TMZ Sports - Page 50

LeBron James is the king on the court and now on the auction block too -- the NBA superstar's used jersey from Game 7 of the 2013 NBA Finals just sold for $3.7 million ... a new record!!

Sotheby's announced the final price tag for the incredible piece of memorabilia Friday morning -- making it the highest-selling game-worn James jersey to date.

This specific #6 jersey is the exact threads James wore when the Miami Heat beat the San Antonio Spurs, 98-88 ... securing LeBron's second championship.

It was a historical night for James ... as it was the first Game 7 of his NBA career, and he secured his second NBA Finals MVP award in the process.

The jersey sold for $3,680,000 at the auction ... which makes it the third most valuable game-worn jersey ever sold at Sotheby's, and among "the highest prices achieved for any game-worn jersey on the open market."

Sotheby's tells TMZ Sports it was purchased by a private collector.

"Today's tremendous result comes at a pivotal time in LeBron James' career, where he is in arm's reach of clenching the all-time points record -- one of the NBA's most revered accolades," Sotheby's officials said on Friday.

Tom Brady has a lot more free time this off-season, and the 7x Super Bowl winner is putting it to good use ... spending an afternoon with his 10-year-old daughter, Vivian, while she took horse riding lessons!

It's the first off-season since Brady and Gisele Bündchen divorced, and with his ex-wife spending a lot of time in Costa Rica with jiu-jitsu instructor Joaquim Valente ... Tom took Vivian to a stable in Miami on Wednesday.

Brady, clearly, is a very proud dad, and was seen photographing Vivian as she rode her horse.

At one point, a brunette woman approached Tom, and seemingly asked for a photograph ... and Brady obliged. The two also had a friendly chat.

While Tom is in relaxation mode, there's a ton of speculation about his future and whether he'll play football next year ... but Brady's made it clear he hasn't made up his mind, and for the time being, just wants to spend time with his kids.

Of course, Brady's Tampa Bay Bucs squad lost to the Cowboys in the playoffs a couple of weeks back, ending Tom's 23rd NFL season.

What's interesting ... there's lots of speculation Gisele and Valente are dating. In fact, two were also spotted riding horses in Costa Rica on January 18. Though, they've continued to claim JV is nothing more than their martial arts instructor.

Terrifying moment for Conor McGregor -- the UFC superstar was just hit by a car that was traveling at full speed while he was riding his bike on Friday ... but luckily, he appears to be okay.

34-year-old McGregor shared footage from the scene on social media ... showing his expensive Orbea cycle lying in the middle of the road.

"Got a bang of a car just now from behind," Conor said in his Instagram post. "A sun trap, the driver couldn’t see me. Full spreed straight thru me. Thank you God, it wasn’t my time."

In video following the accident, a flustered McGregor shows the aftermath of the accident ... and you can hear the driver profusely apologizing.

"All good, all good," McGregor said. "Don't worry about it."

Conor clearly understands the seriousness of the situation ... saying, "I could have been dead there, mate, look!!" and "Jesus Christ ... I think I got away with my life, there."

McGregor's pants ripped as he fell to the ground ... but as for any body damage, he seems to have no injuries.

"Thank you wrestling and judo also," Conor said. "Having an awareness on the landing saved my life. 🙏"

Eventually, Conor caught a ride from the driver who hit him ... after he explained his bike was "f***ed."

Well, this is new ... Clemson men's basketball star Brevin Galloway revealed he experienced a different type of groin injury this week -- saying he was rushed to the doctor on Thursday after "my balls and my nut sack were exploded."

For real.

The Tigers' senior guard said the horrifying swelling of his testes occurred after he had finished a morning gym session followed by an afternoon siesta.

"This morning, I went to lift, I came back, I took a nap, I woke up from my nap -- my balls and my nut sack were exploded!" Galloway said in an Instagram video.

BG said he underwent immediate surgery ... and, thankfully, after about three hours under the knife, everything down under is now back to "normal" size.

"I don't know what happened to my balls," he said. "I guess they were trying to be like basketballs, but we made it."

Even though Galloway was all smiles when describing the episode, he later said the testicular torsion he experienced was bad ... and he "couldn't breathe without pain." He called it a 10/10 bad on the pain scale.

Ben Askren had an eye-opening experience on the mats this week ... 'cause the former UFC star suffered a nasty injury during a wrestling session -- and it'll make your skin crawl.

Funky showed off the battle wound on Thursday ... saying, "still shooting so fast these young boys can’t sprawl quick enough."

The incident seemingly happened as he was wrestling with college athlete Mitchell Mesenbrink ... who jokingly denied Askren's claim that he got the business during the workout.

