TMZ Sports - Page 50

Simone Biles is the greatest gymnastic ever ... and NOTHING from the 2020 Olympics changes her G.O.A.T. status, so says gold medalist McKayla Maroney.

TMZ Sports talked to Maroney at Enso Studio art gallery in Malibu ... where we asked about her former teammates' legacy after her polarizing time in Tokyo.

"Honestly, I do [consider Simone the greatest ever]. When I competed with her back in 2013, I just felt like her gymnastics were so much better than mine."

McKayla continued ... "I mean, we competed with each other in the vault,  and I was kind of head-to-head with her on that, but she blows everyone out of the water on every single event."

Of course, Biles pulled out of the gymnastics team competition and several individual events this Olympics after suffering from the "twisties."

Simone ultimately won a bronze (balance beam) and silver medal (team competition) ... bringing her total medal count to 7 ... and there could be more to come.

Maroney says she wouldn't put it past Simone to return next Olympics as a 27-year-old ... an advanced age for a top-level gymnast.

"I'm 25 and I can't see myself getting back in the gym. I did it for the little Geico commercial, but it is really tough," McKayla says.

But, we're talking about the G.O.A.T. ... so don't be surprised to see Biles kick ass in 2024.

Errol Spence Jr. is OUT of his fight against Manny Pacquiao -- the welterweight champ was forced to withdraw from the huge event due to a nasty eye injury.

Of course, the 31-year-old was set to face off with the 42-year-old star on August 21 at T-Mobile Arena in Vegas ... a fight that's been hyped up for months.

But, fans will have to wait to see Spence and Pacquiao duke it out in the ring ... with WBA welterweight champ Yordenis Ugas -- who was already on the card as a co-feature -- stepping in as a replacement.

Spence found out he had a torn retina during a pre-fight medical exam with the Nevada State Athletic Commission ... and flew home to Dallas for surgery.

"I’m very disappointed that I won’t be able to fight Manny Pacquiao on August 21," Spence said Tuesday. "I was excited about the fight and the event."

"Unfortunately, the doctors found a tear in my left eye and said I needed to get surgery on it ASAP and that there was no way I could fight with my eye in that condition. I’d like to apologize to everyone," he continued.

"You know I’ll be back as soon back soon. We’ve come back from worse," he said.

Manny sent his well wishes ... saying, "First and foremost, I ask everyone to join me in praying for a full and complete recovery for Errol Spence Jr."

"Thank God his physical examination discovered his eye condition before he suffered any further damage.  I have agreed to fight Yordenis Ugas on August 21 for the WBA welterweight super championship.  The proper way and the only way to win a world title is inside the ring."

Spence is expected to make a full recovery ... get well soon!!

NY Jets receiver Denzel Mims says he had a MISERABLE offseason ... spending a large portion of it vomiting and losing weight amid a violent battle with food poisoning.

The 23-year-old -- a second-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft -- explained the struggle to reporters on Wednesday ... saying he believes it all started after he ate some bad salmon.

Mims says once the tainted fish got into his system ... it wreaked havoc on his body -- with the wideout claiming he threw up for two straight weeks.

Mims says things got so bad ... he needed antibiotics -- and ultimately saw his weight drop from 217 pounds to 197 in a matter of days.

"It took a big toll on me," said Mims, who added he plans on never eating salmon again.

But, Mims did say his body is finally starting to come back around ... telling media members he's put back on 11 pounds, and is getting closer and closer to full strength.

"I feel like I'm catching up," Mims said, "and I'm almost there."

NBA guard J.R. Smith is gunning to take his talents to the links -- the hooper has enrolled at an HBCU in hopes of making it on the golf team!!

35-year-old Smith -- who skipped college ball for the NBA Draft in 2004 -- is taking full advantage of his newly acquired free time by becoming a student at North Carolina A&T.

Of course, the 2-time NBA champ has not played in the league since winning a ring with LeBron James and the L.A. Lakers in 2020 ... going all last season without a team.

Now, J.R. is looking to join another team -- A&T's golf team.

"Golf is one of those games that can have you feeling really high or it can bring you down to your knees and humble you," Smith told WFMY.

"To have that feeling and knowing that all of the game is pretty much on my own hands and I don’t have to worry about teammates to pass the ball to, receiving passes and playing defense -- I can just play my game and have fun."

Smith says he learned the game from Hall of Famer Moses Malone ... and is waiting on the NCAA to sort out his eligibility, according to ESPN.

Charlotte Hornets player PJ Washington is breaking his silence on WILD rumors surrounding his split with Brittany Renner and alleged $200k child support payments ... saying, "Stop the cap."

