Sports

LeBron James' purse (yes, purse) became the talk of the NBA yesterday.

At halftime of Sunday's Celtics/Knicks game, ABC relayed a shot of Miami Heat stars James and Dwyane Wade entering the Staples Center to do battle with the L.A. Lakers.

Wade was "the personification of sexual chocolate" according to one blogger, in a muscle shirt, while LeBron ... carried what appeared to be a stylish man purse / toiletry bag:

LeBron James Carrying Purse

The reactions to this will, undoubtedly, be split into two camps:

1. Ryan Seacrest, David Beckham, Kanye West and Tom Haverford from Parks and Recreation, who will declare it "dope" and scramble to find out the designer.
2. Everyone else, who will be LOLing at the fact that LeBron not only lost to the Lakers 93-83 Sunday, but lost his dignity by a much greater score.

What do you think of LeBron's man-purse? Fab or fail?

Lamar Odom is on his way back to the NBA.

The Dallas Mavericks star - who had volunteered to play a game in the D League in order to get back into shape after missing a week of action for personal reasons - will suit up tonight for a game against the Utah Jazz.

And he has a lot to prove to Coach Rick Carlisle.

"Our fans want to know that Lamar's in," Carlisle told ESPN Dallas 103.3. "Our players want to know that Lamar's in. It's not about how many points he's scoring or rebounds; those things are a factor. Our fans, our players want to see the guy playing like his pants are on fire and we haven't seen that so far and that's got to change."

Don't worry, though, Rick, Khloe Kardashian Tweeted late this week that she's "putting fantastic vibes out into the universe. Vibes do your thing."

So everything will be fine.

Lamar Odom is not ready to play in the NBA again. Not yet at least.

The reality star, who left the Dallas Mavericks over a week ago to be with his ailing father, has been temporarily relegated to for his team's D-league affiliate, the Texas Legends, for one game in order to "get his legs back under him," a source tells ESPN.

That contest will take place tomorrow night and then Odom - whose 7.7 points per game this season are half his career average - will likely rejoin the Mavs for a big game against the Thunder on March 5.

Lamar's wife, meanwhile, is facing a problem of her own: Khloe Kardashian and her sisters have been sued for $5 million because they are bit fat liars. Well, big skinny liars. But still.

U.S. President Barack Obama was actually the guest on Bill Simmons’ "B.S. Report" podcast today ... something we don't see Mitt Romney doing anytime soon.

During the 24-minute, basketball-oriented sit-down, Obama guaranteed a Chicago Bulls title before he leaves office ... presumably by 2017, not this summer.

He also raved about fellow Harvard grad Jeremy Lin, the underdog who's sparked Linsanity around the nation (and the New York Knicks' recent win streak).

“I’ve been on the Jeremy Lin bandwagon for awhile,” Obama boasted.

The Prez said that his Secretary of Education, former Harvard basketball captain Arne Duncan, had talked about Lin while the point guard was still in college.

“It’s a terrific story. He seems like a wonderful young man; it elevates this great sport all around the world,” the 50-year-old Commander-in-Chief added.

Simmons, ESPN's hilarious and knowledgeable Sports Guy, went on to ask the president’s opinion on who the best basketball player of all time is.

Obama took a safe, biased (and hard to argue with) route: Michael Jordan.

Simmons also asked him to name the best character on the critically ignored but beyond awesome HBO series The Wire, to which Obama said, “It’s got to be Omar, right? I mean, that guy’s unbelievable ... That was one of the best shows of all time.”

It really was. Seriously, go Netflix it. Today.

And watch Obama's full talk with Simmons.

This pairing almost makes too much sense, doesn't it?

Witnesses tell The New York Post that Tim Tebow and Taylor Swift struck up a conversation at a pre-Academy Awards party on Friday night, following it up with dinner two evenings later at at Toscanova Italian restaurant in Century City.

"After dinner, he walked her out," a source says. "Then he walked back in to join two other people. I think they may both have been with their agents."

Granted, the meal doesn't sound too romantic, but Taylor has been burned by so many men in her past. Tebow is a virgin, had the good sense to reject Kim Kardashian and might be the son of God.

