Basketball

It's the moment of truth for the newest class of NBA prospects -- who's gonna have the most dope outfit when their name is called at the Draft?!

Before these guys face off on the hardwood next season, their first big head-to-head matchup is going down in the fashion department. Some of the highlights include ...

Ex-Kentucky Wildcat Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is leading the charge ... rockin' a champagne-colored floral suit made by Jhoanna Alba.

Zhaire Smith stayed true to his favorite color, with an all blue suit and Del Toro cork loafers (and a Puma lapel pin, of course) ... made by Elevee designer Boushra Alchabaoun.

Projected mid-first rounder Lonnie Walker went with a bold all-white suit and pink tie combo ... also designed by Alchabaoun.

The war for J.R. Smith's most infamous jersey is raging -- with bidding on his NBA Finals brainfart uniform already passing the $11,000 mark!!!

The NBA is auctioning off the jersey from Game 1 of the NBA Finals -- the game where Smith grabbed a clutch rebound with the score tied at the end of the 4th quarter and, for some reason ... RAN OUT THE CLOCK!

The bidding started at $620 ... but things escalated quickly and, after 110 bids, the number has already reached $11,120.

Just like in Game 1, the clock is winding down ... bidding ends at 6:50 PM PT Thursday.

FYI ... LeBron's Game 1 jersey -- the one he scored 51 points in and STILL lost -- is up for sale too, for around $100k.

Kobe Bryant just got rejected at the rim by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences -- which just denied membership to the Mamba ... claiming he doesn't have a good enough body of work.

You know what he does have? AN OSCAR!!!!

Kobe won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short for "Dear Basketball" -- which was based off a retirement letter he published on The Players' Tribune back in 2015.

Kobe is credited as the executive producer and writer of the film.

Worth noting, Oscar winners are automatically considered for membership -- but it's not a shoe-in. The board votes on who gets membership based on a specific criteria.

One of the items on the checklist for producers -- "have the equivalent of 2 producer screen credits and perform the majority of the functions of a producer on theatrical feature films of the caliber which in the opinion of the executive committee reflect the high standards of the Academy."

For the record, Kobe produced the docu-series 'Muse' -- but it doesn't appear that would qualify under the Academy's standards because it was produced for TV.

Still, there are some people who believe the membership denial is due to Kobe's controversial past and the rise of the #MeToo movement.

Despite the fact Kobe was cheered on by the Academy when he won at the Oscars, there has been serious blowback.

Anyone waiting for Kyle Kuzma and Lonzo Ball to get into a full-blown beef is about to be disappointed ... because Lakers guard Josh Hart says everything is cool between the two guys.

Lonzo and Kuzma have been taking shots at each other on social media (and on rap songs) so much that the Lakers brass reportedly stepped in and asked them to stop.

So, we got Hart out at The Peppermint Club in L.A. (where he was partying with his teammate, Julius Randle) and asked him if it's getting outta hand ... and he broke it down for us.

Marvin Bagley III should DEFINITELY be the #1 overall pick in the NBA Draft on Thursday ... so says his father, Marvin Bagley II.

"He should [go #1]," Bagley told TMZ Sports out in NYC ... "He's the best player in the draft!"

Marvin's dad says the whole family is excited for the 19-year-old superstar -- saying they're all trying to take it one day at a time.

We also asked if he was concerned about fake friends trying to leech off Marvin after he gets rich -- and Mr. Bagley told us there's a plan for that.

"He's just gotta keep the circle tight!"

Nick Young's thrilled marijuana is becoming legal across the country ... but he's already onto the next issue -- COKE!!!

"I want people to pass cocaine," the NBA star told TMZ Sports outside 1 OAK on Tuesday night ... "Everybody needs to do cocaine!"

For the record, cocaine isn't illegal everywhere -- did you know blow is sorta legal in Colombia where people can possess 1 gram or less? There's similar laws in the Czech Republic and Uruguay.

And, there's been a real argument that legalizing all drugs could actually benefit the society.

Aside from the booger sugar convo, we also spoke with Swaggy about LeBron James, the Warriors and how he's blinging out his brand new NBA Championship ring!

Also ... kids, don't do drugs.

11:30 AM PT -- Swaggy P just issued a statement saying CHILLAX -- he was just kidding around.

Houston Rockets fans are still so bitter at being knocked out of the playoffs by the Warriors, they've gone to Yelp to take out their frustrations on Ayesha Curry's new Houston restaurant.

Steph Curry's wife is opening International Smoke in Houston in July -- and a bunch of haters have already bombarded the page with anti-Warriors trash talk, as first pointed out by NBA reporter Tomer Azarly.

Some of the highlights ...

-- "Steph is overrated. Klay sucks"

-- "This is absolutely the worst place to go - her husband cheated his way to a championship and now she has the guts to open up a place here??"

-- "Waited 35 mins for water and it tasted like Seth curry tears ! Will never be back ! Can't support this place .. Harden MVP"

-- "Any real rockets fans will NEVER step foot into this place. Disgusting."

-- "Can't believe I logged on here and took time out of my day just to give this 1 star. Go rockets."

As you can imagine, the comments have already been flagged by Yelp -- which is now reviewing the page to take out the fake critics.

Charles Barkley clearly thinks Dennis Rodman made a huge mistake getting into bed with Kim Jong-un ... calling the guy a brutal dictator -- but says he's sort of giving The Worm a pass.

Our photog argued that Rodman deserves credit for setting up the historic meeting between the leader of North Korea and President Trump -- but Barkley shut our guy down.

