TMZ Sports - Page 50

Ex-NBA star Ben Gordon can breathe a LITTLE easier ... because he will NOT be charged with a felony stemming from his November robbery arrest in Los Angeles.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... 34-year-old Gordon was accused of flashing a knife and roughing up a manager at his old apartment complex in an effort to get his 4-figure security deposit back. (FYI, Gordon reportedly made $84 mil during his NBA career).

Gordon fled from the scene and then returned AFTER cops had arrived -- they arrested him on the spot. He was booked for felony robbery.

Now, we've learned the L.A. County District Attorney has rejected the felony case -- and kicked it over to the L.A. City Attorney to consider filing misdemeanor charges instead.

Laura Govan's been getting hated on since Tamar Braxton went ham on a woman who claims she got knocked up by Tamar's estranged hubby, but Laura says everyone's got it wrong ... and blames Gilbert Arenas.

Laura tells TMZ ... she's not a homewrecker or the "whore" who allegedly got pregnant by Tamar's husband, Vincent Herbert. Govan says she's never been with Vince, and on top of that ... she's not pregnant and is in a happy relationship with someone else.

Laura tells us the reason people think Herbert cheated on Tamar with her -- besides Tamar suggesting it online -- is because Arenas, her ex and baby daddy, started the rumor. We're told he reached out to Tamar recently and told her Herbert was cheating with Govan.

Laura tells us this is completely false and is just a new way for Gilbert to attack her ... and Tamar fell for it. She also says Gilbert needs to stop spreading lies and focus on child support -- which she says he hasn't paid since September.

We broke the story ... Tamar says Vincent was arrested on Christmas due to alcohol and jealousy brought on by going through a rough divorce.

For what it's worth ... Laura tells us she's praying for them.

Lookin' for a place to pee? Try Chris Paul's brand new Houston-area mansion ... 'cause the dude has enough bathrooms to handle a small army!!!

TMZ Sports has learned the NBA superstar purchased an 18,717 square foot estate in Spring, Texas -- 30 miles from the Toyota Center where the Houston Rockets play.

Paul had been eyeing the mega-mansion for a while but finally closed on the place in October. It was originally listed for $8 MILLION ... but we're told CP3 got a good deal on it.

Besides the 14 toilets ... the home has 9 bedrooms, a 6-car garage and is on an exclusive Jack Nicklaus designed golf course. Don't worry, we're told the home is in a private gated community.

Paul has reportedly made more than $186 million in his NBA career -- so ... this ain't nothing for him.

#ItsGoodToBeRich

You didn't forget about Rachel Uchitel did you? We didn't.

The smokeshow who was famously connected with Tiger Woods during the whole cheating scandal hit up Palm Beach for some Winter sun ... and put her butt selfie skills on display.

By the way, Uchitel is about to turn 43 ... and she's straight FIRE!!!!

Rachel is out of the Vegas nightlife biz these days -- she's now running a childrens clothing boutique in NYC ... but she's damn ... is it too late to become a bikini model????

Holly Holm shocked the world when she KO'd Ronda Rousey, so you better believe she can slay Cris Cyborg -- so says UFC rising star Rose Namajunas.

"She's already proven that if she's the underdog, she can surprise people," Rose told TMZ Sports.

Namajunas would know ... she just starched Joanna Jedrzejczyk -- the most dominant fighter in the UFC since Rousey -- to win her first belt.

Byron Scott says it's time for NBA teams to give Becky Hammon a shot at becoming the league's first female head coach ... telling TMZ Sports she's ABSOLUTELY qualified.

40-year-old Hammon -- one of the best WNBA players of all time -- became the NBA's first female assistant coach when she joined the San Antonio Spurs back in 2014. But Scott says she's ready to break another coaching barrier by taking control of her own team.

We also asked Scott if Hammon could do a better job with the Showtime Lakers than Pat Riley did ... but you probably already know his answer to that.

FYI, Hammon was a 6-time WNBA All-Star whose number was retired by the San Antonio Stars. Plus, in 2011, she was named one of the WNBA's top 15 players of all time.

Donald Trump certainly isn't a fan of the NFL, but that doesn't mean NFL fans don't like him ... at least not when it comes to scooping up a Donnie-themed Fantasy Football trophy.

Trump's splattered all over a series of new trophies created by Trophy Smack ... and they've made em for fantasy winners and losers. What's more, they've taken 45's "Fake News" slogan and incorporated it within their designs too.

A rep for the company tells us the Trump designs (which start at $99) have been selling like hot cakes -- over 1,000 in just 5 days. And some of the buyers aren't even FF fans -- they just like Trump!!!

But if POTUS doesn't float your boat -- the company's got plenty of other designs too -- from unicorns to touchdown Jesus.

"Remeber the Titans" star Craig Kirkwood -- who played 'Rev' in the Disney flick -- is about to be solo, cuz his wife just filed for divorce.

Craig married Katie Kirkwood in 2005 -- in court docs, obtained by TMZ, Katie says the couple split in November. They have a 3-year-old daughter together ... Katie's asking for physical custody and joint legal custody. She's also asking Craig to pay spousal support.

In the docs, Katie alleges the two went to marriage counseling ... but their relationship took a turn for the worse. She claims during a counseling session, Craig touted he was smarter than her.

She also says that while she was sick with the chickenpox and sitting near their young daughter -- who was vaccinated -- Craig became irate, asking her if she was "f***ing stupid" after she assured him their daughter would be fine.

Katie details another incident when Craig allegedly "lost it" after their daughter hit their TV with a bouncy ball. She says Craig told their daughter she was going to be in "serious trouble" as he held up two knives in the kitchen, rubbing them together. Katie says Craig stopped after he saw how alarmed she was.

