NBA

Sacramento Kings star Zach Randolph just struck a pretty sweet deal in his marijuana case ... and all he has to do is a TON of community service.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Z-Bo was arrested for felony weed possession with intent to sell back in August when cops say they busted him with more than 2 pounds of pot in Nickerson Gardens.

The charges were later reduced to misdemeanor possession of more than 1 ounce of marijuana and resisting arrest ... and Randolph was facing up to 1 year in jail if convicted on both accounts.

But now, we've learned Randolph struck a deal with prosecutors to plead no contest to misdemeanor resisting arrest ... and in exchange, the pot charge was tossed completely.

Randolph was sentenced to 150 hours of community service as part of a diversion program, which means if he completes the hours and keeps his nose clean for 12 months, the resisting arrest conviction will be wiped from his record.

One more thing ... Randolph was specifically told he may not associate himself with or be around drug dealers as part of the terms of the deal.

The case is due back in court for a progress report in December. Good luck!

L.A. Lakers rising star Larry Nance Jr. is officially off the market ... 'cause the NBA baller just proposed to his college sweetheart with a MASSIVE diamond ring!!

The 24-year-old and his longtime girlfriend, Hailey Pince -- a fellow U. of Wyoming alum -- announced the big news on social media Tuesday by showing off the huge rock.

LNJ and the aspiring model have been dating for over 3 years ... and he explained his decision to pop the question by channeling his inner Beyonce, saying "I liked it, so I put a ring on it."

Nance can reportedly make up to $7 million over the next 3 years ... so yeah, dude can afford to splurge on his girl.

LeBron James surprised the basketball team at Notre Dame High School in L.A. on Tuesday -- hitting the gym for a training session while his wife checked out the campus ... TMZ Sports has learned.

We're told Bron and Savannah James rolled up to the school in a chauffeured car around 6 PM and walked around campus before a workout on the court.

LeBron owns a home in Brentwood and there's talk he could be checking out various private schools to send his kids -- including 12-year-old Bronny, one of the best hoop prospects in the country.

Notre Dame is one of the top private schools in the area -- with an alumni list that includes Giancarlo Stanton, Rachel Bilson, Dave Navarro, Katharine McPhee and Jerry Mathers.

Any school would kill for Bron's kids -- but it's unclear if ND is seriously in the running.

It's a Catholic school ... so ... pray?

10:55 PM PT -- LeBron has posted a video thanking the school for opening the gym so he could work out after a long day of shooting commercials.

LeBron insists the kids had no idea he was coming and emphasizes that he was there to get his own workout in.

LBJ makes no mention of the school being a candidate for his own kids. Sorry, Knights.

When it comes to retiring jerseys, the Lakers are taking two steps forward with Kobe Bryant -- and two steps WAY BACK with Paula Abdul!!

Here's the deal ... did you know the Lakers retired Paula's legendary Laker Girl uniform back in the day?

Of course you don't because for some reason, it's not hanging in the rafters at Staples Center next to the other greats like Magic, Shaq, Kareem and Jerry West.

When we saw Paula at LAX on Tuesday, she told us the Lakers had initially hung it up next to Kareem back when the team played at The Forum ... but when they moved, Paula's old outfit was relocated to a wall somewhere in the arena instead of up with the rest of the legends.

C'MON LAKERS!!!! PUT PAULA BACK IN THE RAFTERS!!!!

Paula became the HEAD of the Laker Girls when she was only 19 years old and led them to become the greatest cheerleading squad in pro sports during an epic 6-year run!

Plus, if Taylor Swift has a banner up at Staples Center, Paula should too.

Stephon Marbury's better off in the BIG3 ... but is in such crazy-good shape, he could hoop in the NBA too -- so says Al Harrington, one of Starbury's BFFs.

Al knows what he's talking about ... dude's a 16-year NBA vet and reigning BIG3 champ -- and, most importantly, chats with Marbury all the time.

Harrington was literally seconds away from hitting up Stephon when TMZ Sports found him in L.A. -- and asked if he seriously thought the 40-year-old could still ball with the best.

"Vince Carter doin’ it, so why not?" BUT ... "I think he’d be better served in the BIG3."

Al told us he's actually been recruiting Starbury for Ice Cube's league ... but it's up to his boy to choose -- or just DO BOTH!

If not ... there's always China.

Kobe Bryant will be the first Laker in team history to have TWO jersey numbers retired ... when they put #8 and #24 in the Staples Center rafters in December.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... the Lake Show will have a ceremony to retire Kobe's jersey on Dec. 18 before the Lakers play the Golden State Warriors.

The big question was which # would get the VIP treatment.

The answer? Both ... according to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne.

Of course, Bryant dominated in both numbers ... winning 3 NBA championships in #8 (2000, 2001, 2002) and 2 in #24 (2009, 2010).

BTW, Rick Fox kinda called this ... predicting a double number retirement way back in 2015.

Don't call it a comeback -- cause it's a looongshot -- but Stephon Marbury says he's gunnin' for an NBA return!

The 40-year-old announced the news on social media, adding that -- "I still have a lot of go in me as a player and at 40 being able to play at a high level is a gift."

Remember ... Starbury left the league 8 YEARS ago after a string of sketchy off-court incidents -- highlighted by him eating Vaseline straight out of a jar.

He famously packed his bags for China ... and became the most legendary player in Chinese Basketball Association history (for real, dude's already got his own statue).

Now, Marbury says he's ready to "turn towards the last page of my basketball diary that I've been writing since 95 when I left Lincoln High."

Will a team take a chance on him? We'll see ...

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.