NBA

If you need a reminder that Lakers coach Luke Walton was once one of the best athletes on the planet ... we have video of him KILLING it at beach volleyball.

The video was posted by pro volleyball players the McKibbin Brothers, and shows Walton holding his own on a court with AVP pros Casey Patterson, Sean Rosenthal, Stafford Slick and Chase Budinger.

Walton is blockin', spikin', and settin' like one of the pros ... using his 6'8" frame to dominate out there on the sand, and we're being serious ... THE DUDE CAN REALLY PLAY.

Kevin Hart had a very serious scare while landing in Boston for the 76ers game -- when the tire on his private jet blew out as the plane touched down on the runway.

Miraculously, the pilot was able to safely land the plane despite the tire drama -- and emergency personnel rushed to the jet to help out upon landing.

"My first airplane scare on the runway," Hart said ... "We caught a flat as we touched down."

You can see the tire is almost all the way blown off. It's a miracle no one was hurt.

"Ya boy got angels on his back," Hart said ... "I got real-life angels on my back."

The NBA has warned Drake about using bad language at NBA games after the rapper reportedly called Cleveland Cavs star Kendrick Perkins a "f***ing p*ssy."

Drake had gotten into it with Perkins on the floor of the Cavs vs. Toronto Raptors game at the Air Canada Centre ... with one reporter claiming Drake essentially challenged the guy to a fight.

Now, the NBA has issued an official warning to Drake about "the use of bad language" ... this according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

In fact, Woj says the NBA's exec V.P. of basketball operations, Kiki VanDeWeghe, spoke with Raptors president Masai Ujiri to help get the point across.

Talk about an overreaction -- James Harden reached out and smacked the crap out of a Jazz fan's cell phone Wednesday all over some harmless heckling ... and the cops were involved.

But get this ... despite the fact the fan was on the receiving end of the smack, the cops treated HIM like the bad guy and scolded him for talking trash at a basketball game.

So, what was the heckle that sent Harden over the edge?

"You're still the worst flopper in the NBA."

The fan was behind a barricade at the time of the incident and posed no physical threat to Harden. Still, the Houston Rockets star smacked the guy's phone anyway.

The fan was flabbergasted when cops chastised him -- even though he pointed out that HE was the one who was physically assaulted.

Eventually, the fan went back to his seat and promised not to stand behind the barricade for the rest of the game. No arrests were made.

If Charles Barkley and Draymond Green actually do come to blows ... DRAYMOND WOULD GET ROCKED -- so says UFC fighter Kelvin Gastelum!!

You know the backstory ... Charles said he wants to punch Draymond in the face. Draymond told Charles to bring it on.

So, who wins if these two actually scrap? We asked a guy who fights for a living.

"I got Charles in that," Kelvin said ... "I got experience and age in that one."

KG then dropped some "Rocky" wisdom -- "Every champion has one great fight left in him. And Charles might have it in him. He's a big dude!"

Charles has since apologized ... but c'mon -- these dudes wanna fight!!!

Meantime, Gastelum is prepping for a scrap of his own -- dude takes on Ronaldo Souza at UFC 224 next weekend in Brazil!

Kobe Bryant is talking even MORE trash about his former Lakers teammate, Smush Parker -- saying crappy teammates like Smush forced him to score 81 points back in 2006.

Yeah, it's been more than 12 YEARS since Kobe went insane on the Toronto Raptors ... but he still can't pass up an opportunity to dunk all over Smush -- a guy he hated back in the day.

This time, Kobe was doing a Q&A at USC back on April 2, when he was asked a trivia question -- who was the Lakers 2nd leading scorer in that legendary game?

When he learned it was Smush ... Kobe pulled a face and fired off some shots.

"What did he have, 4?"

Smush actually dropped 13 that day ... but Kobe didn't care and continued the attack.

"Now you know why I had to score 81" ... suggesting his supporting cast was pure trash.

Julius Erving says he's not hurt by Kanye West's comments about slavery being a choice -- he's more hurt by comments that have come out of Donald Trump's White House.

We spotted the NBA Hall of Famer at Ronald Reagan airport in Virginia on Wednesday -- and with such an extensive background in civil rights activism, we had to ask about the Kanye West interview on "TMZ Live."

"He's entitled to his opinion," Erving said.

As for the impact of Kanye's statements on slavery, Erving explained -- "It doesn't hurt me personally because he's only one individual."

"It hurts more to hear things that are coming out of the White House."

Waffle House hero James Shaw Jr. appeared on 'Ellen' and revealed that his favorite player is Dwyane Wade ... so, guess who Ellen brought out onstage?!

BOOM! SHE BROUGHT OUT D-WADE!!!

The moment was incredible ... Wade told Shaw that he doesn't just consider him an "American hero" -- but he's also the perfect role model for his kids.

Shaw was clearly touched by Wade's words -- but it didn't stop there.

Wade asked Shaw what good he hopes can come from the terrible April 22 shooting in Nashville, TN -- and Shaw said he's now on a mission to bring awareness to mental health problems in the U.S.

Wade, again impressed, then brought out a special gift to help Shaw fulfill his mission.

Drake's beef with NBA player Kendrick Perkins went from 0 to 100 real quick ... the two shouted at each other during the Raptors vs. Cavs game -- with Drake reportedly calling him a "f***ing p*ssy."

The two started exchanging words at halftime ... with things getting so heated one of the Cavs players was holding Drake back.

