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Jason Garrett says the Cowboys are standing by their decision to cut Lucky Whitehead ... despite cops in Virginia admitting they incorrectly arrested the wrong guy for shoplifting in June.

Garrett addressed the Whitehead drama at training camp on Tuesday ... saying the team has no intention of bringing the kick return specialist back.

"In evaluating the particular situation, and the context of that situation, we felt like we made a decision in regards to Lucky that was right for our team. And we stand by that decision."

Garrett initially pulled a Marshawn Lynch and repeated the same answer to every Lucky-related question, saying "We made a decision that we thought was in the best interest of the Dallas Cowboys. We stand by it and we're moving on."

Lucky Whitehead says he isn't ruling out a lawsuit after he was wrongly identified by police in a shoplifting arrest ... but it's unclear if his target will be the cops or the Cowboys.

The NFL receiver spoke with KDFW4 in Dallas about last crazy 24 hours in his life -- in which he was cut by the Cowboys after cops incorrectly said he was arrested for shoplifting on June 22.

Officials later determined the arrestee was NOT Whitehead, but rather an imposter -- but Dallas had already sent Lucky to the chopping block.

Whitehead is now venting about the situation, saying he was "blindsided," and was clearly upset because "nobody had my back."

When asked if he was considering legal action, Whitehead replied, "Somebody need to" -- and then said he would be talking with his agent about how to proceed.

The man who claims he was punched in the face by Draymond Green last summer says he got violent threats after the incident and still wakes up crying ... and now he's suing the NBA star.

The man behind the suit is ex-Michigan State football player Jermaine Edmondson -- who says Draymond's posse attacked him and his GF at an East Lansing bar on July 10, 2016.

Edmonson says he confronted Green the next night -- and Draymond punched him in the face. A cop who witnessed the attack arrested the Warriors star for assault.

But Edmondson says his life has been hell since the incident -- and things got so bad at MSU (where Draymond went to school) that he quit the team and left the university for a while.

Edmondson says he's still haunted by the attacks -- and feels his name has been turned into a joke thanks to Green.

"I think about what happened with Draymond every day. I still feel his hand on my jaw."

Now, he and his GF have lawyered up with Lisa Bloom -- who's repped stars like Blac Chyna and Kathy Griffin -- and have sued Green for assault and battery.

As for Green, he cut a sweet deal in the criminal case -- he agreed to stay out of trouble for a year and the charge was reduced from a misdemeanor to a civil infraction. The year ended on July 22 so he's basically in the clear with prosecutors.

11:22 AM PT -- Draymond's camp issued a statement saying, "This lawsuit relates to an incident that occurred in East Lansing, Michigan over a year ago, for which Draymond paid a noise violation fine."

2:25 PM PT -- Barson's attorney, Michael Steinger, tells TMZ he has documentation showing their 2016 Hyundai was in perfect working order. Also, he says data collected from the car's computer proves Jerome and Linda were both wearing their seat belts at the time of collision.

Venus Williams says at least one of the victims in the Florida crash that left one man dead was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident ... this according to new court docs obtained by TMZ.

The tennis star is firing back at the estate of Jerome Barson -- which is suing Williams for wrongful death, claiming she was responsible for the T-bone accident that killed the 78-year-old and seriously injured his wife.

In new court docs, Williams doesn't point out which person wasn't belted in -- but says the injuries could have been reduced had they both been buckled up.

As for the injuries, Williams also says in the docs Jerome's wife's injuries were NOT bad enough to recover damages in a lawsuit under FL law. It's puzzling since Linda Barson claims she suffered a cracked sternum, a shattered right arm and a broken wrist, hand and fingers.

Williams also alleges the Barsons failed to adequately maintain and repair the vehicle in a safe condition -- suggesting they could have avoided the crash with a properly functioning car.

There's more ... Williams points out that "third parties" -- presumably the other cars besides her and the Barsons -- contributed to the hectic scene at the intersection that led to the crash. Williams says those drivers should be held responsible as well.

Video of the crash shows Venus was trying to drive through an intersection when another car turned in front of her, causing her to stop before clearing the intersection. The Barsons T-boned Venus claiming they had the right of way and couldn't avoid her car, which was stopped in an area where it shouldn't have been.

The documents were first obtained by the DailyMail.

The police officers who thought they arrested Lucky Whitehead -- when in reality they arrested an imposter -- will not be suspended for the mistake ... officials tell TMZ Sports.

