NBA

Dikembe Mutombo loves Joel Embiid so damn much, he wants the young star to carry on his legendary finger wag ... so he's offering up personal lessons!

First off, props to Mutombo who spent his Turkey Day volunteering at the Hosea Williams Feed The Hungry Thanksgiving dinner in Atlanta. Good on you and everyone involved in that program.

As for Embiid, Mutombo has previously talked about how he views the Philadelphia 76ers star "like a son" -- but clearly thinks the kid needs a little more swag in his game!

"I'm trying to teach him the 'No, no, no! Not today!'"

Ya gotta watch Dikembe talk about Embiid -- he loves the guy ... but he also loves to tease him about how he'll never break his records or go down as the greatest NBA player who hails from an African country.

And, if you want to learn more about the Hosea Helps organization -- click here.

NBA superstar Steph Curry was in a multi-car wreck on an Oakland highway early Friday morning -- his Porsche was smashed up -- but he appears to be okay.

It all went down around 9 AM -- the Golden State Warriors star was driving on Highway 24 when a car spun out a collided with Steph's black Porsche. Then a second car smashed into Curry from behind.

The road conditions appeared to be a factor -- it's been raining in the area and the roads are wet.

An ambulance and the California Highway Patrol arrived at the scene, but Curry, along with everyone involved in the accident, seems to be fine -- no serious injuries -- according to the CHP.

The Warriors are scheduled to play the Portland Trailblazers Friday night, but Curry won't be in the lineup due to an unrelated groin injury.

LeBron James is making his much-anticipated return to Cleveland on Wednesday ... and Lakers super fan Nipsey Hussle has a very important warning for Cavs fans:

DON'T YOU DARE BOO THE KING!!!

The atmosphere in Quicken Loans Arena was insane the first time LBJ returned to the Land in a Heat uniform back in 2010 ... with fans incessantly screaming ... and some even reportedly throwing batteries at the superstar.

Things should be completely different this time around ... considering the dude got the Cavs a ring and ended the painful 52-year championship drought.

The rap star says the King deserves to get treated like royalty ... but if some fans end up sending out the boo birds?? He says it won't faze LBJ.

"It's donuts to a fat b*tch ... Bron ain't trippin' on that s**t."

The Lakers are 9-7 and finally starting to gel. The Cavs are a dumpster fire (only 2 wins) and J.R. Smith just accused the team of tanking this week.

This is amazing video ... Kevin Durant was on-camera the moment he was fined $25,000 for cussing out a heckler at an NBA game over the weekend -- and the reaction is incredible.

Durant was doing Chris Haynes' podcast for Yahoo Sports when the NBA reporter broke the news to him live on camera about the punishment for telling a Dallas Mavs fan to "shut the f**k up and watch the f**king game."

"I knew I was gonna get fined. How much they gonna fine me?" Durant asked.

Once he learned the number, Durant went off ...

"More fans should understand what that means ... Grown men can't come to a game and heckle grown men. That's corny and that's weak."

KD continued to mock the fan ... "You coming to a game to heckle another grown man, 'You soft. You weak. Draymond this, Draymond that. You a bitch.'"

"You going to sleep as a grown man doing that to another person."

As we previously reported, Durant approached the fan who sitting courtside at the Mavs vs. Golden State Warriors game on Saturday.

Witnesses told us the fan had been going off on KD for a while calling him names like "Cupcake."

The Warriors lost the game -- and now KD lost $25k -- which is really no big deal to him considering he's in the middle of a 2-year, $61 MILLION contract.

They don't call him the G.O.A.T. for nothin' ... Michael Jordan is delivering a huge assist to Hurricane Florence victims ... handing out Thanksgiving meals to those affected by the storm on Tuesday.

TMZ Sports has learned ... His Airness was dishin' out the meals in front of a Lowe's in Wilmington, North Carolina ... personally greeting and helping out the people in attendance.

It's a tragedy that hit close to home for M.J. ... he grew up in Wilmington and later went on to ball out at University of North Carolina.

ICYMI -- Jordan already donated $2 MILLION to hurricane relief and boxed meals with his Charlotte Hornets back in September.

Jordan also raised more money by selling Hornets merch with proceeds going to hurricane relief.

Not only did Jordan do the Thanksgiving giveaway ... M.J's rep, Estee Portnoy, tells us he surprised kids at the Boys & Girls Club and hooked them up with food and Jordans as well.

For the 26th year in a row, Shaq-A-Claus is coming to town -- giving out thousands of toys to kids in need -- and the Big Fella's reason for launching the program is DEFINITELY gonna give you the feels.

Shaquille O'Neal joined the guys on "TMZ Live" and explained how he started his Shaq-A-Claus initiative back in 1992 after someone very special to him asked to borrow money to buy gifts for underprivileged kids.