For those who haven't been keeping up with the drama, here's a quick breakdown:

Washington -- the #12 pick in the 2019 Draft -- and Renner first made headlines when the hooper seemingly shot his shot at the Instagram model after she attended his game at Kentucky in 2019.

The couple went official in 2020 ... and in May 2021, Washington confirmed they welcomed a baby boy together.

But, things appeared to go sour just a few months later ... with Washington tweeting -- and later deleting -- a cryptic message about someone "faking it all along."

Fast forward to this week ... when an unconfirmed rumor went viral on social media claiming Washington would have to shell out $200k A MONTH in child support payments following the breakup.

FYI -- Washington is still on his rookie deal ... which means he's reportedly raked in $7.8 million so far as a pro and is slated to make about $14 million over the next two seasons.

Before anyone could actually confirm or deny the child support rumors, Twitter trolls had a field day with the reckless headline ... cracking jokes and sharing condolences to Washington's bank account.

But, Washington appears to finally be addressing all the talk on Wednesday ... tweeting "Stop the cap" ... which, for all you old heads, means QUIT LYING.

Deshaun Watson is no longer the starting quarterback for the Houston Texans -- at least on paper -- the team just released their newest depth chart ... with the troubled star listed as their 4th string QB.

The Texans are just three days from their first preseason game against the Green Bay Packers ... and as of right now, Tyrod Taylor will be under center when the team takes the field.

After Taylor -- who signed a one-year deal in March -- is Jeff Driskel, Davis Mills ... and then Watson at 4.

FYI -- this is considered an "unofficial depth chart" by the Texans, even though it was just updated on August 10 by their PR team.

Watson has been the Texans starter since 2017 ... but has been openly requesting a trade from the team, especially after the DeAndre Hopkins trade last March.

Plus, there are more issues than football -- Watson is facing sexual misconduct allegations from over 20 female massage therapists who claim things went overboard during their sessions with the QB.

While the NFL and police are still investigating, Watson is allowed at training camp ... and he has practiced with limited reps.

Texans head coach David Culley announced on Tuesday because of the limited amount of practice, the 3-time Pro Bowler probably won't play at the Packers game nor will he travel with the team.

After a 5-year investigation, the NCAA says Baylor's actions were "unacceptable" when dealing with football players accused of sexual assault, but the program did NOT violate any rules ... and therefore will avoid any major punishment.

Remember, head coach Art Briles was fired by the university in 2016 after allegedly failing to report numerous allegations of domestic violence or sexual assault from students made against his football players.

Since the scandal blew up, the NCAA Infraction committee launched an in-depth investigation to determine if Baylor violated any NCAA rules with its conduct. On Wednesday, Baylor finally learned its fate.

"Make no mistake, the conduct that occurred on Baylor's campus between 2010 and 2015 was unacceptable. Young people were hurt. They were hurt because the campus leaders they trusted to provide a safe campus community failed," according to the report.

"At times, these failures heavily intersected with Baylor's football program and Baylor football student-athletes. At other times, they did not. And that is perhaps the most disturbing aspect of this case—that a campus-wide culture of sexual violence went unaddressed due to ignorance and leadership failings across campus."

Bottom line ... the football program acted immorally and unethically -- but didn't necessarily violate major NCAA rules.

Baylor isn't escaping totally unscathed ... the Infractions Committee did find the university provided impermissible benefits for a football player and used a "predominantly female student-host program that did not align with NCAA recruiting rules."

For that violation, Baylor was hit with a $5,000 fine and recruiting restrictions ... such as a reduction in campus visits for recruits, as well as other recruiting-based limitations.

"I'm gonna f***** take this mother f***** apart piece by piece, okay?"

That's 58-year-old, former MLB star Lenny Dykstra promising to beat the ever-living hell out of 33-year-old Aaron Carter ... in a Celebrity Boxing match this fall.

😲😲😲😲😲

Here's the deal ... Carter inked a deal to fight October 2 in Miami -- but doesn't yet have an opponent. He even made a video, looking for a dance partner.

Welp, seems he might've found one in the 3x All-Star aka "Nails" ... who responded with a video message for AC.

"Lenny Dykstra here, nails. Guess what? I'm going back in the ring October 2nd in Miami with Aaron Carter. I'm gonna f****** take this mother f****** apart piece by piece, okay? October 2nd. In Miami. Don't miss it. Me and Aaron Carter. Mono e mono. Let's get it on, nails back in action."

We're told Celeb Boxing is trying currently trying to lock Dykstra in ... which would make the fight official.

Of course, Carter fought Lamar Odom in June ... and was knocked out in the 2nd round.

