Basketball

If this is true ... watch out.

Kenyon Martin Jr. -- a high school sophomore -- says he's confident he can beat his ex-NBA superstar father in 1-on-1 ... and his dad isn't really disputing it!

Kenyon Jr. is 6'6", 185 lbs and is already being recruited by some big college programs. The fact he's already got highlights that have gone viral doesn't hurt.

So, when Jr. and Sr. were out earlier Thursday, we had to ask, who's the better player right now?

Kid doesn't lack confidence.

Cookie Johnson says when it comes to all things Lakers -- including potential #1 draft pick Lonzo Ball -- she refuses to share her opinion ... telling TMZ Sports, "I stay in my lane!"

Magic Johnson's wife was out shopping in Beverly Hills on Tuesday when she told us sports is Magic's territory -- adding, "I have a lot of confidence in my husband."

Cookie and Magic have been married for 25 years and are extremely close -- so the question is ... you REALLY think Cookie has no opinion on Lonzo or LaVar Ball???

Some huge basketball stars say they'll happily rock Lonzo Ball's new shoe ... and are willing to pay the special price of free 99 ... 'cause the whole $500 dollar thing ain't happening, ever.

We were out at LAX and ran into Mo Bamba & Kris Wilkes ... two 5-star basketball recruits according to Rivals, and asked them if they'd play in Lonzo's shoe.

It's an especially good question for Wilkes, he's actually headed to UCLA next year, where he'll be hooping alongside one of the younger Ball brothers ... LiAngelo.

Good news and bad news for LaVar ... both kids said they'd play in the shoe, but NEITHER said they'd be willing to pay the insane $500 price tag.

T.I. has advice for Lonzo Ball when it comes to his brand new rap career ... PRESS PAUSE ... and focus on becoming an NBA star first.

Ball just made his first foray into the rap world -- a freestyle over Drake's "Free Smoke" -- and so far, the response has been pretty positive.

T.I. admits he's curious and "might" check out the track ... but doesn't want Lonzo to stray from basketball right now.

How big of a baller do you have to be to have Drake make a signature Jordan shoe in your honor, and never even tell you about it?

Only John Calipari knows the answer to this question ... 'cause according to John that's exactly what the 6 God did with his latest sneaker, and the legendary coach couldn't be prouder about it.

Drake's dropping the Jordan OVO 8 "Calipari Pack" soon, and when we got John out in New York he told us he was utterly flattered, but completely clueless it was happening.

As a matter of fact, Cal says that it wasn't until some of his players clued him in on it that he actually knew the shoes had been made, but that didn't stop him from gushing about Drake.

BTW ... we also asked how Drake is as a basketball player, Cal didn't answer. Smooth coach.

Shaq better book an Airbnb when he travels to Arizona to watch his son Shareef play for the Wildcats ... 'cause Charles Barkley says the Big Diesel is a little too damn big to stay with him.

Barkley lives in Phoenix, and when we got him out in NYC our camera guy asked what Chuck thought about Shareef committing to play ball in his neck of the woods.

That's when things turned HILARIOUS ... and Barkley had to remind Shaq his house ain't no damn hotel ... especially if you're of the big and tall variety.

Bonus shade? Watch Chuck react to our guy saying Shaq is the best big man of all time. Classic.

Here's Boston Celtics superstar Isaiah Thomas arriving in D.C. on Wednesday for his playoff game with the Washington Wizards ... but we couldn't help noticing the way he walked off the team bus.

Some people in our office thought it looked like a limp ... like he was favoring his left leg.

Others are saying he just walks with swag -- and maybe he was just tight from the bus ride.

Is Magic Johnson making a play for Lonzo Ball? Will Kobe Bryant ever join the Lakers front office? When will the Lake Show actually win a championship again?

All questions we posed for a guy who knows all about this kind of stuff ... Magic Johnson's son, Andre!

AJ was out at Porta Via restaurant in Beverly Hills when asked about the state of his father's basketball team.

Not everybody is out to kill LaVar Ball -- especially Kentucky coaching legend John Calipari who just praised the Big Baller for the relationship he has with his son.

John was at the BTIG charity event in NYC on Tuesday when we asked how he thinks Lonzo Ball will fare in the NBA ... and the projection is good. Really good.

