Basketball

The Phoenix Suns are making sure to show support for Brittney Griner for the remainder of their playoff run -- by putting a decal on their court in honor of the WNBA superstar as she remains detained in Russia.

As we previously reported, the Phoenix Mercury center has been detained since February ... after she was accused of having hash oil in her luggage while going through airport security.

Sports, entertainment and political figures have been calling for her release ever since ... with President Joe Biden's administration even claiming Griner is being wrongfully detained in hopes of bringing her home sooner.

The Suns revealed the "BG42" decal ahead of their game against the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday ... saying, "One family. #WeAreBG."

"Honoring Brittney Griner on our court for the remainder of the playoffs. 💜🧡"

The decal is the same one the WNBA debuted recently ... with commissioner Cathy Engelbert promising to keep "Brittney at the forefront of what we do through the game of basketball and in the community."

"We continue to work on bringing Brittney home," Englebert added, "and are appreciative of the support the community has shown BG and her family during this extraordinarily challenging time."

Police say Adreian Payne -- a former Michigan State men's basketball star -- was shot and killed on Monday after he had a dispute with a man outside of a residence in Florida.

The Orange County Sheriff's Office spelled out the allegations in new court documents, obtained by TMZ Sports, saying the killing happened a short time after Payne had arrived at Lawrence Dority's home in Orlando on Sunday night/early Monday morning.

According to the documents, a witness told cops she believed Payne had pulled up to the house to possibly play "mediator" between Dority and his girlfriend, who the witness said, "have a relationship where they argue often."

Cops say witnesses told them 29-year-old Dority ended up confronting Payne outside of the home when he arrived a short time after Payne got there.

In the docs, cops say Dority told them Payne "had no business being at his residence this late at night." Cops say Dority added that he took the former NBA player's "presence as a threat."

Police say Dority told them at one point during his conversation with Payne, the 6-foot-10 basketball player made "movements with his right hand in the right side of his waistband." Cops say Dority told them Payne then said "I'll smoke you bra."

According to cops, Dority immediately went into his home, grabbed a firearm, went back outside, and fired one round at Payne, before he returned to his residence. Cops say Dority said he was "protecting his family and protecting his home" -- and added that "his actions were justified."

In the docs, cops say 31-year-old Payne was struck by the gunfire and was later transported to a local hospital, but died there from his injuries.

Officers say following their immediate investigation -- which included interviews with witnesses and a review of surveillance footage -- they determined Payne was "not threatening Dority in any way." They said he had no firearm in his possession, and claimed Dority's "act was a premeditated killing."

Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green is paying tribute to his former Michigan State teammate Adreian Payne ... honoring the late player with a $100k donation after he was tragically shot and killed on Monday.

The 3-time champ announced the gesture after the Warriors' 101-98 victory over the Grizzlies in the NBA playoffs ... saying he and his wife, Hazel, are going to make the charitable contribution in AP's name -- and hopes others will follow their lead.

"I call on my Spartan family, coach (Tom) Izzo, Magic (Johnson), Jaren Jackson, Miles Bridges ... all of my Spartan family, to come in," Draymond said Monday. "Let's do something in honor of Adreian."

As we reported, 31-year-old Payne, a native of Dayton, Ohio, was shot and killed in Florida ... and news of his death sent shockwaves throughout the sports world.

Draymond is hoping his teammate's legacy lives on -- whether it be naming something on the Michigan State campus in his honor or starting a scholarship in Dayton.

29-year-old Lawrence Dority was arrested after cops identified him as the shooter.

Green -- who played two seasons with AP in East Lansing -- was visibly emotional as he spoke with the media following the Warriors' win over Memphis.

"I'm going to go home and talk about Adreian," Draymond said. "I apologize. I will give you guys the greatest press conference after Wednesday's game."

Chris Paul says a Mavericks fan had an extremely inappropriate interaction with his family during Sunday's playoff game in Texas ... claiming the Dallas supporter "put his hands on my mom."

The incident allegedly went down at some point during the Suns' loss to the Mavericks at American Airlines Center.

Paul's mother, wife and kids were in attendance at the game sitting near the Phoenix bench ... when, according to Paul, a fan physically contacted them.

"Wanna fine players for saying stuff to the fans but the fans can put they hands on our families," Paul said after the game, "f*** that!!"

According to ESPN, the fan allegedly put his hands on Paul's mom, and also pushed the NBA star's wife. The outlet reports Paul's kids saw it all happen.

Video shot by fans near the Suns' bench appears to show part of Paul's reaction to learning of the fan's alleged actions.

In the clip, you can see Paul was furious with a Mavericks fan, clearly telling the guy, "Hey! I'll see you later!"

In another video from the arena, Paul can be seen telling security guards, "He put his hands on my mom."

