Basketball

Blake Griffin's newest kicks will have you saying "Chicka, chicka, yeah, fake ID" ... 'cause the Brooklyn Nets star just rocked some awesome "Superbad" shoes -- complete with his own McLovin ID!!

The 32-year-old hooper debuted the dope Jordan "McLovin" 35s against the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday ... drawing inspiration from one of the most iconic moments of the 2007 teen comedy -- Fogell's hilariously awful fake ID.

Griffin -- a huge comedy junkie -- decided to pay tribute on the tongue of his Js ... by including his own edition of McLovin's Hawaii driver's license.

The "McGriffin" ID is impressively detailed and features Blake's REAL height, weight and birthday ... unlike Fogell's fake ID.

In fact, it even includes Blake's real picture!!

The baby blue and white kicks also feature a rainbow stripe at the top of the tongue ... perfectly matching the Hawaii ID.

"Superbad" writer and star Seth Rogen showed Griffin some (mc)love for the tribute ... giving him a special shoutout on Twitter.

Horrible news out of the WNBA ... NY Liberty star Asia Durr will miss the entire 2021 season because she's still reeling from the effects of COVID.

The 24-year-old shooting guard -- the #2 overall pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft -- missed the entire 2020 WNBA season due to the effects of COVID. She has previously talked publicly about how the virus wreaked havoc on her body, putting her basketball career in jeopardy.

Now, the NY Liberty has placed Durr on the full-season suspended list, noting it was a "personal decision."

But, Durr's issues are no secret -- she was featured on HBO's "Real Sports" back in January and spelled out how COVID has destroyed her life and career since she tested positive on June 8, 2020.

At the time, Durr said she had lost 32 pounds and experienced massive problems with her lungs.

"I couldn't breathe. I was spitting up blood. It was just lung pain that was just so severe. It felt like somebody took a long knife and was just stabbing you in your lungs each second."

She continued, "I woke up 2 o'clock in the morning, vomiting, going back and forth to the bathroom. I couldn't keep anything down."

Before Kobe Bryant's 33,643 points, 18 All-Star games and 5 NBA titles, he was a star high school hooper at Lower Merrion HS in Philly ... and now the jersey Mamba rocked just hit the block.

... and the auction house selling the threads believes it could sell for over $200K!!

Kobe was an absolute stud in high school in the mid-'90s ... playing varsity as a freshman, and winning just about every award for a high schooler as a senior -- including the Naismith and Gatorade player of the year awards, as well as earning a spot on the coveted McDonald's All-American team.

It's unclear which games Bryant actually wore the white and maroon, size 44 jersey.

Of course, Bryant -- who had offers from Duke and a bunch of other top schools -- followed Kevin Garnett's lead and made the jump from HS to the NBA.

Kobe was selected by the Charlotte Hornets with the 13th pick in the 1996 NBA Draft ... before being traded to the Lakers.

So, who's selling this piece of basketball treasure?? Leland Auctions -- the auction house behind the sale -- says the consignor is actually a former NBA player who got the jersey from Kobe's former sports agent.

We're told the player wishes to remain anonymous.

The jersey is currently on the auction block ... and the minimum bid is $50K.

The auction ends at the beginning of June.

Heartwarming moment in the NBA on Tuesday ... Giannis Antetokounmpo hand-delivered his kicks to an 8-year-old fan who was celebrating a birthday -- and the gesture was AWESOME.

It all went down after the Milwaukee Bucks finished beating the Orlando Magic ... when the Greek Freak noticed a kid with a really cool sign.

"Giannis," the big note read. "Today is my 8th birthday. Wanna trade shoes?"

Antetokounmpo raced up several rows at the Fiserv Forum to hand off his sneakers -- and the little boy was pumped!!

Check out the footage ... the kid could barely hold Giannis' size 16 Nike Zoom Freak 2s -- they were damn near as big as his body!!

Of course, Giannis didn't take the kid's shoes in the deal ... so, total win-win for the fan, right??

