TMZ Sports - Page 50

Ice Cube's BIG3 league is missing out on a major ex-NBA talent who says the league needs to give him a look ASAP ... like YESTERDAY, because he's SURE he has enough game left to compete.

The man is Isaiah Rider ... who averaged 16.7 ppg over 9 NBA seasons -- a serious player -- and told us he feels like he's not getting a fair shake at continuing his hoops legacy in the BIG3.

"I been in the draft the last three years ... They know I'm available, it's a buddy league. One of my buddies need to pick me up and stop playing."

How does Rider know he'd cook (cook: meaning to do well playing basketball, it's how the kids talk) in the BIG3? He had an answer.

"They got people in the BIG3 that sat on the bench BEHIND me! Stop playing man!!!! Town bidness, stop playing man."

Note: the term "Town Bidness" refers to the fact that Isaiah Rider is from Oakland, CA. A place noted for not only it's amazing basketball players, but for a population that's not about BS of any kind.

King James isn't in the NBA Finals this season, but there are plenty of queens there ... thanks to the wives and girlfriends of the Golden State Warriors!!!

The Dubs are back in the Finals for the 5th straight year, so we've all become pretty familiar with these ladies by now.

Everybody knows Steph Curry's beautiful wife, Ayesha ... but don't forget about the superstar's sister, Sydel, who also happens to be Damion Lee's wife.

There's Draymond Green's fiancee, Hazel Renee, who's always shinin' with that $300k rock the baller proposed with back in February.

Of course, Shaun Livingston's wife, Joey, may not always be in the spotlight like the other ladies, but that doesn't take away from how great she looks in a bikini.

2:56 PM PT -- Guess who else was watching the Champions League final ... Daniel Kaluuya!!! We got the 'Get Out' actor -- who's British, BTW -- outside of the Village Idiot on Melrose, where he was rocking an Arsenal jersey and quickly gave us his take on the game.

Check it out -- sounds like he was rooting for anything but a Tottenham win. Ya know he's gotta be happy right about now.

The Champions League Finals just wrapped -- and while there was a lot of action ... the highlight might've been a model who risked it all to plug her BF's porn site on the field.

The streaker is suspected to be model Kinsey Wolanski, who's dating Vitaly Zdorovetskiy -- a guy who set up a Russian porn site that the two of 'em must really be passionate about ... 'cause she ran out onto the pitch in the first half in a skimpy one-piece with his site plastered in front.

Security was quick to give her a chase and escort her off the field, but not before everyone got a glimpse of her body-hugging outfit and some revealing shots ... from the front and back.

Gotta say as far as in-game interruptions go ... we don't really mind this one so much. Oh, and congrats to Liverpool for beating the Spurs -- heck of a game.

Ron Garretson was a bloody mess after crashing his car and slightly before he got arrested for DUI -- but that doesn't mean he forgot his manners with cops.

The veteran NBA referee had blood all over his hands Wednesday as a Lake Havasu City police officer responded to the scene of the car wreck. In body cam footage, you can see Garretson was on his own two feet after hitting a tree ... but he seemed far from okay.

As the officer tries asking him questions to figure out what had happened, Garretson extends his hand for a shake -- but gets turned down ... twice. Bloody hands? No thanks, dude.

Garretson tries explaining what happened, but at times comes off as somewhat scatterbrained in piecing his story together. He says "a chick" hit him as he was circling around a road divider. Check out the windshield too -- it's completely cracked ... Garretson appears to have smashed his head against the glass.

As the 911 caller noted to dispatch, Garretson came off as fairly coherent right after the accident. But, as cops investigated further and had him perform field sobriety tests ... they suspected he'd been drinking and driving. LHCPD says he admitted to having a shot and a beer beforehand.

Drake really oughta zip his lid and take a seat when he's hangin' courtside for the NBA Finals, 'cause his attempts to troll opposing teams aren't even top-notch ... so says Godfrey.

The comedian laid into Champagne Papi Friday outside the Gotham Comedy Club in NYC, where he told us point blank ... Drake needs to sit down and relax when he's rooting for the Raptors. His rationale -- he thinks Drizzy's trying too hard to be cool and seen.

