Basketball Wives

"Basketball Wives" star Jennifer Williams is finally fighting back after being slapped in the face by her reality show nemesis Nia Crooks ... with a big, fat, stinging lawsuit.

TMZ broke the story ... Williams filed a police report after the January 21 incident, in which she claims Crooks delivered an "open hand" slap to the left side of her face during a group outing to a race track in Florida.

The incident was caught on tape by the "Basketball Wives" crew and aired last week. During the melee, Crooks threatened Williams right before the attack ... saying, "Do I need to slap you in the face to wake you up?"

Williams replied, "I wish you would." She got her wish.

Williams has now followed up with a civil suit in NY ... going after Nia's ass for assault and battery. In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Jennifer claims she suffered serious injuries in the attack ... as well as "mental shock, mental anguish and psychological trauma”

Williams is demanding Nia fork over a massive check for all of her medical expenses and other damages.

Dwight Howard's baby mama -- "Basketball Wives" star Royce Reed -- desperately wants the freedom to publicly trash talk her ex ... so she's asking a judge to lift the gag order that forces her to keep her mouth shut.

Royce had agreed to gag herself back in 2009 in her never-ending, bitter custody dispute with Dwight. But Reed now has a few things on her mind that she wants to share with anyone who will listen. Reading between the lines, here's what she wants to say:

-- Dwight is not morally fit to have custody of their son
-- Dwight's mental state is sketchy
-- Dwight has funny substances laying around the house the kid shouldn't see
-- And she has other horrible things she wants to say about Dwight

Mind you, those are just allegations, but she wants to file legal docs making these allegations and she wants the documents available to the public.

The act of "making it rain" is usually one reserved for the male of our species -- but last night in Miami, "Basketball Wives" star Evelyn Lozada proved the women can do it too!

Lozada was hosting an event at G5 Strip Club. We're told the girls kept coming to Evelyn to dance for her and even gave the soon-to-be Mrs. Chad Ochocinco a few dance moves.

According to our sources, Evelyn dropped around $2,000 ... one George Washington at a time.

"Basketball Wives" star Kenya Bell spent $110,000 on plastic surgery and surgery-related expenses -- this according to her estranged husband ... who's now trying to prove she's completely reckless with her money.

It's the latest in the couple's divorce battle -- Kenya filed docs complaining her basketball-playing husband Charlie Bell has been shopping at Louis Vuitton in Paris ... while she struggles to provide for their children.

Charlie fired back with an explosive response -- listing off ALL the ways Kenya has allegedly squandered hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years ... and it's wild.

According to the docs, Kenya spent ...

-- $82,000 on a Corvette, which she drove for 3 weeks -- then resold it for $61,000
-- $12,000 on a motorcycle
-- $20,000 on criminal attorneys
-- $150,000 on "miscellaneous expenses to get even with Mr. Bell"
-- $3,000 on her brother's electric bill
-- $9,000 on luggage and shoes
-- and $110,000 on plastic surgeries and expenses in L.A. for the plastic surgery trips

Charlie -- who currently plays pro ball in Italy -- also claims he gave Kenya $200,000 before leaving for Europe ... so he wants the court to deny her request for him to set aside a large chunk of his money for support.

"Basketball Wives" star Tami Roman signed an endorsement deal with a line of hair extensions in which she promised to feature the product on her show -- but a new lawsuit claims she not only didn't deliver on that promise ... but she featured her own hair line on the show instead!

According to a lawsuit filed earlier this month in Texas, Roman agreed to become a spokesperson for Crème De La Crème Hair. In the lawsuit, Crème says part of the deal called for Roman to "have an appearance on VH1's 'Basketball Wives' where she will discuss her hair line with the [Crème's] owners."

But according to Crème, Tami bailed on every attempt they made to coordinate their appearance on the show.

The final straw for Crème came last month when Roman was supposed to promote Crème at a hair show in Atlanta. They claim Roman showed up as planned with a "BB Wives" film crew ... but was there promoting her OWN line of hair in competition with Crème. They also claim Tami's manager instructed the crew not to film anything Crème.

Crème is suing for damages in excess of $75,000 and they want the footage shot for "BB Wives" pulled from the show unless it's edited to feature them.

The mother of NBA star Dwight Howard's son wants the judge in their custody case removed stat ... because she claims he has it out for women who have children out of wedlock with NBA stars.

Royce Reed is battling Dwight in court in an effort to retain primary custody of their son. Dwight filed docs earlier this month to try and wrangle custody from her ... claiming she interferes with his relationship with their son and makes it difficult for him to see the boy on his scheduled days.

