TMZ Sports - Page 50

Rachel Nichols is out of a TV hosting gig, but not the big paycheck that comes with it -- 'cause TMZ Sports has learned the network will honor Nichols' deal, and continue to pay her.

Nichols -- who's been with ESPN since 2004 -- was removed from the network's NBA coverage on Wednesday ... and saw her show, "The Jump" canceled.

Question is, with all her current responsibilities taken away, what's the veteran TV host and reporter's future with ESPN?

The answer ... well, no decision has been made.

Our ESPN sources tell us that while Nichols was solely concentrating on the NBA, the network has not yet decided whether they will use her in another capacity.

We're told Nichols' contract doesn't expire anytime in the near future -- and rather than try and find a way out from underneath the lucrative deal -- ESPN has decided to continue to pay the star TV anchor.

Of course, Nichols was at the center of an explosive controversy back in June ... when the NY Times released audio of Rachel venting to a top PR consultant about fellow ESPN employee, Maria Taylor.

Nichols was heard blasting ESPN for attempting to move her aside to make way for Taylor -- a Black woman -- in light of the current racial climate and the network's "crappy longtime record on diversity," as Nichols phrased it on the recording.

As for Taylor, she turned down a big-money offer from ESPN, and left for NBC.

Nichols acknowledged the move on social media, writing ... "Got to create a whole show and spend five years hanging out with some of my favorite people, talking about one my favorite things."

"An eternal thank you to our amazing producers & crew — The Jump was never built to last forever but it sure was fun. More to come..."

ESPN recently charged Senior VP Dave Roberts with overseeing their NBA coverage. We're told the decision was ultimately made by Roberts.

On Wednesday, Roberts issued a short statement on the shakeup, saying both sides "mutually agreed that this approach regarding our NBA coverage was best for all concerned."

Roberts continued ... "Rachel is an excellent reporter, host and journalist, and we thank her for her many contributions to our NBA content."

Nichols reportedly has about a year remaining on the deal ... and will likely have no trouble finding work when her current deal expires.

Rutgers football player Peyton Powell says he's transferring ... claiming it's all 'cause the university has made it mandatory for students to get the COVID vaccine.

The school announced back in March if students wanted to attend classes and play football for the university, they'd have to get the shots.

"We are committed to health and safety for all members of our community," Rutgers president Jonathan Holloway said when announcing the decision.

"Adding COVID-19 vaccination to our student immunization requirements will help provide a safer and more robust college experience for our students."

Powell says after considering the school's choice ... he's now decided to leave the university in search of one that will not make the vaccine mandatory.

"The University of Rutgers has made the COVID vaccine mandatory to attend school and play football," Powell said Tuesday on his social media page.

"Therefore I have no other choice but to enter my name into the transfer portal."

The move will mark the second time in Powell's college football career that he's transferred ... the 6-foot-2, 185-pound DB was at Baylor during his freshman season in 2019 before switching to the Scarlet Knights.

Before that, Powell was a touted 4-star recruit from Permian High School in Texas.

FYI -- Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano said earlier this month that 90% of the football team had been vaccinated.

The team is slated to begin its season on Sept. 2.

Just 1 day after signing with the Seattle Seahawks, tight end Luke Willson announced he's walking away from football for good ... revealing he was hospitalized with a severe heart condition earlier this year.

31-year-old Willson -- a 2013 5th-round draft pick who won a Super Bowl with the Seahawks in 2014 -- resigned with his old squad on Tuesday.

But, just a day later, the team said they were parting ways with Luke ... without explaining why.

On Wednesday, Willson provided some answers ... explaining he dealt with a serious heart issue a few months ago.

"After signing with the Seahawks yesterday, I have decided to walk away from the game of football," Willson wrote.

"This off-season I went through some health issues and spent numerous days in the hospital with a severe pericardial effusion."

FYI, the Mayo Clinic describes the condition as "the buildup of excess fluid in the sac-like structure around the heart (pericardium)."

If untreated, Pericardial effusion "can lead to heart failure or death," according to Mayo Clinic.

Luke says the medical scare changed the way he views football and life.

"That situation has really challenged me as an individual and changed my perspective on a lot of things with regards to my life. After reflecting on everything yesterday and being in the building, I have decided that it's time for me to begin with the next chapter of my life."

Luke's adult life has been all about football ... so, what's next for the Canadian?

Aaron Boone no longer has to worry about being fired ... so says Yanks legend Tino Martinez, who tells TMZ Sports NY's latest surge is more than enough to keep the manager safe.

"I think he's done a great job," Martinez said out in NYC this week. "He's great for the team, the organization -- so I think he deserves to be here as long as he wants."

Of course, Yankees fans and perhaps even ex-NY players didn't always feel that way this season ... 'cause for a while, the Pinstripes were REALLY struggling under Boone.