The gesture is not unusual for the 26-year-old, two-time MVP ... he's been known to give out game-used stuff to young fans following games no questions asked.

Martin Lawrence's love for the Detroit Pistons has come full circle ... with a new line of merch honoring his hit '90s sitcom!!!

The NBA team's had a rough season -- it's currently dead last in the Eastern Conference -- but its collab with "Martin" should help it go out on a high note.

Nearly 29 years after the iconic show premiered with the city of Detroit as a backdrop ... Lawrence is teaming up with the Pistons for this limited-edition clothing line including jerseys, hats, shorts, sweatshirts, T-shirts and more.

As you can see ... the merch -- available Friday exclusively on Pistons313shop.com -- features the famed "Martin" intro text along with hilarious quotes and call-backs to the show mashed up with a Pistons hoops aesthetic.

The comedian says ... "Detroit has always shown me so much love and always shows up for me. From stand-up tours to fans on the street Detroit has felt like home. It’s an honor to be part of something that means so much to me to this many years later."

Golden State Warriors wing Kent Bazemore is waving the white flag in his public beef with Bradley Beal ... saying his comment about the Wizards superstar's injury wasn't supposed to start a massive social media war.

Bazemore had referenced Beal's recent hammy injury while praising Stephen Curry's quest for the scoring title earlier this week ... saying, "We got guys hurting hamstrings to keep up."

Beal -- who's currently second in the scoring race behind Curry -- UNLEASHED on Bazemore for his comments, with the 27-year-old calling the Dubs role player a "straight lame" and other brutal jabs on Twitter.

It got so bad, even Beal's wife, Kamiah, got in on it ... saying, "I just don’t understand why someone who can’t even compete with my 2.5 year old son in basketball would fix his MOUF to say some trash ass s*** like he did."

Baze -- who averages 8 points, 3 rebounds and nearly 2 assists in his career -- was asked about the feud after the Warriors' 119-116 win over the Jazz on Monday ... and he claimed the fallout from his words "got out of hand."

"I guess you can’t joke anymore, but man, whatever," Bazemore told reporters. "I don’t know, man. I feel like I am a pretty light-hearted guy. I stay in my own lane."

"I don’t say things and ruffle feathers, but, hey, man, it's just ... if you want to know where my loyalty is, it's with SC30. Anybody out there chasing him is going to be tough, whatever."

He added ... "It kind of got out of hand. I haven’t checked my phone all day until after the game. It’s kind of blowing up. But I don’t get involved in crap, man."

No word on if Beal is buying Bazemore's clarification ... but don't hold your breath.

As for the scoring race, Steph currently has 31.9 points per game, while Beal has 31.4 ... and the regular season ends in 5 days.

The beef between Enes Kanter and Recep Tayyip Erdogan is raging onward ... the NBA player says he's now being sued by the Turkish President over past critical remarks.

The 28-year-old Trailblazers center shared the alleged lawsuit on social media on Monday ... claiming the politician is "suing me and asking for my arrest for 'Insulting him.'"

"His skin is thinner [than] an onion 😅," Kanter added. "Looks like I hurt @rterdogan feelings a little 😂."

It's unclear which comments Erdogan is allegedly upset by ... but Kanter has gone after Erdogan publicly on multiple occasions through the past few years.

You'll recall ... the 6'10", 250-pound hooper famously called Erdogan "the Hitler of our generation" -- a remark that's since made Kanter a wanted man in his home country.

Kanter's reportedly had an arrest warrant out on him for years in Turkey ... but now Enes says Erdogan is coming after him civilly as well.

As for Kanter's response to the lawsuit -- he made it obvious he could not care less, ripping up the docs and burning them in the toilet.

"#DictatorErdogan," Enes captioned the photos.

You can't intentionally hit your opponent in the balls. Period.

That's an NBA rule Luka Doncic broke on Sunday night -- whacking Collin Sexton right in the man junk during the Mavs vs. Cavs game ... earning him a swift ejection.

