NBA

Shawn Kemp's attorney just released a statement on the ex-NBA star's arrest ... saying his actions were "reasonable and legally justified" when he fired a gun in a shopping mall parking lot -- alleging thieves opened fire on him first.

W. Scott Boatman addressed the situation in a lengthy note on Thursday -- shortly after Kemp was released from jail -- saying the incident started after his client's property, including an iPhone, was stolen from his car Tuesday night.

Boatman says Kemp tracked his phone to an occupied car that was parked near a Tacoma, WA shopping center on Wednesday ... and when he approached the vehicle, the individuals inside shot at him.

The attorney says Kemp returned fire, but only out of self-defense ... and he remained at the scene and spoke with cops "in an attempt to assist in the matter."

No one was injured during the incident.

Kemp was arrested and booked for a drive-by shooting Wednesday night ... and spent the night behind bars before being released less than 24 hours later.

Kemp's attorney is also disputing that there was a "drive-by shooting" ... but according to Washington state legislature, a drive-by shooting is described as when someone "recklessly discharges a firearm as defined in RCW 9.41.010 in a manner which creates a substantial risk of death or serious physical injury to another person and the discharge is either from a motor vehicle or from the immediate area of a motor vehicle that was used to transport the shooter or the firearm, or both, to the scene of the discharge."

As we previously reported, part of the incident was captured on video ... showing Kemp fire his gun, drive around the parking lot and drop an item in a bush before speaking with police.

Cops later retrieved a revolver from that same location.

Shawn Kemp allegedly wasn't the only one pulling the trigger during his parking lot altercation on Wednesday ... police responded to "two subjects firing shots at each other," according to dispatch audio obtained by TMZ Sports.

53-year-old Kemp was arrested for drive-by shooting following a dispute with another driver outside a Tacoma, WA shopping mall on Wednesday ... after cops say an altercation broke out between two cars around 2 PM.

As we previously reported, witnesses claim they heard gunshots prior to recording part of the incident on their phones ... although it was unclear whether Kemp -- who is shown aiming and shooting his weapon in the video -- was the only one to open fire.

According to police dispatch, witnesses claim Kemp fired 5-10 shots at the other vehicle during the incident ... and a revolver was found outside a Firestone Complete Auto Care.

Our footage shows Kemp driving around the parking lot and dumping something near a bush outside the car shop ... and cops later found a weapon at the scene.

Sources tell Fox 13 Kemp was acting out of self-defense ... and he was attempting to retrieve stolen property when someone opened fire on him first.

Kemp was booked for felony drive-by shooting at 5:58 PM at the Pierce County Jail.

Cops say no one was injured ... and the incident is under investigation.

Shannon Sharpe is a man of many words ... but the NFL legend dropped one you definitely can't say while on live television on Thursday -- accidentally muttering the F-word!!!

Sharpe used the TV no-no on "Undisputed" while in a heated convo with his cohost, Skip Bayless ... as the two were discussing the Clippers and Russell Westbrook.

Sharpe tried to make an analogy ... when, suddenly, an F-bomb flew outta his mouth.

"If I'm making fried chicken and somebody says, 'I got some chocolate for you,'" Sharpe said. "What the hell? Yeah, I like chocolate but what the f*** that have to?"

The FS1 commentator immediately caught himself ... and said, "Oops, sorry!"

He then joked, "You got me up here cursing, Skip," before finishing his thought, "Why would I need chocolate to go with fried chicken?"

Sharpe eventually continued making his point to Bayless ... and both men agreed the Clippers were better off before they added Russ to their team.

Of course, this isn't the first time the guys have used some PG-13 language on the show ... Skip recently accused Mavericks star Luka Dončić of "bitching" about foul calls.

Toronto Raptors star Fred VanVleet blasted NBA referees Wednesday night ... calling some of them "d***s" who are trying to "f*** the game up."

VanVleet received a technical foul -- his eighth of the season -- from NBA ref Ben Taylor with 7:02 remaining in the third quarter against the Clippers ... and the point guard was clearly pissed about the tech when speaking with reporters in his postgame news conference.

"I don't mind, I'll take a fine, I don't really care," VanVleet said. "I thought Ben Taylor was f***ing terrible tonight. I think that on most nights, you know out of the three [officials], there's one or two that just f*** the game up. It's been like that a couple of games in a row."

He continued ... "[Losing to] Denver was tough, obviously. You come out tonight, competing pretty hard, and I get a bulls*** tech that changes the whole dynamic of the game, changed the whole flow of the game."

"Most of the refs are trying hard. I like a lot of the refs, they're trying hard, they're pretty fair, they communicate well. And then you got the other ones who just want to be d***s and just kind of f*** the game up. And nobody's coming to see that s***. They come to see the players."

