NBA

LeBron James is sickened by the shooting death of 25-year-old black man Ahmaud Arbery ... saying African-Americans are "literally hunted EVERYDAY/EVERYTIME we step foot outside the comfort of our homes!" ... and he's demanding justice.

Back in February, Arbery was jogging when he was chased down and killed by a white man named Travis McMichael.

Graphic video of the fatal shooting surfaced online this week ... which has prompted a nationwide call for justice as McMichael has not been arrested or charged.

LeBron is joining the fight for Ahmaud ... speaking out against the horrific shooting on Twitter.

"We’re literally hunted EVERYDAY/EVERYTIME we step foot outside the comfort of our homes!" James says.

"Can’t even go for a damn jog man! Like WTF man are you kidding me?!?!?!?!?!? No man fr ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!!"

McMichael has not been arrested because he and his father claim they were attempting a citizen's arrest ... claiming Ahmaud fit the description of a suspect in a string of recent break-ins in the area.

LeBron -- who also previously protested over the death of Trayvon Martin -- joins a list of athletes including Reggie Bush and Ed Reed, who spoke out after the video surfaced on Tuesday.

"I’m sorry Ahmaud (Rest In Paradise) and my prayers and blessings sent to the heavens above to your family!!" LeBron added.

Michael Jordan was SO insanely famous in Chicago during his Bulls days -- he couldn't even shop for groceries without being mobbed.

So, the guy would pay staffers to keep the store open JUST FOR HIM so he could cruise the aisles alone in peace!

Pretty baller, right!?

Jordan's former Bulls teammate Brad Sellers explained to The Undefeated ...

"You saw MJ doing laundry in the first few episodes [of ESPN's 'The Last Dance'] and that was him back then, the country side of him, just living like a regular dude."

“But, he just got bigger and bigger in basketball and to a point where he couldn’t go out. I remember saying to him one day, ‘Hey, M ... how do you eat?'"

"He told me he would call Jewel-Osco [a supermarket chain based in Chicago] about 15 minutes before they closed, and let them know he was coming in. They would stay open later to let him shop."

Sellers says MJ would break off staffers with a fat ass tip for their troubles.

So, MJ got his own version of "Supermarket Sweep" and the workers got some extra bread and the chance to see the most famous dude in Chi-Town?

Charles Barkley says he's still VERY sad about his broken friendship with ex-BFF Michael Jordan ... but he's down to bury the hatchet if MJ would just give him a call.

"The guy was like a brother to me for, shoot, 20-something years," Barkley said Tuesday on ESPN radio's "Waddle and Silvy" show. "At least 20-something years."

"And I do, I feel sadness. But, to me, he's still the greatest basketball player ever. I wish him nothing but the best. But, there's nothing I can do about it, brother."

Barkley says MJ cut off their friendship back in 2012 when Sir Charles criticized basketball's G.O.A.T. for being a crappy owner of the Charlotte Hornets.

"I'm pretty sure I said, 'As much as I love Michael, until he stops hiring them kiss-asses, and his best friends, he's never going to be successful as a general manager,'" Barkley said.

FYI -- Jordan HASN'T exactly been the greatest owner ever ... the team's seen the postseason just two times since he became the majority owner in 2010.

Sir Charles says he felt like it was his duty as a broadcaster to be honest about Michael's failures ... and even says he thought that's why he and Jordan had such a good relationship to begin with.

"Part of my job [as an analyst] is, because I can't go on TV and say, 'Another general manager sucks' and then just because Michael's like a brother to me say, 'He's doing a fantastic job,'" Barkley says. "That would be disingenuous."

Barkley has previously said he won't apologize to MJ for doing his job.

The former Phoenix Suns superstar says it's all actually really sad ... but says the ball is in Jordan's court when it comes to mending the bridge.

Patrick Ewing says some scumbag actually broke into his home and STOLE his 1992 Olympic gold medal -- the one from the Dream Team -- but he never talked the burglary ... until now!!

“My house got broken into in New York at one point and they stole my medals," Ewing said Tuesday on "The Dan Patrick Show."

FYI, Ewing won TWO gold medals in his career -- representing Team USA in 1984 and 1992.

Patrick didn't reveal the date of the burglary -- but says the crooks made out with both gold medals AND the 1984 NCAA Championship ring he won during his run at Georgetown.

But, don't worry ...  this story has a happy ending on two fronts.

First, Ewing said sometime after the break-in, he placed a call to Jerry Colangelo -- who runs USA Basketball -- and he was able to get replacement medals!

And, as for the college championship ring ... "somebody tried to sell it on eBay and I was able to get that back."

So, someone out there has an original gold medal from the greatest Olympic basketball team ever assembled.

Yeah, it's probably worth a fortune -- but it's STOLEN PROPERTY!

Metta World Peace is no more ... the former NBA superstar says he's changed his name again -- this time to Metta Sandiford-Artest.

