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LeBron James has settled the Michael Jordan debate ... at least, in his own head ... because he just publicly deemed HIMSELF as the greatest basketball player of all time.

Here's the deal ... LeBron is on the cover of the new NBA 2K19 20th anniversary edition video game ... and was asked to personally select words that describe him to be included in the cover art.

He chose words like "King," "Strive for Greatness" and "Equality" ... and also, "G.O.A.T."

Interesting ... considering the never-ending debates between LBJ and MJ.

Also, the timing sucks ... since LeBron's Cavs are down 2-0 in the NBA Finals (remember, MJ has 6 rings, LBJ only has 3).

One more thing ... the players who have graced the past 2 covers (and 4 out of the last 5) of NBA 2K have left their teams and moved on.

Donald Trump is furiously trying to prove pro sports teams still like him -- despite the Eagles not coming to the White House -- by listing off all the championship teams who have accepted his invite.

Remember, Trump called off the Eagles visit after learning only a small number of players were actually planning to attend. The others had opted out for several reasons, including Trump's stance on the national anthem protests.

POTUS has been taking heat over the move from athletes and politicians, including Philly mayor Jim Kenney who ripped Trump as a "a fragile egomaniac obsessed with crowd size and afraid of the embarrassment of throwing a party to which no one wants to attend."

Trump responded to his critics with a flurry of tweets Tuesday morning.

"We have had many Championship teams recently at the White House including the Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros, Pittsburgh Penguins, New England Patriots, Alabama and Clemson National Champions, and many others."

Seems like he forgot NASCAR's Martin Truex -- because he posted another tweet later including the driver's name.

"...@NASCAR and Champion @MartinTruex_Jr were recently at the White House. It was a great day for a great sport!"

Don't forget, Trump says he still plans on holding a national anthem ceremony at the White House today instead -- featuring the U.S. Marine Band and U.S. Army Chorus.

Meantime, the Eagles have decided to hold a team workout instead.

Donald Trump has announced the plans for the Philadelphia Eagles to visit the White House to celebrate the Super Bowl victory is officially OFF ... and POTUS is making it seem like it was his decision.

Instead, Trump says he will still have the United States Marine Band and the United Army Chorus playing the national anthem at 1600 Pennsylvania ... while he stands proudly and watches.

The team was scheduled to visit on Tuesday ... without several key members from the team who opted out as a way to protest Trump's stance on the national anthem.

But, Trump says the "smaller delegation" of players who accepted the invite are no longer coming because "the fans deserve better."

"The Philadelphia Eagles are unable to come to the White House with their full team to be celebrated tomorrow."

"They disagree with their President because he insists that they proudly stand for the National Anthem, hand on heart, in honor of the great men and women of our country."

"The Eagles wanted to send a smaller delegation, but the 1,000 fan planning to attend the event deserve better."

"These fans are still invited to the White House to be part of a different type of ceremony-one that will honor our great country, pay tribute to the heroes who fight to protect it, and loudly and proudly play the National Anthem."

Ex-NFL star Dwight Clark -- the guy who made "The Catch" in the 1981 NFC Championship -- has died from complications stemming from ALS, his wife has confirmed.

"I’m heartbroken to tell you that today I lost my best friend and husband," she tweeted.

"He passed peacefully surrounded by many of the people he loved most."

"I am thankful for all of Dwight’s friends, teammates and 49ers fans who have sent their love during his battle with ALS."

Clark put together one helluva career after being selected in the 10th round of the 1979 NFL Draft -- earning his way into 2 Pro Bowls and leading the NFL in receptions in 1982.

He also won 2 Super Bowls as one of Joe Montana's favorite receivers.

His #87 jersey was retired in 1988.

Kenya Moore is shutting down any haters who doubt she's preggo at 49 by sharing the ultrasound.

The Atlanta 'Housewife' first hinted about pregnancy during the season 10 reunion episode back in April. She said she and her husband, Marc Daly, "will definitely be welcoming a boy or girl in late this year."

