NBA

Jay Williams says he's seen Andrew Bynum's recent workout video -- and he's impressed -- but tells TMZ Sports it might be too little, too late for the big man's NBA comeback dreams.

FYI -- Bynum's been training like crazy in hopes of getting a tryout with a team in need of a 7-footer ... even though it's been 4 years since he last suited up for a pro team.

Williams -- who went to the same New Jersey H.S. as Bynum -- says the ex-Laker looks in amazing shape ... but questions whether he'll be able to adjust to today's game with big men like Anthony Davis and Boogie Cousins pulling up from three.

But, Williams doesn't close the door on Bynum's goals, he actually thinks he CAN pull off the comeback ... but he's keeping it real for the 30-year-old.

If hoops don't work out for Blake Griffin ... he's got the official stamp of approval from comedian Nikki Glaser to move to the stand-up mic -- 'cause she's telling TMZ Sports Blake is LEGIT funny.

"Oh, he could totally be a comedian if he wanted to be," she says. "I wouldn't say that about anyone."

Remember ... Blake went head-to-head in a roast battle with Jeff Ross earlier this summer -- and killed it ... telling Jeff at one point, "You're such a bald piece of sh*t. It honestly looks like we both got f**ked over by the Clippers."

Nikki just so happened to be a judge for that battle ... and when we got her outside Hollywood Improv earlier this week -- she says she was straight-up mad that B.G. was so good.

"You see someone that handsome and just that talented in his own profession and it's like, 'Stay in your lane!'" Nikki tells us.

"And, you want him to be bad at comedy. You want someone that's killing it in their own life, tall and has everything -- you want them to be not funny, and then he was really funny. Like, really funny."

NBA stud Deron Williams was once offered a real-deal fight with Greg Hardy ... and wanna guess what his response was??

Yeah, it was a firm HELL NO.

Deron is actually a pretty legit MMA fighter ... dude has a serious wrestling background and he even co-owns Fortis MMA in Dallas where 3 fighters on the UFC 228 card train.

In fact ... UFC heavyweight Rashad Coulter -- who works out with Williams -- tells TMZ Sports, "He's a good wrestler and has fast hands."

But, when word of those skills got around to the Legacy Fighting Alliance -- where Hardy used to scrap -- they asked if Deron wanted to fight Greg ... D-Will's response was a swift no.

"Are they crazy right now!?" Williams says.

"Greg Hardy has to cut weight to make 265. You think I'm getting in there with that animal!?"

Williams tells us there is one scenario where he might step into the Octagon for real -- albeit not against Hardy -- saying he'd be down to fight one day for charity.

As for his basketball future ... Williams sure seems like he's done with the NBA -- although he ain't officially closing that door yet.

Karl Malone and ex-NBA star Brian Grant were enemies on the court ... but when BG was diagnosed with Parkinson's, the HOFer came up big ... helpin' his old rival AND raising $100k for charity.

Grant -- a 6'9" PF who was a beast on defense and the boards -- played 12 seasons in the NBA for the Kings, Trail Blazers, Heat, Lakers, and Suns ... before retiring in 2006.

Approximately 2 years later -- when he was only 36 years old -- Grant was diagnosed with young-onset Parkinson's ... sending him into a depression.

Grant says once the diagnosis became public ... Malone reached out and offered his help.

Malone and Grant put together a dope Alaskan fishing trip and auctioned it off ... raising $107k to help combat Parkinson's.

Grant says not only did that cash help people ... but hangin' with Malone -- his idol -- was super therapeutic for him during a dark time in his life.

BG's still fighting the disease ... and working with the Parkinson's Foundation to help spread awareness and raise money.

LeBron James is out ... and now the City of Cleveland has announced they're replacing the legendary banner with a new icon ... a Guardian!!!

No, not Groot. Or Rocket. Or even Mantis ... it's the Guardian of Traffic!

ALL HAIL THE TRAFFIC GOD!!

It's true -- the greatest athlete in the history of the city (maybe the world) is being subbed out for an image of the statue that overlooks traffic on the Hope Memorial Bridge.

City officials proposed the idea during a meeting early Friday morning -- claiming the statue is one of the "iconic landmarks" in town ... adding, "We all serve as guardians in terms of protecting and working within our community."

Okay, but honestly ... wouldn't you rather have Baker Mayfield or Bernie Kosar or Drew Carey?

Hell, throw Ricky Vaughn up there!

The Guardians of Traffic poster will include a slogan for the city -- "All For The Land."

And, if the guardian looks a little grainy to you -- it's 'cause the city wanted it that way ... saying it's a mosaic of "a composite of crowd-sourced images" of Clevelanders.

Immediate reaction to it hasn't been great ... with some tweeting, "Wait, is this real or a meme?"

Kevin Garnett claims his former accountant helped swindle him out of $77 MILLION and now he's suing in hopes of getting some of his cash back.

The NBA star -- who reportedly made more than $343 MILLION during his NBA career -- claims his former accountant Michael Wertheim was helping a crooked wealth manager skim a fortune from his bank accounts over several years and did nothing to stop it.

