Los Angeles Clippers

The L.A. Clippers locker room was the place to be last night ... when a bunch of HUGE stars kicked it with the team after their victory -- including Justin Bieber and Rob Gronkowski!!!

Rob -- along with New England Patriots teammates Jonas Gray (RB), Shane Vereen (RB), Akeem Ayers (LB) and Darius Fleming (LB) -- were invited into the locker room by Doc Rivers after the Clips beat up on the Minnesota Timberwolves at Staples Center.

"We have a lot of Cowboys fans, I showed them what a football team looks like," Rivers told ESPN's Arash Markazi.

As for Bieber, he's friends with a bunch of guys on the team ... including DeAndre Jordan and Chris Paul ... and was spotted having a deep convo with Blake Griffin at Blake's locker.

The players hate his guts. The coaches hate his guts. The fans hate his guts ... but Donald Sterling is still a HUUUGE Clippers fan -- so says his wife Shelly.

Shelly and Donald had dinner TOGETHER last night at The Palm in Beverly Hills ... and on the way out, Shelly was in an extremely bubbly mood!!

That's when she told us Donald's still rooting the team that turned against him for being a tremendous racist. The team that's tried everything in its power to erase him from its memory.

Oh, and check out her answer when we ask if she's worried about the Lakers.

Dave Chappelle is DEFENDING Donald Sterling ... claiming the disgraced former L.A. Clippers owner got screwed when his team was ripped away from him.

Chappelle opened up about the topic in an interview with GQ ... saying, "Ultimately, I don’t think he should have lost his team."

"I don’t like the idea that someone could record a secret conversation and that a person could lose their assets from that, even though I think what he said was awful."

Of course, Sterling was banned from the NBA for life -- and Commissioner Adam Silver said he did everything in his power to force a sale of the team in the wake of Sterling's racist comments.

Sterling fought the sale ... but eventually, a judge allowed Donald's wife Shelly to unload the team to Steve Ballmer for $2 BILLION.

Chappelle's opinion lines up with Bill Maher -- who also defended Sterling's right to free speech back in May ... and took serious heat over it.

The big question ... why would someone as influential as Chappelle wait so long to go public with such a strong point of view? Kinda too little, too late.

Well ... this is awkward.

Shelly Sterling just praised the new owner of the L.A. Clippers ... while standing right next to the disgraced old one -- and TMZ Sports has the footage.

It all went down in Beverly Hills ... where Shelly and Donald Sterling were hanging out together ... despite the fact they ripped each other apart in court earlier this year.

Oh, and remember when Donald claimed Shelly basically stole the team from him?? Yeah.

Anyway, she didn't let the presence of her racist old husband keep her from giving props to Steve Ballmer -- who she says is doing a great job running her old team.

Blake Griffin is finally talking about the pimp slap he allegedly delivered at a Vegas nightclub -- saying he's very confident he will be exonerated.

The L.A. Clippers star spoke with reporters before practice Thursday -- saying, "I'm really not allowed to speak on [the case] ... but I'm very confident in the situation, so once I can [speak on it], I will."

Doc Rivers says he has NO PROBLEM with Kobe Bryant breaking the record for most missed shots in NBA history ... telling TMZ Sports, "The only way you can make 'em, you gotta take 'em."

FYI -- Kobe broke the record earlier this week ... passing Celtics legend John Havlicek, who missed 13,147 shots during his career.

But the L.A. Clippers honcho says it's not necessarily a bad record to have -- in fact, Rivers says he WISHES he had a title like that under his belt.

Investigators in the Blake Griffin pimp slap case have obtained nightclub security footage which shows a confrontation between the NBA star and his accuser ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... the footage from Tao nightclub in Vegas shows Blake and his accuser Daniel Schuman in a heated situation -- but we're told the alleged slap was not captured by the security cameras.

We broke the story ... Griffin has been charged with misdemeanor battery for allegedly going all Zsa Zsa Gabor on Schuman on October 19th.

In the moments following the incident, Schuman gave a report to Tao security saying Blake got physical with him because he thought Daniel was sneaking a cell phone pic.

Blake's teammate DeAndre Jordan -- who was with Blake and several other Clippers at the club -- told us he NEVER saw Blake strike anyone that night (video below).

As for Blake, he has yet to comment on the situation.

Blake Griffin has been charged with a crime for allegedly slapping the crap out of a man inside a Las Vegas nightclub ...TMZ Sports has learned.

The incident went down last month when Blake was at Tao Nightclub. According to the alleged victim -- Daniel Schuman -- the Clippers superstar was upset by camera flashes in his face ... so he grabbed Daniel's phone and neck. Daniel says Blake squeezed his neck, and demanded he give up his phone.

According to docs -- obtained by TMZ Sports ... the Clark County D.A. has now charged Griffin with one count of misdemeanor battery. He faces 6 months in jail and/or a $1,000 fine -- though a jail sentence is highly unlikely since Blake has no prior convictions for violent crimes.

