Washington Wizards

Dwight Howard was the one player Washington had to have in order to make a serious run in the East ... so says Wizards forward Otto Porter, who tells TMZ Sports, "He's definitely a piece that we need."

We got Otto at Reagan National Airport when he explained to us why D12 is going to help him, John Wall and the rest of the Wizards finally make a deep postseason push this year.

"We need a big, especially the type of style that we play," Porter says. "Going up and down, playing inside out. I think he's going to be definitely key for our success this year."

Otto also tells us LeBron heading to the Lakers won't hurt Washington's odds ... and, in fact, he sounded downright confident about them now that LBJ's in L.A.

Is Dwight Howard a Hall of Famer?

It's the question experts and fans have been asking for years -- so, we took it to the man himself.

Look, Dwight's numbers over the course of his 14-year career are pretty insane ...

8-time NBA All-Star, 5-time NBA 1st Team, 3-time Defensive Player of the Year and he's averaged a double-double (17 pts, 13 rebounds) over the course of his career.

But, the knock on Dwight is that he's become a journeyman who's jumped to 6 different teams -- and has a reputation for not exactly being the most beloved guy in the league.

One guy who DOES love Dwight is Lou Williams -- who invited D12 to his basketball camp in Atlanta this week and Howard accepted. He spent a bunch of time playing with the kids.

So, we asked Dwight for his take -- and he didn't mince words ... "I think my resume speaks for itself."

NBA star John Wall is one of the most incredible, talented athletes on planet Earth -- but, when it comes to baseball, he stinks.

Remember ... the Washington Wizards star threw arguably the worst first pitch in MLB history about seven years ago ... and, unfortunately, he's not much better with a bat in his hands.

Wall was at Nationals Park warming up for the MLB celebrity softball game Sunday night ... when he took some BP.

If you're counting at home ... that was three fouls, a complete whiff, and maybe a base hit -- all from a dude throwing lobs from about eight feet away!!

Wall's confidence wasn't shaken ... he was somehow able to hit a single and score a run when the bright lights actually came on -- but, still.

Doc Rivers tells TMZ Sports ... trading his son, Austin Rivers, from the Clippers to the Washington Wizards was "the right thing for all of us."

Austin played for his dad on the Clippers from 2014 to 2018. But, last week, the Clippers shipped the 25-year-old to the Wizards in exchange for Marcin Gortat.

"He'll be well," Doc says of his son ... "He'll be good there."

As for Austin, he says the move will be a "great opportunity."

Here's Justin Timberlake reminding us of his superior genes, yet again -- poppin' by an NBA court and swishin' deep balls without breaking a sweat.

This time, JT hit up the hardwood where the Washington Wizards practice in D.C. ... and proceeded to sink 3 straight bombs -- two from the beyond the arc, and one from HALF-COURT.

If this seems familiar, it's probably 'cause we spotted Justin at Staples Center about a year ago -- getting wet like Kobe in his prime.

Kevin Love's getting mad love from one of his teammates for talking openly about a panic attack he experienced earlier this season ... and spreading a positive message about mental health awareness.

"A lot of times people don’t look at us as humans, and we go through stuff all the time as well," Cavs SG Rodney Hood told TMZ Sports outside Craig's in L.A.

Love, DeMar DeRozan and Wizards SF Kelly Oubre have all opened up about their personal issues in recent weeks -- and Hood says it's huge not only for the NBA brotherhood, but the millions of fans they're reaching.

Rodney told us he expects a lot more players to join the conversation ... and K-Love deserves a ton of credit for helping to start the trend.

Congresswomen Nancy Pelosi and Barbara Lee crashed the Warriors vs. Wizards game Wednesday in D.C. -- and if ya couldn't tell, they LOVE their hometown Dubs ... unlike Donald Trump.

Pelosi and Lee hit up Steph Curry and the gang outside the Warriors' locker room after they got the W ... thanking the NBA champs for their trip to the nation's capitol, where they snubbed Trump in favor of hangin' with local youth.

But before the meet-and-greet, the SF and Oakland democratic reps got their fangirl on in the stands!! (Dope scarf, Nancy ... but Barb wins with her custom "The Town" jersey.)

“They make us proud ... they are civic leaders. We are huge fans,” Lee told the Washington Post.

FYI, Pelosi invited the Dubs to hang with her in D.C. after POTUS pulled their White House invite ... but the fact that she sought THEM out says a lot.

Guessing they'll hook her up with better seats at Oracle ...

John Wall wasn't too bummed out after losing his "No Mercy" game against Lonzo Ball's Lakers -- hitting up Warwick nightclub ... and telling TMZ Sports there's no bad blood.

The Washington Wizards star vowed to punish the rookie for all the trash talk his dad, LaVar Ball, had been spouting off leading up to Wednesday's matchup at Staples Center.

But Wall and the Wizards came up short -- losing to the Lakers in overtime -- and after the game, he took out his frustrations at the club!