FVV said the reason the Raptors lost, 108-100, to the Clippers is that they got outplayed ... but he did say dealing with officials who appear to have beef with him makes it an uphill battle for his team.

"I think we're losing a little bit of the fabric of what the NBA is and was," VanVleet said. "It's been disappointing this season. You could look up most of my techs this year have been with Ben Taylor officiating. At a certain point, as a player, you feel it's personal."

"That's never a good place to be."

Ex-NBA star Shawn Kemp fired a gun during a parking lot altercation prior to his felony arrest on Wednesday ... footage obtained by TMZ Sports shows.

53-year-old Kemp -- wearing a red vest -- approached a vehicle and pointed his firearm ... appearing to yell something before pulling the trigger at least once outside a Tacoma, Washington shopping mall around 2:00 PM.

Witnesses tell us they heard multiple gunshots before pulling their phones out to record the incident ... and claim they saw Kemp drive around the parking lot and ditched his gun in a bush before talking to police.

At one point, Kemp appears to attempt to flag down police to go after the other vehicle involved.

Footage also shows cops searching the parking lot landscaping before retrieving a handgun from a bush.

As we previously reported ... Kemp was booked for felony drive-by shooting at 5:58 PM at the Pierce County Jail.

Sources tell Fox 13 Kemp was attempting to retrieve items he claimed were stolen on Tuesday ... and once he tracked down the property Wednesday afternoon, someone opened fire on him first. Kemp claims he was purely acting out of self-defense.

Former NBA star Shawn Kemp was arrested following an alleged drive-by shooting Wednesday in Washington ... TMZ Sports has confirmed.

According to Tacoma PD, an altercation between two cars broke out around 2 PM ... which resulted in shots being fired in a shopping mall parking lot.

Cops say one car fled the scene and a gun was recovered. No injuries were reported.

53-year-old Kemp -- a six-time All-Star -- was booked for felony drive-by shooting at 5:58 PM and is still in custody at the Pierce County Jail, according to records.

FYI -- drive-by shooting is a class B felony ... which carries up to a 10-year prison sentence.

Kemp -- AKA the "Reign Man" was the 17th overall pick in the 1989 NBA Draft ... and played for the Seattle SuperSonics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Portland Trail Blazers and Orlando Magic over the course of his 14-year career, averaging 14 points and eight rebounds a game.

The former big man has been at the forefront of the push to bring an NBA franchise back to Seattle ... in hopes of reviving the Sonics.

Kemp was previously arrested on two drug-related incidents in 2005 and 2006. He has since ventured into the cannabis industry ... opening a dispensary in 2020.

Ja Morant is off the hook in his gun video case -- at least criminally -- cops just announced the NBA star will not face charges ... even though he recorded himself brandishing a firearm at a Denver-area club over the weekend.

The Glendale Police Dept. cleared the 23-year-old on Wednesday afternoon ... saying in a statement that despite the "concerning" images on Morant's Instagram Live stream Saturday morning -- "there was not enough available evidence to charge anyone with a crime."

Cops said the incident took place on March 4 just hours after the Grizzlies game against the Nuggets at Shotgun Willie's -- a Gentleman's club located five or so miles from Ball Arena.

"In this case," police said, "it should be noted that on the night in question the GPD did not receive any calls for service at the nightclub regarding a weapon of any type. Subsequently, no disturbances were reported, and no citizens or patrons of the club came forward to make a complaint."

"The investigation also concluded that no one was threatened or menaced with the firearm," they added, "and in fact no firearm was ever located."

While cleared legally ... Morant is still facing potential punishment from the NBA -- the league announced it launched its own investigation into the matter that has not yet concluded.

While the probe continues onward, Morant -- who apologized for the video and vowed to seek out help afterward -- has remained away from the Grizzlies.

A timetable for his return to the hardwood has not been set yet.

Master P's son, Mercy, balled out with 18 points in a huge playoff win over Sierra Canyon on Tuesday ... officially bringing Bronny James' high school basketball career to an end.

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame -- the #1 seed -- easily handled S.C. in the CIF Southern California Division 1 Regional, 80-61 ... punching its ticket to the state finals later this week.

There were some big names in the crowd as N.D. secured the win ... including Mercy's rap legend dad and French Montana.

Notre Dame's Caleb Foster -- who's committed to play for Duke -- dropped 28 points in the win ... with Isaiah Elohim, a Kansas and Illinois recruit, adding 16 for Sierra Canyon.

Mercy -- a junior -- has a bright future on the hardwood ... and is set to play college ball at Houston.

Bronny had 10 points in his final high school game ... but his NBA superstar dad, LeBron, was not in attendance for the contest (the Lakers had a game).

Super emotional night at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday ... Kobe Bryant's good friend, Pau Gasol, had his jersey retired next to the Mamba's -- and both Gasol and Vanessa Bryant had to wipe away tears during the ceremony.

