NBA

Wanna own a piece of NBA history?!?

Well, here's your chance -- the actual basketball that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar used to score his 38,387th point in his final regular-season game just hit the auction block ... and TMZ Sports is told it could sell for as much as $500,000!

Of course, KAJ scored the monumental basket on April 23, 1989 -- the last regular-season game of his legendary career -- when Kareem's Lakers took on the Seattle SuperSonics at the Forum in Inglewood.

Abdul-Jabbar played 26 minutes ... scoring 10 points on 5-6 shooting. He also had 6 rebounds, 3 assists and a blocked shot.

Those 10 points put Kareem's career regular-season total at 38,387 ... leaving him thousands of points ahead of Wilt Chamberlain, the second-leading scorer at the time.

FYI, Wilt's now 7th on the list behind ... (6) Dirk Nowitzki, (5) Michael Jordan, (4) Kobe Bryant, (3) LeBron James, and (2) Karl Malone.

Abdul-Jabbar is 1,459 points ahead of The Mailman.

Back to the basketball. After the game, Kareem autographed the Spalding Official NBA ball. It's also inscribed with "Last Reg. Season Game Ball 4/89" and "38,387 PTS Lifetime."

Kareem was one of the greatest hoopers of all time over his 20 season career. He was a 6x NBA champion, 2x NBA Finals MVP, 6x NBA MVP, 19x NBA All-Star.

The ball -- which comes with a letter of authenticity signed by Kareem -- sold a few years ago for $270,050.

Kyrie Irving is finally back with the Brooklyn Nets -- the star guard just made his first on-court appearance of the season Wednesday night ... and his presence was met with a mixed reaction from the crowd.

Uncle Drew was introduced over the PA just minutes before tip-off against the Indiana Pacers ... and while some fans showed support for the point guard, others voiced their frustrations.

Of course, Irving's return is such a big deal -- he hasn't played a single game with the Nets this season as he remained sidelined for his refusal to get vaccinated.

The Nets initially played hardball with KI ... telling him to stay home if he refused to get the jab and be forced to sit out home games and select away games due to vaccine mandates.

But after several players on the roster went down with COVID-19, the Nets made an exception for Kyrie to bring him back for whatever games he can get into.

Despite a 23-12 team record, Brooklyn has dropped its last three games ... so Kyrie's return comes at a good time for a struggling Nets team.

Tristan Thompson's rough week got a bit worse Tuesday night ... with his good friend LeBron James talking serious trash right in his face during the Lakers vs. Kings game.

It all went down in the closing minutes of L.A.'s matchup with Sacramento at Crypto.com Arena ... when LBJ drove the lane for a clutch and-1 layup to put the Lakers up 118-112 late in the game.

After the play, Bron headed right to the Kings' bench and yelled, "I'm a motherf***ing problem, bitch" ... with Tristan -- who didn't play in Tuesday night's game -- standing just feet away.

One of the game's announcers clearly thought it was a message directed for his ex-Cavs teammate ... saying James "looked right at him."

Tristan's reaction is priceless ... giving a sheepish look as the Lakers went on to take the win, 122-114.

Now, LeBron and Thompson have remained tight for years -- they played 4 seasons together (winning a title in 2016) ... and have remained close since LBJ joined the Lakers in 2018.

It's been a difficult stretch for Thompson -- on Monday, he revealed he fathered a child with a Houston woman and publicly apologized to his ex, Khloe Kardashian, and daughter, True, in the announcement.

A bunch of counterfeit Milwaukee Bucks title rings have been seized by the feds ... who say if the bogus bling had made it past them, it could have cost U.S. residents a small fortune.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, over the past few months, 56 shipments of 1,382 fake sports championship rings and trophies were intercepted by officers in Cincinnati.

The feds say in addition to the fraud Bucks memorabilia, there were also rings with Dodgers, Red Sox, Univ. of Kentucky and NASCAR images on them.

Authorities say the shipments also included fake Lombardi Trophies and more ... and add that it would have all been worth around $1 million if it had been the real deal materials.

"The money profited from selling fake merchandise such as championship rings, is used to damage the United States economy and fund criminal enterprises," Cincinnati port director Richard Gillespie said in a statement Tuesday.

