Family

Kobe Bryant's two youngest daughters are showing a little glimpse of that Mamba Mentality already ... by playing hoops with Pau Gasol at the Lakers facility -- and it's adorable!!

Vanessa Bryant shared the footage this weekend ... showing Bryant's best friend and teammate Gasol on the court with 4-year-old Bianka and 2-year-old Capri.

Bianka is quick to show off her defensive skills against the 7-foot-1 center and manages to steal the ball from between his leg -- with the help from her sister and Gasol's daughter, Ellie.

Bianka also got a chance to dunk with an assist from Gasol and Bryant's longtime agent Rob Pelinka ... right near her dad's jersey #24 painting on the facility's wall.

Gasol loved every moment of it -- saying, "Always the best times with the kids."

The 41-year-old retired NBA star considered Kobe as his brother ... and has spent time with the Bryant family on a consistent basis since the fatal accident in January 2020.

In fact for Halloween, the Gasols and the Bryants all dressed up as Dalmatians for Vanessa's Cruella De Vil costume and hung out at one of Kobs's favorite places in the world -- Disneyland.

Britney Spears may be cozying up by the fire with none other than her mom, Lynne -- that is, if things go mama bear's way ... and it's clear she wants to reconcile.

Lynne ran into some paps at LAX, and they asked all about her daughter and the fact she's now out of the 13-year conservatorship -- one her mom had an integral part in orchestrating all those years ago.

As you see ... LS wasn't in too much of a chatty mood, staying mum on actual words. But, she did say a lot with her body language -- including an apparent desire to reunite for the holidays.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Lynne is in L.A. to spend Thanksgiving with her son, Bryan. We're told she'd like to see Britney but there are no plans ... at least so far.  We're told Bryan still has a relationship with Britney, so he could talk to her about joining for Thanksgiving dinner. We're told, "The guest list has not been set," so stay tuned.

It also sounds like Lynne is happy Brit is out of the legal apparatus -- even though her kid is still furious with her ... going so far as to call for the jailing of her parents, whom she considers responsible for keeping her trapped for so long.

In any case, Lynne is obviously looking to bury the hatchet -- again, based on her few gestures here.

Odell Beckham Jr.'s trade to Los Angeles is now officially the second biggest life event of the wide receiver's year so far ... 'cause the NFL star just revealed he's going to be a dad!

The new Rams player and his model GF, Lauren Wood, made the announcement Sunday ... with Wood going public with her pregnant belly for the first time in a social media post.

The model -- who's been dating OBJ for two years -- seemed to reveal the couple is having a daughter ... 'cause she captioned the pic with a girl emoji as well as three "I love you" comments.

Odell and Wood went IG official way back in November 2019 ... and they've been nearly inseparable since, with Wood showing up to his games often and also helping him through his various rehabs over the years.

As for soon-to-be grandpa Odell Beckham Sr. ... he was fired up to share the news Sunday too -- writing on his Instagram, "WHHHAAAA… #LOVEIT."

No word yet on when Baby Beckham is due ... but it appears there could be a chance it's at some point this football season.

Serena and Venus Williams are taking their new Hollywood shine in stride -- and that stride led them straight to the Caribbean.

The Williams family was in the Bahamas this weekend, with several folks from their brood in tow -- including their mom, Oracene, Serena's husband, Alexis Ohanian, and their daughter, Olympia.

We're told they came in by yacht and docked at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club -- where they took part in some neat sightseeing... including shark petting nearby.

As you can see ... Venus and Serena were getting down in there to pet and feed the nurse sharks, but funny enough ... we're told Serena was actually kinda freaked out -- although she worked up the courage to make contact.

Looks like they did a lot more than just this -- there's photos and video of the family snorkeling and enjoying the gorgeous surrounding water. Well deserved, too, after their big movie drop this week.

Antwain Fowler -- the kid who famously asked "where we about to eat at?" -- has died.

His official Instagram account confirmed the sad news Sunday, with a new post that seems to have been written by his mother, China. Her message reads, "The pain in my heart is like no other Why God!!!" Her caption was similar ... "Never in a million years My heart is out my chest!!!!"

An exact cause of death has yet to be revealed, but it appears his passing may be related to an illness he's been battling for a while now -- one that affected his immune system, no less. It's called autoimmune enteropathy ... which inhibits the body's ability to absorb nutrition.

According to a GoFundMe page started by his mother, Antwain has had to battle this since 2015 -- just a year after he was born. It looks like he's been in and out of hospitals for a majority of his young life ... and has been assisted with medical equipment along the way.

