Golden State Warriors

Kevin Durant blew off practice with the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday -- BUT IT WAS FOR A GREAT REASON -- the guy just opened his new after-school facility in Maryland!

KD had made a $10 MILLION donation to the project last year -- to cover "construction and operating expenses" for the center in Prince George's County ... where Durant is from.

Durant had teamed up with College Track to create the facility. The mission is to help kids from low-income areas get the resources they need to get to college.

On Wednesday, Durant met with some of the kids from the inaugural 69-person class -- and everyone seemed super excited!

The NBA superstar talked about the project to the Washington Post ... describing it as the "full circle stuff that you dream about."

Steph Curry is the most famous person to EVER play basketball at Davidson College (by far!) ... so, why hasn't his jersey been retired?!

Simple -- Steph's gotta get his degree first. Seriously.

Remember, Steph is a LEGEND at Davidson, where he was a consensus 1st Team All-American and famously led the Wildcats to the Elite 8 in the 2008 NCAA Tournament.

So, when we spotted Steph's old college coach, Bob McKillop out in D.C., we had to get an explanation for why Steph's old #30 jersey ain't hangin' in the rafters.

"I think he's in the process of completing his degree," McKillop told us after heaping TONS of praise on his old player.

We followed up with the school and athletic director Chris Clunie told us that Steph is still actively working on his degree ... and as soon as he completes his education, boom -- the jersey gets retired.

Clunie says the school is extremely proud of all that Steph has accomplished on and off the court. They love the guy.

Forget Los Angeles ... Shaq says if he were a young baller in today's NBA -- his next free agency contract would be with the Knicks!!!

"If I was a youngster, Madison Avenue would be turning into Shaq Avenue."

It's interesting ... seeing as EVERY big-name free agent over the last several years has passed on the Knicks for other (mostly Golden State-colored) pastures.

But, the Diesel tells us he doesn't understand why dudes aren't just lining up to play in Madison Square Garden.

"People always talk about business and business after basketball. Knicks don't have a star player, so any superstar that comes there, Madison Avenue is going to open up them doors."

That could change soon ... while the free agent market ain't exactly warm for NY next summer -- a high draft pick could be in the cards.

Does that mean Zion Williamson could be the next Knicks superstar?? We know one guy who'd love to see that ...

Marshawn Lynch threw on his best hoodie and sandals and hit up the Oakland City Council meeting on Wednesday ... and made the following statement to city officials:

"We're losing the Warriors. We're losing the Raiders. Best not lose the A's. Appreciate it."

Marshawn is an Oakland guy, born and raised -- and is clearly upset with the mass exodus of the major sports teams in the area.

The Raiders are moving to Las Vegas and the Golden State Warriors -- who play in Oracle Arena in Oakland -- are moving to the Chase Center in San Francisco next season.

The Oakland A's currently play at the Oakland Coliseum but are hoping to build a new 34,000 seat waterfront stadium in the area where they could play in 2023.

Enter Marshawn who didn't have much to say -- but made his point crystal clear.

Oakland A's president Dave Kaval was grateful for Beast Mode's support -- tweeting out, "Thank you Marshawn! Let's do this!!"

Kaval has previously commented on the stadium situation -- saying, "We've been there 50 years ... We have a great sense of the importance of that development on the future of East Oakland."

Charles Barkley says Steph Curry is NOT the best player in the NBA ... and, in fact, he tells TMZ Sports the Warriors superstar ain't even IN THE TOP FOUR!!!!

We got The Round Mound of Rebound leaving Matsuhisa this week when he revealed the man some say is the greatest shooter in league history ain't among the NBA's elite right now.

"I love Steph, but he's not with those guys," Barkley says.

Sooo ... who the hell is above Curry??

Like Santa, Charles has a list ...

"Well, I think LeBron is the best player in the league. I think Kawhi, Kevin [Durant] and Giannis are all right there together."

Interesting ... considering Steph's a two-time MVP, a three-time NBA champ, a five-time All-Star AND he holds the record for most 3s made in a season.

Jim Bridenstine -- the head of NASA -- says Steph Curry just HAS to be joking about his moon landing theory ... telling TMZ Sports, "I can't imagine he really believes that!!"

The Warriors superstar sent space nerds into a frenzy Monday when he declared on The Ringer's "Winging It" podcast that the moon landing in 1969 never happened.

Enter Bridenstine ... who says Curry's claim is so outrageous -- the point guard just cannot be serious.

"I think it's funny," Jim tells us ... "I can't imagine he really believes that. It's outside the realm of what's possible."

In fact ... Jim REALLY set Steph straight, saying, "Here's the thing, we didn't just go to the moon once, we went to the moon six times! And, we did it from 1969 to 1972!!!"