The NBA legend was so moved, he opened up his bank account -- and got a moving truck (he doesn't really fit in your standard sleigh) -- and brought Christmas gifts to kids with nothing under the tree.

This year, Shaq says he's teaming up with Zappos -- the shoe giant -- to make the program bigger than ever before.

Zappos is essentially offering to cover shipping costs to donate toys through its website -- and will match toy donations on Black Friday and Cyber Monday!

11/20 -- The NBA has fined Kevin Durant $25,000 for "directing inappropriate language toward a fan"

2:38 PM PT -- Another witness tells TMZ Sports ... the hecklers had been bombarding KD with the "cupcake" insults to the point where it became unbearable.

That witness tells us KD complained to the refs at one point but the fans were not removed or disciplined in any way.

The witness says KD's explicit outburst was completely justified.

Kevin Durant went off on a heckler who was sitting courtside at the Mavs game this weekend -- telling the guy, "Watch the f**king game and shut the f**k up."

It all went down during the 1st quarter of the Warriors vs. Mavs game in Dallas on Saturday.

One witness who was sitting in spitting distance from the incident tells us ... the heckler was just saying the typical NBA fan trash talk -- calling KD names like, "Cupcake" and other insults.

But, KD wasn't having it -- walking over to the group, leaning in ... and cussing the guys out.

Did Durant's warning work? Nope.

We're told the group laughed off the incident because they knew they got to him and ramped up the trash talk even more for the rest of the game.

Ultimately, the Mavs BEAT the Warriors 112 to 109 ... with KD dropping 32 points.

It ain't the first time KD's had to deal with hecklers -- he got into it with some trash talkers back in June and was held back when the guys shouted out that his alma mater (University of Texas) is "butt."

We all knew Steph Curry's clutch under pressure ... but the dude just took it to a whole 'nother level ... getting behind the needle and inkin' up his own personal tattoo artist!!

The Golden State Warriors superstar met up with the guy behind his body art -- Zebra Tattoo artist Nino Lapid -- on Monday night ... giving him one hell of a birthday present ...

A PERMANENT AUTOGRAPH ON HIS LEG!!!

Lapid is the same guy commissioned for a private tat sesh for the Curry fam after the Warriors beat up on the Cavs last year ... so they're a really tight group.

It's not every day you get tatted by a 2-time NBA MVP ... but that's not all that went down last night -- Steph's wife, Ayesha, and teammate Damion Lee got in on the fun too!!

Luckily for Nino ... it looks like Steph's hand was as steady as his shot.

Shareef O'Neal might not be on the court at UCLA this year but he's still finding a way to give the rest of the PAC-12 fits ... 'cause he's getting in early on a BLUE-CHIP L.A recruit ... LeBron James Jr.

14-year-old Bronny hit the UCLA game Monday with his brother, Bryce, and the rest of the O'Neal kids -- including his current Crossroads schoolmate, Shaqir O'Neal.

The whole crew was there to support Shareef -- a member of the UCLA team who's sidelined this season due to a heart condition. As we previously reported, he'll be undergoing surgery next month.

The O'Neals and the James families are REALLY close ... so all of this could just be a fun night out, but you have to wonder if hanging around Westwood is gonna give the Bruins an inside track on Bronny for 2023.

We can't be sure about that, it's too early to tell ... but we are 100% sure about one thing.

These kids are growing like beanstalks, seriously. We have to know what Shaq, Shaunie, LeBron, and Savannah are feeding these children.

LeBron James couldn't help but think about his own boys after Trayvon Martin's death ... saying he realized that could've been one of his kids who was killed.

TMZ Sports has a first look of the final episode (airs Saturday at 9 PM) of his 3-part docu-series, "Shut Up and Dribble" ... which focuses on the impact NBA players have when it comes to social activism.

"I'm sitting there and I'm reading all these different articles," James says, "I'm seeing all these different play-by-play. I'm seeing all these different stuff of what happened, what didn't happen, what could have happened to prevent this ... and I just started to think about my boys, my sons."

LBJ has two sons -- Bronny (14) and Bryce (11) -- and one daughter, Zhuri (4) -- and has talked about the impact Martin's death has had on raising his kids.

Draymond Green says his heated argument with Kevin Durant -- one in which he repeatedly called K.D. a "b*tch" -- is only gonna make the Warriors better ... saying, "Good luck with us now!"

ICYMI ... the Golden State stars got into it at the end of a loss to the Clippers on Monday -- with Durant upset at Green in the huddle for a late-game turnover.

Green fired back harshly ... callin' Durant a "b*tch" multiple times -- and reportedly even letting the argument spill into the post-game locker room.

Green was eventually suspended one game -- and fined $120,000 -- for the altercation ... but told reporters Thursday the fight ain't gonna end the Warriors' dynasty.