AF shot to internet stardom over the past couple of years with funny Instagram and YouTube posts that showcased his witty banter and big personality. Specifically, he'll perhaps be most remembered for the one 4 second clip of him in the back seat, asking what was on the menu that day.

There've been several other posts of his that have since gone viral -- but that one might top them all. He's gained hundreds of thousands of followers between his various profiles.

It sounds like Antwain recently underwent some sort of procedure to help him gain his muscle mass back, and his mom sounded hopeful he'd make a full recovery.

Elon Musk's son upstaged his dad's rocket re-entry during a zoom presentation, and the kid made something clear ... he was not happy to get yanked from the action!

X AE A-Xii -- government name -- was on the lap of his 50-year-old pops during a conference about Elon's reusable rockets -- a feat even NASA has not been able to duplicate.

The boy was happily babbling in a zoom box as the folks at the conference had a choice ... focus on the rocket or the tyke. We're guessing the kid gave the rocket a run for its money.

Once the booster hit solid ground, someone opened the door and Elon's son made a very unhappy exit. You could hear him cry even after the door closed. Elon was slightly amused and then went on with the show.

Musk went on to tell those present at the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine about his Starship spacecraft.

It's rare we see Elon interact this way ... he said after X was born, "Babies are just eating and pooping machines, you know. Right now there's not much I can do," adding Grimes, the baby's mom, is essentially the primary caregiver.

Elon and Grimes are no longer together, but they clearly share a love for X ... gotta say, the kid's adorable.

Britney Spears says she's ready to tell her story to the world -- potentially even through Oprah -- but there's still a lot to be hammered out before, or even if, that happens.

Britney had fans buzzing this week when she posted a video and teased, "I might as well do a hint of my thoughts on the gram before I go and set things square on @Oprah."

Sources close to Spears tell us at this time, there's nothing set with Oprah. In fact, we're told there aren't any interviews lined up for Britney at all right now ... whether TV, print or podcast/radio.

Our sources say Britney's still just enjoying adjusting to life without the conservatorship, and while she is open to sitting down and telling her story at some point ... it won't be in the near future.

TMZ broke the story, there's currently a plan being put into place to consolidate 2 of the singer's trusts -- one established in 2004, the other in 2018 -- into one account to be controlled by Britney.

Not only are her finances being organized, Britney's team has also created a list of recommendations to keep Britney safe ... urging her to take necessary medications, attend doctor appointments, refrain from using drugs and alcohol and even limit driving.

Again, those things are only recommendations, and it will be up to Britney whether or not to take them into consideration in her day-to-day.

DaBaby was allegedly assaulted by his baby mama DaniLeigh, and now her brother wants to beat the crap out of him ... legally, of course.

We got Brandon Bills at The Grove in Los Angeles and talked to him about challenging his sister's ex to a celebrity boxing match.

Brandon, who's also a rapper himself, says he would win handily ... guaranteeing the fight would end with DaBaby out cold on the canvas.

As we reported ... DaBaby and DaniLeigh got into a blowout argument this week in North Carolina, and cops later charged her with 2 counts of simple assault after police made 2 visits to DaBaby's home.

DaBaby also posted a video where he seemed to accuse her of using their baby for clout, vowing to take care of the child himself despite all the drama playing out in the public eye.

A movie about Serena and Venus Williams -- focusing on their dad teaching 'em tennis -- is, apparently, getting blasted as sexist ... even though they're literally the ones behind it.

Count this as the biggest bad hot take of the week ... and Twitter mostly agrees -- this person seems to be woefully misinformed on the making of "King Richard" -- not to mention the real-life history of Serena and Venus in general -- which stars Will Smith as their father in the titular role, and sees a young Serena and Venus turning into sports prodigies.

A woman named Dr. Jessica Taylor laid into the fact that this flick was more about their pops than them, per se, which she found insulting for some reason ... and to which she expressed outrage, almost on their behalf.

She writes, "Did they seriously make a film called ‘King Richard’ about the success of Serena and Venus Williams - but it’s about their dad, Richard?" What Dr. Taylor fails to realize, it seems, is that Venus and Serena are executive producers of the film.

