TMZ Sports - Page 50

Al Sharpton says he's got Jemele Hill's back -- and if ESPN fires her over her anti-Trump tweets, he'll lead a boycott against the network.

The Rev. tells TMZ Sports he's furious with the White House and press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders for saying Hill's tweets are a "fireable offense."

FYI, Hill strongly tweeted against Trump on Sept. 11 ... calling him a "white supremacist" and "the most ignorant, offensive president of my lifetime."

Sharpton says Hill has every right to express her political views without fear that the government will call for her job.

"Let's not forget, ESPN is regulated by the FCC. The FCC commissioners are appointed by the White House so it's a whole different level of intimidation on media outlets when you have the press secretary [calling for a reporter's job]."

Sharpton says he has a message for Hill -- "Stand strong. If they take you out, many of us in the civil rights community will stand up for you and take ESPN off our service."

Sacramento Kings star Zach Randolph just struck a pretty sweet deal in his marijuana case ... and all he has to do is a TON of community service.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Z-Bo was arrested for felony weed possession with intent to sell back in August when cops say they busted him with more than 2 pounds of pot in Nickerson Gardens.

The charges were later reduced to misdemeanor possession of more than 1 ounce of marijuana and resisting arrest ... and Randolph was facing up to 1 year in jail if convicted on both accounts.

But now, we've learned Randolph struck a deal with prosecutors to plead no contest to misdemeanor resisting arrest ... and in exchange, the pot charge was tossed completely.

Randolph was sentenced to 150 hours of community service as part of a diversion program, which means if he completes the hours and keeps his nose clean for 12 months, the resisting arrest conviction will be wiped from his record.

One more thing ... Randolph was specifically told he may not associate himself with or be around drug dealers as part of the terms of the deal.

The case is due back in court for a progress report in December. Good luck!

Jon Jones can deny it all he wants ... but he cheated before BOTH his fights with Daniel Cormier, which makes DC the true champ -- so says UFC superstar Luke Rockhold.

The "B" sample for Jones' failed drug test came out on Tuesday ... which revealed a positive test for the same banned steroid he got popped for last month. Now, Luke says it's time we all faced the truth.

"People can be in denial about Jon ... but he's taken things all along the way. And that's what USADA's here for -- to clean up the cheaters."

Rockhold feels terrible for his BFF, Cormier, and Jones too -- calling the whole situation "unfortunate" -- but told TMZ Sports he's not dwelling on it cause he's got a huge comeback fight this weekend.

Donald Trump's mouthpiece is calling for ESPN to fire anchor Jemele Hill -- claiming her tweets calling the President a "white supremacist" are outrageous and unacceptable.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders -- the White House press secretary -- was holding a news conference on Wednesday when a reporter asked if Trump was aware of Hill's comments.

Sanders replied, "I'm not sure he's aware but I think that's one of the more outrageous comments that anyone could make and certainly something that I think is a fireable offense by ESPN."

Hill has never hidden her disdain for Trump -- and went off about him on Sept. 11 saying, "Trump is the most ignorant, offensive president of my lifetime. His rise is a direct result of white supremacy."

"Donald Trump is a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other white supremacists."

ESPN had issued a statement about the situation on Tuesday saying Hill's comments "do not represent the position of ESPN."

L.A. Lakers rising star Larry Nance Jr. is officially off the market ... 'cause the NBA baller just proposed to his college sweetheart with a MASSIVE diamond ring!!

The 24-year-old and his longtime girlfriend, Hailey Pince -- a fellow U. of Wyoming alum -- announced the big news on social media Tuesday by showing off the huge rock.

LNJ and the aspiring model have been dating for over 3 years ... and he explained his decision to pop the question by channeling his inner Beyonce, saying "I liked it, so I put a ring on it."

Nance can reportedly make up to $7 million over the next 3 years ... so yeah, dude can afford to splurge on his girl.

Traffic is gonna be soooo bad.

The International Olympic Committee has officially announced what was all expected ... the 2028 Olympic Games will go down in Los Angeles.

Several high-powered celebs were part of the campaign to get the Games to La La Land including Dr. Dre and Magic Johnson.

The heads of the Lakers, Clippers, Dodgers, Rams, Warner Brothers, and Disney were all on the team as well.

Moments ago, the IOC announced L.A. will get 2028 ... and Paris will get 2024.

