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LeBron James and the Lakers paid tribute to the late Nipsey Hussle on Thursday ... with Bron rocking a shirt honoring the slain rapper at the game.

The NBA superstar was crushed after Nipsey was shot and killed outside his L.A. store on Sunday ... sharing recent convos he had with the rapper and listening to his music during workouts.

LBJ honored Nipsey with his wardrobe choice for L.A.'s game against the Warriors on Thursday night ... wearing a shirt with his face on it.

"Man Nip I promise I’ll continue to fly high for you bro!! The Marathon Must Continue On!! 🏁," Bron said on IG.

"And while you’re resting and enjoying paradise I hope I can make you proud down here below. "

The Lakers honored Nipsey with a moment of silence during the game as well.

JR Smith -- LeBron's old teammate -- also repped Nipsey while out in Hollywood on Thursday ... wearing a red Crenshaw hoodie.

A lot of hoopers and other athletes have paid tribute after Nipsey's death this week ... with Russell Westbrook dedicating his 20-20-20 game to him on Wednesday.

Nipsey was 33 years old. RIP.

Jussie Smollett is about to get sued by the City of Chicago and, in the process, he could effectively go on trial for allegedly faking the "attack."

As we reported, the City of Chicago fired off a letter to Jussie's people, demanding $130,000 for the cost of investigating the case. Jussie's people told the City to go pound sand.

The City had to wait 7 days before filing a civil lawsuit against the actor. Well the 7 days has now passed, and the City has made its intentions clear -- they are going forward with the lawsuit.

A spokesman for the City says, "Mr. Smollett has refused to reimburse the City of Chicago for the cost of police overtime spent investigating his false police report on January 29, 2019. The Law Department is now drafting a civil complaint that will be filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County. Once it is filed, the Law Department will send a courtesy copy of the complaint to Mr. Smollett's L.A. based legal team."

The stakes are high for Jussie ... the City can ask for 3 times the actual cost of investigation ... $390,000.

In addition, in order to win, the City must prove that it's more likely than not that Jussie faked the "attack." This, in effect, puts Jussie on trial before an administrative law judge.

2:53 PM PT -- Holder just pled not guilty and his bond was set at $5 million ... he will be back in court May 10. Holder's attorney is Chris Darden ... who was famously part of the prosecution team in O.J. Simpson's double murder trial.

Nipsey Hussle's alleged killer, Eric Holder, is now officially charged with murder, and he's about to appear in court for the first time since his arrest.

The L.A. County D.A. charged him with 1 count of murder, 2 counts of attempted murder and 1 count of possession of a firearm by a felon. Holder faces the possibility of life in prison if convicted.

The attempted murder charges are for the alleged shootings of Kerry Lathan and Shermi Cervabta Villanueva. We broke the story ... the only reason Nipsey was at his Marathon Clothing store Sunday morning was to help his friend Kerry -- who recently got out of jail -- get some new clothes. Shermi is Kerry's nephew and had driven him to meet with Nipsey.

Holder is being held in solitary confinement, as cops fear he'll be offed in jail because they believe he's a target. As we reported ... LAPD picked up Holder from the L.A. County Sheriff's Department station in Lakewood after his Tuesday arrest, and transferred him to a police station in South L.A.

It's doubtful he sees the light of day anytime soon, his bail's already been set at a whopping $7,040,000.

Cops say they believe Holder -- who goes by the street name, Shitty Cuz -- is the person seen in surveillance video shooting Nipsey and his friends multiple times. The Crenshaw rapper died Sunday afternoon from gunshots to his head and torso.

3:31 PM PT -- Timmothy's Aunt and Grandmother have just spoken out, thanking law enforcement and promising that they will never stop looking for Timmothy.

They also asked everyone to join them in praying for Rini, stating, "We hope our tragedy will help to shed some light on the horrific problems of suicide and missing children in our country."

2:05 PM PT -- The story just keeps getting more bizarre ... the kid claiming to be Timmothy isn't a kid at all! Cops say he's a 23-year-old MAN named Brian Michael Rini.

