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Ex-Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores is adamant he still wants a job in the NFL ... but understands his scathing lawsuit against the league could damage his chances at ever getting a gig again.

Flores -- who's suing the NFL and 3 teams over alleged racist hiring practices -- opened up in an interview with "CBS Mornings" on Wednesday ... saying his legal action is about much more than his career.

"I love coaching, I'm gifted to coach, I know that," Flores said. "The relationships I built with players, coaches, support staff, I'm gifted to coach, I love coaching and I want to coach ... This is bigger than coaching. This is much bigger than coaching."

Flores said he contacted the other 2 teams he's still interviewing with for an HC job -- the Texans and Saints -- and gave them a heads up about the lawsuit ... and added if given the opportunity, he would still happily lead an NFL team again.

"I understand the risks, and yes, it was a difficult decision," he said. "I went back and forth."

When asked about comparing the NFL to a "plantation" ... Flores explained he knew it was time to leave a lasting impact on the league.

"We didn't have to file a lawsuit for the world to know that there's a problem from a hiring standpoint in regards to minority coaches in the National Football League. The numbers speak for themselves. We filed a lawsuit so that we could create some change and that's important to me."

"I think we're at a fork in the road right now -- we're either going to keep it the way it is, or we're going to go in another direction and actually make some real change where we're actually changing the hearts and minds of those who make decisions to hire head coaches, executives, etc."

As we reported, Flores filed his lawsuit after he said he received texts from Patriots head coach Bill Belichick that revealed the New York Giants decided to hire Brian Daboll before ever giving him the chance to interview for the job.

Flores felt like he was only being interviewed to satisfy the league's Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview a minority candidate when a head coaching job opens up.

Flores also appeared on ESPN's "Get Up" just minutes ago ... saying he's willing to sacrifice his career to make a serious difference in the league.

"If I never coach again and there's change," he said, "it will be worth it."

Here's a new one -- Kevin Porter Jr. took advantage of some downtime during the Rockets vs. Warriors game on Monday ... by linking up with celeb jeweler Johnny Dang and giving him his digits!!

The hilarious moment went down at the Toyota Center during Houston's 108-122 loss to the Dubs ... when KBJ leaned back to chop it up with Dang, who was sitting right behind the bench.

In video shared to social media, you can see KPJ taking Dang's iPhone and putting his number into it -- making it pretty obvious he's hoping to get a piece done by the King of Bling.

Ya can't blame the guy -- Dang has collabed with every big name in sports and entertainment ... from Katy Perry to Quavo to Johnny Manziel.

Dang is a legend in Houston ... so it's actually pretty surprising KPJ -- who joined the Rockets last year -- hadn't already gotten him his number.

Rob Gronkowski just bid farewell to his BFF Tom Brady with a video and a mushy note ... and it ain't hard to see the tight end REALLY loved his quarterback.

Gronk posted it all to his social media page on Wednesday -- just one day after Brady announced he's done with football -- and it's probably the sweetest goodbye message Tom's gotten so far this week.

Rob shared a nearly two-minute video (set to Queen's "You're My Best Friend") that had a whole bunch of cool highlights of the two on and off the field. He also added in a message along with the footage that he believed Tom was "a legend."

"Tommy Boy!!!" Gronk said. "This football journey with you has been nothing short of special."

"Thank you for your dedication to the game, putting the team in the best possible position to win every year, all the records that were broken, the Super Bowls, the memories, and your friendship through the last 12 years."

He continued, "I witnessed greatness for so many years and got to learn from the best to ever do it. You’re a legend and always will be."

32-year-old Gronkowski first teamed up with Brady in New England back in 2010, and he and TB12 quickly became inseparable.

They ended up hooking up for 90 touchdowns together in their careers ... and won 4 Super Bowls together.

It's unclear if Gronk will now join Brady in retirement this offseason ... though he told TMZ Sports last week if he had to choose right now, he'd pick retirement over a return to the gridiron.

New York fans can thank James Dolan for never landing LeBron James ... so says Knicks legend Charles Oakley, who claims the King's main reason for not signing in the Big Apple was the controversial owner.

