Basketball

Drake's not letting up on NBA star DeMar DeRozan ... a fan proved the beef is still going strong after seeing his jersey get tossed!!!

The Boy was performing during his first Sydney show of his "Anita Max Wynn" Australia tour Sunday when a DeRozan jersey was flung in his direction as he performed "Rich Flex."

After straightening out the wrinkles and realizing it was a DD jersey, Drake switched sports and spiked the shirt like a football straight off the stage!!!

LeBron James had a bunch of people pissed off during All-Star Weekend ... after the Lakers superstar backed out of Sunday's four-team tournament just hours before tip-off.

The four-time MVP and 21-time All-Star announced his status for the festivities two hours prior ... saying he was hoping to be able to go, but a nagging foot and ankle injury forced him to sit out the contest for the first time in his career.

With such short notice, the league wasn't able to fill Bron's spot with a fresh face ... which rubbed some people the wrong way.

The "Saturday Night Live" 50th anniversary special wasn't about to come and go without a couple shots at Bronny James ... with the Lakers rookie's name getting dropped for laughs during the show.

The 20-year-old was targeted toward the beginning of "Weekend Update" ... with Michael Che uttering a wisecrack about bringing his own form of nepotism to the staple sketch.

"Me and Colin [Jost] are actually the longest serving 'Weekend Update' anchors," Che said. "I've done 'Weekend Update' for so long, next season I'm co-hosting with my son, Bronny."

The NBA's new All-Star Game format took a ton of heat on Sunday night ... including from Warriors superstar Draymond Green, who said on live TV the event straight up "sucks."

Adam Silver's new look for this year's midseason showcase featured a mini-tournament of four teams playing in three games -- instead of the traditional one-contest exhibition -- and from the jump, there weren't many who were happily vocal about the way it was going down.

Hoop heads clowned it all on X throughout the evening ... and when Green -- a four-time All-Star who was helping broadcast this year's iteration for TNT -- was asked for his thoughts, he held nothing back.

Natalia Bryant's not a little kid anymore ... she's a woman who might have a new beau -- 'cause she was spotted with a guy on Valentine's Day.

The daughter of Kobe Bryant -- who turned 22 just last month -- hit the Los Angeles streets for a fun Friday night with a good-looking dude ... leaving e. baldi --a popular Italian joint in Beverly Hills not to be confused with Rihanna's favorite eatery, Giorgio Baldi.

The two were photographed outside the restaurant ... talking and laughing -- with some light PDA happening too. Natalia's got her hand on her maybe friend, maybe something more's chest in at least one pic.

Tristan Thompson's bouncing back from his recent on-court scuffle with the Toronto Raptors ... announcing he's looking to the future off the hardwood -- with a new role in a massive artificial intelligence endeavor.

The Cleveland Cavaliers star was named the Chief Content Officer and Lead Advisor for TracyAI -- a new project involving Virtuals Protocol, a leader in the A.I. space.

TracyAI -- announced in San Francisco during this weekend's NBA All-Star Game festivities -- will provide new real-time analysis for sports broadcasts ... enhancing the way fans of the sport get to see and understand the game.

The Mavericks fan who got tossed from a game this week for a heated exchange with Mark Cuban tells TMZ Sports he feels like his rights were violated ... and he's now considering taking legal action.

The clash with Cubes went down on Monday night at American Airlines Center in Dallas ... after Chris Taylor decided to try to start an anti-Nico Harrison chant during the Mavs vs. Kings tilt.

As Taylor -- who was upset over the way the Dallas GM traded away Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers earlier this month -- began riling up a crowd around him ... Cuban got up from his courtside seat and told him to stop.

Shaquille O'Neal had a bit of potty mouth while live on "NBA on TNT" on Thursday night -- but he wasn't apologizing for it ... in fact, he defended it in hilarious fashion!!

The funny scene all unfolded as the Lakers legend, Ernie Johnson, Kenny "The Jet" Smith and Charles Barkley were breaking down the first half action of the Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Minnesota Timberwolves tilt.

The guys were broadcasting from Northern California in anticipation of this weekend's All-Star festivities ... and after they did their customary "race to the board" -- which was a bit farther than usual due to the outdoor setup -- Shaq returned to his seat and let a cuss word fly.

Te'a Cooper hasn't logged minutes in a WNBA game in nearly four years ... but she tells TMZ Sports she's hopeful that all changes soon!

