Joakim Noah is doing his part to give back to Chicago -- the former NBA player is launching a basketball league to unify young men amid the city's violence epidemic.

The 13-year NBA vet revealed his plans in an interview with Shams Charania ... where he explained his decision to join forces with 28 violence prevention groups to launch "One City Basketball League."

Noah -- who played 9 seasons with the Bulls -- said the league aims to bring young men aged 16-25 living in the west and south sides of Chicago together to compete in a tournament.

"Chicago is a place that gave me everything I had, playing for the Chicago Bulls," Noah said. "So I always wanted to do work in the city. The city is divided in a lot of ways."

"One of the ways to unify the city is through hoop. Some of my best friends, to this day, are from playing basketball. That's what we're trying to do. We're trying to unify the city."

Noah believes the tournament will entice kids to participate, but feels the real prize is the financial incentives for players, off-court programs, and job opportunities.

38-year-old Noah -- who announced his retirement from the NBA in 2021 -- said former United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is helping launch the league.

Phil Jackson says he hasn't watched the NBA since 2020 -- when it went into the bubble for the playoffs and publicly supported Black Lives Matter ... a step too far for him, it seems.

The iconic head coach -- who's got 11 championships under his belt from the '90s through the early 2010s between the Bulls and Lakers -- sat down with Rick Rubin earlier this month for a podcast ... which is making the rounds now 'cause of what Phil had to say.

Check it out for yourself ... Rick asks Phil if he watches NBA basketball to this day in the wake of retiring in 2011, and Phil says he kept his eyes on the game only through 2020.

When asked why, Phil says the NBA did something "wanky" while in Orlando -- namely, getting mixed up in politics with a bunch of slogans on the court and on the jerseys of the players themselves. He never says "BLM" ... but there's no doubt that's what he's talking about here. He even kinda mocks it -- saying he joked about it from home with his family.

Phil says guys would have phrases like "Justice" plastered across their backs instead of their surnames like normal ... and goes on to explain that he'd make cracks about "Justice" or so-and-so making a drive to the basket -- which he says his grandkids got a kick out of.

Long story short ... Phil thinks the NBA was pandering to a certain audience and demographic -- and their virtue signaling that year turned a lot of people off ... including himself. He says politics should stay out of sports, and that folks don't wanna see 'em mesh.

Phil cites athletes who've gone on to have political careers -- the implication being ... if you wanna pursue that, do it off the court and outside of the league. BTW, Rubin did a good job pressing Phil on what exactly bothered him about the BLM stuff ... and he responded clearly.

Now, as you can imagine ... Phil's getting ripped a new one on Twitter -- as this is coming as news to a lot of people who thought the dude was an unproblematic genius of basketball.

His resumé still speaks for itself, no doubt, but he's getting a helluva lot of side-eye now after these comments -- and you gotta wonder what some of his greatest former players -- many of whom were Black -- might have to say about this.

Larsa Pippen and Marcus Jordan are madly in love ... and a lot of people are wondering how Scottie feels about his ex-wife dating his nemesis' son -- so TMZ Sports went straight to the source and asked the Bulls legend all about it.

And he said nothing!!!!!

The Hall of Famer was leaving Il Pastaio in Beverly Hills earlier this week ... and naturally, we brought up the hot couple's relationship and whether he was cool with all of it.

Pippen didn't entertain the question ... he just hopped in his Tesla and drove off.

Before he left, we also asked about another thing that had Scottie in the headlines recently -- Larsa revealing how much sex they used to have during an episode of "Real Housewives" -- but he wasn't too interested in opening up on that, either.

Even though he didn't talk, what we do know is that Larsa and Marcus can't get enough of each other -- as we reported earlier this week, they were super mushy as they hung out on a boat in Miami.

The Dallas Mavericks season may be over, but the team's still making headlines -- the NBA fined the organization $750K for resting several key players like Kyrie Irving vs. the Bulls in the second-to-last game of the season, with the league accusing the team of losing on purpose.

The league announced the hefty punishment Friday ... explaining the Mavs violated the league's player resting policy on April 7 in the game with Chicago to improve their chances of keeping their first-round draft pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.

NBA executive VP Joe Dumars condemned Dallas for the move ... saying the team's actions "undermined the integrity of the sport," adding their actions "failed our fans and our league."

The Mavs were tied with the Bulls for the tenth-best lottery odds heading into the matchup ... and would have owed the Knicks their first-round pick if they beat Chicago, going back to terms agreed on during the Kristaps Porzingis trade.

