NBA

Donald Sterling's trial is set to begin any minute in L.A. ... and the disgraced Clippers owner has not arrived -- and now, Shelly Sterling's lawyer says he believes Donald is "on the run."

Shelly's attorney Bert Fields just arrived to L.A. County Superior Court and after trashing Donald's "sham" motion to move the case to federal court ... said he believes Sterling is in hiding.

"I even understand he left town," Fields said ... "That's the kind of guy he is. He's willing to do anything rather than face the music."

Fields added, "But he's ultimately gonna have to face it ... as Joe Louis once said, 'He can run but he can't hide.'"

Kevin Garnett being sued for allegedly lying, deceiving and screwing over his neighbor? ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!!!!

Doesn't matter that he'll be working here for the next couple of years ... and making MILLIONS ... NBA draft pick Joel Embiid says he won't be celebrating the 4th today because he's not American.

Embiid -- who hails from Cameroon -- was limping out of dinner at Boa Steakhouse in Hollywood last night when we asked him about his plans for the holiday ... and the guy gave us a very honest answer.

The good news for 76ers fans -- Embiid was moving around pretty good on his right foot ... despite the fact it's still in a cast.

Donald Sterling says he's tracked down a doctor who thinks his mind is in perfect working order -- and he wants the doc to testify during the trial ... or else he'll suffer "grave" injury.

Sterling just filed new court docs in his legal war with his estranged wife Shelly -- begging the judge to postpone the start of the Clippers trial so he can bring in a neurologist who will tell the judge Donald is NOT mentally incapacitated.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ Sports, Donald says Dr. Jeffrey Cummings -- Director of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health -- will vouch for him ... but will be out of town and unable to testify in court until after July 20th.

Sterling says Shelly's assertion that the Clippers deal must close by July 15th (the end of Steve Ballmer's escape clause) ... is complete B.S.

Sterling says the only deadline that should matter to the court is September 15th -- the day the NBA says it will seize the team and sell it in a public auction if a deal isn't closed.

Donald claims if he is not allowed to use Dr. Cummings to prove his mental competency ... he will risk "grave and irreparable injury insofar as his defense will be impaired and his assets will be subject to distribution without his consent."

Keyshia Cole is officially pulling the plug on her marriage to ex-NBA player Daniel "Boobie" Gibson -- 3 months after revealing they had split.

Sources close to the singer tell TMZ she's already drawn up divorce papers and we're told she plans to file them any day now. The couple has a 4-year-old son.

Keyshia and Boobie had 2 wedding ceremonies ... the first in May 2011, and then a bigger -- aka expensive -- one four months later in Hawaii. One divorce will get the job done though.

Interestingly, Cole just released a new single called "She" which seems to allude to a female lover: "Down to try something different/Lips and legs/Soft skin so feminine/Curves like me/Covered in my cherry scent."

Donald Sterling has taken his "Black People Love Me" tour up a notch -- last night he dined out with a lovely African-American woman ... and left in an SUV with a license plate that read BLAKT07.

As DS rolled away from Monty's in Woodland Hills (The Valley) ... our camera guy asked a burning question on everyone's mind: What does Mr. Sterling prefer ... Aunt Jemima or Eggos???

As TMZ has previously reported, Sterling has been seen all over town with black people ... including earlier this week when he hit up celeb hot spot Mr. Chow with MULTIPLE attractive black women.

This time, Sterling was with just one woman ... and one ironically plated SUV (which appears to be a rental). Just classic.

Shelly Sterling's lawyer ran to court this morning ... pleading with the judge to validate her deal to sell the Los Angeles Clippers to Steve Ballmer, and warning of dire consequences if the deal falls apart.

In Shelly's legal docs -- obtained by TMZ Sports -- she says there's no way a better deal could be found. She points out the sale price for the Clippers is more than 3 times the price of the recently-sold Milwaukee Bucks.

But Shelly is worried, because Donald is now fighting her over the sale. She says if the deal isn't iron clad by Sept. 15 ... "substantial irreparable harm ... will result." She says if that happens the NBA will likely seize the team and conduct a public auction, which will then lower the sale price.