Bridenstine also doubled down on NASA's invitation to have Curry come check out all their evidence -- saying he'd LOVE to prove Steph wrong and get him involved in the space program afterward!

"My son is a HUGE fan of Steph Curry. So, if we can get him involved in space, I'm for it!"

Steph Curry thinks the moon landing was a big hoax ... and now NASA wants to turn the NBA superstar into a believer ... giving him a personal invite to tour all the evidence that proves it all happened.

The Warriors All-Star and his teammates revealed their skepticism on the Ringer's "Winging It" podcast with Vince Carter and Kent Bazemore ... admitting they truly believe the moon landing in 1969 never happened.

A rep for NASA tells TMZ Sports they wanna put an end to all that talk ASAP ... inviting Curry to check out their lunar labs and all the evidence that proves it all really went down.

"There’s lots of evidence NASA landed 12 American astronauts on the Moon from 1969 – 1972," spokesperson Allard Beutel says.

"We’d love for Mr. Curry to tour the lunar lab at our Johnson Space Center in Houston, perhaps the next time the Warriors are in town to play the Rockets."

"We have hundreds of pounds of Moon rocks stored there and the Apollo mission control. During his visit, he can see first-hand what we did 50 years ago, as well as what we’re doing now to go back to the Moon in the coming years, but this time to stay."

It's the season of giving ... so Kevin Durant gave his good buddy, Drake, his game-worn jersey ...

AND, A BIG OLE TITTY TWISTER!!

K.D. torched the 6 God's Toronto Raptors on Thursday with 51 points in an overtime thriller ... but the Dinos ended up on top, 131-128.

But, that didn't keep Durant from being super chummy with Drizzy after the game ... choppin' it up with the rap superstar and giving him the jersey off his back.

Of course, that wasn't the only gift K.D. gave Aubrey ... the dude got a nice nipple cripple earlier in the game ... and Drake loved it.

'Tits the season!!

Steph Curry was REALLY lucky to walk away from his Black Friday car crash without a serious injury -- because TMZ Sports obtained video of the accident ... and it's scary stuff.

As we previously reported, the Golden State Warriors star was driving his black Porsche on Highway 24 in Oakland on Nov. 23 when another car lost control, skidded out and slammed into Steph.

You can see in our video, the other driver was going pretty fast when the vehicle slipped across 4 lanes of traffic and clipped the front of Steph's car ... it appears both cars hit the center divider.

Officials say roughly 10 minutes after the crash, another car lost control and slammed into Steph's Porsche from behind.

Miraculously, no one suffered any major injuries. Steph was photographed walking around the crash after the incident. Officials say everyone was wearing their seat belts.

He later tweeted, "Don’t need any reminders but All the Time God is Great and God is Great all the time! Appreciate all the texts."

NBA superstar Steph Curry was in a multi-car wreck on an Oakland highway early Friday morning -- his Porsche was smashed up -- but he appears to be okay.

It all went down around 9 AM -- the Golden State Warriors star was driving on Highway 24 when a car spun out a collided with Steph's black Porsche. Then a second car smashed into Curry from behind.

The road conditions appeared to be a factor -- it's been raining in the area and the roads are wet.

An ambulance and the California Highway Patrol arrived at the scene, but Curry, along with everyone involved in the accident, seems to be fine -- no serious injuries -- according to the CHP.

The Warriors are scheduled to play the Portland Trailblazers Friday night, but Curry won't be in the lineup due to an unrelated groin injury.

This is amazing video ... Kevin Durant was on-camera the moment he was fined $25,000 for cussing out a heckler at an NBA game over the weekend -- and the reaction is incredible.

Durant was doing Chris Haynes' podcast for Yahoo Sports when the NBA reporter broke the news to him live on camera about the punishment for telling a Dallas Mavs fan to "shut the f**k up and watch the f**king game."

"I knew I was gonna get fined. How much they gonna fine me?" Durant asked.

Once he learned the number, Durant went off ...

"More fans should understand what that means ... Grown men can't come to a game and heckle grown men. That's corny and that's weak."

KD continued to mock the fan ... "You coming to a game to heckle another grown man, 'You soft. You weak. Draymond this, Draymond that. You a bitch.'"

"You going to sleep as a grown man doing that to another person."

As we previously reported, Durant approached the fan who sitting courtside at the Mavs vs. Golden State Warriors game on Saturday.

Witnesses told us the fan had been going off on KD for a while calling him names like "Cupcake."

The Warriors lost the game -- and now KD lost $25k -- which is really no big deal to him considering he's in the middle of a 2-year, $61 MILLION contract.

11/20 -- The NBA has fined Kevin Durant $25,000 for "directing inappropriate language toward a fan"

2:38 PM PT -- Another witness tells TMZ Sports ... the hecklers had been bombarding KD with the "cupcake" insults to the point where it became unbearable.

