.

Yeah, it may be from a clip we shot back in June ... but when it comes to horseracing, Baffert seems to be WAY ahead of the crowd.

So, when we saw him last year after his horse Justified won the Triple Crown (his 2nd Triple Crown horse in 4 years) ... we asked if there was a horse we should be looking at in 2019.

He delivered a name ... and now that very horse is racing in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday!!!

Oh, and the horse Bob named is currently getting 6-1 odds ...

Robert Kraft has been ordered to appear in court IN PERSON in his prostitution case -- and it's all going down in 3 weeks.

Kraft has been sending his legal team to Florida over the past few months to battle it out with prosecutors in his place ... in an effort to block officials from releasing the graphic footage from inside the spa.

Kraft's legal team have been grilling investigators over the past few days -- and Wednesday, they made their closing arguments as to why the video should never see the light of day.

As we previously reported, cops say they have graphic surveillance footage from inside the massage room at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, Florida showing the 77-year-old New England Patriots owner receiving sexual acts from two spa employees.

Kraft has already apologized publicly for his actions -- but he's entered a not guilty plea in his solicitation case and plans to fight the charges. His attorneys have argued the footage was illegally obtained PLUS the release of the video would taint a potential jury pool and ruin his chances for a fair trial.

On Wednesday, the judge said he would make a decision soon that would impact the fate of the video -- and set a hearing date for May 21 ... ordering Kraft to appear in person.

Unclear why he wants Kraft to attend since the hearing is only listed a "calendar call" -- which generally just a status update in a case.

It would be the first time Kraft would appear in court for this case -- something he's clearly been trying to avoid since the information went public back in February.

Caron Butler says there's a diamond in the rough in the NBA playoffs ... a guy he says is "so special" the Trail Blazers better not sleep on him -- and that dude is Nikola Jokic.

The 7-footer from Serbia has emerged a force to be reckoned with this season -- and Butler says it's no fluke.

"He's so special," Butler tells TMZ Sports ... "I spent some time with the Denver Nuggets and his versatility is just amazing because he's able to shoot the basketball, ultimately facilitate and he has a high basketball IQ. He's just tough to stop."

24-year-old Jokic put his talents on display during Game 1 of his series with Portland -- pounding the Blazers for 37 points, 6 assists and 9 rebounds.

Game 2 is set for Wednesday night -- and Caron expects more of the same ... Jokic domination.

Tom Brady's BFF, Rob Gronkowski, is retired ... so TB12's taking his hunt for new offseason workout partners to UCLA!!!

The G.O.A.T. joined the Bruins for an impromptu throwing sesh Wednesday morning ... and seems the Patriots QB enjoyed it -- he smiled and took pics with all the guys afterward.

Of course, this is becoming an annual thing for the NFL superstar ... just 12 months ago, Brady was in town and ran an entire workout with the Bruins' offense.

This week's sesh seemed much less formal ... but UCLA studs like Chase Cota were still jacked up for the day anyway.

"Got to work with THE GOAT today," the Bruins receiver said ... "What an opportunity, go Bruins!"

By the way ... UCLA continued the tradition of throwing some shade at USC for the star-studded workout -- tagging their pictures once again with, "#OnlyAtUCLA."

11:42 AM PT -- According to our NYPD sources, Octavia is now a person of interest and wanted for questioning in the case.

Sebastian Telfair's estranged wife claims the NBA star's sister threatened to "kill my kids and cut my face" ... all because she testified against Sebastian in his NYC gun case.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... the LAPD responded to a call last week from Samantha Telfair, who claims Octavia Telfair called her roughly 52 times making various threats ... including a threat to "Slice [her] face and kill [her] children."

Samantha told cops Octavia was furious that Samantha took the stand earlier this month and told prosecutors she had seen Sebastian with multiple weapons, including the gas-operated submachine gun he was allegedly carrying when he was arrested in June 2017.

Sebastian -- a former NBA prodigy who flamed out -- was convicted in his gun possession case last week and now faces up to 15 years in prison when he's sentenced in June.

Samantha lives in L.A. which is why the LAPD is involved. We're told officers took a criminal threats report and the LAPD is now investigating.

We're told Octavia is believed to live in New York -- and sources tell us the NYPD is also involved in the investigation because Samantha filed an aggravated harassment report in New York as well.

Attempts to reach out to Octavia for comment were unsuccessful.

As we previously reported, Telfair -- a 33-year-old former high school phenom who spent 12 seasons in the NBA -- was arrested in June 2017 in Brooklyn when cops found several weapons during a traffic stop.

Officials say Telfair had 3 pistols and what appeared to be a semi-automatic rifle along with a ton of ammo and a bulletproof vest ... as well as some weed.

Kareem Hunt has been visiting kids at local Cleveland schools ... imploring them to learn from the mistakes he's made, Browns GM John Dorsey says.

The former Chiefs superstar was picked up by the Browns after Kansas City released him following the TMZ Sports video showing the 23-year-old shoving and kicking a female at an Ohio hotel last year.

