Basketball

Derek Fisher says Carmelo Anthony needs to be focused on family ... not basketball ... and promises he'll reach out to his former player and help him cope with the separation from his superstar wife, La La.

Derek coached Melo on the Knicks a few years back -- and when we got him out in Calabasas with his GF, Gloria Govan, we had to ask if he'd he heard the news about Melo's marriage.

Interesting question for Fisher (Govan LITERALLY sips tea when we ask) ... but he goes full-on friend, saying Anthony should tune out everything except his family. He also promises to call Melo to offer his support.

James Worthy ain't backing down from Kevin Durant -- saying the NBA star was not only WRONG when he trashed him on a recent podcast, but claims KD's underhanded allegations could seriously damage his career.

Worthy is upset about a story Durant told on "The Bill Simmons Podcast" -- in which KD says he met Worthy last year and they had a very cool conversation about Durant leaving OKC for Golden State.

But Kevin says he learned a short time later that Worthy trashed him about the move during a TV interview. Durant felt betrayed and called James "shady" and "corny."

But Worthy says Durant's version of the story is simply untrue -- and he was so upset, he tracked down the TV interview in question to prove he's not a two-faced liar.

Worthy says he reached out to the Golden State Warriors in an effort to clear things up with Durant and had hoped KD would set the record straight on a podcast this week, but that didn't happen.

Worthy says he's REALLY upset at KD's agent, Rich Kleiman, for encouraging the NBA star to "go negative."

Still, James says Durant is one of his favorite players and he hopes they can squash the beef.

Rajon Rondo rocked a short sleeve suit jacket to the Bulls game Friday night ... and we gotta say -- kinda swag!!!

Ronda is currently nursing an injured thumb and has a cast on his right hand that might prevent him from fitting his arm into a regular full sleeve.

So, he made an adjustment and went short-sleeved ... and totally pulled it off!

Russell Westbrook's potty mouth just cost him $15,000 ... 'cause the Thunder superstar just got slapped with a fine for his "I don't give a f*** about the (stat) line" comment.

You've seen the clip ... Brodie was asked about his 51-point triple-double performance in Wednesday's loss to the Rockets and snapped back with the viral quote.

It's not the first time Russ has been fined for cussing ... and probably won't be the last. But the dude can afford it ... he's in the middle of an $85 million contract.

There's only one way to celebrate a monster playoff performance like DeAndre Jordan had Tuesday night -- HIT THE NIGHTCLUB!!

Jordan headed straight to Avenue Nightclub in Hollywood after dominating the Jazz with 18 points and 15 rebounds and helping the Clippers tie the series at 1-1 ... hanging out until after 1 AM.

But don't trip ... Lob City has a couple days off until their next game, so he should be good to go come Friday.

Sorry, LSU fans ... Shaq's son, Shareef O'Neal, has verbally committed to play college hoops for the Arizona Wildcats ... his AAU team announced Wednesday.

The 6'8" junior is a 5-star recruit out of Crossroads H.S. in California ... and had interest from other powerhouses like UCLA, Kentucky, Georgetown as well as his dad's alma mater.

Shareef is one of the country's top young talents and told us late last year he's confident he can have a better NBA career than his Hall of Famer dad.

Watch the highlights ... kid's got talent.

Todd Marinovich says he's concerned LaVar Ball is putting too much pressure on his son, Lonzo ... telling TMZ Sports, "I wish people would just step back and just let these kids have fun."

Floyd Mayweather took his rain-makin' abilities from the strip club to the basketball court Thursday night ... and the champ had no problem cashing in.

Floyd posted the video showing off his solid jumper ... knocking down 6 straight shots with ease.

Tennessee Titans tight end Delanie Walker JUST returned from a trip with the U.S. military -- and says he realized he played college football against one of the soldiers!

Walker was part of a USO tour to various U.S. military bases in the Middle East, Asia and North America -- where he learned how to fire weapons, ride camels and even threw around the pigskin!

In fact, Walker and Cam Jordan even hit some trick shots -- involving a basketball hoop!

In the end, Walker said he LOVED the trip and has even more respect for our troops.