"Dude, he's a dictator. He treats people like crap. Stop it," Barkley argued.

But, when it came to judging Rodman's role in the summit, Barkley would only says he loves the guy and wouldn't give him credit.

By the way, with the NBA Draft coming up on Thursday -- we asked Chuck if he thought LiAngelo Ball had a shot at getting his name called ... and he didn't say no!

LiAngelo Ball is finally ready to laugh at that whole international crime incident in China ... and he's doing it all for a new Foot Locker commercial.

Remember, it was just 7 months ago ... Gelo -- along with 2 teammates from UCLA -- were detained in China after stealing several pairs of designer sunglasses and other accessories from multiple stores in Hangzhou.

UCLA -- along with Chinese billionaire Jack Ma -- worked with Chinese officials to bring the players back home. LiAngelo left UCLA a short time later and moved to Lithuania to play pro ball overseas.

Now, Ball is joking about the whole situation for Foot Locker's new "One and Done" campaign ... in which the host brags that the new apparel is an "absolute steal," while cutting to Gelo.

The host jokingly realizes his mistake and says he meant to say, "The price is so good it must be criminal."

Get it?! Good times ...

Forget what you thought you knew about Kobe Bryant ... there is no Kobe, or Mamba ... because KB gave us a glimpse of who he has become ...

AND, HIS NAME IS DADZILLA!!

Kobe was seen out in France carrying his littlest daughter, Bianka Bella ... and the pythons jumping out of his torso made it clear that the age of DADZILLA is upon us.

BTW -- we didn't jump to this declaration easily ... this is the second time we've seen DADZILLA. The first time being a trip to Disneyland where the former mortal man looked more jacked than normal.

Now, we know it wasn't a one-off ... but the dawn of a new era.

Here's what it looks like when you've had enough of losing to LeBron James.

Indiana Pacers star Myles Turner -- just weeks after losing another playoff series to LBJ and the Cavs -- decided to go from skinny fat to shredded ... and we gotta say, the results so far are impressive.

The almost 7-footer's been hitting the weights the last five weeks ... but he's also been moving his big-ass frame around in boxing sparring sessions.

FYI ... prior to Turner beefing up this summer -- he weighed in at 255 pounds. LeBron -- the guy who's killed Turner and the Pacers' playoff dreams the past two years -- clocked in at 250 ... at three inches shorter!

Doug Christie -- one of the players on Dennis Rodman's '14 basketball trip to North Korea -- says there's NO WAY he'd return ... unless LeBron James was involved.

Christie -- along with Kenny Anderson, Vin Baker and other ex-NBA stars -- famously traveled to Pyongyang to play an exhibition game for Kim Jong-un. They called it "basketball diplomacy."

But, Christie tells us the trip wasn't exactly peaches and cream -- saying, "I kissed the ground when I got back."

Doug tells TMZ Sports he does believe the trip helped lay the groundwork for Donald Trump to meet with Kim Jong-un, which he believes is a positive thing ... and he's praising Rodman for his role.

If your fly was open at church, what would you use to cover it up?!

Guarantee your answer is BETTER than the one Charles Barkley gave on "Celebrity Family Feud"!

Chuck -- along with his cohosts from "Inside the NBA" -- took on a team from Major League Baseball and things came to a head when Charles was on the hot seat.

When Barkley blurted out his guess, EVERYONE gasped and Ernie Johnson even switched teams to get away from Chuck.

And then, the most insane thing happened ... CHUCK'S ANSWER SHOWED UP ON THE BOARD!!!

Everyone on both teams -- Shaq, Kenny "The Jet" Smith, Kristen Ledlow, Johnny Damon and more -- couldn't believe it.

Iman Shumpert says he doesn't need his wife's help with his rap career ... 'cause releasing songs with Teyana Taylor will only HURT his music goals!!

The NBA star told us he takes his rap seriously ... and if he blows up 'cause of songs he released with his famous boo -- he says it just wouldn't feel right.

"I could use my wife, but it's just I would rather people connect with me in certain ways," Iman told TMZ Sports at LAX this week.

Don't get it twisted ... Shump's got songs with Teyana -- and he says he has even more with celebs that would skyrocket his career.

But building a following that doesn't revolve around hoops or the big-name people he knows is something he takes seriously.

The Game has created a brand new strain of marijuana -- obviously named after LeBron James -- and he's hoping it helps convince the NBA superstar to sign with the Lakers.

It's called "'LA' Bron James -- and created by Game's marijuana company, "Trees By Game" -- and the rapper says there's a very specific reason why he developed this strain.

"[It's] a strain inspired by my city & them trying to bring King James to the LAKESHOW."

FYI, Game is from Los Angeles -- and he's a die-hard fan of the Purple & Gold (and green too).

For the record, Game -- just like the Warriors -- has already smoked James. He liked it.

Cleveland Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue has finally stepped out after his team was swept in the NBA Finals ... and we had to ask about the one thing everyone wants to know -- LeBron's future.

Ya gotta watch the video ... Lue's body language is a combination of frustration, pain and uncertainty.

Don't get it twisted, he was totally nice on his way out of Craig's in West Hollywood -- where he had dinner with Chauncey Billups -- but it's obvious LeBron isn't his favorite topic right now.

And why? Everyone knows it's almost certain Bron is leaving Cleveland, which leaves Lue with a bad team and not a lot of job security.

Don't spend too much time worrying about Lue ... he signed a 5-year $35 million contract in 2016 and the first 4 years are fully guaranteed.