TMZ Sports - Page 50

Ever wonder how the NBA's best player would fare in a slow-pitch softball game??

Good, 'cause LeBron James hit the diamond Wednesday night ... and absolutely dominated.

LBJ, fam and friends (including J.R. Smith!) took the field at University of Akron ... when the King made his case to be the G.O.A.T of softball too.

Bron -- the biggest shortstop that's ever lived -- robbed wifey Savannah of a base hit early in the game ... stretched a ground ball to short into a double later ... and even hit this moonshot to center field.

We're told the game was just for fun and lasted about four hours. The King even brought out Swensons food truck for everyone afterward!!

Le'Veon Bell just dropped a brand new rap EP -- and it sounds an awful lot like he's referencing the LeSean McCoy violent robbery incident in one of the tracks.

Here are the lyrics to Bell's track, "The Table" ...

"We're not about to play around, if you play around get exposed ...

I got homies there to take you out if certain information gets disclosed ...

All these n***as acting shady, just please don't make me pull a Shady ...

We're not about to play around, if you play around get exposed ...

I got homies there to take you out if certain information gets disclosed ...

All these women want my baby, just please don't make me pull a Shady."

Of course, there could be a different meaning -- but, it sounds like he's referencing the allegations made by McCoy's ex-GF, Delicia Cordon, who claims LeSean sent a guy to violently steal his jewelry back after they broke up.

For his part, Shady hasn't been charged with a crime and has denied any involvement in the incident.

Tom Brady is turning the big 4-1 Friday ... and Patriots Nation is throwing the QB a massive birthday bash in New England complete with a giant cake, a balloon animal Tom Brady ... and a birthday song!

It all started when TB12 jogged out to the field --the crowd went crazy and then busted out the song. Brady smiled and waved at the fans.

Off the field, there was a giant #12 birthday cake and a giant #12 birthday card for fans to sign.

But, the best part ... was the life-size "Balloon Brady" ... which was put together REALLY WELL by a person with better than average lung capacity.

Brady also got some love from his wife, Gisele Bundchen -- who posted a love note to her hubby on social media ...

Hayden Panettiere took a heated, sticky situation and turned it into a dancing, happy one within a matter of minutes -- but, she got a helping hand from her knight in shining ... ball cap.

We got Hayden on her way out of Craig's in WeHo Thursday night, and she drew a lot of attention. Fact is, HP doesn't do the Hollywood scene that much anymore -- hence the frenzy to get a shot -- but she definitely wasn't feeling it.

She tried to shove her way past one pap, but got tangled in a cable and got really pissed. That's when Captain Hat To The Back swooped. We don't know who he is, but he escorted Hayden from the fray, calmed her down ... then helped her make a smiling, even graceful exit.

Joakim Noah returned to Chicago on Thursday for a VERY good reason -- the former Bulls star was leading a peace march down West Jackson Boulevard.

The 33-year-old -- who now plays for the NY Knicks -- was holding a flag with the word "Peace" on it, while wearing a shirt that said, "Rock Your Drop On the Block."

The march was organized through Joakim's Noah's Arc Foundation -- which provides programs for kids in need in Chicago. There's also a heavy emphasis on ending the gun violence epidemic in Chicago.

Noah reportedly took countless pictures and spoke with all sorts of fans to try and spread his message.

Charles Oakley didn't just try to pull a fast one over a Vegas casino -- he tried to cheat 3 TIMES during a round of Ultimate Texas Hold'Em ... TMZ Sports has learned.

We broke the story ... Oakley was arrested at the Cosmopolitan Hotel on July 8 after officials say he cheated while gambling. Now, we've obtained court docs which explains Oakley's alleged scheme in detail.

Here's the deal ... Oakley was playing the Ultimate Texas Hold'Em table game -- where both player and dealer get 2 cards, in addition to a community 5-card draw.

Of the 7 cards in play, the dealer and player use their best 5 cards to see who has the best hand.

During the first hand, Oakley started off strong ... with a pair of 4s. But, the dealer ended up with a winning hand ... 2 pair. When Oakley realized he was gonna lose, he allegedly pulled back a $100 chip from his bet.

