TMZ Sports - Page 50

Candace Parker's WNBA career ain't over just yet ... the superstar hooper tells TMZ Sports she's got plans to return to the hardwood next season -- if she's healthy.

Of course, there were questions about her basketball future after the 6-foot-4 forward was forced to miss the Aces' WNBA Finals win -- as well as a large portion of the 2023 season -- while battling a foot injury.

However, when we got her out in Los Angeles this week ... she sure didn't seem like someone ready to hang up her sneakers just yet.

"If I'm healthy," she told us, "I want to play."

Right now, Parker said the recovery process from her foot injury is going well.

When it comes to how many seasons the 37-year-old might have left in her if her body gets back into playing shape ... she says she isn't quite sure.

One of the brightest young stars in the MLB is on his way to wearing pinstripes in 2023 ... the Yankees are reportedly finalizing a trade for Juan Soto!!

According to MLB Network's Jon Morosi ... in addition to the Padres outfielder, New York's deal with San Diego for Soto will also include utility man Trent Grisham.

Morosi added that as part of the pact, the Yanks are planning to send the Padres five players, including pitcher Michael King.

The move will give the Yankees arguably the most talented outfield in the league -- as Soto, a 25-year-old three-time All-Star, will join Aaron Judge as well as newly acquired slugger Alex Verdugo at Yankee Stadium.

Soto was just traded to San Diego from Washington in 2022 ... and after a lackluster first year in SoCal, he bounced back this past season, piling up a .275 batting average with 35 home runs, 109 RBIs and 12 stolen bases.

In his career, Soto has played the Yankees nine total times -- and has gone off in almost every game, hitting .310 with five home runs.

Recently retired Philadelphia Eagles star Desean Jackson made more than $91 million over the course of his career, but he says his financial ambitions are much greater than that ... revealing he wants to be on the same level as Magic Johnson.

The 37-year-old former wideout did a sit-down with Adam22 on the "No Jumper" podcast this week after signing a one-day contract to end his career with the Birds ... and he revealed while he's grateful for the amount of cash he made throughout his career, he understands those paychecks are no longer coming.

"The hustler I am, I ain't satisfied with the money I made in the NFL," D-Jack said. "I would meet you today, and you wouldn't even think I made 100 plus million in NFL. Because guess what? That money right there, that's going to make my future be cool for my kids."

"But right now, I still need bread, so I'm out here getting all type of stuff, going private equity, real estate ... S***, f*** the NFL. That s*** was cool, but what's next? I'm trying to go touch some Magic Johnson-type s***."

Of course, Magic has made a name for himself off the court ... investing in, among other successful businesses, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Sparks and Washington Commanders. His net worth has now crossed the billion-dollar mark.

There's a really good explanation for why Trevor Lawrence didn't use a cart after he injured his ankle during 'MNF' ... he says he declined to get on one -- and now, he's explaining he regrets that decision.

ICYMI, the Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback suffered a high-ankle sprain in the fourth quarter of their 34-31 overtime loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night ... and when he went into the locker room to get it checked out, he was seen limping the entire way to the X-ray room.

Many wondered why the Jaguars' franchise player didn't hop on a ride to avoid any further complications with his leg ... and on Wednesday, he revealed it was all his choice -- not the Jaguars'.

"I'm already on the sideline at that point -- the tunnel's right there -- I just want to get off the field, get out of there," Lawrence said. "I didn't know what was goin' on with my ankle."

"I felt like I could get off. I was like, 'Hey, you're good, just don't bring [the cart] out. I'm going in.'"

The 24-year-old, though, told media members he immediately had regrets once he realized how far the walk was going to be ... but he nonetheless kept it moving.

"They asked again if I wanted a cart, I'm like, 'No, we're going to make it the whole way,'" Lawrence said.

"I was the one that didn't choose to take one. So, you guys put that on me. Maybe that was dumb. Maybe I should've taken one. Whatever."

Former NFL safety Sergio Brown is fighting back in his murder case this week ... pleading not guilty to charges that he killed his mom and concealed her body afterward.

According to a spokesperson for the Cook County State's Attorney's Office, Brown entered the pleas before an Illinois judge on Wednesday.

He's now due back for another hearing in the case late next month.

As we previously reported, Brown was first hit with one charge of first-degree murder and one count of concealment of a dead body back in October ... after officials claimed he killed his 73-year-old mom in Maywood in September and dumped her body near a creek behind her home.

Authorities alleged that following the killing, Brown hightailed it to Mexico -- where he was seen partying and dancing seemingly without a care in the world at a Tulum club.

Brown was eventually extradited and arrested ... and later transported to Illinois to face the charges.

Shaun White grew up shredding the half pipe at a youth action sports camp in Oregon ... a time that had such a profound impact on the 3x Olympic gold medalist, he just teamed up with Philadelphia 76ers and NJ Devils owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer to buy the camp!

