Basketball

Ron Holland is making sure nobody misses him at the 2024 NBA Draft ... 'cause the former G League baller wore a snazzy, sparkly suit for the big night -- and topped it off with a massive diamond chain!!

The 6-foot-8 forward -- who is expected to be a 1st-round pick -- was spotted at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on Wednesday ... ahead of the league's first night of draft festivities.

Holland came prepared for the big event ... wearing an all-black suit with gems scattered all over his jacket.

WNBA star Cameron Brink isn't letting a torn ACL keep her from enjoying the simple things in life ... 'cause the L.A. Sparks hooper posted photos and video cheesin' it up with her BF (and adorable puppy), just a week after suffering the serious injury!

The 22-year-old tore her anterior cruciate ligament during the first quarter of the Sparks' contest against the Connecticut Sun on June 18 ... when Brink drove the lane, and her leg buckled underneath her.

Just like that, the 2024 WNBA season was over for the 2nd overall pick.

JJ Redick is a content creator no more -- the Los Angeles Lakers head coach just announced he's putting his podcasting career on hold after accepting his new gig with the Purple and Gold.

The former NBA sharp-shooter revealed the status of his "Mind The Game" podcast with LeBron James during his introductory press conference on Monday ... and it's bad news for fans of the show.

"For the time being, and hopefully it's a very, very long time, I am excommunicated from the content space," Redick said minutes ago. "There will be no podcasts. We'll do something when I have a breather from what we have coming up -- I'm gonna be drinking from a fire hose for the next month."

Jalen Green and Draya Michele aren't letting the haters on their relationship get to them ... telling TMZ Sports the critics can think what they want!!

We caught the couple -- with their new baby girl in tow -- as they were out and about in West Hollywood this week. While many people have voiced their opinion on the couple's 17-year age gap ... they are not letting the haters get to them.

"We try to stay off the internet and not really listen to that kind of stuff," 39-year-old Michele said. "We block it out and mind our business."

A Los Angeles-area home belonging to NBA guard Talen Horton-Tucker was broken into earlier this week ... and law enforcement sources tell TMZ Sports cops believe the suspect made off with $170,000 in jewelry.

We're told the break-in -- or at least part of it -- was actually captured on camera ... showing the thief entering the property by jumping over a back fence -- before leaving out of one of the residence's side yards.

Thankfully, our sources say no one was home at the time of the burglary -- as Horton-Tucker was not in town. We're told it was a house sitter who discovered it and reported it to police.

A Boston Celtics mural in Massachusetts that was defaced by some jerks just got a facelift -- getting a fresh coat of Joe Mazulla's grill to hide all the vandalism!!

The OG art -- displayed in Cambridge -- featured Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown and Mazzulla ... but at some point during the Celtics' playoff run the last few weeks, it was destroyed by a curmudgeon.

In pics of the defacement, obtained by TMZ Sports ... you can see the individual scribbled, among other things, "F*** Celtics" all over the image of Tatum.

The Boston Celtics' championship parade came and went -- and while it was a pretty laid-back affair, the big takeaway is who joined Jaylen Brown for the celebration.

Eagle-eyed viewers spotted WNBA star Kysre Gondrezick sitting in Brown's duck boat as it made its way from TD Garden through the Beantown streets on Friday in honor of the Celtics' 18th NBA title.

Kysre -- a member of the Chicago Sky -- looked rather thrilled to be with the Finals MVP ... smiling as Brown waved to the tons of fans in attendance.

Marcus Jordan wants the world to know he's NOT dating the woman he was spotted with in Paris this week ... setting the record straight about his dating life and confirming he's proudly "single AF."

TMZ Sports shared the video on Thursday ... showing Michael's son chopping it up with a woman named Gabrielle Wright at the Amiri fashion show.

Gab actually shared video from the event ... and the two didn't even sit right next to each other.

Derrick White got his pearly whites fixed amid his victory bender ... making time for a trip to the dentist to correct his chipped tooth ahead of the Celtics' championship parade!!

The breakout star revealed his new look ahead of the big bash in Boston on Friday ... saying he went through a lengthy procedure to get his smile right again.

Of course, White put it all on the line in Game 5 of the Finals -- he dove for a loose ball and got tangled up with Dallas Mavericks player Dereck Lively ... and as a result, he lost part of his front tooth.

It took Al Horford 17 years to win his first NBA title ... but he's hoping he can double his ring collection next season -- telling TMZ Sports he's 100% NOT retiring and is returning to the Boston Celtics.

