TMZ Sports - Page 50

Bam Margera was arrested after allegedly making a scene at a restaurant where his estranged wife and son were eating ... and cops say Bam was drunk in public.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... police in Burbank got a call around 3:45 PM Wednesday for a disturbance at a Thai food restaurant, and when officers arrived they found the "Jackass" star arguing with a woman, with the dispute getting louder and louder.

Our sources say when police got to the restaurant, Bam was unable to take care of himself and was arrested and booked for misdemeanor public intoxication.

There's video on social media showing Bam at the restaurant, and he's clearly upset. The footage shows Margera walking in and out of the restaurant while cops look on.

At one point, in the clip posted to Instagram Live by comedian Evan Breen, you see Bam take a seat on a curb while he speaks to officers.

One witness told us Bam's estranged wife, Nikki, and his 5-year-old son, Phoenix, were also inside the restaurant ... but cops aren't saying if Nikki was the woman arguing with Bam.

TMZ broke the story, Nikki filed for legal separation from Bam back in February -- after she claims he didn't appear to be sober during a visit he was supposed to have with Phoenix.

We were also the first to report Bam's domestic violence arrest earlier this month after a woman claimed he kicked her.

Bam has vowed to be a more present father as of late, even getting Phoenix's name tattooed on his face.

Forget playing at Ohio State or USC, Lavar Ball says Bronny James should head to Australia following high school ... and spend the 2023-24 season playing pro Down Under.

The big Baller explained to Sporting News Australia this week that he believes the unconventional move to the NBL would make LeBron James' kid much more NBA ready -- just as he says it did for his own son, LaMelo Ball.

"You playing against grown men and you getting paid," the 55-year-old said. "If you want to play basketball and you really that dude, why am I sitting in class trying to pass a chemistry test? I don’t wanna play no chemistry. I don't wanna practice no Spanish. No!"

"I wanna wake up, go practice, go back to sleep, go practice, have a game, practice. That’s all I wanna do. I don’t wanna be like, ‘Hey, I’ll meet you in the student union for study hall.'"

If Bronny does take the overseas route, LaVar believes it could result in a huge monetary windfall for the 18-year-old too ... explaining the McDonald's All-American could gain a massive following -- and sell out gyms everywhere.

"You can go set your own stage across the water," Ball said. "He already got the name. So people wanna see [him]. He gon' fill the gym up."

LeBron's offspring is still undecided on what he wants to do next season -- but he'll have to make a choice soon ... he graduates from Sierra Canyon in just a couple weeks.

Marquise "Hollywood" Brown has finally put his speeding case in the rearview mirror ... TMZ Sports has learned he was sentenced in an Arizona courtroom on Wednesday.

A judge ordered the NFL star to pay a fine of $473 -- after he pled guilty in February to a misdemeanor charge of excessive speed stemming from an August 2022 arrest.

But, Brown won't have to dole out a cent in the case ... the judge decided to waive the fine and just give him credit for time served.

Brown, wearing a letterman jacket and dark-colored pants, said very little during the hearing, only telling the judge, "This is my first time ever getting into anything."

During the proceedings, Brown's attorney argued the 25-year-old should be allowed to complete a defensive driving school program to get the case off his record ... though the judge did not allow that. She did say, though, the lawyer could file a motion following the hearing, and it would be further considered.

As we reported, Brown was initially arrested in the case on Aug. 3, 2022 ... after cops say they caught him going 126 MPH in a 65 MPH zone in a 2020 Mercedes on a highway in Maricopa County.

Brown was hit with two charges in the case -- exceeding posted speed and violating HOV lane rules -- though as part of his sentencing, the second charge was dismissed.

Damar Hamlin visited Capitol Hill to promote an important cause on Wednesday ... urging lawmakers to feature more AEDs in schools throughout the country -- less than three months after he suffered cardiac arrest and nearly died during a Monday Night Football game.

The Buffalo Bills safety encouraged politicians to support The Access to AEDs Act, a bill that promotes student access to defibrillation in elementary and secondary schools ... which has become a focus for Hamlin after he collapsed on the field in January.

"Sudden cardiac arrest happens to more than 7,000 kids under the age of 18 every year in our country," Hamlin said. "The majority of the kids impacted are student athletes. Research shows that 1 in every 300 youth has an undetected heart condition that puts them at risk."

"For schools that have AEDs, the survival rate for the children from sudden cardiac arrest is seven times higher. The Access to AEDs Act will help ensure that schools are just as prepared and trained to respond in a time of crisis as those on the sideline of an NFL game."

Of course, Hamlin has become a leading voice in AED and CPR awareness in the months following his medical emergency ... and even started his own "3 For Heart" campaign.

Hamlin spent some time with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who paid homage to the player by wearing a custom #3 Bills jersey ... which included a special signed message from Damar himself, which read, "Thank you for the love and support."

