Toronto Raptors

Drake's courtside antics during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals has Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer in his feelings.

Sorry, we had to.

The 6 God did all but actually suit up for the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday ... yelling during free throws, laughing when Giannis Antetokounmpo missed said free throws, and even giving Toronto coach Nick Nurse a back rub.

Budenholzer weighed in on the Raps' ambassador Wednesday ... and he ain't happy with Drizzy seemingly getting special access to the hardwood.

"I see it in some timeouts, but I don't know of any person that's attending the game that isn't a participant in the game a coach -- I'm sorry, a player or a coach that has access to the court," Budenholzer says.

"There's certainly no place for fans and, you know, whatever it is exactly that Drake is for the Toronto Raptors.

"You know, to be on the court, there's boundaries and lines for a reason, and like I said, the league is usually pretty good at being on top of stuff like that."

Coach Bud ain't the only 1 pissed off ... Giannis' rep, Georgios Dimitropoulos, blasted Drizzy earlier today.

"Imagine a gig & an athlete on VIP seats, right next to the band, stands up on the stage just to show off during the entire game, knowing cameras are on him, occasionally even massaging the singer. Security&him both allow it. Never seen anything as disrespectful as this before..."

We've reached out to the NBA for comment ... so far, no word back.

As for Drake ... Game 5 is on Thursday in Milwaukee. Maybe he'll get some court-side seats??

LEAVE JOEL EMBIID ALONE!!!!

Caron Butler not only thinks the 76ers superstar was justified in crying after the 76ers heartbreaking loss to the Toronto Raptors, he thinks the NBA should change the media rules to allow players to deal with their emotions in private.

In case you missed it ... after Embiid missed his shot to swat Kawhi Leonard's game-winner, cameras captured Joel crying on the court ... and later in the hallway while being consoled by his girlfriend.

Butler says he understands Embiid's emotions ... and feels the league should step in to give him his privacy.

"That's the crazy part about the NBA. They say that players need that time to vent so it would be great if guys were able to go to the locker room, kind of depress, let that emotional time die down and then have an opportunity to go back out there and address the media."

Of course, the NBA will likely NEVER do this -- because those raw, emotional moments resonate with fans and people love it.

Butler also fires back at the jerks criticizing Embiid for shedding tears -- telling TMZ Sports players should be praised for caring about the game so much.

Drake harnessed the power of the "Drake Curse" on Sunday -- and used it as a WEAPON to help his Toronto Raptors beat the 76ers.

For some reason, the Canadian superstar wasn't able to attend Game 7 in Toronto -- so he watched the game with some pals instead.

But, when Kawhi Leonard hit that insane buzzer beater to sink Philadelphia in the 4th quarter -- Drake busted out his phone and aimed down ... showing he was wearing a pair of 76ers shorts the whole time.

He posted the whole thing on his Instagram story. Even though you can't see his face, you can hear his voice -- it's obviously him.

The Drake curse is legendary ... whatever team Drake has rooted for in a championship capacity has crapped the bed when it counts.

From Alabama to Kentucky to the Toronto Maple Leafs ... even Conor McGregor.

So, credit to Drake for acknowledging to curse and using his mystical powers to help his own squad.

One more thing ... Drake also posted a photo of Leonard during the buzzer beater -- and used it as an opportunity to diss Joel Embiid ... because he tagged the 76ers star, "SadPhillyBoy."

Here's Drake ... stoked out of his MIND while watching his Toronto Raptors take a giant dump all over the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday and taking a 3-2 lead in their playoff series.

Does he look worried about a curse to you?!

Drake was sitting right on the court at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto as his squad put a 125 to 89 beating on Philly in a pivotal Game 5.

In the 4th quarter, with roughly 10 minutes left in the game, Drake ramped up the trash talk -- and started making airplane wing gestures at the 76ers players.

Of course, 76ers superstar Joel Embiid wasn't exactly at 100% -- he's battling a pretty nasty illness -- so, Drizzy might wanna tone it down until Game 6 ... which goes down Thursday night in Philly.

After the game, 76ers coach Brett Brown fired back at critics who were ripping Embiid's performance.

"[Embiid] was trying to do whatever he could to represent his organization and play basketball for the Philadelphia 76ers," Brown said.

"I'm kind of disappointed. He gets shaken around to me too much. He's trying to play for us. He's trying to get out of bed with a significant temperature and come represent the organization. I think it's grossly unfair, some of the criticism that he gets. I don't understand that."