We spoke with Prince William PD's Sgt. Perok, who believes the officers acted reasonably on June 22 when they identified the man who allegedly shoplifted from a convenience store as "Rodney Darnell Whitehead, Jr."

Officers say the man did not have an official I.D. on him so they asked for his name, birthday and social security number -- ran that information through the DMV system and matched the suspect up with the photo of Lucky Whitehead on file.

Sgt. Perok says despite the mistaken identity, "The officers' actions were reasonable and they acted in good faith."

We're also told there will not be an internal investigation.

Lucky Whitehead was telling the TRUTH -- he was not the man arrested for shoplifting on June 22, this according to Prince William County officials who say the REAL perp was an imposter.

We spoke with Commonwealth's attorney, Paul Ebert, who says the case against ex-Dallas Cowboys WR Lucky Whitehead has been dropped after an internal investigation into the arrest.

Long story short ... Ebert says the man was only "verbally identified" by the arresting officer at the crime scene. The arrestee did not have I.D. on him.

The man told cops he was Lucky Whitehead and gave them Lucky's information, including birthday and social security number, Ebert says.

The officers ran the information through the DMV system and believed the man they had arrested matched the photo of "Lucky Whitehead" that was on file.

After Lucky publicly declared his innocence, claiming he wasn't even in the state of Virgnia at the time of the arrest, officers went back and reviewed surveillance video at the convenience store. Footage showed the suspect was NOT Lucky Whitehead.

Cops are now on the hunt for the man in the video.

Lucky's agent, Dave Rich, tells TMZ Sports, "Lucky is thrilled justice was served and his name was cleared. It's a shame that he came into town to do a camp for kids and he ended up getting cut by his professional football team."

The Prince William County Police Dept. has also issued a statement:

"Upon reviewing the June 22, 2017 arrest of an individual named 'Rodney Darnell Whitehead, Jr.', the police department is confident that the man charged with petit larceny, and who is subsequently being sought on an active warrant for failure to appear in court, is not Lucky Whitehead of the Dallas Cowboys."

"The man charged on the morning of June 22 was not in possession of identification at the time of the encounter; however, did verbally provide identifying information to officers, which included a name, date of birth, and social security number matching that of Rodney Darnell Whitehead, Jr."

"Officers then checked this information through the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) database. The DMV photo on file was then used to compare to the man who was in custody."

"Officers acted in good faith that, at the time, the man in custody was the same man matching the information provided. At this point, the police department is also confident in confirming that Mr. Whitehead’s identify was falsely provided to police during the investigation."

"The police department is currently seeking the identity of the man involved in the incident. Since the identifying information provided by the arrestee during the investigation was apparently false, the police department is working with the Prince William County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office to clear Mr. Whitehead from this investigation."

"The police department regrets the impact these events had on Mr. Whitehead and his family."

LeBron James is channeling his inner Donald Trump -- calling "fake news" on reports he wants to throw down with his teammate, Kyrie Irving.

It's been all over that LeBron is super pissed at Kyrie -- with some reports saying he's so unhappy that Irving wants a trade that, "LeBron James would be tempted to beat his ass."

Well, James has now broken his silence ... saying, "#NotFacts people! Boooo!!"

He added, "Get another source."

So, what's really going down with LeBron and Kyrie? Guess it depends on who ya wanna believe.

Here's the blueprint on how to get kicked outta China ... courtesy of Chelsea soccer star Kenedy.

Before Kenedy even took the pitch for his team's Asia tour last week, the 21-year-old Brazilian posted 2 videos on social media.

The first contained the caption, "Porra china" -- which some have translated to, "F*ck China."

The second showed an image of a sleeping Chinese security guard with a caption that translates to, "Wake up China, you idiot."

As you can imagine, the Chinese were PISSED ... with one powerful newspaper printing an editorial trashing the guy for "humiliating China" and suggesting he be kicked out of the country.

But Chelsea sent him packin' first -- and then issued a statement saying the player had been "strongly reprimanded and disciplined."

Kenedy tried to apologize ... but it was too late.

What an idiot.

Chicago Bears linebacker Jerrell Freeman says he nearly BROKE A MAN'S RIBS while giving him the Heimlich in an Austin airport ... but says he quick action saved the dude's life.

Freeman was on his way to the Bears training camp when he saw a guy choking on brisket at an airport restaurant and immediately snapped into action.

"I tried to squeeze the life out of him and bring him back," Freeman tells TMZ Sports.

At one point the man told Jerrell he thought he may have cracked a rib, to which Freeman responded -- "It's either one of your ribs or your life man! Gotta take one, leave the other one!"

