TMZ Sports - Page 50

Reason #2361230 why it's great to be LeBron James?? Flexin' on your superstar friends with the hottest shoes on the market ... before they even hit the market.

Nike's billion-dollar man hosted some of his closest NBA-star friends, like Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul and Tristan Thompson at his L.A. home for a Memorial Day Weekend bash ... and naturally, had to show off one time.

The bright green shoes on his feet in the pic above are the Nike Fear of God 1's in the Frosted Spruce colorway ... and they don't come out 'til this weekend -- but somehow, Bron got the hookup.

When they're available to the non-superstar public, they'll retail at $350, but good luck trying to get them for that price. They're expected to go for AT LEAST $1,000 on the secondary market.

FYI -- the original Nike FOG 1 colorway sold out within seconds when they went on sale late last year ... and these are expected to go just as fast.

As for the bro sesh ... it had everything you could ask for -- vibing to Nipsey Hussle, drinking adult beverages, smokin' cigars and watching "The Godfather" on repeat.

Joe Roth, one of the most prolific producers in Hollywood who's producing the upcoming "Maleficent," has filed for divorce ... TMZ has learned.

Joe, whose credits include "Snow White and the Huntsman," "Oz the Great and Powerful," Charlie Sheen's "Anger Management," "Heavy Weights" and "The Forgotten," filed Friday and his wife, Irene, filed her response at the same time.

Joe, the former Chairman of Walt Disney Studios, and Irene are both requesting joint custody of their 2 kids, a boy and a girl.

There's a lot of money on the line. Joe is the majority owner of the Seattle Sounders major league soccer team along with billionaire Paul Allen.

Based on the docs, it has all the signs the divorce has already been mediated. The address of the law firm is that of disso queen Laura Wasser, whose M.O. is to mediate and then file both a petition and response at the same time.

According to the docs, the issue of spousal support has not been resolved, however, based on what appears to be a full mediation, it seems like the book is closed on all financial issues.

Joe and Irene married in 2006.

UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz still gets goosebumps when he sees other great athletes ... in fact, he TOTALLY fanboy'd when he saw Tiger Woods -- and it was all caught on video.

Tiger was hosting his annual Tiger Jam charity poker tournament at the MGM Grand in Vegas over the weekend ... when Tito started chatting up the golf legend.

At one point, Ortiz whipped out 2 passes from the 2019 Masters tournament -- which Tiger famously won -- and asked him to sign.

Tiger obliged and even posed for pics with Ortiz.

Afterward, Tito explained the connection ... saying he made his UFC debut in Augusta back in 1997, the same year Tiger won the Masters for the first time.

Tito also says he went back to Georgia in April and watched Tiger win again -- and clearly feels a connection with the guy.

FYI, Tito is 44 and Tiger is 43.

Ex-Lakers player Dwight Howard doesn't think the drama in LakerLand is a big deal -- in fact, he thinks it's all being blown out of proportion because "it's just business."

We got Dwight leaving Catch in West Hollywood over the weekend -- and had to ask him if saw any Lakers front office dysfunction during his 1 season stint with the team in 2012-13.

"It's part of basketball," Howard told us ... "It's just business. Not drama. It's just business."

In other words, Howard doesn't seem too shocked by the situation in L.A. -- almost like he's seen stuff like this with other organizations too and Dwight would know ... he's played for 6 teams.

We also asked Howard about the back injury that sidelined him for most of last season -- and he told us things are on the upswing.

"It's solid. I'll be good ... just continue to get right."

Howard only played 9 games this season before undergoing season-ending spinal surgery to relieve pain in his glutes.

The L.A. Lakers might as well start sellin' lip kits and flat tummy tea, 'cause Jay Williams says there's so much drama surrounding LeBron's team, he's dubbing them "the Kardashians of the NBA."

And, he ain't saying it as a compliment.

It's been a dumpster fire of an offseason for the Lakers ... with Magic Johnson going scorched earth on Rob Pelinka and accusing him of some old fashioned backstabbery. They fired Luke Walton and struggled to get a replacement coach.

And, of course, Lonzo Ball has Big Baller Brand drama.

Williams says things in LakerLand have gotten so bad, the team is starting to resemble the Kar-Jenners more than an NBA organization.

"I feel like we talk about everything but their on-court play ... that's kind of a signature of a lot of drama."

Williams says he still doesn't understand Magic's reasoning behind leaving the team ... and the very public breakup is gonna have players second-guessing whether they wanna be around that come free agency.

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.