Wall says he's not holding a grudge with the Balls -- or anyone for that matter -- and focused his energy on having a good time.

As for LaVar ... he celebrated the victory by taking a bow to the crowd. He's loving this.

NBA players Marcus and Markieff Morris have just been found not guilty of beating a man to a bloody pulp after a 2015 youth basketball game.

Both Marcus (who plays for the Boston Celtics) and Markieff (who plays for the Washington Wizards) appeared in an Arizona courtroom on Tuesday where they were acquitted on aggravated assault charges.

As we previously reported, the brothers were accused of joining 3 others guys in a brutal beatdown of Erik Hood, a former acquaintance ... after Hood allegedly sent inappropriate texts to the mother of the twins.

Washington Wizards baller Kelly Oubre is setting the record straight -- saying he's "NOT a lesbian" ... despite what some fans say.

The 21-year-old rising star was talking to CSN Mid Atlantic about some of the crap he gets from opposing fans ... and dropped this shocker.

"People call me a lesbian a lot. They think I look like a female girl or a teenage girl or something."

So, why the lesbian jabs? Oubre says he thinks he knows why ...

"I understand I'm a pretty dude. They might be mad that their wife likes me or something."

But to be clear -- "I'm not a lesbian. I'm a grown man."

"I've heard that multiple times. I guess it's something to try to get under my skin, but at the end of the day I know who I am."

And now you know.

Nick Young says he taught JaVale McGee everything he knows about the card game Bourre ... which might be a problem since it was THAT game that ignited the biggest gun standoff in NBA history.

Here's the deal ... Kevin Durant recently praised JaVale's Bourre card game skills during an interview with Bill Simmons.

So, when we saw Swaggy P -- one of JaVale's old Washington Wizards teammates -- we asked for his take.

That's when Young bragged that he taught JaVale the game back when J.M. was a rookie -- and intentionally taught him the WRONG way to play so he'd lose. Funny.

The only problem is that it was an infamous game of Bourre on a Wizards team jet back in 2009 between JaVale, Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton that led to the gun showdown.

As Gilbert has previously explained, JaVale won a particularly contested hand -- a hand Javaris was pissed about because he thought it was a misdeal. He blamed Gilbert and things escalated from there.

Young jokes that when it comes to card games, JaVale just has that "Shaqtin' a Fool" karma.

A Washington Wizards fan socked a Boston Celtics fan in the face at the TD Garden during Game 7 -- dropping the dude into the seats ... while nearby fans cheered them on.

Unclear what started the fight, but the man in the John Wall jersey reached back and clocked the dude -- while the victim was still clutching his cell phone.

Another Celtics fan tried to jump in and help out his fallen comrade ... but the damage was already done.

We spoke with cops who say no one was arrested at TD Garden on Monday.

Meantime, we got a photo of the aftermath ... it was bloody.

Swaggy P got the stripper treatment during his rookie hazing back in 2007 ... and Gilbert Arenas just provided the photo proof.

Nick Young was a 1st round pick of the Washington Wizards -- where Arenas was a superstar at the time.

One of the hazing rituals Young had to endure ... he was hog-tied in his hotel room surrounded by cash.

Arenas called it "50 Shades of Nick" and added, "Welcome to stripping game playa."

Here's Washington Wizards center Marcin Gortat taking 3 chicks home from Nightingale Plaza nightclub in L.A.

There's no inner war between Washington Wizards teammates Bradley Beal and John Wall -- so says NBA superstar Paul Pierce, who says reports of a feud between the two are straight-up wrong.

Wall has said in the past that "we have a tendency to dislike each other on the court" -- but said their issues are resolvable as long as they come together and talk things out.

But Pierce -- who played for the Wizards during the '14/'15 season -- says straight-up, "They definitely get along. I was there."

Anything to the contrary, according to Pierce -- "False reports."

By the way, Pierce was leaving new L.A. hot spot, Catch -- and it's clear he's a V.I.P. because during the clip, the owner, Mark Birnbaum, promised to put his picture on the wall in the restaurant.

NBA player DeJuan Blair will NOT be charged with battery for allegedly roughing up a woman outside of a Vegas nightclub ... and TMZ Sports has learned the accuser ain't happy about it.

We broke the story ... the former Washington Wizards player was booted out of Drai's nightclub after he allegedly picked up and tossed a woman out of the entry line.

Blair was adamant he did nothing wrong -- and simply moved her out of the way when he was trying to get by.

Security didn't buy it and kicked him off the property -- and cops issued him a misdemeanor battery citation.

But according to Clark County court records, prosecutors decided not to move forward with criminal charges -- and dropped the case against the 27-year-old.

We spoke to the alleged victim who tells us she was unaware the case was dropped -- and has been exploring her legal options, including a civil suit.

Blair was banned from the property on the night of the alleged incident -- no word if he'll now be allowed back.