NBA

7:15 AM ET The good news for the Los Angeles Lakers is they are the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference playoffs, the first time they’ve earned pole position in a decade and an honorable accomplishment after a traumatic season. The bad news is they appear to have won the least valuable No. 1

6:03 PM ET Attention is the utmost compliment in public life, and Damian Lillard has received plenty of it over the past week. In his Portland Trail Blazers‘ win-or-go-home squeaker on Thursday night, the Brooklyn Nets threw two bodies at Lillard before he even crossed half court. It seemed the most sensible strategy after Lillard

5:27 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Less than two hours after announcing to the world that his grandmother had passed away from COVID-19 on Saturday, Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic walked to center court, rubbed his face and loudly clapped his hands together. Then he went out and carried Portland

6:38 PM ET Vlade Divac has stepped down as general manager of the Sacramento Kings and Joe Dumars has assumed the role of the team’s interim executive vice president of basketball operations, the team announced Friday. Divac’s exit came a day after the Kings concluded bubble play with a 136-122 win against the Lakers. They

11:29 PM ET NBA Insiders Saturday’s play-in game (2:30 p.m. ET, ABC) between the Portland Trail Blazers and Memphis Grizzlies is the rare NBA win-or-go-home contest, at least for the Grizzlies. If Memphis wins on Saturday, the rematch is Sunday (4:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), with the winner advancing to the NBA playoffs to face the

4:24 PM ET Associated Press LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Mo Bamba will not play for the Orlando Magic in this season’s playoffs after leaving the bubble for testing related to his previous bout with coronavirus, the team announced Friday. Bamba was diagnosed with COVID-19 on June 11. The 22-year-old appeared in 62 games with

9:32 AM ET The Chicago Bulls have fired coach Jim Boylen after two seasons, executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas announced Friday. Boylen was 39-84 without a playoff appearance after taking the head-coaching job in December 2018. His .317 win percentage is the second lowest to Tim Floyd (.205) in Bulls history for

11:56 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — When the idea of the NBA creating a bubble at the Walt Disney World Resort was first floated, Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard had one request: that if he was asked to come play in Orlando, the NBA give him the opportunity to make

11:00 AM ET All the scenarios, all the magic numbers, all the scoreboard watching — it’s all getting settled on Thursday. Here is where things stand as four teams battle for two spots in this weekend’s Western Conference play-in: Portland Trail Blazers: win and they’re in (as the No. 8 seed). Memphis Grizzlies: win and

7:10 AM ET NBA Insiders Thursday is the biggest day of the NBA restart, as we reach the conclusion of the red-hot Western Conference play-in battle. The Portland Trail Blazers, Memphis Grizzlies, San Antonio Spurs and Phoenix Suns will all be in action, and only two will advance to face off on Saturday. We asked

11:30 PM ET Before the NBA season restarted, the league decided that the 88 seeding games at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex would not count toward season-long awards voting this year. Then on Tuesday the league announced that it would name an MVP and All-NBA teams for the restart games before the playoffs begin.

6:00 AM ET As we approach the 2020 postseason, the NBA title remains fully up for grabs. No one should be considered a clear favorite to win it all, and given the quirks of the bubble environment, more teams than ever are heading to the playoffs with visions of triumph. But one reason there’s no

10:19 PM ET The final spot in the Western Conference playoffs will come down to a weekend play-in, where the No. 9 seed will have to win two games against the No. 8 seed — Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET on ABC and, if necessary, Sunday at 4:30 p.m. ET on ABC — to make

3:36 PM ET Associated Press LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — There will be an NBA Bubble MVP. The league announced that there will be an All-Seeding Games Team and a Player of the Seeding Games, honoring the best performers from the seeding games that started July 30 and will conclude Friday. The awards will be

7:25 AM ET In 2014, Boston Celtics president Danny Ainge got a single first-place vote for Executive of the Year and finished seventh. At the time, no one thought twice about it. The Celtics were at the start of a rebuild and went 25-57, missing the playoffs. But that was the season Ainge executed one

3:16 AM ET LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Kyle Kuzma said not much, if anything, could have stopped him from taking the game-winning 3-pointer in the Los Angeles Lakers‘ 124-121 victory Monday night — including a Denver Nuggets defender measuring 7-foot-2. “I think Jesus could be in front of me and I’ll probably still shoot,”

8:32 PM ET LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Still perfect in the bubble and continuing their postseason push with a 128-101 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday, Phoenix Suns coach Monty Williams says his team has to finish the job. “We haven’t accomplished anything,” Williams said after the Suns ran their record to

7:15 AM ET The playoff picture is beginning to take shape as the final week of seeding games begins. Three teams — the Washington Wizards, New Orleans Pelicans and Sacramento Kings — have been eliminated from playoff contention, and a Western Conference play-in is officially happening. The Memphis Grizzlies‘ hold on the No. 8 seed