NBA

The guy who organized the San Antonio Spurs post-Game 7 mega-bash was their very own coach -- who paid for a fancy steak dinner, drinks and a party bus to thank his players ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Our Spurs sources tell us ...Coach Gregg Popovich wanted to show his appreciation to his players after they were eliminated from the playoffs Saturday night ... so he organized a night out in Hollywood.

We're told he set up a post-game steak dinner at Mastros in Beverly Hills ... and paid for EVERYTHING (and this place sure as hell ain't cheap).

Afterward, Pop hired a party bus to chauffeur the guys to Project Club L.A. -- and encouraged the team to "take their minds off the game and let loose" ... not wallow in their sorrows.

The guys did just that ... some harder than others ... and as we previously reported, Tim Duncan had to carry at least ONE of his over-intoxicated teammates back to the bus.

Pretty cool boss.

** WARNING -- VIDEO CONTAINS TIM DUNCAN SAYING A CUSS WORD**

The San Antonio Spurs PARTIED LIKE CHAMPS hours after they were eliminated ... with Tim Duncan dragging one of his hammered teammates out of a nightclub ... and TMZ Sports has the footage.

Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Boris Diaw and the rest of the squad hit up Project Club L.A. in Hollywood on Saturday right after losing a Game 7 thriller to the Clippers.

You gotta check out the clip -- Aron Baynes was in especially rare form ... with Tim Duncan telling him to "Shut the f**k up" as he dragged the seemingly HAMMERED 28-year-old down the street.

Colin Kaepernick has a new enemy -- L.A. Clippers star Matt Barnes ... who just fired a shot at the QB on social media ... and sources tell us the animosity is very real.

Barnes went on Instagram to congratulate Arik Armstead on being drafted by the SF 49ers last night ... and wrote, "Congrats to my young boy #ErikArmstead [sic] proud of you fam. Ur QB a hoe tho!!"

Clearly, the message was directed at Colin.

Multiple sources close to Matt tell us the beef with Kaepernick goes back several years -- and stems from a situation where Matt felt "disrespected" by Colin.

As one source extremely close to Barnes puts it -- "Matt hates his guts."

Good news for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ... the NBA legend has been discharged from the hospital and is now resting at home after a scary medical emergency early Wednesday morning.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Kareem was rushed to the hospital and was being treated after something went wrong in his recovery from quadruple bypass surgery earlier this month.

Now, a rep for Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center is explaining exactly what happened:

"[Thursday morning] Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was experiencing some dizziness following his April 16 quadruple bypass surgery. He contacted his physicians who told him to come to the emergency department at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center."

"He was evaluated by his surgeon and cardiologist. After a battery of tests, they found no complications. Abdul-Jabbar was discharged from the emergency department and is back home continuing his recovery."

"His surgeon, Dr. Richard Shemin, said it is not uncommon for patients to experience some symptoms that require ruling out serious problems following major heart surgery. Shemin added that Abdul-Jabbar did the right thing by coming in to see his doctors."

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was rushed to an L.A. hospital Wednesday morning for chest pains ... just two hours after he tweeted to fans that he was "feeling better" ... TMZ Sports has learned.

We've confirmed ... someone called 911 to request help for the NBA legend ... who had a quadruple coronary bypass surgery on April 16th.

An ambulance transported Abdul-Jabbar to a nearby hospital where he was treated for chest pains. He's currently being treated by doctors though his condition is unclear.

Just two hours before the 911 call, Abdul-Jabbar posted a message on Twitter to assure his fans that he's "doing fine & feeling better everyday."

He added, "Doing my rehab w/the same mental commitment I had as a pro."

Former NBA player Javaris Crittenton pled guilty to manslaughter in the 2011 shooting death of a 22-year-old mother of 4 ... and was sentenced to 23 years in prison.

As we previously reported, Crittenton -- a 1st round pick in the 2007 NBA Draft -- was initially charged with murder for killing Julian Jones in a drive-by shooting in Atlanta.

But Crittenton struck a deal with prosecutors in which he agreed to plead guilty to the lesser voluntary manslaughter with a weapon charge and aggravated assault with a firearm. In exchange, prosecutors dropped the murder charge and Crittenton got 23 years in the clink.

During the hearing, Javaris apologized for the killing -- started to cry -- and said it was all a terrible mistake.

The teammates who slay together, stay together ... at least that's what Miami Heat stars Udonis Haslem and Chris Andersen were hoping when they went GATOR HUNTIN' this week.

Birdman took Haslem out on his first gator hunt in Florida ... and they scored big time, bagging a couple of "Florida dinosaurs."

Haslem says he didn't take the expedition lightly -- he "spent hours studying 'swamp people' for this special day."

So, what are the guys gonna do with their kills? Accessorize ... according to Andersen.

"Gator shoes with the belt to match!!"

Martin Lawrence isn't such a such a bad boy on the poker tables ... 'cause ex-NBA player Olden Polyince tells TMZ Sports he took the movie star for big cash at cards ... but gave it all back to him.

