NBA

2:16 AM ET Fresh off a four-day forced quarantine, which followed weeks of his desire to be traded dominating headlines, Houston Rockets superstar James Harden had a performance Saturday night that reminded people why he’s a perennial MVP candidate. It just wasn’t quite enough to carry an extremely short-handed Houston team, missing six players due

6:03 PM ET The Houston Rockets are traveling to Portland with nine players — one more than the minimum required to play an NBA game — for Saturday’s road game against the Trail Blazers. The Rockets, whose season opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder was postponed due to a lack of available players, have six

1:15 AM ET A bloodied Kawhi Leonard was forced to leave the LA Clippers‘ 121-108 win at the Denver Nuggets in the fourth quarter after taking an inadvertent elbow to the face from teammate Serge Ibaka. Ibaka was going up for a rebound when his elbow collided with Leonard’s face. Leonard immediately collapsed to the

2:44 PM ET K.C. Jones, who personified winning as a hard-nosed point guard and then coach of the Boston Celtics during a Hall of Fame career has died, the Celtics confirmed Friday. He was 88. K.C. was Jones’ given name, although some joked the “C” stood for championships. It was easy to see why. He

6:56 PM ET The NBA delivered a warning to teams on Thursday that franchises are forbidden from pursuing and administering newly released coronavirus vaccines on a team-wide basis ahead of public health guidelines for prioritization, according to a memo obtained by ESPN. In informing teams that medical experts advising the NBA are in agreement with

11:15 AM ET Houston Rockets star James Harden will be required to isolate until Friday and continue to test negative for the coronavirus before being cleared to return to play, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Harden should be available to play against the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday. Harden was fined $50,000 by the NBA

5:11 PM ET After undergoing surgery for a fractured left hand on Thursday, Charlotte Hornets center Cody Zeller is expected to miss four to six weeks, sources told ESPN. Zeller, who suffered the injury in Wednesday’s season-opening loss to Cleveland, had the surgery performed by Dr. Michelle Carlsson at the Hospital for Special Surgery in

9:12 AM ET Golden State Warriors star forward Draymond Green will miss his second straight game to start the season Friday against the Milwaukee Bucks because of a foot injury. Green was a full participant in Wednesday’s practice after missing Tuesday’s season-opening blowout loss to the Brooklyn Nets, but coach Steve Kerr said the three-time

7:00 AM ET Since Rudy Gobert entered the NBA in 2013 as the 27th overall pick of the Utah Jazz, he has been known as an affable French import, a 7-foot-1 “Stifle Tower” — with a remarkable 7-foot-9 wingspan — who won consecutive Defensive Player of the Year awards anchoring his team’s elite defense. But

10:40 AM ET The Houston Rockets and NBA are reviewing video of James Harden partying maskless at a strip club to determine if he violated the league’s COVID-19 protocols, putting the perennial All-Star’s availability for Houston’s season opener Wednesday night in question, sources told ESPN. The video, which was published by Black Sports Online and

5:29 PM ET The Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder game for Wednesday night has been postponed as the Rockets do not have the league-required eight available players needed to proceed with the game, the NBA announced. The NBA said three Rockets players have returned tests that were either positive or inconclusive for coronavirus under

7:32 AM ET New Philadelphia 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey shared concern that his career in the NBA might have been over after sharing a post on social media that expressed support for a protest group in Hong Kong. “In the last 12 months, I had moments where I thought I might never

9:22 PM ET NEW YORK — Ahead of the Nets’ season opener against the Warriors, Golden State coach Steve Kerr sat down to watch some film of his former player, Kevin Durant. He pulled up Brooklyn’s preseason game against Boston and took in Durant’s first competitive games since tearing his Achilles in June of 2019.

3:23 PM ET LOS ANGELES — When ABC announcer Mike Breen called the closing seconds of the Los Angeles Lakers‘ NBA Finals-clinching victory in October, he proclaimed, “Banner No. 17 will soon hang in the rafters.” He was right about the hanging part. What Breen didn’t know was that when the Lakers open up the

7:00 AM ET It seems like only 2½ months ago, LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers were hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy as champions inside the Orlando bubble. Oh, wait. That’s exactly what happened. Yes, after only 72 days away, NBA basketball is back! Are the Lakers a lock for another title, or could

6:56 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN In a change from his past statements on the topic of expansion, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Monday afternoon that the league has looked at some of its analysis of the ramifications of expanding beyond the league’s 30 teams. “I think I’ve always said that it’s sort of the manifest

9:00 AM ET With the NBA season tipping off this week, here’s a look at the betting market around the country — including the teams attracting the most and least action, the biggest bets and some of the odds that have been on the move. Lots of Lakers love • The defending champion Los Angeles

7:30 AM ET IT WAS THE summer of 2000, and to New York Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy, it felt about 104 degrees in the shade. He decided to move summer league workouts from his Westchester base to Fairfield University, home to an air-conditioned gym. He also decided to let assistant Tom Thibodeau run the