NBA

Ex-NBA player Ben Gordon was arrested in L.A. Monday afternoon -- after allegedly roughing up a guy at an apartment building ... and leaving with several thousand dollars of his money, TMZ Sports has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... the 34-year-old went to the apartment complex where he used to live in an effort to get his security deposit back. We're told there was a dispute about the money and Gordon allegedly put hands on the guy and threatened him.

We're told the man gave Gordon at least some of the money back -- mostly because he was scared -- and Gordon left. The man called police moments later.

But get this ... after cops arrived to the building, Ben RETURNED to demand the REST of his security deposit (a couple thousand dollars). Instead, cops arrested him on the spot for felony robbery.

He was hauled to a nearby station where he was booked and later released on $50,000 bail.

Gordon has had all sorts of trouble with police lately -- he was placed on a psychiatric hold in NYC after allegedly locking himself in his gym with a woman, while brandishing a blade.

He was also arrested in L.A. back in June for pulling fire alarms at his apartment complex.

TMZ Sports has obtained court documents filed by the man who claims he's being stalked by Ray Allen -- and he believes the NBA star is out to kill him.

But Ray says the accuser is just a "deranged individual" who's obsessed with him -- and the allegations are as bogus as it gets.

Bryant K. Coleman filed the petition for a temporary restraining order against Allen on Nov. 6 -- a petition that was granted by a Florida judge.

In the docs, Coleman claims Allen called him on the phone on Sept. 9 -- after their alleged 3-year relationship had ended -- and said he wanted to "ensure that I went away and never opened my mouth again."

"He said he wanted me to get what I deserved."

Coleman says Allen has "repeatedly spied on me by sending his associates to follow me in my community." One incident allegedly took place in a Publix market on Oct. 10 where Coleman says a man approached him and told him to "watch your back."

Coleman also claims he received a phone call from someone threatening to strangle him -- and he believes the caller was Ray Allen.

In the docs, Coleman says Allen was recently seen in public with 2 armed men and believes the ex-NBA star may be planning a "more direct attack."

One interesting note -- in Coleman's petition, he lists Allen's aliases ... and wrote, "Jesus Shuttlesworth" -- the name of Allen's character in the movie "He Got Game."

We spoke with Allen's attorney, David Markus, who tells TMZ Sports, "As with everything else related to Briant or Bryant Coleman, his petition for a restraining order was filled with lies, falsehoods and fantasies."

"He is a seriously deranged individual who Ray Allen has never met, never spoken with directly or threatened in any way. Coleman is the stalker here who is obsessed with Ray."

"Ray wants nothing to do with him and is exploring all legal options to stop him from continuing to harass and threaten him, his family and friends"

Bad news for the Big Baller Brand ... at least one of Lonzo's Lakers' teammates says he won't be playing in the new ZO2s.

We spoke with Julius Randle outside Mastro's Steakhouse in Beverly Hills -- when he told us he's got a deal with Nike ... and he ain't about to mess that up.

Meantime, the $500-per-pair ZO2s finally shipped over the weekend -- and should be arriving to people THIS WEEK!!!

Bonus: we also spoke with Julius about the Michael Crabtree vs. Aqib Talib chain-snatching and he explained why that would never happen in the NBA!

Ex-Lakers head coach Byron Scott has two words for LaVar Ball -- SHUT UP!!!!

Ball recently laid into Lakers coach Luke Walton ... saying he's "soft" and doesn't know how to properly coach his son, Lonzo Ball.

So, we hit up Byron to see how he would handle the situation if he was in Luke's shoes. Long story short, Byron says guys like LaVar need to shut their traps and let the coaches coach.

"Shut up. Stay put. Stay on the sidelines. We got this."

BTW, Scott's hosting a live music event in Hollywood Friday night ... that LaVar Ball will probably not be attending.

Kobe Bryant ... in the ballroom?? Maybe.

With "Dancing with the Stars" doing a full sports-themed competition with athletes next season, Derek Fisher told TooFab.com "Kobe's name keeps coming up."

"He loves the show. He and the family watch it," Fisher said ... "[Producers] should at least try and call him!"

Fisher competed on the show this season and loved it -- despite being the 3rd couple eliminated.

Athletes tend to kill it on the show -- with NFL stars like Emmitt Smith, Hines Ward, Donald Driver and Rashad Jennings all winning dancing championships.