Can't knock Carter too much ... Lamar had a foot height advantage. Dykstra is much closer to Aaron's size.

Aldon Smith is team-less once again ... the Seattle Seahawks have just cut the star pass rusher, according to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo, as his battery case is still forging on in the Louisiana court system.

The 31-year-old signed a 1-year, $1.1 million deal with the 'Hawks this off-season ... and was expected to be a force on Seattle's D-line this year.

But, just days after he inked his contract in April, he was accused of beating up somebody at a coffee shop in Chalmette, LA. and was later arrested.

The incident affected Smith's role with his new team ... as he stayed away from Seattle's off-season practices following the arrest.

Smith, though, reportedly looked solid during his first workouts with the Seahawks at training camp over the last few days ... so it's unclear if the Louisiana case was the driving force behind Wednesday's release.

As we previously reported, Smith is facing up to 8 years in prison if convicted on his battery charge. He's due in court later this month for a hearing on the matter.

Smith -- who was out of football dealing with suspensions and off-field issues from 2015 through 2019 -- made a triumphant return to the NFL last season, recording 48 tackles and 5 sacks for the Dallas Cowboys.

Isaiah Thomas let the emotions pour out of him after scoring 81 points in a Pro-Am game this week ... breaking down in tears and saying "the world gave up on me!!"

If you missed it, the ex-NBA star went OFF at The Crawsover Pro-Am game in Seattle on Sunday -- dropping an insane 81 points in the performance.

The crowd gave Thomas a standing ovation after balling out ... and that's when IT started to tear up and get in his feels.

Thomas spoke on Twitter about sharing the emotional moment ... saying, "I wasn’t showing y’all a snippet of me being emotional so y’all can feel sorry 4 me. Hell no!!!"

"My life is GREAT!! I was showing y’all that to see what it feels like to give everything you have to something you love and to see it slowly coming back where it’s suppose to be."

The last time the 32-year-old shined like this was with the Boston Celtics in the 2016-17 season ... averaging 28.9 points per game and finished 5th in MVP votes.

Ever since then, he's had short stints with several teams -- unable to lock in multiyear deals and getting trolled by fans ... something he says contributed to the emotions after Sunday's game.

"That emotion was tied up from the last 4yrs battling every single day!!!"

He added ..."I ain’t talking about the 'league' giving up on me lol. THE WORLD GAVE UP ON ME & WAS S****ING ON ME WHILE I WAS DOWN AND OUT!!"

"When you love something you’ll do whatever it takes to get that!!! I’m back."

Thomas is currently a free agent -- but after this statement and the support from NBA stars ... it's clear he's not giving up.

Yup, NFL lineman Jordan Mailata can still REALLY sing ... his Eagles squadmates filmed him belting out "Tennessee Whiskey" at a team meeting this month -- and it's downright incredible!!

The 6-foot-8, 346-pound tackle has never been shy about showing off his voice ... and he did it again this week in front of teammates who couldn't have been more impressed.

Check out the video filmed by linebacker Shaun Bradley -- despite not being a rookie anymore, Mailata grabbed the mic at Philly's "Rookies Sing" event and absolutely slayed Chris Stapleton's classic tune.

There were high notes, low notes and runs ... and the Eagles peanut gallery couldn't stop gushing over the guy.

"Dayyummmm!!" Bradley wrote of the karaoke performance. "I felt that mf note in my soul."

Of course, this should come as a surprise to no one ... 'cause Mailata has performed beautifully at Eagles camps in the past.

You'll recall, the dude sang 53 seconds of Mark Lowndes' "Hold" during his rookie year in 2018 ... and, yeah, it's still amazing to listen to.

Ex-NBA coach George Karl says more than 100 hoops fans want to see him 6-feet under ... revealing he's been on the receiving end of death wishes for bashing Carmelo Anthony on Twitter.

Karl coached Melo on the Nuggets from 2005-2011 ... and while Denver made the playoffs for most of their time together, the two never really got along.

Of course, 70-year-old Karl hasn't held back when criticizing Melo in the past ... saying he was selfish and a liability on defense, which ruined the Nuggets' chances at an NBA title.

Now that Melo is hoping to help LeBron James and the Lakers win a championship in 2022, Karl has fired off some shots at the 37-year-old ... trolling Anthony's comments about losing sleep over his quest for a ring.

But, Karl wasn't all negative about the guy ... backpedaling a bit and saying, "I've said it before -- one of the great scorers the game has ever seen. He’s a HOFer and his Jersey should hang in Denver."

And then, Karl went right back to critique mode ... even referencing his battles with neck and throat cancer.

"He Wasn’t a team first player or good defender here in Denver," he added. "And it upset us when he asked for a trade especially after I was sick."