Polynice -- who played 14 years in the NBA -- has become a major card shark off the court, so when we got him out in L.A recently we had to ask if there were any big time stars he's taken at the tables.

Check out the clip -- Polynice told us Martin Lawrence is part of a who's who of big stars he's outheld in hold 'em but says he gave the guys their money back cause he's so good it was "like cheating."

A Canadian politician is BLASTING Drake ... claiming the rapper offended his fellow countrymen when he shook Paul Pierce's hand this week -- and now he's warning Drizzy, DON'T DO IT AGAIN!

The man with the beef is Councillor Norm Kelly ... a Toronto legislator and die hard Raptor's fan ... who says he was sickened when he saw Drake dappin' up the Washington Wizards star while they're in the middle of a heated playoff series.

"For Drake to have any recognition of Pierce, offended a huge number of fans," Kelly tells TMZ Sports.

"We have no problem shaking hands. Just wait to do it until after the series."

Kelly -- who happens to be a HUGE Drake fan -- says he's not the only Torontonian who feels this way and has some advice for the 28-year-old hip-hop superstar:

Kris Humphries seemed pretty clear about Bruce Jenner when he said last night he got outta Dodge just in time, but he says he's now apologizing for being "vague."

Humphries -- who was married to Kim Kardashian and then fought the divorce tooth and nail -- tweeted last night, "Man, I'm glad I got out when I did #gottadoyou."

He just tweeted again, "I have and always will support Bruce hence #gottadoyou. Now recognize I was too vague and sincerely apologize for the way this came across."

More progress in what was one of the most bitter breakups EVER -- with ex-NBA star Daniel "Booby" Gibson saying he still loves his estranged R&B star wife Keyshia Cole.

Don't forget, these two went to WAR with each other -- trading nasty insults in public ... until they hashed out a truce in the last few weeks.

And good news -- seems like things are still POSITIVE ... with Gibson telling TMZ Sports he'll ALWAYS love Keyshia ... and is dedicated to being a good father to their son.

There's more ... Gibson also praises Cole's parenting skills, which again, is huge progress.

MTV star Charlamagne Tha God has a message for Cavs star Iman Shumpert ... back away from the mic slowly ... telling TMZ Sports he's heard Shumpert's new rap song, and it's totally garbage.

You might remember ... the last time Iman stepped in the studio it was to record a diss track aimed at the radio host, who Shumpert labeled as a hater for blasting his rap skills on "The Breakfast Club."

Shumpert's latest track -- a motivational song dedicated to the Cavaliers' playoff run called "The Offs" -- dropped yesterday and Charlamagne says although Shumpert's changed teams, his rap skills haven't changed at all.

"It's garbage. He needs to focus on his defense and not his rapping."

It gets worse ... Charlamagne says he questions Shumpert's focus -- and wants to know why he's making terrible rap songs when Cleveland is still 10 wins away from a championship.

"LeBron doesn't even tweet in the playoffs, and he's making rap songs!? The best motivation he could provide for his team is getting in the gym."

Ouch.

Pretty funny moment on "Inside the NBA" Wednesday night ... when Charles Barkley and Shaq watched the TMZ Sports clip of NBA commish Adam Silver having to choose which star has the better bald head.

Of course, Silver picked Sir Charles ... and raved about how good looking of a man he is.

Barkley's reaction was hilarious.

NBA legend Gary Payton has been suspended from his job at Fox Sports 1 amid allegations he beat up a woman during a trip to Seattle back in January.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Payton was sued by Trishtan Williams ... who claims she went to Seattle as Gary's date to an award show -- but things turned violent and he attacked her multiple times.

Payton denies the allegations -- and says the woman is making up the story in a shameless cash grab.

As for FS1 ... the network has suspended Payton indefinitely and told The Huffington Post he will remain suspended until the completion of an internal investigation.

"Regardless of the circumstance, domestic violence is abhorrent and inexcusable and FOX takes these accusations very seriously."

Charles Barkley has been called a lot of things ... a lot of which we can't publish here ... but now he can add "incredibly good looking guy" to the list ... thanks to NBA commish Adam Silver.

Silver -- who was honored as one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People -- is also a proud follically challenged man ... so we asked him to pick the best bald head on the set of "Inside the NBA."

That's when Silver began to gush about Sir Chuck ... explaining that Barkley is more than just a guy with a GREAT bald head, he's also one of the best looking guys in the sport.

The Clippers aren't trolling the Lakers by turning the team locker room into an owners lounge for the NBA playoffs -- they asked the team for permission and got it ... TMZ Sports has learned.

There were rumblings that the Clips were trying to diss Laker Nation by using their space at Staples Center as Steve Ballmer's personal hangout area ... since the Clips are still playing and the Lakers didn't even come close to the playoffs.

But it just ain't the case -- at least according to Staples Center honcho Lee Zeidman who tells us there was an arrangement made before the 1st playoff game.

"The team inquired about using the Lakers locker room as a space for the Clippers owner. The Lakers gracefully granted use."

He continued, "People are trying to make something out of this, as if the Clippers are pissing off the Lakers by using their locker room. That's not true at all. We'd never use the Lakers space without asking the team."