San Antonio Spurs

Tim Duncan made it official ... he's retiring from the NBA after 19 seasons, all with the San Antonio Spurs.

40-year-old Duncan's leaving the game with a ton of hardware -- 5 NBA rings, a Rookie of the Year award and 2 MVP trophies.

The surefire future Hall of Famer will be replaced by Pau Gasol, who the Spurs signed last week.

Duncan was never the most thrilling player, but he consistently dominated enough to become the 14th highest scorer in NBA history.

One of the greatest moves of his career happened in defeat -- dragging his wasted teammate Aron Baynes out of a Hollywood nightclub. Solid effort, TD!

Nia Long might NEVER want the San Antonio Spurs to win another ring ... telling TMZ Sports she sometimes roots for her fiance's team to lose in the postseason ... so he can come home.

Nia's fiance' is former Spurs stud -- and current assistant coach -- Ime Udoka and when we got the two out on date night earlier this week we had to ask if she was secretly excited when the Spurs got knocked out of the NBA playoffs.

Check out the clip -- Nia keeps it all the way real -- maybe too real for Spurs fans -- before dialing it back a little so she's actually allowed back in south Texas.

The guy who organized the San Antonio Spurs post-Game 7 mega-bash was their very own coach -- who paid for a fancy steak dinner, drinks and a party bus to thank his players ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Our Spurs sources tell us ...Coach Gregg Popovich wanted to show his appreciation to his players after they were eliminated from the playoffs Saturday night ... so he organized a night out in Hollywood.

We're told he set up a post-game steak dinner at Mastros in Beverly Hills ... and paid for EVERYTHING (and this place sure as hell ain't cheap).

Afterward, Pop hired a party bus to chauffeur the guys to Project Club L.A. -- and encouraged the team to "take their minds off the game and let loose" ... not wallow in their sorrows.

The guys did just that ... some harder than others ... and as we previously reported, Tim Duncan had to carry at least ONE of his over-intoxicated teammates back to the bus.

Pretty cool boss.

** WARNING -- VIDEO CONTAINS TIM DUNCAN SAYING A CUSS WORD**

The San Antonio Spurs PARTIED LIKE CHAMPS hours after they were eliminated ... with Tim Duncan dragging one of his hammered teammates out of a nightclub ... and TMZ Sports has the footage.

Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Boris Diaw and the rest of the squad hit up Project Club L.A. in Hollywood on Saturday right after losing a Game 7 thriller to the Clippers.

You gotta check out the clip -- Aron Baynes was in especially rare form ... with Tim Duncan telling him to "Shut the f**k up" as he dragged the seemingly HAMMERED 28-year-old down the street.

How does it feel to have the President of the United States pick YOU over Chris Paul in a "Who's The Better Player" debate??

Exactly how you think it feels.

At least that was the take away when we asked that very question to Tony Parker last night -- since it was revealed that Barack Obama had his back in a friendly dispute on the issue with his former personal aide Reggie Love.

In fact, Love wrote about the dispute in his new book -- saying he and Obama went back and forth for years -- with POTUS eventually dropping the "RINGS" argument ... since Parker has 4 and Paul has 0.

San Antonio Spurs star Danny Green has been given the green light to rock a special pair of sneakers dedicated to Stuart Scott for TONIGHT'S GAME ... the NBA tells TMZ Sports.

Green had approached custom shoe designer Jake Danklefs and ordered up a special pair to pay tribute to his fellow North Carolina Tar Heel ... and was only waiting tor permission from the league.

Well, we spoke with Tim Frank -- Senior V.P. of Communications for the NBA -- and asked if everything was a go for tonight and here's what Tim said:

"He is ... Danny was asked and given permission to wear them for one game. Unlike some reports you might have read, he was never told 'no.'"

It's a great night for Green -- since the Spurs vs. Bulls game will be nationally broadcast on TNT.

#Booyah

The Barack Obama comedy tour continued at the White House Monday ... when for the second time in a year, he roasted a pro sports team to their faces. This time, the NBA champions the San Antonio Spurs were in the crosshairs.

Among the targets ... THE ENTIRE TEAM ... with Obama explaining why it's hard to hate a team full of senior citizens.

He also took as few shots at Coach Gregg Popovich and joked about Matt Bonner's aspiring career as a food blogger named "The Red Mamba."

The Comedian-In-Chief did the same schtick last year when the Seattle Seahawks came to visit .

Remember, tip your waitress.

Tracy McGrady has a snowball's chance in hell when it comes to making an MLB roster ... so says Superman himself, Dean Cain.

The former "Lois & Clark" star -- who played a little pro football back in the '80s -- was brutally honest about the NBA star's future the other day ... telling us the odds of McGrady getting a pro pitching gig are "very, very slim."

As we previously reported, McGrady is gunning for a spot on an independent pro team in TX ... and says he's been working out every day with a pitching coach to make his baseball dream come true.

Former NBA superstar Tracy McGrady tells TMZ Sports ... he's 100% serious about pursuing a career in baseball as a pitcher -- saying, "My pitching coach told me I have a little Bob Gibson in me."

