Basketball

Matt Barnes says Steve Kerr is absolutely right ... telling TMZ Sports Kevin Durant is, in fact, "more gifted" than Michael Jordan!

"He didn't say a better player," Barnes told us out at LAX this week. "He just said more gifted."

Kerr -- who played with His Airness in the '90s -- told NBC Sports Bay Area this week Durant's skill set is just flat-out better than Jordan's was.

"He's the most talented basketball player on earth," Kerr said of Durant. "If not of all-time."

Barnes definitely didn't disagree with the Warriors headman when we asked about the comments ... saying he respects Steve's opinion.

"For someone who played with Michael Jordan and coached Kevin Durant, I definitely respect his point of view," Barnes said.

The former Lakers star added, "And, if you think about it, K.D. is 7 foot and he can do everything your favorite point guard does."

Speaking of guard skill sets, we also asked Barnes how he liked the shimmy move from Trae Young in the Hawks' Game 1 win over the Bucks ... and Matt told us he loves it -- and wants more of it!

Mark Cuban is FIRED UP for the Mavericks' hiring of Jason Kidd ... telling TMZ Sports he thinks the dude is "going to be great" for Dallas and its star point guard, Luka Doncic.

The Mavs owner spoke with us leaving Victory The Podcast in L.A. just hours after making the hire official ... and it ain't hard to tell, Cubes is expecting greatness from his team's new headman.

"I'm excited about it, obviously," the 62-year-old said. "J. Kidd is going to be great for us. He's going to be great for Luka, for the organization. I'm really excited."

You'll recall ... Kidd played for Cuban's Mavs from 2007 through 2012 -- helping the team win the NBA championship back in 2011.

And, when we asked Cuban if Kidd could repeat that feat as the team's head coach -- the owner said bluntly, "That's the whole idea, right?!"

"We've got the talent," Cuban added. "I think we'll get better talent. We'll keep on getting better. Luka will keep on getting better. And, I think Jason will help Luka and the team get better."

As for Luka's long-term future with Kidd ... Cuban said he has every intention of keeping his star in Dallas with Kidd for as long as he can.

The person who supplied the tortillas that were thrown at Latino players following a high school basketball game has come forward ... but he's adamant it was never meant to be racist.

Luke Serna -- who says he's half-Mexican -- admits he handed out tortillas to players, cheerleaders and fans at the big Coronado vs. Orange Glen basketball game as part of a "celebratory action" if Coronado won the game. Serna is a Coronado alum.

The problem ... the Orange Glen basketball team (and the OGHS student body as a whole) is largely Latino.

So, when Coronado -- a predominantly white school -- won the game and people began throwing the tortillas after the final buzzer, many players, coaches, staffers and others were offended ... claiming it felt racist.

But, Serna claims his tortilla plan was inspired by a tradition he learned as a student at UC Santa Barbara, and he had "absolutely no racial intent."

"The tossing of tortillas is used as a celebratory action by the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos at various sporting events including basketball and soccer," Serna said in a letter to the Coronado Unified Governing Board.

"There was not a shred of ill-intent or racial animus in carrying out this celebratory action."

Serna continued, "Those who have enflamed this issue into a racially charged issue should be utterly ASHAMED of themselves."

There has been fallout since the incident ... Coronado head coach JD Laaperi was fired following a school board vote.

Serna believes Laaperi should NOT have been terminated.

"The people who have fallen for this frame-up to smear Coach Laaperi are not worthy of being any part of the discussion regarding this event as it is their intent to try and fan the flames of racism where none existed.”

Serna later told FOX 5 in a separate statement ... "I realize the tortilla throwing has been perceived as racially insensitive. I do not condone racially insensitive behavior, and that was not my intent."

Michael Jordan ain't going to like this ...

Steve Kerr says Kevin Durant is flat-out "more gifted" than His Airness ... explaining the Brooklyn Nets star is "an entirely different breed" from MJ.

The Warriors head coach -- who was Jordan's teammate with the Chicago Bulls in the '90s -- made the somewhat stunning revelation this week ... calling his former Golden State wing "the most talented player on earth, if not of all-time."

"He's just so gifted," Kerr told NBC Sports Bay Area. "I think he's more gifted [than Jordan]."

Kerr continued, "He's 6'11" with guard skills, unlimited 3-point range, passing, shot-blocking -- his shot-blocking at the rim, it's just stunning. Watching him this year was really, really gratifying to see."

Of course, the resumes ain't exactly comparable -- at least not yet.

Jordan's got 6 rings, he was a 10-time NBA scoring champ and he won five league MVPs. Durant, meanwhile, has just two championships, 4 NBA scoring champ titles and just one MVP trophy.

