NBA

A former member of the Philadelphia 76ers' dance team claims she was the victim of bullying and racism during her time on the squad ... and now, the Sixers have launched an investigation.

Yahne Coleman -- a fashion model who used to perform with the Sixers Dancers -- revealed the disturbing allegations in a lengthy social media post Tuesday.

In the statement, Coleman claimed she was "racially profiled, bullied and threatened" not only by her dance teammates ... but by members of the dance team's coaching staff as well.

Coleman also attached a video with her post ... which she says shows a former teammate making inappropriate and racist remarks toward her, and even threatening her.

In the footage, the woman can be heard saying, "I will teach you how to use a tampon because your dirty-ass vagina probably smells like fish."

The woman in the video can also be heard saying, "I will find you in whatever home project you live in. I will slum it to the west side of Philly just to find your ass, beat the sh*t out of it, and then get you backlisted from whatever club you think you can get in.”

Coleman -- who reportedly left the dance team in 2015 -- claims similar bullying incidents happened to her regularly ... and she says when she reported it to officials in the 76ers' organization, "nothing was done."

The Sixers released a statement shortly after Coleman's post went up, and they say they're vowing to do a thorough investigation into the claims.

"Tonight, we were made aware of social media posts involving former dance team members that contained insensitive, offensive and unacceptable remarks, as well as allegations of bullying and racist behavior,” the team said.

"The videos, which were filmed in 2016, featured derogatory comments from a former dance team member who left the organization in 2013."

"Certainly if we had a lot of cases, we are going to stop. You cannot run from this virus."

That's NBA commissioner Adam Silver acknowledging his plan to continue the season in Orlando could hit a huge speed bump if players and staff continue to test positive for COVID.

Of course, several NBA players have tested positive for coronavirus recently ... including DeAndre Jordan, Jabari Parker, 3 members of the NO Pelicans, several members of the Denver Nuggets organization and more.

And, with concern growing, Silver addressed the issues Tuesday during an appearance on 'TIME 100 Talks' ... saying he's still "pretty confident" the season will happen, but nothing is certain.

"We and our players together with their union, look at the data on a daily basis. If there were something to change that was outside of the scope of what we are playing for, certainly, we would revisit our plans."

"We are testing daily," Silver continued ... "We haven't put a precise number on it, but if we were to see a large number of cases and see spread in our community, that would, of course, be a cause to stop as well."

Silver says the league has a team of medical and science experts to help guide them through the pandemic plan.

Still, Silver believes the bubble environment at Walt Disney World in Orlando will still be relatively safe.

"I am absolutely convinced that it will be safer on this campus than off this campus because there aren't many situations that I am aware of where there is mass testing of asymptomatic employees," Silver said.

"In some ways, this is maybe a model for how other industries can ultimately open. But, I am only going to say we will be responsible and watch what is happening, but the biggest indicator will be if we begin to see a spread in our community."

The NBA season is set to tip-off on July 31 -- but some teams are planning to begin travel to Orlando as early as July 7.

The NBA will paint the words, "Black Lives Matter" on all 3 of the courts it will use in the Disney World bubble when the season restarts, according to ESPN.

The words will appear inside both sidelines -- and ESPN says both the NBA and the NBA Players Association are down with the plan.

As we previously reported, several players have publicly expressed concern with joining the NBA bubble instead of focusing their full time and energy on continuing the Black Lives Matter movement.

In fact, Stephen Jackson -- who was close friends with George Floyd -- has called for NBA players to skip the season to keep the momentum going.

But, in the last week, people from both the NBA and NBAPA have been brainstorming ways to use the NBA's platform to continue to spotlight social justice issues ... and the BLM message on the court seems to be addressing those concerns,

Over in the WNBA, the league is also considering using Black Lives Matter on the court when it kicks off at the IMG Academy in Florida, according to ESPN.

There are also rumblings WNBA players could use warm-up shirts with the words, "Say Her Name" written on them as a way to spotlight victims of police brutality including Breonna Taylor.

Fred VanVleet WILL join his Toronto Raptors teammates in the NBA bubble next month ... but the guy straight-up admitted Monday he doesn't know if it's the right call at all.

"It sucks," VanVleet told reporters in a conference call. "It's terrible timing. But, that's been 2020 for us. We all know the right thing to do is to not play, to take a stand."

VanVleet -- like Dwight Howard and Kyrie Irving before him -- clearly believes the Black Lives Matter movement might be better served if the NBA did NOT return this summer.

