NBA

Kevin Love's getting mad love from one of his teammates for talking openly about a panic attack he experienced earlier this season ... and spreading a positive message about mental health awareness.

"A lot of times people don’t look at us as humans, and we go through stuff all the time as well," Cavs SG Rodney Hood told TMZ Sports outside Craig's in L.A.

Love, DeMar DeRozan and Wizards SF Kelly Oubre have all opened up about their personal issues in recent weeks -- and Hood says it's huge not only for the NBA brotherhood, but the millions of fans they're reaching.

Rodney told us he expects a lot more players to join the conversation ... and K-Love deserves a ton of credit for helping to start the trend.

Ted Cruz says it's awesome his hometown Astros (mostly) said what's up to Trump at the White House ... and he's got faith the Rockets will, too.

We got the Texas Senator after he took in Monday's World Series ceremony in D.C. -- and you can tell he was still PUMPED off his 'Stros winning their first title.

"To win it in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, when so many Houstonians, so many Texans, were hurting -- it just meant an enormous amount," Cruz told TMZ Sports.

It was all pretty touching stuff from Ted ... that is 'til the conversation turned to the defending champion, Warriors -- who staunchly rejected their Oval Office visit.

"I think it is unfortunate that we've seen that happen ... I'm hoping that this is the first of at least two Houston trips to the White House this year."

Guessing he hasn't seen James Harden's hat ...

Billionaire businessman Tom Benson -- who owned the New Orleans Saints and Pelicans -- has died, his family has confirmed.

The 90-year-old passed away peacefully Thursday at Ochsner Medical Center in Louisiana with his wife, Gayle Marie Benson, at his side after falling ill with the flu.

Benson started out as a bookkeeper at a Chevy dealership in New Orleans -- but went on to become a dealership owner and expanded the business into a billion-dollar empire.

Benson bought the Saints in 1985 -- when they weren't exactly winners (remember the Aints?). The team posted their first winning record in 1987 and made the playoffs that year. Of course, they got better and won the Super Bowl in 2010.

In 2012, Benson bought the New Orleans Hornets and changed the name to the Pelicans.

"Basketball Wives" star Evelyn Lozada says if her life were on the line and she could only call one of her exes to save her ... she'd call Chad Johnson in a heartbeat.

Shaunie O'Neal and Evelyn were on "Van Lathan's The Red Pill Podcast" when Lathan asked each lady which one of their famous exes they'd call if they were in a life-threatening situation and could only call one.

Shaunie went with Shaq (duh, they have a perfect post-marriage life) while Evelyn chose the Ex-NFL star.

"Chad. And not that I don't have faith in Carl, Carl would be there, but we're talking about if my life is on the line."

The Carl she's referring to is ex-MLB star Carl Crawford, who Lozada was engaged to and had a son with before they broke up last year.

As for Lozada, she was married to Ochocinco for a little over a month in 2012 before a highly publicized domestic violence incident led to divorce.

Evelyn said she's not at all overlooking that or saying it's not a big deal, but based on the question, it's Chad over Crawford and former NBA star Antoine Walker ... her other famous ex.

Guess not everyone's obsessed about teaming up with LeBron this offseason -- at least, not Danilo Gallinari.

We got the Clippers star up in the Bev Hills ... and asked him if he thought Bron might pull a fast one and ditch the Lakers for L.A.'s other hoops squad this summer.

Danilo wasn't so sure about that -- but when we asked if he'd even want the King ballin' with him on the Clips, Gallo didn't mince words.

"I like the teammates that I got now. I like the team that we got now."

How did Steph Curry get down for his dirty 30??

By pullin' up to his party in a frickin' YACHT ... and slamming a plate of ribs during a live E-40 set!!

And that's just a taste of what went down at Steph's oceanside shindig ... where the 2-time MVP and his Warriors bros rang in his birthday "Ballers" style.

A ton of lit song and dance went down Monday night in SF ... featuring Curry himself, who hopped onstage to lead a Rick James karaoke bro down!!

Of course, his teammates weren't gonna let him have all the fun -- right, KD, Draymond and Klay?

E-40 wasn't the only music artist in attendance -- Paramore's Hayley Williams was also in the house to serenade him with the happy bday song.

Steph looked happy as hell the whole night ... and we would be too with hundreds of millions in the bank at age 30.

Party on, Stephen.

Bow Wow CAN'T BELIEVE he beat Lonzo Ball in a 3-point shooting contest -- even if he only won 1 game out of 3 -- bragging that he out-shot an NBA star without any training and a weed habit!

"It's the fact that I don't train, I smoke weed, and I make music, and I act. I don't got no time to be training. So the fact that I beat him one time means a lot."

Bow Wow (aka Shad Moss -- aka Calvin Cambridge from "Like Mike") was leaving Poppy in L.A. with his crew when we asked how the shooting contest with Lonzo happened in the first place.

"Lonzo Ball came to Atlanta (to play the Hawks). They blew us out and we got the word that Lonzo and the Lakers were in (a nearby nightclub) and I said, 'Yo, bring 'em to the studio.'"

Bow Wow has a full basketball court in the studio ... so when Zo showed up, they decided to have a best of 3 shooting contest.

"He won two games. I won one," Bow Wow bragged.

FYI, Lonzo Ball should have CRUSHED all three games ... and Bow Wow knows it.

But, Zo will have a shot at redemption -- Bow Wow says he has love and respect for Ball and would gladly offer a rematch.

So ... Zo -- you down?

Michael Jordan might be the Michael Jordan of Spring Break -- getting a sexy bikini dance from his smokin' hot wife at a Miami beach party ... and TMZ Sports has the footage!

MJ and Yvette Prieto hit up the Hyde Beach party at the SLS Hotel over the weekend -- where they balled out with a private cabana stocked with tequila and surrounded by muscle-bound private security.

