NBA

Trae Young is opening up on his trade to the Washington Wizards ... explaining to Hawks fans the suffering he experienced in Atlanta was much stronger than his fear of starting fresh somewhere else.

Young released the message on Instagram Friday morning ... saying, "The last few years weren't how I wanted them to be."

"Bringing a championship to Atlanta was always my goal. However, between the injuries, the setbacks, and situations that didn't make sense, we never truly got to see our full potential."

The Golden State Warriors aren't playing around when it comes to fan violence -- the team banned two spectators after a wild brawl broke out in the stands during Wednesday's game.

TMZ Sports spoke with the Warriors on Thursday after several videos surfaced on social media showing two men going at it during the Dubs vs. Bucks game at the Chase Center.

"SFPD (San Francisco Police Department) was on location to defuse the situation," the org. said. "The fans have been banned from future Chase Center events."

The Warriors also told us no one was injured ...which is pretty remarkable after watching the video.

The Golden State Warriors showdown against the Milwaukee Bucks took a violent turn Wednesday night -- but not on the basketball court -- fans were brawling in the stands, and it got violent!

A fellow fan in the Chase Center recorded what looked to be three people involved in a fight ... though one guy appeared to do most of the punching, landing shot after shot on his opp.

While it's unclear what started the melee, the clip begins with a dude in a black shirt being put in a headlock by another man in a grey quarter-zip. That's when a man wearing a Steph Curry jersey began throwing punches at the man in the black shirt.

Trae Young’s mid-game trade from the Hawks to the Wizards had the entire NBA world talking -- and superfan Boosie Badazz reacted courtside in real time.

During their 117-100 win over the Pelicans on Wednesday, the Hawks swapped Young for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert, ending a seven-plus season stint in Atlanta for the four-time All-Star.

The Louisiana rap star -- a staple at Hawks games -- turned to social media to share his immediate thoughts on a surreal moment for players and fans alike.

"They just traded Trae, man?" he said. "He's down there dribblin' the basketball with his clothes on. Damn ..."

LeBron James is admitting he's at the point in his life where working two days in a row will be a rare occurrence ... telling reporters on Tuesday his status for back-to-back games is officially "TBD" moving forward.

After scoring 30 points and earning eight rebounds and eight assists in the Purple and Gold's 111-103 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, the King got pretty animated when asked about the quick turnaround and suiting up for L.A.'s matchup with the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday.

"Every back-to-back for the rest of the season is [to be determined]," LeBron said. "I am 41. I got the most minutes in NBA history. Bank it right now."

Shaquille O'Neal's newest venture is a sweet slam dunk -- the Hall of Famer is adding to his line of signature gummies with some basketball-themed candies!!

The Big Fella launched the Shaq-A-Licious SLAMS on Wednesday ... which feature crunchy watermelon, strawberry and orange balls with sour mango rims -- a nod to the Lakers legend's passions for posterizing and being a kid.

What do kids do?? Play with their food ... and that's exactly what Shaq wants folks to do with his candy.

Kevin Durant has hit plenty of game-winning shots over the course of his career ... but Monday's dagger against the Phoenix Suns had extra meaning -- with KD admitting it hit different after feeling "scapegoated" by his former squad.

Durant spoke about the moment with the media shortly after the Rockets' 100-97 win over the Suns.

The 37-year-old said it "most definitely" had more meaning than the average game-winning shot, especially since he said he had no desire to leave the team before the July 2025 trade.

Snoop Dogg was responsible for the call of the NBA season on Monday ... the legendary rapper happened to be behind the microphone for an epic Steve Kerr flipout sesh, and he captured the crazy moment as only he could!

Snoop picked up the headset and stepped into the proverbial booth for the second half of  Monday's showdown between the Warriors and the Clippers in Los Angeles ... when Kerr's emotions got the better of him in the fourth quarter, leading to losing it on the refs, and getting tossed from the game.

Tha Doggfather captured the moment perfectly, as only he could.

