TMZ Sports - Page 50

LSU hoops star Angel Reese isn't apologizing for taunting Caitlin Clark during the NCAA title game Sunday ... responding by ripping the hypocrites who called her out, but didn't do so for Clark.

The Tigers forward received a ton of backlash after throwing up John Cena's famous "You Can't See Me" hand gesture during LSU's blowout 102-85 win at the American Airlines Center.

FYI, it's the same gesture AP Player of the Year Clark used in the Elite Eight and Final Four.

The difference was the public's reaction ... Clark was praised, while Reese was mostly criticized for failing to show good sportsmanship. But, she's unbothered by the selective outrage.

"All year, I was critiqued about who I was," Reese said during her post-game interview.

"The narrative -- I don’t fit the narrative. I don't fit into the box that y’all want me to be in. 'I’m too hood. I’m too ghetto.' Y’all told me that all year. But, when other people do it, y’all don’t say nothing."

Reese -- who transferred from Maryland to LSU last May -- says this win is for "the girls that look like me," telling them to be "unapologetically you."

"And, that’s what I did it for tonight. It was bigger than me tonight. Twitter is gonna go on a rage every time. And, I’m happy. I feel like I've helped grow women's basketball this year."

Despite the hate Reese is getting, there are a ton of people who've had her back, including LeBron James, who retweeted Emmanuel Acho's comment ripping those who criticized Reese but not Clark.

The Lakers superstar also shared Ryan Clark's message on Twitter, saying, "If you praised Caitlin Clark as competitive, fiery, and passionate for doing the 'You can’t See me' celebration and are criticizing Angel Reese for the same we already know!!"

Shaquille O'Neal also came to the defense of Reese, going at Keith Olbermann, who called Reese a "f***ing idiot."

It was the first-ever NCAA title for the LSU women's hoops team and 4th title for coach Kim Mulkey ... who won three with Baylor before joining the Tigers in 2021.

Congratulations, ladies!!

We covered it all on a recent episode of The TMZ Podcast, available on all podcast platforms!

College basketball legend Bob Knight has been hospitalized in Indiana ... and officials at IU are now asking for prayers for their former head coach.

In an email that was sent to ex-Hoosier players over the weekend, IU said Knight was admitted to a hospital in Bloomington on Friday night.

They added that he was dealing with "an acute illness."

"Please join us in sending prayers to coach Knight and his family," the text read, according to WDRB's Rick Bozich. "The family's hope is to have him back home soon."

82-year-old Knight is considered one of the greatest basketball coaches ever -- winning three national championships at IU ... while piling up a career 902-371 win-loss record.

Knight has reportedly been battling health issues the past few years -- though he's nonetheless been a regular attendee at IU practices.

Get well soon, Bob.

Bam Margera had cops at his hotel room door ahead of his recent arrest ... and police say he was booted from the ritzy hotel just hours before getting handcuffed.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... LAPD was called to the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel just before noon Wednesday ... after someone said they heard yelling from his room. We're told the caller was concerned about possible domestic violence.

Cops say they spoke to Bam and a woman with whom he was in the room ...  Bam was on the phone with his ex and things got heated.

We're told there was no sign of injury and no one was looking to make a report ... although Bam and his female friend were asked to leave the hotel, which they did.

TMZ broke the story, Burbank PD got a call around 3:45 PM for a disturbance at a Thai restaurant -- video obtained by TMZ shows the former "Jackass" star screaming at his estranged wife, Nikki Margera. Remember, she's considering a TRO because of that.

Lamar Odom has just invested in three drug treatment centers in California ... with the hopes of helping people turn around their lives -- just as he did with his own several years ago.

TMZ Sports has learned ... the former L.A. Lakers star teamed up with Christian hip-hop artist Dontae Ralston and former Hall of Fame skateboarder Dennis Martinez to acquire the facilities in San Diego, El Cajon and Lemon Grove.

A rep for Odom tells us the venues consist of a women's residential treatment home and two men's detox and residential treatment homes.

The buildings will be, fittingly, called "Odom Wellness Treatment Centers" -- and Lamar is vowing to be "highly involved" with the patients at the facilities. In fact, we're told Lamar is "ready to start saving lives" ASAP.

"He wants to help everyone he can," Odom's rep says. "He is thankful that he was given a second chance at his life and feels his destiny is to help others."

You'll recall, the 2-time NBA champ overdosed at Dennis Hof's Love Ranch brothel in Nevada in 2015 and suffered kidney failure, heart attacks, and several strokes.