Oakley recalled a conversation he had with Bron during the 2014 season in his new book, 'The Last Enforcer,' ... which happened after Oak met Dolan for the first time.

Oak claims the Knicks owner refused to shake hands or even look at him throughout the interaction at All-Star Weekend ... and when he relayed what happened to LeBron, the Chosen One had words of his own.

"I walked back to LeBron and said, 'This motherf***er (Dolan) wouldn't shake my hand,'" Oakley claims. "All LeBron said was, 'This is why I'm never going to New York.'"

Oakley says he was shocked by Dolan's coldness at the time ... saying, "You would have thought I did something to his wife."

"I didn't do anything to this man. What did I ever say that was so bad that he would ignore me like that? I wondered. Man, I wanted to hit him in the head."

Of course, Oakley and LeBron have been good friends for quite some time ... so it's no surprise the 4-time champ would have the Cleveland native's back in the feud.

Tension between Dolan and Oakley reached a boiling point during an incident at Madison Square Garden in 2017, when Oak was hauled out of the arena and arrested by NYPD for getting physical with security staffers.

Oakley -- who spent 10 seasons with the Knicks -- was banned from the Garden (at the behest of Dolan) ... and while the ban was lifted, he has not yet returned to the Mecca.

Lamar Odom is clearly not over Khloe Kardashian ... the ex-NBA star recently said that he misses his ex-wife "so much" -- and is still dreaming about her.

"Celebrity Big Brother" cameras captured Odom's revelation while he was making his bed on the show ... with Lamar repeatedly telling his housemate, choreographer Todrick Hall, that he thinks about Khloe often.

"I had some good dreams last night," Odom can be heard telling Hall in the footage. "I dreamt about my ex-wife last night."

"I miss her so much," Odom continued. "I wish I could take that time back ... I miss her so much."

The 42-year-old married Khloe back in 2009, but the two were divorced just a few years later.

Since their split, Khloe had a daughter, True, with Tristan Thompson ... whom Odom recently called "corny" over the way he's treated Khloe.

A youth basketball coach who was overseeing a team full of kids 10 years old and younger was fired over the weekend after he appeared to choke a ref during a game.

The wild scene all went down Saturday at the Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks, Calif., when the coach of the Cavs Youth Basketball's 10U team appeared to snap on a ref following a controversial call.

The founder of the Cavs' org., Darryl McDonald, tells TMZ Sports his coach was hit with two technical fouls ... and then a verbal altercation ensued.

McDonald, who was not at the venue at the time of the incident but says he launched a thorough investigation into it all, tells us after a back-and-forth between the coach and the refs ... his coach put his hands around the ref's neck.

Video from the scene shows the man was locked on the ref for several seconds ...  before another ref came in and appeared to punch the coach to get him to let go.

McDonald says the fight was broken up just moments later.

McDonald tells us he immediately suspended the head coach, and after a probe into the incident, he ultimately fired the guy on Sunday.

"It was unfortunate," McDonald said. "Our program has been around for over 30 years and before it even went viral, the coach was no longer part of our program. It's completely unacceptable to behave that way in front of our youth. There's no excuse, I don't care what someone says to you. You have to find a better way to handle that particular situation."

McDonald says it does not appear that anyone was seriously injured in the incident. He did not know if criminal charges were being pursued.

The Washington Football Team finally has its new name ... the Washington Commanders.

The NFL's D.C. org just announced the rebranding -- nearly two years after it dropped its old moniker due to its racist ties.

Commanders co-owner and co-CEO Tanya Snyder said in a statement the team landed on the new name after "40,000 fan submissions and countless surveys, focus groups and meetings."

The team unveiled three new logos with the name change -- a capital W, a stylized "Washington Commanders" insignia, and a team crest.

The Commanders also showed off their new uniforms -- red and burgundy kits that aren't too much different than what they've been wearing the past few years.

"As an organization," team co-owner and co-CEO Dan Snyder said Wednesday, "we are excited to rally and rise together as one under our new identity while paying homage to our local roots and what it means to represent the nation's capital."

WNBA star Liz Cambage is fed up -- the Australian pro hooper just ripped the league over its pay, griping about how new Las Vegas head coach Becky Hammon is making exorbitantly more cash than the players.