Many didn't believe her due to her age, but the ultrasound appears to be proof it's on the up and up.

Kenya has been struggling to get pregnant since marrying Daly in 2017. She flew to Barbados in November for IVF treatment at a world-renowned fertility center.

Kenya's not saying yet how far along she is right now. She says the ultrasound was captured earlier in in her pregnancy.

Kanye West's album, "Ye," is already crushing numbers ... and it's only been available for a few days.

Numbers for the 7-song project are astounding -- Kanye's filled the top 7 song spots on both Spotify and Apple Music -- and the album's already accumulated over 100 million streams total.

To add to those stats ...

-- #1 iTunes Album in 63 countries.

-- #1 Spotify global peak position.

-- #1 Apple Music album in 83 countries.

Iran's dictator went off on Israel by calling it a "malignant cancerous tumor" ... but Israel took the pop culture route and responded with an EPIC "Mean Girls" GIF.

A Twitter account believed to belong to the Ayatollah tweeted to its nearly 500k followers, saying Iran's stance against Israel is the same as always. The Ayatollah spewed a bunch of political stuff -- we'll spare you the details -- but what caught our attention was the Embassy of Israel's official Twitter account clapping back.

BURRRRRRRRN!!! Dialing up the classic 2004 chick flick for the clapback heard 'round the world? Not something you see everyday. Politics. Gotta love it.

The Ayatollah doesn't have many fans in Hollywood. As we reported ... "Shahs of Sunset" star Reza Farahan wished death to the Iranian dictator and his family last month after the reality star shockingly said he agreed with Trump's decision to pull out of the Iranian nuclear deal.

OK, so it's not exactly Patriots practice ... but Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski are back at Gillette!

The two showed up at Patriots Fantasy Camp -- in which team members put paying fans through the paces of a regular day in the life of a Pats player. The money raised goes to charity.

Nobody really knew if Brady and Gronk would show up -- since they've been absent from New England's voluntary workouts the past couple weeks ... leading Bill Belichick to throw some not-so-subtle shade on his Hall of Fame QB.

But, when the event began Monday morning, the two most famous players were there.

Both players are expected to return for mandatory minicamp on Tuesday ... and their attendance at Monday's annual Patriots Fantasy Camp is a good sign that'll actually happen.

If James Harden was bummed about not being in the NBA Finals ... he ain't showin' it -- 'cause he was TURNING UP with shirtless Travis Scott onstage Saturday night!!

Just five days after being bounced from the playoffs ... the Rockets PG turned to his ex-GF's sister's BF to get away from it all ... and he got away from it.

The Beard joined Kylie Jenner's baby daddy during the last few minutes of his Governors Ball set, rockin' out to "Beibs in the Trap" ... and the crowd loved it -- giving a "F*CK THE WARRIORS" chant afterward.

Remember, Scott's a huge Houston fan ... and was spotted at Harden's games against the Dubs late last month.

Well, now we know why Floyd Mayweather took his private jet to Mexico ... his sister got married this weekend in Cabo!

Floyd -- along with several TMT staffers and bodyguards -- hit up the Paradisus Los Cabos resort to watch his sister, Deltricia Tawanna Howard, trade "I Dos" with her boyfriend George Forte III.

The ceremony was super romantic -- it all went down on the beach in front of the crashing waves. Floyd rocked a pretty slick white suit.

The rest of the weekend was lit, too ... parties, dancing, ATV excursions and a fireworks celebration when the bride and groom tied the knot!

Forget the Warriors vs. Cavs debate (sure looks like the Dubs ended that on Sunday night, anyway) -- it's time for the real question ... the LeBron 15s or the Curry 5s?!

The two NBA Finals superstars rocked their signature shoes in Game 2 ... and while Steph Curry got the win in his -- does he beat the King in shoe game as well??

Arizona cops located the fugitive who shot and killed the renowned psychiatrist on the JonBenet Ramsey case -- but the man apparently took his own life.