Stephen Curry has racked up plenty of achievements over the course of his basketball career ... but this is a unique one -- the NBA superstar now has his own highway exit named after him!!

The Davidson alum -- who was named the assistant General Manager for the program in March -- returned to his old stomping grounds to watch the Wildcats take on the Duquesne Dukes on Tuesday.

The 37-year-old helped unveil the new sign during the A-10 conference showdown. While it's hard to say where the honor ranks among his countless accomplishments, he made it clear he found it pretty cool.

Rich Paul wants to clear the air about his recent Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James take ... saying even though he'd want MJ to take a last shot over his bestie/top client ... the King is still 100% his G.O.A.T.

ICYMI, Paul and his "Game Over" podcast co-host Max Kellerman were talking hoop recently ... when the big-time sports agent revealed he chose His Airness to be the guy shooting the ball at the end of a game over Bron or Kobe Bryant -- saying there's "no question about it."

When we caught up with Paul out in Beverly Hills this week ... he said folks made it out to be like he was dissing LBJ in favor of MJ ... which was not the case at all.

Jalen Green's unfiltered approach to hyping up his teammate during a postgame interview just set him back a chunk of change ... 'cause the NBA just fined him $25k for dropping an F-bomb on TV.

ICYMI, Green crashed Collin Gillespie's Q&A on Monday after scoring 25 points in the Phoenix Suns' 115-101 win over the Washington Wizards at the Capital One Arena.

Green -- sidelined with a hamstring injury -- was clearly proud of his guy ... and apparently couldn't hold back his expletive-filled excitement.

LeBron James just made his 41st trip around the sun ... and the Los Angeles Lakers shared how they celebrated the four-time NBA champion at practice ... with rookie Adou Thiero leading the team in singing "Happy Birthday!"

L.A. shared its post-workout festivities on Tuesday, showing off a cake with the King James logo and a crown on top. But before the team could dive in, Thiero had to serenade the future Hall of Famer.

While the voice probably wouldn't get him far on "American Idol" ... the rook didn't sound too bad. Especially considering he was put on the spot, it gets an A+ for effort in our books!!

Jimmy Butler was in a trash-talking mood Monday Night in the Big Apple ... seemingly calling Brooklyn Nets forward Danny Wolf "white boy" repeatedly after he was able to draw a foul against the rookie.

It all went down in the third quarter of the Warriors' 120-107 win over Brooklyn. After getting a bucket to fall for a potential three-point play, Butler started shouting what sounds like "white boy" toward his opponent.

The mics picked up Butler's heated moment ... and he seemingly added some more "White boy!" jabs before adding, "Every time!"

The Backstreet Boys made the "right decision" not signing with Shaquille O'Neal back in the day ... so says AJ McLean, who tells TMZ Sports while he adores the NBA legend -- he doubts they'd have the same success had they inked a deal with him.

It's a wild story, but 100% true -- both BSB and *NSYNC used Shaq's Orlando studio to record some of their earliest music when he was a member of the Magic in the '90s ... and O'Neal has openly expressed his regret over not pouncing on the opportunity to work with the boy bands in an official capacity.

We caught up with AJ recently ... and asked a good ol' "what if?"

It's the most wonderful time of the year ... which means epic NBA showdowns -- and the gorgeous wives and girlfriends that come with them!!

The first matchup takes place at Madison Square Garden ... where the Cavaliers face the NBA Cup champion New York Knicks.

In his first interview since being released from the same prison that houses Diddy, former NBA player Sebastian Telfair tells TMZ what it was like being locked up with the music mogul.

Telfair chatted with our cameraperson just hours after being released from FCI Fort Dix, revealing it was rough for him getting locked up after living such a successful life, but he "couldn't imagine how Diddy felt."

Still, Telfair says the Bad Boy cofounder is making the most of it and staying in good spirits.

He said, "Diddy's holding it down. He's doing what he gotta do. And where he's at, they're going to help him."