The festivities went down at halftime of the Lakers' game against the Grizzlies ... when L.A. formally retired Pau's No. 16 after he helped Kobe win two NBA championships in his seven seasons in the purple and gold.

Vanessa kicked everything off with a pre-recorded video ... where she blew a kiss to Pau, and then played him a clip of Kobe saying back in 2018 that he couldn't wait for the day when the duo's jerseys would hang next to each other in the L.A. arena's rafters.

Pau's yellow uniform was then revealed next to Kobe's No. 24 -- and Gasol immediately began crying.

TV cameras showed he had to wipe away tears multiple times. Later during the ceremony, Vanessa could be seen appearing to tear up as well.

During his speech, Pau said he missed Kobe dearly ... telling the crowd in attendance, "I love him. I wish he was here with Gigi. I really do."

A bunch of Kobe and Gasol's former teammates were there ... Lamar Odom, Derek Fisher, Sasha Vujačić and Metta Sandiford-Artest showed up. Jimmy Butler, who flew to L.A. in between Miami's two home games, was in attendance too.

NBA Hall of Famers Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar also had seats for the ceremony ... along with their former teammates, James Worthy and Jamaal Wilkes.

Magic commended the Lakers for the touching tribute to Gasol ... tweeting, "A big thumbs up to Laker Owner Jeanie Buss & the entire organization for a tremendous evening honoring Pau Gasol!"

"Congratulations @paugasol on your jersey retirement!"

WWE Superstar Liv Morgan appeared annoyed and uninterested as some dude chatted her up at the Knicks game on Tuesday ... but as it turns out, that guy is a WWE executive!!

TMZ Sports has learned ... the dude who went viral for talking a mile a minute as the Knicks lost to the Charlotte Hornets at Madison Square Garden is Justin Scalise, the wrestling org.'s senior vice president for live events.

A clip of Scalise and Morgan's courtside interaction was quickly clipped and posted on social media ... with many assuming he was trying to shoot his shot with the wrestler.

That wasn't the case ... but that didn't stop Twitter users from posting memes and poking fun about how Scalise was probably trying to impress Liv with his NFT and crypto knowledge.

Morgan was a VIP guest at the game ... just a few days before she's slated to enter the squared circle at WWE's Road to WrestleMania Supershow at MSG on Sunday.

She got a ton of special perks on Tuesday -- including a custom jersey, video board shout-out and pics with the Knicks' dance team.

Shaquille O'Neal is weighing in on Ja Morant's controversial gun-flashing Instagram Live session ... telling the Memphis Grizzlies star he has to be smarter moving forward -- saying, "You're not a rapper, you're an NBA player!"

Shaq conveyed his memo to the 2-time All-Star during NBA on TNT on Tuesday ... saying Morant put himself in his current position with the NBA, Grizzlies, and fans as he chose to push the IG Live button and brandish a gun.

"You don't go live, nobody knows he has a weapon, [then] we're not talking about this, but HE did that," the 51-year-old said.

"We have to stop putting ourselves in positions where they can take away the things that we worked hard for."

Shaq emphasizes the fact that Morant chose to share with the world that he was in a strip club, shirtless, with a gun ... and he should've known there would be repercussions for it.

"You got to have enough common sense to know that wasn't going to go how you wanted it to go," O'Neal said. "You're not a rapper. You're an NBA player."

Shaq proposed Morant thinks about his "higher powers" before making bad choices -- and he's talking about Ja's parents and 2-year-old daughter, Kaari.

Speaking of his parents, NFL Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe told TMZ Sports Morant's dad, who he had an altercation with in January, needs to be a father and not a friend in this situation.

"It's okay to be a friend," Sharpe said at LAX. "But you gotta be a father, too, and when you see your son doing something wrong, you gotta step to him and say it's wrong."

The L.A. Clippers' new arena isn't gonna be a dump -- but you can certainly take one there -- 'cause Steve Ballmer is hyped up about all the toilets being installed at his team's new $2 billion facility.

Ballmer -- the former CEO of Microsoft -- took the podium at the construction site on Tuesday ... and let Clippers fans know that going to the bathroom won't be an issue at the team's new home in Inglewood.

"1,160 toilets and urinals!!" Ballmer told the crowd. "Three times the NBA average number of toilets and urinals. We do not want people waiting in line. We want them back to their damn seats at the end of the half, before the game."

Ballmer was clearly fired up about Intuit Dome, set to open in 2024 ... and so were his players, led by superstars Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and Russell Westbrook.

Of course, the Clippers currently share Crypto.com Arena -- formerly known as Staples Center -- with the Los Angeles Lakers ... but will move to Intuit Dome for the 2024-2025 season after more than 20 years.

The Clips have been playing in the same city as the Lakers since 1984 ... but the two teams have only been playing in the same arena since 1999.

