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The man suing Jerry West and the Clippers for his alleged role in landing Kawhi Leonard says West left him a voicemail message in 2019 acknowledging their relationship and trashing the Lakers in the process.

Johnny Wilkes tells TMZ Sports ... West left the voicemail for him on July 1, 2019, around 2 PM ... "expressing concern that Kawhi would choose the Lakers over the Clippers."

Wilkes says, "In the same message, Jerry thanked me for all my efforts in getting Kawhi to sign with the Clippers."

TMZ Sports has obtained the voicemail -- in which a man who sounds like West says, "Hey there, this is Jerry calling. I really want to thank you a lot for trying to help. I heard this morning that everyone over in the Lakers camp thinks they're gonna get him."

"I just find it hard to believe that he would want to go to that sh*t show where he would not even be ... wouldn't even get his name in the paper and he wouldn't be the face of the franchise that's for sure."

"He might be the best player on the team, but hope things are well and again, I really really appreciate everything you've done."

The man believed to be West is seemingly referring to the fact LeBron James is with the Lakers -- and there's zero shot Kawhi would overtake him as the face of the team.

The man also seems to think Kawhi is a better player than LeBron, Anthony Davis and other members of the Lakers.

FYI, West is an executive board member with the Clippers. He's also considered one of the greatest Lakers players of all time.

The voicemail continues ... "I will keep you apprised of what's going on. But, I do want to get together with you privately and would love to take you to dinner and even Sam if he's around. So I can at least pay my respects to you guys for being so generous and helpful. Take care, talk to you sometime soon. Bye-bye."

We're told the "Sam" in question is Sam Watson -- who Wilkes claims was also involved in the effort to land Kawhi with the Clippers.

As we previously reported, West has DENIED any wrongdoing connected to the signing of Kawhi Leonard -- but when contacted about this specific piece of audio, neither West nor the Clippers would comment.

The Clippers previously issued a statement saying, "The lawsuit filed by Johnny Wilkes is replete with inaccuracies and the allegations are baseless. The Clippers are fully cooperating with the NBA in its investigation, which is standard when these types of allegations are made.

"[The Clippers] are providing the NBA with evidence that the allegations are false."

Here's Nelson Agholor proving NFL players are still REALLY, REALLY freakin' tough ...

The Las Vegas Raiders receiver gruesomely dislocated his finger mid-game against the Chargers on Thursday ... but the dude barely missed any time over the gnarly injury!!

It all went down in the 3rd quarter of Las Vegas' loss to Los Angeles ... when Agholor dropped a pass and his hands came crashing down to the grass.

You can see in video of the incident, his whole body weight landed on his pinky ... and it looked like the digit snapped in half!!!

Agholor immediately knew something was wrong ... he waved his jacked-up finger to his sideline -- and trainers tended to him right away.

The craziest part about it all, though? HE RETURNED AFTER JUST ONE PLAY!!!

In fact, Agholor went on to record a couple more catches after trainers popped his finger back in place ... and the dude finished the night with a total of 49 receiving yards!

Drew Brees is BACK as the starting QB for the Saints -- just 4 weeks after being diagnosed with 11 broken ribs and a punctured lung!!!

The 41-year-old has missed the past 4 games due to the injuries -- and just this week, head coach Sean Payton suggested it would be another week or so before Brees was back under center.

But ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Friday morning that Brees has been cleared by doctors and will start at QB on Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Brees is NOT back to 100%, according to ESPN's Dianna Russini who says Drew is still dealing with soreness but plans on toughing it out.

"I was told that Drew has had a really strong week at practice," Russini said on "Get Up" ... "It started on Monday afternoon with trainers. They didn't expect him to look as good as he did. But they said he's sharp, he's healthy."

As for the soreness, Russini explained it this way -- "It's not so much about the health on the field, it's the next day -- dealing with that soreness."

"And while there is soreness there, [my source] made it very clear Drew is not 100%. He's more in the 85% to 90% range, he's able to handle it ... it's not something that's too overwhelming for Drew Brees."

The NBA has launched its own investigation into allegations made against the Clippers and Jerry West in a new lawsuit, TMZ Sports has learned.

The allegations are spelled out in a lawsuit filed by Johnny Wilkes -- who says West promised him $2.5 MILLION for helping the Clippers sign superstar free agent Kawhi Leonard in 2019.

If the allegations are true, it would be a violation of NBA policy -- and West and the Clippers could be subject to league discipline.

For his part, West has DENIED the allegations -- telling TMZ Sports, "I deny engaging in any improper conduct in connection with the signing of Kawhi Leonard.”

