TMZ Sports - Page 50

For the 2nd time this week, Rihanna and soccer star Karim Benzema hit the SAME L.A. nightclub ... after hanging together in NYC ... so, is this thing official yet or what?

RiRi and and the Real Madrid star hit up 1 OAK on the Sunset Strip ... and just like the last time they partied together, they left separately and went in separate cars.

But here's what we do know ... the two first started chatting last year during the world cup via Twitter. And earlier this month, they met up at a cafe in NYC for a super late night snack.

Then the party shifted to the West Coast ... they clubbed together on Monday night and Karim bought a bouquet of flowers on the way out.

We tried asking Karim what the deal is with Rihanna on his way out of 1 OAK but his lips were sealed.

So ... item? Or not an item?

NFL linebacker Brandon Spikes never hit a deer on a Massachusetts freeway this weekend -- instead, cops say he struck an SUV and fled ... and now he's been hit with criminal charges.

The story was bizarre from the start -- with officials discovering Brandon's expensive Maybach car on the side of the interstate in Foxboro early Sunday morning with no signs of Brandon.

The OnStar operator who responded to the crash said Brandon claimed he had struck a deer.

Cops smelled something fishy and investigated ... and now, they believe there was no deer ... instead, he smashed into the back of an SUV -- leaving 3 people with minor injuries, including a 12-year-old girl.

Officials say Spikes has been charged with leaving the scene of a personal injury crash, negligent driving, speeding and failure to stay in his lane.

Spikes was cut by the New England Patriots following the crash.

No one loved to cuss people out in autographs more than Mickey Mantle -- and now, a signed baseball in which he refers to Joe DiMaggio as "f**ker" has just sold ... for $12,000!!!

It's unclear exactly when Mantle signed the ball, but the people at Steiner Sports tell us Mantle signed it right after spilling a drink on DiMaggio at some sort of event back in the day.

The signature reads, "I'm sorry I spilled a drink on this f**ker. MM."

Joe DiMaggio also signed the ball ... and we're told both signatures have been authenticated.

Mantle LOVED to screw around when it came to signing his name ... sometimes dropping F-bombs because he thought it was funny (and most of the time it was) ... like here and here.

As for who bought the DiMaggio ball ... so far, the buyer's identity has not been revealed.

Dusty Rhodes was a "national treasure" ... the human embodiment of 24-karat gold ... so says his former ring-mate Rowdy Roddy Piper who's honoring his friend with a HILARIOUS memory.

Piper was clearly emotional about the death of the wrestling legend when we saw him out in L.A. Thursday -- so we asked him to share a memory of Rhodes that would make him smile.

What we got was AWESOME -- a tale of smuggling a donkey (or a zebra) to the 12th floor of an apartment in Minnesota.

"He was in a league of his own," Piper says.

R.I.P.

In a powerfully emotional tribute to their former teammate, several former members of the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team performed the team's "haka" war dance at the spot where Jerry Collins was killed.

As we previously reported, Collins -- a former All Blacks captain -- and the mother of his child died in a terrible car wreck in France on Friday.

After the crash, several of Jerry's former teammates went to the spot of the accident -- and performed the traditional Maori war dance that the All Blacks do as a team before every rugby match.

One of the players involved, Neemia Tialata, posted the video to social media and wrote, "Saying goodbye 2 the brother and his partner the way we were all brought together #AllBlackFamily."

You can't blame LeBron James for accidentally exposing himself while adjusting his wiener on national TV ... so says The Game who says it's hard to move well when your dong's in the wrong spot.

The rapper was out in L.A. last night when we asked about King James and his royal scepter ... and that's when Game explained why the pre-game penis shirt is absolutely imperative to an NBA star.

In fact, Game says he can relate ... "You ever try to go outside and live your life but your package ain't in the right place? You gotta get that thing to the left side, jiggle it, you know what I'm sayin?"

LeBron James didn't go balls out in Game 4 of the NBA Finals ... he went dong out instead.

Moments before tip off Thursday night, LeBron went to adjust himself below the waist ... and it just so happened to be at the same time an ABC camera moved in for a close-up.

James opened his shorts a little too much ... and boom -- LeBron's penis was introduced to roughly 18.5 MILLION viewers.

If you really wanna see it ... click here -- but WARNING, it's a penis.

Floyd Mayweather is about to make even MORE money this year -- 'cause TMZ Sports has learned he's selling his ultra-rare Ferrari Enzo super car ... FOR $3.8 MILLION!!!

Mayweather only bought the car in January for $3.2 mil ... but after putting 194 miles on the whip, he decided it was time to swap it out for a brand new ride.

BTW -- the car's previous owner is the Shiekh of Abu Dhabi.

We spoke with Floyd's exotic car dealer, Obi Okeke -- owner of Fusion Luxury Motors in L.A. -- who tells us Mayweather made it clear he wants to move fast on the deal and wants to use the profits to buy TWO other insane vehicles.

Okeke says he's been sworn to secrecy about the other cars until Floyd takes possession of them -- but says, "They're extremely expensive and will shock everyone."

Hope Solo has allegedly had a history of violence and nastiness dating all the way back to high school -- when she was hit with a restraining order for terrorizing another student ... this according to court docs obtained by TMZ Sports.

