Los Angeles Lakers

The last home game of the Los Angeles Lakers regular season brought out some Hollywood elite -- including one star who couldn't help show but show off her long legs.

The Lakers played the Houston Rockets at Crypto.com Arena Thursday night ... and, several bold-faced names came out to see the purple and gold.

Bruce Springsteen sat courtside ... jeans and a brown coat on -- chatting with a couple of his seatmates.

Hours after Luka Doncic's emotional return to Dallas ... he was still in the city while his team was already back in Los Angeles -- attending a local meet and greet with fans instead of jetting back with the team.

Doncic swung by a local Dicks store on Thursday to promote his newly released Jordan Brand sneakers. The 26-year-old did it all ...  signed autographs, talked with some local kids and even checked some lucky patrons out at the register.

It marked the first time Doncic was back in Big D, the city he called home for nearly seven years, until Nico Harrison and co. traded him to L.A. in one of the most shocking moves in NBA history.

Luka Doncic's return to Dallas started with tears ... and ended with a win -- and a whole lot of points for the former Mavs superstar!!

The new Laker was back in Big D on Wednesday night for the first time since Nico Harrison and Co. jettisoned him to Los Angeles ... and while it was emotional, the 26-year-old showed what his old team was missing in a 112-97 rout.

The Mavericks played a special tribute to him before the game got underway -- and Doncic cried over the piece. He, though, quickly set his emotions aside and went out and eviscerated his former team.

Dallas Mavericks fans are still livid the team traded away their superstar, Luka Doncic ... and a group of fans are taking their displeasure to the streets -- 'cause TMZ Sports is told a billboard calling for general manager Nico Harrison's job is making its way around town before Wednesday's highly anticipated matchup with the Lakers.

Dallas Billboards -- in partnership with Southwest Mobile Advertising -- tells us an anonymous batch of donors reached out to them to commission the sign in opposition to the front office staffer and team owners, the Adelson/Dumont family.

The group told the companies they are "All for firing Nico and selling the team as a means of asking for accountability for the worst trade in the history of basketball."

LeBron James has yet another superstar teammate ... Barbie!!!

The Los Angeles Laker was just announced as the first "Kenbassador" for the massively popular doll franchise ... getting the nod for his influence on "culture, style and community."

The LeBron doll is incredibly detailed -- featuring the four-time NBA champ's signature facial hair, a custom letterman jacket, crossbody bag, shades, Beats headphones, gold watch and merch for his LeBron James Family Foundation.

2:53 PM PT -- The NBA just announced it's rescinded the technical foul that sparked Tuesday night's drama.

Luka Doncic got the boot from an important Lakers game Tuesday night ... because an official with a quick whistle couldn't delineate fan trash talk from referee chirping.

The bizarre scene all unfolded in the fourth quarter of L.A.'s road tilt with Oklahoma City ... after Doncic hit a floater in the lane to give his team a 108-107 lead.

After making the basket, the 26-year-old turned toward the crowd and began mouthing off -- but a ref thought the chatter was aimed at him ... and Doncic -- who had been hit with a technical foul just a few minutes earlier for arguing a call -- was immediately ejected.

Los Angeles Lakers superstar Luka Doncic might be one of the biggest international celebrities ... but he met his match at the Lakers game on Thursday -- hobnobbin' with BTS superstar J-Hope!!

Even though Luka's Lakers had a bummer of a night in a losing effort to Stephen Curry's Golden State Warriors, he still got a highlight when he had some one-on-one time with the singer and rapper.

Before the 123-116 defeat, the two linked up in the Crypto.com Arena tunnels ... and Luka came bearing gifts -- a pair of his upcoming Jordan Luka 4s!!

Dallas Mavericks fans clearly still loathe Nico Harrison for trading away Luka Doncic ... one actually yelled right in the GM's face on Monday, "Fire Nico!" -- repeatedly!

The scene unfolded just before the Mavs' tilt with the Brooklyn Nets at American Airlines Center in Dallas ... as Harrison -- who jettisoned Doncic to the Lakers back on Feb. 1 -- was saying hi to some people who had shown up for the game a bit early.

The 52-year-old shook one person's hand, and then as he turned to go back to Dallas' locker room area -- a Mavs backer yelled that he should be canned.

Sweet gesture from Lakers head coach JJ Redick -- he held a special basketball clinic on his day off on Sunday for kids who have been impacted by the recent wildfires in L.A.