Still, Kerr clearly believes KD's skillset offers more than Jordan's ... saying it was especially evident after the 32-year-old came back from an Achilles injury and still dominated.

Ugly incident at a boys high school basketball game in Southern California over the weekend ... when opposing fans and players from a predominantly white school fired tortillas at a largely Latino hoops team after a heated playoff game.

It all went down at the CIF championship game between Coronado H.S. and Orange Glen H.S. Saturday night ... where Coronado eeked out a 3 point win in a hotly contested game.

According to reports, instead of celebrating with class ... some Coronado fans (and reportedly several players) began hurling the traditional Mesoamerica food at the Orange Glen players as they stood on the court only moments after the devastating 60-57 loss.

Many people have described the obviously pre-planned attack as being racist.

On Sunday, Coronado's superintendent released a statement addressing the "reprehensible" incident.

“Swift action will be taken to address all those involved, and they will be held accountable. it is our hope to create opportunities to dialogue with the orange glen community in an attempt to repair.”

The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) -- which oversees H.S. hoops -- also addressed the ugly situation, saying their org. "prohibits discrimination" ... and vowing to investigate and "determine the appropriate next steps."

The Coronado school district also announced they will hold an emergency board meeting on Tuesday.

Story developing ...

L.A. Sparks coach Derek Fisher is PISSSSSED OFF that his star player Nneka Ogwumike got left off Team USA's Olympic squad ... and he's letting everyone know!

FYI, 30-year-old Ogwumike is a 6-time WNBA All-Star and was the league MVP in 2016. She's a legend.

So, when Team USA named the squad for the Tokyo 2020 Games and left her name off the list ... Fisher was furious and sounded off to the media.

"We're pissed, honestly" Fisher said ... "I think the thing about Nneka is nothing has to be given to her. She earned it. She deserves it. That's the most frustrating and disappointing part."

Fisher points out Ogwumike turned down opportunities to make more money overseas in order to participate in Team USA events in 2019 ... clearly under the impression she would get a spot on the Tokyo 2020 team.

"[She] could have probably gone overseas maybe to make more money than sacrifice for Team USA. Sacrificing her body in terms of performing well, leading the team in scoring during the tour, won MVP award during their group on the tour. "

"Like, I don't know what else a player is supposed to do. She's been an All-Star 6 times in the last 10 years. She's been the MVP of the league in recent years, 2016, a champion in the league. One of the faces of the league."

Fisher added, "We respect other players, happy for the ones that made it but ain't no way you can tell me you can put a team together and leave Nneke off of it and try to say that it makes sense and that it adds up because it doesn't."

Devin Booker is tough as hell -- not only did the guy get his nose busted open during the Suns playoff game against the Clippers on Tuesday, he got stitched up and kept playing!!

In fact, the 24-year-old played a KEY ROLE in helping the Suns win Game 2!!!

Here's the deal ... D-Book and Clippers star Patrick Beverley appeared to accidentally clash heads during a play in the 3rd quarter.

You can see in the video ... Booker suffered a nasty gash to the bridge of his nose, blood began to drip down immediately.

The Suns star was taken to the locker room where doctors stitched up the wound and Booker returned to action in the 4th quarter.

It looked painful, but Booker battled through the injury and threw a key screen on that inbound dunk to DeAndre Ayton that ultimately helped the Suns win the game.

Suns coach Monty Williams praised Booker's toughness after the game ... saying, "He was probably playing with a great deal of pain."

"I thought he broke his nose when I saw it. I was worried about the blood continuing to flow."

Booker may need to wear a protective mask in Game 3 -- and maybe even the rest of the playoffs.

Vanessa Bryant has settled her wrongful death lawsuit against the company that owned the doomed helicopter in the crash that killed Kobe, Gigi and 7 others.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Vanessa's legal team filed a notice of settlement with the court ... but the terms of the settlement are confidential. The court still needs to sign off.

TMZ broke the story ... Vanessa sued Island Express back in February 2020, blaming the helicopter company for the fatal crash that killed her husband and daughter.

In her suit, Vanessa claimed the weather conditions -- an extremely low, blinding fog -- were not conducive to flying ... and she claimed the pilot, Ara George Zobayan, failed to properly assess and monitor the weather before takeoff and during flight.

As you know ... the crash tragically killed Kobe, Gianna, Alyssa Altobelli, John Altobelli, Keri Altobelli, Payton Chester, Sarah Chester, Christina Mauser and the pilot.

Warriors fans didn't have to wait for the new 'Space Jam' movie to see Klay Thompson return to action ... 'cause after 2 devastating injuries, the NBA superstar is back on the court!!!