"ahhh yes the @WNBA," Cambage said in a tweet Tuesday afternoon, "where a head coach can get paid 4X the highest paid players super max contract."

"lmao and y’all think imma spend another season upgrading my seat on a flight to get to games out of my own pocket."

Hammon -- who served as an assistant under Gregg Popovich with the Spurs -- recently signed a historic deal with the Aces that was reportedly worth around $1 million.

Some considered it a great and progressive move for the league, but Cambage clearly thinks otherwise ... considering the highest-paid player in the WNBA right now is Diana Taurasi, who's reportedly making around $228K to play for the Phoenix Mercury.

Liz -- who earned a salary of $221,450 last year -- seemingly feels players' pay should have been bumped up before Hammon received her huge salary.

Take a deep breath Patriot nation -- Tom Brady did not leave you out of his retirement note on purpose, so says his ex-teammate Antowain Smith ... who tells TMZ Sports the G.O.A.T. made an honest omission and still has love for the Pats.

The 44-year-old 7-time Super Bowl champ retired on Tuesday ... and he made sure to thank everyone on his way out the NFL except his former team and its head coach ... which left many Pats fans confused and annoyed.

Smith, though, tells us he thinks it was not done intentionally.

"Personally, myself, I know he has a place in his heart for Patriot nation," said Smith, who won two Super Bowls with Brady in New England. "The moment -- you know, when you speaking in the moment, sometimes you may forget something here or there."

"But, I don't think he did anything intentionally. I know that he feels a way about the Patriots fans, as well as I do."

To his credit, Brady did ultimately end up giving a head nod to the Pats ... writing in an IG story later Tuesday, "Thank you Patriots and Patriot Nation."

"Beyond grateful and love you all."

As for any potential rift between Tom and Bill Belichick, Smith said he doesn't think there's any issue between the two at all. The former running back said he believes the two buried the hatchet when Tampa Bay visited the Patriots in Week 4 of this season.

"After the game was over," Smith said, "they went to the locker room and they had a long conversation."

"They will forever be linked hip and hip and there's nothing else we can do about that."

Jermall Charlo is off the hook in his robbery case ... the case was just dismissed based on insufficient evidence, TMZ Sports has learned.

Court records show the 3 robbery charges Charlo was hit with following an alleged altercation at a San Antonio bar last year were dismissed on Monday. The records list the reasoning as "insufficient evidence."

It's a big deal for Charlo ... who was accused of being a complete jerk to a waitress the day before his brother, Jermell Charlo, fought Brian Castaño in San Antonio last July.

Police, in an incident report, said Jermall was with a big group when the waitress came over with the bill. Cops say Jermall handed over his credit card and ID, but said the card was declined despite multiple attempts to run it.

Officers said in the docs Jermall eventually became upset over it all and took two bill collection binders from the waitress, nabbing everything from the inside of them.

Jermall was eventually arrested ... though his attorney, Kent A Schaffer, tells us he believes video and witnesses from the bar ultimately proved Jermall never did anything wrong.

"Police eventually turned over the surveillance tapes that showed everything that our witnesses said was true," Schaffer tells us. "Jermall never robbed anyone at this nightclub and never used force or threat of force against anyone. We have been saying this the whole time he did nothing wrong."

"We presented the evidence to the ADA who came to the same conclusion -- the surveillance video was a huge part of getting the case dismissed. And the 6 witnesses were also a key factor."

Schaffer continued, "Jermall is ecstatic and training for his next fight -- this is something that has been hanging over his head since August -- he can now get back to fighting instead of worrying about going to trial for something he didn't do."

Brian Flores is going scorched earth on the NFL and New York Giants ... filing an explosive lawsuit where the former Dolphins head coach alleges the team's hiring practices were rooted in racism, and he claims a text from Bill Belichick proves it.

The 40-year-old coach filed the class action lawsuit through attorneys Douglas H. Wigdor, Michael J. Willemin, David E. Gottlieb in district court in New York on Tuesday ... and it's shocking.

Flores says he received a text from his former boss and Patriots head coach days before he interviewed with the Giants. During the conversation, Flores says BB congratulated him on landing the new gig.