In the end, Freeman says he successfully dislodged the food from the man's throat and the guy praised him as a hero and thanked him for saving his life.

Then he went back to eating his brisket.

Seriously!

Forget steroids, Jose Canseco's legacy is his smoldering daughter, Josie Canseco -- who set Miami Beach on fire this week during a trip with her boyfriend, Mike Stud.

The two showed some serious skin during a jet skiing session this week ... but all eyes were on Josie and the white hot bikini.

The fashion model and the rapper have been dating since 2015 -- with Stud even featuring Canseco in some of his music videos.

Can you blame him?

Another great day for J.R. Smith's miracle baby -- who took her first trip to Miami this week ... ON A PRIVATE JET!

Baby Kota joined her NBA star dad, J.R., and mom, Jewel, on a family vacation to South Beach where the kid went to the beach, the shops, the restaurants and of course ... the private jet.

Kota deserves all the spoils -- she's battled (and overcome) the craziest odds after being born around 21 gestational weeks and spending the first 4 months of her life in the NICU at Cleveland Children's Hospital.

Charles Barkley says any Laker fan thinking the team will make a playoff run behind new star, Lonzo Ball, is smoking purple and gold CRACK ... telling TMZ Sports the Lake Show has ZERO CHANCE.

The hype is officially here, Lonzo balled out so hard in the Summer league (winning the MVP), that a lot of fans are thinking postseason, so when we got Barkley out at LAX we asked him if it was possible.

"Hell no."

Pretty simple. In fact, Sir Charles says in his opinion the 76ers with their young core of guys like Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Markelle Fultz are waaaay better than the Lakers are right now.

You'd think it was a diss ... if you didn't know any better.

But when Jimmy Butler took a shot at his friend Kyrie Irving in Malibu this week, we're guessing it's all in good fun.

With all the Kyrie rumors going around, we asked Jimmy Buckets if he wanted Irving to join him in Minnesota.

Jimmy's response: "I don't even know who that is."

Turns out, they're pretty tight -- they played on the '16 Team USA Olympic squad and Butler once hailed him as his favorite player in the NBA.

So, will Kyrie end up in Minnesota? Butler hopes so ... even if he doesn't wanna say it.

It's over for Lucky Whitehead in Dallas.

The Cowboys just confirmed the WR has been cut by the team after cops in Virginia claimed he was arrested for shoplifting back in June. Officials say he then missed a July court date and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

But get this, despite official court records with his name and birthdate -- and confirmation from the Prince William County Police Dept. of an arrest of a 25-year-old Rodney Whitehead Jr. -- Whitehead's rep says his client was NOT actually arrested that day because he was not in town.

We spoke with agent Dave Rich, who says Whitehead did not fly into Virginia until 6 hours after the reported time of arrest, information first reported by NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

Jon Jones wasn't crazy when he called himself the greatest UFC fighter of all time ... at least according to Daniel Cormier, who says ya just can't argue with Jon's resume.

"His level of competition is unmatched," Cormier tells TMZ Sports ... "He's beaten about 6, 7 guys that are going to the UFC Hall of Fame."

Jones bragged about his legacy on FS1's "Undisputed" on Monday -- saying there's no doubt he's the greatest fighter to ever step into the Octagon. He's beaten legends like Rampage Jackson, Shogun Rua, Lyoto Machida and more.

Given the hatred between Jon and DC, you'd think Cormier would blast him over the comments -- but that's not what happened. It was the closest thing to a compliment we've seen leading up to UFC 214.

Speaking of which, Cormier also says his weight is PERFECT leading up to Saturday's title fight -- despite the fat jokes from Jones. "This is the lightest I've been."

That's when he took aim at Jon's tiny chicken legs and ripped a few shots at the guy.

Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett is clearly pissed off about Lucky Whitehead's shoplifting arrest -- and isn't ruling out cutting the WR from the team.

After TMZ Sports broke the story, Garrett faced the media after Day 1 of Cowboys training camp and was immediately asked about Whitehead's standing with the team.

"We’re gathering information on it," Garrett said ... "We’ll respond accordingly."

When asked if firing Whitehead was a possibility, Garrett said -- "Oh, absolutely."

"Depending on what the situation is, we’re gonna respond accordingly. Do what’s in the best interest of the Dallas Cowboys."

Whitehead was arrested in June for allegedly stealing under $200 in stuff from a Virginia convenience store. To make things worse, a warrant was issued for his arrest when he failed to appear in court on July 6.

Whitehead was asked about the situation after practice -- and said he had no idea what was going on.