The former Los Angeles Sparks star is currently playing overseas for Tarbes Gespe Bigorre -- a pro team in the French Women's Basketball League -- and she tells us the goal of getting shots up over there is to one day return to the W.

Cooper, of course, played in the WNBA in the 2020 and 2021 seasons ... but left to take care of her hair business as well as to help raise her and Alvin Kamara's daughter, Stori.

9:10 AM PT -- TT got wind of Rajakovic's postgame comments ... and fired back with some words of his own.

"You wanna full court press with under a minute left in the game when you get cracked by 30 this will happen to you," the 2016 champ said. "Lose for draft lottery and be happy buddy boy."

"Hopefully you and most of your guys see the light at the end of [GM] Bobby [Webster] and [team president] Masai [Ujiri] long term plan. Bless up stay warm in MY CITY 😉😁."

Tristan Thompson made the most of his limited time on the court Wednesday night ... putting up four points, grabbing a rebound, dishing out an assist, and nearly fighting half the Raptors team after a last-second dunk!

The scene played out moments after the Cavaliers' 131-108 blowout win over the Raptors in Toronto. The NBA bet got some burn at the end of the game, and TT made the most of his opportunity.

With six seconds left -- the 33-year-old decided to stat pad a bit -- throwing down a dunk when the game was far out of reach. The Raptors didn't take too kindly to the jam.

All eyes were on Jimmy Butler's butt Wednesday night ... 'cause his shorts had a dark yellow stain on 'em -- leading many to believe he had crapped himself mid-game.

The unfortunate scene for the new Warriors star played out as he and Golden State were fighting to pull off a win vs. the Mavericks at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

Eagle-eyed viewers of the tilt noticed that as Butler was making a drive to the lane with the Dubs down 109-107 late in the fourth quarter ... some unusual coloring had appeared on his white shorts.

LiAngelo Ball isn't going into hiding after his ex accused him of walking out on their family ... the rapper and pro basketball player was spotted out with his new girl, Rashida Nicole, on Tuesday.

TMZ Sports has obtained footage of the 26-year-old middle Ball bro and his lady leaving a California courthouse ... with both wearing white outfits -- and Gelo carrying a big envelope.

Gelo was just called out by the mother of his two children on Saturday ... with Nikki Mudarris claiming he admitted to cheating on her and getting another woman pregnant.

The Luka Doncic trade to the Lakers sent shock waves through the NBA ... and the worth of his debut jersey could create even more, 'cause TMZ Sports is told the threads could fetch up to one million dollars!

David Kohler, founder of SCP auctions -- who also has arguably the most impressive personal collection of Lake Show memorabilia -- tells us the purple and gold Lakers jersey donned by Doncic is likely worth "500K to 1 million" at auction.

It's unclear if the 25-year-old NBA superstar rocked the same jersey throughout the whole contest or if he switched out at the half ... but either way, the jersey would still fetch a fortune.

A Dallas Mavericks fan was booted from the team's home matchup against the Sacramento Kings on Monday ... 'cause apparently calling for the GM to be fired for trading away Luka Doncic is a big no-no.

It all went down at the American Airlines Center, where at least two Dallas supporters made their frustrations with Nico Harrison crystal clear.

They had two bright poster boards that read "Fire Nico" on them ... but if that wasn't enough, one of the guys also took advantage of a karaoke segment on the scoreboard to really bring it home.

Some of Hollywood's brightest stars were drawn to Crypto.com Arena on Monday night to catch Luka Doncic's first-ever Lakers game ... and the new L.A. superstar didn't disappoint.

Logging his first minutes in purple and gold since the Mavericks traded him away earlier this month, Doncic played well in a 132-113 win over the Utah Jazz ... as a ton of A-listers sat just feet away.

Adele, Rich Paul, Floyd Mayweather, Will Ferrell and a gaggle of others -- including Dallas legend Dirk Nowitzki -- caught the action ... and enjoyed an impressive victory in Doncic's debut.

Ex-NBA player-turned-commentator Ryan Hollins is addressing a recent in-game comment that left him with "childish embarrassment" ... apologizing to anyone who was offended by his words.

A four-second clip of the former journeyman's call during the Rockets' 94-87 win over the Raptors made rounds on social media ... which came after Toronto hooper Gradey Dick was shown laying on the court in pain.

Hollins innocently tried to explain to play-by-play guy Craig Ackerman what happened ... saying, "Somebody got Dick in the face, Craig. See if he's okay."