NBA

Scary situation for Chicago Bulls star Zach LaVine -- cops were called to his home Thursday night after an allegedly obsessed woman showed up at his door and refused to leave.

Our law enforcement sources tell us ... 25-year-old LaVine was at his residence when the woman arrived.

We're told Zach did not know the woman -- but she had traveled from another state demanding to have a conversation with the young superstar.

When asked to leave the property, we're told the woman refused -- so cops were called.

Once help arrived, we're told officers took her to a local hospital for a mental health evaluation -- she was not formally arrested and has not been charged with a crime.

We reached out to LaVine's camp -- so far, no comment.

It's been a big week for LaVine -- who was just named to the NBA All-Star team for the first time in his career.

The Big Ticket will not become the Big Owner -- Kevin Garnett's investment group is out of the race to buy the Minnesota Timberwolves, the ex-NBA star announced Thursday.

As we previously reported, billionaire Glen Taylor -- who has owned the team since 1995 -- began listening to offers to sell the team back in July 2020 ... with KG "seriously interested" in taking over the reins with a group of investors.

But, that dream is officially dead ... with Garnett sounding off on the outcome in a fiery Instagram post.

"Sooo just got the news that this process in trying to acquire the TWOLVES IS OVER for me n my group," KG said. "Thx Glen for being yourself n what I Kno you to be!!! GOOD LUCK n aww the best with WHAT WE BUILT."

Remember, KG -- easily the best player in franchise history -- HATED Taylor for years ... but extended an olive branch in hopes of working together to rebuild the organization.

But, that strategy ultimately didn't work ... and Garnett says he's "not hurt, just disappointed" in losing out on the opportunity.

"Crazy that some of these players that helped build these fuxin Franchises like a home but can never own them, only rent them," he said.

"GTFOH ISHHH IS A JOKE ... Fux em doe ... your loss."

Garnett seems to be holding out hope on being an owner in the future, however ... listing cities like Las Vegas and Seattle as possibilities.

As for the Wolves?? He's taking the Chris Brown approach.

The 2021 NBA All-Star Game will feature a special court designed to honor historically black colleges and universities ... and the first images look amazing!

NBA officials previously announced the March 7 event at State Farm Arena in Atlanta will be dedicated to "elevating Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and COVID-19 equity."

In other words, the league wants to help get resources to HBCU students and staff who have been impacted by the pandemic.

And, to put a spotlight on the issue, the league reached out to several HBCU alumni to create custom artwork for the court.

The final product is pretty cool -- it celebrates the culture of HBCUs ... from the spirited marching bands to the focus on education and more.

As part of the festivities, the official student marching bands from Grambling State and Florida A&M will perform during player introductions.

The NBA has also committed $500,000 in scholarship funding to both the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) and the United Negro College Fund.

There's an additional $750,000 in funding that will be awarded to the organizations based on various challenges taking place during the game.

For example, whichever team is leading at the end of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd quarter will be awarded $150k (for each quarter) to donate to one of the orgs.

And, get this ... the 3 main officials working the All-Star Game are all HBCU graduates -- Tom Washington, Courtney Kirkland and Tony Brown.

IT'S TIME TO PLAY THE GAME!!!

Wrestling legends Triple H and The Big Show showed up to Cleveland Cavs practice on Wednesday ... oh wait, that's Dylan Windler and Damyean Dotson!!

The Cavs players channeled the iconic superstars as they made their way to the court for practice ... and the results are nothing short of amazing!!

Here's how it went down -- Windler posed behind the rising door as Triple H’s introduction music blasted over the speakers ... and as he makes his entrance, he takes a sip of water and does the signature spit-water splash!!

Not to be outdone, Dotson followed up by hoisting a championship belt while Big Show's intro music plays ... and ends up tossing his practice jersey to hype up his teammates!!

It clearly worked -- the players are seen laughing and cheering as the intros unfold.

If you're wondering why this happened, JaVale McGee -- who documented the whole ordeal on IG -- explained these guys do it all the time when they shoot against each other during their pregame routines.

If anyone is looking to hire a 2-time All-Star, Luka Doncic is putting his résumé on display ... with the Mavs superstar creating his very own LinkedIn page -- and it's as awesome as you'd think!!