As for the injury, Ben was able to get stitched up on the spot ... with a crowd of people watching as he lay on the floor to close the gash on his eyelid.

The cut is gruesome, but apparently not enough to where the folks in attendance wanted to look away.

The patchwork seemed to work out just fine ... as Ben shared a snapshot smiling after his skin was sewn back together.

Askren's been getting beaten up lately -- earlier this week, he showed off a shiner on his eye.

Sorry, Joe Burrow ... Brad Pitt is definitely NOT in the Bengals' corner this weekend -- saying Thursday night he's still ridin' or dyin' with his hometown team!!!

The "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" star made the not-so-shocking football pick after finishing up filming some scenes for his new flick with George Clooney out in NYC ... saying, as expected, it's Kansas City or bust for him this year.

"Chiefs, baby!" he said of his Super Bowl selection as he got into his ride.

Of course, Brad's been a longtime supporter of the Chiefs ... while he was born in Oklahoma, he moved to Missouri at an early age and was raised just a few hours from Arrowhead Stadium.

In fact, he's been seen sporting K.C. gear multiple times over the years, even rockin' a Chiefs cap at an awards show back in 2020.

In order for Pitt's championship dream to come true, the Chiefs have got to get through Burrow and the Bengals this weekend -- before they'll take on the winner of the Eagles vs. 49ers in Super Bowl LVII.

Jake Paul and Tommy Fury's fight location has been confirmed -- the highly-anticipated bout will go down in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia ... and the YouTube superstar says it's gonna be a huge payday.

Paul's Most Valuable Promotions announced the news Friday ... confirming Jake, 26, will step in the ring against Tyson Fury's younger brother on February 26.

"Tommy has no excuses now," Jake said. "Baby’s born. Money’s massive. Immigration is not an issue."

"Tyson Fury has promised he and Papa John will make Tommy retire from boxing and change his last name forever if he can’t beat the YouTuber," Jake added. "Saturday (tomorrow) I’m coming to London to look at all three Fury’s in the eye and shake on that promise."

As we previously reported, Jake and Tommy were supposed to fight on two different occasions ... but injuries and travel issues on Fury's side halted both matches.

Paul is 6-0 in his professional boxing career, scoring victories over former UFC champions Tyron Woodley and Anderson Silva. Meanwhile, Tommy, 23, has an 8-0 record with 4 KOs.

"The moment of truth has finally arrived," Paul added in a press release. "On February 26th, I will get in the ring with a ‘real boxer,’ an 8-0 fighter from a storied fighting family and show the world the truth about who Jake Paul, the boxer really is."

Also on the card ... Ashton "H2O" Sylve, an undefeated fighter signed to Jake's MVP, will fight former title challenger Maxwell Awuku in an 8 round contest.

Legendary college basketball analyst Billy Packer -- who helped broadcast key NCAA Tournament games for decades -- has died.

His family announced the sad news on social media ... revealing the longtime broadcaster passed away on Thursday night.

Packer's son, Mark, told the Associated Press his father had been dealing with multiple medical issues in the hospital the past few weeks ... and ultimately died due to kidney failure.

"Our amazing father, Billy, has passed," Mark said in a tweet while sharing a photo of Billy and his family. "We take peace knowing that he’s in heaven with [his wife] Barb. RIP, Billy."

Packer initially began broadcasting major college basketball games in the 1970s -- joining NBC in 1974 and calling his first Final Four in 1975, when UCLA beat Kentucky.

The former college basketball player -- who eventually moved over to CBS -- went on to provide commentary for every Final Four until 2008, when he stepped away from the game.

"Billy Packer was synonymous with college basketball for more than three decades," CBS Sports exec Sean McManus said after Packer's passing.

"He had a tremendous impact on the growth and popularity of the sport ... He will be deeply missed by all."

Packer called some of the sport's greatest all-time games -- and his "Simon Says Championship" line after Miles Simon and Arizona won the 1997 championship remains one of the most iconic calls in the history of the game.

He was 82 years old.

No, the Eagles' MVP ain't their star quarterback ... it's actually their best offensive lineman -- so says ex-Philadelphia tight end Trey Burton, who tells TMZ Sports Jason Kelce is more deserving of the honor than Jalen Hurts.

Don't get it twisted ... Burton wasn't shading Jalen at all -- he called the guy "spectacular" this year -- he just thinks that highly of Philly's center.

"I've played on a couple teams," said the 31-year-old, who was a teammate of Kelce's for years in Philadelphia. "There hasn't been one guy that is comparable to Jason Kelce."

Burton said the 35-year-old future Hall of Famer does it all for the offense in Philly -- explaining to us Kelce calls out protection schemes in both the running game and the passing game.

