Golden State Warriors

Luke Walton just got a LEGENDARY co-sign from one of the biggest names in basketball coaching history ... who says Walton has already proved he's got what it takes to be a head coach in the NBA.

TMZ Sports spoke with Luke's college coach Lute Olson -- who's in the Basketball Hall of Fame after a historical run at the University of Arizona.

Olson tells us he's been paying very close attention to how Walton's doing as the interim coach of the Golden State Warriors -- and says he's convinced Luke is ready for a full-time role.

"Just watching him on the sideline, he handles himself really well. He is a great communicator. I can tell the players really like him and respect him."

Walton is currently filling in for Steve Kerr -- who also played for Lute -- and Olson says he couldn't be more proud of his proteges.

As for Luke, Olson believes it's only a matter of time before he gets a serious job offer from another team.

It doesn't matter that they're 17 POINT UNDERDOGS, the Lakers will shock the best team in the NBA tonight and BEAT THE WARRIORS ... for real ... so says Aries Spears.

"The sun shines on a dog's ass baby ... and the Lakers got their booty in the air."

The former "Mad TV" star says it's just a matter of time before Golden State starts racking up the Ls ... and says any comparison to the legendary '96 Chicago Bulls team is just plain ridiculous.

The Golden State Warriors are good ... but they're NOT the 1996 Chicago Bulls ... so says Ron Harper who says his squad is the greatest NBA team of all time.

The Warriors are 12-0 and dominating -- crushing opponents by an average of 15 points a game ... drawing comparisons to the legendary '96 Bulls ... the first team to ever win 70 regular season games.

We asked Ron if he thought the Warriors had a shot to break their record (72-10), he didn't hold back.

"Records are made to be broken but that Bulls team was built on defense and was a BETTER team than the Golden State Warriors."

Harper added, "and no one wins a championship in November and December."

FYI -- the Bulls started 10-2 through their first 12 games ... with superstars like Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Toni Kukoc and Dennis Rodman playing out of their minds on their way to an NBA title.

By the way, Steve Kerr was also on the '96 Bulls team ... and happens to be the current coach of Golden State.

When you play pro ball in L.A., schmoozin' with the celebrities is part of the job ... just ask Chris Paul who chummed it up with Floyd Mayweather and Kevin Hart before Monday's game.

Both Floyd and Kev had courtside seats to watch the Clippers take on the Phoenix Suns -- and each star got a personal visit from CP3 before tip off ... pretty cool, right?

BTW, Kev took his son to the game ... and judging by the look on his face as the Clips pulled away ... dude had a good time.

The Warriors NBA championship ring has 240 flawless diamonds and almost 1/4 lb. in gold ... but the ring's most badass feature? DIAMONDS that GLOW under black light!!

Jason of Beverly Hills -- jeweler to 250 current NBA players -- tells TMZ Sports the "minimalist" ring has 10 hidden design features ("the inside of the ring is engraved to look like the Oracle Arena rafters") ... but the fluorescent diamonds are most impressive.

"Every diamond fluoresces," Jason told us, "We had to sort each diamond and pick flawless stones that barely fluoresced, with the exception of 4 that fluoresced bright white, almost blue."

Jason says examining the diamonds took 10 to 12 hours per ring. "We literally had guys in our factory in sleeping bags, sorting diamonds."

The glowing diamonds were strategically set at the bottom of the ring ... representing the organizations 4 NBA titles.

The finished product is awesome ... but Jason says he can't take all the credit for the ring ... "I got a good amount of input from the players, especially Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Andre Iguodala."

#GlowingDiamonds #Swag

Steph Curry is one of the true nice guys in the NBA ... but warning to any fans who get too close for comfort -- he has no problem putting you on blast.

BSO called out a tweet from the league MVP ... who got pissed when someone hounded him on a freeway.

Curry has been on cloud nine for months -- winning the NBA Championship, the MVP award, and the birth of a baby girl -- but this little run-in quickly brought him back down to reality.

Unclear if he contacted police over this incident, but it sounds like he's ready to do so, if necessary.

Andre Iguodala wanted to have an NBA Championship reunion ... so, he went ahead and got married down in Mexico -- along with a bunch of his teammates ... and his wife too.

Iguodala tied the knot with Christina Gutierrez in Cabo over the weekend -- and they could've had one helluva pick-up game during the reception. Andre's Golden State Warriors pals Steph Curry and Klay Thompson were there ... along with Rudy Gay and several other hoops stars.

Talk about crushing a summer -- NBA title, Finals MVP, and then getting hitched to his childhood sweetheart.

The woman who twerked with Klay Thompson in Vegas this weekend was involved in an airplane crash landing on her way back to Texas -- and moments after Klay found out, he reached out to see if she was okay.

The woman in the pool is Yara F. -- who spent the entire weekend partying with Klay and the Golden State Warriors during their victory celebration in Sin City.

After the weekend was over, Yara and some friends took a small plane headed back home to Texas -- but the jet experienced problems after take off ... and they crash landed at Lake Mead.

