NBA

Lance Stephenson had a helluva Tuesday night ... 'cause hours after he became a dad again, the NBA star was celebrating at an NYC nightclub ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Stephenson's baby mama Feby Torres announced the birth of Lance Jr. on March 18th -- the same night the Indiana Pacers star was scheduled to appear at Greenhouse NYC.

Well, Lance isn't one to bail on a commitment ... and sources at the club tell us he rolled in late Tuesday night -- and popped Bottega Rose champagne and sipped on D'Ussé cognac with some of his pals from the Pacers.

But after he put in his time at the club, we're told Lance returned to the hospital to be with his family.

And if that wasn't enough ... Lance also played in a game the next night and CRUSHED IT -- leading the team in scoring and rebounds.

After months of rumors ... from adultery to divorce ... Keyshia Cole has finally confirmed she and her NBA star husband 'Boobie' Gibson are separated.

Cole appeared with The Breakfast Club on Power 105.1 in New York this morning and when asked about the current status of her relationship with Gibson said, "We co-parent."

Cole implied that she and the Cleveland Cavaliers star are living apart -- and that he comes to her home at 8:30 AM every morning to pick up their son to take him to school. Cole says she picks the kid up at the end of the day ... adding, "We good."

Cole wouldn't say if either side has filed divorce docs yet -- but said the two still care for each other.

Sam Cassell has something in common with John Mayer -- they both bought expensive watches from the same guy ... a guy accused of selling FAKES ... and now the former NBA star tells TMZ Sports he's bringing in experts to see if he got ripped off.

We broke the story ... Mayer is suing Charlie Sheen's BFF Robert Maron -- claiming he bought $5 million worth of Rolex watches from the guy ... some of which turned out NOT to be 100% authentic.

Cassell tells TMZ Sports he also bought a watch from Maron -- "It's an A. Lange & Sohne. It cost me a nice piece of change."

Sam wouldn't say how much he spent on the watch -- but A. Lange & Sohne pieces can run upwards of $150k.

Cassell says he was introduced to Maron by his former Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy -- and bought the watch from him because he offered the lowest price in town.

"What am I thinking ... this guys gonna rip me off? No. Mike got watches from him also. But at the same time, Mike's a basketball coach, not a jeweler."

Sam says he's now sending the watch to an expert to analyze the timepiece ... and says, "If it comes back fake, I'm going to the Dept. of Justice!"

Mark Cuban wasn't joking when he promised a "Shark Tank" entrepreneur he'd get his product into Mavs gift shops -- 'cause TMZ Sports has learned U-Lace is planning to drop at American Airlines Arena beginning next season.

We spoke with Tim Talley -- who got Mark to invest $200k into his customizable shoe lace business on a recent episode of "Shark Tank."

Talley says sales have exploded since Mark came aboard -- and so far, Cuban has been dead serious about delivering on the promises he made on the show, starting with the plan to sell at Dallas Mavericks team shops.

"We'll likely get the laces into the arena early next season," Talley says ... adding that U-Lace is also gunning for deals with other NBA teams ... as well as organizations in the NFL, MLB and NHL.

Talley says the company is also developing shoes to go along with the laces.

Makes sense to us.

Ex-NBA superstar Ben Wallace is now a FREE MAN ... after spending 16 hours behind bars for a hit-and-run accident back in February.

Wallace began his stint on Tuesday when he was sentenced to 2 days in the slammer for leaving the scene of an accident when he crashed his SUV through a fence in Virginia and fled on February 8th.

But after 16 grueling hours ... Wallace was released.

Charles Barkley is a GLADIATOR ... telling TMZ Sports he HATES reality TV with a passion -- but he's got a soft spot in his heart for "Scandal."

Sir Charles was out in NYC today -- and even though we started off talking about President Barack Obama's Final Four picks (Chuck approves btw) ... we moved right into Barkley's TV habits.

Charles Dislikes: "The Bachelor" and every other reality show ever created.

Charles Likes: "Scandal," "Person of Interest" and "Blue Bloods."

3-time NBA champ Byron Scott has filed for divorce ... seeking to end his 29-year marriage to his college sweetheart Anita Scott ... TMZ Sports has learned.

According to court docs, obtained by TMZ Sports, the former Lakers player (who later served as head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers) ... filed the papers on March 13.

Byron and Anita met at a nightclub in Los Angeles when Byron was still a student at Arizona State ... and according to Anita, he courted her with flowers, love letters and poetry.

Anita once told Cleveland.com, "Once we started dating, [Byron] was the knight in shining armor. He was the perfect sweetheart. It was a whirlwind."

They married in 1985 -- but according to the docs, they separated in June 2013.

