NBA

"He’s still a great player, not a hall of famer yet, though."

That's Michael Jordan talking about ... get this ... STEPH CURRY!!!

His Airness made the statement on Tuesday's "Today" show -- when he was backing an old claim that the 4 dudes he would select in a pickup game would be Hakeem Olajuwon, Scottie Pippen, Magic Johnson and James Worthy.

When Craig Melvin asked if Steph Curry should be offended that he isn't on MJ's list, Jordan replied ... "I hope not. He's still a great player. Not a Hall of Famer yet, though."

Of course, Curry is a LOCK for the Hall of Fame -- 3x NBA champ, 2x MVP, 6x NBA All-Star ... and he's widely considered one of (if not) the greatest shooter of all time.

Guessing Curry won't take this too seriously ...

During the interview, Jordan also revealed he no longer plays pickup basketball because he's afraid his hyper-competitive nature will kick in and "it will take over."

Melvin says MJ is concerned that he would compete TOO HARD and end up hurting himself.

"Every major American company does business in China and it's not fair to act like LeBron's gonna save the world."

That's Charles Barkley staunchly DEFENDING LeBron James and the comments he made about the NBA's issues with China ... telling TMZ Sports Bron's getting done DIRTY.

Of course, LeBron has been taking a TON of heat for condemning Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey for posting a pro-Hong Kong tweet and creating an international incident. LeBron says Morey wasn't educated on the topic before weighing in on the issue publicly.

People were hoping LeBron would go after China for attempting to quash free speech and punishing people who criticized the government. But, that didn't happen.

Enter Barkley ... who put it this way -- "I thought everybody was really unfair to LeBron."

"Everybody does business in China. Every American company does business in China. Why should LeBron not be able to protect his financial interests?"

Our photog, Charlie, challenged Barkley, telling him people looked up to LeBron as a warrior for free speech, democracy and social justice ... and they were disappointed to see him go after Morey instead of China.

"Everybody don't have to pick every battle to fight," Barkley explained ... "LeBron is passionate about the things he wants to be passionate about. We don't get to tell him what we want him to talk about."

Barkley says it's obvious LeBron is protecting his business interests in China, and he doesn't fault James ONE BIT for it.

"Why do all these other companies get to invest in China and LeBron doesn't have to protect his business interests?!?"

In the end, Barkley says LeBron's an "amazing guy" and "respects the hell" out of him.

Big break in the Andre Emmett murder case ... Dallas PD says they have identified and obtained warrants to arrest the two suspects in the shooting death of the ex-NBA and BIG3 star.

As we previously reported, 37-year-old Emmett was shot and killed on September 23. Surveillance footage showed Emmett sitting in his car in front of his house around 2:30 AM when he was approached by 2 men at gunpoint. Emmett tried to run but was shot dead.

After nearly a month-long investigation, detectives identified 29-year-old Michael Lucky and Keith Johnson, 32, as prime suspects ... and obtained capital murder arrest warrants for both men.

Johnson was booked in Dallas County Jail on Friday -- and he's still behind bars. Lucky has not yet been arrested.

Emmett -- the 35th pick to the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2004 NBA Draft -- was the 2nd leading scorer in the 3-on-3 league this past season while playing for 3's Company.

The Hong Kong protests migrated to the U.S. Friday, where demonstrators tore into the NBA and LeBron James during the Raptors/Nets Game in Brooklyn.

The demonstrators were holding signs that read, "Human Rights Matter! Here + There!" and "NBA Stand for Freedom" while wearing T-shirts that read "Free Tibet" and "Stand With Hong Kong."

One sign read, "Tsai & LeBron: Morey was right - NBA: Stand for freedom” and “Don’t let China buy our silence, people are dying to be free”.

Protesters continued chanting until they were escorted out of the arena by security. They vowed to continue appearing at NBA games.

Tensions between the NBA, the Chinese government and pro-Hong Kong protesters intensified over the last week. It started when Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey tweeted in support of Hong Kong.

Nick Young and Rihanna???

It almost happened ... with the NBA star saying he shot his shot at the superstar after she watched him ball out at a Lakers game, but there was one thing holding him back ... Iggy Azalea.

It all went down around 2014, according to Swaggy (who told the story on the "Certified Buckets" podcast) ... saying he was motivated to play outta his mind after he saw RiRi sitting courtside at Staples Center.

"I had a good game, so [the reporters] asked me why ... and I said, you know, Rihanna was there."