Later on during the gambling session, Oakley had a monster hand -- 3 of a kind -- and this time, officials say he secretly ADDED chips to his bet on 2 different occasions during the hand, thereby increasing his payout by $125.

Officials say it was all captured on casino surveillance -- and he was arrested on the spot.

Get this ... officials say Oakley can't claim ignorance as an excuse because he apparently has logged around 119 HOURS playing the game at the Cosmo.

He was initially charged with a felony -- and faced up to 6 years in prison. But, that charge was recently knocked down to misdemeanor disorderly conduct and he'll likely get off without serving a minute behind bars.

Johnny Manziel is about to make his first pro football start since 2015 ... and the woman he credits with saving his life is opening up on his battle back to the field.

TMZ Sports spoke with Bre Tiesi -- Johnny's wife -- on the eve of his first career start for the Montreal Alouettes ... and she admits that there were some dark days on the path to Johnny's sobriety ... and she questioned whether this day would ever come.

"It was just one of those things where it's like, 'Are we ever gonna get out of this?' Like, 'Are you gonna pull it together?'"

Bre says knowing what they've been through makes it that much sweeter to see him get another shot on Friday night ... and Johnny's poised to make the best of it.

But, Bre's not the only person in the ex-Cleveland Browns QB's corner ... she says he's been getting massive support from one of his friends -- Drake.

"Since day one, honestly. Since Johnny started getting better, he always gave a shout-out with love for that. And, same with the rest of the team and other people he's worked with and like, the guys. Everybody's shown their support the whole time and it means a lot."

Brittney Griner is gonna try the marriage thing again -- the WNBA star just proposed to her longtime girlfriend with a fat ring ... and she said YES!!

The Phoenix Mercury center popped the question to Cherelle Watson -- the two met while they were students back at Baylor.

Hopefully, Griner's 2nd time on the alter will go better than her first -- a 28-day marriage to fellow WNBA player Glory Johnson that ended in violence.

As we previously reported, both Griner and Johnson were arrested for domestic violence in 2015 after an argument turned physical ... and they ended up in a full-on fight in their Arizona home.

Johnson got pregnant with twins during their relationship -- and when they split, the judge ordered Griner to pay child support to Johnson.

Johnson reportedly moved on and began dating a man. Griner began her relationship with Watson shortly after.

In a social media post to Watson, Griner wrote ... "My best friend, my lover, my partner in life. I love you."

Kane aka Glenn Jacobs has been voted mayor of Knox County, Tennessee.

The WWE legend took home the county mayoral election today ... and will soon run a 450,000-plus population county.

Jacobs -- who announced he was running for the office last year -- narrowly won the primary election back in May (he only won by 23 votes) ... earning a spot in the general election.

That vote was close ... but this time around, Kane absolutely crushed the competition -- winning by more than 15 THOUSAND votes.

Colin Kaepernick's name will be added back to the soundtrack on Madden 19 ... according to a statement by the video game's developers.

According to EA, it was all an unfortunate misunderstanding. The company's taking the blame for Colin's name being scrubbed from YG's song "Big Bank" on the game.

EA says ... "We made an unfortunate mistake with our Madden NFL soundtrack. Members of our team misunderstood the fact that while we don’t have rights to include Colin Kaepernick in the game, this doesn’t affect soundtracks."

The company adds the edit never should have happened, and apologized to Kaep, the NFL, players and fans ... along with YG and Big Sean.

Ezekiel Elliott is being sued for $1 MILLION by the man who Zeke barreled into with his SUV last year.

According to court docs ... the Cowboys superstar was driving his GMC Yukon in Collin County, Texas, in January 2017 -- when he ran a red light and smashed into Ronnie Hill's BMW sedan.

The accident was described as "minor" by the Frisco PD and cops noted no injuries were sustained.

But now ... Hill is claiming he does in fact have injuries from the crash -- including "serious, life-altering" ones -- and is seeking over $1 mil in damages from Elliott.

