NBA

Anthony Davis is SO important to New Orleans ... one of the state's SENATORS reached out to the Pelicans to see if there was any way he'd stay!!!

For real.

We got Bill Cassidy -- the Louisiana politician who recently gained fame for blasting the NFL on the Senate floor -- and had to ask ... would he make a similar pitch for A.D. to stay??

That's when he revealed he had already reached out to New Orleans' owner ... and learned the sad news -- A.D.'s a goner.

"I spoke to the owner, Gayle Benson -- she says she's willing to meet his price. But, I think Anthony wants something different."

The news is crushing to New Orleans fans everywhere ... especially after the way the Saints bowed outta the playoffs just a few days ago.

Halsey has a message for Magic Johnson -- quit messin' around and figure out a way to sign Anthony Davis already!!!

The superstar singer was one of the MANY famous faces in the crowd as the Lakers took on the Philadelphia 76ers at Staples Center in L.A. on Tuesday night ... and it was clear she's no fair-weather fan.

The video of Halsey is cool -- not only does she talk basketball, she signs autographs and takes pics with her fans after the game. Great stuff.

As for a potential Davis signing, it's possible -- but it would require the Lakers to give up almost all of their young stars ... Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram and others. They might also have to give up some draft picks.

It seems L.A. is where Davis wants to end up -- in fact, he was just fined $50,000 this week for "tampering" because NBA officials believe he broke league rules by demanding a trade.

Oh, and ... A.D. and LeBron have the same agent. Just sayin' ...

Should be interesting to see how this plays out.

Meanwhile, check out all the superstars at the game -- the Kardashians were there supporting Kendall's boyfriend, Ben Simmons.

Leo DiCaprio was also on hand ... same with Kevin Hart, Rami Malek, Diplo, Flea and Ashton Kutcher.

New Orleans Pelicans superstar Anthony Davis is gonna have to fork over a $50,000 check after the NBA decided to fine him for "making public trade demands."

The NBA issued a statement explaining, "The fine is for statements that were made by Davis’ agent, Rich Paul, in an intentional effort to undermine the contractual relationship between Davis and the Pelicans."

The NBA says the anti-tampering rules were a part of the collective bargaining agreement -- and it specifically prohibits players or their representatives from making public trade demands.

The drama began Monday morning when ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported, "Anthony wants to be traded to a team that allows him the chance to win consistently and compete for a championship."

FYI, Davis is making $25,434,263 this season -- so, $50k is nothing for him -- it's more about the message it sends to other players.

Story developing ...

Move over Ari Emanuel (he's a big agent), LeBron James is coming for your job ... 'cause now Hollywood star Octavia Spencer is crediting Bron with getting her equal pay on a new Netflix series.

Spencer -- an Academy Award-winning actress -- worked with LeBron on a biopic about Madam C.J. Walker (America's first black self-made millionaire) and spoke at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association panel at Sundance about how instrumental James was in helping her get fair pay.

"I have to say, when I was negotiating my deal for ‘Madam C.J.,’ LeBron James had to intervene."

Spencer has been incredibly vocal in the fight for equal pay for women in Hollywood, banding together with huge actresses like Jessica Chastain to demand their dollars, but Octavia told the press in Park City it has to be a group effort.

"We need all our male counterparts to be in the fight with us.”

How do you make a 6'2", 240-pound man look SMALL?

Stand him next to Joel Embiid ... because that's exactly what happened when Yasiel Puig ran into the 76ers star in Beverly Hills and TMZ Sports cameras caught the whole thing.

Embiid was eating a meal at Il Pastaio in Beverly Hills when we got Puig walking up to him to say hi. But, it was when Embiid stood up to take a picture that the size became an issue.

To be fair to Puig, Embiid is 7'0" tall, so it would basically take Yao Ming to make him look small -- but still, it's pretty funny when you see the two guys next to each other.

BTW ... Puig's car is ridiculous ... and he showed it to the cameras after he was done making a new friend ... it's a Dodger blue Lambo, which now that he's been traded to Cincy, makes us all sad.

What's better than having a fully tricked out, $125k Jeep in your garage??

2 JEEPS!!!!!!!!

TMZ Sports has learned ... Miami Heat star Hassan Whiteside copped a baller white 2018 Jeep Wrangler this past offseason from Alex Vega of The Auto Firm.

Turns out, Vega did a bang-up job ... 'cause Whiteside had him make ANOTHER badass Jeep exactly like the first -- that means 22-in Avorza rims, massive 37-in. Nitto tires, incredible sound system, 6.4 Hemi engine ... and a really awesome car horn!!

