Los Angeles Lakers

Sweet gesture from Lakers head coach JJ Redick -- he held a special basketball clinic on his day off on Sunday for kids who have been impacted by the recent wildfires in L.A.

Los Angeles' sideline manager put on the one-of-a-kind camp in conjunction with his LA Strong Sports foundation ... inviting a bunch of little tykes to help learn ball at the Lakers' practice facility in El Segundo.

Redick spoke to the campers before giving them pointers on jump shots and defense ... and check out some of the pics the Lakers shared from the event -- everyone seemed thrilled.

Dallas Maverick fans are still pissed about Luka Doncic getting traded to the Lakers ... but Mark Cuban is reiterating he had NOTHING to do with it -- claiming he was promised he'd maintain control of basketball operations when he sold the team, but that didn't happen.

Cuban -- who has a net worth of $5.7 billion -- took time to respond to a fan on Facebook who said he should be "run out of Dallas" as a result of the shocking transaction ... firing off in the comment section to defend himself.

He told the fan that when he sold the team 16 months ago to Miriam Adelson, he expected to run basketball operations for the squad, but "Someone obviously changed their mind."

Stephen A. Smith is owning up to a mistake he made as his LeBron James feud intensifies ... apologizing for claiming the Lakers superstar didn't attend the memorial service for Kobe Bryant.

The ESPN host incorrectly stated during his passionate rant on Thursday's "First Take" that James was nowhere to be found when the basketball community mourned Bryant's tragic death at the then-Staples Center following the Hall of Famer's tragic death in 2020.

According to multiple reports, James was, in fact, in the building ... but requested not to be shown during a livestream of the emotional event.

Austin Reaves got creative for a gender reveal for his big bro  ... surprising him by wearing pink sneakers during Wednesday's Lakers game -- and Spencer absolutely loved it!!

The L.A. star delivered the exciting news to his brother and his pregnant wife, Casey, right on the court during his game against the Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Reaves made his way to the hardwood rockin' pink and white kicks, signaling the baby is a girl.

7:27 AM PT -- We knew this was coming -- Stephen A. Smith opened Thursday's "First Take" going off on LeBron ... saying his nemesis' real issue stems from the fact he refuses to consider him the greatest NBA player over Michael Jordan.

Smith made it clear he's never going to back down from his stance ... and he's not going anywhere.

As for his colleague Pat McAfee giving his rival a platform, SAS doesn't blame him one bit -- saying no one would pass up on an interview with James.

Smith also addressed James' trolling with his boxing vid ... and he even admits it wasn't his best work, but claimed he would've looked much better if he wasn't injured at the time.

LeBron James hit the game-winning shot for the Lakers on Wednesday, but the real dagger came on Instagram later in the night ... when he ruthlessly clapped back at Stephen A. Smith AGAIN by mocking his fighting skills.

The King added another chapter to the beef after L.A. beat the Indiana Pacers ... clearly getting wind of the ESPN host claiming earlier in the day he would've "swung" on the four-time champ if he had put his hands on him during their Crypto.com Arena confrontation a few weeks back.

Even though SAS admitted it probably would've resulted in getting his ass whooped, LeBron made sure the talking head knew how he felt about the comments ... sharing an old video of one of his boxing sessions, which didn't necessarily mimic a Ryan Garcia left hook.

Bronny James is on a bit of a scoring tear ... less than a week after his 17-point NBA career high, Bron's son dropped 39 in a G League game, and pops couldn't be prouder!

Despite being ~2,500 miles away with the Lakers, who were in Orlando to take on the Magic ... LeBron James was still keeping tabs on Bronny's game for the South Bay Lakers, and was hyped on X after seeing his oldest son's stat line.

"SMILE THROUGH IT ALL YOUNG," LeBron wrote. "KEEP GOING!!"

The Cleveland Cavaliers have the best record in the NBA, but Norm Nixon tells TMZ Sports he's not entirely sold they're a real threat to win the championship.

We caught up with the former "Showtime" Lakers star out at LAX this week ... and he made it clear, he's got some serious questions about Cleveland's roster.

He told us he thinks the Cavs are good -- they do, after all, own the most wins in the Eastern Conference -- but he wondered out loud how they'll handle the bright lights of April, May and June.

