Oklahoma City Thunder

Larry King says the whole "cotton-picking" controversy surrounding an OKC Thunder announcer is being overblown -- in fact, Larry says he'd take the expression as a compliment.

"That statement's been around forever," King told us on his way out of Craig's in West Hollywood ... "'Cotton-picking mind' was probably an adjective."

King -- a huge sports fan -- then showered praise on Russell Westbrook (who was at the center of the controversy) for being a beast on the court and said, "I would take it as a compliment."

"That's like saying 'You're crazy,'" ... "What about people with mental health problems?"

"So, if you say to someone 'You're crazy,' you're offending every mental health patient in America."

Larry does say there is one popular term that IS offensive that he would like to see be changed ASAP.

8:28 AM PT -- The OKC Thunder has issued a statement condemning the comments ...

"We find the term used by Brian Davis on our broadcast last night to be highly inappropriate and offensive."

"We’ve discussed it with the announcer and let him know that. He assures us it was not meant in any sort of offensive or derogatory manner and he apologizes."

"Nonetheless, he’s been told the use of that term in any manner is unacceptable."

An NBA game announcer is in hot water after saying Russell Westbrook was playing so well Wednesday night ... he was "out of his cotton-picking mind."

Dude. Bad.

We get it ... FOX Sports Oklahoma play-by-play guy Brian Davis (white dude) was trying to say Westbrook was playing on another level (he became the first player in NBA history to average a triple double 2 years in a row).

But, when you make a cotton reference about a black guy ...it's not usually well received.

That's exactly what happened Wednesday night -- people are losing their minds about the comment. Some people are even suggesting Davis should be fired.

There's been a long debate about the origin of the expression -- some people say it was used as a slur plantation owners used toward slaves.

Russell Westbrook rolled into LIV nightclub in Miami at 1:30 AM on Monday morning ... hours before the OKC Thunder are set to play the Miami Heat.

So ... the question -- big deal or nah?

Some people think it's a problem when pro athletes party on game day (remember when Jason Kidd got pissed at the Bucks for hitting the strip club before losing to the last place Lakers?).

Others like Magic Johnson don't care as long as the players perform on the court or the field (he gave Yasiel Puig a party pass back in 2013).

The issue here ... it's a crucial time for the Thunder. They're currently 7th in the Western Conference, but haven't clinched a playoff berth yet.

OKC Thunder star Steven Adams knocked his teammate OUT COLD in a game last night ... but they weren't fighting -- Adams was literally standing still!

The bizarre play went down at the Chesapeake Energy Arena ... when Thunder rookie Terrance Ferguson tried to stay with his man on D.

Unfortunately, standing in his way was 7 feet, 255 pounds of chiseled Jason Momoa-looking muscle (Adams) ... and Ferguson's svelte 6'7'', 184-pound frame couldn't handle the business.

The 2 collided heads -- and DOWN WENT FERGY. Adams was totally fine, BTW.

Steven, being the good dude that he is, quickly got the rook some medical attention ... and it looks like Terrance is gonna be OK outside of a possible concussion.

The chick who missed her shot at Steven Adams on Twitter 3 YEARS AGO says she's pumped the NBA star finally got back to her ... and she's still VERY down to go on a date!!

Social media has been blowing up after Adams went DEEP into his Twitter history to respond to a 2015 tweet from Lauren Myers -- who asked him to be her date to her law school prom.

On Monday, February 19, 2018 ... Adams wrote back, "Absolutely."

Better late than never right?! Well, that's how Myers feels.

In fact, the 28-year-old lawyer (she's since graduated law school and passed the bar) tells TMZ Sports she's down for a basketball game, dinner, bowling ... "anything would be fun!"

Myers says she initially hit Adams up because he was a young, unknown player at the time and she thought there was a good chance she'd get a response. She never imagined hearing back now!

It's a bird! It's a plane!! It's ... a dinosaur???

We asked Warriors baller Nick Young what the hell coulda smacked into the OKC Thunder airplane on Friday night -- making a HUGE crater on the nose of the Boeing 757.

Swaggy P's scientific deduction -- "A dinosaur ... or something."

FYI, a Delta spokesperson said it was probably a bird ... but Young ain't buyin' it.

The plane that was carrying the OKC Thunder during a scary in-fight incident that crushed the nose of the plane has been repaired ... and it's ready to get back in the air, TMZ Sports has learned.

The incident took place Saturday morning -- Delta, which was operating the team's chartered flight from Minnesota to Chicago -- says initial reports suggest a possible bird strike smashed the front of the plane.

But Delta works fast ... a rep for the company tells us, "The aircraft, a Boeing 757-200, has since been inspected and its nose cone replaced."

Impressive since the plane was repaired roughly 48 hours after the incident.

"The damaged nose cone has been sent to a maintenance facility to undergo additional evaluation," Delta adds.

Dwyane Wade was REALLY close to heading west instead of reuniting with his bestie LeBron James this off-season ... so says ex-NBA star Caron Butler.

TMZ Sports spoke with Tuff Juice about his convo with Wade before he made his decision to join the Cavs ... and he says Wade was seriously considering Miami, OKC and the L.A. Lakers.

