Los Angeles Lakers

He's already got a statue at Staples Center -- now Shaquille O'Neal has a restaurant right across the street!!!

The NBA legend opened up Shaquille's at L.A. Live over the weekend -- and tons of his famous friends showed up to celebrate ... from Adam Sandler to Julian Edelman and Tiffany Haddish!!!

It all went down after the Lakers game on Saturday night after Los Angeles took an L against their rival, Boston Celtics ... which happens to the last team Shaq played for!!!

The restaurant specializes in Southern cuisine -- featuring everything from Shaq’s famous fried chicken to shrimp & grits. People at the party tell us the food was delicious.

And, get this ... we're told a few of the Lakers even hit up the joint after the game ... including Kyle Kuzma and Rajon Rondo.

Boston's Jayson Tatum was there too along with Celtics legend Paul Pierce.

Other stars spotted at the party ... Diplo, E.J. Johnson, Jaleel White and Ross Butler.

Baron Davis says this Lakers team could DEFINITELY make the playoffs ... if they were led by a 34-year-old version of Kobe Bryant.

That's this same team ... same roster, except Kobe is leading them instead of LeBron James, whose current Lakers team is 5 games out of the playoffs with under 20 left to play.

Baron is starring in a new Fuse TV show called "WTF Baron Davis," and when we got him out at LAX we asked if Kobe could've achieved the goal with the same squad.

"I say yeah, of course."

Before you think this is a LeBron bashing session ... IT AIN'T ... Davis says the Lakers definitely could've been successful this year with James, but injuries and trade rumors derailed the season.

"You can't just put all the blame on LeBron, I think the Lakers got disconnected from what they was trying to do."

Remember, Kobe DID do it ... going Ham in the 2012-13 season down the stretch, DRAGGING a banged up and dysfunctional Lakers team to the postseason, before tearing his Achilles.

Maybe that's what prompted Baron to give his last vote of confidence.

The GOAT has spoken ... Michael Jordan is giving props to LeBron James after passing him on the NBA's all-time scoring list ... calling it "another great milestone."

King James jumped over the Jumpman with an easy bucket midway through the 2nd quarter of Wednesday night's Lakers vs. Nuggets game ... and it was an emotional moment.

James only needed 13 points to pass MJ's 32,292 ... but once it finally happened, the Lakers played a tribute video to LBJ ... and then came the waterworks.

MJ gave his own tribute to James after the game ... saying "I want to congratulate LeBron on achieving another great milestone during his amazing career."

The love was mutual ... as LeBron honored the 6-time champ with a pair of custom LeBron 16s made to look like the Jordan 3s.

Even 2 Chainz -- Bron's new music partner -- got in on the fun by gifting him one of his chains from his courtside seat after the game.

Despite the celebration, Bron was brought back down to earth quick ... with the Lakers losing the game 115-99 in a blowout loss.

LeBron commented on the milestone after the game, saying he idolized Michael growing up ... "To be linked with the greatest I ever seen play the game, it's crazy to me."

"I wouldn't be here without him."

No matter how much of a train wreck this Lakers season has been, resting LeBron James just simply ain't an option ... so says Caron Butler, who tells TMZ Sports "that's a sucker way out."

The debate kicked off when Jay Williams went on ESPN's "Get Up!" to say Magic Johnson needs to wave the white flag with the Lakers so far out of the playoff race -- starting with benching the King.

FYI -- making the playoffs would pretty much be a miracle at this point. The Lakers are 30-34 and have little momentum leading into the final handful of games.

Butler says it doesn't matter if the Lakers are 5 games out of the playoff or 50 games -- the Lakers CANNOT rest Bron.

"Absolutely not, no. He's still gon' play," Tuff Juice says, "Think about the years with Kobe Bryant and those guys weren't playing well. Kobe still was out there he still was hoopin', he was balling."

It's true ... Kobe didn't make the playoffs for the final 4 years of his career and everyone survived. Caron says he's got an alternative that could satisfy both sides.

"(You'd be) cheating the fans, maybe give him limited minutes ... but you can't just say I'm shutting him down because we didn't exceed expectations."

Butler goes as far as to say trading ANYONE -- including LEBRON JAMES -- is on the table when the team's losing.

And since LBJ has said there's no way he will sit out games (unless he's injured) ... chances are he'll pass Michael Jordan on the all-time scoring list if he scores 13 points tonight.