Stephen A. Smith has a message for LeBron James after Bronny's 17-point performance ... saying he's not too proud to admit his initial assessment of the Lakers rookie could very well have been off the mark.

The ESPN talent didn't shy from his previous comments about the four-time champion's son on "First Take" Friday ... in fact, he reiterated how he initially thought the 20-year-old needed to spend a year in the G League in order to reach success with the big dogs -- but Thursday's outing has him reconsidering.

Smith said he was "very impressed" with Bronny's contribution in the Lakers' loss to the Bucks ... as he looked like someone who belonged.

Lakers fans hoping for a Dwight Howard reunion can uncross their fingers and let out their breath ... the former NBA superstar tells TMZ Sports there's simply no chance he re-signs with Los Angeles.

Many purple and gold backers, of course, have been urging L.A. to go after the big man following its Anthony Davis-for-Luka Doncic swap ... but when we got Howard out in the City of Angels this week, he said it just isn't going to happen.

Despite appearing to express some interest in re-joining the squad on X after the big trade went down, he told us at LAX he's now four years removed from an NBA roster ... and is currently content spending his time at home with his children.

Bronny James is addressing all the negativity surrounding his NBA career ... saying despite people thinking he's a "f***ing robot," he does have feelings -- and the criticism is motivating him to prove the haters wrong.

The 20-year-old NBA player spoke out in a feature with The Athletic ... on the heels of a confrontation between LeBron and Stephen A. Smith at the Lakers game earlier this month -- which was sparked due to the ESPN talent's comments on the four-time champion's son.

Bronny said all the outside noise doesn't go unnoticed ... but instead of letting it hurt his pride, it's actually having the opposite effect.

Luka Doncic really is an L.A. guy now -- the Lakers' newest superstar was name-dropped in  Kendrick Lamar's song with Playboi Carti!!

The Compton rapper -- currently riding high after his beef with Drake -- mentioned the Slovenian guard during his verse on "GOOD CREDIT," a track from Carti's new album, "I AM MUSIC."

In the song, K. Dot says, "The numbers is nothing, the money is nothing, I’ve really been him I promise, see Kenny been heavy out west and I carry the weight n****, I’m Luka Doncic."

The Luka Doncic trade news blew up the internet ... and it apparently nearly broke Shams Charania's phone, too!!

ESPN's senior NBA insider joined "The Young Man and The Three" podcast this week and told the show's hosts, Kenny Beecham, Cam Johnson and Tommy Alter, that after he was first to report Dallas had jettisoned its superstar to Los Angeles -- his phone was "a mess."

"I had up to, like, 300 text messages," he said.

A Lakers fan walked out of L.A.'s big win Thursday night $100,000 richer after nailing a half-court shot during a break in the action ... and he tells TMZ Sports he plans to use the earnings to help recover some cash from his wedding!!

We caught up with lifelong Purple and Gold supporter Mike Ball after his whirlwind 24 hours ... and he told us all about the highlight from his POV.

Bell admitted he blacked out after the ball went through the net ... but luckily, there was plenty of footage to capture the moment.

While he didn't want to disrupt the players huddled up while it went down, he said he was able to celebrate with some of the big-name celebrities courtside for the contest against the Knicks.

7:07 AM PT -- Stephen A. Smith just revealed the pregame squabble with LeBron James stemmed from previous comments the ESPN hoops analyst had made about Bronny James.

Stephen A. said the Lakers superstar was furious over "what he thought he had heard" him say about his eldest son on his "First Take" show ... and he explained The King's language was so vulgar, he couldn't repeat it on national airwaves.

Stephen A. made it clear he wished LeBron had talked to him about the issue in a more private setting ... though he added he understands where 'Bron was coming from as a father.

LeBron James made the buckets, but it's a lucky fan who will reap the reward ... 'cause Topps has created a 1-of-1 trading card, complete with the NBA legend's autograph, and a piece of his arm sleeve from the historic game!

The collectible company showed off the rare piece in a tweet on Wednesday -- hours after Bron surpassed the mind-blowing milestone -- a card that contains James' John Hancock and part of his white Nike shooting sleeve.

LeBron also inscribed "50K Points" under his signature.