NBA

Drake, Chris Brown, and Travis Scott make room ... former NBA player Stephen Jackson's got a hankering for some Rihanna ... promising to get "real aggressive" if he ever runs into the pop star.

Jackson was at LAX when we asked him if he ever got starstruck while playing in front of some of the huge stars that come to watch NBA basketball games.

SJ says it's not really his personality to be star struck ... but that there is one huge star who he'd love to meet and put in some work, work, work, work, work with.

Josh Duhamel says he knows exactly what celebrity he'd save if he magically had the power to jump back in time ... former LSU and NBA star Pistol Pete Maravich.

Josh is currently staring in the Hulu show "11.22.63" about a man going back in time to stop the assassination of JFK. So when we got him at LAX we had to ask ...

Which dead celebrity would he save?

Check out the clip -- MLK? Nope. RFK? Nope. Lincoln, Gandhi, John Lennon? None of the above. Josh says he wants to save the guy he calls "maybe the best basketball player behind Steph Curry."

He's killing it in the D-League ... but Jimmer Fredette might not stick around to see if the NBA calls him up again ... telling TMZ Sports he's considering taking his talents overseas.

27-year-old Fredette -- the 10th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft -- didn't blossom into a superstar right away ... and was sent down to the D-League to polish his skills.

Jimmer is flourishing with the NY Knicks D-League squad -- he was the MVP of the 2016 D-League All Star game.

So, when we saw him out in NYC Thursday we had to ask ... how much longer do you stick around waiting for the NBA? The answer ... might not be that long.

"It's a tough time right now in Lakerland," so says Lakers prodigy Jordan Clarkson who called D'Angelo Russell his "brother" -- but stopped short of saying he would ever trust the guy again.

Clarkson -- who scored 26 points in the Lakers OT win over the Heat -- was leaving The Nice Guy in West Hollywood when we asked about the drama between Russell and Nick Young.

"Both of them dudes my brothers," Clarkson said.

Lamar Odom took up Kobe Bryant on his offer Wednesday night and was his special V.I.P. guest at the Lakers game -- his first time back at Staples Center since his overdose back in October.

Miami Heat star Joe Johnson says he WON'T be distracted by the Lakers off-the-court drama when they face off at Staples Center Wednesday night ... but lets us know it would NEVER happen with the Heat.

The 7-time All Star was walking in Bev Hills before tonight's game when we asked him for his take on the D'Angelo Russell, Nick Young situation.

Former "Basketball Wives" star Laura Govan knows how NBA locker rooms work -- she was with Gilbert Arenas for years -- and tells TMZ Sports D'Angelo Russell may NEVER be able to recover from the Nick Young video scandal.

"There's a lot of shade in the NBA," Govan says, "These n**gas are f*cked up. I know first hand."

Check out the clip ... Govan says there's a STRONG bond between teammates at the NBA level, and if you violate that trust, "it's hard to recover from that."

Sidenote -- Govan says she's back on speaking terms with Arenas ... which is HUUUGE considering they've been at WAR with each other ever since they broke up last year.

Miley Cyrus can't win 'em all ... she took an L in a family feud at Madison Square Garden, 'cause she was stupid brave enough to back the Knicks.

Miley and older sis Brandi Cyrus sat courtside for the Knicks-Cavs game ... getting some extreme closeups of LeBron James. Despite the Knicks sucking hard this year (they lost by 14 last night) Miley rocked a Kristaps Porzingis' #6 t-shirt.

Brandi knew best this time, since she sported a King James jersey. Still, give the freshly minted 'Voice' judge partial credit for sticking with Godzingis.

Michael Jordan doesn't hate rap -- and never EVER dissed Method Man and Redman ... despite what rapper N.O.R.E. said this week ... this according to MJ's rep.

N.O.R.E. went on the Rap Radar Podcast and told a story about MJ's alleged anti-rap comments at a Def Jam Xmas party went viral this week -- with N.O.R.E. insisting Jordan told the partygoers, "F**k rap."

He went into great detail ... saying Jordan would only speak with Jay Z at the party -- blowing off the other rappers in the process.

But MJ's rep, Estee Portnoy, says it's just not true -- telling TMZ Sports, "MJ wasn’t at this party, doesn’t know N.O.R.E., and is a fan of ALL music."

