TMZ Sports - Page 50

Ex-WWE and AEW wrestler Brian Kendrick is explaining his motivation behind spewing a wildly controversial conspiracy about the Holocaust a decade ago ... saying he was trying to "create a buzz" and become a villain.

The 42-year-old -- who was canned just one day after signing with Tony Khan's promotion back in February -- issued another apology for his hurtful comments on the "Duke Loves Rasslin" podcast this week ... saying at the time, he did not care if he offended anyone with his "horrific" words.

"When it gets thrown back in your face, one -- it's embarrassing, but two -- you start to reflect, you're forced to reflect on it," Kendrick said on Wednesday.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being so cold-hearted and trying to profit off of tragedy, I suppose it's what it was. I was trying to gain off of others' tragedies by making conspiracy to create a buzz for myself to gain some sort of bookings."

"It was a terrible idea and even if it hadn't affected anybody, it's still just horribly embarrassing. I am sorry for anybody -- to people I hurt, for making light of stuff that happened to them or their family. I hope you accept that."

As we previously reported, Kendrick claimed sometime between 2009 and 2011, to believe the Holocaust was "overblown and the Red Cross stated it was only 250,000 Jews who were killed and the number was blown up to justify the creation of Israel."

Shortly after the old clips resurfaced, he lost his job.

Brian isn't just sorry -- he says he's been working with The Survivor Mitzvah Project, which is a charity that supports elderly Holocaust survivors ... and is focused on becoming a better person.

Luka Doncic had big beef with a fan during the Mavericks vs. Suns game on Wednesday night ... and things got so testy between the two, the Dallas star actually needed to be restrained from going after the Phoenix supporter.

The incident happened as Luka was leaving the floor at halftime of Dallas' playoff game with the Suns in Arizona ... when a heckler said something to Doncic that he clearly didn't like.

Broadcast cameras caught Luka trying to go after the fan -- who was wearing a Devin Booker jersey -- before Mavericks personnel had to step in to stop a potential physical altercation.

Luka eventually dropped the issue after pointing his finger at the man -- and headed to the Mavericks' locker room.

After the game, the 23-year-old point guard said the fan crossed the line with his heckles.

"He was just saying some reckless things, man," Doncic said. "I'm not going to repeat that. A lot of fans say that because they know we can't do nothing."

"If it was something normal, I wouldn't even look because I don't care. But, sometimes you're in a bad mood and they say some bad stuff. It's normal, we're people, man, and it's normal to turn around and get mad."

To add insult to injury, Luka's Mavericks went on to lose the game to the Suns, 129-109. Dallas is now down 0-2 in the series.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was involved in a car crash on Wednesday ... but, thankfully, his son said the 79-year-old is "all good" now.

Jones, according to WFAA in Dallas, was transported to a hospital with minor injuries after being involved in an accident at around 8:10 PM CT at Wolf St. and Harry Hines Blvd. -- roughly 20 miles away from the Cowboys' team facility.

But Jones' son, Stephen Jones, said in a text message to ESPN late Wednesday evening that Jerry had made it back home and was "all good."

A spokesperson for the Dallas Police Dept. told TMZ Sports they do not give out names of individuals involved in car accidents unless there's a fatality. The spokesperson did confirm, however, that officers did respond to the Wolf and Harry Hines location at around 8:10 PM CT for a two-vehicle accident.

The spokesperson added that one person was transported to a local hospital for "precautionary measures."

The Island Boys will have an opportunity to show off their hands -- and secure the bag -- 'cause Flyysoulja and Kodiyakredd just got an offer to be cast on a boxing competition pitting social media stars against each other in the squared circle.

The new reality show is called "Ultimate Social Boxing" ... and will pit 32 social media stars against one another as they attempt to fight their way to the top, and the winner will receive $1 million!

TMZ Sports talked to LiveOne founder Rob Ellin (brother of 'Entourage' creator Doug Ellin), and one of the people behind the show. Ellin is currently beginning to cast the series.

Two of those spots ... well, Rob would like the Island Boys to enter the competition.

"We want you. It looks great. It looks energetic. It looks like those guys have those promotional skills. Again, to have that energy of becoming a true brand. Steve Austin, right? The Rock. Hulk Hogan. You want dolls made of you? You want a career? You wanna build brands? You want to own tequila companies? Yeah, sure. But, you better get yourself into boxing shape," Ellin said.

Of course, the bros blew up after their song, "I'm An Island Boy" exploded in popularity last year.

And, they've seemingly taken up boxing lately ... showing off their skills (😬) on social media, doing bag and mitt work.

Boxing and entertainment have become more intertwined over the last few years ... and particularly since Jake Paul burst onto the boxing scene.