Former NBA superstar Ben Wallace is currently behind bars in Virginia stemming from a hit-and-run incident in February.

The ex-Detroit Pistons tough guy had appeared in court Tuesday wheer he plead no contest to leaving the scene of a crash in Henrico County, VA on February 8th.

According to police, a vehicle registered to Wallace crashed through a fence outside of a home on a busy stretch of road and then fled the scene ... leaving his SUV unattended at the home.

Here's Phoenix Suns star Channing Frye with his Final Four champion pick ... but you should be warned, he's a little biased.

Frye was hitting the streets of NYC with his Suns teammate Miles Plumlee yesterday -- and while Channing was all about his pick for the NCAA tourney winner, Miles was suspiciously silent.

No confidence in Duke, Miles? Or just playing it close to the vest?

Terrell Owens just experienced his first L.A. earthquake ... and he's handling it just like we thought he would -- crying.

Moments after a 4.4 shaker rolled through Westwood early Monday morning, T.O. went right to Twitter ... saying, "I'm scared!! Can I get someone to come cuddle with me?! I'm from Alabama, we don't get stuff like this! #earthquake."

T.O. wasn't the first athlete to go through the L.A. rite of passage this morning -- Grant Hill also joined the club ... tweeting, "Just felt my first earthquake tremor in LA... Scary!!!"

But the best reaction had to go to L.A. native Baron Davis -- who wrote, "Hopefully this earthquake will convince a lot people living here,, 2 move back to where they live before... Cutdown traffic #justsaying."

Emmy Rossum is a die hard Knicks fan ... DIE HARD ... and she doesn't take kindly to people who jumped ship to root for the Nets because Jay Z told them to.

Rossum was at LAX this weekend -- proudly rockin' her Knicks hat -- when she admitted it's been hard being a NYK fan over the years, but says ... "I love my team so I don't give up on them."

Then she fired the shot -- "I didn't just hop to the Nets 'cause they were cool ... like other people."

The search is finally over for former NBA player Eric Williams ... because his deadbeat ass was tracked down in Jersey ... and now he could be sent to jail for ducking his baby mama, TMZ Sports has learned.

We broke the story ... 41-year-old Williams -- who also appeared on "Basketball Wives" -- has been on the hook for $24k in unpaid child support to the mother of his 13-year-old son since back in November, but he blew off a court order to pay up and then went M.I.A.

Well, now ... we've learned a process server finally found the guy in the Garden State and gave him a court summons to appear before a judge in April ... OR ELSE!!!!

FYI -- the "or else" means the judge could order a warrant for his arrest if he doesn't show ... which means he could find himself behind bars.

Samuel L. Jackson isn't the kind of guy who beats around the bush -- so when we asked if he thinks Kobe Bryant will ever win another NBA title, the guy was as brutally honest as it gets.

But don't crawl into a ball just yet Laker fans, there is a silver lining ... according to Sam, there's still a way for the Mamba to fetch another ring ... but it won't be due to his performance ON the court.

B-Real is no Aaron Paul -- telling TMZ Sports he REFUSES to give up on his Lakers ... even though they were the first team eliminated from playoff contention.

The Cypress Hill rapper is a huge fan of the purp and gold ... and says a true fan should stick with their team through the good times and the bad (right now, it's really bad) ... unlike Paul who gave up on the Broncos the day after the Super Bowl.

He also tells us why he thinks it's GOOD that Kobe's hangin' em up for the rest of the season.

The L.A. Clippers are rallying behind Blake Griffin ... with one baller telling TMZ Sports the entire team's got Blake's back if anyone tries to pull a Jermaine O'Neal and get in his face again.

In case you missed it ... O'Neal confronted Griffin in the hallway after the Clips smashed the Warriors 111-98 ... with Jermaine clearly looking for a Part 2 of the altercation they had on the court earlier that game.

We spoke with one of the Clippers who tells us, "People always hate on the best ... what do you except when you’re the best?"

"There's NO FEAR and Blake isn't worried about the haters. We have Blake’s back ... but he ain't worried."

The $4 MILLION apology ring Kobe Bryant gave to Vanessa screwed things up for cheaters everywhere ... so says Marlon Wayans who says Kobe set the price of forgiveness way too damn high.

Marlon dished out the knowledge after we asked if Robin Thicke's apparent flower offensive would help the singer win back his wife after she broke things off.

"Robin's trying to bring it back to simplicity," Marlon said ... "Kobe changed the game."

"How is any man that f**ks up ... and we all f**k up ... how am I gonna compete with that?!"

For the record, Kobe didn't just splurge on a ring ... he also gave Vanessa 3 MANSIONS!