Basketball

Kevin Garnett is absolutely eviscerating Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor ... essentially saying he can take any olive branch and shove it -- and calling him a "snake motherf***er."

So ... what's the beef??

When Garnett made his return to the Wolves back in 2015, he mentioned to coach Flip Saunders he wanted to eventually take on a front office or ownership role with Minnesota one day.

After Saunders passed away later that year, Taylor brought Tom Thibodeau on board to lead the team ... a move KG thought was not honoring his plans with Saunders.

"Glen and I had an understanding before Flip died, and when Flip died, that understanding went with Flip," KG told Shams Charania. "For that, I won’t forgive Glen."

"I thought he was a straight-up person, straight up businessman, and when Flip died, everything went with him."

KG says he LOVED his 14 seasons in Minnesota and his teammates, fans and the rest of the organization ... but there's no way in hell he's gonna reunite with Taylor.

"I’ll always have a special place for the city of Minneapolis and the state of Minnesota in my heart."

"But, I don’t do business with snakes. I don’t do business with snake motherf***ers. I try not to do business with openly snakes or people who are snake-like."

Of course, Taylor congratulated KG on making the Hall of Fame recently ... and when Garnett was asked if he'd be down for a jersey retirement ceremony in Minnesota -- the answer is a big, fat NO.

"Glen knows where I’m at, I’m not entertaining it."

If Detroit drafted Carmelo Anthony in 2003, the Pistons would've won not 1, not 2, not 3 ... but ZERO rings!!! -- so says Ben Wallace, who truly believes drafting Melo would've hurt the team.

Remember, the hypothetical argument came up when Anthony and Dwyane Wade talked about their epic draft class on IG Live ... speculating what Melo's career would've been like if Motor City picked him instead of all-time bust Darko Milicic.

"I know I would have maybe 2 or 3 rings," Melo said.

Enter Big Ben ... who says it's actually a GOOD thing the Pistons messed up with the #2 overall pick ... because Melo would've thrown everyone off.

"If we would've drafted Carmelo, I honestly don't think we would have ever won a championship," Wallace said on the 120 Watts Podcast.

"Melo would have wanted to play right away. It would have had the potential to disrupt the team chemistry."

Of course, the Pistons went on to win a 'ship over Kobe Bryant and the Lakers in 2004 without Darko's help ... and Melo is still ringless.

Not everybody on that team feels the same way, though ... Chauncey Billups thinks the Pistons woulda won 3 titles if they drafted Melo.

Derek Fisher and Gloria Govan were supposed to say "I do" this coming weekend, but now that it's postponed they're focused on helping the nurses, doctors and EMTs battling coronavirus.

The ex-Lakers star and current Sparks head coach was on "TMZ Live" Monday with his bride-to-be -- and, like most Americans, their priorities have shifted. The "Basketball Wives" star's restaurant, Gorditos in Granada Hills, is providing food, and even masks, for frontline workers around SoCal.

Gloria, whose sister is a nurse in NorCal, says the couple will donate items to as many frontline workers as possible. It's no small undertaking because, like most restaurants, Derek and Gloria's place is taking it on the chin.

They told us how they're fighting to stay open, and to help out all their employees ... even though they've had to furlough most of them.

As for their wedding -- originally slated for this weekend but postponed around 3 weeks ago -- Derek says they're just like most engaged couples right now ... just wondering when they'll be able to resume their plans.

Vanessa Bryant just told the world how proud she is of Kobe, who has been honored as the next Basketball Hall of Fame inductee.

Vanessa sat with daughter Natalia as she fought back tears, saying how proud she was of Kobe's posthumous accomplishment.

Kobe will be inducted as part of the class of 2020, and Vanessa says it's the pinnacle of her late husband's storied NBA career, that spanned 20 years with the Lakers.

Vanessa says, "It's an incredible accomplishment and honor, and we're extremely proud of him. Obviously, we wish he was here with us to celebrate, but it's definitely the peak of his NBA career and every accomplishment that he had as an athlete was a stepping stone to be here."

Kobe Bryant will be inducted into the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2020 -- alongside Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan.

Players become eligible 4 seasons after their last game -- and with Kobe retiring in 2016, this was his first opportunity to get in.

The ceremony (which will be formally announced on Saturday) will take place at The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA in August, according to Shams Charania.

It's a no-brainer -- Kobe is widely considered one of the greatest players of all time ... during his 20-year run with the Lakers, Kobe won 5 NBA titles and made the All-Star team 18 times!

Need more stats? He was also a 2-time NBA Finals MVP, the 2008 NBA MVP, 2-time NBA scoring champ, 9-time NBA All-Defensive Team and he won the Dunk Contest in '97!

