TMZ Sports - Page 50

Justin Beiber's out at UCLA looking like rec league Neymar -- dribbling circles around his opponents and straight NUTMEGGIN' a dude!!

It's more impressive feats of athleticism from Bieber ... who's also flashed talent on the ice, on the court and in the boxing ring.

At this point, Bieber SHOULD be a great athlete -- when he's not singing, dancing and nailing chicks ... he's training with some of the biggest athletes in the world ... from Neymar to Floyd Mayweather.

Face it, dude's good.

Turns out Santa Claus is real, and he's black, and he plays for the Washington Wizards -- because John Wall just got into the holiday spirit by buying Rolex watches for ALL of his teammates.

We talked with some peeps over at Govberg Jewelers in Philadelphia who tell us Wall came to them some time ago with the idea to cop Rolex President Day-Date watches for every member of the Wiz squad.

BTW -- these watches retail around $40k -- and the Wizards have 16 guys on the roster, so that's around $640k worth of yuletide.

Before you start to feel bad about the sweater you got your sibling, Wall signed a $207 million extension with the Wiz back in June, so y'all definitely aren't the same.

The news reporter who went viral for trashing Diddy on the air is now challenging rapper Nipsey Hussle to a fist fight ... after Nipsy publicly declared he wanted to beat the guy's ass!!!!

The feud began when KRON4 reporter Henry Wofford mocked Diddy over a video the mogul made saying he wants to buy the Carolina Panthers. Wofford said he couldn't take Diddy seriously because he looked high and drunk.

The very next day, Nipsey told TMZ Sports he was going to find Wofford and "beat yo ass."

Well, Wofford saw the video ... and responded Friday morning with a message to Nipsey:

"I saw you on @TMZ saying you'll beat me down when you see me. Here's your opportunity. I'm old school and only fight for a cause."

"Let's raise money for the Black Community. We can box or go MMA style in a celebrity fight. Hug when it's over. Let me know time and place!"

Nipsy saw the tweet and fired back with a 4-point message:

"1st: I’ll beat yo white washed Samuel L Jackson in DJANGO ass.

2nd: We rejected you from the black community after you COON’d you own people to try to fit in on mainstream TV.

3rd: I don’t hug Uncle Toms.

4th: You ain’t hard enough ... & yo knuckles ain’t scared enough."

Nipsy followed up a few minutes later saying he'll agree to fight Wofford, but there are terms ...

"Make the prize at least 5 mill and I’ll do it in between my album promo ... teach this bitch a lesson and when I knock cuz out he gotta play the story of OJ by Jay Z any time he on air."

Stay tuned ...

Manny Pacquaio's team is publicly shutting down any talks of a Conor McGregor boxing match -- with Pacman's trainer Freddie Roach telling TMZ Sports it just ain't happening.

Freddie told us he's personally spoken to Bob Arum (Manny's promoter) -- who'd have to sign off on the match along with Dana White -- and Bob shot down the rumors.

"I talked to Arum and Arum says it's not true," Roach said outside Craig's in L.A.

Freddie did tell us the 1 guy he'd like to see Pacquiao scrap with ... and also DESTROYED Manny's old rival, Floyd Mayweather, for even considering a UFC fight.

"He's gonna get his ass kicked ... he's a f**kin' old man."

FYI, Conor told us he wants to return to MMA last week.

Charles Barkley gave a big shout-out to the Republican party for the brand new tax law -- saying it sucks for poor people ... but, since he's in the 1%, he's gonna blow his new savings on a ROLEX, BABY!!!

Sir Chuck was talking politics at the very end of "Inside the NBA" --- when the gang was talking about Christmas presents ... and Barkley got giddy about his holiday plans, thanks to the G.O.P bill.

"They say [the money] it's gonna trickle down ... I'm gonna trickle my fat ass down to the jewelry store and get me a new Rolex!"

Barkley -- who furiously campaigned for Democrat Doug Jones in Alabama -- was clearly roasting Republicans during the segment ... and added one final shot about how the bill will affect the poor.

"Thank you Republicans, I know I can always count on you to take care of us rich people, us one percenters."

Shareef O'Neal isn't just a stud basketball player -- he's also got some reporting chops ... and he's got the inside scoop on LaMelo Ball.

Shaq's son was at the TDE Watts Christmas Charity Concert when he told us he spoke with LaMelo about his move to play pro ball in Lithuania ... and told us how the youngest Ball bro REALLY feels behind the scenes.

We also told Shareef about the NEW hoops league LaVar Ball is trying to launch -- and asked if he would ever consider joining up with his friends.

The short answer ... hell no.

Cris Cyborg says she's not sweating Holly Holm's famous leg-striking power -- it's Holly who should be worried about Cyborg's fists.

The UFC superstar joined the guys on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs tonight on FS1) -- and told us why the former bantamweight champ should be afraid ... very afraid.

Cyborg vs. Holm is the main event at UFC 219 on Dec. 30 in Vegas -- and Cris says she's trying to rally her fans to help out the kids at the local hospitals while she's in town.

Watch the clip and click here to see how you can help in Cyborg's Teddy Bear drive!

Legendary play-by-play man Dick Enberg -- one of the most famous voices in sports history -- has died, his family confirmed. He was 82.

Dick's wife told reporter Bryce Miller he passed away at his home in La Jolla on Thursday. The family believes he died from a heart attack while getting ready to leave the house for a flight.

