Houston Rockets

Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player James Harden understands what Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, and Darkwing Duck have already proved ... that if you're gonna be a hero, you gotta have some theme music.

We got Harden cruising the streets of Hollywood yesterday (in a car fit for a superhero) and asked him what his theme music is when he pulls up to L.A. clubs to stunt.

In true superhero fashion, Harden says very little (okay, maybe Deadpool is different), but rolls down his window for our guy and blares his answer as he pulls off into the Los Angeles sunset.

In case you were wondering, the song is "Petrafyde" by NinaN9ne and 8ig Hungry ... which is a jam fit for a hero to be sure.

BTW -- we didn't make up the rules for heroes and their theme music ... Keenen Ivory Wayans did.

It's official ... Yao Ming is a college graduate!

The ex-NBA star got his degree this weekend from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China ... where he first enrolled as an economics student back in 2011.

In fact, the former Houston Rockets star even joked about his 7-year plan while addressing the rest of his class.

"Let me quote a famous conversation that happened on a basketball court 11 years ago, 'This is going to be your league in a little while,'" Yao said according to CGTN.

"Trust me, when a man spends 7 years in university to graduate at age 38, he knows what he's talking about!"

Yao also thanked his parents -- who were sitting in the crowd.

Ming also revealed he considered dropping out of school -- especially due to struggles in advanced math classes.

But, he stuck with it and now Yao's got his diploma!

Now, Yao -- who made roughly $100 million in the NBA -- will try to make it in the real world.

Simply committing to the Lakers as one of the greatest basketball players of all time does NOT mean LeBron James is already an L.A. legend -- so says NBA star Clint Capela.

We got the Houston Rockets center leaving Il Pastaio in Bev Hills on Sunday and just had to ask ... should LBJ already be mentioned with Kobe, Magic and Shaq in Lakers' lore now?!

"A legend in L.A.? I mean, he's going to have to prove a little bit. At least a little something."

Interesting comments from Clint ... considering he's a restricted free agent who reportedly met with the Lakers about possibly signing an offer sheet just hours before the King's commitment.

Maybe not the best way to get Bron to make the Lakers shell out more cash for him ... but could there be some reverse psychology going on here from Clint?!

Chris Paul is going to bat for his teammate -- saying James Harden deserved to win MVP over LeBron James ... but now, he needs to add an NBA title to his resume.

"He's gonna get that too," CP3 told TMZ Sports on the way out of Catch ... "but he deserved the MVP."

There's an argument James got screwed at the NBA Award ceremony Monday night -- since he played in more games than Harden, scored more points than Harden, got more rebounds, more assists and took his team further with less talent around him.

But, Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni is also siding with Paul -- saying Harden was "without a doubt" the best player in the league and "has been ready to get [MVP] for the last 3 years."

Houston Rockets fans are still so bitter at being knocked out of the playoffs by the Warriors, they've gone to Yelp to take out their frustrations on Ayesha Curry's new Houston restaurant.

Steph Curry's wife is opening International Smoke in Houston in July -- and a bunch of haters have already bombarded the page with anti-Warriors trash talk, as first pointed out by NBA reporter Tomer Azarly.

Some of the highlights ...

-- "Steph is overrated. Klay sucks"

-- "This is absolutely the worst place to go - her husband cheated his way to a championship and now she has the guts to open up a place here??"

-- "Waited 35 mins for water and it tasted like Seth curry tears ! Will never be back ! Can't support this place .. Harden MVP"

-- "Any real rockets fans will NEVER step foot into this place. Disgusting."

-- "Can't believe I logged on here and took time out of my day just to give this 1 star. Go rockets."

As you can imagine, the comments have already been flagged by Yelp -- which is now reviewing the page to take out the fake critics.

The Houston Rockets will win a championship without LeBron James -- but if he wants to join the squad and help out -- door's open ... so says U.S. Congressman from Texas Kevin Brady.

LeBron is a free agent ... and Houston is one of the favorites to land LBJ.

