NBA

It's been 10 years to the day since Kobe Bryant dropped 81 points on the Toronto Raptors -- and the Lakers say they will honor the historic moment at Friday night's Lakers game.

A rep for the team tells TMZ Sports ... there will be video tributes on the big screens to the Mamba before and during the game honoring that crazy night on January 22, 2006 ... back when KB was just 27 years old.

#GloryDays

Cleveland Cavs star J.R. Smith is officially off the hook in an alleged pizza joint attack -- with prosecutors saying he will NOT be charged with a crime for allegedly attacking a heckler.

J.R. was named in a police report filed by a 19-year-old man back in Nov. -- in which he claimed Smith choked him outside of a NYC pizza joint after he heckled the guy about being traded from the Knicks.

Smith had denied any wrongdoing from the very beginning -- and now it seems he's in the clear, with the District Attorney reportedly refusing to move forward with a case against the NBA star.

A spokesperson for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office tells TMZ Sports, "After a thorough investigation of the circumstances surrounding this case, we have concluded that the evidence does not support criminal charges against Mr. Smith."

NY Knicks' James Dolan is having a good week ... his team is winning ... and his band just landed a huge gig ... TO OPEN FOR JEWEL!!!

Dolan -- who's worth BILLIONS -- was out in NYC this morning when he broke the big news about his band JD & The Straight Shot.

FYI -- James is the founder and frontman of the blues inspired rock band ... and told us they're going on tour with Jewel in March to promote their new album.

There's more ... we also asked him about the Knicks rising Latvian superstar Kristaps Porzingis -- and he told us the team would be open to play a game in KP's home country next season!

Rap star Common says there are no shortcuts to greatness ... and athletes who use HGH can never, ever be compared to legends like Michael Jordan and LeBron James ... who did it au naturel.

Common was out in Beverly Hills when we talked all things sports with him ... and when the conversation turned to HGH ... the Chicago rapper sounded off.

HGH is a hot topic right now ... with everyone from Mark Cuban to Chris D'elia weighing in on whether or not its time for the sports world to accept the health benefits the drug can offer.

Check it out -- Common's not the type of guy to diss anyone -- but he makes it clear -- HGH just takes all the wonder and fun -- out of professional sports.

James Harden has good reason to be pissed about a fan flashing a laser in his eye, because he could've had Kenny Smith's experience instead -- in fact, he WISHES he did ... trust us.

We got "The Jet" at LAX and broke down the Harden incident -- a Utah Jazz fan hit him with a laser pointer during free throws. It reminded Kenny about his own run-in with a fan hell bent on messing up his game when he was playing at North Carolina.

"It's a one point game, girl comes up in a trench coat, and ..."

Watch the clip to see how it turned out. Yes, there were boobs involved.

As for the NBA dropping the hammer on the fan who lasered Harden -- Kenny explained why "Adam Silver doesn't play!"

Celebrity hair guru Jonathan Antin thinks LeBron James should look to Brian Urlacher for hairspiration ... saying Urlacher fixed his folicaly challenged head ... and LBJ can do the same.

We got Jonathan in the middle of a deluge in L.A. (still with perfect locks of course) and asked about Urlacher's miraculous change ... his brand new (surgically implanted) head of hair.

The convo eventually turned to King James ... and whether or not LeBron should try the same process on his thinning crown.

Check out the clip -- Jonathan makes an impassioned plea to LeBron to stop the fast break on his head ... and coming from a hair expert ... it's pretty powerful.

Peep the transformation below ... and be inspired.

Damn, boss ... you are really riding my ass!

Mark Cuban takes his team bonding very, very seriously. Can't knock him for joining in on this dog pile though. Deron Williams hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer of double OT to defeat the Kings Tuesday night.

Floyd Mayweather has the belt, but DJ Khaled's got Snapchat on lock -- question is ... which one's a bigger a draw at Staples Center? We got the answer Tuesday night.

