Basketball

San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich is sounding off on Gov. Greg Abbott -- saying his decision to drop Texas' COVID mask mandate is "ignorant" and dangerous.

"It's a mystifying decision," Coach Pop said Tuesday night in a pre-game presser before his Spurs beat down the visiting NY Knicks.

"Of course [restaurants and businesses] want to open up but getting rid of masks just seems ignorant to me."

Earlier in the day, Gov. Abbott announced he will "open Texas 100%" beginning on March 10 -- which means he will end the state's mask mandate and allow restaurants and other businesses to operate at 100% capacity.

"Too many Texans have been sidelined from employment opportunities," Abbott said ... "Too many small business owners have struggled to pay their bills. This must end. It is now time to open Texas 100%."

Pop says Abbott's decision will obviously result in more COVID cases -- which means more death.

"When all of a sudden we act like [the pandemic] is over with -- when all of the science tells us the opposite -- it's basically like you're saying, 'You get infected? You die? That's the way it goes. We gotta open up!'

Vanessa Bryant is opening up about her life after the deaths of Kobe and Gianna -- admitting, "This pain is unimaginable [but] you just have to get up and push forward."

"Lying in bed crying isn't going to change the fact that my family will never be the same again," Vanessa told People.com ... "But getting out of bed and pushing forward is going to make the day better for my girls and for me. So that's what I do."

Vanessa has kept very busy in the year after Kobe and 13-year-old Gianna passed away in that tragic helicopter crash -- taking the reigns on various projects Kobe had been working on in both entertainment and charity.

She worked with author Ivy Claire to complete Kobe's novel for young adults, "Epoca: The River of Sand" -- which dropped back in December.

And, she's been a force with Kobe's non-profit organization -- relaunching it as the Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation, with the mission of helping "underserved athletes and women in sports."

Vanessa says Kobe and Gianna serve as her inspiration to "keep going" -- "They inspire me to try harder and be better every day. Their love is unconditional and they motivate me in so many different ways."

Now, as Vanessa moves forward with her 3 daughters -- 18-year-old Natalia, 4-year-old Bianka and 1-year-old Capri -- she leans on her family to "give me strength."

Greg McDermott -- head coach of the 14th-ranked Creighton University men's basketball team -- is pleading for forgiveness days after using the word “plantation” in a post-game speech.

Following Creighton’s 77-69 loss to Xavier on Saturday, McDermott admits he made the following statement to his squad ... "Guys, we got to stick together. We need both feet in. I need everybody to stay on the plantation. I can't have anybody leave the plantation."

Yeah ... not a good look.

Now, McDermott -- head coach at CU since 2010 and dad of NBA player Doug McDermott -- is apologizing for the “terribly inappropriate analogy” in a statement posted on his social media page.

“On February 27th, after an emotionally tough loss on the road, I addressed our student-athletes and staff in the postgame locker room and used a terribly inappropriate analogy in making a point about staying together as a team despite the loss."

That's when McDermott says he uttered the racially insensitive analogy.

The head coach says he knew right away that he screwed up.

"I immediately recognized my egregious mistake and quickly addressed my use of such insensitive words with the team. I have never used that analogy and it is not indicative of who I am as a person or as a coach."

"I am deeply sorry. I have apologized to our student-athletes and to our staff, as well as to President Hendrickson and Director of Athletics Bruce Rasmussen."

Creighton -- currently 2nd place in the Big East -- has had a great year on the floor ... with wins over teams like Villanova and Seton Hall.

James Harden's jersey will hang alongside Hakeem, Drexler and Yao Ming's one day ... with Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta announcing the team will "absolutely" retire its former superstar's #13 in the future.

Of course, the two sides had a nasty, public breakup earlier this season ... with the former MVP forcing a trade out of H-Town.

But, Fertitta is considering it water under the bridge ... telling the Houston Chronicle the Rockets WILL recognize the Brooklyn Nets guard with the highest honor eventually.

"James Harden will always be a Rocket," Fertitta said Tuesday. "Of course, we will retire his jersey. He made my first three years of owning this franchise unforgettable."

"The success he brought this franchise over eight years and the memories he created for our fan base/community (are) truly remarkable."

There's no debating Harden was one of the best players in the league during his 8+ seasons in Houston -- he had 3 scoring titles, 6 1st Team All-NBA nods and an MVP in 2018.

The 31-year-old led the Rockets to the playoffs each season with the Rockets ... making it to the Western Conference Finals twice.

Harden will become the franchise's 7th player to receive the honor when it happens.

PUT HIM IN THE DUNK CONTEST!!!

Here's NFL superstar Tyreek Hill lighting up a high school gym in Miami like he's a young Nate Robinson ... and the video is awesome!!