In his lawsuit, Wilkes says he has close ties with Kawhi and Kawhi's uncle, Dennis Robertson -- and promised he had information that would give the Clippers an advantage in the battle to land the NBA's top free agent.

Wilkes says he also helped facilitate a deal between West and Kawhi's uncle ... in which West agreed to give Uncle Dennis a Southern California home and a travel expense account.

Kawhi ultimately signed with the Clippers -- but Wilkes says West never ponied up the $2.5 million fee ... so he filed a lawsuit for breach of contract and more.

Touching tribute from Darren Waller on Thursday night ... the superstar tight end honored his former teammate, Lorenzo Taliaferro, with a TD celebration after the 28-year-old's shocking death.

Waller -- who played with Taliaferro in Baltimore to begin his career -- scored on a beautiful 35-yard, go route early in the 2nd quarter of the Raiders' loss to the Chargers ... and he immediately got up and looked for cameras in the end zone.

DW then threw up a 3 and a 4 -- Taliaferro's old jersey number -- and then he gave a bow.

In the pregame, Waller also wrote a note to Taliaferro on his cleats ... putting in pen, "R.I.P. Zobot #34."

"To be real, I didn't even feel like playing tonight honestly," Waller said after the game. "I had no juice today. I thank God and the people that support me for speaking life into me today, and telling me to go out and play and represent him and to have him on my mind while I was playing."

"I feel like him and his presence and what his time on the earth meant to me is what motivating me to play football with a sense of urgency."

Taliaferro tragically died in Virginia on Wednesday ... a family member told Fox45 in Baltimore the former running back had suffered a heart attack.

Waller -- who finished Thursday night with a staggering 150 yards on 9 catches -- was teammates with the ex-Raven from 2015 to 2017.

Vanessa Bryant is lashing back at her mother -- claiming Sofia Laine only filed a lawsuit against her to "extort a financial windfall from our family."

Laine sued Vanessa earlier this week -- claiming Kobe Bryant had promised to take care of her for the rest of her life ... but after Kobe died in January, Vanessa left her out in the cold.

In her suit, Laine claims she worked as a nanny for Kobe and Vanessa -- and was "forced" to work around the clock for 18 years without proper meal or rest breaks.

Laine claims she was never paid for her work despite taking shifts on holidays and weekends.

She also claims Vanessa ordered her to move out of the home Kobe had allowed her to live in while he was alive.

But, Vanessa says her mom is lying -- saying, "I have supported her for nearly 20 years, and was never my or Kobe's personal assistant, nor was she a nanny."

"I have always been a stay at home mother and my husband and I were my daughter's full-time care givers."

Vanessa continues, "In reality, she only occasionally babysat my older girls when they were toddlers."

"As of ten years ago, our kids were full time students and athletes and I didn't have another child until 2016."

Vanessa says her mom's claims are "obviously false" -- and insists she repeatedly tried to "work things out with my mother" ... to no avail.

She concludes ... "This lawsuit is frivolous, disgraceful, and unimaginably hurtful. My husband never promised my mother anything, and he would be so disappointed in her behavior and lack of empathy."

We're told Sofia is planning to issue a response to Vanessa's statement soon.

Jon Gruden's hat debacle on "Thursday Night Football" was the result of a practical joke played on him in the locker room -- so says the Raiders head coach.

Gruden caught hell on social media once fans realized he was wearing an "Oakland Raiders" hat on the sideline -- epic fail considering the Raiders just moved to Las Vegas!!

Social media clowned the 57-year-old for the error ... and the roar clearly grew so loud -- JG became aware of the cap problem in the 1st quarter and switched hats soon after.

"I apologize for not having the right hat on," Gruden told reporters. "Somebody played a pretty good trick on me."

So, who is this mysterious trickster? Gruden didn't name names -- but someone's ass is in the hot seat.

The thing is ... Gruden's headgear ended up being the LEAST of his worries against the Chargers -- 'cause the Raiders took an L they desperately couldn't afford to take.

Las Vegas' playoff hopes essentially rode on the game against LA ... but its defense struggled all night and the team lost in overtime, 30-27, to Justin Herbert's crew.

Gruden apologized for THAT as well ... telling reporters, "It's on me."

UFC rising star Khaos Williams wants to give his boss an early holiday gift -- by beating the dog snot out of Jake Paul.

Williams -- who won his first 2 fights in the UFC in a combined 57 seconds -- says he's seen Paul attack Dana White in the media ... and feels strongly that someone needs to check him, stat.

