NBA

LeBron James is vowing NOT to engage in Twitter wars with President Trump before the election ... saying he "damn sure won't go back and forth" with #45.

The 4-time NBA champ has engaged in mutual verbal combat with POTUS in the past ... including his famous "bum" remark when defending Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors' outspokenness against visiting the White House.

POTUS also recently ripped into the superstar ... calling him "nasty" and "a hater" for his political stance and accusing him of hurting the NBA's rankings.

Bron -- who's actively pushing to get more voters via his "More Than A Vote" campaign -- spoke with the New York Times about his public beef with Trump ... and he makes it clear he's not entertaining a long-term battle.

"I don’t go back and forth with anybody," James says. "And I damn sure won’t go back and forth with that guy."

"But, we want better, we want change in our community. We always talk about, 'We want change,' and now we have the opportunity to do that."

King James also spoke out on his decision to campaign for more voting rather than a particular candidate in 2020 ... saying, "We’ve been talking about voter suppression, we’ve been talking about police brutality, systemic racism."

"We’ve had so many things going on, and voter suppression in our communities happens to be at the forefront. So that’s something we wanted to educate our people on."

It's been nearly 2 weeks since the Lakers won the 'ship ... but the team clearly ain't ready to stop the party yet -- 'cause some of L.A.'s stars hit Hollywood on Tuesday for another celebration!

TMZ Sports got footage of Dwight Howard, Danny Green, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Kyle Kuzma and Dion Waiters hittin' up Delilah ... and the evening looked awesome.

The guys -- along with their significant others -- all were dressed to the nines ... and YG and Tyga joined the festivities later in the night as well!

No sign of LeBron James or Anthony Davis ... maybe the Dodgers' World Series game kept them glued to their TVs at home?

Or, hell, maybe they're just tired of partying!!

As we previously reported, the Lakers have been spotted raging in the Orlando bubble, at Nobu in Malibu and even in Las Vegas since beating the Miami Heat in 6 games on Oct. 11.

As for the Tuesday night celebration ... Caldwell-Pope's wife, McKenzie, posted some clips from inside the venue -- and the menu looked great to us.

Kobe Bryant's legacy will live on at the Smithsonian -- where his jersey from the 2008 NBA Finals now hangs at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Bryant wore the jersey in Game 5 of the '08 NBA Finals -- the night the Lakers beat the Boston Celtics. Kobe dropped 25 that night.

The Celtics ended up winning the series (remember the Kevin Garnett "Anything is possible" moment?). Kobe was named MVP of the league that season. Plus Mamba led the Lakers to the NBA title in 2009 and 2010.

Kobe -- a founding donor of NMAAHC -- later donated his Game 5 jersey where it will now be featured in an installation called, "Sports: Leveling the Playing Field."

The text next to the jersey reads, "In 1996, Kobe Bryant became the first guard to successfully make the leap from high school to the National Basketball Association. At the time, experts were skeptical that high school wing players could compete in the NBA. His success ushered in the modern era of younger players in the league."

Kobe was a huge supporter of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C. -- he was a founding donor.

In fact, Smithsonian officials say the Kobe and Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation has contributed more than $1 million to NMAAHC over the years.

"As a founding donor, [Kobe] understood the significance of this museum to the nation and the world," museum official Spencer Crew said.

"After postponing the March installation due to COVID-19, we believe now is the perfect moment in history to honor his memory by placing his jersey on view."

FYI, Bryant’s jersey will be on view next to a pair of LeBron James 15 “Equality” sneakers by Nike, museum officials say.

Tyronn Lue will be the next man in charge of leading Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers to a championship ... the former Cavs head man has agreed to become the new coach in L.A.!

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Thursday that Lue and the team agreed to a 5-year contract ... officially setting the stage for Ty to take over from Doc Rivers.

As we previously reported, DR was booted from his role as HC just a few weeks ago after he failed to lead a stacked Clips team past the 2nd round of the NBA playoffs.

Now, Lue will take over ... and expectations are higher than ever.

The Clippers are set to return most of their stars -- including Leonard and Paul George -- in 2021 ... and could add even more firepower through trades and free agency this offseason.

Lue, meanwhile, has a championship pedigree ... he was the head man in Cleveland when LeBron James and Kyrie Irving came back from down 3-1 to the Warriors to win a 'ship in 2016.

