Basketball

LaVar Ball is going to love this ...

There will be no Lakers beef between Rajon Rondo and Lonzo Ball this season -- at least when it comes to minutes -- 'cause Rajon tells TMZ Sports he'll do whatever it takes to help Zo grow!!

Of course, Rondo and Lonzo play the same position -- point guard -- and there's been some concern the two could clash in a battle for playing time.

But, 32-year-old Rajon says he just wants to be the best teammate he can be -- and if that means sitting behind 20-year-old Lonzo, so be it.

"I'm ready to help develop Lonzo as much as possible," Rajon says.

"If I'm not starting and he's starting, he's going to be ready to go and ready for anybody that comes his way. And we'll be ready to roll."

Matt Barnes says "dumbass" Donald Trump is crazy for going after LeBron James on Twitter -- telling TMZ Sports he's convinced POTUS is a racist.

Barnes played against James for years in the NBA and was VERY offended when Trump attacked the NBA superstar's intelligence Friday night ... especially since he knows James to be really smart, business savvy and philanthropic.

So, what's Barnes gonna do about it? He's putting his money where his mouth is.

Matt tells TMZ Sports he's now trying to set up a political run for himself in Sacramento -- explaining he wants to run for mayor at some point in the future.

Barnes says he wants to use his fame and influence to improve his community and prove athletes shouldn't just "shut up and dribble."

Here's Kendall Jenner, Ben Simmons and her Doberman Pinscher just out grabbing a quick bite, right before things allegedly went south with a little girl.

TMZ broke the story, Kendall's pup allegedly nipped at the girl Sunday morning at Beverly Glen Deli in Los Angeles. Someone at the deli called 911, but police didn't respond because there were no serious injuries.

You can see the dog seemed pretty friendly with another customer as Kendall and Ben arrived.

LeBron James Jr. has picked his 8th grade destination -- he'll be attending the ultra-exclusive Crossroads School in Santa Monica, TMZ Sports has learned.

Multiple sources confirm ... 13-year-old Bronny has enrolled at Crossroads with the intention of being a student when the school year begins.

Bronny, of course, is one of the top young basketball players in the country. The assumption is that he'll join the school's middle school basketball team until he's eligible to play for the high school team next year.

FYI, Crossroads is where Shareef O'Neal played his high school ball. It's also where Baron Davis went to school back when he was a high school star.

Other famous alumni include ... Evan Spiegel, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Hudson, Jack Black, Maya Rudolph and Jonah Hill.

Of course, Bronny could always change his mind and go somewhere else -- but we're told, as of right now, the plan is to attend Crossroads.

Val Chmerkovskiy has become the latest in Hollywood to recruit a member of the LeBron family ... with the two-time Mirror Ball trophy winner callin' out Bronny to join the cast of "Dancing with the Stars: Juniors"!

Remember ... L.A.'s biggest celebs have already lined up to work with LeBron now that he's a Laker -- and just a few days ago, Jackie Christie begged Savannah to join "Basketball Wives."

Now ... Bronny's getting the Tinseltown pitch, courtesy of new 'DWTS: Juniors' judge Chmerkovskiy -- who tells TMZ Sports he really wants to see LBJ Jr. on the dance floor.

"It'll be awesome for you," Val says. "You're welcome, you should come on the show!"

It wouldn't be the most farfetched thing we've ever seen ... after all, we already reported Scottie Pippen's 9-year-old daughter is slated to be on the show.

NBA player Denzel Valentine got embarrassed at the Drew League in L.A. recently ... and now the man responsible for dropping 44 on DV is telling us why it had to be done in such savage fashion.

The man's name is Frank "Nitty" Sessions ... the reigning Drew Leauge MVP and triggerman for The Game's team, "Birdie's Revenge."

Sessions' beatdown of Valentine instantly went viral ... and when he spoke with TMZ Sports, he told us in this case it was a little more than a day's work ... it was PUNISHMENT.

