Basketball

The Golden Boy ain't gonna like this ...

Shaq says he gave Oscar De La Hoya a pass when the two men fought back in 2009 ... telling TMZ Sports he "held back" on ODLH because he didn't REALLY want to beat up his friend.

Oscar & Diesel squared off for his old TV show, "Shaq Vs." where the big fella would go up against other pro athletes in their different sports ... with awesome results.

De La Hoya won via decision ... but when we got O'Neal out in NYC he told our guy he basically took a dive.

"I held back 'cause he was my friend."

Not everybody got the homie treatment though ... Shaq told us he had another fight, this time with boxing great Sugar Shane Mosley where he "turned it up a little."

We found the video -- and yeah, Shaq hit Mosley with some REAL power shots and bullied him around the ring like a rag doll.

Mosley ended up winning that fight in a 5-round decision (and hit Shaq with some power shots of his own) ... but it's clear Shaq was trying to send a message that he's no joke when it comes to fighting.

Can Bone Collector really ball at the NBA level at 37 years old? He thinks he can ... and tells TMZ Sports he's seriously making a push to get a shot with a pro team.

Bone Collector -- real name Larry Williams -- famously killed EVERYONE on the AND1 mixtapes back in the day -- but says he still balls out all the time with a stable of NBA stars, including Steph Curry.

"I think I'll be a good 6th-man addition to a team," B.C. says ... noting that he looks up to guys like 41-year-old Vince Carter for inspiration.

Watch the video ... dude's still as confident as ever -- telling TMZ Sports he's still breaking ankles in the gym and bragging, "Nobody can guard me."

Brad Stevens might be the best young coach in the NBA ... but is he on the level of Bill Belichick?

He's certainly on the way ... according to Celtics and Patriots superfan Mark Wahlberg ... who told us "that's a very, very good comparison."

TMZ Sports saw Wahlberg in L.A. ... and asked if the Celts head coach was "the new Belichick of Boston."

(Yeah, we know Boston is a part of New England -- but you get the point.)

It's high praise for a guy who's only been on the job for a few years ... considering B.B. has 5 'chips and is believed by some to be the best damn football coach ever.

But, Mark says there is still 1 thing Stevens has left to do.

Draymond Green is a SMART businessman ... because records show he's moved to lock up the rights to "Hampton 5" -- the nickname for the Golden State Warriors starting lineup.

The Dubs got the nickname last year when Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala and Klay Thompson flew out to the Hamptons to recruit Kevin Durant to the squad.

Since he joined, the "Hampton 5" has been murdering everyone ... winning the championship last season and making a run in the playoffs right now.

We noticed someone had filed for the "Hampton 5" trademark in 2017 and a deeper dive revealed the man behind the application is Money 23 Green Enterprises ... aka Draymond.

The application was to use the trademark for everything from sports drinks to gym bags, cell phone cases, headphones, comic books, athletic wear and educational tools.

Get this ... he even wanted the rights to use the trademark for a celebrity gossip website, just in case he feels like going all Harvey Levin.

Here's a lesson in fandom straight from two of the biggest hip-hop stars in the world ... Lil Wayne & Travis Scott.

Both men attended the Warriors vs. Rockets game in Houston Wednesday night ... a game in which the Rockets completely dominated the Warriors, blowing KD and Steph out by over 20 points.

Travis Scott is from Houston, and you can tell because, even in a game where the Rockets never really had a chance of losing ... the dude is fanning it up, looking nervous the entire time.

Lil Wayne, on the other hand, is from New Orleans ... making him a proud Lakers fan (we don't know why) so his mug during the game is all smiles, no worries.

Chill out, Travis ... you guys won. Now you just gotta go get 1 at Oracle.

Shaq and Charles Barkley's love/hate relationship is actually in it's second generation ... that's according to The Diesel, who says their mamas were friends and used to fight the exact same way.

Chuck and Shaq get into HEATED arguments on "Inside The NBA" -- like, really bad ones -- leading some people to speculate whether the guys really like each other when the cameras are off.

Adam Glyn got Shaq out in NYC and asked if there was actual bad blood between the two men, and not only did O'Neal say it was all love, he said the way they treat each other was learned.

"His mom and my mom were best friends, and they used to have the same type of relationship. Funniest thing ever."

Barkley's mom, Charcey, sadly passed away back in 2015, but we're guessing all her arguments with O'Neal's mom never got as bad as it did for the guys back in the day.

But we can't be sure.

Steve Nash knows ... legalized sports betting won't go off without a hitch -- noting that in the past, "sh*t's happened."

There are concerns that the new Supreme Court ruling legalizing sports betting across the U.S. could lead to point shaving scandals ... like we've seen in the past at Arizona State and Boston College.

The suggestion is ... with sports betting being a hundred billion dollar industry and growing, there will be more incentive to pay off players to shave points or throw games.

But Nash doesn't seem too worried ... telling TMZ Sports, "I wouldn't [be concerned]. They're responsible young gentlemen of society."

He acknowledges some players will screw up -- but they're probably in the minority.

"Sh*t's happened over time. I'm sure something will happen. But people are responsible for themselves."

LeBron James had a rough night ... but his wife was LIVING IT UP in Australia!!

Savannah James was spotted at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Sydney, Australia on Wednesday ... rockin' some pretty cool lookin' sweatpants.

Of course, Sydney is 14 hours ahead of Boston -- where the Celtics beat the Cavs to go up 2-0 on Tuesday.

LeBron was laser-focused on Game 2 -- and showed up to the TD Garden hours before the game to shoot and prepare. Ultimately, it didn't help ... Cavs lost 107 to 94.

