NBA

Lamar Odom was so excited about his sis-in-law Kim Kardashian's pregnancy announcement ... he hit the club to toast her ... by himself.

Okay ... LO was probably heading out anyway, but we caught up with him outside Greytsone Manor shortly after Kanye West dropped the baby news -- and he summed up his joy in 3 words: "Great. Great! Awesome."

Alright, it was 2 words ... with a repeat.

Lamar tweeted a few more, saying ... "There's nothing like bringing life into this world! Let's keep Gods blessings coming!

An 18-year-old looking after a 3-year-old is pretty ordinary, but when that 18-year-old is Justin Bieber and the kid you're watching is the son of L.A. Clippers star Chris Paul ... AND you do it courtside at Staples Center ... it's just awesome.

Bieber had a front row seat last night as little Chris Paul II watched his daddy and the Clips dismantle the Boston Celtics, 106-77 -- which propels the team's winning streak to 15.

Blake Griffin escorted a hot blonde to his awesome ride -- totally fit for the superstar of the NBA's best team -- only issue is the car they got into ... is NOT made by the company paying Blake a fat endorsement deal.

The Los Angeles Clippers' human dunk machine slipped into a Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG -- a pimp sled for sure, which retails for about $140,000.

However, anyone who's watched an NBA game this season has seen Blake's hysterical Kia Optima commercials where he travels back in time to tell his young self how awesome the Optima is.

Still, Kia is paying him to pump up their product. Think about it ... ever seen Michael Jordan in an Adidas track suit?

Do you dream of living in a mega-mansion where giant dolphin fountains spray you with pool water? If so, then NBA star Kenyon Martin has the house for you ... for a cool $5 million.

Martin -- who last played for the Los Angeles Clippers -- bought the 15,000-square-foot Arlington, Texas crib back in 2008 for around $3 million.

Looking to make a tidy profit, K-Mart recently listed the 5-bedroom, 5-bath Mediterranean pad for almost twice what he paid -- and the house is RIDICULOUS.

It sits on 8.4 acres of land and is rockin' a full-sized basketball court ... bowling alley ... gym ... game room ... pond ... pool with 2 huge dolphin fountains ... 2 water slides ... 10 car garage ... white marble floors, white walls ... annnnnnnd a freakin' pecan orchard.

Will Kolassa.

That name is going to haunt Dirk Nowitzki for years ... 'cause he DOMINATED the NBA superstar when a game of 1-on-1 broke out at a Children's Hospital in Dallas.

It all went down at Children's Medical Center in Dallas last week, where Dirk was handing out gifts to some of the kids.

And that's when it happened ... Dirk (7-footish) challenged Will (4-footish) to some mini-basketball ... and IT WAS ON!!!

Will set the pace early ... dropping a rainbow right over Dirk's head.

Sure, Dirk somehow managed to pull off a dunk ... and he chalked up a pretty nasty rejection ... but in the end, it was all Will.

The kid started off the day as a hardcore Bulls fan ... but now says he'll also root for Dirk.

We're guessing a lot of people are gonna feel that way after watching the clip.

Boston Celtics star Leandro Barbosa doesn't need a red suit and a beard to play Santa -- in fact, the guard handed out piles of gifts to underprivileged children in Boston yesterday ... wearing nothing but normal street clothes.

A rep for Barbosa tells TMZ, he threw a giant holiday party at the Lenox Housing Development for roughly 80 children -- between the ages of 6 and 16 -- just because he felt like giving back to the community.

Along with a huge array of gifts -- one for each kid -- Barbosa brought 30 delicious PIZZAS.

Javaris Crittenton -- ex-NBA star and accused murderer -- is now being accused of slapping his baby mama in the face while she was breastfeeding their 1-day-old child ... TMZ has learned.

Crittenton has temporarily been ordered to stay at least 100 yards away from Tyress Daniels and their newborn son ... after she filed court docs outlining a pattern of domestic violence.

In the docs, filed in L.A. County Superior Court, Daniels claims JC attacked her on three separate occasions. The first incident allegedly took place when she was pregnant and he roughed her up in a hotel room.

According to Daniels, the 2nd incident occurred at a hospital on Nov. 1 -- less than 24 hours after she gave birth to their son.

Daniels claims, "I was breastfeeding the baby and we got into an argument over what the baby would wear for pictures. Javaris hit me in the face while I was breastfeeding because he said I had a smart mouth."

Daniels claims Javaris tried to grab the baby and leave ... but hospital security rushed in and stopped him. He was eventually kicked out of the room.

According to the docs, Daniels claims JC got rough with her a 3rd time on Nov. 26 ... scratching her face and busting her lip. She also claims Javaris later sent her a text message saying she would end up like her "dead mother" and he will have the child.

After Daniels filed the docs, a judge awarded temporary custody of the kid to Daniels -- and set a hearing for next month ... when the judge will decide if the restraining order will become more permanent.

Chicago Bulls legend Scottie Pippen set a new record last week at a production of "A Christmas Carol" in the Windy City -- playing the first ever 6'8" 19th-century London townsman in the play -- and it was all for a good cause.

The director of "A Christmas Carol" at Chicago's Goodman Theatre tells TMZ, they created the role just for Pippen -- "He is a business man in the town and he becomes a part of the crowd scenes where we celebrate Christmas morning."

As you can see, Pippen blends right in.

11:43 AM PT -- It appears the Shelby County Sheriff's Office made a mistake on its website, mistakenly posting that Williams was charged with cocaine possession, when it SHOULD have said codeine possession.