Butler breaks it down -- L.A. made sense considering Wade's movie star wife Gabrielle Union, OKC would've been a good basketball move, and Miami's his first NBA home.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich says OKC adding Carmelo Anthony ain't enough to win a title ... saying the Thunder needs to make one more acquisition to compete, another basketball.

FYI -- 'Melo shoots a lot.

We got Kasich -- a huge hoops fan -- out in NYC and asked him what he thought about the Thunder adding Anthony to a team that already has Russell Westbrook and Paul George.

Turns out he doesn't think much of it, telling our guy there's just not gonna be enough Spalding available to make everyone on that stacked team happy.

It wasn't all doom & gloom with Kasich though, the Cavs fanatic did something most Cleveland fans aren't doing right now ... said some really nice things about Kyrie Irving.

Draymond Green finally got his payback for Kevin Durant making fun of his penis pic ... saying he laughed STRAIGHT IN KD's FACE when he found out about his Twitter mishap.

Draymond broke down the glorious moment at Warriors practice Friday ... when a reporter asked him how he reacted to news of KD not-so-secretly bashing the OKC Thunder.

"I saw him in person and I laughed in his face. I got a good laugh out of it – it’s pretty funny to me."

Dray says it's only right ... cause when his weiner got exposed to the world last summer, Durant and all his Team USA teammates did the exact same thing.

FYI, we got Green laughing his ass off at KD's expense when he was out with DeAndre Jordan ... so at least he's keepin' it real.

Enes Kanter is standing up for the OKC Thunder after his former teammate Kevin Durant ripped the organization on Twitter ... saying K.D. is dead wrong.

As we previously reported, Durant tweeted that he hated playing in OKC because he didn't like his coach and former teammates (aside from Russell Westbrook.)

Kanter fired back with a tweet of his own ... saying "I don't care what anyone says. Oklahoma City Thunder is the best and most professional organization in the NBA and got the craziest fans."

"We win-We lose but the most important thing we stick together because we are one."

Kanter added ... "and those cats, I call them FAMILY."

Kevin Durant says it was "childish" and "idiotic" to slam his former OKC Thunder coach and teammates on Twitter this week ... but insists he was NOT trying to do it from a secret 2nd account.

KD just addressed the situation at TechCrunch Disrupt -- where he was asked straight-up if he intended to post the anti-OKC tweets from an anonymous account so nobody would know it was him.

Durant denied the allegation ... only admitting to another Instagram account -- "but that's just for my friends and family so I wouldn't say I was using that to clap back at anybody."

KD says he enjoys engaging with basketball fans on Twitter but, "I happened to take it a little too far" when he told 1 fan that he left OKC because he "didn't like the organization or playing for Billy Donovan."

"I don't regret clapping back at anybody or talking to my fans on Twitter," Durant said at TechCrunch ... "I do regret using my former coach's name and the former organization that I played for."

"That was childish. That was idiotic. All those type of words ... I regret doing that and I apologize to him for doing that."

KD says he felt bad about it ... but will continue to use Twitter.

Draymond Green's reaction when asked about Kevin Durant's alleged secret Twitter account might be the funniest thing you watch all day.

The Golden State Warriors star was leaving Catch in West Hollywood with DeAndre Jordan when we asked about one of the biggest stories in the NBA ... KD allegedly setting up an anonymous 2nd Twitter account to deal with trolls.

Earlier this week, KD seemingly exposed himself when trashing the OKC Thunder in a tweet that appeared to be meant for posting on his 2nd account. Instead he posted it using his official account. Oops.

So, we had to ask the guys about it ... and the reaction is priceless.

Dear Kevin Durant,

Not everyone in Oklahoma hates your guts. In fact, one of the most powerful people in the state is welcoming you back with open arms ... Senator Jim Inhofe.

"Kevin Durant would be welcome back in Oklahoma any time he's willing to come and I want to be the first one he calls," Sen. Inhofe tells TMZ Sports.

"He took care of the victims of our tornadoes. He took care of families. Took care of little kids. So, he has a heart and he's not a bad ballplayer."

KD wasn't exactly the most well-liked guy in OKC after ditching the Thunder for the Golden State Warriors. Plus, his feud with Russell Westbrook didn't help either.

OKC center Steven Adams says he's ALL ABOUT playing with Carmelo Anthony -- but warns that talk of Melo being signed by the Thunder is still just a fantasy.

The 7-footer was flying out of LAX when we asked about the possible move.

"That's just like saying if Michael Jordan could play for us. That would be awesome too."

He added that the rumblings don't really matter right now -- "It's all just like fantasizing."

Speaking of which, Adams says he's a hardcore video gamer -- particularly when it comes to "Dota 2."

Here's proof your friends don't ever let you live anything down ... the OKC Thunder taking shots at Andre Roberson and his (non?) tipping habits after a dinner out in L.A.

Remember, Roberson found himself in a public tipping scandal a couple weeks back, when a server claims the $30 million man bricked his gratuity ... leaving a $14 tip on a nearly $500 check.

The guys were out at Catch last night, and by the guys we mean the WHOLE DAMN SQUAD basically, including Russell Westbrook, Steven Adams, Enes Kanter, and Kyle Singler.

Of course we had to ask who paid, which the bros wouldn't tell us, but Kanter did take the time to (jokingly) call out Dre, for his end of the night courtesy.