New Orleans Saints long snapper and star magician Jon Dorenbos is "resting comfortably" after open-heart surgery on Tuesday -- this according to Dorenbos' former NFL coach.

Dorenbos -- who crushed it on "America's Got Talent" -- was diagnosed with an aortic aneurysm during his physical for the Saints last week ... which prompted the emergency surgery.

Eagles head coach Doug Pederson gave an update on his ex-player's condition, saying, "Everything went well yesterday with surgery and he's resting comfortably."

"Just wish him and his family well, our prayers are with him and hope for a speedy recovery."

The NFL vet shared a video of his friends and family before going under the knife, saying, "Thank you to my beautiful amazing wife, my family, my friends and videos like this. This brought out some tears. I feel the love and support."

Get well soon, Jon!

LeBron James surprised the basketball team at Notre Dame High School in L.A. on Tuesday -- hitting the gym for a training session while his wife checked out the campus ... TMZ Sports has learned.

We're told Bron and Savannah James rolled up to the school in a chauffeured car around 6 PM and walked around campus before a workout on the court.

LeBron owns a home in Brentwood and there's talk he could be checking out various private schools to send his kids -- including 12-year-old Bronny, one of the best hoop prospects in the country.

Notre Dame is one of the top private schools in the area -- with an alumni list that includes Giancarlo Stanton, Rachel Bilson, Dave Navarro, Katharine McPhee and Jerry Mathers.

Any school would kill for Bron's kids -- but it's unclear if ND is seriously in the running.

It's a Catholic school ... so ... pray?

10:55 PM PT -- LeBron has posted a video thanking the school for opening the gym so he could work out after a long day of shooting commercials.

LeBron insists the kids had no idea he was coming and emphasizes that he was there to get his own workout in.

LBJ makes no mention of the school being a candidate for his own kids. Sorry, Knights.

Two former NFL stars are hoping their former teammate, Andre Johnson, can help spearhead a J.J. Watt-style recovery effort in Miami.

Bryant McKinnie and Phillip Buchanon both joined the "TMZ Sports" TV show this week -- after leaving Miami right before Hurricane Irma struck.

The guys said the city is in desperate need of help and they're hoping to launch a fundraising initiative like Watt.

Both Bryant and Philip went to the University of Miami, where AJ went to school -- and since Andre knows J.J. Watt (from the Houston Texans), they're hoping he can be the piece that brings everyone together.

Lance Armstrong just SNAPPED on USC, saying the school is full of crap for trying to rewrite history -- AND he's publicly torching the Trojans for the treatment of Reggie Bush.

This all started with USC officially listing it's all-time record against Texas (Lance's team) as 4-0 ... seemingly ignoring Vince Young's soul-crushing 2006 Rose Bowl game victory.

USC claims the record is accurate since the school was ordered to vacate ALL games from the 2005-06 season (including the Bowl game) stemming from NCAA violations involving Bush.

And since that season included the Rose Bowl loss, SC says it's 4-0 against Texas instead of 4-1.

Guess who ain't having that? Lance, who took to Twitter not only to punish SC for omitting the L, but also for what he believes is the utter mistreatment of Bush, one of the school's biggest stars.

"Negative @USC, we were there. You lost the game fair and square. Btw, @ReggieBush is a f*cking legend that you sh*t all over."

SC cut off all contact with Bush after they were hit with sanctions as part of an NCAA order to "permanently disassociate" from the sort-of Heisman winner. He's not even allowed on campus.

A lot of people -- including USC legend William McGinest -- have called for an end to the cold shoulder, but none as colorfully as Armstrong has.

BTW -- USC plays Texas THIS WEEK. Should be good.

When it comes to retiring jerseys, the Lakers are taking two steps forward with Kobe Bryant -- and two steps WAY BACK with Paula Abdul!!

Here's the deal ... did you know the Lakers retired Paula's legendary Laker Girl uniform back in the day?

Of course you don't because for some reason, it's not hanging in the rafters at Staples Center next to the other greats like Magic, Shaq, Kareem and Jerry West.

When we saw Paula at LAX on Tuesday, she told us the Lakers had initially hung it up next to Kareem back when the team played at The Forum ... but when they moved, Paula's old outfit was relocated to a wall somewhere in the arena instead of up with the rest of the legends.

C'MON LAKERS!!!! PUT PAULA BACK IN THE RAFTERS!!!!