ICYMI ... Drake and Warriors forward, Draymond Green, had what appeared to be a heated exchange at the end of game 1 Thursday as the Dubs made their way back to the locker room upon losing. It's unclear exactly what was said, but Drake seemed to call Dray "trash."

As far as Godfrey's concerned, Drake should take some cues from another hip-hop heavyweight who tends to behave himself when he goes to the big games. Any guesses???

Ric Flair is finally detailing the specifics of his recent health scare ... telling TMZ Sports he underwent surgery to receive a pacemaker -- and now plans to live 25 more years!!!

Now that Naitch is back home and feeling great ... he joined the guys on "TMZ Sports" TV show and reflected on his week in the hospital.

Ric says he went in to fix an issue with his heart ... and tells us he's confident the doctors fixed him just right -- hooking him up with a new pacemaker.

"This is the 4th time I've been in in 7 weeks," Flairs tells us ... "They finally figured out what type of pacemaker to put on me. Which I found out just how important the operation of your heart is. Ya can't breathe if your hearts not working."

In fact ... Naitch says they even were able to get rid of a blood clot he didn't know he had.

"I stayed for 48 hours [after surgery] just to make sure because we've been trying everything," Ric said, showing off his brand-new heart surgery scar.

"We finally got behind it and I think I'm good to go."

Ric says he's so confident everything was fixed in the procedure ... he told the guys he's planning on living for the next quarter of a century!!!

"I feel great. The prognosis is I could live to be 95."

There's more ... Ric also told us about all his super famous friends who reached out to him during his hospital stint ... and described how much it meant to him to hear from his buddies.

Flair says guys like Hulk Hogan, Charles Barkley, Bruce Smith and Darius Rucker all reached out.

Even Offset hit him on the video chat, with Ric saying, "He FaceTime'd me in the hospital. Then he sent out this ridiculous Tweet, 'my friend isn't dead!'"

Some boycotted, others didn't -- so, how did the Boston Red Sox players get along AFTER that controversial May 9 trip to Trump's White House?

... according to star outfielder J.D. Martinez, everyone handled it VERY well and haven't let politics destroy their clubhouse.

Remember, Martinez DID go to 1600 Penn a few weeks ago -- despite stars like David Price, Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and manager Alex Cora opting to stay away to protest POTUS.

Martinez says the trip was "amazing" -- and claimed Donald gave the squad an "awesome" private tour of the Lincoln Bedroom, just as he promised.

The Sox won 3 out of their next 4 games after the White House visit -- and Trump took some credit for the hot streak.

But, things have cooled off ... Boston's 10-8 since the D.C. trip.

Shawn Marion says high school phenom R.J. Hampton will get all the NBA prep he needs next year in Australia ... because that league is almost as tough as the NBA!!!

Hampton, who's an ultra-explosive combo guard that could've gone to any college he wanted, chose to play in Australia's NBL, before entering the NBA draft in 2020.

Marion is a part owner of the New Zealand Breakers, the team Hampton will be playing for Down Under, and he tells us the league will be no walk in the park for the young hooper.

"There is no other league more talented than the NBL right now. Them guards up there are really tough, and he can definitely get the experience he needs to get to the next level."

Shawn ain't lying, guys like Luc Longley, Andrew Bogut, and Stephen Jackson all got their start in the NBL, as well as current players like Patty Mills and Terrance Ferguson.

"A lot of those guys out there should be in the NBA, I'm not saying it because I'm a part of it, I'm saying it because I've witnessed it with my eyes. It ain't a cakewalk."

Gennady Golovkin wants a 3rd crack at Canelo Alvarez -- telling TMZ Sports the plan is to start negotiating the trilogy fight right after he beats up Steve Rolls next weekend.

GGG and Canelo fought to a draw when they first battled back in 2017 -- and when they ran it back in Sept. 2018, Canelo got the victory in a controversial decision.

Those fights were clearly the BIGGEST of Gennady's career in terms of exposure and paychecks -- so, it's no shock Gennady is ready for Part 3.

Of course, GGG has to get through Rolls first ... which shouldn't be a problem. In fact, GGG is such a huge gambling favorite, you gotta lay down $10,000 just to win $100.

37-year-old Golovkin says he expects a tough fight the 3rd time around ... but insists he'll finally get that "W."

