Detroit Pistons

Joe Johnson's not giving up on a possible return to the NBA -- telling TMZ Sports he's still training his ass off in case he gets that call.

The 38-year-old stud had a stint with the Pistons earlier this year after BALLING OUT in Ice Cube's BIG3 league ... but Detroit waived him back in October.

The question now ... will Johnson get another shot in the NBA, go back to the BIG3 ... or hang 'em up for good?

Right now, Johnson says he's not rushing to make any decisions -- but he's keeping his body ready in case he gets another opportunity with an NBA team.

In the meantime, Johnson says his focus is on enjoying life and living in the moment -- not worrying about his career.

It's easy for Joe to be so carefree about everything -- considering he's made more than $215 MILLION during his NBA career!!!

NBA star Andre Drummond is having a better summer than you ... and if you don't believe us just check out a clip from his new rap video, which features the life you want to live, complete with the beach and a ton of babes.

If you didn't know, the Detroit Pistons center is also a rapper ... and dropped a track called "Listen" earlier this year that made news because well ... it wasn't wack.

Now, Drummond has taken to IG and released a clip from the upcoming video for the song, and we gotta say ... IT'S LIT.

There's twerking, champagne showers, bikinis and millionaires ... all the things that make an NBA player's summer great.

Summer league is over ... but Andre Drummond is still making noise in Las Vegas -- taking over a Sin City nightclub for a rap show and TMZ Sports has the video!

The Detroit Pistons superstar -- who goes by the rap name Drummxnd -- rocked the stage at the On The Record Speakeasy and Club at the Park MGM on Thursday ... towering over the crowd and all of his hype men.

25-year-old Drummond has been rapping for a while but finally put out his first E.P. last summer in an effort to grow his off-the-court career.

The 6'11" center performed 5 songs at the club and you can see in the video  the crowd showed love ... reaching up and smacking his hands during the show.

As for the Pistons, they're coming off a playoff season -- and there's talk Detroit could offer up a max contract to Drummond in 2020.

Blake Griffin tells TMZ Sports that Zion Williamson can "100 percent" be the NBA's all-time best dunker ... saying of the former Duke star, "He's going to be a monster."

Of course, Zion has been legendarily rattling rims since he was a high school prodigy ... and now that he's on his way to the NBA, we had to ask Blake if Z can be one of the best dunkers ever.

Blake's opinion? He says there's no doubt in his mind Zion can be up there with Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins, telling us, "100 percent. 100 percent."

"If he keeps playing like he is, he's going to be a monster."

In fact, Blake seems to be a huge fan of Zion's game overall -- not just his dunking -- saying, "He's a really good basketball player ... he can do a lot of stuff. He's going to be really, really good."

As for Griffin's advice on how Zion should handle possibly participating in the dunk contest in his rookie season next year ... BG says the ex-Duke star should only do it if it feels right.

But, when Z eventually decides to compete ... Griffin says it'll be a show, telling us, "He's probably going to do some things that we haven't seen in a while."

#CantWait!

Blake Griffin sure hopes Drake didn't seal Arya Stark's fate on "Game of Thrones" by shouting her out at the Billboard Music Awards ... him and everyone else, tbh.

We got the Pistons star outside of the Maxfield clothing store in WeHo Friday afternoon and asked him about Drizzy showing love to Maisie Williams' 'GOT' character Wednesday night when he mentioned her during his acceptance speech for the Top Billboard 200 Album.

ICYMI ... Drake made sure to plug Arya for "putting in that work last week" during Sunday's episode when she killed the Night King with some fancy dagger moves -- basically saving every living person in Westeros from eternal death in the process.

BTW, this is a spoiler -- and you should've seen it by now. If you haven't, well, here it is ... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Anyway ... Blake really, REALLY hopes the Drake curse doesn't kick in here for everyone's sake. Like he says, "I think we all need a little bit of Arya." Considering Champagne Papi's track record with supporting losing teams ... here's praying Blake's right.

Bill Laimbeer wants to hand Michael Jordan one more "L" ... 'cause the NBA legend says LeBron James is the greatest of all time "every day of the week!!!"

Bill knows what it's like to beat MJ -- the "Bad Boys" Detroit Pistons defeated the Chicago Bulls on their way to back-to-back titles in 1989 and 1990 ... and he had his fair share of tense moments with Jordan.

But, Laimbeer ain't saying this because he's still got a grudge against MJ ... telling Fox Sports Radio's "The Odd Couple" his reasoning behind his choice.