"Look, Dana ... I can handle you light work if you need me to and I won't let you down."

As we previously reported, Jake trashed Dana for refusing to allow Conor McGregor to fight the YouTube star. White told TMZ Sports Conor is wayyyyy too far out of Jake's league.

But Khaos, whose star is unquestionably on the rise, says he's all the way down for a scrap ... and guarantees a violent victory.

"Man, I box before anything. I'm in the gym with ex-WBC world champions, people that's going to the Olympic tryouts, undefeated boxers day in and day out. I do this for real!"

"I know for a fact, I will knock him out!"

But, Khaos has another opponent he's gotta focus on first -- he's taking on Michel Pereira at UFC Fight Night in Vegas on Saturday in a matchup some say could be a candidate for fight of the year!

FYI, Pereira is known for dropping some unusual strikes during his fights -- but Khaos says he'll be ready.

"If he come in there doing backflips and all of that stuff, it's a wrap! I'm gonna catch him! All it takes is one shot. We gonna test that chin out!"

Move over Rob Kardashian ... Holly Sonders is the latest celeb getting in the card game -- the famous sports reporter just pulled a SICK Larry Bird card this week that could be worth $25K!

TMZ Sports has learned ... Holly linked up with Vintage Breaks on Wednesday to do a little box breaking for a live stream.

And, Holly -- who's beginning to dip her toes into the card world after her famous ex-boyfriend, Vegas Dave, sold his Mike Trout rookie card for nearly $4 MIL -- scored BIG on one of her pack openings.

Sonders and Vintage Breaks' Leighton Sheldon tore through a 1981-82 Topps pack ... and in it, a Larry Legend piece that could be worth a small fortune stared back at them!

Leighton couldn't believe it ... because the card is pretty rare. FYI -- Larry's rookie card was a split with Magic Johnson, so this piece was his first-ever standalone NBA card.

It's so rare, in fact, that if it grades out as a perfect PSA Gem Mint 10 -- which Sheldon says is VERY possible given the centering of the picture -- it could be worth $25,000!!

We spoke with Holly after the awesome pull ... and she told us the whole experience was pretty damn thrilling.

"[My agent] Darren almost jumped out of his f*cking chair over here!" Sonders said ... "It's fun for me just to see the joy that it brings other people and the idea that something could be worth $25,000, you know? Somebody can buy a new car with that piece of cardboard!"

"It's just mind-blowing to me."

As for what Holly's plan for the card is now? She says she's sending it off to get graded -- and she'll gift it to her agent, Darren Prince (who's a HUGE card nut), for Christmas when it comes back.

Ravens star Marcus Peters appeared to hock a massive loogie and spit it at Jarvis Landry during "Monday Night Football" this week ... and it's got everyone wondering, was it intentional???

At the end of the 1st quarter of Baltimore's tilt with the Browns on Monday in Cleveland ... cameras caught Peters seemingly spitting in the direction of Landry as the wide receiver walked back toward his huddle.

Unclear if the Browns star even noticed -- but we've reached out to the Ravens and the NFL to see if they're looking into it.

Peters seemed to be pissed at Landry throughout the night ... and even appeared to call both Jarvis AND Odell Beckham "homegirls" and "she" after the win.

As Ravens star Marlon Humphrey was filming for social media postgame on the team jet ... Peters appeared to say of Jarvis and the injured Odell, "So, we only had one homegirl this time."

"And, you know, she was upset 'cause she ... she was upset because the other homegirl couldn't really end up making it. Because my dawg hurt. Well, she hurt right now. And, we understand that and I respect that."

"But, the one homegirl who was out there," Peters continued, "just needs to shut the f*ck up until she gets back."

FYI -- the Ravens and Browns have played twice already this season, with Baltimore winning both contests. There is a chance the two could possibly meet up in the playoffs next month.

For their part, neither Landry nor Peters has commented so far this week on any potential beef between the two stars.

"At some point, the student has to kill the master."

Shaquille O'Neal gave an AWESOME (and violent!) pump-up speech to rising UFC star Gillian Robertson ahead of her scrap this weekend ... and yeah, someone tell her opponent to watch out!!!

Shaq's pep talk all went down at his mansion in Atlanta ... when famous MMA coach Din Thomas reintroduced the Big Diesel to 25-year-old Robertson before her tilt with Taila Santos in Vegas on Saturday.

O'Neal was asked to give her some advice -- after all, Robertson is considered by some to be an underdog in the fight and is still trying to make her way up the women's flyweight division -- and the NBA legend sure delivered.