That witness tells us KD complained to the refs at one point but the fans were not removed or disciplined in any way.

The witness says KD's explicit outburst was completely justified.

Kevin Durant went off on a heckler who was sitting courtside at the Mavs game this weekend -- telling the guy, "Watch the f**king game and shut the f**k up."

It all went down during the 1st quarter of the Warriors vs. Mavs game in Dallas on Saturday.

One witness who was sitting in spitting distance from the incident tells us ... the heckler was just saying the typical NBA fan trash talk -- calling KD names like, "Cupcake" and other insults.

But, KD wasn't having it -- walking over to the group, leaning in ... and cussing the guys out.

Did Durant's warning work? Nope.

We're told the group laughed off the incident because they knew they got to him and ramped up the trash talk even more for the rest of the game.

Ultimately, the Mavs BEAT the Warriors 112 to 109 ... with KD dropping 32 points.

It ain't the first time KD's had to deal with hecklers -- he got into it with some trash talkers back in June and was held back when the guys shouted out that his alma mater (University of Texas) is "butt."

We all knew Steph Curry's clutch under pressure ... but the dude just took it to a whole 'nother level ... getting behind the needle and inkin' up his own personal tattoo artist!!

The Golden State Warriors superstar met up with the guy behind his body art -- Zebra Tattoo artist Nino Lapid -- on Monday night ... giving him one hell of a birthday present ...

A PERMANENT AUTOGRAPH ON HIS LEG!!!

Lapid is the same guy commissioned for a private tat sesh for the Curry fam after the Warriors beat up on the Cavs last year ... so they're a really tight group.

It's not every day you get tatted by a 2-time NBA MVP ... but that's not all that went down last night -- Steph's wife, Ayesha, and teammate Damion Lee got in on the fun too!!

Luckily for Nino ... it looks like Steph's hand was as steady as his shot.

Draymond Green says his heated argument with Kevin Durant -- one in which he repeatedly called K.D. a "b*tch" -- is only gonna make the Warriors better ... saying, "Good luck with us now!"

ICYMI ... the Golden State stars got into it at the end of a loss to the Clippers on Monday -- with Durant upset at Green in the huddle for a late-game turnover.

Green fired back harshly ... callin' Durant a "b*tch" multiple times -- and reportedly even letting the argument spill into the post-game locker room.

Green was eventually suspended one game -- and fined $120,000 -- for the altercation ... but told reporters Thursday the fight ain't gonna end the Warriors' dynasty.

"If this only makes Kevin, myself and the rest of my teammates stronger, that's what it's going to do," Green says.

In fact ... Draymond promised an EVEN BETTER version of the Dubs now.

"If you think you saw something before, good luck with us now. We not going to crumble off of an argument. We going to move forward."

That might be true for THIS season ... but Klay Thompson AND K.D. are free agents this summer -- and even Draymond couldn't guarantee their future with the team after that.

Too Short ain't exactly throwing Jon Gruden a vote of confidence ... telling TMZ Sports he's legit torn over the way the Raiders head coach is dismantling his favorite team.

We got the legendary Bay Area rapper leaving Sirius in NYC on Tuesday ... and he made it clear right away -- he ain't pleased with what's going down in Oakland.

"I'm really mad about 1-5," he says as he showed off all the silver and black he wore ... "I'm pissed about that."

Short's biggest problem with the team? Gruden ... 'cause Short says he's got some serious mixed feelings over Chuckie's first season back as Raiders head man.

"I'm just like everybody else, I'm mixed in between trading away all our players and bringing in the coach that beat us in the Super Bowl ... it's just we all got mixed emotions right now."

Short says it's gotten so bad for him ... he's legit on the verge of tears!!!!

But ... he does have one saving grace that he says makes him feel better ... "the Warriors, man!!"

Won't be hard for the Warriors to remember trouncing LeBron James the last two years ... 'cause they just got diamond, gold and sapphire bling to make sure they NEVER forget it!!!

Golden State unveiled its 2018 NBA Championship Rings on opening night Tuesday -- and the ice is FULL of reminders of how they overthrew the King ... two years in a row.

"Bristle texture" signifying the 4-0 sweep in the 2018 Finals? Check.

Two gold-and-diamond Larry O'Brien trophies for the back-to-back wins over the Cavs? They're there.

A "Back 2 Back" slogan engraved in the gold? Yup.

OH ... and the freakin' top IS REVERSIBLE -- because, ya know, back-to-back over Cleveland and all that.

As for the practicality of that whole unscrewing top thing ... not everyone was a fan -- Shaq said on air, "Why would you want your ring to open up???"