There's more ... our camera asked GGG -- who grew up Kazakhstan -- how old he was when in he got in his first-ever scrap -- and Golovkin says he remembers throwing hands at age 7!!!

The story is pretty incredible ... Gennady tells us it was his first day of school when he started getting in fights.

Deontay Wilder believes he beat Tyson Fury in their '18 megafight ... but he's rematching the British star to erase all doubt -- telling TMZ Sports he's gonna knock TF the hell out.

The American heavyweight champ just announced he's rematching Fury early next year ... after fighting another scary man, Luis "King Kong" Ortiz in September.

"I wanna give great shows. I wanna put on great events because the heavyweight division was so dead for so long, man. Like over 10 years nobody knew who the heavyweight champions of the world were."

"Now they got a badass in Deontay Wilder. I already vowed and promised to put on great shows."

Wilder and Fury fought to a draw in December 2018. The fight was awesome ... and was arguably the biggest heavyweight fight in a decade -- but both guys had beef with the result.

Deontay believed Fury got an extra long 10 count in the 12th round after he landed a ferocious left ... sending TF crumbling to the canvas ... and Fury, he thought he won the fight on points.

Wilder's message to Fury???

"If you feel you got robbed in my country, in America we run it back."

"You run it back, and that's what I'm doing to prove that I knocked him out, but this time I'm gonna do it in even better fashion than I did the first time."

It's a lock to be one of the biggest events of the year ... but it ain't the only super fight Wilder has on his mind.

If Tom Brady took a knee for the national anthem ... it would change EVERYTHING -- so says Martellus Bennett, who says, "White America would be like, ‘Oh my God. What is this that Tom Brady’s talking about?!'"

TB12's former Patriots teammate joined a panel at the "Athletes + Activism" discussion on Thursday ... and said if QBs like Brady and Drew Brees knelt, people would be far more understanding of Colin Kaepernick's protest.

"The conversation in the NFL would change," Bennett says ...

"All these great white heroes that they have running around, throwing the football -- if they jump into the conversation, it would be projected to -- it would be so much bigger.”

Bennett says Brady and Brees kneeling would cause masses to actually dive into the real reasons behind Colin's initial protest ... and actually understand it, saying, "They would start doing research."

"They would join in the conversation," Martellus added ... "It would pique their interest. But since it’s a black guy taking a knee, it’s like, ‘Alright, these guys, here he goes again. It’s another one of these guys out here doing this.’”

There's more ... Bennett also sounded off on the NFL and domestic violence, saying if a player hits a woman, "you should not be playing football."

In fact, the 32-year-old -- who retired back in 2017 -- said, "I wanted to choke the sh*t out of Ray Rice" after his domestic violence incident back in 2014.

Red Sox stud Michael Chavis is worried for the Cubs star who hit a child with a foul ball earlier this week ... telling TMZ Sports his ex-teammate was messed up for WEEKS after doing the same thing.

As we previously reported ... Chicago utility man Albert Almora Jr. hit a screaming line drive into foul territory in a game earlier this week -- and the ball connected squarely with a 4-year-old girl.

Almora Jr. was visibly upset -- even crying into his baseball mitt ... and when we got Chavis out in NYC on Friday before the Red Sox took on the Yanks -- he said he's concerned for Albert's immediate future.

And, why? Chavis says he had a minor league teammate who ripped a foul ball into a fan a few years ago in similar fashion ... and the guy took a while to recover from it.

"Honestly, for the next couple weeks, he was kind of like flustered," Chavis tells us ... "Scared to pull the ball and stuff like that."

Almora Jr. hasn't played in a game since the incident Wednesday night ... but there's hope he won't be bothered by the accident -- after all, the little girl he hit is reportedly doing fine.

As for Chavis ... he also spoke with us about how pumped he is for his first-ever trip to new Yankees Stadium.

Indianapolis Colts QB Chad Kelly has been suspended by the NFL for 2 games without pay stemming from his October home invasion arrest in Denver ... NFL officials say.

As we previously reported, 25-year-old Kelly was arrested on Oct. 22 after leaving a Broncos Halloween party and wandering into a random person's house in the middle of the night ... while dressed like a cowboy.

Kelly sat down next to a woman who was holding her baby -- and he was ultimately chased out of the home by a man who was smacking the QB with a vacuum cleaner tube.