Shaq talked about how he had to take down guys like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and David Robinson when he first got into the league ... and then he brought violent karate movies into the speech!

"All the karate movies were the same," Shaq said. "At some point, the student has to kill the master. So, right now, you're the student. You're ranked No. 12. So, you've got 11 masters to kill."

"And then when you get to the top, you've got more work to do. Now, you got to stay at the top."

Shaq then left Gillian with this ... "You got to want it. You got to want it. If you want to be the best, say it. Mean it. And just go for it. And don't hold back."

"If you've got to break some cheeks and break some jaws, do it."

Cleveland Cavs player Kevin Porter Jr. just caught a huge break -- his firearm and weed charges stemming from his November car accident have been dropped, according to his attorney.

As we previously reported, the 20-year-old wrecked his Mercedes around 2 AM outside Cleveland on Nov. 15 ... and while his car was left mangled, KPJ was miraculously unharmed.

Cops responded to the scene and found a loaded handgun along with what appeared to be weed inside the vehicle ... but the officers did NOT believe Porter was under the influence.

Porter was arrested and charged with improper handling of a firearm, marijuana possession and more ... but pled not guilty to the misdemeanor charges but entered no plea on the felony gun charge.

The case went to a grand jury -- which ultimately declined to indict the NBA player on the gun charge, his attorney Alex Spiro tells ESPN. It's a big deal considering the felony charge carries possible prison time if convicted.

Two misdemeanors were also dropped -- weed possession and driving without a license.

Porter did, however, admit fault for failure to control his car.

More great news regarding the recovery of University of Florida basketball star Keyontae Johnson who continues to make great progress less than a week after he collapsed on the court.

But, he's awake and was reportedly talking with friends and family members earlier this week.

Remember, Johnson was placed into a medically induced coma after the incident during Saturday's Florida vs. Florida State game in Tallahassee.

Now, UF athletic director Scott Stricklin has another update ... saying, "Keyontae Johnson continues to show truly encouraging signs of progress as he undergoes tests and further evaluation at UF Health."

"He and his family have again expressed their gratitude for the outpouring of love, prayers and well-wishes."

Stricklin also announced the school has postponed the team's next 3 scheduled basketball games in the wake of Keyontae's situation.

"This has been an emotionally taxing time for Keyontae's family, friends and teammates," Stricklin said.

"Our hope is that everyone impacted will take an opportunity to process those emotions and regroup ahead of the start of the new year."

Deshaun Watson and the Houston Texans may be in some hot water with the NFL ... after the QB and 7 of his teammates showed up at the launch of his new restaurant this week.

The 25-year-old superstar was joined by teammates Laremy Tunsil, Duke Johnson, Tytus Howard, Roderick Johnson, Brandin Cooks and Charles Omenihu at the debut of his Lefty's cheesecake franchise in Houston on Tuesday.

Of course, the NFL has a strict COVID-19 policy against 3 or more players congregating outside team sanctioned events or traveling to games ... in hopes of preventing a potential spread.

Do the math -- that's more than 3 players.

Watson was asked whether he followed COVID-19 protocols during the big event ... and he said, "Yes, for sure. I mean, we had the masks."

But, by peeping the pics above, that's doesn't seem to be the case.

Watson continued ... "We did everything that we were supposed to do. 6 feet from different people. It was a restaurant opening. It wasn't really an event. It was a grand opening of my restaurant."

"So, people were coming in to get food and things like that and everyone was excited about it. So, it turned out pretty good, and right now from the messages I got from after, it's still popping."

It could become a big issue for the Texans -- the Raiders were hit with fines after Derek Carr and others failed to follow COVID protocol at Darren Waller's charity event earlier this season.

The NFL has said it's aware of the situation with Watson and the Texans -- but so far, no official comment.

Scott Van Pelt -- one of the best sportscasters on the planet -- has been diagnosed with COVID ... and his wildly entertaining ESPN show is now on pause indefinitely because of it.

The 54-year-old made the announcement Thursday ... saying he can't smell or taste anything.

Fortunately, SVP said he has no fever, and otherwise feels "fine."

"Won't be doing shows for a bit after a positive Covid-19 test," Van Pelt said ... "I will hunker down and hopefully can be back at it before too long."

Van Pelt -- a longtime ESPN talent -- took over the midnight edition of "Sportscenter" a few years ago ... and his personal touches on the show have made it must-see, late-night TV.

Specifically, Van Pelt's "One Big Thing" and "Bad Beats" segments have become viral sensations on a weekly basis.