Ex-NBA player Shawne Williams -- a former 1st round draft pick -- was arrested in Tennessee last night for possession of weed and codeine ... and cops believe he may have been trying to sell it.

According to reports, Williams' night went to hell when an officer on a routine patrol claims he smelled marijuana coming from a Porsche Panamera which was parked near a Cricket wireless store.

When the cop approached the car, the person inside -- Williams -- reportedly said, "Officer I ain't gonna lie to you, there's a blunt in the car and some syrup."

The cop searched the car ... and reportedly found a partially smoked blunt, another blunt that hadn't been smoked, and a bottle of codeine cough syrup (for which he did not have a prescription).

According to the Williams' booking sheet, posted on the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office website, the 26-year-old was arrested for possession of weed and codeine with intent to manufacture, deliver or sell.

Terrell Owens says Blake Griffin was just JOKING when he claimed the ex-NFL star begged the Clippers for an NBA tryout over the summer ... because that's totally not something T.O. would do.

The drama began earlier this week ... when Griffin appeared on the Dan Patrick radio show and said, "Terrell Owens is always ... he was at our practice facility this summer, begging coaches for a 10-day contract.”

But T.O.'s rep tells us Blake was just kidding ... explaining, "Blake and Terrell are friends. Terrell never begged to become a Clipper."

The rep says Terrell WAS at the Clippers practice facility over the summer, but only because Jasen Powell -- T.O.'s good friend -- is the team's head trainer.

Still, the rep notes, "As everyone knows, [Terrell] can play a serious game of ball."

Kobe Bryant and his estranged wife Vanessa didn't appear too estranged last night ... strolling around NYC together last night arm in arm ... but sources tell TMZ, it's a different story behind the scenes.

Kobe and Vanessa looked as couply as a couple could look on their way out of the 12-12-12 concert at Madison Square Garden ... even sharing a ride home.

Of course, in public ... Kobe and Vanessa appear to be well along the road to reconciliation ever since she filed for divorce in 2011 -- kissing in public, lunching together and now going on concert dates.

But sources connected to the couple tell TMZ ... Kobe ain't outta the woods yet.

Phil Jackson says he doesn't want to return to the Lakers organization ... even if they ask him ... and to make things worse, Phil told TMZ he doesn't think the squad is championship material either.

Phil and his GF Jeanie Buss were out on a dinner date at Gjelina in Venice, CA last night ... when we asked the Zen Master if he would be open to rejoining the team if things didn't work out with the Lakers current head coach Mike D'Antoni.

Consider the world record for "largest humidor ever" broken -- Michael Jordan's $12.4 MILLION Jupiter, FL palace is juuust about ready to move in to ... and it features an insane cigar-friendly home theater.

His Airness -- rarely seen these days without a tightly-rolled Cuban between his teeth -- has been building the 28,000 square foot estate for the past three years, complete with a giant state-of-the-art home theater ... outfitted with special equipment made to handle mass amounts of cigar smoke.

The 3-acre, 11-bedroom compound is being built in the middle of an ultra-exclusive golf course community called the Jack Nicklaus' Bear Club ... where Tiger Woods also lives.

It's unclear where Jordan plans to display his 5 MVP trophies and 6 NBA Championship rings ... but between the main house, the pool house, the guest house, and the 2-story guard house ... he's got plenty of choices.

FYI -- There's also a ridiculous athletic facility ... complete with b-ball court, naturally.

Evelyn Lozada has TWO WORDS for outspoken "Basketball Wives" hater Kenyon Martin ... and those words are "THANK YOU."

Totally kidding. She said "F**k Him."

We broke the story ... Martin -- a 12-year NBA vet -- blasted "BB Wives" recently, saying the show was "toxic" and a total misrepresentation of the lives of married NBA players.

But at LAX last night, Evelyn seemed to take offense to Martin's criticism ... telling TMZ, "I don't think Kenyon knows what he's talking about."

"As far as saying it's toxic, that's fine ... don't f**kin' watch the show ... it's just as simple as that."

Sounds like the making of a good reality show storyline.

Former NBA star Allen Iverson isn't just gonna stand by and watch while his Atlanta mansion hits the foreclosure auction block -- TMZ has learned he's already filed legal docs to put a stop to the sale.

TMZ broke the story ... Iverson's $4.5 million mansion was scheduled to go up for auction on December 4th after he allegedly defaulted on a $1.2 million mortgage.

But before the sale took place, Iverson quickly filed a lawsuit against the lender that's trying to take the home, claiming he never consented to the loan.

Iverson claims his estranged wife -- with whom he's going through a nasty divorce -- signed for the mortgage in order to screw him ... by agreeing to financial terms he couldn't meet.

The lawsuit has since put a hold on the foreclosure proceedings ... buying Iverson some extra time.

Calls to Iverson's camp and the lender he's suing have not been returned.

L.A. Lakers star Devin Ebanks isn't out of the woods yet ... despite being cleared in a rape investigation last year -- because the woman who accused him of sexual assault has now filed a civil lawsuit.

The woman -- who filed the lawsuit anonymously in L.A. County Superior Court -- claims Ebanks forcibly penetrated her vagina with his penis after taking her home from a nightclub in September 2011.

As we reported, the woman filed a report with the LAPD, which then conducted a rape investigation -- but the L.A. County D.A. refused to file charges against Ebanks due to lack of evidence.

Now, the woman's hoping to recover monetary damages in civil court -- suing Ebanks for sexual assault and battery, defamation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

She's suing for unspecified damages.