Kids

Luka Doncic may be a Dallas Maverick, but he's clearly never forgotten where he's come from -- 'cause he just sent a bunch of gifts to kids at a hospital in his Slovenian hometown.

TMZ Sports has learned ... the NBA All-Star just directed a special delivery to the Children's Hospital of the University Medical Center Ljubljana -- surprising almost 200 kids with all kinds of goodies to brighten up their holidays.

The shipment was filled with toys -- like LEGOS and dollhouses -- as well as headphones, Jordan sportswear, and gift cards.

We're told Luka also sent each kid an autographed photo and a sweet note from the NBA star ... plus he recorded a video message that everyone got to watch from their hospital bed.

"These children are going through so much," Luka said in a statement. "I just hope this gives them a little bit of happiness during these difficult times."

"I hope they feel better soon, so they can get back to doing what they love. I'm thinking of them and I wish the children and their families a happy New Year in 2022."

Of course, this isn't the first time Doncic has given back to his Slovenian roots ... in 2020, he launched a program with Slovenian athletes Jaka Bijol and Robert Kristan to help the country's healthcare system during the pandemic.

The 22-year-old has also donated to the city of Dallas during the pandemic -- gifting 100 pairs of Jordans to healthcare workers at UT's Southwestern Medical Center.

Doncic also partnered up with Mark Cuban, Dwight Powell and the Mavs' Foundation to donate $500k to the same medical center and Parkland Hospital.

Amari Bailey might be son of the year -- 'cause the high school hoops star just copped his mom a brand new Porsche for the holidays!!

The Sierra Canyon combo guard revealed the amazing gift on Monday ... saying, "This year I wanted to kick off the holiday season a lil different and got my mom a car."

"Thank you for all of the sacrifices to even make this dream of mine come true. I love you ❤️. Thought I’d beat you to getting the whip for you tho."

His mama, Johanna Leia -- who you might also recognize as Drake's one-time girlfriend -- was left speechless ... posting a heartwarming thank you note to her 17-year-old son.

The whip appears to be a 2022 Porsche Cayenne ... which comes with a starting price tag of nearly $70,000.

So, how does a high school kid pay for that?? We're guessing he took advantage of the NCAA's new NIL rules.

"I wasn’t gonna post anything because I’m an extremely private person. However, I am still shocked by what this truly represents," Leia said on IG.

"Amari, this truly speaks to your heart, your mind, your work ethic, and all of our long hours in the gym, and long talks in the car. All I’ve ever wanted is to see a smile on your face and no holes in your heart."

The sacrifice has paid off so far ... Bailey is one of the top high school basketball players out of the 2022 class and the 5-star recruit signed with the UCLA Bruins in November.

"My dream is to see you live yours and to help you in any way that I can," Leia said.

"But truly this is unbelievable that at 17 this is how you choose to say thank you and make me smile. Keep living your life Pooks."

Amari is also helping out two single mothers in Chicago this holiday season ... saying, "It feels good to know that I’ve worked hard enough to give back to my community."

Connor Smith -- who once appeared on MTV's "Are You the One?" -- was arrested in Indiana for raping and brutally assaulting a 16-year-old girl ... according to local authorities.

Cops in Cook County Illinois busted Smith on multiple charges last week -- including a count of rape, sexual battery and two counts of criminal confinement ... and the narrative spelled out in the arrest affidavit is insane.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, the unidentified teen told cops she was kidnapped out of her room back in July after going to visit family members in Indiana. She initially said she'd exchanged Snapchat info with someone selling a cat, and gave them the address of the home where she was staying.

The alleged victim told police, that evening ... a man ripped open her bedroom window screen, yanked her out of the room, threw her into his truck and drove to a motel while sexually assaulting her. In later interviews, she said she'd actually linked with the alleged attacker on a dating app, and voluntarily snuck out to meet him.

In any case, once she met him in the truck she says she "immediately had a bad feeling" ... and he allegedly forced her to perform oral sex while driving to the motel, slapping and choking her multiple times, urinating on her in the motel room and forcing oral sex again.