There's a new lady in Jake Paul's life -- the Problem Child was packing on the PDA with beautiful Dutch speed skater Jutta Leerdam while on a dinner date on Tuesday ... TMZ Sports has learned.

A witness at the venue tells us the 6-1 boxer and 24-year-old world champion were spotted getting cozy at LPM Restaurant in Miami ... and apparently kissing was on the menu, 'cause the two couldn't keep their lips off each other.

Our sources say 26-year-old Jake and Jutta met through Instagram late last year and began talking over the past couple months ... which evolved to spending a good amount of time together in Florida recently.

In fact, Jutta is slated to appear on the internet superstar's "B.S. With Jake Paul" podcast ... which she teased on social media earlier this week.

If you're not familiar with Leerdam, she's a superstar sprinter on the ice -- she won an Olympic silver medal in the women's 1000m race in Beijing in 2022, and has numerous world championships under her belt as well.

Jutta previously dated fellow speed skater Koen Verweij before splitting in August 2022 ... and Jake was famously tied to model Julia Rose until late last year as well.

It's unclear the current "status" of Jake and Jutta's relationship ... but they're both single, wildly successful and good-looking, so whatever it is -- it seems to be a great match!!!

If you're going to MLB Opening Day on Thursday ... ya better bring your appetite -- 'cause several teams are rollin' out some new food items for the season -- and most are absolutely massive!!

Nearly every club will kick off 2023 with new and intriguing menu options ... including the Texas Rangers -- who recently unveiled a two-foot-long burger that's topped with onion rings and chili called, "The Boomstick Burger."

Not to be outdone, the Miami Marlins showed this week they'll be offering a 34-inch "Cubano Gigante" -- a huge sandwich that features sliced ham, roasted pork, Swiss cheese, pickles, mustard and a secret sauce.

The New York Yankees, meanwhile, chose to honor Aaron Judge yet again with a food item ... after handing out the "62" bacon cheeseburger in last year's playoffs, they're now selling the "99 Burger," which comes with eight ounces of Wagyu beef. There is a caveat, though -- the team says it'll only sell 99 per game!!

The Rays and the White Sox are also hockin' some big dishes for their fans to consume -- Tampa's offering a half-pound pretzel dog, while Chicago's doling out a half-pound weiner called "The Champagne of Dogs."

There was a full moon during the Texas A&M vs. Texas baseball game on Tuesday ... when a shirtless field intruder decided to disrupt the contest and expose his ass cheeks for all to see!!!

The wild moment went down amid the Longhorns' 5-2 win over the Aggies in College Station ... when the dude -- wearing what appeared to be a Darth Maul/Star Wars mask and holding a "Longhorns Suck" sign -- made his way onto the grass and through the infield.

The streaker then dropped his sign and pulled his shorts below his waist for several seconds ... before making a mad dash for the outfield.

It's actually pretty impressive -- the intruder showed off his speed and endurance throughout the stunt ... and successfully hopped over the centerfield wall after several attempts.

Unfortunately for him, the fun was over right after he jumped the fence ... 'cause a cop was already waiting for his arrival.

The chaos ended with the intruder getting on his stomach and putting his hands behind his back. We've reached out to law enforcement for more information.

Guess the game was not all it was cracked up to be.

Jamirah Shutes -- the Univ. of Memphis women's basketball player who was hit with a criminal charge last week after socking an opponent in the face following a game -- pled not guilty in the case on Wednesday, TMZ Sports has learned.

Shutes' attorney, Steven Crossmock, appeared in court in Ohio on the Tigers player's behalf to submit the plea. He did not immediately have a comment on the case following the proceedings.

She's now tentatively due back in court for another hearing in the case next month.

As we reported, Shutes was charged with assault on Friday ... one day after she punched Bowling Green State Univ. star Elissa Brett in the handshake line following their round of 16 game in the women's NIT.

Brett suffered swelling in her right eye as a result of the punch, according to cops, but she was able to play in BGSU's win over Florida on Monday.

It's still unclear what prompted the strike.

Lamar Jackson says he did NOT sit out games last year as a negotiating tactic, and if anyone suggests he did, the NFL MVP most definitely will not hesitate to check fans online.

That's what happened Tuesday night as fallout from news of 26-year-old Jackson's trade request continues, with some now accusing Lamar of intentionally missing games as a way to either protect his health, or show his value, and in turn receive a huge new contract.

Something Lamar says is absolutely not true.

"I don’t remember me sitting out on my guys week 1 vs jets To week 12 vs Broncos. How come all of a sudden I sit out because of money in which I could’ve got hurt at anytime within that time frame," Jackson said on Twitter.

"When we know the Super Bowl been on my mind since April 2018."

