TMZ Sports - Page 50

MIKE TYSON IS ABSOLUTELY SHREDDED NOW!!!

The legendary boxer flaunted his bod in a topless workout vid Wednesday for the Chinese social media site Weibo ... and the 53-year-old is jacked!!!

Iron Mike showed off a set of six-pack abs, some chiseled pecs and some pumped-up biceps ... and, good lord!!!

Oh, and by the way, he also flashed his scary punching speed and power!!

The video is another clear attempt to gas up an upcoming charity fight that Mike's trying to set up (possibly with Evander Holyfield) ... but the body he's showing off is seriously wild.

What's even more impressive about this video is that Tyson had gained a significant amount of weight a few years back -- and just last year Tyson revealed he had stopped working out altogether.

So, the fact he could bounce back into this kind of shape while in his 50s -- it's pretty damn incredible.

Good luck to whoever agrees to that charity fight!!

An anonymous NFL player says he was sexually assaulted on a United Airlines plane and claims flight attendants didn't do much to stop it -- and now, he's suing.

The player -- using the alias "John Doe 1" in the new lawsuit obtained by TMZ Sports -- says on Feb. 10, 2020 ... a woman "sexually harassed, assaulted, abused, and violated" him during a flight.

The unidentified footballer says the trip -- a cross-country, red-eye ride from LAX to New Jersey -- was a complete nightmare ... and it was all made worse by United staffers.

In the suit, the man says he took his place in a middle seat ... and when a woman sat in the window seat next to him -- he claims he was immediately harassed over the safety mask he was wearing.

The football player says he told her it was because of the growing coronavirus pandemic ... but claims the woman hit and elbowed him and demanded he move seats nonetheless.

The man says he and his friend, identified as "John Doe 2" in the suit, observed the woman taking pills -- and believed her to be under the influence.

In the suit, the NFL player claims Doe 2 got up to tell flight attendants about the woman harassing Doe 1 ... but says they did nothing about it.

The NFL player claims the woman then sexually assaulted him ... groping and massaging his knees and thighs. He claims Doe 2 got up again to inform flight attendants, but says they still did nothing.

In the suit, the NFLer claims the woman began to "intensify" her sexual assault, "grabbing and groping his quads and then stroking her hand across his lap towards the inside of his leg near his genitals."

He claims he immediately got up and pleaded with a flight attendant to get the woman to stop ... but he says the United employee did nothing more than issue a verbal warning to the woman.

The NFL player then says the woman grabbed his penis and ripped off his face mask -- causing him to jump away and run toward flight attendants.

While he was up, Doe 2 says the woman slid over into the middle seat and began sexually assaulting him as well.

Finally, the NFL player claims United flight attendants came over and moved the woman to another row without passengers.

The NFL player says both he and Doe 2 were given $150 vouchers for their troubles ... but they're now suing and seeking damages for negligence, infliction of emotional distress, and more.

We reached out to the player's attorney in the case -- who would not confirm the NFLer's identity.

The attorney, though, did issue a statement, saying, "Those who report assaults should not be ignored, but believed, their claims investigated and appropriate action taken where warranted."

We reached out to United for comment ... but so far, no word back yet.

WHAT A GREAT STORY!!

A kid in Georgia chased down a FedEx truck and begged the driver to send his favorite skateboard to his favorite skater Tony Hawk.

The problem? The FedEx driver has no idea where Tony Hawk lives!

So, the driver made a TikTok video hoping the universe would conspire to help connect this kid to his hero ... and what happened next is AWESOME!!!

The kid's name is Cooper -- and he's such a TH fan, he scribbled the skate legend's name on his own board.

When Tony saw the video, he not only sent Cooper a very cool video message back -- but already made plans to ship Coop his own Tony Hawk-used board to have forever!!

The videos are great, they might even make you tear up a bit (in a good way)!

Hello, kids. This is what it's like to get DUNKED ON HARD by an actual NBA player!

Here's Spurs star Dejounte Murray just dishing out some punishment to some of his young neighbors in San Antonio ... and the video is awesome!!

Of course, this was all in good fun -- and the kids LOVED IT!

But man, the dunk show was FEROCIOUS!!

Off the wall dunks?? Yep. Reverse dunks? Mmmhmmm. In your face banger dunks? ABSOLUTELY!

Murray says he knows the local kids had been wanting to play for months ... and they finally built up the courage to ask, so he delivered.

"I Guess For The Past 2 Months These Kids Been Scared To Come To My Door To Ask Me To Play With Them And Today They Finally Wasn’t Scared To Ask And We Got To Play And Become Friends," Murray said.

"I Swear This What Makes My JOB The Best Because I Get To Connect With People All Around The World!!"

Murray even posed for pics with the kids and their families afterward.

