Basketball

Kentucky's Rhyne Howard went no. 1 overall in the 2022 WNBA Draft ... and after she was selected, she paid tribute to the late Terrence Clarke -- who she calls her "little brother."

The shooting guard walked the New York stage Monday night wearing a white pantsuit set with sparkles ... but what stood out most was her honorary pin for Clarke, a former Wildcats guard who died almost a year ago.

"That was like my little brother," Howard said about her tribute.

Clarke and Howard met on campus in 2020 ... when TC was a freshman and Howard was in her 2nd year. They both played for the Wildcats hoops teams.

"As soon as he stepped on campus, we instantly clicked and ever since then, we were inseparable."

"Just us coming in and me being able to help him and just get him through his college years."

Sadly, Clarke was tragically killed in a Los Angeles car crash on April 22, 2021 -- a few months before he was set to be drafted by an NBA team.

Rhyne is definitely making TC proud ... she averaged 20.1 points and 6.9 rebounds per game during her four seasons in Lexington, and became the highest player drafted in Kentucky women's basketball history.

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said Monday she and the league are still fighting like hell to bring Brittney Griner back from Russia ... telling reporters the situation is "unimaginable."

Engelbert wasted no time addressing Griner's Russian detainment in her opening remarks prior to the WNBA Draft -- but said little has changed with the basketball superstar's status.

The 31-year-old remains in custody ... and Engelbert said she knows the hooper is still safe.

She added that she and players across the league are still following officials' advice to stay relatively mum on the topic.

"I know we're all frustrated, but we do need to be patient," Engelbert said. "The players have been amazing at following the advice they're getting and we're getting in order not to jeopardize her safety in any way."

Griner has been detained in Russia since February ... after she was accused of having hash oil in her luggage while going through airport security.

Griner's detainment was extended until at least mid-May at a court hearing last month.

"This is an unimaginable situation for BG to be in," Engelbert said. "She continues to have our full support. Certainly, we're trying everything we can, every angle, working with her legal representation, her agent, elected leaders, the administration. Just everybody in our ecosystem to try and find ways to get her home safely and as quickly as we can."

Frank Vogel is out of a job ... the Los Angeles Lakers have fired the longtime NBA head coach after a terrible 2022 season -- just two years after he led his squad to an NBA title.

Vogel, who coached the Lakers to a championship in 2020 -- his first season with the team -- was relieved of his coaching duties following a disappointing season this year.

The Lakers finished with a 33-49 record -- 8th worst in the NBA -- and Vogel received his fair share of criticism and blame for the Lakers' struggles.

Vogel wraps up his tenure in L.A. with a 127-98 record in the regular season ... and a postseason record of 18-9.

Lakers VP Rob Pelinka released a statement announcing the firing.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Frank both on and off the court. Frank is a great coach and a good man. We will forever be grateful to him for his work in guiding us to the 2019-20 NBA championship. This is an incredibly difficult decision to make, but one we feel is necessary at this point. All of us here wish Frank and his wonderful family all the best for the future.”

Things weren't always bad for Vogel  ... during the 2020 season, the Lakers posted a 52-19 record -- the best record in the Western conference -- and third best in the league.

Vogel's been an NBA coach since 2001 -- getting his start as an assistant with the Boston Celtics, before serving as the head coach for the Indiana Pacers for 10 seasons.

The departure of Vogel leaves the Lakers, who missed the play-in tournament this season, with a void to fill at head coach.

Magic Johnson ain't watching HBO's hit series about his time with the Showtime Lakers ... but the actor who plays him is defending the show -- telling TMZ Sports everyone on the project means absolutely no disrespect to the Hall of Famer.

Icons like Magic and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have recently spoken out against "Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty" ... with Johnson telling us earlier this year he wouldn't be watching, and the latter saying the show is a waste of time to any REAL Laker fan.

We spoke with Quincy Isaiah -- star of "Winning Time: Rise of the Lakers Dynasty" -- out at LAX this week ... and he wants Magic to know that he meant no harm with how he portrays his character in the doc.

"I mean, I understand where they coming from because it's a story about their life," Isaiah said. "So, it's tough. But I really feel like we did a really good job of showing humans and showing a full version of who we at least perceive them to be."

"There's no malice behind it."

FYI, 'Winning Time' chronicles the professional and personal lives of the Lakers in the 1980s -- a dynasty that won 5 championships and went to 9 NBA Finals.

Quincy -- who plays Magic in the series -- says despite some of the pushback he's received from the real Lakers, the purpose of the doc is to take real-life events and turn them into entertaining content.

"At the beginning and end of every episode it says 'this is a dramatization,'" Isaiah said. "We take real facts that happen, and we make it good for TV."

Q tells us he's thankful for the persona Magic created for himself as a star athlete ... 'cause it's opened doors for him in his acting career.