Daryl Morey is leaving his position as general manager of the Houston Rockets ... roughly 1 year after he created an international incident with a pro-Hong Kong tweet.

48-year-old Morey was NOT fired, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski -- but rather it was Daryl who approached Rockets' owner, Tilman Fertitta, and initiated the conversation to step down.

Morey has been the GM for the past 13 seasons -- and wanted to explore other professional options for himself while spending more time with his family ... according to Woj.

Morey was successful during his run with the team -- the Rockets have made the playoffs 8 years in the row, the longest streak among NBA teams.

But he's most well-known for the China incident -- on Oct. 4, 2019 he tweeted out support for Hong Kong, which REALLY pissed off China.

The tweet read, "Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong," with a pic of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong in October.

The Tweet created a ton of backlash in China ... with massive Chinese e-commerce site Taobao yanking all Rockets merchandise and CCTV pulling NBA games from broadcast.

It was just last week that China allowed CCTV to air NBA games again -- after a massive relationship rebuilding campaign led by NBA commish Adam Silver.

LeBron James is going to SERIOUSLY regret buying his daughter that big-ass playhouse ... so says Brandon Marshall, who claims the whole thing is "the worst investment ever!!!"

Don't get it twisted ... the ex-NFL star loves the sentiment behind the King's gift to his 5-year-old -- he just says he knows from personal experience the mini-mansion ain't worth it!!!

"I actually, in 2015, bought my twins a house similar to this," Marshall said on FS1's "First Things First" on Wednesday. "And, I'm embarrassed to say how much it cost me."

"And, then the upkeep on it was as much as it was taking care of my own house!"

Marshall says while the idea of it seemed cool ... he claims his kids never really used it once the shine wore off.

"I'm embarrassed to tell you guys this," Marshall said. "The kids only went in the house 5 times in 5 years! They've been in the house 5 times in 5 years!"

"The worst investment ever!"

So far, doesn't seem Bron's regretting the gift all that much ... he got to spend an afternoon on Zhuri's couch earlier this week -- and it was adorable as hell.

Plus, it ain't like Bron can't afford it ... dude made over $38 MILLION from just his Lakers checks alone this season!

An L.A. man claims he was shot in the face with a rubber bullet at the Lakers championship celebration at Staples Center ... and now the LAPD is investigating, TMZ Sports has learned.

Here's the deal ... Manny Barrientos -- a Van Nuys native who loves photography -- told KTLA 5 he headed out to Staples Center on Sunday night after the Lakers beat the Heat in Game 6 to grab some pics of the downtown L.A. party.

But, Barrientos says when police came to break up the rowdy scene ... he was shot in the mouth by a rubber bullet, which knocked out 8 of his teeth. and destroyed his lip.

"I seen my shirt all bloody," Barrientos said. "And people around me were just like, 'Your lip! Your lip is gone! Your lip is gone!'"

"My lip, it was actually on the floor at one point. A whole little chunk of it was on the floor."

Barrientos says he required emergency care to fix the damage ... and his family has now set up a GoFundMe page to try to help him pay for the medical bills.

Barrientos' family added Manny "didn’t deserve this."

The family notes Barrientos is still in the hospital recovering.

This may go down as the most rim-shakin' gender reveal of all time!!!

NBA guard Austin Rivers and his model girlfriend, Audreyana Michelle, got extra creative when revealing the gender of their baby ... by lobbing a ball to daddy -- and it poofed into a cloud of blue!!

The stunning Audreyana announced the baby on the way just days ago ... with a mirror selfie captioned, "social distancing failed."

Austin got in on the fun, too, saying, "Pretty much lol. Love you baby❤️"

Now, we know the newcomer is a baby boy ... with the couple posting the highlight of a reveal on Tuesday.

"It broke in the hand lol🤷‍♂️but yea it’s a boy. 😍 Blessed," Rivers said.

Austin and Audreyana went public earlier this year ... and have been as inseparable as you can be (considering dude was in the NBA bubble for a bit) ever since.

This is Austin's second child ... his baby boy, Kayden, was born in 2018.

Congrats to the couple!!

"As promised, the Lakers win the 'ship, I'll go get that tat."