Jackson added, "Let’s get real. I rather have a 100% PCL than go out there and play horrible forcing myself to put my guys in a bad situation now that’s selfish to me."

Of course, LJ missed the last five games of the 2022 season and the Ravens' Wildcard game against the Bengals after spraining his PCL on December 4.

The Ravens were 8-4 in games Lamar played, and 2-3 without him. They finished the season 10-7.

One fan Tweeted back at Lamar, reminding him he previously said he wanted to be a billionaire, to which Jackson responded, "Who doesn’t want to be a billionaire? Whattttttt."

Not everyone's going at Jackson. Deion Sanders reached out to the former first-round pick and advised him to ignore the haters.

"Stop explaining Yourself to fools and allow fools to be fools," Sanders said in a retweet on Wednesday.

"A brother trying that's strong, believes in himself and willing to stand for what he believes will always be misunderstood & judged by fools of all ethnicities."

As far as Jackson's trade request, Ravens HC John Harbaugh told NFL Network's Tom Pelissero it's all business and he hasn't reached out to him about the tweet yet.

"Lamar's got a good heart," Harbaugh said on Monday. "If he needs me, I'm here for him."

Meanwhile, Robert Kraft says he got word from Meek Mill that Jackson wants to be a Patriot.

Stay tuned!

Steve Kerr is optimistic Andrew Wiggins will play again this season ... saying Tuesday night there's "hope" the All-Star forward can rejoin the Warriors in the near future.

Kerr was asked about Wiggins -- who hasn't played an NBA game since Feb.13 due to family reasons -- prior to the Warriors' 120-109 victory over the Pelicans, and he said that the 28-year-old has been "working out every day," but a timeline for his return is still up in the air.

"Beyond that, once he's back, our training staff will be able to get with him and see where he is," Kerr said Tuesday. "He's been training on his own."

Kerr hesitated to label Wiggins' extended absence from the team as "indefinite" ... but said because his status remains uncertain, "it's also appropriate because we don't know."

The Warriors have remained tight-lipped about the specific reason(s) why Wiggins isn't available to play -- but Draymond Green didn't mince words after rumors started circulating online about why his teammate has been MIA.

"I'm not here to say whether it's true or false. I don't know -- not my business!!" Green said on his podcast. "But [the] point being, it's not yours either!!"

"That's insane!! That's nuts!! The fact that people are so nosy and so consumed on what someone else do in their life, not basketball, in their life that THAT is the story ... with no confirmation of nothing?! Sometimes people disgust me."

The Predators were joined by the Bruins in honoring the victims of the school shooting in Nashville before their game in Boston on Tuesday night ... and the tributes to the six who tragically died were very emotional.

Just before the puck dropped on the contest at TD Garden ... the two teams and their fans had a moment of silence. The arena's public address announcer told the crowd at the time, "The Boston Bruins stand alongside the Nashville Predators in solidarity against gun violence and in support of the Nashville community."

Players were visibly shaken as the venue went silent ... and the names of the six victims -- three of whom were just 9 years old -- were displayed on the stadium's jumbotron.

The two teams also wore stickers on their helmets to honor The Covenant School -- where a 28-year-old gunman shot the six on Monday morning. The Preds urged people to donate to support survivors as well.

The game was the Predators' first since the tragedy ... and they ended up winning despite all the pregame emotions -- beating the best team in the NHL, 2-1.

Before the contest began, Predators head coach John Hynes called all of Monday's events "a really sad situation."

Big celebrities are pitching in to help victims of the Nashville elementary school shooting ... by donating thousands of dollars.

GoFundMes have been set up for the families of the six people killed and others wounded in Monday's shooting ... including one for the Kinney family, whose 9-year-old son, William, was one of the three children murdered by 28-year-old Audrey Hale.

The Kinney family received a $2K donation from former Bears QB Jay Cutler, who lives in Nashville. Donations have been pouring in to benefit the Kinney family ... the fundraiser is already well past its $50K goal.

Former 'Bachelorette' star Kaitlyn Bristowe donated $1K to a campaign that goes to all six families as well as those wounded. Jena Sims, actress and wife of star golfer Brooks Koepka, also put $1K into the fund.

John Carter Cash, son of singer Johnny Cash, donated $2K.

A slew of stars have expressed their outrage over the massacre on social media ... demanding politicians strengthen gun safety laws.

Ben Affleck is clearing the air on what he says is a widely held misconception -- that he's totally miserable most of the time ... even when he's pretty damn happy.

Ben was on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Tuesday to promote his new movie "Air," and the guys chatted about a number of things, including Ben's RBF ... y'know the thing he went viral for at this year's Grammys. You'll recall, he looked very unamused as his wife Jennifer Lopez danced alongside him.

Now, Ben cleaned it up a bit for Kimmel, instead of "resting bitch face" ... he said, "I have a very unhappy-looking resting face."