Officers surrounded a hotel Monday morning in Scottsdale, where they'd tracked down the bald man depicted in a police sketch. They fired tear gas into his hotel room, and then sent a robot into the room. Cameras revealed the suspect was dead, and cops say it looks like it was suicide.

Dwight Lamon Jones is believed to be the gunman who killed Dr. Steven Pitt ... and 3 other professionals in Scottsdale last week.

New photos show Milwaukee Bucks player Sterling Brown suffered bruising and cuts to his face when he was unnecessarily tased and roughed up during a January police altercation.

You've already seen the video of Brown being violently accosted and tased by a team of Milwaukee PD officers during a January 26 parking dispute outside of a Walgreens around 2 AM.

Now, the newly released pics -- taken right after the incident -- show the damage inflicted on Brown's face. You can also see what appears to be puncture wounds on his body from the taser. The pics were first obtained by WISN 12.

There's more ... new police video shows cops were immediately concerned about looking "racist" ... saying on camera, "Because he plays for the Bucks, and if he makes a complaint, it's going to be a f*cking media firestorm."

"And then any little f*cking thing that goes wrong [with the investigation into the arrest] is going to be, 'Ooooooh, the Milwaukee Police Department is all racist. Blah, blah, blah.'"

"And then we end up in civil court. And then the DA asks, was all that necessary?"

In fact, the possible backlash ended up being exactly what happened ... with Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and the Bucks organization themselves blasting the cops' actions.

NOOOOO!!!!!

Serena Williams' highly-anticipated showdown with Maria Sharapova at the French Open ain't happening on Monday ... after Serena pulled out of the match due to an injury.

It's a total bummer for the tennis world ... which has waited 2 years for the superstars to face off after Sharapova served a 15-month suspension for testing positive for a banned substance.

For the record -- Williams OWNS Sharapova on the court. She's won 18 straight against the cheating Russian and has a 19-2 record overall against her.

We were particularly stoked for this match to watch a post-pregnancy Serena deliver karmic tennis justice to a PED user.

As for the injury, Serena says she's got a nagging pectoral issue that wouldn't allow her to serve properly.

This is interesting ... Lionel Messi posing with a live goat for a photo shoot -- while explaining that he doesn't consider himself the greatest soccer player alive.

"I don't consider myself the best," Messi tells Paper ... "I think I am just another player."

Yeah, right.

As Paper points out, Messi has one of the most impressive resumes in pro sports.

"He has helped his team, FC Barcelona, win 32 trophies -- including nine Spanish Liga titles and four in the Champions League. He led the Argentine national team to the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and brought them victory at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in 2005."

He's also got 5 Ballon d'Or awards, 5 Golden Shoes and holds the Guinness World Record for the most goals officially scored in a season (50 in the 2011-12 La Liga season).

But sure ... just a regular player.

"On the field, we are all the same when the game begins," Messi adds.

Messi also talked about everything from his upbringing in Argentina to his charity work with UNICEF in the full PAPER x Sports article.

No word on who had to clean up after the goats.

Another dog took off on a commercial airliner and when the plane landed ... it was dead.

Alejandro the Pomeranian was in the cargo hold of a Delta Air Lines jet that originated in Phoenix and was supposed to land in New Jersey with a stopover in Detroit. When the plane landed in the Motor City, we're told the 8-year-old Pom was alive ... but it was discovered he'd died during the process of transferring him to the connecting flight.

So far the cause of death has not been determined. Delta tells TMZ it's conducting a thorough investigation to find out what occurred to ensure it doesn't happen again. The airline says it's working with Alejandro's family to support them and has offered a free necropsy to have Alejandro evaluated.

The dog was owned by a unmarried couple that was relocating to New York.

The lawyer for the family, Evan Oshan, tells us ... from what he knows Delta has been pushing people to put their dogs in the cargo hold rather than the cabin, presumably because there are so many service dogs on board these days the passenger areas resemble a kennel.

Delta, however, tells us it did not push the passengers to store their dog in cargo ... it was their choice.