So the "they" she's referring to here is actually VW and SW ... and the internet let her know about it, with one person responding -- "Venus and Serena wanted it that way. They are literally the executive producers of the movie. Please sit down somewhere"

Unclear if this message got through to the good doctor, because she followed up with yet another equally tone-deaf remark ... saying, "I get this has annoyed people but I genuinely didn’t expect a film about two of the most powerful, successful and amazing black female athletes to be named after a man, or centre a man."

She adds, "I would have loved this film to be all about them, and not a man. That’s it really." The implication, in our eyes, is that there's sexism afoot with the way it's presented.

Of course, what Dr. Taylor, again, does not seem to understand ... Serena and Venus are obviously onboard with this approach to the film, as it's one they wanted to tell and even signed on to shepherd. They've spoken about this in interviews, too, saying they wanted to highlight the role their father played in their lives -- and the gratitude they feel for his hard work.

Funny enough, there are other film critics who are coming to the table with the same POV as this Twitter user -- finding fault in the fact that Will gets most of the shine, and not the girls.

Art LaFleur, famous for playing Babe Ruth in the classic baseball movie "The Sandlot," is dead.

The actor died Wednesday following a 10-year battle with Parkinson's disease ... according to his wife, Shelley. We're told he died at his home surrounded by his children and Shelley -- and although he was in hospice care, Art was cracking jokes to try to make his family laugh in the time leading up to his death.

His wife is remembering Art as a "generous and selfless man" ... qualities she says carried over into his acting career, "but more importantly it was who he was for his family and friends."

Art is most known, and beloved, for his role in 1993's "The Sandlot" -- but he was also in another big baseball flick, playing first baseman Chick Gandil in 1989's "Field of Dreams" alongside Kevin Costner.

He didn't get into acting until he moved from Chicago to Los Angeles way back in 1975 when he was already 31 years old. He went on to become one of those character actors audiences always recognized, acting in movies like "The Blob," "Cobra" and a couple of the 'Santa Clause' films.

He also landed episodic TV roles on "Malcolm in the Middle," "The Bernie Mac Show," "JAG" and many other shows.

Art was 78.

Karl-Anthony Towns got a lot of dope gifts for his 26th birthday on Monday -- but none were more meaningful than this ...

TMZ Sports has learned that one of KAT's good buddies got him an amazing diamond pendant -- that's worth over $16,000 -- to honor his late mother, Jackie, for the special day.

We're told Chuck Anthony -- who's been one of Towns' best pals for years -- hit up Tim Da Jeweler to get a bday gift for the Timberwolves center earlier this year.

Chuck wanted to pay tribute to Towns' mom, who passed away in April 2020 due to complications from COVID-19.

Tim tells us he and Anthony worked closely together on the project -- saying they "wanted to make something that would have some sentimental value to Karl given that he had a really hard time dealing with his mother's passing."

The honorary bling came out PERFECT ... it features a 48.6 gram yellow/white gold "J' pendant that's infused with 7.78 carats of round/emerald VVS Color E/F diamonds.

There's also a custom, hand-painted red rose with green and blue designs to give it "some pop," according to Tim.

It also comes with a 14k solid two-tone yellow gold/white gold rosary style chain -- and we're told it all cost $16,700.

Philadelphia Flyers center Kevin Hayes scored his first goal of the season Tuesday night ... and celebrated by pointing to the sky honoring his late brother, Jimmy, in an emotional moment.

It was Hayes' first home game of the 2021 season since Jimmy's tragic death in August ... and the 29-year-old made the most of it with a goal during the second period of the Flyers' OT win against the Calgary Flames.

Hayes immediately looked up and pointed to the sky and placed his hand on his chest after securing the goal ... with broadcasters acknowledging, "he scored for his brother."

"It was a big goal," Hayes said about the tribute during the post-game press conference.

"Trainers got the puck for me. I'm going to give it to Jimmy's son Beau and it'll be one I remember forever."

Kevin was devastated by his older brother's death on Aug. 23, saying the day after, "I lost my best friend, my brother."

"My whole life it has always been Jimmy and Kevin or the Hayes brothers."

"Our world lost someone special and I don’t know if I will ever be the same but till we meet again, I LOVE YOU JIM!"

Jimmy -- who played 7 seasons in the NHL for several teams including the Chicago Blackhawks -- was found dead at his Milton, Mass. home. The toxicology report confirmed fentanyl and cocaine were in his system.

Keyshia Cole has lost another family member this year -- her adoptive father just passed away due to COVID-19 ... only months after her mom died.

The singer shared the news Monday, saying Leon Cole -- the only father she's ever known -- lost his battle with the virus. Her tribute to him is touching, as she highlighted his devotion to her throughout her childhood ... even though she wasn't his blood-born daughter.

