Basketball

Tom Brady's feeling the need for speed and getting plenty of it in France at the 24 Hours of Le Mans ... where a ton of celebs are on hand for the action.

The legendary endurance race recruited none other than LeBron James for the honor of waving the starting flag for this year's event.

Famous racing fan, and sometimes driver, Patrick Dempsey is also there ... as is Ferrari's F1 driver Charles LeClerc. He's not driving this weekend, LeClerc's just there to support the Italian automaker, which is returning to the Le Mans grid for the first time in 50 years.

But, all eyes were on Brady before the race, because he's not just a spectator this weekend ... dude's got skin in the game.

His Brady Brand clothing line is a sponsor on the Hertz Team car. He stopped to take a bunch of selfies with fans as he walked the grid before the race went green.

Tom joked on social media, he wanted to "see what it feels like to pass someone." Speed was never his thing, but he did alright without it.

The Miami Heat are on the ropes in the NBA Finals, but their celeb turnout is still top-seeded in the league ... right up there with legendary LA Lakers Showtime.

Lil Wayne, Conor McGregor, G-Eazy, Chris Tucker and J. Balvin filed into the primo seats at Miami's Kaseya Center.

McGregor actually got some playing time -- not in the game, which the Denver Nuggets won -- but he was part of the center court entertainment. The UFC legend squared off with the Heat mascot Burnie ... and earned a one-punch W.

Some other famous fans in the crowd included Odell Beckham Jr., Flo Rida, Forest Whitaker, Neymar, Ozuna and Paul Pogba.

Despite all the negativity surrounding Zion Williamson and his personal life, his stepfather is offering a public show of support for his son, saying he stands by the NBA star ... while reminding people to "believe half of what you see and nothing you hear."

Williamson's stepfather, Anderson Lee, indirectly addressed the swirling rumors which started when porn star and OnlyFans model Moriah Mills blasted the Pels star this week, while at a Zion Williamson Foundation event in Louisiana.

"And I wanna say this," Lee said at the end of his speech ... "and I wanna be politically correct when I say it. That’s my son and I love him."

He continued ... "Believe half of what you see and nothing you hear. That’s all I want to say. I stand by my son one hundred percent. I wasn’t always where I am today."

ICYMI, Mills, 32, went on a Twitter rant this week, saying she has a romantic fling with the NBA superstar. She says she exposed their relationship, and alleged screenshots of their intimate text messages because she claims Zion did not tell her he had a girlfriend, nor that they were expecting a baby.

Williamson and his girlfriend, Ahkeema, announced on Tuesday they're expecting a baby girl.

"I was with you last week in New Orleans and you couldn’t tell me you had a random thot pregnant after all I’ve done for you @Zionwilliamson," Mills wrote on Twitter.

"Better pray I’m not pregnant too because I’m definitely late."

Mills claims this is not for clout or money ... it's about her getting "emotionally played."

Williamson -- who signed a 5-year, $193 million rookie extension with the New Orleans Pelicans -- has yet to comment on the allegations.

The insane celebrations on UConn's campus following the school's basketball team's championship win in April have now cost several students dearly ... TMZ Sports has confirmed a few have been expelled over it all.

UConn spokesperson Stephanie Reitz says while some investigations into the postgame incidents in Storrs, Conn. remain ongoing ... some have closed -- and they've resulted in students being perma-banned from the university.

Others could suffer similar fates soon -- Reitz tells us there are further hearings still on the school's agenda.

"We'll likely have a better picture later in the summer of the totality of the outcomes," Reitz said ... adding, "since students have the opportunity for an appeals process if they disagree with the proposed outcome, and in those circumstances, the case remains open until that takes place and a final decision is made."

The school initially launched investigations into the partying on April 3 ... just hours after students were seen wildly celebrating the Huskies' 76-59 win over San Diego State.

Video shot by bystanders shows students smashed windows ... while others ripped down light poles and lit fires in the streets.

Some were even accused of flipping a car on its side.

After nearly a year of dating, LaMelo Ball and his girlfriend, Ana Montana, went Instagram official on Friday ... and things appear to be serious -- 'cause the model says she's in love!!

The Charlotte Hornets star and influencer certainly haven't been hiding their romance ... exchanging mushy social media messages and featuring each other on their stories over the past few months.

While everyone assumed they were the real deal, the two never really came out and confirmed they were "official" until Friday ... when Melo and Montana shared each other on their IG grids.

