TMZ Sports - Page 50

Would Donovan McNabb give up his legendary NFL career if he could have similar success in the NBA??

HELL YES ... so says the former Philadelphia Eagles QB himself, who told the guys on the "TMZ Sports" TV Show (airs weeknights on FS1) he believes basketball is the better team sport.

"At the end of the day, it's about team ball and moving that ball around."

Of course, D-Mac nearly had the choice of the NFL or the NBA coming out of college ... the guy was a beast in both sports back at Syracuse.

In fact, McNabb was part of the Orange team in the 1995-96 season that nearly won the NCAA Tournament ... falling just short to Kentucky in the final game.

Ultimately, McNabb chose football -- he was the No. 2 overall pick in the 1999 NFL Draft -- and things worked out pretty well for him after that.

Drake's refueling in the Caribbean before his Raptors take on the Warriors in the NBA Finals -- flying down in his massive new jet ... which is a monster compared to other airliners.

Champagne Papi's new custom "Air Drake" plane was spotted on a landing zone in the Bahamas Sunday, where all its grandeur and OVO swag were on full display as it sized up what appears to be a much smaller Delta-branded model nearby -- maybe a -700.

Drake didn't settle for a standard G4 -- he opted for a custom 767-300F Boeing plane, which normally seats hundreds of passengers or even cargo loads. The retail price for this type of ride has ranged anywhere from $185M to $220M over the past couple years.

He also gave a tour of the plane as it was being finished up earlier this month, and it's definitely got all the bells and whistles you might expect.

Can't blame Drizzy for wanting to get away for a few days either -- he was Toronto's biggest cheerleader these past few days ... and could certainly use some rest if he's gonna bring that same energy for Oakland (which we're sure he will).

Bill Buckner -- who drew the ire of Red Sox fans for decades due to a major World Series error -- has died after battling dementia ... according to his family.

Buckner passed away early Monday morning surrounded by family and friends following a tough battle with Lewy Body Dementia, per a statement his family released. They went on to write, "Bill fought with courage and grit as he did all things in life."

They ended their remarks by saying, "Our hearts are broken but we are at peace knowing he is in the arms of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

He's perhaps most famous for a game-deciding blunder during the 1986 World Series, when he was playing first base for Boston and failed to field a slow chopper down the line.

With the game tied at the bottom of the 10th and a runner on second, Mets player Mookie Wilson tapped a ball on the ground toward first, which seemed like an easy enough play to make -- only Buckner didn't. It hopped between his legs and rolled into right field.

The Mets scored and won the game, and then went on to win Game 7 ... dashing the hopes of the Red Sox who were hunting for their first World Series win at the time since 1918. The mistake went down in baseball history, and made him hated among Sox fans for years to come.

Buckner was eventually honored at Fenway Park in 2008, after the Sox had won the WS four years prior. He threw out the ceremonial first pitch, and it was clear the old wounds between himself and the city had healed.

He played with the Dodgers, Cubs and Sox over the course of his 22 season baseball career.

Bill was 69.

J.J. Watt is going to seal the deal with his girlfriend of 2 years ... Kealia Ohai.

The defensive end for the Houston Texans popped the question in an awesome, undisclosed location, but by the looks of it they were tooling around on a yacht when they went to an island where he got down on his knee -- J.J. loves tradition -- and asked his soccer star GF to marry him.

Watt kept their relationship on the down-low for a long time, calling her a "great friend." But over time, it became apparent it was way more serious. They ended up at his house stuffing stockings over XMAS.

This year, they've been out in the open about their relationship, smooching during a vacation in Laguna Beach.

J.J. is a super charitable guy ... raising more than $37 million after Hurricane Harvey ravaged his city of Houston.

The 77th Formula 1 Grand Prix of Monaco was riddled with celebs.

The legendary race went down Sunday and there were tons of celebs who clearly knew they were on display, including Kris Jenner, BF Corey Gamble, Olivia Culpo, Winnie Harlow, Chris Tucker, Odell Beckham Jr., and Patrick Dempsey.

There was a famous winner ... Lewis Hamilton edged out Red Bull's Max Verstappen to win the honors on the last of the 3-day event. As for Max, he got socked with a 5-second penalty which bumped him to 4th.

Kevin Hart says he's known around the gym as "The Rock" for his sculpted body ... and he's claiming Dwayne Johnson stole the famous handle and pawned it off as his own!!!

We got Kevin Monday in New York City and asked about getting in great shape for some recent movie roles, and that's when Kevin dropped a bombshell ... Dwayne's NOT the original 'Rock.'

Ya gotta see Kevin's reaction when our guy suggests the comedian needs a cool nickname like Dwayne's ... he's visually shocked and upset, imploring Dwayne he's got some 'splainin' to do!!!

We also wanted Kevin's take on Chris Rock crossing over to horror films and signing up to produce the next "Saw" chapter ... and gauged Kev's interest in getting involved with scary movies himself. Sounds like Kevin's got some demons to face before going down that road.