Keyshia writes, "He made sure (Even tho he wasn’t my biological father) to keep a stable foundation and roof over all of our heads during our upbringing!!!!" KC went on to shout out the fact Leon worked hard to provide for his family -- while imparting valuable lessons on religion, values, relationships (with women, specifically) and duty.

She adds, "Seriously the most loving guy I’ve ever known. And he’s gonna be missed so much! I hate that this has happened !!! And that I’ve now lost two beautiful souls within a few months from each other."

The death of her father comes a few short months after her biological mother, Frankie, died from a drug overdose this past summer. She'd reconciled with her mom in recent years -- much of which was documented on TV.

As Keyshia alludes to here ... her parents gave her up for adoption at a young age, and the Coles took her in and raised her in Oakland, CA ... and got her into music as well.

Team Mexico soccer player Chaka Rodriguez is opening up about a disturbing experience ... revealing his family has received death threats after losing to rival Team USA in CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers.

Many fans were upset after Rodriguez's squad lost 2-0 in heartbreaking fashion in a qualifying match on Friday ... but according to the right-back, several crossed the line when taking their frustrations out on Chaka and his family.

Rodriguez shared a direct message exchange with one person ... saying, "Miguel, I'm the husband of the wife you wrote to," Rodriguez wrote (in Spanish) on Instagram. "I understand that my work in the national team can be the cause of all of this in you. I don't justify it, but I understand it."

"I ask you please not to write anymore to my wife, to rape and kill are very cruel words," he continued. "Miguel, we don't deserve this, least of all to include family. I hope this is over now. May God bless you."

Despite it all, ... Rodriguez seems to be committed to fulfilling his obligation to his teammates ... writing, "I honestly take into account the positives and negatives..."

Amazing news from Asia Durr -- the New York Liberty guard just announced that she got the green light to return to the court ... after missing two WNBA seasons due to COVID-related symptoms.

"I have been cleared to play basketball! Yeaaah! Let's go!!!" Durr said on her IG live on Monday.

Remember, Durr -- the #2 overall pick in the 2019 draft -- was diagnosed with COVID in June 2020 ... and was sidelined for the entire 2020 season.

And, she had serious health issues ... saying on HBO's "Real Sports" earlier this year she lost 32 pounds and major lung problems due to the virus.

The symptoms didn't go away and the 24-year-old also missed the entire 2021 season ... but after an extensive amount of testing, AD is officially good to go for 2022.

"I will be training every single day to play next year. I'm officially cleared to work out," Durr said.

"Man I remember when I was so sick, bro. I remember praying and asking God for this day like 'God, if I can just see one more if I can play again'. Literally."

Her prayers were answered ... and AD gives big credit to her family and fiancée, Ashley, for helping her get through it all -- getting tears in her eyes as she thanked them.

"God has really blessed me with a strong support system. I feel like if I didn't have them, I don't know where I would have been. I'm getting choked up talking about it, for real."

Several WNBA stars like Sabrina Ionescu congratulated Durr on her recovery -- as well as NBA star Donovan Mitchell, saying "YESSSSIRRRRRRR"

Durr was drafted by the NY Liberty in 2019 after four seasons with the Louisville Cardinals, where she was a 2-time ACC Player of the Year.

In the 2019 season, she averaged 9.7 points per game with a 46% shooting percentage.

Britney Spears is now in the wind-down phase of the conservatorship that has now ended, and the woman who was her personal conservator wants the post-conservatorship plan kept secret, and the reason has to do with her distrust of Jamie Spears.

Jodi Montgomery filed legal docs several days before Friday's hearing that ended with the termination of the nearly 14-year-long conservatorship. Montgomery said in legal docs, she and others in Britney's camp filed a "termination plan," which includes guidelines "for supportive decision-making to help [Britney] adjust and transition to life outside of the conservatorship."

The plan contains sensitive medical information as well as information about Britney's 2 kids. There is also information about Britney's business interests and finances.

Montgomery only wants to circulate the plan to the judge and Britney's lawyer ... but no one else. She says that limited distribution reflects Britney's wishes.

Montgomery says, "From the history of this case, it is no secret that Ms. Spears has had a contentious relationship with her family, especially her father, Mr. Spears." She goes on, "Given the history of this case, it is clear that Ms. Spears does not want her medical or other privacy rights invaded by her father or any other party in this conservatorship case."