Ballmer and his players -- dressed in construction vests and hard hats -- toured their new facility ... and were all smiles as they took team pics at the ceremony.

All hell broke loose between JJ Redick and Kendrick Perkins on "First Take" Tuesday morning ... with the two former NBA players going at it over the league's tight MVP race.

Redick and Perk have been bickering over the topic for the past week ... with the Boston Celtics champ accusing MVP frontrunner Nikola Jokic of stat-padding to win the award -- and implying white NBA reporters have a bias toward white players when it comes to voting.

Fast-forward to Tuesday, when Redick bashed Perk's notion race had anything to do with the MVP race ... saying, "What we just witnessed is the problem with this show, where we create narratives that do not exist in reality."

JJ continued ... "The implication, what you're implying, [is] that the white voters that vote on NBA are racist. That they favor white people. That is exactly what you stated. We all know what you implied the other day. We all know what you implied just now."

Perkins vehemently disagreed with Redick's criticism ... screaming at the former NBA star-turned-commentator ... saying, "I stated the facts and you not about to sit up here and act like it's something more than that."

In case you missed it, Perk explained his side last week ... saying, "When it comes down to guys winning MVP since 1990, it’s only three guys that won the MVP that wasn’t top 10 in scoring -- Steve Nash, Jokic, and Dirk Nowitzki. What do those guys have in common?"

Kendrick doubled down on his position after JJ's callout on Tuesday ... tweeting, "Last year I was a c***. This year I’m a racist. Well damn, which one is it? IT’S NEITHER. I call out facts and not afraid to address the elephant in the room."

Dwyane Wade's daughter, Zaya, made her runway debut in Paris on Tuesday -- crushing it in a green wool ensemble -- and Dad couldn't have been prouder, cheesin' on the sidelines ... and even shedding a tear!!!

The 15-year-old hit the catwalk at Miu Miu's Paris Fashion Week show ... and looked as cool as ever -- while struttin' in a jacket, skirt and brown high-heeled shoes.

Wade, alongside Gabrielle Union, had a front-row seat for it all ... and check out video posted to Instagram by Zaya's stylist -- the Miami Heat legend looked like he had just won another NBA championship.

Wade said on his social media page he was "proud" of it all -- while adding, "I'm not crying, you're crying."

The entire time that he watched Zaya go to work, the 41-year-old was seen grinning ear-to-ear ... and afterward, he gave her a big hug and words of encouragement.

He also took to his Twitter page to share a photo of the fam at the event ... writing in the caption, "Just an icon living. Zaya’s @MIUMIUofficial debut."

Plaxico Burress is weighing in on the Ja Morant controversy ... calling on the Memphis Grizzlies superstar to learn from his mistakes -- after Morant was suspended for brandishing a gun on an Instagram Live video over the weekend.

"If you can't learn anything, learn from me," Burress said Tuesday on "The Carton Show." He added, "Make better decisions because you really don't want for him to have that label being that he's so young. He has the opportunity to be the face of the NBA. He's that great of a player."

Of course, Burress is speaking from personal experience ... in 2008, the former New York Giants wide receiver, who caught the game-winning touchdown in Super Bowl XLII, suffered an accidental, self-inflicted gunshot wound at a nightclub in NYC.

Plaxico did not have a license to carry a gun in NYC ... and turned himself in on charges of criminal possession of a handgun. Burress eventually accepted a plea deal that saw him spend two years in prison, effectively derailing his NFL career.

Burress would return to the NFL in 2011 with the New York Jets, but he retired a few years later after making a return to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Plaxico's life changed because of the mistake ... and that seems to be the message he's trying to convey to 23-year-old Morant, who's been embroiled in drama recently.

"You want to see him mature as a person as his game is getting better," Burress said, "and I think that all comes with time and being around the right people."

LeBron James channeled his inner LaVar Ball on Monday ... declaring his 18-year-old son, Bronny, is "definitely" a better basketball player than some guys in the NBA right now.

"Man Bronny definitely better than some of these cats I've been watching on league pass today," King James said on Twitter as he recovers from his foot injury. "S*** lightweight hilarious 🤣🤣🤣🤣."

Some bird app users assumed the tweet was fake ... but it's certainly real and was posted on Bron's verified account.

Of course, Bronny is a high school star ... and some draft experts think he could be a top-10 pick when he's draft eligible in 2024.

The 6'2", 180-pound Sierra Canyon guard still has to wait a year before going to the league ... and he's yet to announce a potential college he'll attend in the fall.

LeBron has been able to get an up-close look at Bronny's skills at games recently ... sitting in the front row -- rocking a boot -- as his oldest son dropped 21 points in a playoff contest.

The Lakers superstar was surrounded by hype throughout his high school career at Akron's St. Vincent-St. Mary ... and his tweet will certainly put an even brighter spotlight on Bronny.