TMZ Sports - Page 50

The guy who deflated Tom Brady's footballs ... and then complained about the QB over text messages ... is nothing but a whiny little bitch ... so says NBA legend John Salley.

Salley -- a 4-time NBA champ -- just defended the Patriots QB ... telling TMZ Sports, "If you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin.'"

But when it came to the OTHER people involved in Deflategate, Salley WENT OFF -- saying, "If the QB says make the balls lighter and then the guy who's supposed to be be doing it is sending texts and tweets? He's the bitch."

Of course, Salley is talking about Patriots locker room attendant Jim McNally -- who, according to the Wells Report, sent texts to another Pats staffer trashing Brady after the QB griped about the ball pressure earlier in the season.

There wasn't just weed and a pipe in the car Jon Jones allegedly crashed in New Mexico ... cops say they also found a pack of Trojan Magnum condoms.

The Albuquerque Police Department just released new footage from the crash scene ... which shows officers going through the vehicle after the UFC star ran from the accident.

In the video, you can see dirty clothes all over the car ... loose change ... and the pack of Magnums.

You can also hear officers reacting once they realize the suspect is famous -- saying, "Well, he's f**ked."

Jones has been charged with felony hit and run stemming from the April 26th crash -- in which a pregnant woman was hospitalized with a broken arm.

Talk about hitting the jackpot ... a NY family learned a baseball bat specifically kept in the house for beating off intruders ... IS WORTH A FORTUNE ... 'cause it was used by Lou Gehrig!

The story is pretty crazy ... the family says they came into possession of the bat decades ago when a family member of a former NY Yankees groundskeeper gave it to them as a gift.

Clearly, they thought it was just a regular bat ... and kept it behind the front door of the home for "protection" ... and it stayed there for 30 years.

That is, until someone realized it wasn't just an old piece of wood ... but a 1929-31 Lou Gehrig game-used bat ... one of the few Gehrig bats known to exist.

Now, the bat is hitting the auction block through Love of the Game Auctions ... and we're told the opening bid will be $20,000.

Call him Dr. Charlie ... 'cause the warlock tells TMZ Sports he's diagnosed Tiger Woods -- and says he knows exactly why the golfer can't seem to pull it together on the links.

Sheen was takin' in a movie at The Grove Wednesday night ... when he told us the issues with Tiger aren't mental, it's more physical ... insisting the tooth wasn't the only injury he suffered during that fateful night with Elin in 2009.

When it comes to bodybuilding competitions, if you wanna win ... DARKEN THAT SKIN -- even if you're already a dark-skinned black dude ... so says a guy who would know, Ronnie Coleman.

The former 8-time Mr. Olympia -- widely considered the greatest bodybuilder EVER -- was at LAX with fellow muscle head Chris Miller when we asked about the obsession with tanning in the sport.

Coleman, who if you hadn't noticed is black, says the fake tan is an ABSOLUTE MUST ... "even for me!"

Our guy asked the follow up, "How dark are you trying to get?"

Coleman's response: "As dark as possible. The darker the better ... you can never be too dark."

Floyd Mayweather's father is FIRING MORE SHOTS at Manny Pacquiao's camp ... calling him a loser with a pathetic trainer ... and he's doing it all through the majesty of poetry.

Turns out, Floyd Sr. has been dabbling in the rhyming arts for a while -- and has even been putting together a book of his best work.

And after Saturday's mega-fight, Papa Mayweather felt the inspiration to tap into his inner Robert Frost ... to deliver the most poetic smacktalk we've ever seen. Enjoy ...

The fight has taken place..
Manny's title? Lost without a trace.

As Me and Floyd
Entered cheerful embrace...

I glanced to see the look of disgrace on Freddie's Face.
I have changed My pace

I can now look them in the face
And say:

I must confess You tried Your best.....
And As We saw there was no contest.

FLOYD is simply the best!

Now just like I said
Freddie the Roach is Dead!

Evander Holyfield is in serious danger of losing his 1998 Father of the Year Award ... and it's all because he allegedly defaulted on a $600,000 loan to a famous business mogul.

The man suing Evander is Yank Barry -- the CEO of VitaPro Foods. He's also a musician who wrote the song "Christmas Time Again" for a 1977 Engelbert Humperdinck album.

According to the suit, Barry loaned Holyfield $621,133 back in 2013 ... which Evander promised to pay back by June 1st, 2014.

Barry claims Holyfield used several valuable items as collateral -- including various championship belts, the gloves form his 1996 fight with Mike Tyson, his 1984 Golden Gloves ring, various boxing robes ... and his 1998 Father of the Year Award.

Barry claims Holyfield never paid back the full amount of the loan -- so, he's entitled to the rest of the debt plus fees and other costs (which adds up to $471k) ... PLUS he wants to collect the collateral, which is currently being held by a 3rd party.

Meantime, here's that Engelbert song ... enjoy.