That's Snoop Dogg making good on his promise to the Lakers -- getting some brand new body ink to commemorate L.A.'s 17th NBA title.

The rap legend hit up his pal, Mr. Cartoon, on Monday night -- and got a pretty large piece on his right forearm.

The piece includes Kobe Bryant's initials on his wrist -- along with the Larry O'Brien championship trophy above that ... with the Lakers team logo right below the gates of heaven. Pretty cool tattoo.

"Anything for the Lakers, everything for the Lakers, all things for the Lakers," Snoop said ... "F*ck the Clippers."

"That's championship sh*t -- something the Clippers don't know nothing about!"

During the session, Snoop gave tons of love to his tattoo artist, Mr. Cartoon -- who's famously worked on stars like 50 Cent and Slim Thug.

"Only by the best man -- that's the only man who do my tattoos, the one and only. Mr. Cartoon."

After the ink was dry, Snoop threw on his purple and gold Lakers jacket and went on his way.

"We the west and we the best ... f*ck outta here!"

Oklahoma City Thunder player Terrance Ferguson is being sued by a woman who claims Terrance and his brother sexually assaulted her in Sept. 2018 ... and she claims Ferguson shot video of the incident.

According to the lawsuit, filed in Oklahoma County District Court, the accuser claims she had been in a consensual sexual relationship with the NBA player ... but things soured when he tried to get her to participate in a threesome with his brother, Brandon Willis.

In her suit, obtained by TMZ Sports, the woman claims she repeatedly turned down the request for the threesome ... but in Sept. 2018, he entered the room while she was having sex with Ferguson and tried to join in.

The woman insists she did NOT give consent to Willis -- and "withdrew consent" from Ferguson ... but both men allegedly ignored her and continued to sexually assault her.

In her suit, the woman claims Willis began to vaginally penetrate her while Ferguson recorded the incident on his cell phone.

She claims Ferguson later distributed the footage via Snapchat.

The woman claims she suffered severe emotional trauma and prolonged pain and suffering. She's suing both men for sexual assault and battery, among other things but does not list a specific amount she's asking for.

As we previously reported, the woman went to cops in February 2020 -- and the Oklahoma City PD launched an investigation. But ultimately, no criminal charges were filed.

Ferguson, through his attorney, has previously denied wrongdoing regarding this incident.

Barack Obama is congratulating his pal, LeBron James -- saying the NBA superstar is a legend both on and off the court ... despite what Trump thinks.

"Proud of my friend @KingJames for his fourth title, fourth Finals MVP, and for not only living up to the hype after seventeen seasons, but surpassing it as an extraordinary leader both on the court and in the public arena fighting for education, social justice, and our democracy."

Obama and LeBron have been friends for years -- with Barack reportedly counseling LeBron on how to speak out against social injustice during the NBA restart.

And, with Donald Trump recently going after LeBron as "nasty" and a "hater" ... Obama made it clear he couldn't disagree with POTUS more.

LeBron also got some love Monday from Tom Brady -- because insanely accomplished old guys gotta stick together!

"Congrats to my brother @KingJames on winning his 4th championship," 43-year-old Brady said to the 35-year-old Lakers star ... "Not bad for a washed up old guy!"

But, the self-deprecation didn't stop there!

Check out the picture Brady posted along with the caption -- it's a meme of the Bucs QB holding up 4 fingers during his "what down?" blunder on "Thursday Night Football" last week -- but with LeBron's head on his body.

Haaaaaa.

It's nice to see TB12 can laugh about it now ... considering the mistake went on to cost Tampa Bay the game against the Chicago Bears.

Cops arrested 67 people outside Staples Center in L.A. Sunday night -- in a crazy celebration that had everything from fireworks to a guy in an actual plastic bubble!

Hundreds of fans gathered outside the arena -- despite the fact, the team was still in Orlando, Florida -- and things got crazy quickly!

So many people showed up (remember, we're still in a pandemic) -- that law enforcement declared an unlawful assembly in an effort to get people to go home!

The California Highway Patrol also shut down freeway off-ramps into the area to stop the crowd from growing in size.

Ultimately, we're told cops arrested 61 people for failing to disperse, 5 for looting and 1 for vandalism -- totaling 67.

We're told one police officer was injured in the chaos -- suffering a hand injury from a bottle somebody had thrown at cops.