Paul flipped the sport on its head in many ways ... but that could only happen because, like him or not, Jake's a talented fighter.

Here's a video that'll hit ya right in the feels ... a Blue Jays fan gifted an Aaron Judge home run ball to a little Yankees supporter -- and the gesture was so appreciated, the kid actually cried tears of joy!!

The moment happened in the sixth inning of New York's game against Toronto at Rogers Centre ... when Judge blasted a moon shot into the upper deck in left field.

A Toronto fan initially caught the souvenir ... but he turned and handed it to a little Yankees fan sitting near him -- and what happened next was truly amazing.

The kid -- who was wearing an Aaron Judge shirt -- burst into tears and gave the guy a huge hug!!!

In the clip of their interaction, which was thankfully caught by broadcast cameras, you can see after the two embraced, the boy was completely overwhelmed with joy.

And, as icing on the cake for the little Judge fan ... the Yanks ended up trouncing the Jays, 9-1.

Talk about a great Tuesday at the ballpark.

The moment Dave Chappelle was attacked on stage in front of thousands of fans was crazy as hell ... so says former NFL star Marcellus Wiley who tells TMZ Sports he was in the building for the whole thing!!

We spoke with the star of FS1's "Speak For Yourself" ... who wasn't the only celeb in attendance, and he told us the scary incident unfolded right in front of his own eyes.

"Yea, I was in the building man, and it was crazy to be there," Wiley said. "Lot of stars in the building, but the moment it occurred is crazy 'cause it was time to leave. Dave was leaving the stage and coming back for an encore."

Wiley says he was eagerly awaiting the musical act Chappelle was introducing, Black Star, when suddenly, a guy from the crowd rushed the stage and attacked the comedian.

"Now, I'm gonna say he missed his moment, too, because he missed that tackle," the ex-NFL star said. "As a former football player, he could have got a lot cleaner hit, but he's not a former linebacker. But, he tackled Dave, and then next thing you know, the dude gets up, takes off running thinking he Barry Sanders."

He continued ... "And boy, that's when security started working. About 50 people -- including Dave, Jamie Foxx -- you just saw everyone just bum rush this dude in the corner right in the back. It took about 3-5 minutes to finally get the dude out of there. It was a lot of elbows, a lot of stomping, and a lot of people who were upset at that moment."

Of course, we had to ask Marcellus if he initially believed the attack was fake ... a skit of sorts aimed at poking fun at Will Smith's attack on Chris Rock at the Oscars.

"In the moment I was like, 'Yo, that's crazy,'" Wiley said. "Then I was like 'Yo, that's some Will Smith stuff.'" Wiley admits he thought Chappelle was making light of the Smith incident, but quickly realized that wasn't the case when he saw the beatdown the attacker was receiving.

Despite the chaotic scene, Marcellus told us the craziest part of the night wasn't even the guy getting hammered after the failed ambush attack.

Is Michael Jordan looking to get into Formula 1??

If so, he's already bumping elbows with drivers ... enjoying a dinner with AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly ahead of Sunday's Grand Prix in Miami!!

The French star posted pics of his time with #23 to social media ... showing MJ trying on his helmet and signing a few autographs.

"Unforgettable dinner! @jumpman23👑" Gasly said on IG ... and naturally, his fellow F1 bros are jealous.

"I actually think I would cry," Daniel Ricciardo said in the comments.

The GOAT is one of several megastars reportedly slated to attend the race this weekend ... including LeBron James, David Beckham, Tom Brady, James Corden, Serena and Venus Williams and more.

Of course, His Airness is no stranger to racing -- he launched his 23XI NASCAR team with Denny Hamlin in 2020 ... signing Bubba Wallace and Kurt Busch to his roster.

A court with homages to Kobe and Gianna Bryant could be cropping up at a local park near you ... 'cause Vanessa Bryant just announced plans to renovate courts across the country with Mamba and Mambacita themes.

Vanessa posted the news on her Instagram page on Wednesday ... saying in collaboration with BodyArmor and the Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation, 10 courts throughout the U.S. will be renovated, and feature nods to Kobe and Gigi.

According to BodyArmor officials ... the courts will appear in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Miami, Phoenix and Detroit.

Vanessa and BodyArmor shared a "sneak peek" of what the courts will look like ... and they're set to feature a few nods to Kobe and Gigi, including the Nos. 8 and 2 (jersey digits Kobe and Gigi wore in their basketball careers) just above the keys.

The cool gesture comes just 24 hours after BodyArmor's founder, Mike Repole, donated $24 million to the Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation.

