TMZ Sports - Page 50

Omri Miran is among the Israeli hostages being held captive by Hamas ... and his brother-in-law, a former captain in the Israel Defense Forces, is calling for his safe return ASAP.

Moshe Lavi, the former IDF captain, says Omri was held at gunpoint by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, when he was kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz. Moshe says Omri's wife, his sister Lishay, and the couple's 2 daughters, Roni and Alma, were also held at gunpoint with Omri before ultimately being left behind and rescued by the IDF.

Some hostages have since been released by Hamas, but Omri was not among them ... so Moshe and family members of other hostages are pressuring public officials in Israel and across the globe to do whatever is necessary to bring more hostages home.

Moshe tells TMZ ... his family hasn't received any official word of how Omri is doing in captivity, though hostages released 2 weeks ago claimed Omri was seen alive in one of the Hamas tunnels in Gaza.

Still, Moshe says just because Omri was said to be safe back then doesn't mean he's in good shape now ... as Moshe points out, "Every second in captivity is eternity" ... which is why time is of the essence here.

Of grave concern to all the families is the fact 3 of the remaining hostages were accidentally killed during IDF efforts to take out Hamas militants. The victims have been identified, and Omri is not among them.

But, Moshe is calling on public officials to work day and night to bring Omri and his fellow captives back safely to their loved ones.

What's next for Jake Paul?!

That's the question many fans are asking after The Problem Child dispatched Andre August with a vicious uppercut less than 3 minutes into their boxing match on Friday in Orlando.

TMZ Sports asked Tyron Woodley, who was behind the microphone for Paul's scrap with August last week, who the YouTuber-turned-combat sports star should challenge next.

"I think if you're gonna fight anyone in MMA, you fight me MMA. I'm the one that did the numbers with you. I'm the one that did the millions and millions of views in the press conference. I'm the one that was a 5x champion. I'm the one who took the fight on 2 weeks' notice," Woodley told us.

The UFC legend continued ... "I was doing Cobra Kai for 14 hours straight. I trained at 3 AM and I saved that card. That card was not going to happen. People would not have been buying Christmas gifts had I not stepped up to the plate. So to talk about fighting anyone in MMA outside of me is disrespect."

Tyron added ... "If you really, really wanna prove that you can do it in my world, you fight the number one guy in that world."

Of course, 26-year-old Paul signed with PFL earlier this year, and he hasn't been shy about his desire to fight MMA.

Jake and Tyron fought twice previously ... but in a boxing ring.

The first bout in August 2021 went to the judges ... and Paul won by split decision. Later that year, T-Wood stepped up on short notice in place of Tommy Fury, saving the event. The former longtime UFC welterweight champion lost by 6th round knockout.

As for how 8-1 (5 KOs) Jake looked against August -- billed as the first true boxer he faced -- Woodley was impressed with the performance.

"I thought he did a great job."

"I literally said, 'Hey man, Andre better watch ducking his head 'cause he's gonna get hit with an up, I couldn't even say uppercut. I just got the U-P off and then he was sending him to the moon."

Tyron also talked about the experience of being on the losing side of things against Jake.

"I know how it is to be on both sides of it, thinking I won the fight, and then two judges thought it went the other way, and also being in there winning the fight every millisecond of the fight, and then all of the sudden you drop your hands one time, he got enough power to get the job done," Woodley said.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is clearly recovering nicely after breaking his hip during a nasty fall last week -- 'cause he's now firing off jokes about the situation, calling himself "Humpty Kareem!"

The NBA legend shared an update on his status on his Substack page on Monday ... revealing he was actually on his way to delivering a speech at The Manhattan Transfer's concert on Friday at Disney Hall in Los Angeles when the spill happened.

"I'd like to say I fell while trying to save a child from plunging over a balcony," he wrote, "but I just tripped."

"Hard for me to accept that a once world-class athlete just stumbled. But age is the great equalizer and humbles us all."

The 76-year-old, though, shared a snap of him in a hospital bed with a huge grin -- appearing to show that his rehab is moving smoothly.

Abdul-Jabbar also thanked all the first responders who cared for him after he went down ... and he vowed to be up and at 'em again shortly.

"All my best to you from my hospital bed," he wrote. "Me and my new hip will be dancing to [The Manhattan Transfer's] tunes again."

"Well," he continued, "gently swaying."

Rejoice, Eagles fans ... Jalen Hurts has just arrived at Lumen Field despite dealing with a gnarly illness -- and, as of right now, the quarterback looks set to play in the pivotal game against the Seahawks.

Of course, about 24 hours ago, it was unclear if Philadelphians would see the sight -- because the signal-caller had reportedly been battling some bad flu-like symptoms last week that worsened overnight Saturday.

