NBA

"Ghost Adventures" star Zak Bagans ain't just chasing ghouls -- the dude's a major sports buff, and has been dropping serious cash on some top-notch sports memorabilia.

The paranormal investigator tells TMZ he splashed a jaw-dropping $160,000 at Goldin Auctions to snag the NBA Rookie of the Year Paolo Banchero Best 1/1 rookie card, which is most definitely a sports collector's dream.

Also, the card is signed by Banchero himself in sleek blue ink -- which undoubtedly increased its monetary value.

Zak's not just splurging for kicks, he's playing the long game here ... saying the card could be a goldmine down the road and worth millions if he wins an MVP or future championship. Talk about a savvy investment move!

What's more, the person who first scored that epic NBA rookie card before it hit the auction block was none other than Jonny Venters, the Atlanta Braves All-Star pitcher!

Venters spoke to the owner of Goldin Auction, Ken Goldin himself, about getting his hands on the holy grail of sports memorabilia -- with KG dubbing it the ultimate hit from 2022.

Donatella Versace realmente sabe cómo hacer una entrada, incluso si involucra quedarse atrapada en una ascensor, que es lo que pasó cuando llegó a ser co-anfitrión de un evento en el Centro LGBT de Los Ángeles con Dwyane Wade.

Fuentes le dicen a TMZ que el ascensor estaba lleno, y que la diseñadora quedó atrapada junto con asistente, su publicista, su seguridad, el encargado de marketing y el jefe de PR de Versace durante 10 ó 15 minutos, y tenemos las imágenes de cuando finalmente fueron liberados.

Como se puede ver, el ascensor claramente tenía vida propia y se negaba a cooperar. Pero el equipo de seguridad, por otro lado, intervino para salvar el día, haciendo palanca a esas obstinadas puertas para abrirlas con sus propias manos. Finalmente, Versace logró salir, mirando un poco aturdida y confundida.

El resto de su equipo salió detrás de ella y nos dicen que todo el mundo sobrevivió ileso la situación. Una emergencia de moda evitada.

Los bomberos llegaron a la escena para chequear que todo estuviera bien poco después y parece que no hay mayores problemas sobre el incidente.

Por supuesto, el espectáculo debía continuar y Versace pasó a ser nombrada Embajadora Global de la Organización y también donó $50.000 al centro.

Donatella incluso convirtió la situación en una anécdota encantadora durante su discurso después de ser presentada por Wade, diciendo: "Me siento muy honrada de estar aquí esta noche. Es muy emotivo para mí, pero también porque me quedé atrapada en el ascensor. Pensé que nunca iba a llegar a esta azotea, ¡pero lo hice!".

Donatella Versace really knows how to make an entrance, even if it involves getting stuck in an elevator ... which is what went down as she arrived to cohost an event at the L.A. LGBT Center with Dwyane Wade.

Sources tell TMZ it was a full house in the elevator, as the designer was held prisoner with her assistant, her publicist, her security, the center's CMO, and the head of Versace PR for 10-15 minutes -- and we've got the footage of them finally being freed.

As you can see, the elevator clearly has a mind of its own, refusing to cooperate. But, security on the other side steps in to save the day, prying those stubborn doors open with their bare hands ... and Versace eventually emerges, looking somewhat dazed and confused.

The rest of DV's team trickled out behind ... and we're told everyone survived the whole situation unscathed. Fashion emergency averted!

The fire department arrived on the scene to double-check everything shortly after ... and it looks like there are no major lingering issues over the elevator incident.

Of course, the show must go on ... and Versace went on to be named the Org's Global Ambassador and also donated $50,000 to the center.

Donatella even turned the situation into a charming anecdote during her speech after being introduced by Wade, saying: "I feel so honored to be here tonight. It's so emotional for me -- but also because I was stuck in the elevator. I thought I was never going to make it to this roof, but I did!"

The woman who went viral after attending the Warriors game this week has experienced an insane surge of interest in her luxury girlfriend services ... and it's gotten so out of hand, she's had to nearly double her hourly rate.

