NBA

Lindsay Kay Hayward had one specific person in mind during her ambulance ride to the hospital after a health scare ... fellow giant Shaquille O'Neal!

We got the "My Giant Life" star and 6'9" pro wrestler Friday in Vegas after she was hospitalized last week -- for what she thought was a blood clot in her lung -- and she's got a funny way of remembering her time on the stretcher.

Good to see Shaq helped Lindsay stay positive in what could have been a serious problem. Big folks gotta stick together ... in sickness and in health.

Finally, some news on the health of ex-NBA star Cliff Robinson -- and it's good -- courtesy of Cliff's former college basketball coach Jim Calhoun.

We spoke with the former UConn coach who tells us he spoke with Robinson yesterday ... following a medical emergency in Portland earlier this week that left him hospitalized.

Information on Robinson's health has been minimal -- but Calhoun tells TMZ Sports he's confident the 50-year-old is on the road to recovery.

"He's resting and recovering," Calhoun said ... "But he had something sitting on the couch, something happened to him medically. They're working on that now. Yesterday he was on the improvement side, which is great news."

Calhoun wouldn't reveal specifics about what caused Robinson's condition but says, "Very simply, he had a situation that came out of nowhere. For a young man, very unusual."

We asked if the prognosis was good ... he replied, "Yes, it is. But like I said, what he had was very unusual for a young guy."

Steph Curry's in a rap video now ... dancing, high-fiving, seasoning food and swapping out toilet paper.

Why? Cause money.

Curry hooked up with YouTube superstar/actor King Bach for a "dream roommate" commercial for those Brita water filters. It's kinda funny.

DeMarcus Cousins lost his cool ... twice ... and it cost him.

The NBA has fined the New Orleans Pelicans star $50,000 after footage surfaced showing him telling a fan to "suck my d**k" during Sunday night's game against the Lakers.

The league also references an incident where he told a heckler the following night to "sit your fat ass down."

On both occasions, Cousins was being heckled by rival fans. Both were away games.

Don't cry too much for DeMarcus ... he's making $16.9 MILLION this season.

#DropInaBucket

Germans love David Hasselhoff. And David Hasselhoff loves Germans ... especially Dirk Nowitzki.

The Hollywood legend was PUMPED his favorite NBA star scored 30,000 career points this week -- and gave the 38-year-old a little German message to congratulate him!

By the way, Hoff says he loved when Dirk covered his famous song, "Looking for Freedom" a few years ago ... and says it's about time they got together for a duet!

DO IT, DIRK!!!!!

Former NBA star Cliff Robinson has been hospitalized in Oregon ... this according to the former All-Star forward's family.

50-year-old Robinson is currently at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, although no further details about what caused the hospital stay were made available.

Cliff played for five different NBA teams, but was a star for the Portland Trailblazers in the early to mid 1990's, where he was an All-Star and a defensive standout.

He later opened a marijuana shop called Uncle Spliffy.

Ty Lawson broke the terms of his probation by testing positive for alcohol THREE TIMES over the past 7 months ... this according to court docs obtained by TMZ Sports.

As we previously reported, the Sacramento Kings star is on probation stemming from his 2015 drunk driving case in Denver ... and part of the terms required Lawson to stay completely sober and submit to alcohol testing.

But officials say Lawson tested positive for booze on 9/27, 9/29 and 2/7.

FYI, the Kings had the day off on 2/7 in between two home games.

Lawson spoke with reporters at Kings Media Day on Sept. 26 ... giving interviews about his troubled past, including the drunk driving arrest ... and vowing to move forward.

The next day, officials say he tested positive for booze.

Officials want the judge to revoke Lawson's probation and subject him to harsher punishment -- which includes jail time.

Allen Iverson finally has a name for his 3-on-3 team, the Big3 basketball league just announced it'll be "3'S COMPANY!"

The Answer will officially spread the word the Wednesday -- with the logo and team colors making their debut too.