Jimmy Butler wanted to make one thing clear to his coach after the 76ers' big victory over the Raptors on Monday ... "MY NAME IS NOT JAMES!"

Here's the deal ... Butler was a 1-man wrecking crew against Toronto -- putting up 30 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists in a 94-89 playoff victory.

After the game, 76ers head coach Brett Brown was RAVING about Butler to the media -- and in an attempt to compliment his star, he referred to him as "James."

"This was James Butler," Brown told the media ... "That was the adult in the gym."

"He was just a tremendous sort of rock. He willed us to a lot of different situations."

Good stuff.

A few minutes later, Butler faced the media and was asked how he felt about the "James" thing -- his response was hilarious.

"My name isn't James! It literally is Jimmy!"

The media cracked up laughing.

Kawhi Leonard's mother reached her boiling point at the Spurs game Thursday night -- going off on a heckler ... calling him an "a**hole" and telling him to "shut up."

It all went down in San Antonio -- where her NBA superstar son returned for the first time with his new team, the Toronto Raptors.

The fans were ruthless to Kawhi during the game, chanting "traitor" and booing him almost every time he touched the ball.

At least one heckler recognized Kawhi's mother, Kim -- wearing a Leonard jersey -- and started running his mouth.

You can see in the video, Kim can't take it and starts yelling back -- "A**hole, shut up!" -- all while continuing to eat her snack ... without spilling a drop!

Unfortunately for Kim, the Raptors ended up losing the game ... 125 to 107. Kawhi put up 21 points and 5 assists.

It's the season of giving ... so Kevin Durant gave his good buddy, Drake, his game-worn jersey ...

AND, A BIG OLE TITTY TWISTER!!

K.D. torched the 6 God's Toronto Raptors on Thursday with 51 points in an overtime thriller ... but the Dinos ended up on top, 131-128.

But, that didn't keep Durant from being super chummy with Drizzy after the game ... choppin' it up with the rap superstar and giving him the jersey off his back.

Of course, that wasn't the only gift K.D. gave Aubrey ... the dude got a nice nipple cripple earlier in the game ... and Drake loved it.

'Tits the season!!

The Lakers got smoked by the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night -- and LeBron James didn't exactly play great -- but he was still in the mood to party afterward.

TMZ Sports spotted James on the way into Diddy's 49th birthday party at Ysabel in West Hollywood ... where he celebrated with the likes of LLCOOLJ, Kourtney Kardashian, Usher, Mary J Blige and Kid Capri.

James pulled up with his wife, Savannah, in his $340k Rolls Royce but made it clear he didn't wanna talk basketball.

Here's why ... Bron and the Lakers lost to the Raptors 121 to 107 ... and LeBron only put up 18 points (he didn't even play the 4th quarter).

In the locker room, Bron told reporters it felt like the team got "hit in the mouth" and they didn't have a response.

Too bad, because there were a TON of big stars who came out to see the Lakers at Staples Center including Denzel Washington, Odell Beckham, Brian Ortega, Canelo Alvarez, Chris Bosh and more.

Lakers don't play again until Wednesday ... so, why not go out and party?

Kawhi Leonard doesn't talk much, let alone sing -- but Tory Lanez doesn't seem to give a crap ... he wants the Raptors superstar on a track ASAP!!!!

Lanez is from Toronto -- and he's got so much love for what Kawhi's been able to do in his first few games in The 6 ... he's ready for a collab.

"That'd be great," Lanez tells TMZ Sports ... "We should do it. Just 'cause we both in Toronto and we both ballin', right?!?!"

Of course ... nobody knows if Leonard even has the capability to sing or rap (remember when he could barely laugh???) -- but Lanez appears to see that as a minor issue.

BTW ... for as much as Tory loves Kawhi these days -- he tells us the forward will NEVER be as good as Vince Carter ... and ya gotta hear why the rapper is convinced that's a fact.

And, if you want more from Tory, he was recently a guest on Van Lathan's 'The Red Pill' podcast where he talked about another hotly debated basketball topic ... his jump shot.

Wanna hear Kawhi Leonard's laugh in public ever again??

Well, stop freakin' making fun of it then -- so says comedy legend Tom Green.

The famous funnyman was out in Bev Hills when our photog played Kawhi's infamous robot-like giggle for him ... and Tom saw no humor in it whatsoever.