In fact, Garnett claims the accountant aided wealth manager Charles A. Banks IV in the theft and should be held responsible ... according to the suit, which has been moved to federal court in Minnesota.

Garnett claims part of the diabolical plot against him involved his wealth manager and accountant trying to get him to live on a budget so they would have a greater pool of cash to steal from.

One example ... in August 2013, Garnett claims he asked his wealth manager to wire him $40,000 of his own money -- but was scolded for exceeding their budget. Meanwhile, KG claims the wealth manager took more than $2 MILLION for himself over an 8-day span.

There's no doubt in Metta World Peace's mind that LeBron will bring a title to the Lakers ... 'cause he's telling TMZ Sports it's already been pre-written by the basketball gods!!

"He's destined," Metta says. "You can tell when somebody is chosen basketball-wise. You can tell."

Of course ... Metta's crystal ball is a little cloudy when it comes to the date LBJ will win one -- 'cause the ex-NBA superstar says he sees the Warriors taking home a few more 'ships first.

"I think Kevin Durant will three-peat," World Peace says. "I think Kevin Durant might four-peat, quite honestly."

As for if K.D. will ever team up with 'Bron in L.A. -- World Peace runs out of predictions there.

Matt Barnes has just obtained a temporary restraining order against his baby mama, Gloria Govan, in the wake of her arrest at their kids' school, TMZ Sports has learned.

As part of the court order, Govan must stay at least 100 yards away from the kids. She can see the kids once per week for 4 hours but a professional monitor has to be present -- and Gloria must foot the bill for the monitor.

Gloria is allowed to be near Matt to get the kids, but she must be peaceful.

Gloria is also not allowed to take the kids outside of L.A. County during her visitation unless she gets written permission from Matt.

Matt's attorney, Samantha Spector, tells TMZ Sports, "Today wasn't about Matt or Gloria. It was about the children and their safety. This was a good day for those kids, and that's all that matters."

The next hearing is scheduled for the end of Sept. -- where Gloria can argue to change the arrangement.

As we previously reported, cops arrested Govan on August 31 after she allegedly blocked Matt from picking up their 9-year-old twin boys on Matt's scheduled custodial day.

Matt claims Govan used her car as a weapon against him -- and claims he feared for his life (and the lives of his kids) and Gloria punched the gas in her Escalade and "[barreled] toward me."

"I am ever thankful that no child or parent was hit by Gloria and her 17-foot-long Escalade as she endangered every child's and adult's safety when she plowed through the parking lot."

In court docs, Matt claims Gloria put their children and other kids at the school in physical danger -- and Matt claims the twins have been traumatized by Gloria's actions and subsequent arrest.

Matt and Gloria got married back in 2012 but split almost 2 years later. Their divorce wasn't finalized until 2016.

Nike isn't backing down from its Colin Kaepernick ad campaign -- they just released a brand new 2-minute commercial featuring the QB -- and it's slated to air during the NFL season opener.

The spot features Colin narrating inspiring messages about overcoming the odds while real video of really inspirational athletes plays on the screen.

Colin references Serena Williams and praises her as "the greatest athlete ever" -- while throwing similar compliments at stars like Odell Beckham, Shaquem Griffin and the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team.

Regarding Odell, Colin says ...

"Don't picture yourself wearing OBJ's jersey. Picture OBJ wearing yours."

Regarding Shaquem, Colin says ...

"If you have only one hand, don’t just watch football, play it at the highest level."

Regarding LeBron James, Colin says ...

"Don’t become the best basketball player on the planet. Be bigger than basketball." (while video runs showing LeBron opening his new school in Ohio)

Regarding Serena, Colin says ...

"And, if you’re a girl from Compton, don’t just become a tennis player. Become the greatest athlete ever. Yeah, that’s more like it."

It's the second phase of Nike's "Just Do It" ad campaign featuring Kaep -- a deal that we're told was put together in the last several weeks.

We're told the deal put together by Mark Geragos and Ben Meiselas also includes a new custom Kaepernick shoe and apparel line.

No word on when that's supposed to drop.

As for the commercial, a source with knowledge of the situation tells us the plan is to air the commericial at some point during the Falcons vs. Eagles broadcast on NBC.

How does LeBron James feel about Nike's new deal with Colin Kaepernick?

"I stand with Nike ... every day, all day."

It's a huge statement from the biggest athlete in the world -- as Colin and Nike continue to get blowback from people like country star John Rich, UFC star Tim Kennedy and others who have vowed to boycott Nike.

But Tuesday night, as LeBron accepted the Icon 360 Award at Capitale in NYC ... he ended his remarks with a statement on Nike (though he didn't mention Kaepernick by name).

"Last but not least, I stand for anybody that believes in change. I stand for anybody that believes in a positive attitude and a positive matter ... and I stand with Nike every day, all day."

Of course, LeBron is a Nike athlete who reportedly signed a $1 billion lifetime deal with the company. But, it seems he's genuinely proud of the company.

