Los Angeles Lakers

Lamar Odom is sending a message to ex-wife Khloe Kardashian ... after he was evicted from "Celebrity Big Brother."

The former Los Angeles Lakers star had his exit interview with Julie Chen Moonves -- after getting kicked out of the "Celebrity Big Brother" house -- and she asked if there's anything he'd like to say to Khloe.

His response ... "I miss you and I hope to get to see you soon."

Lamar and Khloe -- who were together from 2009 to 2016 -- had a tumultuous relationship ... much of it fueled by Lamar's drug abuse. He's said he has deep regrets and would like a redo if that were possible.

Earlier in the season, Lamar told singer and choreographer Todrick Hall ... "I had some good dreams last night. I dreamt about my ex-wife last night I wish I could take that time back. I miss her so much."

Since their split, Khloe had a daughter, True, with Tristan Thompson ... whom Odom recently called "corny" over the way he's treated her.

Lamar was eliminated on 'CBB' with Todd Bridges during a double-elimination episode. Lamar and Todd have used their time in the house to bond over their sobriety.

And, Lamar says they have a special bond ... "Todd has been sober for 33 years now, so I asked him to be my sober coach. That is why I joined the 'Celebrity Big Brother' cast because sobriety is really important to me at this point in my life."  Lamar says he's been sober for seven years.

Good news, bad news, Lakers fans -- Shaquille O'Neal says LeBron James' squad WILL turn things around and make the playoffs this season ... but, bringing home a championship "probably" ain't happening.

TMZ Sports talked to the Big Fella at his "Shaq's Fun House" Super Bowl party on Friday ... and he kept it a buck about the Lake Show's title hopes as they sit near the bottom of the Western Conference standings with a 26-30 record.

"They definitely will make the playoffs," Shaq says ... adding there's always pressure within the Lakers organization to be the best.

"This was one of the hardest franchises I ever had to play for," Shaq says.

"I remember when I came here, Jerry West said, 'Look, I know you do movies, I know you do rap albums and all that,' But, he made me look up [in the rafters] and I seen Wilt [Chamberlain] and Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] and he said, 'At the end of this, you're either going to be a bust or you're going to be a legend.' So, those guys have to decide how they want to be remembered."

Shaq believes the problem is this Lakers team is old and playing like it ... but if they bring the energy for all 48 minutes each game, they'll start to find more success against the younger teams in the league.

Of course, O'Neal knows a thing or two about winning in L.A. -- he helped the Purple and Gold with 3-straight titles from 2000-2002 ... something he paid tribute to during his DJ Diesel set at the party.

The current Lakers seem far from locking in title #18 this year ... and James Worthy recently said his former team is at the "lowest point" he's ever seen.

Shanna Moakler's boyfriend is having second thoughts about proposing ... because he's not liking what he's seeing from her and Lamar Odom on the "Celebrity Big Brother" live feed.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Shanna's boyfriend, Matthew Rondeau, is NOT happy with the subtle sexual innuendos flying back and forth between his girl and Lamar inside the 'CBB' house.

We're told Matthew's been watching the live feeds, plus the reality show, ever since Shanna entered the house ... and he's picked up some troublesome behavior between the two.

In one clip, Shanna says to Lamar ... "These are wetter so just keep pushing" ... and he replies "that's always better." The exchange continues with Shanna saying, "Always better when it's wetter, that's my motto."

Our sources say Matthew noticed Shanna using some of the same phrases he uses around her, and he finds it disrespectful and hurtful and doesn't know why she's doing it.

Matthew understands Shanna's on a reality show, but he feels boundaries are being crossed ... and assumes producers are egging on the narrative for the show.

Regardless, we're told things aren't sitting well with Matthew because Shanna is still his girlfriend ... TV cameras be damned.

Add it all up, and our sources say Matthew is second-guessing whether he wants to take the plunge with Shanna and ask for her hand in marriage.

Christmas wrapped up nearly two months ago, but Floyd Mayweather still did his best Santa impression outside of the Lakers game on Tuesday night ... doling out $100 bills to kids!

It was a super generous act for the legendary boxer ... who said, "I'm all about giving back to the kids" as he forked over cash to youngsters who were trying to sell candy bars at Crypto.com Arena.

In total, Floyd handed over $400 or $500 to the kids ... and he didn't blink an eye parting ways with the money -- adding, "The kids out here selling candy, they ain't doing nothing wrong."

Floyd then promised to repeat the gesture "every time" he sees them at the games going forward.

It should be noted ... Mayweather did not take any candy in return for the cash, a sign that he's taking his upcoming exhibition match later this month pretty dang seriously.

The NBA just unveiled the newly-designed Kobe Bryant Trophy, which will be awarded to the All-Star Game MVP later this month, and Vanessa Bryant said she's in love with it.