"This is a little pro tip here," Green told TMZ Sports ... "If somebody is laughing and having a good time, don't hate on their laugh!"

Green would know a thing or two about it -- dude's killed the comedy game for decades ... and he tells us anytime there's a weird laugh in his crowds -- it's still a laugh!!

"Don't make fun of people's laughs," Green says.

"Because then everybody starts to get self-conscious and think, 'Oh, maybe I better not laugh loudly either.'"

If you're wondering why Kawhi Leonard is trending on Twitter today ... it's because his laugh is freaking some people out.

The NBA star was officially introduced by the Toronto Raptors at media day on Monday -- when the usually serious dude broke out in laughter.

First, people aren't used to seeing Kawhi laugh ... so there's that.

Second, it was a little weird and now people are comparing him to a robot.

DeMar DeRozan took Drake's "In My Feelings" challenge to a whole 'nother level last week ... going to the song's creator himself to figure out his feelings after the Raptors stunningly traded him.

The ex-Toronto superstar revealed one of the first people he confided in after the Raptors sent him packing to San Antonio was none other than the 6 God.

"The day it came out, I went to Drake's house," DeRozan told ESPN.

"Sat and talked for a couple hours, man. Not even on the hoops stuff, just my partner. Just to hear the words that come from him being the person that he is in this world, especially in Toronto. What I meant to the city -- it was what I needed."

Drake's one of the Raptors' biggest fans ... and he took the DeRozan news tough too -- writing on Instagram, "Thank you for being an incredible captain and an even better friend."

Of course ... Toronto did get Kawhi Leonard in the deal -- and he IS one of the best players in the NBA.

Sooo ... feelings might be down now, but something tells us Drake will come out of it fine.

Master P says the Raptors' GM is about to be fired ... 'cause he thinks there's no way in hell the DeMar DeRozan trade works out -- telling TMZ Sports, DeMar "was bigger than Vince Carter" in Toronto!!

We got P out at L.A. Live ... and he didn't mince words when it came to his disdain for the swap that sent DeMar to the Spurs for Kawhi Leonard.

"Kawhi Leonard's a hell of a player, but he showed the team he was on that he didn't want to be there, so what you think they going to get?"

P tells us DeMar was so good for the Raptors ... they need to build a statue of him in Canada, and they need to do it before one of V.C. is raised.

"He still deserves a statue," P says. "He put that city on the map -- the country on the map as far as basketball."

DeMar DeRozan is getting a touching goodbye message from his good friend, Drake ... with the Toronto Raptors ambassador pouring his heart out for the freshly traded NBA star.

The 6 God weighed in on the face of the franchise getting shipped to San Antonio in exchange for Kawhi Leonard on Thursday ... saying, "To my brother @demar_derozan I want to say 10 million thank you’s on behalf of YOUR city. You are a fixture in Toronto forever and you gave everything you had."

"Through your leadership we had the most exciting years in franchise history. I am grateful to have witnessed your combination of skill, persistence, and loyalty from the same seats every night. Thank you for being an incredible captain and an even better friend."

It's a nice gesture from Drake ... but, DeRozan is reportedly super pissed about the deal ... and feels the team lied to him about their plans for the future.

Kenny Smith is siding with DeMar DeRozan -- telling TMZ Sports the Toronto Raptors screwed over their star player by not telling him he was going to be traded to the San Antonio Spurs.

Little backstory ... DeRozan sounded off on Instagram hours before the trade was announced -- saying, "Be told one thing & the outcome another. Can't trust em. Ain't no loyalty in this game. Sell you out quick for a little bit of nothing..."

Smith says if that's really the way it went down -- that's bad business on the part of the Raptors ... especially since DeRozan is "the reason people even watch Toronto basketball."

"No one watched Toronto basketball," he added ... "Between him and Vince Carter, they put Toronto on the map."

Andre Drummond says he's a HUGE fan of his new head coach, Dwane Casey -- and tells TMZ Sports he can't wait for Casey to join the Pistons so they can kill it next season.

"Love Dwane Casey," Drummond told us at the Fortnite Pro-Am at E3 in Los Angeles ... "I'm really excited to have him."

Casey was the head coach of the Toronto Raptors -- which put up the best record in the East before being swept by the Cavs in the playoffs for the 2nd straight year.

Casey was fired -- despite winning the National Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year.