In the docs, filed in Washington in 1998 (during Hope's senior year of high school), the accuser claims Solo had tormented her for more than a year ... but it culminated with with a brutal attack at a fair.

"She punched me in the cheek. Then she said, 'I f**kin hate you, you fat ass whore!' and punched me two more times. Once in the eye and once in the mouth."

The student complained to authorities -- and a judge issued a restraining order against Solo ... requiring her to stay at least 300 feet from the student for a year.

Of course, it wasn't the last time Solo was accused of acting violent -- she allegedly attacked her half-sister and nephew last year ... that case is still pending.

Cops also say Solo told a police officer she would kick his ass while she was being taken into custody in 2014.

Here's another reason it's good to be 6-time NBA champion Scottie Pippen ...

Not only is his wife former "Real Housewives Of Miami" star Larsa Pippen STUPID hot ... but so are all of her friends, and guess what!? Scottie gets to take the whole bunch on vacation!

The crew all went down to the Dominican Republic recently to soak up some sun (there's none of that in Miami, right?) and we gotta say ... Scottie looks right at home with his new starting five.

Former action star Ernie Reyes Jr. -- who famously played Keno in "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II" -- is "fighting for his life" after suffering from kidney failure ... this according to his family.

Reyes Jr. was huge back in the day -- starring as Tai in "The Last Dragon," Prince Tarn in "Red Sonja" ... and he was the main character in "Surf Ninjas."

He later transitioned into MMA -- and went 3-0 in Strikeforce.

Now, 43-year-old Reyes Jr. is hoping for a kidney transplant after his own began to fail back in March. Since then, he's been in and out of the hospital in Texas ... and his eyesight is failing.

Ernie's sister tells TMZ Sports ... Reyes is in the process of getting on a transplant list -- but in the meantime, he's been receiving dialysis treatments 3 times per week.

We're told the family has set up a fundraising page to help with medical bills and several folks from his films and TV shows -- like stunt coordinator pals James Lew from "Rush Hour 2" and Andy Cheng from “The Rundown” -- have pitched in.

Get well soon, man.

Everybody wants to bang a winner ... which is why the price to make a baby with American Pharoah just exploded into the 6-figure range ... so says his legendary trainer Bob Baffert.

With Pharoah's father already getting around $60k-a-pop to procreate ... we had to ask Baffert how much cash Pharoah's swimmers will fetch when he gets put out to stud in February.

Baffert says AP will make a fortune ... but nowhere close to the #1 horse inseminator on the planet, Tapit -- who's pullin' in roughly $300,000 per session.

Dusty Rhodes was laser focused on improving his health when he met with fellow wrestling legend Jerry Brisco last week, and feeling good about his prognosis.

Brisco -- who's known Rhodes for decades -- tells TMZ Sports they hung out in Orlando last Thursday, and Rhodes talked about how he was going to the doctor regularly. He'd been told he needed to bring his blood pressure down, and Brisco says Dusty's weight loss was helping.

Rhodes and Brisco were planning to go to an event Thursday night in Tampa to raise money for a wrestling wall of fame. Jerry says it won't be the same, but he's still going so he can gather with other wrestlers and fans to share Dusty stories.

Despite their epic rivalry, Ric Flair says Dusty Rhodes was one of his greatest friends ... and tells TMZ Sports he was "honored to have shared the ring with him."

We just obtained a statement from Flair, through his agent Melinda Morris Zanoni, who tells us:

"Today I lost one of my greatest opponents and greatest friends. He was the definition of heart and soul and I’m honored to have shared the ring with him countless times.

"He became the 'American Dream' because wrestling needed a hero they could respect, and he was the man for the job. Dusty Rhodes, I will miss you my mentor and friend."

Flair and Rhodes battled in the ring several times ... and their feud was the basis for Dusty's legendary, "Hard Times" speech.

R.I.P.

11:37 AM PT -- Officials tell us ... emergency personnel responded to Dusty's home in Orlando, FL at 5:56 AM Wednesday morning after getting a call reporting a 69-year-old male had taken a fall.

We're told Rhodes was transported to a nearby hospital ... where he eventually passed away Thursday morning.

We're told Dusty's immediate family raced to be by his side as soon as they learned he was in the hospital.

Our sources tell us Dusty suffered "numerous complications" throughout the night ... which ultimately proved fatal.

WWE superstar Dusty Rhodes -- famously known as "The American Dream" -- has died at age 69 ... the WWE confirms.

Rhodes -- real name Virgil Runnels -- passed away Thursday morning.

Rhodes, who famously rocked polka dot tights during his legendary career, was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007.

Dusty had 4 children -- including two sons who also became wrestling superstars -- Goldust (Dustin Runnels) and Stardust (Cody Runnels).

The WWE issued a statement saying, "WWE extends its sincerest condolences to Runnels’ family, friends and colleagues."

WWE superstar Triple H posted a comment about his friend ... saying, "Saddened to hear the passing of Dusty Rhodes. Legend, teacher, mentor, friend...Love you Dream."

Here's video of San Francisco 49ers WR Anquan Boldin GOING OFF on a ref at a celebrity basketball game ... telling the guy he SUCKS ... despite the fact AQ's team won!!!

It's pretty funny stuff ... Anquan accuses the guy of being on the take -- and making calls for the other team at the David Clowney celeb basketball game to raise money for underprivileged youth.