Megan Thee Stallion has exploded to become one of the hottest rappers in hip-hop right now ... and the genius who signed her to her record deal is the ex-MLB superstar, Carl Crawford.

If you're not familiar with Megan (shame on you) she and her hottie army are taking over the rap game with her debut album, "Fever," which just dropped ... and everyone from Drake to Juicy J is showing love.

Turns out Megan had a big-time ally helping her get to the top ... she's signed to Crawford's label, 1501 Certified Ent, and when we talked to Carl he told us it's not a one-off, he's in the game to stay.

"We got Megan and we think she's gonna be a huge star. And, not only her ... we're hoping we have other people come up through the system as well."

Crawford played 15 years in the MLB making over $179 million in his career -- and he tells us he's spent a big part of his fortune to launch his record label.

"It was at least 7 figures, I'll tell you that. And, that's because I built a studio and all that other stuff."

Megan's album's just dropped last week and all the experts are projecting it to land in the Billboard Top 10 ... so it seems Carl's investment is paying off big.

Plus, now that Megan is blowing up ... it should be easier for him to land top talent moving forward.

BTW, here's one of Megan's videos ... you're welcome.

It's good to be one of Travis Barker's kids ... he pulled out all the stops for his daughter's birthday party, throwing an EPIC rager for hundreds of her friends with special appearances by tons of celebs!!!

Alabama Luella Barker, daughter of the Blink-182 drummer and former Miss USA Shanna Moakler, turns 14 Christmas Eve ... but she usually opts for an early birthday party in May, and Daddy always comes through with a blowout bash at his Calabasas estate!!!

This year, Travis opened up his doors to 350 of Alabama's closest pals, including Machine Gun Kelly, Goody Grace, Shaquille O'neal's kids, The Game's son and Floyd Mayweather's son ... and they were treated to live performances from Trippie Redd and Comethazine!

Travis ain't cutting any corners for his pride and joy ... we're told he dropped well over six figures to ensure everything was up to snuff ... even hiring the same stage and lighting companies that Blink-182 tours with, making sure the backyard concert totally ROCKED!!!

Travis loves doing the most for his kids ... when his son, Landon, turned 14, Travis organized a massive party and got Lil Pump to rock the house.

George Foreman says he loves, admires, respects and reveres Muhammad Ali ... but still wishes he'd have KICKED HIS ASS when they fought in the Rumble in the Jungle back in '74.

The whole world knows Ali knocked Foreman out in Zaire, one of the biggest, most improbable, and inspiring upsets in sports history.

It's easy to argue that victory was ESSENTIAL for Ali's legacy and that Foreman played a pivotal role in history by LOSING. Sooooo, is there even a little, tiny part of Foreman that's happy he lost? HELL NO.

"I'm so happy, especially about that right eye that was swollen for two weeks. Not to mention I hit my head on the canvas. Who could be happy about something like that?"

Foreman said all of that with his trademark smile, but you can clearly see he derives NO JOY in being the biggest victory in Ali's insanely remarkable career, but still gave props where props are due.

"Muhammad beat me ... he flat-out, outsmarted me and beat me."

These stars have a need for speed!

The 2019 IndyCar Series kicks off Sunday with the Indy 500 ... get pumped up to watch the 500 miles of action go down at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway by taking a good look at all the famous fanatics.

From celebs such as Kim and Kourtney Kardashian, David Letterman, Jerry Rice, Peyton Manning and plenty others, you won't be the only one tuning in to the big race today!

Zion Williamson hasn't set foot on an NBA court yet and he already has a shoe and movie deal offer, courtesy of Master P and Romeo.

... but only if Zion actually comes to New Orleans.

We got the father-son duo out in Los Angeles, and they told us they have a role all carved out for Zion in the sequel to their comedy flick "I Got The Hook-Up 2," which comes out in July.

"I have a beautiful idea, we need to get Zion in 'I Got The Hook-Up 3.'"

The movie features Jeezy, Michael Blackson, A.J. Johnson, D.C. Young Fly, Jennifer Lee and a host of others -- and P and Romeo want Zion.

But, that wasn't all ... P had another offer for Williamson from his shoe company, MoneYatti.

"I know Zion gonna get a big shoe deal from Nike or Adidas or whatever. We gonna get him a deal just to have to wear shoes outside of basketball."

Question is, how much is P willing to pay?

"Just to wear it on the side, not in the game, I'm saying $20 [million]."

You heard it, $20 million shoe deal plus a movie role, all if Zion ends up in New Orleans -- which has the #1 overall pick in the upcoming NBA Draft.

Brandon Browner is now being accused of much more than attempted murder of his ex-girlfriend -- 'cause she's suing him, and claiming multiple instances of domestic violence.

The former Seattle Seahawks star was just sued by his ex for multiple alleged attacks that she says occurred between 2016 and 2018 -- including the attempted murder case last year, for which he was convicted and is currently serving 8 years in prison.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ Sports, the woman says she'd suffered numerous acts of violence at the hands of Browner dating back to July 2016, when she says they were still a couple. Three alleged incidents she details from that year include him hitting her across the face on one occasion, making her lose consciousness on another, and inflicting a carpet burn on her face on yet another.