1:48 PM PT -- According to The FBI, DNA testing has revealed the 14-year-old claiming to be Timmothy is NOT the missing child. A statement reads, "A local investigation continues into this person's true identity."

Timmothy Pitzen -- a 6-year-old child who famously went missing in 2011 and was featured on "Live PD" -- has allegedly been found in Ohio after escaping his captors.

The story's pretty wild. A teenager discovered by locals in north Kentucky Wednesday morning claimed to be Timmothy and said he'd just escaped his 2 kidnappers. He reportedly said they'd been holding him for 7 years. The locals then called 911.

Cops went on the hunt, and eventually found the boy in Sharonville, OH ... just outside of Cincinnati. He claims he's 14-years-old now, and managed to escape from a Red Roof Inn ... although he's unsure where the motel was. He describes his kidnappers as white men covered in tattoos on their necks and arms who look like bodybuilders.

It's unclear if the teen, who's now in police custody is, in fact, Timmothy. A DNA test to confirm his identity is reportedly underway and should take about 24 hours.

Timmothy initially disappeared after his mother took him out of school one day for a 3-day vacation, but she ended up being found dead a few days later at an Illinois hotel. A note was found near her body, saying Timmothy was safe with people who'd care for him.

The story was heavily covered at the time, and even featured last year on the popular A&E show, "Live PD." The show produced a visual rendering of what Timmothy should look like now.

Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Bezos are a done deal ... officially -- and it sounds like she's walking away with a huge chunk of change, while he's retaining the lion's share of their companies.

Mackenzie says she's "finished the process of dissolving my marriage with Jeff," and says she's given him all of her interests in the Washington Post and 75% of their Amazon stock. She's also surrendered her interest in Blue Origin ... the aerospace company Jeff started in 2000.

To be clear ... she's not giving him all of that. No doubt, Jeff's paying out a nice chunk of what was their $149 billion net worth. BTW, that number was $137 billion when they announced the split ... so, it's been a good year for Bezos. Financially.

The former couple got hitched back in 1993 -- 6 months after they met, and way before he became the world's richest man -- and they have 4 children together ranging in age from 13 to 18.

The division of their assets could've been complicated by how much they have -- besides cold hard cash, they are straight-up baronial. They own 400,000 acres of property and are 2 of the biggest landholders in the country.

The now-exes jointly announced their plans to split following what they called a trial separation.

Jeff, of course, has already moved on to date former "So You Think You Can Dance" host Lauren Sanchez, the estranged wife of talent mogul Patrick Whitesell. As we reported, Jeff and Lauren started hooking up in 2018, after separating from their respective spouses.

Lauren and Patrick are also going through a divorce.

Jeff and MacKenzie both went to Princeton, but they met in New York when he was vice president of a hedge fund. After getting married, they quit their Wall Street jobs and moved to Seattle, where Jeff started an online bookstore -- the dawn of Amazon. Jeff started the bookstore in his garage, just like Steve Jobs.

MacKenzie is an award-winning novelist and the executive director of an anti-bullying org. called Bystander Revolution.

Beyonce is now kickin' it with the three stripes ... cause she just signed with Adidas!!

The company just announced it's inked Bey to a new "multi-layered" deal. Adidas will also launch her signature sneakers and apparel. As part of the deal, Bey's gonna serve as a creative partner.

Beyonce had launched her own activewear line back in 2016 called Ivy Park -- a collaboration with Topshop. Her new plan is to relaunch Ivy Park under Adidas.

The singer says, “This is the partnership of a lifetime for me. Adidas has had tremendous success in pushing creative boundaries. We share a philosophy that puts creativity, growth and social responsibility at the forefront of business."

Shoe companies signing artists is nothing new. Puma signed Rihanna back in 2014 and Reebok followed suit that same year with Kendrick Lamar. Of course, Adidas started the trend by teaming with Kanye West.

You'll recall the shoe giant signed Ye back in 2013 to produce his Yeezys ... after he bounced from Nike. In 2016, Adidas described its Kanye collab as "the most significant partnership between a non-athlete and a sports brand."

