Carmelo Anthony tells TMZ Sports he WILL be back in the NBA this season -- and he's even open to returning to the New York Knicks!

Everyone's been wondering about Melo's basketball future ever since he parted ways with the Houston Rockets back in January.

35-year-old Anthony has previously said he wants to get back in the league -- however, no one has pulled the trigger yet.

But, it sounds like Melo's got something cookin' ... because when we saw the 35-year-old leaving The Henry in L.A. on Wednesday night, he was VERY optimistic about his return.

"We're figuring it out," Melo told us ... noting that he was NOT in town to speak with the Lakers or the Clippers.

When we pushed back and asked if he'll be on a roster this season, Melo told us ... "For sure. 2000%."

There are reports the Knicks could be interested in Anthony -- interesting considering the way things ended back in 2017 -- but Melo says he's down to return.

"We open man. We open to every opportunity."

In fact, Melo even defended Knicks head coach David Fizdale ... saying the team's lowly 2-9 record isn't all his fault ... "It's a lot of things that goes into that."

Popeyes is no longer a breeding ground for violence over its chicken sandwich ... the mania's finally died down at many locations.

We hit up the store on world-famous Hollywood Blvd., which is normally swarmed just because of tourists ... but there was only a small line of customers. Also, everyone was cool as a cucumber.

It's a far cry from the scenes we saw across the country earlier this month when the fast food chicken joint brought back its massively popular chicken sando, causing insane lines and wild moments of mayhem.

As we reported ... there was a fatal stabbing at a Popeyes in Maryland, and there was a rash of videos showing brawls between employees and customers alike ... all dealing with lines out the door and at the drive-thru.

Question is ... is the bloom off the rose, or are hungry customers just too fearful of potential violence?

We're not trying to start another rush, but if you're spicy chicken curious ... looks like the coast is clear.

Guess George Lopez struck a chord when he told us some fried chicken stuffed between a bun ain't worth risking your life.

Got tissues nearby? Better go grab 'em ... 'cause Cody Bellinger started crying after winning the NL MVP award Thursday -- and he says it's all 'cause of a celebration hug with his dad!!!

"That's what made me emotional right there for sure," Bellinger said.

The LA Dodgers superstar had an unbelievable year in 2019 ... hitting 47 home runs with 115 RBIs while batting .305 -- and he earned the MVP award over Christian Yelich because of it.

When MLB Network had Cody on shortly after to talk about the honor ... the outfielder couldn't hide his emotions -- saying an embrace with his pops made him break down.

"It's what you dream of, man," Bellinger said.

Of course, Cody and his dad, Clay, are SUPER tight ... Poppa Bellinger is a former MLB player who Cody has often credited for his ultra-successful baseball career.

Cody also had a bunch of other family and friends join him for the celebration ... and he called the whole moment, "pretty cool."

"It's absolutely incredible," Bellinger said ... "A little emotional. So, it's pretty cool."

File under: Things You Should NEVER Do!

YouTube superstar Jake Paul WILLINGLY got in the ring with boxing phenom Ryan Garcia -- and let the dude BLAST AWAY on him ... and it's all on video!!!

The 22-year-old vlogger made the trip down to San Diego for some one-on-one gym time with the Flash ... and threw on some padding to do the #BodyShotChallenge.

Yeah, he's wearing padding ... but watch the video -- Ryan hits so damn hard, Jake gets rocked back around the ring and looks like he's in real pain.

At one point, it looks like Jake tries to get Ryan to stop, but the 19-0 fighter keeps throwing bombs!

"This is stupid," Jake said to the camera before taking the beating ... and we agree. V stupid.

Of course, Jake beat Deji in his first-ever fight last year in Manchester ... and has been BEGGING Eddie Hearn to let him take a pro fight like his big bro, Logan Paul.

Speaking of Logan, he also did the #BodyShotChallenge with Garcia a while back -- and it went about the same way!

Ryan 2, Paul Bros 0.

The mounting family drama's getting to Aaron Carter ... cause it's landed him in the hospital.

Aaron's mom, Jane, tells TMZ ... Aaron arrived at her house Thursday in Florida and she was immediately alarmed at his dangerously low weight. She tells us he's now at a mere 115 pounds. At one point, Aaron weighed nearly 160 pounds.

We're told Aaron's stress stems from the restraining orders against him brought on by his brother, Nick, and sister twin Angel. Jane took no chances ... driving him to the hospital and checking him into the ER.

Jane tells us Aaron's had his blood pressure tested and he's currently hooked up to a heart monitor and awaiting results. Aaron posted on Instagram a picture of himself on a hospital bed and he captioned it, "Mommas gonna take care of me."

Washington Redskins safety Montae Nicholson is cooperating with authorities who are investigating the death of a 21-year-old woman, TMZ Sports has learned.

