NBA

Jets WR Brandon Marshall says it's obvious former NBA star Delonte West needs help ... and he believes it's the duty of the NBA to reach out and give him the treatment he needs.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... West was recently seen at a Houston fast food joint in the middle of the night, without shoes, looking pretty disheveled.

Marshall -- who's been very vocal about overcoming his own mental health issues -- was at LAX when we asked about West's seemingly dire situation ... and who could help.

Check out the clip -- Brandon says he definitely thinks Delonte needs a helping hand ... and that the NBA could -- and should -- do their part to reach out to guys having tough times.

Akon is calling major BS on Louis Farrakhan ... saying comments he made comparing NBA basketball to modern day slavery -- and LeBron James to a slave -- are totally and completely off base.

Farrakhan made the statements at a recent Nation Of Islam event in Detroit ... trashing the NBA -- as an exploitative operation where black men are "bought and sold" ... exactly like slavery.

Akon doesn't agree ... and when we got him out at LAX he admitted he had respect for Minister Farrakhan, but didn't hesitate to give him the business ... calling his statement "bulls**t."

Check it out.

There was one guy unimpressed with Kobe Bryant popping his finger back in place and playing an NBA game ... Rick Fox ... who says a dislocated finger is cake compared to Mamba's other injuries.

Fox was at LAX (guy flies more than Superman) when we asked about Bryant's latest feat of superhuman pain tolerance ... finishing a game against the Spurs after dislocating his finger.

Check out the clip -- Rick seems only mildly impressed ... and reminds the entire world that KOBE PLAYED BASKETBALL WITH A TORN ACHILLES TENDON.

Clippers coach Doc Rivers wants his freedom ... freedom from the restrictive (and expensive) suits he wears to coach the Clippers ... saying if he had his way he'd call the shots in a nice comfy uniform.

Rivers was out in L.A. when we asked if he'd ever thought about coaching the game in a more comfortable pair of kicks ... 48 minutes on your feet in dress shoes must really suck.

Check out the clip -- Doc says he'd not only get rid of the shoes ... but the entire NBA coaching getup all together opting instead for the uniform the players wear.

More money problems for Grandmama ... this time Larry Johnson's being sued for close to $500,000 after allegedly blowing off a bank loan from 2007 ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Bank of America claims the former NBA star -- who filed for bankruptcy last year -- is in the hole to the tune of $494,446.57 ... because he stopped making payments on his $450k loan in 2010.

Johnson's got serious money problems ... crazy for a guy who reportedly made more than $80 MILLION during his NBA career. Last year, he was accused of being a deadbeat dad to 4 different women.

Here's former NBA player Delonte West -- looking worse for wear out in Houston earlier this week.

It's actually a sad story ... the person who shot the photo is a huge basketball fan and said they noticed the former 1st round draft pick wandering around outside of a Jack in the Box around 10 PM all by himself with no shoes.

When the fan approached him and asked, "Are you Delonte West?" -- he replied, "I used to be but I'm not about that life anymore."

Here's some pretty good video of Kobe Bryant getting clowned by some super famous NBA stars -- topped off by Chris Paul presenting Mamba with an old man cane.

It all went down at the Gentlemen’s Supper Club at Parcae during NBA All-Star Weekend in Toronto -- with Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and CP3 honoring Kobe with speeches and gifts.

One of the funniest parts ... CP3 says he asked Kobe for his game-used shoes back in the day so he could auction 'em off for his charity -- but Paul admits, "Them shoes still at the crib!"

D-Wade also gifted Kobe a 1 year subscription to Netflix AND some undies so he can be comfortable in retirement.

Here's a list of other gifts Kobe got from the guys:

-- reading glasses

-- Preparation H

-- Mamba fruit chews

-- TV remote

-- denture adhesive cream

-- compression socks

-- Barbaresco 1996 magnum bottle of Italian wine

Here's LeBron James proving he's not only king of the NBA (Steph Curry?) but also the karaoke party turn up ... by doing his best Future and Jay Z impressions at a swanky private party in Toronto.

LeBron and his wife rented out an upscale private home in Toronto for All-Star weekend and threw a "Trap Karaoke" bash attended by megastars like Drake, Kevin Hart, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Amber Rose and Fabolous.

The best part was when LeBron himself grabbed the mic ... jamming out a headlining performance of Future's "March Madness" with an encore of Jay Z's "Public Service Announcement."