Odom insisted to TMZ in the special "Lamar Odom: Sex, Drugs and Kardashians" that the brothel owner tried to kill him and drugged him.

Odom, fortunately, recovered from it all ... went to rehab, and eventually got his life back together -- and now, he's getting serious about helping others follow in his same path. We're told he brokered the deal with his management K&R and Gitoni.

Snoop Dogg just made matters worse for The Miz during WrestleMania 39 on Sunday ... doubling up on the Superstar's beatdown from the night before by wrecking him again!!

It all went down at SoFi Stadium ... when the rap legend brought out Shane McMahon for a surprise appearance.

Shane and Miz went at it for a bit ... but Snoop intervened and set his sights on the WWE Superstar himself!!

Snoop stood over Miz, showboating for a bit before dropping him with a vicious People's Elbow and ending him with a three count.

"This is humiliating!!!" the announcers said as Snoop finished Miz.

The whole interaction came as a surprise ... as Miz was fully expecting a casual interaction with the California icon.

Naturally, the hometown guy had the sold-out crowd losing their minds ... but Snoop played it cool as if he had been in the ring plenty of times before.

Of course, Miz took a beating just hours prior -- when George Kittle and Pat McAfee threw him for a loop to end night one of the annual festivities.

Night 2 of WM39 has been filled with a ton of amazing moments ... and we're only halfway through the show -- so stay tuned for even more highlights.

Reggie Bush is such a huge fan of USC quarterback Caleb Williams ... he tells TMZ Sports he thinks there's absolutely no ceiling on what the signal-caller can do with a football in his hands.

"He's a great young kid," Bush told us out at Dash Radio in Los Angeles this week. "The sky is the limit for him."

Of course, Bush would know a thing or two about the topic ... he balled out at SC from 2003 to 2005 -- and then went on to have a solid 11-year NFL career.

Clearly, he believes Williams can do the same -- and even more -- telling us he's stoked to see what the 21-year-old can do following his Heisman Trophy campaign last season.

Bush says he's actually spoken to Williams in person before ... and called their meet-ups "amazing."

As for when Williams -- who transferred from Oklahoma to USC prior to last season -- eventually gets to the pros ... Bush said there isn't one team in the league that should pass on him in the 2024 NFL Draft.

"Anybody can use him!"

And STILL -- Roman Reigns just defeated Cody Rhodes to retain the WWE Universal Championship on Sunday ... in a match that was nothing short of an instant classic.

The two started the fight with an intense stare-down before going at it ... and Cody took the quick advantage, forcing Roman to take a breather outside the ring.

After a pep talk from his manager, Paul Heyman, RR got back in the ring and into the action ... moving Cody around at his will.

The match was as back and forth as it gets from there ... and the Bloodline, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn even made an appearance.

Of course, Roman was the Universal Champion for over 900 days ... but the match meant even more to Cody, who previously told TMZ Sports he was hoping to do something his legendary family hadn't done and win the main event at WM.

Cody was clearly emotional after the loss ... and many felt he did more than enough to win.

WrestleMania 39 has turned the page on Night 1 ... and for the opening matches, there sure were a lot of famous faces who wanted to see body slams and piledrivers on the big stage.

Los Angeles' SoFi Stadium was packed to the gills Saturday night -- this as the WWE's biggest stars got in the ring and hit the mat for professional wrestling's biggest event of the year. Of course, tons of Angelenos were in attendance for the event ... celebs included.

Here's just a handful of A-listers who came out for the big show ... Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O and the rest of the 'Jackass' boys, Gabriel Iglesias, George Kittle, Indi Hartwell, Becky G, Ryan Garcia, Stephen A. Smith, Kurt Angle, Snoop Dogg, Lil Uzi Vert and more.

Of course, we already know Logan Paul was there (he wrestles for WWE now), as was KSI ... as was Bad Bunny, John Cena and other Hollywood stars.

We've been covering the highlights ... of which there've been many so far -- including upsets, assists and cameos. And yes, there are sure to be even more surprises for Night 2.

WrestleMania has been a staple pitstop for the most notable of personalities for years -- other VIPs who've swung by in the past include Macaulay Culkin, Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider, Mike Tyson, Machine Gun Kelly, Michael Che ... and even Donald Trump (once upon a time).