If you watched ANY sports, you know Enberg's voice -- he covered 10 Super Bowls, 28 Wimbledons and several NCAA basketball championship games.

He's also been honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Basketball Hall of Fame and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

R.I.P.

UFC legend Chuck Liddell says there ain't a chance Floyd Mayweather steps inside the Octagon -- 'cause any MMA fighter would beat the living hell outta him!!

"C'mon man -- he can't fight in the UFC," Chuck told TMZ Sports.

"Why would he do that? He's just gonna get hurt."

The Iceman, who was out visiting a children's hospital, clearly thinks Floyd wouldn't stand a chance in an all-out scrap ... and told us it'd be over quick if he rematched Conor McGregor.

Eli Manning is still LOVED by his NY Giants WRs ... just ask supermodel Chanel Iman, who says the QB is definitely invited to her upcoming wedding to Sterling Shepard.

Sterling proposed to Chanel earlier this month after roughly 11 months of dating -- and now the wedding planning begins!

We had to ask about the guest list ... and that's when Iman raved about Eli Manning -- saying she's a huge fan of the quarterback both on and off the field.

In fact, Chanel says the guy doesn't even need to get them a wedding gift ... but c'mon, she doesn't really mean that, right?!

Floyd Mayweather moving over to MMA just got the thumbs-up from Holly Holm -- who says she could see TBE knucklin' up for the UFC ... and goin' after it with all he's got.

"I'm sure he won't mind putting in the work if he decides to do something with MMA," Holm told the guys on "TMZ Live."

If anyone would know, it'd be Holly -- who won 18 TITLE FIGHTS in boxing before she became a UFC superstar.

But HH -- who's fighting Cris Cyborg at UFC 219 -- ain't saying it's gonna be easy ... in fact, she told us one area where Mayweather's REALLY gotta work if he doesn't wanna get wrecked.

FYI, Floyd shot down fighting for the UFC on Wednesday after Dana White said they were in talks ... but, in the same breath, said the door's always open.

Get this ... Lakers player Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is serving a 25-day jail sentence -- AND playing in the NBA at the same time.

No, this is not a joke.

24-year-old KCP was sentenced to 25 days after pleading guilty to violating his probation stemming from a DUI arrest in Michigan back in March.

The NBA player was initially sentenced to 12-months probation -- and was required to submit to drug and alcohol testing. Problem is ... he didn't comply, so the judge ordered him to be locked up.

But here's the catch ... the judge allowed KCP to do a "work-release" sentence -- where he's locked up at a facility for most of the day ... but he's allowed to leave to do his job.

Lonzo Ball ain't the only Lakers rookie looking to make a dent in the sports apparel game ... his teammate, Kyle Kuzma, is also hawking his own line of shirts -- and they're selling like crazy.

Kuzma teed up some "Kuzmania" shirts on his website over the weekend -- and sold all 1,000 of 'em super quick. Now, he says he's got another batch on the way.

And get this ... they actually have a reasonable price tag at $27 a pop ... roughly half the price of a Big Baller Brand shirt.

And with Kuzma coming off a 38-point performance against the Rockets, his stock is rising in a big way.

Think LaVar's jealous??

Of course, Kuz and Lonzo are pretty tight -- Kuz even roasted Zo for his "$600" BBB hat -- but you gotta wonder if this is a little bit of a swag rivalry.

If Floyd Mayweather's serious about stepping inside the Octagon -- there's a UFC champion, not named Conor McGregor, who says he'll (respectfully) kick his ass!

We spoke with T.J. Dillashaw after Dana White said he was "talking to Floyd" about a UFC deal ... and the bantamweight champ threw down the gauntlet on Mayweather.

"Floyd, bring it," T.J. said to TMZ Sports. "Let’s find out what real fighting’s all about."

But as much as Dillashaw would "love" to welcome TBE to MMA ... he's not giving Floyd a chance in hell of surviving.

"Not against me, that's for sure ... he's toast."

Tristan Thompson's Kardashian spawn ain't just gonna make him more famous ... it could damn well make him a better basketball player -- so says NBA vet Jim Jackson.

We got J-Jax at Cafe Gratitude in L.A. ... and he told us why knockin' up Khloe might translate to a fiercer Tristan on the hardwood.

"Having a child always settles you down a little bit," Jackson told TMZ Sports. "Maybe a kid settles him down and gives him more focus."

Seems like Jim isn't buying into the Kardashian curse -- basically saying TT should be good as long as he keeps handling business for the Cavs.

John Salley says Magic Johnson called him the day after the NBA legend's 1991 earth-shattering HIV announcement ... to ask if Isiah Thomas had been privately dissing him for contracting the disease.

Johnson and Thomas ended their decades-old feud this week with a teary-eyed reconciliation -- part of a sit-down interview between the two men.

Salley played with Zeke on the Bad Boy Pistons team of the 80's, and when we reached out to him to ask him about the hatchet burying, he gave us some insight into why things were so bad in the first place.

"I know how tough it was. The morning after Magic announced I was on the phone with him, and he asked me, 'Did Isiah say such and such?'"

The fact Johnson was so concerned with Thomas' reaction to his illness shows how fractured their relationship was -- and why it took nearly 30 years to repair things.

Salley went on to say he's glad Magic and Isiah have patched things up -- and the fact that Johnson apologized for the way he treated Zeke really makes a difference.

"I'm the biggest Magic Johnson fan ever ... and now even more."