BF was confused by the comment because he had yet to go in for his scheduled interview, and asked Bill if he had an inside track to their decision.

Belichick eventually admits he misread the information he received ... and tells Flores it was actually a different Brian -- Brian Daboll -- who landed the Giants job.

Flores insists this is proof he was only brought in for an interview to satisfy the Rooney Rule -- which requires teams to interview a minority candidate when a head coaching job opens up.

FYI, Flores and Daboll both worked together under Belichick in New England.

BF claims he was then "forced to sit through a dinner" with new Giants GM Joe Schoen despite "knowing that the Giants had already selected Mr. Daboll."

And Flores says this wasn't the first time he's been subjected to a "sham interview that was held only in an effort to comply with the Rooney Rule."

The fired coach says he interviewed with then-Broncos general manager John Elway and other Denver execs in 2019 ... however, Brian says "it was clear from the substance of the interview that Mr. Flores was interviewed only because of the Rooney Rule."

Flores also claims Elway and the other Broncos execs showed up an hour late for the interview and "looked completely disheveled, and it was obvious that they had drinking heavily the night before."

Brian -- who points out there's only 1 Black head coach (Mike Tomlin) and 6 GMs -- is suing on the behalf of all prospective Black coaches and front office employees.

Flores is asking the court to fix the NFL's alleged discriminatory hiring practices, in addition to damages.

There's more ... Flores also accuses Dolphins owner Stephen Ross of offering to pay him $100K per loss -- in an effort to tank the season and get a better draft pick.

Flores says when he refused to play ball, he was labeled as being difficult to work with, and ultimately fired.

"This is reflective of an all too familiar 'angry Black man' stigma that is often casted upon Black men who are strong in their morals and convictions while white men are coined as passionate for those very same attributes," the lawsuit reads.

Flores -- who is currently without a coaching gig -- understands the lawsuit could possibly prevent him from landing a job in the future.

"God has gifted me with a special talent to coach the game of football, but the
need for change is bigger than my personal goals," Flores said in a statement released by his lawyers.

Tragic news ... Paraguayan soccer star Ivan Torres says his wife Cristina Vita Aranda was killed after being shot in the head while the two attended a concert.

She was only 29 years old.

Aranda's death was confirmed by Itaugua Nacional Hospital director Yolanda Gonzalez, in a statement via the Sun.

"She was intubated when she arrived and attempts were made to resuscitate her for at least 25 minutes after she went into cardiac arrest," Gonzalez said. "She died after the lengthy attempts to save her life."

Torres and Aranda were reportedly at a concert at the Jose Asuncion Flores Amphitheatre ... when gunfire erupted, according to the outlet.

The shooting is still under investigation by authorities, but preliminary reports say there were 4 other victims -- between the ages of 23 and 40 -- who were also wounded during the incident.

Torres, however, did not sustain any physical injuries, according to the reports.

Police chief Benicio Ramirez said law enforcement officials do not believe she was the intended target, but rather a "collateral victim" in the incident.

“This is how I will remember you my love, with that beautiful smile and that big heart," Torres wrote on social media.

He continued ... "I promise that I will miss you very much, nothing will be the same without you, just to thank you for these 11 years by my side, for teaching me to recognize my mistakes, to forgive, to believe, to be better, to love unconditionally, that Despite the difficulties we had to be prepared for the next opportunity, you told me that you wanted to reach the heart of each woman and impact them."

“I know that God granted it to you and will continue to do so, and THANK YOU for those three children you gave me, I will honor your name by giving my best so that they look like you. LOVE YOU.”

Aranda posted last December she and Torres were getting a divorce after being married for 10 years ... but the two were reportedly working on reconciling even in the last moments of her life.

The 2022 Olympics haven't begun yet, but they're already off to a not-so-hot start for USA skier Kai Owens, who sustained a gnarly eye injury during preparation for the Beijing event on Tuesday.

The 17-year-old Owens was practicing for the Winter Olympics at Genting Snow Park in China ... when photographers captured her falling on the slopes.

Kai needed medical care from personnel on hand ... but, fortunately, she was able to stand up on her own. Photos from the scene, though, showed she did suffer a black eye in the fall.