Meantime, there were a bunch of huge stars at MBFW ... including Shaun White, Joe Jonas and Elsa Pataky.

He didn't exactly poo-poo the idea ...

Kobe Bryant is keeping an open mind when it comes to the Lakers' draft plans ... saying he'd be cool with the team taking another Ball brother ... "if it'll help win."

Kobe was leaving ABC Studios in New York City when we straight-up asked, "With the [NBA Draft coming up], what do you want the Lakers to do?"

Kobe's response ... "Win."

That's when we asked about LaVar Ball's plan to get LiAngelo Ball to the Lake Show ... joining his brother, Lonzo.

Kobe shrugged at the idea and said, "If it'll help win."

9:58 AM PT -- A rep for Sports Trinity -- which represents the Qatari investors -- tells TMZ Sports, "Sport Trinity never made an offer of this nature to Jerome Williams."

"His statements to TMZ are completely false and illogical, particularly as Sport Trinity is the largest investor in the BIG3 Basketball league."

Ex-NBA player Jerome Williams -- aka the Junk Yard Dog -- says he was offered $25 MILLION to start a rival 3-on-3 basketball league last year ... while he was still playing for the BIG3 league.

But the craziest part ... Williams claims the people behind the offer were the same Qatari investors who already owned a piece of the BIG3.

Of course, the BIG3 is suing the Qataris for more than $1 BILLION -- claiming they never made good on their $5 million investment ... and then threatened a league owner when asked for the money.

Now, Williams tells TMZ Sports he believes the Qataris were essentially trying to sabotage the BIG3 by wooing players like himself to ditch Ice Cube and Jeff Kwatinetz and join a rival venture.

"I'm JYD! It's not the first time I've turned down $25 million."

Williams says the Qataris flew key people associated with the BIG3 to St. Tropez and let them drive fancy cars ... but ultimately, the plan failed.

There's more ...

Jerome also has a message for his "good friend" Roger Mason -- former BIG 3 commissioner -- who's also suing the BIG3 and has a friendship with the Qataris.

"I would run fast and far away from these guys."

We reached out to Sports Trinity -- which represents the Qatari investors -- but were unable to get a comment.

Master P says he's the perfect man to take the reins up in the north, now that Dwane Casey's been fired ... and he's stating his case to TMZ Sports.

Before you even start wondering ... P's serious ... he's been angling for an NBA coaching job for some time now, citing his on-court experience and knack for developing players.

The Raptors punted Casey last week, and when we got P in L.A. ... he broke down what Casey did wrong in the playoffs, and how he would've handled things differently if he was running things up there.

BTW ... Toronto is one of the teams P played with during his attempt at an NBA career, so it's not like he doesn't know the lay of the land up there.

SUPER BTW ... remember, P goes WAY back with Raptors star DeMar DeRozan, having coached him during his high school years in Los Angeles.

A 27-year-old man was arrested Friday for sending a letter to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver that essentially demanded Silver to let him play in the league ... or else.

"If you don't let me play, I'm going to come up there and kill you with my f*cking gun," David Pyant allegedly wrote in an email sent to NBA offices ... police sources tell us.

It doesn't appear Pyant has any real professional basketball experience -- but he does have a criminal record ... 13 prior arrests, according to the NY Post.

We're told Pyant was arrested on May 11 and charged with aggravated harassment. A judge granted a temporary restraining order requiring him to stay away from Silver.

Pyant was eventually released without bail.

Rob Kardashian isn't willing to forgive or forget when it comes to Tristan Thompson cheating on Khloe ... and thinks his big sis can and should do better.

Sources close to Rob tell TMZ ... he's still furious with Tristan, and regardless of the couple seemingly getting back together and working their relationship out -- he's not having it.

We're told Rob thinks Tristan's an "a**hole" ... and he'll never be able to let go of him disrespecting and embarrassing his closest sister while she was pregnant.

Rob's apparently not on board with the rest of the family's approach of not pressuring Khloe to dump him either. We're told he's adamant she deserves better and should move on.

With Dwane Casey out as the head coach of the Toronto Raptors, Metta World Peace says he knows the right man for the job ... Drake.

We broke the news about Casey's firing to Metta on the streets of Beverly Hills -- and since Metta's been vocal about wanting to be a coach, we asked if he'd be interested.

Of course, Metta said he'd be down ... but seemed more excited about the idea of Drake taking over the role, since he already has an official position with the team.

(For the record, Metta says Drake has an ownership stake, but it appears he's wrong -- he works with the team as the global ambassador).

The NY Knicks made the "right choice" in hiring David Fizdale as the head coach ... but it wasn't the "best choice" -- so says Kenny Smith.

Of course, Kenny was in the running for the gig -- but the Knicks ultimately went with Fizdale, who has more experience as a head coach in the NBA.

"I think they made the right choice," Smith tells TMZ Sports ... "maybe not the best choice. I'm the best choice."

He then doubled down ... "They made the right choice, but not the best choice."

LeBron James got Michael Rapaport to cut the trash talking and shut his mouth ... and even Rapaport says he's pretty damn impressed.

Look, Rap has said a lot of crap about Bron over the years -- he famously called him a "motherf*cker" for dissing his kids back in the day.

But now, Rapaport says LeBron is playing on such another level ... he's been rendered speechless.

"I've never seen anybody do what he's done this playoffs," Rapaport says ... "The biggest sh*t-talker, myself. I've got nothing to say. He's been unbelievable."

There is one guy who's still getting the wrath of Rap -- Drake -- who didn't show up to Game 4 of the Cavs vs. Raptors series to watch his team get swept out of the playoffs.