The Mavericks said in a statement after the game they were aware of the incident and the fan was removed from the stadium.

"The Dallas Mavericks are aware of an incident between a fan and the family of Chris Paul," the team said. "It was unacceptable behavior and will not be tolerated. The Mavericks, along with American Airlines Center, swiftly removed the fan from today's game."

Former Michigan State men's basketball star Adreian Payne has died ... his former teammate announced on Monday. He was just 31 years old.

Details surrounding the death have not yet been revealed ... but Jared Sullinger -- the former Ohio State Buckeyes star who played with Payne at some point in their basketball careers -- announced the sad news via his Twitter page.

"Hate the news i received this morning…." Sullinger said in a tweet. "Rest Easy to my brother/Teammate @Adreian_Payne."

Payne became a massive star for the Spartans after arriving on the East Lansing campus in 2010 ... recording 16.4 points per game and 7.3 rebounds in his senior season in 2013. That year, Payne helped lead MSU to an Elite Eight appearance.

Adreian went on to be taken by the Atlanta Hawks with the #15 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. He bounced around the Association for several years after that, before eventually moving overseas to play professionally.

Payne last played for Juventus Utena in Lithuania in the 2021-22 season.

Off the basketball court, Payne was perhaps best known for his relationship with 8-year-old cancer patient Lacey Holsworth. Adreian befriended her while at MSU, and the two grew so close, they referred to each other as brother and sister.

In fact, Holsworth -- who later passed away in 2014 -- joined Payne on his senior night at Michigan State.

Famed college basketball head coach Archie Miller mourned Payne's death on Twitter on Monday ... writing, "Sad to hear the passing of Adreian Payne this morning."

"Started watching him while he was in 10th grade, remember his grandmother on his visit. Loved seeing him develop at Michigan St. and become an NBA player. [Prayers] for his loved ones, Spartans, and Dayton, OH. #RipAP"

RIP.

Dikembe Mutombo is calling cap on anyone who believes the Brooklyn Nets are a super team ... because he tells TMZ Sports no such thing exists!!

We spoke with the legendary big man out at LAX this week ... and when we brought up the fact a lot of stacked rosters like the Brooklyn Nets are out of the playoffs, the Hall of Famer said he isn't on board with calling them -- or anyone else, for that matter -- a "super team."

"What is a super team?? Who told you that was a super team??" Mutombo asked our camera guy. "Everybody plays in the NBA. They play on the same team. I work for the league. There is no super team."

Mutombo goes on to explain no matter how much talent is on a team, what really matters is what's between the ears.

"If you are not ready to play, you lose," added Mutombo, who won the DPOY award 4 times. "It's like a boxing match. If you not ready, somebody gon' knock you out."

Some fans will vehemently disagree with Dikembe's take ... especially since the Nets have a roster that boasts two of the game's best scorers -- Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving -- and an elite defender in Ben Simmons when healthy.

"If you mentally ... not tough, you can be beaten," Mutombo said. "If you not mentally tough, somebody gon' dunk on you."

The quote echoes what some talking heads have said about Simmons, who was called out for not playing through a back injury. The criticism, however, may have been too harsh ... as the hooper needed back surgery to help the issue.

Paolo Banchero is NOT Patrick Mahomes -- a fairly obvious fact that Martin Brundle had to learn the hard way ... live on the air, no less. Whoops!

The former race car driver-turned-broadcaster was in the middle of his coverage of Sunday's Grand Prix down in Miami for Sky Sports ... where he was flagging people down for interviews on the speedway grid like he usually does each year.

Unfortunately, he manifested a case of mistaken identity ... doing a stop-and-chat with the star Duke basketball player -- who towered over everyone at an impressive 6'10" -- whom he apparently thought was the Kansas City Chiefs star QB. It was funny ... and kinda cringe.

Check it out -- you see Brundle spot who he thinks is PM, and shouts out his name ... only to be ignored by Paolo. When he finally catches up to him though ... he gets his interview.

After a few seconds, MB realizes Paolo isn't Pat ... and sorta apologizes as Paolo goes on his way. Doesn't seem he was sweating the mix-up either, dropping a "whatever" afterward.

At one point, Brundle came across a rando that he seems to have thought might've been famous -- but rather than make the leap he did with Paolo/Patrick, he politely asked ... who the heck are ya??? This interview didn't go so great either, though ... but made for good TV.

LeBron James received a lot of heat for the Lakers' struggles this season, but Magic Johnson tells TMZ Sports he still wants to see LBJ in a Lakers uniform for the foreseeable future.

We spoke with Magic -- who won 5 titles with the Lakers during his career -- out in L.A. this week, and asked him if the Lake Show should trade its 37-year-old superstar after the team missed the playoffs this season.