Thankfully, it does not appear she sustained any further serious injuries.

It's not exactly the start Owens was hoping for ... remember, she told us out at LAX just a few days ago that she was pumped for the Games, particularly considering the location of it all.

Owens was abandoned by her birth parents in China as an infant and was adopted by a Colorado couple when she was 1 year old.

Former NBA star Chris Bosh says he's so pissed off over the lack of Black head coaches in the NFL -- he's straight up done watching it until things change.

The 37-year-old ripped the league on Monday via his newsletter "The Last Chip" ... accusing NFL owners of treating Black coaches differently than white ones.

In his post, Bosh said the firings of Brian Flores in Miami and David Culley in Houston were unjust ... saying he believes if the two men were white, they'd still have jobs right now.

"Watching the way the NFL is treating Black coaches has me pissed off," Bosh said. "Plain and simple. Until they fix this, I cannot keep spending my weekends supporting the league."

Bosh noted there's now just one Black head coach in the league -- Pittsburgh's Mike Tomlin -- something he called "appalling."

"I'm happy anytime anyone gets a job," the ex-Miami Heat forward said, "but it sure seems like the white guys are having an easier time becoming head coaches and general managers nowadays, while Black coaches are held to an entirely different standard."

The two-time NBA champ says he will no longer spend his Sundays watching ball -- at least until he and his kids see more coaches on the sideline that look like them.

"I want them to know that the next great strategic mind might belong to a coach who isn’t necessarily white," Bosh said. "Because I know they're out there, future Belichick's and Lombardi's and Madden's who happen to not be white men."

The University of Nebraska says mascot Herbie Husker will no longer make the "OK" hand sign ... after receiving pressure from anti-hate groups who believe the gesture has ties to white supremacy.

“The concern about the hand gesture was brought to our attention by our apparel provider and others, and we decided to move forward with a revised Herbie Husker logo,” Nebraska Athletics told the AP.

“The process of changing the logo began in 2020, and we updated our brand guidelines in July of 2021. The revised logo is now the only Herbie Husker mark available to licensees.”

The "OK" symbol -- which had become a staple of Nebraska's mascot -- was first used in the '70s ... but has become associated with racist groups over the last few years.

Now, Herbie's hands will make the "number one" gesture with his index finger, instead of his index finger and thumb forming a closed circle.

FYI, the Anti-Defamation League lists the "OK" hand gesture in its Hate Symbols Database, but the website urges people to be careful when evaluating a person's intent when using the hand symbol.

Mojo Muhtadi is making a return to the ring ... 19 months after the professional wrestler (and TMZ Sports TV show co-host) says he contracted a terrible case of COVID-19 that was so serious it nearly killed him.

35-year-old Muhtadi talked about his battle with the virus on Monday's episode of the show (airs weekdays on FS1) ... and it sounds incredibly harrowing.

"I've been struggling with a 19-month fight with COVID, actually. I got it last June 2020, far back as that. Really had a rough go. Had to go the hospital, I had a fever of 104 for quite some time and I developed a really bad lung injury out of it somehow." Mojo says.

"I guess that's just kinda the nature of COVID. My lungs are just in bad shape. I couldn't lay on my back or my side for a long time because it was suffocating me. Tight shirts were challenging and there were just days I couldn't speak. I couldn't get in enough air to talk, couldn't leave the house. Kinda had to shut down everything and just focus on literally every single solitary breath at a time to try and make it through the day. It was a really challenging thing."

Of course, Muhtadi is a former WWE Superstar ... wrestling under the name Mojo Rawley. He was a 7x WWE 24/7 Champ during his tenure in Vince McMahon's company.

Now, Mojo isn't ready to step foot back in the squared circle right away ... but he's ramping up his training, and getting closer to a return by the day.

"I'm feeling better. I'm definitely not out of it yet. I'm still having some issues. I even had some yesterday, but we're feeling good enough to start training again and start lining up some matches to start really test this thing out."

Mojo says the time away was tough ... so hard he had to stop watching wrestling.

"Honestly, it was brutal. I had to stop watching for a long time. I was getting too jealous. I was hating from my couch."