Basketball

Zion Williamson has touched down in New York -- and the minute he stepped out of his hotel, the NBA star was mobbed by fans asking for autographs and photos!

The 19-year-old New Orleans Pelicans rookie was NOT FAZED by the swarm -- he kept his composure and knocked out a ton of autographs before eventually walking to the team bus.

The Pels are in NYC to take on the Knicks on Friday -- though Zion won't be playing, as he's still recovering from the knee injury that's kept him out the whole season.

Zion's expected to come back soon and NBA fans can't wait -- the guy is an absolute monster on the court.

If Zion WAS healthy, this would have been a great game to watch -- Zion matching up against his former Duke teammate and #3 overall pick R.J. Barrett.

Andrew Yang is looking to get a King's endorsement for his 2020 presidential campaign ... telling TMZ Sports he wants LeBron James on his side!!

The entrepreneur-turned-Democratic candidate already has a solid list of celeb backing -- from Donald Glover to Elon Musk to Rivers Cuomo from Weezer -- but no big-time athletes ... yet.

Considering Yang's a big NBA fan, we asked -- hypothetically -- which baller he'd most want as his running mate ... and it took him like, a millisecond to give us his answer.

"I'd have to go with LeBron James," Yang tells us. "He's already shown he's got a heart of gold and loves the American people."

Yang showers the Lakers superstar with praise and throws some major shade at President Trump in the process ... saying, "He certainly could do better than the guy who's currently there."

Of course, Bron has shown support for Hillary Clinton in the past ... and even introduced her at a rally in Ohio.

LBJ has also made his feelings about POTUS crystal clear ... calling him a "bum" and a clown since #45 began his presidency.

Yang thinks LeBron would be a great addition to his team ... and gives him a personal message.

Rare Jack Nicholson sighting at Staples Center on Tuesday -- where the Hollywood legend returned to his old stomping grounds to watch the Lakers crush the Knicks.

... and during the game, he became BFFs with rap star Tory Lanez!

Remember, 82-year-old Jack used to be a regular at Lakers games -- and was even considered the Lake Show's #1 fan!

But, a few years ago, when the Lakers were in the thick of sucking ass ... Jack basically stopped going to games and even offered to sell his floor seats to TMZ (we couldn't afford 'em).

Good news though ... the Lakers are GOOD AGAIN (they're in 1st place in the West) and Jack is excited enough about LeBron James and co. to return to his courtside seats!

You can see in the pic, Jack and Tory became fast friends -- the 3rd guy in the pic is fashion mogul Umar Kamani. Jack's 27-year-old son, Ray Nicholson, was also there!

A bunch of other big stars came out for the game including Jimmy Iovine, Michael Che, Hannibal Burress, Andy Garcia and more!

Final Score -- 117 to 87, with LeBron dropping 31 points in 31 minutes.

Master P says his HS hoops star son, Hercy, is already getting looks from big-time Division 1 schools ... but tells TMZ Sports he wants the biggest name in college hoops to hit him up.

Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski!!!

Of course, Hercy's Minnehaha Academy just beat up on Zaire Wade and Bronny James' Sierra Canyon squad 78-58 in front of 17,000 fans on Saturday ... and the Junior contributed 9 points and 12 assists.

The game was nationally televised ... and after the exposure, P expects his son to get looks from huge programs -- and it's already happening!!!

"Arizona ... it's so many," Miller says. "Hopefully this summer they'll be on the radar."

P is clearly stoked for his son's progress as a sophomore in high school ... and hopes the biggest schools in the nation come knocking on his door.

Not only is Hercy a hooper, P tells us he's an A student as well!!

Miller also shouts out Hercy's teammate and top 10 recruit, Jalen Suggs, who just committed to Gonzaga ... saying the dude is already an NBA talent.

Fun fact ... Hercy and Suggs played together on the same AAU team in 5th grade ... and you know who the coach was???

Master P.

Joe Johnson says he's been living in the gym and staying in shape in case an NBA team comes calling ... telling TMZ Sports he'll be ready to go if a squad needs him for the playoffs.

38-year-old Iso Joe made a hyped return to the Association in October when the Detroit Pistons scooped him up from the BIG3 ... but got cut a few days before the season.

Joe tells us there are no hard feelings with how it went down in Motor City, saying his body wasn't right at the time.

"I was banged up with a lot of injuries, didn't get a chance to really rest," Joe tells us. "So, it kinda hurt me. Which is why I got waived. But, I'm cool with it."

Now, Joe says his body is at "100" and his agent is keeping tabs on teams' interest as the season reaches that time of the year ... but makes it clear he's not gonna beg to get signed.

"I don't think I have to plug myself for that. I think my resume pretty much speaks for itself."

FYI -- Joe is a 7-time All-Star, former All-NBA third teamer and went on to be the BIG3 MVP last year.

"Like I said, if an opportunity comes about and it's worth it and a team is serious, of course I'll jump on that opportunity."

WARNING: LOOK AWAY IF YOU'RE SQUEAMISH!!!