Karl faced a ton of backlash from Melo stans for his jabs ... and addressed the angry fans with yet another tweet Tuesday night.

"I think at least 100 people told me on here to die or rot in hell in the past 24 hours," Karl said. "Cmon folks. That’s not kind or cool."

"Lighten up and celebrate life!!"

When a user asked what he said, Karl didn't mince his words.

"That Melo was a ball hog and s****y defender in Denver."

Melo fans are known for being some of the most passionate backers out there ... so who knows if they'll take Karl's advice.

Two Detroit Tigers players crashed into each other in the outfield Tuesday night ... and the collision was so violent, both guys had to leave the game with injuries.

It all went down in the 8th inning of the Tigers' tilt against the Orioles in Baltimore ... when Akil Baddoo and Derek Hill went after a fly ball that was hit to left-center field.

You can see in the footage, the guys were both so laser-focused on the ball ... neither saw each other, and slammed their bodies together HARD.

The collision was nasty -- it popped Baddoo's hat straight off his head -- and both men landed on the ground with a ton of force.

The guys were able to walk off the field after a lengthy delay ... but, afterward, Detroit manager A.J. Hinch said the two were dealing with injuries.

Hinch said Baddoo had a shoulder problem and was being looked at for a possible concussion. Hill, Hinch said, was being checked for possible rib issues.

"When I got out there, obviously a couple trainers out there with me, both guys were pretty beat up and in a lot of pain," Hinch said. "Very scary incident.''

Jalen Green is PISSED he didn't go #1 overall in the NBA Draft ... saying he has a "super big" chip on his shoulder for getting passed on -- and he took it all out on the Pistons by dropping 25 points!!

The Houston Rockets' #2 pick faced off against Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons for the first time in their careers at Summer League in Vegas on Tuesday ... and it didn't disappoint.

Green outdueled the top pick with 25 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal in the 111-91 win ... with Cunningham earning 20 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals and 1 block.

Look, we get it -- it's Summer League, not the real thing, but it's exciting to see these guys go at it for the first of, hopefully, many times.

19-year-old Green was asked about his motivation to ball out ... admitting he really does have a grudge for not having his name called first at the draft last month.

"My chip's been super big," the Cali native said. "It started at draft night when I got drafted #2, I felt like I was #1."

"It's just the work I gotta put in. I keep a chip on my shoulder from where I'm from, my family installed it into me. So, Imma just keep getting better every day."

The battle scars Dak Prescott earned after having TWO major surgeries on his ankle last year were finally revealed on Tuesday night ... and the red and purple wounds are GNARLY.

The quarterback showed off the marks during the opening episode of this year's 'Hard Knocks' ... pointing out that they run in a "wishbone" pattern from the top of his foot to near his Achilles.

Of course, the procedures that caused the scars were VERY serious ... you'll recall, Dak was rushed to the operating table last October after he dislocated and broke his ankle during a game.

Prescott, though, appeared to be in great spirits while talking about the injury ... even telling the 'Hard Knocks' camera crew that everything's now all gravy with the once-disfigured leg.

"When I had the first surgery, it was an open wound," 28-year-old Dak said. "And, they just wanted to go in and do what they needed to do initially. I thought I was going to be able to start rehab and yet I had to go back under the knife."

"We kept that down, nobody knew that. And then, [the scar] became a wishbone."

Dak added, "I'm healthy. I'm completely healthy."

Prescott was later shown in the episode complaining to coaches about being taken out of practice reps ... cussing and emphasizing, "I sat enough last year."

Boxing fans still hoping to see Manny Pacquiao and Errol Spence square off in the ring ... don't give up hope just yet, 'cause the legendary pugilist tells us he's down to scrap with the 31-year-old once he's healed up.

Of course, 42-year-old Pacquiao and Spence -- the IBF and WBC welterweight champ -- were scheduled to box August 21 in Las Vegas ... but doctors discovered Errol had a torn retina -- a serious eye injury -- during pre-fight medical evaluations.

But, the fight isn't dead just yet.

TMZ Sports spoke to PacMan just minutes after the fight was canceled ... and we asked the 8-division world champ if he'd re-book the bout in the future.

"I have no problem [fighting Spence]. As long as he’s still physically fit, then okay," Pacquiao says.

Errol's out, but Manny -- coming off wins over Keith Thurman and Adrien Broner -- is still fighting later this month ... taking on the WBA Super Welterweight champion, Yordenis Ugas.

Ugas isn't regarded as a top pound-for-pound fighter like Spence, but MP says he isn't overlooking the 2008 Olympic bronze medal winner.