Los Angeles' sideline manager put on the one-of-a-kind camp in conjunction with his LA Strong Sports foundation ... inviting a bunch of little tykes to help learn ball at the Lakers' practice facility in El Segundo.

Redick spoke to the campers before giving them pointers on jump shots and defense ... and check out some of the pics the Lakers shared from the event -- everyone seemed thrilled.

Dallas Maverick fans are still pissed about Luka Doncic getting traded to the Lakers ... but Mark Cuban is reiterating he had NOTHING to do with it -- claiming he was promised he'd maintain control of basketball operations when he sold the team, but that didn't happen.

Cuban -- who has a net worth of $5.7 billion -- took time to respond to a fan on Facebook who said he should be "run out of Dallas" as a result of the shocking transaction ... firing off in the comment section to defend himself.

He told the fan that when he sold the team 16 months ago to Miriam Adelson, he expected to run basketball operations for the squad, but "Someone obviously changed their mind."

Stephen A. Smith is owning up to a mistake he made as his LeBron James feud intensifies ... apologizing for claiming the Lakers superstar didn't attend the memorial service for Kobe Bryant.

The ESPN host incorrectly stated during his passionate rant on Thursday's "First Take" that James was nowhere to be found when the basketball community mourned Bryant's tragic death at the then-Staples Center following the Hall of Famer's tragic death in 2020.

According to multiple reports, James was, in fact, in the building ... but requested not to be shown during a livestream of the emotional event.

Austin Reaves got creative for a gender reveal for his big bro  ... surprising him by wearing pink sneakers during Wednesday's Lakers game -- and Spencer absolutely loved it!!

The L.A. star delivered the exciting news to his brother and his pregnant wife, Casey, right on the court during his game against the Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Reaves made his way to the hardwood rockin' pink and white kicks, signaling the baby is a girl.

7:27 AM PT -- We knew this was coming -- Stephen A. Smith opened Thursday's "First Take" going off on LeBron ... saying his nemesis' real issue stems from the fact he refuses to consider him the greatest NBA player over Michael Jordan.

Smith made it clear he's never going to back down from his stance ... and he's not going anywhere.

As for his colleague Pat McAfee giving his rival a platform, SAS doesn't blame him one bit -- saying no one would pass up on an interview with James.

Smith also addressed James' trolling with his boxing vid ... and he even admits it wasn't his best work, but claimed he would've looked much better if he wasn't injured at the time.

LeBron James hit the game-winning shot for the Lakers on Wednesday, but the real dagger came on Instagram later in the night ... when he ruthlessly clapped back at Stephen A. Smith AGAIN by mocking his fighting skills.

The King added another chapter to the beef after L.A. beat the Indiana Pacers ... clearly getting wind of the ESPN host claiming earlier in the day he would've "swung" on the four-time champ if he had put his hands on him during their Crypto.com Arena confrontation a few weeks back.

Even though SAS admitted it probably would've resulted in getting his ass whooped, LeBron made sure the talking head knew how he felt about the comments ... sharing an old video of one of his boxing sessions, which didn't necessarily mimic a Ryan Garcia left hook.

Bronny James is on a bit of a scoring tear ... less than a week after his 17-point NBA career high, Bron's son dropped 39 in a G League game, and pops couldn't be prouder!

Despite being ~2,500 miles away with the Lakers, who were in Orlando to take on the Magic ... LeBron James was still keeping tabs on Bronny's game for the South Bay Lakers, and was hyped on X after seeing his oldest son's stat line.

"SMILE THROUGH IT ALL YOUNG," LeBron wrote. "KEEP GOING!!"

The Cleveland Cavaliers have the best record in the NBA, but Norm Nixon tells TMZ Sports he's not entirely sold they're a real threat to win the championship.

We caught up with the former "Showtime" Lakers star out at LAX this week ... and he made it clear, he's got some serious questions about Cleveland's roster.

He told us he thinks the Cavs are good -- they do, after all, own the most wins in the Eastern Conference -- but he wondered out loud how they'll handle the bright lights of April, May and June.

Stephen A. Smith has a message for LeBron James after Bronny's 17-point performance ... saying he's not too proud to admit his initial assessment of the Lakers rookie could very well have been off the mark.

The ESPN talent didn't shy from his previous comments about the four-time champion's son on "First Take" Friday ... in fact, he reiterated how he initially thought the 20-year-old needed to spend a year in the G League in order to reach success with the big dogs -- but Thursday's outing has him reconsidering.

Smith said he was "very impressed" with Bronny's contribution in the Lakers' loss to the Bucks ... as he looked like someone who belonged.