You Might Want to Rethink

Could LiAngelo Ball make an epic return to China?? Caron Butler thinks it would be a huge success for the ex-UCLA player ... but tells TMZ Sports the middle Ball kid's best move was to stay in school.

We broke the story ... LaVar Ball pulled Gelo from the Bruins basketball squad after growing frustrated with his son's indefinite suspension for shoplifting in China.

Butler disagrees with the move, saying academics should come first for Gelo ... but admits there's still opportunities for him to develop into a massive hit on the court.

N.Y. Giants legend Tiki Barber says Ben McAdoo sealed his fate when he benched Eli Manning ... and now tells us the team should put the 2x Super Bowl winning QB back in the starting lineup.

Barber, a 3x Pro Bowler who played from '97-'06 with the Giants, told us NYG brass totally botched the Manning benching -- inciting fans -- and that forced Giants ownership's hand.

The Giants cleaned house Monday morning ... axing the head coach and GM Jerry Reese after a 2-10 start.

Barber -- host of Tiki and Tierney on CBS Sports Radio -- says the Giants next move needs to be ... put Eli Manning back under center, now.

Matt Lauer's punching in for his new gig ... picking up kids for his elementary school carpool.

Lauer was driving his 11-year-old son, Thijs, to school Monday morning, and also scooped up one of his kid's friends too. Coming off a $25 million/year gig at NBC ... we're guessing the disgraced news anchor is immediately in the running for world's richest school bus driver.

Interestingly, Lauer is still rocking his wedding ring ... as he was last week too.

There's no way Gronk should be suspended for his controversial hit on a Bills player ... so says former Super Bowl champ Jermaine Wiggins, who thinks anyone saying otherwise is just a Patriots hater.

TMZ Sports spoke with Wiggins about the Gronk backlash after he hit Tre'Davious White during Sunday's game, and he says if the NFL wants to remain consistent -- and be fair -- with its punishment, Gronkowski shouldn't be suspended a single minute.

Wiggins does admit it was a "dirty play" and "cheap shot" ... but says "cheap shots happen in the game all the time."

The Houston Rockets 23-point thrashing of the Lakers was NOT the worst L of the night -- that dishonor went to twin bros who got obliterated in a massive nightclub brawl!

We got video of the insanity just as it started Sunday night outside Nightingale in WeHo. Unclear what sparked it, but it's crystal clear about 4 or 5 guys went off on the twins. Fists, feet ... even shoes were used as weapons -- and you clearly hear a chick yell, "I'm gonna cut yo' s**t!"

When security guards broke up one beating, another broke out just across the street. Order was eventually restored, and shortly after ... Rockets stars James Harden and Eric Gordon came strolling out of Nightingale.

We'd say they have horrible timing, but the Lakers would beg to differ.

Hank Azaria is breaking huge 'Simpsons' news -- Apu, one of the characters he voices, could be going away on the heels of a documentary accusing the hit show of racism.

We got Azaria at LAX and asked him about "The Problem with Apu." Up until now Hank hasn't reacted, but he told us he and producers are taking the criticism seriously.

If you haven't seen it, comedian Hari Kondabolu takes a hard look at Apu -- the Indian owner of the Kwik-E-Mart -- and says the character exploits stereotypes of Indian immigrants. Hank offered a heartfelt apology to anyone who's been offended.

The CEO of a company that begins with "Snap" is a wanted man by residents in a San Fernando Valley neighborhood because he's terrorizing them with his driving ... and they've wrongly targeted poor Evan Spiegel.

The owner of this Lambo is being accused of breaking just about every traffic law known to man ... from speeding to erratic lane changes. Folks in the Chatsworth area have assumed the offender is Evan, because he has the most famous company that begins with "Snap".

The Chatsworth Neighborhood Watch has been skewering Evan on Facebook, saying things like:

"That's Evan Spiegel, Snapchat CEO. The police shouldn't have a hard time finding him"

"This asshole was flying down vanowen 2 days ago."

"I don’t care who this jackass is or how much money he has... Dont drive like an ass...."

"What a jerk! Wondering if you can file an online report?"

"I’ve also seen this jerk once before! He almost hit us when we were pulling out from the shopping plaza at De Soto & Lassen. This was like a month ago but I recognize the f***er instantly!!"

Turns out Evan's getting a bad rap, because we found out the car actually belongs to Snap Liquids CEO Nathan Daneshrad ... whose company sells vape liquid flavors.

We reached out to Nathan ... he had no comment.

As for Evan ... he has an alibi, because he lives in Brentwood and no one in their right mind would hang out miles away from Miranda Kerr.

Chris Pratt is on the warpath against a dude who is posing as him to score dates.

Chris is ballistic someone is pretending to be him on Facebook, hitting on women and trying to get their phone numbers. He posted a warning, "If I find out who it is I'll have their account shut down and seriously would like to punch them right in the GD mouth," adding, "You hear that imposter!?"

He goes on to call the faux Pratt a predator, saying, "Makes me sick."