Remember, 31-year-old Klay hasn't suited up for the Dubs since tearing his ACL in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals.

Right when he was getting back to 100%, Thompson then tore his Achilles while playing a pickup game in November 2020 ... which kept him from playing in the 2020-21 season.

But, Thompson had a breakthrough this week ... running up and down the court and working on his jumper at Chase Arena -- and yeah, he's THRILLED to be back at it.

"DubNation, I still have a really long, long, LOOOONG way to go," Klay said Tuesday. "But my goodness, it felt so dang good to get up and down and see the ball go thru the net."

"Can’t wait to burn em down next year 👌🏽 💦 🔥 !! Big milestone for me this week"

Klay kept busy while sidelined with the previous injury -- he's starring as "Wet Fire" alongside LeBron James in "Space Jam: A New Legacy" next month.

This time around, his free time was spent off movie sets ... and you can tell he's been busting his ass to stay in shape.

Losing a bunch of money on Dogecoin?? Here's a new investment opportunity -- an autographed ticket from Kobe Bryant's last NBA game is hitting the memorabilia stock market ... and it has the potential to go to the MOOOON!!!

The late NBA legend played his last game on April 13, 2016 ... putting up an iconic 60-point performance against the Utah Jazz.

Now, a ticket stub from that memorable night -- signed by the Black Mamba himself -- is making its way to the Otis investment app ... and folks can get a piece of the history for $10!!!

The ticket is valued at $31,700 and has a PSA VG 3 grade -- only 4 other tickets have ever been graded higher ... so, that's pretty good!!

Bryant memorabilia has skyrocketed in value since his heartbreaking death in Jan. 2020 ... with collectors paying up to 20x more for items in the days following the tragedy.

As we previously reported, the Otis app works just like the stock market -- the ticket will go up for trading once all the shares are sold ... and shareholders will be able to keep or sell their shares.

Tristan Thompson appears to be headed for a legal win in his libel suit against the woman claiming he fathered her child ... the court is leaning toward awarding him a chunk of cash.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the court says it's leaning towards granting the NBA baller a nearly $53k default judgment against Kimberly Alexander.

TMZ broke the story ... Tristan sued Alexander for libel last year and wanted the judge to hit her with $100k in damages, claiming allegations he fathered her child potentially cost him endorsement deals because brands and companies viewed him as a troubled athlete.

According to the docs, the court is leaning towards awarding Tristan around $50k instead of the $100k he was seeking because the judge said he hadn't offered any evidence of losing any specific endorsement deals due to Alexander's allegations.

Tristan's tentative legal win comes on the heels of his latest split from Khloe Kardashian ... as we reported, they called things off after another round of cheating allegations, this time from a woman named Sydney Chase.

Dwight Howard is calling for everyone to STOP HATING on his teammate, Ben Simmons -- with the 76ers star saying the negative criticism has gotten completely out of hand.

24-year-old Simmons has been under fire for playing poorly in the NBA playoffs -- particularly in Game 7 of the 76ers vs. Hawks series.

Simmons only scored 5 points in that game -- including 1 point in a hotly contested 4th quarter. Afterward, NBA analyst Shaquille O'Neal says he was so frustrated watching Simmons, he would have KO'd the guy in the locker room if they were teammates.

But, Howard says tough talk and violent threats are NOT the answer ... explaining Ben needs love and support instead.

"I don't think it's right that everybody just sending this man bad messages and all this negativity," Howard said Monday on IG Live ... "I think it sucks."

"We supposed to be the City of Brotherly Love and the best thing we can do is just send some positivity!!!"

Howard added, "This man is 24 years old! He's 24 years old. He's still learning who he is as a person and a player."

"No matter what! Ben, I got your back, man! You're my brother and I love you."

Rap legend Master P knows exactly who the next head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans should be -- MASTER P!!!! -- telling TMZ Sports superstar Zion Williamson would LOVE the move!!

Of course, times are tough in NOLA -- the Pels just fired Stan Van Gundy after one season ... and there are reports Zion's family isn't too happy with the franchise.

We spoke with P about all the drama surrounding his hometown team ... and his solution is to get himself on the sidelines as either a head or assistant coach.

"I think it's time," P tells us. "They gotta do something different, unique."

Percy has hoops experience -- he played preseason ball with the Charlotte Hornets and Toronto Raptors in the '90s ... and previously coached San Antonio Spurs star DeMar DeRozan at the AAU level.

"I played in the NBA, I done coached a lot of great players that are in the league. I done took my sons from being high school athletes to maybe they'll be the next future big-time pro athletes."

He added ... "If they bring me in as a head coach or assistant coach, I think I can change the game!"

