NBA

The NBA is slapping back at Rodney Hood ... hitting the Utah Jazz star with a hefty $35,000 fine for smacking a cell phone out of a fan's hand Wednesday night.

Hood was ejected after his 2nd technical foul during the 3rd quarter of the Jazz vs. Wizards game. When he was heading to the locker room, Hood unleashed his anger on the fan's phone.

It's not the first fan confrontation that has resulted in a big fine this season, but it is the biggest. Kyrie Irving was fined $25k for yelling profanity at a spectator.

Matt Barnes' next move towards becoming a billionaire?? Settin' up business meetings with Hall of Famer Joe Montana!!

TMZ Sports spoke with the retired NBA star -- who recently told us he has a plan to join the 3 comma club by age 50 -- and he reveals how the 49ers legend might have a role in reaching that goal.

Barnes met with Montana at his investment firm earlier this week to discuss future collaborations ... and it must've gone well, 'cause he says they plan to meet again soon.

How great is it to be NBA player Dejounte Murray?? Let this clip of the Spurs baller and his insanely gorgeous GF hittin' up an L.A. hot spot do the talking.

The 21-year-old and Insta model Jilly Anais went on a hot date Wednesday night at Mastro's in Bev. Hills for a romantic night ... and while Dejounte's outfit stands out, all eyes were on Jilly.

The couple have been together for about a year now, and they seem to be inseparable ... posting pics together on social media all the time.

T.I. says he does NOT want in on Diddy and Steph Curry's bid to buy the Carolina Panthers ... 'cause owning a team ain't all it's cracked up to be.

The rap star broke it down for us out in Beverly Hills ... telling TMZ Sports he wouldn't wanna blow his bankroll when the league rules with an iron fist.

"I don't wanna spend a bunch of money on something that I can't do what I want, when I want," T.I. said.

"If I spend tens of millions or hundreds of millions, I want full rein and jurisdiction over everything ... you can't do that with the NFL."

The L.A. Lakers have backed out of plans to ink a 10-day contract with Jamil Wilson in the wake of a sexual battery lawsuit in which the player is accused of giving a woman herpes.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... the woman claims she's been diagnosed with herpes simplex 2 and believes Wilson gave it to her during unprotected sexual encounters. She believes he knew he was a carrier but concealed it from her in order to gain consent.

The Lakers had reportedly planned on signing Wilson on Wednesday ... but according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the team is hitting the brakes. Woj says the team isn't ruling out signing Wilson somewhere down the line.

Wilson's agent, Steve McCaskill, told ESPN the player plans on taking legal action of his own.

DETOX, BABY!!!!!!!

Dr. Dre has suggested that his long-awaited, dead, then not dead, then dead again album "Detox" might actually be released after all ... and it all went down at a Golden State Warriors practice.

Dre and Jimmy Iovine were watching Steph Curry and Kevin Durant at a Warriors workout on Tuesday when ESPN's Chris Haynes brilliantly asked him if Detox was permanently shelved.

Dre's response -- "I'm working on a couple songs right now. We'll see."

BOOM!!!

Dre has been working on Detox since 2002 -- but seemingly closed the door on the idea in the HBO series, "The Defiant Ones" ... saying he's moved on.

"I never had any connection with [Detox], it didn't work."

He added, "I'm never gonna do that again."

Never say never ...

Wiz Khalifa, T.I. and Josh Smith have some shiny new hardware after an award ceremony where the nominees have way more impact on the public than your average Golden Globe winner.

The rappers and former NBA star attended the Developing Options Awards Banquet ... a Southern California event rolled out by its foundation's CEO, Eugene "Big U" Henley.

Wiz took home the "Epic Man of the Year Award" for his multiple donations -- totaling up to $100k -- to drive the foundation. T.I. scored the "University Iron Man" award for donating to Crenshaw High School's new football field.

Smith got the "Baller-Shot Caller" award for hooking up Snoop Dogg's youth football league and Crenshaw High's football team with new uniforms.

Nipsey Hussle ("Business Cluster Leadership") spearheaded educational classes and, along with rapper Trinidad James ("First Class"), spent thousands of dollars on clothes and shoes to outfit more than 400 inner city kids.

Congrats!!!

LeBron James ain't havin' none of that racist H&M clothing ad featuring a black kid in a sweatshirt that reads, "Coolest Monkey in the Jungle" ... telling the clothing company, "U got us all wrong!"

After stars like Diddy and The Weeknd blasted the company for the insanely racially-insensitive ad -- King James weighed in with the most positive (yet condemning) statement yet.

"@hm u got us all wrong! And we ain't going for it! Straight up!"

"Enough about y'all and more of what I see when I look at this photo. I see a Young King!! The ruler of the world, an untouchable Force that can never be denied!"