Katherine Taylor caught the eye of many NBA fans after she was spotted cheering on the action during Wednesday's matchup between the Dubs and Milwaukee Bucks at the Chase Center ... largely in part thanks to her wardrobe choice.

TMZ Sports caught up with the stunning blonde following her newfound fame ... and she says being in the spotlight has resulted in some serious interest in her side hustle.

Taylor -- who offers her company for compensation -- tells us she can barely keep up with all the inquiries that have piled in over the past two days ... and her website crashed due to the increase in traffic.

Prior to her appearance at the game, Taylor (who's actually a Sacramento Kings fan) was charging 900 bucks an hour for her services ... but now, it'll set ya back $1,500/hr. Ya know, supply and demand.

Damian Lillard's a must-have commodity for GloRilla, after the rapper pulled up from 40 feet to shoot her shot at the reigning NBA All-Star MVP!!!

TMZ caught up with Dame in Bev. Hills on Thursday ahead of his Bucks face-off against the Lakers and asked if he was even aware that Glo wanted to be on what he was on.

After Dame led the highest-scoring ASG ever with 39 points, Big Glo squeezed in a photo op and instantly marked her territory ... and threatened to hard foul anyone who attempted to score on her future man!!!

The way her "Yeah Glo!" hit has been on the rise, it doesn't sound like Glo's taking no for an answer, either.

Judging from Dame's ear-to-ear grin, he's aware the Memphis rapper wants him bad ... no comment if he's already taken her up on her offer!!! 🤐

Dame Time may not have clocked GloRilla just yet -- but his new Milwaukee teammates are feeling the love ... after he upgraded everyone's wrists with gold watches from his Tissot line on the team plane.

LeBron James used his day off from the Lakers to support his son, Bronny ... showing up to the teen's USC game decked out in Trojans gear!

The NBA superstar was in total Dad Mode on Thursday night ... rollin' to the Galen Center in downtown Los Angeles to watch SC face off against Arizona State.

The 39-year-old -- wearing a Trojans hoodie and a cardinal and gold cap -- sat next to his wife, Savannah, in the best seats in the house ... and cheered his face off the entire time.

Bronny didn't do much in front of Pops -- he played just 16 minutes and didn't score a point. He did, however, log two assists, one steal and one rebound.

Of course, the two could actually be teammates next season -- although that topic has recently been a hot-button issue in the hoops world.

After a medical emergency and subsequent lack of playing time, the freshman guard dropped off many mock drafts, leading to a ton of criticism of the 19-year-old. LeBron, however, recently addressed all of that -- writing in a now-deleted post on X, "Can yall please just let the kid be a kid and enjoy college basketball."

"The work and results will ultimately do the talking no matter what he decides to do. If y'all don’t know he doesn’t care what a mock draft says, he just WORKS! Earned Not Given!"

Oklahoma City Thunder center Bismack Biyombo collapsed in the middle of a game Wednesday night -- scaring the hell out of his teammates ... and the troubling scene was all captured on video.

It happened during the second quarter of OKC's tilt against the Trail Blazers in Portland ... when Biyombo was trying to lift up some Thunder players as they walked toward the bench for a timeout.

But, as you can see in the game's broadcast footage, as Biyombo was slapping some hands ... he started to sway -- before he dropped into some chairs nearby.

The 31-year-old laid on the ground motionless for several seconds ... sending his teammates into a panic. Thankfully, however, he was able to get up and walk off the court under his own power -- while holding the back of his head.

It's unclear what exactly went wrong with the NBA veteran ... but OKC head coach Mark Daigneault said it looks like he's avoided a serious ailment.

"He's fine," the coach said after the game. "He just fainted, basically. He was in the locker room at halftime laughing and joking."

New police video shows Haywood Highsmith was visibly shaken up after being involved in a gruesome car crash last month ... appearing to be on the verge of tears in the minutes after the wreck.

