TMZ Sports - Page 50

9:10 AM PT -- According to the accusers attorney, Ari Wilkenfeld, he and his client met with NBC's HR and legal teams for several hours Monday night. Wilkenfeld says he believes at this time, NBC acted swiftly and appropriately given the allegations.

5:55 AM PT -- The New York Post is reporting the incident that triggered the firing occurred at the Sochi Winter Olympics, when Lauer allegedly assaulted a female NBC staffer.

5:46 AM PT -- Sources connected to NBC tell TMZ the network has been investigating Lauer for weeks and multiple media outlets -- including The New York Times -- were working a story about the anchor and sexual harassment. As one source put it, "Lack tried to get ahead of the story before it broke."

Matt Lauer is no longer the face of NBC's "Today" -- he's been fired for "inappropriate sexual behavior."

The stunning announcement was made on the air at the top of NBC's "Today" by Savannah Guthrie, who read a memo from NBC News Chairman Andy Lack -- "We received a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Matt Lauer. It represented, after serious review, a clear violation of our company's standards. As a result, we've decided to terminate his employment."

Savannah was joined by Hoda Kotb ... and both anchors shared their shock, saying they had found out just moments before going on the air. Savannah had a very shaky voice as she said "we are devastated and we are still processing all of this." She also said she was "heartbroken" for the "brave colleague" who made the complaint.

In the memo, Lack added this was the first complaint reported to NBC, but they "were also presented with reason to believe this may not have been an isolated incident."

Lauer had been, in many ways, the face of the entire Peacock network for more than 20 years as he anchored "Today" ... which is NBC's biggest moneymaker.

Story developing ...

TMZ Sports has obtained footage of the street fight involving Florida State kicker Ricky Aguayo and several members of an FSU fraternity ... and one thing's clear -- he was NOT jumped.

It all went down on Dec. 2 2016 -- you can see Ricky square up to fight a Pi Kappa Phi frat bro in a Santa hat ... while a spectator roots him on, "Hey Aguayo, f*ck him up bro!"

The two proceed to trade blows in front of the frat house -- each landing some decent shots. At one point, one of the spectator frat bros throws a cheap shot at Aguayo ... but the brawl continues.

After Aguayo lost his shoe in the fight, one of the frat bros starts to heckle him saying, "You wanna do shit on our campus when you're a fucking kicker?!"

"Your brother never did this shit ... that's why i respected your brother ... not you, you little bitch."

FYI, Ricky's brother is former FSU kicker Roberto Aguayo, who was later drafted by the Tampa Bay Bucs.

The fight continued ... and at one point, Ricky's teammate Ryan Izzo (tight end) tries to save Ricky and physically breaks up the fight. The frat boys want a piece of Izzo, who at one point shoves a PKP bro like a rag doll.

Eventually, Izzo grabs Aguayo and they leave.

Cops were called to the scene and Aguayo told police he was "jumped" by the frat guys -- but the video looks far from a "jumping" situation. Looks like mutual combat to us.

Coulda been fun ... but Tyron Woodley says the potential fight with Nate Diaz at UFC 219 is officially dead.

"Nate Diaz is obviously scared, homie," Tyron said on the "The Hollywood Beatdown" show (subscribe on the TMZ Sports YouTube page).

Woodley previously said the UFC offered him the fight and he accepted -- and it was up to Nate to sign on the dotted line. But it didn't happen.

Woodley says Nate was asking for WAYYYYYY too much cash -- $15 mil -- and he ain't a $15 million fighter.

The Oakland Raiders' "aggressive strength and agility training programs" turned CB Sean Smith into an attacking machine ... so claims the man alleging Sean brutally attacked him.

Christopher Woods is suing the Raiders and Smith after he says the NFL star brutally attacked him on July 4 ... and Sean's "size, strength and certain offensive techniques" was his weapon.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Sean was charged with felony assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury. But in new docs, we now know what led to the alleged assault.

Woods says he was out with Sean and his sister, Rayna, whom Woods had been dating for about 2 years. Woods says Sean was pounding shots of tequila ... and ultimately became violent after getting into a heated argument with his GF.

Woods says, out of nowhere and without provocation, Sean slugged him in the head and knocked him unconscious. Sean left but later returned violently and repeatedly stomped on Woods' face ... fracturing it in 5 different places and causing brain damage.

Woods says he suffered hematomas to the left and right side of his head and required a metal plate and screws to repair the facial fractures.

Shakira and Gerard Piqué are effectively shutting down rumors they've split by taking a very toothy joyride together.