Magic told us absolutely not ... saying he wants LeBron in the purple and gold "for a long time."

The idea of jettisoning James, who averaged 30.3 points per game in his nineteenth season, has recently been floated by disgruntled Lakers fans and some media personalities ... who think the haul LeBron could get in a trade would make the team immediately better.

But, Magic clearly believes that's nonsense ... telling us he "hopes" to see Bron stay.

As for who will coach LeBron next season after Frank Vogel was just fired ... Magic told us it certainly won't be him, and probably not Phil Jackson either.

But, the Hall of Famer did say Jackson will help in the hunt for the next head man ... something he appears to believe will be good for the org.'s future.

Snoop Dogg and his Mt. Westmore groupmate Ice Cube are about to be a lot closer … now that Snoop is a part-owner in Cube’s Big3 basketball league … TMZ Hip Hop has learned.

Snoop and PayPal co-founder Ken Howery dropped $625,000 together to purchase a 40 percent stake in BIG3 team “Bivouac” that went winless last season due to injuries.

BIG3 opened the floodgates for people to grab a stake in the franchise team through NFTs... which is exactly what Snoop and Ken did.

They weren't the only ones, either. Popular NFT hubs DeGods, Gary Vaynerchuk and VeeFriends, Bill Lee and MyDoge/DogeCoin, and Krause House all got in the spending spree, copping all 25 Fire-Tiers of the Killer 3’s, Trilogy, Aliens and Ball Hogs, respectively.

Snoop has become one of the space’s most avid NFT collectors … even touting his newly re-bought Death Row Records will be a 100 percent “NFT Label”

Snoop and Howery reportedly purchased all 25 Fire for Bivouac priced at $25,000 each. In other words, the team’s stock was divided into blockchains for sale. Remaining editions will be available come Saturday, May 7 for hungry Discord members.

Ben Simmons is one step closer to recovery -- the former #1 overall pick had back surgery to reduce pain from a herniated disc on Thursday ... and he says the microdiscectomy procedure was a big success.

"Surgery went well," Simmons said on Instagram minutes ago. "Thank you for the well wishes."

Of course, Ben's back first became a problem when he was still with the Philadelphia 76ers in February 2020 ... forcing him to miss several games.

The issues continued into the next season ... where he suffered back tightness and pain in 2021.

25-year-old Simmons -- who was traded to the Brooklyn Nets mid-season -- ended up missing all of the 2021-22 campaigns ... and will now work on recovery over the next 3-4 months.

It's worth noting -- several talking heads ripped Simmons for not taking the floor in the postseason ... claiming he quit on his team.

Considering the fact he needed surgery, those analysts might be eating their words now.

While there's hope he'll be ready to go by the time training camp comes around, it's probably best to remain cautiously optimistic about it all.

Glad to see Ben is in good spirits ... and Nets fans gotta be excited to finally get to see their star in Black and White next season.

The Grizzlies will be without Dillon Brooks against the Warriors on Saturday -- the Memphis forward was just suspended one game after he injured Gary Payton II during Tuesday's game.

NBA exec, Byron Spruell, says Brooks is suspended without pay for "having made unnecessary and excessive contact against" Payton, which resulted in substantial injury to the son of the Hall of the Famer, Gary Payton.

GPII was running the court on a fast break when he received a pass from Draymond Green in transition ... then the lefty got vertical for a finish at the rim.

Brooks -- who presumably was trying to make a play on the driving Payton -- ended up clobbering Gary over his head ... causing him to land awkwardly and violently on his left arm.

As a result, Brooks hit the showers early ... as the refs assessed a flagrant 2 foul on the play and ejected him from the game.

Coach, Steve Kerr, was not pleased with Brooks' move on Payton -- a key member of the Dubs' rotation -- accusing Dillon of "breaking the code."

Payton II has since been diagnosed with a fractured elbow ... and is expected to miss a month of action, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Draymond Green unloaded a double-barrel, middle-finger salute on some heckling Grizzlies fans during a playoff game Tuesday night ... and he refused to apologize for it afterward, admitting the gesture "felt really good."

The Warriors star flipped the birds just minutes into the Dubs' playoff game against Memphis in Nashville ... shortly after he had been inadvertently elbowed in the face.

As Green was walking into the locker room to have trainers look at the damage caused to his eye -- Memphis fans began the jeering ... poking fun at him for getting injured.

Green was clearly furious over the crowd's reaction ... and used both his middle fingers to express his disdain.

Following the game, Green said he didn't regret his actions one bit ... explaining he'll happily pay the fine that NBA officials will inevitably hand his way over it all.

"If you're going to boo somebody who got elbowed in the eye and had blood running down their face, you should get flipped off," Green said. "So, I'll take the fine. I'll go do an appearance and make up the money."