The 5'10" wideout celebrated his 27th birthday on Monday by hitting some VERY IMPRESSIVE acrobatic dunks -- including a 360 and a windmill!!!

Yeah, we know he can run ... but Cheetah can JUMP OUT THE GYM!!

After the dunk show, Hill played some pickup and flexed his hops all over the court -- while casually knocking down 3 pointers.

Look, this is just another example of Hill's freak athletic ability -- the guy is just built different.

It appears Hill played a little basketball in high school -- but his main focus was on track and football.

And yeah, that worked out for him ... but it makes you wonder how good of a hooper could Hill have been if he focused on basketball growing up?

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is not backing down from his criticism of LeBron James -- reinforcing his belief that athletes should stick to sports and stay out of politics!

"Athletes unite the world, politics divide it,” the soccer superstar said at a news conference Tuesday morning.

"Our role is to unite the world by doing what we do best. Athletes should be athletes and politicians should do politics."

Ibra -- one of the most famous athletes on the planet -- has been under fire for going after LeBron last week during an interview with Discovery+ in Sweden.

At the time, Zlatan said, "[LeBron] is phenomenal at what he's doing, but I don't like when people have some kind of status, they go and do politics at the same time."

"Do what you're good at. Do the category you do. I play football because I'm the best at playing football."

"I don't do politics. If I would be a political politician, I would do politics. That is the first mistake people do when they become famous and they become in a certain status. Stay out of it. Just do what you do best, because it doesn't look good."

LeBron clapped back in a big way -- saying he'll NEVER just shut up and dribble because he understands his voice can make a real impact for those who aren't being heard ... and feels it's his responsibility to use his platform to make positive change.

Wanna live like a King? You can buy the enormous Brentwood mansion LeBron James called home ... if you're willing to drop $20 mil!

The NBA superstar has listed the 9,500-square-foot estate he purchased back in 2015 -- a colonial-style mansion on Rockingham Ave.

And, if that street sounds familiar ... it's because of the O.J. Simpson connection.

Bron's home is actually just a few blocks from the infamous Rockingham estate where O.J. lived when Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman were murdered in 1994.

Unfortunately, that's not the only sad connection to Bron's home ... remember, someone spray painted the n-word on the front gate of Bron's home back in 2017.

As for the home itself, it's incredible -- 6 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms, a media room, home gym, massive pool and a basketball hoop near the garage!

Oh, and the views are absolutely insane!!! Listing price -- $20,500,000 ... which is LESS than he paid in 2015.

Records show he bought the house for $20.9 mil. But, let's get serious, it's not like Bron needs the money -- he's reportedly worth close to (if not more than) $1 BILLION.

You're looking at the most expensive basketball card ever sold -- and it ain't Michael Jordan or LeBron James.

It's an ultra-rare Luka Doncic rookie card -- a 1-of-1 that features the NBA Logoman patch from a game-worn Dallas Mavericks jersey PLUS a perfect signature with blue ink.

And, it just sold for $4.6 MILLION!!!!

Here's the deal ... the card was originally pulled from a box of 2018-2019 Panini National Treasures Basketball in May 2019 during a live pack break at the Layton Sports Cards shop in Altamonte Springs, FL.

The card was later sold to collector Bolillo Lajan San (unclear what he paid, but more than $400k) who had a feeling the card could explode in value.

Well, he was right because on Sunday night, Bolillo confirmed the sale of the card to high-end collector Nick Fiorella for $4.6 million.

Here are the specifics ... it's a 2018-19 National Treasures Luka Doncic rookie autograph with the "Logoman" patch, #127.

The sale is the 2nd highest purchase of a sports trading card EVER -- just behind a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card that recently sold for $5.2 million!

Clocking in at #3 is a 2009 Mike Trout Superfractor that sold for $3.9 mil.

Kobe Bryant’s childhood basketball hoop has sold for a King's ransom!

The hoop fetched $37,200 at Heritage Auctions, and it's truly prized memorabilia. It was attached to the garage at Kobe's childhood home in Pennsylvania ... it's the hoop Kobe used to help perfect his legendary jump shot.

As TMZ reported, the home sold recently for $810,000, but the seller wanted a premium for the backboard and the rim and the buyer wasn't interested. So, it was dismounted and the home seller just scored a sizable bounty.

Jeremy Lin is fed up with people acting like anti-Asian American racism doesn't exist -- saying he's personally experienced the hatred on the basketball court where he's been called names like "Coronavirus."

The former NBA star -- who currently plays for the Santa Cruz Warriors -- unloaded on social media about the rising numbers of hate incidents directed at Asians in America.

In New York and San Francisco, officials say hate crime incidents are up BIG versus previous years.

The NYPD reported 28 hate crimes against Asian Americans in 2020 ... up from 3 in 2019.

