TMZ Sports - Page 50

Scottie Pippen ain't playin' in the All-Star Game this weekend, but he already scored ... a freakin' awesome $30,000 luxury Swiss watch -- at a celeb packed party last night.

Haute Living and Larsa Pippen threw Scottie a party at Bungalow 1 at Chateau Marmont in L.A. to celebrate his Hall of Fame career.

Scottie -- along with guests like Kourtney Kardashian, Ludacris, Omarion and L.A. Reid -- ate (steak and salmon) and drank super expensive Louis XIII cognac.

Best part of the night (at least for Pip) ... when HL presented him with a Roger Dubuis Titanium Excalibur 45 timepiece -- a watch they tell us goes for $30k.

Now Scottie's got a watch to go with those 6 rings.

Tyron Woodley's sick and tired of all the drama between him and Dana White ... but says he's finally ready to let bygones be bygones with the UFC honcho.

Tyron turns his Namaste all the way up in this week's episode of "The Hollywood Beatdown" -- explaining why he's not only ready to cool it with Dana, but also Nate Diaz, Rafael dos Anjos and all the other fighters who've been throwin' shade on him.

That said, Woodley ain't afraid to check the celebs that need it -- including LaVar Ball and Blake Griffin's baby mama.

The UFC champ also weighs in on Damon "Snacks" Harrison, the NY Giants star who told us he'd kick Stipe Miocic's ass ... and tells us about a different NFL player who he says could take a UFC fight RIGHT NOW.

Lonzo Ball tells TMZ Sports there's no animosity whatsoever with new Lakers teammate Isaiah Thomas -- despite the fact they might be competing for the same job.

Lonzo -- who was at a Big Baller Brand pop-up shop in L.A. -- is sidelined right now with a sprained MCL and Thomas is playing the point guard spot while he's out.

Thomas' agent has made it clear Isaiah is demanding a starting role -- meaning he won't surrender the job to Lonzo without a fight.

Dodgers pitcher Kenta Maeda has a pretty clear New Year's resolution: scaring the living hell outta his translator!!

Since the calendar hit 2018, Kenta's been on a tear messing with his language bro, Will, in the most hilarious ways possible.

On Thursday, the Japanese star punk'd him with a jump scare (again) ... but his best work had to be the classic water bottle coin trick (c'mon, bro ... that one was obvious).

Will's being a great sport through it all ... probably 'cause he's plotting a mistranslating scheme for when the season starts up again.

Ronda Rousey is unfit to join the elite Dora Milaje guard and protect King T'Challa from all enemies, because, according to one of the stars of "Black Panther," ONLY WINNERS ARE ALLOWED.

FYI -- the Dora Milaje is an all-female squad of ass-kickers who are sworn to protect the king (Black Panther) -- and basically beat the hell out of anyone he wants.

We talked to Janeshia Adams-Ginyard at LAX -- she plays a member of the Dora Milaje in the movie -- and asked her to put together her real-life version of the fighting force.

We got some usual suspects like Cyborg and Laila Ali, but when we asked about Ronda, the panther claws came out, and Ginyard, who's a pro wrestler and fighter herself veto'd Rowdy.

It's cold out there in Wakanda.

The man behind some of the most iconic mixtapes in rap history says Lonzo Ball could be the next "rap king" ... and tells TMZ Sports he wants to work with the Lakers star.

DJ Drama -- whose uber-popular Gangsta Grillz projects have featured rappers like Lil Wayne, Gucci Mane and Meek Mill -- says he listened to Zo's "Born 2 Ball" album ... and he sees major potential in the BBB MC.

Not only does Drama give props ... he wants to get Zo AND LaVar in the studio for his next G.G. tape ... with Papa Ball co-hosting the project.

UFC fan favorite Derrick Lewis says he hasn't banged for WEEKS ... and it's all because of Ronda Rousey.

You might remember -- Derrick spoke with TMZ Sports at the end of January ... and when we asked him about Ronda, he told us he was still hot for her.

Yeah ... his wife didn't like that.

"She's mad. She ain't gave me ass ever since I mentioned her again in the last interview."

The good news -- the Black Beast has a plan to win her back at UFC Fight Night Austin this weekend!!

"I have to get this win so I can buy her something real nice, and hopefully I can get some ass next week."

Real talk -- Derrick told us he's made 1 major improvement since he lost to Mark Hunt ... and we (and all of mankind) will be rooting for him.

You know you've got WAY too much money when you drop $1,290 on a Gucci fanny pack -- just like Brooklyn Nets center Timofey Mozgov!!

Remember, the L.A. Lakers signed Mozgov to a $64 MILLION contract back in 2016 -- so, why the hell not blow some of that cash on a ridiculous, unnecessary fashion ... right, Timofey?

We spotted the 7-footer rockin' The Rock's favorite '90s accessory at LAX on Thursday ... and later found out Gucci's flippin' 'em for almost $1.3k on their website!!

As you can see, it's technically sized to be a "belt bag" -- but not for a behemoth like Tim.

Still ... wonder what he keeps in there?

FYI, that's a thousand-dollar Philipp Plein backpack he's got on, too.

Tim also used to play for the Cleveland Cavs ... so we got his take on LeBron's new-look squad before he bounced (probably to Rodeo Drive).

Serena Williams surprised a group of young black girls with a private screening of "Black Panther" on Thursday -- telling the crowd, "This is a huge moment for us and for black people."

Serena and her hubby, Alexis Ohanian, organized the event in San Fran with roughly 40 members of the youth group Black Girls CODE -- which provides technology education to African-American girls.