Things continued after the game when Drake shouted to Perkins that he's a "f***ing p*ssy" and challenged him to come out of the tunnel, according to the Toronto Star's Bruce Arthur.

FYI, Perkins is 6'10" and 270 lbs.

After the game, Perkins told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, "What happened was I was talking to my old teammate Serge [Ibaka] walking into halftime telling him 'We about to win this game,' and Drake butted in talking sh*t to me. So I said something back to him."

Drake's a Raptors superfan -- but he's also friends with a ton of NBA stars.

Toronto Raptors fans got straight-up PERSONAL when taunting Tristan Thompson during Tuesday night's playoff game ... with hundreds of people in the arena shouting, "KHLOE!!!"

Tristan and the Cavs were at Air Canada Centre for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals -- when Tristan stepped to the free throw line in a VERY close game.

The fans tried to do their part in messing with Tristan's head ... and began chanting the name of his baby mama whom he famously cheated on with multiple women.

But somehow, Tristan was able to tune out the haters ... and hit ALL FOUR of his shots from the line. The Cavs ended up winning the game in overtime.

Kanye West shouldn't just laugh off gang threats in L.A. ... so says Matt Barnes who says the real gangsters in Los Angeles don't mess around.

The ex-NBA star was leaving Catch when we talked about Kanye's appearance on "TMZ Live" -- including Yeezy's reaction to Daz Dillinger's recent call for the Crips to "f*** up Kanye."

"You gotta be careful," Barnes said ... "They don't play out here with gangs so you're treading on thin ice."

Barnes also reacted to Kanye's confession about getting liposuction -- and says it shows Kanye is "not in a comfortable, secure place as a man."

Barnes says a lot of what Kanye is talking about these days -- from Trump to his views on slavery -- are "bullsh*t" -- but he believes the old Kanye can still be saved.

Jimmy Butler can SAAAAANG!

Now that his Minnesota Timberwolves have gon' fishin' ... the NBA superstar took his talents back to Chicago where he decided to put his singing skills on display at PRYSM Nightclub.

The song? "Let Me Love You" by Mario ... and Butler didn't sound too bad!

In fact, the crowd loved it -- especially one female fan who got onstage and started dancing it out with the 28-year-old.

For the record, the headline performer that night was T-Pain ... but Jimmy Buckets stole the show!

We're told Jimmy's performance was totally random and unplanned -- and went down around 2:30 AM.

Of course, Jimmy's a fan favorite in Chicago after killing it with the Bulls for a few seasons.

Nice to see he's still getting love.

Here's a couple of VERY rich guys hanging out -- Patriots owner Robert Kraft taking in the Boston Celtics game Monday night with team owner Wyc Grousbeck.

Kraft and Grousbeck have been hanging out a lot lately -- they were also together at the Celtics game Saturday night with another member of the Boston Billionaire's Club ... Red Sox owner John Henry.

The Celtics beat the 76ers on Monday in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals -- Kraft and Grousbeck were high-fiving on the court during the end of the game.

So, who's got the biggest bank between the three? According to Forbes, Kraft's worth $6.2 billion and John Henry's valued at $2.5 billion ... but Grousbeck's net worth isn't listed.

With the Celtics valued at more than $2 billion, he ain't poor either.

Dennis Rodman damn near packed President Trump's complete bibliography when he went to North Korea last year ... and then gifted the set to Kim Jong-un.

We got a shot of the 8 books, all translated, the NBA Hall of Famer handed over in June 2017 to North Korea's sports minister, Kim Il Guk. The set includes "The Art of the Deal" and "Time to Get Tough." We're told the sports minister handed them over to Jong-un.

TMZ broke the story ... Rodman's ecstatic his friends, Kim Jong-un and Trump, are getting along. He thinks the books might have greased the wheels for Jong-un to have a change of heart about his dealings with the Prez and America, in general.

Meek Mill is now free to start doing shows outside of Philadelphia ... thanks to his archnemesis, Judge Genece Brinkley.

Judge Brinkley amended the order regarding his bail conditions, and he now has approval to travel outside of Pennsylvania's Montgomery County for scheduled business activities. He just has to submit his travel plans to the probation dept. 72 hours in advance.

The amended order also gives Meek approval to live in Montgomery Co. The original bail conditions required him to live in neighboring Philadelphia County. Meek still has to submit to at least one urine test per month.

The judge signed the new order on Friday, and Meek took advantage almost immediately. We got him out in NYC that night with 76ers owner Michael Rubin ... after they had a biz dinner with Meek's Roc Nation management team.

Stop riding Kanye West for supporting Donald Trump ... that's the message NBA star Iman Shumpert has for all the haters coming after the rapper this week.

FYI, Shumpert has a Kanye connection -- his wife, Teyana Taylor, is signed to West's G.O.O.D. Music record label and has an album coming out this summer.

So, with the backlash against West in full swing ... we wanted to know where Shumpert stood.

"I'm a Kanye fan," Shumpert said.

"Long before meeting my wife and knowing the relationship to Ye that she has as far as being signed, I have always walked with him throughout the commotion that he makes."

Shumpert says he's cool with Kanye wearing the MAGA hat -- and says it doesn't mean Kanye agrees with EVERYTHING Trump has to say.

He also really liked Kanye's freestyle with Harvey Levin.

There's more ... Shumpert also talked to us about his reality show "Teyana and Iman" (airs Monday night on VH1) and told us why his family has an edge on the Kardashians!