The league revealed the piece Thursday morning ... announcing the new award has four levels, all designed to pay tribute to the Black Mamba.

The first level has 24 stars -- symbolic of the #24 Kobe donned in the second half of his career. The level measures in at 7 inches tall, which pays homage to Bryant's 2007 All-Star Game MVP honor.

The second level features 10 stars, which represent the number KB wore when he played for Team USA in the Olympics. Its 9-inch height is a hat tip to Bryant's 2009 ASG MVP award.

Of course, Kobe won 5 NBA championships in his career with the Los Angeles Lakers ... so the trophy has five stars on the third level.

On the fourth level, the league said "a single star represents Kobe’s NBA MVP Award in the 2007-08 season." The NBA also noted its 2-inch height is emblematic of his two Finals MVP awards.

The mastermind behind the design, Victor Solomon, said in a statement Thursday he worked "tirelessly" to make the piece ... and in an IG post, Vanessa said she resoundingly approved of it.

"I love everything this trophy represents," Vanessa wrote, "all of my husband’s hard work and dedication ~ Mamba Mentality 👑🐍💪🏽 Thank you @NBA & @victorsolomon."

Lawyers representing L.A. County are trying their best to keep hardcore Kobe Bryant fans off the jury in their crash photos case against Vanessa Bryant ... new court documents, obtained by TMZ Sports, show.

The attorneys submitted a list of questions they want to ask potential jurors ... and it includes several Kobe-related questions presumably designed to weed out any super fans who have immense Kobe/Lakers bias.

Some of the proposed Bryant questions include: "How would you describe your feelings toward Kobe Bryant?" and "How would you describe your feelings toward the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team?"

If the answers showed a juror would be less than likely to objectively look at the evidence in the case ... the lawyers would use it as a basis for striking that person from the jury pool.

Other questions the lawyers are hoping to ask also include ones that help show if a person has a particular bias against law enforcement, such as "Have you ever had had a negative experience with a Los Angeles County Sheriff or the LA County Sheriff's Department?"

As we previously reported, Vanessa is suing the county of Los Angeles, alleging officials took pictures of Kobe's dead body and then showed them off at a bar and an awards banquet.

The county, meanwhile, has argued that officials on the crash site only took pictures as "part of doing their jobs," while contending that none of the photos were publicly disseminated in a way that would be harmful to Vanessa.

New York fans can thank James Dolan for never landing LeBron James ... so says Knicks legend Charles Oakley, who claims the King's main reason for not signing in the Big Apple was the controversial owner.

Oakley recalled a conversation he had with Bron during the 2014 season in his new book, 'The Last Enforcer,' ... which happened after Oak met Dolan for the first time.

Oak claims the Knicks owner refused to shake hands or even look at him throughout the interaction at All-Star Weekend ... and when he relayed what happened to LeBron, the Chosen One had words of his own.

"I walked back to LeBron and said, 'This motherf***er (Dolan) wouldn't shake my hand,'" Oakley claims. "All LeBron said was, 'This is why I'm never going to New York.'"

Oakley says he was shocked by Dolan's coldness at the time ... saying, "You would have thought I did something to his wife."

"I didn't do anything to this man. What did I ever say that was so bad that he would ignore me like that? I wondered. Man, I wanted to hit him in the head."

Of course, Oakley and LeBron have been good friends for quite some time ... so it's no surprise the 4-time champ would have the Cleveland native's back in the feud.

Tension between Dolan and Oakley reached a boiling point during an incident at Madison Square Garden in 2017, when Oak was hauled out of the arena and arrested by NYPD for getting physical with security staffers.

Oakley -- who spent 10 seasons with the Knicks -- was banned from the Garden (at the behest of Dolan) ... and while the ban was lifted, he has not yet returned to the Mecca.

Lamar Odom is clearly not over Khloe Kardashian ... the ex-NBA star recently said that he misses his ex-wife "so much" -- and is still dreaming about her.

"Celebrity Big Brother" cameras captured Odom's revelation while he was making his bed on the show ... with Lamar repeatedly telling his housemate, choreographer Todrick Hall, that he thinks about Khloe often.

"I had some good dreams last night," Odom can be heard telling Hall in the footage. "I dreamt about my ex-wife last night."

"I miss her so much," Odom continued. "I wish I could take that time back ... I miss her so much."

The 42-year-old married Khloe back in 2009, but the two were divorced just a few years later.

Since their split, Khloe had a daughter, True, with Tristan Thompson ... whom Odom recently called "corny" over the way he's treated Khloe.

Lamar Odom is still holding out hope for this season's Lakers ... telling TMZ Sports despite their struggles, the Purple and Gold are still his pick to win the NBA title.

