NBA

Wanna take a special friend out for a nice romantic Italian dinner?

Well, ya can't take 'em to Cuttino Mobley's restaurant in L.A. 'cause the place closed down ... and now the former NBA star is suing the cooks -- claiming all they ever served up was bull crap.

The name of the place was Sirena -- which specialized in rustic Italian dishes (shoulda tried the branzino) ... and Cuttino was an investor.

But according to a lawsuit obtained by TMZ Sports, Mobley said he was duped by two cooks (one of whom was allegedly abusing drugs at the restaurant).

In the suit, Mobley says he was promised he was investing in a friendly and affordable "open-air restaurant" ... but the cooks turned the joint into an expensive, "closed -off" place that was only accessible from an alley-way.

Long story short ... the place tanked and shut down last September -- and now Cuttino is suing the cooks to get his money back.

PGA golfer Steve Elkington is getting hammered on Twitter right now ... after making a joke about Michael Sam throwing a purse at the NFL combine.

The 51-year-old Australian -- who won the PGA championship in '95 -- wrote, "ESPN reporting Michael Sam is leading the handbag throw at NFL combine ... No one else expected to throw today."

Moments after the tweet, the backlash began ... with Steve's followers going off on the golfer. Here's a sample:

-- "You are TRYING TO MAKE SURE YOUR PUBLICIST keeps his job aren't you?? Good luck motherf*ker. See your apology at 11 on ESPN."

-- "BREAKING: Irrelevant golfer makes awful joke"

-- "Homophobia is hilarious (to a sh*tty old white dude)."

-- "let me get this straight - a golfer is making jokes about a football player's manliness?"

There's more ... but you get the point.

It's not LeBron ... it's not Jordan ... not Magic, Bird or Shaq -- the greatest NBA player of all time is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ... so says ex-NBA star Michael Cooper.

The Coop -- who just took the head coaching gig with the WNBA's Atlanta Dream -- was at LAX yesterday when we asked him to name the best pound-for-pound baller in the history of the league.

"I have to go with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar," Cooper said ... "He had the most unstoppable shot."

Cooper would know ... he played with Kareem for years during his stint with the Lakers.

One more thing -- Cooper also gave props to ex-teammate Magic Johnson for saving the entire WNBA.

Lakers -- they stick together.

This video is HILARIOUS -- a pretty hammered Brooklyn Nets player getting smothered by a hot chick with a big ass in the middle of the day -- and he wants NONE OF IT!!!!!

The NBA player is Andray Blatche -- who hit up Crustacean in Beverly Hills with a girl named Sandrina Smith ... and it's clear, they had been indulging in a few cocktails. Ok, a LOT of cocktails.

But the best part of the clip ... when Sandrina grabbed him around the waist and tried to get him to admit they have some sort of relationship -- Blatche bobs and weaves like a young Cassius Clay!!

You just gotta watch the video -- if they are together, he might be sleepin' on the couch tonight!

New York Knicks guard Raymond Felton was arrested on gun charges Tuesday ... after his estranged wife ordered her attorney to bring the player's gun to an NYPD precinct.

According to NYPD, Ariane Raymondo-Felton's attorney handed over the semi-automatic Belgian-made pistol late Monday night.

The following morning, Ray turned himself in to police for questioning.

It's unclear at this point why Felton's wife of just 19 months brought the gun to cops. She filed for divorce last week.

The NBA player was eventually booked for two felonies -- 2nd and 3rd degree possession of a firearm -- as well as 4th degree possession ... a misdemeanor.

Felton went to the Manhattan precinct to deal with the gun trouble ... right after the Knicks lost another heart breaker to the Dallas Mavericks.

Miami Heat sharpshooter Roger Mason is a terrible judge of haircuts ... this according to a lawsuit obtained by TMZ Sports.

The man going after Mason is Brandon Daire -- the brother of Roger's baby mama ... and it's clear, they don't like each other.

According to Daire ... back in 2013, Mason asked court officials to keep Brandon away from his kid due to a pattern of bizarre behavior ... including an incident in which Brandon allegedly gave the kid really bad haircut.