She adds, "Drake is in his brand, and Nelly is a partner of his with the Charlotte Hornets."

Plus, don't forget the video of MJ gettin' down to "Wobble" back in July.

This man LOVES hip-hop!

Stickum = selfish ... so says Charles Barkley who says Dwight Howard needs to ditch to the sticky stuff 'cause it screws up the ball for everyone else on the court.

Barkley was out in NYC Tuesday when he told us the stickum isn't that big of a deal -- but Dwight shouldn't be using it.

"You can't use stickum, 'cause you screw it up for everybody else," Barkley said ... "Other guys need the ball too!"

The NBA issued an official warning to Howard after he was busted using the substance against the Hawks -- Howard says he doesn't think it's a big deal.

Donald Sterling just got CREAMED in his billion dollar lawsuit against the NBA -- with the judge throwing out the suit claiming Sterling's allegations were weak as hell.

Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson says he wants to end the beef with Stephen A. Smith once and for all -- IN THE CAGE -- challenging the reporter to a MMA match ... and he's dead serious.

The former NBA star joined the guys on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs tonight on FS1) -- to respond to an interview Smith did last week ... in which S.A.S. said he "despises" Robinson for being a hypocrite on race issues in the NBA.

Check out the teaser clip -- and make sure to watch the ENTIRE INTERVIEW tonight on FS1 ... it's intense!

Long story short ... Smith said Robinson always talked about helping black people succeed in non-player roles in the NBA ... but then trashed his former 76ers coach, Randy Ayers, who is black.

Robinson says Stephen A. is full of crap -- and says the real beef stems from a heated exchange in the locker room during his playing days.

Bottom line -- the 6'7" world class athlete says he's sick of talking ... and calls out 6'1" Mr. Smith.

Stay tuned ...

The NFL is half baked ... according to former NFL safety Tony Parrish, who says that about half of those playing in the league are getting a little toke of the sticky icky from time to time.

Parrish was a stud for the 49ers and Cowboys back in the 00's so he knows the league ... and we wanted to know what percentage of said league is treating their "glaucoma" during the off-season.

The NBA's Jay Williams recently said he thinks up to 80% of his old league lights up ... so it's a question everyone is talking about.

Check it out -- Tony says the NFL isn't quite as smoky as the NBA but still estimates that about half indulge in the wacky tobacky.

How do you make years of hardship, arrests, and near homelessness easy to swallow?

Make it into a delectable cake!!!

That's what NBA star Caron Butler did ... or had done for him ... getting surprised for his 36th birthday with a cake made to look like a copy of his 1st book 'Tuff Juice.'

The cake was made by Bree's Cakes ... an L.A. based bakery business that has catered to big celebs like DeMar DeRozan and The Game.

We spoke with Bree herself who tells us Caron's cake cost about $350 -- not bad -- and took over 6 hours to make.

They presented the confectionery genius to Butler after the Kings played the Jazz recently and you can see in the video ... he was ecstatic.

#EatMyPain.

The NBA has launched an investigation in the Matt Barnes vs. John Henson "chasing" incident -- though we're told there was NO FIGHT ... league sources tell TMZ Sports.

Barnes jogged into the locker room after he and Henson were ejected from Thursday night's Bucks vs. Grizzlies game ... with some reports saying Barnes "chased" after Henson looking to throw down.

But our sources are adamant ... nothing happened after the game, period -- with each player going to his respective locker room and that was it.

Stephen A. Smith just WENT OFF on former NBA star Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson ... saying he absolutely HATES the former all-star ... because Robinson is a total hypocrite on racial issues.

Smith was on Sirius XM's "Karen Hunter Show" when the subject of race and sports was brought up ... that's when -- out of nowhere -- Smith let Robinson have it.

"I despise him and he despises me."

SAS claims the beef between the two men stems from the fact that Big Dog talked a pro-black agenda ... but treated the only black head coach he ever played for TERRIBLY.

"I saw this man march lock step with what (former Bucks Coach) George Karl wanted to do ... but Randy Ayers becomes the head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers ... you treated this man like trash, but you'll come and talk to reporters about how brothers need to facilitate brothers being hired, but you had one and how'd you treat him?"

You gotta hear the audio ... it's classic SAS all keyed up and ready for verbal war.