TMZ Sports - Page 50

Alexander Ovechkin wishes he knew how to quit Lord Stanley can't quit -- but he just can't, and now his wife knows it, too.

The Washington Capitals superstar took the Stanley Cup to bed with him, 2 nights after his team secured the trophy. Ovechkin's wife, Anastasia Shubskaya, shot video of her husband cozying up to his new love ... just days after Anastasia and Alex announced she's expecting their first kid.

Let's hope Alex used protection with Stanley, who, as we've learned over the years ... definitely gets around.

The couple -- Alex and the Cup, that is -- had a very busy Saturday around the DC area.

They were at the Washington Nationals game, where Ovechkin threw out the first pitch, and then later he was seen doing modified keg stands ... drinking beer out of the Cup.

1:58 PM PT -- Turns out Blake's mystery blonde is none other than Francesca Aiello -- the owner of Frankies Bikinis. Good choice.

Even in the off-season, Blake Griffin's rebound skills are on point -- just ask the blonde chick he was sucking face with in his Land Rover.

The NBA star and his mystery woman are definitely living on the edge. Saturday's date night included riding around on Bird scooters in L.A. ... which, considering Blake's history of injuries, might not have been the smartest option.

A better, safer idea? Sitting in Blake's whip and making out ... which they also did.

No clue yet who the lucky lady is, but she's the first woman he's been spotted with since he and Kendall Jenner broke things off.

Terry Bradshaw is sticking up for the Philadelphia Eagles ... telling TMZ Sports he supports their decision to not go to the White House -- saying, "1st Amendment rights, I totally believe in it."

The "FOX NFL Sunday" star didn't mince his words when we asked about the issue -- telling us, "I agree with the Eagles. Totally. 100 percent."

When asked about Donald Trump specifically, Bradshaw said ... "Trump just needs to ... he just needs to go somewhere and enjoy the money he's got."

Bradshaw continued ... "You know what's so bad about that whole event? Was how they were portrayed as protesting, kneeling, during the national anthem when they were praying. That is just wrong."

Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher were teammates for 13 years with the Los Angeles Lakers, so when Fisher gets hitched to "Basketball Wives" star Gloria Govan ... Mamba HAS to be there right?

NOT SO FAST.

We got Fisher out at LAX, and talked to him all about who may, or may not be there when he and Govan jump the broom ... and it seems there's a pretty decent chance Kobe WON'T be there.

"I mean, we'll see. It depends on how many people we decide to have there. If we decide it's just family, then it's just family."

So, Kobe's not family?! Weddings come with tough choices ...

Fisher also gave us his feelings on Shaq's ex-wife, Shaunie O'Neal, basically saying she wouldn't -- under any circumstances -- be caught dead at the wedding.

Here's a hint: He doesn't give a damn.

Wiz Khalifa says he's been spending a lot of time in the recording studio with Le'Veon Bell ... and that can only mean one thing, right?!

TMZ Sports spoke with Wiz about the Pittsburgh Steelers superstar ... and the "Captain" spitter says Bell's been hangin' around the ID Labs studio a lot lately

FYI -- Bell's serious about his music. He's even collabed with Snoop Dogg in the past.

So, there are 2 possible explanations for this -- either Bell's getting 1-on-1 sessions with one of the biggest names in the game, or they're working on a project together.

Andre Berto isn't into the idea of a 48-year-old Chuck Liddell taking on a 43-year-old Tito Ortiz, telling TMZ Sports both men are at the age where they need to ride off into the MMA sunset.

Lidell & Ortiz are reportedly in deep talks for a bout this year as part of Oscar De La Hoya's new Golden Boy MMA promotion, which would be the 3rd fight between the two men.

We got Berto at LAX and he told our guy he's not a fan of geriatric brawling ... advising both guys to cool it before they break a hip.

"I been watching Tito, I been watching Chuck for years, man. With us fighters we need to understand, we have that beast in us for a certain period of time, and we need to know when to ease out and tap into some other things."