Remember, P told us back in 2017 he was close to joining Alvin Gentry's staff ... and believes the coach would still have his job if he had brought him on board.

"I think he'd still have his job if he did that," P says.

As for the reports regarding Zion, P thinks his involvement as a coach will certainly make everyone happy!!

"We'll win and Zion will be happy," P said. "Everything! I feel like it's motivating the players and understanding them, that's the most important thing."

FYI -- the Pels finished 31-41 this past season ... but P is confident he can turn things around.

So, how would a rap mogul switch to NBA head coach sound?? P compares it to a former Heisman winner-turned MLB hopeful-turned NFL tight end.

"You look at Tim Tebow, they brought him to play as a tight end because they looking at times is changing."

Suns and Clippers fans got into a VIOLENT altercation during the first game of the two teams' playoff series Sunday ... and the insane fight was all caught on video.

The wild action appeared to go down in the bowels of Phoenix Suns Arena in Arizona ... when two Clippers fans got into a screaming match with a bunch of Suns supporters.

You can see in footage filmed by a bystander ... the two L.A. fans -- rockin' Kawhi Leonard jerseys -- yelled for several seconds before they let their hands fly.

One of the Clippers fans threw a big punch at a Suns fan -- before he was eventually taken down to the ground.

And then, all hell broke loose.

More than half a dozen people were involved in the fracas ... with haymakers being thrown and landed left and right.

It's unclear if there were any injuries or any arrests made ... we've reached out to police, but so far, no word back yet.

Of course, this is the second big fight the Suns have seen this month ... you'll recall, it was less than 2 weeks ago when the "Suns In 4" guy wrecked a Denver Nuggets supporter during the team's previous playoff series.

As for Sunday's Game 1 ... like their supporters in fights, the Suns won easily -- beating the Clips, 120-114.

Former Hawks superstar Josh Smith EVISCERATED Doc Rivers after yet another early playoff exit for the head coach -- railroading the dude in a profane rant on social media.

Smith held no punches back in going after the 76ers head man Sunday night ... clowning his old coach for losing Philly's playoff series to Atlanta in Game 7.

"Don't nobody really like yo cap ass," said Smith, who appeared to spend HOURS online Sunday ripping Rivers and the Sixers for the loss.

"You don't know how to make in-game adjustments. Everybody figured your ass out, man ... Yeah, you losing your power!"

Smith and Doc have had an icy relationship for years ... remember, Josh played for the head coach with the Clippers in the 2015-16 season, but was traded to Houston after only a handful of games.

It's clear the relationship hasn't thawed one bit since ... 'cause Smith unloaded on the 59-year-old, criticizing him for the loss as well as past comments he made about Paul George.

"You talked all that s*** about Paul George and how Tyronn Lue was gonna have the same offense for that n***a," the 35-year-old said.

"Shut yo' bum ass up, man! Your no in-game-adjustment-having ass, man. Start giving n****as they real credit, man. That's why your bitch-ass got that karma on your ass and you can't get past the second round, man! You done did all these real n****s wrong, man."

Smith continued, "Look in the mirror, n***a and confess your motherf***in' truths n***a or you'll never make it out the second round, n***a! Yeah!"

Smith had a chance to walk back his comments Monday morning ... but all he did was double down on them.

"If he was in my locker room, I would have knocked his ass out."

WOW.

That's Shaquille O'Neal pulling no punches on his disdain for Ben Simmons on Sunday night after the 76ers got bounced from the playoffs.

... and Shaq was so disgusted with the way Ben played -- and then explained his terrible performance -- he talked about how HE would've dealt with Ben if Simmons was his teammate.

Shaq's comment drew shock and even some laughs from his "Inside the NBA" co-hosts ... but Shaq replied, "I ain't laughing."

24-year-old Simmons -- the #1 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft -- did not play well during the series against the Atlanta Hawks ... especially during that crucial Game 7.

In fact, Ben only scored 5 points -- including 1 point in the 4th quarter -- in a 103 to 96 loss to ATL.

After the game, Simmons told ESPN, "I ain't shoot well from the line this series ... Offensively, I wasn't there. I didn't do enough for my teammates. ... There's a lot of things that I need to work on."

During the post-game show, Shaq was critical of Simmons.

"If I played Game 1 and 2 and I know I’m not helping my teammates, what do you think I’m going to do in Game 3? It don’t take you seven games to realize that, I don’t wanna hear that man."

"It don’t take seven games for you to know that you’re not playing right ... Get right!"

Shaq continued, "He's not getting double-teamed, just be aggressive, that’s all I want. I don’t want to hear all that, stop that, cut it out."