Pat McAfee made a surprise appearance at WrestleMania 39 Saturday night … challenging The Miz — who was hosting the extravaganza — to a match … and the former NFL star walked away with the victory, thanks to some help from 49ers tight end George Kittle!

McAfee came out at SoFi Stadium dressed for a fight ...  accepting rap icon Snoop Dogg's challenge for someone to compete against Miz on "The Grandest Stage of Them All" -- and the 80,000+ WWE fans loved the idea of the impromptu match.

Pat and Miz began fighting ... but at one point during the match, Miz got in Kittle's face -- who had been sitting ringside -- pushing the All-Pro TE ... and setting the stage for GK to make his WrestleMania debut.

Kittle — a longtime WWE fan — responded by jumping over the barricade ... and looked like a natural, delivering a clothesline to the self-proclaimed most must-see WWE champion in the history of professional wrestling.

Kittle and McAfee would eventually throw Miz back in the ring ... where Pat would finish off WrestleMania's host with a punt kick to the face -- defeating him in the middle of the ring.

Of course, Kittle's involvement during WM39 isn't the first time an NFL superstar tight end has had a WrestleMania moment. In 2017, Rob Gronkowski helped his friend, Dean "Mojo" Muhtadi win the Andre The Giant Battle Royal.

Like Kittle, Gronk, too, jumped the barricade, entered the ring, and bulldozed Jinder Mahal ... which gave Mojo the opening he needed to eliminate Mahal and win the match.

Logan Paul just took a big loss to Seth "Freakin'" Rollins at WrestleMania on Saturday ... and even with the Maverick's former foe, KSI, making a surprise appearance, it wasn't enough for the social media superstar to get the W.

The whole match was entertainment at its finest ... and the crowd and broadcasters were into the madness from the very beginning.

"Logan proved once again he deserved to be in there with one of the promotion's biggest stars ... and even the announcers stated it was surprising Rollins was having a fight with the 'social media star,'" the broadcast said.

Logan seemingly won the match when he appeared to knock Rollins out cold ... but it simply wasn't enough to secure the win. Seth got back up and responded with some fierce shots of his own ... just to have KSI, Paul's former nemesis-turned-business partner, shock the world by revealing himself in a Prime mascot bottle and entering himself in the bout.

But, it wasn't as it seemed -- as Logan accidentally crushed KSI from the top ropes when he tried to slam Seth Rollins into the announcer's table.

Eventually, Seth got the better of Logan, hitting him with his signature curb stomp finisher -- then pinning him in the middle of the ring ... as 80,000+ fans screamed.

Logan has proven time and again he is way more than that -- and he silenced any remaining doubters with his performance at SoFi Stadium on Saturday ... which also just so happened to be his 28th birthday.

Brittney Griner weighed in on Russia's detainment of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, saying she's greatly concerned for his safety and urging President Biden to do everything he can to bring him home.

The Women's National Basketball Association star took to Instagram Saturday night to show her support for Gershkovich, who was taken into custody by Russian authorities last Thursday and accused of spying.

As you know, Griner was convicted by a Russian court for possessing cannabis oil in 2022, and she spent 10 months in a Russian jail before the Biden administration got her released in a prisoner swap.

Griner and her wife, Cherelle, wrote, “Our hearts are filled with great concern for Evan Gershkovich and his family since Evan's detainment in Russia."They continued, “Every American who is taken is ours to fight for and every American returned is a win for us all."

The couple then called on Biden to use every tool at his disposal to bring Gershkovich home, as well as all Americans who have been wrongfully detained abroad. Gershkovich was the first US journalist to be detained in Russia on an espionage charge since the Cold War.

The Wall Street Journal has denied the spying charge and demanded the immediate release of Gershkovich.

President Biden sent a blunt message Friday to Russia to "Let him go," referring to Gershkovich. Vice President Kamala Harris said she's "deeply concerned" about the arrest amid rising tensions with Moscow over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

WWE legend Rey Mysterio had a music superstar help him defeat his own son, Dominik, during WrestleMania 39 on Saturday ... with Bad Bunny playing a pivotal part in his win.

The whole match was set to be a star-studded event from the beginning ... with Snoop Dogg helping Rey make his grand entrance at SoFi Stadium.

When the bell rang, it was a hard-fought matchup between father and son ... but one thing that wasn't on Dominik's side was the superstar artist -- the former WWE 24/7 Champion, who patiently awaited his opportunity to help Rey out.

Ultimately, BB's move helped Rey secure the win over Dom ... which restored order to the Mysterio name.

