NBA

Ted Cruz thinks James Harden deserves every nickel of his historic $228 million contract extension with the Houston Rockets ... just as long as it pays off on the court.

The Texas senator was in D.C. Sunday morning where he was asked what he thought of Harden landing the record NBA deal. He gives a bit of a stump speech answer at first -- saying Harden and CP3 should give Golden State a run for their money.

Turns out Andre Roberson might not be such a bad tipper after all ... 'cause the OKC Thunder star took his family out to dinner Thursday night and showed some love with a 30% tip this time!!

Roberson took heat for leaving a $14 tip on a nearly $500 bar tab after signing a huge $30 million deal with OKC this week ... which he defended by claiming "there was no service."

Fly Dre and 7 others hit up Texas Roadhouse in Live Oak, TX last night and according to a restaurant manager, the NBA baller was awesome during his visit ... taking pics and signing autographs for everyone.

You thought the Big Baller was gonna stay quiet?!? Hell no.

LaVar Ball is coming back hard at Joel Embiid -- after the NBA star fired an f-bomb at Lonzo's dad on social media this week.

Who wears short shorts?? NBA superstars wear short shorts!! ... 'cause LeBron James is joining Dwyane Wade's summertime fashion campaign and puttin' his legs on display!!

The King showed off his beach bod while vacationing in Mexico ... and while LBJ has been enjoying some off-season R&R, he's staying competitive by showin' off a similar version of Wade's model-esque post from his time in Italy.

These guys are best friends and have vacationed together in the past (banana boat, anyone??) ... but now that they're havin' their own fun in the sun, we gotta ask ...

"Business and basketball are two different things. They say don't take it personal, but everybody does." -- Austin Rivers on Chris Paul.

The Clippers star was at LAX when it kept it 100 about the situation involving his former teammate -- telling TMZ Sports he's happy for the guy, but it's gonna get intense when they face the Houston Rockets next season.

"You saw what happened when the Warriors played the Thunder this year. There was a lot of emotion in there."

"I don't think it'll be quite like that but it'll definitely be a lot of fireworks that game if I had to take a guess."

Andre Roberson -- the guy who just signed a $30 MILLION contract with the OKC Thunder -- left a $14 tip on a nearly $500 restaurant bill ... just hours after inking his new deal.

For real.

Here's what we know ... Roberson and 12 of his friends hit up Chupacabra Cantina in Austin, TX on Wednesday -- downing vodka Red Bulls, vodka sodas and Long Islands.

We're told Fly Dre and his crew seemed to be having a great time while rackin' up the $487.13 tab.

Problem is ... when time came to collect the check, dude left just $13.97 ... that's less than 3%.

Also, Roberson was trying to make the final bill an even $500 -- but miscalculated the math (it's okay, it happens).

"F**k LaVar Ball" -- Joel Embiid.

That's exactly what the Philly 76ers star proclaimed on Instagram Live Tuesday ... just a few days after the Big Baller said Sixers players should stay off Twitter and get in the gym.

ICYMI -- Embiid and fellow Process Truster Ben Simmons tweeted their opinions of BBB during the NBA Draft ... with Embiid asking Simmons to dunk on LaVar's son, Lonzo.

LaVar wasn't havin' it ... telling 97.5 The Fanatic, "when you don’t win and don’t even make the playoffs, and don’t even stay on the court long enough, that’s the best thing you can do is tweet, make some stuff."

"These guys ain’t played a game, always hurt, and at the bottom of the totem pole," Ball added at the time.

"So guess what, get your asses off the goddamn Tweeter, and get in the gym."

Serge Ibaka is now giving advice to other Africans forced to confront negative stereotypes about their homeland ... essentially telling TMZ Sports -- screw the haters.

We got the Toronto Raptors star at Catch in West Hollywood over the weekend -- after he put out a STRONG statement to people questioning the validity of his birth certificate, filed in the Republic of Congo.

In his statement, the 27-year-old defends his country -- saying he was born in a legitimate hospital in a city with a civil registry and an administration ... "I was not born in the jungle."

He said rumors that his age isn't accurate is the product of prejudice and stereotypes against Africans.

So, when we saw Ibaka over the weekend -- we asked if he had advice for other people in his shoes. He delivered some strong words.

Ibaka -- who recently signed a 3-year, $65 million contract -- wrapped up his message saying to work on your own happiness first and ignore the ignorant people.

"At the end of the day, I just cash out."

Dwyane Wade is giving the big thumbs-up to Steph Curry's new $201 million contract with the Golden State Warriors ... telling TMZ Sports he wants to see even MORE players getting monster contracts.

"Hopefully the game continues to grow. Hopefully, they keep making more money," Wade told us as he arrived in L.A. after his insane European beach vacation with Gabby Union.

We also asked about that lonely banana boat pic -- the one missing Chris Paul and LeBron. The Wades were still laughing about it.

