Controversial S#!T

The Houston Rockets will win a championship without LeBron James -- but if he wants to join the squad and help out -- door's open ... so says U.S. Congressman from Texas Kevin Brady.

LeBron is a free agent ... and Houston is one of the favorites to land LBJ.

So, when we saw Brady -- whose 8th Congressional District encompasses the area near Houston -- in D.C. on Monday, we asked him to make his pitch to King James.

"This is a winning team already. They got a winning culture," Brady tell us. "This is gonna be a championship team in my view, with or without him, but he can play a role. So, if he wants to come, I'll tell you what, people would love him."

FYI -- the Rockets won 65 games this year -- more than any other team -- and took the Warriors to Game 7 before losing.

J.R. Smith's Game 1 blunder wasn't just responsible for LeBron breaking his hand ... it was also the reason the Warriors broke the Cavs -- so says Kevin Durant.

K.D. went on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Monday night and explained to the talk-show host how J.R. brainfarting and running the wrong way at the end of regulation to start the series essentially ended the Cavs.

"We knew we kind of broke them a little bit with that one," the NBA Finals MVP said.

There's more ... Durant says there will be no summer of drama when it comes to his Bay Area future -- 'cause he ain't about to leave the Dubs' dynasty yet.

As for if LeBron wanted to join up with him, Steph, Klay and Draymond -- K.D. didn't seem so sure about that.

Tekashi69 isn't trying to hide it, he's got a major sweet tooth when it comes to his upcoming tour, but he also feels the need for more beef ... with Chief Keef.

We got a hold of 6ix9ine's list of demands for his European tour, which kicks off this week. While there's the usual fried chicken and meat tray requests, the rapper also has to have a copy of Chief Keef's CD, "Bang 3, Pt. 2" in all his dressing rooms.

That particular Keef record peaked at 78 in 2015, so we're guessing Tekashi only wants it around to troll his rival. Or maybe to play Frisbee.

They've had heated exchanges on social media recently, and Keef was shot at in NYC earlier this month. The bullet missed, and while many suspected Tekashi's crew was involved ... 6ix9ine flat-out denied it on "TMZ Live."

As for the sweet stuff, Tekashi wants 69 (clever) bags of Skittles at each stop, as well as ...

-- Chocolate chip cookies
-- 3 packs of Trident gum
-- 2 bags of Peanut M&M's
-- 1 large bag of Twizzlers

If Keef doesn't get him ... diabetes might.

Rudy Giuliani isn't the least bit worried his post-9/11 rep might be ruined by representing President Trump.

No doubt, Giuliani's had some rough patches since joining the President's legal team in April -- but Monday in D.C., he had a pretty positive outlook. Rudy told us why he has no concern about losing face during Robert Mueller's investigation.

Yes, he's made headlines for what, at the time, appeared to be major missteps in strategy -- but Giuliani believes Americans won't forget his heroic leadership as NYC's Mayor during the 9/11 attacks.

The greatest-of-all-time argument between LeBron James and Michael Jordan is just like the dodo bird and T. rex ... dead forever, so says Michael Rapaport.

Rapaport's point ... LBJ getting swept 4-0 by the Warriors effectively ends any conversation that he's better than MJ ... 'cause nothin' like that ever happened to His Airness.

"It's over. You're not better than Jordan. Jordan won 6 rings."

We then threw it back to Rap ... asking him if his opinion would change if LeBron got on a hot streak and ended up winning as many rings as Jordan.

"There is no 'let's say.' He got f**king swept."

Whitney Cummings can't hide it ... she's so angry about Roseanne Barr and what happened to her former coworkers on "Roseanne" -- so much so, it's hard for her to find the right words.

The comedian and former "Roseanne" executive producer sounded like she has PTSD when she tried to tell us about her experience. Remember, Whitney left before Roseanne's racist comment got the show axed -- but, seems like she'd seen the writing on the wall when she quit.

She says she feels worst for the cast and crew -- so, she gets the impassioned efforts to save the show. TMZ broke the story, ABC's trying like to hell to bring back a revamped reboot, sans Barr.

Whitney explained why she's conflicted about that, and revealed whether she'd be down to return.

The future of the Patriots is currently a Cleveland Brown ... so says Mark Wahlberg, who tells TMZ Sports Baker Mayfield is Tom Brady's successor!!

Marky Mark was leaving Catch in WeHo on Friday when he gave us his State of the Patriots address ... from Brady and Rob Gronkowski's absense from OTAs and Julian Edelman's failed PED test.

Wahlberg goes down the list of rumors and reassures he's confident the team is doing just fine ... saying Edelman's an innocent man ... and there's no way TB12 is hanging it up anytime soon.

Robert De Niro's over coming up with clever ways to insult President Trump -- he's now sticking with "F*** Trump," which he just blurted out at the Tony Awards ... twice.

Bob was introducing Bruce Springsteen ahead of his Tony performance Sunday night, and before he could utter a word of grace ... he dropped the big F-bomb on DT.

De Niro didn't waste any time with his message either, going right into ... "I just want to say one thing -- F*** Trump." He got a huge standing ovation from the room, and continued with ... "It’s no longer down with Trump. It’s f*** Trump." Even more cheers erupted.

CBS ended up bleeping huge sections of his remarks in an attempt to censor the profanity -- and that left many wondering exactly what De Niro had said.