The ex-Lakers forward, formerly known as Ron Artest, revealed the latest moniker swap on "Inside the Green Room with Danny Green" this week ... saying the newest change was to honor his wife, Maya Sandiford.

"I actually took my wife's last name and ended it in my last name," Metta said.

Of course, Metta gained GLOBAL fame back in 2011 when he changed his name to Metta World Peace ... explaining at the time he wanted "to inspire and bring youth together all around the world."

But, Metta revealed to Danny Green on the show that he actually was initially embarrassed by it ... saying he thought to himself early on at NBA games, "This is the dumbest thing ever."

In fact, Metta even said there was a time when he was debating changing it all to "Queensbridge" or "So Hood."

But, Metta told Green he eventually got used to "World Peace" ... and didn't feel the need to change it again until this year.

"What's funny is I got married," Metta said, "and my name now is Metta Sandiford-Artest."

By the way ... when it comes to those reports that Metta had changed his name to "Panda Friend" when he moved to play ball in China in '14 -- he said those were just not true.

"People said, 'Metta's changing his name to 'Panda Friend!'" Metta explained. "So I just rode with it!"

Edgerrin James will be spending some quarantine time online shopping for a new basketball hoop ... a college player just destroyed the NFL legend's hoop with a vicious dunk -- and the video is insane!!

Justin Tucker -- a Campbellsville Univ. junior (who's transferring to Keiser Univ. next fall) -- is the man guilty of the backboard assault ... committing the rim crime last week.

The 22-year-old, who's been family friends with James for YEARS, says he and a few other college hoopers got in some run at James' home court in Orlando, Fla. on Thursday.

The games were going smoothly -- the guys were trying their best to exercise and stay safe during the pandemic -- when all the sudden Tucker caught a lob ... and all hell broke loose.

You can see in the vid, Tucker's authoritative slam rattled the hoop so hard ... the backboard crumbled into a thousand pieces!!!

Don't worry ... the 6-foot-8, 225-pound forward says he was just fine afterward -- and admitted everyone was just in awe of the feat.

In fact, Justin claims Edgerrin ran up to him after the slam and asked him straight-up, "ARE YOU SERIOUS?!"

As for the hoop, Tucker says James ain't making him pay for it -- and has plans to replace it ASAP.

By the way, if you didn't know ... Edgerrin's 15-year-old son is a budding hoops phenom as well -- and Justin says he was actually playing against the kid just before the violent dunk!!

And, don't be surprised if James' son is breaking backboards of his own in a few years -- 'cause Justin says the teenager is the real deal!!

Michael Jordan did NOT want to sign with Nike back in the day. Not even close.

He WANTED to sign with ADIDAS IN 1984 ... but they didn't want to make him a priority.

TALK ABOUT A BILLION DOLLAR MISTAKE!!!

MJ explained the whole thing in episode 5 of "The Last Dance" ... admitting his mom FORCED him get on a plane and take a pitch meeting with the Swoosh just to hear what they had to say.

"My mother said, 'You're gonna go listen. You may not like it, but you're gonna go listen,'" Jordan said ... "She made me get on that plane and go listen."

At the time, MJ thought Nikes just weren't a top-flight shoe. He was more into the Adidas.

But, when a very young MJ met with Adidas, they made it clear he would NOT be pushed as their premiere athlete and they weren't open to giving him his own shoe.

Converse -- the other top sneaker company at the time -- had Magic Johnson and Larry Bird on their roster and also didn't see him as their top guy.

So, Jordan took the Nike meeting -- and the rest is history.

"Go into that meeting not wanting to be there, and Nike made this big pitch," Jordan said ... "My father said, 'You'd have to be a fool not taking this deal. This is the best deal.'"

Nike was working on their "Air" technology -- which they built into MJ's shoe and called "Air Jordan."

Also, Nike hired Spike Lee to direct the Air Jordan commercials -- and they were AWESOME.

In fact, Nike only expected $3 million in sales in the first 4 years ... but it sold $126 million in the first year alone!!!

Jordans ultimately became the most popular shoe in the world and made Michael hundreds of millions of dollars over the years.

Carmen Electra's appearance on "The Last Dance" left some fans wanting more of her, uh, content, this week ... which translated to some HUGE search numbers on one of the world's biggest XXX sites.

Of course, the former Baywatch bombshell and Playboy model popped up on the uber-popular ESPN doc to discuss her relationship with Dennis Rodman ... which included an infamous mid-season vacation to Vegas.

Oh, yeah ... and the time Michael freaking Jordan barged in on them in bed together. Good stuff.

Electra's appearance on the doc was pretty memorable for several reasons ... which inspired some eager viewers to do more "research" on the sex symbol.

Pornhub (SFW link) tells TMZ Sports ... demand for Electra was ENORMOUS this week ... with more than 1.7 MILLION searches for videos related to her.

To compare ... there were just 14,796 searches the day the show aired ... and then they shot up to 393,000 the day after.

But, the biggest day came on April 28, with more than 588,00 searches!!