The 22-year-old former Rookie of the Year's profile surfaced on the job-focused social media site this week ... and it's laden with nuggets that would make any company wanna add the hooper to their team.

For instance, Luka's experience section includes guard/small forward for the Dallas Mavericks (duh) ... as well as "Global Chief Hydration Officer" for BioSteel -- a company he announced a partnership with this week.

Things get good when we get to the "Skills" section of Luka's profile ... which includes basketball (duh, again), hydration and fitness.

As for other skills listed?? Magic ... which makes sense. After all, have you SEEN this guy play?!

The biggest flex of all comes in the "Honors and Awards" portion of the page ... which lists all of the baller's accomplishments so far in his young career -- 2-time All-Star, All-NBA First Team, NBA Rookie Of The Year, EuroLeague 2010–20 All-Decade Team, EuroLeague champ and MVP.

Yeah, not too shabby.

It's not the first time a huge name like Luka has ventured on to the site -- athletes like Shaq, Julian Edelman and Brandon Marshall have famously logged on in the past.

Vanessa Bryant is opening up about her life after the deaths of Kobe and Gianna -- admitting, "This pain is unimaginable [but] you just have to get up and push forward."

"Lying in bed crying isn't going to change the fact that my family will never be the same again," Vanessa told People.com ... "But getting out of bed and pushing forward is going to make the day better for my girls and for me. So that's what I do."

Vanessa has kept very busy in the year after Kobe and 13-year-old Gianna passed away in that tragic helicopter crash -- taking the reigns on various projects Kobe had been working on in both entertainment and charity.

She worked with author Ivy Claire to complete Kobe's novel for young adults, "Epoca: The River of Sand" -- which dropped back in December.

And, she's been a force with Kobe's non-profit organization -- relaunching it as the Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation, with the mission of helping "underserved athletes and women in sports."

Vanessa says Kobe and Gianna serve as her inspiration to "keep going" -- "They inspire me to try harder and be better every day. Their love is unconditional and they motivate me in so many different ways."

Now, as Vanessa moves forward with her 3 daughters -- 18-year-old Natalia, 4-year-old Bianka and 1-year-old Capri -- she leans on her family to "give me strength."

James Harden's jersey will hang alongside Hakeem, Drexler and Yao Ming's one day ... with Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta announcing the team will "absolutely" retire its former superstar's #13 in the future.

Of course, the two sides had a nasty, public breakup earlier this season ... with the former MVP forcing a trade out of H-Town.

But, Fertitta is considering it water under the bridge ... telling the Houston Chronicle the Rockets WILL recognize the Brooklyn Nets guard with the highest honor eventually.

"James Harden will always be a Rocket," Fertitta said Tuesday. "Of course, we will retire his jersey. He made my first three years of owning this franchise unforgettable."

"The success he brought this franchise over eight years and the memories he created for our fan base/community (are) truly remarkable."

There's no debating Harden was one of the best players in the league during his 8+ seasons in Houston -- he had 3 scoring titles, 6 1st Team All-NBA nods and an MVP in 2018.

The 31-year-old led the Rockets to the playoffs each season with the Rockets ... making it to the Western Conference Finals twice.

Harden will become the franchise's 7th player to receive the honor when it happens.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is not backing down from his criticism of LeBron James -- reinforcing his belief that athletes should stick to sports and stay out of politics!

"Athletes unite the world, politics divide it,” the soccer superstar said at a news conference Tuesday morning.

"Our role is to unite the world by doing what we do best. Athletes should be athletes and politicians should do politics."

Ibra -- one of the most famous athletes on the planet -- has been under fire for going after LeBron last week during an interview with Discovery+ in Sweden.

At the time, Zlatan said, "[LeBron] is phenomenal at what he's doing, but I don't like when people have some kind of status, they go and do politics at the same time."

"Do what you're good at. Do the category you do. I play football because I'm the best at playing football."

"I don't do politics. If I would be a political politician, I would do politics. That is the first mistake people do when they become famous and they become in a certain status. Stay out of it. Just do what you do best, because it doesn't look good."

LeBron clapped back in a big way -- saying he'll NEVER just shut up and dribble because he understands his voice can make a real impact for those who aren't being heard ... and feels it's his responsibility to use his platform to make positive change.

Lamar Odom just went scorched earth on his ex ... blasting Sabrina Parr as "deceitful" and accusing her of using him in a shameless attempt to get famous.

