Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers will have a moment of silence before tonight's home opener to honor Flip Saunders ... the Minnesota Timberwolves coach who passed away this past weekend.

It just so happens that the Lakers play Minnesota tonight -- and a rep for the team tells us, "Our players will be wearing a special t-shirt during pre-game warmups and also we will do a brief moment of silence for Flip just before the national anthem."

This is pretty hilarious ... Lakers point guard Jordan Clarkson says he got a pretty bizarre welcome gift when he joined the squad last year -- A BABY.

Well, kind of a baby.

The Game just went full Master P ... saying he won't watch a Lakers game this year if the team doesn't immediately sign Lamar Odom ... when he's felling well enough to play.

Game was out in L.A. when we asked him if he thinks Lamar could be back on the court ... a tall order being that Odom still has a long medical road ahead of him ... including a possible kidney transplant ... just to live a normal life.

Check out the clip -- Game is adamant that Lamar could be back but goes further and says he SHOULD be back ... telling our guy he "won't watch a game" unless the team ... including Kobe Bryant ... gives LO another shot.

Get well first, LO.

Master P is coming out swingin' at Kobe Bryant -- saying Kobe's public display of emotion over Lamar Odom is an ACT ... because he had the chance to SAVE Lamar, but didn't step up when it counted.

Master P was charged up in the video -- saying he was "like a mentor" to Odom and personally knew how serious Lamar was about wanting to return to the NBA.

He says Kobe was also aware of the situation and could have used his clout with the Lakers to get Odom back on the squad, but instead did nothing.

"If Kobe was his friend ... Kobe, like, owns the team. He could've got the man back on the team ... that's all he wanted."

P also goes off on the NBA -- saying Odom was "blackballed" from the league over his decision to be on "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" ... because at the time, the NBA wanted nothing to do with them.

As for Khloe, P says he truly believed Odom loved her -- but made a mistake in marrying her because "he didn't realize what he was getting into." He concludes with a warning to James Harden.

Good news Lakers fans ... D.L. Hughley is one of the three people in the world who thinks the team has a shot this year ... all because he says Kobe Bryant still has something left in the tank.

Hughley is an absolutely gigantic Lakers fan ... so when we got him out in Beverly Hills Tuesday night, we had to talk Purple & Gold with him being that the season is right around the corner.

Check out the clip -- D.L. says that anyone who thinks it's time for the 37-year-old Mamba to slither off into the Sunset is totally wrong ... right now.

Nick Young's excited about the Lakers bringing Metta World Peace out of retirement -- he just has a funny way of showing it ... which probably has a lot to do with the fact he got a little turnt Thursday night.

Nick was outside The Nice Guy in West Hollywood when we asked about his new teammate, and newsflash ... he's declaring yet another name change for Metta.

We're pretty sure Metta will NOT be down with his suggestion. Swaggy P also said something about switching up his own nickname -- but that could've been the drinks talking.

Definitely a fun night for Nick ... aka ole whatshisname.

Bonus: Nick's werewolf theory regarding that fight he and his pals had at a Dave & Buster's.

He's already been honored in France, but now one of the American heroes who thwarted a gunman on a Paris-bound train will be celebrated by his favorite NBA team ... the L.A. Lakers!!!

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Anthony Sadler was wearing a Lake Show t-shirt when he and his 2 friends Spencer Stone and Alek Skarlatos jumped into action and saved countless lives this weekend.

Sadler's mother has said he's a huge Lakers fan and his favorite player is Kobe Bryant.

Now, we've learned ... the Lakers have definitely taken notice and a rep for the team tells us plans are already in the works to honor Sadler -- along with Stone and Skarlatos.

The guys have already received France's highest award -- the Legion of Honor -- and that's cool and all ... but props from the Lakers?? Doesn't get better than that ...

10:59 AM PT -- Seems soccer superstar Thomas Muller has also taken notice of the fact Alek Skarlatos was wearing his Bayern Munich jersey during the incident ... and couldn't be more proud!

Muller posted a note on Twitter saying, "Those are heros. And one of them wears my trikot. Great guys."

Awesome.

Iggy Azalea is talking so much smack about Nick Young and his teammates ... you'd think she and Swaggy had been married for 30 years already.

Washington Wizard Jared Dudley just pulled a 180 on Kobe Bryant -- calling him a LOCK for Team USA ... even though he recently said free agent superstars were avoiding Kobe like the plague.

Dudley was leaving Greystone in WeHo when we asked if the Mamba should rep USA in the Olympics next year ... with younger players like Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kenneth Faried. Some critics feel Kobe's getting a little long in the tooth.

