Basketball

LeBron James thinks Anthony Davis is being done dirty in the media -- and he seems to be pointing the finger at the people who run the New Orleans Pelicans.

Bron had Davis as a guest on his HBO series, "The Shop" -- where the guys, along with stars like Antonio Brown, discussed real issues in their lives.

The topic turned to "public relations" when Antonio suggested Steelers ownership -- or at least, powerful members of the organization -- were trying to wrongly paint him as a "distraction" in the media over the past few weeks.

"That's the narrative they try to create once you doing your own thing," Brown said on the show ... "It's like, this guy's a distraction. He's this type of guy. All I've ever been is a guy who came from Central Michigan, 6th round, who worked his ass off."

LeBron made a comment essentially agreeing with Brown's opinion -- and then compared AB's situation to Anthony Davis.

Remember, Davis publicly requested a trade in January -- and since he and Bron share the same agent -- a lot of people thought they had teamed up to force the Pelicans to move AD to the Lakers.

During the negotiations, there were negative stories that came out about Davis -- and LeBron sure seems to be suggesting the hit pieces were orchestrated by the Pelicans.

"7 years in the league, nobody's ever said anything negative about AD but you can tell when the narrative changed when you don't do what they want you to do."

Davis is now playing out the season with the Pelicans -- and is hoping to be traded at the end of the season.

8:00 AM PT -- Tristan might not have been the lucky guy hooking up with the young lady. Witnesses in Carbone tell us he was dining with at least 3 other people -- the woman, his teammate Jordan Clarkson and another (not famous) guy.

We're told she arrived with Jordan and, at least, appeared to be his date.

Tristan Thompson isn't sulking over the war being waged in L.A. after he hooked up with Jordyn Woods ... because he's back in the game, with another hot chick.

Tristan had dinner Wednesday night in NYC at Carbone, and here's where we connect the dots. Check out his Instagram story ... you see his delicious pasta -- Carbone is an awesome Italian restaurant -- and you see in the background the hand of a woman holding a glass. She's sitting at the same table as Tristan, right across from him.

Now, check out the woman who left the restaurant alone ... specifically, check out her nail color. MATCH!

BTW ... we're told Tristan arrived at the restaurant with one of his teammates, and 5 minutes later she was waiting outside the restaurant. We're told the woman showed up and Tristan came out and brought her inside. We're told they were at the table for hours.

We're told Tristan left a few minutes later, sprinting from the kitchen door into a waiting Uber.

Tristan is far, far away from the drama he triggered nearly 2 weeks ago, after making out with Jordyn at a house party. Khloe kicked him to the curb, and the Kardashians are at war with Jordyn.

Earlier in the day ... Tristan was out and about with a hoodie emblazoned with the words, "The Eagle Soars Alone." 'Nuff said.

Ex-Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy is under fire after officials say they have video of the 55-year-old berating officials at his stepson's high school basketball game.

McCarthy was allegedly pissed off at the referees after his stepson's Notre Dame Academy lost to Pulaski High on Tuesday night ... and followed the refs as they left the court.

Officials say McCarthy went on a "verbal tirade" -- using inappropriate language to rip the refs.

Officials have filed an "abuse against contest officials" complaint against McCarthy and the school is investigating.

Footage captured by the school district shows a man -- identified as McCarthy -- following the refs and yelling at them.

Pulaski athletic director Janel Batten explained it this way -- "This parent chose to follow the officials and berate them, which is clearly unacceptable."

"Some things were said, some language was used that we don't want in our gym, unsportsmanlike language," she told WLUK.

McCarthy has reportedly been a regular at his stepson's basketball games this season.

McCarthy coached the Packers from 2006 to 2018 -- leading the Cheeseheads to a Super Bowl victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2011.

He was fired last year after reported tension between him and star quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Notorious B.I.G.'s favorite sweater brand, Coogi -- as in, "Every cutie with a booty bought a Coogi" -- says the Brooklyn Nets stole their iconic fashion pattern ... and now they're suing the team.

