TMZ Sports - Page 50

Yanking LaMelo Ball outta high school was "the smartest move in the world," so says John Salley, who praises LaVar as a visionary who knows how to make great athletes.

"Smartest people in the world are homeschooled," Salley tells TMZ Sports.

"If not, you get shot in school, you gotta get picked on, you gotta worry about clothes, you're not focused."

Of course, LaVar pulled 16-year-old LaMelo out of Chino Hills High School to privately educate and train him. LaVar believes he will better prepare Melo for the NBA this way.

Salley agrees -- and points to Boris Becker, who dropped out of school in 10th grade to focus on tennis. He won his first Grand Slam at 17 years old.

"[LaVar is] developing a great athlete."

Here's how NOT to take an L, brought to you by Redskins star Terrelle Pryor -- who went buckwild on a heckling Chiefs fan after their MNF game.

As he's entering the tunnel, the wideout drops an f-bomb and 1-finger salute on the heckler -- which got more K.C. fans to clap back.

But Terrelle REALLY lost it when the same guy called him a "little p*ssy" ... to the point where a team staffer had to step in and restrain him. At one point, Pryor acts like he's going to swing his helmet at the fan but stops himself.

Every UFC fighter has an origin story ... and for Demetrious Johnson, his fight career started by the elementary school flagpole -- in a throwdown over WWE wrestling.

Mighty Mouse joined the guys on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs tonight on FS1) -- and was asked if he remembers the first time he was punched in the face.

DJ recalled it like it was yesterday -- and says he was forced to defend The Rock's honor when another kid said pro wrestling was fake.

What started ... was the beginning of a beautiful (and violent) career -- a 26-2 record, a 12-fight win streak and a huge match at UFC 216 in Vegas this weekend.

NBA players Marcus and Markieff Morris have just been found not guilty of beating a man to a bloody pulp after a 2015 youth basketball game.

Both Marcus (who plays for the Boston Celtics) and Markieff (who plays for the Washington Wizards) appeared in an Arizona courtroom on Tuesday where they were acquitted on aggravated assault charges.

As we previously reported, the brothers were accused of joining 3 others guys in a brutal beatdown of Erik Hood, a former acquaintance ... after Hood allegedly sent inappropriate texts to the mother of the twins.

Alex Morgan was "highly impaired" and yelling at Disney staffers in front of guests when she was thrown out of Epcot Center on Sunday ... this according to the incident report obtained by TMZ Sports.

We broke the story, Morgan, along with several MLS soccer players, was booted from the park after an incident at one of the bars on the premises.

Now, it seems Morgan's entire group was HAMMERED -- with Morgan allegedly bragging that she knows the Orlando SWAT team in an effort to pressure officers to let her go.

The report, filed by the Orange County Sheriff's Office, says they were initially called to the U.K. pub around 8:20 PM after MLS player Giles Barnes cut in front of another patron in line and got into a verbal argument.

The report notes Morgan's entire group was "impaired and verbally aggressive."'

Giles was escorted out of the pub and told not to come back.

As deputies were escorting Barnes out of the park, officers were called about the other members of the group making a scene.

"As we passed Space Ship Earth, I observed several people were being escorted to the front. They were all being very loud and belligerent towards staff around guests."

The deputy noted that Morgan was especially out of control -- "yelling, screaming and taking video and possibly pictures."

"She appeared to be highly impaired. Deputy Johnson heard Ms. Morgan make a loud verbal statement that she knows the Orlando SWAT team."

Ex-NFL star Kordell Stewart is going after the blogger he claims snatched a nude video and posted it online.

Kordell's suing Quentin Latham for a December 2016 post that included video of Stewart's exposed junk and ass. In the docs, obtained by TMZ Sports, Kordell also accuses Latham of creating a fake email account ... which he used to make it seem like the video had been exchanged between Kordell and another man.

Kordell's lawsuit repeats what he told TMZ Sports ... "at all times during his life, Mr. Stewart has been, and is, a heterosexual male." According to the docs, Latham also posted a story claiming Kordell intended to marry Tyler Perry.

Milwaukee Brewers minor league prospect Bubba Derby is a hero -- selflessly throwing his body over other people to shield them from bullets during the Vegas massacre ... and now he's telling his story.

The 23-year-old pitcher was attending the Route 91 Harvest Festival with family and friends when the shots rang out. Derby says he shielded two girls he met that night. His cousin threw his body over his girlfriend.

Fortunately, they all survived. The women have since found Derby on Facebook and thanked him for his heroic actions that night.

Derby says he's still haunted by the events -- and feels horrible for the people who didn't make it out.

But Derby says through all the carnage, he saw real acts of heroism -- people risking their lives to help others and law enforcement sprinting towards the gunfire to try and stop the shooter.

Watch the video.

Good news, Cleveland ... Chris Bosh thinks LeBron James and Dwyane Wade's Cavs reunion will produce championship fruit.

It's no secret, Bosh is very tight with Bron and Dwyane --"they're my guys" -- and was a key part of the squad back in the Miami Heat championship days.