Mason told the court ... the kid's hair was "sloppily shaved in some areas and un-shaved in other areas."

Mason claimed the two got into a nasty verbal argument about the 'do ... and Brandon cussed him out in front of the kid.

But now, Brandon is firing back ... saying Roger LIED about the incident and it damaged his reputation, both professionally and personally. Apparently, he stands by his barber skills.

Now, Brandon is demanding at least $10 million from Mason to make things right.

We've reached out to Roger for comment -- so far, no word back.

Jadeveon Clowney's INCREDIBLE 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine didn't just impress the football community -- it blew away an Olympic sprinting legend who tells TMZ Sports he's never seen anything like it.

In case you haven't heard, Clowney -- who weighs 266 pounds -- ran a blazing fast 4.47 ... faster than almost ALL of the running backs at the combine.

We spoke to Maurice Green -- the former 100 meter dash record holder -- who tells us plain and simple -- "Jadeveon is a freak athlete."

Green -- who trains a bunch of NFL stars including Richard Sherman and Reggie Bush -- says, "You don't get too many guys with his size and speed. Guys like Jadeveon don't come around that often. If I was a QB in the NFL I'd be worried."

Still, Green says he'd destroy Clowney in a footrace -- "My best 40 time was 3.8."

That's fast.

Lamar Odom says there's still hope for his marriage to Khloe Kardashian ... claiming he's not convinced she'll see the divorce through, 2 months after she filed divorce docs.

Odom was doing an interview in Spain -- where he's now playing pro basketball -- and said "only time will tell" if Khloe will finish the job ... though he says he hopes she reconsiders.

We broke the story ... Khloe filed for divorce in December, seeking to end their 4-year marriage after Odom's drug problem spiraled out of control.

"I love my wife. She'll always be my wife, no matter what," Odom says ... "Even if we were divorced, she'd always be my wife."

You've heard the stories about Kobe Bryant and his legendary chopper ... but former Lakers player Devin Ebanks tells TMZ Sports he NEVER saw the Mamba helicopter to practice once!!!!

Ebanks -- who spent 3 seasons with the Lake Show -- was at LAX this weekend when he dropped the bombshell ... telling us the helicopter stories are more urban legend than fact.

Guess this means Kobe was must have had to slum it to practice in one of his pedestrian cars ... like his Ferrari, Bentley or Lamborghini.

#RichPeopleProblems

LeBron James channeled Oprah Winfrey for his mom's birthday gift ... 'cause SHE GOT A BRAND NEW CAR!!!!!!!

LeBron just surprised his mom with a white Porsche Panamera ... which can run up to $200k.

And if that wasn't enough, the NBA superstar included the following heart-felt message:

"Enjoy and love you momma! Trying to figure out how to give u the world but in the mean time enjoy your new toy! #ProudSon #SheGoneStuntOnMeNow #StriveForGreatness"

As for LeBron's dad -- well, he got something else this week ... a public "thank you" note from 'Bron for not being in his life.

"I have no idea who you are, but because of you is part of the reason who I am today."

Yeah, mom's gift was better.

NBA star Serge Ibaka sprung into HERO MODE last night when he saw some dude on a bike wipe out in a mall parking lot ... and according to the victim, Serge was nothing short of a "big black angel."

The guy who ate pavement is Grant -- who works in the Penn Square Mall in OKC. Grant tells TMZ Sports he was biking home when he lost control, flipped the bike and landed on his face ... chipping his tooth and opening a gash on his chin.

Grant says as soon as he went down, someone rushed over to see if he was OK ... someone who happened to be Oklahoma City Thunder big man Serge Ibaka.

Grant says he was disoriented after the crash ... but Serge helped him up, brought him inside the mall, got him water and helped clean off his wounds.

"He was so nice, really nice," Grant says ... "He really didn't need to take time to do that, but it's awesome that he did."

