TMZ Sports - Page 50

Ex-NBA player Bonzi Wells underwent surgery in an Indiana hospital after suffering a heart attack -- but the 41-year-old says he's okay now.

Unclear when Wells was admitted to St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis -- but Wells says he's back home now and "feeling good."

Wells told the Star Press the heart attack was "minor" -- explaining, "Small clot hit bottom part of the heart. Had surgery so I'm back to 100% no restrictions."

Wells posted a photo with one of the nurses at the hospital and wrote, "I wanna thank these ladies for saving my life."

"They went above and beyond to make sure I would be ok."

Bonzi played 10 seasons in the NBA for teams including the Sacramento Kings, Memphis Grizzlies and Houston Rockets.

You're looking at Maria Sharapova's worst nightmare -- a fully SNAPPED BACK Serena Williams ... looking fit, focused and ready to beat that ass ... less than a month after giving birth.

Serena gave birth to little Alexis Jr. on Sept. 1 -- and spent several days in the hospital due to "complications."

But early Thursday morning, Serena posted her first full-body post-preggo selfie -- and she looks superhero fit.

Seriously, this is a woman who won a major tennis tourney while pregnant -- who crushed it in the gym at 35 weeks pregnant -- and whose mother guaranteed she'd return to dominate the pro game after the kid was born.

So, when will Serena return? The next Grand Slam is the Australian Open in January ... the same tourney she won while she was in her 1st trimester.

You've been warned.

Donald Trump says NFL players should have "no choice" but to stand for the national anthem -- but the says NFL owners are too afraid to make it happen.

Trump appeared on "FOX & Friends" on Thursday and went off about the protests when asked about why he made the "S.O.B." comments in Alabama last week.

The President says he has a bunch of friends who are NFL owners and they're frustrated over the current situation involving the anthem.

"I think they're afraid of their players," Trump said ... "and I think it's disgraceful."

FYI, every single NFL owner put out a statement about the protests this past week -- and owners Jerry Jones and Shad Khan even participated in demonstrations with their teams.

One of the men arrested in the FBI's NCAA hoops sting has been hit with charges before -- after getting hit by Dominique Wilkins ... and TMZ Sports has the face-busting footage.

Turns out, Rashan Michel -- a high-end suit maker -- has been on TMZ before. Let's go back to 2011 when he fought Wilkins after an NBA basketball game in Atlanta ... and got punched HARD right in his eye.

At the time, Michel claimed Wilkins owed him $13,000 for custom suits -- so he tried to confront Wilkins at a basketball game. He got punched for his trouble and arrested for battery. He took a mug shot with a shiner under his eye.

Now, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of NY says Michel done messed up again.

This time, he's accused of teaming up with Auburn asst. basketball coach Chuck Person in a bribery scheme where he would help Person take money and in exchange they would steer players to a particular financial advisor.

Michel was arrested on Tuesday and has been hit with a ton of charges including bribery and wire fraud.

Matt Barnes says pro athletes aren't "dumbasses" -- despite what Donald Trump thinks -- and says the biggest sports stars in the world are ready to unite to rise up against POTUS.

TMZ Sports spoke with the hoops star about the open letter he penned to Trump ... and if he's concerned that Donald could turn his ire from the NFL to the NBA.

Barnes says he would definitely consider taking a knee during the anthem when the NBA season begins -- but only if ALL of his teammates are down.

The twist ... the NBA has a rule against kneeling during the national anthem. Gonna be interesting to see how the league responds if/when guys like LeBron James decide to make a Kaepernick-esque statement.

Rick Pitino says there's not a SHRED of evidence proving he did anything wrong to justify his firing -- and has lawyered up in what seems to be a prelude to a legal war with Louisville.

As we previously reported, the University of Louisville says it put Pitino on "unpaid administrative leave" in the wake of an FBI probe of an Adidas exec, who was allegedly bribing recruits to attend Adidas sponsored schools, including UL.

While Pitino hasn't been formally accused of a crime -- and no other Louisville staffer has been accused either -- the school took action anyway ... and Rick is pissed.

"Coach Pitino has done nothing wrong and there is no evidence to suggest otherwise," his attorneys said in a statement ... adding, "The rush to judgment is regrettable."

Pitino's legal team says the school "did not give him prior notice of the disciplinary action or an opportunity to be heard, as required by University policy."

In a preview of what's to come, Pitino's lawyer said, "The matter will now follow its legal course."

Pitino insists there is no evidence that would implicate him in any type of misconduct or other activity that would violate the terms of his contract.

Pitino says the "complete and accurate facts" will inevitably exonerate him.

TUPAC LIVES ... on Chris Johnson's new cleats.

The AZ Cardinals running back got some custom "Juice" cleats -- inspired by the 1992 flick ... featuring images of Pac, Omar Epps and the other two guys on the movie poster.

We spoke with the genius behind the shoes -- Desmond "Skilz" Jones -- who says CJ2k plans to rock the cleats before and during Sunday's game against the 49ers.

Skilz says Johnson hit him up and specifically asked for the movie-inspired paint job ... and it took him 10 HOURS to create the final product.

Pretty sweet, right?

Colorado Christian University says there is some student resistance to the school's ban on national anthem protests ... but CCU believes the disagreement is a positive thing.

As we previously reported, CCU (which has several varsity sports teams competing at the NCAA D2 level) reaffirmed its school policy against athletes protesting during the national anthem.

TMZ Sports spoke with CCU's Vice Pres. of Public Policy Jeff Hunt who says for the most part the student body has been supportive -- but "we have students that disagree with it."