This couple has to happen.

[Photos: WENN.com]

The NBA season Lamar Odom would likely just wish to forget took a tragic, personal turn this week.

Already struggling on the court - the power forward is averaging just 7.7 points and 4.5 rebounds his first year in Dallas - the reality star missed his team's game against the  Lakers on Wednesday and will return some time after this weekend's All-Star break.

The reason for his absence?

"Lamar's dad had a health scare. It's very serious," an insider tells E! News, although Lamar's father reportedly told Radar Online that he's "depressed," but doing "a lot better" now.

Lamar and Khloe Kardashian are spending time with the former's family in Los Angeles while Joe Odom battles this illness and Dallas coach Rick Carlisle expects his bench player will return early next week.

Move over, Google+. Nike has announced a new range of digitally-enabled footwear, Nike+, that uses interactive mobile apps to track and measure movement.

The Nike+ Basketball shoes can now measure exactly how high, how hard and how quickly wearers play during each game ... like a video game, but real life!

Data from the shoe is transmitted to the user's phone, which can then be compared against other players and used to talk massive smack on social media.

Miami Heat star LeBron James, a pitchman for the product, explains the Nike+ system more in the ad below, released by Nike yesterday. Check it out:

LeBron James Nike Plus Ad

UFC President Dana White is calling out convicted woman beater Floyd Mayweather.

In a just-released videotaped diatribe, White refers to the champion boxer as "racist" due to comments Mayweather made about star point guard Jeremy Lin, claiming the Knicks sensation was only receiving press because he's Asian.

"Don't worry about what all these other guys are doing and shooting your big mouth off on Twitter," White says below. "What you should worry about is getting in there and making the fight that all the boxing fans want to see. Get in there and fight Manny Pacquiao."

And while you're at it, Floyd, look up some numbers: Lin scored more points in his first five NBA starts than any player in modern basketball history.

Dana White Calls Out Floyd Mayweather

Do you think Floyd Mayweather is racist?

Apparently people watch Basketball Wives.

VH1's erroneously named franchise keeps coming back, with a fourth (!) season getting the green light and already underway for an hour every Monday night.

Who's starring this year? These nut jobs:

Here's a brief rundown of the "roster" and what we can expect in a season that promises to up the drama like never before ... eat your hearts out, Real Housewives.

1. Shaunie O'Neal, ex-wife of future Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal.

VH1's bio: "Shaunie's goal with her series was to shed light on the complex lives of the women who stand beside these larger-than-life professional athletes."

"She's here to show that it's not all glitz and glamour ... [She] is Queen Bee to the rest of the Basketball Wives, who swarm to her for advice and guidance."

That is beyond sad. This is her fourth season on the program.

2. Evelyn Lozada, ex-fiancee of Antione Walker, current fiancee of Chad Ochocinco (an NFL player, not a basketball star, and soon to be Chad Johnson again).

VH1: "She is highly regarded as a fashionista ... Evelyn is photographed not just because of ex-fiance's game, but because of her own impressive 'shoe game.'"

Whatever. Like Shaunie, she is an original cast member.

Kris Humphries heard it once again at Madison Square Garden last night: BOOOOO!

But this time the Nets power forward left The World's Most Famous Arena with a reason to smile, despite the reception he received by opposing fans, as New Jersey defeated New York 100-92. Humphries played a key role in the victory, too, with 14 points and 14 rebounds.

"I love the hostile environment," Humphries told ESPN after the game. "There's nothing better than sending 19,000 people home upset... We love that."

Kris is also the latest in a very long lien to give props to Jeremy Lin, the NBA's latest sensation, but not for anything the Harvard graduate did on the court last night. Instead, Lin apparently gave Kris a big assist in the tunnel leading to the locker rooms.

"He just said, 'Hey, I don't know why they boo you, but I think it's crap, and you're playing really well,'" Humphries said of Lin. "That was nice of him to say. He's a really nice guy... It's nice to see great things happen for nice people."

Lin also has great taste in women: he recently said Kim Kardashian was not his type.