TMZ Sports - Page 50

Yu Darvish -- who's in a $126 MILLION contract -- completed his first minor league rehab start this week ... and celebrated by spoiling BOTH TEAMS with a very expensive Ruth's Chris steak dinner.

The Chicago Cubs had sent the pitcher down to the Class A Affiliate South Bend Cubs to help him work his way back from a triceps injury ... and, Monday night, he took the mound with a bunch of guys who make WAY less cash.

In fact, most of the players only make around $45k per year (and that's if they're playing consistently for the entire year).

So, Yu -- being the generous rich dude that he is -- pulled out the checkbook and bought a massive spread of steak, salmon, sides and some bomb ass cookies for his team and the opposing West Michigan Whitecaps.

Total bill for it all had to be pricey ... a steak from the fancy spot runs about $50 a pop, while the fish costs about $30 a piece.

As for the minor leaguers ... Whitecaps reliever Max Green took to Twitter to thank Yu for the meal afterward.

"What a guy!"

Joel Embiid says his next career goal is to win NBA MVP next season ... and he's already got a plan on how he'll celebrate!

The Philadelphia 76ers superstar was leaving Catch in L.A. after the NBA Awards -- hours after it was revealed Embiid will grace the cover of the upcoming NBA Live 19 video game.

What's interesting is ... the guy he's replacing is James Harden -- who just won NBA MVP after being the cover guy for NBA Live for the 2018 version of the game.

UFC star Rose Namajunas says she was downright OFFENDED by Conor McGregor's pathetic attempt to apologize for that whole bus attack thing ... because he only reached out over Instagram.

Remember, Rose was on the bus at Barclays Center when Conor and his goons went berserk -- and Dana White told us she nearly broke her hand in the chaos.

Now, Rose is explaining what happened in the aftermath -- saying, "I did get an Instagram message from him, but I don't really know if that was really him."

"To me, that doesn't seem like the type of, it just didn't seem like a sincere apology from an actual person," Rose said on Ariel Helwani's MMA Show on ESPN.

"To me, I didn't really, I guess, consider it a real apology."

So, what did the IG message say?

"It said, 'I'm sorry for what happened' ... but then he immediately went on to like justifying what he did and stuff like that and the reasons why he did it."

"That to me was like, it really doesn't matter. I don't care what beef he's got with who. That's none of my business, I don't need to know that information. Do you know what I mean? That doesn't do anything for me."

"So there was an apology and I'm a pretty cool person and I always accept apologies, but to me, I'm like a personal person, I like face to face. That's how I like to handle things. I feel like anything can be worked out, you just gotta talk through it as adults."

Chris Paul is going to bat for his teammate -- saying James Harden deserved to win MVP over LeBron James ... but now, he needs to add an NBA title to his resume.

"He's gonna get that too," CP3 told TMZ Sports on the way out of Catch ... "but he deserved the MVP."

There's an argument James got screwed at the NBA Award ceremony Monday night -- since he played in more games than Harden, scored more points than Harden, got more rebounds, more assists and took his team further with less talent around him.

But, Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni is also siding with Paul -- saying Harden was "without a doubt" the best player in the league and "has been ready to get [MVP] for the last 3 years."

James Harden celebrated like a boss after winning league MVP at the NBA awards in L.A. on Monday -- hanging out with Meek Mill ... and TMZ Sports has the video.

The Houston Rockets star hit up Avenue nightclub where everyone wanted to rub elbows with HIM -- including Meek.

Of course, the catch is that Meek is still on probation stemming from his old drugs and guns case (pending a decision about getting a new trial) and can't travel outside of Pennsylvania without alerting his probation officer.

Under the terms of his probation, Meek IS allowed to leave the state for work purposes -- and, since he performed at the BET Awards in L.A. on Sunday night, we're guessing it was easy approval process.

Conor McGregor is inching closer to finalizing a fight with UFC star Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2018 because he's hemorrhaging cash in a bad way ... so says Khabib's manager.