But, the Raptors star guard says the money -- and the ability to use it to help the fight for social justice -- ultimately just swayed him too much.

"We're all young, black guys," VanVleet said. "None of us want to give any money back. I don't think that we should. I think that money can be used in many different ways."

"This is not going to end this summer regardless, or over the next couple of months. This issue, racial injustice, social injustice, police brutality, all these things are not ending anytime soon. Our fight is long-term. That was part of my decision."

VanVleet says if more NBA guys were on board ... he would've had no problem sitting out the restarted season, adding, "I wouldn't have even fought it."

"I think most of us decided to play. It's something we'll have to live with. I trust that my heart's in the right place, and I'm doing enough to really make change."

Bust out the Henny ... J.R. Smith is signing with the L.A. Lakers!!!

The 34-year-old vet is joining with his old pal, LeBron James, and Co. for a title run to finish the 2020 season ... finalizing a contract right before Tuesday's deadline.

Smith is stepping in for Avery Bradley, who opted out of the Orlando restart due to family concerns.

Of course, the last time J.R. and LeBron were in the Finals together back in 2018, this happened:

But, all joking aside -- Smith was a huge part of the Cleveland Cavaliers' 2016 championship team and averages 12.5 points for his career ... so it's an important pick-up for L.A.

And, if you're worried about how J.R. has been keeping himself in shape -- don't worry, he's got in plenty of cardio beating up alleged vandals on the streets of L.A.

NBA superstar Ja Morant says he went too far by reposting an anti-police statement to his social media pages ... and now, he's apologizing for it -- saying, "I know there are good cops '12' out there."

If you missed it, somebody edited Morant's Memphis Grizzlies jersey so it spelled out "F**k 12" ... and Ja reshared it on Instagram with the caption, "nah fr tho."

Morant also posted it on Twitter, writing there, "want dat on my jersey fr."

But, Ja's endorsements of the image -- which came after reports claimed the NBA is considering allowing players to replace their jersey names with messages in their return to action next month -- was met with immediate backlash.

And, just hours after he reshared the pics, he took them down and issued a mea culpa.

"I want to first apologize for reposting something that didn't clearly and accurately convey what I wanted to share," Morant said.

"My post was intended to focus on the bad cops who get away with the murder of unarmed Black men and women, and those who continue to harass peaceful BLACK LIVES MATTER protestors."

Ja continued, "I know there are good cops '12' out there. I know some, and a few are family. I am thankful to the cops at Murray State who took care of me, and the cops who continue to watch over me with the Grizzlies."

"We NEED good cops to step up and make sure others cops are not abusing their power."

In the apology, Morant went on to call for justice for Breonna Taylor, and added, "There have been too many Black lives taken by police that could have been prevented."

"You may see me as just a basketball player and I may lose fans for taking a stand, but I won't stay silent."

It's been almost 4 months since Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19 ... but his sense of smell is still MIA.

The Utah Jazz star was one of the first cases of coronavirus in pro sports when it was confirmed on March 11 ... leading to the shut down of the 2019-20 NBA season.

One of the common symptoms is loss of smell and taste -- and the 28-year-old Frenchman is telling L'Equipe he still isn't fully recovered in that sense.

"The taste has returned, but the smell is still not 100%," Gobert said in French.

"I can smell the smells, but not from afar. I spoke to specialists, who told me that it could take up to a year."

Remember, Gobert was the guy who famously joked around about COVID-19 ... jokingly touching a bunch of microphones and other recording devices at a press conference before he formally tested positive.

Afterward, Gobert's teammate, Donovan Mitchell, tested positive -- leading to a rift between the two.

It's been 3 years since Larry Sanders stepped foot on an NBA court ... but the 31-year-old says he's FAR from done -- telling TMZ Sports he wants another shot at getting back in the league.

Remember, Sanders had a solid career with the Milwaukee Bucks from 2010-2015 ... before failed drug tests and battles with mental health kept him out of work.

L.S. briefly had a comeback with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2017 ... but reportedly struggled with keeping up with his responsibilities.

We spoke with Sanders about his career ... and he makes it clear he's not ready to hang up the sneaks yet.

"I think with things shifting a bit, me still young, I feel like I'm in the prime stage, I can definitely contribute."

"I would just love to contribute to a team and help them win and give my knowledge, give my defensive presence and just being able to play basketball."

