Praises NBA Teams for Dropping 'Owner' Title

... 'Nobody Owns Us'

Common says NBA teams are RIGHT for moving away from the term "owner" -- telling TMZ Sports the title "never sat right with me."

We broke the story ... multiple NBA teams -- and even the NBA league office -- have replaced the title with words like "Managing Partner" and "Chairman" over feelings that "owner" is racially insensitive in a league where the majority of the players are black.

So, when we saw Common at Matsuhisa in L.A. on Thursday, we asked if he felt the change is a good thing ... or an unnecessary overreaction?

"I'm so pleased," Common told us ... "The term owner -- it didn't sit right with me."

"The history of what we have and we are as black people in this…