Some fans were also injured. There are pics of paramedics treating someone outside Staples but unclear exactly what happened.

Not all of the fans were combative -- there were groups of people chanting Kobe Bryant's name, others waving Lakers flags.

But, there were times where fans got aggressive with police -- some even tried to kick in the windshield of a cop car -- which led to officers to brandish weapons in order to try and keep the peace.

We've seen footage from the celebration of fans fighting in the streets, looting a Starbucks and setting off fireworks.

As for the game, the Lakers defeated the Miami Heat in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, winning the 17th title in franchise history.

The parade is on hold, but the Lakers locker room celebration Sunday night was LIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTT!!!!

LeBron James, J.R. Smith, Anthony Davis, Rajon Rondo, Dwight Howard, Jared Dudley threw on some protective goggles and let the champagne fly moments after defeating the Miami Heat!

J.R. Smith found his old pal, LeBron, and doused him in booze, while dancing around the locker room with all of his teammates!

There's a funny moment when J.R. steals LeBron's Finals MVP trophy and parades it around the locker room while smoking a cigar ... it's a pretty great sight to see.

After the madness, LeBron snuck out into the hallway to FaceTime his mother, Gloria ... and had an emotional moment with her where he credited her for all of his success.

"I love you, you are the reason why I am able to even do this, Mom," LeBron said.

LeBron reflected about how Gloria was a single, 16-year-old kid when she gave birth to LeBron -- and how she battled to raise him alone in Akron, Ohio.

"Everything that you been through, everything that I've seen -- there’s nothing that can stop me. 'Cause this sh*t right here, this is nothing compared to the sh*t you had to go through."

The COVID pandemic won't stop the Lakers from celebrating their NBA championship -- but it WILL delay the official victory parade for a bit.

The Lakers dominated the Miami Heat in Game 6 of the NBA Finals on Sunday 106 to 93 -- wrapping up the series 4 to 2. LeBron James, Anthony Davis and company made easy work of Jimmy Butler's squad.

So, let's talk celebration!!!

TMZ Sports has learned ... L.A. County and City officials have been working with team honchos to find a safe way for the team and their legions of fans to have a victory celebration in the wake of their 17th franchise title.

We're told several ideas were kicked around -- including an "in-car" celebration, where a limited number of vehicles would be allowed to pull up to a location to cheer on the champs.

But, a "car party" ultimately didn't feel like the right way to inclusively celebrate an accomplishment of this magnitude -- so, it was scrapped.

Now, we're told everyone involved is set on throwing a massive victory parade -- just like the old days -- but not until County and City officials give the all-clear.

We're told everyone involved is hoping a Lakers victory parade through the streets of L.A. can bring the city together in a big way -- especially with everything Los Angelinos have endured over the past year ... from the COVID shutdowns to the death of Kobe Bryant and more.

Obviously, there's no specific date being targeted at the moment -- it all depends on how the pandemic plays out.

In the meantime, celebrations have already begun inside the NBA Bubble in Orlando -- where players have been allowed to bring in a limited number of family members.

Since everyone in the Bubble was tested prior to entry -- and tested regularly once inside -- there's really no concern about having a massive victory party on the Disney World property ... starting right now!!

NBA superstar Carmelo Anthony says his comeback is just getting started ... telling TMZ Sports he's nowhere close to being done in the league after a brief break.

It's no secret -- Melo was pretty much blackballed by the league until he signed with the Portland Trail Blazers in Nov. 2019 ... going 10 months without a gig.

We spoke with Anthony about his hoops future ... and he says there's no doubt in his mind he'll be suiting up for the Blazers next season.

FYI -- Melo was an important piece for the Blazers in the playoffs ... and even had a postseason-high 27 points in Game 5 before LeBron James and Co. went on to do their thing en route to the NBA Finals.

Melo had 15 points and 6 rebounds in the regular season as well.

'Memba these Los Angeles Lakers ... In honor of the NBA finals we are going back in time to remember some of the most iconic players to hit the court!

With Lake Show stars like Jerry West, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and several others ... there are plenty of players that will have you calling a timeout!

Dribble through our gallery of Los Angeles Lakers to spark your memory of all the famous faces that used to play ball on the most well-known team in the league ... and see what the classic athletes look like now!