Joel Embiid nastily dislocated his ring finger during the 76ers' win over the Thunder on Monday ... and the injury was so bad -- his digit bent sideways at a 90-degree angle!!

But, the craziest part ... EMBIID STAYED IN THE GAME!!

The horrific scene all went down in the 1st quarter at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia ... when Embiid went up to block a shot but got his finger tangled in the process.

When he eventually looked down to see the mangled mess on his hand ... it wasn't pretty -- with teammate Ben Simmons saying, "I nearly thew up when I saw that."

"Wake your ass up! ... Wake the f**k up!!!"

Steve Kerr went BALLISTIC on a ref during the Warriors' game against the Sacramento Kings on Monday night -- and the whole profanity-laced rant was caught on a hot mic!!!

The blowup all started near the end of the first half ... when Kerr argued a Kings layup shouldn't have counted because there was a foul before the basket.

The GSW head coach received a technical foul for chirpin' the refs ... and then he decided to get his money's worth -- going BANANAS on the zebras.

The transcript? "Wake your ass up! Wake your ass up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake the f**k up!"

Kerr eventually cooled down and was escorted off the floor ... but his speech clearly didn't fire up his squad -- 'cause the Dubs ended up losing 111-98.

Of course, it's been a pretty miserable year for Kerr and the Warriors outside of Thursday's loss ... they've won just 9 games this season without superstars Klay Thompson and Steph Curry.

Two big names stepped up in big ways to help 2 people who found themselves in separate emergency situations -- Shaquille O'Neal and Andrew Cuomo.

In a wild coincidence Monday in NYC, both the NBA Hall of Famer and the Governor of New York came upon a couple of scary incidents ... and jumped to action to help out.

Sources tell TMZ ... Shaq was driving through the East Village when he noticed a woman passed out on the ground. He hopped out of his car and, along with a few other caring citizens, helped stop traffic and waited with the woman until an ambulance arrived.

We're told the woman may have been diabetic and fainted in the crosswalk.

Meanwhile, on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway ... Gov. Cuomo was leaving an event for A Better New York when he came across a vehicle involved in an accident. He reportedly helped cut the passenger out of his seat belt and, as you can see in the video ... helped pull the guy out to safety.

Fortunately, it seems like both people are going to be okay ... thanks to the assists from Shaq and Cuomo.

The common thread in both incidents -- impatient people honking their horns to speed things along.

Gus Williams -- a two-time All-Star for the Seattle SuperSonics -- is being sued by a man who claims the ex-NBA champ didn't pay him for a house ... and trashed the place to boot.

The man behind the suit is Todd Mustin, who says back in 2017 ... he put his 5-bedroom, 5,000 square-foot Sherman Oaks, Calif. pad up for sale -- when things went awry.

Mustin claims he sold the house to a woman named Megan Zucaro ... but when she only coughed up $1 million of the roughly $1.9 mil she agreed to pay for the place, Williams stepped in.

Mustin says the 66-year-old -- who won an NBA title with the Sonics in the 1978-79 season -- agreed to take over the place and pay off the remaining $900K.

The problem? Mustin says the former point guard NEVER paid a dime ... and claims the guy and his family trashed the crib in the meantime.

Mustin claims Williams and his family left the place an absolute dump ... telling TMZ Sports they left feces in the toilets and trash all over.

To be clear, Williams had every right to trash the place -- he did buy it after all -- but Mustin claims the disaster he left behind on the property proves the dude is a complete jerk.

Now, Mustin claims Williams owes him $900K -- plus interest -- for never paying for the house after he agreed to take it off Zucaro's hands.

Carmelo Anthony says he REALLY appreciates the loud ovation he got from Knicks fans Wednesday during his return to Madison Square Garden ... saying, "Real know the real!"

The Portland Trail Blazers star hadn't played at MSG since Dec. 2017 -- after the Knicks traded him to the OKC Thunder.

Of course, OKC eventually waived Melo. He had a short stint with the Rockets and then spent months unemployed before eventually signing with Portland in Nov. 2019.

Now, 35-year-old Melo is back to balling out ... averaging 16 points and 6 rebounds in the 20 games he's played so far. NOT BAD AT ALL!

Clearly, the fans in NYC -- where Melo spent almost 7 seasons -- still respect the guy and got a super loud ovation during the intros of the Portland vs. NY game on Wednesday.

"Real recognize real," Melo told us about his reception ... "I appreciate the love, always."

We also asked Melo if he thinks his jersey should be retired by the Knicks -- and he had an interesting response to that.

"I don't know man. You're talking something that ain't on my mind right now."

There's a solid argument for Melo's jersey to hang in the rafters at MSG -- he was an All-Star every year he played in NYC while averaging 24.7 points per game.

Lou Williams' son is now the owner of the best name EVER ... the L.A. Clippers star says he's callin' his newborn baby "Syx" -- and it's all 'cause of his famous NBA awards!!

"I always said if I had a son I was going to give him a unique name," Williams said.

Lou is a 3-time winner of the Association's Sixth Man of the Year honors ... and he confirmed in a postgame interview Thursday night his boy's name is a nod to those trophies.

