Basketball

Don't worry, Knicks fans, the Julius Randle and Karl-Anthony Towns trade will pay off soon ... this according to Charles Oakley, who tells TMZ Sports his addition to the team can pave the way for an NBA Finals run!!

We spoke with the Knicks legend as he was giving away food at Melba’s of Harlem's annual turkey drive this week ... and asked if he believes his former team can make a run at the NBA championship again this season with KAT.

"They should've won it last year ... yes, they can," Oakley said, "They just have to play. I think they got sidetracked last year, a lot of things goin' on."

A piece of L.A. basketball history is hitting the auction block -- the game ball used by Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal and the Lakers when they won the 2000 NBA Finals!!

TMZ Sports has learned bidding for the item is part of the Sotheby's "Winter Sports Classic" ... with the company showcasing $30 million worth of sports memorabilia at The Breuer Building in New York.

The ball -- from Game 6 of the Lakers vs. Pacers showdown, which L.A. won, 116-111 -- is among the many iconic items looking for new homes.

Chauncey Billups pleaded not guilty in a federal courthouse in Brooklyn on Monday, a month after he was arrested for allegedly helping the mafia rig underground poker games, a scandal that rocked the NBA.

The now-suspended Portland Trail Blazers head coach was arraigned on charges relating to wire fraud and money laundering, appearing alongside 30 other defendants in the Eastern District of New York.

Bond was set at $5 million. Billups put up his Colorado home as collateral, securing his release.

According to the feds, defendants, including members from four of the five crime families in NYC, would lure unsuspecting wealthy targets to card games under the guise they were legit ... using celebrities like Billups to make them appear legit.

Patrick Beverley won't be appearing on Barstool platforms anytime soon -- Dave Portnoy just revealed the former NBA player is "taking forced time away" following his arrest for felony assault.

The Barstool Sports founder explained his employee's status during "The Unnamed Show" on Wednesday ... saying Beverley -- who has a the "Hoopin' N Hollerin'" podcast with the company -- has "gotta figure all this out."

"We'll let the facts play out," Portnoy said. "Certainly, with what is hanging there, we can't have him be part of what we're doing right now, and we got to see how it settles, but this is horrible."

Lonzo Ball and Michael Porter Jr. believe they would have been forces to be reckoned with in the WNBA as teenagers ... with both NBA stars claiming they'd dominate against pro women's players before they were old enough to drive cars.

MPJ stopped by Lonzo's "Ball in the Family" podcast recently ... and at one point in their chat, the current Brooklyn Nets player brought up how A'ja Wilson said she could beat Knicks guard Josh Hart one-on-one.

The convo then transitioned into how Patrick Beverly said a WNBA team could beat an NBA team's bench players ... which Lonzo wasn't buying.

Bronny James has left the nest, according to his dad, LeBron, who revealed his oldest child moved into his own place ... and joked that his son has been ghostin' him ever since.

The Lakers superstar mentioned Bronny, 21, had vacated the James family home when a reporter asked about his son's growth in the NBA after Tuesday's game in Los Angeles.

"It's been great to see and to watch," James said.

Patrick Beverley's legal team is disputing the allegations that led to his felony assault arrest ... with his attorney claiming the ex-NBA player's sister's side of the alleged incident is not accurate.

Letitia Quinones-Hollins tells TMZ Sports the details laid out from Beverley's 15-year-old sister to cops in the probable cause affidavit were "given at a time when emotions were high" and don't tell the truth or the complete story.

"Patrick is not a violent man and was not violent that night," Quinones-Hollins said Tuesday. "In fact, he was very respectful with the authorities that night and encouraged others to do the same."

TMZ Sports has obtained more details surrounding Patrick Beverley's arrest -- the ex-NBA player is accused of punching his sister in the eye and choking her for up to 30 seconds at a Texas home.

According to the probable cause affidavit, Beverley's sister told officials she left the home in the middle of the night without permission to see her boyfriend at a nearby park on Nov. 14.

When she returned home, her mother, Lisa, was awake ... and told her to enter her room. Lisa then told her daughter to call the boyfriend and tell him to pick her up.

It's safe to say Kevin Love is a future Hall of Famer ... and when that day comes, the NBA star tells TMZ Sports he would be honored to get the recognition "as a Cavalier."