As for the award, the Icon 360 was presented for Bron's contribution to fashion and philanthropy.

During the ceremony, LeBron also thanked his wife and daughters and said, "I believe African-American women are the most powerful women in the world."

LiAngelo Ball wondered if his stealing incident in China was the reason he didn't get selected in the NBA draft ... saying, "the sh*t I did off the court" might have cost him.

It all went down in the latest episode of the family's Facebook docuseries, "Ball In The Family" ... where cameras caught the middle Ball bro's reaction to not being picked to join Lonzo in the Association.

"I don't know, I guess it's the way I play, I guess," Gelo says of why he thinks he didn't get drafted.

"Or the sh*t I did off the court."

Of course ... Gelo -- along with 2 teammates from UCLA -- were detained in China after stealing several pairs of designer sunglasses and other accessories from multiple stores in Hangzhou.

LiAngelo was suspended from the Bruins indefinitely ... and LaVar eventually pulled him from school to play ball in Lithuania.

Ball joked about the whole ordeal in a Foot Locker ad released just days before the draft ... but it doesn't seem he found it very funny after not being picked.

"Sucks that I didn't get drafted tonight," he said on the show.

Gelo's been hooping in the JBA -- LaVar's startup basketball league -- ever since, waiting to catch on with any NBA team that'd be willing to add him to the roster.

Ball has previously told us he's had interest from NBA teams -- but so far, no one has pulled the trigger on signing him to a deal.

File this under:

WHY HASN'T IT HAPPENED?!!

Here's Shaunie O'Neal -- Shaq's ex-wife -- telling the world that Kobe freakin' Bryant has PERSONALLY offered to train her kids in basketball ... but for some reason it hasn't happened yet.

What?

We got Shaunie at LAX, and asked her about her son, Shaqir, being teamed up on the court with LeBron James Jr. at Crossroads school in Santa Monica.

We wanted to know if LeBron would be personally training the two boys, and while Shaunie couldn't answer that, she did tell us about another Laker great who's offered.

"Kobe always offers ... we're just so far from each other, but he always offers."

33,643 career points (3rd of all time), 2 NBA Finals MVPs, 5 championships. That's what Shaunie won't travel down the 5 freeway to have her kid get trained up by.

We at TMZ Sports demand somebody fix this.

Zip, zero, zilch, bupkis ... according to Bill Simmons, that's how many championships the great LeBron James will win as a Laker ... and Bill ain't playing around.

We got Simmons -- an NBA expert -- at LAX, and asked him a couple questions in his wheelhouse about the Association, including when he thought the Lake Show would be back in the finals.

Good news for L.A. fans, he said two years, and he said they'd get there with some combination of Jimmy Butler and Damian Lillard on the team.

The bad news came when we asked how many rings LeBron James would win in a Laker uniform, and Bill said not one, not two, not three, but NOT ANY ... holding up a zero to our camera.

Do the math. That means Bill thinks a team with LeBron, Damian, AND Jimmy Butler can't win a championship?

Feel bad for Zach LaVine getting wrecked on social media by a seafood restaurant this week??

Well don't ... 'cause the dude is living his best life with his gorgeous girlfriend Hunter Mar in the Bahamas ... and just by looking at the pics, he's the real winner here.

Of course, the NBA star got into a Twitter war with Jimmy's Famous Seafood after the Baltimore restaurant ripped the Bulls for giving him a $78 million deal ... to which LaVine said "I'm allergic to shellfish anyway"

The restaurant clapped back by bashing LaVine's defense ... but something tells us Zach's got bigger fish to fry.

NBA star J.R. Smith has turned himself into police in New York -- and has been charged with a crime -- stemming from a July incident where he allegedly threw a cell phone, TMZ Sports has learned.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Smith was being investigated for allegedly stealing a cell phone from a person outside of The Park -- a hot spot in Chelsea. Officials believe Smith threw the phone into a nearby construction zone, damaging the item.

Now, we've learned Smith appeared at an NYPD station in Chelsea early Friday morning where he was charged with misdemeanor criminal mischief and issued a desk appearance ticket to appear in court at a later date.

We spoke with Smith's attorney, Alex Spiro, who tells us, "This is nonsense, and we aren't responding to nonsense. He was issued a ticket."

Ben Simmons, DeMarcus Cousins and Giannis Antetokounmpo were just SOME of the massive NBA stars refusing to be scared away from a video game event in NYC ... in the wake of the Florida tragedy.

The NBA stars -- along with rapper Travis Scott -- hit up the NBA 2K19 launch event at the Greenpoint Terminal Warehouse in NYC on Wednesday night ... partying the night away while gaming it up.

The party went down less than a week after a disturbed gamer opened fire at a Madden tournament in Jacksonville, killing 2 people and injuring 11 more.

Several tournaments have either been canceled or postponed since the shooting -- but the NBA 2K19 event decided to move forward as planned.

It's a good thing too -- everyone seemed to have a great time without incident.

Just another reminder ... video games are supposed to be fun.