"Magic, man, I love you dude," Isaiah said. "You literally lived an incredible life so that I could ... I'm getting into an Escalade because he lived an incredible life. I have nothing but love and respect for that man," Isaiah said.

Isaiah believes if he ran into Johnson one day, there would be no bad blood because Magic understands he's just acting, and there's no ill-will.

Although Johnson's not watching Quincy, Isaiah says he's looking forward to the Laker legend releasing his doc "They Call Me Magic," which premieres on April 22 ... and he encourages everybody to watch both.

Finally, we asked Q about this year's disappointing Lakers team, and he said what NBA fans had known all season.

HBO's "Winning Time" hit the nail on the head (literally) when addressing Spencer Haywood's infamous self-circumcision ... 'cause the Hall of Famer tells TMZ Sports everything is 100% true!!

In case you haven't tuned in to last week's episode of the hit series about the Showtime Lakers, Haywood's teammates gossip about how he was known for, uh, taking matters into his own hands and putting a razor to his junk when he was a kid.

While some folks featured have criticized the validity of events on the show, we spoke with Haywood about Wood Harris' portrayal of his character ... and he says straight-up -- "It's the truth."

The 4-time All-Star says he has no issue with the show doing a deep dive into his life ... saying, "I'm fine with it because I'm fine with Wood Harris playing me in this role and he's a good person and a great actor."

"I'm okay with it and I did some bad s***."

Haywood -- who famously fought to allow players to jump straight to the NBA -- says he's come to terms with all he's done in the past ... he's 34 years sober and has a loving family and a podcast (rightfully titled The Spencer Haywood Rule).

The ex-hooper says he knows his life adventures make for great TV ... including the circumcision.

"Yeah, but let me explain it to you," Haywood says. "In this small town in Silver City in Mississippi, it ain't no silver and it ain't no city. It's population of like 370 people and you had no doctors, you had no anything, so my mother was doing it in a biblical standpoint that you gotta be circumcised."

Haywood says he had help from his brothers during the procedure ... and has a perfectly logical explanation for taking care of business himself.

"We did it to the hogs so why not do it to the humans? It's country!! It's country-folk!!"

While Haywood prides himself in the job he did, he admits he later went to a doctor to get it "cleaned up."

Tom Segura is opening up on the awful injury he suffered while playing basketball in 2020 ... saying the damage was so bad, he couldn't even wipe his own ass.

The 42-year-old comedian ruined his arm and leg while attempting a dunk during a hoops sesh with fellow funny guy Bert Kreischer ... and if you haven't seen the video yet -- it's worse than you could ever imagine.

But, if you REALLY wanna check it out, click here -- but you've been warned. IT. IS. BAD!!!

In fact, Segura even needed a nerve transfer to help fix his arm ... after he already had pins and screws put in.

Segura joined Big Cat and PFT Commenter on Barstool Sports' "Pardon My Take" to break down the days following the incident ... saying he couldn't even feel his leg injury because his brain was focused on his arm.

"I was just like, 'Oh my God, my arm is so f***ed,'" Segura said. "And it was shattered. So I was just like, 'Goddammit.' And they were just giving me f***ing Dilaudid into my neck. I was like, 'Give me more!!'"

But, the severe pain medication -- along with a nerve blocker in his leg -- came with some crappy consequences ... and Segura gave every detail about the "assistance" he needed from nurses in order to go #2 at the hospital.

Yeah ... we're not going to put it into writing, but you can use your imagination or check out the clip.

However, Segura said he couldn't even wipe his tush on his own when he WAS able to take care of business ... and shared the hilarious reaction one nurse had when he found out what he was going to have to do to help out.

Jamal Crawford missed some key shots over his amazing NBA career -- but none was more expensive than the one he bricked on the set of "Inside the NBA" on Thursday night ...

While shooting around on the show with Hall of Famers Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade ... the three-time Sixth Man of the Year accidentally broke a camera when his ball ricocheted off the rim and crashed into a pricey piece of equipment.

In video from the broadcast, you can see Crawford's ball hit the camera's lens head-on -- causing the glass to shatter everywhere.

D-Wade couldn't believe what he saw at the time of the accident ... and Shaq immediately pointed toward Crawford to tell on who was responsible for the damage.

Wade, though, joked Shaq shouldn't have done that -- yelling, "Snitches get stitches!"

Things got testy between Kyrie Irving and a fan at MSG last night ... the Nets star was heading to the locker room during halftime when he stopped to confront a man (he thought was) heckling him.

The exchange went down as the Nets were coming off the floor, trailing the Knicks 67-50 at the half. Irving stopped and doubled back to get in the face of a fan he thought was trolling him.

In the short clip, you can see Irving tap the guy on his shoulder and exchange words with him ... before heading to the locker room with the rest of his teammates.