Paula became the HEAD of the Laker Girls when she was only 19 years old and led them to become the greatest cheerleading squad in pro sports during an epic 6-year run!

Plus, if Taylor Swift has a banner up at Staples Center, Paula should too.

Here she is ... the first kid to ever win a major tennis tournament from inside the womb!!!!

Serena Williams and baby daddy Alexis Ohanian just revealed the first pic of their brand new daughter -- Alexis Olympia Ohanian, Jr.

That's right ... she's got the same name as her daddy -- and she's a junior!

Serena says Alexis Jr. weighed 6 lbs 14 ounces when she was born on Sept. 1.

And she's already crediting the kid with winning a Grand Slam title, since Serena won the Australian Open while she was pregnant with A2.

But the delivery wasn't exactly smooth sailing -- 35-year-old Serena says there were "a lot of complications" at the hospital that required them to stay there for 6 or 7 days.

The good news ... everything seems fine now and Serena says, "Look what we got! A baby girl!"

Congrats!

Michael Bennett and his lawyer are making it very clear -- their plan is to sue the Las Vegas Metro Police Department over that August 27 incident where he was detained at gunpoint.

The NFL superstar and his lawyer, John Burris, sat down with ABC News where they doubled down on claims he was racially profiled when 2 officers ordered him to the ground during an investigation into a possible active shooter at a Vegas hotel.

The Seattle Seahawks star is still adamant he was detained because he's a black man who was in the wrong place at the wrong time -- and says he was physically and verbally abused until cops realized he was an NFL player.

In fact, Bennett says it was only when cops Googled him, the abuse stopped.

"I went from being a black man to a football player."

Burris has laid down the gauntlet with the LVMPD -- saying, "Unless something changes drastically that we don't know of, we're gonna file a lawsuit."

O.J. Simpson will be playing a cat-and-mouse game with the media when he's released, and it involves his safety.

We've learned the media has a 1 in 18 chance of spotting the famous convict when he's released from Lovelock Correctional Center in Nevada. That's because there are 18 release points and our prison sources say they are keeping the actual release site and date on the DL.

As for why the clandestine release ... we're told it's because prison officials are concerned for Simpson's safety. You'll recall, just after Simpson was granted parole, he was moved to a protective wing of the prison.

Prison sources tell us they're not just concerned about Simpson's safety. They worry a chase could ensue and prison staff, bystanders and Simpson himself could be injured or even worse. As one prison official told us, "We don't want another chase on our hands."

And, we're told, Simpson himself has made it clear to prison officials, he wants nothing to do with the media when the prison doors open. We're guessing it's part of a bigger plan for him to cash in with a splashy interview. The more he's seen, the more the value goes down.

Our prison sources wanted to make it clear ... the secrecy and conditions of Simpson's release will be made by the prison ... not O.J.

Stephon Marbury's better off in the BIG3 ... but is in such crazy-good shape, he could hoop in the NBA too -- so says Al Harrington, one of Starbury's BFFs.

Al knows what he's talking about ... dude's a 16-year NBA vet and reigning BIG3 champ -- and, most importantly, chats with Marbury all the time.

Harrington was literally seconds away from hitting up Stephon when TMZ Sports found him in L.A. -- and asked if he seriously thought the 40-year-old could still ball with the best.

"Vince Carter doin’ it, so why not?" BUT ... "I think he’d be better served in the BIG3."

Al told us he's actually been recruiting Starbury for Ice Cube's league ... but it's up to his boy to choose -- or just DO BOTH!

If not ... there's always China.

Sept. 13 5:52 AM PT -- The "Hand in Hand" telethon reportedly raised over $44 million in relief funds for the victims of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma in one night of fundraising.

The telethon to benefit victims of Hurricanes Irma and Harvey just wrapped with fundraising efforts totaling over $14 million and counting in just an hour.

As we reported ... celebs like Al Pacino, Justin Timberlake, Jon Stewart, Chris Paul, Demi Lovato, Diddy, Leo DiCaprio, Justin Bieber, Sofia Vergara, Reese Witherspoon, Drake and many more pitched in for the one-hour long show.

Several of them answered phones to take donations, and others performed as the telethon -- the brain child of Scooter Braun and Bun B -- went live from L.A., NYC, Nashville and San Antonio. And with Michael Dell and Verizon footing the bill for production ... 100% of proceeds will benefit hurricane victims.

Obviously, a great cause ... and a great event too.