The footage was captured on a Miami-Dade Police Dept. officer's body camera at around 11:20 PM on Feb. 6 ... shortly after Highsmith had played in the Heat's game against the Magic at the nearby Kaseya Center.

In the clip, you can see as a cop was questioning Highsmith about how he ran into a 21-year-old who was helping a stranded motorist in the middle of the roadway, causing serious injuries, the basketball player was emotional.

Highsmith, who at one point needed to be consoled by a woman at the scene, told the officer the car he slammed into had been stopped with no lights on. Other witnesses in the area can be heard in the footage saying similar things.

"It didn't have emergency lights on," one said, "at all."

"It was just abandoned in the middle," another added, "blacked out."

Police documents state Haywood was driving 45 MPH in a 40 MPH zone when he hit Alekxei Pino and another car from behind. The docs say Pino sustained a partial amputation on his right leg, as well as a compound fracture to his left leg.

Cops say they believe drugs and alcohol were not involved -- but Highsmith was still issued a citation for careless driving. He didn't play in Miami's game the following night on Feb. 7 -- although he's logged minutes in multiple Heat games since.

Pino, meanwhile, has filed a lawsuit against Highsmith, claiming the hooper's careless actions on the roadway caused him to suffer life-altering injuries that will require "a very long road of rehabilitation."

Travis y Jason Kelce fueron honrados con pequeñas figuritas de ellos mismos en el partido de los Cleveland Cavaliers el martes, pero no es exactamente lo que piensas, ¡cada uno recibió su propio muñeco!

Los hermanos Kelce acudieron al Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse de Cleveland anoche, su ciudad natal, y presenciaron en primera fila el partido entre los Cavs y los Boston Celtics. Los Cavs ganaron en un apretado 105-104.

Pero esa fue solo una parte de la emoción. Resulta que todos los aficionados de los Cavs recibieron figuritas especiales de Travis y Jason (conocidas como Bobbleheads), donde aparecen con camisetas de Cleveland y balones de baloncesto en sus manos. Como saben, los Kelces crecieron en Cleveland Heights y asistieron a una escuela en los suburbios.

Los dos invitados de honor también fueron invitados a la cancha por los Cavs antes de que comenzara el partido. A Jason le entregaron su propia camiseta con el número "62" en un marco de fotos en el marco de su emotivo retiro de la NFL esta semana.

Más tarde, los hermanos fueron filmados con sus bobbleheads personales, los que recibieron el sello de aprobación de Travis y Jason. Echa un vistazo al video publicado en X, los hermanos estaban encantados con sus regalos y la única crítica de Travis fue que se le había olvidado llevar una cadena en el cuello como su figurita.

Parece que Jason se está lanzando de cabeza a la jubilación, ¡y a mesas en llamas!

Los hermanos rodaron una promo acrobática para el episodio de esta semana de su podcast "New Heights" en la que Jason hizo la mayor parte del trabajo, saltando sobre una mesa en llamas, mientras Travis se quedaba al margen riéndose a carcajadas.

En cuanto a la novia de Travis, Taylor Swift, la cantante ha estado viajando por todo el mundo en el marco de su gira "Eras" y tiene algunos shows más en Singapur.

The Kelce Bros. weren't the only superstar athletes at the Cavs game Tuesday night -- the world's best eater, Joey Chestnut, rolled through Cleveland as well ... putting his unbelievable abilities on display for everyone in attendance!!

Jaws returned to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse for the Wine and Gold's home matchup against the Boston Celtics ... but the real contest went down at halftime, when the hot dog champ faced off against three normies in a pierogi challenge.

Chestnut -- who's by far the most famous figure in professional eating -- completely wrecked the field ... finishing 39 dumplings in two minutes, while everyone else combined for 23.

Joey looked pretty stuffed after the final buzzer -- his eyes got super wide as he was handed a championship belt.

It's not the first time Chestnut has taken on a trio of Cavs fans -- he previously crushed 47 back in 2022.

Joey was eating fast, but the Kelces were drinking just as quickly ... 'cause Jason and Travis gulped on some beers in the blink of an eye while at the big game.