Chauncey Billups might wanna put his consideration for the Cleveland Cavaliers front office job on hold ... 'cause he is KILLIN' it in Ice Cube's BIG3 League.

Chauncey played a game Sunday night at the Spectrum Center in North Carolina, and he looked like his old self ... draining 3's and setting up his teammates to score.

As we reported ... the ex-NBA baller was offered a front office job with the Cavs, and he's reportedly still mulling that over. He told reporters Sunday after his game that a decision should come in the next few days.

The only potential snag ... if Chauncey takes the job, he might have to ditch Cube's league mid-season. And as Cube said, he's got a contract with the guy. Problem?

9:25 AM PT -- Multiple reports Monday allege Billups has turned down the Cleveland job.

Tony Hawk is ready to toss his balls at White Goodman and the rest of his Globo Gym cronies ... and tells TMZ Sports he has a wish list of Average Joe's he wants with him -- starting with LEBRON JAMES.

You already know Hawk and some of the biggest stars in the world like LeBron, The Rock, and Justin Bieber were called out by Ben Stiller (White) to compete in a dodgeball death match for Stiller's charity.

Tony already said he's in ... and basically told us he's more Team LeBron than Team Joe's.

"LeBron, I want him on my team ... even if he's going to the other team," Hawk said. "I want him by my side throwing balls."

No word from the King yet, but chances seem good ... dodging balls from Stiller sounds a lot safer than dodging nut shots from Draymond Green.

Here's video of Klay Thompson pelvic thrustin' like a champ next to a couple Chinese women ... trying (and failing) to follow them in a b-ball-themed dance.

Klay was at a shoe store in China to promote his new Anta brand kicks -- and had to bust a move for the culture. We think it was a kinda goofy routine ... but the Splash Bro liked it. A LOT.

#ChinaKlay was feelin' himself so hard ... he kept it flowing even after the track cut out.

FYI, this ain't the first time KT went HAM on his shoe tour.

LeBron James decided to take his wife out on a fancy Hollywood dinner date Thursday -- and cruised up to the hottest restaurant in town in a sick $340k Rolls-Royce!!

Bron and Savannah hit up Catch in West Hollywood -- where every major star goes to eat and be seen (Sofia Richie, Shaun White and Brittany Snow were also in the restaurant last night).

The James' didn't do much talkin' ... but they made a helluva statement with their car! Our car experts tell us Bron was behind the wheel of a 2017 Rolls-Royce Dawn Drophead Coupe.

Starting price ... $342k -- and that's the basic factory model. You know LeBron doesn't do basic anything.

Some car fun facts: it goes 0 to 60 in 4.3 seconds and gets a whopping 12 miles per gallon in the city.

The craziest part ... it's a fantasy car for most normal people. It's just another ride for LeBron.

Enes Kanter says he'd probably be DEAD if he had been shipped back to Turkey after his passport was canceled last month ... claiming the Turkish govt. is out to kill him.

The OKC Thunder star (and outspoken critic of the Turkish govt.) was detained by police in Romania on May 20 -- and has now told Vice News the consequences would have been deadly if he had been sent back to his homeland.

"I would be in a jail and probably the second day you'll hear from the news, 'Oh, he just got poisoned and he just died. He got food poisoning.' Or, 'He was depression and hanged himself.'"

Kanter has referred to Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, as the "Hitler of our generation" -- and in turn, the govt. has labeled Kanter a terrorist and issued a warrant for his arrest.

NBA star Zach LaVine has high ambitions in Chicago ... but can the high-flyin' dunk master jump over the Jumpman and pass Michael Jordan as the best Bulls dunker of all time??

That's exactly what we asked LaVine -- who was just recently traded from Minnesota to the Windy City -- and while the 2-time dunk contest champ has some serious hops, he doesn't think he'd ever match His Airness' classic moves.

It's a pretty humble response from LaVine, who's only 22 years old and has already put on a dunking clinic in just 3 years in the league ... but we get it. It's M.J. we're talking about.

We also asked about getting traded away from the T-Wolves ... and it's nothing but love for his old squad.

Ex-NBA star Baron Davis' wife is subbing out of their marriage ... filing for divorce from the former All-Star, TMZ Sports has learned.

Davis has been married to Isabella Brewster-Davis -- sister of "Fast And Furious" star, Jordana Brewster -- since January 2014.

According to court docs filed in L.A. and obtained by TMZ Sports, Brewster-Davis filed legal docs last week to end the marriage citing irreconcilable differences. The date of separation was not listed.

The couple has two young kids together, a 2-year-old and a 1-year-old. Isabella has asked for primary physical custody but joint legal custody.

She's seeking an unspecified amount of spousal support. She also wants Baron to cover her legal costs.

Fun Fact: Isabella reportedly dated Bradley Cooper before getting hitched to Baron.