Coogi is pissed off about a special jersey the Nets created called "Brooklyn Camo" -- which players wore during a Nov. 17, 2018 game as a tribute to Brooklyn's own Biggie Smalls, who loved Coogi sweaters.

The problem, according to Coogi, no one from the team or the NBA or Nike or New Era or Russell Brands ever got permission to use the iconic Coogi pattern ... so now, Coogi is suing all of 'em!

Coogi claims they have copyrights for their most famous designs -- called "Pea Soup" and "Ricotta" -- and they feel the Nets straight swiped their swag.

Coogi says the Nets should have known better -- considering the brand is often worn by huge stars like Conor McGregor, Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross, Floyd Mayweather and more.

Plus, Biggie -- the guy the Nets were trying to honor -- shouted out the brand in two of his biggest hits ... 1994's "Big Poppa" and 1996's "Hypnotize."

Coogi is not only suing for damages ... they also want everyone involved to stop selling the "Brooklyn Camo" jerseys and other sportswear.

In the meantime, here's Biggie ... enjoy!

Daniel Cormier better watch out ... there's a new guy comin' for the UFC heavyweight belt -- ex-NBA player Royce White!!

The 6'8", 260-pounder announced he's now transitioning to MMA and even has a full-time coach in Minnesota.

In his new book "MMA x NBA," the 27-year-old says he's dead serious about becoming a pro fighter -- and he's got some BIG goals.

“I’m coming for the UFC Heavyweight Crown,” RW told The Last Renaissance.

He's even hooked up with famed MMA coach Greg Nelson -- who has trained UFC stars like Brock Lesnar.

It's an interesting move for White who's been making headlines for years -- both for his athletic talent and his fight with the NBA and Houston Rockets over the way they deal with mental health issues.

White's story is pretty well-known ... after dominating at Iowa State, he was selected 16th overall in the 2012 NBA Draft ... but didn't make his NBA debut until 2014 due to a dispute with the Houston Rockets over his mental health condition.

White was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder in grade school -- he's openly talked about how the condition affects many facets of his life, especially flying.

Royce was drafted by the Rockets and immediately became openly outspoken for mental health awareness in the NBA, a stance he believes strained his relationship with league officials.

After a short stint with the Sacramento Kings, White picked up his basketball career in the National Basketball League of Canada, where he was league MVP in 2017.

But, if White is serious about getting a UFC contract, it seems he's leaving basketball for good ... with UFC honcho Dana White having talked about the insane commitment it takes to fight with the best in the world.

Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim was NOT speeding on the night he hit a man (who later died) on a New York highway ... this according to officials who say it's highly unlikely Boeheim will be prosecuted.

As we previously reported, the 74-year-old coach was driving home after a game at the Carrier Dome last Wednesday night and struck a man who was standing on highway I-690. The man died as a result of his injuries.

Cops administered a field sobriety test on Boeheim but determined he was completely sober and he was NOT arrested at the time. Officials conducted a more thorough investigation to find out if Jim was driving irresponsibly that night ... but law enforcement is now saying the guy did nothing wrong.

In fact, officials say an accident reconstruction shows Boeheim was NOT speeding at the time of the crash.

Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick told the AP that unless something comes out of left field, Boeheim will not face any charges.

Officials say the victim, 51-year-old Jorge Jimenez had been in an accident before the Boeheim crash -- and was walking on the highway in an effort to get help.

Boeheim says he saw the crash scene and was trying to drive cautiously, and that's when he accidentally struck Jimenez. Boeheim claims he simply didn't see the guy.

Boeheim addressed the accident last week ... saying he's "heartbroken that a member of our community died as the result of last night’s accident."

Ex-NBA player Mike Bibby has been relieved of his duties as head basketball coach at Shadow Mountain High School in Arizona while officials investigate allegations of sexual assault.