Steve Nash says the 2016 NBA Slam Dunk contest was easily one of the greatest of all time -- but it was so close between Aaron Gordon and Zach LaVine that they need to DO IT AGAIN!!!

Nash says it actually compares to the legendary 1988 contest ... with the only difference being that Michael Jordan was the best player in the world at the time ... which added to the lore.

But with Gordon and LaVine going back and forth with some of the sickest dunks of all time (LaVine eventually won) -- Nash agrees with basketball fans everywhere ... WE NEED A REMATCH!!

It turns out sweaty, 6'8" guys beat the hell out of Rosetta Stone ... 'cause NBA great Yao Ming says he learned to speak the King's English ... hanging with the boys in the locker room.

We got Yao enjoying some NBA All-Star game festivities and asked him how he learned his mastery over the English language ... given that he barely spoke any English when he first got to the NBA.

Check out the clip -- Yao says he didn't hire any fancy teachers or coaches to perfect his words ... and credits all his time spent hanging around the locker rooms with his ability to talk his talk.

Come to think of it ... those Kardashians are pretty well spoken.

BTW, Ming told reporters he's close to earning his college degree in China ... but needs to write up a 20,000 word essay first. We asked him about that, too.

LeBron James, Draymond Green, Kevin Hart and more hit up a secret VIP party for Drake Thursday night in Toronto ... complete with a celebrity DJ and DAVID BLAINE doing magic ... TMZ Sports has learned.

It all went down at Frings -- owned by one of Drake's good friends -- and we're told the party was strictly invitation only.

We're told the party was to honor Drake -- who's getting the key to the city this week ... as part of the kickoff to NBA All-Star weekend.

We're told the coolest part of the party was that legendary street magician David Blaine was basically the entertainment ... doing insane tricks for people throughout the night.

With all the huge NBA stars and celebs coming to town -- we're told it's supposed to get wild in Toronto this week.

Stay tuned ...

Dennis Rodman has a big supporter ... John Salley -- who says he LIKES the idea of The Worm as an NBA coach and thinks Phil Jackson should give him a shot.

Rodman threw his hat in the ring for Knicks job earlier this week after Derek Fisher got the ax -- and even called in to the "TMZ Sports" show on FS1 to make his pitch to the team.

Salley says his former Detroit Pistons is a defensive genius -- and could definitely help a team ... and should be taken seriously!!

Question is ... will Phil take the chance?

It takes more than 1,000 thread count sheets to sway Magic Johnson's presidential loyalty ... cause Mr. Laker says he's 100% voting for Hillary Clinton ... even as he leaves one of Donald Trump's hotels.

Magic's endorsement is a HUGE deal in the political world ... so when we got him leaving a Trump hotel in NYC we wanted to know if he was kinda thinking about making America great again.

The answer is NO ... We didn't even get our question out before Magic assured us that he's still in Clinton's corner and there doesn't seem to be anything that can change that.

Bonus NBA talk? Magic also told us that he hopes former Knicks head coach Derek Fisher gets another job in the league, saying in his opinion D-Fish is "a good leader."

Check out the clip.

Lamar Odom is doing so well, if you didn't know he was at death's door in October, you would never know he suffered 12 strokes and was unable to walk or speak.

As we reported, Lamar went hiking with Kim and Khloe over the weekend. The doctors never thought they would see the day. But even more surprising ... Lamar's cognitive functions have significantly returned ... he's able to process thoughts, speak them and carry on conversations.

Lamar had significant problems recognizing people -- even family members -- for several months after he was rushed to the hospital. But now his recall is back.

We're told Lamar's not completely back. He's still "a bit slow," and has memory lapses and sometimes has problems speaking. But the issues are subtle.

As for the hike, we're told his goal is to be able to run again. He's not there, but he's determined and believes he still has a shot at playing basketball again.

We're told Lamar's trajectory is so miraculous, he has a shot at living independently in a matter of months.

Dennis Rodman says he's dead serious about his pursuit of the NY Knicks coaching job -- and he just called "TMZ Sports" to make his case for the job.

Matt Barnes posted this pic on Instagram moments after his nemesis Derek Fisher was fired by the Knicks.

So ... this is total shade, right?

Look, it coulda just been bad timing and Barnes just wanted to show off his swag (he is after all a very fashionable guy).

Then again, he hates Fisher's guts and the look on his face says -- "Take that, bitch."