TMZ Sports - Page 50

The biological mother of Team USA gymnast Simone Biles says she's clean, sober and has a loving relationship with her daughter ... and is sick of being painted as an addict.

Simone's story is pretty well-known ... she was put in foster care when she was 2 because her mother struggled with substance abuse. Simone was eventually adopted by her grandparents.

TMZ Sports spoke with Shanon Biles who says she's been sober since 2007 -- and is proud of the fact she reestablished her relationship with Simone.

Shanon says she does have a beef with her father -- saying he was insensitive about the way he described her battle with addiction during an interview with NBC.

"He could have been more classy about it."

As for Simone, Shanon says she's incredibly proud of her daughter and has supported her for years -- in fact, she showed us a pic of the two of them with Gabby Douglas back in 2014.

"I just want to say I love you Simone ... I'm so proud of you! Go Team USA and I'll talk to you and see you when I can!"

A rep for the Israeli national team says the actions by the Lebanese delegation to block Team Israel athletes from getting on a bus Friday were driven by "hostility and anti-Semitic behavior."

"WOOOO" on three ... ONE. TWO. THREE ... "WOOOOOOO!"

WWE legend Ric Flair added a little Nature Boy love to the Atlanta Falcons practice Tuesday morning ... leading the team in a pump-up speech before breaking things down in the huddle.

You gotta watch the clip ... Flair does the full "Rolex-wearing, diamond-ring wearing, kiss-stealing" ... thing.

It's awesome.

#Wooo!

We just spoke with a rep for Gary Sheffield -- who has been working with Tim Tebow on his aspiring MLB career -- and these are Gary's notes on Tim's baseball ability:

BATTING:

-- "He has a natural swing. He has the mindset and dedication."

-- "Tim has a lot of power. The bat's like a toothpick in his hands."

COACHABILITY:

-- "His ability to pick up certain coaching is unparalleled. I'd tell him to make small adjustments and he'd translate that into his swing immediately."

MLB CHANCES:

-- "I can't see him not making the Majors. Maybe a year and a half in the minors before being called up."

The baseball offers seem to be flying in for Tim Tebow ... and now another minor league team says it has real interest in the ex-NFL quarterback.

We spoke with Mike Candela -- general manager of the Bakersfield Blaze (Seattle Mariners Single-A minor league affiliate) ... who says, "We are definitely interested in Tim Tebow."

"We would love to invite him out to see a game and before that we would set up a meeting for him to speak with the our team and coaches and put him up in a hotel."

Tebow announced he's pursuing a career as a pro baseball player -- and has been working with MLB legend Gary Sheffield.

He's already received a contract offer from the Schaumburg Boomers, an independent Frontier League team based in Schaumburg, Illinois.

And the Cleveland Indians posted a pic of Tebow in their uniform.

Stay tuned ...

Forget Beyonce or Justin Bieber ... there's only one huge star Sergey Kovalev wants by his side as he enters the ring to fight Andre Ward -- Russian President Vladimir Putin!

The Russian boxing superstar is all set for a championship superfight with Ward on Nov. 19th on HBO PPV -- it's definitely one of the biggest fights of the year!!

So, when we saw Kovalev in L.A. Monday, he told us he's laser focused on making President Putin proud.

In fact, Kovalev even looked into the camera and recorded a message for Vlad.

MLB legend Gary Sheffield is going to bat for Tim Tebow ... saying he's worked with the aspiring baseball player and the dude is a NATURAL!

"I spent time w @TimTebow in the cages recently," Sheffield tweeted.

"He's a NATURAL. I absolutley believe in his ability to play in the bigs. Tim has IT #focused."

Richard Sherman's dad, Kevin Sherman, says he's proud of his son saying "All Lives Matter" and the hate the Pro Bowler got for his statement is from people who don't understand what he was saying.

Sherman came under fire from Black Twitter for uttering the "All Lives Matter" in an interview last month ... with some believing the statement marginalizes the Black Lives Matter movement.