Travis and Jason Kelce were honored with small statues at the Cleveland Cavaliers game Tuesday, but it's not quite what you think ... they each got their own bobblehead dolls!

The Kelce brothers showed up at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in their hometown of Cleveland last evening – and they sat front and center for the Cavs matchup against the Boston Celtics. The Cavs won in a squeaker 105-104.

But that was only part of the excitement in the arena. Turns out Cavs fans all received special bobbleheads of Travis and Jason in Cleveland jerseys with basketballs gripped in their hands. As you know, the Kelces grew up in Cleveland Heights and attended high school in the suburbs.

The two guests of honor were also invited onto the court by the Cavs before the game started. Jason was handed his very own number "62" jersey in a picture frame after his emotional retirement from the NFL this week.

Travis and Jason were later filmed with their personal bobbleheads, giving the dolls their stamp of approval. Check out the video posted to X ... the siblings did a pretty funny bit with Travis' only criticism being that he forgot to wear a neck chain like his figurine.

Looks like Jason's diving headfirst into retirement ... and flaming tables!

The bros shot a stunt promo for this week's episode of their "New Heights" podcast where Jason did the bulk of the work -- leaping on to a flaming table, while Travis stood on the sidelines on laughing his ass off.

As for Travis' girlfriend Taylor Swift, the superstar singer has been galivanting around the world on her "Eras" tour and has a few more shows in Singapore.

Believe it or not, Paul George turned down Nicki Minaj ... when the Queen of Rap wanted the NBA star to make a cameo in her music video!

The Los Angeles Clippers star made the surprising revelation on his "Podcast P" show this week, telling co-host Jackie Long he had the opportunity to make his cameo with the "Super Freaky Girl" rapper.

"You know what’s funny, this was maybe like a year or two ago, Nicki Minaj reached out for me to be in her music video," George said.

The 9x All-Star was unsure if he would've had the role of being Nicki's lover ... but joked his wife Daniela wasn't havin' it.

"I looked at Daniela, Daniela looked at me ... 'ay, I ain’t going to be able to do it'," PG13 said.

"I’m playing! She was excited about the opportunity too, but I declined."

George -- who married Daniela in 2022 -- says his wife would've been right there on set if it happened ... but his schedule had them both miss out.

"It was just a scheduling conflict that I couldn't [get out of]," George said.

"It would've been dope. It's Nicki Minaj, one of the biggest female artists -- not even just female, biggest artists of our lifetime!"

If PG's hoping for another shot, it doesn't sound like it's going to happen anytime soon ... Nicki's currently on her "Pink Friday 2" world tour while George, who is averaging 22 points a game, is smack in the heart of the NBA season ... with the playoffs approaching.

Had he accepted, George would've joined other NBA stars who appeared in music videos, including Michael Jordan, who was in Michael Jackson's "Jam" video, and Kobe Bryant, who made his cameo in "Bug-A-Boo" by Destiny's Child.

Charles Barkley has a pointed, somewhat violent message for any Black person backing Donald Trump simply because he got arrested ... he's gonna knock you out.

The NBA Hall of Famer issued the warning Monday night on his CNN show with Gayle King as they discussed Trump's recent remark about Black people liking him more after he was arrested in Georgia for attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.

Trump went on to brag about Black people "walking around with his mug shot" on t-shirts.

None of that sits well with Barkley, who said, "If I see a Black person walking around with Trump's mug shot, I'm [gonna] punch him in the face."

Barkley explained he feels Trump's comments are "an insult to all Black people" ... because he's comparing his arrest to the centuries of discrimination the Black community has faced.

The NBA legend is no stranger to slamming Trump ... as he's previously called out the Republican presidential candidate for using "pseudo-racist rhetoric" when discussing immigration.

Trump has been undeterred by any backlash from Barkley or any other critics, as "The Apprentice" alum remains the frontrunner for the Republican nomination -- and the Super Tuesday primaries in 15 states, and one territory, could put the race nearly out of reach for Nikki Haley.

