The man who shot and killed Joe McKnight is a 54-year-old white male named Ronald Gasser ... the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office tells TMZ Sports. 

Law enforcement says Gasser is currently detained and being questioned about why he shot the 28-year-old football star. 

At this point, he has NOT been formally arrested.

Cops say Gasser stayed at the scene of the shooting until cops arrived. Once law enforcement got to the scene, he handed over his gun without further incident. 

Cops say they're investigating the shooting as a road rage incident -- and are trying to find out what happened in the moments before the former NY Jets running back was killed. 

Story developing ... 

VH1's "Basketball Wives L.A." is cleaning house ... bringing in several new cast members including Evelyn Lozada, plus the infamous baby mamas to Nick Young and Dwyane Wade ... TMZ has learned.

Production sources tell us Keonna Green, who just had her 2nd kid with Nick, and Aja Metoyer ... who has a 3-year-old by Dwyane -- will join Shaunie O'Neal, Tami Roman and Jackie Christie for the next season.

Executive producer Shaunie definitely increased the drama with her new hires. Keonna made headlines when her pregnancy broke up Nick's engagement to Iggy Azalea. As for Aja, she hooked up with Dwyane when he was allegedly "on a break" from Gabrielle Union.

Nick and Dwyane probably won't watch, but we suspect their lawyers will.

Evelyn was an original cast member when 'BWLA' started in 2010, but left after the 5th season. She's also guest hosting on "The Real" next week.

Kodak Black is back on the streets ... after 2 stints in jail in 2 different states.

The 19-year-old rapper was released from Florence County jail in South Carolina just days after he was transferred there from Florida. Black spent 3 months in Florida county lockup, reportedly for drug charges. He was sent up to SC to face a criminal sexual conduct charge.

Kodak was released on $100k bond and says, "I'm happy to finally be going home to my family and friends. I look forward to clearing my name in the very near future."

He also says he can't wait to go back to working on being the "illest rapper alive."

The only question ... will he be the illest in prison or out?

DeSean Jackson turned 30 years old Thursday ... and he celebrated by raging his face off at a D.C. nightclub ... chugging champagne, taking shots and rocking more jewelry than Tiffany and Co. 

The Washington Redskins superstar hit up Sax -- a super gaudy, gold-everywhere, over-the-top club -- where he celebrated with the likes of Wale and 'Basketball Wives' star Laura Govan. 

Jackson broke out his fancy jewelry and his fancy Maybach for the occasion and turned all the way up. 

Our advice ... HYDRATE! Just 3 days 'til DJ takes on the Arizona Cardinals.

Despite his new California boxing license, Floyd Mayweather still doesn't believe Conor McGregor is serious about getting in the ring. 

We spoke with Floyd this week ... who says he thinks McGregor is all talk when it comes down to it.

Mayweather has previously told us he thinks Conor is piggybacking off his name to try and get even more famous ... and it's clear he still feels that way.  

Conor was issued a boxing license in California, as first reported by Ariel Helwani, and commission officials say they're excited to see the UFC star try his hand at the sweet science. 

This ain't over ... stay tuned. 

An Olive Garden employee called 911 on comedian Ricky Smith and his friends, and blasted them for allegedly sexually harassing their server and trying to buy alcohol for minors.

TMZ obtained the audio ... the caller asks for police backup because Smith's group was being "rowdy" and yelling "racist comments" at the female manager. The caller gave her account of what started the ruckus.

But her version was totally different from what Ricky told us -- that everyone in his party was over 23, showed their IDs, never raised their voices and never made sexual or racial comments.

Cops did show up, but they say Ricky and friends were cooperative even though in the end, the manager refused to serve them. As for the alcohol accusation -- cops tell us that was "unsubstantiated."

Smith says he has a call scheduled shortly with Olive Garden brass to sort out the mess.

Comedian Ricky Smith was not treated like family at an Ohio Olive Garden when he popped in for dinner with his friends ... and we've learned the employees who he claims served him "casual racism" have been suspended.

Smith tells TMZ ... his crew had just finished handing out lunches for his organization, RAKE, on Tuesday and they worked up an appetite for endless soup and breadsticks. Smith claims they were small talking with their waitress when she just casually told them she doesn't like waiting on black people.

Turns out, the waitress was a black woman. 

The comedian tells us he politely went to the manager and requested a new waitress after this, but was given 2 options -- keep your waitress or leave. When they refused, cops were called and Ricky says police politely escorted them out.