Montana -- real name Analicia Chaves -- captioned her pics "The ONE😍🥰💕" and ... Melo wrote "1 of 1's 😘🛸💕" on his post.

Montana left a sweet comment on Melo's page ... saying, "I love you baby 💕😍🥰" ... and their fans went crazy.

"Happy looks so good on you 😍😍," one fan said ... while another said they look like a great couple.

Ball has made a splash in the NBA so far in his short career ... but his 2022-23 campaign was cut short due to a bad ankle injury. It's safe to say Ana did her part in helping him recover off the court.

The adult film star who called out Zion Williamson earlier this week has seen her popularity explode since she railed against the NBA player ... TMZ Sports has learned searches for her on Pornhub have spiked like crazy.

According to a rep for PH, after Moriah Mills -- a 32-year-old music artist and OnlyFans model -- claimed in a series of tweets that she had been intimate with Williamson just days before he had announced he's expecting a baby with another woman ... people flocked to the website to check out her work.

The rep tells us that on June 7 -- the day she made the allegations against the New Orleans Pelicans forward -- searches for Mills increased 2,293% when compared to her daily average.

The rep also says she's now edging toward 1 million total searches already this month -- and now ranks inside the top 200 porn stars on the site.

An interesting note ... according to the Pornhub rep, it's actually been more women than men who have searched for her.

Adam Silver is fully aware of the rumors surrounding whether Ja Morant was actually waving a toy gun during his second Instagram Live scandal ... but ultimately, the NBA commissioner says it might not make a difference when determining his impending punishment.

Silver spoke at length about Ja's situation in an interview on "The Dan Patrick Show" on Thursday ... and he said the crux of the issue is how the Memphis Grizzlies star's actions disregarded the importance of gun safety.

"It's interesting," Commish said Thursday. "The very issue for Ja, certainly in the first incident, was treating a gun as a toy. That's what we're talking about and that's what I think the danger is to society."

"Taking a gun, live streaming it without getting into gun issues in terms of the propriety of owning guns and the use of guns, I think everyone agrees that gun safety is critically important and that guns aren't toys."

He added ... "It's something that I'm thinking a lot about because, again, I'm not going to get into specifics about the investigation, but in fact, if you're live streaming something to the world that looks exactly like a gun and in a frankly reckless manner, should it matter whether or not it's a real gun?"

The claim gained traction after Claudia Jordan said on "The Breakfast Club" earlier this week that she heard from Ja's camp that the weapon shown in the video was actually fake.

Silver says the league will look into "whatever is presented to us" before concluding the investigation ... and will take past conduct and the circumstances of the situation into account.

Silver explained what's most important is getting Ja right as a human being ... with basketball taking a backseat for the time being.

Ja was suspended indefinitely from all Memphis Grizzlies activities shortly after the video went viral -- he later apologized for his actions, but did not say if the gun was real.

Shakira is apparently taking a small breather from Lewis Hamilton ... the singer hit up Wednesday's NBA Finals Game 3 without the racecar driver -- though her new rumored love interest didn't miss much, 'cause the tilt ended up being a laugher.

Just a few days after she was spotted getting cozy with the 38-year-old following his second-place finish at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, the "Hips Don't Lie" crooner pulled up solo to the Kaseya Center in Miami ... in order to cheer on the Heat vs. the Nuggets.

She had some killer seats -- sitting right on the sideline -- but Jimmy Butler and the home team didn't give her much to clap about ... they got smacked, 109-94.

It's unclear if her public appearance without Hamilton means much -- Lewis could simply be just preparing for the June 18 Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal -- or perhaps they're putting whatever was happening on ice. Then again, the Heat play in Miami for Game 4 on Friday -- so maybe he's just waiting for a weekend hang?

Other celebs outside of Shakira were also there ... it was a star-studded crowd that featured J. Cole, Future, G-Eazy and DJ Khaled.

Soccer superstars Neymar and Paul Pogba had some courtside chairs for the contest too ... with Neymar showing big love for Butler while there.

NBA legends Magic Johnson and Dwyane Wade also came by ... and even Floyd Mayweather showed up for the action as well.

The Heat are now down 2-1 -- but maybe another celeb-packed stadium this weekend will help them even everything up?

Bam Margera is headed in the right direction ... getting released from a psychiatric hospital, and going straight into treatment at Lamar Odom's rehab center.

Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ the former "Jackass" star was released from a psych hospital Wednesday, and Lamar was there to greet him as he exited the facility. We're told Bam is now in detox at one of Lamar's locations before he heads to rehab at another spot owned by the former NBA star.

