TMZ Sports - Page 50

The Clippers shipped Blake Griffin's ass out to Detroit, but Blake's getting the last laugh … 'cause he's 100% "happy" in the Motor City -- so says Austin Rivers.

"It's a fresh start for him. He's been here for a long time," Rivers -- Blake's longtime Clippers teammate -- told us at LAX.

Plus, Austin says Blake still gets to kick it in L.A. during the offseason ... so he's got all summer to mingle with his celeb homies (wassup, Kendall?).

Saquon Barkley has a little bro ... and it's clear freak athletic talent runs in the family!

The top RB in the draft was working out with his high school sophomore brother, Ali Barkley -- and showing off their insane bounce.

Ali crushed a box jump that looked like it was over 4 feet tall -- and then Saquon 1-upped him ... by doing a freakin' ninja jump OVER the boxes!

In case you're wondering, Ali is 5'11", 190 lbs and will be a junior RB at Whitehall HS in PA this fall (class of 2020).

Ali attends the same high school where Saquon dominated back in the day -- rushing for 1,851 yards and 24 TDs in his senior year ('14-'15).

Ali's reportedly already getting interest from schools like Penn State, Pitt, Rutgers and Temple despite only playing in 5 games as a sophomore.

Boxing champ Jermell Charlo claims he and his crew were denied entry to a fancy NYC gym Thursday night because he's black ... and he captured the standoff with the front desk staffers on video.

Charlo (the light middleweight champion of the world) and 5 people hit up Life Time Athletic gym in Manhattan to see his brother Jermall Charlo (who's fighting at Barclays Center in Brooklyn this weekend).

Problem is ... Charlo claims he was stopped at the front desk because staffers claimed he "smelled like weed."

Charlo insists neither he nor anyone in his crew had smoked and the allegation was just a bogus excuse to keep a group of black guys out of the gym.

During the exchange, Charlo continued to challenge the front desk staff about why they're turning him away -- and at one point, a staffer tells the group she's calling 911.

Charlo eventually left -- but shot video of police cars in the parking lot. Sources tells us police were called and did respond to the gym, but no report was taken.

If Kawhi Leonard is really unhappy on the Spurs and wants out, Clippers star Patrick Beverley says they'd LOVE him in L.A., telling TMZ Sports getting Kawhi would be like "Hitting the lottery."

We got Beverley in Beverly Hills -- it was his first ever TMZ shot (precious moments) -- and asked him about the rumors that Leonard is done in San Antonio and L.A. could be a landing spot.

"We'd hit the lottery with that, but those decisions aren't up to me!"

PB made it clear, he likes his current team if healthy, but still wasn't shy about gushing at the prospect of adding a 2-time All-Star and former NBA Finals MVP to the squad.

Pete Carroll is not slamming the door on the Seattle Seahawks signing Colin Kaepernick -- claiming "the discussion and the opportunity is still open."

Of course, there's definitely a backstory here ... Seattle pulled the plug on a workout with Colin earlier this month because he wouldn't agree to end his kneeling demonstration.

But, Carroll appeared on Sports Radio KJR on Thursday and essentially said Colin was still in the mix.

"We are trying to figure it out," Carroll said ... "The discussion and the opportunity is still open."

"We're just trying to figure out what's best for us."

Carroll said he hadn't spoken with Kaepernick yet and was "not going there" when asked specifically about Colin's protest.

Soccer superstar Neymar ain't letting a busted metatarsal slow him down ... grabbing his pimp cane and his hot actress girlfriend and hitting the mall in Rio de Janeiro for some retail therapy.

The 26-year-old phenom had a smile on his face during the outing with Bruna Marquezine -- though he made her hold the shopping bag for obvious reasons.

Neymar is probably the biggest star in Brazil -- so naturally he was mobbed by fans ... but he stopped and took selfies for most people who wanted one.

As for the injury, Neymar hurt himself back in February playing for PSG ... but he's been rehabbing like crazy and has said he hopes to play in the World Cup this summer instead of watching from home.