Data out of SF shows 9 hate crimes against Asians in 2020 ... up 33% from the 6 in 2019, according to the Washington Post.

Additionally, the Asian American advocacy group AAPI says it's received more than 2,500 reports of hate incidents in the U.S. directed at Asians since March 2020.

Enter Lin ... who's simply had enough.

"Something is changing in this generation of Asian Americans," 32-year-old Lin said Thursday in an emotionally-charged Facebook post.

"We are tired of being told that we don't experience racism, we are tired of being told to keep our heads down and not make trouble."

"We are tired of Asian American kids growing up and being asked where they're REALLY from, of having our eyes mocked, of being objectified as exotic or being told we're inherently unattractive."

"We are tired of the stereotypes in Hollywood affecting our psyche and limiting who we think we can be. We are tired of being invisible, of being mistaken for our colleague or told our struggles aren't as real."

Lin -- a Taiwanese-American -- says he's motivated to make a difference to make sure future generations are treated equally and respectfully in the U.S.

"I want better for my niece and nephew and future kids. I want better for the next generation of Asian American athletes than to have to work so hard to just be 'deceptively athletic.'"

Lin also noted he's been called names like "coronavirus" on the court -- and doesn't want anyone else to have to experience the same racism.

Renee Montgomery has gone from the WNBA court to the owner's box -- she's part of an ownership group that just bought the Atlanta Dream from Sen. Kelly Loeffler.

The exact financial terms of the deal are unclear -- but we're told the WNBA and NBA Boards of Governors both unanimously approved the sale.

The move makes Montgomery -- who recently retired after 11 seasons -- the first former WNBA player to have an ownership stake in a WNBA team.

Montgomery's 3-person ownership group is comprised of 2 big wigs from the Northland real estate firm -- chairman Larry Gottesdiener and President and COO Suzanne Abair.

"My dream has come true," Montgomery said in a statement to TMZ Sports.

"Breaking barriers for minorities and women by being the first former WNBA player to have both a stake in ownership and a leadership role with the ownership team is an opportunity that I take very seriously. I invite you to join me as the Dream builds momentum in Atlanta!"

Montgomery played 2 seasons with the Atlanta Dream before opting out of the 2020 WNBA season to focus on social justice initiatives.

In fact, the 2-time WNBA champion was an outspoken supporter of the WNBA and its players for pushing Black Lives Matter messaging during games -- despite pushback from Sen. Loeffler.

Loeffler was loudly against the WNBA promoting the Black Lives Matter movement during the 2020 season -- claiming it "promoted violence and destruction across the country."

Montgomery publicly disagreed and questioned why Loeffler "wants to be involved with a brand that just doesn't align with her views."

Loeffler and her former Dream co-owner Mary Brock issued a statement on the deal -- saying, "10 years ago we stepped up to keep the Dream in Atlanta, as an important asset for a vibrant and diverse city."

"It was also important to us to help level the playing field for women’s professional sports. We are proud of what we accomplished and wish the team well in their next chapter."

"We will always value the hard work and dedication, and the memories, fans and friendships that sustained our commitment to the Atlanta Dream over the last decade."

Renee and her team have their work cut out for them -- the Dream was 7-15 in 2020 and didn't make the playoffs.

However, there are bright spots on the roster including rising stars like Chennedy Carter, who made the WNBA's All-Rookie Team after an impressive 2020 season.

Montgomery has been super busy off-the-court -- she recently teamed up with Marshawn Lynch as a co-owner of Team Beasts in the new Fan Controlled Football League.

Plus, she also co-hosts the "TMZ Sports" TV show, which airs nightly on FS1.

Congrats!!!

Vanessa Bryant just got the perfect assist from daughter Capri -- who gave a sneak peek of the new Kobe Bryant 6 Protro "All-Star" kicks ... weeks before they're set to drop.

"These shoes are about to be released next," Vanessa said on IG ... "They're Kobe's All Star drop."

The new sneakers are an updated "Protro" version of the Nike Zoom Kobe VI 'All-Star' shoes, which were originally released back in 2011.

Capri was rockin' mommy's size 7 -- just a little too big for the 1-year-old ... but she'll grow into 'em. Even [Uncle] Pau Gasol weighed in on the adorableness -- saying, "So Cute!"

The new Kobes will reportedly come with a $180 price tag and are set to drop on March 8 -- the day after the 2021 NBA All-Star game.

But, you can expect these shoes to sell out QUICKLY and then fetch monster prices on re-sale sites.

As we've reported, the demand for all things Kobe has exploded over the past year -- with collectors paying record prices for everything from autographs to jerseys to basketball cards ... even the car he used to drive around.

Luke Walton melted down on the court during a timeout Thursday night -- karate-chopping a clipboard straight to the ground -- and the whole temper tantrum was caught on video.