The guys joked Ben's face played a key role during a Christmas party Ben and Jen threw. They'd invited Jimmy and his wife, but as JK put it, "It did seem like you weren't quite as psyched about the party as everybody else".

Ben then tried to address the issue once and for all ... by showing a range of emotions on his face.

Amused and content looks a lot more like pissed off and I'd rather die than be here.

Hey, he's admitting it, but BA says don't blame him ... "That's how God made me, you don't have to punish me for it!"

Of course, Ben and JLo recently attended the "Air" premiere ... and the two looked happy as ever together, as they locked lips and took photos.

LeBron James took a day away from the Lakers to put on his Dad hat and watch his son at the McDonald's All-America Game -- and, by the looks of things, he couldn't have been happier to do it!!

Two days after losing to the Bulls and one day before the two teams play in a rematch in Chicago, LBJ got away from his L.A. teammates for a night to catch Bronny James in the prestigious All-Star game in Houston, Texas.

The King had courtside seats for the 18-year-old's big night ... and you can tell, he was thrilled to watch his son in the event on his night off.

Bron, who himself played in the game in 2003, took selfies with his family in their floor seats -- before celebrating every big bucket that Bronny made.

In fact, after nearly every 3-pointer that Bronny sunk, LeBron stood up and made sure everyone knew it was his kid with the sharp shot.

Bronny gave Dad a ton to cheer about, too ... he hit FIVE 3-pointers, scoring 15 total points in the contest.

The young James ended up losing, but it ain't hard to see none of that mattered to LeBron, who was beaming with his son and the rest of his family after the game.

Austin Theory is fighting his childhood idol, John Cena, on "The Grandest Stage of Them All," WrestleMania, but the current WWE United States Champion wants everyone to know he's not trying to be a Cena 2.0 -- telling TMZ Sports, "I don't want to be a rip-off."

We spoke with Theory ahead of his highly-anticipated match with Cena for the U.S. title at 'Mania ... and he put into perspective what the moment means to him considering John played a role in his desire to be a professional wrestler.

"Being eight years old and knowing what I wanted to do for the rest of my life because of John Cena and that is be a WWE Superstar. That was the first time I seen wrestling and I was inspired. And I went straight to the TV and I'd watch John every single week."

Theory and Cena made their match for the U.S. Championship at WrestleMania official two weeks ago ... during an intense segment where the latter reminded the WWE Universe that he can still cut a promo with the best of them.

"We did have a moment," Theory said about his encounter with Cena. "A face-to-face on Monday Night Raw. He had a lot of things to say to me. In that moment, it's very cool to be out there with John Cena but I'm in a different place now."

Austin told us he's tired of people constantly comparing him to Cena -- a 13-time WWE Champion, widely recognized as the G.O.A.T. in the promotion's history -- especially after he's worked so hard along his journey to establish his own identity.

"I don't want to hear that anymore," Theory said. "I want to be the first Austin Theory and I want people to see that. I don't want to be a rip-off of anybody and at WrestleMania, I'm going to show everybody just how different Austin Theory is."

"My mindset going into this match is all about me," Theory said. "I can't go in there and get swallowed by this giant John Cena story. I know the crowd's going to be crazy for him. 'Let's Go Cena' and 'Cena sucks.' Even the people saying 'Cena Sucks,' they love him, too."

Former NY Yankees star John Wetteland -- months after a jury failed to reach a verdict during trial -- is now free and clear after prosecutors moved to drop all felony aggravated sexual assault charges against the former All-Star closer.

According to court records obtained by TMZ Sports, all three charges were dropped against 56-year-old Wetteland after the D.A. failed to retry the 1996 World Series hero who was accused of forcing a four-year-old child, a relative, to perform sexual acts on him between in his bedroom between 2004 and 2006.

Wetteland always adamantly denied the allegations and pled not guilty at trial.

As we previously reported, Wetteland was arrested in January 2019 and hit with multiple child sexual abuse charges. He was facing 25 years to life in prison if convicted. JW finally went to trial in late 2022, but a jury of 12 couldn't reach a verdict -- guilty or not -- and a judge declared a mistrial on September 2.

Following the hung jury, a juror told local media they were split 10-2, and although the juror didn't explicitly say the 10 votes were "not guilty," the juror indicated most wanted to acquit.

Of course, MLB fans are familiar with the 3x All-Star closer. Back in 1996, when the Yankees came back from two games down against the Atlanta Braves, Wetteland was named the World Series Most Valuable Player.

Due to the rise of young relief pitcher, Mariano Rivera, Wetteland went to the Texas Rangers in 1997 ... and stayed in Arlington until retiring after the 2000 season.

He was inducted into the Rangers Hall of Fame in 2005.

Despite being arrested and charged, Wetteland was never found guilty.