As we previously reported, the 40-year-old has been accused of forcefully rubbing his penis against a female teacher on school grounds during a 2017 incident.

The teacher claims Bibby grabbed her by the waist and pulled her into his car. She also claimed his breath reeked of alcohol and he made sexually charged comments.

The school and police launched investigations into the matter -- and now, a rep for the Paradise Valley Unified School District says Bibby will NOT coach the basketball team while those are ongoing.

"He is no longer eligible to volunteer as our coach pending the outcome of the investigations," a school district spokesperson said.

Bibby has been wildly successful as the coach at Shadow Mountain -- leading the varsity boys team to 5 state titles in 6 seasons.

As for the criminal investigation, a rep for the Phoenix Police Dept says, "As of now, the investigation is ongoing and no suspect has been named, nor any charges recommended."

WNBA coach Todd Troxel is off the hook in his domestic violence case -- and says he and his fiancee are "moving on with our lives."

Troxel was an assistant coach for the Phoenix Mercury back in November when he was charged with assault and disorderly conduct for allegedly attacking his fiance after a Phoenix Suns game.

Troxel severed two arteries in his arm during the incident -- in which he allegedly punched through a glass window at his home during a heated argument with his fiancee. Troxel has maintained he never laid a finger on his fiance.

In the initial police report, cops say Troxel claimed he suffered the injury as a result of an accident while putting up Christmas lights ... but while at the hospital, the fiancee told a nurse a different story.

Cops investigated and Troxel was charged with 2 misdemeanors -- but now, TMZ Sports has learned the case was officially thrown out in part because the victim refused to cooperate with prosecutors.

Troxel has issued a statement ... essentially viewing the dismissal as a victory and says he and his fiancee are together and doing just fine.

"My fiancé and I are thrilled to have this situation behind us and look forward to moving on with our lives," Troxel said.

"I cannot thank her enough for her support, love and friendship always."

"I regret getting into an argument with my fiancé the night of the incident, but I never assaulted or hurt her in any way."

Troxel's fiance Lauren Helt issued a statement saying, "I am so glad to have this nightmare behind us. It’s unfortunate that this situation was blown out of proportion. Todd has never hurt me and should never have been charged in this case. He is and has always been a loving and supportive figure in my life and I look forward to moving on with our lives together."

The Mercury publicly severed ties with Troxel after its own investigation -- but now Troxel says he's focused on getting his coaching career back on track.

One of the hottest rappers in the game named a song after Derek Fisher ... and you know who's stoked about that??

DEREK FISHER ... 's kids, 'cause the ex-Lakers star says Gunna's tribute gave him MAJOR cool points with the youngins in his house.

If you haven't heard about the Young Thug signee, Gunna is one of the biggest names in the industry right now ... and his collab mixtape with Lil Baby, "Drip Harder," is widely considered one of the top projects of 2018.

Gunna's follow-up, "Drip or Drown 2" just dropped last week ... and features 2 songs with tributes to NBAers Fisher and Yao Ming.

Fisher -- who says he's a Gunna fan -- says he hasn't heard the song yet, but his kids have made him well aware of the shoutout.

"It makes me feel old," Fisher tells us. "I was old and not cool, and now I'm a little cooler."

The song -- which is like an ode to guns -- has pretty much nothing to do with D-Fish except for the line in the hook, "shoot like Derek Fisher, ain't no n***a cross the line."

Fisher says he's down to be a part of the music video for the song if Gunna wants him... as long as it's appropriate.

Ex-NBA star Mike Bibby -- the #2 overall pick in the 1998 draft -- is being investigated in Arizona after a high school teacher accused him of sexual abuse and harassment.

Bibby is adamant the allegations are false.

40-year-old Bibby is now the head basketball coach at Shadow Mountain High School -- where a female teacher at the school claims he forcefully rubbed his genitals against her during a 2017 incident.

