The term "lottery pick" is synonymous with basketball, but a clothing company claims they have the trademark on it ... and they're going after Nike for using it on a Michael Jordan jacket. 

According to a lawsuit filed in Illinois, Urban Motive Sportswear claims they have been selling an energy drink, sportswear apparel and other merchandise for years with the trademark "Lottery Pick" ... which they claim they registered back in 2004. 

But Urban claims Nike straight up stole their trademark by selling a jacket called "Jordan LS Lottery Pick Jacket." They say this violation is particularly hurtful to their business because they did a lot of marketing in Chicago -- where Jordan played most of his career -- and claim they even gifted some gear to MJ's sons.


In the docs, Urban says this trademark infringement has "damaged [them] in a manner that cannot be fully measured or compensated in economic terms and for which there is not adequate remedy at law."

They are suing Nike for trademark infringement and seeking unspecified damages. Jordan is not a named defendant. 

A rep for Nike says they do not comment on pending litigation and calls to the Charlotte Bobcats (the NBA team owned by Jordan) were not returned.

From Baltimore to Washington to Atlanta ... people waiting in lines for the new Nike Air Jordan shoe are getting CRAZY violent -- except at the Beverly Center in Los Angeles where PATIENCE IS RUNNING RAMPANT!!

TMZ spoke with several people at the Bev Center who have been waiting in line for hours ... and some for days ... and they all seem to say the same thing -- it's been cold, but everyone has been extremely cordial.

It seems to be a sharp contrast from other shoe lines across the country -- so far, there have been reports of pepper spraying at a mall in Washington, a brawl in Kentucky and girl fights in North Carolina.

Metta World Peace says his childhood hero Michael Jordan left the NBA players high and dry in the never-ending lockout drama -- by forgetting he was once one of them ... and acting like every other stubborn owner.

Jordan -- the Charlotte Bobcats' big cheese -- is among a group of NBA owners who are taking a hard line with the players in the lockout negotiations.

According to MWP, the players don't hate His Airness ... they just feel like, "he didn't support us when we most needed him."

Michael Jordan's even the greatest of all time at retirement -- with lit cigar and beverage in hand ... he hosted the Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational golf tourney in Las Vegas yesterday.


Drink it all in.

LeBron James and Michael Jordan have been sued for $150 million -- EACH! -- by a company claiming the basketball stars ruined its business by poisoning its name in the public.



A company called Lebron Jordan, Inc. claims that James' and Jordan's reps at Nike and Live Nation torpedoed a multimillion dollar deal by threatening to sue LJI unless it stopped selling a line of basketball shoes under the "Lebron Jordan" name. 

LJI insists in the lawsuit, filed yesterday in federal court in New York, that it had every right to market its shoes under the "Lebron Jordan" name.  LJI points out that no one has trademarked the words "Lebron" and "Jordan" together, and "you could not even find that name combination on Google."

As a result of the negative publicity ... LJI claims it has been damaged to the tune of $900 million.

It took a little longer than we expected -- about 6 hours and 40 minutes -- but Lil Wayne has already dropped his first tweet since leaving prison ... and it wreaks of Michael Jordan.


Back when MJ returned to the Bulls in 1995, dude released a two word press release that simply read, "I'm back" .... and since Weezy is such a huge sports nut (and not crazy about grammar) we're guessing he took his cue from His Royal Airness.

Either way, he's baaaaaakkkkkkk!  

Michael Jordan has serious money to burn -- and last night after the Super Bowl, His Airness was flexin' the size of his wallet ... in the form of a ridiculously expensive ride.


The basketball legend left a Super Bowl after-party in Miami last night and rolled out in a brand new Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano -- base price: $300K.

Riding shotgun -- his hot, 30-year-old girlfriend Yvette Prieto.

Anyone still wanna be like Mike?

Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods: The two greatest -- and richest -- athletes on the planet stood wallet-to-wallet at a golf tournament in San Francisco yesterday.


But the question we're going to force you to answer ...

So ... was Michael Jordan kidding when he told a cabbie to run over the paparazzi?

His Airmess was in South Beach yesterday -- probably joking around -- but as anyone who has any appreciation for sports knows ... when Jordan tells you to do something, you do it. Fortunately for the snappers, the cabbies disobeyed.

Smokin' hot NBA legend Michael Jordan can do just about anything he wants -- except make salmon pink pants look good.

"Space Jam" is no longer the 45-year-old's biggest mistake.

Since Katie Price decided to reduce her breast size, she had to make up for it by buying a new weave.

If this girl gets any more plastic on her body, she's going to melt.