The Sacramento Kings coach was furious with his squad in the 4th quarter of their game with the NY Knicks ... and when an assistant tried to hand him a whiteboard, Walton lost it.

The dude reared back with his fist and fired straight down into the board ... causing it to break into pieces.

Walton then appeared to yell at his team ... before the Kings went on to lose 140-121.

Afterward, Luke said the temper tantrum was simply a release of frustration ... with the coach admitting he's straight-up tired of the Kings' recent poor play.

"Look, I'm frustrated. We all should be frustrated," Walton said ... "I was frustrated tonight and I believe in our team and I know when our group is playing well, we are much better than what we showed tonight."

Walton and the Kings have been in a serious slump ... losing 9 straight games and dropping their record to just 12-20 in the process.

Clearly, Walton is hoping for a turnaround ... could a clipboard freakout be the catalyst his team needs?

One day after reigniting the movement to change the NBA's logo to Kobe Bryant ... Kyrie Irving doubled down on the take, explaining, "Kobe Bryant. Logo. Yes. Needs to happen."

"I don't care what anybody says," Irving said Thursday night after the Brooklyn Nets' win over the Orlando Magic. "Black kings built the league."

"It's exactly what I meant and it's exactly where I stand."

Back in February 2020, just a few weeks after Kobe, his daughter, Gianna, and seven others died in a helicopter crash -- there was a large movement to switch the NBA's Jerry West logo to one depicting Kobe.

A change.org petition earned over 3 MILLION signatures in support of the cause ... but the NBA never appeared to take the idea too seriously.

But, clearly, Irving has no intentions of stopping the push ... 'cause on Wednesday he brought the movement back on his social media page -- and on Thursday, he explained why he feels the move is necessary.

"As a native Black man and a native Black king, I think it's part of my responsibility to push our culture forward," Irving said, before adding, "I think he deserves it. I think his family deserves it."

"I think we deserve it as seeing greatness personified as Mamba. And anyone that's coming into the league should know that that's the example that was set."

Vanessa Bryant clearly agrees ... she's thrown her support behind the idea since it was first proposed -- even commenting on Irving's social media post this week, writing, "Love this."

Zlatan Ibrahimovic wants LeBron James to stay in his lane when it comes to politics ... saying the L.A. Lakers superstar (and other athletes) should stick to what they're good at, and leave politics to politicians.

The 39-year-old A.C. Milan striker criticized politically outspoken athletes in an interview with UEFA and Discovery+ Sweden ... calling it a "mistake" to get involved.

"I like (LeBron) a lot, and he is phenomenal at what he's doing, but I don't like when people have some kind of status, they go and do politics at the same time what they're doing. Do what you're good at," Zlatan said in the clip.

Of course, LBJ is one of the most socially and politically active athletes today -- he's gotten into public beefs with former President Donald Trump and has continuously used his platform to speak out against injustice and inequality in America.

Zlatan clearly thinks it's best he keeps his opinions to himself.

"Do the category you do," Ibrahimovic continued. "I play football because I'm the best at playing football. I don't do politics. If I would be a political politician, I would do politics."

"That is the big first mistake people do when they become famous and they become in a certain status. Stay out of it. Just do what you do best because it doesn't look good."

Of course, it's not the first time LeBron has been criticized for his involvement in politics -- remember, TV host Laura Ingraham famously told the 4-time champ to "shut up and dribble" after speaking out against Trump.

Minnesota Timberwolves star Malik Beasley has been suspended 12 games by the NBA ... after pleading guilty to a felony threats charge stemming from a scary incident last September where cops say he pointed a handgun at a group of people.

The league just handed down the stiff punishment, saying the 24-year-old hooper "has been suspended 12 games without pay for pleading guilty to a felony charge of threatening to commit a crime of violence for the purpose of terrorizing another person, in violation of the law of the State of Minnesota."

The incident was super bizarre.

Beasley's Plymouth, Minnesota home was featured on a list of impressive mansions for tourists to visit when in the area.

Prosecutors say the extra traffic in front of MB's house pissed him off ... and on September 26, 2020, Beasley had enough.

Officials say Malik grabbed his handgun and pointed it at a family who was in their car, checking out Malik's pad.

Beasley ultimately plead guilty to a felony threats charge and was sentenced to 120 days in jail.

The judge agreed to allow Beasley -- who's averaging almost 21 points a game this year -- to serve the time after the NBA season.

Malik addressed the suspension to Shams Charania, issuing the following statement to the NBA insider.

"I will take this time to reflect on my decisions. I apologize to all the great fans out there who have supported me during this difficult time and I promise I will come back very soon as a better person and player.”

Beasley will begin serving his suspension on Saturday, Feb. 27 when the Timberwolves visit the Washington Wizards.