Basketball

Tristan Thompson isn't moving on from Khloe Kardashian just yet, because he's NOT dating the hot chick he's been hanging with in NYC, but they are getting to know each other through a mutual friend ... one of his NBA teammates.

We've learned Tristan's new friend is Karizma Ramirez ... and sources close to her tell us they met last week through Jordan Clarkson.

As you know, Tristan and Karizma were photographed inside Nobu in NYC Tuesday night ... after being spotted together last week at another dinner in the Big Apple. That sparked dating rumors, obvi, since it came directly on the heels of Khloe kicking Tristan to the curb.

But, the sources close to her say Karizma and TT are insisting there's nothing romantic going on between them.

We're told they've only hung out at the 2 dinners, which were both group situations -- where Tristan was flying solo, and Karizma was Jordan's guest.

We got Tristan out in New York last week, but he was silent on Khloe and his cheating scandal with Jordyn Woods.

As for Karizma, we're told she's NOT dating Jordan either, they've known each other forever through his family. BTW, she used to kick it with Chris Brown, but nothing serious.

No matter how much of a train wreck this Lakers season has been, resting LeBron James just simply ain't an option ... so says Caron Butler, who tells TMZ Sports "that's a sucker way out."

The debate kicked off when Jay Williams went on ESPN's "Get Up!" to say Magic Johnson needs to wave the white flag with the Lakers so far out of the playoff race -- starting with benching the King.

FYI -- making the playoffs would pretty much be a miracle at this point. The Lakers are 30-34 and have little momentum leading into the final handful of games.

Butler says it doesn't matter if the Lakers are 5 games out of the playoff or 50 games -- the Lakers CANNOT rest Bron.

"Absolutely not, no. He's still gon' play," Tuff Juice says, "Think about the years with Kobe Bryant and those guys weren't playing well. Kobe still was out there he still was hoopin', he was balling."

It's true ... Kobe didn't make the playoffs for the final 4 years of his career and everyone survived. Caron says he's got an alternative that could satisfy both sides.

"(You'd be) cheating the fans, maybe give him limited minutes ... but you can't just say I'm shutting him down because we didn't exceed expectations."

Butler goes as far as to say trading ANYONE -- including LEBRON JAMES -- is on the table when the team's losing.

And since LBJ has said there's no way he will sit out games (unless he's injured) ... chances are he'll pass Michael Jordan on the all-time scoring list if he scores 13 points tonight.

We asked Caron -- who just so happens to be calling the game -- about the milestone ... and whether it'll finally put him above the G.O.A.T.

Kyrie Irving is the most miserable superstar athlete EVER ... so says Charles Barkley, who CAN'T BELIEVE how big of a baby the Celtics PG has been this season.

Kyrie's been super moody the last few weeks as Boston's season has slowly crumbled away from the NBA Championship dreams it had in the preseason.

In fact, while he was walking into TD Garden last week and photogs were snappin' pics of him, he said loudly, "I’m not gonna miss any of this sh*t when I am done playing."

NBA commish Adam Silver was asked about the star's sensitive feelings -- and others in the NBA who have seemed less than thrilled with this season -- and he stuck up for his guys.

"Part of it is a direct product of social media," Silver said ... "I think those players we're talking about, when I meet with them, what strikes me is that they are truly unhappy."

Enter Barkley ... who not only went scorched earth on Silver's take -- he went off on Kyrie too!!!

"I think that's probably the stupidest thing I've ever heard Adam say," Barkley said on ESPN's "Get Up!"

"That's the stupidest thing I ever heard any commissioner say. Listen ... these guys are making $20, $30, $40 million a year. They work 6, 7 months a year. We stay at the best hotels in the world. They ain't got no problems. That's total bogus."

Barkley added, "Let me tell you something else, Kyrie Irving ... I've never seen a person so miserable."

Charles says K.I. has absolutely ZERO right to be upset with his life ... saying he's a millionaire, he's famous, he's a superstar, he's got a ring AND he's in movies.

"He's got to be one of the most miserable people I've ever seen."

Barkley's advice for Kyrie was simple ... DEAL WITH IT!!! -- 'cause as an NBA superstar, that's just the way life goes.