Usain Bolt's futbol dreams just got red-carded by one of the biggest stars in American soccer ... who says The World's Fastest Man would get smoked in the MLS!!

We got Alexi Lalas at LAX, and filled him in on Usain telling Major League soccer teams to, "bring the big contracts."

Alexi loves that Bolt's trying to do something different ... but the Team USA legend clearly ain't buying Usain as the next Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

"Just because you're a good athlete doesn't mean you're good in a particular sport," Lalas told TMZ Sports.

"Soccer's a lot different than just being fast and being able to kick the ball."

Ouch.

That said, Alexi says he'd love to see Usain put his best foot-y forward -- just as long as him and Ibra don't squad up!

Tristan Thomson's temporarily out of the dog house, physically anyway, and he couldn't look happier.

Tristan was grinning from ear-to-ear as he boarded the Cleveland Cavaliers team plane Thursday, heading to Indiana for Game 3 of their playoff series with the Pacers.

He could be smiling 'cause he's a new dad, or because the Cavs tied the series 1-1 last night. Or maybe he's just happy to get outta Dodge after getting busted cheating.

Considering he hasn't been playing much, we'll go with door #3. As we've reported, his relationship with Khloe Kardashian is in ruins at the moment, and after her family left town there's no buffer between them.

Tom Brady shot down retirement rumors and insisted he would play football in 2018 when talking with his buddy Jim Gray ... but there's a catch.

Tom and Jim have been friends for years -- Tom does his radio show every week during the NFL season ... so when we spotted Jim at LAX, we had to ask about the great "Will Tom retire?" debate.

That's when Jim reminded us what Brady told him right before the Super Bowl in February.

"I asked him a question on the air ... I said, 'Regardless of the outcome are you going to return and play football next year?' And he said, 'You WILL see me playing football in 2018.'"

"So those are the words out of his mouth."

Ex-NFL running back Ahman Green has plead guilty to disorderly conduct in his child abuse case ... stemming from a June 2017 incident in which he allegedly punched his 15-year-old daughter in the face.

As we previously reported, the 41-year-old former Green Bay Packers star was arrested in Wisconsin and initially charged with felony child abuse and disorderly conduct.

Green had acknowledged getting physical with his child (admitting he pushed her) but said he was only disciplining her for refusing to do the dishes -- and did not cross the line into child abuse.

Still, prosecutors pushed forward with the case ... and ultimately struck a plea deal with Green in which he agreed to enter an Alford Plea to two lesser misdemeanor charges (disorderly conduct and criminal damages).

FYI, an Alford Plea is a form of a guilty plea in which the accused denies wrongdoing but admits there is enough evidence to get a conviction.

In exchange prosecutors recommended NO jail time. Instead, he'll likely get 18 months probation, fines, anger management and will have to write a letter of apology to his daughter.

Green appeared in court Thursday for the hearing.

Green has issued a statement insisting his "name has been cleared of the terrible crime of child abuse."

"I have never and would never abuse anyone, including my daughter whom I love, dearly."

The son of wrestling legend The British Bulldog (real name Davey Boy Smith) is a wanted man -- after throwing a cup of coffee straight in the face of WWE Hall of Famer Jake "The Snake" Roberts.

New Orleans PD is investigating an incident that occurred the day before WrestleMania 34 -- when Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Roberts had an altercation during an autograph-signing sesh on Canal St.

The Snake told cops Davey Boy Jr. -- a former WWE wrestler himself -- threw coffee at him after a dispute, and police tell us he's now "wanted for battery in connection with this incident," as first reported by Pro Wrestling Sheet.

Cops say Roberts, 62, reported no major injuries.

But get this -- Smith spoke openly about the incident the same day it happened ... telling WrestleZone he confronted The Snake because he previously dissed his dead father.

The 32-year-old wrestler says he challenged Jake to a fistfight ... and threw the hot cup of Joe after The Snake told him to, "F**k off."

Skip Bayless says reports of Patriots infighting are VERY real -- claiming Bill Belichick "sold out" Tom Brady and then sabotaged the organization ... and it's all over Jimmy Garoppolo.