Talk about coming full circle.

We Are Camp, founded in the late '80s, is located in Ft. Hood, Oregon, a kick-ass skiing and snowboarding spot about 75 miles east of Portland. They offer a bunch of different activities in addition to snow sports, including mountain biking and skateboarding.

“As a kid, I was so thrilled to spend every summer going up to Windells and High Cascade Snowboard Camp,” White said, reminiscing on his many family vacations to the 28-acre campgrounds.

“Those were some of my fondest memories. I would snowboard the best park and halfpipe in the morning and then the afternoons would be filled with skateboarding, trampolines, and mountain biking, it was epic!"

Shaun, of course, went on to become the greatest snowboarder of all time... affording him the connections and opportunity to partner with Harris and Blitzer.

"I’m honored to officially partner with We Are Camp along with Josh and David. I’m excited to step in and help elevate a place that’s so special to me, so come June, you’ll know where to find me!”

Sources tell us the camp was valued at around $10 million!

A lot of money ... but Josh Harris and David Blitzer are incredibly successful. In addition to the Sixers and Devils, they own the Prudential Center arena in New Jersey.

It didn't work out the first time around, but New York Jets coach Robert Saleh is hoping for a different result moving forward with Zach Wilson ... telling reporters the 24-year-old quarterback will be his team's starter for the foreseeable future.

The Jets haven't been able to find a valuable replacement under center following Aaron Rodgers' Week 1 Achilles injury ... and after a two-game experiment with Tim Boyle, Saleh told the media Wednesday that Wilson -- who initially took over for the four-time MVP -- was the team's best chance to win.

Boyle was cut from the team following NY's 13-8 loss to the Atlanta Falcons ... after he threw for just 148 yards and failed to toss a touchdown.

Wilson hasn't been great for the Jets ... and aside from a surprise victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, he struggled to gain traction with the starting gig.

Saleh seemingly alluded to Rodgers being out for the rest of the season ... saying Wilson was excited to finish out the 2023-24 campaign strong.

The Dallas Cowboys might be without their head coach for their huge matchup with the Eagles this weekend ... 'cause the team says Mike McCarthy is slated to undergo surgery later Wednesday that could keep him from the sidelines on Sunday.

The Cowboys revealed McCarthy will have a procedure on his appendix after he was diagnosed with acute appendicitis following some abdominal pain he was suffering from earlier Wednesday morning.

The team says the 60-year-old is scheduled to be released from the hospital before sunrise Thursday ... and, somehow, he "anticipates coaching" against Philadelphia -- this despite kickoff being roughly 100 hours away.

While he's out, the Cowboys say their three coordinators will run team practices.

Of course, it'd be a big blow for the Cowboys if McCarthy cannot ultimately make it to AT&T Stadium ... because, after all, the contest is quite possibly the biggest regular season game the team has had in the last few years.

If Dallas wins, both teams will sit atop the NFC East with 10-3 records. If it loses, however, it will not only be two games behind Philly in the standings, it will also lose out in a tiebreaker scenario.

It appears Morgan Wallen is chasing Josie Canseco like a shot of whiskey -- the country superstar was spotted entering a London hotel and restaurant with the ex-MLB slugger's daughter this week ... and TMZ Sports has the pics.

The "Last Night" crooner and model arrived at the Chiltern Firehouse around 1 AM Tuesday morning ... and sources say they stayed there for about two hours before leaving in the same Mercedes Sprinter van.

We're told the two were having a great time ... laughing and smiling throughout their visit.

Morgan showed up to the venue in a green jacket, trucker hat and signature cowboy boots ... and Jose Canseco's kid donned an all-black ensemble.

It's unclear whether the two are really "dating," as neither follow each other on Instagram ... but perhaps they were trying to keep from having a paper trail.

Morgan has a son, Indigo Wilder, with his ex-fiancée, Katie Smith ... and has been pretty lowkey in the dating world following their split, outside of brief relationships with Paige Lorenze and Megan Moroney.

As for Josie, she famously dated guys like Mike Stud, Brody Jenner and Logan Paul ... but appears to be single at the moment.

Von Miller -- for now -- will not miss any Bills practices or games despite his domestic violence arrest last week ... this according to Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane.

The Bills exec spoke at length on the matter with media members just minutes ago ... revealing his team has no plans to suspend its star pass rusher amid allegations that he roughed up his pregnant girlfriend during a violent incident at their Dallas-area apartment on Nov. 29.

"There's not a lot that I can say," Beane told reporters. "Von is here. He'll be a part of the team."

Beane said repeatedly the Bills plan to let both the criminal investigation and the NFL's probe into the issue play out before they make any kinds of rash decisions regarding Von.

