NBA

A real man can admit when he's wrong -- and Fabolous says he was WAY OFF when he predicted doom for the Knicks when they drafted Kristaps Porzingis.

The Brooklyn-born rapper was pissed when his squad took the Latvian phenom with the 4th overall pick in the 2015 draft -- and at the time, told us the Knicks were totally screwed.

But that was before KP killed it in his rookie season.

Check out the video to see how Fab changed his tune.

LeBron James is putting that new $100 million contract to good use, 'cause the Cavs superstar brought 5,000 kids and their families to an amusement park on Tuesday.

The annual trip to Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio encourages Akron kiddos to focus on their education before entering LBJ's "I Promise" initiative -- which offers a free college education after high school.

TMZ Sports spoke with a rep from CP, who tells us, "It’s an honor to work with a wonderful, dedicated group of people who provide so much to Northeast Ohio – and we’re happy to provide a 'Best Day' experience for their program families here at the park.”

LeBron teamed up with Chase Bank to help pay for the shindig ... which also offers an opportunity to attend a sit-down convo with the King himself.

If Will Smith could pull it off, why not Russell Westbrook ... right?

Russ stole the show at Dorell Wright's '90s-themed charity event in L.A. this weekend -- rocking the overalls, no shirt, gold chain, pink hat and glasses look ... with an ugly yellow jacket to match.

TLC WOULD APPROVE!

A bunch of other NBA stars hit up the party too -- including James Harden (lame outfit), Nick Young (decent outfit) and Gilbert Arenas (weird zipper outfit).

The event raised more than $10,000 for the D Wright Way Foundation which helps underprivileged youth.

O.J. Mayo says he's fighting his ban from the NBA after allegedly violating the league's drug policy -- and tells TMZ Sports he expects to be back on the court soon.

The league handed down the punishment back in July -- and said he'll be eligible to apply for reinstatement in 2 years. The league has not released any details about the substance that triggered the violation.

But when we got Mayo out in L.A. Monday he told us he's not taking the situation lying down -- saying he filed an appeal and the process is already "in the works."

(UPDATE: There's some debate over what Mayo says in the clip. Some people believe he says, "I already appealed it. It didn't work." Our photog says he believes he heard "it's in the works." Listen to the video and judge for yourself.)

As for the alleged violation, Mayo says he will tell his side of the story soon -- and noted that he's been focused on recovering from recent foot surgery.

Gilbert Arenas says he's so hard on Nick Young's 4-year-old son ... because he doesn't want the kid to be a "vagina" when he grows up.

Gilbert has been posting videos with 4-year-old Nick Young Jr. -- doing things like throwing his scooter across the yard to toughen him up. He also mocked the kid for crying when he got hit with a basketball.

So, when we saw Gilbert at Skateland over the weekend for Dorell Wright's '90s-themed charity event -- we asked if he thinks he's going TOO hard on the youngster.

"Hell naw! That's how you're supposed to treat boys," Arenas said ... "can't treat boys like little girls."

"I'm worse off the camera to him. He used to be a vagina, now he's good."

Matt Barnes is hoping his days of teaming up with Kobe Bryant didn't end with the 2012 Lakers ... saying he wants the Mamba to give him a big assist ... as a MOVIE PRODUCER.

We got Barnes out in L.A. and asked if he's got anything lined up for his life after basketball (dude is 36 after all, but still balling) and that's when he told us he's interested in life behind the camera.

Then our guy brought up Kobe ... who's just getting his production company kickin' since his retirement ... and asked whether or not Matt's up for working with the Mamba.

Check out the clip -- not only is he up for it ... he says the two men have talked ... and a collab on some type of project might not be as far off as you think.

BTW -- we also asked what it means to have an African-American woman win individual gold in swimming ... and Matt keeps it 100 ... saying certain stereotypes might be gone forever.

Scottie Pippen and his wife are FURIOUS at Christian Laettner -- claiming he still hasn't paid them back the hundreds of thousands of dollars he owes them ... and they want to collect, NOW.

Around 2007, Pippen invested a ton of money with Laettner and his partners to buy a stake in the Memphis Grizzlies ... but when the deal fizzled, he never got his money back.

Pippen sued Laettner and his partners and was awarded a $2.5 million judgment -- but has NOT received the full amount.

Enter Larsa Pippen ... who took the beef public this week -- tweeting at Laettner, "Hey @laettnerbball are you ever gonna pay us back homie?"

"It's crazy you've been f***ing us around forever @laettnerbball. Homie how do u sleep at night."

Sources connected to the case tell us Laettner still owes at least $600,000 to the Pippens.

Yeah, we'd be pissed too.

Dennis Rodman says Derek Fisher is a shameless fame whore -- who's teasing a potential NBA comeback because he's desperate for the limelight.

