Lamar Odom spent time in Africa with his girlfriend, Rachel Bradley ... and TMZ has video of their epic adventure involving watching gorillas and meeting with local politicians.
The athlete and his arm candy flew to Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo, for the presidential election with friends, former NBA stars D.J. Mbenga and Trevor Ariza.
Lamar and his pals hung out with Rodrigue Nguesso, who works with high-ranking officials, and they stayed for the election on March 15.
J. Cole is reflecting on his impressively brief Chinese basketball experience ... explaining his time with the Nanjing Monkey Kings was cut short due to visa issues.
The rapper and part-time hooper played just eight minutes of action in one game for the pro team ... but the initial plan was to make three appearances before the paperwork hiccup got in the way.
Devastating health update from Dick Vitale ... the college hoops legend revealed he's been diagnosed with cancer in his lung and liver cavity -- but Dickie V says he'll again kick the disease's ass!
Vitale, 86, shared the bad news Monday afternoon through ESPN public relations.
"Today, my oncologist, Dr. Brown, informed me that my biopsy results confirmed a diagnosis of melanoma in my lung and liver cavity. I will be starting immunotherapy shortly and I plan on winning this battle."
Pope Leo XIV remembers the good old days of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen on his hometown Chicago Bulls ... and, he's clearly got some skills with the rock ... or at least some great teachers.
The head of the Catholic Church welcomed the Harlem Globetrotters to St. Peters' Square Wednesday ... and they showed him how to spin a basketball on his finger.
Check it out -- one of the athletes starts spinning the ball while he gets the pope's finger into position ... then passes it off to him ... sorta.
WNBA player Sophie Cunningham is the latest athlete to join the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit family ... and there are a LOT of happy basketball fans as a result.
The Indiana Fever guard is following in the footsteps of Sue Bird, Te'a Cooper, Cameron Brink and Angel Reese ... fellow hoopers who have graced the magazine pages over the years.
Cunningham was photographed in Ft. Myers, Florida at South Seas for her debut in the 2026 issue ... with photographer Katherine Goguen snapping away as she posed in a white bikini.
The fallout from the NCAA Women's Final Four dust-up between GenoAuriemma and DawnStaley is still buzzing … but PaigeBueckers isn’t piling on her old coach.
TMZSports caught up with the ex-UConn star outside LAX on Monday -- and the reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year is keeping the focus where she thinks it belongs. She admitted that while the handshake line situation wasn’t ideal, the real shame is that the controversy stole attention from the play on the court.
“It’s unfortunate,” Bueckers said, pointing out there was “so much good basketball being played” across the tournament … shouting out each of the Final Four teams that ended up taking a backseat to the noise.
The Michigan Wolverines are partying like it's 1989 -- they just became the 2026 NCAA champions, their first title in almost four decades ... and they had every reason to celebrate after a hard-fought run to the top.
The Wolverines claimed the crown at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Monday night, sealing the win as the final buzzer sounded with a 69-63 score.
The Wolverines lost their minds after the clock hit zero, delivering their first national title since 1989 -- when future NBA champion Glen Rice led the team and took home the MVP honors.
The Chi Barbie is set to become the ATL Barbie ... 'cause Angel Reese is heading down south to Atlanta in a trade from the Sky to the Dream.
Taylor Rooks reported the news Monday morning, saying Chicago and Atlanta have agreed to terms that will unite the two-time All-Star with Brittney Griner, Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard.
The Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team is gunning to return to the championship game for the first time since losing to Villanova back in 2018 ... and Trey Burke has a message for the squad ahead of their showdown with Arizona in just a few hours!
"Staying in the moment," Burke told TMZ Sports. "It's easy to think about what could happen, win or lose, you know, get caught up just in the festivities and just realizing you're actually here."
"I think the biggest thing is staying in the moment, really enjoying the moment and getting lost in the game. It is one of those games that you can't really go back in time and redo."
The Washington Wizards are apologizing for an April Fools' prank that left folks more pissed than amused ... claiming everyone involved in the skit knew it was staged.
The team made it seem as if a random fan named Jackson had a chance at winning $10K during a break in the action Wednesday night -- all he had to do was nail a half-court shot while blindfolded.
Unfortunately for him, he missed -- but the MC and the mascots all acted like he drilled the shot ... and Jackson seemed pretty convinced.
It sure sounds like it, but this is no April Fools' Day joke -- J. Colesigned with a Chinese Basketball Association team on Wednesday ... and wasted no time getting to work.
The award-winning rapper inked a deal with the Nanjing Monkey Kings, according to ESPN's Shams Charania ... and dropped his first video on Doyin, a Chinese short video-sharing platform, saying he was "excited" to be in the vicinity.
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He was also caught on video at the Monkey Kings' practice ... doing drills and going through pre-game warm-ups, while fans showed him plenty of love -- high-fiving J. Cole as he made his way into the arena.
Jaden Ivey's wife, Caitlyn, is breaking her silence after the former Bulls player claimed she cut off communication after Chicago released him following his anti-Pride comments ... disputing what she calls a "lie" from her husband.
"We were communicating all morning of that day," she wrote on Instagram. "People say things for attention, do not be deceived."
The drama between the couple started the day after the Bulls cut Ivey loose, when he revealed, "my wife in here, and she not even texting me."
Jaden Iveyjetted out of town after the Chicago Bulls cut him following his anti-Pride comments ... with the hooper going live to discuss the situation as he waited to take off, before a flight attendant made him turn off his phone.
The 24-year-old's destination was unknown, but he was on a commercial flight when he started streaming to some of his 219K Instagram followers ... loudly discussing religion and sin.
As Ivey spoke, the safety briefing played in the background. A flight attendant eventually approached him, asking him to wrap things up as the cell phone could interfere with the communication system.
When asked to name his favorite memory, Tristan was quick to list his first date with Khloe. And he remembered everything she had on!
He said, "She had leave-in conditioner in her hair, she had one of those hats we used to wear -- the Smokey the Bear hats -- body suit, Good American jeans on."
Hollywood marched their sexy selves right onto Instagram this month -- crushing the selfie game .... and capitalizing on their fit physiques and fame ...
Sexy stars like Livvy Dunne put up a slam dunk with her "Baywatch" shot, and Hailey Bieber and Dess Dior's booty thirst traps will bust all your brackets!
AJ Dybantsa is headed for NBA superstardom … but he’s clearly not rushing out of college life just yet.
The potential No. 1 NBA Draft pick didn’t just attend Thursday’s BYU women's basketball’s WBIT matchup with Stanford -- he made sure it was a scene.
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After firing off a pregame tweet calling on fans to pack the gym, Dybantsa pulled up with his teammates -- Rob Wright III, KJ Perry, Khadim Mboup, Abdullah “Bido” Ahmed, DominiqueDiomande and Xavion Staton -- and planted himself in the front row, leading chants and jawing at the Stanford bench like he was part of The ROC himself.