Here's what we know ...  law enforcement has confirmed a "death investigation" is underway after an unconscious and unresponsive woman was brought to an E.R. in Ashburn, Virginia on Thursday around 1:30 AM.

The victim was pronounced dead in the emergency room. We're told officials believe the woman died from a drug overdose.

Cops tell us ... "The two males who brought her to the emergency room immediately left the area but have since been identified and located."

Multiple sources connected to the situation tell us one of the men is Montae Nicholson.

Nicholson has NOT been arrested or charged with a crime. However, cops say the case is being actively investigated by the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office and it's likely they'll speak with Nicholson as part of the probe.

Nicholson was NOT at Redskins practice on Thursday and we're being told his absence is due to this situation and not his ankle injury.

We reached out to the Redskins and a rep told us, "We’ve been made aware of the tragic event and extend our deepest sympathies to the family who lost a loved one."

"Our team has alerted the league office and is cooperating with local authorities. We fully support law enforcement and respect their process as they investigate the matter."

Nicholson was arrested back in December 2018 after cameras caught the NFL player in a late-night street brawl with a civilian.

The video, obtained by TMZ Sports, shows Nicholson (in a red hoodie) wrestling with a man in a jean jacket before he eventually lands a violent knockout blow.

Montae was arrested and charged with assault and battery and public drunkenness ... but prosecutors eventually dropped the case citing insufficient evidence.

Kodak Black was set up and possibly drugged when he got into a fight behind bars ... at least according to the rapper's camp.

Sources close to Kodak tell TMZ ... his team believes last month's prison fight, which left a guard injured, was all a setup because they claim someone slipped something in his drink to set him off.

We're told surveillance video shows Kodak drinking a cup of coffee about 20 minutes before the fight broke out ... and his reps believe Kodak's coffee was spiked with a chemical substance intended to make him lose control.

Our sources say an agent from the FBI testified Wednesday that witnesses said Kodak appeared to be under the influence during the brawl.

As for the fight itself ... we're told Kodak got into it with another inmate, and a corrections officer sprayed KB with mace. Our sources say it took several prison guards to restrain Kodak, who displayed incredible strength after allegedly being drugged.

Bureau of Prisons spokesperson Emery Nelson tells us a staff member was physically assaulted during the fight and was taken to a hospital for treatment.

As we reported ... Kodak was sentenced Wednesday to 46 months in prison after pleading guilty in his federal gun case. Prosecutors were gunning for 96 months after KB was involved in the fight.

Kodak's camp thinks it's suspicious the other inmate in the fight was placed in KB's prison pod earlier in the day, and the same inmate was released on bond about 12 hours after the brawl. Kodak's team says the fact the fight went down 2 weeks before his sentencing is also fishy. KB's been behind bars before, and we're told it's the first time he got in trouble.

Black's reps tell us they don't know for sure who allegedly drugged him, but they have their suspicions ... telling us a lot of people want to see him jammed up.

We reached out to the U.S. Attorney's Office ... but they have no comment.

Kevin Hart's 2 friends who survived that car crash with him are giving us a glimpse into their recovery for the first time since sustaining very serious injuries.

Rebecca Broxterman, the backseat passenger, posted images of the driver -- and her fiance -- Jared Black in a neck brace following the accident. She says the hospital bed photos of Jared are from Sept. 17 ... a little more than 2 weeks after the wreck.

Not surprisingly, Rebecca called the night of the accident the scariest of her life.

More than 2 months later, she's opening up ... saying after the accident she was terrified when she had to be separated from Jared when they were airlifted from the crash scene to the hospital.

Jared, who suffered very similar spinal injuries as Kevin did, underwent major back surgery, and Rebecca says they're doing physical therapy together a few times each week.

TMZ broke the story ... Kevin's 1970 Plymouth Barracuda -- driven by Jared -- crashed into a ravine Sept. 1 and Hart suffered serious back injuries which required surgery and a grueling physical therapy routine.

Mo'Nique is finally taking her accusations against Netflix for discrimination to a court of law ... she's filed a lawsuit.

In the suit, the Oscar-winning actress and comedian accuses Netflix of race-based discrimination for how it negotiated a comedy special with her. She says Netflix offered Amy Schumer $11 million for an hour-long stand-up special (she eventually got $13 mil), but only offered Mo'Nique $500,000 for her stand-up special.

Mo'Nique never accepted their offer, and went on a public campaign ... which included coming on "TMZ Live" and calling for a boycott against the company.

According to the suit, she claims Netflix has a severe lack of diversity, which contributes to their discriminatory practices. Specifically, she claims one Netflix exec. -- the Chief Communications Officer -- used the n-word in a meeting with 60 people in 2018. Mo'Nique was not present for that meeting.

She also claims Netflix allowed Kevin Spacey to use the n-word while on the set of "House of Cards" without any consequence. In the suit, she alleges Spacey complained to his personal security guards, "I don't want [n-words] on my set anymore." She's not suing Spacey.

