Basketball

L.A. Clippers star Patrick Beverley has one thing on his mind going into free agency -- WHO'S GONNA GET ME THAT BAG!!?!?!

The 30-year-old just finished up his 4-year, $25 mil contract -- and now he's free to ink another big deal ... and when we saw him at LAX he made it clear, the goal is to cash that check!

It's refreshingly honest considering most pro athletes try to convince the public it's NOT about the money -- it's about where they have the best shot at winning a ring.

But, ya gotta hand it to Beverley who essentially says he's gonna play his ass off WHEREVER he signs -- and the lucky team to snatch him up will be the team with the biggest offer, period.

There's reportedly been interest from the Lakers -- and Beverley says that could be a cool situation because the Lakers are "exciting" -- but they still gotta bring that bag if they want Bev!

We also spoke with Beverley about his on-the-court rivalry with Kevin Durant -- which heated up during the NBA Playoffs -- and you gotta check out what Patrick says.

Mark Cuban says he wouldn't be surprised if young NBA stars, like Luka Doncic, played into their 40s -- thanks to new medical technology that can prevent non-contact injuries ... and he's dead serious.

The Dallas Mavericks owner was super passionate about the new wave of injury prevention technology outside Craig's in L.A. this week ... especially after the NBA Finals, with injuries to Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson.

"Those are brutal, I feel really horrible for those guys," Cuban said.

But, in the future, Cuban sees a league where players can use tech to prepare their bodies to handle the rigors of pro basketball.

"There's new technology, sonogram-type stuff that allows you to analyze tendons," Cuban said ... "But, it's not advanced enough so we have to do some more research to figure it all out. So hopefully, that in the future, non-contact injuries will happen less."

Cuban says when he came into the league 20 years ago, players crossing the 30-year-old mark were considered old and on the decline ... but now, that's changing radically.

"We saw Dirk [Nowitzki] play until 40 years, 21 years [in the NBA] ... we'll see more that. Luka [Doncic] coming into the league today, the rookies that will get drafted this year that are 18, there's no reason why they shouldn't be able to play 25 years if they have the skill with the new advanced technology."

Sorry, LeBron ... you LOST the trade that made Anthony Davis your new teammate, so says Master P -- who tells TMZ Sports the Pelicans WON the blockbuster swap!!!

"We got everything!" P says.

Bron's squad orchestrated the biggest trade in L.A. history over the weekend ... sending off Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart and a bunch of draft picks for AD.

If ya think Master P -- who's a New Orleans legend that loves his Pelicans -- is busted up over the move ... think again, 'cause he thinks New Orleans actually got better!!

P also tells us getting Davis will put a ton of pressure on LeBron in L.A. ... and says the King better start winning now.

4:00 PM PT -- Cops now say there were 4 people who suffered gunshot wounds in the parade shooting.

They also say they've now arrested 3 people.

1:24 PM PT -- Police say they have arrested 2 suspects and recovered 2 guns after an alleged shooting at the Toronto Raptors championship parade Monday.

Cops also say two people are being treated for "serious" injuries -- but the injuries are not life-threatening. The investigation is ongoing.

The championship parade continued after the shooting -- with Drake taking the stage and telling the reported 1.5 MILLION people in the streets to hug each other and spread love.

The parade ended with no further violent incidents.

Scary moment at the Toronto Raptors championship parade in Canada ... where gunshots were reportedly fired in the crowd and cops are now responding.

The party came to a screeching halt just before 1 PM PT -- when people in the crowd heard what sounded like 4 gunshots.

A woman was reportedly hurt and paramedics raced to the scene.

The Toronto Police Operations Centre put out a statement saying, "SHOOTING: Nathan Phillip's Square -Reports of woman shot -People running from area."

You can see people fleeing on video. At one point, Raptors play-by-play announcer Matt Devlin grabbed the mic and told the crowd to stay strong and stay calm while officials respond to the "emergency."

People at the scene are being advised to "get down" or to find somewhere safe.

A Dominican Republic hoops team showed MAJOR love for David Ortiz over the weekend ... ditching its normal set of unis for jerseys with Big Papi's face as the logo.