The twist, the girls had NO IDEA Serena was going to be in the theater to watch with them -- and when she walked in the room, the crowd went nuts!! It was awesome!!

"We've never had a superhero movie," Serena told the group ... "So, we're so excited. I feel like I've waited my whole life for this."

By the way, Serena says the whole thing was Alexis' idea ... but jokingly added, "It was my idea, too."

You can tell James Harden was genuinely touched when Nipsey Hussle called him out in the middle of an L.A. street last night ... and bragged about his success right to our cameras.

Hussle is an L.A. native -- loves the city -- and couldn't be more proud that Harden grew up here too.

In fact, Hussle called out one of the schools Harden attended growing up -- Audubon Middle School -- which is located in the Crenshaw District, near several businesses Hussle owns.

"The n**ga that broke the NBA records for the highest motherf**king contract ever went to Audubon," Hussle says proudly!

Hussle is referring to the $228 million deal Harden signed in 2017, the highest ever at the time.

DON'T TRY TO CATCH A FALLING KITCHEN KNIFE ... or you could slice your tendon open like ex-Detroit Lions tight end Joe Fauria.

You remember Fauria ... he blew up a few years ago over his awesome TD dances (including the legendary 'NSYNC "Bye Bye Bye" celebration).

But he wasn't dancing yesterday -- when he tried to grab a falling knife. The good news, he grabbed it -- the bad news, the blade ripped through two of his fingers, severing a tendon in the process.

The 28-year-old ex-UCLA star went to the hospital where he got stitched up and bandaged.

Fauria issued a statement on the whole thing -- "PSA: do not attempt to catch falling kitchen knife. The 'catch everything' motto is great for football. Not so much for life."

Man, Terrell Owens couldn't catch a break Thursday night in Hollywood ...

The Hall of Fame bound (finally!) WR was leaving a huge party at Warwick nightclub when he got hit up by the dreaded rose guy.*

*You know the rose guy ... they exist outside of every major club and restaurant and try to shame you into buying a flower.

Owens told the guy he had no cash but would happily pay with a credit card. Flower guy shut that down.

Owens tried to make a deal saying he'd pay the dude back next week. Flower guy shut that down, too.

And get this, Flower Guy also talked smack -- telling Owens, "I've been looking for your beggin' ass!"

By the way, the party -- thrown by The Farmacy (a medical cannabis business) -- was poppin' with stars like Fabolous, 2 Chainz, Ty Dolla $ign and more.

LaVar Ball is back in the U.S. -- and he's digging in his heels on his threats to the Lakers ... sign my other sons or I'm taking Lonzo Ball somewhere else.

"Man, who don't want they sons to play all on the same team?" Ball told us in front of his reality TV show crew at LAX ... "Name one father who don't want they sons to play on the same team?"

We asked if Lonzo would REALLY leave if LaVar doesn't get his way -- he looked at the camera and said, "I'll let y'all figure that out."

When it came to Magic Johnson, LaVar tried to deflect -- but ultimately told us he's not afraid of the Lakers' President of Basketball Operations.

The comments come in the wake of reports Magic was upset with LaVar over Ball's criticism of Lakers' head coach Luke Walton.

In the end, Ball says he still believes Lonzo will be the NBA's Rookie of the Year and even gave us a mid-season grade for his son.

Tiger Woods is still going strong with reported GF Erica Herman -- judging by the fact they just had a fancy dinner date at the hottest sushi joint in L.A.

The two were spotted leaving Nobu in Malibu on Thursday evening -- hours after Tiger wrapped up his first round at the Genesis Open in the Pacific Palisades.

Tiger didn't hit great at the tourney -- yet still managed to finish his first round just 1 over par.

He didn't appear to be in the best mood on the way out of Nobu -- but at least the company was good!

Woods and Herman have been linked together since October -- when they were spotted together at the President's Cup.

Conor McGregor hasn't stepped inside the Octagon in over 15 MONTHS ... and UFC star Khabib Nurmagomedov says that's proof he ain't fighting EVER again.

At least, not in MMA.

"I don’t think he gonna come back," Khabib told TMZ Sports outside Jay Glazer's MMA gym in Hollywood.

"When is Conor compete last time in MMA? Long time. He's boxing guy."

Khabib says McGregor's team is focused on a rematch with Floyd Mayweather ... instead of a real fight against him or Tony Ferguson -- who he's facing at UFC 223 in April.

Khabib also told us his contract for the Ferguson scrap explicitly states they're fighting for the "real belt" -- which means the UFC is "100%" stripping Conor of his lightweight title.

FYI, Dana White still hasn't made an official decision on Conor's championship status or his future with the UFC.

Stay tuned ...

Chicago Cubs star Anthony Rizzo choked back tears while delivering a powerful speech at the vigil for those lost in the tragic shooting at his H.S. alma mater ... and he's calling for the government to make a change.

Rizzo -- who attended Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL -- addressed the crowd mourning the 17 people killed in Wednesday's massacre ... promising to do whatever he can to help his community.

"I've been very impressed with talking to the students and how they're taking care of each other and how they're coming together," Rizzo said.

"I want you to know that you're not alone in your grief."

Rizzo added "I'm a baseball player, but I'm also an American, I'm a Floridian, and I'm a Parklander for life."

"While I don't have all the answers, I know that something has to change before this is visited by another community and another community and another community."

We also talked to PGA golfer Nicholas Thompson -- who was born and raised in the area, and graduated from Marjory Stoneman Douglas H.S. -- about the impact the shooting has had on his family, and how he plans to help the community heal.