Once he was finished, the teen claims he drove her back to her home and allegedly told her he'd be back the following night to pick her up again. When they pulled into her neighborhood, cops say her family was out front looking for her ... and as soon as they saw the truck, they all gave chase.

The alleged victim was able to escape, but the witnesses got enough info on the vehicle to relay to cops ... who then pinned it to Smith, who had appeared on the MTV show back in 2015.

John Daly says after watching Tiger Woods' return to the course this weekend ... he's as confident as ever that the legend will break Jack Nicklaus' records after all.

The Big Cat has been hunting Jack's mark of 18 major victories for years ... but after his February car crash, most believed Woods wouldn't get the four more wins he needs to hold the title.

But, Daly says Woods' effort at the PNC Championship just 10 months after mangling his leg in a car wreck showed the dude will still likely get the victories required for the coveted record.

"Tiger's going to be fine," Daly said on "Fox & Friends" two days after he and his son held off Tiger and Charlie Woods for the PNC title.

"He looked good. He looked a little tired, but he still looked great. And, he'll be back. I can see it in his eyes. He's probably going to beat Jack Nicklaus' records and be the greatest of all time."

Daly and Tiger are pals ... but JD ain't blowing smoke -- Tiger did look outstanding in his golf comeback.

Even though he needed a cart to finish all 36 holes of the tourney, he and Charlie tore up the course, finishing the event in second place, just two strokes behind the Dalys.

It's unclear what Tiger's next tourney will be -- but at least participating in a major event in 2022 doesn't seem out of the question.

Shaquille O'Neal came through with the gifts -- and the jokes -- this holiday season ... giving back in a huge way for more than 500 kids in Atlanta ... and roasting Charles Barkley in the process!!

The Big Aristotle joined Charles and Babcock on "TMZ Live" to talk about his 20th annual Shaq-A-Claus event that went down on Monday ... which included hooking students up with backpacks, Walmart gift cards, toys, clothes, haircuts and more.

On top of that, the extravaganza came with BBQ, DJ music and games.

The Hall of Famer says he first started the yearly holiday bash back in 1992 when his mom asked him to help kids at the local Boys & Girls Club ... so, he went to the nearest Toys "R" Us and bought out the store.

O'Neal loved helping out so much, he decided to do it every year.

"This is all about making the kids happy," Shaq said. "But, more importantly, it's all about making my mother happy ... for her to see her baby boy doing good things like she taught him to do, that right there is one of the best feelings."

"Today is a special day," he added. "I saw a lot of happy kids."

Now, considering Christmas is a time when people tend to put on some holiday weight, we also had to ask how Shaq keeps off the extra pounds -- and naturally, he had to make fun of his "Inside The NBA" co-host.

"I always said to myself, I don't want to have the C.B.O.T.B.B. -- that's the Charles Barkley Over The Belt Belly," Shaq joked. "I never wanna have that, so I just try to eat right and try to stay slim."

Britney Spears and Sam Asghari are going to be busy this holiday season -- not so much under a tree ... but under the sheets, more like.

BS's fiance said exactly that to a pap who caught him on his way home from the gym this week, asking what he and Brit had planned for Christmas. His answer is short and to the point ... telling the photog, we'll be baby-making.

Watch, it sounds like the pap can't believe what he heard -- so he makes Sam say it again, and the guy annunciates clearly this time ... just so there's no confusion.

While his honesty might be a little surprising on its face -- the plan to expand their family isn't a shocker to those who've been following along ... as Sam and Britney have made it clear over and over again these past few months that they want kids.

Part of the reason they haven't been able to up until now -- at least according to Britney -- is because of the constraints of her conservatorship ... but now that she's out of that, they can presumably proceed unfettered, and it sounds like that's exactly what they're going to do.

Brit's baby fever has been quite apparent to her fans ... just last week, she posted a video of herself cradling what appeared to be a baby while feeding it, but it wasn't real. Her mommy vibes, though, were ... and she even tagged Sam to thank him before they get their own.

