Basketball

DeAndre Jordan didn't just sit at home and sulk after his Clippers teammate (and good friend), Blake Griffin, was traded to Detroit ... he hit the town -- but wasn't his usual happy self.

DJ rolled into Nice Guy in West Hollywood -- one of the hottest nightspots in town -- but didn't want to talk about the blockbuster deal that went down just hours before.

He was equally quiet on the way out ... as he got in to a waiting, decked-out sprinter van and drove off into the night. Though he did stop to dap up some waiting fans.

Lonzo Ball's international rap career just got the seal of approval from a pretty big rap star ... 'cause Tyga says he 100% supports Zo's upcoming Lithuania show.

Remember -- Lonzo video'd in during Lithuania's equivalent of the Grammys last week, and revealed he's planning a summer concert in the tiny country where his bros are ballin' out.

Seemed like a weird spot to hold his first live set ... but Tyga doesn't think so.

Magic Johnson is speaking out on the sexual assault scandal at his alma mater -- calling for Michigan State to fire every staffer who knew about the crimes, but stayed silent.

In addition to the Larry Nassar scandal, officials say the NCAA was alerted in 2010 to dozens of reports of MSU athletes sexually assaulting women -- including at least 16 MSU football players.

Instead of trying to change the culture and get to the root of the problem, Michigan State allegedly tried to keep the whole thing quiet.

Now, Magic says anyone who knew about ANYTHING and didn't speak up should go.

"If anyone was aware of the sexual assault happening to women on the MSU campus from the office of the President, Board of Trustees, athletic department, faculty & campus police, and didn’t say or do anything about it, they should be fired."

"Cookie and I stand in support of the victims and their families as they embark on the road to recovery; and I support the movement to hold everyone involved accountable."

"The roles of the new President, Board of Trustees, athletic department, faculty, campus police and students will be to work together to create new policies and procedures to ensure this never happens again."

Zion Williamson is gonna be great at Duke ... but we gotta pump the breaks on hailing him as the next LeBron -- so says Grant Hill.

We got the Duke legend at LAX a couple days after Zion committed to the Blue Devils ... and Grant was pumped on Coach K locking down yet another elite prospect.

"I hope the rims are ready in Cameron," Hill told TMZ Sports.

But Grant says that even though Zion's got the tools to be a king -- athleticism, size, explosiveness -- expecting him to become THE King is too much, especially this early (remember O.J. Mayo??).

Fair enough, but the kid definitely passes the eye test ...

Lonzo Ball wants to put the "lit" in Lithuania ... announcing he's coming to the Eastern European country to perform his very first rap concert!

Lonzo's dad, LaVar Ball, was reportedly presenting the Hip-Hop Act of the Year trophy at the M.A.M.A. Awards (like the Lithuanian Grammys) ... when he introduced Lonzo via a prerecorded video.

Lonzo says the plan is to fly in over the summer and perform a show for the locals -- obviously capitalizing on the publicity splash his brothers are making as pro baller on Vytautus.

Lonzo raps under the name Zo -- and has already dropped a couple of singles, including "BBB" and "Super Saiyan."

Most rappers don't go to Europe to catapult their careers ... but Lonzo ain't most rappers.

76er and Lakers fans REJOICE ... the broke ass jump shots of Markelle Fultz & Lonzo Ball can be fixed ... according to a pro shooting coach who says he knows the antidote to their bricks.

Fultz is befuddling the basketball world with his sudden inability to find the hoop, with videos of 76ers practice showing the #1 pick can't even draw iron anymore.

We spoke to Chris "Lethal Shooter" Matthews, an ex-pro hooper, who's worked with huge NBA stars on their form, and drawn millions of views on social media for his shooting exhibitions.

He says he can help Fultz, and Lonzo, another young player who can't seem to hit the broad side of a barn.

"I really truly believe I can help take those guys to the next level when it comes to the art of shooting."

Matthews goes on to tell us -- with all due respect -- exactly what he thinks the 76ers are doing wrong with Fultz ... and how he'd change things up.

Watch Chris in action below, the teams might wanna take the help.

Cool moment for Shaquille O'Neal -- he got to watch his kid, Shareef, hit the game-winning shot in a big high school hoops tournament ... and Papa Diesel couldn't have been prouder!

Shaq and the entire "Inside the NBA" team were broadcasting live from the CBS Studio Center in L.A. -- where Shareef's Crossroads high school team was participating in the Future of Flight showcase tourney.

The big matchup was Crossroads vs. Beverly Hills High School ... which was tied up at 61 to 61 with seconds left in the game.

Shareef got the last shot -- and made it count ... locking up the victory while Shaq, Barkley and Ernie Johnson went wild!

Of course, Shaq took full credit -- explaining he's been teaching Shareef how to shoot since he came out of the womb!

