NBA

Charles Oakley tears into the NY Knicks as the "laughingstock" of the NBA -- and rips owner James Dolan as an incompetent, insecure liar in a brand new lawsuit obtained by TMZ Sports.

Oak is suing Dolan and the Knicks over that infamous Feb. 2017 incident when Oakley was forcibly removed from Madison Square Garden and arrested following an altercation with security.

In his suit, filed in federal court in NY, Oakley says Dolan had it out for him from the moment he took over the team because Charles refused to "kiss the ring."

"Dolan constantly disrespected Mr. Oakley, refusing to make eye contact or shake his hand during meetings, denying the type of fan appreciation nights given to much less popular and successful members of the Knicks."

The coup de grace ... Oakley says Dolan made him buy his own tickets to Knicks games while routinely treating other retired players to free courtside seats.

Oakley says things came to a head on Feb. 8 ... when Dolan ordered security to remove him from the building and a physical altercation ensued. Oakley says Dolan then ran a smear campaign, falsely accusing him of being an alcoholic who was drunk at the Garden.

In fact, Oakley points to an ESPN Radio interview in which Dolan said Charles "may have a problem with alcohol" and then claimed Oak was verbally abusive to MSG staff.

Oakley says he was neither intoxicated nor otherwise behaving inappropriately that night.

Oakley is suing for defamation, assault, battery, false imprisonment and more. Oakley does not specify how much money he's seeking.

We spoke with Oak's attorney, Douglas Wigdor, who tells us, "While the facts of the complaint speak for themselves, Mr. Oakley filed this lawsuit out of principle and his desire to hold Mr. Dolan accountable for his actions which I can assure you that our Firm is committed to doing on his behalf."

Taj Gibson has made nearly $40 MIL playing in the NBA -- so, he's a big baller -- but the Timberwolves stud says there's NO WAY he's droppin' $1,500 on LaVar Ball's new shoe!

For the record, LaVar hasn't debuted his upcoming "LaVar-icci" kicks yet -- but says the price tag will be more than 3 TIMES higher than his son Lonzo's ZO2s.

So, when we saw Gibson at LAX we had to ask ... you gonna cop these kicks or what!?

"No, I don't think I'll wear a pair," Taj says ... "But I'll probably show support."

Of course, Jay-Z recently threw his support behind BBB -- saying he was impressed with a black entrepreneur challenging massive athletic wear companies like Nike and Under Armour.

Still, ya gotta wonder if $1,500 is too much for Jay, too.

Kendall Jenner and Blake Griffin just took a major step in their dating life -- 'cause nothing says "we're together" like dinner and a movie ... and a 2,475 mile trip.

The rumored couple was spotted grabbing a bite Monday night in NYC at Carbone, and then catching the new horror flick "It" afterward.

Speaking of flying, Blake clearly jetted off to New York to be with Kendall ... who's walking runways for Fashion Week. They'd been seen hanging in L.A. (with pals) prior to this.

If they keep this up ... they'll float too.

Christmas is coming early for Kobe Bryant -- the Lakers are planning to retire his jersey before the Warriors game on Dec. 18 ... multiple sources tell TMZ Sports.

The Lakers aren't officially acknowledging it -- but the team sent a letter to Lakers season ticket holders advising them to "hold on to your tickets for the game on Dec. 18" for a "special event."

We've made some calls and everyone's saying the same thing ... it's Kobe's big night.

The big question ... which number will go up in Staples Center -- #8 or #24 ... or both? (Our money's on both).

The Lakers also play the Golden State Warriors that night -- so LaVar Ball can finally watch Lonzo take on Steph Curry!

Those tickets are gonna be PRICEY on StubHub.

Scottie Pippen is back with his wife Larsa -- and they just moved to L.A. as a family to "figure things out" ... TMZ Sports has learned.

In fact, the two are already having couples outings in Beverly Hills -- where they got his and her manicures on Monday. Doesn't get more "together" than that.

Here's the deal ... it's been almost a year since Scottie filed divorce docs after 19 years of marriage. Since then, the two have been on-again, off-again in an effort to work things out.

It seemed things were finally dunzo in April when they mutually decided to move forward with the divorce -- but once again, things changed.

The two recently moved the family from Miami to L.A. -- in part due to the fact their basketball star son Scotty has transferred to Sierra Canyon, one of the top basketball programs in the country.

Fun Fact: Kenyon Martin's son also hoops at S.C. and it's also where the country's #1 high school player, Marvin Bagley, played ball.

We're told both Scottie and Larsa are really trying to make things work this time around.

Good luck!

Here's John Wall once again proving he's the most well-rounded PG in the NBA ... he scores, he defends, he passes ... AND HE MILLY ROCKS EFFORTLESSLY.

Wall proved this in Paris, celebrating Ludacris' 40th bday with huge stars like Jeezy, Ryan Leslie, and Kenny Burns ... but the Washington Wizards star still stood out with his dance floor moves.

BTW, there wasn't just Milly rocking going on -- there was some kinda weird jumping in-a-circle dance as well. That's probably just for rich guys, of which Wall is definitely one.

Here's Paul Piece and Ray Allen proving not even a homewrecker named LeBron James can stand in the way of true brotherhood, with the two ex-Celtics officially squashing the beef after a pretty nasty breakup.

Allen had been on the outs with his old C's running mates (Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo) ever since he bolted Boston in 2012 to sign with the hated rival Miami Heat ... and LeBron.

The feud had gotten pretty nasty (and pretty public) -- but when the two came face-to-face at a celebrity game in China, it was all love.

"Time to get the band back together," Pierce said in a post on Instagram ... "No matter what happen we all formed a special bond that can never b broken #onceacelticalwaysaceltic."

