NBA

From Lithuania to the Lakers?

Looks like that's exactly what LiAngelo Ball is trying to do, because according to his agent Harrison Gaines, the middle Ball brother has declared for the 2018 NBA draft!

Gaines told Yahoo! Sports Ball has filed the paperwork to make himself eligible, and he's expected to work out for NBA teams when his season playing for Vytautas Prienu is finished.

Before you scoff at the kid, 'Gelo is actually doing pretty well overseas -- averaging over 15 points while shooting 45% from beyond the arc.

In the past, LaVar has promised LiAngelo would team with Lonzo in L.A. ... but the question is if they, and everyone else passes on the kid ... what then?

Gregg Popovich doesn't exactly like Donald Trump's White House, but he ain't down on all of D.C. ... 'cause Pop took the gang to another Washington landmark -- the Supreme Court!!

Unclear if Pop and co. were there on any official business or just to see the sights ... but they sounded pretty stoked talking to us on their way out.

Pop called the trip "great." Pau Gasol said it was "very nice." Manu Ginobili went the diplomatic route and told us their outing was "equal" to a White House trip.

FYI, Pop WRECKED Trump for leaving D.C. before March for Our Lives this past weekend -- calling it "cowardice" to avoid the protests and hang at his resort in Mar-a-Lago.

Coach is clearly in better spirits, now -- have you ever seen him smile like that?!

3/28/18 -- Zeke Upshaw's autopsy confirmed he died of cardiac arrest ... possibly due to "cardiac abnormalities."

The coroner says he plans to conduct more tests in the coming weeks.

NBA G-League player Zeke Upshaw is dead at the age of 26 ... days after collapsing on the court during a basketball game.

Upshaw -- a swingman for the Detroit Pistons affiliate, Grand Rapids Drive -- collapsed during the final minutes of the 4th quarter of Saturday's game against the Long Island Nets ... after reportedly going into cardiac arrest.

He was stretchered off the court and rushed to the hospital ... where he remained in critical condition until passing away Monday morning.

Long before he was a $100-million NBA star, Giannis Antetokounmpo says he was just another kid peddling goods on the streets of Athens to help put food on the table.

The Greek Freak spoke candidly about his childhood in poverty Sunday on "60 Minutes" ... describing his daily grind before he found basketball.

"We used to sell glasses, watches, ... CDs, DVDs. I was the best (salesman)," Giannis said. "I didn't give up ... and I was cute, too. I was young."

Giannis' parents left Nigeria for a better life before he was born ... but he says life was tough for them growing up -- all living in the same room and often going hungry.

But Giannis says their struggle could never break his spirit -- and credits that mentality with becoming one of the top ballers in the NBA.

Move over Kobe Bryant ... you're gonna have some company on the "NBA Players with an Academy Award" list ... because Whitney Cummings says Blake Griffin is a shoo-in to get one, too.

Cummings directed Blake in her new movie, "The Female Brain," and when we got her leaving the Improv in Hollywood, we had to know if she thought Griffin had the talent to get a gold guy.

"I think Blake Griffin will win an Oscar in his lifetime, for sure."

Important to note ... Cummings -- who is a big-time creative boss in addition to her stand-up comedy -- DIDN'T HESITATE when proclaiming this, so it's clear she 100% believes in Griffin's talent.

Hear that Kobe? He's coming for you.

Shaq threw an insane party in Miami during Ultra Weekend ... and it culminated in an epic dance-off with none other than Gronk!

The tallest guy in the room hosted Shaq's Fun House party which was filled with celebs, including Diplo, A-Trak, Carnage, Steve Aoki and Von Miller.

You gotta check out the part where 7'1" Shaq puts 6'6' Gronk on his shoulders.

It was a crazy-ass party, with 3,000 in attendance. We are told that before the party Shaq had an early dinner at David Grutman's new restaurant Planta, where Gronk and Mark Wahlberg ate earlier in the week.

Lamar Odom didn't bolt in the other direction when he ended up face-to-face with Khloe Kardashian's sisters -- he actually went out of his way to have a convo with them ... TMZ has learned.

We broke the story ... Kourtney Kardashian, Kendall and Kylie Jenner walked into Mr Chow Thursday night in Bev Hills while Lamar was already there enjoying a meal. Obviously, severe awkwardness could have ensued, but sources in the restaurant tell us LO walked up to their table.

We're told the former in-laws all chatted and exchanged positive words. It wasn't a lengthy meet and greet -- Lamar was on his way out -- but a family source tells us the sisters were happy to see him out and doing well. We're told all 3 feel no bad blood toward Khloe's ex.

It could have been way different if Kim or Khloe were there -- at least based on the major shading that went down earlier this year. Lamar did an interview saying his marriage was over when Khloe moved on to "her second or third NBA player." Kim fired back it was over when he got caught at his "second or third brothel."

Lamar Odom had a close encounter with his former in-laws -- Kourtney, Kendall, and Kylie -- when they all hit up the same Bev Hills hot spot.

Kourtney and Kendall arrived first Thursday night at Mr Chow ... and Kylie showed up next -- around 8:30 PM -- with her bff, Jordyn Woods. The interesting part, and we gotta imagine neither party had a clue, was that we got Lamar exiting the restaurant around 8:45 PM.

The timing makes it seem like he got the hell outta dodge once he saw Khloe's sisters float into the joint. We don't know if they actually crossed paths, but we're willing to guarantee they did NOT break bread.