Of course, Kobe passed away on Jan. 26 in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, CA. He was only 41.

Many of Kobe's friends and family members have talked about how important it was for Kobe to get in the HOF. Shaquille O'Neal even spoke about it on "Inside the NBA" in the days after Kobe's death.

"The fact that we're not gonna be able to joke at his Hall of Fame ceremony, we're not gonna be able to say, 'Haha, I got 5 (championships), you got 4,' the fact that we're not gonna be able to say, 'If we would've stayed together, we could've got 10' ... those were the things you can't get back."

This might be the biggest baller move yet ... LaMelo Ball and his manager, ex-NBA player Jermaine Jackson, just teamed up to buy the Australian pro basketball team Ball suited up for this past season.

BIG BALLER!!!!

18-year-old Ball was a beast in 12 games for the Illawarra Hawks last year ... averaging 17 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7 assists a game before a foot injury sidelined him for the rest of the season.

Jackson -- who played 5 seasons in the NBA -- explained the move to ESPN, saying Ball loved his time in the Australian NBL so much that he decided to take charge.

The Hawks were reportedly facing financial issues while Ball was on the team ... and now the top NBA prospect is hoping to keep the shop open for his teammates and future players.

"Melo loves the Illawarra fans," Jackson said. "He loves that community. They opened their arms to him. They made us feel like we are at home. When we started hearing about the issues they were going through, we talked about it and decided, 'Let's own the team.'"

Jackson insists the move won't affect Ball's bright NBA future ... saying the plan is to hire the right people to keep the team running.

"He wants to create the best basketball program possible for that community there."

No word on how much it cost to buy the team ... but it can't be cheap.

Everybody loves him as the expert giving Americans a glimmer of hope in the coronavirus pandemic ... but did you know White House advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci was a basketball superstar!?

He sure was!! ... and President Trump gave the guy a major shoutout in the W.H. press briefing on Wednesday ... praising the dude for being a total baller on the court back in the day.

Of course, the entire country has fallen in love with Dr. Fauci as he's become the voice of wisdom during this scary time ... and his leadership skills date back to 1958!!

Trump brought up Fauci's high school playing days at Regis HS in New York ... saying he inspired his team to win when they were major underdogs.

"He was a great basketball player. Did anybody know that?" Trump said.

"He was little on the short side for the NBA but he was talented. He won a game, I read the story, he won a game that was un-winnable against a great team."

"That was a couple of years ago. The head never changed. The attitude never changed."

The next installment of Kobe Bryant's best-selling book series is here ... and Vanessa is paying tribute to her husband's work on the bittersweet day.

The book, "Season One" is a follow-up to Kobe's NYT Bestselling work, "The Wizenard Series: Training Camp" ... which focuses on a young hooper named Reggie, who dreams of being a basketball superstar.

Vanessa celebrated the news on Instagram Tuesday ... saying, "Welcome back to Dren! We hope you are all ready to catch up with the West Bottom Badgers for another magical basketball season."

The book shares a quote from the late Kobe Bryant after the title page ... which says, "To young athletes who commit to doing the hard work. The process always pays off."

The book's author, Wesley King, reflected on the book drop -- saying, "Official release day. Bittersweet without my collaborator, but grateful to see the words live on. This is a book about chasing your dreams."

Of course, Kobe's second act after basketball was just taking off ... from business partnerships to winning an Oscar for the short film, "Dear Basketball."

#RIP

Darko Milicic is taking the high road with Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade ... saying he heard the disrespect -- but is only wishing the best for the future hall of famers.

Of course, Melo and Wade were discussing their epic 2003 draft class on Instagram Live over the weekend ... when Anthony claimed he couldn't remember who was drafted #2 overall after LeBron James.

"WHO!?" Melo asked after Wade mentioned he hadn't heard of Milicic prior to the draft.

Darko -- widely considered one of the biggest busts in NBA history -- addressed the comments recently ... and instead of picking a fight, his reaction was poetic as hell.

"As for these stories, so if my story is not told, thank God they have succeeded — I have not," Darko told b92.net.

"We are not kids, we are adults. I hope you are ripe to understand that life is full of ups and downs."

Milicic continued ... "I consider myself less good guys, it is not necessary to judge and ridicule when, thank God, you have not passed the path that I am."

"To them, as always, I wish everyone good and every honor in their careers and in further life a lot of success and less condemnation."

It would've been easy for Milicic to take a shot at Melo -- considering he won a ring with the Pistons in 2004 ... something Anthony still doesn't have.