23-year-old Murray -- who signed a 4-year, $64 million extension -- missed the entire 2018-19 season after tearing his ACL ... but he's got insane potential.

Ben Roethlisberger's being put on blast for getting a haircut in public during the COVID-19 pandemic ... with PA Governor Tom Wolf calling out the QB for not following the state's shutdown measures.

Of course, Big Ben was excited to show off his new, trimmed look in a hype video on Monday ... which symbolized the Steelers QB finally being back to 100% after an elbow injury.

The video showed a mask-less Ben in a Sewickley barbershop getting his hair and beard trimmed up over the weekend ... which is a big no-no, considering hair salons in Allegheny County haven't gotten the green light to reopen yet.

When asked if Ben's visit will spark an investigation into the barbershop ... Wolf explained he's not happy about the situation.

"My concern is just a general concern," Wolf said on Tuesday. "Anybody who puts himself or herself into harm’s way is something that I think we have to try to avoid."

"When you go to something like a barbershop and you’re not protected, I don’t care who you are, the chances of that virus actually wreaking havoc on your life increases."

"I don’t personally think any Pennsylvanian ought to take that chance. I certainly don’t want to take that chance myself."

Ben had been growing his hair out ever since he went down with the injury in September ... vowing to keep the caveman look until he was officially back.

Move over, Eric Dickerson ... another NFL legend is blasting his former team's uniforms -- this time Boomer Esiason says the Bengals jerseys suck, and he's demanding a change ASAP!!

"The one thing I will say -- going into next year -- the Bengals are going to have to redo their uniforms," Esiason said on his "Boomer and Gio" show this month. "They are just horrific. I don't like them."

Boomer -- who played for Cincy from 1984 to 1992 -- says he's held the opinion for a LONG time ... revealing he's believed the Bengals' unis have been awful for more than a decade!!

"They've just got too much stuff going on," Boomer said. "Too much orange. Too many things happening on that uniform. They need to like -- I want to say tone it down."

"It's hard to tone down tiger stripes, but you can. And, I just think that the jerseys over the last couple, 15 years just have not been all that great looking."

Esiason's solution? He says keep the "iconic" helmet -- and then just tamp everything down ... similar to the way Oklahoma State has used a black-and-orange scheme over the years.

By the way, if the jersey rant sounds familiar ... it's because just a few days ago, Dickerson laid into the Rams' new 2020 helmets for looking like "two bananas."

Other teams, like the Patriots, Falcons, Buccaneers and Colts, have redone their uniforms this offseason as well with mixed reviews ... with most NFL fans hating the redesigns.

Do you believe in workarounds?!

Al Michaels says when it comes to calling NFL games during the COVID-19 pandemic, he stands firmly AGAINST working from a remote location.

The broadcasting legend was asked to weigh-in on how coronavirus safety measures could affect pro sports FOR ANNOUNCERS moving forward ... and Al didn't hold back.

"I would hate to think we would not be able to be in the stadium and announce the games from some other location,” the 75-year-old told the NY Post.

"That would not fly as far as I am concerned. You have to be able to feel it, even without fans."

Michaels also says he's not super worried about the disease -- confident he'll be safe if he follows protocols.

"I’m at the point that I’ve done this my whole life. I’m not a fearful person. I understand that we have to take precautions here."

As we previously reported, networks are kicking around ideas about how to preserve the excitement and energy from a normal NFL broadcast ... despite the fact, there will likely be no fans allowed at games when the league gets back in action.

As Joe Buck said, networks including FOX are seriously considering using fake crowd noise during NFL game broadcasts to try and replicate a "normal viewing experience."

We all thought it ... but now some confirmation -- Dennis Rodman intentionally went after Karl Malone during the 1998 NBA Playoffs to help push a pro wrestling storyline involving both NBA stars.

... this according to former WCW president Eric Bischoff.

Remember, Rodman famously slapped Malone on the ass during Game 6 of the NBA Finals, Bulls vs. Jazz.

Of course, both NBA stars would clash at the WCW pay-per-view event, "Bash at the Beach," just a short time later ... begging the question, was the in-game altercation scripted beforehand?

The answer ... sort of.

Bischoff admits he encouraged Rodman to mix it up with Malone -- but not in any way that would affect the outcome of the game.

"Now, what I said to Dennis, not to Karl was, 'Hey Dennis, if anything were to happen off court while there's a timeout, while there's no gameplay ... so that the feud between Karl Malone and Dennis Rodman is real, on a kind of a 360-degree basis, not just what happens on our TV show,' that wouldn't piss me off at all."

In other words, Bischoff says he didn't give a direct order -- but didn't talk Dennis out of it either.

Bischoff also tells TMZ Sports he made sure both his boss at Turner Sports and the NBA knew that the Rodman vs. Malone story "didn't interrupt the gameplay."