In any event, Travis Scott showed up a little later to join the ladies, and the whole gang left an hour later, and they were pretty vocal on the way out.

As they say ... SMALL freakin' town.

Thursday's Sacramento Kings game was delayed by protesters who formed a human chain in front of Golden 1 Center in Sacramento to protest a police killing of an unarmed black man.

The Kings were set to take on the Atlanta Hawks, but the game got off to a late start as police dealt with the protest which included protesters locking arms and chanting "Black Lives Matter."

The demonstration was in response to the death of Stephon Clark, a Sacramento man shot over 20 times by police in his backyard when Sacramento police mistook his cell phone for a gun.

Protesters eventually dispersed peacefully, with no arrests made, and Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé came out to address the arena crowd after the game was played.

"We at the Kings recognize people's ability to protest peacefully and we respect that," he said. "We here at the Kings recognize that we have a big platform. It's a privilege, but it's also a responsibility. It's a responsibility that we take very seriously. And we stand here before you -- old, young, black, white, brown -- and we are all united in our commitment."

LeBron James switched gears from Basketball God to animated movie star in just a matter of hours Thursday morning ... showing off a voice over session for an upcoming flick!!

James -- fresh off an insane 35 points, 17 assists, and 7 rebounds in a win against the Raptors Wednesday night -- took his talents to the studio to put in work for his role as Gwangi in "Smallfoot" early Thursday.

The movie is about a yeti who finds out humans exist (think Big Foot, but the other way around) ... and features other huge stars like Channing Tatum, Zendaya and Common.

So, LeBron can do his Hollywood thing AND play in Cleveland ...

Just sayin'.

Kevin Hart is about to break the hearts of a lot of fans in Philly ... because according to the pint-sized funnyman, LeBron James has no plans to come to the cheesesteak land, and Kevin knows, cause Kevin tried.

We got Hart leaving UCLA and asked if he's tried to recruit his buddy, James, to bolt Cleveland and join the young core of Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid in the city of brotherly love.

Kevin says he definitely put on for his hometown, trying to get LeBron to make a move ... but that LeBron's response was not very promising.

"He said kiss his ass."

Hart said he only sweetened the deal with $40 bucks (c'mon Kev), but when we asked seriously he says no city has a real shot at LeBron, because Hart believes he'll stay put.

Give Ben Simmons the Rookie of the Year award RIGHT NOW ... 'cause the NBA star has finally gone Instagram official with smokin' hot pop singer Tinashe!!

As we previously reported, the "No Drama" singer told us earlier this month that Simmons was her "little boo thang." Things appear to have heated up since then ... with the couple posting identical pics on IG.

Simmons -- who's averaging damn near a triple-double this season -- captioned his romantic pic with the clever line "This is a dime I can’t pass."

But the winning didn't stop for the 21-year-old phenom ... Philly ended up beating up on the Grizzlies, too, and his Sixers are now tied for the 4th spot in the East!!

Don't turn it over, Ben.

Former NBA star Baron Davis is pumped Nancy Lieberman got tapped to head coach a BIG3 team ... and says her hiring proves their sport is inclusive of all people.

"That's my girl. Well deserved," Baron -- a recent BIG3 signee -- told TMZ Sports.

"The thing about basketball is there ain't no discrimination. If you got game, if you know the game, we gonna accept you."

He ain't wrong -- Nancy (Kings) and Becky Hammon (Spurs) got gigs as NBA assistants in recent years ... and Adam Silver's league has also seen more minority coaches come through the ranks than other major pro sports leagues.

LeBron James brought tears to a 6-foot-6, 315 lb. man's eyes Monday night ... 'cause ex-Browns superstar Joe Thomas says LBJ's retirement tribute before the Cavs game hit him right in the feels!!

TMZ Sports spoke with the future Hall of Famer about the King showing love with a HUGE hug on the court before the game against the Bucks ... and J.T. says he got so emotional, he had to sneak out of eyesight to gather his emotions!!

"It was a really special moment to get love and respect from an icon like LeBron James, somebody that I've been a fan of since I was 12 years old ... it was really special." Thomas says.

J.T. also points out it was a great way to cap off his career ... 'cause he was was first introduced to Cleveland fans as a rookie when the Cavs were in the Finals in 2007.

Terrell Owens ain't even a little intimidated by Iggy Azalea's pyromaniac past ... saying he'd risk his entire wardrobe for a shot with the rap star.

You probably heard -- on Monday, Iggy admitted to torching ALL of Nick Young's designer clothes after she caught her ex-fiance slippin' ... and seemed to be pretty happy about it.

We asked T.O. about it when we got him in L.A later that night ... and instead of coming down on Iggy, he asked us, "Is she single?"

But, what about your damn clothes, Terrell?!

"She can burn 'em up. Just buy some more!"

Karma is a bitch -- just ask Draymond Green, who got hit with a groin shot 2 years in the making last night!!

You remember the play ... in Game 3 of 2016's Western Conference Finals, Draymond's leg punted OKC Thunder big Steven Adams square in the nuts.

Dray's always maintained it was accidental ... but it looked pretty bad.

Fast forward to Warriors vs. Spurs Monday night -- when Draymond met Danny Green at the rim and took a knee right around the ball bag!

He immediately keeled over and went to the locker room ... and was later diagnosed with a pelvic contusion -- a fancy way of saying a deep, painful bruise.

Green now joins Steph, KD and Klay on the injured list ... and ya gotta think Adams (and all of OKC) is smiling right now.