It's gotta suck to be left out of the CLE reunion (health issues), but when we saw Bosh and his wife leaving Craig's restaurant in L.A. on Monday night, he couldn't have been more supportive.

BTW, don't close the book on Bosh's career just yet -- he told us back in July his health is great and he's still thinking about a future in basketball.

British tennis star Dan Evans will have to sit out 1 year after testing positive for cocaine ... the International Tennis Federation announced on Tuesday.

Evans got popped for coke back in April after competing in an ATP World Tour event in Barcelona. The ITF says Dan will forfeit his points and prize money from the event.

One silver lining -- Evans' suspension will be back-dated ... meaning he'll be eligible to return in April 2018.

When his test failure came to light, Dan publicly apologized -- "I made a mistake and I must face up to it. I do not condone for one second that this was acceptable behavior."

"I’ve let a lot of people down: my family, my coach, my team, sponsors, British tennis and my fans. I can only deeply apologize from the bottom of my heart."

Dontcha just hate it when your dong and balls fall out of your shorts during the end of a marathon?

That's exactly what happened to Jozef Urban right before he crossed the finish line at the Košice Peace Marathon in Slovakia last weekend.

Unclear if Urban knew his junk was floppin' around for all to see -- but he certainly didn't seem bothered by it ... and he used all 3 legs to gallop to the end.

Urban finished in 10th place ... but he's a wiener in our book!

[h/t Deadspin]

Team USA soccer star Alex Morgan was told by police to leave Disney World in Florida on Sunday after an incident at a bar in Epcot Center, TMZ Sports has learned.

Morgan was part of a group that included several MLS stars including Giles Barnes and Donny Toia, who were also 86'd from the park.

We're working on details from the cops -- but witnesses tell us the group had been partying at a pub in the U.K. section of Epcot Center when things got rowdy inside.

Our witnesses say Morgan and her group were arguing with another group -- and ultimately the Orange County Sheriff's Dept. got involved and told everyone to leave.

In total, 4 people were booted -- including Donny's wife, Courtney.

The OCSD tells TMZ Sports, "These are the individuals that were trespassed from Disney on Oct. 1st."

The group had posted a photo outside a Disney World restaurant earlier that day.

With reports that Bradley Cooper has been offered to play the role of Vince McMahon in an upcoming biopic, we asked John Cena the most important question about the movie ...

Is Bradley too cute to play Vince?

Some background ... there are a ton of unconfirmed reports that WWE Studios is moving forward with what's essentially being described as an origin movie about Vince. It's reportedly called "Pandemonium."

Some of the early criticism of the flick is that it's a SUPER sensationalized version of the real story of McMahon -- and with Cooper's name floating around, seems like the rumors could be true.

But Cena doesn't think so -- telling TMZ Sports the former Sexiest Man Alive has the right amount of cuteness to play the most powerful man in pro wrestling.

Can't argue with those dimples.

Ronda Rousey hasn't officially signed with WWE, but the offer to come into the ring “absolutely still stands” -- so says Stephanie McMahon.

“We'd love to have you in WWE,” Steph added on her way outta LAX.

Vince’s daughter is super high up in the family biz ... so she would know.

Fans thought it was a gimme that Rousey was coming over after she cut a promo with Ric Flair’s daughter, Charlotte ... but that was almost a month ago, and still nothing.

But Steph says not to lose hope ... even teasing a WrestleMania rematch! Remember -- Ronda woman-handled her and hubby Triple H at The Showcase of the Immortals a couple years back.

McMahon didn't wanna call out Rousey, though ... so our money's on Charlotte.

Hours after Derek Jeter's ownership group closed on the purchase on the Miami Marlins ... #2's wife, Hannah Jeter, hit the town -- lookin' like $1.2 billion!!!

Hannah was spotted out shopping in Tampa on Monday -- with witnesses saying she hit up a high-end shoe shop and a fancy salon before meeting up with her new MLB owner husband.

Derek reportedly has a 4% ownership stake in the group that bought the Marlins -- but appears to have serious pull when it comes to personnel decisions.

Former New York Yankee Pat Kelly says he and his girlfriend getting booked for assault was just a "misunderstanding" ... and "everything's good" now that he's outta the slammer.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Kelly and his GF, Marina Cernova, were arrested at the London Hotel in NYC on Sunday after Marina called cops to report Pat had beaten her.

Both Pat and Marina were jailed for misdemeanor assault ... 'cause police say Marina also punched Pat in the face.

But when we got Kelly outside Manhattan Criminal Court ... he told us he was A-OK -- though he did seem kinda annoyed that our guy wouldn't give up his sources.

Right before Byron Scott's home was burglarized, surveillance cameras captured 2 men -- 1 wearing a hooded jacket -- skulking around the property, TMZ Sports has learned.

We broke the story, the Hermosa Beach, CA home where the former L.A. Lakers player and head coach lives was ransacked over the weekend, with intruders making off with expensive purses, jewelry, guns and more. In total, we're told the loot was worth more than $200k.

Sources in Scott's camp tell us they're hopeful surveillance footage showing the men walking around the home around the time of the incident will help investigators. The footage has already been turned over to cops.

So far, no arrests have been made.