NBA

Sushi doesn't seem like a great NYE hangover cure, but a ton of celebs like J Lo and A-Rod had their first 2018 dinners at Nobu.

The famous Malibu celeb hot spot was also top dinner choice for Drake, Kendall Jenner and her bf Blake Griffin.

J Lo and A-Rod have been getting ready for the New Year with some super intense workouts, so an In-N-Out burger probably wasn't in the cards anyway.

Hall of Fame voters, listen up -- Chauncey Billups says 3/5 of his '04 Pistons starting lineup should be enshrined, telling TMZ Sports that he, Rip Hamilton and Ben Wallace all belong in Springfield.

Billups is a 1st-time nominee to the Hall this year ... and when we talked with him the 5-time All-Star and former Finals MVP, he told us he thinks he did enough to get in.

"I think that I am, obviously ... there's so many other worthy guys, but I do. I think my story is really unique, my fight is really unique."

Chauncey isn't the only guy from his NBA championship team up for the honor ... Rip is also a 1st-time nominee, and Ben missed out on his 1st shot last year.

Billups thinks they should ALL get in ... and he's 100% serious.

"I think there's a case to be made for Rip ... I think Ben is the easiest case out of all 3 of us, to be honest with you."

With Hamilton, CB says his college days put him in (Rip won a national championship with UConn) ... and with Wallace, he says if Rodman and Mutombo are in, he should be too.

TMZ Sports has obtained the 911 call Tim Donaghy made while trying to bring his daughter home in Manatee County, Florida ... featuring 2 full minutes of hammer-wielding chaos.

The ex-NBA ref tells the dispatcher he's on a mission to save his daughter ... who he claims is being held against her will at a house with marijuana and is "stoned out of her mind."

Donaghy describes the scene as hostile, saying the parents at the house are screaming and yelling at him. He warns ... "There's about to be a major altercation."

That's when Tim reveals he's got a hammer on him and is ready to throw down ... or as he puts it, "If anyone comes near me, I will crack him right in his f*cking head."

Donaghy tells the 911 operator it's too dark to describe the people involved, but is adamant he needs help quickly ... before things go south.

Ex-NBA star Ben Gordon can breathe a LITTLE easier ... because he will NOT be charged with a felony stemming from his November robbery arrest in Los Angeles.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... 34-year-old Gordon was accused of flashing a knife and roughing up a manager at his old apartment complex in an effort to get his 4-figure security deposit back. (FYI, Gordon reportedly made $84 mil during his NBA career).

Gordon fled from the scene and then returned AFTER cops had arrived -- they arrested him on the spot. He was booked for felony robbery.

Now, we've learned the L.A. County District Attorney has rejected the felony case -- and kicked it over to the L.A. City Attorney to consider filing misdemeanor charges instead.

Byron Scott says it's time for NBA teams to give Becky Hammon a shot at becoming the league's first female head coach ... telling TMZ Sports she's ABSOLUTELY qualified.

40-year-old Hammon -- one of the best WNBA players of all time -- became the NBA's first female assistant coach when she joined the San Antonio Spurs back in 2014. But Scott says she's ready to break another coaching barrier by taking control of her own team.

We also asked Scott if Hammon could do a better job with the Showtime Lakers than Pat Riley did ... but you probably already know his answer to that.

FYI, Hammon was a 6-time WNBA All-Star whose number was retired by the San Antonio Stars. Plus, in 2011, she was named one of the WNBA's top 15 players of all time.

Detroit Pistons player Avery Bradley entered into a confidentiality agreement with a reality star who accused him of sexual assault earlier this year -- and at one point, negotiations got as high as $400k, TMZ Sports has learned.

But Bradley's attorney tells TMZ Sports he adamantly denies all wrongdoing -- and only entered into the agreement to prevent false information from being made public.

Here's what we know ... the allegation stems from an incident on May 23 in Cleveland, Ohio. The woman involved claimed Bradley sexually assaulted her while she was passed out drunk.

Bradley was a member of the Boston Celtics at the time of the incident. The Celtics were in Cleveland to play the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals.

After the incident, the woman contacted Bradley and accused him of assaulting her. The two sides came together to work out a deal to keep her quiet and prevent her from releasing any video, photos or audio.

At one point in the negotiations, the parties considered resolving the matter for $400,000 ... but it's unclear what number Bradley ultimately agreed to pay. We're told the final figure was high.

We spoke with Bradley's attorney Brian Wolf of Lavely & Singer who tells us, "Mr. Bradley absolutely denies having engaged in wrongdoing whatsoever. The confidentiality agreement specifically refutes and denies the validity of all allegations of any wrongful conduct by Mr. Bradley. The sole purpose of the agreement was to protect the reputation and privacy of Mr. Bradley and his family."

He's already producing and acting in the movie -- but now Mark Wahlberg is making a play to DIRECT his upcoming movie about the life of NBA star Caron Butler.

We broke the story ... Wahlberg has been targeting huge names like Spike Lee, Peter Berg and Barry Jenkins to direct the flick about Butler's journey from dealing drugs to becoming an NBA all-star.

Our sources say Wahlberg is very passionate about the project -- and thinks it could be the perfect movie to make his directorial debut.

Wahlberg gave a clue during an interview with Collider, saying he has "one specific project" he'd love to direct ... teasing "it takes place in Wisconsin. It's a true story."

And guess where Caron Butler grew up? WISCONSIN!!!

Boom.