Scott Schwartz -- who played the kid who got his tongue frozen stuck to a pole in "A Christmas Story" -- hit an UNBELIEVABLE half-court shot at a Denver Nuggets game ... and all he got was a lousy t-shirt.

Schwartz -- who also starred as the spoiled brat in the Richard Prior classic "The Toy" -- was brought on to the court Tuesday as a celebrity guest to goof around with the Nuggets mascot during a break in the action.

Things started off with the mascot sinking a crazy over the back half-court shot ... and then he handed the rock to Schwartz -- who NAILED a Kareem-style hook shot!!

Unfortunately, the shot wasn't a part of a contest ... so he didn't win anything (though Schwartz says the Nuggets were nice enough to give him a t-shirt and a cranberry juice).

Scott tells TMZ Sports ... there was NO WAY he thought he'd sink the shot on the first try -- but says, "I was always an athlete."

Nice shot.

Lamar Odom doesn't just think he can save his basketball career in Spain ... he also thinks he can save his marriage ... and to prove it, he rocked his wedding ring on his way out of the country.

Odom was all smiles as he rolled through LAX on Tuesday ... right before he boarded his plane to Espana, where he'll join a Spanish pro basketball team (Laboral Kutxa Vitoria).

But it was clear he wanted to make a statement about the state of his marriage to Khloe Kardashian -- by wearing the ring on his finger.

As we previously reported, Khloe already filed for divorce ... and wants out of the marriage.

Clearly, Odom is an optimist these days.

Clyde Drexler is about to glide into his second marriage ... and TMZ Sports has learned it's all thanks to a huge assist from another NBA superstar.

We know ... Clyde and his GF Tonya filed for a marriage certificate in Texas on February 11th ... and sources connected to the situation tell us they plan to officially tie the knot in the next few weeks.

But get this ... the person who introduced Clyde to his special lady is none other than Clyde's old NBA pal Dominique Wilkins -- the Human Highlight Reel.

We're told Clyde and Tonya first started dating around 2 years ago ... and the rest is history.

A 13-year-old boy got one heck of a birthday surprise after emerging from brain surgery last week ... when his phone rang and 3 HUGE STARS were on the line to wish him a speedy recovery.

TMZ Sports has learned ... Kevin Durant, actor Kevin Hart and NFL star Tavon Austin called up 13-year-old Mikka on Thursday after learning about the brave boy's battle with a brain condition.

We spoke to Mikka's dad who tells us, "Before they called, his energy level was low ... but those guys really picked him up. They actually brought a smile to his face."

He adds, "Mikka didn't believe it. When Kevin Durant called I said, 'It's really K.D.'"

"All three guys told him to be strong and they wished him a happy birthday."

Tavon tells TMZ Sports ... "I was happy to call Mikka when I found out he was having major surgery. He's my family (cousins). I watched Mikka as an infant. He's a tough kid."

Mikka's dad says ... Mikka was released from a Maryland hospital on Sunday -- and says, "He can't wait to go to school and tell all of his friends!"

Lamar Odom has just signed a deal to play pro basketball in Spain ... but there are serious signs the whole thing is just a cheap Spanish publicity stunt.

Fact: Lamar just signed a deal with a team called Laboral Kutxa Vitoria.

Fact: Laboral Kutxa Vitoria is ranked 9th out of 18th in its league ... and LAST in its Euroleague group.

Fact: Lamar only signed a 2-month deal, which will take him through the end of the season.

Smells fishy ...

Here's the deal ... the team wants Lamar because they hope he sells tickets since they suck and a playoff run is super unlikely.

But Lamar thinks this could be his road back to the NBA -- despite the fact he's essentially been shut out of the league due to his history of substance abuse and bad decision-making.

Example #1 -- It was just a few months ago a wasted Lamar made a rap video with a friend in which he bragged about cheating on his wife Khloe Kardashian.

Example #2 -- Even after he was arrested for DUI and struggling with sobriety, Lamar was hitting up bars and nightclubs in L.A.

Example #3 -- A delusional Odom insisted there was "great interest" from multiple NBA teams when in fact, no one wanted to touch the guy.