LeBron James and Co. have underperformed so far in 2021-22 -- they're far from the top of the Western Conference and can't seem to find a rhythm.

Odom -- who won 2 titles with the Lakers -- says he's not concerned about the Lake Show's lack of success so far ... and it's all thanks to the talent on the roster.

"I think they're good enough to win a championship," Odom tells us. "They're still my pick to win the championship. I don't know if that's Laker pride or me just being a Laker at heart. But they're still my pick."

"Anytime you have LeBron James on the court and a healthy Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony as your 6th man, I think they'll give you a really good shot."

Odom -- who recently launched the Savvy Talent Management Group -- says the team needs to pick it up defensively ... and would like to see LeBron lead the team like Kobe Bryant did for 20 years.

"Of the teams that I played for that won championships, we had a tremendous leader in Bean Bryant," Odom adds. "A lot of his will, tenacity ... it kind of rubbed off on us. I would like to see LeBron James' will and tenacity and his will to win rub off on these Laker guys."

"I think once that happens, once they coincide that, they'll be all right."

Carmelo Anthony needed to be restrained from going after fans in Philadelphia on Thursday night ... and it's all because he says some of them called him "boy."

As the L.A. Lakers were down big to the 76ers in the fourth quarter of their game in Philly ... Melo stopped playing and began walking toward a group of Sixers fans that appeared to be talking trash.

At one point, it looked like Anthony was going to enter the crowd and get face-to-face with the men ... but, fortunately, referees grabbed him before he could get to the fans.

Arena security ended up booting the men from the area before it could escalate further ... and when Melo was asked about the incident following the game, he told the L.A. Times that he was called "boy" by the men.

Melo added in his postgame interview that he believed all of the smack talk crossed lines.

"Some things were said -- unacceptable," Anthony said. "I'm cool with fans heckling, fans talking trash, cheering for their team, booing the other team, I'm all for that."

"But when you cross certain lines, as a man, you just, that's what you're going to see. That's what you're going to get, as you saw there."

Anthony continued, "There's just certain things you don't bring to any type of sporting event. There's just certain things you don't say to anybody. If I was outside and I bumped into you and you said those things to me, then it would be a totally different story."

It's unclear if the fans will face further discipline from the 76ers.

Of course, this is far from the first time this season that players have gotten into it with fans ... even Carmelo's own teammate, LeBron James, had hecklers kicked out of their seats earlier this season.

Despite the construction of a temporary Kobe and Gigi Bryant statue this week at the site of their tragic helicopter crash ... TMZ Sports has learned a permanent sculpture will not be installed.

City of Calabasas officials told us this week they have "no plans for any sort of memorial at the crash site."

A spokesperson for the Mountains Recreation Conservation Authority, which oversees the site of the tragic crash, added that there is to be "no permanent memorial on the site."

It does not mean one couldn't ultimately end up being placed there at some point down the road ... but the rep for the MRCA told us definitively there's nothing currently in the works for now or the future.

It's a bummer for those who wanted to see a statue erected ... especially after a 160-pound one was placed on the scene by sculptor Dan Medina on the anniversary of the crash on Wednesday.

Fans loved the mini-monument, which featured a depiction of Kobe and Gigi together, and Medina had told us he'd be willing to donate a life-sized version of it to the city for free.

Ex-NBA player Kwame Brown is livid with Dwyane Wade's daughter's fashion tribute to Kobe Bryant ... saying her #8 jersey dress was "disrespectful" to the Lakers legend.

14-year-old Zaya Wade showed love to the Bryants in an Instagram post on Wednesday ... wearing the outfit and captioning the post, "always remembering and honoring Kobe and Gianna."

Seems harmless, right?? Not in Brown's eyes ... as the 2001 #1 overall pick unleashed on Dwyane during his "Bust Life" YouTube show on Thursday ... saying the ex-Miami Heat star doesn't "level up as a man."

"You are letting your woman control your house," Kwame said ... claiming Kobe's wife, Vanessa, and kids would not honor Kobe the same way Zaya did.

Kwame strongly believes Zaya's tribute does a disservice to everything Kobe stands for ... citing his work ethic, masculinity, and faith.

"I'm not saying there's anything against homosexuals, but [Kobe] is a heterosexual man. Why is he being honored by making his jersey into a dress? Wear his goddamn jersey for the day to honor him without the dress part," Brown added.

"Let's please not show our Black brother in this light. This is no offense to nobody else. This man was a heterosexual man with a wife and a family. There's no reason for this to be tied to Kobe Bryant. None whatsoever."

D-Wade has been nothing but supportive of Zaya ... and has spoken out about how the family has grown in understanding over the years.

Lamar Odom is going back to TV -- the former Lakers star will be joining the cast of "Celebrity Big Brother" this season ... where he'll be competing for a $250,000 cash prize.