We got the elder Sherman out at LAX and asked him about the whole thing ... and he offered not just a passionate defense of his son's views ... but a ringing endorsement of them.

"We've watched young black lives die, at the hands of other black men. They're (BLM & ALM) reaching for the same goal."

BTW -- We also asked Kevin about Richard's new life as a Wing Stop franchise owner ... and let's just say this, he's excited.

Think Usain Bolt is having fun at the Olympics??

Austin Rivers got the big ol' stamp of approval from his dad and coach -- with Doc Rivers saying he's cool with the NBA star's brand new $300,000 Ferrari!

As we previously reported, Austin splurged on the Ferrari F12Berlinetta right around the time he inked his brand new $35 MILLION contract with the Clippers last month.

So, when we saw Doc at Craig's in L.A. Monday night -- we asked if he was worried about his son/star player behind the wheel of a car with a top speed of over 200 MPH!!

We also asked about Team USA -- and Doc told us who their biggest competition will be.

Tim Tee-ball?

The ex-NFL quarterback is officially (finally) switching careers ... gunning for a spot on a Major League Baseball team ... and he's holding a workout for scouts later this month.

A-Rod is a PED cheater who'd sully the Hall Of Fame with his inclusion ... so claims former MLB superstar Kenny Lofton, who says if he had his way, Rodriguez would NEVER be enshrined in Cooperstown.

We got Kenny out at LAX and asked the 6-time All-Star the question everyone's been asking since the Yankees announced Rodriguez was being released later this week.

Any chance ... even an outside one, he makes the Hall of Fame?

You know the issues ... Alex was busted for PEDs twice -- a stat that some baseball purists believe puts him on the Hall's persona non grata list next to Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds.

Kenny is definitely in that camp ... absolutely EVISCERATING A-Rod to our camera guy, saying flatly, "You can't put a cheater in. Once you put one in, you got to put them all in."

It's a battle of the scowling sports stars.

Here's Olympic Medal winning Michael Phelps (31) preparing for a mean race in Rio Monday (left) and an angry Eli Manning (35) during an old NFL Hall of Fame game (when they used to actually play 'em).

Sometimes being on the top of your game stinks.

The question is ...

Pro wrestling champ Bobby Lashley says he's ready to return to the CAGE -- telling TMZ Sports he's looking for another big MMA fight ... and wants a shot at the legend Fedor Emelianenko.

Lashley isn't just the reigning TNA world champ -- he's also a pretty accomplished MMA fighter with a 14-2 record. He's also on a 7-fight win streak.

So, we asked him about his fight plans moving forward and the 40-year-old superstar told us straight up -- he wants Fedor.

But before that fight, Lashley will be taking on James Storm on TNA's Impact Wrestling this Thursday on PopTV.

#CantKnockTheHustle

The International Olympic Committee says it has investigated a heated bus incident between Lebanese and Israeli athletes ... and "consider the matter closed."

Both sides acknowledged that Israeli athletes were blocked from boarding an Olympic bus filled with Lebanese athletes headed to the stadium on Friday for opening ceremonies.

Team Israel says they tried to board the bus per instructions from Olympic organizers but the Lebanese team physically blocked the door and refused to let them on. The Israeli team suggested it was politically motivated. The two countries are at war and have no diplomatic relations.

Team Lebanon says the bus was reserved for them and they had the right to prevent another team from getting on.

Team Israel eventually boarded another bus and got to the stadium.

We reached out to the IOC and asked if there were plans to separate the delegations moving forward.

The response -- "We spoke to both National Olympic Committees and they told us they consider the matter closed."

Snoop Dogg says he "ain't trippin'" over news that his son, Cordell Broadus, quit the UCLA football team Monday ... which is huge considering Cordell said he only played the sport in the first place for his dad's love.

Remember, when Cordell quit the team last year ... he posted a message saying, "I played football for my father because I thought that was the only way he would love me & be apart of my life."

"It took me 12 years to realize he loves Cordell Broadus the person not Cordell Broadus the football player."