But, the Yankees have turned the ship around in a big way -- winning 11 in a row ... and vaulting to just 4 games out of first place in the AL East.

Martinez says it's all been impressive to watch ... and should keep Boone around well into next season and beyond.

"The ups and downs of a season make a great manager," Tino told us, "and he's been even keeled the whole time."

For as good as Boone has been in turning around the Yankees ... Martinez clearly feels the manager owes Anthony Rizzo a bit of praise for the recent win streak as well.

Tino tells us the first baseman "changed the culture of the team" after his trade from Chicago to New York -- and is "one of the best ever."

Kendall Jenner was having some fun in the sun with her favorite Sun on Tuesday ... cruising on a yacht with her BF, Devin Booker, in Italy -- and the pics are piccante!!

As we previously reported, KJ and the Phoenix Suns star hopped on a private jet and flew to their romantic getaway last week ... and they've been spending the majority of their time lounging around in some barely-there swimwear ever since.

When we saw Kendall and Devin on Friday, they were floating around in Sardinia ... but now, they've made their way over towards Capri.

The couple cranked up the heat while working on their tans yesterday afternoon ... showing off their incredibly fit figures and chatting it up on the deck of the yacht.

24-year-old Booker -- who's fresh off winning a gold medal at the 2020 Olympics with Team USA -- had to cool off for a bit by hopping in the pool ... and yeah, he looks shredded as ever.

Team USA star Sydney McLaughlin is rockin' more than just an Olympic gold medal around her neck ... she's also wearing an engagement ring on her hand after her boyfriend proposed -- and she said "YES!!!"

The 22-year-old sprinter revealed the awesome news on Wednesday -- penning a beautiful love note to her future hubby, ex-NFL receiver Andre Levrone.

"I fall in love with you more and more each day off of the strength of your faith," McLaughlin said on Instagram.

"Andre, you are the most God-fearing, passionate, honest, loving, hard working, protective, and genuine man I’ve ever met."

Unsure how long the two have been dating but the couple went IG official when Levrone shared a photo of them together in December 2020.

"The calling God has on our lives goes far beyond our love for one another. This union will impact lives for His kingdom, and that’s what excites me most."

"You're the perfect man to lead me, and I cannot wait to follow."

Of course, McLaughlin just got back from the Tokyo Olympics, winning the gold and setting a record time of 51.46 seconds in the women's 400 meters hurdle.

Her fiancé is also an athlete -- the 26-year-old WR entered the league as an undrafted free agent in 2018 ... and played for the Ravens, Jaguars and Panthers before retiring in September 2020. He's currently a project engineer.

Jermall Charlo has been arrested ... after cops say the boxing superstar melted down at a bar and stole money from a waitress, TMZ Sports has learned.

The alleged incident all went down in San Antonio on July 16 -- the day before Charlo's brother, Jermell Charlo, fought Brian Castaño to a draw at AT&T Center.

According to police documents, Jermall was with a large party at the Texas bar when the waitress presented the group with the bill.

In the docs, cops say Jermall handed over his credit card and ID ... but the card was declined despite three attempts to run it.

When the waitress came back to Jermall asking for another form of payment ... the 31-year-old allegedly snapped.

Police say surveillance video shows Jermall "being very animated" and appearing to "be upset and yelling" at the waitress and two other managers on the scene.

In the video, according to cops, Jermall can then be seen taking away two bill collection binders from the waitress and stealing everything from the inside of them.

Cops say one of the binders had Jermall's ID in it ... while the other had "cash payment made by another customer" that the waitress had been serving previously in the night.

In the docs, cops say witnesses claim Jermall then told the bar's employees, "I will f*** you alls s*** up."

Cops say Jermall and his crew then stormed out of the bar -- "pushing their way past the employees" -- and then got into a limousine bus and left.

In the docs, the waitress told cops she suffered a minor leg injury while Jermall's crew ran into her while leaving the bar.

Arrest warrants were ultimately issued for Jermall over the incident ... and we're told the fighter turned himself in to authorities on Wednesday morning.

We're told Jermall is already in the process of posting bond.

We've reached out to the Charlos' camp for comment, but so far, no word back yet.

Jermall is one of the biggest stars in boxing ... he's piled up a 32-0 record with 22 knockouts and is currently the WBC middleweight champ.

Here's the best video you'll see all day ... Drew Brees surprised a walk-on Purdue softball player with a special NIL deal -- and her reaction was priceless!!!

Emilee Cox was on the line with Walk-On's Sports Bistreaux CEO Brandon Landry ... when Brees -- who co-owns the Walk-On's parent company -- jumped in to break some great news to the softball player.

The NFL legend and former Boilermakers star helped explain to Emilee she'd be the recipient of this week's "Walk-On of the Week" honor -- and she lost her mind!!!

