Basketball

Bad news for Kobe Bryant ... his old pal, Rick Fox, says he probably won't have anything to do with nurturing Mamba's kids to hoops greatness ... but he has a perfectly good reason why.

We got Fox out at LAX and asked if he'd met Kobe's new daughter, Bianka Bella (he hasn't yet) -- but more importantly we wanted to know if Fox would be down to help train Kobe's girls in hoops.

Word is that Kobe's youngest, Gianna, is already flashing signs of the Mamba talent gene on the court ... but she'll still need some expert tutelage if she's gonna make it big, right?

John Calipari says people hating on players leaving college after one year wouldn't be hating if it were THEIR KID ... saying sometimes a short college stay is best for the the athlete.

Calipari is the head man in Kentucky -- a college bball powerhouse that routinely recruits the best players in the nation ... players who routinely leave after one season.

NBA stars like Anthony Davis, John Wall, Karl Anthony-Towns, and DeMarcus Cousins were one & dones for Coach Cal ... but when we got him out in NYC he says that's okay with him.

"If it's your son, you want him out in a year to go to the NBA. If it's someone else's son, you want him in for 4 years."

So, how does J.C. feel about the issues?

Marcedes Lewis says there's one thing UCLA stud athlete Lonzo Ball needs to avoid like the plague while he's tearing it up for the Bruins ... the one thing that can derail his entire college career.

THE DREADED THOTS OF WESTWOOD.

Ball is DOMINATING for UCLA right now ... with a lot of people saying he's already a lock for Player of the Year honors ... and maybe even the #1 pick in the draft.

We got Marcedes -- who was a stud football player for UCLA last decade -- at LAX and asked if he had any advice for Lonzo on dealing with the ladies ... and Marcedes said there's one type to watch out for.

Duke basketball star Grayson Allen has been suspended indefinitely by coach Mike Krzyzewski after tripping another opposing player Wednesday night ... at least the 3rd such incident in his college career.

Grayson flipped out on the bench after tripping Elon University player Steven Santa Ana in the first half of the game. It seemed Grayson had an emotional breakdown on the bench and was crying during the postgame interviews.

Now, Coach K has issued a statement on the situation ... describing Allen's punishment.

"We have had the opportunity to thoroughly review the incident involving Grayson Allen from last night's game against Elon. As I stated last night, the incideent was unacceptable and inexcusable."

"He took an important step last night by apologizing in person to Steven Santa Ana and Coach Matt Matheny."

This is awesome ...

Carmelo Anthony is giving his 9-year-old son some intense fathering ... instilling the kind of knowledge that could take him to the NBA one day ... and it was all caught on video.

Melo brought Kiyan Anthony out to the Knicks practice facility and ran some footwork drills with the kid -- teaching his son how to pivot and power a defender off of him to create space ... just like dad does.

Warning to LeBron's kids -- Kiyan looked like he was picking it up pretty fast.

The Harlem Globetrotters are back ... nailing a ridiculous and terrifying shot from 300 FEET IN THE AIR ... off the top of the Houston Texans stadium ... and we have the video.

The man -- Trotters forward Thunder Law (who's held 3 world records for crazy trick shots) -- climbed to the top of NRG Stadium (where the Texans play) and nailed the shot.

FYI -- Law's so high up ... it takes the ball over 4 seconds to reach the hoop.

Check out the shot!

Kenny Smith says his good friend, Craig Sager, gave him marching orders for his funeral in case he lost his battle with cancer ... wanting anyone who showed up to dress as colorful as Sager did.

We talked to Kenny ... who worked with Craig for years as part of the TNT basketball crew ... and asked him if there was any specific way Sager wanted the crowd to look at his homegoing.

"He told us to dress loudly."

Of course, Sager was known for his crazy suit game (and his professionalism and dignity), so the fact that he wanted his service to look a little lively is no surprise at all.

You gotta hear Kenny talk about it though ... clear how much love he had for the guy.

Memphis Grizzlies fans were PISSED when the Cleveland Cavaliers decided to sit their Big 3 earlier this week ... and Krayzie Bone doesn't blame 'em one bit.

LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love took the night off in the Cavs' 93-85 loss to the Grizz ... and the Bone Thugs-N-Harmony member is siding with the fans on this one, despite his love for The Land.

K.B. shares the reception he'd get if he tried to pull the same thing at one of his concerts ... and he's definitely got a point.

Terrell Owens might be 43 but it's hard to tell from his hoops game ... 'cause judging by this video TMZ Sports got of him ballin' in L.A., the guy still has it.

T.O. was balling up at the Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks, and showed flashes of the athleticism that's gonna make him an NFL Hall Of Famer one day (seriously guys, put the man in).

Peep the clip ... T.O. calmly drains a three off a sick assist from the guard ... then darts up the court and straight Mutombos a shot from a guy who obviously hasn't read his scouting report.

It's been an up-and-down season for the Boston Celtics ... but that's not keeping superfan Mark Wahlberg from staying positive ... saying the Celtics will finish with one of the best records in the East.

Boston was predicted to be one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference ... but currently sit just a couple games above .500 at 13-11.

So, when we saw Mark in NYC promoting his new movie "Patriots Day," we asked about the teams less-than-stellar start.

Mark ain't worried though ... saying it's WAYYY too early to freak out, predicting that the Celts will finish with either the 3rd or 4th seed in the East.

Drake spotting at a women's college basketball game in Malibu today ... where the rap star was on hand to watch Pepperdine vs. UNLV ... all to support a smokin' hot pair of baller twins.

Everyone knows Drake is a huge fan of the Gonzalez twins -- Dylan and Dakota -- stars on the UNLV squad. He's been seen at their games before.

But this time, Drizzy followed the Running Rebels on a road trip to cheer on his ladies -- and we're told once word spread he was on campus, a bunch of students raced to the gym to catch a peek.

By the way, UNLV won ... thanks to a stellar performance from the sisters.

Klay Thompson's 60 point explosion didn't go unnoticed by his NBA pops ... who says he was awestruck watching his son burn the Indiana Pacers Monday night and filled with fatherly pride.

TMZ Sports spoke with Mychal Thompson -- Klay's dad and a former #1 pick in the NBA Draft -- to get his take on KT's historic shooting ... where he scored 60 points in just 29 minutes of play.

"I was in awe and amazement, like any fan would be ... he should proud of himself."

Mychal was no slouch when he played, winning two championships with the Showtime Lakers and making the all-rookie team ... but says Klay has already surpassed his career in just his 5th season.

NBA great Gary Payton says there's no doubt that the league is a little more Charmin then it was when he was in it ... but says that's a GOOD thing, cause it makes the game a lot safer for kids.

We got the Glove out at Catch in L.A. and asked him about some comments he'd made on Twitter earlier this year about the state of the game ... basically that he couldn't play in this ticky tack foul era.

That's when Payton got into it ... saying the game is a lot more exposed now, and you have to keep things clean if you don't want young players Draymond Green-ing each other in the nuts.

NFL great Fran Tarkenton says athletes who turn down an invitation to Trump's White House are "disrespectful" and "stupid" ... adding, "Nobody boycotted Obama 'cause he's black, did they?"

Change Shaq's name to Bennett, cause he says he AIN'T IN IT when it comes to the beef between Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley ... telling TMZ Sports he's staying all the way out of the discourse.

Shaq would actually be a good candidate to Jimmy Carter the situation ... he's close to both men, working alongside Barkley on TNT ... and being frat brothers and friends with MJ.

But when we got him out in DC he made it clear ... he ain't the big Henry Kissinger ... saying he's totally on the sidelines when it comes to the Hall Of Fame beef.

Freshman sensation Lonzo Ball wasted no time taking college hoops by storm ... and now former UCLA star Baron Davis is showing a LOT of love for the young hooper ... proclaiming Ball a future NBA All-Star.

TMZ Sports spoke with B.D. about the freshman phenom -- who leads the NCAA in assists (9 per game) as a freshman -- and it's clear Baron expects nothing but greatness.

"He will definitely be a UCLA Hall of Famer," Davis says. "He's following right after Russ (Westbrook) and all the rest of the great point guards."

Dominating ain't new for Ball. He's been hyped up since his high school days, taking his Chino Hills H.S. team to a perfect 35-0 record and a state title.