However, Hunt says the school welcomes healthy debate.

"I'm glad we do have students that disagree. We like disagreement on campus, we don't mind that. We just think [the protests] need to be done in the right and proper order."

2 Chainz is calling for people to "pledge allegiance on one knee" -- in a direct response to Donald Trump ... and it's all part of a new song with NBA star Victor Oladipo.

The Indiana Pacers star just dropped his 2nd single called "Rope a Dope" (dude can really sing) -- and it features a rap verse from Tity Boi himself.

A rep tells TMZ Sports the song "serves as a response to President Donald Trump's attack on athletes who have been kneeling during the National Anthem."

"I wanted to address what was going on and bring awareness to it, but in a positive manner,"Oladipo says.

"We need to come together as a country to deal with these problems. We aren't going to solve anything unless we're united."

The Legends Football League -- made up of women playing in lingerie -- have taken an official position on the national anthem ... "WE STAND"!

The LFL just issued a video statement on the issue taking over the country -- saying the flag, "symbolizes all the blood, sweat and tears that have been shed so that we as Americans can raise our flag across our nation."

"The LFL salutes all those who make this the greatest the country in the world, and we stand in salute of our flag."

Khloe Kardashian's birthday pics with Tristan Thompson -- which she captioned "Dad + Mom" -- were NOT some sort of secret pregnancy announcement ... TMZ has learned.

Our Kardashian sources tell us ... her social media post on June 25 is purely a coincidence -- she had no idea she was pregnant at the time. We're told Khloe's just shy of 3 months pregnant now ... and the surprise 33rd bday party Tristan threw her was 3 months ago.

We're also told "Dad" and "Mom" are just lovey dovey nicknames the couple have for each other ... though they now have a deeper meaning.

Want more proof Khloe didn't know she and her bf were going to have a baby? Here's what she tweeted the day after the party ...

It's gone from bad to worse for Louisville ... the school's top high school recruit says he's officially DECOMMITTING to UL in the wake of the NCAA bribery scandal involving the university.

Anfernee Simons -- a 6'3" point guard from Florida -- was hailed as UL's top recruit, a 5-star player who's ranked in the Top 20 on every major recruiting list. He just started his senior year in high school.

But with Louisville referenced in the FBI probe into corruption in college basketball -- and a possible link to 6-figure bribery involving one of the top marketing people at Adidas -- Simons says he's out.

"Due to the recent events that have taken place, it's in my best interest to de-commit from the University of Louisville," Simons says.

"This was a very tough decision to make and I am deeply saddened by this. I appreciate all of the support from the Louisville fans."

Simons says he will be "reopening my recruitment" -- which is huge for schools that had gone after him in previous years ... including Florida, OK State, Tennessee and more.

10:06 AM PT -- University of Louisville interim president Greg Postel says Rick Pitino has technically been placed on unpaid administrative leave, effective immediately.

Rick Pitino has just been fired by Louisville, according to multiple reports ... marking the first big-name head coach to get the ax after the FBI corruption sting that rocked NCAA basketball on Tuesday.

Federal prosecutors say an Adidas executive worked with basketball coaches from Louisville in an illegal scheme to pay high school recruits to ultimately attend the University.

Neither the University nor any Louisville coaches have been formally accused of wrongdoing ... at least not yet. However, the Adidas exec has been arrested.

Pitino has maintained his innocence since the allegations came to light ... with his lawyer, Steve Pence, promising "a bare-knuckle fight" should the university choose to fire him.

"These allegations come as a complete shock to me," Pitino said in a statement.

"If true, I agree with the U.S. Attorney's Office that these third-party schemes, initiated by a few bad actors, operated to commit a fraud on the impacted universities and their basketball programs, including the University of Louisville."

"Our fans and supporters deserve better, and I am committed to taking whatever steps are needed to ensure those responsible are held accountable."

Hey, NCAA -- here's a simple solution to all your corruption problems ... PAY YOUR DAMN PLAYERS -- so says former NBA star Stephen Jackson.

Stack wasn't too in the know on college basketball's recruiting scandal when we got him at LAX ... but he told TMZ Sports he was 100% behind the idea of NCAA hoops stars makin' bank.

"If you can go to war at 18 and kill yourself, why you can't get paid for basketball?"

Eric Decker says playing for the sucky NY Jets made him long for the days when he was a Denver Bronco.

Cameras were rolling on the WR the day after he was cut by the NY Jets back in June -- and now his reaction is a part of his E! reality show, 'Eric & Jessie' (airs Wed. at 10 PM).

"It's weird, I was fired," Decker says ... while discussing how it sucked not making the playoffs during his 3-year run in NY.

Jessie asks where he wants to play next -- and Eric replies, "I do wanna go somewhere where I have a good chance to get back to the playoffs because I think I took for granted how (great it was)."

"We did it almost every year in Denver and ... I thought it was the norm."

College hoops icon Dick Vitale is taking the NCAA to task ... blasting the league for having a dirty underbelly and calling for the jobs of any coaches found guilty of corruption.

"There’s a cesspool that’s existing in college basketball and on the scholastic level," Vitale said -- taking aim at NCAA eligibility requirements and AAU basketball.

Dicky V says he's "crushed" over the FBI corruption sting that came to light this week ... where 4 CBB coaches were arrested and charged with federal crimes.

The legendary analyst tells us to reserve judgement until the coaches have their day in court ... but stresses that these allegations cannot be taken lightly now that the feds are involved.