We spoke with the longtime vet fresh off his team's championship win over the Dallas Mavericks in the Finals ... and while many might assume he'd consider ending his career on the highest of notes, the 38-year-old told us that's absolutely not the case.

"There's no question about it," Horford said while working a shift at Raising Cane's in Boston. "I don't know why those speculations were out there, that I was, like, retiring. But I'm still playing and I'm very excited for next season."

The 2024 Celtics easily handled the Dallas Mavericks. But, how would Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown's squad do against the last Boston team to bring a title to Beantown? We asked NBA champ Eddie House!

Not only was the longtime pro a member of the '08 team (he played for BOS from 2007 to 2010), he's also close to this year's Celtics ... he covers the team for NBC in Boston.

So, put Tatum, Brown, Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford and the rest of the hoopers on a court against Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo and the rest of the '08 team, WHO WINS?!

"We win," Eddie said of his 2007-2008 team ... before explaining his rationale.

"We're not going to allow them to shoot all them threes. We're going to run them off the threes. And I feel like defensively, we were a better team defensively. Now, offensively, because of the threes and the way the game is played now, I'll give them the edge [offensively]," House explained.

"But we're going to knock that down. We're going to make it a drag-out game. And if it's a close game, I'm putting the ball in Paul Pierce's hands and I feel like he's going to deliver every single time. But don't get it twisted. I love this team."

Bottom line ... House isn't throwing shade. He simply believes that out of the two super-talented squads, his would emerge victorious.

There's much more with House ... we asked the NBA champ what the often maligned (during the Finals, at least) Luka Doncic must do if he wants to win a championship. We also discussed whether or not the treatment of Kyrie Irving crossed a line.

Plus, we asked Eddie about his hoops star son, Jaelen House, who's hoping to get drafted this year. What advice is the longtime pro giving his boy?

A celebrity basketball tournament slated to go down at a high school in New Jersey next month has been axed ... after the event's raunchy theme sparked outrage in the community.

The "Nuttin But Azz" Celebrity Baddies Basketball contest was all set to go forward on July 21 at West Side High School in Newark ... but after a video promoting the event featured girls shaking their butts in tiny thongs at the H.S.'s gym -- officials pumped the brakes on it all.

According to Newark Public Schools spokesperson Nancy Deering, the event "was supposed to be a community basketball event sponsored by" a local politician ... but once the promo hit social media -- everything changed.

JJ Redick is the guy for the Los Angeles Lakers -- the ex-NBA player was reportedly just hired as the organization's next head coach.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski dropped the news on Thursday ... saying after a thorough interview process, Redick was offered the gig and has already started building his staff.

The Lakers reportedly also interviewed names like Danny Hurley, James Borrego and Sam Cassell ... and also had interest in Kenny Atkinson, Mike Budenholzer and Ty Lue.

Kendrick Lamar put on one of the biggest hip hop moments in recent memory Wednesday night in Inglewood ... and there were a lot of highlights on the heels of the Drake beef.

The concert served as the ultimate victory lap in what many have called a crushing win against Drizzy in their recent rap battle -- and the reason is pretty clear ... KL played "Not Like Us" 5 times in a row, and the instrumental even closed out the show!

Kendrick made sure Juneteenth 2024 will go down in history ... West Coast DJs Hed and Mustard opened the show and offered no shortage of cameos and hype music for the crowd.

Kendrick Lamar's "Pop Out" concert in L.A. looked something like NBA All-Star Weekend ... with LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, DeMar DeRozan and James Harden all attending the massive event -- and two of the superstar ballers even hopped onstage!!

K. Dot set the world on fire during his Juneteenth unity celebration at the Kia Forum on Wednesday ... where he performed his iconic Drake disses for the first time, as well as all the classics from his discography.

Bron, Russ, DeMar and Harden were all present for the epic night of music ... and when the time came for Kendrick to perform "Not Like Us" (several times in a row, mind you), Westbrook and DeRozan were right by his side -- as well as DJ Mustard, who produced the scathing track.

Houston Rockets star Jalen Green and his girlfriend, Draya Michele, hit the town for a lunch date on Wednesday ... and they brought their little bundle of joy along!!

TMZ Sports caught up with the parents at Cecconi's in West Hollywood just minutes ago ... and the two had their newborn baby girl in tow.

Jalen and Draya -- who have been linked to each other since August 2023 -- welcomed the addition to their families on Mother's Day (May 12) ... so, understandably, they requested we not conduct the kid's first interview just yet.