In fact, things apparently got so miserable for Hurts over the weekend, the Eagles officially downgraded his status for the Seattle game to "questionable."

However, Hurts eventually made his way to Washington on Sunday -- and on Monday afternoon, just a couple hours before "Monday Night Football" kickoff, he strolled into the stadium looking OK.

The 25-year-old rocked sunglasses and carried his own bags ... moving without any noticeable hitch in his gait.

The Eagles could certainly use his presence -- they need to keep winning if they want to hold off the Dallas Cowboys for the NFC East crown.

Rashard Mendenhall wants to see the NFL's annual All-Star game get a big-time makeover ... suggesting the Pro Bowl evolve into -- get this -- a contest that pits the league's Black players vs. its white ones.

The ex-Pittsburgh Steelers star came up with the eyebrow-raising idea after he said he became agitated listening to white people break down NFL action.

"I'm sick of average white guys commenting on football," the former Super Bowl champion said in a post on X.

"Y’all not even good at football. Can we please replace the Pro Bowl with an All-Black vs. All-White bowl so these cats can stop trying to teach me who’s good at football."

The statement was polarizing ... though ex-NFL star J.J. Watt actually seemed to have some kind of fun entertaining the idea.

"We’d get cooked at corner, not gonna lie," Watt said in a comment on the post. "Nobody on our squad is covering Tyreek [Hill]." He added a crying/laughing emoji as well.

Shohei Ohtani has only been a Dodger for about a week, but he's already getting the superstar treatment in L.A. ... with brand-new murals popping up all over the city!!

TMZ Sports has learned ... famous street artist Jonas Never -- who has done work featuring LeBron James and Anthony Bourdain in the past -- decided to welcome Ohtani to the Dodgers by whipping together a new piece near downtown L.A.

JN used the Prociety shop as his canvas ... and we're told the whole thing took a day and a half to complete.

Of course, Ohtani is no stranger to the area -- after all, he spent the first six years of his MLB career with the Angels.

Jonas also had help from fellow artist Droyce on the project ... and we gotta say, it came out great!!

Steelers safety Damontae Kazee has just been sidelined for the rest of this season ... after the NFL slapped him with a suspension for his dangerous hit on Michael Pittman Jr. over the weekend.

In a statement announcing the ban on Monday, the league said the blow -- which happened in the second quarter of Pittsburgh's loss to Indianapolis on Saturday -- was "a serious violation of the playing rules."

The play was one of the most violent of the season -- Kazee left his feet and made contact with Pittman Jr.'s head/neck -- and the NFL made it clear when revealing Kazee's punishment it doesn't want that kind of act ever repeated again.

"You had an unobstructed path to your opponent and the illegal contact could have been avoided," NFL exec Jon Runyan said in a letter to Kazee revealing the suspension. "Your actions were flagrant, and as a result, you were disqualified from the game."

Kazee will now miss Pittsburgh's games against the Bengals, Seahawks, Ravens and any potential playoff games this season.

Runyan noted in his letter that previous violations factored into Kazee's lengthy ban.

"When players violate the rules intended to protect player safety on a repeated basis, and particularly when the violations carry with them a significant risk of injury to an opposing player, it is appropriate to impose substantially greater penalties," he said.

If Red Bull gives you wings, Logan Paul and KSI have rockets strapped to their backs ... Prime Hydration is exploding, and now the company has struck an endorsement deal with one of the biggest athletes in the world, Patrick Mahomes!

28-year-old Mahomes inked a deal with the YouTubers-turned-drink moguls ... as the two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback becomes the face of Prime Hydration, joining other athletes like Israel Adesanya, Alex Volkanovski and "Bud" Crawford.

"PRIME is a disruptive brand that has taken over the beverage industry since it first launched. They are gamechangers, and that's exactly what I strive to be on the field. Our partnership is a winning play, merging innovation and excellence, setting a new standard both on and off the field," Mahomes said.

"It's an honor to join the PRIME family alongside some of the greatest athletes, leagues and teams in the world."

The deal is different than your run-of-the-mill sponsorship agreement ... we're told Logan, KSI, Patrick, and Prime have plans to collaborate on a bunch of different charitable efforts.

In fact, Prime has already donated $100k in support of Patrick's 15 and the Mahomies Foundation.

KSI and Paul are clearly thrilled they've landed a guy like Mahomes, who fits right in with the brand.

"At PRIME, we believe in teaming up with greatness, and Patrick Mahomes isn't just one of the best quarterbacks of all time; he's rewriting the record book and bringing a whole new level of excitement to the game," Logan and KSI said.

