Miami Heat

Traditional ... or edgy?

Safe ... or risky?

White shirt, black tie ... or crazy red stripe and a white tie?!

That was the fashion dichotomy between Derek Jeter and Dwyane Wade in NYC Monday night ... with one star pushing the envelope and the other one ... well, not.

Question is ... who looked better?

BTW -- same situation with Aaron Rodgers and Odell Beckham ... with the QB going the Jeter route ... and OB rockin' a crushed velvet purple jacket!

The teammates who slay together, stay together ... at least that's what Miami Heat stars Udonis Haslem and Chris Andersen were hoping when they went GATOR HUNTIN' this week.

Birdman took Haslem out on his first gator hunt in Florida ... and they scored big time, bagging a couple of "Florida dinosaurs."

Haslem says he didn't take the expedition lightly -- he "spent hours studying 'swamp people' for this special day."

So, what are the guys gonna do with their kills? Accessorize ... according to Andersen.

"Gator shoes with the belt to match!!"

Dwyane Wade just hooked up 15 kids with a pretty awesome prom surprise -- free custom tailored suits and Hublot watches ... and they're about to get the goods at halftime of tonight's Miami Heat game.

Wade, along with Hublot, hooked up with the local Guardian ad Litem program -- and last week met with 15 kids from different parts of Florida who are all crushing it in the classroom.

To reward their success in school, Wade and Hublot hooked 'em up with D-Wade's personal stylist -- and a custom tailor -- so they could "suit up" in custom threads for their high school proms.

And get this ... Hublot also hooked the kids up with a free watch to boot ... and those things ain't cheap!!!

Dwyane Wade could be trading basketballs for Ben Wa balls -- the NBA star tells TMZ Sports he's taking Gabrielle Union to see "Fifty Shades" this weekend because "I wanna learn something!!"

This clip is awesome ... Wade (who's out in NYC for NBA All-Star Weekend) told us he's not gonna let his new wife drag him to see the movie -- instead, he proclaimed, "I'm taking HER!"

"I wanna learn something," Wade said ... "I'm married! You gotta keep it up!"

#LearnTheSafeWord

No, this post has nothing to do with Donald Sterling ... the Whiteside we're talkin' about is a 25-year-old monster who could be the next big superstar in the NBA ... so says Rick Ross.

Ross -- who has a Miami Heat logo tatted on his FACE -- tells TMZ Sports he's FIRED UP about Hassan Whiteside ... who essentially came out of nowhere to dominate for the Heat this season.

FYI -- Whiteside recently put up 24 points and 20 rebounds in a game ... the first Heat player to pull that off since Shaq did it in 2004.

But according to Ross, he's no Jeremy Lin ... Tha Boss is adamant Whiteside is the "real deal."

Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao are both at the Miami Heat game RIGHT NOW -- sitting across the court from each other.

Sooooo ... STOP THE BASKETBALL GAME ... FIND SOME GLOVES AND LET'S DO THIS RIGHT NOW!!!

#WishfulThinking

Look closely at the photo above ... one of these guys is a professional NBA player.

The other 4 dudes are rabbis ... who have a stellar reputation for blessing athletes before big games.

Which could be why Dwyane Wade made a kosher pit stop before the Miami Heat took on the Lakers in L.A. on Tuesday.

TMZ Sports has learned ... the Heat used the facilities at the JEM Community Center in Beverly Hills to warm up hours before their game. And before they left, Wade met up with Rabbi Hertzel Illulian ... who offered up a "quadruple rabbi blessing" before the game.

Turns out ... the Jews came through -- with the Heat beating the Lakers 78-75.

The win brings the rabbis to 2-0 when it comes to blessing NBA players -- after bestowing a "triple rabbi blessing" on Kevin Durant last year before he went on to beat the Clippers in the playoffs.

Mazel.

Seems Rick Ross is officially off the hook in his $100k NBA bet with Jalen Rose -- with Jalen telling TMZ Sports he's willing to let the whole thing go for some delicious lobster.

You know the bet ... Ross wanted to put up $100k that his LeBron-less Miami Heat would finish the
season with a better record than Bron's new team, the Cleveland Cavs.