Whiteside picked up the twin early on Monday ... and we're told he LOVES it ... and even started showing it off on social media.

It's worth noting ... the 2 whips match the Heat colors, so that's a nice touch.

We're told both Jeeps set Whiteside back over $125k each ... for all you math flunkies, that's more than a quarter-mil on the 2 whips.

Hey ... the dude's in the middle of a 4-year, $98.4 million deal ... can you blame him??

Could the Golden State Warriors starting 5 *actually* single-handedly beat the Eastern Conference All-Star starters?!?!

You better believe it ... so says Chris Webber, who tells TMZ Sports the Dubs are just too damn good to lose that fantasy matchup.

The 2019 All-Star game starters were announced Thursday night ... here's the East:

-- Kyrie Irving, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Kawhi Leonard and Kemba Walker

Here's the Warriors starting lineup:

-- Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Boogie Cousins, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green

Webber does a great job breaking down why the Eastern Conference All-Stars would LOSE if they took the court against the Warriors ... and he's pretty damn confident about it.

Of course, Webber used to play for the Warriors -- but there's no bias here. Webber's hittin' us with truth bombs.

As for the Western Conference All-Stars ... here's how that team looks:

-- LeBron, KD, Steph Curry, James Harden and Paul George.

That's scary.

Wanda Durant's son, Kevin (heard of him?), might just be the smoothest scorer in NBA history, but Mama tells us she's even more proud of what her boy does OFF the court for his community.

KD -- a 4-time scoring champ, league MVP, 2-time champion, and 10x All-Star -- recently opened his Durant Center, an after-school facility in his hometown focused on helping low-income students get to college.

Kevin put up $10 million to get the Center started, and when we talked to his mom and asked her which part of her son's life she's most impressed by, she went with the outreach, and not the NBA accolades.

"Off The court, of course. Off the court really shows who he is as a person."

They boycotted #45 ... but the Golden State Warriors got LOTS of love for #44 -- with the entire team meeting with Barack Obama on Thursday before taking the court against the Wizards.

Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and the rest of the squad met with President Obama at his Washington D.C. office ... and then posed for a group photo afterward.

Unclear what they all talked about -- but after the game, Durant told the media, "It was amazing."

Draymond described the meeting this way to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne -- "A private team meeting, team event, it was good."

Of course, the Warriors famously boycotted the White House after winning the NBA Championship in 2017 ... after visiting Obama in 2016 and 2015.

Durant previously told TMZ Sports, "We don't f*ck with [Trump]."

They DO, however, like Nancy Pelosi ... the Speaker of the House not only attended the Warriors vs. Wizards game on Thursday -- she also met with players after the game, including Draymond.

By the way, the Warriors won the game 126 to 118.

Boogie Cousins will be making a statement with his shoes when he takes the court Thursday night ... rockin' Puma kicks to support Meek Mill's push for criminal justice reform.

Meek teamed up with Puma to launch the new Clyde Court #REFORM kicks -- the profits of the shoe will go to Meek's Reform Alliance whose mission is to reform the probation and parole system in the U.S.

Boogie is down with the cause and has promised to wear the shoes when his Golden State Warriors take on the Washington Wizards on Thursday.

Everything about the shoe has a special meaning. The black coloring represents the American prison system. The red symbolizes the blood and sacrifice of those who have fought for justice. Gold stands for future victories.

There's also a quote on the heel from Olympic legend/social activist Tommie Smith which says, "We had to be seen because we couldn't be heard."

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."

If you owned a major sports agency, wouldn't you travel to wherever the hell the #1 player in the country was at??

That's what Jay-Z did on Tuesday night -- flying out to Pittsburgh to watch the Pitt Panthers take on Zion Williamson and Duke at the Petersen Events Center.

For the record, it's not like this was some marquee matchup -- Duke is the #2 team in the country and Pitt isn't ranked.

So, why would Jay -- as busy as he is -- leave Beyonce and the kids to see a college hoops game?

Seems pretty obvious he's making a run at Zion -- like every other major sports agent on the planet.

Zion is expected to be the #1 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft -- and it would be a huge score for Roc Nation which already has stars like Kevin Durant, Saquon Barkley and Todd Gurley on the roster.

In typical Zion fashion, he balled out in front of Hov -- dropping 25 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists in the 79 to 64 victory.

Also, Zion's teammate, R.J. Barrett -- who's also projected to be a Top 3 pick -- did well, posting 26 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.