Donald Trump's chief economic adviser says Canadian PM Justin Trudeau screwed the U.S. ahead of an historic meeting with North Korea ... so POTUS had to hit back.

We got Larry Kudlow Sunday in D.C. after going on TV to slam the Prime Minister for making DT look weak after he'd left the G7 summit this week -- and right before he's set to meet with Kim Jong Un. He says Trump wasn't gonna take that lying down.

Trudeau held a press conference addressing the U.S. recently announcing they'll be imposing tariffs on certain Canadian imports, saying Canada wouldn't be "pushed around" and will do the same to us.

Kudlow says Trudeau's remarks were a betrayal to everything the G7 summit accomplished, and that Trump had every right to retaliate ... and call off signing a unifying communique between a bunch of Western allies. More importantly ... he had to look tough for Kim.

Dean Cain says President Trump's offer to listen to protesting NFL players on who they'd like to see pardoned is a great opportunity ... and one not to be missed.

The 'Superman' star made an interesting point Sunday at LAX -- telling us that players who are kneeling against an unjust criminal justice system on the field should get up, and walk into the White House ... considering DT's apparently leaving the door wide open for talks.

As we reported ... the Prez said he'd be willing to take pardon recommendations from NFL players -- even the kneeling ones -- suggesting that would address the issues they're protesting.

Terry Bradshaw is sticking up for the Philadelphia Eagles ... telling TMZ Sports he supports their decision to not go to the White House -- saying, "1st Amendment rights, I totally believe in it."

The "FOX NFL Sunday" star didn't mince his words when we asked about the issue -- telling us, "I agree with the Eagles. Totally. 100 percent."

When asked about Donald Trump specifically, Bradshaw said ... "Trump just needs to ... he just needs to go somewhere and enjoy the money he's got."

Bradshaw continued ... "You know what's so bad about that whole event? Was how they were portrayed as protesting, kneeling, during the national anthem when they were praying. That is just wrong."

"Top Gun: Maverick" better get with the times and feature some women in the cockpit, or it's a HUGE step backward ... according to the first female Air Force fighter pilot to fly into combat, aka Rep. Martha McSally.

We got the Arizona congresswoman on Capitol Hill and, for obvious reasons, asked her about the 'Top Gun' sequel ... which, as we first reported, started filming last week.

McSally was an A-10 Thunderbolt II pilot who rose to the rank of Colonel, and flew combat missions in Kuwait. She thinks 'Top Gun' producers have a chance to send the right message.

ABC is still all-in on moving forward with a second "Roseanne" reboot -- this one revolving around Sara Gilbert's character -- but there's a major issue to resolve ... ownership.

Sources close to the production tell TMZ ... because Roseanne Barr created the show with the original executive producers, she has a financial stake in it and its characters. It's unclear which specific ones she created, but we're told the network is doing its due diligence to avoid a lawsuit.

It's very possible, we're told, that Roseanne could put her foot down and say there will be no revamped reboot unless she gets a piece of the pie. However, if she's making dough off the new version, it defeats the purpose of canceling the show after her racist comment.

Kanye West took us all for a crazy ride ... and brilliantly created that bizarre media firestorm as part of a diabolical plot to promote his new album -- so says Tyron Woodley.

The UFC champ had always been skeptical about Kanye's outbursts -- including the one during "TMZ Live" -- and had been adamant Yeezy was putting on an erratic front to grab headlines.

And after listening to Kanye's new album ... Tyron says he is CERTAIN he's right -- because he thinks it is the work of a pure genius.

Woodley spells the whole thing out in this week's "The Hollywood Beatdown With Tyron Woodley" -- where he also blasts hecklers and finally addresses UFC contender Colby Covington ... threatening to beat his ass.

Joel Embiid refuses to trash ex-Sixers GM Bryan Colangelo ... telling TMZ Sports the disgraced exec is a "great guy" ... despite the burner account scandal.

"He was a great guy. He did a great job for us, so I wish him luck," Embiid told us in Beverly Hills on Thursday night.

Shocking response since Embiid is one of the 76ers players who was targeted by the burner account tweets that Colangelo's wife claims she posted.

In fact, we asked Joel if he REALLY believes Bryan had nothing to do with the burner accounts and if he thinks Barbara Bottini truly acted alone.

"I have no idea," Embiid said ... "I'm sure there was an investigation for a reason. But if it was his wife, there's nothing you can do about it."

Embiid didn't seem concerned about the future of the 76ers -- in fact, he told us the Colangelo drama won't slow down "the Process."

"The Process is never starting over and it's never going to be over. There's a process for everything. It takes a lot to get where you wanna go and that's the process."'

Diddy says he's GLAD he didn't win the bidding to buy the Carolina Panthers -- because he's pissed at the league for the new national anthem rule ... claiming it nothing short of "oppression."

Diddy appeared on BigBoyTV and said he was one of the last 2 bids for the Panthers -- and at the time he really wanted to be a part of a positive change.

But after the new anthem rule, requiring players on the field to stand -- "I don't even wanna own an NFL team no more."

"I don't want to be associated with oppressing black men. I don't want to be associated with telling grown ass men what they can do and not do."

Diddy then calls for black athletes to stick together and fight back against the league ... and says he has their backs.

"This is a defining time."