By the way, after the game Shareef went to the Travis Scott concert, where stars like Terrell Owens were hanging out. Good night for that guy!

If any NBA team's looking for a point guard, Brandon Jennings says SIGN ME UP -- 'cause dude's back from China and ready to ball out!

We got Brandon out at South Beverly Grill ... and he told us he's ready for another shot with the big boys after taking his talents to the CBA.

FYI, Jennings has bounced around the last few seasons with the Wizards, Knicks and Magic ... but he's still just 28 and says he's still got A LOT of years left in him.

After completing a week at an inpatient rehab center in Jersey, Dennis Rodman is out ... but swears to continue working on his sobriety.

Rodman had checked in to the Turning Point treatment center following his DUI arrest earlier this month. Now, his rep Darren Prince says he's moving to a nearby outpatient center operated by Turning Point before continuing his long-term treatment in California.

"He’s been working with psychotherapists as well as in group recovery classes," Prince says ... adding, "[Rodman] has finally been accountable for his behavior from alcohol over the years."

Rodman also commented ... saying, "The doctors and nurses at Turning Point were really cool and made me feel comfortable and understand how I got myself into this position and what I need to do to stay on this path."

Charles Barkley says it's impossible to pick between Michael Jordan and Tom Brady when it comes to the Greatest Of All Time ... but says there's a THIRD name that belongs in the conversation.

Sir Chuck was at LAX ... where he also heaped some praise on LeBron James for hitting 30k career points and Kobe Bryant for getting an Oscar nod.

By the way, neither of those guys are the 3rd G.O.A.T. Barkley referenced earlier.

Big Ballers come in all shapes and sizes ... so IG superstar The Fat Jew says LaVar Ball should hire him to be an official brand ambassador for BBB!!

"If they want like a heavyset guy with, like, a Shrek kinda body ... I would be down to rep for BBB," Fat Jew told TMZ Sports. "Yo, LaVar, let me know!"

Sounds like a joke, but we're pretty sure he's 100% serious. Fat Jew says he bought a pair of ZO2 slides in spite of their ridiculous price tag ... and ain't even mad they took almost a month to arrive.

The Balls were all over the place in Lithuania on Tuesday ... with LaMelo and LiAngelo combining for a whoppin' 80 POINTS in LaVar's pro coaching debut.

BC Vytautas announced Papa Ball would join it's coaching staff for the 4th game of the Big Baller Brand Challenge against Alytaus Dzūkija ... and the strategy worked, 'cause he helped coach the team to a 147-142 win.

Not only did Melo drop 43 points (including 5 straight 3 pointers in the 3rd quarter and a fast break dunk), but Gelo added 37 of his own to secure the dub.

Jason Kidd just got the boot in Milwaukee -- but he's already got a rebound offer from one of the most powerful head coaches in the NBA!

Well, sorta ... we got Doc Rivers and Tom Thibodeau -- Doc's former Celtics assistant -- leaving Craig's after Thibodeau's T-Wolves edged Rivers' Clippers in L.A.

Naturally, we had to bring up the shocking J-Kidd firing ... and Doc immediately went to bat for the NBA legend, saying he would "absolutely" add him to his coaching staff.

One problem -- there ain't any vacancies on his bench at the moment ... and he's already got big-name assistants like Sam Cassell and Mike Woodson.

With LeBron James and Steph Curry picking the teams for the NBA All-Star game, we asked Kyrie Irving if he'd be upset if his old teammate didn't pick him first.

Ya gotta see what Kyrie says when we spotted him at Delilah in West Hollywood.

For the record, Irving is having a killer season with the Boston Celtics -- averaging 24.5 points per game and carrying the team on his back. He's definitely an MVP candidate.

So, Bron's GOTTA pick him first, right?! We'll see ...

Here's Lakers star Jordan Clarkson doing his best LaVar Ball impression -- saying Lonzo Ball should be LeBron's 1st pick in the All-Star draft ... even though he ain't an All-Star.

Right.

We got Clarkson at Delilah over the weekend ... and asked him straight-up who Bron's #1 selection should be when him and Steph Curry choose their squad members later this week.

Apparently, Jordan didn't get the memo that you gotta be an actual All-Star to qualify.

Or, more likely, he just wanted to plug Lonzo and his venerable fashion brand ... with the help of the BBB entourage (which we're guessing JC inherits whenever Zo's out).

Why was Nick Young kissing a puppet and grooving like Michael Jackson over the weekend?

Don't worry -- it's 'cause he was hypnotized ... and there's video!!

It all went down at the 30th birthday bash for Warriors teammate JaVale McGee ... where Swaggy P got on stage and put under. Like, really under -- dude was OUT.

What happened next was Swaggy like you've never seen him before -- putting the moves on a puppet during a slow dance ... and crotch-grabbin' and moon-walkin' like MJ.