"Conor's running out of money," Ali Abdelaziz tells TMZ Sports ... "This is why he agreed to fight Khabib."

Interesting statement considering McGregor is said to have made close to $100 mil for the Mayweather fight.

"It's okay," Ali says ... "We're gonna contribute of him making some money, but at the end of the day we owe him an ass whooping. He needs to get his ass whooped from Khabib."

Of course, the beef here is real -- when Conor attacked that bus at Barclays Center, he was targeting Khabib for allegedly disrespecting one of McGregor's friends in the days before UFC 223.

"He thinks he's a gangster," Ali says ... "I don't think he is. But, when you think you're a gangster, you're going to get treated like a gangster. And gangster, they end in jail or get beat up."

Ali tells TMZ Sports the two sides have 3 potential fight dates in mind -- all landing in the 2018.

There is one problem, one of the dates is Nov. 3 at Madison Square Garden -- but Ali doesn't think Conor can get licensed to fight in NY after the bus attack.

Which leaves us with UFC 229 on Oct. 6 and UFC 232 on Dec. 29 -- both in Vegas.

Get your popcorn ready.

The shots just keep on coming between Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones ... now, the UFC rivals are getting SUPER personal in new public attacks on each other.

"Jon, you’re a bitch!" Cormier tweeted ... "You’re one now always been one."

"Sit back and watch me be great, you steroid cheat."

Don't worry, it gets a lot worse ... but first, some context.

The two have hated each other (in real life) for years -- but Cormier touched a nerve last week during a conversation about who's in the running for the G.O.A.T. in UFC.

Cormier suggested he should be considered. Jones mocked him for that. Cormier says he ignored Jones because the guy is suspended for PEDs and doesn't have a "platform" to join the debate.

Jones responded by saying, "I don’t have a platform DC? That just sounds dumb."

He continued by bringing Cormier's WIFE into the conversation.

"Even after years of suspension I have just as much if not more of a platform than you. Every win you get goes on my resume, You know who you dream about at night. I’m sure your wife knows too."

Cormier didn't like that and fired back on Twitter -- "Let’s not talk about wives man. Come on, I’m sure with all the shit you’ve done I could get a conversation from your wife. I mean from your girlfriend ,baby mama?"

Look, we've spoken with multiple people connected to both of these guys who tell us it ain't an act to promote a fight -- they hate each other's guts to death.

And since JJ is suspended without a return date firmed up, it's unclear whether the two will ever fight in the Octagon ever again.

Terence Crawford says one of the biggest fights in boxing WILL happen ... it just needs a little more time to marinate before it officially goes down.

We got the boxing champ outside of Craig's this weekend and had to ask ... when are you fighting Errol Spence Jr.?!

"In the future, it will happen," Terence told TMZ Sports.

"But right now, you know, we've got other fights until that one gets bigger."

FYI ... the 30-year-old Crawford is 33-0 ... and the 28-year-old Spence is 24-0 ... making the possible bout one of the biggest in the entire fighting world.

So, who is Crawford eyeing BEFORE Spence? His promoter, Bob Arum, has floated two names -- Jose Benavidez Jr. and Lucas Matthysse.

Look, they're decent fights ... but the REAL draw is Spence, and everyone knows it.

Ice Cube says Michael Rapaport deserves a trip to the White House for his heroics on a flight after a BIG3 game over the weekend ... and he's sending a message directly to Donald Trump.

As we previously reported, Rapaport (the BIG3 sideline reporter) saw a man trying to open the emergency exit door Saturday -- IN-FLIGHT -- and sprung into action to make sure the door stayed shut!

Rapaport credited BIG3 players Glen "Big Baby" Davis and Baron Davis with the assist.

So, when we saw BIG3 honcho Ice Cube at LAX (on his way to Friday's game in Chicago), we asked if he considered Rap to be a hero ... and wondered how he should be rewarded.

"Trump ... invite him to the White House," Cube said ... "Stop bullsh*tting!