The FC Barcelona fútbol star was behind the wheel with Shakira riding shotgun Tuesday on his home team's turf. The smiles on their faces fly directly in the face of reports that the couple -- who've been together for 6 years -- were on the outs.

From this vantage point, seems the parents of 2 boys are rock solid.

LeBron James is 100% right to call out David Fizdale getting axed by the Grizzlies -- so says Jermaine Dupri, who tells TMZ Sports someone's gotta explain the shocking decision.

FYI, LeBron went to bat for his former Heat assistant coach on Monday ... after Fizdale got the boot less than a quarter of the way into the season.

"I need some answers. Feels like my man was a fall guy," James said.

Dupri echoed LeBron when we got him outside Poppy in L.A.

"We need a little understanding! What's the reason?"

Imagine being a Packers fan in Wisconsin and having to bust one of the players for weed ... sucks, right!?

That's exactly what happened to a cop in Appleton, WI on Sept. 2 when she pulled over tight end Lance Kendricks, who was on the way home from a Wisconsin Badgers football game.

After Kendricks' car was stopped for going 81 in a 70, the officer immediately noticed the smell of weed and reports back to her partner ... saying, "You're not gonna wanna do this ... he's a Packers player."

Scary moment for Shareef O'Neal ... who appeared to be seriously injured during a high school basketball game Monday night when he went up for a shot and came down on his head.

Shaq's son was making his senior season debut for Crossroads High School in a game against Beverly Hills High and was lighting it up with 31 points ... until the injury.

Shareef went up in traffic for a layup, but his legs got tangled with the defenders -- and he came crashing down hard without bracing himself. You can hear the crack on the court -- and Shareef was holding his head in pain afterward.

O'Neal eventually got up but didn't go back in the game. We're told he's now in the team concussion protocol and will miss Tuesday night's game as a precaution.

Shareef is one of the top high school players in the country and has already committed to the University of Arizona.

Chandler Parsons is going to bat for David Fizdale less than 24 hours after his coach was canned by the Memphis Grizzlies ... saying it was an ice-cold move by the franchise.

"It's a cold world, man," Parsons told TMZ Sports at LAX. "Fiz is a good dude, great coach. I learned a lot from him so I got nothing but good things to say about him."

Chandler says he ain't surprised that LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and other NBA superstars have called out the move ... given Fizdale's body of work.

Ex-MMA star Jason "Mayhem" Miller has pled guilty in his domestic violence case -- after allegedly roughing up 3 different girlfriends between 2015 and 2017, TMZ Sports has learned.

Court docs show Mayhem was charged with 5 counts of felony domestic violence in Sept. -- along with 1 felony count of vandalizing a GF's car and house. He was also hit with misdemeanors for damaging 2 girlfriends' cell phones to prevent them from calling cops.

Miller initially pled not guilty to all charges -- but later struck a plea deal with prosecutors in which he pled guilty to corporal injury to a spouse/cohabitant and the rest of the charges were thrown out.

Miller was sentenced to 3 years probation with a suspended 4-year state prison sentence -- which means if he violates his probation, the judge can lock him up for 4 years. He also got credit for the 62 days he already served in jail.

FSU kicker Ricky Aguayo told police he was attacked by several Florida State frat guys after the 2016 Florida game ... and it's all detailed in newly surfaced police report obtained by TMZ Sports.

The Tallahassee Police Dept. was called to the Pi Kappa Phi frat house around 3 AM on Dec. 2, 2016 and found Aguayo and teammate Ryan Izzo (tight end) walking down the street.

Aguayo told cops several Pi Kappa Phi members had been heckling him about missing field goals during the Nov. 26 Florida game ... in which he missed 2 kicks.

"He said that he was rushed by several members of the fraternity and that they had 'jumped' him," the police report said.

"He said he was punched in the face and various other places on his body."

Cops say Aguayo had blood on his face and shirt and that his shirt was ripped.

When cops spoke with Izzo, he told police he wasn't there for the fight -- but was called afterward to help Aguayo.

But there's another side to the story ... one of the frat members told police Aguayo had called him a "sorority f**got" and punched him in the face 4 times. He also claims Izzo also attacked him and threatened another fraternity member.

In the end, neither side wanted to press charges.

It's not a done deal ... but Matt Leinart says he'd really like Baker Mayfield to join him in the Heisman House.

"He's probably gonna win the Heisman, but we'll see in a couple of weeks," the USC legend told us at LAX.

As for Mayfield, the Oklahoma QB is wrapping up a pretty solid season -- he's thrown for more than 4,000 yards with 37 passing TDs and only 5 interceptions.