According to official documents, the woman claims Bibby grabbed her by the waist and pulled her into his car while on school grounds -- and then proceeded to grind up on her.

The woman filed a request for a restraining order in February 2019 -- which a judge granted on Feb. 22, according to The Arizona Republic. It's unclear why she waited so long to go to authorities.

Bibby is being investigated by the Phoenix Police Dept. -- and the Paradise Valley School District has also launched an internal investigation.

Meanwhile, Bibby's attorney, Donald Harris, is confident the NBA player will be exonerated.

"I can say with pretty much certainty this alleged incident didn't happen and that will be shown down the road," Harris told the Arizona Republic.

"Michael Bibby did not participate in a sexual assault of any way, shape or form that was alleged by this lady two years ago."

Since the school was not formally made aware of the allegations until recently, Bibby has still been coaching at Shadow Mountain -- where he led the basketball team to its 4th consecutive state title over the weekend.

Bibby has been with the school for 6 years -- during which Shadow Mountain has racked up 5 state championships.

Bibby -- the son of former NBA player and coach Henry Bibby -- attended Shadow Mountain back in the '90s before becoming a superstar at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

After he was selected by the Vancouver Grizzlies in the '98 Draft, Bibby spent 14 seasons in the NBA -- playing for teams like the New York Knicks, Sacramento Kings and Atlanta Hawks.

Though he never made an All-Star team, Bibby was a solid NBA player -- averaging 14.7 points a game, 5.5 assists and 3 rebounds.

Karl-Anthony Towns says he had a "5 percent chance of surviving" the scary car accident he was involved in last week ... and he's "blessed to be alive" and mostly uninjured.

The Minnesota Timberwolves star was heading to the Minneapolis airport for the team's trip to New York last Thursday ... when the car KAT was traveling in was hit by a semitruck traveling at 45 miles per hour.

Towns -- who missed the Wolves' past 2 games as a part of being in concussion protocol -- gave details on the accident at practice on Monday ... saying he knows it could have been MUCH worse.

"I'd say I had a 5 percent chance of making it out alive," KAT says, "I hit the 5 percent mark. I'd say 4 percent was to be seriously injured and 1 percent was to be minorly injured ... and I came out in the 1 percent."

No word on who was behind the wheel, but Towns -- who was also traveling with the team's assistant strength and conditioning coach -- was NOT driving.

"In all honesty, I probably should not have made it out like I did."

KAT didn't suffer any major injuries from the crash ... but he missed the first 2 games of his career ... ending his games played streak at 303.

Joel Embiid thinks Wilt Chamberlain, NOT Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player ever ... and Dennis Rodman thinks ... well, he thinks Embiid should "shut the f**k up!!!"

TMZ Sports saw Rodman at LAX on Sunday ... and asked him about the 76ers star's comments about his former Bulls teammate.

Embiid sent the NBA world into a frenzy during a recent episode of Ringer's NBA Desktop, when he said ... "[Jordan] is not the G.O.A.T."

"To me, you got Wilt Chamberlain. He’s got all the records, and no one is ever gonna beat them. I don’t see anyone ever getting 100 points in a game. That’s it, he’s the G.O.A.T.”

Rodman's take?

"Joel Embiid, you're doing a great job for your little island or country where you're from. Shut the f**k up, go do your goddamn job and do Philly proud. That's the 1 thing they need, a championship."

Just to be crystal clear DR didn't agree with Joel's take ... we followed up -- so, you're saying Embiid's wrong about Michael not being the greatest of all time???

"You're goddamn right he's wrong."

Rodman might be a little biased ... he played 3 years with Michael in Chicago -- winning an NBA championship each season.

Michael ('84-'03) and Wilt ('59-'73) played in different eras ... and both had ridiculous stats and an insane amount of accolades.