That's when we asked if he ever had to "deal with" a father like LaVar at Kentucky -- and we got a very interesting answer.

"I was so far removed, I don't even know what that means. I know he's involved. But fathers being involved aren't always bad for these kids."

Calipari also praised the "loving relationship" LaVar shares with his son.

Shaq's kid might now belong to Arizona, but it's clear the Diesel's heart could still belong to LSU, 'cause he refused to answer who he'd root for if the two school's happen to play each other.

We got the big man out in NYC and talked to him about Shareef finally picking a school ... University of Arizona ... and how much Shaq had to do with it.

O'Neal answered ... saying he had nothing to do with that call ... what he DIDN'T answer is who he'd be yelling for if the Wildcats play the Tigers, where of course Shaq is a legend.

LeBron James(briefly) stole the show at a youth basketball tournament this weekend ... throwing down a 2-handed slam to remind everyone in attendance why he's called the King.

It all went down at the Dru Joyce Shooting Stars Classic in Akron ... where hundreds of the most talented kids in the country -- including LBJ's own boys -- compete in a huge tournament.

Bron showed the youngins how to really rock the rim ... and quickly left the court to bring the focus back to the kids.

Turns out, Antonio Brown is kind of a freak athlete.

The NFL star hit the basketball court with Miami Heat stud Hassan Whiteside on Thursday for a little 1-on-1 action at the Heat practice facility ... and the WR looked pretty good!

He hit some shots. He drove to the lane. Ball handling was good.

The only real issue he had was when Hassan actually tried ... it looked like a father playing ball in the backyard vs. his kid.

The secret Kobe Bryant pickup games at UCLA were even CRAZIER than we thought -- with a teenage Mamba killing legit NBA stars and future Hall of Famers.

But there's one guy who DIDN'T get his ass busted by 17-year-old Kobe ... ex-NBA journeyman Ricky Davis!

After Jaleel White told us about the private pick up games at UCLA back in the '90s, we reached out to ex-Bruins star Jelani McCoy to see if Urkel was tellin' the truth.

Turns out, the stories are INSANE -- with Bryant holding his own with guys like Penny Hardaway, Shawn Kemp and more.

For the record, Davis was a freak athlete and had a long career in the NBA -- but Jelani says his best days were going head-to-head with Bryant.

You gotta watch. Great stuff.

This is incredible ... and and it only gets more impressive the more you watch it.

"Black-ish" star Miles Brown -- who plays Jack Johnson on the show -- stood right behind Washington Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal and mimicked his shot PERFECTLY.

Watch the form. Watch the way his arms swing after the release. Watch his feet.

It's perfect. Not bad for an 11-year-old.

Snoop Dogg is getting in the hoops biz -- officially signing on as the Celebrity Commissioner of a new summer pro basketball league ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Snoop will own an overall piece of the Champions Basketball League -- a 5-on-5 pro summer league featuring ex-NBA players who are 1 to 3 years removed from the league.

We're told some of the players on the league roster include Al Harrington, Corey Maggette and Kareem Rush.

In his new role, we're told Snoop will focus on the entertainment aspect of the league -- bringing high level stars into the fold.

He's also one of the owners of the L.A. team ... so, he's all-in on this thing.

Kobe Bryant was murdering some of the best players in college basketball in secret pickup games at UCLA when he was only 17 years old ... so says Jaleel White who witnessed it himself!!!

Here's the deal ... Jaleel was on the "TMZ Sports" TV show where he reacted to Kobe's Steve Urkel slam poetry reading (he loved it!). He also told us a pretty great Kobe tale.

"I was attending UCLA when Kobe moved from Philadelphia to L.A.," White said.

"So, he used to hang out at UCLA a lot and I would watch him play our UCLA basketball team ... and I'm telling you -- probably the greatest pickup games I've ever seen in my life!"

"I watched him destroy young men's dreams at 17 ... and we had just won a '95 championship that year so we had a lot of guys on the team that were pretty cocky."

"He wanted to just sh*t on anybody who thought they could play basketball in the city and that's what he did!"

We asked White to name names on who got rocked by Mamba ... but his lips were sealed.

For the record, the '95 Bruins had college studs like Tyus Edney, Toby Bailey, Cameron Dollar and the O'Bannon brothers.

Still, young Kobe destroying big league talent ... that really surprise you???