NBA

Here's Ben Simmons trying to level the playing field for the Lakers -- hitting a Hollywood nightclub hours before taking the court at Staples ... and TMZ Sports has video.

The 21-year-old 76ers superstar had dined at Catch LA restaurant late Tuesday evening and left around 1:10 AM on Wednesday morning. He ended up at 1 Oak ... one of the top nightclubs in L.A.

Here's the deal ... Philadelphia takes on the Lakers at 7:30 PM on Wednesday -- so, nightclubbing the morning of the game could be a tricky situation.

But Philly's on fire right now ... playing out of their minds (just ask the Clippers) -- and maybe Ben thinks nothing in L.A. can stop him, not even L.A. thots.

This has happened before ... the Milwaukee Bucks partied at an L.A. strip club before playing the Lakers in 2015 ... but L.A was much more terrible back then. Oh, and Milwaukee lost that game.

Good luck, Ben ...

Leslie Jones REALLY likes Dwyane Wade -- or maybe she's just an undercover sneakerhead??

Probably both -- 'cause check out the 'SNL' star fangirling out like a teeny bopper at a Britney concert when D-Wade hooks her up with his game-worn shoes ... after his Cavs took the Knicks' souls Monday night at MSG.

Wade gets down on a knee for the proposal ... and Leslie LOSES IT.

"It's my shoooeees! I get my shoooeees!"

"Will you accept my shoes?"

"YES!"

FYI, Leslie gave away 1 of Wade's Li-Ning kicks -- but NO WAY she was saying bye to both.

Shaq and his ex-wife Shaunie O'Neal spared no expense for their daughter's sweet 16 ... and by expense, we mean they dropped almost a mil for the kid.

The O'Neals threw Amirah -- aka Mimi -- an EPIC 16th birthday party Saturday night in L.A. that was fit for royalty -- 'cause the proud parents spent nearly a million dollars on the whole shebang. Yep, you read that right ... $1,000,000.

Sources close to the family tell TMZ Sports that Shaq and Shaunie rented out out the entire rooftop area of the W Hotel in Hollywood, and they gifted Mimi a brand new Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen.

Oh, and they also booked YG to perform ... who we're told did 8 songs, including his hits "Toot It And Boot It" and "Why You Always Hatin?"

From the looks of the party, we'd say it was money well spent. Especially if you were lucky enough to end up at Mimi's.

The LiAngelo Ball arrest is no joke -- it's really scary -- and ex-Lakers player Devean George says the entire Ball family better be taking the situation seriously.

"I'm scared for him," George tells TMZ Sports ... "You gotta be real careful when you're doing stuff overseas."

Of course, George played 11 seasons in the NBA -- won 3 rings with the Lakers -- and says he's also concerned for Lonzo Ball ... because it's virtually impossible for Zo not to be distracted by his bro's legal situation.

Klay Thompson got a lesson in unlimited range at Warriors practice yesterday -- but it wasn't from Steph or KD.

Harlem Globetrotters Zeus McClurkin and Dizzy English hit the hardwood in Oakland to show Klay how to get wet from 4-point distance (30 FEET) ... but it looked like the Splash Bro had it covered.

The best part of the vid was definitely when Zeus asked Klay if he thought the NBA should add a 4-point line. Thompson's answer -- "I think it would only really benefit us."

Burn.

Hard to argue with Klay, though -- remember when he did THIS?!

Lamar Odom + nightclubs = danger ... so says John Salley.

Salley says it's simple math ... Odom struggles with substance abuse and the club scene is one of the WORST places for him to be.

Clearly, Salley isn't buying Odom's excuse that "dehydration" caused him to collapse at a Hollywood nightclub on Sunday morning.

So what should Lamar do? Get new friends that support a healthier lifestyle ... and STAY OUT OF THE DAMN NIGHTCLUBS!

Scottie Pippen LOVES Novak Djokovic -- and wasn't afraid to show it yesterday at lunch.

We got Pippen leaving il Pastaio in the Beverly Hills ... that is, until the NBA legend spotted Novak at an outside table.

Scottie made a hard cut over to the tennis superstar -- giving him daps, busting out his cellphone for a pic and just generally fanboying out.

Pip didn't wanna talk about him and Larsa getting back together ... but his bromance with Djoker's on lock.

Bonus: Scottie just shared his shot with the "tennis GOAT" -- and it's dope.

Move over, Lonzo Ball -- Nick Young's not only down to star in his own reality show -- he says he's already gotten a bunch of offers to put the life of Swaggy P on TV!!

Swaggy dropped the news at Warriors practice today -- looking happy as hell telling reporters about his future plans for Hollywood domination.

But there's a catch -- "I gotta get the best offers ... gotta take my talents to the best place."

His asking price -- "Kardashian prices."

Nick lives the life reality producers gush over -- dates celebs (Iggy Azalea), has famous friends (Gilbert Arenas) and has all sorts of real life drama (D'Angelo Russell).

Kinda doubt Swaggy's worth $150 mil ... but hey -- shooters gonna shoot.

Dennis Rodman is making a plea to POTUS on the eve of his trip to South Korea -- asking him to make peace with his North Korean bro, Kim Jong-un, as tensions rise over nuclear warfare.