"Oh, my gosh!" said Cox, a Purdue infielder. "I'm shaking. I'm literally shaking! Oh, my gosh. Can you see how red I just got?!?"

Brees congratulated her on the award -- which is a big deal for a walk-on, 'cause it'll come with cash and other perks that'll help Cox pay her tuition and other school bills.

"Emilee, I've heard so much about you," Drew said on the call. "Congratulations!"

Cox continued to freak out, and it was all amazing to watch.

Landry then explained to Brees that Cox was such a huge Purdue fan, she turned down other schools' offers to take a walk-on spot with the Boilermakers -- something Brees loved.

"Great work, Emilee," Drew told the rising junior. "So happy for you and keep representing everything that's great about Purdue."

Emilee finished the call by thanking Brees again ... adding, "I did not expect this tonight!"

Sha'Carri Richardson seems to be bitter about the heat she's gotten after coming in dead last over the weekend -- at least according to her Twitter account ... which just "liked" an offensive tweet about Jamaicans.

The 21-year-old track star competed in the Prefontaine Classic in Oregon on Saturday ... losing to the 3 Jamaican runners who won gold, silver and bronze at the 2020 Olympics.

Richardson -- who finished with a time of 11.14 seconds -- brushed off the L and welcomed any haters to "talk all the s*** you want to" ... and some Jamaican fans have taken her up on that offer by talking a lot of smack on Twitter.

Of all the jokes and jabs, one user in particular came to Richardson's defense ... firing back with a pretty offensive comment.

"Not y’all Jamaicans still talking s*** when y’all gotta walk barefoot to your coconut stand everyday for a living," the post says.

Whoever is running Sha'Carri's verified account co-signed the distasteful response ... hitting the "like" button on the tweet.

Scary news from Vinny Curry ... the New York Jets defensive end announced he's out for the 2021 season after he had to get his spleen removed due to a rare blood disorder.

The 33-year-old revealed the diagnosis on his social media page Wednesday ... the day after the Jets put him on the reserve/non-football injury list.

"In July, the Jets doctors diagnosed me with a rare blood disorder," said Curry, who signed a 1-year, $1.3 million contract with NY in the offseason.

"The diagnoses required the removal of my spleen and projected me to return to the field in the middle of September."

But, Curry says his comeback date changed ... after he developed blood clots during his recovery.

Vinny says he's now currently on blood thinners which will prevent him from having "physical contact for the next three to six months."

"While I am incredibly disappointed that I will not be able to play with my teammates this year, I am thankful that the doctors identified my condition in time," Curry said.

Curry added that doctors expect him to make a full recovery.

"I can promise them all that I will be back stronger and more determined than ever!" Curry said.

The loser of the Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley tilt will get "I love Jake/Tyron" ink on their bodies directly after their scrap ... so says famous tattoo artist Tatu Baby, who tells TMZ Sports she's flying in to do the piece on fight night!

The former "Ink Master" star -- who has 1.7 MILLION followers on Instagram -- said Paul reached out to her recently with the idea ... after he made the infamous bet with Woodley at a pre-fight media event back in July.

Tatu Baby -- real name Katherine Flores -- says Jake asked her to create some mockups for the potential ink ... and she delivered with three incredible designs.

Tatu Baby tells us both Woodley and Paul have agreed to get one of her pieces on them if they lose ... and she says they also agreed to go under the needle right after the final bell.

"As soon as the fight is done, I'm tattooing the loser," Tatu Baby says.

"After a painful fight and a painful loss, [they'll get] a painful tattoo that's going to be on you for the rest of your life."

The designs -- while certainly embarrassing for the loser -- are actually awesome ... and Tatu Baby says the art should take anywhere from 30-60 minutes to complete.

As for the location of the ink and whether they'll be in color or black and white and ... Tatu Baby tells us that'll all be up to the loser.

Chinese Olympics gold medalist Zhu Xueying's new hardware is already losing some shine ... 'cause the trampoline gymnast says it's PEELING!!!

The 23-year-old athlete went to social media to show off the alleged damage this week ... asking fellow Olympians if they had experienced anything similar with their medals.

"#olympic-medal Was your medal ... peeling off like this?" she asked on Weibo.

Zhu says she initially thought the mark was just dirt, but the spot grew bigger and bigger.

FYI -- the medals aren't solid gold ... they're actually made from mostly silver and, for the 2020 Games, reused metals donated by the public ... and coated least 6 grams of pure gold.

The Olympic committee ended up sending a response to Zhu ... saying the peeling is actually a protective coating and claiming the medal is perfectly fine.

But, if something were to ever happen to a medal, the committee keeps a mold and can always crank out some new ones ... for a fee.