Sorry, Drake ... but for Bey, it's stripes over checks.

Anthony Davis gave a fan the bird on Wednesday ... and we ain't talkin' Pelicans.

The NBA superstar was caught flipping off a fan after the Pels vs. Hornets game in NOLA ... after he claims the person disrespected him first.

According to Pelicans Wave, the Instagram account that initially posted the encounter, AD alleges the fan said something that rubbed him the wrong way, which prompted the reaction.

Davis -- who publicly requested a trade earlier this season -- denies any bad blood toward the team or NOLA, saying, "Never disrespected the city and never will. But of course they not gonna show what the fan said"

However, the fan who captured the video, Bradley Wehmeyer, says the fan on the receiving end of the gesture flipped AD off first ... but never actually said anything.

Jahlil Okafor defended his teammate, saying, "People can’t possibly think AD just looked at a fan and decided to flip him off for no reason. Cmon now."

It's definitely not the first time we've seen these kinds of interactions between fans and players this season ... Tristan Thompson flipped off fans back in December, there were several incidents of Kevin Durant yelling profanities at fans, and Russell Westbrook threatened to "f**k up" a fan and his wife after receiving racial verbal comments.

4/4-- Conor seems to want to put all this behind him and get back to fighting with his fists instead of his fingers ... tweeting, "I want to move forward, with my fans of all faiths and all backgrounds."

"All faiths challenge us to be our best selves. It is one world and one for all."

"Now see you in the Octagon."

4:00 PM PT -- TMZ Sports spoke with Khabib's manager, Ali Abdelaziz, who has a message for Conor if he continues to run his mouth.

"You're gonna get yourself f*cked up, your whole team f*cked up, your security f*cked up," Abdelaziz says.

"Get your sh*t together, boy, before you get everybody f*cked up. But, we don't want violence. We don't promote violence. We are promoting peace. Enough with the hate."

3:22 PM PT -- Conor and Khabib's boss, Dana White, is not happy with the 2 fighters ... saying he's aware of the social media back-and-forth and has reached out to them to handle the situation.

"The ongoing situation has escalated to a level that is unacceptable," White says.

"As such, we are taking the necessary steps to reach out to both athlete camps and this situation is being addressed by all parties internally

10:18 AM PT -- Khabib just fired back at his arch nemesis ... clearly alluding to the reports that McGregor is under investigation for sexual assault in Ireland (Conor's rep bashed the report as a "rumor," but did not address the allegations).

"Rapist, you are Rapist," Nurmagomedov tweeted.

"You are a hypocrite who is not responsible for your actions. Justice will find you. We will see."

Conor McGregor personally attacked Khabib's wife -- and seemingly mocked Muslim tradition -- tweeting a photo of the UFC champ and his bride ... and calling her a "towel."

McGregor went on a Twitter rampage Tuesday night ... unleashed a fury of Tweets directed at Paulie Malignaggi -- who slapped his good friend, Artem Lobov, earlier in the day -- and Nurmagomedov.

“Don’t be scared of the rematch you little scurrying rat" ... McGregor wrote.

Conor dug in, getting personal ... posting 2 photos from Khabib's wedding day -- along with the caption, "Your wife is a towel mate" -- appearing to make fun of Khabib's wife's clothing.

McGregor deleted the message minutes later.

Khabib and his wife are devout Muslims ... and his manager, Ali Abdelaziz, took the insult as a direct slight at Khabib's religion.

"Talking sh*t, this guy is insulting someone’s wife and making fun of her religion and belief. He doesn’t realize he’s insulting 1.5 billon Muslims. Religion and family is a no no. You’re fucked Connor, let’s see what the media is going to say now. He’s a rapist, and a bitch."

Conor's used racially and religiously charged rhetoric to sell fights and belittle fighters in the past ... so it's possible this entire incident is an attempt to goad Khabib into a rematch.

Here's a peek into Rob Gronkowski's retirement life -- Camille Kostek channeling Margot Robbie for sexy photo shoots -- and we gotta say, giving up being a Patriots star doesn't seem so bad!!