Kelly was initially arrested for felony criminal trespassing -- but later struck a deal with prosecutors in which he agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of 2nd-degree criminal trespass -- a class 3 misdemeanor -- and in exchange, the felony trespass charge was dropped.

As part of the deal, Kelly was also sentenced to 1 year of supervised probation, 50 hours of community service, and fines and fees.

Despite the legal issues, Kelly was recently signed to a contract with the Colts -- though if he eventually makes it to the regular season roster, he won't be able to play in the first 2 games of the season.

Myles Garrett came to the rescue at an Apple store in Ohio this week ... busting out his wallet to help out a guy who couldn't afford an iPhone -- and it almost brought a grown man to tears.

The Browns superstar happened to be shopping at the Summit Mall in Fairlawn, Ohio on Wednesday ... where 27-year-old JJ Remmy was trying to replace a cell phone that crapped out on him.

The problem for Remmy ... he was told it would cost $116 bucks to replace the device -- and he simply doesn't have that kind of cash.

So, as Remmy was getting ready to sadly walk out of the store without a phone ... Garrett -- who overheard the situation -- stepped up and offered to cover the bill.

"I literally almost broke down man," Remmy said ... "I had no cash...spent the rest of my money getting my title for my car."

"I’m getting ready to leave and MYLES GARRETT LOOKS AT ME AND SAYS ILL PAY YOUR BALANCE!"

Look, Garrett is in the middle of a 4-year, $30 MILLION contract -- so it ain't no skin off his back ... but it's still pretty cool for a guy like Myles to step in and help out when he didn't have to.

And, to top it off, Garrett also posed for a pic with Remmy! Awesome, right?!!

"Myles is a Great guy and he changed my whole entire day yesterday," JJ says ... "Just had to share my story... GO BROWNS!!!!"

Nick Foles says the decision to return to Jaguars workouts just 4 days after his wife suffered a miscarriage was his wife's idea ... telling reporters, "She wanted me to come here."

Nick and his wife, Tori, lost their baby on Sunday in the 15th week of her pregnancy. Nick stayed home from Jags team activities for a few days but returned on Thursday.

On Friday, Nick was asked why he decided to get back to work so soon ... and he essentially explained that his wife felt it was best for Nick.

"It was my wife," Foles said ... "Talking to her, she knows I'm going to get home, she knows how important family is to me. But, she also wanted me to be here with the team."

"It was really up to her. She wanted me to come here and be with the team for a little bit."

Foles says he's rushing back home right after practice to be with his family ... and they have a great support group around them.

Ric Flair is praising the doctors who "brought me back again" -- saying it's a "miracle" he survived a terrifying medical scare earlier this month ... and he's got the $1.8 MIL bill to show for it.

In his first video since leaving the hospital last week, the 70-year-old apologized for not speaking out sooner ... but says his vocal cords have been sore from having a tube down his throat.

But, it didn't take long for Flair to start screaming and "woooing" again while explaining how he almost DIED for the second time in just 2 years.

As we previously reported, Flair was rushed to the hospital on May 16 after suffering a "very serious" medical emergency. He underwent surgery and was released a week later.

Flair says his treatment was a "$1.8 million tune" ... and said, "Thank god for insurance."

"I'm living here to tell you the kiss stealin', wheelin' dealin', limousine riding, jet flyin' son of a gun is not gonna change, slow down, I'm moving forward!!"

Naitch says a bunch of his famous friends checked in on him during his hospitalization -- from Triple H to Charles Barkley to Hulk Hogan to Offset.

But, Flair also CALLED OUT a bunch of his so-called friends who DIDN'T call. While he didn't name names, it's obvious he's really pissed at those people.

Doctors told Flair he needs to "grow up" and treat his body better -- but Flair says HELL NO ... he's gonna continue to push the limits and booze and party until his dying breath.

"I'm never gonna get old. I got a wife that wants a 35-year-old man every day of her life."

"I don't care how many doctors tell me, 'you gotta learn to grow up' ...I'm not gonna act like my age, don't ever tell me that!! I'm paying you to make me better so I can be me. That's me and that's all i'm ever gonna be ... good or bad."

"I'm up, I'm well, and I'm just starting to tell my story."