TMZ Sports - Page 50

NBA players need to stop throwing punches and start shaking hands ... so says the guy who knows firsthand what can happen when you get in a fight on the court.

TMZ Sports spoke with L.A. Clippers star Danilo Gallinari ... who broke his hand throwing a punch in an exhibition in Italy this past off-season. He was also present when the Clips got in a scuffle with the Rockets earlier this week.

D.G. says he's vowed to stop the violence ever since the summer incident ... and says the rest of the NBA should follow his lead if they know what's best for 'em.

We also asked about whether Austin Rivers can actually scrap or if he's all talk ... and you gotta check out his answer.

Scumbag convicted sexual predator Larry Nassar wrote a letter to the court begging to end the witness statements ... saying the terrible stories of sexual assault are damaging his mental health.

Don't worry ... the judge shot his pathetic ass down.

The former Team USA gymnastics doctor was convicted on 7 felony sexual assault charges -- and his victims were invited to share impact stories to the court before the sentencing phase.

So far, 50 women shared their stories about how Nassar molested them while telling the women he was performing routine medical exams.

Some women have told Nassar he broke them emotionally. Some women shared how they considered killing themselves. There are still 51 more women scheduled to speak.

But Nassar wants out ... and wrote a letter to the court begging officials to make it stop -- calling the whole thing a "media circus" that was "detrimental to his mental health."

Judge Rosemarie Aquilina fired back in open court -- telling Nassar, "This isn’t worth the paper it’s written on, there’s no truth in there, it’s delusional" -- noting he agreed to hear the witness statements as part of his plea deal.

"I didn't orchestrate this, you did," she told Nassar.

"Spending four or five days listening to them is significantly minor considering the hours of pleasure you’ve had at their expense and ruining their lives."

Eli Manning still has strong supporters on the Giants -- with rookie running back Wayne Gallman telling TMZ Sports he's "ride or die" with #10 ... despite having the #2 pick in the draft.

Gallman was one of the bright spots for the G-Men this season in their 3-13 season -- with the 4th round pick out of Clemson flashing some real promise toward the end of the season.

Now, with the team at a crossroad -- stick with Eli or draft a QB -- Gallman is ready to pick a side ... and he's rockin' with the guy who has 2 Super Bowl rings.

UFC pound-for-pound king Demetrious Johnson says it's "an honor" Anderson Silva called him the greatest fighter of all time -- but tells TMZ Sports he does NOT think he's G.O.A.T. status.

That said, when the guys on "TMZ Sports" (airs weeknights on FS1) really pressed the flyweight champ for an answer -- he did admit he's getting close.

"I don't believe that," Demetrious told us ... before adding, "I do believe that I have, out of all the champions and all the opposition I've fought ... it's getting there."

FYI -- Mighty Mouse recently broke Anderson's UFC title defense record with his 11th straight ... but dude might be too humble to ever say he's the best.

Hulk Hogan may have retired from wrestling, but someone powerful is twisting his arm hard ... to run for U.S. Senate ... something he says doesn't interest him, but he made it clear to us that could change.

Republican strategist and former Trump adviser Roger Stone is urging Hulk to challenge Florida Governor Rick Scott in the Republican primary.

Hulk says he hasn't returned Stone's calls or the various calls from others echoing the same sentiment. He's been silent ... until now.

Listen closely ... he says no, but it's clearly not a no in perpetuity.

One thing's clear ... the former WWE champ says if he throws his hat in the ring, he's going to Washington.

WWE superstar Roman Reigns is 100% denying that he bought steroids from an imprisoned PED kingpin ... claiming he has no idea who the man or his company is.

“I have never heard of Richard Rodriguez or Wellness Fitness Nutrition," Reigns said in a statement to ProWrestlingSheet.

In a recent phone interview from jail, Rodriguez fingered Reigns -- along with Mark Wahlberg and Josh Duhamel -- as celebs who purchased 'roids from him using aliases.

Roman's calling BS -- saying he learned his lesson after being flagged for a WWE wellness policy violation about 2 years ago ... adding that he's since "passed 11 tests as part of WWE’s independent drug testing program."

NY Giants safety Landon Collins wants to help the Alabama sorority girl at the center of a racist video scandal, telling TMZ Sports ... he'd even take her to dinner to educate her.

The woman Collins is talking about is Harley Barber -- who posted 2 disgusting video rants in which she spewed the n-word multiple times. To make it worse, she mocked Martin Luther King Jr. Day too.

Barber has since been expelled from the University of Alabama and kicked out of her sorority, Alpha Phi, but Collins tells us ... he sees this as an opportunity to educate and inform her.

This issue hits close to home for Landon since he attended 'Bama and played football there, and sent a message to his alma mater earlier Wednesday.

UFC champ Tyron Woodley recently told Joe Rogan he doesn't really like fighting, "I'm just good at it."

Yeah, that's not true. He LOVES it.

Especially when he's smashing dudes out of consciousness.

Woodley clarified his comments on "The Hollywood Beatdown" ... waxing poetically about why there's no better feeling in the world than knocking an opponent out cold.