The two were battling for position under the basket in the 3rd quarter when things got physical ... and Luka threw what looked like a hammer-fist right into Sexton's no-no zone.

The refs called Doncic for a flagrant 2 -- which means automatic ejection -- and when you check out the replay, you can see why.

Ouch.

After the game -- which the Mavs won -- Luka insisted he didn't MEAN to hit Sexton in the groin ... it was an accident!

"It obviously wasn't on purpose," Luka said ... "Just two guys fighting for a rebound, I guess."

He continued, "That kind of stuff happens a lot of the games you know ... I don't know. That's my explanation."

Western Kentucky hoops star-turned Raiders rookie Carson Williams says a fellow Hilltopper's advice inspired his football career ... telling TMZ Sports N.Y. Jets star George Fant played a big factor in getting him to try out for the NFL.

23-year-old Williams' story is pretty wild -- he was named Kentucky's Mr. Basketball as a high schooler in 2016 ... and spent the past 3 seasons playing basketball for WKU, averaging 10.9 points and 6 rebounds per game.

Despite not stepping foot on the gridiron since the 8th grade, the 6'5", 254-pound forward decided to take a leap of faith and participate in WKU's pro day as a tight end last month.

The risk paid off -- 'cause the Las Vegas Raiders were so impressed, they decided to sign Williams to a contract as a tight end.

"It still hasn't completely set in, but I'm obviously very happy, very excited and looking forward to getting to work," Williams tells us.

As it turns out, Williams ain't the only former WKU star to make the jump to the gridiron -- Fant was an all-conference forward for the Hilltoppers from 2011-15, averaging 13.8 points and 8.4 rebounds during his senior season.

Williams says he met up with the Jets lineman/tight end to pick his brain about turning to football ... and by the end of the conversation, his mind was made up.

After all, it's been pretty successful for Fant -- he signed a 3-year, $30 million deal with N.Y. in 2020.

Williams believes his hoops background will be beneficial -- he tells us his foot skills, work ethic and athleticism will give him a solid start on the football field.

Williams says guys like Antonio Gates, Tony Gonzalez and Jimmy Graham -- who also played college basketball before ending up in the NFL -- also inspired his switch to football ... and he explains why the Raiders made the right move.

Kyrie Irving's wallet is now $35,000 lighter ... and it's all 'cause the NBA says the point guard won't stop ghosting media members.

The NBA announced Wednesday evening it's hit Irving and his Brooklyn Nets team each with $35k fines for "violating league rules governing media interview access."

The NBA says Irving has repeatedly refused to show up for postgame media availability sessions -- a big no-no for players.

Of course, this ain't the first time the league has had to step in and slap Irving with a fine for this ... back in December, he was hit with a $25k fine for dodging media during training camp.

At the time, Kyrie famously appeared to react to the fine in a viral social media post in which he wrote, "I do not talk to Pawns. My attention is worth more."

Irving later explained his "pawns" comment was NOT a jab directed at reporters.

"Not even referring to you guys as pawns or media," Irving said. "It's just really how I felt about the mistreatment of certain artists when we get to a certain platform of when we make decisions within of lives to have full control and ownership."

Hell might be freezing over -- Charles Barkley no longer sucks at golf!!!

Go ahead and check your calendar -- it's not April Fools' Day -- and if you need visual proof, just check out the NBA legend's drive at the Regions Tradition Pro-Am on Wednesday ... when he teed off and ripped a shot straight down the fairway!!

Of course, Barkley was famous for his turrrrrible golf swing ... but was never shy to put his god-awful skills on display.

As we previously reported, Barkley flirted with mediocrity by tweaking his swing back in 2015 ... but sadly, he fell back into his old ways of being tremendously bad.

Chuck has apparently been busting his ass on the links to STAY good this time around, hiring pro trainer Stan Utley to help him get his handicap down to SINGLE DIGITS, according to reporter Drew Carter.