Young says the shout-out got a reaction from Rihanna -- who actually hit him up afterward, but he didn't follow through because there was already another famous lady in the picture.

"She hit me back, but I couldn't go full throttle with it because I was like, in the beginning stages of my relationship with [Iggy]."

The hosts of the podcasts nearly lost their minds over Nick's revelation -- with Sarunas J Jackson saying straight-up, "WRONG ONE MAN!"

"You coulda been King of Barbados! You could have been first man of Barbados right now!"

Don't worry, Nick defended Iggy's honor -- "I think I did pretty good, though. It worked out for a little bit."

Of course, Nick and Iggy dated for years and even got engaged ... but things fell apart after Nick admitted messing around on Iggy on cell phone footage posted by then-teammate D'Angelo Russell ('memba that?!?).

The ousted cofounder of the Big Baller Brand says Lonzo Ball was secretly diagnosed with torn ligaments in his ankle BEFORE he was traded to New Orleans ... but the Pelicans and the Ball family say it's just not true.

In fact, both the Balls and the Pelicans say they have solid medical evidence proving Lonzo's ankle is fine.

The man behind the claim is Alan Foster, who was fired from BBB and later sued by Lonzo. In his suit, Ball claims Alan stole more than $2 million from him.

Foster denies the allegations -- but he's REALLY pissed ... and has launched a new YouTube show promising to "expose" the truth about the Ball family.

In a video published Thursday, Foster claims he knows a secret about Lonzo's health -- "Nobody knows that he has torn ligaments."

Foster says Lonzo met with a specialist in Ohio earlier this year (when he was still on the Lakers) and an MRI and X-rays confirmed ligament damage to his ankle.

"A torn ligament at the point of your ankle where your ligament is torn, it's not gonna heal on its own. He's applying too much pressure, he's cutting left and right. This is a very sensitive area that has to be strong," Foster says.

Foster claims Lonzo was all set to undergo surgery, but when the Lakers found out -- they "freaked out" and told him to cancel the procedure. He alleges Lakers honchos sent the team jet to immediately bring him back to L.A.

Foster claims the Lakers believed if Zo went under the knife, it would hurt his trade value -- "No team would have wanted Lonzo with an ankle injury, recovering from surgery."

Lonzo was eventually traded to the Pelicans -- but Foster says the 21-year-old never had the procedure to repair his injury, and is at a huge risk of causing even more damage.

"If Lonzo doesn't get surgery, he's gonna have another season with the New Orleans Pelicans and he's gonna get injured again."

We reached out to the Pelicans and a rep told us, "The team strongly debunks this and was very aware of Lonzo's injury history and status [before we traded for him]."

Shaquille O'Neal is stepping up and doing an amazing thing for the family of a 12-year-old boy who was paralyzed in a random shooting ... paying for them to live in a handicap accessible home.

12-year-old Isaiah Payton was struck in the spine by a stray bullet when leaving a high school football game in Atlanta on August 17. He was paralyzed from the chest down.

Payton was hospitalized and eventually stabilized -- but doctors would not release him because his family's 1-bedroom apartment was not equipped to handle his special needs.

That's when Shaq stepped in ...

The NBA legend -- along with partners at Papa Johns -- found Payton's family a suitable home in the College Park area and have pledged to take care of the family's finances for a year.

"We’re going to give her some furniture, TVs and pay her rent off for a year and help her get on her feet," Shaq told WXIA-TV.

"I was watching the story and it’s just sad. It could have been any one of us. It could have been my son. It could’ve been your cousin."

Dennis Rodman has been charged with misdemeanor battery in Florida for allegedly slapping a man at his own birthday party back in May -- but The Worm is adamant he's innocent.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... cops say Rodman was at the Buddha Sky Bar in Delray Beach on May 17 when he "unprovokedly turned around and smacked" 30-year-old Jeff Soulouque.

Soulouque claims Rodman immediately began apologizing for the incident and invited him out to dinner the following night in an attempted peace offering.

But, Soulouque told TMZ Sports he was really hurt -- and went to the hospital where he was diagnosed with a left corneal abrasion. He went to cops the day after the incident and filed a report.

Cops launched an investigation and called up a witness named David Lee Roth -- who, shockingly, is NOT the Van Halen singer. Still, cops say DLR corroborated Soulouque's story.

"Roth stated he was about twenty feet away and he saw Rodman turn around and open hand smack Soulouque two times," the report states.