Kobe Bryant's 11-year-old daughter is already getting treated like royalty by the top women's basketball program in in the world ... begging the question -- is UConn angling for Gianna Bryant?

Mamba and Mini-Mamba hit up Pauley Pavilion in Westwood on Tuesday night to watch the Huskies take on UCLA. They sat courtside and they visited the players and head coach Geno Auriemma afterward.

The catch ... Gianna is a BALLER -- she's been training with her dad and learning all of his signature moves. Kobe has already dubbed her "Mambacita."

After the game, Kobe posted on social media -- "Thank you @uconnwbb for treating our baby girl to a night she will never forget #uconn."

Guessing UConn hopes Gianna remembers in about 6 years ...

Does this look like a man under attack by the President Of the United States?!

LaVar Ball was all smiles at the Staples Center on Tuesday -- cheesin' it up with his wife at the Lakers game ... hours before Donald Trump dissed him on Twitter again.

So, why the big smile?

LaVar's having a pretty good week -- he messed with Chris Cuomo on CNN, out-Trumped Trump in front of the world (according to Mark Cuban), and his son is home from China.

Not to mention, Big Baller Brand's new ZO2 shoes are finally about to drop. So the real question is ...

Why wouldn't he smile?

Listen up, Lonzo Ball -- Chauncey Billups says he knows THE guy who can help you turn around your historically bad shooting ... and he might even hook y'all up if you ask nice.

"If I was Lonzo, I would call Kevin Martin -- a guy in our league who had like this funky shot but he could shoot the hell out of it," Chauncey told TMZ Sports.

Pretty good advice ... Martin used to be one of league's deadliest snipers and, more importantly, did his thing with a jumper that looks JUST LIKE Lonzo's.

So before you heed the haters and start shooting like all the normies -- "Try Kevin first."

Losing streak be damned ... Blake Griffin still had the energy to hit the clubs in NYC with Kendall Jenner on Monday night after getting shellacked by the Knicks.

Blake and Kendall were spotted leaving Up & Down nightclub in Manhattan. The photo agency that has the pics says they were taken at 3AM Tuesday morning.

Earlier that night Kendall was at Madison Square Garden to watch Blake's Clippers lose to the Knicks in a 105-87 beatdown.

It was the 9th loss in a row for the Clips ... but whatever. #HotChicksAndClubbing

The man who obtained a restraining order against Ray Allen says he was NOT catfishing the NBA star -- the two were in a romantic relationship ... but Ray's attorney tells TMZ Sports the man is lying.

As we previously reported, Allen is in a legal war with Bryant Coleman -- a staffer in the communications dept. at the University of Central Florida.

Coleman says Allen's allegations that he pretended to be a woman to obtain "private information" about Ray are false.

The truth, according to Coleman, is that Allen offered up info -- along with pictures and videos -- knowing full well that Coleman is a man. He says their relationship goes back several years.

"[Ray's] account of our relationship is false," Coleman says in a statement to TMZ Sports.

"Ray knows how I look, he knows how my voice sounds, he knows how I think, and most importantly, he knows my heart."

"However, because of confidentially considerations, I am not in a position to provide a more detailed response to Mr. Allen's false and salacious claims. I will rely on the courts to protect me against Mr. Allen's violent threats and false accusations."

The exact nature of the alleged "violent threats" is unclear, but as we previously reported ... Coleman obtained a restraining order, claiming Allen was stalking him.

We reached out to Allen's legal team for comment and his attorney shot down Coleman's claims.

"Mr. Coleman’s statement would be funny if it wasn’t so crazy," Ray's lawyer tells us.

"There has never been and never will be a relationship or friendship between Ray Allen and Mr. Coleman. They have never met and never have spoken."

"Ray obviously hasn’t threatened anyone. Any statement or inference otherwise is a complete fabrication. Ray wants nothing to do with Mr. Coleman, who obviously has some serious issues with understanding the difference between fact and fantasy.”

NBA #1 overall pick Markelle Fultz has a new BFF -- 17-year-old cancer survivor Mike Shelly, who's insane half-court shot at Saturday's 76ers game led to a once-in-a-lifetime VIP experience.

Here's the deal ... Mike balled out in a shooting contest during Sixers vs. Warriors, winning Chick-fil-A (Markelle's favorite thing ever) for all the fans in the arena.

