Cleveland Cavaliers

LeBron James is a 1-man stimulus package in Cleveland -- with several businesses around the Cavs arena telling TMZ Sports they've been CRUSHING IT during the playoffs ... and they're all crediting #23.

Don't forget, the Cavs didn't make the playoffs once during the 4 years LeBron was in Miami -- which means 4 years of low foot traffic for the restaurants and stores near Quicken Loans Arena.

But with this year's run, Cleveland has already hosted an additional 7 playoff games (with more to come) ... and the 8 establishments we spoke with say the extra business has been HUGE.

Here's what a few of the owners and managers told us.

"Every business owner, hotel, restaurant, grocery store owner ... anyone who owns a business in downtown Cleveland should be kissing [LeBron's] ass, including me."
-Owner, Zocala Mexican Grill

"It's certainly a nice bonus for local businesses and we are happy to have LeBron back here. On the day of home playoff games, I'd say business increases by more than 40 percent."
-Manager, The Greenhouse Tavern

"We just opened in the beginning of the year. One of the reasons we came to downtown Cleveland is because of the downtown boom, and a lot of that's LeBron James being back in Cleveland."
-Owner, A Bar + Kitchen

A former NFL lineman has a STERN WARNING for Kyrie Irving ... don't let the doctors pressure you into coming back early ... or you could wind up with an OBLITERATED KNEE!!!!

The man behind the warning is LeCharles Bentley ... a former 2-time Pro Bowler who played for the Cleveland Browns ... who suffered a pretty major knee injury of his own during his playing days.

As for Kyrie -- the Cavs said he'd been suffering from a "bad case of tendonitis" over the past few weeks and wanted him to play last night. Kyrie's father had reportedly been pushing for Irving to take it easy.

Enter Bentley ... who added his perspective on social media after the game:

"So the doc tells Kyrie it's 'just tendonitis' ... Yea, I tore my patella from having 'just tendonitis'. I tried to 'tough it out'... ."

He then posted a picture of what his knee looks like now -- and said, "Oh, 'it just tendonitis'... I'm out, about to go 'tough out' this leg workout. Could be worse! #Blessed."

Bottom line -- Bentley says, "Athletes better listen to their bodies, not Twitter & Docs."

Game respects game ... at least when it comes to LeBron James ... who was so impressed with the kid who won the 2015 Scripps National Spelling Bee -- that he just sent him a whole bunch of awesome Cavs swag ... TMZ Sports has learned.

The kid who popped up on LeBron's radar -- Gokul Venkatachalam -- is a HUGE Cavaliers fan who rocked a LeBron #23 jersey underneath his button down shirt ... while dominating the spelling bee.

A rep for the Cavs tells us LeBron and the team were so impressed by the performance ... they hooked Gokul up with a pair of Nike Lebron XII's ... inscribed with a personal message from King James ... plus a bunch of team apparel.

We spoke to Gokul, who hasn't yet received the swag ... but says he is "pumped" that LeBron and the team recognized his accomplishment.

Pretty cool, right?

LeBron James won't be "Hangin' With Mr. Cooper" anytime soon ... 'cause the star of the '90's sitcom Mark Curry tells TMZ Sports the KING has NO CHANCE against his Warriors in the NBA Finals.

Mark was at LAX when we asked the Oakland native if he's scared his hometown Warriors' championship run is in peril now that they're matched up with the Cavs -- and LeBron -- in the NBA Finals.

Check out the clip -- not only is Mark not afraid of LeBron ... he's straight up CALLING HIM OUT ... saying that Steph Curry and the boys from the Bay are gonna smack the crown right off Bronny's head (basketball wise).

President Obama just took a stand on the NBA Finals ... saying there's no way J.R. Smith has a chance to outshoot Steph Curry ... despite the fact Smith has been ON FIRE in the playoffs.

Obama went to Twitter to answer some questions ... when someone wrote:

"Can JR Smith out shoot Steph Curry and lead the Cavs to a championship?"

Obama's response -- "jr smith having a great season but the heart of the Cavs is Lebron. And no one can outshoot Curry - maybe Korver if wide open."

So far, no response from Smith ... but we're guessing it's coming.

Lil B is DOUBLING DOWN on his threat to curse LeBron James ... claiming the King is in "big, big trouble" for stealing B's famous dance move.

Lil B appeared on "TMZ Hollywood Sports" today (from an undisclosed location) and told us he appreciates Iman Shumpert's olive branch ... but the Cavs aren't off the hook yet.

As we previously reported, B's upset the team used his famous "cookin' dance" in a post-game celebration last night ... and didn't give him the proper credit.

Now, B's got demands if the team wants to escape the curse before the NBA Finals.

11:36 AM PT -- Iman Shumpert may have just BLOCKED the curse!!!!

After seeing B's threat, Shumpert tweeted at the rapper in an attempt to smooth things over ... writing, "@LILBTHEBASEDGOD Preciate the swag killa. I cooks I chef. all love."

Lil B saw the tweet and wrote back ... "@I_Am_Iman appreciate it brother I got you enough said GO CAVS - Lil B"

Solid move.

LEBRON JAMES HAS JUST BEEN THREATENED WITH THE BASED GOD CURSE!!!!!!

This is a huge deal ... with rapper Lil B sending James an official "warning" -- after Bron and the rest of the Cleveland Cavs did B's cooking dance last night without giving him proper credit.

You know the curse by now -- it's already taken down NBA stars from Kevin Durant to James Harden.