"He said something that bothered me, that most NBA guys I play with would never say to me."

We asked Nitty what Valentine said to him ... and, while he wouldn't say exactly, he gave us an idea when we asked if DV referenced the difference in the two men's bank accounts.

"Oh, of course he did. That's why I lost it. It's two lines and we both playing for free right now. In between these lines that don't got nothing to do with it."

BTW -- Sessions ain't broke. He's been getting money playing ball overseas for years, and basketball pays all the bills for him.

Frank says he wants to test his game against Chris Paul or Patrick Beverley next ... but until that happens, relive what he did to Valentine below ... might not be suitable for kids, it's that nasty.

Reggie Theus says HE'S the reason Michael Jordan is what he is today ... and he's waiting on Bulls fans to finally respect that -- telling TMZ Sports, "I'm looking for a check actually."

The former NBA star was leaving LAX when he explained to us that if it weren't for him, the '90s Bulls might have never been a thing.

"I take a lot of credit for their success," Reggie says. "Because, if we weren't so bad, they would have never gotten Michael Jordan."

Theus laughs off the comment ... but Reggie WAS part of the Chicago team in the 1983-84 season that was so awful, it allowed the Bulls to get the No. 3 pick and take M.J. the following season.

No one is more plugged in to the NBA scene than Matt Barnes -- so, naturally, he's got all the inside scoop on the Draymond Green vs. Tristan Thompson incident and he's finally talking about it.

Barnes appeared on "Lunchtime with Roggin and Rodney" on AM 570 LA Sports and told the guys he's already spoken with his ex-Warriors teammate, Draymond, about the altercation and says the media got it all wrong.

"He was never actually hit and he actually tried to make peace through people that wanted him to squash it," Barnes says.

It had been reported that Tristan sucker punched Draymond when they met up at an ESPYs after-party at Delilah nightclub ... but Barnes says that's simply not true.

TMZ Sports had spoken to multiple witnesses who told us the guys actually made peace afterward and are on much better terms now.

No, Blake Griffin is NOT paying $258k per month in child support -- he's only paying a fraction of that ... TMZ Sports has learned.

As we previously reported, the $258k figure that's being reported is wrong -- but sources tell us the NBA star is still cutting a significant check to Brynn Cameron, the mother of his 2 kids.

The number, we're told, is $32,000 per month ... which adds up to $384,000 per year.

It's no sweat for Blake, who recently signed a 5-year, $171 million contract.

Ever wonder how the NBA's best player would fare in a slow-pitch softball game??

Good, 'cause LeBron James hit the diamond Wednesday night ... and absolutely dominated.

LBJ, fam and friends (including J.R. Smith!) took the field at University of Akron ... when the King made his case to be the G.O.A.T of softball too.

Bron -- the biggest shortstop that's ever lived -- robbed wifey Savannah of a base hit early in the game ... stretched a ground ball to short into a double later ... and even hit this moonshot to center field.

We're told the game was just for fun and lasted about four hours. The King even brought out Swensons food truck for everyone afterward!!

Joakim Noah returned to Chicago on Thursday for a VERY good reason -- the former Bulls star was leading a peace march down West Jackson Boulevard.

The 33-year-old -- who now plays for the NY Knicks -- was holding a flag with the word "Peace" on it, while wearing a shirt that said, "Rock Your Drop On the Block."

The march was organized through Joakim's Noah's Arc Foundation -- which provides programs for kids in need in Chicago. There's also a heavy emphasis on ending the gun violence epidemic in Chicago.

Noah reportedly took countless pictures and spoke with all sorts of fans to try and spread his message.

Charles Oakley didn't just try to pull a fast one over a Vegas casino -- he tried to cheat 3 TIMES during a round of Ultimate Texas Hold'Em ... TMZ Sports has learned.