In 2017, Browner's ex claims he attacked her two different times while she slept -- once, allegedly picking her up by the neck, slamming her onto the bed and then chasing her through the street in her undergarments. During a separate incident, she says he punched her repeatedly in the thigh while she slept, leaving severe pain and bruising.

Come 2018, the woman alleges Browner broke into her home one month before the attempted murder and pinned her down to a couch for 15 minutes, threatening to hurt her and eventually making off with her phone and keys. In July, she says he broke in again ... and tried killing her in front of their kids.

The details are harrowing -- Browner's ex claims he broke into her place through a window, dragged her back into the house, smothered her face into the carpet to the point she almost lost consciousness ... and then brought her and their two kids out to the living room to petrify them further.

Tiger Woods didn't exactly have a poker face Friday night at his Vegas charity game.

Tiger and Russell Westbrook yukked it up during a game at the Whiskey Down saloon at the MGM Grand as onlookers gawked at the famous players.

Tiger organized the event -- called the Tiger Jam Experience -- for the TGR Foundation, which raises money for college access and educational opportunities for underserved students in the U.S. There's also a concert and a post-party and, of course, golf at Shadow Creek.

The legendary golfer has had his highs and lows in the last month. He won the Masters in epic form, he got the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but he's also being sued by the family of 24-year-old Nicholas Immesberger, an employee at his Jupiter, Florida who got extremely drunk after his shift ended and died after crashing his car.

Isaiah Rider's wife was involved in a fight with another mom at a youth basketball tournament in Arizona ... with Isaiah allegedly threatening to get his gun from his car, this according to the police report.

48-year-old Rider -- who spent 9 seasons in the NBA -- is the head coach of the SkyRiders basketball team, which was playing a tourney at the Inspire Court gym in Mesa, AZ on May 17.

Cops responded to the tournament over reports of parents fighting -- and when they got there, they spoke with Isaiah's wife, Vanessa ... who said she had been attacked by another woman for "no viable reason."

Vanessa Rider also claimed her 9-year-old son was physically assaulted by an older boy and injured during the altercation.

When cops arrived, they found the other woman ... but she told a completely different story.

The woman claims her son's team had defeated the SkyRiders so Vanessa was bitter -- with Vanessa calling her a "bitch" and trying to swing at her.

The woman claims she fought back to "protect herself" and admits she connected with Vanessa.

That's when the woman claims Isaiah got involved -- jumping over bleachers and calling for his friends to help break up the situation.

Isaiah allegedly started asking, "Who hit my son?" -- and then "told his friends to get his gun out of his car."

We spoke with Vanessa who is adamant that someone else in the gym had threatened to pull a gun first -- and Isaiah reacted in an effort to protect his family.

The woman claims Isaiah left the building but never came back with his gun. Vanessa confirms to TMZ Sports her husband NEVER actually pulled a weapon.

Cops ultimately determined the women were involved in "mutual combat" -- but since they couldn't determine who started the fight, no one was arrested.

Sorry, Oscar De La Hoya ... you will NOT be making money off Kevin Hart's boxing career -- 'cause the actor says there's no way in HELL he's stepping in the ring for real!!!

If ya missed it ... Hart took on poker star Antonio Esfandiari in a fun exhibition match a few weeks ago, and De La Hoya told us he was fired up about the chance to be Hart's boxing promoter.

At the time, Oscar said, "If he wants a promoter, Kevin, give me a call. I can put you on the big stage here in Vegas live on DAZN."

When we got Hart out in NYC this week ... we had to ask about Oscar's offer -- and Hart couldn't shut down The Golden Boy faster!!!

"Boxing? I'm 40 years old!" Hart said .. "I can't box at this age."

It's a big bummer ... considering there was already HUGE interest in Hart's sparring sesh with Esfandiari -- big stars like Jonah Hill and Don Cheadle had ringside seats.

If Conor McGregor is serious about a rematch with Floyd Mayweather, all he needs to do is call ... this according to Mayweather Promotions CEO, Leonard Ellerbe.

Ellerbe runs Floyd's boxing business and has had his hands in some of the biggest events in the company's history ... including the McGregor and Pacquiao fights.

So, now that Conor has publicly stated he wants a second crack at Floyd, we asked Leonard if Mayweather would be down.

"Conor McGregor knows he's always welcome to that ass whooping," Ellerbe tells TMZ Sports.

"If Conor wants some of that smoke again, he knows what he's gotta do."

Long story short ... Ellerbe says Conor just needs to pick up the phone and call and they can get the ball rolling.

Even though Ellerbe says he hasn't spoken to Floyd about the fight, he's CERTAIN the 50-0 legend would dust off the gloves for another 9-figure payday.

But, Ellerbe says Floyd doesn't NEED the money ... noting he's heavily invested in real estate -- he owns several buildings in Times Square -- and he's set for life.