Mo'Nique also used a major pay gap on the Netflix hit, "The Crown," to illustrate alleged discrimination. She says the actress who plays Queen Elizabeth II was paid $14k per episode less than the actor who played Prince Philip -- and it only righted the wrong after there was a public outcry about it.

She's suing Netflix for unspecified damages, and for an injunction forcing the company to change its discriminatory policies.

We've reached out to Netflix and Kevin Spacey for comment.

The rescue puppy with the tail growing out of his head will have to wait to find a forever home, because the shelter's worried some folks applying to adopt him might have the wrong motives.

As we reported ... the undeniably cute little dog named Narwhal is "a perfectly healthy puppy, with an extra tail on his face" who was rescued by Mac's Mission Animal Rescue in Jackson, Missouri. Naturally, he's gone viral due to his unique condition.

The shelter has received hundreds of adoption applications for Narwhal, but its founder, Rochelle Steffen, tells TMZ ... she's pumping the brakes for now. She says on Wednesday alone they got more than 100 applications, which is highly unusual because they are normally lucky to get one for a "special dog."

She tells us the shelter is nervous people may be wanting to adopt Narwhal for the wrong reasons -- for instance, fame and notoriety -- and not for love of a family pet. As a result, Rochelle says they're halting the application process for at least 2 months.

Rochelle says they've never had a dog like Narwhal, so they want to keep him and let him get bigger while they monitor the tail and make sure there are no negative health effects. If all's well in 2 months, they will put him back up for adoption, but she says they'll likely add a few questions to narrow down prospective candidates.

Rochelle adds, Narwhal's been checked by a vet and she's been told there is no reason to remove the tail -- it doesn't wag and has no bone structure -- so it would be a cosmetic surgery.

An active shooter situation is going down at a high school in California ... and at least 5 people have been injured, according to the Santa Clarita Sheriff's Department.

Authorities in Los Angeles County responded Thursday morning to reports of shots being fired at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita ... and an Asian male suspect wearing all black is still at large.

Saugus HS was placed on lockdown -- along with all schools in the district -- as at least 2 reported shooting victims have been loaded into ambulances and taken to the hospital. Various reports say as many as 7 people have been injured.

A video does show some students being evacuated with an armed officer.

Cops are still on the hunt for the suspect.

Story developing ...

Mark Cuban says he seriously considered running for President this year -- but his family ultimately shut it down.

The Dallas Mavericks owner has been talking about a possible 2020 presidential run for years -- and in 2017 told "OBJECTified" he'd run as a Republican to challenge Donald Trump.

But, a Cuban Campaign never came to fruition and Thursday in NYC, he explained why.

"My family voted it down," Cuban said ... "I would have done it if they said yes."

The 61-year-old billionaire isn't closing the door on a political career somewhere down the line -- "You never say never" -- but for now, he ain't ready to throw his hat in the ring.

PayPal's making a ton of adult performers moan, and not in a good way because it's putting an end to processing payments on Pornhub.

The devastating news for independent porn actors was announced late Wednesday night when PayPal decided to join several other banks and apps refusing to help them get paid for personal video clips posted on the porn site.

Pornhub allows independent performers to upload and sell their own videos, but they need a method to collect money from users. Financial institutions like JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Capital One, Square and Venmo have been out of the Pornhub biz for awhile ... so PayPal was one of the last remaining ways for performers to get paid.

Not anymore ... Pornhub says it's devastated by PayPal's decision to stop payouts "to over a hundred thousand performers who rely on them for their livelihoods." The platform is now scrambling to help performers who have pending PayPal payments.

PayPal hasn't said exactly why they're bailing, but the other financial institutions started making the same move after Congress passed the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act in 2018.

This is the latest blow for Pornhub, which just last month cut off all content from Girls Do Porn -- a separate company that was accused of coercing dozens of women into adult videos.

Kanye West's appearance at Joel Osteen's megachurch this Sunday is expected to draw overflow crowds ... and the folks at Lakewood Church are scrambling to avoid pandemonium.

We've learned the Church has contacted Ticketmaster and will offer tickets Friday for the first 45,000 takers. It will be strictly first come, first served, and the tickets are free.

Here's the catch. Tickets will only be available for the evening service, where Kanye and his choir will perform their already iconic Sunday Service. As we've first reported, there's an earlier service at 11 AM, where Ye will walk up to the pulpit and have a 20- to 30-minute conversation with Osteen. The 11 AM service will not be ticketed ... the first 45,000 who arrive get seated.

As for what Osteen will talk to Kanye about ... we're told the focus is how Ye found and embraced God.

As for Kanye's Sunday night Sunday Service ... our sources say Osteen's church provides top-of-the-line sound and lighting equipment but might need to find a way to make its stage bigger to accommodate the rapper's 100+ choir members. One source says the choir will be 120 strong.

We're also told the church has an overflow room if the crowd's too big ... and it will almost certainly be utilized.