Tristan Thompson appears to be moving on from Khloe Kardashian AND Jordyn Woods ... because the NBA star is going back for seconds with his mystery chick in New York City.

Tristan was hanging with the same woman from last week's dinner at Carbone in NYC, and Tuesday night the pair hit up Nobu for more good eats.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are in town again to play the Brooklyn Nets, so Tristan is taking advantage of the NBA schedule to log some more quality time with his mystery boo. And, he's gotta love being far away from the drama he triggered last month, when he was caught making out with Jordyn at a house party in Los Angeles.

It's interesting ... we got TT walking into the team hotel with 2 Starbucks cups Tuesday afternoon, and hours later he and this stunning brunette emerged for another night on the town.

Someone's definitely thirsty.

LeBron James' former boss is going to bat for the NBA superstar -- with Usher telling Lakers Nation to stop riding Bron and "be patient" already!!

Obviously, the Lakers and LeBron are in serious trouble -- they're playing like trash and making the playoffs would take a miracle of biblical proportions.

So, with people like Snoop calling for someone to send the Lakers off on "slave ships" -- we asked Usher, who bought an ownership stake in the Cleveland Cavs in 2005, for his take on Bron.

"Be patient man," Usher told us on his way out of Avra in Bev Hills ... "Sometimes it takes a minute to get in the groove!"

Of course, Usher knows life with and without LeBron in Cleveland -- he celebrated on the court with Bron when the Cavs won the championship in 2016.

Currently, his Cavs (16-48) have a WORSE record than the Lakers (30-34) ... so, he feels L.A.'s pain.

But, is he bitter at LeBron for bouncing out of Cleveland in 2018? Nope. In fact, he couldn't be more complimentary of the guy.

"I'm really happy to see that LeBron is such an amazing player, period," Usher told us ..."Look at his stats."

Clemson superstar QB Trevor Lawrence says he never should've put his hands on a student in an intramural hoops scuffle last month ... saying he now understands what it's like to be in the spotlight.

Lawrence -- who led the Tigers in the national title game over Bama in January -- got into a physical altercation with a fellow student at a rec hoops game ... shoving the player twice after trying to set a pick about 80 feet from the basket.

The incident was caught on video and went viral almost instantly.

At the time, Lawrence justified his actions by saying the other player was running his mouth the whole time, while also admitting the shoves were "still probably unnecessary."

Now that the QB has had some time to reflect, he's taking more accountability -- saying he understands why people freaked out over the incident.

"I think everything is just a learning experience," Lawrence told the media after practice on Monday. "You could say you wished you handled something differently, and I do, but ... everyone's watching, and I should be smarter than that."

Lawrence says he made up with the guy after the game and moved on ... even if the media didn't.

"At the end of the day, we're playing a game, and it gets competitive. Me and him shook hands at the end of the game. It gets blown out of proportion, but I gotta know, just because it's me, it's going to get put out everywhere and made a big deal of."

Snoop Dogg meant no disrespect to African-Americans when he said the struggling Lakers oughta go away on a "slave ship" -- but he did mean to vent about ALL of his favorite teams sucking.

Sources close to the D-O-Double-Gizzle tell TMZ ... the rapper's trash talking -- taken by many as racist -- was totally a heat of the moment thing. We're told the rapper turned on his phone, and impulsively unloaded about his Lakers' embarrassing loss to the last-place Suns.

As we reported ... Snoop went all scorched Earth, saying, "Ship all them n***as out. Get a slave ship, and ship all them sorry mother f**kers the f**k outta here!"

Despite much of the public reaction to Snoop's rant -- our sources were clear ... the rapper doesn't have a single racist bone in his body, especially against his own race.

We're told the die-hard Lakers fan was -- like most fans -- pissed about possibly missing the playoffs, even with LeBron James. It's also a little insult to injury for Snoop ... he's also a Steelers fan and they missed the playoffs for the first time since 2013.

"Ship all them n***as out. Get a slave ship, and ship all them sorry motherf*ckers the f*ck outta here!"