Lamar's been insistent on helping Bam for weeks, and even visited him in the hospital Tuesday to offer Bam treatment at one of his Odom Wellness Treatment Centers.

Bam's motivating factor in getting clean is definitely his young son, Phoenix, who he hasn't been able to see much during his battles with substance abuse.

TMZ broke the story, cops in L.A. tracked Bam to a Trejo's Tacos location over the weekend and placed him on a 5150 psychiatric hold. There was growing concern Bam was not only a danger to himself, but to others as well -- especially given the fact he threatened to end his life if he couldn't see his son.

We were also the first to tell you when Lamar opened his 3 treatment facilities -- Gold Bridge Addiction Center in Louisburg, KS, Wavelengths in Huntington Beach, and Project West in San Diego.

Zion Williamson didn't get much time to celebrate being a girl dad before becoming the center of some bombshell allegations ... 'cause a popular porn star says the hooper "better pray" he's not about to be a father of two.

32-year-old Moriah Mills -- a music artist and OnlyFans model with more than a million followers on Twitter -- alleged she is in a romantic relationship with the New Orleans Pelicans forward in a Twitter rant on Wednesday ... claiming she had no idea he was seeing someone else, let alone expecting a baby, too.

Mills says she was intimate with Zion as recently as last week ... and posted alleged Snapchat messages that appear to show him arranging to have her move to New Orleans.

Moriah gave X-rated details about her alleged experiences with Zion -- she also took credit for getting him get back into shape as he sat out the majority of the season with an injury.

"Better pray I’m not pregnant too because I’m definitely late @Zionwilliamson," Moriah added.

Zion's GF, Ahkeema, appeared to respond to Moriah's tirade ... saying, "Happy hoes ain't hating and hating hoes ain't happy."

Moriah clapped back ... saying, "You not on my level mah believe that."

Zion and Ahkeema shared footage of their gender reveal party on Tuesday ... which showed they are expecting a baby girl together.

Chris Paul says his championship-less career is really starting to affect his family ... revealing his daughter is now actually getting bullied in school over it.

The Phoenix Suns star went into detail about the sad situation on "The Pivot" podcast this week ... explaining his 10-year-old has been receiving hate from classmates following yet another season without a title for the 38-year-old.

"She had a little boy, whatever, at school that said some reckless stuff to her," Paul said. "He was like, 'Your daddy ain't never gon' win no championship.'"

Paul said his little girl kept it cool while at the school -- but she later gave him a phone call about it.

"She was upset," he said. "I had to have that conversation with her and talk to her and tell her, like, 'Baby, some people talk and some people do.'"

Paul got emotional as he spoke about the matter ... but he vowed to work as hard as possible to change it all at some point.

"It's tough man, but can't nobody ever be harder on me than I am on myself," he said ... before adding, "As mad as I am and whatnot, I cannot let that define me. Right? I got to get back to work."

Despite no rings, CP3 has had a helluva career nonetheless. The 2005 first-round pick has made 12 All-Star games, nine All-Defensive teams ... and he was even named to the Association's 75th Anniversary Team.

Haley and Hanna Cavinder seem to be one step closer to finding their next careers ... the former college hoopers made their first WWE appearances on Tuesday night -- and actually teased a future as a wrestling tag team too!!

The Cavinder twins -- who just retired from basketball in April -- didn't exactly mix it up in the squared circle at the WWE NXT event in Orlando ... but they were still front and center on the broadcast for a brief moment nonetheless.

Following Thea Hail's epic battle royal win -- one in which she outlasted 17 other women to score the huge victory -- Haley and Hanna raced into the ring to be a part of the celebration.

At one point during the post-match party, the two ex-Univ. of Miami ballers held up Hail ... cheesin' for cameras as the commentator noted their presence.

Before the event began, the two sisters got the red carpet treatment on a tour of the facility too ... with their last name being featured on video boards around the arena.

In sharing images from the tour, Haley actually hinted she and Hanna could partner in a WWE ring soon -- writing that the twins were "your new fav tag team."

Of course, the twins have been affiliated with the WWE for a while now ... they inked name, image and likeness deals with the org. back in 2021 -- though now that they're done hooping, there's speculation they could make real runs at being in-ring stars soon.

Add "Girl Dad" to Zion Williamson's resume ... the former number one overall draft pick, who is expecting a child with his girlfriend, just learned they're having a baby daughter!!