Shout-out to Carmen Electra for still dominating the game at 48.

P.S. -- Remember to clear your browser history, folks.

LaVar Ball says he's definitely open to the idea of teaming with Puma for a Big Baller Brand shoe collab ... saying "the possibilities are unlimited" now that his boys signed with Roc Nation.

"If everything goes right, this thing can be explosive," Ball tells TMZ Sports about joining forces with Jay-Z.

As we previously reported, all 3 of LaVar's sons -- LaMelo, LiAngelo and Lonzo -- are signing with Roc Nation to handle "marketing opportunities" off the court ... which includes shoe deals.

And, with Jay-Z being the creative director for Puma Basketball -- there have been questions about if the boys will jump ship from Big Baller Brand and sign with Hov's company instead.

But, LaVar says it doesn't have to be one or the other -- when asked if there was a possibility of BBB and Puma collaborating on a shoe, he seemed very into the idea.

"That could be," LaVar said ... "See, that's a good thing about dealing with Roc Nation. The possibilities are unlimited."

"They said something I liked which is 'Lavar, we wanna change the game. We wanna do something special.' Now, that terminology right there means I'm supposed to be with you guys. Because my boys are special and like I said, I wanna change so it's all good."

LaVar also told us the decision to join Roc Nation was a FAMILY decision made after thoroughly vetting several agencies.

"I think you have to go through different agencies to see the one that you need that's going to have the same mindset as you. I feel that Roc Nation is trying to move in a direction that we moving in."

As for Jay-Z -- who famously supported LaVar's initial foray into the shoe business back in the day -- Ball says he's "cool" with Hov, but the decision to sign wasn't just about one man.

"All those folks is good man ... Roc Nation wants to do exactly what me and my boys want to do."

There's more ... LaVar is still having fun promoting the Big Baller Brand -- and he's even hosting an online pop-up shop where fans can Zoom with him as they cop BBB march.

"I got a great team around me where my newest guys always thinking of new ideas and things to do to make the brand grow."

Isiah Thomas admits he's still "personally hurt" he was not asked to be a part of that legendary '92 Dream Team -- and it's obvious he thinks it's all because he didn't shake Michael Jordan's hand.

Remember, Thomas and his Pistons teammates infamously walked off the court after getting their asses kicked by the '91 Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conf. Finals without shaking hands.

Thomas, now 58, was not only villainized in the media for being a bad sport -- but Michael Jordan took the snub personally. They still don't get along.

The incident was featured in Sunday's new episode of "The Last Dance" ... and Monday morning, Thomas had more to add when he joined ESPN's "Get Up."

"Why I'm personally hurt is another reason why I'm here," Thomas said ... "Because being left off the Dream Team, that personally hurt me."

Thomas says he doesn't know why he was not selected -- but it's obvious he believes it's because he dissed Michael Jordan by not shaking his hand after that '91 series.

Thomas -- one of the best NBA players alive at the time -- says his resume should have made him a lock for the Dream Team, which is why he thinks the non-selection had nothing to do with his talent.

"If I'm not apart of the Dream Team because a lapse in emotion in terms of not shaking someone's hand ... if that's the reason why I didn't make the Dream Team, then I am more disappointed today than I was back then when I wasn't selected."

Thomas -- who had made the NBA All-Star team every year from '82 to '93 -- explained, "The only thing that's missing from my resume is not being on the Dream Team."

The man's got a point -- Thomas was one of the best players in the league at the time ... and had 2 NBA titles and was a 10-time All-Star at the time.

It's something Thomas has stressed for years ... he revealed in 2013 he felt disrespected by the Bulls, but would "absolutely" shake hands if he could do it all over again.

Shaquille O'Neal made a bigger than life gesture for a Louisiana family that tragically lost a child in a car accident -- covering the balance of his burial service.

Phil Conrad -- a retired chief deputy officer from the Lafayette City Marshal's Office -- tells TMZ Sports ... the ex-NBA big man recently shelled out a few thousand bucks to help pay for the remaining cost of a child's funeral, this after his family came up just a little short.

Here's what happened ... a car with an adult driver and four minors ran a stop sign, then crashed into a ditch and ultimately into a tree a couple weeks ago out in nearby Breaux Bridge, LA. The crash claimed the lives of two of the kids in the back seat, 12-year-old Trayvon Alexander and 11-year-old Keshon Batiste. They were pronounced dead at the scene.

Conrad tells us Trayvon's family had insurance covering his burial in full, but young Keshon did not ... leaving his loved ones to start a GoFundMe. They still need around $4,000 to reach their goal. We're told Shaq -- who went to college in Louisiana -- caught wind of the story and hit up Phil to get downloaded on the situation.

Once Shaq heard what was needed to help Keshon's relatives, Conrad says he instantly acted ... wiring him the leftover balance immediately, and Conrad then delivered the cash to the Kinchen Funeral Home. We're told the two boys were laid to rest Saturday.