We also know what sex Britney wants coming out of the oven ... in an ideal world, it'll be a girl.

Santas of all varieties -- malls, town squares and backyards -- are back to putting smiles (mostly) on kids faces, thanks to the COVID vaccines, but with omicron creeping ... it's still not as jolly a gig.

While last Christmas hit while the pandemic was still raging ... 2021 is our first with the advent of mass vaccination, and several Santa orgs tell us that means they can get back to doing what they do best.

For instance, Santa Jim in central NJ tells us he is fully vaccinated, and when doing private events at homes ... he looks for customers who are willing to be temperature checked and masked. That's the adults, anyway, but for the kids ... it gets a little tricky.

As Santa J pointed out ... most tikes under 5 haven't gotten the shot ... so, it falls on the Santas to try to keep everyone -- including himself -- as safe as possible, and how they choose to do that is as individual as Santa's reindeer.

One Philly Santa, aka Chuck Gill, tells us there are 2 kinds of Santas -- standing or sitting. The standing ones, like himself, mostly do meet and greet photos with kids. Chuck says, at his events, he requires them to be vaxxed and masked -- and while he's aware of other Santas doing the more traditional sit-down thing, he says they're also requiring vaccinations and face masks.

In the Midwest, things are a bit different ... according to Owen Davenport from the Indiana Santa Claus Society. He says he's not wearing a mask, nor does he require it of the kids sitting on his lap. Yeah, he's the sitting kind and, clearly, feels safe.

Owen says he's had 3 shots, and his crew of elves are all vaxxed too -- but he will mask up if a family requests it. Still, unless a family says otherwise ... Santa Owen only takes mask-free photos.

Down in Texas, HireSanta.com CEO Mitch Allen is back to sending out Santas to malls, tree lighting events, parades and more ... but he stresses they do not ask about children's vaccination status because that's a state and county government issue. Plus, he knows most of the really young kids just aren't eligible for a shot.

What they are doing is social distancing ... often putting Santa on his throne while kids sit on a bench about 4-6 feet in front of him. It still allows for a good photo, while keeping everyone safe. Interestingly, his company doesn't require vaccination for Santas -- hey, it's Texas -- but he says they hire both vaxxed and unvaxxed in order to meet demand.

He adds that the omicron variant has meant more calls from customers requesting fully vaxxed Santas for their events. Mitch says the Santa biz has been hard hit by the pandemic -- many choosing to retire, which has slashed his roster by around 10 percent compared to the good ol' days of 2019.

Tiger Woods appears to be fully back ... the golf legend hit the range Friday with his son, Charlie, and seemed to have no limitations as he gears up for his first tourney since his crash.

The two Woods' smacked balls for around 20 minutes in preparation for Friday's pro-am as well as Saturday's PNC Championship ... and Dad was showing no signs that he had just suffered a significant injury back in February.

Tiger hit both his irons and his woods with ease ... with the ball jumping off of his clubs on every swing.

Of course, Tiger was also in coach mode -- watching Charlie's swing intently in between his own hacks.

Woods and Charlie then teed it up for their pro-am round -- and Tiger looked good there too, blasting his driver around 280 yards.

Tiger and Charlie are slated to tee off at the big event in Orlando, Fla. on Saturday afternoon -- and it'll officially mark the first time Tiger has participated in a tournament since he mangled his leg in a February car crash in Los Angeles.

Woods has said he'll be very picky with his events from here -- vowing to never be a full-time golfer again -- but ya gotta imagine if things go well this weekend, The Masters in April 2022 is not out of the question.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodriguez just announced the genders of their unborn twins ... and they're having a boy and a girl!!!

The international soccer superstar posted a video sharing the news to his Instagram followers on Thursday ... with the caption, "Where life begins and love never ends ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ #blessed."

As we reported, Ronaldo and Rodriguez revealed back in October they were expecting twins ... showing images of the sonogram from their bed, as they lay cozied up.

This time, the Manchester United Striker got a bit of an assist -- Ronaldo recruited his kids to help with the reveal ... and you can tell they really got a kick out of it.