Now, Dorsey is saying the running back is doing everything possible to show remorse for the incident ... including visiting kids after work to advise them to learn from his issues.

"What people don’t realize is once he’s off the field, he's doing things unannounced," Dorsey said to Bull and Fox on 92.3 The Fan on Tuesday.

"He's actually going out and talking to young kids and working behind the scenes to teach young kids, 'Don’t make the same mistake I made.'"

The Browns have confirmed to The News-Herald that Hunt has visited several high school students from the Elyria and Lorain area -- cities on the outskirts of Cleveland.

Browns reps tell The News-Herald they've been trying to keep his visits low key, because, "Hunt doesn’t want any attention to distract from his message."

For his part, Hunt released a statement after his Browns signing in February saying, "What I did was wrong and inexcusable."

Sorry gearheads ... Cristiano Ronaldo is NOT the mystery man who snatched up the most expensive car in the world -- a $19 million Bugatti supercar, TMZ Sports has learned.

There are reports from all over the world that CR7 whipped out his checkbook to score the Bugatti La Voiture Noire -- aka "The Black Car" -- a one-of-a-kind beauty which was revealed to the world back in March at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show.

The car is a rocket ship on wheels -- with an 8.0-liter turbocharged W16 engine and a top speed of a ridiculous 260 MPH!!!!!!

During the Geneva Motor Show, Bugatti exec Stephan Winkelmann had announced the car had already been claimed by a wealthy buyer, but he didn't reveal the buyer's identity.

"There will never be another," Winkelmann said ... "I am pleased to tell you that it has sold for 16.7 million euro."

The price was reportedly determined in a secret auction -- where only Bugatti's top clients were allowed to participate.

Several reports strongly suggested Ronaldo placed the top bid -- but a spokesperson for the soccer superstar tells us bluntly, "The story isn't true. He has not bought it."

So, who is the mystery buyer? Unclear at this point ... but there's a small group of VERY rich car-obsessed moguls who are always on the hunt -- including Floyd Mayweather.

Two things in this photo ...

1) Check out the pic of Steph Curry's gnarly dislocated finger from Tuesday night's playoff game against the Houston Rockets ... pretty sick, right?

2) Did you also know Steph Curry has a Hebrew tattoo on his left hand?

Wanna know what it says? When read phonetically, it's pronounced "Curry."

As for the finger ... seems the Golden State Warriors training staff popped it back in and taped it up ... and of course, he went back to hitting shots like nothing was wrong.

The Warriors ended up winning the game 115 to 109 ... with Curry dropping 20.

Now, the Warriors are up in the series 2-0.

It's 4 months until the NFL season ... but DeSean Jackson already has his game cleats picked out -- the Eagles star is honoring Nipsey Hussle with his spikes for the ENTIRE year.

The Philadelphia WR is set to wear custom cleats with Nipsey's face and lyrics on them all season long ... and Marcus Rivero AKA Soles By Sir has already designed Jackson's first pair of kicks.

The footwear -- one painted all blue and the other designed with black and white checkers -- has Nipsey's face on one side and famous lyrics on the other.

Rivero tells TMZ Sports Jackson specifically requested the designs ... and tells us there will be more custom shoes to follow in the near future.

Jackson said of the spikes on social media, "'Lock us behind gates but can’t tame us' Used to be stay safe, now it’s stay dangerous NipDaGr8 Ima rep every game 4 you Loc TMC"

DeSean is just the latest athlete to honor Nipsey -- who was murdered in late March -- joining guys like Clippers star Montrezl Harrell, who just wore his own set of custom Hussle sneakers for their playoff games last month.

Brock Lesnar was submitted to official PED testing just WEEKS before he told Dana White he was retiring from MMA for good, TMZ Sports has learned.

We spoke with a rep for the United States Anti-Doping Agency which performs all of the testings on UFC fighters and confirmed Lesnar has not only been in the testing pool, but submitted 9 samples over the past year.

In fact, Lesnar submitted two tests in 2019 -- once in the 1st quarter (January through March) and at least once in April.

USADA confirms Lesnar was tested once between April 1 and April 18. We're checking to see if he was tested after April 18.

USADA would not disclose the results of Lesnar's recent tests.

Lesnar has had problems with USADA in the past -- he tested positive for the banned substance clomiphene after his UFC 200 victory over Mark Hunt. That victory was later overturned and Lesnar was suspended for a year because of the positive test.

Of course, the UFC had been gunning to book Lesnar for a title fight with heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier.

Lesnar famously stormed the Octagon back in July 2018 and shoved Cormier in what appeared to be an obvious publicity stunt to drive interest in the fight.

Both Dana White and Cormier have talked openly about wanting to make the fight happen.

But this week, White told ESPN the Lesnar fight is off because Brock informed him he is retiring from MMA.

Tyrann Mathieu only signed with the Chiefs a few weeks ago -- but he ain't afraid to speak his mind about his new teammate, Tyreek Hill ... saying he's very disappointed after hearing the disturbing audiotapes.