Gronk's GF threw on her best 'Wolf of Wall Street' costume for a smokin' hot photo sesh ... and if the pics come out as good as these vids -- they're gonna be great.

Spoiler alert: That's gonna happen.

Unclear what the shoot was for ... but Camille KILLS Naomi's famous scene with Leonardo DiCaprio -- slaying everything from the makeup to the dress to the accent!!

Of course, doesn't seem Gronk's in any danger of being in the doghouse like Jordan Belfort ... the couple's relationship seems to be going as strong as ever.

In fact, when the New England legend announced his retirement last month ... Camille wrote, "I love you with all my heart, you allow me to take the term 'proud girlfriend' to a new level."

NFL QB Matthew Stafford's wife, Kelly, has been diagnosed with a brain tumor and will undergo surgery in the next few weeks ... the family announced on Wednesday.

Kelly shared the news on social media ... saying she had started to feel "dizzy & off balance" over the past year ... and ultimately went for an MRI that revealed she had a tumor sitting on her cranial nerves -- requiring surgery to remove it.

"I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t completely terrified of brain surgery. I am," Kelly says. "I am terrified of them opening my head, I’m terrified of losing my hearing, I’m terrified of losing facial function."

She continues ... "I’m terrified of far worse things that could happen and I’m terrified that I won’t take the time I need to recover because the guilt I might feel of being absent from my kids for too long.. I am telling y’all this to ask for prayers and support."

Kelly says she will have surgery in the next 2 weeks and asks for prayers for her whole family.

"Please pray for matthew as I know his nerves will be high during this surgery. I couldn’t imagine being out in that waiting room."

JR Smith will permanently honor the late Nipsey Hussle everywhere he goes ... getting an insanely realistic tattoo of the slain rapper on his leg!!

The heavily-tatted NBA star showed off the fresh ink job on Wednesday ... posting a pic of his new art of Nipsey's face on his right leg.

Nipsey was shot and killed outside his L.A. clothing store on Sunday. Names like LeBron James, Odell Beckham and Russell Westbrook have posted tributes honoring the late rapper.

"Praying for your family bro!" Smith said on Sunday. "WE GOT TO STOP KILLING EACH OTHER MAN THE SH*T SAD!!"

Smith went one step further with the body art route to show respect for the Grammy-nominated artist ... hitting up Ink Studio in NYC for the job.

The finished product is sick ... and don't be surprised if more athletes follow suit.

Russell Westbrook was playing for Nipsey Hussle when he went OFF in his historic performance on Tuesday night ... dedicating his 20-20-20 game to the slain rap star.

The NBA MVP became the first player to have 20 points, 20 assists and 20 rebounds in a game since Wilt Chamberlain (in 1968) in the Thunder's 119-103 win over the Lakers ... and he explained the symbolic meaning to the milestone.

"20 plus 20 plus 20 .... they know what that means," Brodie told Jason Terry on the TNT broadcast. "That's for my bro. Rest in peace, Nipsey." Brodie said after the game.

Of course, Westbrook is referencing Nipsey's Rollin 60s Neighborhood Crips gang.

Brodie, who grew up in the L.A. area and was close to Nipsey ... and knew firsthand how important he was to the community.

"Grateful to play the game, but that wasn't for me, man. That was for my bro, man. That was for Nipsey."

"I'm just thankful to go out there and compete at a high level, man. Thankful to have these teammates. Thankful and humbled to go out there and play the game I love."

Westbrook also showed tribute to Nipsey with his clothing choice before the game, rocking a blue "Crenshaw" shirt, as well as writing a message on his shoes.

Brodie finished the game with 20 points, 20 assists and 21 rebounds.

The Alliance of American Football is still alive, but barely breathing ... 'cause the new league will suspend all football operations before completing its first season.

TMZ Sports has confirmed -- the league will make the news official on Tuesday ... which means guys like Johnny Manziel, Trent Richardson and Aaron Murray could be looking for work once again.