"But," he added, "it felt really good to flip them off."

No word on what it'll cost Green (Kyrie Irving was fined $50,000 for a similar gesture last month) ... but he told media members the price tag truly won't matter.

"I make $25 million a year," he said. "I should be just fine."

As for the action on the court, Green's Warriors ended up taking the L -- falling to Ja Morant and the Grizzlies, 106-101 ... much to Grizzlies fans' delight.

Luka Doncic had big beef with a fan during the Mavericks vs. Suns game on Wednesday night ... and things got so testy between the two, the Dallas star actually needed to be restrained from going after the Phoenix supporter.

The incident happened as Luka was leaving the floor at halftime of Dallas' playoff game with the Suns in Arizona ... when a heckler said something to Doncic that he clearly didn't like.

Broadcast cameras caught Luka trying to go after the fan -- who was wearing a Devin Booker jersey -- before Mavericks personnel had to step in to stop a potential physical altercation.

Luka eventually dropped the issue after pointing his finger at the man -- and headed to the Mavericks' locker room.

After the game, the 23-year-old point guard said the fan crossed the line with his heckles.

"He was just saying some reckless things, man," Doncic said. "I'm not going to repeat that. A lot of fans say that because they know we can't do nothing."

"If it was something normal, I wouldn't even look because I don't care. But, sometimes you're in a bad mood and they say some bad stuff. It's normal, we're people, man, and it's normal to turn around and get mad."

To add insult to injury, Luka's Mavericks went on to lose the game to the Suns, 129-109. Dallas is now down 0-2 in the series.

Is Michael Jordan looking to get into Formula 1??

If so, he's already bumping elbows with drivers ... enjoying a dinner with AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly ahead of Sunday's Grand Prix in Miami!!

The French star posted pics of his time with #23 to social media ... showing MJ trying on his helmet and signing a few autographs.

"Unforgettable dinner! @jumpman23👑" Gasly said on IG ... and naturally, his fellow F1 bros are jealous.

"I actually think I would cry," Daniel Ricciardo said in the comments.

The GOAT is one of several megastars reportedly slated to attend the race this weekend ... including LeBron James, David Beckham, Tom Brady, James Corden, Serena and Venus Williams and more.

Of course, His Airness is no stranger to racing -- he launched his 23XI NASCAR team with Denny Hamlin in 2020 ... signing Bubba Wallace and Kurt Busch to his roster.

A court with homages to Kobe and Gianna Bryant could be cropping up at a local park near you ... 'cause Vanessa Bryant just announced plans to renovate courts across the country with Mamba and Mambacita themes.

Vanessa posted the news on her Instagram page on Wednesday ... saying in collaboration with BodyArmor and the Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation, 10 courts throughout the U.S. will be renovated, and feature nods to Kobe and Gigi.

According to BodyArmor officials ... the courts will appear in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Miami, Phoenix and Detroit.

Vanessa and BodyArmor shared a "sneak peek" of what the courts will look like ... and they're set to feature a few nods to Kobe and Gigi, including the Nos. 8 and 2 (jersey digits Kobe and Gigi wore in their basketball careers) just above the keys.

The cool gesture comes just 24 hours after BodyArmor's founder, Mike Repole, donated $24 million to the Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation.

"I’m going to make sure this foundation gets bigger than the Ronald McDonald House," Repole told the Boardroom following the generous gift.

"It’s not just about getting them the physical tools or on the courts in the right uniforms. It’s about what it does for kids mentally and confidence-wise."

BodyArmor also announced it's releasing a new "Mamba Forever" drink.

FYI -- Kobe invested $6 million into BodyArmor back in 2014 ... and when Coca-Cola bought out the brand in 2021, Bryant's estate cashed in over $400 million.

Armando Bacot is entering the world of the Pogues and Kooks -- the North Carolina hoops star just landed a role with the super-popular Netflix show "Outer Banks" ... and he's been on set hanging with John B. himself, Chase Stokes!!

The breakout Tar Heels center will appear in several episodes of Season 3 of the series ... playing the fittingly-named character, "Mando," according to Inside Carolina.

The 22-year-old posted vid of his time on set ... bro'ing down with Stokes and Rudy Pankow, who plays JJ Maybank on the thriller series.

Now, Bacot taking an acting role might sound super random, but it actually makes a lot of sense ... especially considering two of the show's creators -- Josh and Jonas Pate -- are North Carolina natives.

On top of that, Josh and the other creator, Shannon Burke, are UNC alums ... so that Tar Heel network definitely had to help the 6'10", 240-lb. baller land the gig.

The big question -- is Bacot a Pogue or a Kook in the NC-based show?? We'll have to wait until the season drops ... and that might be quite a bit away.