The 22-year-old and his pregnant GF Ahkeema invited some of their closest family and friends over for the gender reveal, and did it in a pretty awesome way ... courtesy of a fireworks show!

After the catered food, baby games, and presents were opened, it was time to get down to business. Zion and Ahkeema stood a few feet away from a sign that read "Boy or Girl," as the fireworks show began.

Then, poof ... pink confetti shot into the air, and the couple lost it!

"My baby, you’re going to see this at some point," Williamson said. "I don’t know what the future holds, but mommy and daddy love you."

"If you don’t know nothin' else in this world, know that mommy and daddy love you -- for life."

The Pelicans star signed a 5-year rookie extension worth $193 million with New Orleans in July ... and fans desperately hope the 2-time All-Star's on the court for the start of the '23-'24 season after missing more than 50 games this year.

Kim Kardashian clearly has no problem poking fun at her sister's love life, as evidenced by the T-shirt she's flaunting with Kendall Jenner and all of her NBA ex-boyfriends!

The video, featuring Kim K and North West, was posted Sunday from their joint account ... the mommy-daughter duo was seen dancing around, as KK styled North's hair, but fans overlooked all that to focus on Kim's wardrobe.

The shirt in question has a close-up photo of Kendall surrounded by 5 NBA stars -- Jordan Clarkson, Blake Griffin, Ben Simmons, Kyle Kuzma, and her most recent ex Devin Booker -- with the text, "Kendall Starting Five" plastered on the front.

You'll recall, Kendall dated Jordan Clarkson back in 2016 when he played for the Lakers, but they wound up breaking up later the same year. The following year, she moved on to Blake Griffin, who currently plays for the Boston Celtics. They called it quits in 2018.

She had an on-and-off relationship with Ben Simmons from 2018-2019 before dating Kyle Kuzma, who is currently with the Washington Wizards. In 2020, she was with current Phoenix Suns player, Devin Booker, until they eventually ended last November.

And, it's not the first time the shirt has made a cameo ... Kim even wore it in the season 3 trailer of "The Kardashians."

Of course, Kendall has ventured off from athletes and is now with Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny. The two have been a thing for a few months now ... and have been spending a lot of time together.

If Nikola Jokic can finish off the Miami Heat this month, he'd have a serious case to be on the Mt. Rushmore of Denver sports athletes ... so says Terrell Davis.

The Broncos legend didn't specify where exactly the Nuggets big man would rank amongst the John Elways, Patrick Roys and Todd Heltons ... but he did say a championship would put Jokic right there with the city's all-time greats.

"He's up there already," Davis told TMZ Sports, "and this would only cement his place in the greatest athletes to come out of Denver."

Davis said this title would carry some more weight than others in Denver sports history ... as it'd be their first NBA one.

"When you bring a city its only championship, you're going to be held to a really, really high place there," the former running back said. "And, I think Jokic is on his way."

Of course, Davis would know a thing or two about the matter ... he said following his first Super Bowl win with the Broncos in 1998, it changed the way fans interacted with him around the city forever.

Davis promises to keep cheering on Jokic too -- despite his incident at the Nuggets vs. Heat Game 2 on Sunday night.

If you missed it, Davis found himself in the middle of a Heat celebration sandwich near the end of the tilt -- and his disappointed reaction was priceless.

But, Davis was a good sport when recapping it all with us ... and he said there's no chance it'll deter him from coming back to Ball Arena later this series.

Ja Morant is doing "good" as his fate hangs in the balance after again flashing a gun on social media ... so says teammate Jaren Jackson Jr. who believes the Grizzlies superstar will come back with a vengeance!

"He's good," 23-year-old Jackson said Monday on Paul George's podcast.

"He's I think just growing up with this much attention on you, especially being this young. It's a lot to deal with."

Of course, Morant, outside a short, prepared statement, has been silent since the controversial video ... a moment Jaren clearly believes doesn't accurately portray the 23-year-old NBA superstar.

"Dude's great. People always gotta understand that everybody human. That's my brother though, no matter what. I stand my brother and I think that's the lesson everybody should take away from this."

Morant's going to be suspended -- the only question is for how long. After the Denver-area strip club incident, the NBA sat Ja down for eight games. The incoming punishment will presumably be much more severe.

But, Jackson -- who's played with Morant since 2019 -- wholeheartedly believes Ja will come back with a chip on his shoulder, and be better than ever.

"He works hard. He's smart as hell. He should've been MVP the other year," Jackson says, adding ... "The dude is high-level."