As for Allen's team, the draft is set for later this year and he'll have some big names to choose from including Brian Scalabrine, Reggie Evans and Josh Childress and Iverson's old running buddy, Larry Hughes ... AI's co-captain is Dermarr Johnson.

Some other team names in the 8-team league ...

-- Tri-State (Jermaine O'Neal & Bonzi Wells' team)

-- Ghost Ballers (Mike Bibby's team)

-- Trilogy (Kenyon Martin's team)

-- Killer 3s (Chauncey Billups' team)

-- 3-Headed Monsters (Rashard Lewis' team)

Here's the situation ...

YOU have 16. DEALER has a 10 showing.

Hit or stay?!!?!

Charles Barkley -- one of the most famous high-roller blackjack players in the world (he's won and lost MILLIONS over the years) -- gives his take and it seems like awful advice!!!

But to confirm our suspicions, we went to the leading blackjack expert in the world -- Jeff Ma -- a former member of that MIT blackjack team that inspired the book, "Bringing Down the House" (which later became the movie "21").

Jeff tells you the RIGHT way to play the hand and BLASTS Barkley as a straight-up coward.

Good luck ...

The Uber driver who picked up Dwyane Wade from a Waffle House in Orlando Tuesday damn near lost his mind when he realized he had an NBA superstar in his ride ... and the video is awesome!

Wade had rented out the restaurant to grub with his Chicago Bulls teammates Rajon Rondo, Jerian Grant and others when he ordered an Uber to take him back to the team hotel.

But his driver happened to be a HUGE Miami Heat fan -- and fanboys out over the future Hall of Famer.

In fact, he tells D-Wade he couldn't believe the Heat ever let him go.

Wade loved the guy -- and said they're already "fast friends."

So ... 5 star rating then?

Ty Lawson has some serious explaining to do ... because officials in Denver believe the Sacramento Kings star violated his probation and are gunning for a warrant, TMZ Sports has learned.

Lawson is currently on probation stemming from his 2015 drunk driving case in Denver -- but the Denver Probation Dept. has filed a complaint seeking to revoke his probation citing a potential violation.

Officials would not say what the alleged violation is ... but confirmed to TMZ Sports that a bench warrant has been requested so they can bring Lawson to court for a hearing on the matter.

We're told a judge has not signed off on the warrant at this point.

Some of the requirements of Lawson's probation -- which was scheduled to end on March 22 -- included monitored sobriety, 48 hours of community service, 52 hours of therapy and no marijuana use.

Lakers honcho Jeanie Buss came out swinging against her brothers in new court docs -- claiming Jim Buss was a failure in his role with the team and Magic Johnson must undo the "damage" he caused.

Big Show's not sweating whether Shaq will show up to Wrestlemania or not ... 'cause he's planning to be there with or without him.

We got the WWE legend at LAX, where he put the ball in Shaq's court for their hyped up fight that may not be happening at this point if a deal can't be made.

Nothing pisses off Kelly Olynyk more than a poorly run fantasy basketball league -- which is why the Boston Celtics player tore our TMZ photog a new one right in the middle of the street.

Long story short ... our guy is in a league that starts the fantasy playoffs THIS WEEK. Olynyk feels that's wayyyyy too early. He's right.

When our guy tried to explain why (in case NBA playoff-bound teams sit their stars at the end of the regular season) ... Kelly called B.S. and called for the commish to be FIRED.

Shaq says the beef between him and JaVale McGee is 100% OVER ... vowing to never, ever, ever even mention McGee's name publicly again.

The Diesel made the declaration on Thursday night's episode of "Inside the NBA," admitting the entire thing had gotten outta hand when pressed by Ernie Johnson and the rest of the crew.

Sure, the beef is over ... but that didn't mean Shaq didn't throw a couple of parting shots McGee's way, noting that other players have been on "Shaqtin' A Fool" without getting all "sensitive" about it.

NBA star Chandler Parsons has a big fan in Bella Thorne ... they're not only going to see movies together, they also shared a kiss in Mexico.