The former NBA star -- who split with Parr last year after the two announced their engagement late in 2019 -- went on "The Real" on Monday and unloaded on her.

"[She was] very deceitful," Odom said of Parr. "You know, I really used to like take her word for everything. She was like really lying to me, the whole time."

"But I guess she got what she wanted, that was the 'blue check,' so I guess I was good for something."

Odom says he and Parr had planned a reality TV show and had shot some portions of it -- but the 41-year-old claims she and her manager released it without telling him it was going out.

"It was just about me and her," Odom said of the reality show. "I knew what I was doing, I knew what I signed up for."

"But I would think that when you were putting it out to the world, you would let me know. That’s a greaseball move. Something that I can't respect, from her and that manager dude."

Odom went on to say the whole failed relationship makes him "sad."

"I really don’t like nobody taking advantage of me," Odom said, "especially for monetary reasons."

Odom and Parr only dated for 3 months before he popped the question in Nov. 2019.

And in his previous marriage to Khloe Kardashian, they only dated for 1 month before Lamar proposed.

You're looking at the most expensive basketball card ever sold -- and it ain't Michael Jordan or LeBron James.

It's an ultra-rare Luka Doncic rookie card -- a 1-of-1 that features the NBA Logoman patch from a game-worn Dallas Mavericks jersey PLUS a perfect signature with blue ink.

And, it just sold for $4.6 MILLION!!!!

Here's the deal ... the card was originally pulled from a box of 2018-2019 Panini National Treasures Basketball in May 2019 during a live pack break at the Layton Sports Cards shop in Altamonte Springs, FL.

The card was later sold to collector Bolillo Lajan San (unclear what he paid, but more than $400k) who had a feeling the card could explode in value.

Well, he was right because on Sunday night, Bolillo confirmed the sale of the card to high-end collector Nick Fiorella for $4.6 million.

Here are the specifics ... it's a 2018-19 National Treasures Luka Doncic rookie autograph with the "Logoman" patch, #127.

The sale is the 2nd highest purchase of a sports trading card EVER -- just behind a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card that recently sold for $5.2 million!

Clocking in at #3 is a 2009 Mike Trout Superfractor that sold for $3.9 mil.

Kobe Bryant’s childhood basketball hoop has sold for a King's ransom!

The hoop fetched $37,200 at Heritage Auctions, and it's truly prized memorabilia. It was attached to the garage at Kobe's childhood home in Pennsylvania ... it's the hoop Kobe used to help perfect his legendary jump shot.

As TMZ reported, the home sold recently for $810,000, but the seller wanted a premium for the backboard and the rim and the buyer wasn't interested. So, it was dismounted and the home seller just scored a sizable bounty.

Vanessa Bryant caught wind not everyone had nice things to say about her late husband, Kobe, upon his death ... including Evan Rachel Wood, who labeled him a "rapist."

Kobe's widow is skewering ERW and others for comments they made about Kobe shortly after his passing in Jan. 2020 -- many of whom brought up his 2003 sexual assault case ... arguing his legacy was marred by the allegations, and straight-up calling him guilty.

For the record, the criminal charges he was facing were dropped after the accuser refused to testify. She later sued him over it, and both sides reached a settlement.

Of course, Kobe was never convicted ... and is presumed innocent in the eyes of the law -- which is exactly what Vanessa points out to ERW, in sharp terms more than a year later.

She writes ... "Your false, insensitive, defamatory and slanderous tweet on 1/26/20 is vile and disturbing to say the least? Behavior like this is part of the reason why innocent black men go to jail for crimes they didn't commit. An accusation doesn't make someone guilty."

VB adds, "YOU DON'T KNOW THE FACTS OF THE CASE." She had a similar message for film producer Abigail Disney, who also called Kobe a rapist not too long after he died.

Abigail still has her 2020 tweet up -- which links to a WaPo op-ed discussing Kobe's criminal case. Evan's Twitter account appears to have been deactivated. She still has an IG account though, where she's been detailing her allegations against Marilyn Manson.

Officials in Atlanta have confirmed the fire that gutted Shaq's iconic Krispy Kreme was caused by an arsonist ... and now, they say they're on the hunt for the suspect.