Pretty epic -- but Shelly's no stranger to overcoming the odds ... crushing stage 4 cancer to suit up for his high school football team.

So when Mike got an invite back to the Wells Fargo Center, Fultz gave him a hero's welcome -- telling him he had a better jumper and asking if they could bro out over some chicken sandwiches! (The 76ers hooked Mike up with 76 Chick-fil-A gift cards, FYI).

The franchise also gave Shelly courtside seats, a future road trip with the squad and more!

Awesome story.

Ray Allen claims he was catfished by a man pretending to be a number of attractive women -- and now he's filed legal docs to make sure the alleged catfisher doesn't leak his private information.

It's all in legal docs obtained by TMZ Sports ... the ex-NBA superstar claims he met these "women" in "various online forums" and communicated with them ... sometimes sharing "private information."

Ray claims he eventually figured out he was being catfished and ended the relationships -- but the man behind the rouse became obsessed and began posting items on social media about Ray and his family.

In the docs, Allen claims the man would physically go to Ray's wife's restaurant in Orlando and post about Ray -- tagging family members in the posts. Creepy stuff.

Ray says he got the guy to sign a confidentiality agreement in which he agreed to stop posting about Ray -- but the guy violated the deal.

Things continued to escalate -- and the man eventually filed for a restraining order against Ray claiming the NBA star was stalking him, which the court granted.

Ray is adamantly denying the stalking allegations and is now seeking a restraining order of his own.

"Ray wants nothing to do with [the alleged catfisher] and merely wants to be left alone," Allen says in the court docs.

We spoke with Allen's attorney, David Oscar Markus, who tells us, "Ray Allen was the victim of an online scheme to extract money and embarrass him by someone who appears to be troubled."

"The person who perpetrated this scheme has now started to stalk him and make threats against Ray and his family. Ray has taken legal action to put an end to the threats and to expose his manipulation and wrongdoing."

"Ray regrets ever engaging with this person online and is thankful they never met in person. This experience has negatively impacted Ray, and he hopes that others might use his mistake to learn the dangers of communicating online with strangers."

Lonzo Ball just became the youngest NBA player to ever record a triple-double, but he's got a looong way to go to reach Harlem Globetrotter status ... so says a real-deal Harlem Globetrotter!!

TMZ Sports spoke with "Hoops" Green -- the 15th woman in the team's 91-year history -- who says Zo doesn't have enough swag to don the Red, White and Blue.

Hey Adam Silver, you know what would be dope, like literally DOPE?

Your entire league running up and down the court COKED OUT OF THEIR MINDS ... but that's not a TMZ Sports suggestion, it's coming straight from Mr. "I'm In Love With The Coco" himself, O.T. Genasis.

We got O.T. out at Le Jardin (Hollywood hot spot) and asked him if the NBA should consider legalizing not only weed but COCAINE (and basically all drugs) for the players to use.

O.T. thinks it's a great idea, and now that we think about it it'd be pretty awesome to see Russell Westbrook going berserk on the court completely co- NO, NO, NO, NO, NO.

How did it feel to jam the rock down Lonzo Ball's throat??

Ben Simmons wouldn't say ... but his smirk told us everything we needed to know.

TMZ Sports got Ben hitting Delilah and Warwick with 76ers bro Robert Covington after they took out Lonzo's Lakers at Staples -- why not celebrate, right?!

Simmons straight up dominated their matchup ... so when we asked about his dunk that sent 'Zo to the shadow realm, Ben reacted pretty much how you'd expect.

B.S. seems to love the club scene -- and so far, it hasn't impacted his play. He was out early Wednesday morning and still killed it later that day.

FYI, we bumped into a couple of the 76ers assistants on gameday ... and they didn't seem to mind.

Great news for Shaq's kids -- there are more MILLION DOLLAR PARTIES in your future, and this is coming straight from the man with the cash, dear old Shaq Daddy.

The Diesel has already thrown huge 7-figure blowout Sweet 16 parties for Shareef and Amirah -- renting out swanky Hollywood hot spots, with celeb performances and expensive cars.

So, when we saw Shaq in Bev Hills Tuesday -- we had to ask if he's already budgeted the additional cheese to fund more million-dollar bashes for his two youngest kids.