The Worm was at The Abbey in West Hollywood Tuesday night -- when he went in on 42-year-old D-Fish.

"Derek Fisher, just give it up man ... just do your job and be a family guy."

Rodman also said NO TEAM -- including the star-packed Golden State Warriors -- will ever touch his legendary '96 Bulls squad ... and he explains why.

Oh, and if you're still interested in that whole "I Broke My Penis" story ... Rodman also goes into deeper detail on that, too.

You've been warned ...

Austin Rivers got the big ol' stamp of approval from his dad and coach -- with Doc Rivers saying he's cool with the NBA star's brand new $300,000 Ferrari!

As we previously reported, Austin splurged on the Ferrari F12Berlinetta right around the time he inked his brand new $35 MILLION contract with the Clippers last month.

So, when we saw Doc at Craig's in L.A. Monday night -- we asked if he was worried about his son/star player behind the wheel of a car with a top speed of over 200 MPH!!

We also asked about Team USA -- and Doc told us who their biggest competition will be.

Spend it if ya got it, right??

Austin Rivers would make Tom Haverford proud -- dropping some serious cash on a sick new Ferrari ... right after signing his 3-year, $35 MILLION contract with the L.A. Clippers.

TREAT YO'SELF!!!

Check out Austin's pimped out Ferrari F12Berlinetta -- which usually starts above $300,000!!!

But Austin's car is special ... he took it to the guys at Ultimate Auto in Orlando who outfitted the whip in a full matte metallic charcoal wrap, custom wheels and more. We're told the upgrades cost around $25k.

FYI, the Ferrari F12Berlinetta reportedly goes from 0 to 60 in 3.1 seconds and can hit speeds faster than 211 MPH!!!!

Austin ... be safe dude.

He's smiling in public -- but there may be a lot more going on with Nick Young behind the scenes than meets the eye.

Swaggy P was leaving Penthouse in L.A. this weekend -- when we asked about the recent picture of him furniture shopping in his pajamas in the middle of the day.

"I'm going through something in life right now," Young explained.

The NBA star does have a lot going on right now -- Iggy dumped him, his ex is pregnant with his child, and there are rumors the Lakers are looking to ship him out of town.

If pajamas in the daytime make you feel better -- have at it.

Guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree ... especially when that tree is FREAKIN' GIANT ...

TMZ Sports has exclusive video of Bol Bol -- son of late NBA player Manute Bol -- hooping against some high school competition at a recent high school hoops tournament ... and it just ain't fair.

Manute was one of the tallest players in league history at 7'7" and his kid, Bol, is already 7 ft -- AT 16 -- which is why peeps we talked to at the tourney say the kid is a lock to be a future NBA lottery pick.

Fear not, Philly fans ... your beloved 76ers will finally BE GOOD AGAIN next season ... so says Jahlil Okafor.

The 20-year-old forward was out in Bev Hills when we asked how he felt about all the young talent on the squad ... including #1 overall pick Ben Simmons and the long-awaited debut of Joel Embiid.

"I'm excited," Okafor said ... "We'll be good."

File Under: "Nooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Dennis Rodman says he's had 3 MAJOR ACCIDENTS involving his penis ... snapping it multiple times over the years during sex ... and it got bloody every single time.

Rodman gave the gory details to Vice -- explaining how pushing the boundaries during certain sexual escapades resulted in emergency room visits to repair his wounded soldier.

So, the big question ... does The Worm's worm still work?

Several Team USA hoops stars made a bonehead move in a foreign land -- thinking they were walking into a spa that turned out to be a whorehouse.

DeAndre Jordan, DeMarcus "Boogie" Cousins, DeMar Derozan and possibly 3 other players went out on the town Wednesday night in Rio and strolled into Termas Monte Carlo ... which Rolling Stone called "one of the high end brothels in Rio."

When you call the place, they'll tell you it's a spa that plays music ... and it's just for male customers. Oh, and they have a full bar.

A source close to the team tells us the players got the standard line, so they assumed it was kosher. The source said, "They realized it wasn't the right place for them and immediately left."

As for what happened inside, the players were only seen hanging at the bar. Multiple sources tell us they bought booze ... nothing more.

Someone should've hit the translate button on Yelp.

Dwyane Wade bolted Miami for Chicago ... but he's still kickin' it off the court with superstar ex-Heat teammate and BFF Chris Bosh ... bro-ing out at C.B.'s Malibu mansion.

The former teammates linked up in the 'Bu Wednesday for some quality man time ... gettin' in a bunch of activities, from jammin' out on the drums and guitar to hiking (while their wives tagged along and drank sangria).

If anyone thought there was a drop of bad blood between D. Wade and Bosh ... this video surely puts that to rest.