“I think Belichick sold him out and wanted to give Garoppolo the job next year and I think Brady knew it," the star of FS1's "Undisputed" tells us.

"[Robert Kraft] had to step in and intervene and say ‘Nope, I’m going forward with Brady. You have to trade Garoppolo.’ And then it felt to me like Belichick sabotaged the organization."

Skip says the Garoppolo drama could be the reason for all of the recent Brady retirement talk -- which Bayless added was weak -- since the 40-year-old still has AT LEAST 3 more years left in him.

Khloe Kardashian and Tristan Thompson's baby girl is officially registered in the system in Ohio ... and she's without a middle name.

The birth certificate -- obtained by TMZ -- mostly confirms what we already knew thanks to Khloe ... True weighed in at 6 lbs 13 oz and was 21 inches long. It also confirms True was born without a middle name, much like her cousins North, Saint, Stormi and Chicago.

We broke the story ... Tristan was there for True's birth despite the tumultuous time for the couple, and Kourtney, Kim, Kris and Khloe's BFF Malika were also by her side. This is Khloe and the Cavs star's first child together.

As we reported ... True is a family name -- it was the name of Kris' grandfather -- but it's interesting Khloe chose to use Thompson as the baby's last name in wake of his cheating scandal when she didn't have to ... and their relationship is in ruins.

The WWE got an emergency restraining order against an obsessed fan who carried out a poop-smearing attack on a WWE training facility ... fearing he would strike again.

TMZ Sports has obtained court docs showing Vince McMahon's company had a very real fear of Armando Alejandro Montalvo -- who's allegedly been harassing the company since 2015.

According to the court docs, Montalvo smeared his own feces all over the walls at the WWE Training Center in Orlando back in July 2015.

He continued his bizarre campaign against the company in the following days ... wearing makeshift wrestling costumes, banging on the doors and threatening staffers.

On at least one occasion, he was subdued by cops at gunpoint.

In March 2018, Montalvo again surfaced at a WWE event venue in Florida and began harassing employees -- screaming, "My new wrestling nickname is Generation Flex because my d*ck and my balls is bigger than Generation Ex."

WWE says they learned Montalvo posted an Instagram message on April 4 cryptically threatening WWE wrestlers and staff -- and rushed to court to get an immediate restraining order against him because they fear he's a serious threat.

WWE says Montalvo has also threatened to use his own semen in a biological attack.

Court records show the restraining order was granted.

A Sean Taylor autographed football card -- the only certified signed card ever released -- just fetched a whopping $13,000 at auction ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Here's the deal ... the card was released as part of Panini's 2017 Flawless collection ... but the actual autograph was signed on a 2004 Topps rookie card.

We'll explain ...

A rep for Panini tells us Panini obtained the 2004 card (which was signed AFTER it was released through Topps) and independently authenticated the autograph. Then, Panini cut the card down to fit in the Flawless card frame. It was then inserted into a random card pack and pulled by a lucky collector.

Once pulled, the card made its way to eBay where the starting bid was $900. It received 51 total bids and finally sold for $13,000! The identity of the buyer has not yet been revealed.

Of course, Taylor passed away in 2007 -- but had never signed a card that was officially distributed through a major trading card company.

Obviously, he's still extremely popular with football fans and collectors.

UFC fighter Aljamain Sterling loves to rage -- so once he's done kickin' ass inside the Octagon this weekend, he says he's gonna TEAR UP Atlantic City with his boy, Al Iaquinta!!

“Oh yeah ... we’re going to be getting into some trouble. We’re ragin'! Ragin'!” Sterling told TMZ Sports ahead of his UFC Fight Night 128 bout with undefeated Brett Johns.

If ya hadn't heard, Iaquinta got hammered and wrecked his hotel room after winning at UFC 183 ... and Aljamain says Round 2 would've happened if Ragin' Al upset Khabib at UFC 223 earlier this month.

Instead, he took an L -- but Aljo says they'll party on after he beats Johns in their own backyard (they're Jersey bros).

Aljo also told us why Iaquinta steppin' up vs. Khabib inspired the hell outta him ... and changed the way he's approaching his fights.