Apparently this guy is impersonating Chris a lot and has hit up a number of women.

Larry King saw some smoke he liked, decided to take a puff and it was a horrible idea ... according to the ex-cable news guru himself.

We got Larry leaving Craig's Wednesday where he was talkin' possible Matt Lauer replacements -- but quickly got sidetracked by a woman with a vape pen. She told LK it was cucumber flavored -- which was more than enough to peak Larry's interest.

Just one puff is all it took to launch him into a coughing fit. Watch what happened when she tried to talk him into puff #2.

Lil Uzi Vert just revved himself into a big legal win -- most of the charges from his dirt bike stunt were dropped, except for one ... which will cost him a lil' volunteer work.

Uzi skated on 12 of the 13 charges against him stemming from his dirt bike joyride last year -- but he did plead guilty to one of 'em ... failure to maintain his lane.

We broke the story ... Uzi was arrested last December for allegedly riding the wrong way on a street in Atlanta with a buddy of his, driving on a sidewalk and crossing 5 lanes of traffic.

He also allegedly tried ditching the bike after losing his balance and attempted to flee on foot. He got caught, though -- and faced a slew of traffic violations.

Lucky for him, the remaining charge only requires community service as punishment. Uzi's gotta do 80 hours, plus pay a $1,000 fine and court costs. Next time, don't push it to the edge.

Chanel West Coast is just too good a pal to leave her friends behind -- which is pretty much why she says she lost it on a security guard at a club this week.

We spoke to Chanel after her meltdown on a guard at Poppy in WeHo -- where she hurled harsh insults at the dude for bouncing her and her crew -- and she told us why she flipped.

She says the guy told her to ditch her posse and to bring just herself and her cutest friend -- and that was enough to set her off. The rest -- as you'll recall -- is history.

Conor McGregor knows how to make an entrance, but it's his exit that stole the show at a court appearance for a speeding violation -- by peeling out of the parking lot and relaying this message ...

"Come and get me."

The UFC superstar was ordered to appear in court on Thursday after reportedly getting busted for driving 158 km per hour (that's 98 mph) in a 100 km zone in Dublin earlier this year. He pled guilty to the offense and was handed a 400 euro fine ($475 U.S. bucks), according to local reports.

But The Notorious didn't seem fazed one bit by the violation ... speeding outta the parking lot in his BMW i8 ... which starts at $150k!!

Post Malone says LeBron James' first career ejection ain't a big deal ... matter of fact, he thinks it was a HUGE energy boost for his Cavs teammates!!

White Iverson was leaving Mastro's in Beverly Hills when we asked about LBJ's emotional blowup during Tuesday night's game against the Miami Heat -- the first of his 15-year career.

Posty says these kinda things happen in sports ... and he doesn't blame King James for getting thrown out of the game.

"F**k it, if you're passionate about it, that's cool."

We also asked Kevin Durant about his on-court rival getting ejected ... but he seemed to have a different take.

Daveigh Chase, the creepy little well girl from "The Ring," just got herself in a hole, 'cause she was busted for joyriding in a car that was reported stolen ... TMZ has learned.

Chase was a passenger in a BMW cops pulled over Tuesday around 10 AM in Hollywood. After they quickly ran the plates, the whip popped up as stolen.

Law enforcement sources tell us even though Daveigh wasn't driving she was booked for driving in a car without owner's consent ... which is a felony. The driver was booked for the same thing. We're told it's unclear who stole the car, but cops are investigating.

Daveigh -- who's also the voice of Disney's Lilo from "Lilo & Stitch" -- is currently in jail on $25,000 bail. We've reached out to her reps ... so far no word back.

Chanel West Coast had an incredible meltdown on the security guard who bounced her and her crew from a club, and it's all on camera ... and absolutely EPIC.

We got Chanel and either 6, 7 or 8 of her "f****** hot girls" -- plus apl.de.ap from Black Eyed Peas -- trying to get into WeHo hot spot Poppy Monday night, but the door guy wasn't having it.

CWC didn't take kindly to the diss. She started cussing out the guy to his face, then marched into the streets to really make a scene ... while spewing stuff like, "You wish you could be a little white girl rapping, b***h!" You gotta see it, 'cause her string of insults was tremendous.

Kendra Wilkinson ain't just deep in the heart of Texas, she's knee-deep in controversy after reveling in the joy -- as she sees it -- of picking cotton.

Kendra knocked off an odd bucket list item Wednesday when she pulled over -- mid-road trip with her husband, Hank Baskett -- to wander into a random field and pick a cotton bulb clean.

Kendra joked she might get shot for trespassing -- a legit concern, to be honest -- but the tone deaf move came when she loudly celebrated, and posted it on social media. Perhaps a little too giddy for something so connected to slavery?

Kendra's rep tells TMZ she didn't intend to offend, and she's sorry if anyone took it the wrong way. As for anyone claiming she's racist -- the rep pointed out Hank is black.