Prosecutors later charged Rodman with misdemeanor battery -- and on Thursday, DR's attorney appeared in court on his behalf and pled not guilty.

It's a big deal for Rodman -- the charge carries a maximum sentence of a year in jail, 12 months probation and a $1,000 fine.

And, with Dennis' criminal history, it's possible a judge could throw the book at the NBA legend if he's convicted.

Sacramento Kings star Harrison Barnes has stepped up and will pay for the funeral of Atatiana Jefferson, the woman who was shot and killed by a police officer while she was in her own home.

Jefferson's story has made national news -- a neighbor had called police early Saturday morning to check on Jefferson after he saw a door was open at her home in Fort Worth, Texas.

When the officer, Aaron Dean, arrived at the home ... he saw a person inside, and before ever announcing he was a police officer, he opened fire and shot Jefferson, killing the 28-year-old.

Dean has been charged with murder. He's currently out on $200,000 bail.

Jefferson had been peacefully, innocently watching her 8-year-old nephew at the home.

Now, Barnes -- who played for the Dallas Mavericks for 3 years before being traded to the Kings -- has offered to help out the family and foot the bill for the funeral, which is scheduled for Saturday in Dallas.

Barnes has made a lot of money in his NBA career -- he recently signed a 4-year, $85 million extension. He has earned a reputation for being extremely generous with his money and often giving back to the community.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver wants to make it clear he did NOT apologize to the Chinese government for Daryl Morey's pro-Hong Kong tweet ... but he still wants to save the NBA's relationship with the foreign power.

"I'd hate to see this relationship end over this incident," Silver told TMZ Sports in New York.

When asked specifically if he would be open to going back to China to play more NBA exhibition games next year, Silver told us, "Nothing is off the table."

"We do need to reset with the Chinese government and everybody has to establish what the rules of the road are going to be going forward."

Silver touched on a variety of China-related topics during our conversation ... here are some of the hit points:

-- Silver says he's spoken with Daryl Morey several times since the initial "Stand with Hong Kong" tweet to make sure he's "getting through this okay."

-- Silver says Morey has been getting "pressure" from hundreds of millions of Chinese people but he's also happy Daryl is getting support from people in the U.S.

-- Silver says he has NOT spoken about the issue with Donald Trump but has had conversations with people in Trump's administration.

-- Silver has consulted with NBA player Enes Kanter about the situation. Kanter, who's from Turkey, has caught hell back home for speaking out against the Turkish government and he ripped LeBron James for the comments he made condemning Daryl Morey.

-- Silver also says he consulted former NBA commish David Stern about the issue since Stern is still an adviser to the league.

-- Silver also admitted he was "bothered" that the league's initial statement about the Morey tweet was interpreted by many to be an apology to the Chinese government.

The initial statement read, "We recognize that the views expressed by Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey have deeply offended many of our friends and fans in China, which is regrettable."

"While Daryl has made it clear that his tweet does not represent the Rockets or the NBA, the values of the league support individuals’ educating themselves and sharing their views on matters important to them."

Silver explained to TMZ Sports ... "It bothered me that in saying we regretted upsetting hundreds of millions of Chinese fans while at the same time supporting Daryl Morey’s speech, it bothered me, I’d say, that it was interpreted as an apology to the Chinese government."

"We certainly didn’t apologize to the Chinese government."

"We supported Daryl from the get-go in terms of his ability to tweet. We also made clear that there were consequences from that speech. And, I think that was no doubt frustrating to a lot of people in the NBA community because it was incredibly disruptive. But, you know, we accepted that. Daryl knew we accepted that. There was not much we could do about that. But, I think it bothered me that somehow even though we – I felt were holding the line in a way that many companies haven’t been able to in China, meaning there was no discipline of our employee, there was never a suggestion that we weren’t supporting him."

LeBron James got the "South Park" treatment on Wednesday -- mocking the NBA superstar for the comments he made about Daryl Morey ... and it's pretty hilarious.

Remember, South Park has been at war with China this month too -- the country blackballed the show over an episode in which they used Winnie the Pooh to mock President Xi.

"South Park" doubled down the following week, with multiple characters on the show saying, "F*ck the Chinese government!"

Fast forward to Wednesday night ... and they're still not done -- this time using LeBron's actual quotes from his anti-Morey comments as fodder.

In the ep, titled "Let Them Eat Goo," Cartman gets pissed after the school wants to switch out the usual lunches for healthier options.

At one point, Cartman confronts the protesters and says ... "Yes, we do have freedom of speech, but at times there are ramifications for the negative that can happen when you are not thinking about others and only thinking about yourself!"

