Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavs just extended a VIP invitation to the new UFC heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic -- an Ohio native who shouted out the NBA team after winning the belt at UFC 198 this past weekend.

TMZ Sports spoke with the Cavs who told us ... they saw the video of Stipe encouraging the Cavs to follow his lead and win the championship -- and they LOVED IT!

In fact, we're told the team reached out and invited him as their guest for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals Tuesday night at the Quicken Loans Arena.

Miocic accepted -- obviously -- and we're told the team plans to honor him tonight for making Cleveland proud.

Congrats, champ!

Cleveland can stop holding its collective breath ... the LeBron vs. Bieber crisis is officially over ... and somehow, they both emerged victorious.

As we previously reported, Justin's "Purpose" world tour was scheduled to touch down at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland on April 26th ... the same night as Game 5 in the Cavs vs. Pistons series.

The two sides were scrambling to work out a plan -- (with the Bieber concert likely to get bumped to a later date) -- but to everyone's surprise, the Cavs SWEPT the Pistons in 4 games!!!

Translation -- the concert will go on as planned and everyone is happy!!

Get nervous, Cleveland ... 'cause if LeBron James is testing the waters about a return to Miami, Gabrielle Union says her husband's team would "welcome him back with open arms."

We got Mrs. Dwyane Wade out in Beverly Hills and had to ask her thoughts on a possible reunion of the Big 3 ... mostly due to the rumors LeBron is already fed up with the Cavs.

Gabby's definitely into the idea ... and why not? Bron and Wade did win 2 championships together.

Plus, LBJ and D-Wade are super BFFs ... they even worked out together in Miami in the middle of the NBA season ... rubbing some CLE people the wrong way.

2 huge stars ... 1 arena ... both are booked on the same day -- and now everyone wants to know who's gonna get bumped in Cleveland, Justin Bieber or LeBron James??!?!

LeBron James will take his talents out of Cleveland -- and play for another team -- before his career is over ... so says NBA legend Kenny Smith.

The "Inside the NBA" star was out in L.A. -- when we asked about all the King James drama that's been going on this past week ... including the infamous Cavs unfollow on Twitter.

"That's disrespectful," Smith said ... "That's like unfollowing your kids."

Ya gotta watch the clip ... Smith is pretty strong about why he thinks Bron will leave The Land.

Question is ... where does he go next?

Hotel prince Rick Hilton is going to bat for his family brand -- personally telling Kyrie Irving to COME BACK to Hilton Hotels after his bedbug incident last weekend.

By now you know ... the Cleveland Cavs star claims he was bit up by the creepy crawlies at the Skirvin Hilton in OKC -- and it freaked him out and made him sick.

But Rick -- the grandson of Hilton founder Conrad Hilton -- says the NBA star shouldn't hold a grudge with the hotel chain ... and kindly asks Kyrie to give Hilton another shot.

LeBron James has joined Odell Beckham Jr. and James Harden in the seemingly never ending pro-athlete dance recital ... and he brought his whole team with him.

LBJ hit up INTL nightclub in Scottsdale, AZ Sunday night with Kyrie Irving, J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert and the guys showed off the latest dance craze "Hit Them Folks" for the partygoers.

We're told the festivities lasted until about 1 AM ... and get this ... our spies say not one drop of alcohol was consumed by the ballers.

The Cavs play the Suns in Phoenix Monday night ... better get a win to go with all that cuttin' a rug.

Atlanta Hawks superfan 2 Chainz says he's ready to move from courtside seats to the OWNER'S BOX -- telling TMZ Sports he's "definitely interested" in buying a stake in the team.

2 Chainz joined the guys on "TMZ Sports" on FS1 -- and said he loves the deal Usher made to become a minority owner of the Cleveland Cavs ... and says he'd love to follow suit in ATL.

"If it happens it happens," 2 Chainz said ... "but I'm definitely interested."

"It would be exciting to get a percentage, get my own parking space ... you know, live it up."

Ya gotta watch the show -- 2 Chainz (a former college basketball player) also challenges another rap superstar to some 1-on-1 ... and it's pretty hilarious.

DON'T BLAME JASON DAY for not protecting his wife from that crazy collision with LeBron James at the Cavs game ... so says Jason's mother-in-law who says they're all just glad Ellie's okay.

Ellie Day suffered a concussion and was carried out of the arena on a stretcher after James accidentally ran into her at the game ... while she and her pro golf star hubby were courtside.

Some critics have gone after Jason -- saying he should have done SOMETHING to shield her from the blow ... but Ellie's mom says it's wrong to point the finger at Jason.