Devin Booker let his car do the talking Sunday night ... and we were listening -- 'cause his murdered-out Ferrari was singing!!

We got the quiet Phoenix Suns superstar -- and what looks like a Ferrari 488 -- outside of Craig's with a lady friend when we couldn't help but linger on the $250,000-plus machine.

The whip was dope ... with a sleek matte black finish that made it look straight outta Bruce Wayne's garage.

T.I. is the King of Atlanta ... Trae Young is ATL's brand new basketball star ... so it's only right that the King bestow some words onto the kid, and he's using TMZ Sports as his royal messenger.

We got T.I. at LAX and asked him if he had any advice for the former Oklahoma star ... who's headed to hoop for ATL as a rookie for the Hawks.

Tip obliges us ... and tells our guy the one place Trae should steer clear of is Magic City ... one of the greatest shake joints of all time ... because the kid needs to concentrate on basketball.

Here's the thing ... we love T.I., but we're not sure he's right here. Not going as a matter of fact, it's kinda pointless to live in ATL and not visit this place and the places like it.

Carmelo and La La Anthony spent part of La La's birthday Monday visiting the home of a slain 15-year-old boy to provide condolences and gifts to the murdered child's family.

Lesandro Guzman-Feliz was brutally stabbed to death after being dragged out of a corner store last week.

When La La was contacted by the boy's sister and informed he was a huge Melo fan ... she brought the NBA superstar right to his fam's doorstep.

"This is what I wanted to do for my birthday today," La La said of the trip.

"Thank you to the gram for connecting me to this family. I wanted to offer our love and support to Lesandro 'Junior’s' family. His sister reached out and told me he loved Melo."

"So I asked Mel to go with me. I can’t imagine this type of pain and sadness. His family is strong and may God bless them forever."

In addition to signed jerseys and sneakers ... La La says she and Carmelo did far more than that for the family -- and urged others to donate.

Ex-NBA star Al Harrington wants everyone to know he's NOT a Donald Trump fan -- so, he wore a shirt spelling it out for everyone in Hollywood.

Taking a page from Melania Trump's playbook, Harrington used his back as a billboard -- his message read, "Anti Trump Social Club."

And if you're not into politics, Harrington also backs Master P -- who recently told us LiAngelo Ball should go back to college and get a degree.

Khloe Kardashian's flashing a massive rock on her left ring finger which might have ya thinking she's engaged to Tristan Thompson ... but don't go buying a gift yet.

Khloe and Tristan had dinner Sunday night at BOA Steakhouse on the Sunset Strip ... and from the look of things, it wasn't the most exciting date night. Khloe seemed to be giving Tristan serious side-eye while he looks at something other than her -- maybe his phone or the menu.

But the bling on her hand was a definite bright spot. Khloe's dressed up that finger before, so we're not jumping the gun on engagement news.

Seems like Nate Diaz is itching for a fight ... because he got in the middle of ANOTHER brawl at an MMA event and TMZ Sports has the video.

It all went down Friday night in the crowd of the Fight to Win Pro 77 event at the Hyatt hotel in Sacramento -- where we're told Nate was supporting some of his MMA students, who were competing in the all-grappling event.

In the video, you can see several people in the melee -- and Nate appears to wind up and throw a punch at one of the men being separated.

Witnesses tell us no one was arrested -- Nate got his crew and left.

It's the second time Nate's been in a fight in the stands of MMA event this year -- back in May, Diaz got into it with UFC fighter Clay Guida at a Combate Americas event in Sacramento.

At least one NBA star is convinced LeBron James has already made up his mind ... with Willie Cauley-Stein telling TMZ Sports the King is coming to L.A.

"He's coming HERE," the Sacramento Kings star told us outside Nightingale Plaza nightclub in L.A.

He also noted that there's no loyalty in the NBA, so anything is on the table when it comes to players and teams making moves.

By the way, Willie is DRIPPIN' in this clip -- with a Gucci bandana around his head, all sorts of diamonds around his neck and a Louis Vuitton x Supreme side bag around his chest.