TMZ Sports - Page 50

The world-famous Carnegie Deli -- home of the best rice pudding on Earth -- is sticking it to LeBron the best way it can ... by discontinuing a sandwich it named after the guy.

See, a few weeks ago ... when LeBron was toying with the emotions of New Yorkers by pretending to be interested in the Knicks, the deli created a mega-sandwich in his honor ... a foot-high turkey, pastrami, corned beef, brisket, American cheese, lettuce, tomato spectacle stacked on rye bread.

But now that LeBron dissed the Big Apple ... the deli is dumping the sando.

LeBron's publicist tells TMZ the Miami Heat's newest megastar has a wedding to attend in New York this weekend -- between fellow NBA star Carmelo Anthony and former MTV VJ La La Vazquez -- and has plans to fly out later today.

As for why LeBron made the quick trip to Miami this morning -- his publicist tells us he was only in town for "business reasons" ... and has no plans to hit the town tonight.

Obviously, Cuban is referring to the fact that James decided to amp up the drama ... and screw with practically everyone's emotions ... before announcing on live TV last night that he was ditching the city that loved him to try and win a quick championship with a "super team" in Miami.

Fans went crazy when he landed around 2:30 AM today, showing up at the W Hotel after flying via private jet.

TMZ spoke with Leicester Bryce Stovell's younger brother -- "Junior" Stovell (pictured center) -- who tells us, "something's a little fishy" about Leicester's allegations.

As we first reported, Leicester filed a lawsuit against LeBron and his mother Gloria James, claiming they tampered with evidence that could prove he's the daddy.

"Junior" tells us his family has been "joking" about the situation ever since Leicester suggested he was the dad a few years ago -- but notes that Leicester “believes in his own mind” that it's legit.

As for why "Junior" thinks the story is fishy ... he tells us, "Leicester never mentioned anything about LeBron being his son until LeBron became the king."

LeBron's camp has strongly rejected Leicester's claim -- calling him a "money grubber."

The lawsuit is explosive -- in it, 55-year-old Leicester Bryce Stovell claims he met Gloria in a D.C. area bar in 1984 ... and had unprotected sex with her on the night they met. He later found out she was 15-years-old at the time ... he was 29.

According to the docs -- filed recently in federal court -- Gloria has spent the rest of her life shielding LeBron from the truth.

But the man making the claim isn't some schmuck -- dude is a Princeton graduate ... who earned a law degree from the University of Chicago ... and then became a Senior Legal Advisor for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

In his suit, Stovell claims he has a very clear recollection of the night he had "consensual sexual relations" with Gloria -- in fact, he even remembers apologizing for his sub-par performance.

Leicester claims Gloria went back to her hometown in Ohio after they hooked up -- but returned several months later to inform him she was pregnant with a boy named LeBron ... but she never specifically identified the father.

Leicester -- a self-proclaimed high school star athlete -- says he remembers telling Gloria, "Well, if he's mine, make sure he plays basketball." He claims that was the last time he saw Gloria for more than 20 years.

According to the docs, Leicester claims he reconnected with Gloria over the phone in 2007 -- when he began to think he could be LeBron's father ... partly because they look almost identical. Leicester also notes that when he saw LeBron at an NBA game he was, "struck by our similarity in appearance ... James and I are nearly if not identical height and pigmentation and have very similar athletic body types."

A few days after the phone call, Leicester claims LeBron -- through his lawyer -- agreed to take a DNA paternity test.

Leicester claims he was given results that showed he was not LeBron's dad ... but several months later, he began to suspect that the results were tampered with ... and Gloria and LeBron were behind the fraud.

Sources familiar with the settlement tell us the agreement was supposed to be finalized by the end of last week but there is still one document that is being negotiated.

As for the property settlement, TMZ broke the story Elin will get right around $100 million, somewhere between 1/5 and 1/6 of Tiger's net worth.

He's so pedi.

As we first reported, Stovell is suing LeBron and his mother, claiming the two of them tampered with a DNA test in an attempt to hide the true identity of LeBron's father.

Now, LeBron's attorney Fred Nance is slamming Stovell's claim -- saying, "The timing is obviously designed to gratuitously exploit LeBron’s announcement tomorrow."

Nance added, "A celebrity of LeBron’s stature gets many money grubbing claims all the time and this is no different.”

But Leicester is firing back -- telling TMZ, "This not a money grubbing case. This is a very carefully considered effort to resolve a pressing issue that should be handled seriously by LeBron James' attorney."

Jared just phoned into TMZ Live ... and revealed that his top secret NBA sources have information directly from the Knicks ... that LeBron has informed team officials that he will be joining the team.

Ronaldo is only partly to blame for the record heat in NYC.