Bischoff says he LOVED how it all played out during the game -- "I chuckled like a little kid because it accomplished so much."

"As a wrestling producer, to be able to create a moment ... that played out on a platform so huge as the NBA playoffs was really satisfying."

So, how did the wrestling match turn out?

Rodman and Hollywood Hulk Hogan went on to defeat Malone and Diamond Dallas Page in a tag-team match.

The situation was featured on the ESPN docuseries, "Last Dance" -- which also touched on the time Rodman skipped out in a Bulls practice between Games 3 and 4 of the NBA Finals to appear live on WCW Nitro.

"I certainly didn't expect Dennis to skip practice and participate in Nitro," Bischoff says ... "That decision was all Dennis."

Horace Grant is going scorched-earth on Michael Jordan -- claiming 'Last Dance' was filled with "lies" to make MJ look good ... when in reality, Jordan is nothing but a "snitch."

Yeah, man, Horace is PISSED!!

Of course, Horace participated in the ESPN docuseries -- most memorably to deny he leaked sensitive information about MJ to Bulls reporter Sam Smith back in the day.

Bottom line -- it became abundantly clear the two men don't like each other ... and haven't gotten along in years despite winning 3 NBA championships together.

Fast-forward to Tuesday when Grant appeared on the "Kap and Co" radio show on ESPN 1000 in Chicago and was asked straight-up if he was the Sam Smith leak.

"It is a downright, outright, completely lie," Grant said ... "Lie, lie, lie."

"If MJ had a grudge with me, let's settle this like men ... Let's talk about it. Or we can settle it another way. But yet and still, he goes out and puts this lie out that I was the source behind [the Sam Smith book Jordan Rules]."

Grant strongly believes MJ still holds a grudge against him -- "And, I think he proved that during this so-called documentary."

"When if you say something about [Jordan], he's going to cut you off, he's going to try to destroy your character."

That's when Grant brought up Charles Barkley -- and how MJ cut off their decades-long friendship after Sir Chuck criticized his management of the Charlotte Bobcats on TV.

"Charles Barkley, they've been friends for over 20, 30 years ... and he said something about Michael's management with the Charlotte Bobcats or the Charlotte Hornets, and then they haven't spoken since then."

"And, my point is, he said that I was the snitch, but yet and still after 35 years he brings up his rookie year going into one of his teammates' rooms and seeing coke, and weed and women. My point is: Why the hell did he want to bring that up? What's that got to do with anything? I mean, if you want to call somebody a snitch, that's a damn snitch right there."

Grant then criticized the docuseries as a whole -- acknowledging it was entertaining but says 90% of it was "B.S."

"It wasn't real -- because a lot of things [Jordan] said to some of his teammates, that his teammates went back at him. But, all of that was kind of edited out of the documentary, if you want to call it a documentary."

Megan Rapinoe says Donald Trump is a "white nationalist" who's screwed over his own supporters ... and admits she's considered running for office herself one day to help make things right.

"We have a white nationalist -- I think -- in the White House," Rapinoe told VICE TV's Anand Giridharadas.

"And, the spewing of hate and the other'ing of the rest of the country has only led to more rife between people and more despair and more anxiety and more fear going forward."

Rapinoe -- a very outspoken critic of POTUS since he took office in 2017 -- also says on VICE's "Seat At The Table" (airs Wednesday) that Trump is also hurting his own supporters.

"It's not like he's giving them a bunch of jobs. It's not like he's made life really better for them. He's just given them this false reason why maybe they're not happy with their lives. There's been no sort of path forward."

Rapinoe's public criticisms of Trump have caught his attention in the past -- most famously when she declared she was "not going to the f**king White House" if Team USA won the 2019 World Cup.

There are conflicting reports about whether Trump ever seriously invited the team -- but regardless, they didn't go.

But, get this ... Rapinoe was asked straight-up if she's ever considered getting into politics when her soccer career wraps up -- and it's clearly something she's thought about.

"I'm not totally shutting the door but it seems wild," Rapinoe says.

As for her dream political job, Megan admits, "President, of course."

"If I'm going to do it, I want the biggest, baddest post."

Kristin Cavallari's pulling the plug on her latest reality TV stint ... hanging it up after 3 long years on the heels of her divorce drama with Jay Cutler.

The former 'Hills' star made the announcement Tuesday, saying she was not going to continue shooting "Very Cavallari" ... while going on to thank fans for tuning in along the way.

Kristin says, "As I start this new chapter in my life, I have decided not to continue with ‘Very Cavallari.’ I’ve absolutely loved my time filming and am so grateful to E! Entertainment for making this journey possible. To the fans: I can’t thank you enough for all your support and for keeping up with me all of these years. I love you guys. 💛"

Season 3 of 'VC' just wrapped a couple months ago -- right before they announced they were splitting and Kristin's eventual divorce filing ... in which she accused Jay of "marital misconduct." The allegations have gone back and forth since then -- it's been fairly nasty.