Berto also talked about the Internet wanting a Mike Tyson comeback ... it's true ... a Tyson highlight vid went viral now people wanna see Tyson vs Joshua ... with Mike at 51.

Andre is obviously against it ... but after watching the highlights video, we're not sure we'd count Mike out.

Who says the United States men's national team can't entertain us this summer?

Despite not being in the upcoming World Cup, they're still going at it hard -- and headfirst -- against France Saturday in a friendly . Unfortunately, that headfirst idea resulted in a bloody mess on the pitch.

About 55 minutes into the match and with USA holding a surprising 1-0 lead, France had a corner kick that led to America's Matt Miazga and France's Olivier Giroud jumping up and accidentally butting heads ... hard.

Miazga's head was so bloody it looked like he just had a cage match with Mankind, but it wasn't pretty for Giroud either. Both players left the game under their own power.

Legendary racehorse trainer Bob Baffert knows a thing or 2 about winning big races, including that they require some luck ... which is why the King was by his side for Justify's epic win!

Baffert invited the Burger King mascot to join his party before his horse went wire-to-wire to take the Triple Crown Saturday at the Belmont Stakes ... because he considers him a good luck charm.

There's good reason for that -- the King made a surprise appearance behind Baffert in 2015 when his racehorse American Pharoah became the first to win the Triple Crown in 37 years.

With Justify in the same position after winning the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, Baffert hoped for a case of history repeating ... and the King worked his magic.

LeBron James recruiting season is officially open, and Joel Embiid is wasting NO time in courting the King to jump to the city of brotherly love.

We got Sixers superstar leaving Craig's Friday night -- a couple hours after the Cavs got swept out of the NBA Finals -- and asked him about the not-so-subtle tweet he fired off as the game was ending.

Joel hinted on social media, but he was way more direct with our photog.

As he walked out, we asked him to explain the "find a new slant" comment ... and he said, LeBron needs to "find a new team ... Sixers!"

Remember, just last week his teammate, Ben Simmons told us he'd love to play with LBJ ... but in a very laid back way. Y'know, like a guy who doesn't want a chick to know how much he wants to hook up?

Every sports dynasty deserves a wild turn up, and Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and the rest of the Golden State Warriors didn't disappoint after winning the NBA Championship ... mostly.

Moments after the Warriors secured the bag -- back-to-back titles, and 3 out of the last 4 -- they doused themselves in super expensive champagne. Steph definitely came prepared for the burn ... with ski goggles protecting his eyes.

Here's the lowdown on the high-priced locker room bash: 300 bottles of Moët & Chandon -- 150 Impérial Golden Luminous magnums, $1,250 a pop in nightclubs ... and 150 Nectar Imperial Rose magnums, $1,500 each!!

Sweet celebration, but we gotta say ... WHERE you win says a lot about how crazy your championship celebration gets. Sure, GSW turned up in the locker room, but where's the awesome nightclub bash with world famous DJs?? See the Washington Capitals for that.

The lesson? Whenever possible, win the title in Vegas!!

Muhammad Ali's ex-wife says Donald Trump is wasting his time if he's considering pardoning the legendary boxer ... telling TMZ Sports he should focus his energy on the LIVING!

We spoke with Khalilah Ali -- who was married to Muhammad from '67 to '76 -- and she was shocked when she watched Trump tell the media he was considering pardoning Ali ... presumably for his conviction for resisting the draft in 1971.

That conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court ... so, as Khalilah pointed out, "There's no necessary need for a pardon."

"I think [Trump] probably was a fan of Ali and he thought he would say something positive about him. That might be it ... but it's a little too late."

Khalilah says if Trump really respects what Ali stood for ... he would "pardon" the NFL players who knelt during the national anthem -- and by that, she means Trump should stop trashing them for standing up for what they believe in.

Floyd Mayweather isn't ALL smiles over his top rank on Forbes' highest paid athletes list this year ... telling TMZ Sports he shoulda been technically No. 1 AND No. 4!!