"Donald Trump, please, help us," Rodman said to TMZ Sports in Newport Beach. "You always say, 'unite.' I'm all about that."

Dennis told us he trusts Trump ... but feels like he's gotta be involved for his former "Celebrity Apprentice" boss to break bread with the supreme leader.

Highly doubt the Donald's down ... but at least we know the Worm's still trying to play peacemaker.

The Lakers beat the Memphis Grizzlies Sunday night in L.A., but David Foster and his new gf, Katharine McPhee, might not have noticed.

The two had great seats, but it didn't matter because it looked like Katharine was more into David's convo than Lonzo Ball's ball skills.

They've been spotted together all over town the last couple of weeks, and were even snapped smooching. So far no official statement on the status of their relationship, but the body language pretty much says it all.

Gilbert Arenas thinks Lonzo Ball is off to a pretty decent start, but tells TMZ Sports they can't really shine in L.A. just yet BECAUSE THE REST OF HIS TEAM IS SUPER TRASH.

Here's Gil's point ... Lonzo is a passer, and in order for him to tear it up for the Purple & Gold, his teammates have to make the shots he sets them up for, something Arenas says these guys can't do.

"You try to put so much hype around a point guard but your team is bad. He can't make these players good, if they're Hondas they're Hondas. This is not fast in furious where you can put some Nitrous on Ingram and make him a better Honda."

Ouch. Arenas went on to explain that no point guards make all the greats like Shaq and Jordan who they were, and if the Lakers think Lonzo's gonna do that, they're fooling themselves.

Finally, a politician is going to bat for pro athletes who wanna use weed -- saying the NFL and NBA are treating players like 2nd class citizens for taking away their rights to get high (medically).

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) says it's about damn time league commissioners acknowledge that marijuana is BETTER for treating the "really terrible pain" pro athletes endure.

"It's much less damaging than the opiods, the painkillers, the shots, the pills ... and it's time professional sports stops punishing them but works with them."

Congressman Blumenauer says 2/3 Americans have legal access to medical marijuana -- so to ban NBA and NFL players is basically treating them like "second class citizens."

BTW -- shout-out to the great people of the 3rd District in Oregon, your rep is the COOLEST DUDE EVER.

We also spoke with ex-NBA player Al Harrington -- who's actively lobbying the NBA to lift the weed ban -- and asked if there's been any progress since he spoke about the issue with ex-commish David Stern.

6:01 PM PT -- Lamar's rep says he collapsed due to dehydration after an intense workout earlier in the day without the necessary fluids in his system. They also said it was very hot in the club, while adding ... he's "doing great."

Lamar Odom collapsed at his VIP booth at an L.A. nightclub early Sunday morning ... TMZ Sports has the video.

Odom was at Bootsy Bellows on the Sunset Strip when several staffers and patrons noticed the ex-NBA star collapsed to the ground around 2 AM. You can see security rush in to help and he seems to be conscious.

The person who shot the video tells TMZ Sports he saw Odom drinking for several hours before the incident.

The issue ... Odom has a serious history with substance abuse -- he almost died from a drug overdose at a brothel in 2015.

Odom has since gone to rehab and vowed to change his life -- but he's been partying a lot lately ... from strip clubs to nightclubs.

At least one voting block is already behind Mark Cuban's possible 2020 presidential bid -- his players ... with Mavs vet, Devin Harris, telling TMZ Sports a Cuban country might not be a bad idea.

Cuban hasn't officially thrown his hat into the ring yet, but appeared on "OBJECTified" and told Harvey Levin he's considering challenging Donald Trump as a republican next go-around.

Harris has spent much of his 13-year NBA career playing under Cuban, and when we got him out at Warwick in L.A. earlier this week, we had to ask if he's down with M.C. taking his talents to D.C.

Devin doesn't exactly stump for Cuban, but does ask a question that some Americans will no doubt agree with (and others won't of course).

"Can he do any worse?"

Ex-NBA stars Earl "The Pearl" Monroe and Henry Bibby claim they got "conned" into joining a new basketball league ... only to get screwed out of thousands of dollars.

Both guys are suing the Champions League -- a 5-on-5 full court league comprised mainly of retired NBA players and coaches.

Monroe and Bibby claim they were promised serious cash to join -- but the money never came.

According to the suit, obtained by TMZ Sports, Monroe accepted a job as Sr. VP and GM of the Gotham Ballers -- and was supposed to get $110k ... but he only got $30k instead.

Bibby says he was supposed to get $60k for coaching the Phoenix Desert Cats -- but never got a cent.

The guys say they were offered stock to make up for the cash -- but they think the whole league is a Ponzi scheme and want their cash, asap.

Tennis superstar Caroline Wozniacki is engaged again ... to another athlete!

The former #1 player in the world said, 'Yes' to NBA star David Lee ... 8 months after going public with their relationship.

"Happiest day of my life yesterday saying yes to my soulmate," Wozniacki said ... while posting a photo of her MASSIVE engagement ring.

FYI, Lee has reportedly made more than $92 MILLION during his NBA career -- so ... not bad!

Wozniacki was previously engaged to golfer Rory McIlroy -- but things ended terribly in 2014 when he called things off AFTER they sent out the wedding invitations.

They've both moved on ... and Lee seems like he's in for the long haul.

Congrats!