"That's ideal for me. That sounds like heaven."

But, as for what Sanders has been up to OFF the court, he tells us he's working with a spray cannabis company called CLICK ... and says it's perfect for someone with his athletic lifestyle.

"It's super discrete, super cool and sleek and I just fell in love with it because for me, it's healthier."

Jabari Parker just told the world he'd contracted coronavirus -- and less than 3 days later, the guy doesn't appear to be in isolation ... but rather, he's playing tennis in public.

The Sacramento Kings star was spotted Saturday in Chicago's Longfellow Park, where he was rallying with a buddy on the other end of the net ... all smiles, and without a mask. Mind you, he'd just announced a few days earlier that he had test positive for COVID-19.

It's hard to say what we should make of these photos of him seemingly doing just fine in light of that. On the one hand, it's kind of a bad look -- but also, it might be perfectly understandable ... as we don't know the exact status of his recovery at the moment.

In his statement through the Kings, Jabari said he found out his diagnosis "several days ago," but didn't specify when or how long he's been quarantined in Chi-Town. You'd like to assume he's on the tail end of his 14-day isolation here, but we just don't know.

Another somewhat troubling sign -- sources tell us Jabari was recently seen out at a restaurant there in the Windy City. Again, unclear if he's all better now or still sick.

Future NBA lottery pick Obi Toppin and his brother are taking each other to new heights during the COVID-19 pandemic ... by literally JUMPING over each other in an insane dunk session!!!

Of course, Obi was one of the best players in college basketball with the Dayton Flyers last season ... and younger bro, Jacob, will star at Kentucky after playing one season at Rhode Island.

The brothers proved they BOTH got incredible hops in a vid posted to IG on Friday ... doing one-handed windmill dunks while soaring over each other.

To put things into perspective -- Obi is 6'9" ... and Jacob is 6'8". So yeah, impressive as hell.

It's nice to see Jacob helping keep Obi -- this season's Wooden Award winner -- prepared for the Association ... with the NBA Draft set to go down in October.

Family over everything ... including the NBA.

Dallas Mavericks center Willie Cauley-Stein will NOT join his team in the Orlando bubble when the NBA season resumes ... and it's all because he's got a kid on the way.

The 26-year-old -- the 6th overall pick of the 2015 Draft -- has a baby due in July with his partner and clearly doesn't want to miss that experience, according to The Athletic.

Plus, Florida is experiencing a surge in positive COVID-19 tests ... so it also seems Willie doesn't want to put himself in harm's way while preparing to parent a newborn.

Cauley-Stein was only traded to the Mavs back in January -- and has just played in 13 games with Dallas.

The Mavs are the 7th ranked team in the Western Conference playoff standings -- which means they'll be included in the playoffs.

The regular season resumes on July 30 -- but Mavs players will report on July 8. If the Mavs make a run to the Finals, they would be in the bubble environment all the way until October.

Vince Carter is finally "officially" saying what we all knew was coming ... his 22-year run in the NBA is over,

"I'm officially finished playing basketball," 43-year-old Carter announced on the "Winging It" podcast.

"I'm officially done playing basketball professionally."

Carter says he's still open to playing celebrity basketball games and things like that -- but now, his focus will be on his golf game.

Of course, most people assumed Carter would be hanging it up after the NBA suspended the 2019-20 season back in March due to COVID-19.

The league is restarting the season in Orlando in a few weeks -- but only the top 22 teams were invited to participate ... and Carter's ATL Hawks didn't make the cut.

Carter said he had been discussing a formal retirement since his last game on March 11 ... but the fact his team was eliminated helped make up his mind.

"I felt that it was pretty much over."

Carter admits the end of his career didn't go exactly as planned -- calling it a "weird ending" -- but he's ready to move on after 22 seasons in the NBA.

"Retired Vince can go and golf now," Carter said.

"I joke about it but I think my love for golf and playing golf helped subside and put to the side the basketball part of it ... that's what made the transition easier."

Carter also points out, "I came into the league on a shortened season and I walk away fro the league on a shortened season."

Carter entered the league in 1998 -- a season that was shortened by the lockout, 2020 was shortened thanks to COVID.

But, Carter is grateful went out with a bang -- nailing his final NBA shot while playing the NY Knicks on March 11 ... a 3-pointer in overtime.

"Making my last shot helped the situation," Carter said ... "If I didn't make my last shot, it would have been a little different."