NBA

LeBron James is letting the world know the disgusting, racist words spray painted on his home in 2017 were no fluke ... 'cause despite all his money and fame, he's still a target for racists.

We broke the story ... LeBron's old Brentwood home (he's since bought a new place in the neighborhood) was defaced back in 2017, with someone tagging the home with the n-word while the family was away.

LBJ took a ride with Kevin Durant & Cari Champion for Champion's show, "Rolling With The Champion," and talked about the incident, saying it was a reminder his status doesn't insulate him from racists.

"I'm a black man with a bunch of money, and having a crib in Brentwood and having the word n***** spray painted over my gate, that lets you know I ain't too far removed."

You can hear the sincerity in LeBron's voice, and he spoke at length about the fact that he still feels like bigoted scumbags don't care about what you have, just what color you are.

"They will always try to figure out a way to let you know you're still beneath them."

Tupac had "Dear Mama." Kanye had "Hey Mama."

Lonzo Ball has "LaVar."

The Lakers rookie (and part-time rapper) just dropped his new mixtape, "Born 2 Ball" -- and it ends with a brand new heartfelt song called, "LaVar" ... a lyrical tribute to his father.

During the 3 minutes and 15 second track, Lonzo calls out the haters and professes his love for his dad.

Lonzo says his dad is one of the hardest working people he knows who's always had his back since day 1. He also shouts out the Big Baller Brand and mentions that LaVar has been busting his ass to make the brand blow up.

He also says he doesn't get why so many people hate on BBB.

Ball also shouts out his brothers -- saying they're all three "killers" on the court.

To be honest, the track is pretty touching.

SLAY BITCHES ... SLAYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!

Prepare yourselves ... 'cause you are about to see the greatest all-male, big-belly-havin' dance troupe in all of professional sports BREAK IT THE HELL DOWN -- at the pick-up curb at LAX.

Meet the Mavs ManiAACs ... the hip-hop dynamos who have been killing it at the Dallas Mavericks home games since 2002!!!

The guys -- Big Rob, Big B, Black Rhino, Juice and the rest of the gang -- are so excited to be in L.A. for All-Star Weekend, they broke us off with a little sample right on the sidewalk!

They busted out the beatbox. They slapped a little ass. They got downright funky. The whole thing is pretty awesome!!!!

Watch, enjoy, and remember ... YOU'VE BEEN SERVED!!!!

Here's NBA superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo proving "Greek Freak" ain't just a nickname ... showing off his Valentine's Day present from his GF -- an on-demand oral sex bell!

And boy, is he happy about it.

"The Freak, he can be a freak on the court and on the sheets, you know what I'm saying?! WOO!!!" Antetokounmpo said.

Yeah, it's a gag gift (no pun intended) -- but we've never seen Giannis so pumped up about anything before!

His GF, Mariah, wasn't a big fan of him showing off their new toy to all his fans -- especially the kids and her fam -- but we're pretty sure she'll get over it.

After all, no doubt Giannis used some of his $100 MILLION contract to hook her up, too.

Charles Barkley says there's one game in his NBA career he doesn't remember -- because he was SO drunk, it's a miracle he even got on the court.

It all went down in the late '80s after Barkley had been told he was being traded from the Philadelphia 76ers to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Chuck told "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" he was so happy to be getting out of Philly, he got "blasted" drunk around 11:30 AM that day ... shots, chugging, the whole deal.

Problem is ... about 3 hours into the booze sesh, Chuck's agent called back and said the deal was off and he needed to be ready to play for Philly THAT NIGHT.

What ensued, according to Barkley, was a mess.

Barkley says it's the only time he ever played drunk -- but he played HUNGOVER a bunch of times.

Lamar Odom says his return to the court could happen this summer -- telling TMZ Sports he wants to play in Ice Cube's BIG3 league as a tribute to Rasual Butler.