Check out the video, you can hear Georgina counting in Spanish, "Uno! Dos!" then boom -- the kids popped the balloons which had been filled with blue and pink confetti.

Of course, Ronaldo is no stranger to parenthood ... but despite already having a big family, Cristiano has gone on the record saying he wants as many as 7 children one day.

The twins' arrival will make babies #5 and #6 for Ronaldo, so he's not too far off from his goal.

Meek Mill and Philadelphia 76ers partner Michael Rubin treated 26 kids to the experience of a lifetime ... playing hoops with the youngins before Wednesday night's Sixers vs. Heat game!!

The event was put together by the Reform Alliance -- a criminal justice reform campaign that advocates to change probation and parole laws -- which was founded with Jay-Z, Robert Kraft, and Clara Wu Tsai, among others, in 2019.

Kids at the event received a ton of cool items ... such as custom uniforms, which they got to sport in a star-studded basketball game right on the 76ers home court.

That wasn't all ... the kids also got to watch the team's shootaround, have a Q&A session with Philly's head coach, Doc Rivers, and receive basketballs and gear from Rubin's Fanatics apparel brand.

The VIP list of guests in attendance to support the youngsters included rapper Lil Baby and TikTok stars Charlie and Dixie D'Amelio.

Of course, everyone stayed to watch the game with their families -- the kids took in the NBA action in style as they were treated to some pretty dope courtside seats ... with some getting to watch the game in a suite.

Unfortunately, Miami defeated Philly 101-96 ... but if the kids remember nothing else, it'll be the VIP experience they received compliments of the Philly native and Rubin.

Nick Cannon is on a long road to healing following the death of his 5-month-old son, Zen, who died of a malignant brain tumor earlier this month.

The "Wild 'N Out" star told folks on the "Today" show that he relied on his faith to get him through this tough time, saying, "I'm optimistic in finding the purpose through all of the pain."

As you may recall, Nick broke the devastating news on "The Nick Cannon Show" at the beginning of this month, getting very emotional talking about the final days of his son's life. Prior to that, Nick and Alyssa Scott had kept their son's health issues private.

When asked how he's doing now, Nick says he is taking it only 5 minutes at a time... "I'm so used to being upbeat and outspoken ... this was probably the most delicate and the most precious thing I've ever had to talk about."

Nick says before his diagnosis, he initially thought Zen had a minor sinus problem.

As far as mama Alyssa, Nick says he is "in awe" of her strength while dealing with such a tough loss, after carrying the baby for 9 months. He says that he tries to be there for her, but sometimes all they can do is "connect through prayer."

As we previously told you, Nick got a tattoo of his son and says that's only the beginning of what he plans to do to make sure Zen is always by his side.

Jenifer Lewis is calling on Congress to open an investigation into the death of Kendrick Johnson -- a 17-year-old black boy -- whose body was found rolled up in a gym mat years ago.

"The Mother of Black Hollywood" author and exec producer of the Starz documentary "Finding Kendrick Johnson" joined us on "TMZ Live" Wednesday and shared why she thinks his case is so important.

Jenifer told us, "This is the most important film I’ve ever worked on. What this family has gone through is unspeakable but we must speak it so the public knows the truth."

The controversial death was ruled "accidental" by the state of Georgia, although Kendrick's family hired a forensics specialist who said his death was caused by "non-accidental blunt force trauma." The case was closed, but reopened in March ... we're told the doc sheds light on new evidence in the case.

Jenifer's clearly outraged by the lack of action on the part of law enforcement, saying, "You know how much evidence the FBI has to have to storm somebody’s house with guns AK- 47s out? And then when they got in there and saw that it was an FBI agent, it was just pushed under the rug, just pushed under the rug. Another Black kid. So what?”

The actress also talked about her special connection to filmmaker Jason Pollock after his 2014 Michael Brown doc, since she grew up in a small town just outside of Ferguson ... and she now wants the people in Washington to do something about it.