We spoke with Yara who tells us Klay reached out to see how she was doing after the incident -- and told her he was praying for her and the other passengers.

As for the crash, it's still under investigation -- but the good news ... no one was seriously hurt.

It pays to be #1 ... just ask Golden State Warriors superstar Klay Thompson -- who celebrated his NBA championship with a 2-on-1 underwater twerk session at a Vegas pool party.

It all went down at the Liquid Pool Lounge party at the Aria ... where Thompson and a bunch of his teammates let loose ... poppin' champagne and dancing with hot ladies.

But the highlight ... when Klay and two female friends hit the pool and got their grind on!

Afterward, Klay made a video with two OTHER ladies ... while slamming Moet.

Wonder what the Cavs are up to?

How much is MC Hammer enjoying the celebration parade for his Golden State Warriors in downtown Oakland today?

So much so that he rode a giant, fire-breathing snail along the parade route, flanked by the mayor of the city ... pretty freakin' epic if you ask us.

Hammer isn't the only huge Bay Area celeb at the parade ... Seattle Seahawks stud Marshawn Lynch is there too, but had to settle for riding with the team along the route.

Congrats dubs ...

Hip hop star O.T. Genasis loves one thing as much as the CoCo ... parades ... 'cause he tells TMZ Sports not only does he want to go the Golden State Warriors victory parade, he wants to rock the mic!

O.T. stopped in to chat with the gang on "TMZ Hollywood Sports" about the newly crowned NBA champs ... and how they have used his hit song as their unofficial anthem the entire season.

How much does O.T. appreciate the love the Dubs have shown him? He tells us he wants to return it ... by recreating the magic for the team at their victory parade tomorrow in Downtown Oakland.

My my my my ...

MC Hammer had one helluva night ... not only did he fly into Cleveland on a sick private jet, but the proud Oaklandian partied with the Golden State Warriors moments after they won the NBA championship!

For the record, Hammer is one of the team's BIGGEST fans ... he's basically Golden State's Jack Nicholson.

So, when the team clinched last night, Hammer was right there with Steph Curry, Draymond Green and the rest of the crew to celebrate the team's first title in 40 years.

Haven't seen Hammer this excited since that "Pumps and a Bump" video ...

Congrats!

The Oakland PD tells TMZ Sports there were two arrests and eight citations, for various violations. There were no reported incidents of vandalism to businesses.

It was CHAOS in Oakland Tuesday night ... with Golden State Warriors fans brawling in the streets -- and one fan INSANELY jumping off a street sign ... and it was all caught on video.

No word why the crowd started fighting ... or if anyone was arrested ... but it was pretty violent, as you can see in footage captured by Todd Johnson of the SFBusinessTimes.

Todd also rolled as some CRAZY fan scaled a street sign ... and then LEAPED OFF ... into the arms of waiting Warriors fans who, thankfully, caught him.

The man appeared to be okay and continued to rage in the streets.

LeBron James was too damn ball hoggish during the NBA Finals -- and needed to share the rock with his teammates -- so says Metta World Peace.

The former NBA champ was out in Hollywood Tuesday night when we asked how he felt about the Golden State Warriors winning the whole thing in Cleveland.

Metta made it clear he thinks LeBron is amazing ... but says, "I wish that early in the series that he would've passed to his teammates and you know ... got them in a rhythm."

"I think he could've played better with his team."

The key to the NBA Finals could be a 10-year-old girl -- at least, the Golden State Warriors hope so ... 'cause they're trotting out their pint-sized lucky charm to sing the national anthem for Game 1 ... and she's virtually unbeatable.

TMZ Sports has learned ... the Warriors have tapped Nayah Damasen to do the honors this afternoon -- an aspiring singer who's been crooning for the team since she was 5.

So, why does this spell DOOM for the Cavaliers?

Nayah has been ON FIRE this postseason -- every time she's belted out "The Star Spangled Banner" at a playoff game, the Warriors have emerged victorious.

FYI -- The team that wins Game 1 of the NBA Finals has historically gone on to win the series over 70% of the time.

No pressure, Nayah.

RG3 is firmly planted in the pro-Steph Curry camp -- when it comes to kids at news conferences -- telling TMZ Sports he plans to follow suit with his own little girl ... when she's old enough.

The Redskins QB and his wife Rebecca welcomed their 1st daughter Reese Ann earlier this month -- so, when we saw him out in D.C. this weekend we had to ask ... is Reese Ann gonna get a Riley Curry moment?

Of course, certain media members have been bitching about Steph's decision to bring Riley to the NBA post-game pressers -- claiming she disrupts the regular process with her adorableness.

But Griffin's all about it ... telling us he'll "for sure" bring her to the podium ... "I just don't want to bring her too early."

By the way, RG3 was attending an event called the House Inc.’s National Capital A Cinderella Ball -- which honors children connected to the military with a disability or life-threatening illness.