TMZ Sports - Page 50

Drake was talkin' trash about the Houston Rockets Friday night during a game in Toronto, but after the Raptors snapped Houston's 17-game winning streak he became super gracious and invited his foes to chow down at his restaurant.

Before sharing a meal, the rapper was front at center for 'Drake Night' at the game, where there was a big giveaway for fans -- special shirts and what not.

After Toronto achieved victory by a score of 108 to 105, Drake invited Chris Paul, James Harden, Trevor Ariza, Clint Capela, Gerald Green and other members of the Rockets to have dinner at his new restaurant, Pick 6ix. The dinner was sponsored and hosted by D'USSE and CP3.

Deontay Wilder is sick and tired of waiting for Anthony Joshua ... so the Bronze Bomber's calling out AJ in the most savage way possible -- by declaring WAR.

"No more excuses, no more waiting, no more dodging me ... it's time. It's time to see who's the best [...] who's the baddest man on the planet," Wilder told TMZ Sports.

You know the deal -- the world's top 2 heavyweights have been circling each other for years ... but haven't been able to strike a deal.

But Deontay told us that's finally gonna change after Joshua fights Joseph Parker on March 31 ... 'cause there'll be no one left but him.

There's more... Wilder claims he ain't even sweating AJ, saying Luis Ortiz -- AKA the dude he just MERKED -- is way better!!

So, are fight negotiations underway?? We asked ...

Billionaire dude Alec Gores says Barack Obama's "NBA Junior" idea ain't gonna work ... and if the NBA and NCAA want to fix college basketball there's only one way -- PAY THE PLAYERS!!

Gores is worth a cool $2 bil so, when we got him out on the town in L.A., we wanted to know if he thought it was time for another billion dollar entity -- the NCAA -- to break bread with their players.

"Absolutely they should pay," Gores said ... "It will reduce corruption, they should get paid. Period, end of the story."

Obama has floated the idea the NBA should create a junior league for younger players -- and when we asked Gores about that he showed the ex-Prez absolutely ZERO love.

"No. I don't like that."

Boxing champion Mikey Garcia says he 100% believes he could beat Floyd Mayweather if they fought today ... because at 41, Garcia thinks father time has caught up with TBE.

Mikey sat down with TMZ Sports during training for Saturday's fight against Sergey Lipinets (tonight on Showtime) and when we asked who his dream fight would be against, he basically called Mayweather out.

"Now it's a different time now, 'cause he's older. I've seen his age start to get to him just a little bit."

Want more boxer-on-boxer shade? Mickey says he actually invited Floyd to spar with him once, and according to Garcia, Money wasn't having any of it.

"He was here. He was watching me spar and I asked him to get in the ring and he said he wasn't ready."

Take a step back, Ronda Rousey haters -- Diamond Dallas Page says Rowdy's gonna be just fine ... even though her mic work for WWE's been sorta shaky thus far.

"Give the girl a break, man," DDP told TMZ Sports. "It's a lot of pressure going in, but that girl thrives on pressure."

DDP would know -- the pro wrestling legend says he faced the same acting issues coming into the biz ... but eventually settled in, just like he thinks Ronda will once she gets some more reps under her belt.

Of course, some athletes are born entertainers ... and DDP says Ronda's ex-UFC bro, Conor McGregor, definitely has that gift.

"If anyone really gets the showmanship, it's McGregor."

But, will WWE fans ever get to hear Conor slay the mic inside the squared circle? DDP ain't so sure about that ...

Bellator MMA star Justin Wren says he just suffered the worst physical beating of his life -- but it didn't go down inside a cage!

Justin's fought 15 heavyweight behemoths in his career, but tells TMZ Sports none of those beatdowns come close to what Mount Kilimanjaro did to him a few weeks ago.

In case you missed it, "The Big Pygmy" scaled the near-20,000-foot mountain with Super Bowl champ Chris Long and some of his NFL bros ... all to raise awareness for the water crisis in Africa.

Wren says that at one point, they had to climb for 20 HOURS STRAIGHT ... and some of their crew were forced to tap out (don't worry, they were stretched down).

But the coolest part of the trek -- Wren says he signed his new Bellator contract at Kili's summit!

Ya gotta hear the play-by-play ...

The entire city of Houston is gonna shun Kenny Smith after watching this clip* ... 'cause the Jet tells TMZ Sports why LeBron should NOT join the Rockets in free agency this summer.

We spoke with Smith about reports claiming LBJ could bail on Cleveland for the Sixers, Lakers or Rockets this off-season ... and he says moving to H-Town would be unfair.

Smith says Bron Bron can keep his throne on the shores of Lake Erie and still compete for a ring every year ... 'cause he can just recruit players to Cleveland, instead of the other way around.

*We're kidding. Everyone loves the Jet.

Meanwhile, LeBron looked awfully comfortable and happy chillin' at his L.A. crib while in town to play the Clippers and the Lakers.

FYI, L.A. was a nice 70 degrees and sunny today. Cleveland was 32 and snowy.

Tyrann Mathieu says it "sucks" that Richard Sherman has to go through a public breakup with Seattle -- considering the legendary run he had with the Seahawks.

"All those guys in Seattle really set a new standard of how guys wanna play DB," Mathieu said on the "TMZ Sports" TV show.

Mathieu says Sherman is still a BEAST and there are plenty of teams "that deserve a guy like him" -- so don't worry about Richard's NFL future.

You can tell Tyrann has serious respect for Sherman and the entire L.O.B.