The NBA launched an investigation after Dallas rested several key players -- Kyrie Irving, Christian Wood, and Tim Hardaway Jr. -- even with the team's play-in tournament hopes still alive. Luka Doncic played the first 12 minutes and 35 seconds but missed the rest of the game.

Dallas head coach Jason Kidd seemed to confirm the idea of resting their players in the crucial game came from upper management ... but said he agrees with his bosses' decision.

The short-handed Mavericks took Chicago down to the wire ... but ultimately lost their final two games, finishing the regular season with a disappointing 38-44 record after reaching the Western Conference Finals last season.

If DeMar DeRozan will allow the Bulls' not-so-secret weapon, a.k.a. his daughter, Diar to miss school on Friday, the screeching 9-year-old free throw disruptor has a free ride to Miami ... courtesy of United Airlines.

Diar became an overnight sensation following Wednesday night's game ... where she repeatedly screamed while the Raptors players shot free throws, which appears to have worked!

Toronto missed half of their free throws -- going 18 of 36 from the charity stripe -- in the elimination game that they lost 109-105. The Raptors normally shoot nearly 80 percent ... meaning they left about 10 points (and a win) on the table.

The Raptors are now home.

As for Chicago, in order to advance, the Bulls must beat the Heat tonight in Miami ... and United say they have a seat aboard one of their jets for Diar.

"The flight's on us. What do you say, @DeMar_DeRozan? We’d love to take Diar’s talents to South Beach," the airline tweeted.

It makes sense. The Bulls play at the United Center ... the arena inked a 20-year extension for the naming rights in 2013.

Although Diar has become a fan-favorite in Chicago, DeMar said she won't attend Friday night's win-or-go-home game, explaining she has to get back to school.

The Chicago Bulls' MVP on Wednesday night wasn't Zach LaVine, Nicola Vucevic or DeMar DeRozan ... no, it was DeRozan's 9-year-old daughter, whose screams led to some of the best free throw defense in NBA history!!!

Here's the deal ... the Bulls needed to beat Toronto at Scotiabank Arena in order to keep their playoff hopes alive -- and they got an unexpected super assist from DeRozan's little girl to make it all happen.

During every free throw that the Raptors took in the 9-seed vs. 10-seed play-in game, Diar DeRozan unleashed blood-curdling shrieks from her seat in the stands ... and it absolutely befuddled Toronto players!!

Check out video from the game's broadcast ... you can hear Diar loud and clear -- and you can see Raptors players were visibly bothered by it!

In total, Toronto missed 18 of its 36 strokes from the charity stripe -- the most free throw misses in an NBA elimination game in over 50 years -- and wound up losing the game, 109-105.

After the win, DeMar said it all almost didn't happen -- because he was tempted to leave Diar at home so she wouldn't miss school. But, he told reporters he was sure glad he ultimately allowed her to come.

"I owe her some money," he said. "For sure."

The bad news for the Bulls, though ... DeRozan says Diar won't be able to make it for their do-or-die game on Friday against the Miami Heat -- as she has classes to get back to.

The Air Jordan 13s worn by Michael Jordan during the 1998 NBA Finals sold for $2,238,000 ... the highest price ever paid at auction for a pair of sneakers!!

Sotheby's announced the historic sale of the iconic kicks on Tuesday ... rocked by MJ during the pivotal Game 2 matchup against the Utah Jazz. With the Bulls down 1-0 in the series, Jordan lived up to his clutch reputation, scoring 37 points with five rebounds and three assists in the pivotal game, evening the series at 1 game a piece.

Jordan sported the Bred -- shorthand for black and red -- AJs routinely throughout his career, but make no mistake, this pair is rare. They're the only complete set (left and right shoe) worn by Michael during a Finals game.

Sotheby's says MeiGray, the official authenticator of the NBA, used photo matching to verify the sneakers, originally gifted to a ball boy after the game, were the real deal.

The ball boy previously unloaded the shoes and was not the consignor.

The whopping sale price, despite it being shocking, wasn't necessarily a surprise. Experts predicted the kicks would bring in between $2 and $4 MILLION.

The record-setting sale comes just days after the movie "Air," starring Ben Affleck as Nike founder Phil Knight, and Matt Damon, portraying talent scout Sonny Vaccaro, hit theatres. The film tells the story of MJ's signing with the Swoosh.

Michael's original deal with Nike was worth around $2.5 million ... and 39 years later, a single pair of Jordan's sold for nearly the entire value of his OG deal.

Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks are under investigation by the NBA for apparently tanking in one of their final games of the season ... which means they're out of the playoffs.

The announcement came down Saturday from NBA spokesperson Mike Bass, who said .. "The NBA commenced an investigation today into the facts and circumstances surrounding the Dallas Mavericks’ roster decisions and game conduct with respect to last night’s Chicago Bulls-Mavericks game, including the motivations behind those actions."

The reason Adam Silver and Co. are digging into this is because of what seemed to be an obvious move by upper management and the coaching staff to not play their best guys.

Before Friday's matchup against the Bulls, HC Jason Kidd surprisingly announced a number of the best Mavs players were out due to injuries ... including Kyrie Irving. Luka Doncic only played for a quarter and change -- the rest of the game was carried by bench players.

But even with their backup dudes, the Mavs still had a chance to close the game out and secure a spot in the play-in tournament -- which could see them move on further into the playoffs. However, the Mavs somehow blew an 11-point lead in the 4th ... and it appeared they weren't playing their best basketball -- at least that's the consensus on Twitter, anyway.

Adding insult to injury was Cuban's reaction to his team missing the game-tying shot in the final seconds of the game -- which officially ended their chances at getting into the play-in -- and he seemed to be smirking ... further fueling speculation they were tanking on purpose.

Of course, Kidd himself didn't do a great job of masking anything either -- pregame or postgame -- because he essentially said ... yeah, we sat a lot of guys and it was upper management's decision in the hopes of building a better roster for next season. Yikes ...

Ben Gordon has been arrested again ... TMZ Sports has confirmed this time he was taken into custody on Tuesday after he allegedly threatened juice shop employees with a knife.

Cops in Stamford, Conn. tell us ... they got a call at around 9:15 AM that the former NBA star was inside of a downtown-area Juice Kings acting aggressively and bizarrely while wielding a blade.

Authorities say officers arrived on the scene quickly ... and were able to coax the 40-year-old out of the establishment without incident.

They say, however, the ex-Chicago Bulls guard became aggressive when they attempted to pat him down outside. They claim it then took several officers to subdue him and put him in cuffs.

Cops say an ensuing search of his person showed he had a folding knife clipped to his front pants pocket. They say when they searched his bag, he also had a stun gun and a pair of brass knuckles in his possession.

Gordon was arrested and transported to a local police station ... but according to cops, he began acting so aggressively and so bizarrely, he was taken to a nearby hospital for a mental health evaluation.

Gordon was released back to cops a short time later, but authorities say he continued to act erratically. They claim a behavioral unit and some of Gordon's family and friends were ultimately able to calm him down -- and he was then processed.

Gordon was booked on several charges -- including three felony counts of carrying a dangerous weapon and one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct. Cops say his family posted his $10,000 bond, and he was released at around 7 PM.

He's due in court for a hearing on the matter later this month.

A stripper's twerkin' sesh at a Chicago Bulls game is bringing her big money ... 'cause after her dance in a suite at the United Center went viral earlier this week -- she tells TMZ Sports business has been boomin'!!!

The stripper, Pretty Rebel, went off in the middle of the Lakers vs. Bulls game on Wednesday ... and when video of her performance hit the internet -- fans couldn't take their eyes off of it.

The footage -- which showed Pretty Rebel in a red two-piece twerking and doing splits on the suite floor -- has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times!!

Pretty Rebel -- who was actually hired for her friend Jazz's birthday -- said she had a blast at the game ... and since it all went down, her phone has been blowing up!

"I've gotten so many requests for more bookings," Pretty Rebel tells us.

The United Center, meanwhile wasn't too pleased over it all, officials for the venue said her moves violated their fan code of conduct and "appropriate steps to address the matter" have been taken.

But, Pretty Rebel told us she hasn't heard anything from the team or its stadium, as of yet.

NBA player Andre Drummond is going off the grid to improve his mental health ... saying he's quitting social media and changing his phone number to free his mind.

The Chicago Bulls center was open with his struggles to his 840k Twitter followers on Tuesday ... calling on anyone battling similar issues to seek help -- just like he is.

"Deleting all my social apps my Management will take over," Drummond said. "also changing my number .."

"Time to focus on my mental health. If you too are struggling with your mental health, you are not alone 💙 it’s okay to ask for help."

Andre -- who is averaging 6 points and nearly 7 rebounds a game for the Bulls this season --- has spoken out about mental health awareness previously ... and shared his path to wellness in a video with the National Basketball Players Association last year.