Jordan is a 6x NBA champion, 6x Finals MVP, 5x NBA MVP, 14x All-Star, 10x NBA scoring champ, 10x All-NBA 1st Team, 9x NBA All-Defensive 1st Team who averaged 30 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists a game over his 15 season career.

Wilt was a 2x NBA champion, 1x Finals MVP, 4x NBA MVP, 13x All-Star, 7x NBA scoring champ, 7x All-NBA 1st Team, 11x NBA rebounding champ who once scored 100 points in a game and averaged 30 points, 23 rebounds, 4 assists a game over his 14 season career.

MJ is in the Basketball Hall of Fame and the FIBA HOF ... and Wilt's in the Basketball HOF and College B-Ball HOF.

We also asked Rodman if Embiid -- who's a pretty good hooper himself (he's arguably the league's most skilled big man) -- will ever himself be considered one of the all-time greats.

Cool moment at the Vanity Fair party after the Oscars ... when Caitlyn Jenner and Kobe Bryant spotted each other on the way out of the event and stopped on the red carpet to hug it out.

Kobe has been a Caitlyn supporter for YEARS -- the NBA legend was one of the first big stars to throw his support behind Caitlyn getting ESPN's Arthur Ashe award at the ESPYs back in 2015.

Remember, there was controversy surrounding the award at the time with many people claiming there were other people far more deserving.

At the time, Kobe told us he appreciated Caitlyn for educating people about being comfortable being themselves -- "Doesn't matter what walk of life you're in man, you gotta be comfortable being you."

Kobe was at the party with his wife, Vanessa -- who's pregnant with their 4th child.

Other huge stars at the party -- Odell Beckham Jr., Russel Wilson and Ciara.

Kobe is no stranger to the Oscars -- he won the 2018 Academy Award for Best Animated Short for his film, "Dear Basketball."

The flick was based off a poem Kobe wrote to announce his retirement from the NBA back in 2016.

Ja Rule performed Saturday night at the Milwaukee Bucks vs Minnesota Timberwolves game in Milwaukee ... and no one gave a crap.

Ja was booked to perform during the halftime show, which was a '90s theme, but he mocked it by saying it was ridiculous to book an act that was all about the 2000s for a '90s event.

The crowd was clearly not impressed, and you just gotta watch the video and wince.

It got so bad ... Bucks players came out on to the court to warm up while Ja was still performing.

Ja's clearly still feeling the heat from his participation in the Fyre Festival. As we reported, he's actually trying to plan a Fyre Festival II.

BTW ... the Bucks won the game 140 - 128. Ja, on the other hand, clearly lost.

Not even Zion Williamson's shoe falling apart on national TV could sway hoopers from the Swoosh ... so says Dahntay Jones, who tells TMZ Sports Nike will face ZERO backlash for the incident.

As we previously reported ... Nike execs held an emergency meeting after the most popular college basketball player had his PG 2.5 sneaker give out just 30 seconds into the Duke/UNC game.

But, Jones -- who played at Duke from 2001-03 -- says all the flippin' out is unnecessary, 'cause there's no way athletes will turn their backs on Nike over a "freak accident."

"Nike's been the best in shoes for years, especially basketball shoes," Jones says.

DJ also weighs in on whether Z-Dub should call it a season and start prepping for the draft.

We also spoke to Kenny Smith -- who previously told us Zion needs to sharpen his iron and continue to play (prior to Wednesday's injury).

Check out if he's changed his mind.

Charles Barkley seemed crestfallen Friday night over Jussie Smollett, lamenting how he betrayed the black and LGBTQ communities.

We got the famed commentator at the 1818 Club in Atlanta on his way out of Ric Flair's 70th birthday party, and he had some sobering thoughts about the "Empire" actor ... whom he calls talented but also someone who lost his way, causing "immeasurable damage."

Charles was much more serious than he was Friday, when he joked about Jussie on "Inside the NBA," when he suggested if the Jussie really wanted to be a hate crime victim, he should have just gone to Liam Neeson's neighborhood.