The timing for this news is interesting, of course, because Jay was prominently featured on their show ... even though Kristin was the star. There was even a storyline about possible infidelity toward the end there, which turned out to be a red herring as far as their split is concerned.

Officials are desperately searching for ex-WWE superstar Shad Gaspard -- after he went missing during a swim at Venice Beach on Sunday with his 10-year-old son.

Gaspard and his son were among a group of swimmers caught in a strong rip current around 4 PM -- with lifeguards racing into the water to pull everyone out.

Gaspard's son was rescued -- but the 39-year-old pro wrestler has not been located.

One official working with the L.A. Fire Dept. told media they believe the 39-year-old "did submerge."

Divers were sent to scour the area. Helicopters were searching from above.

One witness at the scene tells us ... when lifeguards raced into the ocean, Gaspard directed rescuers to help his son first, which they did.

During the rescue, we're told another big wave crashed down on Gaspard -- and that's the last time he was seen.

We're told the photo of Shad officials are using in the search (included in this post) was taken earlier Sunday, before the incident.

Shad was at the beach that day with his wife and their 10-year-old son.

Gaspard was a big star with WWE back in the day -- making up one half of the tag team Cryme Time with his partner, JTG.

Outside of pro wrestling, Gaspard made headlines in 2016 when he stopped an armed robbery in Florida.

In fact, Shad came on the "TMZ Sports" TV show to talk about it and couldn't have been a nicer guy.

Akim Aliu says ex-NHL player Steve Downie is a "racist sociopath" who "made my life a living hell" during their junior hockey days ... and the allegations are shocking.

Aliu -- who is black -- spelled out the whole thing in a strongly worded op-ed for The Player's Tribune ... detailing several alleged incidents of abuse at the hands of Downie.

FYI, 33-year-old Downie was a 1st round NHL Draft pick in 2005 -- and played 9 seasons in the league.

But, Aliu says before he got to the big stage, Downie terrorized him while both players were members of the Windsor Spitfires, a team in the OHL -- the best junior league in Canada.

"First couple of practices he put Tiger Balm in my jock," Aliu says ... "Then he took my gear outside and threw it on the roof."

"And then he began to belittle me in front of my teammates, the coaches, whoever would listen to him. He’d make fun of my clothes, the way I spoke."

"He was two years older than me and a rising star, and he wielded his power over me like I was nothing -- like I was subhuman."

Aliu also says Downie and other teammates tried to strip him naked on the back of the team bus with other rookies as part of a hazing ritual ... but Akim refused.

Because he refused, Akim says Downie "shoved his fiberglass stick through my mouth."

"I lost seven teeth in half a second. Blood gushing down."

Akim says he felt forced to drop his gloves and fight Downie in an effort to save face in front of his teammates.

Akim goes directly at Downie in the article -- saying, "I went through hell at the hands of a racist sociopath."

"His name’s Steve Downie."

"I don’t really give a crap what he thinks about the way I just described him. I’d say it to his face today."

"He had nothing but hate in his heart back then. He looked at me and saw a black boy with a weird accent -- and didn’t like me because of it. I was attacked because of the color of my skin. I knew it then. And I know it even more now."

31-year-old Aliu has previously made headlines for exposing several horrible racist incidents he was forced to deal with on his journey through the hockey ranks .... including blackface costumes and n-word rants by team officials including former Calgary Flames head coach Bill Peters.

We've made repeated efforts to contact Downie for his side of the story -- reaching out his former agent, calling numbers connected to him and even trying to contact him through social media.

IT'S HAPPENING!!!

Tom Brady took the field for drills with his Buccaneers teammates for the first time (at least publicly) Tuesday ... and it's weird as hell seeing the guy in a bright orange uni!!

Check out a pic of the new TB QB during the workout -- which took place at Berkeley Preparatory School in Tampa, FL -- he was the only one in shoulder pads and an orange jersey.

Brady also rocked his new Bucs helmet during the sesh ... and according to the Tampa Bay Times -- the 7 AM ET workout featured around eight of the QB's new teammates.

The drills lasted for about two hours, the Times reported ... and concluded with some convos in the stands.

And, no, Brady and the Bucs didn't violate any NFL rules ... the league said in a statement to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero the workout is all good in their books.

Of course, that's a welcoming feeling for Tom -- remember, he was booted from a closed park for working out there just a few weeks ago!

Tom's been able to switch things up ... getting some runs in at his rented Tampa mansion -- but with Florida lifting stay-at-home orders recently, seems Tom's in the clear to throw with teammates now.