An Olive Garden spokesperson tells us the waitress and manager have been placed on leave while they investigate. Olive Garden reached out to Smith to apologize and invite him back.

Now's your chance to own one of the most iconic images in sports history ... if you have more than half a MILLION dollars layin' around.

Muhammad Ali's iconic knockout picture from the 1965 Sonny Liston rematch -- the original print taken by famed photog Neil Leifer -- is hitting the auction block this weekend.

The starting bid is $160,000 ... but the folks at Guernsey's Auction expect the winning bid could reach $600k.

We can't overstate the significance ... the punch that felled Liston is LEGENDARY (and controversial ... "phantom punch") and conventional wisdom is that it's the moment that launched Ali.

The photo comes with a handwritten message from Ali -- who was Cassius Clay at the time -- to Leifer, as well as the original press credentials from the event.

The live auction will go down this Saturday at NYC's Bohemian National Hall. Bids can also be placed online.

Happy bidding!

As if the Cleveland Browns season couldn't get any worse ...

Robert Griffin III's girlfriend claims a valet at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland ransacked the wallets they left in their car during Sunday's game ... and stole all of their cash. 

Grete Sadeiko -- who has been publicly dating RG3 since the summer -- said she left her car with a valet in the "players and family garage" to watch the Browns take on the Giants ... and when she returned, the money had been taken out of their wallets.

Grete posted about the alleged incident on Twitter -- and when people began to question why she left their wallets in the car in the first place, she roared back. 

"Ain't about why we left wallets in the car we parked in PLAYERS AND FAMILY PARKING GARAGE! I should be able to leave anything I want there."

We've reached out to Cleveland police -- who say they have no record of a report being filed about the incident. 

We've also reached out to RG3 and Grete -- so far, no word back. 

David Beckham's 11-year-old son, Cruz, could find himself kicking it more in recording studios than soccer fields.

Radio stations are talking about playing Cruz's cover ... Justin Bieber's "Home to Mama."

The kid has been singing for a while, but now that radio stations are lining up it looks like it could be more than a hobby.

Cruz may have a secret weapon ... Scooter Braun is a family friend who has offered the boy help.

Tampa Bay Lighting winger J.T. Brown didn't get all of his aggression out on the ice Monday night -- smashing a fan's iPhone moments after he was sent to the penalty box after an all-out brawl. 

Brown went straight Conor McGregor on Nashville Predator defenseman Ryan Ellis after a blindside hit in the 3rd period.

As Brown was sent off the ice, Preds fan Brendan Johansen began to heckle him ... and that's when Brown reached up and smashed the cell phone.

We spoke with Johansen who says he's not mad and isn't taking any legal action -- but says he hopes the Lightning will spring to get him a new phone ... because his screen got shattered in the mayhem.

As for the game, the Predators won 3-1. 

Mos Def can kiss South Africa goodbye -- he's apologized to the government for trying to use a "world passport" and he's all set to jet back to the U.S.

The rapper will hop on a flight Tuesday night after getting arrested in January for using a false passport. The Department of Home Affairs tells TMZ ... he was granted a valid passport after his mea culpa. We're told the government's dropped its charges.

It's not ALL good -- we're told Mos is now on an "undesirable persons" list with the S.A. gov't.

Mos Def's attorney, Shaheid Schrueder, tells us they're looking to appeal that status ... but they're waiting until he's back on U.S. soil.

Kanye West has been taken to UCLA Medical Center for psychiatric evaluation.

According to law enforcement sources ... cops responded to a call for a welfare check on Kanye around 1:20 PM PT. He was at his trainer Harley Pasternak's home at the time and was "acting erratically."

We're told police called L.A. Fire, and by the time paramedics arrived Kanye was calmer ... but still resistant to going to the hospital. We're told everyone -- his management and law enforcement -- convinced him it was best he go. Law enforcement sources tell us Kanye was handcuffed to a gurney during transport to the hospital ... as standard protocol. 

We got Pasternak outside his house late Monday evening. If he knows how Kanye's doing, he's not saying much.

Sources connected to Kanye tell us he was getting checked out by one of his doctors for severe sleep deprivation while he was at Pasternak's place ... and someone decided to call police.

The hospitalization comes on the heels of Kanye abruptly cancelling the remainder of his Saint Pablo Tour, and launching into a verbal attack on Jay Z and Beyonce.

As we told you, Kim Kardashian flew to NYC early Monday for her first public event since the Paris robbery ... but she's now officially bailed. It's a good bet she's wheels up for L.A.