The "Basketball Wives" star came back this week with a motion of her own ... to have Judge Tim Shea taken off the case. She claims he has a bias against baby mamas and she fears he may side with Dwight because he's a local celebrity.

In her filing, Reed claims Shea wouldn't let her present her side during a court hearing last month. Reed's lawyer also filed an affidavit saying that during the hearing, Judge Shea said he would award Howard custody, then decided to delay his decision ... despite the fact no evidence had been presented.

Reed also claims there might be a conflict of interest since Shea's own website lists one of Howard's lawyers, Mayanne Downs, as one of his endorsers (see below).

Reed pleads in the docs, "I am afraid if Judge Shea continues to preside over this case, I will lose custody of my son."

Chad Ochocinco and Evelyn Lozada have signed their deal to do a "Basketball Wives" spinoff show with VH1 ... and they each have 300,000 reasons to celebrate ... TMZ has learned.

According to our sources, filming on the new show will begin in the next few weeks, right after taping for "Wives" ends. We're told the show will focus on the couple as they get ready to exchange vows this summer.

Our sources say negotiations finally wrapped last week and the two will each take home $300,000 for about two months of work.

As TMZ first reported, when Evelyn re-upped her contract with "Basketball Wives" last year, part of the deal called for VH1 to give her and Chad their own show.

"Basketball Wives" star Kenya Bell is finding out ... a marriage just can't hold up when you attack your husband with a box cutter -- because the guy just filed for divorce.

Former NBA'er Charlie Bell filed the papers in Michigan Court -- claiming there was a breakdown in the marriage (no duh).

Kenya -- presumably separated from Charlie at the time -- was famously arrested in May 2011, after allegedly breaking into the couple's home and attacking Charlie with a box cutter in front of their children.

Kenya was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and domestic violence -- but struck a plea deal in which she avoided jail time ... pleading guilty to misdemeanor domestic violence.

Calls to Kenya were not returned.

A "Basketball Wives" vacation to Tahiti ended early for one cast member after an argument between two girls ended with one refusing to give back the other's purse ... TMZ has learned.

According to our sources, Tami Roman and Kesha Nichols got into it last month about halfway through the trip because Tami felt Kesha was talking behind the other girls' backs. We're told the two had it out over dinner and Kesha stormed out ... leaving her purse behind.

Our sources say Tami took the purse and held on to it, hoping Kesha would come retrieve it and they could finish their conversation. But when Kesha found out Tami had retreated back to her hotel room with the purse, we're told Kesha got hotel security involved.

Hotel security wanted to get the local police involved, but our sources say the producers of the show talked Tami into returning the purse to Kesha before the authorities got involved.

We're told once the matter was settled, Kesha decided to hop the next plane back to the States.

Last time the girls went on vacation, it was to Italy ... and Tami punched cast member Meeka Claxton during a nightclub brawl.

Evelyn Lozada claims she did nothing wrong when she accepted over half a million dollars from her ex-fiancé, former NBA star Antoine Walker, because she had no idea he was in debt ... this according to court docs filed this week.

As TMZ first reported, the "Basketball Wives" star is being sued by the bankruptcy trustee in Walker's case who claims Walker funneled money to her while they were engaged as a way to hide if from his creditors.

Lozada has responded to the suit with an answer filed Friday in bankruptcy court in Miami. She claims she was not aware of Walker's financial problems and questionable business deals.

According to the docs, Lozada denies the allegation that Walker's money was used to open her shoe store, Dulce. She says any money she got from Walker was "used for the ordinary living expenses of the [Walker] and his household" and that she was simply an intermediary for Walker.

"Basketball Wives" star Jennifer Williams' feud with Evelyn Lozada's assistant ain't over -- TMZ has learned, the assistant is now taking their beef to the police ... accusing Jennifer of stealing her house keys.

The assistant -- Nia Crooks (right) -- filed a theft report against Jennifer Monday with the Hallandale Police Department, claiming JW is refusing to return the house keys Nia loaned her two months ago ... back when they were still friends.

TMZ broke the story -- Jennifer filed a battery report against Nia last month, claiming the assistant got violent with her at a "Basketball Wives" shoot at some Florida racetrack ... and we're told, tensions have been running high ever since.

According to sources, Jennifer has been making thinly-veiled threats to Nia since the racetrack scuffle -- things like "watch your back" -- and Nia doesn't feel comfortable with Jennifer having a key to her house.