The series announced Odom will be a guest for its third season on Thursday ... releasing a video on social media introducing all the celebs who'll be living under the same roof for the competition.

"My name is Lamar Odom [and] people may know me for winning two championships with the LA Lakers," Odom said in his intro.

"They also may know me for marrying Khloe Kardashian. We had our own TV show. Our own reality show."

Odom is no stranger to television -- when he was still married to Khloe, they had their own show, "Khloe & Lamar" ... which was a spinoff of "Keeping Up With the Kardashians."

Speaking of Kardashians ... CBB will have another guest who has a tie to their family. Shanna Moakler -- whose ex-husband, Travis Barker, is engaged to Kourtney Kardashian -- will join Odom in the house.

Other notable guests include UFC star Miesha Tate, NSYNC singer Chris Kirkpatrick, SNL's Chris Kattan and 'Real Housewives of Atlanta' star, Cynthia Bailey.

Lamar made more than $114 million during his NBA career ... but recently opened up about his struggles with money management -- even going to Kobe Bryant to help him get out of a gambling debt.

A sculptor in Los Angeles has honored the anniversary of the deaths of Kobe and Gigi Bryant by placing a statue of the two at the site where they tragically passed away in 2020.

The artist, Dan Medina, tells TMZ Sports he created the 160-pound bronze figure and pulled it up to the scene in Calabasas via a wagon on Wednesday.

The sculpture is only a temporary piece -- Medina says he'll haul it back down at sunset -- but the artist tells us he's hoping the city will allow him to put up a larger, more life-sized version permanently at the site.

The artwork, while smaller than what Medina hopes it'll ultimately end up being, is incredible -- it's a depiction of Kobe in a Lakers uniform with his arm around Gigi, who's also in a basketball uniform holding a ball.

At the base of the statue, Medina added the names of all nine of the victims who tragically died in the helicopter crash on the Calabasas hillside on Jan. 26, 2020.

"Heroes come and go," words on the base of the statue read, "but legends are forever."

As we previously reported, Kobe, Gigi and the others were on their way to a girls basketball game, when the chopper suddenly wrecked in the terrain.

Tributes to the Bryants and the other victims of the crash have poured in on the anniversary Wednesday, with athletes and celebs from all over remembering them all on social media.

In fact, Kobe's old Lakers teammate, Lamar Odom, was gifted a diamond pendant on Wednesday to honor and remember the Bryants.

Lamar Odom will now have Kobe and Gigi Bryant with him everywhere he goes -- the ex-Lakers star was just gifted an incredible piece honoring the late NBA legend and his daughter on the second anniversary of their tragic helicopter accident.

TMZ Sports has learned ... LO -- who played alongside Kobe from 2004-2011 and remained close friends with the Hall of Famer in retirement -- received the special tribute to the Mamba and Mambacita from his manager, Tonita B.

The finished product is a diamond chain and pendant featuring Kobe kissing Gigi on the head ... which was based off a famous picture of the two sitting courtside at a Laker game in 2019.

We're told the chain -- designed by Scoobie Da Jeweler -- is made of 25 carats of VS diamonds ... and the whole finished product is worth around $17,000.

The back of the piece features a special quote from Kobe ... which reads, "Rest at the end, not in the middle."

We're told this all came to be when Tonita decided to do something unique for Lamar to commemorate their new Savvy Talent Management Group partnership ... and given his admiration for Bryant and his family, she chose a Mamba-related keepsake.

Odom has previously spoken about the impact Kobe left on his life after the fatal accident on Jan. 26, 2020 ... saying he not only helped him on the court, but was by his side during his darkest times.

Odom posted about his new gift on social media minutes ago ... saying, "To understand that Kobe meant the world to me and have this made as a constant reminder for me to keep going has me at loss for words. 💜"

The Los Angeles Lakers might be a dumpster fire right now, but that hasn't stopped fans from buying up all their gear ... with the Purple & Gold leading the NBA in merchandise sales this season.

The league just released its list of most popular fan purchases through the 2021-22 season so far ... and LeBron James sits at the top of the throne for player jersey sales, with the Lakers coming in at #1 for overall team merch sold on the NBA Store website.

It's pretty interesting, considering the Lake Show has stunk up the place this season -- they're 22-23 and head coach Frank Vogel is on the verge of losing his job.

But, it's clear fans aren't going anywhere ... stocking up on their swag as the team falls apart.

Stephen Curry comes in at #2 in jersey sales, with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant and Luka Doncic rounding out the top 5.

Russell Westbrook -- who's had a pretty tough year -- didn't make the list ... but Anthony Davis was able to come in at #7.

The Dubs, Bucks, Nets and Celtics follow the Lakers in team sales.