"[LeBron] came into the league involving his teammates from the start, at 18 years old," Laimbeer says.

"He understood how to play team basketball, both offensively and defensively, from day one. Jordan had to learn that."

"No one has single-handedly done what LeBron's done," he added ... noting LBJ has taken some awful teams to the NBA Finals (we're looking at you, 2007 Cavs).

As for how LBJ would fare in Laimbeer's era ... the dude is not backing down, saying straight-up, "If he was in our generation, he would've been by far the greatest that you've saw in your entire, whole world."

Detroit Pistons guard Langston Galloway is goin' prehistoric with his sneaks on Saturday ... copping a sick pair of Fred Flintstone shoes for his big playoff game!!

TMZ Sports has learned -- the 5-year vet wanted to do something extra special with his Q4 EM-55 kicks for Game 3 of the first round of the playoffs against the Milwaukee Bucks.

We're told Galloway hit up Marcus Rivero -- AKA Soles By Sir -- to whip up a one-of-a-kind pair for the big game ... complete with the orange and black pattern of Fred's iconic outfit.

It's pretty much a do-or-die moment for the Pistons, who are down 0-2 in the series ... so maybe they'll give the squad some extra motivation.

As for Soles By Sir, he's the guy behind Montrezl Harrell's Nipsey Hussle kicks from last week ... and has worked with other athletes like Christian Yelich and Baker Mayfield.

Sorry, James Harden ... you are NOT the MVP of this year's NBA, so says Rip Hamilton -- who tells TMZ Sports, "I might have to go with Giannis."

The Association's MVP race is basically down to Harden vs. Giannis Antetokounmpo with only a handful of games left to play ... and Rip tells us he's giving the nod to the Bucks star for now.

And, why? The Detroit Pistons legend says he's gotta reward Giannis' win-loss record.

"You gotta give credit to Giannis, man. He's on the No. 1 team. He could be All-NBA on defense. So, right now, with Giannis being the best team, I might have to go with Giannis."

Antetokounmpo's Bucks are No. 1 in the East with a 59-20 record ... while Harden's Rockets sit at No. 3 in the West at 51-28.

But, Harden's numbers KILL Giannis' ... James is averaging almost NINE more points per game AND more assists and steals per contest too.

Rasheed Wallace is in for a world of annoyance at his new job as a high school hoops coach ... this according to his fellow ex-NBAer, Kenyon Martin ... who says kids don't listen to a damn thing nowadays.

Sheed was officially announced as the next head coach at Jordan HS in Durham, NC on Friday ... and when we got K-Mart at LAX, he had some slightly bad news for Wallace.

"It's gonna be tough, but I wish him all the best," Martin tells us.

Why exactly??? Kenyon -- whose son is a prodigy at Sierra Canyon in California -- has been around youngins since his boy has been playing ... and says they all have one thing in common.

SHEEEED!!!!

Rasheed Wallace has a new gig -- he's been hired as the head basketball coach at Jordan High School in Durham, NC!!

The ex-NBA star was announced at a news conference (inside the school's library!) Friday morning ... donning a royal blue blazer and smiling from ear-to-ear.

"It's a great day to be a Falcon," Sheed said Friday.

Of course, Sheed has ties to Durham ... he was a superstar at North Carolina for 2 years, making the Final Four in 1995.

Wallace went on to have a great 16-year NBA career ... winning a title with the Detroit Pistons in 2004 and making the All-Star team 4 different times.

It'll be a rebuild for Wallace .. he's taking on a team that went 7-17 this past season, according to MaxPreps.

Sheed had MANY memorable moments during his time in the Association -- who can forget BALL DON'T LIE?!?!?

Worth noting ... Wallace ranks in the top 5 in technical fouls in NBA history, so here's hoping he keeps his chill on the sidelines.

Blake Griffin's dog is a violent menace -- so says an L.A. man who claims the Detroit Pistons star's pooch bit the crap out of him at a fancy restaurant ... and now he's suing.

The man behind the suit is Emmanuel Aframian -- who claims he was dining at A Votre Sante restaurant back in June 2018 when Griffin's "vicious" dog attacked him out of nowhere.

Aframian says he suffered real injuries from the attack which required expensive medical care -- and he thinks Griffin should have to cover all the bills ... plus other damages.

And, Aframian says Blake KNEW his dog had a history of biting random people -- so he should have taken proper steps to make sure he protected the public from his ferocious canine.

He's also going after the restaurant -- saying it had a duty to protect customers.