He did say, however, if something unnerving comes up in the investigation process ... things regarding Von's status could change.

But, Beane also added, "The guy that we've known here for a year and a half," the allegations seem "out of character."

As we reported, an arrest warrant was issued for Miller late last week after police say his GF told cops he pushed her, put his hands around her neck ... and pulled a chunk of her hair out of her head during a heated argument.

In 911 audio, the woman can be heard telling dispatch she was left bloodied and bruised after the alleged altercation.

The woman, though, reportedly recanted the story just a day later ... with WFAA reporting she said in a text message to their reporters, "Things were blown way out of context."

Taylor Swift was asked about grouchy NFL fans who feel like there's way too much focus on her during games -- and insists she only has one purpose for being there ... cheering on Travis Kelce.

The pop star addressed the increasingly thorny issue -- a growing grievance for NFL diehards -- during her TIME Magazine profile after she was named Person of the Year, and her response basically amounts to ... take it up with Roger Goodell.

She says, "I don’t know how they know what suite I’m in. There’s a camera, like, a half-mile away, and you don’t know where it is, and you have no idea when the camera is putting you in the broadcast, so I don’t know if I’m being shown 17 times or once."

T-Swift added she was just there to "support Travis" ... and went on to explain, "I have no awareness of if I’m being shown too much and pissing off a few dads, Brads, and Chads."

It's fascinating this was brought up ... 'cause it has, in fact, become a point of conversation among those who tune in every week to watch their favorite football team.

While Swifties and casuals might be fascinated/intrigued to see as much as Taylor as possible during the broadcast ... the sport purists of the world have been up in arms over all the Taylor talk.

Based on her answer here, it sounds like she's passing the buck off to the league and whatever channel is airing any given game she might be attending -- as they're the ones who decide where to pan to with camera, and she can't help if they want the spotlight on her.

If it makes anyone feel any better, Taylor also said she'd become a huge fan of the gridiron action ... saying, "Football is awesome, it turns out. I’ve been missing out my whole life."

And speaking of Travis ... she shed more light on how they came together and when as well -- revealing they hooked almost immediately after he name-dropped her in his podcast way back in July, as he told the tale of shooting his shot and seemingly being rejected.

Taylor says she appreciated his boldness, and noted they'd been seeing each other long before she showed up to his first game in Kansas City. She also characterized their dynamic in a really glowing way, saying ... "When you say a relationship is public, that means I’m going to see him do what he loves, we’re showing up for each other, other people are there and we don’t care."

Taylor finished ... "The opposite of that is you have to go to an extreme amount of effort to make sure no one knows that you’re seeing someone. And we’re just proud of each other."

Yeah, these two might just be the real deal ... at long last.

NY Giants star Xavier McKinney plays on the gridiron like a comic book villain ... and now, after getting a huge torso tattoo, his stomach art matches his game!!

The 24-year-old safety recently hit up LeBron James' ink artist, Ganga, for the piece ... and it turned out awesome.

His abs are now covered by an image of a pissed-off Thanos ruling over a smoldering city. On one of his obliques, meanwhile, he got a pic of the Joker put down -- and on the other, Ganga drew on "Guardians of the Galaxy" character Groot.

Ganga also touched up some of McKinney's other tats that he had gotten previously ... while adding the words, "Most Wanted" and "Beware of Dog" as well.

The NFL player was clearly thrilled with the final results ... sharing pics of his new ink while writing in a caption, "Tattoos over war wounds .."

"Special thanks to my brother @gangatattoo and all the artist who helped bring this piece to life."

Taylor Swift is TIME Magazine's Person of the Year -- and if we're being frank ... nobody's really surprised, 'cause she stands out as the far and away winner of 2023.

The mega pop star was tapped by TIME's editorial staff to grace their big end-of-year cover -- and the publication's editor-in-chief, Sam Jacobs, apparently felt it was important for him to come on 'Today' to explain the pick ... considering everyone/everything else as possibilities.

Obviously, there were a lot of choices this year ... in fact, TIME's finalists included all the big names from Trump to Putin and King Charles to Barbie -- not to mention a ton of other notable people/groups that made a splash -- but Jacobs said the staff chose joy this year.

He says, "Taylor Swift found a way to transcend borders and be a source of light. No one else on the planet today can move so many people so well."

Jacobs adds, "Achieving this feat is something we often chalk up to the alignments of planets and fates, but giving too much credit to the stars ignores her skill and her power. Swift is the rare person who is both the writer and hero of her own story."

Check out his full explanation here ... he says he acknowledges the world's on fire right now and that they could've gone in a number of contentious directions with the POTY -- but considering how much light and happiness TS spreads, TIME went with a lighter pick.

Of course, her influence and success was unmatched this year ... so on that front, there's no justification needed. She rolled out a worldwide tour that sold just about everywhere it stopped, released a concert film of that same concert ... and dominated music services.