We asked Caron -- who just so happens to be calling the game -- about the milestone ... and whether it'll finally put him above the G.O.A.T.

LeBron James' former boss is going to bat for the NBA superstar -- with Usher telling Lakers Nation to stop riding Bron and "be patient" already!!

Obviously, the Lakers and LeBron are in serious trouble -- they're playing like trash and making the playoffs would take a miracle of biblical proportions.

So, with people like Snoop calling for someone to send the Lakers off on "slave ships" -- we asked Usher, who bought an ownership stake in the Cleveland Cavs in 2005, for his take on Bron.

"Be patient man," Usher told us on his way out of Avra in Bev Hills ... "Sometimes it takes a minute to get in the groove!"

Of course, Usher knows life with and without LeBron in Cleveland -- he celebrated on the court with Bron when the Cavs won the championship in 2016.

Currently, his Cavs (16-48) have a WORSE record than the Lakers (30-34) ... so, he feels L.A.'s pain.

But, is he bitter at LeBron for bouncing out of Cleveland in 2018? Nope. In fact, he couldn't be more complimentary of the guy.

"I'm really happy to see that LeBron is such an amazing player, period," Usher told us ..."Look at his stats."

Snoop Dogg meant no disrespect to African-Americans when he said the struggling Lakers oughta go away on a "slave ship" -- but he did mean to vent about ALL of his favorite teams sucking.

Sources close to the D-O-Double-Gizzle tell TMZ ... the rapper's trash talking -- taken by many as racist -- was totally a heat of the moment thing. We're told the rapper turned on his phone, and impulsively unloaded about his Lakers' embarrassing loss to the last-place Suns.

As we reported ... Snoop went all scorched Earth, saying, "Ship all them n***as out. Get a slave ship, and ship all them sorry mother f**kers the f**k outta here!"

Despite much of the public reaction to Snoop's rant -- our sources were clear ... the rapper doesn't have a single racist bone in his body, especially against his own race.

We're told the die-hard Lakers fan was -- like most fans -- pissed about possibly missing the playoffs, even with LeBron James. It's also a little insult to injury for Snoop ... he's also a Steelers fan and they missed the playoffs for the first time since 2013.

"Ship all them n***as out. Get a slave ship, and ship all them sorry motherf*ckers the f*ck outta here!"

That's just a tiny piece of Snoop Dogg's weekend rant against the Lakers ... and yeah, dude is PISSED Los Angeles is about to miss the playoffs again this season.

"These sorry mother f*ckers ain't going to do sh*t," Snoop said ... "These goofballs ain't going to do sh*t. They sorry."

Snoop's scorched earth comments came after L.A.'s second loss this weekend -- a 118-109 pounding to the last-place Suns -- when the rapper threw his camera into selfie mode and blasted EVERYONE not named LeBron.

"Somebody gotta go. F*ck this shit. Somebody gotta go. Matter of fact, a lot of n***as gotta go, starting with the coach."

As for his Staples Center tickets ... Snoop says he's so over L.A., he's giving away his box suite seats for just $5!!!!

Think Snoop's overreacting? With losses to the Bucks on Friday and Phoenix on Saturday ... the Lakers are now closer to 13th place in the West than they are to a playoff spot.

Snoop's begging the front office to intervene ... and as part of his rant -- he yelled, "Get LeBron some f*ckin' help!!"

LeBron James thinks Anthony Davis is being done dirty in the media -- and he seems to be pointing the finger at the people who run the New Orleans Pelicans.

Bron had Davis as a guest on his HBO series, "The Shop" -- where the guys, along with stars like Antonio Brown, discussed real issues in their lives.

The topic turned to "public relations" when Antonio suggested Steelers ownership -- or at least, powerful members of the organization -- were trying to wrongly paint him as a "distraction" in the media over the past few weeks.

"That's the narrative they try to create once you doing your own thing," Brown said on the show ... "It's like, this guy's a distraction. He's this type of guy. All I've ever been is a guy who came from Central Michigan, 6th round, who worked his ass off."

LeBron made a comment essentially agreeing with Brown's opinion -- and then compared AB's situation to Anthony Davis.

Remember, Davis publicly requested a trade in January -- and since he and Bron share the same agent -- a lot of people thought they had teamed up to force the Pelicans to move AD to the Lakers.

During the negotiations, there were negative stories that came out about Davis -- and LeBron sure seems to be suggesting the hit pieces were orchestrated by the Pelicans.