Anthony Edwards is breaking his silence after a woman claimed he told her to get an abortion ... saying his comments were made "in the heat of a moment" and do not reflect his beliefs.

The 22-year-old Minnesota Timberwolves star was put on blast in a series of social media posts this weekend ... with user Paige Jordae, who has more than a million followers, sharing a recent text conversation that she says lays out Edwards' wishes to terminate her pregnancy.

The woman also shared a screenshot of a $100,000 wire transfer appearing to be from the former No. 1-overall pick after providing proof of the procedure.

Edwards seemingly owned up to it all on Monday ... releasing a statement on the matter saying, "I made comments in the heat of a moment that are not me, and that are not aligned with what I believe and who I want to be as a man."

The All-Star guard continued in a post on X, "All women should be supported and empowered to make their own decisions about their bodies and what is best for them."

"I am handling my personal matters privately and will not be commenting on them any further at this time."

Chandler Jones was recently involved in another run-in with cops -- this time the NFL star's confrontation with police happened while he was in Arizona.

According to a video the former Las Vegas Raiders pass rusher posted to his Instagram on Monday morning, several officers from the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office pulled up to a residence he was at looking to speak to him.

In the footage, you can see Jones exchanged words with the officers ... before one of them told the football player, "Mr. Jones, we've got to talk about why we're here now."

Suddenly, the camera falls and Jones can be heard screaming.

"Wait!" Jones yells. "Wait! No!"

You can hear in the clip officers trying to explain to him they're "there to help" -- before the video cuts out.

It's unclear when the footage was captured and what officers were there for -- we've reached out to cops for comment, but so far, no word back yet.

It's hardly the first time Jones has garnered seemingly unwanted attention from cops over the last few months -- he was arrested in Las Vegas two times in the fall for violations of a domestic violence temporary protection order.

And, according to a second video Jones shared on his IG on Monday morning, cops were also apparently at his home in Arizona another time recently to talk about a fire he had seemingly made in his backyard.

"We got a phone call that you were burning your furniture," the officers told Jones.

Jones denied the allegation, explained the fire was contained -- and even offered to bring out firewood to prove it all. The video stops before a resolution to the situation is seen.

James McCaffrey -- an actor best known for voicing the popular video game character Max Payne -- has died after a battle with cancer ... TMZ has learned.

A rep for the star tells us McCaffrey passed away Sunday surrounded by friends and family. We're told he'd been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, and that he ultimately succumbed to the disease.

His rep notes ... "One of Dick Wolf's proteges (""Swift Justice), McCaffrey went on to a successful 35 year career in television and film. Trained at the Actor's Studio, he never lost his love for creating characters; however, his good looks often pushed him toward leading man roles."

Word of McCaffrey's death first started to spread through a post from "Entourage" star Kevin Dillon -- who honored his friend with a photo of the both of them and a remembrance.

Like we mentioned, McCaffrey will perhaps best be remembered for serving as the voice actor for the 'Max Payne' video game series -- which included at least 3 installments -- but his resume went well beyond just that ... with TV and movie roles on big time shows.

The series he famously appeared in was "Rescue Me," where he portrayed Jimmy Keefe for 56 episodes between 2004 and 2011. Other shows he starred in included ... "Revenge," "Beautiful People," "Law & Order: SVU," "As the World Turns," "Swift Justice," "Civil Wars," "Canterbury's Law," "Suits," "Blue Bloods," "Bluff City Law," "She's Gotta Have It" and more.

Of course, he was also one of the leads for the famed "Viper" way back in the '90s. And McCaffrey acted in a number of major films as well -- "The Truth About Cats & Dogs," "The Big Take," "A Gifted Man," "American Splendor," "She Hate Me" ... just to name a few.

McCaffrey is survived by his wife Rochelle Bostrom ... and daughter Tiernan. He was 65.

Draymond Green will reportedly miss at least the next nine-or-so Warriors games ... this after beginning counseling following his second suspension of the 2023-24 NBA season.

The Golden State star has been barred from the hardwood since Dec. 13, after he hit Jusuf Nurkic in the head in a heated moment during the Dubs' Dec. 12 game against Phoenix -- and according to The Athletic's Shams Charania, the ban will now go through at least the early part of January.

Charania reported Monday morning Green has begun getting professional help while sidelined ... adding that the 33-year-old forward "has been understanding and prepared to undergo the process required to return to the team in a full capacity."

Green has yet to issue a public statement on the suspension ... though his head coach, Steve Kerr, said last week the ban "makes sense."

"The one who choked Rudy [Gobert], the one who took a wild flail at Jusuf [Nurkic], the one who punched Jordan [Poole] last year -- that's the guy who has to change," Kerr said.