It's unclear what Irving said to the fan, who seemed visibly shocked Irving was there/touching him. Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed and the interaction didn't get any more serious.

After the game, Kyrie spoke to reporters and apologized to the fan for making contact with him ... and letting his emotions get the best of him.

"East coast basketball at its finest," Irving said. "People just yelling random s*** from the crowd. They wanted a reaction, they got one."

"I think I tapped the wrong person, so I apologize to the random guy that I tapped. He looked at me with a big surprise on his face. Somebody said something. I was just fed up with our performance."

Of course, this isn't the first time Irving got into with a fan. Earlier this year, Irving was fined $25,000 by the NBA for using the word "motherf***er" while responding to a fan giving him a hard time.

The NBA also hit Irving's teammate, Kevin Durant, for $25K after he told a fan, "you gotta shut the f*** up and sit down" during a game against the Dallas Mavericks.

Mike Krzyzewski is riding off into the sunset for real -- the Duke legend is shutting down any speculation he might return for one more season ... saying he's "done with coaching."

The Blue Devils' head coach of 42 years confirmed he is, in fact, retiring for good in an interview with ESPN U on Tuesday ... just one day after his former player, Jay Williams, stated he could see Coach K return in 2023 after key assistant Nolan Smith left for Louisville.

When Coach K was asked if he was going to "pull a Tom Brady" and come back ... he says it ain't happening, but went on to say he's flattered by the comparison to the 7-time Super Bowl champ.

"Wow, to even be put in the same room, maybe, that Brady would be in is an honor, but he still has talent that can be used at a really high level," Krzyzewski said.

"I'm done with the coaching part of it, but wow."

Coach K continued ... "I've been so lucky to be in [coaching] for 47 years -- almost five decades of coaching at either West Point or Duke, and then 11 years with U.S. How lucky can you be?? To be in that arena with two of the best institutions in the world and then to represent your country in the global arena its been an unbelievable honor."

Drake might be the most successful music act on the planet, but the dude can't buy a bucket against NBA star Kyle Lowry ... 'cause the Heat guard says he whopped his ass in one-on-one!!

Remember, the 2019 world champ accepted Drizzy's challenge to face off against each other in Miami back in January ... with footage showing the "Way 2 Sexy" rapper bricking a 3-pointer.

Lowry revealed more details about the pickup game in an interview with Complex this week ... saying the 6 God simply can't hang with his skills.

"Yeah, I beat his ass," Lowry said. "Yeah, no chance. Drake, don’t try me again, boy."

Lowry says Drake begs him to play ones every time they're in the same city ... despite the same outcome every time.

"As a competitor, you got to appreciate it," he added. "But yeah, he don’t want that smoke."

Lowry admits he thinks Drizzy has been working hard on his game ... and applauds his dedication to the craft.

"He’s gotten better, though. He's gotten better, man. I think he's working on his jump shot a lot, working on his handle a lot. I think really from the time I’ve first seen him to the time now, he’s gotten a lot better."

Magic Johnson is doing his best to douse any potential flames between LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ... telling TMZ Sports there's no real beef between the two NBA legends.

We spoke with Magic out in NYC Tuesday night ... and the Lakers great reassured us there's no need to sit down for mediation with LBJ and KAJ -- 'cause he trusts they'll hash it out.

"I think they'll work out," Johnson said. "They'll work out. It's not that big of a deal. They'll work it out."

Kareem recently criticized James for engaging in actions "beneath him" -- most notably when LBJ imitated Sam Cassell's infamous "big balls" dance earlier in the season -- saying that type of behavior was "embarrassing" for the 4x champion.

Abdul-Jabbar also took issue with James' reluctance to promote the COVID-19 vaccine. Although LeBron was vaccinated, he clearly wasn't comfortable pushing the vax on people.

In fact, LBJ used a popular Spider-Man meme that compared COVID and the flu.

"Help me out folks," James captioned the post.

It hasn't been all negative from Kareem. Cap has publicly praised James for his philanthropic efforts ... saying he "admires the things he's done," and that he has "deep admiration and respect" for the Lakers star.

KAJ has since apologized to LeBron, saying, "It wasn't my intention to criticize LeBron in any way. He has done so much for the Black community as well as for the game of basketball."

"We may not always agree, but I want to wholeheartedly apologize to LeBron and make it clear to him that I have tremendous respect for him. And if he can accept that, I'll be very happy."

Magic didn't say whether he spoke with James or Kareem, but sounds confident their relationship hasn't been fractured as a result of Kareem's remarks.

Hubert Davis is getting Kenny Smith's stamp of approval after his first year at North Carolina -- the former Tar Heels star tells TMZ Sports he's "super proud" of his team's new coach.