Lamar and the BIG3 have been circling each other for months. We were told Odom spoke with league honchos about a comeback last August ... and Cube told us he was 100% down if L.O. got in shape.

Unclear if Lamar's heeding Cube's advice -- he was spotted drinking and partying a lot in 2017 -- but Odom seems serious about giving it a shot ... 'cause now that he can't play with Rasual, he wants to play for him.

FYI, Odom considered Butler -- who was killed in a car crash on Jan. 31 -- his best NBA friend. He was among the stars who attended his funeral over the weekend.

Great news, 76ers fans -- Dr. J's got faith Markelle Fultz is gonna fix his broke ass jump shot ... and he's telling TMZ Sports exactly why.

We got Julius touching down at LAX for All-Star week ... and the doctor gave his official diagnosis on why it looks like the #1 overall pick's been talent-zapped by The Monstars.

"Clearly it's some sort of physical thing that's causing him the problems that he's having, more than mental," Erving explained.

Essentially, Dr. J's saying Markelle's shoulder injury is to blame ... and the kid can get back to ballin' out with proper R&R.

FYI, there have been reports claiming Fultz's personal trainer is to blame for screwing with his jumper ... but no one really knows.

Blake Griffin's ex, Brynn Cameron, claims the NBA star dumped her ONE WEEK before their wedding date because she wouldn't sign a prenup ... and then jetted to Vegas to party without her.

In her lawsuit, obtained by TMZ Sports, Brynn claims the NBA star made an oral agreement with her back in 2013 that she would quit her job to raise their kids so he could focus on getting a max NBA contract, worth more than $170 mil.

In exchange, Brynn says Griffin "promised explicitly that, whatever the future might hold, he would take care of [Cameron] financially and provide her a home for the rest of her life."

Brynn says she and Blake were slated to tie the knot in St. Barth's on July 28, 2017 -- but one month before the wedding, he demanded she sign a prenup.

Brynn shut him down -- claiming the prenup contradicted the oral agreement they made in 2013.

Blake then called off the wedding 1 week before the date -- and Blake sent a note to guests saying, "Brynn and I take this commitment to each other seriously and want to ensure it is done in the right way."

Instead, Brynn says ... Blake "immediately embarked on a high-profile affair with [Kendall Jenner]. The next weekend, on what would have been his wedding day, he was partying in Vegas."

Byrnn says she and Blake began couples therapy -- but he was still seeing Jenner on the side.

It was then Brynn says Blake stopped paying her "full financial support commensurate with her lifestyle and her share of their joint property."

One of the best basketball players alive says she's sick and tired of having to play overseas to make a decent living -- and she's calling for the WNBA to start paying women like their male counterparts.

Angel McCoughtry was the #1 overall pick in the 2009 WNBA draft and went on to become the 2009 WNBA Rookie of the Year, a 4-time WNBA All-Star and has already won the scoring title TWICE!

Problem is ... the top female players make SQUAT compared to NBA stars. According to a 2017 report, the top WNBA players only make around $100k in annual base salary.

To compare -- Steph Curry is making $34.6 million this season and that goes up to $45.7 mil per season at the end of his contract.

McCoughtry says the top women are forced to play overseas -- where they can make 10 times as much. McCoughtry has played everywhere from Russia to Lebanon to Turkey.

But she's clearly over it ...

"Pay us like you pay the men. I don't want to get paid more overseas. I want to get paid in my country."

In fact, McCoughtry says she sometimes wears the medals she wins in overseas tournaments out in public because people usually buy her a free meal when she does.

How hyped is Rick Ross on Dwyane Wade being back with the Heat??

We asked the Miami rap star on his way outta London Hotel in New York City and he let us know in the most Boss way possible.

"Of course! Dwyane Wade. Wade County. The Spoelstra Nostra. The Heat gang. We goin' back!" he told TMZ Sports.

Rough translation -- D-Wade's back home with coach Erik Spoelstra ... and together, they can take his squad back to the Finals!!