"When you go to your battle you hope you have him standing next to you," Burton said. "And, you can look at him and everything's going to be all right. Just this calming presence that he has."

Hurts likely wouldn't disagree -- Kelce has been a big reason he's had a breakout year ... helping give the QB enough time to throw 22 touchdowns while rushing for 13 more.

Of course, Hurts -- not Kelce -- is up for the league's real MVP award this year ... alongside Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes, Justin Jefferson and Josh Allen.

PGA Tour star, Max Homa's mind was off of birdies and onto bees during his round on Thursday -- at least momentarily -- 'cause one of the winged insects landed right on his ball ... and didn't want to move!!!

The funny scene all happened on the ninth green at Torrey Pines at the Farmers Insurance Open ... when Homa went to line up his birdie putt.

Broadcast video shows as the 32-year-old golfer reached down to examine his ball, a bee was parked on it ... and seemed rather cozy.

Homa tried -- carefully, we might add -- to get the little guy to move, but he wasn't budging.

"He's tyring to get rid of a frequent flyer there," one of the event's broadcaster's joked.

Eventually, Homa got it to fly away -- avoiding the stinger in the process.

Tua Tagovailoa isn't retiring early ... his parents said this week he'll be back next year despite suffering multiple significant head injuries this past season.

Galu and Diane Tagovailoa cleared up the speculation on Wednesday during an interview at the Polynesian Bowl in Hawaii ... saying the 24-year-old Miami Dolphins signal caller has zero plans to call it quits prematurely after experiencing several concussions while playing in 2022.

"He comes back," Galu said. "That's their guy. They love him, we love them and what they're doing and how they're helping him with his recovery and everything else trying to get him back."

Tua's health initially became a topic of concern early in the season, when he suffered back-to-back head injuries against the Bills and Bengals in a span of less than a week.

Some at the time believed the quarterback should've retired immediately, with famed neuropathologist Bennet Omalu telling TMZ Sports the damage might already be irreparable.

Tagovailoa ultimately came back and seemed to show no issues -- but on Christmas against the Packers, he suffered yet another concussion ... sparking the retirement debate again.

His folks though, said it just ain't happening -- saying they're confident he's healing properly ... and the Miami organization is taking care of him.

A mannequin wearing a Vinicius Junior jersey was hung by a rope from a bridge hours before a big soccer match in Madrid, and now police in Spain are investigating the incident as a potential hate crime.

Images of the act show a human-sized doll hanging by its neck, wearing Vini Jr.'s #20 Real Madrid jersey, underneath a sign that reads "MADRID ODIA AL REAL" -- translated, it means "Madrid Hates Real".

It's believed Athletico Madrid fans were behind the disgusting stunt ... as the teams are playing each other Thursday night, and they're big rivals.

The bridge is located near Real Madrid's training complex.

Of course, most fans were horrified by the act ... and quickly alerted authorities, who immediately went to remove the mannequin and banner.

Police are now trying to identify who's responsible, and they're treating the act as a potential hate crime.

La Liga issued a statement denouncing the hanging in effigy, saying ... "We strongly condemn acts of hate against [Vini Jr.] Intolerance and violence do not fit in football. As on previous occasions, #LaLiga will urge the investigation of the facts in search of the conviction of those responsible, requesting the most severe criminal sanctions."

While it's believed Atletico's fans were responsible, the club distanced themselves from the act, and stressed the importance of respect within the rivalry.

"Club Atletico de Madrid communicates that such acts are absolutely repugnant and inadmissible and shame society. Our condemnation of any act that attacks the dignity of persons or institutions is categorical and unreserved. The rivalry between the two clubs is the greatest, but so is respect. No individual, whatever their intentions or colors, can tarnish the coexistence between different supporters."

"It is everyone's responsibility to avoid this. We do not know the perpetrator or perpetrators of this despicable act, but their anonymity does not avoid their responsibility. We hope that the authorities succeed in clarifying what happened and that justice helps to banish this type of behavior."

Real Madrid also released a statement ... saying the club "would like to thank the support and expressions of affection received after the unfortunate and disgusting act of racism, xenophobia and hatred against our player Vinicius."

"We express our firmest condemnation of events that violate the fundamental rights and dignity of people, and that have nothing to do with the values ​​that football and sport represent."

The club continued ... "These attacks like the ones our player now suffers, or those that any athlete can suffer, cannot have a place in a society like ours."

Bizarre scene in the college basketball world Wednesday night ... an Uber Eats delivery person walked onto the court in the middle of a game -- halting play and leaving everyone in the arena scratching their heads.

The wild moment happened in the second half of the Loyola Chicago vs. Duquesne men's basketball game at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in Pittsburgh ... when a man dressed in yellow and holding a bag of McDonald's goodies hit the hardwood right as the Dukes were trying to score a basket.