So, when we saw Brady -- whose 8th Congressional District encompasses the area near Houston -- in D.C. on Monday, we asked him to make his pitch to King James.

"This is a winning team already. They got a winning culture," Brady tell us. "This is gonna be a championship team in my view, with or without him, but he can play a role. So, if he wants to come, I'll tell you what, people would love him."

FYI -- the Rockets won 65 games this year -- more than any other team -- and took the Warriors to Game 7 before losing.

If James Harden was bummed about not being in the NBA Finals ... he ain't showin' it -- 'cause he was TURNING UP with shirtless Travis Scott onstage Saturday night!!

Just five days after being bounced from the playoffs ... the Rockets PG turned to his ex-GF's sister's BF to get away from it all ... and he got away from it.

The Beard joined Kylie Jenner's baby daddy during the last few minutes of his Governors Ball set, rockin' out to "Beibs in the Trap" ... and the crowd loved it -- giving a "F*CK THE WARRIORS" chant afterward.

Remember, Scott's a huge Houston fan ... and was spotted at Harden's games against the Dubs late last month.

Good news, Houston Rockets fans -- you may have lost Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals, but all early signs point to your star PG Chris Paul returning next season ... including the fact he's selling his L.A.-area home.

CP3, who's set to be a free agent next season, put his Calabasas property on the market just months after buying a massive mega-mansion in Texas about 30 miles from where the Rockets play ... and he's asking for a cool $11.5 million.

The Calabasas pad -- which Paul bought in 2015 for nearly $9 mil -- is more than 11,000 sq. ft. with 6 beds and 8 baths ... featuring a master bedroom with a private courtyard, a chef's kitchen with a pizza oven, a refrigerated wine closet and a home theater.

The ballin' grounds boast a pool & spa, fountain, waterfall, fire pit, BBQ island ... and a full-size outdoor basketball court. Oh, and Khloe Kardashian is the next-door neighbor.

Chris Paul is speaking out about the Texas school shooting that happened roughly 35 miles from Houston on Friday ... and he's calling for change to prevent similar tragedies from happening again.

“First and foremost, aside from the playoffs going on, which is minor compared to what is taking place down in Santa Fe," Paul said Friday morning at Rockets practice.

"Our prayers going out to the victims and the families having to deal with that situation."

FYI, 10 people were killed and several more injured at Santa Fe HS when a shooter opened fire inside the building.

"We have a lot of fan support there. Those people come out and support us night in, night out. So, this is very minor compared to what those people are dealing with.”

Talk about an overreaction -- James Harden reached out and smacked the crap out of a Jazz fan's cell phone Wednesday all over some harmless heckling ... and the cops were involved.

But get this ... despite the fact the fan was on the receiving end of the smack, the cops treated HIM like the bad guy and scolded him for talking trash at a basketball game.

So, what was the heckle that sent Harden over the edge?

"You're still the worst flopper in the NBA."

The fan was behind a barricade at the time of the incident and posed no physical threat to Harden. Still, the Houston Rockets star smacked the guy's phone anyway.

The fan was flabbergasted when cops chastised him -- even though he pointed out that HE was the one who was physically assaulted.

Eventually, the fan went back to his seat and promised not to stand behind the barricade for the rest of the game. No arrests were made.

Lookin' for a big ass house with 14 bathrooms? Hit up Chris Paul's realtor ... 'cause the Rockets star just put his Houston mansion up for sale ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Paul bought the ridiculously huge 18,717 square ft. place last October ... a few months after he was traded from the Clippers to the Rockets.

It's unclear why he's selling so quickly ... though the drive from the property to the Toyota Center -- where Houston plays -- is about an hour.

CP3's asking price ... $6,975,000.

Ted Cruz says it's awesome his hometown Astros (mostly) said what's up to Trump at the White House ... and he's got faith the Rockets will, too.