We're told Nia has repeatedly asked Jennifer to return the keys to no avail -- so she's turning to law enforcement for help, completely baffled by Jennifer's behavior.

A peaceful day of filming "Basketball Wives" at a racetrack in Florida ended up in a fight between Jennifer Williams and an assistant for Evelyn Lozada ... and it's all detailed in a police report obtained by TMZ.

Sources close to the show tell TMZ ... the girls were all in a VIP suite at the Gulf Stream Race Track in Hallandale, FL last Saturday. We're told Nia Crooks -- who is Evelyn's assistant and to be friends with Jennifer as well -- called out Jennifer ... who the other girls feel has become "too big for britches."

According to our sources, the two got face-to-face and Nia pushed Williams in the face to get her away. In the police report, Williams described it as being "intentional struck by Crooks with an open hand to the left side of her face."

Williams told police security from the production company then stepped in to intervene. Our sources say that's true ... but that security also grabbed Lozada to keep her from jumping in after Williams.

In the report, the officer states he saw no injuries on Williams and told her she could file a misdemeanor complaint with the state attorney’s office if she wanted to pursue the matter further.

The police report also states Williams believes the entire incident was captured on video.

Vanessa Bryant has become the Holy Grail for "Basketball Wives" producers ... and TMZ has learned, the people behind the VH1 show are prepping to make her an offer she can't refuse.

Multiple sources close to the production tell us, producers are putting together "an extremely lucrative pitch for Vanessa" ... for her to become a recurring character.

As one source put it, “Vanessa has more than enough storyline and would bring the show to another level.”

As for the timing -- we're told producers never dreamed of approaching Vanessa while she was married to Kobe ... and our sources say Vanessa would NOT have been receptive.

Budget constraints were also an issue when the show was in its infant stages -- because producers knew Vanessa would be very expensive -- but now that BW's one of the highest rated shows on the network, producers have lots more to spend on talent.

If Vanessa accepts, we're told producers would instantly make her a LEAD on the LA edition of the show.

Chad Ochocinco has saved his relationship with Evelyn Lozada the old fashioned way ... with a lot of groveling ... and the wedding is back on, this according to sources close to the couple.

As TMZ first reported, Lozada put their wedding plans on hold after she suspected Ocho was stepping out on her.

But according to our sources, Ocho broke down this week and apologized. We're told Ocho said he would do whatever it took to win her back and suggested the two go to couple's counseling.

Our sources say Evelyn agreed and they will seek help to work out their trust issues.

Through a rep, Evelyn tells TMZ, "The strain from both our busy schedules started to take a serious toll on our relationship. Yet after spending some much needed quality time together, Chad and I are in a good space."

YOU SKANK, YOU STOLE MY HAIR!!! ... that's the essence of a new -- and might we say hilarious -- lawsuit against "Basketball Wives" star Tami Roman.

Constance Corleone -- who owns an extension line called Bella Dream Hair -- filed the case, claiming Tami's rep contacted her last September and asked to try out Constance's product.

According to the suit, Constance obliged, and then was horrified to learn Tami had fired up her own extension line under the name, Curls By Roman. What's worse, Constance claims, Tami was advertising her line with a pic of her wearing Constance's extensions.

Thus began a serious of very funny tweets, including one from Tami which read, "Fraudulent people trying to take credit NOT. People trying to take credit for this hair. WTF they crazy."

After some back and forth, with Constance demanding that Tami send her extensions back to her, Tami tweeted, "Mad that I already mailed that S**T back2u cuz I got they address-would took it to Constance myself lying bitch."

Constance is suing for more than $500k.

Evelyn Lozada -- one of the stars of "Basketball Wives" who was once engaged to former NBA All-Star Antoine Walker -- is being sued for allegedly receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars illegally.

The story is shocking. Walker raked in a whopping $110 million during his NBA career, in addition to untold millions in endorsements and other deals ... and he blew ALL OF IT and a lot more.

Walker filed for bankruptcy last year, and now the bankruptcy trustee smells a rat. It seems Walker gave Lozada $560,000 when he already knew he was going belly up. The trustee has sued Lozada, claiming the transfer was fraudulent -- an attempt to hide money from legitimate creditors.

The trustee says Lozada used the money to start a Miami shoe store called Dulce, and now the trustee wants the $560k back.

We're told Lozada and Walker insist there was no funny business. He gave her the money to help pay her bills. Sources say Lozada funded Dulce NOT with the $560k, but by selling her engagement ring. And, our sources say, Lozada had no idea Walker was so deep in debt.