It ain't gonna be easy -- Miami is currently the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference, but they've lost 7 outta their last 10 games.

Wade's reportedly embracing his role as a bench player -- but Spoelstra says he's open to moving Dwyane into the starting lineup if he starts ballin' out again.

How would Golden State Warriors co-owner Peter Guber handle LaVar Ball if Lonzo played for his team?

You're about to find out ...

We spoke with Guber outside Madeo in L.A. and asked about LaVar's newest ultimatum -- that he'll pull Lonzo off the Lakers if they don't sign his 2 other sons LiAngelo and LaMelo in the next 2 years.

"I don't listen to that conversation," Guber said.

He then mouthed a bunch of words he'd like to say to LaVar -- but quite honestly, we couldn't really make out what he was trying to say.

LeBron James is going OLD SCHOOL ... producing a remake of the 1990 classic "House Party" -- and he's tapping Donald Glover's brother to make it happen.

LeBron and his producing partner, Maverick Carter, are spearheading the project through their production company, Springhill Entertainment ... with "Atlanta" writers, Stephen Glover and Jamal Olori, doing the screenplay.

By the way, did you know there were actually FIVE "House Party" movies -- including the latest installment, "House Party: Tonight's the Night" which was released straight to DVD in 2013.

No word if Kid or Play will be involved in the Bron remake -- but c'mon, gotta hook 'em up with a cameo right?!

Now watch this dance move that we KNOW you did back in the '90s.

Some of the biggest stars in the NBA went to La Salle University on Sunday to pay tribute to Rasual Butler ... and honored their friend by circling together for an emotional chant.

Chris Paul, Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, Jim Jackson and others were in Philadelphia for the "service of love" for Butler ... who was killed in a car crash in L.A. on January 31.

CP3 was one of the speakers -- he and Butler played together back with the Hornets.

We're told the event was more of a celebration of Rasual's life -- and the highlight was when the NBA stars and Butler's friends huddled together to perform a chant in his honor.

Lonzo Ball was serving up some Migos with a side of booty on "Lip Sync Battle" ... where he performed with a twerking girl who nearly threw her back out during LB's session.

The Lakers rookie performed "Bad and Boujee" on the show (which airs Thursday) -- while decked out in a studded leather jacket and dreadlocks.

Oh yeah, LaVar Ball was on set, too ... because of course.

Chrissy Teigen seemed to love the performance -- and Lonzo invited her to be one of his twerk girls in future performances.

Cardi B isn't letting death threats from the Crips block her from a 6-figure payday over NBA All-Star Weekend -- it's all part of street life, as far as she's concerned.

Sources close to Cardi tell TMZ ... she's sticking to her 3 scheduled appearances next week in L.A. -- including one with her fiance, Offset, and his Migos mates -- and she has no fear of gang retaliation.

As we reported, the nightclubs hosting her events are beefing up, but Cardi's viewing everything as business as usual. We're told she's reminding everyone on her team -- from record company execs on down -- she's from the streets, so nobody's stopping her bankroll.

Our source says Cardi had no idea her use of the word "Flue" on IG would upset so many people, and that's why she deleted it, but that's the ONLY thing she's changing. After all, we're told there's around $250k on the table for the weekend.

Shawn Bradley -- arguably the most posterized player in NBA history -- has an important message for this generation's slam dunk victims ... your heads are in the right place!!

We talked hoops with the 7-footer at LAX ... and our conversation eventually got to the thing he's most famous for -- being on the receiving end of soul-crushing jams.

Turns out, Bradley's damn proud of it -- telling TMZ Sports that putting yourself in harm's way is the mark of a true baller.

"Watching some of these young guys, the ones that don't shy away -- it's OK to get dunked on, just go get 'em next time -- that attitude is the one I think is refreshing," Bradley said.

Shawn also told us his most memorable poster ... and we ain't surprised.