The famous donut shop -- which is located on Ponce de Leon Ave. and has ties to Martin Luther King Jr. -- was nearly burnt to the ground shortly after midnight on Feb. 10.

Officials say 2 employees who were in the store were able to escape the fire safely ... but the place took SERIOUS damage from the flames.

Now, officials say they believe the blaze was NOT caused by an accident ... but rather, by a person who wanted to see it burn.

Officials say they have surveillance video of the suspect ... and revealed images of the person from the video early Friday morning. Officials added there's now a $10,000 reward for help in identifying the suspect.

"The fire that occurred at @krispykreme Doughnuts (295 Ponce de Leon) on February 10th, 2021 has been determined to be a result of ARSON," officials said. "We are seeking the public’s help in identifying & locating the suspect in these pictures."

Officials say call 1-800-282-5804 if you have any information.

The donut shop, meanwhile, is one of the most famous in the country ... it was bought by Shaq back in 2016 and gained fame in 1968 for donating boxes of treats to mourners who flocked to Atlanta to grieve the death of MLK Jr.

Vanessa Bryant just got the perfect assist from daughter Capri -- who gave a sneak peek of the new Kobe Bryant 6 Protro "All-Star" kicks ... weeks before they're set to drop.

"These shoes are about to be released next," Vanessa said on IG ... "They're Kobe's All Star drop."

The new sneakers are an updated "Protro" version of the Nike Zoom Kobe VI 'All-Star' shoes, which were originally released back in 2011.

Capri was rockin' mommy's size 7 -- just a little too big for the 1-year-old ... but she'll grow into 'em. Even [Uncle] Pau Gasol weighed in on the adorableness -- saying, "So Cute!"

The new Kobes will reportedly come with a $180 price tag and are set to drop on March 8 -- the day after the 2021 NBA All-Star game.

But, you can expect these shoes to sell out QUICKLY and then fetch monster prices on re-sale sites.

As we've reported, the demand for all things Kobe has exploded over the past year -- with collectors paying record prices for everything from autographs to jerseys to basketball cards ... even the car he used to drive around.

Luke Walton melted down on the court during a timeout Thursday night -- karate-chopping a clipboard straight to the ground -- and the whole temper tantrum was caught on video.

The Sacramento Kings coach was furious with his squad in the 4th quarter of their game with the NY Knicks ... and when an assistant tried to hand him a whiteboard, Walton lost it.

The dude reared back with his fist and fired straight down into the board ... causing it to break into pieces.

Walton then appeared to yell at his team ... before the Kings went on to lose 140-121.

Afterward, Luke said the temper tantrum was simply a release of frustration ... with the coach admitting he's straight-up tired of the Kings' recent poor play.

"Look, I'm frustrated. We all should be frustrated," Walton said ... "I was frustrated tonight and I believe in our team and I know when our group is playing well, we are much better than what we showed tonight."

Walton and the Kings have been in a serious slump ... losing 9 straight games and dropping their record to just 12-20 in the process.

Clearly, Walton is hoping for a turnaround ... could a clipboard freakout be the catalyst his team needs?

One day after reigniting the movement to change the NBA's logo to Kobe Bryant ... Kyrie Irving doubled down on the take, explaining, "Kobe Bryant. Logo. Yes. Needs to happen."

"I don't care what anybody says," Irving said Thursday night after the Brooklyn Nets' win over the Orlando Magic. "Black kings built the league."

"It's exactly what I meant and it's exactly where I stand."

Back in February 2020, just a few weeks after Kobe, his daughter, Gianna, and seven others died in a helicopter crash -- there was a large movement to switch the NBA's Jerry West logo to one depicting Kobe.

A change.org petition earned over 3 MILLION signatures in support of the cause ... but the NBA never appeared to take the idea too seriously.

But, clearly, Irving has no intentions of stopping the push ... 'cause on Wednesday he brought the movement back on his social media page -- and on Thursday, he explained why he feels the move is necessary.

"As a native Black man and a native Black king, I think it's part of my responsibility to push our culture forward," Irving said, before adding, "I think he deserves it. I think his family deserves it."

"I think we deserve it as seeing greatness personified as Mamba. And anyone that's coming into the league should know that that's the example that was set."

Vanessa Bryant clearly agrees ... she's thrown her support behind the idea since it was first proposed -- even commenting on Irving's social media post this week, writing, "Love this."