"We as African Americans will always have to break barriers, prove people wrong and work even harder to prove we belong but guess what, that's what we love because the benefits at the end of the road are so beautiful!! #LiveLaughLove❤️ #LoveMyPeople"

The Carolina Panthers are officially for sale now that their season is over ... and Steph Curry says he's willing to do "whatever it takes" to be one of the team's new owners.

After TMZ Sports caught up with the NBA superstar on Friday and asked about joining Diddy in pursuing the Panthers ... Steph doubled down on his serious interest to reporters at Warriors practice on Monday.

"It's a pretty interesting opportunity. I've had conversations with many people about the right way to go about it and different approaches I can personally take."

Steph says he's already had talks with Diddy about the "different opportunities and options" they can pursue together ... but it definitely sounds like Curry is serious about being involved.

Here's video proof that Drake's days of airballing 3's in front of the whole world are over ... with the hip-hop star looking pretty wet, draining some longballs during a pick-up game at his L.A. crib.

Drake embarrassed himself a couple years back warming up with Kentucky ... drawing nothing but air from deep before a game and becoming the laughingstock of hip-hop hoops.

To fix it, Drake hit up world famous hoops trainer Dribble2much -- tutor to NBA stars like DeMar DeRozan ... and sources tell us the two men have been working diligently on Drizzy's game for months.

You can see the results for yourself. The dude from the north isn't just hitting shots, he's making dope passes too -- a total turnaround.

Here's NBA star DeAndre Jordan getting the bird from a hot chick he was out with Sunday night ... and it's all because he picked Georgia to beat 'Bama.

DeAndre fronted like a Dawgs diehard as he was leaving Madeo in West Hollywood ... but his lady friend -- a Tide fan -- let us know what was really going on.

Don't worry ... her and DJ had a good laugh about it before they rode off into the night.

Khloe Kardashian's first order of business when she got pregnant? Grab a hard hat!!!

Sources close to Khloe tell TMZ ... she had extravagant renovation plans for her Calabasas crib -- the one she bought from Justin Bieber in 2014 -- by turning a bedroom next to her master into a closet big enough for her massive clothes and shoe collection.

But, life happened. As TMZ first reported ... NBA superstar BF Tristan Thompson knocked up Khloe. So, that bedroom-turned-closet is going back to bedroom ... baby bedroom.

Khloe wants the baby's room as close to hers as possible, and that room's the perfect fit.

We're told Khloe is holding nothing back when it comes to the fine details of the room ... buying top of the line furnishings, decor and clothing.

Steph Curry tells TMZ Sports the talk about teaming up with Diddy to buy the Carolina Panthers is 100 percent real ... and he's taking steps toward getting a deal done.

Steph was out in Beverly Hills Friday with his wife, Ayesha, when he told us he's getting closer to buying his beloved football team, and says ... "This is a real thing, so hopefully it happens sooner than later."

Curry says he's been in contact with Diddy and they're formulating a strategy to make a legit play for ownership of the NFL team ... but there's a lot of work to do still.

There's more -- since Ayesha's an accomplished chef with her own restaurant, we asked what she would cook for their good friends, the Obamas ... and wait 'til you hear the answer.

Dear President Trump,

Metta World Peace has a few suggestions on how to prevent nuclear war with North Korea ... and it doesn't involve bragging about the size of your button.

Truth is ... Metta thinks his old pal, Dennis Rodman, may have been on to something when he went over to Pyongyang a few years ago.

"He tried to do the right thing, he just ... it turned out bad," Metta says ... "but his heart was in the right place."

Metta says he's not looking to be a politician -- he just doesn't want anybody to get bombed.

True that.

Laura Govan is not the "whore" you're looking for, Tamar Braxton ... this according to Laura, who seems to have a strong suspicion about who started the rumor Vincent Herbert got her knocked up.

First things first ... Laura wanted to make it clear she is NOT pregnant. When we got her at LAX Thursday she admitted she does know Tamar's estranged husband, but clarified she doesn't know him "that way."

Remember, Tamar claimed Vincent had gotten some "stupid broke ass whore" pregnant. Then Laura's ex, Gilbert Arenas, jumped into the mix and strongly insinuated Laura was said whore.

Wanna know how we know Oklahoma QB Baker Mayfield's dating the new hot blonde chick he took to the Clippers game (AGAIN) last night???

Look at the way she's holding his stomach in their courtside couples pic. You know any two people who pose like that who aren't dating??? Exactly ...

So, here's the deal ... the woman is 27-year-old IG model Emily Wilkinson -- who also sat with Baker at the Clips game on Tuesday night. He cooked her breakfast the next morning and she posted the video on social media.

Fast-forward to Thursday ... there they were again. Totally dating, right?

There's more ... the future NFL quarterback met with Odell Beckham Jr. during the game and they seemed to get along pretty well. Future teammates?!?

Not bad for a Thursday night.