"I’m going to make sure this foundation gets bigger than the Ronald McDonald House," Repole told the Boardroom following the generous gift.

"It’s not just about getting them the physical tools or on the courts in the right uniforms. It’s about what it does for kids mentally and confidence-wise."

BodyArmor also announced it's releasing a new "Mamba Forever" drink.

FYI -- Kobe invested $6 million into BodyArmor back in 2014 ... and when Coca-Cola bought out the brand in 2021, Bryant's estate cashed in over $400 million.

Armando Bacot is entering the world of the Pogues and Kooks -- the North Carolina hoops star just landed a role with the super-popular Netflix show "Outer Banks" ... and he's been on set hanging with John B. himself, Chase Stokes!!

The breakout Tar Heels center will appear in several episodes of Season 3 of the series ... playing the fittingly-named character, "Mando," according to Inside Carolina.

The 22-year-old posted vid of his time on set ... bro'ing down with Stokes and Rudy Pankow, who plays JJ Maybank on the thriller series.

Now, Bacot taking an acting role might sound super random, but it actually makes a lot of sense ... especially considering two of the show's creators -- Josh and Jonas Pate -- are North Carolina natives.

On top of that, Josh and the other creator, Shannon Burke, are UNC alums ... so that Tar Heel network definitely had to help the 6'10", 240-lb. baller land the gig.

The big question -- is Bacot a Pogue or a Kook in the NC-based show?? We'll have to wait until the season drops ... and that might be quite a bit away.

'90s heartthrob Freddie Prinze Jr. is starting his own wrestling company ... and says in order to make his dreams happen, he had to get back in front of the camera.

The 46-year-old discussed his exciting plans on his "Wrestling With Freddie" podcast on Wednesday ... revealing he's already in the process of launching an independent promotion.

Of course, FPJ is most known for starring in movies like "I Know What You Did Last Summer," "Scooby-Doo" and "She's All That" ... but when it comes to wrestling fans, he's as passionate as they come -- he's even stepped in the ring for WWE in the past.

Freddie says after taking pitch meetings with a different promotion that didn't go as he had hoped, he decided to take matters into his own hands and set up his own shop.

But first, the guy had to figure out the financials -- so, after a discussion with his accountant, he knew it was time to get back to work ... taking a Netflix project called, "Christmas With You" in order to fund his new venture.

Freddie -- who was a face of the 1990s -- had pretty much only done voice acting roles over the past decade ... so his return to the screen is a big deal.

As it turns out, Freddie says he fell in love with acting again ... but his desire to start a wrasslin' company remained his focus.

Prinze Jr. details his whole plan in his podcast ... saying he wants to be up and running in 18 months, own the venue in Los Angeles and have every wrestler unionized.

A Citi Field security guard was forced to leave a game on Wednesday afternoon ... after he was drilled on the top of the head by a towering foul ball.

The scary moment just happened in the second inning of the Mets vs. Braves game in New York ... when Atlanta catcher, Travis D'Arnaud, hit a pitch way into the air down the third-base line.

As the ball was coming down in foul ground, though, a security guard couldn't track it -- and it ended up plunking him.

The ball hit the man so hard, D'Arnaud visibly winced at the sight.

The guard rubbed his head and appeared to be dazed -- and just seconds later, he left his post with a stadium official.

Unclear if he suffered significant injuries ... we've reached out to the Mets for comment on the situation, but so far, no word back yet.

Santi Mina, forward for professional soccer team Celta Vigo, was just sentenced to 4 years in prison after being found guilty of sexual abuse.

Mina was also charged with rape ... but was acquitted on that charge.

The sentence was handed down to the 26-year-old in a court in Almeria, Spain, on Wednesday. The Spanish footballer was also ordered to stay away from the victim for at least 12 years.

The state prosecutor lobbied for an 8-year prison sentence, according to ESPN, but ultimately, the Spanish court hit the player with just half.

David Goldar, a former player for Celta Vigo and current defender for UD Ibiza, was charged with failing to prevent the alleged sexual abuse from happening.

However, Goldar was found not guilty of being an accomplice to the crime.

As for the original allegation ... a woman, who allegedly went off with Goldar, accused Mina of sexually assaulting her in a camper van in 2017 in the southern province of Almeria.

LaLiga club Celta released a statement on the sentencing ... saying, "As a result of the ruling of the Provincial Court of Almeria ruling issued today, RC Celta has decided to open a disciplinary file on the player Santiago Mina to elucidate his work responsibilities in view of this resolution."

They continued ... "For this reason and as a precautionary measure, it has been decided to provisionally remove the player from first team training, without prejudice to his continuing to carry out the activities indicated by the club for this purpose."