Blake was with DeAndre Jordan and Chris Paul that night. None of the other players were involved in the alleged incident.

**Warning -- this video is going to make you smile**

He was a 1st round pick in the NBA draft last year, but Reggie Bullock isn't too big to PERSONALLY roll out the red carpet for his mom when she comes out to L.A. this week ... and TMZ Sports has the footage to prove it!

Not only did the 23-year-old millionaire go right to the arrivals gate at LAX to greet his mother after her flight in from North Carolina ... but he crammed his entire 6'7" frame into the backseat of the waiting 2-door car to make sure she sat comfortably in the front seat.

After they got home, the L.A. Clippers player posted a pic of the two of them to Instagram with the caption ... "With my #1 #mommasBOY."

He's single (kinda) ... and now it's clear Matt Barnes is lookin' to mingle -- because the NBA star was chattin' it up with TWO ladies outside Greystone this weekend.

As we previously reported, the L.A. Clippers star recently separated from his wife Gloria Govan -- and though the "Basketball Wives: LA" star claims there's a shot at reconciliation, we're hearing it just ain't so.

Fast forward to Sunday night/Monday morning ... and it's pretty clear Barnes is looking to move on.

Unless Matt was just looking to make some new platonic friends at 3 A.M.

With her racist husband banned from the arena, Shelly Sterling hit up Staples Center in L.A. last night to watch the Clippers play ... under new management.

As we previously reported, Shelly demanded to be recognized as the team's "Owner Emeritus" and "Clippers' Number 1 Fan" when she sold the team to Steve Ballmer for $2 billion ... and it seems like Steve is a man of his word.

Shelly sat right on the court during the Clip's victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder ... and cheered on all of the people who hate her husband.

The Matt Barnes and Gloria Govan break-up isn't as friendly and happy and cheery as she says it is ... this according to sources close to Matt, who tell us this thing is pretty damn far from amicable.

"Basketball Wives" star Gloria Govan says a reconciliation with L.A. Clippers star Matt Barnes is NOT out of the question ... telling TMZ Sports the split with her estranged hubby is "definitely amicable."

We broke the story ... Matt separated from Gloria earlier this summer with sources telling us "trust issues" played a part in the split.  So far, neither Matt nor Gloria have filed for divorce.

Now, Gloria tells us the two are still on pretty good terms -- "we're dope" -- and says they're working together extremely well to co-parent their twin boys.

It's an interesting turn of events ... considering Gloria is being sued for allegedly forging Matt's name on official documents to take out a secret $150k loan.

Gloria also says she expects to get together with Matt this weekend to help the kids celebrate Halloween.

L.A. Clippers President Doc Rivers knows recruiting can be tough ... which is why he's already calling DIBS on LeBron James' and Dwyane Wade's kids!!

Rivers was leaving Craig's in West Hollywood Monday night when we asked if he thinks Bron's or D-Wade's sons had a shot to make the NBA when they grow up.

FYI -- LeBron has two boys (10 and 7) who are already generating serious buzz in the basketball world ... and Dwyane's boys have been ranked as some of the top youth prospects in the country.

"I want rights to all their kids," Doc said.

Check out the clip of Wade's kid Zaire -- Doc knows what's up.

A key witness has emerged in Blake Griffin's alleged slap scandal -- his teammate DeAndre Jordan who was WITH the L.A. Clippers star the night of the incident.

We spoke to DeAndre out in L.A. yesterday who told us he had NO IDEA Blake was being investigated by police for allegedly pulling a Zsa Zsa Gabor on a patron at Tao nightclub early Sunday morning.

As we previously reported, Jordan was partying with Blake and several other Clippers teammates that night -- but tells TMZ Sports he has no recollection of Blake whipping out the pimp hand that night.

Blake Griffin has been accused of bitch-slapping a 39-year-old man inside a nightclub in Vegas this weekend ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Here's what we know ... a man named Daniel says he was partying at Tao nightclub in the Venetian in the early hours of October 19th when he tried to take a cell phone pic of the crowd.

According to a statement Daniel gave to Tao security, the man says Blake (who was partying at the club with his L.A. Clippers teammates) was bothered by the flash of the camera -- and "grabbed my phone with one hand."

Daniel says he didn't let go of the phone because his ID and credit card were attached to it -- so Blake grabbed his neck and began to squeeze while demanding Daniel give up his phone "or else."

According to the statement, the two eventually separated after Blake took the phone -- and when Daniel tried to ask for it back, Blake struck again ... grabbing his neck and squeezing for a second time.

Daniel says when security finally got to the scene -- Blake told them, "Get him the f**k out of this club."

Daniel says Blake then "slapped me in the right side of my face."

After he left the club, Daniel filed a battery report with the Las Vegas Metro Police Department. He says cops came to his hotel the next day and spoke with him for about an hour.

So far, attempts to reach Blake for comment have been unsuccessful.

Story developing ...