We got the Texas Senator after he took in Monday's World Series ceremony in D.C. -- and you can tell he was still PUMPED off his 'Stros winning their first title.

"To win it in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, when so many Houstonians, so many Texans, were hurting -- it just meant an enormous amount," Cruz told TMZ Sports.

It was all pretty touching stuff from Ted ... that is 'til the conversation turned to the defending champion, Warriors -- who staunchly rejected their Oval Office visit.

"I think it is unfortunate that we've seen that happen ... I'm hoping that this is the first of at least two Houston trips to the White House this year."

Guessing he hasn't seen James Harden's hat ...

Ex-NBA star Steve Francis says he's sick of people claiming he was on crack -- saying he's NEVER done that drug in his life ... but admits he battled alcohol abuse.

Francis opened up in The Players' Tribune in an article in which he details his tough journey to the NBA -- and the struggles he's had after his playing career ended.

"I had some dark days, no question," Francis admits ... "And I know people were asking, 'What the hell happened to Steve Francis?' But the hardest part was reading some bulls**t on the Internet saying that I was on crack."

"When I thought about my grandmother reading that, or my kids reading that … that broke my heart. Listen, I sold crack when I was growing up. I’ll own up to that. But never in my life did I ever do crack."

So, what happened to Steve after his NBA glory days?

"I was drinking heavily, is what happened. And that can be just as bad. In the span of a few years I lost basketball, I lost my whole identity, and I lost my stepfather, who committed suicide."

The dark days Francis is referring to likely includes March 2015 -- when an out-of-it Francis had a chain snatched off his neck at a Houston rap show.

He was also arrested for drunk driving in 2016 -- and during the incident, he cussed out police calling them "groupie motherf**kers."

He also yelled at the cops for checking out his gold chain and screamed, "Now you playing with fire, homie."

James Harden's crossover broke the internet -- and Wesley Johnson's ankles -- Wednesday night ... but one of the best ball handlers on the planet says he's seen way better!!

We got AND1 legend "The Professor" -- real name Grayson Boucher -- the morning after Harden's dirty cross/stare down combo vs. the Clippers ... and he told TMZ Sports why he thinks it should NOT go down with the all-time greats.

Don't get it twisted -- Professor says the Beard's shake was "one of the best of the season, for sure" ... but to get an A+ in his class, you gotta drop fools with Allen Iverson-level sauce.

Speaking of A.I., Grayson told us whether or not Iverson's his pick for GOAT NBA crossover artist ... and who he feels is the best in the game today (and trust us -- it's a shocker).

Clippers honcho Jerry West says the incident with the Houston Rockets is "just one of those things that happens in sports" ... and chalks it all up to emotions and testosterone.

TMZ Sports spoke with The Logo in Bev Hills ... and he told us he's not worried about beefing up security at Staples Center after the alleged post-game altercation that went down earlier this week.

West also praised Houston's Chris Paul -- and said the former Clippers player is "somebody that I care about a lot."

West shot down the Arron Afflalo vs. Nemanja Bjelica incident as a "fake fight" too ... because Afflalo didn't land his haymaker punch!!!

Matt Barnes is sounding off on everything from NBA fighting, to the NBA refs sucking, to calling Austin Rivers an arrogant punk ... and he doesn't care who knows it.

The recently retired NBA star went off on the NBA refs on Tuesday night -- telling TMZ Sports straight-up, "Now that they can't fine me, the refs are terrible!" The refs got too big of egos."

He also said why NBA fighting can be good for the league.

As for his former Clippers teammate, Austin Rivers ... buckle up.

"Austin kinda rubs people the wrong way," Barnes told "Mad Dog Sports Radio" ... "He talks a lot of trash and doesn't really back it up. I think people are probably tired of that."

Barnes says Rivers "carries himself like he's a 10-time All Star and he's not that and that kind of arrogance rubs you the wrong way."

"And then if you're talking trash on top of that there are some guys that's not gonna have it and I know Trevor [Ariza's] one of 'em."