We got Floyd and Khaled as they walked into the Lakers-Warriors game, and the video's interesting. Of course, Mayweather's the champ ... tons of fans worldwide, but fact is social media trumps all.

It started with our video outside, and continued inside, where Khaled was king all night with fans swarming him everywhere. Let's face it -- everyone wants to get the key!

It's cool though -- Khaled and Floyd eventually kicked it, and yes ... Khaled did give him a key.

LeBron James took a family approach to the holidays -- doing New Year's in Aspen with his mom and her rapping bf.

ATTENTION NBA PLAYERS:

Rapper Trinidad James -- the "All Gold Everything" guy -- has a slam dunk way you can avoid being shot in the strip club.

We got James out ... and asked him about the Knicks player who recently got blasted in the knee leaving a booty club out in NYC.

Question is ... is there anything high-profile athletes can do to shield themselves from random violence while they enjoy some random ass?

Ever since Kanye West shouted out Swaggy P for wearing Yeezys ... the Lakers haven't lost a game, but Jordan Clarkson's not ready to call him a good luck charm just yet.

We got Clarkson leaving Boosty Bellows and proposed a theory -- that Kanye's new song is providing the mojo for the Lake show's 3 game winning streak. Ye drops his teammate's name in the track about Adidas crushing Nike:

“Now we hottest in the streets, it ain't no discussion
James Harden, Swaggy P runnin' up the budget”

Check out the clip, Jordan mimicked a few of the the lyrics, but NEVER really agreed with our theory. One possible reason ... JC's a Nike guy!

At least Swaggy responded to Kanye ... on IG.

Kobe Bryant has a squad to play for when his Lakers days are officially done .... 'cause Rick Fox just invited the Mamba to join Echo Fox ... his League of Legends team.

If you don't know what League of Legends is you probably have a girlfriend ... we kid ... it's the biggest competitive video gaming sensation in the world ... with competitions paying millions to winners.

Rick Fox is a brand new team owner in the North America League of Legends Championship series, and when we got him at LAX he extended a personal invitation to Kobe to join up.

Ex-NBA player Jeff Adrien is insisting he did NOT steal a car from a Hollywood hotel valet ... pleading not guilty in court moments ago.

TMZ Sports broke the story... the former UConn star was arrested earlier this month after allegedly jacking a 2015 Mercedes from a parking attendant and taking it on a 6 hour joyride around Los Angeles.

We spoke to Adrien ... and he told us it was all a big misunderstanding ... saying he was trying to borrow a friend's car and got into the wrong one by mistake.

29-year-old Adrien was charged with one count of driving or taking a vehicle without consent. If convicted, he faces up to 3 years in county jail.

LeBron James is getting a raw deal from activists demanding he boycott the season in protest ... that's according to ex-NBA player Jay Williams who says one man can't change the world alone.

James is being pressured to sit out NBA games until the Department of Justice investigates the shooting of Tamir Rice ... a 12-year-old Cleveland boy killed by police.

The hashtag #NoJusticeNoLeBron has caught fire on Twitter ... and when we got Jay arriving at LAX we asked him if it was fair that LBJ was getting all the heat.

Matt Barnes has been suspended for two games without pay by the NBA for his involvement in an altercation with Knicks head coach Derek Fisher.

The NBA had been investigating the incident ... in which Barnes allegedly confronted Fisher at the home of Barnes' ex-wife, Gloria Govan. According to witnesses, Barnes allegedly socked Fisher in the mouth.

Barnes was not charged in the incident.

Even megastars like Russell Westbrook have bouncer drama at Hollywood nightclubs -- 'cause the NBA superstar got stopped at one of the hottest bars in L.A. Monday night 'cause the bouncer didn't know who he was.

The Oklahoma City Thunder superstar hit up The Nice Guy -- often frequented by huge stars like Justin Bieber, Gigi Hadid and Leonardo DiCaprio -- when the bouncer pumped the brakes at the door.