Leinart also weighed in on the college football playoffs -- and said he's a strong fan of EXPANDING from just 4 teams.

Here they are ... newlyweds Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian chillaxin' on an insanely expensive private island in the Bahamas during their honeymoon -- that they booked on Booking.com.

We're told the villa runs $35k per week -- and you can only get to it if you have an aircraft or a boat.

The photos of S & A at the villa were taken by a drone but we're told the couple willingly participated in the shoot in connection with Booking.com ... so, it wasn't a crazy rogue paparazzo invading their privacy.

Serena also posted on Instagram about the villa -- "A week in paradise. Thanks @bookingcom for helping us find the perfect honeymoon villa. #BookingYeah."

All signs point to Serena getting either paid or a huge discount for the endorsement -- despite the fact both she and her Reddit co-founder husband are LOADED!

#HowTheRichStayRich

A Georgia Tech football player straight-up KNOCKED OUT his teammate during a fight in the GT athletic facility ... and TMZ Sports has the video.

The players are GT starting defensive backs Step Durham and Lance Austin -- who got into a heated altercation earlier this year, before Spring Practice began.

As a shirtless Lance walks towards his teammate, Step ... he gets hit with a quick right hook on the chin -- instantly putting Lance to sleep.

Lance collapsed into a chair and appears to be completely unconscious. You can hear multiple voices in the room instructing Step to pick Lance up off the ground.

We reached out to Georgia Tech -- and we were told, "Georgia Tech’s football coaching staff became aware of the incident between teammates and friends shortly after it occurred. Discipline was handled internally."

Sources tell us neither players missed any playing time during the 2017 season as a result of the incident. It's unclear what the punishment was exactly.

We're told both players told the coaching staff about the fight and insisted things were cool -- there were no hard feelings.

10:15 PM PT -- Step Durham, who threw the punch, released the following statement:

First off, I would like to start by apologizing to Georgia Tech, my teammates – especially Lance Austin – and my coaches, fans and family for bringing a negative light on the school, the football program and my name.

My actions in the video that was made public today were unacceptable and the dispute should have been handled in a more adult manner. Taking disputes to a physical level is never the answer and I hope my peers take note of my mistake.

The incident occurred during the spring, which gave Lance and me an opportunity to discuss the matter and put it aside a long time ago. Lance and I have always had a brother-like relationship and brothers sometimes fight but, as I said before, the situation should have been handled in a more mature manner. I’m glad that even after the incident, our friendship remains strong.

I’m deeply sorry for my actions and, being an adult, I understand that consequences and judgment come with the actions shown. I hope to prove to those who don’t know me that I’m not a violent person whatsoever.

I would respectfully ask those that have viewed the video not judge or categorize Lance or me based on what they saw in the video alone. Thank you.

Lance Austin, the player who was KO'ed, also released a statement:

A lot has been made today of an incident that happened months ago. The video snippet of that incident is not beneficial to anyone. Step Durham apologized and we long ago put that incident behind us.

As far as I’m concerned, there’s no further need for an apology. I forgave him already and we have since played well together as teammates this season.

Like Step said, as brothers, we have put our aside our differences and our friendship remains strong.

Ex-NBA player Ben Gordon was arrested in L.A. Monday afternoon -- after allegedly roughing up a guy at an apartment building ... and leaving with several thousand dollars of his money, TMZ Sports has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... the 34-year-old went to the apartment complex where he used to live in an effort to get his security deposit back. We're told there was a dispute about the money and Gordon allegedly put hands on the guy and threatened him.

We're told the man gave Gordon at least some of the money back -- mostly because he was scared -- and Gordon left. The man called police moments later.

But get this ... after cops arrived to the building, Ben RETURNED to demand the REST of his security deposit (a couple thousand dollars). Instead, cops arrested him on the spot for felony robbery.

He was hauled to a nearby station where he was booked and later released on $50,000 bail.

Gordon has had all sorts of trouble with police lately -- he was placed on a psychiatric hold in NYC after allegedly locking himself in his gym with a woman, while brandishing a blade.

He was also arrested in L.A. back in June for pulling fire alarms at his apartment complex.

The couple that bedazzles together ...

Christmas came early for Alex Rodriguez this year ... by way of a blinged-out coffee cup, courtesy of his smokin' hot girlfriend.

After Jennifer Lopez iced out her own coffee mug, she decided she wanted A-Rod to have a matching sipper ... and surprised him with one of the fanciest coffee cups ever -- complete with his company logo.

As we previously reported, Jennifer's cup cost around $600 ... and A-Rod's runs around $500.

You fancy, huh?!