Anthony Edwards didn't start against the Trail Blazers on Monday night because he was late for tip-off ... but he insisted after the game his tardiness had nothing to do with any sort of lengthy trip to the can.

As Minnesota was preparing to take on Portland at the Target Center ... Edwards was nowhere to be found -- forcing the T-Wolves to start Nickeil Alexander-Walker instead.

Edwards eventually made his way to the floor as action got underway -- but he had to wait at the scorer's table until he could finally check in at the 11:25 mark of the first quarter due to his pregame absence.

Many online suspected the NBA superstar had a bit of a toilet emergency -- and even the game's broadcasters hinted at it too ... saying, "Long lines at the bathroom!"

But, Edwards explained following the contest that he merely "lost track of time."

The whole snafu didn't seem to bother the 22-year-old and his teammates regardless ... Edwards ended up playing 34 total minutes, logging 13 points, four rebounds and six assists -- as the Wolves won, 119-114.

Edwards was able to have a laugh about the situation with reporters amid it all ... joking that he was trying to take teammate Naz Reid's Sixth Man of the Year honors.

Sounds like Isaiah Stewart's got a mean right hand ... at least according to Drew Eubanks, who told cops his Valentine's Day fight with the Detroit player left him with bloody gums and loose teeth.

According to a Phoenix Police Department incident report, obtained by TMZ Sports, Eubanks made the complaint roughly five hours after he and Stewart were involved in an altercation at the Footprint Center just prior to the Pistons vs. Suns Feb. 14 matchup.

Eubanks, cops wrote in the report, said Stewart confronted him while he was entering the arena due to interactions the two had previously had while playing in a game three months prior.

"He got off the bus and he started, um, just talking s***," Eubanks told cops. "He said something along the lines of, 'You wanna run it back? We're right here. We can do it right now.'"

Cops say Eubanks told them he tried to walk away from the situation, but Stewart kept advancing toward him ... until they were face-to-face inside of a tunnel in the arena.

Eubanks told cops, according to the report, Isaiah then said, "We can do this s*** right now" ... before he threw "a sucker punch."

Eubanks stated the blow landed in the center of his mouth, causing his gums to bleed. He added, the report states, "My teeth definitely are like looser and they hurt."

When pressed more about why he believed Stewart was so upset, Eubanks stated nothing out of the ordinary happened between the two in their previous matchup.

"Just basketball stuff," the Phoenix center said. "It was, you know, lowering your shoulder. Trying to hit, hit somebody for a box out. Being physical. Talking on the court. That's all it was."

At the time, Eubanks told cops he wished to prosecute ... and Stewart was issued a citation.

However, the report states that on Feb. 17 -- three days after the encounter -- Eubanks called cops and said he no longer wished to press charges.

On Feb. 19, cops say Eubanks told them "he had been thinking about the incident for a couple days and at the time, he was upset, but had time to think about it."

Stewart was still suspended by the NBA for three games. After serving the ban, he apologized to his team during a meeting with media members.

This is not the headline NBA Clippers owner Steve Ballmer envisioned when he sunk $2 billion into building a brand new state-of-the-art arena.

Cops are on the lookout for the 2 male teenagers who broke into the Intuit Dome -- which is still under construction in Inglewood, CA -- and ran around the place like they owned it ... shooting hoops, climbing on scaffolding and spraying fire extinguishers.

They pulled off the brazen caper last week, recording the whole thing ... and proudly posted it on TikTok, which is likely what will get them busted.

The video shows them climbing a construction crew's ladder at night to gain entry, and then strolling around the empty hallways and bleachers. When they found an unfinished basketball court, they decided to take a few shots.

They did all of this while showing their faces, and, as a result, Inglewood Mayor B has since identified the pair and their parents. Butts told ABC 7, "It will be very clear to these young men -- and to people who are TikTok followers -- that you have a moment of TikTok greatness followed by a little bit of misery. And so we don’t play around with these things.”

It's unclear if cops have made contact with the suspects yet, or what their punishment might be.