It all went down Sunday ... when Huellas del Siglo -- a local team in the D.R. -- rocked some bright orange gear that featured a picture of Ortiz tipping his Red Sox cap with the words "Big Papi" written underneath.

Of course, Ortiz was nearly killed last week when a man opened fire on his back outside of a nightclub in Santo Domingo.

But, fortunately for everyone, the MLB legend is doing better after surgery ... and Huellas del Siglo was so happy for the news, they broke out the custom jerseys against San Carlos.

"Today we pay homage to the living legend David Ortiz," the team said of the uniforms in Spanish ... "and we continue to pray for his total recovery."

12:38 PM PT -- ESPN issued a statement ... saying, "LaVar Ball’s comment to Molly Qerim Rose was completely inappropriate and we made him aware of that."

LaVar Ball is adamant the comments he made on-air to ESPN's Molly Qerim on Monday were not intended to be "sexual in nature" ... despite the way it sounded on live TV.

The head of the Big Baller Brand appeared on "First Take" to discuss the blockbuster trade that sent his son, Lonzo Ball, from the L.A. Lakers to the New Orleans Pelicans ... when things went off the rails.

When Molly asked LaVar if she could "switch gears" and pivot to another topic, LaVar responded, "You can switch gears with me anytime."

Several people condemned the comments, including ex-ESPN star Jemele Hill ... saying, "Kudos to Molly [Qerim] for the professional way she handled LaVar Ball after his inappropriate comment. Maybe ESPN will have finally learned its lesson about putting him on TV."

Now, LaVar's rep, Denise White, is issuing a statement from the BBB camp ... saying, "[LaVar] was asked if he wanted to switch gears, in his mind switching gears was 'changing the subject anytime' and he said, 'yes, you can switch gears with me anytime.' At NO time was that intended or meant to be sexual in nature."

This isn't the first time LaVar has been under fire for comments he made on-air to a woman -- back in 2017, he told FS1's Kristine Leahy to "stay in your lane" after she questioned him about his parenting style.

Dikembe Mutombo's fancy Rolls-Royce Phantom was smashed up while he was having a Father's Day dinner with his family ... and now cops are on the hunt for the culprit.

The 52-year-old NBA legend was dining at the Landmark Diner in the Atlanta area late Sunday evening -- when someone ran into the restaurant and yelled out that multiple cars had been vandalized in the parking lot.

When Dikembe checked out his 2009 Rolls, he noticed both front windows and the rear passenger windows were busted, according to the police report obtained by TMZ Sports.

Cops say nothing appeared to be stolen and no one was injured -- essentially, it seems like the culprit just wanted to damage the cars like a jerk.

Cops dusted Dikembe's car for fingerprints but it's unclear if they got a hit. We're told, unfortunately, vehicular vandalism is pretty common in the area and local business owners and residents are furious ... and they're working with police to put an end to it.

We spoke with the general manager of Landmark who says he feels terrible for Dikembe -- and vows to hire private security to prevent situations like this in the future.

We also spoke with a witness who tells us Dikembe is a regular at Landmark and everyone there loves him -- it's not like he has any enemies looking to harm him.

Big weekend for tennis superstar Caroline Wozniacki ... who tied the knot with ex-NBA star David Lee in Italy -- in front of a TON of huge athletes ... including Serena Williams.

It all went down Saturday at the fancy Castiglion del Bosco Hotel in Tuscany -- the same place where Justin Verlander wifed up Kate Upton in 2017.

Caroline -- the #14 ranked singles player in the world -- wore a custom Oscar De La Renta wedding gown and custom Jimmy Choo heels. Her father walked her down the aisle.

The guest list for the Wozniacki/Lee bash was pretty amazing -- Serena was a bridesmaid and her husband, Alexis Ohanian, was there.

Other huge stars in attendance included NBA stars like Pau Gasol and Harrison Barnes, ex-NFL quarterback Jesse Palmer and tennis stars Angelique Kerber, Agnieszka Radwańska and Urszula Radwańska.

The party looked pretty incredible ... with dancing, photo booths and fireworks.