One problem (that's not really a problem) -- Wahlberg says he thinks Peter Berg is REALLLY going to want the project ... jokingly saying, "I made the mistake of sending him the script."

Scottie Pippen has President Obama's back when it comes to basketball -- saying #44 is absolutely RIGHT picking Michael Jordan over LeBron James.

Remember, Obama went with MJ over LBJ during a rapid fire question session with Prince Harry -- saying he "loves" LeBron ... but ultimately he's gotta go with His Airness.

Pippen agrees ... and referred us back to a recent interview where he told us HE'S better than LeBron too!

"LeBron ain't better than me until he gets 6 titles."

Pay attention, NBA dads -- Pistons guard Langston Galloway just set the big baller standard for gender reveals ... and teammate Andre Drummond's got the hilarious play-by-play.

It all went down at Little Caesar's Arena Tuesday night after the Pistons smashed the Pacers ... when Langston rocked the rim to figure out if he and his wife, Sabrina, are having a boy or girl.

Galloway killed it. The ball exploded, confetti went everywhere, and he and Sabrina hugged it out while his teammates cheered him on.

But the real MVP might have been Andre ... the unofficial emcee for Lang's ceremony.

Here's James Harden proving he doesn't need teammates to shine ... getting his solo groove on after hours at one of the hottest clubs in NYC.

It went down at 1 OAK, where we're told Harden was partying with his crew (and some lovely ladies) until the early hours of Wednesday morning.

We're told the spot normally closes up shop at 4 AM, but James asked they stay open an hour later (which they do all the time for celebs) and the resulting groove is captured in this video.

BTW -- the song is "Heartbreak On A Full Moon" by Chris Brown ... and yeah, it's a jam, even if you don't want it to be.

Barack Obama just gave Michael Jordan the royal seal ... telling Prince Harry that he'd take His Airness over King James as the GOAT, without hesitation.

Obama sat down with Harry in a rare interview that aired Wednesday on BBC Radio 4 ... talking about everything from his presidency to Donald Trump.

But, when it came to the Prince's round of rapid-fire questions ... Harry immediately got Barack -- a HUGE NBA fan -- to close the book on the MJ vs. Bron debate.

"Jordan. Although I love LeBron, I'm a Chicago guy," Obama said.

Of course, Barack's pick ain't too surprising given his Bulls allegiance ... even though him and MJ haven't always seen eye-to-eye on everything.

American Airlines has issued an apology to two professional basketball players -- including ex-Chicago Bulls player Marquis Teague -- after they were kicked off a plane by a flight attendant who accused them of stealing blankets.

Teague -- the Bulls 1st round pick in the 2012 NBA Draft -- boarded a flight in Dallas on Sunday with his Memphis Hustle teammate Trahson Burrell. Both players are black.

As they headed back to their coach seats, two 1st class passengers handed the players their blankets. Problem is ... a flight attendant accused the men of stealing the blankets and kicked them off the plane.

American Airlines says the flight attendant involved is also black.

Add James Harden to the list of NBA players showing support for Meek Mill ... 'cause the Houston Rockets superstar visited the rapper in prison on Tuesday and says "his spirit is high."

Harden took some time in-between games to visit Meek at the State Correctional Institution in Chester, PA and reported back on social media.

"Got a chance to see my bro Meek Mill today. His spirit is high and hopefully we can get him out by February," Harden wrote.

"Told me to tell y'all when he get out he got some (fire) for y'all."

Sources connected to Meek tell TMZ Sports ... the NBA star had some special "Free Meek" sneakers whipped up and plans to rock them on the court on Thursday when the Rockets play the Celtics.

As we previously reported, Joel Embiid and 76ers owner Michael Rubin visited Meek last month and said he was doing well. Colin Kaepernick also spoke with Meek and said Meek was "humbled" by the support.

Don't get too comfy, Kobe ... Marco Rubio says "there's no doubt" the Heat are gonna retire LeBron's jersey -- giving the King two numbers up in the rafters (but in different arenas).

We got the Florida Senator out in D.C. ... and Marco told us there are no hard feelings over Bron taking his talents outta South Beach.

"He won 2 championships down there. We went to the finals 4 years in a row. Those were great days," Rubio told TMZ Sports.

So, #6 is goin' up in Miami just like #23 is goin' up in Cleveland.

Maybe not as epic as having 2 jerseys retired in 1 night ... but still pretty legendary.

Secret convo with Lonzo Ball? Buying another mansion in Brentwood?

LeBron James sure ain't quieting down the noise surrounding him coming to L.A. ... and ex-Lakers coach Byron Scott says the odds are damn good that happens.

"I think it's probably 50/50 right now," Byron told TMZ Sports outside Craig's in WeHo.

To be clear, Byron's assigning those odds to JUST the Lakers ... saying it ain't lookin' so good for the other team in Tinseltown.

But, when it comes to the Lake Show bringing in 'Bron (and Paul George) ... hell to the yes.

Nick Young says it's painfully obvious why the Patriots are so damn successful -- the NFL's CHEATING FOR THEM.

On the same night as his accidental Iggy Azalea reunion, we also got Swaggy P to weigh in on the controversial Pats-Steelers ending from last Sunday.

Young told us Pittsburgh got screwed on the overturned TD call ... not like it surprised him.

"Yeah man, they got cheated," Young told TMZ Sports. "They always cheat for the Patriots ... they can't do no wrong."

Swaggy even speculated the NFL might have its own Tim Donaghy problem ... saying gambling probably played a role in the Pats getting the W.