The Honey Badger appeared on SB Nation Radio when the topic turned to Hill ... who was expected to be one of the focal points of the K.C. Chiefs offense in 2019.

But, the Chiefs have suspended the star WR in the wake of audiotapes which recorded Hill arguing with his fiancee, Crystal Espinal, about the child abuse case involving their 3-year-old son.

During the argument, Hill told Espinal, "You need to be terrified of me too, bitch."

So, how does Tyrann feel about the situation?

"I think it's sad, man. Obviously, very disappointing," Mathieu told SB Nation.

"I came to the Chiefs with the hopes that I can watch him play football and watch him run back punts and catch long bombs and outrun everybody."

When asked specifically about the audio -- in which Espinal accuses Hill of breaking their son's arm -- Mathieu says, "It's very disappointing. Not only from a teammate standpoint but I'm a father as well.

Hill has denied breaking his son's arm.

Mathieu says he's only been with the Chiefs for a few weeks and doesn't know Hill that well -- so he can't vouch for Tyreek's character.

Even Travis Scott's birthday shindigs know how to get into SICKO MODE ... where else ya gonna find a party with a Hennessy Slurpee machine and tattoo station?!

The rapper celebrated turning 28 on Tuesday night at Universal Studios where Kylie Jenner hosted a gas station-themed birthday party. Kendall, Kim, Kanye and a bunch of others turned up ... as Travis looked in awe walking into a room decorated to look exactly like a gas station all about him.

The coolest part ... definitely the Hennessy Slurpee machine. There was also a Nike booth and Travis' Jordan 1s were hanging all over the party. Travis and Kylie were all lovey-dovey before and after inking their bodies. You gotta check out the vid ... it was truly an epic party.

After the bash ... the crowd made their way over to Bootsy Bellows in WeHo where tons of other celebs came out. Quavo, 21 Savage, G-Eazy and NFL star Todd Gurley were among the attendees.

This is terrifying footage ...

A goalkeeper in a Bolivian soccer match was attacked by a fan who threw a firecracker from the stands during a match Sunday ... and the player was so frightened, he collapsed to the ground in fear.

The match took place at Estadio Hernando Siles in La Paz -- where a team called The Strongest took on the Jorge Wilstermann squad.

During the very end of the match, someone ran down close to the pitch and threw a firecracker at Strongest goalkeeper Daniel Vaca ... who covered his face and immediately fell to the ground.

Several players and even the ref rushed over to check on him. It doesn't appear Vaca was injured in the attack though he was taken to a nearby hospital for further examination.

Cops quickly responded and hunted for the suspect. However, there are conflicting reports about if the suspect was arrested.

Officials ended up calling the game early -- and the good news for Vaca, his team ended up winning the match in a 2-1 victory.

Legendary announcer Bruce Buffer was front and center when the UFC made 12 Make-A-Wish dreams come true ... and he says it's a moment he'll remember for the rest of his life!!

Dana White and his org teamed up with the Make-A-Wish Foundation to grant 12 Las Vegas kids their biggest dreams on Monday -- from trips to Disneyland and Disney World to Europe and more!!

TMZ Sports spoke with "The Veteran Voice of the Octagon" -- who used his famous chops for the big reveal to the kids ... and he says it was one of the most emotional experiences of his life.

Buffer revealed it was a local record for Make-A-Wish giveaways ... and admits it was tough not to get emotional during the touching event.

"It was a beautiful event. It was great to see those kids," Buffer says.

G Herbo is now facing a battery charge for an altercation that went down with the mother of his child ... and prosecutors say the rapper dragged the woman by her hair.

TMZ broke the story ... G Herbo was arrested in Atlanta last month after cops said he assaulted Ariana Fletcher during an argument. According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Herbo's been charged with one count of misdemeanor battery.

Prosecutors are accusing him of intentionally hurting Ari by dragging her by her hair and scratching her arm badly enough to leave visible wounds.

Prosecutors tell us the 23-year-old Chicago rapper -- who has a son with Ari -- is now staring down a possible max sentence of 1 year behind bars, if he's convicted.

As we reported ... Ari is now dating boxer Gervonta Davis, and she's pregnant with his child.

Both Don Cheadle AND Jonah Hill showed up to watch Kevin Hart box a poker champ ... so says Antonio Esfandiari himself, who tells TMZ Sports his fight with the comedian was EPIC!!!

We spoke with 40-year-old Esfandiari just hours after Hart released footage of their scrap in Santa Monica earlier this month ... and he told us all about how he prepped for the fight.

After the battle, both fighters kept it professional -- giving props to each other for getting in the ring.

"It was by far the most challenging thing ever," Hart said ... "I gotta give [Antonio] credit because he didn’t let me fight the fight that I wanted to."

So, what's Antonio's breakdown of Hart's boxing game? Esfandiari tells us the little guy's got POP -- saying Kevin's right-hand carries KO power!!

As for the result ... Antonio won the fight via decision -- and ya gotta hear who he's thanking for the victory.