We broke the story ... Oakley was arrested at the Cosmopolitan Hotel on July 8 after officials say he cheated while gambling. Now, we've obtained court docs which explains Oakley's alleged scheme in detail.

Here's the deal ... Oakley was playing the Ultimate Texas Hold'Em table game -- where both player and dealer get 2 cards, in addition to a community 5-card draw.

Of the 7 cards in play, the dealer and player use their best 5 cards to see who has the best hand.

During the first hand, Oakley started off strong ... with a pair of 4s. But, the dealer ended up with a winning hand ... 2 pair. When Oakley realized he was gonna lose, he allegedly pulled back a $100 chip from his bet.

Later on during the gambling session, Oakley had a monster hand -- 3 of a kind -- and this time, officials say he secretly ADDED chips to his bet on 2 different occasions during the hand, thereby increasing his payout by $125.

Officials say it was all captured on casino surveillance -- and he was arrested on the spot.

Get this ... officials say Oakley can't claim ignorance as an excuse because he apparently has logged around 119 HOURS playing the game at the Cosmo.

He was initially charged with a felony -- and faced up to 6 years in prison. But, that charge was recently knocked down to misdemeanor disorderly conduct and he'll likely get off without serving a minute behind bars.

Brittney Griner is gonna try the marriage thing again -- the WNBA star just proposed to her longtime girlfriend with a fat ring ... and she said YES!!

The Phoenix Mercury center popped the question to Cherelle Watson -- the two met while they were students back at Baylor.

Hopefully, Griner's 2nd time on the alter will go better than her first -- a 28-day marriage to fellow WNBA player Glory Johnson that ended in violence.

As we previously reported, both Griner and Johnson were arrested for domestic violence in 2015 after an argument turned physical ... and they ended up in a full-on fight in their Arizona home.

Johnson got pregnant with twins during their relationship -- and when they split, the judge ordered Griner to pay child support to Johnson.

Johnson reportedly moved on and began dating a man. Griner began her relationship with Watson shortly after.

In a social media post to Watson, Griner wrote ... "My best friend, my lover, my partner in life. I love you."

Giannis Antetokounmpo is reminding us all why his nickname is the "Greek Freak" ... 'cause the NBA superstar took his first boxing lesson Thursday -- and it was pretty freakin' scary.

The 6-foot-11 Bucks forward -- lookin' as jacked as ever -- learned how to throw some jabs and hooks ... and the video is wild.

His trainer looks tiny ... and when G throws the haymakers -- there's some hold-your-breath moments.

FYI -- Antetokounmpo ain't the first gigantic NBA player to lace up the boxing gloves ... Shaq actually fought Oscar De La Hoya back in 2009.

Funniest part ... Giannis captioned the vid with "StayFreaky"

LeBron James' and Luke Walton's former teammate, Richard Jefferson, isn't worried about how the two guys will get along in L.A., telling TMZ Sports he thinks they will "do great" together.

Things got off to a weird start between the 'Bron and Luke ... with reports saying the two men didn't speak for some time after James made his decision to join the Lakers.

That made some people wonder if LeBron was planning to David Blatt Walton ... but, when we got Jefferson out in L.A., he said he expects everything to be just fine.

Remember, Jefferson is great friends with Walton having played college ball with Luke at Arizona ... and he's also one of LeBron's guys, having played his last few seasons in Cleveland.

Multiple witnesses tell TMZ Sports ... Draymond Green and Tristan Thompson cooled off and actually dapped each other up after a heated altercation at an ESPYs after-party.

We spoke with multiple people who were inside Delilah nightclub on July 18 when Draymond and Tristan came face to face.

Everyone we spoke to says it did not appear Tristan actually punched Draymond -- but he did make an aggressive gesture toward him.

LeBron and Kevin Durant did intervene and diffused the situation.

We're told when things cooled off ... Draymond and Tristan talked things out and actually made peace. At one point, our sources say they shook hands and the night went on without any more drama.