NBA

Charles Barkley says there are only "losers" in the Larsa Pippen and Marcus Jordan relationship ... with the Hall of Famer revealing he feels bad for Michael and Scottie amid the "messy" coupling.

Chuck -- who used to be best friends with MJ -- weighed in on the Larcus fiasco on Shannon Sharpe's "Club Shay Shay" podcast this week ... and it's safe to say he doesn't approve of Jordan's son and Pippen's ex-wife getting romantic following the infamous fallout between the former Bulls superstars.

"I feel bad for Michael, I feel bad for Scottie," Chuck said on Wednesday. "That is so messy. I don't like messy because when it's messy, everybody has an opinion on it. And you know, the internet is not a place for messy."

La hija de Kobe Bryant, Gigi, habría cumplido 18 años este miércoles y la esposa de la leyenda del baloncesto, Vanessa, está recordando a su difunta hija con un emotivo homenaje, diciendo que ella sigue inspirando a innumerables personas todos los días.

"¡Feliz cumpleaños a mi preciosa niña, Gigi!", escribió Vanessa en su Instagram. "Te quiero. Te extraño. Estoy tan orgullosa de ti".

El post es realmente triste, y en él Vanessa lamenta todo lo que Gigi estaría experimentando en este momento de su vida, su graduación de la escuela y las decisiones de la universidad.

Kobe Bryant's daughter, Gigi, would have turned 18 years old on Wednesday ... and the basketball legend's wife, Vanessa, is remembering her late child with an emotional tribute -- saying she continues to inspire countless people every day.

"Happy birthday to my gorgeous girl, Gigi!" Vanessa said on Instagram. "I love you. I miss you. I'm so proud of you."

The post is truly heartbreaking ... with Vanessa lamenting over what Gigi would be experiencing at this point in her life -- high school graduation and college decisions.

LaMelo Ball is vying to be the NBA's most tatted hooper ... the Charlotte Hornets star just got his entire back tattooed, and the space-themed ink is awesome!

TMZ Sports has learned the All-Star guard went to his go-to guy, Herchell L. Carrasco -- AKA RockRollG -- at Pachuco Tattoo in Orange, California ... after months and months planning the huge tattoo.

Ball wanted to keep with the space-themed tats ... so RockRollG had friends Niz Carrillo, Jorge Garibay, Juan Nambo, Jonas Aguilar, and Elvis Ramos help him bring the concept together.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will have a bit of extra motivation through the rest of the playoffs -- the Oklahoma City Thunder star is a new dad!!

The MVP candidate and his longtime girlfriend, former college soccer player Hailey Summer, revealed they were expecting last December ... and on Tuesday, SGA announced to his 3.2 million fans on Instagram their son has arrived.

"Ares Alexander 🤍," SGA said in the caption.

Ares was born on April 25, 2024 ... which was right in the middle of the Thunder's first-round series against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Luckily, SGA was off that day ... as the Thunder were fresh off a Game 2 win the night prior.

SGA's fans think this will be like a superpower for the Canadian baller ... with many flooding the comment section to give their two cents on the impact the family milestone might have on his game for the rest of the postseason.

"Shai is about to get a fatherhood attribute boost," one follower said.

Shai averaged 30.1 points and 6.2 assists per game this season ... so it would be great news for OKC fans, who are celebrating their first playoff series win since the 2015-16 season.

The Thunder are now waiting for the Clippers and Mavericks series to end ... and the winner will meet them in the conference semifinals.

Magic Johnson is painting a dire picture for the Los Angeles Lakers ... saying if the team doesn't completely revamp its roster this offseason, they're in serious risk of getting left in the dust.

Fresh off L.A.'s elimination from the playoffs at the hands of the Denver Nuggets, the Lakers legend gave his two cents on the disappointing season on Tuesday ... and he's not sugar-coating anything.

"Laker Nation, we have a problem," the five-time champion said on X. "All the good teams in the West are young and talented: the Nuggets, the Timberwolves, the Thunder, the Clippers, and the Mavs."

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass tried to to find the silver lining after the Lakers' early exit from the playoffs ... congratulating the Purple & Gold on winning the In-Season Tournament a few months ago -- but it was met with so much backlash, she ended up scrubbing the post from her page.

LeBron James and Co. got booted from the postseason on Monday ... falling to the Denver Nuggets in Game 5 of their first-round matchup.