Kirkwood hit it big with RTT in 2000, but didn't work much as an actor after the film ... he got a couple roles on "JAG." He now works as an attorney in Los Angeles ... and Katie is a manager at Costco.

Craig tells us the two came to a mutual agreement to separate ... he wouldn't comment on Katie's additional allegations.

Detroit Pistons player Avery Bradley entered into a confidentiality agreement with a reality star who accused him of sexual assault earlier this year -- and at one point, negotiations got as high as $400k, TMZ Sports has learned.

But Bradley's attorney tells TMZ Sports he adamantly denies all wrongdoing -- and only entered into the agreement to prevent false information from being made public.

Here's what we know ... the allegation stems from an incident on May 23 in Cleveland, Ohio. The woman involved claimed Bradley sexually assaulted her while she was passed out drunk.

Bradley was a member of the Boston Celtics at the time of the incident. The Celtics were in Cleveland to play the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals.

After the incident, the woman contacted Bradley and accused him of assaulting her. The two sides came together to work out a deal to keep her quiet and prevent her from releasing any video, photos or audio.

At one point in the negotiations, the parties considered resolving the matter for $400,000 ... but it's unclear what number Bradley ultimately agreed to pay. We're told the final figure was high.

We spoke with Bradley's attorney Brian Wolf of Lavely & Singer who tells us, "Mr. Bradley absolutely denies having engaged in wrongdoing whatsoever. The confidentiality agreement specifically refutes and denies the validity of all allegations of any wrongful conduct by Mr. Bradley. The sole purpose of the agreement was to protect the reputation and privacy of Mr. Bradley and his family."

UFC star Khabib Nurmagomedov just made himself Public Enemy #1 to all the Rocky Balboa fans across the country ... telling TMZ Sports that he's Team Ivan Drago!

Disclaimer: Khabib is 100% Russian ... which almost makes it OK that he rooted against the Italian Stallion in "Rocky IV." Almost.

"He’s from Russia. He's from USSR. Of course I support him," Nurmagomedov -- who's fighting this weekend at UFC 219 -- told us while out in Century City, L.A.

FYI, Drago (and his spawn) are playing a BIG role in "Creed 2" ... but no word if they're gonna avenge the brutal 'L' that Rocky handed Ivan back in the day.

He's already producing and acting in the movie -- but now Mark Wahlberg is making a play to DIRECT his upcoming movie about the life of NBA star Caron Butler.

We broke the story ... Wahlberg has been targeting huge names like Spike Lee, Peter Berg and Barry Jenkins to direct the flick about Butler's journey from dealing drugs to becoming an NBA all-star.

Our sources say Wahlberg is very passionate about the project -- and thinks it could be the perfect movie to make his directorial debut.

Wahlberg gave a clue during an interview with Collider, saying he has "one specific project" he'd love to direct ... teasing "it takes place in Wisconsin. It's a true story."

And guess where Caron Butler grew up? WISCONSIN!!!

Boom.

One problem (that's not really a problem) -- Wahlberg says he thinks Peter Berg is REALLLY going to want the project ... jokingly saying, "I made the mistake of sending him the script."

Holly Holm shocked the world when she slept Ronda Rousey back at UFC 193 ... but Holly says Cris Cyborg -- not Rousey -- is 100% "the biggest challenge" of her career.

Scary thing is ... she's probably right.

"I'm going up in weight and taking on not just a heavier opponent in a bigger weight class, but also a very dominant one," Holm told the guys on "TMZ Live."

She ain't kidding -- Cyborg hasn't lost in over a decade, and KO'd almost every chick brave enough to step into the cage with her.

But Holly ain't backin' down -- "That doesn't mean that she's invincible -- she’s still human-ish."

Bonus: Since she's moving up for the Dec. 30 scrap, we had to ask Holm if she's cool to get her grub on over the holiday weekend.

Short answer -- hell no!

Kenny G says Donald Trump's got some legit golf skills ... but in a 1-on-1 matchup on the green, it'd be GAME OVER for POTUS.

Here's the deal -- Kenny's been tearin' it up on PGA's celebrity circuit for years ... putting in work against the cream of the crop, including 45.

So, when we spotted the jazz legend at LAX, we had to ask if he had the edge on Trump after seeing him tee off up close and personal.

"I'm better!" Kenny told TMZ Sports ... adding that, "I don't run the country."

Jonathan Vilma ain't mincing words when it comes to the Patriots' James Harrison pickup ... saying Steelers intel is "definitely" the only reason Deebo's in New England.

"(Bill) Belichick doesn't need their playbook -- he's like 5-0 against them," Vilma told TMZ Sports at LAX. "What he needs is just the little things."

Jonathan gave us some examples of what those things might be ... and we gotta say, the Saints legend sounds like he knows what he's talking about.

Colin Kaepernick's done so much good this past year ... the NFL should lose its 'Man of the Year' award and give the man a damn centennial trophy -- so says rock legend Tom Morello.

We got the Rage/Audioslave guitarist out in West Hollywood ... and he told us Kaepernick's work off the field makes the QB an all-time great in philanthropy and community impact.

"He's clearly NFL Man of the Year, no doubt. NFL Man of the Century!" Tom told TMZ Sports.

One problem -- Kaep ain't even NOMINATED for the Walter Payton award since he's not signed to an NFL team.

Get your tissues ready ...

Tyron Woodley's mother surprised the UFC champ on the "TMZ Sports" show to thank him for the incredible Xmas gift ... a brand new home in Missouri!!!!

And what ensues is beautiful.

Tyron broke the news about the house on social media over the weekend -- but we hadn't heard from his mom ... until today.

"I'm grateful to god for you," Tyron's mom said ... "You have been an amazing son. You're an awesome man and a great dad."

There's more ... it's emotional.