"I am proud of the officers in Cincinnati, they work hard to protect our domestic businesses and stop illegal shipments."

Before admitting to fathering a third child and apologizing to Khloe Kardashian, Tristan Thompson was in dad mode, picking up True from gymnastics with dozens of roses.

We got video showing TT outside the class Monday, about an hour before his lengthy post where he revealed he was the father of a baby boy. Tristan sat in a waiting SUV while someone from inside the class brought out what we're told was close to 100 roses.

A source close to Thompson tells us the flowers were for True, who he hadn't seen in a few days -- The Sacramento Kings are in town to play the L.A. Lakers Tuesday.

As we reported, Tristan says a paternity test proved he's the father of Maralee Nichols' baby boy, born last month in Houston. The two had been locked in a nasty back and forth in court, but now the NBA star says, "Now that paternity has been established, I look forward to amicably raising our son."

He then turned things to Khloe -- who he was publicly dating when he got Nichols pregnant -- saying, "You don't deserve the heartache and humiliation I have caused you. You don't deserve the way I have treated you over the years."

Tristan concluded, "My actions have certainly not lined up with the way I view you."

Tristan Thompson is officially a dad of three -- revealing he's the father of a baby boy recently born to a woman from Houston after getting the results from a paternity test -- and apologizing to his former girlfriend and mother of his child, Khloe Kardashian, in the process.

The NBA star posted Monday, saying, "I take full responsibility for my actions. Now that paternity has been established, I look forward to amicably raising our son. I sincerely apologize to everyone I've hurt or disappointed throughout this ordeal both publicly and privately."

He then turns his attention to Khloe, with who he has daughter True, saying, "You don't deserve the heartache and humiliation I have caused you. You don't deserve the way I have treated you over the years. My actions have certainly not lined up with the way I view you."

He continues, "I have the utmost respect and love for you. Regardless of what you may think. Again, I am so incredibly sorry." Khloe and Tristan split in the summer.

It's an about-face for Tristan ... as we reported, he and Maralee have been duking it out in court over the paternity of the baby boy. As we told you ... Maralee Nichols sued Tristan for child support and claims he tried to pay her $75,000 to keep quiet about the baby.

Tristan's alleged messages claimed he's retiring after this NBA season, making him unemployed -- and, at least according to him -- requiring him to pay a smaller amount in child support.

TT asked a judge just last month for an emergency gag order to silence Maralee talking about the paternity case.

It's Tristan's third known child, and according to Maralee's timeline ... he was still publicly with Khloe when they hooked up back in March.

Both TT and KK have publicly supported each other since the split, and are co-parenting their daughter.

The gym formerly known as Mamba Sports Academy is suing the company that owned the doomed helicopter in the Kobe Bryant crash ... claiming the copter co. should be forced to pay over $100K in costs related to the death of one of the passengers on board.

It's all spelled out in new court documents, obtained by TMZ Sports, in which an insurance company and the gym now known as Sports Academy are suing Island Express.

In the docs, the Academy and the insurance co. claim that because Christina Mauser -- a girls basketball coach -- was employed by the gym at the time of her death in the crash ... they paid "death benefits and burial expenses" to her family that exceeded $127,000.

In the docs, the plaintiffs argue that Island Express should be on the hook for that bill ... claiming the crash and Mauser's subsequent death were the result of the helicopter company's negligence.

The plaintiffs are asking for a reimbursement of the amounts already paid plus any additional workers' comp payments that may come due in the future.

As we previously reported, Mauser and eight others -- including Kobe and Gigi Bryant -- died in the helicopter crash in January 2020.

After a lengthy investigation, NTSB officials concluded that the crash likely happened due to a multitude of reasons, including, "Island Express Helicopter Inc.'s inadequate review and oversight of its safety management processes."

Two Kobe Bryant and LeBron James game-used jerseys just hit the auction block ... and TMZ Sports has learned they're so unique, they're expected to bring in over $100K apiece.

The white Bryant one is ultra-rare -- it's a "Noche Latina" Lakers uni that the Mamba wore when he played against the Bulls back in 2013.

