TMZ Sports - Page 50

Nick Diaz isn't letting his domestic violence case get in the way of meeting new women -- the UFC star was out in Vegas this weekend getting hot and heavy with a new lady ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Diaz hit up XS Nightclub at the Encore Hotel on Saturday night -- where our sources spotted Nick kissing a new mystery lady right in front of everybody!!

Unclear if they're dating or if they were just having a fun night.

We're told this is NOT the woman who accused Diaz of domestic violence.

As we previously reported, Diaz was arrested a few weeks ago after another woman -- who told police she had been in a sexual relationship with Diaz for years -- claimed Diaz attacked and choked her at a Vegas home.

This is interesting ... Lionel Messi posing with a live goat for a photo shoot -- while explaining that he doesn't consider himself the greatest soccer player alive.

"I don't consider myself the best," Messi tells Paper ... "I think I am just another player."

Yeah, right.

As Paper points out, Messi has one of the most impressive resumes in pro sports.

"He has helped his team, FC Barcelona, win 32 trophies -- including nine Spanish Liga titles and four in the Champions League. He led the Argentine national team to the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and brought them victory at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in 2005."

He's also got 5 Ballon d'Or awards, 5 Golden Shoes and holds the Guinness World Record for the most goals officially scored in a season (50 in the 2011-12 La Liga season).

But sure ... just a regular player.

"On the field, we are all the same when the game begins," Messi adds.

Messi also talked about everything from his upbringing in Argentina to his charity work with UNICEF in the full PAPER x Sports article.

No word on who had to clean up after the goats.

Seems there's only one way Shaunie O'Neal would attend Gloria Govan & Derek Fisher's wedding ... OVER HER DEAD BODY ... telling TMZ Sports that's one party she ain't down for.

Derek & Shaq won 3 rings together as Lakers and were tight bros, so one might assume Shaunie could possibly want to attend the nuptials.

Hell no. We got Shaunie at LAX and asked her if she plans on attending, and if the words out of her mouth didn't tell the whole story, the look on her face CLEARLY did.

"No, I don't so. No, I don't think I'll be going to that."

If you didn't know, the ladies have deep issues, stemming from Shaunie's belief that Gloria's sister, Laura, was messing around with Shaq while Shaunie was married to the Diesel.

It led to a HUGE blowup on a past episode of 'Basketball Wives' where Shaunie confronted Gloria ... and it's clear the whole thing isn't water under the bridge.

It's been about six months since Kendall Jenner was linked to a rumored NBA BF, but as her biking date with Ben Simmons shows ... you never forget how to date one of 'em.

Kendall was seen getting her ride on this weekend with the 76ers star point guard -- on a bicycle, folks ... relax. Eyewitnesses tell us they were cruising near The Grove in West Hollywood Sunday -- and we gotta say ... Kendall looks like the pro out of the two.

She's got solid form, AND she's got a purse on her, too, which looks perfectly in sync with her body. Much improved from 2016, when she ate s*** riding down a dirt road.

Ben, meanwhile, looks a little too big for his own bike here ... perhaps struggling to peddle, even. The dude is like 6'10", though ... maybe raise the seat next time, yeah?

Either way, it's nice to see Kendall switch up the activity for her 3rd NBA pal. Can't say we ever saw her hit the outdoors like this with Blake Griffin, or Jordan Clarkson either.

Adam Rippon just signed off on LeBron James' interesting pre-Game 1 attire, saying suit shorts are totally acceptable ... all because the King set the trend.

We got the Olympic figure skater Saturday at LAX and asked what he made of Bron's lack of pants heading into Oracle Arena Thursday ahead of his first game against the Warriors. Faux pas, or fashion genius? Adam seems to think LeBron falls into the latter category.

The Olympian has a perfectly reasonable explanation for why shorts on a suit are a-OK -- especially as we start heading into the summer months here. If anything, LeBron's ahead of the curve ... and or maybe just doing what feels good, we guess? Hard to say.

Either way, Adam's definitely the guy to weigh on such matters ... you might recall his Moschino harness suit to the Oscars this year ... which got a lot of people doing double takes.

So ... yeah, LeBron's in good company. At least Adam's got his back on the Urkel-inspired outfit. BTW ... LeBron is rockin' the suit shorts AGAIN for Game 2. Yep, it a thing now.

Rick Fox says he's got the $100 MILLION Fortnite prize money in his sites -- and he's got his people scouting the world looking to put together the best squad he can find.

Fox is one of the big dogs in eSports -- his team, "Echo Fox," is a perennial contender in games like "League of Legends" and 'CS:GO.'

So, with Fortnite taking over the world and announcing a $100 MILLION prize pool next season -- we had to ask if he was making a run at that money.

"Our ears have been to the ground there, and our front office has been completely on top of finding the talent that would represent Echo Fox in a Fortnite setting."

Shouldn't be hard for Fox to put together a killer group -- his "Echo Fox" team dominated the H1Z1 competitions and won a ton of money there.

Wrestling superstar Johnny Impact is back!

TMZ Sports has learned that Johnny -- formerly known as John Morrison, Johnny Nitro and Johnny Mundo -- is returning to the squared circle for Impact Wrestling's Slammiversary in July.

A.J. Styles, Matt Hardy and Sting have done their thing at Slammiversary in the past -- so the event's a big deal.

Johnny has been wrestling on the International circuit for the past few months -- but we're told he's finally inked a deal to return to Impact Wrestling.

Kenyon Martin says "there's no such thing as simple flirting" anymore ... and it's all because men have crossed the line too many times when it comes to picking up women.

