TMZ Sports - Page 50

Tyson Chandler ain't mad at his teammate, Devin Booker, for that elevator fight -- in fact, TC says the whole thing is funny!!!

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Booker rushed to the aid of his then-Phoenix Suns teammate, Tyler Ulis, after Tyler got attacked in an apartment elevator back in 2017.

Since Chandler was on the Suns (and still is) at the time of the incident, we asked what he thought about the fight.

"Honestly," Chandler told us ... "The video is just funny!"

Tyson says the major point is that no one got hurt -- and no harm, no foul!

In fact, Tyson said had he known Ulis was in trouble that night, "I might've been there with 'em."

Floyd Mayweather just got ripped a new one in appeals court -- with a panel of judges saying there's a ton of evidence showing the boxer lied to Katie Couric in a '15 interview about his domestic violence case.

Remember, Floyd's ex, Josie Harris, is suing Floyd for defamation ... claiming the boxer fudged the facts and lied about her to Couric when discussing his 2010 domestic violence arrest.

In the interview, Floyd told Couric he did NOT "kick, stomp and beat someone" ... and explained, "Did I restrain a woman that was on drugs? Yes, I did."

Floyd was convicted in that case ... after her son told cops he saw Mayweather "hitting and kicking her." An emergency room doctor also noted Harris had multiple contusions to the head, face and left forearm.

Floyd had filed court docs to get Josie's lawsuit thrown out -- but, a California appeals court just ruled her defamation case CAN move forward because the evidence appears to be in her favor. Here's the opinion from one of the judges on the panel ...

"Since this evidence is unequivocally at odds with the assertion that Mayweather was simply restraining a drug-addled Harris by only twisting her arm, it may reasonably be inferred that Mayweather acted with malice or reckless disregard of the truth during the Couric interview."

Mark Henry says there's a divide among black wrestlers over the WWE's decision to accept Hulk Hogan back into the community ... just three years after he was caught on tape using the n-word.

"It's 50-50," Henry tells TMZ Sports. "I've talked to guys that were like, 'Man, the hell with him.'"

Don't count Mark on that side of the coin, however.

The ex-WWE world champ says he thinks Hulk's apologies over the incident have been sincere ... and he believes Hogan's punishment and penance since the rant have been enough.

"I do feel like he genuinely wants to clear his name," the host of "Busted Open" radio tells us.

The France national soccer team wasted no time bringing their new World Cup trophy to their leader ... partying with President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Monday!!

Just a day after whooping Croatia in the final ... Hugo Lloris, Florian Thauvin and the whole Les Bleus crew made their way to Elysee Palace to celebrate.

The First Lady, Brigitte Macron, got especially touchy with the gold trophy ... taking a sweet handoff from Paul Pogba to show the crowd the goods.

The 'ship is France's first in 20 years ... so, only fitting they party like it's 1998 now.

Twins pitcher Fernando Rodney had a pretty good excuse to make it a half-day at work Sunday ... 'cause dude had to bail mid-game to become a U.S. citizen!!

The story's awesome ... the Minnesota closer -- who locks down the ninth inning on the reg for the MLB squad -- had to leave Target Field only two hours after the first pitch to catch a flight for an immigration hearing Monday morning in Miami.

Sooo ... Twins manager Paul Molitor put him into the 5th inning to get 2 outs against the Tampa Bay Rays ... and then let him off to the airport.

Minnesota went on to win after Rodney pitched a perfect two-thirds of an inning ... and then Fernando scored a perfect hearing this morning.

"Today I fly the American Flag but in my heart always hold my Dominican Flag," Rodney wrote on social media.

"I want to thank all those who have been with me throughout the process and especially thank the @twins organizations for allowing me to catch my flight."

Camille Kostek is becoming a bikini force to be reckoned with ... Rob Gronkowski's GF hit the runway at Miami Swim Week in a super small bikini -- and the pics are awesome!!

Kostek and Haley Kalil were 2018 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition rookies -- and they hit Swim Week to coach the next batch of bikini models during the Sunday night show at the W South Beach.

Tons of women showed up for the casting call -- but show producers only selected 16 girls to walk the runway ... and, judging by the pics, they chose well.

As for Kostek, she was also hanging behind the scenes with Olivia Culpo -- who's dating Danny Amendola ... Gronk's former New England Patriots teammate.

Enough reading ... starting clicking.

Shaquille O'Neal got an ENTIRE nightclub to chant "Barkley Sucks" during a DJ gig in D.C. -- and the trolling didn't stop there!

Shaq was performing at Echostage as DJ Diesel -- when he decided to clown his "Inside the NBA" co-host with a giant projection on the back wall that read, "Barkley Has NO Ring!"

Shaq clapped along gleefully as the place went crazy!

Of course, Shaq and Chuck are really tight in real life -- so, it's all in good fun.

Now, it's on Barkley to get even ...

Of course, it's not the first time Shaq went off on an NBA star in a nightclub -- back in the day, he freestyled the infamous "Kobe, tell me how my ass tastes" verse during his rift with his Lakers teammate.

Both Shaq and Kobe have said they've made up and they're on good terms now.

Vladimir Putin presented Donald Trump with a soccer ball from the World Cup in Russia ... and then dropped the following eye-rolling metaphor ...

"Mr. President, I'll give this ball to you ... and now the ball is in your court."

Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

It all went down at a massive media event in Helsinki, where the two world leaders had a private meeting for several hours where they discussed everything from election interference to NATO.