Make sure to check the full ep. when it drops on Friday (subscribe to the TMZ Sports YouTube page) -- when Tyron talks about how his beef with Conor McGregor got very real.

Meantime, here's a video of Woodley doing what he does best ... destroying people.

Mark Wahlberg, Josh Duhamel and WWE superstar Roman Reigns were all dimed out as alleged customers of a now-imprisoned steroids dealer.

The dealer, Richard Rodriguez, named all 3 celebs during a phone interview he did, from prison. Rodriguez claims they used aliases to make the steroid purchases.

Rodriguez is being investigated by the DEA, and is already facing charges for conspiracy to distribute anabolic steroids and money laundering. He was indicted and arrested last year. A judge revoked his bail after prosecutors say they caught him lying about travel plans.

Clippers honcho Jerry West says the incident with the Houston Rockets is "just one of those things that happens in sports" ... and chalks it all up to emotions and testosterone.

TMZ Sports spoke with The Logo in Bev Hills ... and he told us he's not worried about beefing up security at Staples Center after the alleged post-game altercation that went down earlier this week.

West also praised Houston's Chris Paul -- and said the former Clippers player is "somebody that I care about a lot."

West shot down the Arron Afflalo vs. Nemanja Bjelica incident as a "fake fight" too ... because Afflalo didn't land his haymaker punch!!!

Dennis Rodman has checked into rehab ... again ... in the wake of a drunk driving arrest, his rep confirms.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Rodman was busted in Newport Beach, CA over the weekend -- after cops say he was swerving all over the road and blasting loud music while intoxicated.

We talked to Rodman's rep, Darren Prince -- who says The Worm has entered Turning Point Rehabilitation Center in Paterson, New Jersey to deal with his alcohol issues.

Rodman has been to rehab before -- once in 2014 ... and he was also featured on 'Celebrity Rehab' with Dr. Drew back in 2010.

UFC legend Anderson Silva says he's NOT the greatest MMA fighter of all time -- telling TMZ Sports that honor goes to Demetrious Johnson.

In his prime, Silva had 17 consecutive wins -- with 10 consecutive title defenses -- leading Dana White to call him the "Tom Brady of the UFC." The dude was a machine.

But, that was before Johnson went on his MMA run ... ripping off 13 consecutive victories over guys like Ray Borg, Henry Cejudo and Joseph Benavidez.

DJ's the reigning flyweight champ -- and last year, broke Silva's record for most consecutive UFC title defenses.

Danica Patrick says she's taken out an "insurance policy" on her biological clock ... putting her eggs on ice to guarantee herself a shot at motherhood.

"A couple years ago, I did an (in vitro fertilization) treatment to freeze my eggs because I'm getting older and I drive race cars," Danica said on "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast.

FYI, Patrick is 35 ... and plans to retire from racing after the Indy 500 in May.

But Danica didn't wanna take any chances while her career was still full throttle ... so she made the choice to extract a couple dozen mini-Danicas during her relationship with Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

She says the treatment sucked -- but was ultimately successful.

The mother of Brian Urlacher's 12-year-old son claims the ex-NFL star has conspired with attorneys and a news reporter to paint her as a murderer ... and now she's suing for $125 MILLION.

The woman behind the suit is Tyna Karageorge -- who had a child with Urlacher in 2005. She later married Ryan Karageorge, who died from a gunshot wound to the head in Dec. 2016.

Tyna had told police she and Ryan had been arguing on the night of the fatal shooting -- and at one point, he reached for a pistol in her purse and shot himself.

In her suit, Tyna claims Urlacher -- along with his lawyers and a reporter for the Chicago Tribune -- concocted a diabolical plot to convince officials and the public that the shooting was NOT a suicide, but rather Tyna murdered Ryan.

Tyna claims Urlacher called the shots in the plot hoping to ultimately get custody of their son.

According to court documents filed in Illinois, Tyna wants $25 mil in compensatory damages and another $100 mil in punitive damages.

They balled out for 60 on Monday, now LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball followed up to combine for 36 points in Wednesday's game in Lithuania!!

Both Balls got starting nods for their 4th pro Lithuanian game -- their BC Vytautas squad took on Šakių Vytis as part of the 3rd game in the Big Baller Brand Challenge.

Gelo led the team with 22 points and 7 rebounds ... while Melo added 14 points and 2 rebounds.

For what it's worth ... Vytautas won the game 93-89.

What happens when the king of extreme sports meets one of the Beatles?

IMPROMPTU DANCE PARTY!!!

Tony Hawk ran into Paul McCartney Tuesday night at the Hollywood bash for his daughter Stella McCartney's clothing line ... and shared the hilarious play-by-play of their encounter.

"Hi Paul, I'm Tony Hawk. You signed a skateboard for our skatepark foundation and I wanted to say thank you."

"Him: 'You're welcome, let's skate!'"

"... Then this happened. So tonight I either danced awkwardly with Paul McCartney or we did sick stationary slalom moves."

Looked like a little bit of both ... with the legends groovin' to a live Grimes set.

TMZ Sports spoke with Tony the day after the event ... and he admitted to being a little starstruck by Sir Paul and another big-time celeb.