The first athlete named to Michigan State's recruiting class Wednesday was not a five-star QB or a four-star D-lineman ... no, it was Tate Myre, who the Spartans honored following his tragic death in the Oxford H.S. shooting.

"We are honored to recognize Tate Myre as the first Spartan Dawg of the 2022 class," MSU football head coach Mel Tucker said in a video message on National Signing Day.

"A Spartan Dawg is defined not by the plays they make on the field, but by the character they exemplify, the leadership they bring to their team and their community, and for extraordinary individuals like Tate Myre, their heroism."

Tate was one of four people killed when a gunman opened fire in the Michigan high school on Nov. 30. He tragically died while trying to disarm the suspect.

Just days before the shooting, the Wildcats' two-way football player visited the Univ. of Toledo as a recruit -- but, growing up, he had made it known MSU was his dream school.

"He had a passion to one day play for Michigan State," Tucker said. "This passion was paired with an unstoppable drive and follow-through to get there."

"Tate's consistency on and off the football field elevated everyone who knew him. Tate is, and always will be, a Spartan Dawg."

Tucker added that the Spartans will continue to support Myre's family as well as the families of the other victims -- Hana St. Juliana, Justin Shilling and Madisyn Baldwin.

Candace Parker says she and her wife have a baby on the way ... revealing Tuesday her partner, Anya Petrakova, is pregnant!!!

The WNBA superstar shared the awesome news on her social media page ... gushing over Anya on their wedding anniversary while calling the pregnancy "surreal."

"I LOVE YOU🐞," Parker said in a message to Petrakova. "I appreciate you, I value you and what we have."

"We've always dreamed of growing our family...," Parker continued. "It's surreal that we now have a baby on the way!"

Of course, Parker has been a mother for 12 years -- she and Shelden Williams had their daughter, Lailaa, together back in May 2009.

And, Parker says Lailaa is fired up to welcome the new addition to the family, saying, "Lailaa is pumped to be a big sister!"

Parker added that she's grateful Petrakova has loved "Lailaa as your own" since the two got together.

"You couldn't be more beautiful!" Parker continued in her message to Petrakova. "Glowing, while understanding that I have to constantly love, kiss, and talk to your belly AND yes… play Jay-Z for the baby (Goose knows "Song Cry" already by heart😜!)"

"I can't wait to embark on this next chapter in life with you!"

Kylie Jenner is about to become mommy x2, but not before doing a little celebrating with her closest friends and family before the new bundle arrives.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us Kylie's sister, Khloe Kardashian, held the bash at her new home (next door to Kris Jenner) over the weekend. We're told it was mostly low-key, attended by Kylie's family, including her nieces and nephews and a few close friends.

Khloe had a massage station set up, treats for attendees and a tent with tables for privacy.

While we don't know Kylie's exact due date, she's certainly getting close ... it was reported back in August she was expecting, but was already several months along.

No word yet on whether Stormi will become a big sister to a little brother or sister ... the baby will mark #2 for Kylie and Travis Scott -- who are very much a couple -- despite a recent report from W Magazine.

Unlike her pregnancy with Stormi, Kylie has certainly been more visible this time around, and embracing the love from her family.

Josh Duggar's sister, Jana, is sharing her side of her child endangerment case ... chalking it up to a babysitting mishap she says could happen to anyone.

Jana says the charge against her stems from one of the children she was babysitting wandering outside alone, with a passerby noticing the child and calling the cops.

Josh's sister says police gave her a written citation, but she claims a follow-up with child welfare concluded it was an accident and the child was unharmed. She claims child welfare "recognized it was a case of a child slipping out of the house when you turn your back for a moment."

Jana says everything unfolded very quickly and admits it was scary ... but she says she's "thankful it all ended safely." Still, she says she's upset at herself for what happened.

As we reported ... Jana, the oldest daughter of Jim Bob and Michelle, was cited back on September 9 and charged with endangering the welfare of a minor. She's due back in court next month.

Meanwhile, Josh was just found guilty on both counts by a jury in his child pornography trial ... though his legal team says they will appeal the verdict.