Trump was fired up about the meeting -- and the soccer ball, throwing it to Melania (who was sitting in the front row) and announcing that he would be giving it to his son, Barron.

Here's Bobby Bonilla ... with a big ol' smile on his face -- because he just got his annual $1 MILLION check from the NY Mets!

You've probably heard of "Bobby Bonilla Day" -- every July 1, Bobby gets $1.19 million stemming from a contract he signed back in his playing days.

Instead of paying Bobby the $5.9 million they owed him back in 2000 ... his agent negotiated a deferred payment deal with the Mets in which they send him an annual $1.19 mil check until 2035!!!!

So, when we saw Bobby at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C. over the weekend ... we had to ask how he celebrated.

But, the 55-year-old -- who hasn't played since 2001 -- was more interested in giving credit to his agent, Dennis Gilbert ... a "special man."

NBA star John Wall is one of the most incredible, talented athletes on planet Earth -- but, when it comes to baseball, he stinks.

Remember ... the Washington Wizards star threw arguably the worst first pitch in MLB history about seven years ago ... and, unfortunately, he's not much better with a bat in his hands.

Wall was at Nationals Park warming up for the MLB celebrity softball game Sunday night ... when he took some BP.

If you're counting at home ... that was three fouls, a complete whiff, and maybe a base hit -- all from a dude throwing lobs from about eight feet away!!

Wall's confidence wasn't shaken ... he was somehow able to hit a single and score a run when the bright lights actually came on -- but, still.

Nick Young thinks Patrick Beverley must've been on the sauce when he declared the Clippers to be the best team in the NBA ... asking TMZ Sports, "He was drunk that night or something?"

Remember, earlier this month, Beverley proudly told us he REALLY believes his new Clip squad is better than the Lakers and the Warriors ... and are real contenders to win the NBA title.

So, when we saw Swaggy -- who plays for the Warriors -- leaving Craig's in West Hollywood Sunday night ... we had to ask for his thoughts. His reaction says it all.

Here's Cristiano Ronaldo looking like Ivan Drago in "Rocky IV" -- hooked up to all sorts of machines as he takes his official medical exam for that massive Juventus deal.

CR7 arrived to the Juventus medical facility near Turin, Italy on Monday ... ready to work.

Sporting a mesh shirt and massive diamond earrings, the soccer superstar hit the treadmill as part of the exam ... which will ensure that Ronaldo is in the world-class shape Juve expects him to be.

Cristiano didn't seem worried -- cracking a smirk as he began to exercise.

It's a big day for Juventus -- which paid a $117 million transfer fee to get Ronaldo from Real Madrid. Plus, the team is reportedly paying him around $35 MIL per year.

Nice moment between LeBron and his former Cleveland Cavs coach, Tyronn Lue, at the NBA Summer League in Vegas ... where the two embraced and bro'd out.

It appears to be the first time they've seen each other since LeBron bolted The Land and signed a new $154 million contract with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Our friends Bryan Salmond and Sharp and Shapiro from "The Vegas Take" radio show were next to the two at the Thomas & Mack Center as the Cavs took on the Raptors ... and watched Bron and Ty chat it up.

LeBron -- wearing his L.A. Lakers shorts -- got a standing ovation from the crowd.

Robert Griffin III says his wife wears the (track) pants in their relationship ... 'cause Grete Šadeiko is not only making a run at the 2020 Olympics -- she blows him away in races!!

We got the adorable couple -- and their cute 1-year-old baby, Gloria -- out in Bev Hills when RGIII made the revelation to TMZ Sports.

"Track is her realm," he says. "She owns the track."

Big-time praise for sure ... considering the NFL star once ran a 4.38 40-yard dash and did do some track events at Baylor.

But Grete's legit on the turf ... she crushed the heptathlon at Florida State -- once running 13.92 in the 100-meter hurdles -- and is making a serious run to compete for Estonia in the 2020 Games.

Here's some real talk featuring Hollywood super heavyweight Aaron Sorkin ... a die-hard Yankee fan who's doing the unthinkable ... questioning the legitimacy of the career of BABE RUTH.

Yeah, he did it.

We got Sorkin out at Craig's and asked him if the current Yankees home run hitting tear should come with an asterisk ... because the new Yankee stadium has short fences in places.

That's when it happened.

"If there's no asterisk next to Babe Ruth for only facing white pitchers, then there can't be any asterisk on the Yankees."

It's a point that's been raised before, basically stating that segregation meant that Babe Ruth never faced the VERY best competition, because some of that competition was black.

Hulk Hogan is back in the WWE's good graces three years after he was caught on tape using the n-word ... reclaiming his place in the wrestling organization's Hall of Fame.

WWE issued a statement Sunday, saying that after a 3-year suspension ... Hulk was being reinstated in their HOF. They go on to say that this second chance follows multiple apologies and volunteer work from Hulk ... this in the wake of his angry rant using the n-word, which was caught on his sex tape and leaked in 2015.

We broke the story ... Hulk has been in talks with WWE honchos to be brought back into the fold, though the wrestling legend wanted it done the right way.

Like the league notes, Hulk has, in fact, apologized many times over insisting the vile language does not reflect who he is as a person. He even referenced the scandal while being inducted into the Boys & Girls Club Hall of Fame earlier this year.

WWE mentioned the recent induction in their press release, saying he is helping young people learn from his mistake.