"Nothing was coming to me, so I just said, 'You know what, I'm going to name him Syx, spell it a little different' and we just had some fun with it."

Seems the new kid is already a great luck charm for Williams ... after the point guard missed the Clippers' game Tuesday for the birth of Syx, he came back to pile up 22 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in L.A.'s win over the Pistons on Thursday.

As for when Lou will start training Syx to follow in Dad's footsteps ... Williams says it won't be long.

"A couple weeks," he said.

"My parents taught me to help out wherever I can, so this is my way of helping out."

LaMelo Ball is reaching into his pockets to aid Australia wildfire victims ... pledging to donate one month of his National Basketball League salary to people in the region who need it.

Of course, Australia is home to the youngest Ball brother these days ... he signed on to play in the NBL this season before he enters the NBA Draft later this year.

As for how much 1 month's salary is for the 18-year-old, the NBL is reportedly paying him around $70,000 this season ... so it's a pretty good chunk of change for LaVar's kid.

Australia can certainly use the cash ... at least 17 people have been killed by fires that have raged since October, and at least 17 more people are still missing.

More than 1,000 homes and businesses have reportedly been destroyed by the blazes... and there are fears things could get worse before they get better.

"It’s sad to see what is happening on the South Coast of Australia," Ball said Thursday. "People have lost their homes and everything they own. My parents taught me to help out wherever I can, so this is my way of helping out."

NBA fans LOVE Tacko Fall ... 'cause despite the 7'6" center only logging 3 games this season -- THEY WANNA SEE HIM IN THE ALL-STAR GAME!!!

The Association announced its top vote-getters so far for the annual classic ... and Fall currently sits at No. 6 in the Eastern Conference frontcourt standings with 110,269 votes.

It's an impressive number, considering Timberwolves superstar Karl Anthony-Towns has just 173,129 votes over on the Western Conference side.

Of course, it's hilarious because Fall has only played MINUTES this season -- he hasn't spent too much time on the Celtics' active roster because of mediocre play and a concussion he suffered for being too tall (seriously, that story is wild).

But, all the love is a testament to how much people really dig Fall -- who's been an Internet sensation for his giant size ever since he killed it in college at UCF.

Fall ain't the only quirky name on the NBA's fan vote list ... Lakers bench player Alex Caruso also notched nearly 100,000 votes, mostly because he's a hilarious internet meme too!!

As for if the NBA will actually let the guys play in the game despite not really doing much in this season ... don't count on it -- the fan vote only makes up 50 percent of the total voting players need to make the game.

A Chinese Basketball Association coach slapped the hell out of a heckler during a game Wednesday after the man allegedly screamed at the coach's wife ... and video of the incident is wild.

During the Jiangsu Dragons' tilt with the Liaoning Flying Leopards in Nanjing on New Year's Day, a fan was clearly causing a scene from his courtside seat.

Cameras caught the guy making a gesture toward one of the players ... and later, they appeared to show the man screaming toward a woman believed to be Dragons coach Memi Becirovic's wife.

You can see in the clip, Becirovic didn't handle the situation very well at all ... 'cause at some point during the 3rd quarter, he straight-up walked up to the fan and slapped him in the face!!

The fan fell backward ... and both parties needed to be restrained. Eventually, both the coach and the man were ejected from the game.

It's unclear if Becirovic will face further punishment from the CBA over the altercation.

David Stern -- Hall of Fame ex-NBA Commissioner -- has died 3 weeks after suffering a brain hemorrhage.

The NBA says Stern passed away Wednesday afternoon with his wife, Dianne, and their family at his bedside.

As we reported ... Stern was in serious condition after undergoing emergency brain surgery to address the sudden hemorrhage he suffered at a Manhattan restaurant on December 12. Sadly, he was unable to make a recovery.

David took over as commissioner of the NBA in 1984 and ushered incredible growth in the league over his 30-year tenure. Of course, he was in charge during the heyday of Bird, Magic and Michael ... and helped the NBA become the global juggernaut it is today.

You're looking at Terrelle Pryor -- BALLING OUT OF HIS MIND -- just 4 weeks after he was stabbed in the chest and nearly bled to death!!!

LOOK AT THIS!!! Dude recovers faster than Wolverine!!!!

The 30-year-old NFL wideout -- who says he flatlined TWICE after the Nov. 30 incident -- hit up Jeanette High School in Pennsylvania on Tuesday for some pick-up hoops ... and good god.

He was dribbling, shooting, jumping, moving ... it's unreal.

As we previously reported, Pryor lost 3.5 liters of blood and was within "minutes" of dying after he was stabbed in his Pittsburgh-area apartment during a scuffle with his girlfriend, Shalaya Briston.

Pryor's attorney says the knife plunged "very deep" into Terrelle's body above his left pec and JUST missed a major artery ... but still hit a big vain.

It took 30 staples to close the wound -- but T.P. clearly feels fine now.

What's interesting ... before the stabbing, Pryor was still very actively trying to get on an NFL roster (he was cut by the Jaguars in August).