DeAndre Jordan wants his quarterback, Tony Romo, in Los Angeles ... to play for the Clippers ... telling TMZ Sports he wishes Tony was suiting up for his squad, and not the Mavericks.

Why is anyone talking about Romo playing basketball? 'Cause Tony is actually suiting up for the Mavericks in the team's home finale -- FOR REAL -- as a special send-off from owner Mark Cuban.

Jordan is a HUGE Cowboys fan, so when we got him out in L.A. we had to ask about Romo's hoops debut, and Jordan made it clear ... he wishes it were with the Clippers.

Cool sentiment, but we're not sure if Lob City needs another guy who can't win the big one.

NBA player Tony Allen LOVES him some LaVar Ball, like he REALLY loves him ... so much that he tells TMZ Sports he thinks he would've been the first pick in the NBA draft ... had Ball been his dad.

We got Tony out in L.A. and when we brought up Ball to him, the former NBA champ couldn't stop gushing, saying he wished there were more dads like LaVar in the black community.

Allen then says he longed for that type of support -- he had a relationship with his dad, but was raised by a single mom in Chicago -- claiming Ball's controversial parenting would've made him even greater.

"If my daddy would've been like that, I'd have probably went #1."

LaVar Ball claims his comment criticizing white players on UCLA's basketball team wasn't racist ... saying "that's just a realistic fact."

Ball joined "Tiki and Tierney" on CBS Sports Radio to address his controversial statement ... “You can’t win no championship with three white guys because the foot speed is too slow.”

Ball insists he wasn't blaming Lonzo's teammates for losing to Kentucky, saying he places all the fault on his son.

"But I said prove me wrong that you can’t win nowadays with three white guys on the floor at the same time," Ball says. "I’m not saying I don’t like white people and white people can’t win or nothing like that."

"I’m just saying when you have more athleticism (on the floor), it’s kind of hard when you don’t have the foot speed. That’s just a realistic fact.”

“It’s not racial. I can’t be racial. Some people just take it the wrong way and that’s okay."

Michael Rapaport has had ENOUGH of LaVar Ball's trash talk -- and just tore Lonzo's dad a new a-hole for the comments he made about "white guys" being inferior basketball players.

The actor/basketball fanatic said he's sick of people giving LaVar a "pass" under the guise of being a "good father" ... and says it's time Ball starts being held accountable for the offensive statements he's made.

He also rips LaVar's Big Baller Brand shirts -- saying they look "uncomfortable as f*ck."

LaVar Ball is blaming UCLA's white players for the school's loss in the Sweet 16 -- claiming they just don't have the foot speed to compete with black guys.

Seriously. He said this.

Lonzo Ball's famously outspoken dad was speaking to the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin's Clay Fowler when he broke down why the Bruins imploded.

"You can’t win no championship with three white guys because the foot speed is too slow," LaVar said.

Those three players -- TJ Leaf, Bryce Alford and Thomas Welsh -- have yet to comment ... but they combined for 39 points in the loss to Kentucky.

By the way, Leaf is projected to be a 1st round NBA Draft pick ... despite his whiteness.

Seems everything's cool between Patrick Ewing and John Thompson -- despite the fact he's replacing JT's son as the new head coach at Georgetown ... because they hugged it out moments ago.

Ewing was on the Georgetown University campus when he ran into his old college coach (they won a national title together in 1984) -- and they embraced.

Of course, Ewing is taking over the program from John's son, John Thompson III -- and people were wondering how it would affect their relationship.

Championships = bonfires.

Bonfires = burn injuries.

Officials in Chapel Hill tell TMZ Sports 4 people suffered burns from the victory fires on Franklin Street following the Monday night championship game.

The stats aren't bad considering there were roughly 55,000 people partying their faces off.

We're told no arrests were made and only 7 people were injured (including the 4 burn victims).

Officials say the fires were extinguished and cleaned up without further incident and the streets were reopened to vehicle traffic around 2 AM.

A rep for Chapel Hill tells us, "The Town would like to thank all its many Town employees and area partners for a collaborative effort to watch out for the safety of the people of Chapel Hill."