The jersey features "Los Lakers" stitched onto the front for the Latin-themed night -- and, on the back, Bryant signed his name in white inside of the 2.

The jersey also features some significant patches -- there's a "JB" on the front to honor Jerry Buss, and there's also a "Noche Latina" emblem placed on the chest. A "Noche Latina Latin Nights" logo sits on the front tail, too.

James' jersey, meanwhile, doesn't come with an autograph ... but what makes it so unique is that it's a uniform he wore several times during his first season as a Laker.

The guys at Goldin, which is running the auctions, tell us the 37-year-old actually wore the uni for six games in the 2018-19 season -- recording three triple-doubles and a 36-point game with it on.

Both pieces are now on the auction block -- and we're told the Bryant jersey may go for $125k while James' could go up to $150k.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar says LeBron James' use of a COVID Spider-Man meme was so reckless ... it could cost people their lives.

The NBA legend sounded off on the Lakers superstar in a scathing post on Monday ... ripping LeBron for sharing an image that showed three Spider-Mans pointing at each other.

In the meme -- shared by LeBron over the weekend -- the Spider-Mans were labeled "COVID," "Flu" and "Cold" ... and LeBron captioned the image by saying, "Help me out folks."

Abdul-Jabbar said he was so peeved by the implication of the post ... he straight-up called it all a "blow to [James'] worthy legacy."

"By posting the uninformed meme," Abdul-Jabbar said, "LeBron has encouraged vaccine hesitancy which puts lives and livelihoods at risk."

Abdul-Jabbar then implored James to urge people to get the vaccines ... saying his support for the shots "could save thousands of Black lives right now."

As we reported, LeBron is vaccinated ... although he's said he will not pressure people to do the same, telling reporters before the season "That's not my job."

NBA star Jordan Clarkson was so pissed off over a fan's heckling on Monday ... he attempted to go after the man in the stands, but fortunately, he was held back by his teammates.

The Jazz guard's drama with the fan happened during Utah's game with the Spurs in San Antonio ... when Clarkson clearly had enough of a fan's ribbing.

According to journalist Raul Dominguez Jr., as Clarkson was headed toward his bench during a timeout ... a fan stood up and had words with the basketball player.

A short time later, Dominguez Jr. reported, Clarkson took steps toward going after the fan.

Thankfully, Clarkson's teammates and security stepped in before things turned ugly ... and ultimately, the fan was ejected from the arena.

After the game, Clarkson told reporters the fan had absolutely crossed the line with his trash talk -- saying the dude's comments were straight-up "malicious."

"The guy just keeps antagonizing me, like almost challenges me, like, 'What you going to do?'" Clarkson said. "Fans got to learn, we human. We people too."

The 29-year-old said he often has playful banter with courtside supporters during his games ... but he said to media members this exchange was very different.

"It did cross the line," Clarkson said. "I was walking away initially, and then he said something again. And, I turned back around and then he said it again. And, I'm just like, 'What's going on?!'"

Clarkson said he didn't press the issue further, explaining a potential fine and a possible suspension deterred him from escalating things.

Houston Rockets star Christian Wood nailed a fan in the forehead with a wayward pass on Monday ... and he felt so badly about it afterward, he offered up free tickets as an apology.

The wild scene all went down in the Rockets' tilt with the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center, when Wood was trying to start a fastbreak at the end of the first half.

Wood grabbed the rebound, turned, and then heaved a pass to his teammate that was so errant, it sailed into the stands and plunked a woman right in the noggin.

You can see in the video, the ball hit the fan flush -- sending her crashing to the ground.

Wood and the rest of his Rockets teammates clearly felt awful -- but somehow, the woman appeared to walk away without any sort of injuries.

After the game, Wood apologizes for the terrible throw ... saying, "happens to the best of us."

"Courtside tix to any rocket game of her choice," he added.

By the way, things didn't get much better for Wood as the night went on ... Houston ended up getting blown out, 123-99.

LeBron James seems to agree with Jay-Z -- that no one can stand on the same stage with him for a 'Verzuz' -- and maybe, just maybe, he feels the same way about himself on a basketball court.