"You look at the past year and what's happened," the coach continued, "it's clear he needs the opportunity to change."

Eric Montross -- the ninth overall pick in the 1994 NBA Draft -- has passed away after a battle with cancer, his family announced Monday.

He was just 52 years old.

Montross was a star for the University of North Carolina Tar Heels ... winning a national championship in 1993 before playing eight seasons in the pros for the Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks, New Jersey Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, Detroit Pistons and Toronto Raptors.

"The family of Eric Montross (Laura, Sarah, Andrew, and Megan) is announcing that he passed away on Sunday, December 17, surrounded by loved ones at his home in Chapel Hill," a statement released by UNC said.

"Eric was diagnosed with cancer in March 2023, and his family is grateful for the tremendous support and the truly overwhelming love expressed by so many people as he battled with his signature determination and grace."

"They also thank the many members of the medical community -- and particularly those at UNC Lineberger Cancer Center -- who matched his fight with equal passion. To know Eric was to be his friend, and the family knows that the ripples from the generous, thoughtful way that he lived his life will continue in the lives of the many people he touched with his deep and sincere kindness."

Montross was an All-American for UNC ... and received All-ACC honors in 1993 and 1994.

Chance Comanche, an NBA player who's spent the majority of his basketball career in the G League, has been arrested ... after officials say he helped murder a woman -- and then dumped her remains in a desert.

Comanche was thrown behind bars in the case on Friday -- following a lengthy investigation into the disappearance of Marayna Rodgers by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.

According to the LVMPD, two individuals told officers on Dec. 7 that Rodgers had gone missing -- and a short time later, cops say they discovered the woman had scheduled a meeting with Comanche and his 19-year-old girlfriend, Sakari Harnden, on Dec. 5 -- but had not been seen or heard from since.

The LVMPD says early on in the investigation, its detectives "suspected foul play" in the case and sought to arrest both Comanche and Harden for kidnapping.

On Dec. 13, Harnden was booked in Las Vegas ... while Comanche -- who was playing this season for the G League's Stockton Kings -- was taken in by FBI agents in Sacramento two days later.

However, the LVMPD says following the arrests, officers were able to gather more information in the case and discovered Rodgers' remains in a desert area in Henderson, Nevada.

LVMPD detectives say they believe both Comanche and Harnden were responsible for her death -- and now, they say the two will be facing murder charges.

Comanche, a 27-year-old, 6-foot-10 center, first joined the G League in 2017 after going undrafted out of the University of Arizona ... and after spending time with multiple teams -- including the Stockton Kings -- he eventually made his debut in the NBA for the Portland Trailblazers last season.

This year, he rejoined the Stockton squad ... though he was cut following his arrest on Friday.

Let the haters hate, but Metta World Peace is all about the Lakers honoring their In-Season Tournament win with a banner ... telling TMZ Sports the accomplishment now gives L.A. bragging rights over the Boston Celtics!!

The Purple and Gold are reportedly hanging a memento in the Crypto.com Arena rafters to commemorate their recent title ... which was met with mixed reviews, considering the tourney doesn't hold nearly as much weight as winning the Finals.

We spoke with Metta -- a 2010 NBA champ -- about the move ... and he tells us he's a big fan!!

MWP explains he thinks being the first-ever IST MVP means a lot for LeBron James' legacy ... and while he still considers himself a Michael Jordan stan, he praised the King for maintaining his dominance at 38 years old.

In fact, Metta says he sees LeBron playing at least 25 seasons ... which should earn him George Washington's spot on the quarter!!

Adele ditched Las Vegas to hang with her boyfriend Rich Paul -- and she had a good reason ... it's the dude's birthday, which means the whole Klutch Sports crew tagged along.

The singer was rolling deep with LeBron James, Anthony Davis and other Klutch clients for the super agent's 42nd born-day party Saturday night ... which went down at a WeHo venue -- where everybody filed out of one exit towards the end of the night, it seems.

As you can see, RP's biggest claim to fame King James was front and center, leading the huge pack of people outside ... suited and booted with his wife, Savannah, close behind.

AD was with his own wife too, and ditto for Kevin Hart ... who was in the mix as well.

As for Adele and Rich, they were shoulder-to-shoulder as they left the joint ... and both looked dressed to impress, albeit not looking nearly as cheerful as you'd think while walking out.

Anyway, they're clearly still going strong ... this after a lengthy residency for Adele, who was in Sin City for a majority of this year -- and who's actually scheduled to head back in 2024.

You'll recall, she constantly referred to herself as Rich's "wife" out in the desert ... but it's unclear if they're actually hitched, or if it was just a slip of the tongue/term of endearment.