There were reports over the past few weeks that the AAF could fold, with owner Tom Dundon threatening to pull the plug if they couldn't make a deal with the NFL Players Association to get younger players to his league.

There was much debate about whether making a deal like that would create bigger issues for the NFL ... but it's clear Dundon didn't care.

Sources tell us people around the league are shocked and disappointed ... and the cofounders of the AAF do NOT support the decision -- but as a majority owner, what Dundon says goes.

Johnny's time in the league was SUPER brief ... like, if you blinked, you coulda missed it. He looked solid in his debut less than 2 weeks ago ... and was injured in the second game.

Johnny tweeted shortly after he got the news, saying, "If you’re an AAF player and the league does dissolve. The last check you got will be the last one that you get. No lawsuit or anything else will get you your bread. Save your money and keep your head up. It’s the only choice at this point unless something drastic happens."

He added, "Just the reality of this unfortunate situation.. great concept, good football on the field and fun for fans to watch. Just not enough money to go around which has been the main problem with “other” leagues for a long time."

The league seemed promising -- they were able to sign coaches like Mike Singletary, Steve Spurrier and Mike Martz.

19 people were injured and police and paramedics were on the scene of a Nipsey Hussle memorial after a loud noise sent people scrambling.

Thousands showed up outside Nipsey's clothing store -- where the rapper was gunned down just a day before. Video from overhead shows the crowd suddenly break into a panic and begin to run from the area. People heard a loud noise that sounded like gunfire ... and it sent everyone scrambling, causing a stampede ... injuring a number of people in the process.

There was no evidence of shots fired or gunshot wounds.

The LAPD released a statement saying, "Our men and women are on scene and making every effort to protect everyone in attendance at the Nipsey Hussle vigil. Reports of shots fired at the vigil do not appear to be accurate. We do have injured in the chaos and are attempting to restore order."

The statement continues, "We understand the community is mourning and we feel your loss. We are asking for everyone to follow the officers directions and disperse from the immediate area."

TMZ broke the story ... Nipsey was murdered Sunday outside of his clothing store. Video surveillance of the attack shows a man walk up on the rapper and others before firing multiple shots. The cause of Nipsey's death is listed as gunshot wounds to the head and torso.

Thinking of being a world-class skier??? Lindsey Vonn might have ya reconsidering ... 'cause she just posted a pic of the knee she tore up flyin' down a mountain -- and it's DISGUSTING.

Vonn -- one of the greatest female skiers ever -- ripped up her knee in a crash during training last November ... and shredded her LCL so badly, she required surgery.

Lindsey says she put off the operation until now 'cause she had some obligations to fill ... and it's pretty easy to see why she waited so long to go under the knife.

The pic of the operation is NASTY ... docs cut open the side of her knee, pulled her skin apart and did everything they could to stitch her ligament back together.

Good news for Lindsey? She says despite the gnarly pic -- surgery went well and she's doing just fine.

Better news for Lindsey? The 34-year-old is retired from competitive skiing now ... which means (hopefully) no more nasty injuries!!!

"It was a disappointing hiring cycle for someone who watches it like I do."

That's Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin responding to the NFL's lack of diversity in its head coaching ranks ... and yeah, dude clearly ain't too happy about it.

Remember, the NFL's annual league meetings were last week ... and the teams put most of their head coaches proudly on display -- but there was one problem ... the black representation was tiny.

Of course, Tomlin missed the photo ... but so did 5 other white coaches -- which only highlighted an issue Mike says the league needs to address sooner rather than later.

"It was a disappointing hiring cycle for someone who watches it like I do," Tomlin told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ... "knowing some of the deserving men I do who I thought should have gotten an opportunity and didn’t."

"But we’ll continue to work and fight for equality and opportunity.”

The NFL fired 8 head coaches this past season -- including FIVE African Americans -- but only hired one black coach (Miami's Brian Flores) when replacing them.

That leaves the league currently with just THREE total black coaches ... and that's something that has Tomlin searching for answers.

"We’ll continue to fight for [equality within opportunity], not only in terms of head coaching searches, but maybe other areas of the profession as well."