LBJ was definitely feeling good Sunday night ... rapping along, line-by-line, to Jay's "Imaginary Player" while in the middle of what looks like a pretty swanky evening with his wife, Savannah, and friends.

What's interesting is ... the video plays like a public service announcement to all the haters dissing the Lakers for their sub-par season -- they're only 16-18 right now. Check the look on LeBron's face as he drops lines like, "Y'all rapping ass n***as, y'all funny to me ... Selling records, being you, but still you wanna be me."

As we previously reported ... Jay-Z recently shot down any hopes he would do a "Verzuz" battle, boasting there's no one on his level in hip-hop who even deserves to stand on a stage with him.

It's no secret LeBron's a big fan of Jigga -- so, you'd expect him to ride with Mr. Carter, but it's also clear certain Jay tracks are really speaking to the Lakers superstar right now.

BTW, LeBron's biz partner, Maverick Carter, joined in later, rapping with him to "Hova Song." Remember, Maverick was kicking it with Jay-Z, Adele and her BF, Rich Paul ... who, of course, is LBJ's agent.

Lakers co-owner Jesse Buss just got a whole lot richer -- and LeBron James just got a new neighbor -- 'cause the youngest of the six Buss siblings just sold his L.A. mansion next to LBJ's for $10.7 million.

Buss put the home on the market in October after buying it in 2018 ... and TMZ Sports has learned it just sold this week.

Buss got darn-near asking price for it -- he originally listed it through Jennifer Beron of Compass for $11 million -- and it's easy to see why.

In addition to being near LeBron's famous L.A. pad, the mansion has over 6,500 square feet and features 6 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms, a home theater, a yoga room, and an infinity pool which offers great views of the city and canyons.

There's more -- the crib also comes with a chef's kitchen with state-of-the-art appliances, a full gym, an illuminated bar, and a temperature-controlled wine cellar.

LeBron James is playing his hand on COVID, or at least it seems this way ... suggesting we've gotten a little crazy with panic over contracting the virus.

LeBron posted a meme called "Spider-Man Pointing at Spider-Man" ... featuring 3 Spidies -- one representing COVID, another representing the flu and the third repping the common cold.

When you break it down ... it seems LeBron is shading the NBA for protocols that have sidelined a bunch of players -- even some who have tested negative -- and canceled a number of games.

The Lakers have benched head coach Frank Vogel, along with Trevor Ariza, Kent Bazemore, Avery Bradley, Malik Monk and Austin Reaves ... all because of its COVID rules. There's a big game set for this weekend -- Lakers vs. Nets -- but Kevin Durant is out because of COVID protocols.

You'll recall ... LeBron played his cards close to the vest for a fairly long time before finally acknowledging back in September he was vaccinated, but he made it clear -- he wouldn't pressure other players to get jabbed, saying, "That's not my job."

Enes Kanter Freedom is no longer a free man in the dating world... because TMZ has learned that he has made things official with Carl's Jr. model Emily Sears!

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Emily and the Boston Celtics player have been dating for a couple of months. It's unclear how they met ... but meet they clearly did.

Emily recently raised suspicions that the two were an item after she posted a pic from Boston with the hooper on IG, writing, "Bravest person I know" and tagging the NBA star.

We're told Emily's still living in LA and Enes is currently in Boston... that's always a struggle, but so far we're told it's not a real issue.

Kyle Kuzma and Winnie Harlow are back on ... and they wasted no time letting the world know it this week -- holding hands on a romantic date in NYC.

The couple -- which broke up back in August but rekindled their romance just recently -- hit up Carbone on Kuzma's NBA off day Wednesday, and looked as lovey-dovey as ever.

The Wizards star, who was in NYC for Washington's game against the Knicks, held Harlow's hand on the way to dinner -- and you can see in the pics, the supermodel was very happy.

Harlow looked to be in great spirits, smiling and waving before heading in -- and, yeah, it's clear the power couple is officially back.

As we previously reported, the two originally got together during the pandemic ... after Harlow says Kuzma successfully slid into her Instagram DMs.

They spent nearly all of quarantine together -- but broke up right around the time Kuzma was traded from the Lakers to the Wizards.