Patrick Beverley is channeling his inner Rocky Balboa during the NBA season ... admitting he has ZERO sex the night before games -- 'cause he wants to keep his legs fresh!!

The Chicago Bulls guard revealed his routine on Barstool Sports' 'Pat Bev' podcast this week ... when his cohost, Rone, brought up how Larsa Pippen claimed she and Scottie used to have sex four times a night during their 23-year marriage -- and asked Pat how much bangin' is too much bangin'.

That's when Pat opened up on his own sex life ... saying, "So I don’t have sex night[s] before games."

As it turns out, Pat agrees with the superstition Rocky learned from his old trainer, Mick, in the classic boxing movies ... 'cause he wants to make sure he's 100% for tipoff.

"I wanna have fresh [legs], you know what I’m saying?" he added.

Beverley admits his wife, Mandana Bolourchi, isn't too crazy about the idea ... but at the end of the day, he's sticking to his guns.

"Wifey gonna kill me, though," Pat said. "It be hard, though, because you got games every other day and s***. Shoutout to [the] wifey, man."

Beverley's strategy seems to be working ... 'cause he's been playing well after joining the Bulls in February, and they've racked up solid wins as they fight for a spot in the playoffs.

Patrick Beverley's right -- at least, that's what Ja Rule is saying, telling TMZ Sports he believes Ja Morant is absolutely being poorly influenced by hip hop.

The Chicago Bulls guard made waves earlier this week by sayin' he believed rap and the culture surrounding it are contributing to Morant's recent missteps ... and when we got Ja Rule out at LAX this week, he couldn't have agreed more.

He said growing up he was influenced to smoke weed by Redman's "How To Roll A Blunt" -- and pressured to drink booze by Snoop Dogg's "Gin and Juice" ... and he made it clear, he thinks Morant is being similarly impacted by today's tunes.

But, the "Holla Holla" rapper told us he thinks Morant needs to quit all of that ASAP ... telling us, "that ain't the way."

"Go play ball, man," he said. "The streets ain't about nothing, man. Go grind on 'em. Keep balling. That's it, man."

Morant has been investigated by police at least three times in the past calendar year -- most recently when he was seen on video flashing a gun at a strip club earlier this month.

Each time, Morant has dodged charges ... though he admitted in a sit-down interview with Jalen Rose this week he needs to start making better choices.

"In the future," he told Rose, "I will show everybody who Ja really is, what I'm about and change this narrative."

Colin Cowherd has a new hot take that Sports Twitter is NOT reacting well to whatsoever -- and it entails Michael Jordan ... not really being all that great without some key pieces.

The FS1 broadcaster jumped on his own podcast network, The Volume, this week to talk about the NBA G.O.A.T. ... arguing that MJ's legacy and success are largely tied to two specific dudes that helped him achieve the status he enjoys -- Phil Jackson and Scottie Pippen.

It doesn't sound like that wild of an opinion, but the way CC puts it is a bit harsher and cold-blooded, in his typical matter-of-fact style. Here's how he worded things ... "So, he tried baseball. He failed. He tried ownership, he was awful. He tried the Wizards, it bombed."

Cowherd adds, "Everybody understand, take out Scottie Pippen and Phil Jackson -- this whole Michael Jordan mythology is sort of just that." He goes on to say MJ has always been a bit of a selfish player and guy, and that he'd never been great at building community.

Colin finishes by saying Michael has been really good about building wealth for himself, noting that's fine ... and that it's just a reality of who he is. The larger context of his convo here has to do with reports that MJ will sell his majority ownership stake in the Hornets.

As for how the Internet is taking this POV ... not great. Bird app users are kinda crapping on him with memes and jokes, suggesting that Colin's downplaying Mike's individual greatness.

Lonzo Ball's NBA career is reportedly hanging by a thread -- the Chicago Bulls star is having a third surgery performed on his knee in a 14-month span ... but there's hope the procedure will pave the way for his eventual return to the court.

The news just went public minutes ago ... with ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski saying there is concern Ball -- who hasn't played since January 2022 due to his injury -- may not fully recover from the ailment ... which would impact his ability to play at the highest level.

The report states the surgery could keep 25-year-old Ball out for at least another year ... but after weighing his options for several days, the guard elected to go under the knife again to try and fix the issue once and for all.

Lonzo was the second overall pick to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2017 ... and has since played for the New Orleans Pelicans and Bulls.

Chicago has struggled without Ball this season ... going 31-37 through 68 games.

Here's hoping the surgery goes well and Ball can get back out there.