"RC Celta respects the player's right to defense but is obliged to take measures against those events that notoriously undermine the image of the club and directly attack its values, once again showing its most absolute rejection of the offense defined in the judicial resolution."

Madison Bumgarner just lost his mind on the baseball diamond ... needing to be physically restrained from an umpire after the guy threw him out of a game.

The Diamondbacks pitcher's blowup just went down after the first inning of Arizona's game against the Miami Marlins in Florida ... following an incident with an on-field ump.

Mad Bum was pissed during the frame over some balls and strikes calls ... and when he walked toward the dugout and got checked by an ump for foreign substances -- he had some words for the official.

In footage of the altercation, picked up by broadcast cameras, Bumgarner was seen clearly arguing with the ump -- before he was eventually tossed.

The ejection set the former World Series MVP off ... and footage shows he went so ballistic, he needed several teammates and coaches to hold him back from going after the dude.

Bumgarner, thankfully, ultimately left the field without further incident.

PSA for all the Internet trolls out there -- if you come at Drake, he WILL DM your significant other ... and the 6 God proved it during a heated debate over NBA star Ja Morant's dad.

Here's the deal -- Drizzy hit the Instagram comments to defend Tee Morant over a meme criticizing his support for the Grizzlies guard throughout the playoffs, which some have deemed "annoying."

Drake was having none of it -- saying, "Imagine your son makes the league and he’s Ja Or Melo (Ball) or Lonzo (Ball) all you can do is be elated and competitive and over supportive and it’s a right of passage to that the OG’s talk s*** 😂😂😂😂."

"I know I’mma be this way even if my son is in a rubix cube competition 😎."

One troll thought it would be wise to crack back at Drake by referencing the rumor he doesn't write his own songs ... saying, "ya son prolly play with ghost writers."

Big mistake -- 'cause Drake fired right back in the most ruthless way possible.

"I just followed your girl cause she prob miserable and needs some excitement in her life."

Sheesh.

And, get this -- Drake wasn't kidding ... because the troll later posted a screenshot of his wife getting a DM from Champagne Papi himself, which read, "I'm here for u ma."

Chalk this one up as a win for Drake ... and a teachable moment for anyone else looking to go after him.

G-Eazy suffered a sneaker catastrophe at the Celtics game on Tuesday -- when his expensive and rare pair of Air Yeezys CRACKED on him ... but luckily, he had a backup pair of Jordans ready to sub in.

The Bay Area rapper was showing off his Kanye West x Nike kicks in several IG photos before the Celtics tipped off against the Bucks in Boston ... when a sneakerhead's worst nightmare happened.

As it turns out, the kicks completely gave out on the "Provide" rapper during the game ... showing off a crack in the rubber outsole.

"One of the last wears I might get out of these babys," Gerald said on social media ... clearly heartbroken over the situation.

And, these aren't just any Yeezys -- these are one of three colorways of the Air Yeezy "Zen" release -- Ye's first sneaker he made with the Swoosh in 2009, before he eventually switched over to Adidas.

Of course, not everyone wants to give up on the sneaks just yet -- one fan responded, "Last wears? Boy give me that s***. I'll fix em."

But, Mr. Eazy didn't have to go home barefoot -- it appears his buddy, Walid Samaha, was able to secure some Union LA x Air Jordan 2 "Rattan" kicks and have them delivered right to him at his courtside seat!!

"In game substitution," G-Eazy said, "Bye Yeezys!"

FYI -- the Zens cost up to $10k on popular sneaker app GOAT and up to $50k on StockX (in a size 14) ... but we're pretty sure the award-winning rapper will cop another pair.

Kevin Durant now has as many soccer teams as he does championship rings -- the NBA superstar just invested in Gotham FC!!

The new NWSL club announced KD and his business partner, Rich Kleiman, just made a "significant" investment in the franchise ... joining U.S. women's team legend Carli Lloyd in the ownership group.

Of course, KD's Thirty Five Ventures first dipped its toe into soccer back in 2020 ... when it bought a minority stake in the MLS' Philadelphia Union.

No word on how much KD and Kleiman shelled out for their piece of Gotham FC, but the team hints it was substantial.

KD shares his excitement on Wednesday ... tweeting out, "Let’s get it @GothamFC."

Kleiman commented on the business move ... saying, "As a New York-based company, the opportunity for us to partner with a forward-thinking team like Gotham FC was a no brainer,"

"There’s been so much growth in the NWSL in recent years, and the chance to be a part of that growth and work directly with the Gotham FC executive team and players is really exciting."

KD's company is slated to be hands-on -- helping out with player relations, community outreach, producing content and building a social media presence.