NBA

Only the finest for The King ...

LeBron James and his wife, Savannah, had a romantic date night in Bev Hills on Tuesday ... returning to one of his favorite restaurants in the city and TMZ Sports has the video.

The James' hit up Avra -- the same high-end Greek restaurant where Bron dined with Leonardo DiCaprio and Al Pacino last month.

No mixing with the normies for Bron and Vannah, they were ushered through the back by a security team into a waiting Maybach with a chauffeur.

We tried to talk Trump with the Los Angeles Lakers superstar, but he wasn't in the mood.

Earlier in the day, LeBron worked out at UCLA with some of his NBA superstar friends ... including Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Cedi Osman and Toronto Raptors assistant coach Phil Handy.

The photo fueled rumors that Bron could be recruiting KD and Kawhi to form a superteam in L.A. next year.

Kobe Bryant playing in the BIG3 next year is "100% not happening" ... so says the woman who runs Kobe's company.

Rumors started swirling Tuesday when BIG3 co-founder Jeff Kwatinetz told reporters on a conference call that he heard from a "credible source" that "Kobe is going to be playing next year."

Of course, Ice Cube and several BIG3 players including Stephen Jackson and Allen Iverson have called for Kobe to join the league -- because it would be awesome -- but Bryant had always said he's retired from basketball.

In fact, when rumors swirled that Kobe was considering coming back to the Lakers for one last season with LeBron James, Vanessa Bryant was adamant he's DONE with hoop.

So, when Kwatinetz suggested Kobe was down for some 3-on-3, we reached out to Molly Carter -- the Chief Marketing Officer at Kobe Inc. -- who told us straight-up, "NOT True. 100% not happening."

Lamar Odom says it's a miracle he's alive -- revealing he had 12 strokes and 6 heart attacks while he was in a coma from his 2015 drug overdose.

Th ex-NBA star spilled his guts about the incident to Kevin Hart while sitting in an ice bath for KH's YouTube show, "Cold as Balls."

"All my doctors that see me say I'm a walking miracle," Odom said while shivering in the ice tub next to Hart.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Odom was rushed to a hospital on October 13, 2015 after he was found unconscious at Dennis Hof's Love Ranch South in Pahrump, Nevada.

Blood tests showed Odom had cocaine in his system at the time of his overdose. There were times doctors didn't think Odom would survive -- but somehow, he managed to pull through.

Since recovering, Odom has been to rehab and says he's now fully sober and over his addiction.

In fact, Odom told Kevin Hart he feels grateful to be alive -- joking about how it beats the alternative.

During the "Cold as Balls" segment, Odom also joked about the brothel and opened up about how much he appreciated Khloe Kardashian stepping up and handling his care while he was unconscious.

"It was big," Odom said about Khloe.

Odom -- who was legally married to Khloe (but separated) at the time of the overdose -- had tried to get back with her after he got better ... but she had moved on.

Brooklyn Nets star Kenneth Faried was arrested and charged for possessing more than 2 ounces of weed on Sunday ... and TMZ Sports has the mug shot.

The 28-year-old was arrested on the Montauk Highway in Bridgehampton, New York at 1:30 AM ... after the vehicle he was riding in was stopped at a sobriety checkpoint.

A rep for the Southampton Town Police Dept. tells us the officer at the scene noticed a "strong odor of marjuana was emanating from the inside of the vehicle."

Faried was booked for 4th degree unlawful possession of marijuana, a misdemeanor. He was transported to a nearby station for processing.

The other 2 people got tickets and were released at the scene.

Cops say Faried got the harsher charge because he was in possession of more than 2 ounces.

If convicted, Faried faces up to a year in jail ... for WEED.

The Nets released a statement to TMZ Sports, saying, “We are aware of the situation involving Kenneth Faried and are in the process of gathering more information at this time.”

Jimmy Butler had himself one helluva Monday -- squashing beef with Dwyane Wade and going on a lunch date with a smokin' hot Instagram model ... and TMZ Sports has the video.

First, D-Wade ...

Everyone saw Dwyane clap back at Jimmy last week when the Minnesota Timberwolves star commented "WELL DAMN" on a hot photo of Wade's wife, Gabrielle Union.

Wade wrote to Butler, "Put well damn in caps on my wife photo again and you’re gonna see what the good, the bad and the ugly is like."

So, when we saw Butler at The Ivy in L.A. we had to ask if there was real smoke between the two. Butler answered and seemed to put the whole thing to bed.

Speaking of bed ... Butler's lunch date was an absolute dime -- and while he tried to play coy when leaving the restaurant, we ID'd her as famous Instagram model India Love.