Either way, he still played a huge role in Rey's win.

Bad Bunny is a MASSIVE wrestling fan ... but considering he has Coachella in a few weeks, we take it he was restricted from doing too much inside the ring. WrestleMania 39 has been an event to remember through one night of action ... and we can only imagine what Night 2 will hold.

A stripper's twerkin' sesh at a Chicago Bulls game is bringing her big money ... 'cause after her dance in a suite at the United Center went viral earlier this week -- she tells TMZ Sports business has been boomin'!!!

The stripper, Pretty Rebel, went off in the middle of the Lakers vs. Bulls game on Wednesday ... and when video of her performance hit the internet -- fans couldn't take their eyes off of it.

The footage -- which showed Pretty Rebel in a red two-piece twerking and doing splits on the suite floor -- has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times!!

Pretty Rebel -- who was actually hired for her friend Jazz's birthday -- said she had a blast at the game ... and since it all went down, her phone has been blowing up!

"I've gotten so many requests for more bookings," Pretty Rebel tells us.

The United Center, meanwhile wasn't too pleased over it all, officials for the venue said her moves violated their fan code of conduct and "appropriate steps to address the matter" have been taken.

But, Pretty Rebel told us she hasn't heard anything from the team or its stadium, as of yet.

Bianca Belair could be the next John Cena, Rock or Dave Bautista -- at least, that's what wrestling legend X-Pac thinks ... 'cause he tells TMZ Sports he sees the current WWE RAW Women's champ moving from the squared circle to the silver screen!!

We spoke with the 50-year-old great out at LAX this week ... and asked the two-time Hall of Fame inductee who he believes could transition into Hollywood post-wrestling career.

After going through of list of WWE stars in his head, Pac finally figured it out ... it's Bianca.

"She's great at everything," Pac told us. "She's a good talker ... she makes her own outfits, bro."

"She's great in the ring. I'm a huge fan. That's who I'm picking."

Of course, Pac (real name Sean Waltman) doesn't see the 33-year-old starting an acting career any time soon -- Belair just made her wrestling debut in 2016 and recently became the longest-reigning Black singles champion in WWE history.

"She's still on her run," Pac added. "When she's done with her run, I think that's available for her. If she wants to."

A WWE star turned actor/actress isn't far-fetched obviously ... The Rock -- who wrestled from 1996 to 2019 -- is one of the highest-paid actors in the nation and his films have grossed over $10.5 billion worldwide.

Cena -- who still wrestles in the WWE -- has been featured in several movies and TV shows, including "Peacemaker." He also won the Action Star of the Year award at CinemaCon.

As for Dave Bautista, he solidified his spot in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with his part in "Guardians of the Galaxy" ... and has since taken on some wide-ranging roles.

These WWE wrestlers have been putting in the work and ramping up their fitness game, but are YOU well equipped to identify the fighting physiques of WrestleMania 39?!

It's a total Flex Zone here! From gym mirror selfies to post-fight pics ... this year's WrestleMania stars are show ready, and they're ready to put their bods on full display as they've hit the SoFi stadium stage.

And, it ain't just WWE wrestlers in the lineup ... social media personality Logan Paul opted for getting down and dirty this year, and former WWE star John Cena has gotten back into the ring after a two-year hiatus, making this his 6th WrestleMania!

Test your WWE fighting skills by diving into our gallery, and see if you can "takedown" these sweaty shots by guessing the shredded star.

WWE Superstar Austin Theory just shocked the crowd and defeated the legendary John Cena to kick off WrestleMania 39 ... with the United States Champion retaining his belt to beat his childhood idol.

The entire match was insane from start to finish ... with Cena and Theory showing their strengths throughout.

Cena hit Theory with a quick couple of clotheslines in the beginning ... which threw Theory into a tizzy for a bit. Austin quickly regained his composure, and he took over the match for the next several minutes.

It was as back-and-forth as it could get moving forward -- with both Theory and Cena trading insanely hard hits.

Naturally, with Cena being a WWE icon, Theory was met with boos whenever he gained an edge in the match.

Cena and Theory both had opportunities to end the bout early ... but both were able to escape each pin attempt.

Cena ended up tapping out Theory with an STF ... but the referee did not see it, as he was dealing with his own problems.

Ultimately, Theory took down his hero with his second chance and kept his title in the process.

Of course, the match meant so much for Theory ... who told us earlier this week he idolized Cena growing up ... but made sure to point out he has no intention of being a copycat.