"Conor's at No. 4 because of me," Floyd said of the UFC superstar he boxed back in August.

"I'm No. 1, and the guy that's No. 4 is because of me."

The shade over the Irish fighter didn't stop there -- especially when we asked if he thinks Conor can ever get to his No. 1 spot.

"Absolutely not. Conor McGregor can never get to No. 1 without Floyd Mayweather."

For the record ... Forbes credited Floyd with making $285 mil the last 12 months, and Conor with $99 mil. Their respective purses from their monster summer fight were estimated to be around $200 mil and $70 mil ... so Floyd might have a point.

Greg Hardy is a changed man -- and has earned a 2nd chance to have a career as a pro athlete ... so says Dana White.

Of course, there have been plenty of critics who don't believe Hardy -- who was previously arrested for domestic violence -- deserves a chance to fight in Dana White's Contender series, including Jay Glazer.

For the record, Hardy was initially convicted -- but appealed the decision, and the verdict was later overturned after the alleged victim stopped cooperating with authorities.

White says Hardy has made mistakes in life -- including issues with drugs and alcohol -- but says he's confident Hardy has sobered up and turned his life around.

The former NFL star has racked up 3 impressive victories in his first 3 MMA fights -- and White believes the guy has real potential.

Hardy will be fighting Austen Lane on June 12 -- and if he wins, it's possible White could award him with a UFC contract.

They didn't get the silver, so the Vegas Knights will settle for gold ...

TMZ Sports has learned celebrity jeweler Boodaddy Diamonds is hooking up every single player on the Vegas team with a special gold pendant in honor of making the Stanley Cup Finals.

Yeah, we know ... they didn't win -- but the guys became the first expansion team in NHL history to get to the final round of the playoffs.

Boodaddy tells TMZ Sports he's incredibly impressed and wants to be a part of history so he designed a special gold pendant just for the team -- and he's giving it to them for free.

"It's definitely not gonna be cheap but I'll take care of it."

Anthony Bourdain wasn't just a legendary chef ... he was the most influential celebrity Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner -- who helped introduce the martial art to the masses -- so says the guy whose family founded BJJ.

TMZ Sports talked to Rener Gracie -- whose grandfather, Helio Gracie, created Gracie Jiu-Jitsu a.k.a. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu -- about Bourdain's impact on his family's sport.

FYI -- Rener's coached Ronda Rousey and UFC star Brian Ortega ... and occasionally hit the mats with A.B. (check out their training sesh below from 2014).

Bourdain wasn't the only celeb to train ... Ashton Kutcher, Vince Vaughn, Ed O'Neill, Kelly Slater, Guy Ritchie, and Keanu Reeves practice BJJ -- but according to Gracie, Anthony was the most important.

"I think that Anthony Bourdain, A, because of his enthusiasm and his ease of communication, and B, because of his age, is responsible for more people doing Jiu-Jitsu and beginning Jiu-Jitsu, than probably any other celebrity ever who's not a professional fighter."

Rener goes on to say Bourdain's passing leaves a void that might never be filled.

5:40 PM PT -- And get this ... Kellen is telling friends he believes the incident was racially motivated. Kellen is claiming he was only at the mobile home park to check out a place for his mother-in-law to live when a neighbor freaked out when she saw a big black man who doesn't live in the community.

Kellen is telling friends he knows the owners of the home which he is accused of burglarizing -- they're friends of his from church. He's adamant ... he didn't take anything or do anything wrong.

Kellen Winslow Jr. is breaking his silence about his felony burglary arrest ... insisting he absolutely did NOT commit any crime.

The ex-NFL star issued a statement through his attorney, Harvey A. Steinberg, saying, "Mr. Winslow emphatically denies committing any burglary."

"He would have no need to burglarize or steal anything from anyone at a trailer park. He looks forward to being vindicated once this matter is fully adjudicated through the court system."

34-year-old Winslow was arrested Thursday afternoon in the San Diego area after cops say he broke into a mobile home community and stole something out of one of the units.