"7 years in the league, nobody's ever said anything negative about AD but you can tell when the narrative changed when you don't do what they want you to do."

Davis is now playing out the season with the Pelicans -- and is hoping to be traded at the end of the season.

Two MVPs were on the court at Staples Center on Wednesday -- with Patrick Mahomes sitting right on the floor as LeBron James led the Lakers to a 125-119 victory over the Pelicans!

Oh, and LeBron LOVED that Mahomes was there!

The K.C. Chiefs quarterback got the VIP treatment -- with a personal attendant making sure Pat and his girlfriend, Brittany Matthews, were taken care of like royalty ... while sitting next to other huge stars like Halsey and David Beckham.

Of course, the Lakers are basically in must-win mode for the rest of the season if they want a shot at the playoffs ... and it seems like Pat and Brit were the good luck charms the team needs.

Didn't hurt that Bron posted 33 points, 10 assists and 6 rebounds -- but after the game, King James gave a special shout-out to his NFL pal.

"Good to have you in the building tonight MVP!!" LBJ wrote.

Mahomes is becoming a massive star -- just check out the crowd trying to get autographs and pics on the way out of Staples.

Mahomes wasn't the only star athlete in the crowd -- Floyd Mayweather and Todd Gurley also showed out.

BTW ... we shot footage of Gurley walking to his car -- that knee seem okay to you?

Remember, TG's leg has been a big Rams storyline since his disappearing act in the NFL playoffs ... but he's said repeatedly the injury is not an issue.

In fact ... his head coach, Sean McVay, told reporters at the NFL's combine Thursday he's positive his star RB is "feeling good."

One of the hottest rappers in the game named a song after Derek Fisher ... and you know who's stoked about that??

DEREK FISHER ... 's kids, 'cause the ex-Lakers star says Gunna's tribute gave him MAJOR cool points with the youngins in his house.

If you haven't heard about the Young Thug signee, Gunna is one of the biggest names in the industry right now ... and his collab mixtape with Lil Baby, "Drip Harder," is widely considered one of the top projects of 2018.

Gunna's follow-up, "Drip or Drown 2" just dropped last week ... and features 2 songs with tributes to NBAers Fisher and Yao Ming.

Fisher -- who says he's a Gunna fan -- says he hasn't heard the song yet, but his kids have made him well aware of the shoutout.

"It makes me feel old," Fisher tells us. "I was old and not cool, and now I'm a little cooler."

The song -- which is like an ode to guns -- has pretty much nothing to do with D-Fish except for the line in the hook, "shoot like Derek Fisher, ain't no n***a cross the line."

Fisher says he's down to be a part of the music video for the song if Gunna wants him... as long as it's appropriate.

Advice to pro athletes ... if you wanna shot with Farrah Abraham, ya gotta come with courtside seats.

That's the message Farrah says she told Lakers' rising star Kyle Kuzma -- claiming he tried to get at her in her DMs ... but he wouldn't pony up for quality Lakers tickets.

The "Backdoor Teen Mom" star appeared on "The Hollywood Pipeline" podcast and spilled the tea about how she allegedly shot down the 23-year-old NBA player.

According to Abraham, Kuzma told her he would have to pay out of pocket $15,000 to sit her on the court next to stars like Leo DiCaprio and Jack Nicholson ... and refused to budge.

So, Farrah says she told the guy to kick rocks.

Bad news for Kyle, Farrah moved on.

Good news for Kyle, so did he ... dude just wound up on a boat with Instagram model Katya Elise Henry and seems like he's doing just fine!!

By the way, can't really blame Kuzma -- dude is still in his rookie deal with the Lakers ... which only pays him $5 mil over 3 years ... which by NBA superstar standards is dirt poor!

Cool moment at the Vanity Fair party after the Oscars ... when Caitlyn Jenner and Kobe Bryant spotted each other on the way out of the event and stopped on the red carpet to hug it out.

Kobe has been a Caitlyn supporter for YEARS -- the NBA legend was one of the first big stars to throw his support behind Caitlyn getting ESPN's Arthur Ashe award at the ESPYs back in 2015.

Remember, there was controversy surrounding the award at the time with many people claiming there were other people far more deserving.

At the time, Kobe told us he appreciated Caitlyn for educating people about being comfortable being themselves -- "Doesn't matter what walk of life you're in man, you gotta be comfortable being you."