Sound familiar?

There's more ... Cartman says, "They're trying to change people's lunch! They don't realize it harms people financially, physically, emotionally and spiritually!"

Is LeBron James using fashion to make a political statement? Maybe ...

After LeBron dropped 18 points in the Lakers preseason win over Golden State on Wednesday, he took his wife out for a date while wearing a Nike shirt that says, "No Clout."

A lot of Bron critics would probably agree with the shirt after the way LeBron's been handling the China situation ... so you gotta wonder if Bron picked out the shirt as a way of acknowledging and addressing the backlash.

Or, maybe he just liked the shirt.

We tried to ask Bron about the China situation on his way out of the Highlight Room Rooftop Lounge in L.A., where he had a date night with Savannah ... but it was clear Bron wouldn't go there.

Instead, he engaged with fans, complimented some young girls as "Queens" and got into his car ... he was very nice to everyone.

Seems Bron is looking to get his life back to normal amid the China drama -- he balled out during the preseason game and everyone's talking about this insane no-look, over the shoulder assist.

Are people ready to move on already? We'll see ...

Sen. Ted Cruz has a blistering message for LeBron James ... "kissing up to Chinese communists and tyrants and apologizing for murderers, that's not a good look."

The U.S. Senator from Texas went off on LeBron over the NBA star's comments on China ... saying it sounds like Bron's "more interested in money and making bucks" than standing up for human rights.

"I don't have a problem with [athletes speaking out on politics]. What I have a problem with is when they don't know what they're talking about and they end up defending tyrants."

Cruz is obviously referring to LeBron's repeated condemnation of Daryl Morey's pro-Hong Kong tweet. Bron said the Rockets GM was "not educated" on the topic before creating an international incident.

But, Cruz says if ANYONE needs to be educated, it's LeBron -- "I would encourage LeBron to learn a little bit about the people of Tibet, learn a little bit about Falun Gong the religious persecution and the torture and the horrific human rights abuses that occur in China."

"This is not the time to try to crucify LeBron's character. We all know who LeBron is."

That's ex-NBA player Stephen Jackson going to bat for his pal, LeBron James ... telling TMZ Sports Bron ain't the kowtowing sellout some people are making him out to be.

Look, Jackson admits LeBron probably could have handled the China situation better ... but thinks people need to stop hatin' and consider all of the GOOD stuff Bron does for people.

"He's done so much off the court. We can't let this one incident when we knew he was coming from a good place [destroy his reputation]. He was coming from a good place, he might not know everything he's talking about but we know LeBron, and it's never coming from a bad place. I would stand to say that."

Of course, LeBron has been under fire for condemning Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey -- and suggesting the guy "wasn't educated" when he sent his controversial pro-Hong Kong tweet.

LeBron James is FINALLY talking about the Daryl Morey tweet that sparked an international incident ... saying the Rockets GM simply "wasn't educated" about China before he posted his pro-Hong Kong tweet.

"I think that's another situation that should stay behind closed doors," LeBron told the media.

Remember, LeBron and the Lakers were in Shanghai to play the Brooklyn Nets in an exhibition game last week when the backlash over the tweet began.

Chinese officials essentially blackballed the Houston Rockets immediately -- taking down signage, pulling merchandise and blocking TV networks from airing games.

But, now LeBron is back in the U.S. ... and he's calling out Morey for what LeBron is describing as a selfish tweet.

"We all talk about this freedom of speech. Yes, we all do have freedom of speech, but at times there are ramifications for the negative that can happen when you're not thinking about others and you're only thinking about yourself," LeBron said.

Muhammad Ali's ex-wife -- who was married to him during his Vietnam War protest -- says she wishes LeBron James would have stood up for the people of Hong Kong, because that's what Muhammad would have done.

TMZ Sports spoke with Khalilah Ali -- who was married to the boxer from 1967 to 1976 -- and she says she was his adviser for his biggest protest ... refusing to fight in the Vietnam war.

Khalilah says she's aware of China's issues with the NBA -- and the pro-Hong Kong tweet sent by Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey -- but says she'll ALWAYS support people "who are standing up for their rights."

So, when Khalilah heard LeBron's comments -- which condemned Morey's tweet -- it was clear to her Muhammad would have handled the situation MUCH differently.

Listen to the audio, Khalilah essentially says powerful people like LeBron and Muhammad should stand up for people fighting for their human rights.