Zeke's agent, Frank Salzano, tells TMZ Sports Elliott's inclusion in the lawsuit is only a formality ... and will all ultimately end up being handled by Zeke's insurance company.

Big Sean's pointing a finger at the NFL for editing his lyrics and removing Colin Kaepernick's name from the song "Big Bank" as it appears in Madden 19.

Sean called the move "disappointing and appalling" and put the blame squarely on the NFL and EA, the company behind Madden. He says they treated Kaep's name "like it was a curse word. When he's not a curse, he's a gift!"

He also wants to make it clear neither he, nor anyone on his team approved the edit.

As we reported, Sean name-checked Kaep on his verse of "Big Bank" ... a YG track featuring Sean, Nicki Minaj and 2 Chainz.

Demetrious Johnson wants to fight the winner of this weekend's scrap between Cody Garbrandt and T.J. Dillashaw ... as long as the UFC ponies up a helluva lot of cash.

We asked DJ -- who's fighting in the co-main event at UFC 227 this Saturday in L.A. -- whether he'd be down to battle T.J. or Cody ... should he take home his 14th straight win in the Octagon this weekend.

"Obviously, if the money's right. I've always had an interest in it. If the money's right, then we'll make it happen."

That's music to fight fans' ears ... who have long wanted to see Demetrious -- who has dominated the flyweight division (125 lbs.) -- be part of a superfight against Cody or T.J.

DJ knows that's what fans want ... but dropped an obscure analogy using the movie "Spawn" to dampen expectations that it'll actually go down.

"Sh*t, hell, I wanted a 'Spawn 2' with f**king Michael Jai White, but the box office didn't do so well. So, I didn't get a 'Spawn 2.'"

YG is demanding answers from Madden and/or the NFL about why Colin Kaepernick's name was censored from his song ... because he sure as hell didn't approve it.

Sources close to YG tell TMZ Sports, the rapper was completely unaware his track, "Big Bank," would be edited when it was included in Madden NFL 19. The track features Big Sean, Nicki Minaj and 2 Chainz, and Sean's verse includes Kaep's name. At least it did until someone scrubbed it.

We're told the move blindsided YG and his team, and his camp's furiously trying to find out who called for the edit -- the game's producer, EA, or the NFL. Either way, he's not happy and wants the song to run unedited.

In case you missed it, Sean's verse went like ... "Feed me to the wolves now I lead the pack and s**t. You boys all cap, I'm more Colin Kaepernick." The final in-game version completely nixes the name.

Khabib Nurmagomedov says Conor McGregor ain't worthy of stepping inside the Octagon with him ... but would love the opportunity to kick his ass ... and get paid for it.

TMZ Sports talked to Khabib in NYC on Thursday ... and when we asked him for an update on the super fight ... he unloaded on Conor.

"I'm the undefeated, undisputed UFC lightweight champion. I no need him. He need me. His last 4 fight is like 2 and 2. He don't fight 2 years. He don't deserve this title shot."

Still ... don't get it twisted, Khabib says he want this fight.

Ohio State University legend Beanie Wells says Urban Meyer should be FIRED if he lied about having knowledge of the domestic violence allegations against his assistant coach.

We talked to Wells -- a superstar at Ohio St. from '06-'08 under Jim Tressel -- about the firestorm of controversy in Columbus, Ohio ... surrounding Meyer and his football program.

Meyer is on the hot seat over allegations he lied about having knowledge of an alleged domestic violence incident involving his assistant coach, Zach Smith.

Meyer is currently on administrative leave ... pending an investigation.

If that investigation proves Meyer lied ... Beanie thinks there's only 1 thing for Ohio State to do.

"I think in this situation, you have to do what's morally right. That probably would be to make a change, if he did indeed know everything that was going on, and kinda swept it under the rug," Wells told us ... "If that's the case you have to move forward as a University."

Wells' reasoning goes deeper ... saying it's not just a moral issue -- but a business issue for the university ... saying they'd open themselves up to unprecedented scrutiny by keeping Meyer on.

"I think you open yourself up to a completely different can of worms by keeping him on board."