Kobe was at the party with his wife, Vanessa -- who's pregnant with their 4th child.

Other huge stars at the party -- Odell Beckham Jr., Russel Wilson and Ciara.

Kobe is no stranger to the Oscars -- he won the 2018 Academy Award for Best Animated Short for his film, "Dear Basketball."

The flick was based off a poem Kobe wrote to announce his retirement from the NBA back in 2016.

Tristan Thompson, listen up ... Nick Young is giving away one of his secrets for getting over a massive cheating scandal!!!

Of course, Swaggy P is an expert in what TT's currently going through ... the ex-Lakers star famously cheated on Iggy Azalea when the two were dating in 2016.

So, when we got Nick leaving Pretty Little Things on Wednesday night ... we asked how Tristan should deal with his latest Khloe Kardashian drama -- and Young delivered!!!

There's more ... Nick also spoke with us about Zion Williamson's shoe-blowing incident against North Carolina -- saying the play showed Z-Dub is legitimately like the Hulk!!!

You think LeBron James and the Lakers were gonna let Rihanna down on the night of her birthday celebration???! Hell no!!

RiRi took her superrich Saudi boyfriend to Staples Center on Thursday to cheer on her favorite NBA player on the night after her 31st birthday ... and the team delivered one heck of a gift!!!

Check out the pics of Rihanna and Hassan Jameel in a private box -- going berserk as the Lakers came back from 19 down to beat the Houston Rockets ... one of the hottest teams in the NBA.

Of course, Jameel is a bit of a baller himself -- in 2017 his family was reportedly worth $2.2 BILLION -- which made them the 4th richest family in the Arab world.

Jameel started dating Rihanna in 2017 and by the looks of these pics, they're still going strong.

Other huge stars at the game -- "Wheel of Fortune" star Pat Sajak, Denzel Washington, French Montana and Jimmy Iovine.

They picked a great game to attend -- the Lakers were getting destroyed for the first 3 quarters before LeBron activated "playoff mode" and went nuclear on everyone ... exploding for 29 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists.

The Lakers ended up winning the game 111 to 106 -- boosting the Lakers' record back to .500.

Meanwhile, the Rockets' James Harden extended his 30-point game streak to 32 games, the 2nd longest 30-point streak in NBA history.

By the way, Lakers officials gifted Rihanna her very own customized "Bad Girl RiRi" Lakers jersey, but she didn't wear it ... instead, opting to rock her #23 LeBron James threads.

One last thing ... every year LeBron has won an NBA title, Rihanna has dropped a new album -- and there are rumors she's working on a new album right now.

So, good juju for the Lakers?

See that hand?? Yeah, that's Kyle Kuzma's hand ... and now you wish you were Kyle Kuzma.

The 23-year-old Lakers star is getting some well-deserved R&R before the All-Star break ends ... taking a boat trip in Miami with an insanely attractive model ... and cuppin' a handful of ass in the process.

Kuz -- who won the MVP of the Rising Stars Challenge this past weekend -- kept the winning going on Monday with rumored girlfriend Katya Elise Henry ... a model with nearly 6 million followers on IG.

The couple(?) have yet to acknowledge any real romance on social media ... but it doesn't take a genius to put 2 and 2 together with this one, thanks to Kuz's body art.

The rumors date back to last year when KEH was spotted attending Laker games ... and this pretty much closes the case.

On top of being ridiculously hot, Henry -- a Miami native -- is also a businesswoman with her own workout plan (including an 8-week "booty program") and bikini line.

No word on whether this is love or just young kids having fun ... but it's clear there are no losers here.

LeBron James has a new teammate ... 2 CHAINZ!!! 'Cause the Lakers superstar just announced his first music project starring the "It's A Vibe" rapper.

The King is takin' his first shot at being an A&R exec ... teaming up with the Georgia rapper for, "Rap Or Go To The League," a 14-track album coming out March 1.

LBJ announced the collab with a video of the duo in the studio ... choppin' it up about things like the tracklist, features and release plans -- all the things a music exec has to deal with.

"Can’t wait for y’all to hear the continues evolution of his profound skills from his mind to the booth to the records itself," Bron says, "Proud of you homie and the people will be as well when this hits!"

2 Chainz added ... "It's gonna be shocking for people to know how much input you had on (the project.)"

No word on whether Bron actually got in the booth to spit some bars ... but we know he's fully capable of doing so.