We caught up with the 2016 champion and five-time All-Star this week ... and talked all about his NBA present and future, legacy in Cleveland, recent Instagram antics and partnering up with Shift Naturals, a lineup of non-alcoholic products to help folks unwind after a long day.

At 37 years old, the Utah Jazz forward said he's started to think about what retirement life would be like ... but as of right now, he's open to playing a few more seasons.

Luka Doncic did his best to sidestep any questions about the Nico Harrison firing on Wednesday ... saying while he'll always have love for the Mavericks fans and players, he's ready to move on and focus on the Lakers.

The Slovenian superstar met with the media after the Purple and Gold's blowout road loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder ... and naturally, he was asked how he felt about the general manager who shipped him to Los Angeles getting canned just nine months later -- and if it provided "closure."

Doncic elected to focus on everyone else in Dallas instead.

Mavericks fans couldn't wait for Nico Harrison to get kicked to the curb after he traded Luka Doncic to the Lakers ... but NBA champ Kendrick Perkins still believes both sides won the infamous deal -- telling TMZ Sports we'll find out if/when Dallas gets healthy!!

Harrison was handed his pink slip on Tuesday ... an inevitable move nine months after the franchise player was shipped to L.A. in exchange for Anthony Davis.

At the time, Perk said he loved the transaction for both sides ... but Mavs backers weren't buying it -- and wanted Harrison gone ASAP.

Jason Williams thinks he knows why Klay Thompson is strugglin' on the basketball court this season -- MEG THEE STALLION!

That's what the former NBA star said on the "Hoopin’ N Hollerin'" podcast on Wednesday, just a week after the Dallas Mavericks announced they were benching the four-time NBA champion, who is averaging just 7.4 points per game, while shooting 26.7% from the three.

The podcast crew, including Patrick Beverly, mentioned Thompson's new relationship with Meg, one of the hottest stars in all of music ... when Williams, a 12-year NBA vet, chimed in.

Miles Teller will be able to say "look at this photograph" for the rest of his life ... and that photograph is the viral shot of an NBA player taunting him right in the middle of a game -- which Jimmy Fallon so kindly had framed for him!!

The "Tonight Show" host surprised the actor with the gift during Tuesday night's episode ... after the two had a brief chat about Pacers player T.J. McConnell getting right up in his face and gloating during a playoff matchup against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden last season.

The snap is honestly museum-worthy -- it shows the hooper celebrating as Miles and his wife, Keleigh, Timothee Chalamet and Kylie Jenner stare blankly back at him from their courtside seats ... and it was plastered all over social media at the time.

Lenny Wilkens -- a Hall of Fame basketball player and coach -- has died ... the NBA confirmed in a statement Sunday.

Wilkens reportedly passed away while surrounded by loved ones ... though the family has not revealed a cause of death at this time.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver called Wilkens "one of the game's respected ambassadors" ... adding his on-court contributions were incredible -- yet paled in comparison to his influence on the community of Seattle.

Denzel Curry and Armani White’s friendly game of basketball was interrupted Thursday ... when the rap stars had to gang up on a vagrant sleazing around the park who was threatening to kill the kids!!!

TMZ Hip Hop obtained video of the "GOATED." collaborators at Plummer Park in West Hollywood from earlier this afternoon ... draped in hooping gear but heavily focused on the timeout they took to address a man sitting in the grass.

Our tipster says the group had just finished playing HORSE when Denzel, Armani and another player approached the man ... after hearing him scream at the children playing on the jungle gym, “I will kill all these kids and burn their fucking bodies!!!”

Tony Allen pleaded with cops to hear him out during his drug arrest ... insisting he had nothing to do with "all the extra s***" officers found in the vehicle he was riding in on Wednesday.

TMZ Sports has obtained the bodycam footage of the ex-NBA star's run-in with police in Arkansas ... which shows an emotional Allen insisting the alleged cocaine discovered in the whip was not his -- and an incident like this would torpedo his image.

When the cop initially pulled up to the car, he asked Allen and the driver if either had weed on them or had smoked in the vehicle recently. The driver admitted he sparked up in it the night before ... and his grinder might have some flower in it, although he wasn't sure.