She was boozin'. He was smokin'. These two live a helluva life.

We're told the place was packed with college-aged kids raging it up on Spring Break -- so, most 55-year-olds may have looked out of place ... but this is MICHAEL JORDAN ... so, it was cool.

One more thing ... take a look at that diamond ring on Yvette's finger -- bigger than her knuckle!

Get it!

The Kardashians showed up in force to lend support to Scotty Pippen Jr., who was playing to win a high school basketball playoff game.

Kim, North West, Kendall, Kourtney and Penelope Disick joined Taco Bennett, Larsa Pippen, Scottie Pippen and Kenyon Martin Sr. to cheer on Scotty's team from Sierra Canyon High School. They played Foothills Christian High and won -- 88 to 62 -- in a CIF Open Division Playoff game.

Imagine seeing the massive fist of a 7-foot-1-inch giant coming at your face ... then imagine having the cojones to throw a punch right back!!

Kobe Bryant gave a blow-by-blow of his very first physical altercation with Shaq on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Thursday night ... revealing the Big Aristotle was the first to throw hands.

Black Mamba says the 2 Laker legends duked it out after trash talking throughout a scrimmage during the 1998 NBA lockout.

"I must've been the craziest 19-year-old in the world to fight this guy ... at that point, you just gotta say look man, you're either gonna beat the hell outta me, but you're gonna know that I'm not gonna back down."

OKC Thunder star Steven Adams knocked his teammate OUT COLD in a game last night ... but they weren't fighting -- Adams was literally standing still!

The bizarre play went down at the Chesapeake Energy Arena ... when Thunder rookie Terrance Ferguson tried to stay with his man on D.

Unfortunately, standing in his way was 7 feet, 255 pounds of chiseled Jason Momoa-looking muscle (Adams) ... and Ferguson's svelte 6'7'', 184-pound frame couldn't handle the business.

The 2 collided heads -- and DOWN WENT FERGY. Adams was totally fine, BTW.

Steven, being the good dude that he is, quickly got the rook some medical attention ... and it looks like Terrance is gonna be OK outside of a possible concussion.

Don't mock the Timberwolves for signing Derrick Rose -- because the dude still has potential to be a championship caliber player ... so says Roy Hibbert.

Minnesota just locked up the 29-year-old former MVP for the rest of the season, leaving many wondering if they're wasting money and a roster spot considering his failed run with the Cavs.

But not Hibbert (a 2-time All-Star), who tells TMZ Sports he seriously thinks Rose can help elevate the T-Wolves to become a championship team.

"He's talented, very talented," Hibbert says.

Ex-NBA star Steve Francis says he's sick of people claiming he was on crack -- saying he's NEVER done that drug in his life ... but admits he battled alcohol abuse.

Francis opened up in The Players' Tribune in an article in which he details his tough journey to the NBA -- and the struggles he's had after his playing career ended.

"I had some dark days, no question," Francis admits ... "And I know people were asking, 'What the hell happened to Steve Francis?' But the hardest part was reading some bulls**t on the Internet saying that I was on crack."

"When I thought about my grandmother reading that, or my kids reading that … that broke my heart. Listen, I sold crack when I was growing up. I’ll own up to that. But never in my life did I ever do crack."

So, what happened to Steve after his NBA glory days?

"I was drinking heavily, is what happened. And that can be just as bad. In the span of a few years I lost basketball, I lost my whole identity, and I lost my stepfather, who committed suicide."

The dark days Francis is referring to likely includes March 2015 -- when an out-of-it Francis had a chain snatched off his neck at a Houston rap show.

He was also arrested for drunk driving in 2016 -- and during the incident, he cussed out police calling them "groupie motherf**kers."

He also yelled at the cops for checking out his gold chain and screamed, "Now you playing with fire, homie."

Chalk this one up as a HUGE win for Ben Simmons ... 'cause the 76ers rookie is officially R&B star Tinashe's "boo thang" -- this according to Tinashe herself!!

TMZ Sports spoke with the smokin' hot "Faded Love" singer at Craig's in WeHo Wednesday night ... and we asked her to address the obvious IG flirting going on with Ben earlier this week.

"That's my little boo thang" the 25-year-old revealed with a smile.

While Tinashe didn't get into much detail with us ... the paper trail has been there for about a month -- from even more social media flirting to gushing about B.S. being her favorite Sixers player in a recent radio interview.

Simmons has been balling out this season -- he's in the running for Rookie of the Year.

And now that we have the confirmation of his new girl ... this dude really is winning all around.

Good for you, Ben.

Rip Hamilton spent 9 years ballin' out in Detroit -- so what's his advice for the newest Pistons star Blake Griffin?

Bundle up.

The ex-NBA star was kinda laughing at the fact that Griffin went from sunny California to the frozen tundra of Detroit ... and said Blake's got no choice but to make it work 'cause he signed up for 5 seasons!

"Make sure he get a heavy coat out there 'cause trust me, it gets cold!"

Dwyane Wade personally greeted the students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Wednesday as they returned to the school for the first full day of classes since the shooting.

Wade posed for photos and hung out with the kids as they tried to resume their education. It's the first time the school has had a full day of classes since the Valentine's Day shooting.

Wade also gave a speech and told the kids he's proud to live in Florida and praised them for the strength they've shown after the incident.

"I just wanted to come here today, hopefully for a moment, for a second ... bring a little excitement, bring a little joy," Wade says.

"What you guys have been going through, and I was hearing you guys have been amazing from afar, and I just wanted to come and say I'm inspired by all of you."

Wade tweeted about the visit, saying "I just had a great conversation with some of the students at Stoneman Douglas High School about some important/impactful things that they have planned."

"I’m looking forward to being more involved in the change that they WILL create."