TMZ Sports broke the story -- Ballmer has an escape clause to get out of the deal if Shelly and Donald become embroiled in a legal dispute over her authority to sell.

Shelly's lawyer, Pierce O'Donnell, wants the judge to simply validate the terms of a private agreement between Shelly and Donald -- an agreement that says if 2 neurologists determine either one of them is "incapacitated," then that person would lose all power over the team. And as we reported, that's exactly what happened with Donald last month.

Justin Bieber's not a racist, he's just NOT educated ... so says Metta World Peace -- who tells us if JB wants an N-word pass, he needs to clock some serious hours in some REAL hoods.

"He's got to chill in Compton a little bit more ... ya gotta chill in Queensbridge a little bit more ... where Lil Wayne is from in New Orleans."

"You can't just use the word 'cause you're in Hollywood with urban people or people from the hood ... you gotta actually be in the trenches in the hood ... and then you can get a pass."

Still, Metta says he considers Justin a friend -- but if he REALLY wants to drop an N-bomb every now and then, he's gonna have to earn the right.

Donald Sterling has released a statement explaining why he is once again suing the NBA ... unleashing some harsh words for the league and its commissioner, Adam Silver.

Shelly Sterling looked confident as she left a Bev Hills restaurant swinging a Victoria's Secret bag Tuesday, but behind the scenes there's concern that Donald's latest flip-flop could blow up her $2 billion deal to sell the Los Angeles Clippers.

Call him Vlade Divac, 'cause Donald Sterling has flip-flopped once again ... now the disgraced Clippers owner says he WILL sue the NBA for one billion dollars because "I must fight to protect my rights."

Sterling's attorney released a statement saying Donald never wanted to sell the team ... though he never explained why he ever changed his mind in the first place.

"I have decided that I must fight to protect my rights," Sterling said in the statement

"While my position may not be popular, I believe that my rights to privacy and the preservation of my rights to due process should not be trampled. I love the team and have dedicated 33 years of my life to the organization. I intend to fight to keep the team."

Donald Sterling's decided to go quietly after all -- he's reportedly in the process of dropping that $1 BILLION lawsuit against the NBA for forcing him to sell the L.A. Clippers.

Sterling had claimed in the lawsuit -- filed last week -- the NBA booted him based on an illegal recording that painted him as a racist. He was also fighting the $2.5 million fine the league levied against him.

But today his attorney told The Hollywood Reporter ... Sterling is letting it all go, and the suit would be dropped within a couple days.

Shelly Sterling was full-on mobbed by paparazzi as she left Craig's restaurant in West Hollywood Tuesday night ... and she was also epically photobombed by the girls from "Famous in 12."

Shelly has been low-profile since inking a deal last week to sell the L.A. Clippers. So it was a feeding frenzy outside the restaurant when Jameelah, Taliah and Maariyah Artiaga latched onto her like moths to a flame ... and it's hilarious.

The girls are part of a TMZ social experiment ... we moved their family to L.A. from a small town and we're giving them 12 weeks to scheme their way to fame. The show airs Tuesdays on the CW at 8 PM.

So far ... crazy.

The always charming Donald Sterling ran a clinic on "How to Win Friends and Influence People" yesterday ... when a photog asked the disgraced Clippers owner how he was doing.

Sterling's response -- well, he basically told our guy to go F himself.

It's not like Donald's got a lot to be happy about these days -- his estranged wife sold his team, he's been banned for life from the NBA and he's being sued by an alleged former employee who claims D.S. subjected her to a bunch of offensive comments.

A former employee of Donald Sterling claims the Clippers owner fired her after she rejected "a stream of racist and sexist taunts." -- this according to a new lawsuit obtained by TMZ Sports.

You can't hide raw emotion -- especially when you're a giant professional basketball player!!!

So, check out these pics of some of the NBA's biggest stars pullin' their "HELL YEAH!!!" faces on the court.

Some are scary ... some will just make you laugh ... and some are just bizarre.