"If this only makes Kevin, myself and the rest of my teammates stronger, that's what it's going to do," Green says.

In fact ... Draymond promised an EVEN BETTER version of the Dubs now.

"If you think you saw something before, good luck with us now. We not going to crumble off of an argument. We going to move forward."

That might be true for THIS season ... but Klay Thompson AND K.D. are free agents this summer -- and even Draymond couldn't guarantee their future with the team after that.

J.R. Smith just copped a sweet deal in his cell phone throwing incident back in July ... TMZ Sports has learned, and if he stays outta trouble for 6 months ... he's totally in the clear.

ICYMI -- Swish allegedly took a fan's cell phone and threw it into a construction site ... after the guy tried to snap a pic of the Cleveland Cavs star outside of The Park, an NYC hot spot.

Smith -- who appeared before a judge in a Manhattan courtroom Thursday morning with attorney Alex Spiro -- had his case adjourned in contemplation of dismissal.

Plain talk -- as long as he buys the fan a new cell phone ($600) AND doesn't screw up ... the case will be dismissed.

Tracy McGrady has some Hall of Famer to future Hall of Famer advice for Carmelo Anthony ... move on, bro ... saying he believes it's time for Melo to put a period on his NBA career.

Anthony is reportedly on the outs in Houston and McGrady says he's being unfairly scapegoated for the Rockets' slow start. Problem is, Tracy thinks that's gonna be the case wherever Anthony goes.

"If he goes to another team and his team starts playing bad, then what? They're gonna blame Melo."

But, don't get it twisted -- T-Mac says Melo can DEFINITELY still ball at the top level ... he just thinks the NBA has turned the page on Anthony, not giving him a fair shake, meaning he only has one option.

The Mavs are goin' ALL OUT to honor wounded U.S. troops Wednesday night ... 'cause they're flying in 120 soldiers and hookin' them up with courtside seats AND a fancy 4-course meal!!

The team announced it'll host its 14th annual Seats for Soldiers night ... and give away floor tix for the soldiers -- valued at around $350k.

"Our annual Seats for Soldiers night is a reminder that we don’t get to enjoy the game we love without the incredible sacrifices our soldiers make,” owner Mark Cuban says.

The team says the night will start with a truckload of food at Nick & Sam's in Dallas ... where they'll feed the troops a baller steak dinner (dessert's a 7-layer cake).

Then, it'll be off to the American Airlines Center ... where Cuban will hook up the men and women with some amazing seats for their tilt with the Utah Jazz.

In addition to the wounded troops sitting courtside, the Mavs tell us they're also hooking up over 1,000 veterans with free tickets to the game.

Aqib Talib didn't just have the best seats in the house for Tuesday night's Rockets-Nuggets game ... dude got the dopest souvenir ever too -- James Harden's game-used jersey!!!

The L.A. Rams -- in town 'cause they wanted to practice at altitude to prep for their now-moved Mexico City game (more on that later) -- popped by the Pepsi Center to catch some hoops.

Dudes like Talib, Todd Gurley, Jared Goff and Marcus Peters were all courtside ... but for some reason -- Harden decided Talib was most worthy of the post-game swag.

The Bearded One even signed it ... and Talib loved it, saying, "That courtside drip, you feel me?! That's authentic. It's still sweaty. That thing still sweaty, straight off the court!"

L.A. was set to face the Chiefs next Monday night in Estadio Azteca, and was trying to hit up Colorado Springs all week to prep for the altitude in Mexico's capital.

But, since recent Mexico City concerts tore up the field ... the game got moved back to L.A. -- which appears to mean the Rams will head home soon.

Don't feel too bad for at least one of the Rams superstars for leaving the game empty-handed -- Gurley was still rockin' the sick diamond pendant YG gifted to him this week!!

Carmelo Anthony ain't gonna have an easy time finding a new squad after the Rockets boot him to the curb ... so says Byron Scott.

Don't get the ex-NBA coach wrong ... he likes Melo and thinks he can still shoot it -- but, he tells TMZ Sports, the market for the 10-time All-Star after he moves on from Houston will be wafer-thin.

"It's gonna be hard, man," Scott says.

Byron's biggest issues with Melo? He says the dude can't fit in with teams looking to rebuild with younger players -- and he can't fit in with squads that get up and down the floor.

So, Scott says the only possible landing spots for the future Hall of Famer are with veteran, half-court teams ... or nowhere else.

BTW ... we also asked Scott about the Lakers and the job Luke Walton is doin' -- and he says everyone just needs to be patient when it comes to LeBron's first year in Hollywood.

But ... we had to ask -- would he consider linking up with his ex-Lakers teammate, Magic Johnson, and coaching L.A. if Walton falters??