Soccer star Harry Kane is channeling his inner Wolf of Wall Street -- 'cause he says he's NOT LEAVING Tottenham ... this, after reports of a full-court press from Manchester City.

Of course, the 28-year-old striker has been affiliated with Tottenham since 2004 ... and has been on the senior squad since 2009.

But, there were rumblings the English national team captain could bail for greener pastures this summer ... with Man City's Pep Guardiola publicly admitting the club wanted Kane.

Kane put the rumors to rest on Twitter earlier Wednesday ... saying, "It was incredible to see the reception from the Spurs fans on Sunday and to read some of the messages of support I've had in the last few weeks. 👏⚽"

"I will be staying at Tottenham this summer and will be 100% focused on helping the team achieve success. #COYS"

NFL star Michael Thomas says his offseason training program was severely disrupted by some nightmare landlords in L.A. ... and now, he's suing, looking for more than $1 MILLION in damages.

According to court docs, obtained by TMZ Sports, the New Orleans Saints wide receiver says he agreed to rent a mansion in the Bel-Air area from Feb. 4 to April 5.

The place was awesome -- it had six bedrooms, eight bathrooms and an incredible gym, media room and pool.

Thomas claims the deal with the owner was simple ... he says he agreed to pay $60,000 a month in rent, as well as a $60,000 deposit.

Thomas says the owner promised to leave the NFL player alone too ... allowing him to train for the 2021 season without any interruptions.

Thomas claims he paid $120k for the two-month rental term, and also paid the $60k security deposit in full just before moving in.

But, Thomas says after he moved in, there was nothing but drama with the place.

The 28-year-old says there were issues with the pad's pool, garage doors and kitchen appliances. Thomas also says reps from the place "repeatedly" showed up to the home unannounced, interrupting Thomas' workouts.

To make matters worse, Thomas says the mansion's owner refused to give back any portion of his $60k security deposit after he moved out in April.

Thomas is now suing for breach of lease and more, and is asking for more than $1,000,000 in damages.

It's all VERY interesting ... considering the drama currently going down with Thomas and his Saints team.

Reportedly, New Orleans wanted Thomas to have surgery on his injured ankle following the 2020 season ... right around the time the receiver began renting the Bel-Air mansion.

But, Michael opted to try to heal the injury on his own ... and allegedly didn't communicate much -- if at all -- with the Saints during that process.

Huge bummer for Serena Williams -- the tennis superstar will NOT be competing at the U.S. Open next week ... saying it's best she lets her hamstring injury fully heal before returning to the court.

The 39-year-old made the news official on her Instagram Wednesday morning ... saying she thought long and hard about it, but the experts have advised her to sit out the Grand Slam tournament in Flushing Meadows.

Remember, Serena went down with the injury in the first round of Wimbledon back in June ... but her agent, Jill Smoller, told TMZ Sports last month Williams was hoping to be ready in time to compete for a 7th U.S. Open championship.

But, that ain't happening ... with Williams expressing her sadness in a heartfelt post.

"After careful consideration and following the advice of my doctors and medical team, I have decided to withdraw from the US Open to allow my body to heal completely from a torn hamstring," Serena said.

"New York is one of the most exciting cities in the world and one of my favorite places to play -- I'll miss seeing the fans but will be cheering everyone on from afar."

It's a massive blow to the tournament -- which was already without big names like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal -- but here's hoping Serena can get back out there sooner than later.

Dell Curry says his estranged wife, Sonya, cheated on him with a former New England Patriots tight end ... and then lied to him about it.

It's all spelled out in court docs, obtained by TMZ Sports, in which Steph Curry's father says Sonya is, and has been, dating Steven Johnson -- a 6th-round pick in the 1988 NFL Draft.

In the docs, Dell says Sonya "began her extramarital affair with Mr. Johnson during the marriage and prior to the date of separation, and she lied to [Dell] each time she cheated on him."

Dell, in the docs, says Sonya is actually living with Johnson in Tennessee ... and claims she should not be entitled to alimony because of it.

For her part, Sonya said in responding documents that she is NOT living with Johnson -- claiming she's currently living on her own because Dell will not allow her to live at their home.

Sonya added that she is, however, currently in a dating relationship ... but denied cheating on Dell, saying the relationship began "months after" she and Dell agreed to legally separate in March 2020.

Sonya also said Dell cheated on her during the marriage ... claiming he hooked up with different women, and that family and close friends knew about it.

As we previously reported, Sonya -- who married Dell in 1988 -- filed for divorce back on June 14.

Johnson, meanwhile, was a solid player for Virginia Tech from 1984 to 1987, playing in 44 games while piling up 1,058 receiving yards and 8 receiving TDs.

The 56-year-old went on to play just one year for the Pats, starting 3 games in the 1988 season.

According to Johnson's business page, he's a fan of "road racing, fishing, golf, and travel."