That's just a tiny piece of Snoop Dogg's weekend rant against the Lakers ... and yeah, dude is PISSED Los Angeles is about to miss the playoffs again this season.

"These sorry mother f*ckers ain't going to do sh*t," Snoop said ... "These goofballs ain't going to do sh*t. They sorry."

Snoop's scorched earth comments came after L.A.'s second loss this weekend -- a 118-109 pounding to the last-place Suns -- when the rapper threw his camera into selfie mode and blasted EVERYONE not named LeBron.

"Somebody gotta go. F*ck this shit. Somebody gotta go. Matter of fact, a lot of n***as gotta go, starting with the coach."

As for his Staples Center tickets ... Snoop says he's so over L.A., he's giving away his box suite seats for just $5!!!!

Think Snoop's overreacting? With losses to the Bucks on Friday and Phoenix on Saturday ... the Lakers are now closer to 13th place in the West than they are to a playoff spot.

Snoop's begging the front office to intervene ... and as part of his rant -- he yelled, "Get LeBron some f*ckin' help!!"

Ex-NBA player Royce White says he's already taken real steps to make his UFC dream come true -- telling TMZ Sports he's reached out to Dana White's team in the hopes of getting a real fight in the Octagon.

We spoke with the 6'8", 260-pounder to find out how he's transitioning from the court to the mat -- and why the 28-year-old believes he can be dominant.

"One thing I am is a supreme athlete, one of the best athletes in the world," White says.

"And, not just because I was drafted int the NBA or because I'm a good basketball player. But because, even for a basketball player, I was one of the most athletic, unique, talented, skilled, composed, skilled athletes in that realm."

Royce also says when it comes to throwing punches, he has an advantage over virtually every person who's ever stepped in the cage.

"I have one of the top 10 biggest sets of hands in the history of the NBA."

That fact checks out -- look it up.

As we previously reported, White was balling out in Canada -- but believes he can be a great MMA fighter and he's already been training with a top MMA coach out in Minnesota.

White says his goal is to become the UFC heavyweight champ -- and he knows he's got his work cut out for him ... with fighters like Brock Lesnar, Daniel Cormier, Stipe Miocic and maybe Jon Jones looking to stand in his way.

Shareef O'Neal is ALMOST ready to hit the hardwood again ... the UCLA star tells TMZ Sports he's just a month and a half away from a return to the court!!!

"I feel great," he says.

Shareef underwent heart surgery to correct an irregularity back in December ... and his post-op pictures showed just how serious the procedure really was.

But, when we got the 19-year-old leaving Staples Center on Wednesday night ... he was in good spirits -- and tells us his first workouts since the operation are just DAYS away.

In fact, Shareef says Shaq will play a BIG role in his gameplan for a return to the Bruins when he's cleared, telling us his pops, "knows basketball."

Ya think?!

Shareef was an elite prospect coming out of Crossroads H.S. in Santa Monica ... and he famously flipped his commitment from Arizona to UCLA late in his recruiting process.

The power forward was expected to be a key piece of the Bruins this season ... but his heart surgery sidelined him for his entire freshman season.

6:00 PM PT -- Coach Williams did not return to the game in the second half, but school officials reportedly said he was feeling better after another bout with vertigo. UNC won the game, 81-79.

Scary moment in Saturday's College Basketball matchup between North Carolina and Clemson -- UNC's coach Roy Williams collapsed in front of his team's bench.

Williams went down to a knee with just a little under a minute left in the first half and had to be helped to the Carolina locker room. It's unclear what happened, but one of the announcers mentions he has a history of battling vertigo.

The UNC hoops' Twitter account also said he had a vertigo attack, and it's unclear if he'll return to the game.

The Clemson crowd cheered for Roy as he raised his hand as he was helped off the court ... but he appeared to be walking under his own power. Hopefully he's okay.

Kevin Garnett's divorce is not going to come cheap ... if his estranged wife gets what she feels she's due.

According to new legal docs ... Brandi Garnett is seeking $146,000 per month in spousal support, plus another $46k monthly in child support for their 2 daughters -- ages 10 and 6. Brandi says she has the girls 95 percent of the time.