The NBA tells TMZ Sports ... league officials have contacted the Cleveland Cavaliers about their "inappropriate and offensive" arena video and told the team it was completely UNACCEPTABLE.

The team has been under fire over the video -- which shows a male Cavs fan slamming his GF to the ground when he finds out she's a Bulls fan. It's about as domestic violencey as it gets.

Now, an NBA spokesperson tells TMZ Sports ... "We agree with the Cavaliers that the video shown last night was inappropriate and offensive."

"We spoke to the team earlier today to convey our disappointment. Anything that makes light of violence of any sort has no place in our league or society."

The team has since pulled the video off its website -- and called the thing a big mistake.

The woman whose butt was on the receiving end of an Instagram "Like" from LeBron James this week says the NBA star has changed her life forever ... calling the whole thing "a sign from God."

Josett Latrice became an overnight sensation when LeBron broke his self-imposed social media ban (implemented so he can focus on the NBA playoffs) to "like" one of her pics on the @perfectbooties Instagram account.

"It makes me feel awesome," Latrice told "TMZ Hollywood Sports" ... "I LOVE the fact he liked my picture."

Josett has been studying to be a veterinarian -- but says now that she's got Bron's stamp of approval, she's considering taking serious steps to focus on modeling instead.

"It's definitely a sign from God."

Robert Kraft isn't crawling into some deep dark hole of depression after his star QB was accused of cheating ... he's doing the opposite -- hitting NYC fully DECKED OUT out in Patriots gear.

The New England Patriots owner took a stroll through Central Park with his girlfriend Ricki Noel Lander ... clearly trying to send the message that he's not embarrassed by Deflategate.

There are rumblings that the NFL could suspend Tom Brady for several games this season for his role in the scandal ... but this afternoon, Robert didn't seem fazed one bit.

Manny Pacquiao says his shoulder surgery was a rousing success -- and just posted his first post-op selfie to prove it.

Pacman went under the knife in L.A. Wednesday night to repair a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder -- an injury that he didn't properly disclose to officials before the big Mayweather fight.

Of course, Manny thanked God for the procedure ... and his wife ... and his world famous doctor ... saying, "Thank you to my Dr. Neal Ellatrache and his group for taking care of me. God is great!"

One thing we noticed in the pic ... not a single mark on his face.

Shaq might be on the 15-day DL after taking a (hilarious) spill on the set of "Inside the NBA" last night ... that's according to co-host Kenny Smith who says the big man's big fall has left him a little gimpy.

Kenny was at LAX this morning when we HAD to ask him about everything regarding the tumble heard 'round the galaxy ... most notably how the Diesel is moving following the gravitational smackdown.

Bad news for Shaq ... seems he was a little banged up after all.

Get well Diesel.

The Mayor of Boston is also standing by his star QB -- basically saying Wells Report investigators did a crappy job ... and maintaining that his Patriots won the Super Bowl "fair and square."

Mayor Martin L. Walsh -- a hardcore Pats fan -- took on the issue last night ... calling the report "vague" and saying it returned no real "concrete answers" about Tom Brady's involvement in Deflategate.

"Usually when you have an investigation you come back with some concrete answers, 'This is what was known, this is how we did it.' It seems like somebody's stretching something."

He continued, "I don't know if the NFL is stretching their report and they don't have any facts and they're just trying to make it look bad for the Patriots or the Patriots haven't responded properly."

They could be the hottest collector's items in the world of sports ... the balls from the Deflategate scandal ... and according to the guys from "Hardcore Pawn," they could make someone VERY rich!

TMZ Sports spoke with Les Gold and his son Seth ... who told us they believe collectors would pay AT LEAST 5-figures for the pigskins ... as long as the seller could prove they were authentic.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are apologizing for running a terrible domestic violence video inside of their arena Wednesday night ... saying it was intended to be hilarious ... and backfired.

The Cavs issued a statement saying, "During a timeout at last night’s Cavaliers vs. Bulls playoff game at The Q in Cleveland, we ran a 1-minute in-arena video that was intended to be a humorous spoof on a popular commercial centered on a song and dance from the classic movie ‘Dirty Dancing.’ While the video was not intended to be offensive, it was a mistake to include content that made light of domestic violence."

"Domestic violence is a very serious matter and has no place in a parody video that plays in an entertainment venue. We sincerely apologize to those who have been affected by domestic violence for the obvious negative feelings caused by being exposed to this insensitive video."

Former LSU football star La'el Collins will get a $21,000 signing bonus ... after signing a free agent contract with the Dallas Cowboys ... TMZ Sports has learned.

We're told he's set to make $435k in his 1st year, $545k his second year and $656k in year 3.

Our sources tell us ... when all is said and done, Collins will get the same dollar amount as the 7th pick of the 2nd round of the NFL Draft.

Of course, La'el's draft stock plummeted after he was questioned by police in the shooting death of a pregnant woman. Before the incident, he was projected to be a 1st round draft pick.