Check out the new and improved product -- the Hall of Famer looks like he really knows what he's doing now ... from the practice swings to actually connecting with the ball (have you EVER heard one of his shots make that clean *ping* sound before?!?!)

It couldn't have come at a better time for Barkley -- he's facing off against huge names like Nick Saban, Bo Jackson, Tommy Tuberville and more at the Greystone Golf and Country Club in Hoover, Alabama.

And, for the first time, the dude might not make a fool of himself on the links!!

Pick a winner, Shaq!!

The NBA legend had a massive bat in the cave while working the desk for "NBA on TNT" on Wednesday ... and decided to go mining for the nose gold live on-air!!!

Shaq, along with Candace Parker, Dwayne Wade and Adam Lefkoe were wrapping up coverage on the Clippers vs. Raptors game ... when a giant green boulder rolled out of O'Neal's nostril.

Shaq's co-hosts tried to signal to the Big Man to wipe his face -- but O'Neal wasn't taking the hint ... and viewers started tweeting about the boogie during the show!!

Finally, the crew just TOLD Shaq to get rid of it -- and the moment he realizes he's been boogying down on-air is hilarious!

"That was the biggest booger I have ever seen in my entire life," Lefkoe told Shaq.

D-Wade pulled out a giant roll of paper towels and told Shaq there's no way in hell a typical Kleenex could handle that job!

Candace was DYING laughing!!!

"I didn't even know it was there," Shaq said ... "Y'all got me!"

Byron Scott shares LeBron James' hatred for the NBA's play-in tournament ... telling TMZ Sports he wishes the league would cut the crap and stick to its regular postseason format.

Remember, King James teed off on the NBA's postseason rule for 2021 earlier this week ... saying, "Whoever came with that s*** needs to be fired."

We spoke with Scott outside Il Pastaio in Beverly Hills about James' take ... and while the ex-player/coach says nobody needs to be canned over the concept, he makes it clear he thinks the idea sucks.

"I agree with him ... it should be the first 8 teams just like it's been for so many years," Scott tells us. "I don't believe in that play-in and all that stuff."

The play-in format has garnered mixed reviews ... with folks like Stephen Curry loving the idea ... and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban calling it an "enormous mistake."

Byron says it's obvious why guys like the current 8-seed Warriors would welcome the idea ... simply because it gives them a better shot at making the playoffs.

While the current 6-seed Lakers are a sneeze away from being forced into the play-in tournament, Scott says L.A. fans should take a chill pill ... 'cause it'll be "nearly impossible" for them to be sent home early.

"When LeBron gets back and he's healthy, Anthony Davis is back healthy, they're too good."

He added ... "They were together all last year. They know each other well enough. They know what they gotta do, so I'm not worried about it one bit."

Scott thinks the Lakers -- despite struggling with injuries and bad losses late into the season -- can "absolutely" repeat as champions in 2021 ... and has full faith in the organization.

Carmelo Anthony poured his heart out after becoming the 10th best scorer in NBA history on Monday ... giving a powerful post-game speech about believing in himself and never giving up.

The 36-year-old Blazers star passed Elvin Hayes to reach #10 on the league's all-time scoring list after nailing a 3-point shot early into the 2nd quarter against the Atlanta Hawks ... surpassing the Hall of Famer's career total of 27,313 points.

The moment hit especially hard for Melo -- the future Hall of Famer was considered to be "blackballed" by the league in 2019 ... and he had to fight like hell to prove he was still able to compete at the highest level.

Anthony basked in the monumental moment after hitting his shot ... raising his arms and smiling as he joined names like Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Kobe Bryant on the elite list of the league's best scorers.

Blazers coach Terry Stotts awarded Anthony the game ball after the Blazers' loss to the Hawks ... and Melo opened up about his long journey back to glory.

"A couple years ago I ain’t think I was gonna be in this moment," Anthony said in the locker room. "I was out the league for whatever reason."