The couple met around 3-and-a-half years ago -- after Caroline's breakup with golf superstar Rory McIlroy. Lee proposed about 2 years later ... with an 8.88 carat diamond ring because 8 is Caro's "lucky number."

12:11 PM PT -- Drake did his best Rob Gronkowski impression at the Raptors' parade -- catching a full beer that a fan threw his way ... and chugging the hell out of it!!!

Drizzy has been raging on Kawhi Leonard's double-decker parade bus all morning long ... and when someone tossed a brew his way -- he went full Stone Cold Steve Austin on it!!!

He cracked it open ... poured it down the hatch -- and appeared to dab afterward!!

The parade is going on hour No. 5 ... but there's a chance we haven't seen the best from Drake yet -- he's supposed to address the crowd once the parade reaches the end.

... getchya popcorn ready!!

Sorry, Kawhi Leonard, it might be the Raptors' championship parade day ... but all eyes will be on Drake ... 'cause everyone wants to know -- how crazy will Drizzy get!?!

Toronto shockingly upset the Warriors in six games last week ... and the Canadian city is throwing a party to celebrate -- and we'll be live streaming the whole thing.

Kawhi, Kyle Lowry and Nick Nurse will all be there ... but the man we all wanna see is the 6 God -- 'cause he's been front and center of everything during this Raptors' run.

Will there be more Golden State trash talk? Some more coaching shoulder rubs? Maybe even another new rap song?!?

The NBA reached out to Drake and asked him not to travel to Oakland for any of the NBA Finals games at Oracle Arena due to "security concerns," multiple sources tell TMZ Sports.

We're told the league expressed concern about potentially angry Warriors fans doing something stupid like taunting Drake or throwing stuff at him ... which wouldn't just put Drake at risk, but also other people sitting near him.

In the end, they all agreed it was best for Drake to stay in Toronto for the away games -- with Drake ultimately leading the Raptor fan watch party at Jurassic Park during Game 6.

Drake's dad Dennis Graham provided more of an explanation about the "security issues" when we saw him out at Delilah in L.A. after the Raptors won the championship ... suggesting some Warriors fans might've been holding a grudge for all of Drake's sideline antics during the Finals.

"When people see you in Toronto and you're making sideline things like that you have to be careful," Dennis said ... "With the rowdy fans, you can't take chances."

Don't feel too bad for Drake -- he had a BLAST in Toronto ... and then FaceTimed with Steph Curry after the game.

As for Dennis, he also told us why he thinks the Raps should NOT visit Donald Trump at the White House and opt to hang with the Prime Minister of Canada instead.

Lakers star Josh Hart had one response when we asked him if the Raptors championship was tainted by the fact that the Warriors has SO many injuries during the NBA Finals.

"F*CK NO."

We really could end the post right there but then we wouldn't be able to remind you that the Warriors lost both Kevin Durant AND Klay Thompson during the Finals, but that Hart doesn't seem to care.

That's not all he said when we got him leaving Deliah either ... he gave a heartfelt shout out to his friend and hometown hero Kyle Lowry, who just got his first championship ring up in the 6.

If you're wondering, we asked Hart approximately 1 million Lakers related questions, mainly about the Anthony Davis related trade rumors, and he punted like Brad Wing on all of them.

10:48 AM PT -- The Raptors have released a statement to TMZ Sports saying, “The incident is being looked at, and we are cooperating with authorities. We look forward to resolving the situation."

8:44 AM PT -- A spokesperson for the Alameda County Sheriff's Dept. tells us they WILL be pursuing a misdemeanor criminal charge against Ujiri for the alleged incident.

Sgt. Ray Kelly tells us, "[Ujiri] shoved our deputy and tried to walk past him." That's when Sgt. Kelly says the deputy "pushed [Ujiri] away from the court."

Sgt. Kelly says Ujiri came back with a "second more significant push" with a part of his arm striking the deputy in the face.

Sgt. Kelly says the department believes Ujiri committed misdemeanor battery on a law enforcement officer.

He also says investigators are gathering more footage -- including surveillance video -- while building their case against Ujiri.

Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri allegedly shoved and struck a sheriff's deputy in the moments after his team won the NBA title Thursday night ... and part of the incident was caught on video.