Do the math ... and that's more than $2.3 million per year. Brandi says that's fair, though, because she claims KG's still hauling in at least $5 mil a year ... on top of having earned more than $300 mil in his NBA career.

Brandi's also asking for $300k in attorney fees immediately to cover the cost of the divorce proceedings so far and estimated future costs to hammer out an agreement.

There's more -- according to the docs, Brandi's requesting an additional $25k to retain counsel in another financial matter involving Kevin allegedly getting swindled out of $77 MILLION. As we reported, KG claims his former accountant worked with a crooked wealth manager to steal a fortune from him over several years.

Brandi filed for divorce from Kevin in July after 14 years of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences.

Gabrielle Union joined an EXCLUSIVE mile-high club this week ... becoming maybe the first wife ever to watch her hubby hit a game-winning shot on an airplane!!!

It all went down Wednesday night ... when Gabby was some 30,000 feet in the air watching Dwyane Wade's Heat play the Warriors.

Union says the plane had Wi-Fi, so she was able to catch the whole game ... including Wade's miracle buzzer beater that lifted Miami over Golden State, 126-125.

Union tells TMZ Sports her reaction to the play was priceless ... saying she was screaming her face off right in her plane's chair!!!

For his part, Wade could hardly believe the moment either ... calling it "crazy" and telling reporters, "It’s great to do it in front of fans. It’s a fun moment.”

Gabrielle also told us the moment was extra special for another reason ... revealing some of the Parkland H.S. shooting survivors were in attendance for the game.

"The kids from Parkland were there, and he hit another game-winner, and it was, you know, angels among us."

Wade's been killin' it this season ... dropping 14.3 points, 4.2 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game.

Here's Shaquille O'Neal proving he's still a THREAT near the rim -- throwing down a monster dunk ... at 46 years old!!!

The NBA legend was on the set of "NBA TV" when the guys on the show challenged the Big Fella to prove he's still got enough juice in his legs to slam it home.

Shaq -- dressed in jeans, a polo shirt and tennis shoes -- grabbed the ball and did his thing ... and punctuated the jam by hanging from the rim!!

Ex-NBA star Gilbert Arenas says Khloe Kardashian has no one to blame but herself -- and her vagina -- for Tristan Thompson's cheating.

Arenas went on a pretty vulgar tirade on social media (captured by Baller Alert) explaining in graphic detail why he thinks KK's skills in the bedroom are to blame for Thompson stepping out on her.

The former All-Star then makes a LeBron comparison -- shaming Khloe because Tristan hooked up with 21-year-old Jordyn Woods ... and not a more "experienced" woman.

"He didn't even cheat on u with a (lebron type of talent #veteran)," Arenas said ... "He went for a trey young, exciting BUT no playoff experience."

Giannis Antetokounmpo says if he was in Zion Williamson's shoes ... he would NOT sit out the rest of the NCAA season -- telling TMZ Sports, "I love basketball too much."

Don't get it twisted ... 24-year-old Giannis isn't throwing shade and says he respects whatever decision Zion makes -- but said he knows what path he would choose.

Zion -- the obvious No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft -- scared the hell out of everyone when he suffered a knee injury during the Duke vs. North Carolina game earlier this month.

He hasn't been back on the court since, and many are wondering if he'll ever suit up for the Blue Devils again ... considering he's got MILLIONS of dollars waiting for him in the NBA.

Giannis says Zion has to do what's best for him.

There's more ... since Giannis was on the court during Ja Rule's doomed halftime performance at the Bucks vs. Timberwolves game on Saturday, we had to ask about the new JA RULE CURSE!!!

Remember, the T-Wolves clowned the disgraced Fyre Festival honcho after his performance was marred by technical issues ... so Ja cursed the team for 30 YEARS!!!

But, Giannis actually has Ja's back -- saying it wasn't the rapper's fault things went south that night, and telling TMZ Sports he still loves the artist.

There's more ... we also asked Giannis if he's paying attention to all the talk about him being in the running for MVP this season -- and of course, the guy couldn't have been more humble.

Giannis is having a monster season -- averaging 27 points a game with 12.6 rebounds and 5.9 assists. BEAST!!!