Check out the clip, 'cause Jared sounds like the head cheerleader for Kobe -- which is interesting since just 3 months ago he said Kobe's ball-hogging and attitude was killing the Lakers' attempts to recruit new blood. Now he's calling him a "legend."

Hmmm ... maybe someone's looking to score an invite to Kobe's 37th birthday next week.

Nick Young gave his Lakers teammates a huge gift when he attempted to out lip-synch his fiancee, Iggy Azalea ... and lost ... in humiliating fashion.

Nick and Iggy went head-to-head on last night's episode of "Lip Sync Battle" on Spike -- and turns out Nick wasn't so Swaggy after all.

Azalea whipped out her "Freak Me" by Silk -- complete with pelvic thrusts on the stage. Nick tried to go sweet with Maroon 5's "Sugar" ... but came up short.

The real winner here wasn't Iggy though -- it's the Lakers who just got handed a season's worth of images to post in Nick's locker.

Roy Hibbert sees himself as more of an adolescent white kid struggling to make sense of high school ... than a 7'2" NBA shot blocking machine.

TMZ Sports uncovered this secret about the brand new Lakers big man when we saw him out in Bev. Hills on Wednesday night, and asked about celebrity aliases.

We all know most celebs use fake names when they check into a hotel, and Roy's gonna need a new one -- since he blew his own cover with our photog.

Roy also gives us a Kobe Bryant update, as in ... what happened after that super awkward news conference where he was asked if the Mamba called when he joined the team.

Kobe Bryant is NOT the Lakers welcoming committee -- and won't call new teammates like Roy Hibbert and Lou Williams until they EARN a phone call ... so says Metta World Peace.

Metta knows what he's talking about -- he played with Kobe for years ... and says it's not Kobe's responsibility to call the new guys and make them feel welcome. It's on them to prove they belong.

BTW -- this all stems from the Lakers introductory news conference when Roy, Lou and Brandon Bass were asked if Kobe had reached out ... and the response was awkward silence.

So ... no.

But it's not just Kobe who busts out the cold shoulder for newbies -- Metta says notorious nice guy Tim Duncan gave a 19-year-old Tony Parker the silent treatment for AN ENTIRE YEAR until the pup earned his stripes.

Three new Lakers were silenced by Kobe Bryant ... or at least a question about Kobe -- and the video is super awkward.

The Lakers held a news conference to introduce Roy Hibbert, Lou Williams, and Brandon Bass to the media -- and, naturally, one of the first questions was Mamba-related: "Any of you guys heard from Kobe, and if so, what did he say?"

Y'know when they say silence is deafening? This clip is full-on Helen Keller.

He's worth MILLIONS, but Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak saved a couple of bucks this weekend by stuffing himself into a coach seat on Southwest airlines ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Kupchak -- along with other members of the Lakers staff -- flew from LAX to Vegas ... where the team played against the Minnesota Timberwolves in an NBA summer league game.

By the way, Kupchak is 6'9" tall -- so it's a tight squeeze, even for a 45 minute flight!!!

The good news -- Mitch was the second guy on the plane so he was able to lock down the emergency exit row ... scoring himself a few extra inches.

But here's where things get interesting ... Lakers part-owner Jim Buss was also at LAX that day to fly to Vegas -- but did NOT get on the same Southwest flight.

Private jet, perhaps??

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is having a rough year ... the NBA legend got into a car wreck at UCLA yesterday ... and TMZ Sports has the pics.

Kareem was arriving to UCLA Medical Center, where he underwent quadruple bypass surgery earlier this year, when he got into a collision with another vehicle.

Sources connected to the Hall of Famer tell us he's doing OK -- no major injuries -- and it appeared the other person in the wreck was also fine.

People recognized Kareem at the scene ... not just because he's huge, but also because he was wearing his old Lakers jersey at the time of the crash.

Cops showed up ... but we're told there were no major issues, just your usual fender bender.

NY Knicks honcho Phil Jackson seems to be VERY AMUSED by all the criticism surrounding Kristaps Porzingis -- but says when push comes to shove, the Latvian is a good investment.

Jackson was having dinner with coach Derek Fisher at Ago in West Hollywood last night ... when we brought up the #4 pick in the draft.

Check out the clip ... long story short, Jackson says ... "Porzingis is some stock to invest in."

Fisher agrees -- and says he likes the guy ... and hopes he has a nice long career.

Sidenote -- We also asked Jackson about L.A. Dodgers star Yasiel Puig and reports that his teammates don't like him.