The ex-NBA star says he's well aware of the problems many women face in the workplace and other areas in their lives when men come on way too strong ... and it's not right.

"Over the years, men have abused their power," Martin tells TMZ Sports.

So, what happens now? Martin has advice for young men, including NBA players -- "Be smart. Notice the signs."

"No means no! Some resistance? Gotta turn away."

Jordan Clarkson's a Cleveland guy now ... but the dude just can't shake his old stompin' grounds, 'cause the ex-Laker just dropped $3.2 MILLION on a brand new L.A. home!!

The Cavs baller is currently in the NBA Finals ... but once the offseason hits, he'll be able to enjoy his 5 bedroom, 8 bathroom pad in Woodland Hills listed by Gabriel Ostrow.

Clarkson will have plenty to do ... his home's complete with a chef's kitchen, wine closet, dope home theater, saltwater pool and spa and a BBQ center.

Clearly the beef ain't squashed between Red Sox owner John Henry and Johnny Damon ... 'cause the former outfielder tells us he's ROOTING FOR THE YANKEES in the renewed rivalry with Boston!!

It's an interesting stance considering Damon is a Red Sox legend -- a key part of the team that broke the curse and won the World Series in 2004. He later played for the Yanks.

Now, with the two teams battling it out for 1st place ... Damon says he loves the renewed rivalry.

"They're bringing back the rivalry that we had in the early 2000s and it's going to be a fun year," Damon told us.

But when we asked Johnny who he's pulling for -- that's when it got interesting.

"I'll be rooting for New York."

Remember, Johnny went on "Celebrity Apprentice" a couple years ago and said he and John Henry weren't exactly on speaking terms after contract drama in 2005.

Kendall Jenner and Ben Simmons can't get enough of each other, even though they're acting like they're strangers.

Kendall and Ben hit up The Cheescake Factory Friday for lunch in L.A. at The Grove. They arrived separately and left separately.

They've been out together a bunch this week. They went to dinner Wednesday night at The Nice Guy and hit up a club later that night. They ended up at the fancy schmancy Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Bev Hills.

LaVar Ball has weighed in on the NFL's national anthem policy -- and it's not exactly what you'd expect.

"It's their league. If you don't want to do it, get out their league."

Don't get it twisted, Ball says he thinks the NFL has gone too far in requiring players on the field to stand ... but says the NFL has the right to create and enforce their own policies.

"That's why I got my own league," Ball tells TMZ Sports ... "Do what I want."

Ball is referring to his new junior basketball league, the JBA -- which he plans on running himself.

So, what's LaVar's policy on the national anthem going to be in his league?

Nikki Bella played with fire when she tried messing with the paparazzi ... and it burned her ass.

Nikki tells TMZ ... a story floating around showing her "canoodling with a mystery man" on a Miami balcony does NOT mean she's interested in him. She says it was supposed to be a joke to mess with paps since they had been following her and the rest of the "Total Divas" crew for days.

Nikki says the bartender is a 21-year-old model the show hired to serve them drinks at their penthouse ... but by Thursday Nikki had had enough with the paps. With a little liquid courage, Nikki says she hatched a plan to bring the guy out on the balcony and do some faux flirting to screw with the photogs.

Paps snapped away and a story about her canoodling hit the web ... something she had NOT intended to happen. Nikki wants to set the record straight -- she is NOT dating anyone else right now. And as she told us already ... she's actively trying to work things out with John Cena.

All eyez are on Matt Barnes' right hand ... 'cause the ex-NBA baller just got the most insane Tupac tattoo!!

The artwork is crazy real ... and the story of how Barnes got it is even more wild.

The former Laker -- who's tatted all over -- was lookin' for a 'Pac piece ... and after seeing a Kobe Bryant tattoo that artist Steve Butcher did ... he hit him up on social media and locked down an appointment.

The dopest realistic tattoo artist we've ever seen flew all the way to L.A. (he's from New Zealand) to ink Matt's hand ... and he says the ex-hooper couldn't have been cooler!

The tat took about five hours to complete -- and we're saying, job well done.

BTW ... Butcher says Matt was the first NBA player he's tatted ... but he probably won't be the last. DeAndre Jordan's already told him he's interested in getting a piece done as well!!

Odell Beckham made 3 football fans LOSE THEIR MINDS when he took the time out of his day for a quick pic at the airport ... but there is one very minor problem here.

THAT'S NOT THE REAL ODELL -- IT'S A LOOK-ALIKE (aka FauxBJ ... or NOdell Beckham Jr.).

We're told the Beck-alike didn't exactly stop the fans from thinking he was the real #13 -- and totally played along when he was stopped at Nashville International Airport on Tuesday.

We're told the fans even asked FauxBJ whether he'd continue to play with the Giants or try to play for a new team this season, to which he replied "I plead the 5th."

Pretty hilarious actually ... hope he got an upgrade on the plane!!!

John Salley says the mother of the NBA G League player who died after collapsing on the court is "100% right" in her lawsuit against the league ... saying, "I think she has a case."

TMZ Sports broke story ... Zeke Upshaw's mother claims the team doctor didn't respond to her son for 4 MINUTES after he collapsed from a cardiac incident during a game back in March.

Upshaw's mother claims Zeke did not receive proper medical treatment that could have saved his life, and she's holding the Detroit Pistons and the NBA responsible.

Salley -- a 4-time NBA champ -- told us he stands with Zeke's mother, and says the league needs to do better moving forward.

"I think she has a case ... The fact that there was no professional EMS around would definitely have to fall on the squad."

In fact, Salley says he hopes the lawsuit will force the league to improve league standards when it comes to medical emergencies.