O.J. Simpson never took the stand in his trial of the century, but his upcoming TV special is as close as you're gonna get to that ... according to Soledad O’Brien who's hosting it.

Soledad tells us 'The Lost Confession?' is the most bizarre 2 hours of TV she's ever worked on for a bunch of reasons. For starters, she says Simpson's mannerisms are suspect. We know ... understatement, but in particular, she was struck by the timing of his laughter.

Also, Soledad's stumped by Simpson's description of an accomplice named "Charlie." She points out investigators had zero knowledge of such a person -- but she's got a few theories.

We also told you about O.J.'s lawyer calling Judith Regan, the woman who published his book, 'If I Did It,' and straight-up said Simpson murdered Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman ... this according to Regan herself.

Here's Akon having more fun hooping than any of us ever will -- holding court with a SQUAD of hot chicks in bikinis and heels!!!

From the jump, you can tell Akon's not playin' ... showing off some serious lift as he posterizes his opponent in a green bikini thong. Nice D, young lady.

Not sure if that rim's regulation -- but either way, seems like the video vixens were impressed with the popstar's ups.

In case you're wondering why this went down -- the woman who shot the video, ATL-based casting director Lala Means, says "the girls thought they could beat Akon on the court."

MMA's 1-handed killer is BACK -- and this time, he says he ain't stopping til he gets to the UFC.

We spoke with former XFC lightweight champ Nick Newell -- who retired back in 2015 -- before he returns to the cage Friday night at LFA 35 ... and when we asked if UFC was still the goal, he didn't mince words.

Specifically, Nick fired back at Dana White -- who previously said it was "craziness" to fight with 1 fist.

"I am crazy ... and I'll wipe out that (UFC lightweight) division," Newell told TMZ Sports.

"Gimme the opportunity, send me over the papers, and it's gonna happen."

Nick's always been gunnin' for the big show ... and with other 1-handed athletes like NFL prospect Shaquem Griffin showing out right now, he says there's never been a better time for him to make his case.

John Bowlen -- son of Broncos owner Pat Bowlen -- has cut a plea deal in his DUI case ... the one where he told a cop, "So you know who my father is?"

As we previously reported, the 31-year-old -- who used to work for the Broncos -- was busted in July 2017 when cops say he was blazing down a California highway around 100 mph while drunk.

And to make matters worse ... he had a puppy in the backseat.

Now, we've learned ... John appeared in a San Luis Obispo court Thursday and pled no contest to driving under the influence. The good news for Bowlen? No jail time.

He ain't completely off the hook ... the judge sentenced him to 3 years probation and ordered him to pay $2,415 in fines and other costs. He must also complete a DUI education program.

FYI -- this wasn't Bowlen's first brush with the law ... back in 2015, he was arrested for domestic violence and told officials he was the "blood of the city."

Ex-NFL star Mark Gastineau broke down and cried live on the radio when describing the toll football has taken on his mind and body ... and he's begging Roger Goodell for help.

He can't remember names. He can barely get out of bed. His mind wanders to dark thoughts in the middle of the night ... and he opened up about everything on "WOR Sports Zone with Pete McCarthy."

"I'll tell you Pete, it's not good," Gastineau said about his daily struggle ... "When I'm laying in bed until 3, 4 or 5 ... it's not good."

The 61-year-old -- a 5-time Pro Bowler during his 10-year career -- says it breaks his heart that he needs his wife to take care of him. He can't enjoy life the same way he used to.

Gastineau has previously said he was diagnosed with dementia, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease -- and points the finger at football.

O.J. Simpson had his lawyer call Judith Regan, the woman who published his book, 'If I Did It,' and said flat-out Simpson murdered Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman ... this according to Regan herself.

This is the most damning part of the special, "OJ Simpson: The Lost Confession?," which will air Sunday on Fox. TMZ got this exclusive clip. BTW, the clip is an outtake ... it will not appear on the show.

It's really stunning ... Regan says Simpson's lawyer said the book couldn't be titled "I Did It" because Simpson needed cover in dealing with his children.

The Miz thinks Ronda Rousey's been AWESOME in WWE so far ... but says she's making enemies with the "wrong people" -- HER BOSSES.

We got Miz and his beautiful wife, Maryse, leaving Il Pastio in L.A. the other night ... and had to ask about Ronda -- who's been rampin' up her ring work on "Monday Night Raw."

The A-Lister gave Rousey 2 thumbs up ... but warned that body-slammin' her superiors (including one through a damn table) ain't gonna end well for her.

"I think she's messing with the wrong people in Triple H and Stephanie McMahon," Miz told TMZ Sports.

We know -- you think Miz is hammin' it up for his character, right??

Watch Ronda woman-handle Steph ... then get back to us.

Floyd Mayweather will start his MMA training with a bona fide UFC champ -- with Tyron Woodley saying he's spoken with TBE and has agreed to get him ready for his debut in the ocatgon.

"Floyd Mayweather is interested in taking an MMA bout, maybe a few of 'em," Woodley said on "The Hollywood Beatdown."

"So, who better than The Chosen One to teach him the ropes on how we get off the ropes and get in the cage!"

Tyron and Floyd have been friendly for a while -- and when the two connected in L.A. during NBA All-Star weekend, Tyron says they decided to work together to get Floyd MMA-ready.

By the way, Tyron says Floyd can ABSOLUTELY WIN -- even if his opponent is Conor McGregor -- and he's got a real game plan to help Mayweather get that W.

There's more ... Tyron also weighs in on Canelo Alvarez's PED excuse (Mexican cow meat) and claps back at rapper Tekashi69.