Now, after Lil B got word of the Cavs' hot tub victory celebration -- which included the cooking dance -- Lil B sent the following message:

"Sending a warning to lebron James Kyrie jr smith and iman shumpert yall stealing swag Lil B cooking dance what yall doing #warned - Lil B"

How happy is Golden State right now?

How did LeBron James and the rest of his Cleveland Cavs squad celebrate after winning the Eastern Conference Championship Tuesday night?!

TURN UP IN THE HOT TUB!

James, along with J.R. Smith, Kyrie Irving, Iman Shumpert and Kendrick Perkins grabbed some bubbly and their championship hats and sang along to Chedda Da Connect's "Flicka Da Wrist."

But the most impressive part of the entire victory turn up ... how the hell did so many giant men wedge themselves into a such a tiny little tub??!

Who cares ... TURN UP!

**Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking ... we've now reached 10,000 feet ... you're now free to PARTY YOUR FACES OFF!!!!**

LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers wasted no time throwing a dance party on the team's private jet Thursday night ... celebrating their blowout win over the Bulls and moving on to the Eastern Conference Finals.

J.R. Smith shot footage of Bron gettin' down to The Dream's "That's My S**t" ... while teammates slugged beers and basked in the win.

LeBron James got even more love on national television yesterday ... when a contestant on "The Price Is Right" grabbed the mic and fired off a shout out to the NBA star in the middle of his wheel spin!

It's pretty funny ... at least Drew Carey thought so ... he imagined how LeBron would react if he was sitting at home eating his cereal watching the show.

But the best part happened when the next contestant stepped to the wheel and Drew asked if she wants to give 'Bron a shout out too.

Her reaction: "Who?"

So, get this ... NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON is getting fired for that whole Cleveland Cavs domestic violence arena video debacle. Not a one.

Our super solid Cavs sources tell us ... despite the public outcry for someone to get the axe, the organization wants to use the situation as a teachable moment ... instead of a public execution.

We're told team execs spoke with EVERYONE that had a hand in making and airing the video -- in which a male Cavs fan SLAMS his GF for being a Bulls fan -- and explained why it was a bad idea.

Seems the Cavs feel everyone got the message ... but as you can imagine, the ice over there has gotta be super duper thin.

The NBA tells TMZ Sports ... league officials have contacted the Cleveland Cavaliers about their "inappropriate and offensive" arena video and told the team it was completely UNACCEPTABLE.

The team has been under fire over the video -- which shows a male Cavs fan slamming his GF to the ground when he finds out she's a Bulls fan. It's about as domestic violencey as it gets.

Now, an NBA spokesperson tells TMZ Sports ... "We agree with the Cavaliers that the video shown last night was inappropriate and offensive."

"We spoke to the team earlier today to convey our disappointment. Anything that makes light of violence of any sort has no place in our league or society."

The team has since pulled the video off its website -- and called the thing a big mistake.

The woman whose butt was on the receiving end of an Instagram "Like" from LeBron James this week says the NBA star has changed her life forever ... calling the whole thing "a sign from God."

Josett Latrice became an overnight sensation when LeBron broke his self-imposed social media ban (implemented so he can focus on the NBA playoffs) to "like" one of her pics on the @perfectbooties Instagram account.

"It makes me feel awesome," Latrice told "TMZ Hollywood Sports" ... "I LOVE the fact he liked my picture."

Josett has been studying to be a veterinarian -- but says now that she's got Bron's stamp of approval, she's considering taking serious steps to focus on modeling instead.

"It's definitely a sign from God."

The Cleveland Cavaliers are apologizing for running a terrible domestic violence video inside of their arena Wednesday night ... saying it was intended to be hilarious ... and backfired.

The Cavs issued a statement saying, "During a timeout at last night’s Cavaliers vs. Bulls playoff game at The Q in Cleveland, we ran a 1-minute in-arena video that was intended to be a humorous spoof on a popular commercial centered on a song and dance from the classic movie ‘Dirty Dancing.’ While the video was not intended to be offensive, it was a mistake to include content that made light of domestic violence."

"Domestic violence is a very serious matter and has no place in a parody video that plays in an entertainment venue. We sincerely apologize to those who have been affected by domestic violence for the obvious negative feelings caused by being exposed to this insensitive video."

In one of the dumbest marketing moves of ALL TIME, the Cleveland Cavaliers ran an in-arena video during Wednesday night's game ... showing a male Cavs fan SLAMMING his GF because she's a Bulls fan.

Seriously.

It gets worse ... the man justifies the beating by saying, "Bulls fan? I didn't know you were a Bulls fan!"

At the end of the video, the woman resurfaces with an ice pack on her head ... and wearing a Cleveland shirt.

No word why anyone in the organization would green light this ... but you can only assume someone's gonna get fired.

MTV star Charlamagne Tha God has a message for Cavs star Iman Shumpert ... back away from the mic slowly ... telling TMZ Sports he's heard Shumpert's new rap song, and it's totally garbage.

You might remember ... the last time Iman stepped in the studio it was to record a diss track aimed at the radio host, who Shumpert labeled as a hater for blasting his rap skills on "The Breakfast Club."

Shumpert's latest track -- a motivational song dedicated to the Cavaliers' playoff run called "The Offs" -- dropped yesterday and Charlamagne says although Shumpert's changed teams, his rap skills haven't changed at all.

"It's garbage. He needs to focus on his defense and not his rapping."

It gets worse ... Charlamagne says he questions Shumpert's focus -- and wants to know why he's making terrible rap songs when Cleveland is still 10 wins away from a championship.

"LeBron doesn't even tweet in the playoffs, and he's making rap songs!? The best motivation he could provide for his team is getting in the gym."

Ouch.