Bass attempted to share some positivity shortly after the final buzzer ... pointing out the Lake Show had a bit of success earlier in the 2023-24 campaign when L.A. won the meaningless mid-season competition in December.

Galveston, TX is returning fire after Charles Barkley took a shot at their "dirty" beaches on national television ... with the city clapping back, saying millions of people visit for their "beautiful shoreline."

ICYMI, the NBA legend roasted the city, nicknamed the "Queen City of the Gulf," located about 50 miles southeast of Houston ... after the New Orleans Pelicans disappointing 106-85 loss to Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday.

"They didn't even try, man," Barkley said on NBA on TNT. "We're not giving them no plane ticket to the beach."

LeBron James says he's yet to make a decision about his NBA future following L.A.'s playoff exit Monday night ... telling media members he's not sure if he'll return to the Lakers in 2024.

LBJ played coy when he was asked multiple times about his plans for next season ... even at one point ducking a question from a reporter who wanted to know if he considered the possibility of the Game 5 loss to the Nuggets being his last in the Purple and Gold.

"I'm not going to answer that," he said.

The Wells Fargo Center looked and sounded more like Madison Square Garden on Sunday ... 'cause Knicks fans took over the Sixers' arena for Game 4 of their NBA Playoff series -- and Joel Embiid's pissed!

The Knicks beat the Sixers, 97-92, taking a 3-1 series lead ... and their fanbase let their presence be known.

During the live broadcast, you could hear the Knicks faithful cheering -- louder than the Sixers fans -- as the Knicks won the pivotal game behind Jalen Brunson's epic 47-point performance.

The Minnesota Timberwolves were forced to finish their series-clinching win over the Phoenix Suns without Chris Finch -- the head coach suffered a painful knee injury after his own player crashed into him on the sidelines ... and it was so bad, he had to be helped off the court.

The unfortunate incident went down in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter on Sunday ... when Wolves guard Mike Conley took the ball up the court and bumped into Suns star Devin Booker.

Conley tumbled toward the sideline right where Finch was standing ... and the momentum forced him down to the hardwood, despite the hooper trying to brace his fall.

Sonny Vaccaro says he believes Caitlin Clark could have gotten a much better deal from Nike -- telling TMZ Sports he's sure the former Iowa superstar could've inked a pact similar to the one Michael Jordan got back in the day.

The shoe industry legend, of course, knows all about the deal MJ received -- he was the one who helped negotiate it. And, when he heard Clark only received $28 million over eight years to be with Phil Knight's co., he was surprised it wasn't more.

Vaccaro tells us she could've landed a contract that not only gave her more annual money -- but also allowed her to take a cut of every Clark-branded item sold ... just like Jordan got with his initial Swoosh agreement in 1984.

Kelly Oubre Jr.'s recent car accident has raised some questions within the Philadelphia Police Department ... and now, an internal investigation has been launched.

TMZ Sports has learned -- the PPD's Internal Affairs Division is looking into the handling of Monday night's crash involving Oubre and another driver ... specifically officers' response and actions while at the scene.

As we previously reported, cops told us Oubre's Lamborghini ran a red light and hit a 2023 Hyundai Elantra ... with both cars being towed from the scene.

Philadelphia 76ers hooper Kelly Oubre Jr. is considering handing over the keys after his recent car accident ... revealing he's mulling over the idea of hiring a personal driver.

Oubre -- who had 15 points and 7 rebounds in Thursday night's Game 3 matchup -- spoke about his wreck after the Sixers' big win ... saying he's doing fine, but will likely make some drastic changes to his day-to-day as a result of the incident.

"Everything is good," the 28-year-old said, according to reports. "I'm okay. The people that were involved were okay, but I need to probably get a driver or something and just stay off the road and behind the wheel, but everything is good. I'm good."

Kelly Oubre Jr. lost a playoff game Monday night and then he lost his beloved car ... TMZ Sports has learned he wrecked his Lamborghini in a crash just hours after the Sixers fell to the Knicks in Game 2 of their postseason series.

The Philadelphia Police Dept. tells us the wreck happened at around 1:45 AM on Tuesday ... shortly after Oubre and the 76ers dropped a heartbreaker at Madison Square Garden, 104-101.

Cops say Oubre's 2021 matte purple Lambo "disregarded a red traffic signal" ... and plowed into a 2023 Hyundai Elantra.