Aside from physical injuries, Aframian says he's also suffered -- and continues to suffer -- from "severe emotional harm."

FYI, Griffin signed a $171 MILLION contract extension in 2018.

Add Blake Griffin to the list of pro athletes going after hecklers this year ... because the 6'10", 250-pound monster just walked up on a fan in Minnesota and things got heated.

It went down Wednesday night in overtime of the Pistons vs. Timberwolves game, when Blake heard something from courtside and walked over to confront the fan.

Unclear exactly what the fan said to set Griffin off -- but Blake got super pissed -- and told the guy, "What the f*ck did you say to me?!"

Blake never physically touched the heckler -- thanks to teammates like Zaza Pachulia who held him back. But, you can see Griffin is HEATED.

The fan was ejected from the game -- and he waved to the crowd on the way out. Griffin was not disciplined during the game, but could face a fine.

Sorry, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, the new Clippers are better than you're 'Lob City' boys, that's according to ex-NBA Slam Dunk champion Dee Brown, who says the new team is a real force.

The Clips are currently #1 in the West (crazy right?) and when we got Brown -- the GM of the Clippers G-League team -- he told our guy it's no fluke because this team is built differently.

"Before we had the Lob City, now we got the grind team."

Of course, we had to ask which version of the Clippers Brown thinks are superior, and he's rolling with Tobias Harris, Patrick Beverly and Danilo Gallinari over the names mentioned above.

"It's better for us, it's the way our team's built."

Metta World Peace & Ben Wallace agree that Khabib & Conor's post-UFC 229 brawl was intense ... but neither man seems to think it was as bad as their infamous 2004 "Malice In The Palace" fight.

BTW -- both these guys absolutely LOVE talking about the "Malice at the Palace."

Actually, we were joking ... they really wish it would never be brought up again, but they still both ultra cool to our camera guy, so it is what it is.

We got Ben at LAX (a minor miracle) and Metta out on the streets of L.A. and asked them what they thought about the whole dustup, being that they're experienced.

Remember -- Ben and Metta weren't just involved in the Pacers vs. Pistons mega-fight, THEY GOT IT JUMPED OFF -- as the first two guys to go.

Ben was first ... saying he's not sure 229 was worse ... but that he's rooting for it.

"I hope something surpasses it, so we can stop talking about it."

We got Metta next, asked him his thoughts.

"It was a pretty epic fight, but there's always fights all the time."

One thing that's pretty clear ... neither guy thinks there should be too stiff a penalty for the dustup, with Metta saying there should be no action by the UFC at all ... as long Khabib plays nice.

"I would say, 'don't do it again,' and he won't do it again."

If only David Stern would've been so cool in '04.

If hoops don't work out for Blake Griffin ... he's got the official stamp of approval from comedian Nikki Glaser to move to the stand-up mic -- 'cause she's telling TMZ Sports Blake is LEGIT funny.

"Oh, he could totally be a comedian if he wanted to be," she says. "I wouldn't say that about anyone."

Remember ... Blake went head-to-head in a roast battle with Jeff Ross earlier this summer -- and killed it ... telling Jeff at one point, "You're such a bald piece of sh*t. It honestly looks like we both got f**ked over by the Clippers."

Nikki just so happened to be a judge for that battle ... and when we got her outside Hollywood Improv earlier this week -- she says she was straight-up mad that B.G. was so good.

"You see someone that handsome and just that talented in his own profession and it's like, 'Stay in your lane!'" Nikki tells us.

"And, you want him to be bad at comedy. You want someone that's killing it in their own life, tall and has everything -- you want them to be not funny, and then he was really funny. Like, really funny."

How'd Andre Drummond feel when he saw LeBron James playing in an L.A. pickup game this week with Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard?

"I was mad I was not there!"

Drummond's also out in L.A. getting some offseason workouts in -- mostly at UCLA, where Bron and company got it in on Tuesday ... so he stopped by the TMZ office to hang out.

The Detroit Pistons superstar says he LOVES playing pickup hoop with other NBA stars -- especially those guys -- and he gave us the lowdown about what happens in those games.

Shocker ... Drummond says Kevin Durant dominates, telling us he's easily the #1 pickup player alive.

"He's very fun to watch and play with ... I think he's very unguardable."

Drummond also tells us why Kawhi Leonard is an absolute freak of nature -- just look at the size of his hands!

There's more ... Drummond also just dropped his new album, "Fyi" -- and says it solidifies his spot as the "best artist in basketball."