He tagged Rondo and KG in the post and added the hashtag, "#burythehatchet."

Pierce, KG, Rondo and some other teammates opened up about the feud back in May -- with Pierce saying he was hurt that Allen left the squad without ever calling him to talk about it.

The millionaire famous for scoring the best seats at NBA games -- and for being Rihanna's friend -- couldn't get into her NY fashion show.

Jimmy Goldstein showed up Sunday night at RiRi's Fenty x Puma fashion show clearly expecting to cruise right into the Park Avenue Armory -- but he was denied because he wasn't on the list.

Jimmy was left out front, surrounded by assistants frantically working phones trying to get him in, but we're told it never happened. It's shocking because Jimmy and Rihanna hang out at NBA games, and he even hosted her 27th birthday party at his Hollywood Hills mansion.

Sources close to Jimmy tell us he was bummed he didn't get into the bike-heavy fashion show, but he knows it wasn't Rihanna's doing. We're told someone on his team just screwed up.

Big time.

Iman Shumpert's smokin' hot wife, Teyana Taylor, lit up New York Fashion Week ... droppin' low for a catwalk dance that put basic supermodels to shame.

And she did it IN LINGERIE.

Teyana did her thing at the Philipp Plein show while Future performed live onstage.

Iman was in the building too and was SUPER proud of his wife. He even posted a pic of TT lookin' straight fire.

Bonus: Teyana and Iman kept it goin' after the show with an XL bottle of Moet.

Steph Curry is disgusted that Colin Kaepernick is still in the unemployment line ... and he's got a message for all the NFL teams refusing to sign him -- FREE KAEP.

Steph was in attendance for the 49ers vs. Panthers game at Levi's Stadium ... and shared a photo of the field with a #FreeKaep caption.

This statement comes a day after Curry spoke about Kaep deserving an NFL roster spot ... adding that his national anthem protests "shook up the world ... for the better."

“He definitely should be in the NFL," Steph told The Charlotte Observer.

"If you’ve been around the NFL, the top 64 quarterbacks, and he’s not one of them? Then I don’t know what game I’m watching."

As for Kaep ... the former Niners QB was social media silent on Sunday -- but his Know Your Rights Camp account posted messages urging fans to boycott the NFL.

John Salley has a message for LaVar Ball -- I can take Big Baller Brand to the next level!!!

Here's the deal ... Salley is a part-owner in Q4 Designs -- an apparel company that manufactures everything from shoes to shirts and more.

The NBA legend says he's been actively trying to lock down a meeting with LaVar in an effort to join forces and he's confident they can work out something ASAP.

"I'm trying to get Big Baller Brand to let us make the shoes," Salley says.

Demi Lovato's on a mission to help with Hurricane Harvey relief efforts, and while volunteering at the Houston Food Bank she ran into Kevin Hart and NBA superstar Chris Paul.

We're told Demi donated 50,000 bottles of water to the food bank after hearing about price-gouging in the area -- and she set up a fundraising initiative with the food bank after donating $50k of her own dough.

Chris and Kevin were helping unload trucks and serve food. We're told the trio randomly bumped into each other and snapped a quick pic.

Nick Young says he taught JaVale McGee everything he knows about the card game Bourre ... which might be a problem since it was THAT game that ignited the biggest gun standoff in NBA history.

Here's the deal ... Kevin Durant recently praised JaVale's Bourre card game skills during an interview with Bill Simmons.

So, when we saw Swaggy P -- one of JaVale's old Washington Wizards teammates -- we asked for his take.

That's when Young bragged that he taught JaVale the game back when J.M. was a rookie -- and intentionally taught him the WRONG way to play so he'd lose. Funny.

The only problem is that it was an infamous game of Bourre on a Wizards team jet back in 2009 between JaVale, Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton that led to the gun showdown.

As Gilbert has previously explained, JaVale won a particularly contested hand -- a hand Javaris was pissed about because he thought it was a misdeal. He blamed Gilbert and things escalated from there.

Young jokes that when it comes to card games, JaVale just has that "Shaqtin' a Fool" karma.

LeBron James added another job to his resume -- RUNWAY MODEL.

The NBA superstar hit the catwalk for the Kith Fashion Show at the Classic Car Club during NY Fashion Week on Thursday ... and killed it.

Bron was showing off his Nike LeBron 15 kicks -- while working the runway like a champ.

Scottie Pippen also walked the same show -- rocking a tracksuit and a modernized version of his of his old Nike Air Pippens.

Carmelo Anthony and Russell Westbrook were reportedly in the crowd. Those guys LOVE fashion.

Dwight Howard's all about gender equality -- which is why he and a female boxing trainer took turns PUNCHING EACH OTHER IN THE STOMACH!!

The NBA star laced up the gloves with Ann "Annimal" Najjar at the UFC Gym in San Diego -- where she challenged Dwight to hit first ... and he did. Hard.

In fact, Howard knocked her back twice in a row ... before ending it with a 3rd body shot that folded her in half.

The next day, Ann flipped the script and punished Howard's abs with more than 10 ferocious body blows in a row.

Magic Johnson was lookin' like a million bucks (minus $500k) Wednesday night ... but the Lakers Prez ain't sweatin' his first fine as an NBA exec. ... telling TMZ Sports his team is doing great.

FYI -- the Lakers got hit with a tampering penalty after making illegal contact with OKC Thunder star Paul George. Magic took all the blame ... and said he'd cough up the half a mil from his own salary.

So we asked Johnson if Lake Show owner Jeanie Buss accepted his offer ... and he took the opportunity to assure fans that everything's A-Ok in L.A.