Broadcast video shows a nearby ref trying his best to get the guy off the floor as the action kept moving forward ... but the man appeared to be oblivious as he attempted to find his food's intended target.

Eventually, the play was stopped -- and the game's broadcasters had to then describe what was happening.

"This guy's in the corner -- was he going to deliver the McDonald's to somebody on the court?!" one announcer said.

"Who's he delivering it to?!" the other said.

According to video shot on the baseline, the deliverer had actually been asking people on the floor if they had ordered Door Dash. You can see in the clip he was ushered out of the area by an arena staffer, who told him, "You've got to get off the court, man!"

Some speculated it was all part of a prank -- noting the person was wearing a microphone.

Either way, Duquesne head coach Keith Dambrot said afterward it was one of the most surreal scenes he's ever been a part of.

"Craziest thing I've ever seen in my life," he said.

To their credit, Duquesne shook off the weird moment to cruise to a win ... beating Loyola Chicago 72-58.

The Bills might be now outta the playoffs -- but the Damar Hamlin tributes are still pouring in ... this time, Eagles running back Miles Sanders rocked some spikes to honor the injured safety, and he loved 'em!!

The 25-year-old tailback showed off the feet heat on his Instagram page Thursday ... and the pair of tribute shoes are awesome.

One cleat features a portrait of Hamlin surrounded by a heart. The other has his No. 3 jersey number. There's also an ode to the famous "Did we win?" line he uttered to doctors in the days after he suffered his on-field medical emergency during the Jan. 2 Bengals-Bills game.

Both cleats have "Love For Damar" written on them as well -- with Hamlin's foundation, "Chasing M's," on the back.

Hamlin clearly loved the shout-out and the design, re-sharing Sanders' vid on his social media page while writing, "unreal."

Several NFL players have shown the 24-year-old love since he suffered the cardiac arrest ... including Tom Brady, who donated $10,000 to Hamlin's toy drive foundation that's currently at $9 million and counting.

A mural was also made by a local artist in Buffalo, and celeb jeweler Gabriel Jacobs gifted 80 gold #3 pendants to the Bills team.

Jessie Lemonier -- a former outside linebacker for the Detroit Lions -- has passed away, the team announced Thursday morning. He was only 25 years old.

Details surrounding Lemonier's death are not yet known.

The Lions broke the sad news with a statement, saying they're "shocked and saddened" by Lemonier's death.

"Jessie was a model teammate and wonderful young man who is gone far too soon," the team said on social media.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends during this difficult time."

Many paid their respects to the late Lions player in the comments ... including Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson who shared the post with praying hand emojis.

Lemonier was an undrafted free agent out of Liberty University ... where he became the third player in Flames history to record 10 or more sacks in a season.

The Los Angeles Chargers picked him up after the 2020 NFL Draft and Lemonier played in 6 games before he was waived in August 2021.

He then signed with the Lions' practice squad a month later and was promoted to the active roster. He appeared in 7 games and had 15 tackles and 1.5 sacks.

Lemonier also had a short stint with the Arizona Cardinals.

It seems like Lemonier was positioning for a career in the United States Football League as he recently signed with the Houston Gamblers in December 2022.

He was traded to the USFL's defending champions Birmingham Stallions and their season was scheduled to start this April.

Matt Barnes is getting court-ordered protection from his fiancée's ex-husband ... after the former NBA champ said the guy had terrorized him in the lead-up to a wild spitting incident at the 49ers game on Sunday.

Barnes got a judge to sign off on a temporary restraining order against David Patterson Jr. on Wednesday ... just days after he spat on the man in a concourse at Levi's Stadium before the S.F. vs Dallas playoff game.

Barnes' TRO is slated to last until Feb. 16 -- when a hearing on the matter will go down in Los Angeles.

As part of the order, 37-year-old Patterson Jr. is required to have no contact with Barnes ... and must stay at least 100 yards away from the ex-Golden State Warriors forward. Patterson Jr. has also been ordered to have no firearms.

As we reported, 42-year-old Barnes initially filed for the TRO on Tuesday -- after he alleged Patterson Jr. had made his life hell the past few months.

Barnes claimed in his TRO application that Patterson Jr. was "jealous of my relationship with my ex-wife" ... and had harassed him repeatedly. At one point, according to Barnes, Patterson Jr. had threatened to shoot him with a gun.

Barnes also claimed in the documents that Patterson Jr. "hunted" him down at the 49ers game on Sunday ... and "aggressively confronted" him. Barnes said the guy yelled profanities and threats, and shoved him. It all ultimately led to Barnes spitting on him.