Plus, Taylor ended one high-profile relationship ... and started another one with NFL star Travis Kelce -- so even in the sports world, she transcended and drew eyeballs. BTW, Taylor revealed in her TIME interview that she and TK were a couple way before anyone knew.

TayTay's quoted as saying ... "This is the proudest and happiest I’ve ever felt and the most creatively fulfilled and free I’ve ever been," before epically adding, "Are you not entertained?"

While TIME might normally be considered for somewhat heftier/more serious editorial coverage ... they clearly opted to crown the people's champion this year, and it doesn't sound like anyone's grumbling about it. Like the EIC says ... she's just larger than life itself.

The piece they did on her was glowing and positive ... however, there are old issues Taylor brought up that she clearly has sour feelings about -- namely, her beef with Kanye West/Kim Kardashian.

Specifically, she brought up that whole phone call debacle from years ago ... when Kim and Ye had TS on the phone and discussed his "Famous" song that invoked Taylor's name.

Taylor claims Kim, at first, released an edited version of their conversation that made Taylor look like she hadn't been truthful -- and she reflects on that in this TIME interview, saying ... "You have a fully manufactured frame job, in an illegally recorded phone call, which Kim Kardashian edited and then put out to say to everyone that I was a liar."

Taylor adds, "That took me down psychologically to a place I’ve never been before. I moved to a foreign country. I didn’t leave a rental house for a year. I was afraid to get on phone calls. I pushed away most people in my life because I didn’t trust anyone anymore. I went down really, really hard."

Like we said ... it's an old feud that she felt she wanted to address, but generally speaking ... she seems to be in a much better place now -- and is clearly on top.

Congrats to her ... grudges be damned!

Kid Cudi isn't letting Rich Paul and Jake Paul slide after critiquing his loyalty and ties to Cleveland.

Rich recently shared his thoughts on the "BS w/ Jake Paul" podcast as to why "The Land" doesn't embrace the "Day N Nite" rapper after all his success over the years. Well, those words didn't sit well with Cudi, who says LeBron James' agent couldn't be further from the truth, and ripping him for making bogus assumptions.

Cudi says he actually returns to Cleveland all the time -- it's where his mom lives -- he's just not all about going to Cleveland sporting events or bars ... when he's back, it's family time.

He also noted his Moon Man's Landing festival in 2023 brought 20k people from the city together ... with plans to do it again in the future.

Jake Paul took shots at Cudi too, accusing him of leaving the city behind, while also revealing he asked Cudi to walk out with him when he fought Tyron Woodley in Cleveland a few years back. JP says Cudi wanted wayyy too much money, and wasn't about to give a hometown discount.

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes ... the Laker game!!

Fresh off exchanging "I Dos" in Mexico over the weekend, newlyweds Vanessa Hudgens and MLB player Cole Tucker decided to stop by Crypto.com Arena to catch the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Phoenix Suns game on Tuesday ... and the married couple looked as happy as ever!!

The duo showed up to the venue in pretty casual 'fits ... with Tucker rocking a white crew neck and snapback, and Hudgens electing for a long coat and red ball cap.

As we previously reported, the actress and athlete had their closest friends in Tulum for the occasion ... with the whole crew celebrating their vows on the beach.

There were a ton of other celebrities in attendance for the Lakers' In-Season Tournament win over the Suns ... including Kim Kardashian, Flea, Druski, Rich Paul and Floyd Mayweather.

The A-listers picked a good one, as the home team won, 106-103 ... eliminating Phoenix from the tourney.

Greatness and athleticism are in Brock Lesnar's blood 'cause the WWE legend's daughter just made history at Colorado State -- with a school-record-breaking 18.5-meter shot put!

Mya -- a junior on the CSU track team -- launched the near 9-pound spherical ball during a meet over the weekend ... and the historic moment was captured on video.

"💥18.50m💥," Mya said on Instagram. "A new PR and a new school record!!😤 Happy with a strong start to my season."

Perhaps the record-breaking put isn't shocking when you consider her dad is one of the most impressive athletes that we've ever seen. Not only is Brock a WWE legend, but he was also a UFC heavyweight champion and NCAA div. 1 wrestling champ in 2000. Lesnar also had a cup of coffee in the NFL.

How's that for an athletic pedigree?

Only time will tell if Mya follows her dad's career path and gets involved in professional wrestling after college.

For now, Mya, who has competed in 16 meets this season, will continue racking up wins, and adding to her already list of impressive accolades.

In fact, she finished in the top 3 of the indoor and outdoor track and field championships in 2023. She was also named All-Mountain West.

When it comes to her dad, Brock hasn't wrestled since SummerSlam in August ... and the 46-year-old isn't expected back until 2024.