Duke's #3 guy Cam Reddish had a decent stat line -- 15-6-4.

Jay had been planning the trip for weeks, according to Pitt coach Jeff Capel who told reporters, "His people reached out to me a few weeks ago about them wanting to come ... people from Roc Nation."

"Our athletic department and our ticketing people did an amazing job accommodating that. It’s great to have the greatest rapper ever in the arena.”

Guessing Jay can charge this trip to the company account -- like he's always said ... he's a not a businessman, he's a business, man.

Manny went for the handshake.

Floyd went for the dap.

The result was ... well, it was a mess.

Once again, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao came face-to-face at the Lakers game -- in what seems to be more shameless promotion for an upcoming rematch.

Floyd was sitting on the court at Staples Center in L.A. to watch the Lakers take on the Warriors (they lost) ... when Manny came up from behind to say "What's up."

The handshake greeting was a disaster -- but they got the point across.

The big problem ... Manny reportedly suffered an eye injury during his victory over Adrien Broner this past weekend -- which could throw a huge wrench in the rematch plans.

According to reports, Manny feared he suffered a detached retina in his left eye. Later, his manager said the eye was "fine" and he'll be okay.

Manny was wearing shades at the game -- so you can't see if the eye looks damaged on the surface.

As we previously reported, Manny and Floyd have been teasing a rematch for months ... and with both fighters looking pretty solid in their last fights, it seems a deal could be close.

The two originally fought back in 2015 -- with Floyd winning a unanimous decision in a pretty boring fight.

We recently spoke with Manny who told us he had a bad shoulder at the time -- and now that he's fully healed, he's confident he would whoop that ass.

No deal has been made at this point -- but we're guessing it's just a matter of time ... considering the money these guys could rake in.

There were other big stars at the Lakers game too -- including Halsey, Alexis Ren, Mahershala Ali, Jack Nicholson and LeBron James ... who was a spectator Monday night due to injury.

Get well soon!

Seems Ben Simmons is getting more serious about Kendall Jenner -- because he sat his girlfriend with his MOTHER at the 76ers game on Monday!

Check out Kendall rubbing elbows with Julie Simmons at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia -- where Ben and the 76ers beat up on the Houston Rockets in a 121 to 93 victory.

Ben's stat line wasn't spectacular -- only 9 points, 6 assists and 6 rebounds. And, he only hit 3 of 12 shots, which is bad for him (he usually shoots well over 50%).

But, who cares about individual stats when your team wins, right?

Plus, the most important question ... did Kendall and Mom get along?! Pretty well actually. The two were seen smiling and chatting. Good times.

It's not the first time they've kicked it together -- Kendall and Julie hung out at a game back in November 2018 and got along great then too.

Ben and Kendall have been dating on and off since May 2018. The next big question ... when does Julie get to come to L.A. to meet the rest of the Kardashians??

Zion Williamson needs to IGNORE Scottie Pippen's advice and NOT sit out the rest of the college basketball season because it could hurt his development ... so says Kenny Smith.

"When you play, you get an opportunity to hone your craft," Smith tells TMZ Sports ... "Iron sharpens iron."

Pippen sees it MUCH differently -- claiming the Duke superstar is the obvious #1 overall pick in the NBA Draft and he needs to sit out to avoid risking serious injury.

But, Smith says sitting will essentially stunt his growth -- because the constant competition with top college talent will make him more prepared for the jump to the NBA.

Check out the clip ... Kenny sends a personal message to Zion to keep playing ... and throws a little jab about the big UNC/Duke rivalry.

Lamar Odom made over $114 MILLION during his NBA career -- but a travel agent says the guy refuses to fork over a measly $25,000 for plane tickets ... and now he's suing.

Omar Rahmani claims he booked all sorts of trips for Odom between March '18 and June '18 -- from Florida to Vegas to New York ... even a flight to Hong Kong.

But, after racking up a $25,629.47 bill ... the NBA star refused to cut the check to Rahmani, his lawsuit claims.

Now the guy has filed a lawsuit in L.A. County Superior Court accusing Odom of breach of contract and fraud ... and he wants all of the cash plus punitive damages.

As for Odom, he doesn't seem too bothered by the lawsuit -- he's been training his ass off in New York to get ready for the Dubai International Basketball Championship which goes down in Feb.

The 39-year-old has been gunning for a pro basketball comeback ever since he recovered from his drug overdose in Nevada back in 2015 when he suffered 12 strokes and 6 heart attacks.