Love is an aspiring rapper who's been romantically linked to stars like The Game, Rick Ross and Drake. She's basically a she-pimp (get it, gurl!) with 3.7 million IG followers.

No word if she and Butler are an item -- but we wouldn't hate if they were!

Matt Barnes is gearing up for Baby #3 -- his model girlfriend is pregnant ... and we're told they're both stoked about it!

The recently retired NBA star has been dating Anansa Sims -- daughter of legendary supermodel Beverly Johnson, as reported by Bossip. Anansa is a pretty famous self-described plus-size model who's been featured in tons of fashion mags.

Sources tell us ... Anansa is due in December.

As for their relationship, we're told -- "They are both happy and their families and friends are super supportive."

One source close to Matt tells us, "She's just really sweet and brings out the best in him. It's a good pairing."

Anansa has three kids from a previous relationship with ex-football player David Patterson. Barnes has twins from his previous relationship with Gloria Govan.

Congrats!

Matt Barnes just hit Mario Chalmers with an epic diss ... telling the ex-Miami Heat star he straight-up has MOOBS!!

It all went down in the comments section of Chalmers' latest IG post -- an innocent pic of a shirtless Mario announcing he's about to have a baby with his girlfriend, Paijey Baby. She's 7 and a half months preggo!

Barnes -- who played with Mario in Memphis in the 2015-16 season -- was one of the first to see it ... and decided to celebrate with a friendly body shaming zing.

"Congrats bro! I see you carrying the milk for her," the ex-NBA star wrote.

Barnes went on to hit Mario with a "jk" and some playful emojis.

FYI ... Mario's been steadily taking Ls of this nature throughout his career -- with even Barack Obama getting in on the act at the White House in 2014!!

Pearl Jam brought out a very special guest at their Chicago concert this weekend -- none other North Korea's #1 man Dennis Rodman ... who had some, uh, interesting things to say.

The former Bulls star made an appearance Saturday night at PJ's Wrigley Field set and told Chitowners he was thankful for their continued support while he unofficially lobbied for the U.S. with Kim Jong-un ... which unofficially resulted in an actual meeting recently.

Dennis told the crowd ... "You people here are the only people on this planet Earth [that] gave me support. Thank all you guys!" He continued with a promise to the Windy City, saying when he died ... he'd "make sure" to be buried in Chicago. The audience ate it up.

Eddie Vedder told him to put off his death for as long as possible. Well said.

The man who threatened to kill Adam Silver over an NBA roster spot just caught a huge break ... and he has the commish to thank for it.

27-year-old David Pyant was arrested and charged with aggravated harassment back in May after sending an email to Silver, saying "If you don't let me play, I'm going to come up there and kill you with my f*cking gun."

But, Pyant won't be serving any time for the threat, 'cause TMZ Sports has learned Silver simply did not want to move forward with the case ... and the charges were dropped.

It's a HUGE break for the guy ... he was facing up to a year in jail.

If someone told you, "Your mom should have killed you when you came out of the womb" -- would you consider those "fighting words?"

Ex-NBA star Tom Chambers certainly did -- admitting he got physical with a trash-talking 22-year-old at an Arizona bar ... and now he's been charged with assault.

It all stems from an April 15 incident at Isabella's Kitchen in Scottsdale -- where Tom says he was innocently hanging out when another patron started insulting him.

Witnesses told police the other patron, Alexander Bergelt, began to take verbal jabs at Tom including, "You're not sh*t," "You're tall and scrawny" and "Look at your big head."

Tom told police the final straw came when Bergelt said, "Your mom should have killed you when you came out of the womb as ugly as you are, your arms are skinny, your chest is this. Your belly is big."

Tom admits he "absolutely put hands on [Alexander]" but never punched him. Tom says he was trying to get Alexander to "show respect."

Alexander told police a different story -- saying Chambers came at him from across the bar, grabbed him by the throat and threw him backwards.

Cops say Alexander had a mark on his neck and a bruise on his lip.

When cops arrived, Alexander told police all he wanted was an apology -- he didn't get it.

Cops investigated and decided to press charges against both parties -- Chambers was hit with assault and Alexander was charged with disorderly conduct.

Chambers was a 4-time NBA All-Star and famously had one of the greatest dunks in NBA history over Mark Jackson.

Ex-NBA player Al Harrington says Zion Williamson should do one thing if he wants to have a long career dominating on the NBA level ... and that's lose about 20 pounds.

