Denver Nuggets

10:56 AM PT -- Officials say Drew Gordon was driving a three-wheel Vanderhall Carmel when he crashed with a GMC Sierra pickup around 1 PM on Thursday.

Gordon died at the scene, while the 25-year-old driver of the GMC and a passenger were taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Officials say the preliminary investigation indicates Gordon's vehicle crossed the center line and made contact with the GMC ... and impairment does not appear to have played a role in the accident.

Former NBA player Drew Gordon -- the brother of Denver Nuggets star Aaron Gordon -- died in a car accident in Portland on Thursday. He was just 33 years old.

Gordon was a star athlete growing up in California ... earning All-American honors at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose.

He went on to play college ball at UCLA and the University of New Mexico for two seasons each ... and later signed with numerous professional clubs in Europe, before making his NBA debut with the Philadelphia 76ers in November 2014.

Michael Malone didn't have time for "stupid ass questions" after the Denver Nuggets were booted from the playoffs ... taking his frustrations out on the media following his team's Game 7 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Nikola Jokic and the defending champs were sitting pretty for the majority of Sunday's contest ... but Anthony Edwards and Co. bounced back from down 20 to secure the 98-90 victory and their spot in the Western Conference Finals.

Malone was clearly pissed over how things played out on the court ... 'cause when he took the mic at his postgame presser, it didn't take long for him to tee off on a reporter.

10:30 AM PT -- It happened -- Shaquille O'Neal just took his beef with Shannon Sharpe to the mic ... dropping a diss track amid their internet feud.

Forget Drake and Kendrick Lamar, there's a new beef taking over -- Shaquille O'Neal vs. Shannon Sharpe ... with the NBA legend sending shots at the NFL Hall of Famer for claiming he's "jealous" of Nikola Jokic.

A cryptic death post, a royal public appearance and a history-making award. Check out the hottest takes from Thursday.

On "TMZ Live," Charles and Derek discuss the cryptic death post Drake put on Instagram Thursday.

5/8 5:55 AM -- Jamal Murray's punishment was announced on Tuesday ... and while he avoided any suspension, his outburst set him back a huge chunk of change.

The NBA fined the guard $100k for "throwing multiple objects in the direction of a game official during live play," according to Joe Dumars, Executive VP and Head of Basketball Operations.

Jamal Murray melted down on the Nuggets' bench during their blowout loss Monday night ... hurling not only a towel onto the floor during game action -- but a full-on heat pack too!

As if things couldn't get any worse for Michael Porter Jr.'s family -- the Denver Nuggets star's brother, Jevon, was arrested on suspicion of DWI late Friday night ... just days after his sibling, Coban, was sentenced to six years in prison in his fatal DUI case.

TMZ Sports has confirmed .... Jevon -- who recently transferred to LMU after previously playing at Pepperdine -- was initially pulled over around 1:30 AM in Missouri for speeding prior to getting busted for DWI.

Officials are still investigating the incident ... so further information has not been made available at this time.

LMU acknowledged Jevon's situation in a statement ... saying the school is working on getting more details.

Coban learned his fate on April 19 ... after officials said he had a BAC of 0.19 (nearly 2.5x over the legal limit) after running a red light and hitting another car, killing a woman and injuring a passenger in Colorado back in January 2023.

It's been non-stop drama for Porter Jr.'s family recently -- not only did Coban get sentenced to more than half a decade behind bars for his drunk-driving accident, but Jontay was banned from the NBA just weeks ago after an investigation determined he was involved in a major betting scandal.

La cantante Olivia O'Brien está capitalizando su fama viral después de asistir al partido de los Lakers este fin de semana, diciéndole a todos los que comenzaron a seguirla por su delantera, que comiencen a reproducir su música.

La artista "Josslyn" estuvo presente para el partido de playoffs en casa de L.A. contra los Denver Nuggets el sábado, y en el momento de la contienda, fue vista en el fondo de la transmisión.

Capturas de pantalla aparecieron rápidamente en redes sociales, y finalmente O'Brien fue identificado como el fan de la NBA que mostró su emoción en Tuiter y X.

Singer Olivia O'Brien is capitalizing off her viral fame after attending the Lakers game this weekend ... telling all the horn dogs following her for her boobs to stream her music.

The "Josslyn" artist was present for L.A.'s home playoff game against the Denver Nuggets on Saturday ... and at one point in the contest, she was spotted in the background of the broadcast.

Screenshots quickly made rounds on social media ... and eventually, O'Brien was ID'd as the fan that got NBA Twitter/X all excited.

Cops are continuing to make headway in their investigation into Nikola Jokic's brother ... telling TMZ Sports they've located the man who Strahinja Jokic punched in the face earlier this week.

A spokesperson for the Denver Police Dept. said on Thursday morning they've "been in communication" with the fan who Strahinja socked after Game 2 of the Lakers vs. Nuggets game at Ball Arena on Monday night.

The rep did not reveal, however, if the man is seeking to press charges -- or if he's formally filed a police report.

8:20 AM PT -- TMZ Sports has learned ... the NBA is currently looking into the situation.

Nikola Jokic's brother was in no mood to celebrate the Nuggets' comeback win over the Lakers on Monday ... 'cause he straight-up punched a fan in the stands at the playoff game -- and it's all on video.

According to witnesses, the violent incident went down shortly after Joker and his Denver teammates completed their 101-99 win against LeBron James and co. to go up 2-0 in the first-round series.

LeBron James' heart was broken after a last-second loss Monday night, but his mouth sure worked fine -- as he spent part of his postgame meeting with media members railing on NBA officiating.