Davis and the 8-seed Tar Heels were 20 minutes away from cutting down the nets at the national championship game on Monday ... but the Kansas Jayhawks were able to come back from down 16 to win it all.

While the loss was crushing for UNC fans, pretty much nobody predicted the Heels would make it all the way to the title game ... and The Jet says he's thrilled with Roy Williams' replacement's success.

"I think from start to finish, his team improved the most in college basketball," the TNT analyst said on Tuesday. "Without question. Not even close. I don't think that any of us could have predicted that they'd be in the Final Four in his first year in the final game in the national championship."

"We're super proud of Hubert. I'm proud to be a Tar Heel today."

The referee who was kicked and punched in the face repeatedly following a Georgia youth basketball game needed 30 stitches to stop the bleeding ... a tournament official tells TMZ Sports.

But, Kenneth Tarver -- the founder of KB Sports who helped put on the youth tourney in Lithonia over the weekend -- says, somehow, the guy is doing better now.

The terrifying incident was all captured on video on Sunday at the Love Of The Game event at the Stronghold Christian Church -- when several young players and other bystanders appeared to beat the hell out of a ref after a game had concluded.

Tarver tells us the game actually featured teams full of eighth graders ... but, he said he has no idea what caused the postgame scuffle.

Tarver said he has spoken to the referee since the incident -- and while he needed to be stitched up after the attack, Tarver said he's going to make a full recovery.

Tarver added that he's banned the team involved in the scuffle going forward ... and he vowed to beef up security at future events as well.

"I'm gonna make it safer for the officials," Tarver tells us.

Don't say goodbye to your coach just yet, Duke fans -- former Blue Devils legend Jay Williams says there's a real possibility Mike Krzyzewski could return to Durham next season ... after one of his top assistants left the program this week.

Williams started the speculation on ESPN Radio's "Keyshawn, JWill, & Max" ... after news came out that assistant/former player Nolan Smith was going to become associate head coach at Louisville under Kenny Payne.

Williams started by saying how happy he was to see Smith get the opportunity at Louisville ... but brought his attention back to Duke and the massive hole that needs to be filled from a recruiting standpoint.

"And it leads me to think, which I’ve been thinking a lot about since I heard this news (Monday), does Coach K come back for another season?" Williams asked. One more final season?"

Of course, the North Carolina Tar Heels defeated Duke, 81-77, on Saturday ... in what was billed as Coach K's final game of his coaching career.

Williams believes Coach K might reconsider handing the keys over to Jon Scheyer now that Smith is gone ... and explains his theory.

"Here’s why I give it a legit chance," Williams said. "If you’re Nolan Smith, and you have a great relationship with all these players, you’re in the (same) conference. You’re at Louisville."

"You’re picking up the phone and [recruiting players from Duke]. It weakens the hold of Duke. If you’re Coach K, how do you strengthen that hold? -- You’re coming back."

The NBA analyst stated that he wasn't speaking on information he heard or knew -- instead, he was speculating on what Coach K MIGHT do.

Several youth basketball players beat the hell out of a referee following a game in Georgia over the weekend -- and the violent punching and kicking was all captured on video.

The alarming scene went down Sunday at Stronghold Christian Church in Lithonia, GA ... when, following a contest on the floor, multiple players from one of the teams went after one of the game's refs.

You can see in video from the scene -- a couple of young men chased after the guy in the striped shirt, who for a few seconds, appeared to be defending himself well.

But, eventually, there became too many people involved in the attack -- and the guy appeared to be brutally beaten on the floor.

Footage shows the man was kicked and punched in the face repeatedly ... before his attackers finally let up.

No word on if the man sustained serious injuries ... but a spokesperson for the Dekalb County Police Dept. tells TMZ Sports cops did respond to the scene in reference to an assault.

The spokesperson added an investigation into the incident is underway.

A rep for the church, meanwhile, said in a statement following the game, "It is truly unfortunate about the turn of events that took place during the basketball game held at our facility this weekend."

"We open our doors to serve our community and our goal is to provide an atmosphere conducive for enjoyment, enrichment, etc."

The Spurs might suck this season, but one fan single-handedly made Sunday's game a whole lot better ... by absolutely dominating a lip sync challenge to Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone."

It all went down at the AT&T Center in San Antonio during the Spurs' matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers ... when the jumbotron cam focused in on 27-year-old Briana Saldaña to show off her skills -- and she didn't hold back.

Check out the awesome vid -- Briana jumps from her seat and uses her drink as a makeshift microphone ... dancing and even including her man in the routine.

The crowd absolutely loved it ... and clips of Briana's performance quickly spread like wildfire on social media.

We know what you're thinking, but everyone affiliated with the viral moment swears up and down that this was NOT a staged act ... and it just so happened to come out better than anyone could have hoped.

No word on if Kelly herself got to check out the clip ... but it's only a matter of time.