McGrady -- a 7-time NBA All-Star and 2-time NBA scoring champ -- is currently battling for a roster spot on the Sugar Land Skeeters ... an independent pro team in Texas.

Tracy says he's been playing baseball for most of his life and LOVES the sport more than basketball. In fact, he says if given the chance, "I absolutely would've played baseball over the NBA."

The 34-year-old tells us he's been working with a pitching coach everyday for months -- "I'm taking this serious. I've been out there in 30 degree weather practicing. I love baseball. I'm going out to play."

There have been reports that McGrady has fired the ball up to 91mph -- but when we spoke to Tracy, he was more focused on his slider.

"I have a nice slider. I picked it up in 10 minutes. I also have a good splitter ... and my command is pretty good."

As for a baseball nickname, T-Mac says it's a work in progress, because his last hardball moniker is a little outdated -- "My number in Little League was '00,' they called me 'Buckshot.' But I'm gonna need a better nickname than that."

Miami Heat parties are so ballin'... even their most hated enemies will bow down for a chance to hang with the champs -- just ask #1 Knicks fan Spike Lee!

LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh hosted a sick bash at Club Bamboo on South Beach Friday night -- with a ton of celeb guests.

Drake and Timbaland were there -- as well as actual Heat fan Flo Rida.

Spike famously sits courtside, covered in team gear, for almost every NY Knicks home game at Madison Square Garden -- especially when they're playing rivals like the Heat.

But we think Spike deserves a pass on this one though. His precious Knicks haven't won the title since Spike was 16 (in '73).

This is definitely the latter -- Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and the rest of their San Antonio Spurs teammates making the long, slow, painful walk out of their Miami hotel today.

We got pics of the whole squad looking pretty dejected -- Tony looks like a kid who lost his dog.

Understandable since the Spurs were 30 seconds away from winning the NBA Finals in Game 6 -- but ended up losing to the Heat in OT ... and then also in Game 7.

If you can't find a good bottle of champagne in Miami today ... it's because the Heat drank them all.

In the mayhem following last night's NBA Championship-clinching win, TMZ has learned LeBron James and company guzzled more than 200 bottles of bubbly in celebration.

We're told the team emptied 100 rare magnum bottles of Moët Ice Impérial champagne during the locker room celebration ... and then another 100 bottles of Dom Pérignon at STORY nightclub.

As for the food .... we're told Prime 112 (one of the best restaurants in Miami) sent over a ton of free eats -- Kobe sliders (oh, the irony), chicken and waffles, shrimp cocktails, and fried shrimp.

It's good to be the champs.

The Miami Heat finished off the San Antonio Spurs and then proceeded to finish off a few bottles of champagne ... celebrating their NBA title last night in grand fashion.

LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and company hit up Story nightclub in Miami where we're told they partied until 5:30 AM. Drake (right) and D-Wade's GF Gabrielle Union (below, bottom left) were among the celebs who helped the Heat celebrate their second NBA title in a row.

You gotta see the video ... especially when 68-year-old NBA legend (and Heat Prez) Pat Riley joins the crew.

Had the Spurs won it all, you have to wonder ... would 37-year-old Tim Duncan, 35-year-old Manu Ginobili, and 31-year-old Tony Parker have even hit the clubs at all?

Drake may be tight with LeBron James, but it wasn't enough to get him into the Miami Heat locker room last night.

Arena security totally denied Drake access to party with the Heat after they defeated the San Antonio Spurs, and unfortunately for Drake ... a WPTV camera guy saw it all go down.

The best part is when security tells the rapper, "This is media, pure media" -- and Drake replies, "I am media."

By the way, didn't matter ... Drake partied later that night with LBJ and Dwyane Wade.

Tony Parker and his fellow San Antonio Spurs are poised to snatch the NBA championship title from the Miami Heat ... but a victory could cost Tony a fortune.

As you know ... the Spurs are up 1-zip in the finals, and the odds are they could win the whole shebang, because let's face it ... the Heat players are a little haggard.

Tony is in the middle of a $20 million lawsuit over the blowout fight between Drake and Chris Brown at W.i.P. Nightclub in NYC. Parker says he suffered lacerations to his cornea when a glass shard from a bottle struck him in the eye.

When Parker filed the suit, he was halfway through a $50 million contract with the Spurs ... and his future seemed uncertain given the eye injury.

Parker is suing the club, claiming it was negligent in not preventing the brewing brawl.

Now here's the problem ... Tony played a fantastic season this year. He could have won MVP if he hadn't sprained his ankle ... and if LeBron James had suddenly retired.

So the $20 million damage claim kind of goes out the window, especially if Tony gets a ring.

Here's the good news -- In a year, he'll sign a new deal, and $20 mil may look like chump change.

They're only up 1-0, but Michael Rapaport tells TMZ ... San Antonio Spurs fans can break out the brooms, 'cause they're going to SWEEP the Miami Heat in the NBA finals.