"I’m back. I persevered. I stayed strong I stayed true to myself & now I’m here in the Top 10."

Of course, the 10-time All-Star bounced around the league after spending most of his career with the Nuggets and Knicks ... playing one season with the OKC Thunder in 2017-18 and just 10 games with the Houston Rockets in the 2018-19 season before being traded and later waived by the Chicago Bulls in February 2019.

He remained a free agent until the Blazers picked him up in November 2019 ... and he's proven to be a valuable asset around Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.

Dame spoke about the impact Melo has left on the team over the past 2 seasons ... saying it goes way beyond the court.

The uniform Wilt Chamberlain rocked during his DOMINANT '59-'60 rookie season is about to hit a sports memorabilia stock market ... but don't stress if ya ain't rich, 'cause you don't need a milli in the bank to own a piece of the threads.

It's a new way for people to own a piece of history without breaking the bank -- with the same kinds of risks and rewards as buying stock.

Here's the deal ... the person who currently owns the Chamberlain uniform is David Kohler, who runs the wildly successful SCP Auctions company, which specializes in high-value collectibles.

Kohler tells TMZ Sports ... Wilt rocked the items for every home game during his rookie season with the Philadelphia Warriors.

The items have been authenticated by the widely respected MEARS evaluation company and photo matched by the folks at MeiGray Authentication, Kohler says.

Kohler has owned the piece for years and has decided the time is right to sell -- so he teamed with the app Collectable to make it happen.

The Chamberlain uniform will hit the market on Tuesday -- with an Initial Public Offering (IPO) backed by the Security and Exchange Commission.

We're told there will be 95,620 shares available for purchase at $10 a pop -- and from there, you can monitor the value like you would a typical stock.

Kohler says he's retaining 25% of the jersey -- which would bring the value of the item to $1.275 mil.

Collectors can buy as many shares as they want ... and resell them (hopefully for a profit) on the Collectable app.

Chamberlain -- who won Rookie of the Year -- averaged nearly 38 points and 27 rebounds per game. No, not a typo ... the man averaged 38 and 27 as a ROOKIE ... in what's likely the greatest 1st season in hoops history.

Blocked shots weren't calculated at that time ... but you can bet Wilt's blocked shots per night would've been absurd, too.

Kohler tells us he believes the Chamberlain uniform is one of the most coveted in sports history.

"This is one of the finest game-worn uniforms known to exist in the basketball memorabilia industry. His rookie uniform, supported by photo documentation that is unprecedented for its era, ranks not only as the finest basketball uniform in the world, but one of the finest uniforms from any sport, period."

Wilt went on to have an absolutely remarkable career ... making 13 All-Star teams and winning 4 league MVP's before being inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006.

An Asian teenage basketball player was socked in the face during a game this weekend after allegedly being called a racial slur -- and video of the violence was all captured on video.

The altercation went down on Saturday in Oakland, Calif. during an AAU game between the South Bay Snipers and the San Francisco Generals.

At one point during the action, Snipers player Evan dove to the floor to try to take a loose ball from one of the Generals' players, but that's when things turned ugly.

Evan was pushed by the Generals' player on the ground, and then he was shoved to the floor by another Generals' player.

That Generals' player then took a swing at Evan, barely missing ... before he threw a second haymaker just seconds later that landed flush on Evan's jaw.

You can see in the clip, Evan was visibly wobbled ... and to make matters even more disturbing, Evan's parents allege that just before the melee, Generals players had called him and his teammate's anti-Asian slurs.

"They did use the 'C' word -- c***k word," Evan's mom, Lennie, told KPIX -- not revealing their last name out of fear of retaliation.

"Two-thirds of the team are Asian," Evan's dad, Eduardo, added.

The parents say Evan sustained a concussion from the punch.

Tournament officials banned the attacker from the Generals' game on Sunday, but Evan's father said, "The worst part is no one apologized."

Evan's parents say they are planning to go to police over the incident.