Zion has the Internet going nuts right now ... with his crazy dunk videos (including a free throw line joint) from Duke practices going viral because of the sheer amazingness of his athleticism.

But, Williamson is physically MASSIVE ... with reports saying all that jumping ability is coming from a guy who weighs upwards of 280 pounds.

Harrington says that's fine for now, but if Zion wants his body to withstand the night-in, night-out grind that is the NBA, he might wanna shed a little.

"I think in order for him to have longevity in the league, he'd have to lose like 20 pounds maybe."

Harrington goes on to say that Zion should learn from guys like LeBron, who've had to slim down in order to add years to their careers.

Al knows what he's talking about, he was a beast for 16 years in the NBA ... but if you look at the video below, the kid looks alright. Like, DAMN.

Here's proof they DO make bikes big enough for Shaquille O'Neal!!

The NBA Hall of Famer felt the urge to go on a bike ride during his vacation in Nassau, Bahamas on Wednesday ... so he ducked into a local shop and asked for the biggest 2-wheeler they got.

The shop delivered -- and Diesel was so happy, the 7'1" giant took the whip out for a quick cruise around the neighborhood ... while wearing some amazing floral-pattern shorts!

As we've previously reported ... Shaq loves his 2-wheelers, but usually has to get them customized to fit his gigantic body size.

Carmelo Anthony wants all the talk of him coming off the bench for the Houston Rockets to slooooow down ... with the NBA superstar telling TMZ Sports, "Let's just let it play out!"

FYI ... Melo is one of TWO NBA players to have never started a game on the bench in their first 1,000-plus career games -- joining Patrick Ewing.

But, some critics are predicting that streak to end now that Anthony's in his mid-30s with a lot of NBA miles on his body. Plus, there's so much talent in H-Town with guys like James Harden and Chris Paul -- so, there might not be enough basketball to go around.

Carmelo ain't so sure about all that, though ... telling us, "I just signed, let it start first!"

TMZ Sports has learned ... James Harden has been named in a police report filed by a woman who claims she was roughed up by the NBA star at a Scottsdale nightclub -- and she has video.

The woman claims she was partying at Mint nightclub on Saturday morning when she claims a member of Harden's entourage got involved in a fight -- and when James noticed she was recording, he grabbed her wrist and snatched her phone before throwing it on the roof so she couldn't sell the footage to TMZ.

She says at some point Harden noticed she was videotaping the action and demanded that she delete what was recorded. She says Harden said he knew her endgame was to sell the vid to TMZ.

The woman claims Harden threw her phone on the roof of the club, and then a member of Harden's crew came up to her and offered her $200 for the phone. She took the money, and then she says Harden came up to her and handed her another $300.

We're told security personnel eventually broke up the fight. When things settled down she climbed up on the roof and retrieved her phone, which was still recording. The woman later went to the hospital where she was treated for a wrist injury.

A rep for the Scottsdale PD tells TMZ Sports a report was taken and the investigation is ongoing. Law enforcement sources tell us Harden is named in the report but he has NOT been named a suspect at this point.

Terrell Owens made one helluva catch at Matt Barnes' charity football game on Sunday -- catching a 60-YARD HAIL MARY from another ex-NFL star ... with no time on the clock!!!

The QB was Kerry Rhodes (a safety in the NFL) who dropped back and slung a dime to Owens in the back of the endzone to tie up the game as time expired at the Athletes Vs. Cancer flag football game.

Everyone went crazy ... except for T.O., who played it cool (he's a Hall of Famer after all).

There's more ... one of the best highlights featured NBA star JaVale McGee -- who stretched his 7-foot physique to snag a ball above the heads of his regular-sized opponents.

It's a pretty sick highlight.

Tons of stars showed up to the event at Fairfax High School in L.A. -- from Snoop Dogg to Reggie Bush to Nelly, Baron Davis and Draymond Green.

Funny, Draymond told us he opted not to play because he didn't want to risk injury just a few months before the NBA season begins (ditto for Nick Young) ... but it didn't stop JaVale!

Props to everyone who participated and raised money in the fight against cancer.

Holy God ... Blake Griffin and his girlfriend are sexy people.

Here's Blake and Francesca Aiello walking on the beach in Malibu over the weekend -- showing off their insane physiques yet again.

Apparently, there's a dog there, too ... but no one gives a damn about Fido.

You can see in the pics, the other beachgoers were checking out the couple ... probably regretting not doing extra sets of abs at the gym before seeing this.

Blake and Francesca (who owns Frankies Bikinis) have been dating since early June and don't seem to show any signs of slowing down any time soon.