Alameda County Sheriff’s Office is looking into an alleged misdemeanor battery -- after officials say Ujiri got furious when he was denied access to the court to celebrate after the Raptors defeated the Golden State Warriors in Game 6 of the NBA Finals at Oracle Arena in Oakland.

The end of the altercation was captured on video by NBC Bay Area.

Officials say the officer is claiming Ujiri didn't have the proper credentials on him at the time.

Officials say Ujiri pushed the deputy and struck him in the face.

Ujiri was NOT arrested on the spot -- and he was able to get on the court and give a speech (which was televised) after NBA Commish Adam Silver presented the team with the Larry O'Brien Trophy.

"We are working with the Oakland Police Department to file a report and contact witnesses and review video," Sgt. Ray Kelly with the Alameda County Sheriff's Office said.

Major props to Steph Curry ... who not only took a FaceTime call from a FIRED UP Drake after the NBA Finals ... but he actually CONGRATULATED Drizzy on the victory!!

Of course, Drake was LOSING HIS MIND when the Raps won their first ever NBA title on Thursday night ... and decided to hit up Steph (probably to gloat).

But, in footage of the conversation captured on video, the two guys are actually being super nice and respectful to each other -- with Drake saying, "It's love."

Curry told Drake to enjoy the victory -- he was also SHOCKED that Drake was able to get an official championship hat (like the players got) even though he was watching the game from Jurassic Park in Toronto!

Drake also told Steph to send his love to Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson -- who tore his ACL in Game 6.

Obviously, Drake and Steph are friends (Drake has Steph's jersey number tatted on his arm) -- and they already made plans to hang out this summer.

"They said I was a curse, now they cursing each other out."

That was Drake's message to the world moments after his Toronto Raptors beat the Golden State Warriors to win the NBA Title ... and he's so excited, he's dropping new music to celebrate.

A very hydrated Drizzy went on Instagram to gloat and it was pretty hilarious ... Drake told the fans he's designing the Raptors championship rings and will release 2 new tracks Friday.

The insinuation is the music is inspired by Toronto's incredible championship run ... a run where Drake was on the sidelines cheering his team on for the most of the series.

Drake also had a message for Klay Thompson ... telling the Warriors star they better be FRIENDLY to each other when they see each other over the summer.

"Yo Klay, when you're wake-boarding this summer in your Quicksilver shorts ... when you see me, you better wave! Friendly too!"

Klay probably ain't in the best mood right now ... he reportedly tore his ACL during Game 6 of the NBA Finals.

Bunch of people at a bar in Charlottesville, Virginia took it all the way back to 1994 this week ... when Dwyane Wade took over the stage on karaoke night and busted out "Candy Rain."

You remember the song ... it was Soul For Real's biggest hit back in the day (hit #2 on the Billboard Hot 100) ... produced by Heavy D and written by Ali Shaheed Muhammad from A Tribe Called Quest.

In other words, it's a classic!!!

So, when D-Wade and his friends were in town for a youth basketball tournament, the retired NBA superstar decided to hit up Rapture Restaurant and provide some musical entertainment ... and the crowd loved it!

At one point, the other guy on stage is calling for someone in the crowd to come up -- someone he refers to as "Drizzy" and "Drake" ... but from what we're told, it wasn't the superstar rapper Drake.

Still, enjoy the clip ... and here's the original song if you're in the mood to jam.

The guy who's famously had multiple girlfriends at once just got a BIG ASS BED ... and we think we know why.

L.A. Clippers star Lou Williams showed off the new centerpiece of his master bedroom on Wednesday ... and the thing is big enough to fit like, 4 Shaquille O'Neals.

Williams captioned his IG pic with "California wasn’t big enough" ... and he wasn't lyin' -- the folks at MAREE tell us he got a bed 4-feet-wider and 3-feet-longer than a regular California King sized bed.

Now, remember ... it was revealed back in 2014 that Lou Will was running the triangle offense with 2 different women -- Ashley Henderson and Rece Mitchell -- who were cool with him spreading the love.

Unfortunately, Lou and Ashley broke up last year, but things are still going strong with Mitchell ... so if another girlfriend happens to come along, there will be plenty of room for her!!!