Shortly after LBJ's Lakers blew a huge lead and lost to the Nuggets, 101-99, in Denver ... James fielded questions about the playoff L for several minutes.

Eventually, he was asked about how tough it will be to bounce back from the buzzer-beater defeat -- but instead of answering the inquiry, he decided to go off on some of the calls that were made during the game.

Despite being defending champs, the Denver Nuggets aren't content with one ring ... they want to go back-to-back, and they're hungrier than ever, according to star guard Jamal Murray.

TMZ Sports talked to 27-year-old Murray Friday night (before the Spurs comeback victory) ... as the 2023 champs are gearing up for another deep playoff run -- this time as the hunted (champs), rather than the hunter.

"When you're the hunter, you've got to be super aggressive. You're trying to prove something. You're trying to be precise. You're trying to catch them off guard. You're trying to blitz them when you have them down, you know, stomp on the neck. It's that kind of mentality when you have that chip on your shoulder when you're trying to win," the All-Star guard said.

"As the winner, as the one being hunted with the target on the back, you have to be more aware of your surroundings. You have to be more aware of the situation and what's going on, aware of the moment. You got to be ready to be challenged and fire back."

As for the team's determination, Jamal says "We want it bad" ... 'cause winning last year was so special.

"Winning the championship, some guys never see it, right? Some of the greats never see it. And to have gone through that and see what it's like and how much we enjoyed it, how much we enjoyed being with each other, accomplishing that, it's something that we desperately want to get back to as a unit."

"So I think just the intensity, the sacrifice, the selfishness, it's all there. And I think we've done a great job of just continuing to grow and not be satisfied with what we got."

We also asked Murray about playing with superstar teammate Nikola Jokic, arguably the best player in the world (check out the clip).

The Nuggets finished the season tied with the Thunder for the best record in the West, but because of tiebreakers, the squad is the number 2 seed, and will play the Pelicans or the Lakers.

Can they go back-to-back? Stay tuned!

In the meantime, Murray has partnered with Cheetos, helping to launch their "Other Hand" campaign. Cheetos lovers know the pain ... you need to use your hand, but it's covered in cheesy goodness, leading to all kinds of mishaps like untied shoes and missed high-fives!

It's a busy time for the Denver Nuggets ... the defending champs, on a quest to go back-to-back, are fighting for the number one seed in the West -- but that's not going to stop the defending champs from having a UFC 300 watch party, according to star Jamal Murray!

27-year-old Murray, a huge MMA fan, joined Babcock on TMZ Sports, and chopped it up while previewing the historic card ... which is going down Saturday night in Las Vegas.

Unfortunately for the NBA star, Jamal won't be able to attend the fights in person at T-Mobile Arena 'cause the Nuggets play the San Antonio Spurs in Texas on Friday and the Memphis Grizzlies in Tennessee on Sunday.

But, Murray has a Plan B.

"We'll do a little watch party," Jamal said, adding, "I think we got a little conference room set up in Memphis for the fights. I mean, the cards will be going on all day. So, yeah, some great fights, man. Some great fights!"

UFC 300 is a big deal for Dana White's organization ... and as you'd expect, the card's stacked! One of the big fights is Justin Gaethje vs. Max Holloway. We asked Jamal about the scrap.

"Justin, Max Holloway, that's going to be a very, very interesting fight because it can go so many different ways," the former 7th overall draft pick told us.

"I think Max is going to have to pull out all the tools to beat Gaethje, whereas Gaethje, he can more stand in the pocket and rely on his chin and his punches to win the fight at that weight. Whereas Max is going to have to be more technical and probably get some ground control, more knees, you know, just a little more tighter."

"F*** George Karl!"

Kenyon Martin made it very clear he still hates his former head coach ... singling him out as the reason the Nuggets missed out on an NBA championship back in the day.

Those Nuggets teams had a bunch of talent in the 2000s ... with Martin, Carmelo Anthony, and J.R. Smith, among other pieces -- long before the days of Nikola Jokic.

However, the talented squad never made it past the first round of the playoffs under Karl's leadership (he coached the Nuggets from 2005 to 2013) ... and Martin -- who played seven seasons in Denver -- blames GK.

"First and foremost, f*** George Karl," Martin said on the newest episode of Gilbert Arenas' podcast. "F*** him and the horse that he rode in on."

"If we had a different coach, we win the championship. [Karl] didn't add no value to nobody! Not one of us. As a coach, as a person, You didn't add value to s*** that we did!"

Martin added, "You're a horrible person George. Live with that, dog. God don't like ugly and you ugly as s*** on the inside."

Kenyon's rant stems from Melo recently revealing on his "7PM in Brooklyn" podcast that Karl called him "overrated" during his time in Denver. Melo is a 10x NBA All-Star, a former scoring champ, a future Hall of Famer ... and the list of accolades goes on.

Karl did not deny Melo's claims ... saying on X Anthony was inexperienced and overrated when he coached him.

NLE Choppa has unlocked the code to prevent being bored in bumper-to-bumper Los Angeles --- stage a fan meet-and-greet on the spot!!!

TMZ Hip Hop obtained video of Mr. Cottonwood posing for pics and signing autographs for his adoring public from the backseat of a car in DTLA at the let out of the Lakers game last night ... after they got smacked by the defending champs Denver Nuggets.

The fans were geeked to get up close and personal and NLE's giving them more than enough reasons to stay excited in 2024.

On Friday, the Memphis rapper released his new "City Lights" single -- a tribute to his slain friend Deonte' "Tae Grape" Fletcher and hits the road later this year with A Boogie Wit da Hoodie for the 'Better Off Alone' tour in May.