"I don't blame [Jason] at all," Lucy Knapp tells TMZ Sports.

"I love Jason very much. He's a wonderful father and husband. He also a great son-in-law. He cares about his family very much."

"I just thank God that she's okay."

Lucy says she cried when she saw the incident on television and refuses to watch the replays -- but says Ellie appears to be doing well and is now resting and recovering at home.

The Cleveland Cavs hit the road Wednesday -- taking some time away from the court to visit a Children's Hospital in Cleveland ... and we're told the kids were PUMPED about the visit.

A spokesperson for the Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital confirms LeBron James, Iman Shumpert, Matthew Dellavedova, Anderson Varejao and James Jones spent more than an hour hanging out with the kids and giving out cool Cavs swag.

"It's a big deal," one staffer told us ... "They come every year. They spend a lot of time in each room. They hang out and really make the kids happy."

"For that time they're here visiting, it's amazing what it does to their spirits and mood and how it impacts their time in the hospital."

A 19-year-old man says he was CHOKED by Cleveland Cavs star J.R. Smith ... and claims it was all because he made fun of Smith for getting traded out of New York.

The man behind the allegation is Justin Brown -- who claims he and some friends encountered Smith at a NY pizza joint around 4 AM on Nov. 13th.

In a complaint filed with the NYPD, Brown claims Smith refused to take a picture with his group and an altercation ensued.

As Smith walked away, Brown shouted to the NBA star -- "That's why New York kicked you out, yo!"

Brown claims Smith then slammed him against a wall and choked him with his hands.

Brown filed the report 3 days after the incident.

We spoke with cops who say Brown had no visible injuries at the time he filed the report.

It's the end of an era in the NBA ... 'cause Cavs star Iman Shumpert just ditched his signature Gumby-style high top cut ... for a brand new dreaded up man bun.

Shumpert was out in L.A. with his pop star girlfriend Teyana Taylor when we noticed that he didn't bring something with him on his trip to the coast ... his one-of-a-kind hair.

Check out the clip -- Iman ... who's just signed a $40 million dollar deal with Cleveland ... says he just wanted a change and that Teyana supports his new 'do 100%.

Bieber has one ... so does Jamie Foxx and Chris Brown -- but the guy who ignited the biggest sales boom of those new 2-wheeled scooters is Cavs star J.R. Smith ... TMZ Sports has learned.

It's called the PhunkeeDuck -- a foot-controlled motorized scooter -- and Smith was often seen zooming around on one during the NBA Finals ... watched by roughly 18.5 million people.

We spoke with PhunkeeDuck founder Max Waxman who tells us sales exploded thanks to the NBA Finals exposure ... "We did almost as many in sales as we had done in the prior 5 or 6 weeks."

And that's HUGE considering Bieber had been showing off his PhunkeeDuck to his 30 million Instagram followers and Foxx had brought his on "The Tonight Show."

"The exposure J.R. got us helped a tremendous amount. To have the whole NBA Finals audience see and talk about our product made a huge difference."

LeBron James was too damn ball hoggish during the NBA Finals -- and needed to share the rock with his teammates -- so says Metta World Peace.

The former NBA champ was out in Hollywood Tuesday night when we asked how he felt about the Golden State Warriors winning the whole thing in Cleveland.

Metta made it clear he thinks LeBron is amazing ... but says, "I wish that early in the series that he would've passed to his teammates and you know ... got them in a rhythm."

"I think he could've played better with his team."

She doesn't just identify as black ... Rachel Dolezal also identifies as a LeBron James fan!

Dolezal was walking through LaGuardia airport last night, where she touched down for her "Today" show interview -- when she was asked who she's got in the NBA Finals.

So, does liking LeBron make her more black? Or more white?

When Dwyane Wade hit the books at Harvard last week, he probably had an edge on his fellow classmates -- 'cause one of the topics was his BFF LeBron James ... TMZ Sports has learned.

FYI -- Wade took part in a 4-day course called "The Business of Entertainment, Media and Sports" ... which required him to live on campus, eat at the student dining hall and basically study his ass off for 4 straight days.

We're told Wade didn't coast through the course -- several Harvard faculty members tell us D-Wade was very impressive and had one hell of a work ethic.

Wade and his classmates were required to brush up on case studies on several high profile people and sports teams ... including Beyonce, Real Madrid and LeBron.

NFL superstar Brandon Marshall took the course last year ... and came back to speak to the 51 students in the class this year -- and today, he told "TMZ Hollywood Sports" what it takes to make the grade.

It's no joke ... Marshall says the course is super tough and super competitive ... but he also told us the #1 thing athletes should take away from the class.

Pay attention.