Jalen publicly accepted the bet -- going on his Grantland podcast and saying, "You know I'm good for the money, homie."

But according to Jalen, Rick had a change of heart around Xmas time ... with Rose implying that Ross was less-than-impressed with the Heat ... even though they beat the Cavs on Xmas day.

So what happens now? "I think he's gonna take me to get lobster tempura at Prime One Twelve," Jalen says.

FYI -- Lobster Tempura cost around $25 (we called).

Here's the thing ... the Cavs are 19-19. The Heat are 16-21 ... the bet could still go either way.

We'll follow up with Ross and let you know his side.

Dwyane Wade hosted a huge fashion event in Miami last night ... invited a bunch of his famous friends ... and even busted out a Ferrari ... and TMZ Sports has the pics.

It was called "A Night On the RunWade" ... to benefit his Wade's World Foundation, which provides health and educational services in poor neighborhoods.

Wade was joined by his wife Gabrielle Union and teammates Chris Bosh, Shannon Brown and Mario Chalmers. Pat Riley and Alonzo Mourning were also in the house.

The 16,768 sq ft pad is just plain sick ... 6 bedrooms, an infinity pool, wine cellar and dockage space that can accommodate two 60 foot yachts.

Dwyane Wade's back in the watch game -- dropping a brand new $20k timepiece with Hublot ... and it's made with real alligator.

It's called the Classic Fusion Dwyane Wade -- designed with Miami Heat colors -- and it includes 18 karat gold parts, sapphire and an alligator strap.

The watch it Wade's second design with the company -- they released one back in 2011.

Wade isn't the first superstar to release a watch with Hublot -- Jay Z partnered up with 'em last year and released a version of his own.

The entire Miami Heat basketball team is warming up with their shirts inside out ... to show their support for the Los Angeles Clippers.

Everyone from Chris Bosh to Dwyane Wade and even LeBron James took part in the display of solidarity that took place in Charlotte before they took on the Bobcats.

LeBron James would actually consider giving up his shot at an NBA Championship ... if Donald Sterling owned the Miami Heat -- that's how ANGRY he is about Sterling's racist comments.

LeBron says, "I would really have to sit down with my teammates, talk to my family because at the end of the day, our family, and our teammates are way more important than that."

He added, "I hate the fact that something like this has to come out when the playoffs have been unbelievable ... but there is no room for Donald Sterling in our league.”

LBJ said he really feels for his good friend, and Clippers star, Chris Paul -- telling reporters in the Heat locker room ... "I can only imagine what’s going through his head.”

He also called for NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to act swiftly and "make a stand" because Sterling's comments are unacceptable.

When LeBron James tweets, Samsung listens ... especially when he's complaining about a HUGE problem with his cell phone -- since LBJ is a pitchman for the company.

The drama began earlier today when 'Bron tweeted, "My phone just erased everything it has in it and rebooted. One of the sickest feelings I've ever had in my life."

We spoke to a rep for Samsung who essentially told us the company scrambled the jets to remedy the problem that blasted to LeBron's 12 MILLION followers.

"We are following the situation," the rep tells us ... "We have a team looking into it. There should be more information soon."

LeBron, probably realizing he made a pretty huge boo boo, deleted the tweet ... and replaced it a short time later with some new info: "Close call. Wheew! Got all my info back. Gamer! Lol."

LeBron James just hooked his childhood friend up in a HUGE way ... pulling some strings to help get one of his boys' rap songs on the new NBA 2K14 soundtrack ... TMZ Sports has learned.

We spoke to Sian Cotton -- who's been close with 'Bron since they were kids. In fact, Sian says they've been having rap sessions together since they were 9.

Sian says LeBron hasn't just been supportive of his aspiring rap career -- but when LBJ learned he'd be on the cover of 2K14, he did everything he could to help get Sian's track "Almost Home" on the game.

"I'd been submitting my stuff to 2K, and then I found out LeBron was gonna be on the cover," Sian said.

Sian says he was gonna hit up James to help him out -- but when he grabbed his phone he already had a text from the Heat star that said, "'I wanna get you on the game."

"He thought of me before I could say anything."

Eventually, LeBron called him back with the good news -- "He said 'the people from '14 have been calling you. They picked your song!"