NBA

6:30 AM ET The NBA restart begins Thursday night, as the Utah Jazz–New Orleans Pelicans and LA Clippers–Los Angeles Lakers showdowns welcome fans back to basketball after the league’s four-month hiatus. Will we be watching an all-Los Angeles Western Conference finals? Plenty of our experts think so. Meanwhile, the NBA-best Milwaukee Bucks don’t begin their

7:15 AM ET This is an NBA award season unlike any other. On top of that, the league has loosened positional designations, allowing voters more flexibility in crafting ballots. With MVP, Rookie of the Year and the other major awards covered last week, let’s look at the five-man teams. All-NBA First team G: LeBron JamesG:

6:51 AM ET The NBA unveiled its bubble-like campus to the 22 teams who were invited to finish the season in Orlando, Florida, nearly four weeks ago. Since then, players, coaches and other key personnel have settled in and found unique ways to keep themselves busy when they’re not practicing or working out. But what’s

10:46 AM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Kyrie Irving is helping to make sure WNBA players can sit out the season and not stress about a paycheck. The Brooklyn Nets star is committing $1.5 million to supplement the income of players who choose not to play this season, whether because of coronavirus concerns or

6:45 AM ET After a 4½-month hiatus, the NBA season resumes Thursday in Orlando, Florida. The Utah Jazz and New Orleans Pelicans tip things off, followed by a nightcap between the Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers. The Clippers’ duo of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George had ample time to recover from nagging injuries during

3:50 PM ET Associated Press The NBA is handing down one-day quarantines to players who forget to go to their designated locations for the daily coronavirus test — with Dallas‘ Kristaps Porzingis the latest to get that penalty. Porzingis missed Dallas’ scrimmage on Sunday because of his forgetfulness. Denver‘s Paul Millsap had to sit out

10:55 AM ET The NBA has placed Lou Williams on 10-day quarantine after the LA Clippers guard was investigated by the league for what he did while on an excused absence from the Orlando, Florida, campus. The league announced Williams’ quarantine on Sunday, three days after Williams was photographed by the rapper Jack Harlow at

1:45 PM ET Note: This article was originally published on December 12, 2019. It has been updated to reflect the selection of Tom Thibodeau on July 25, 2020. The New York Knicks have found their next sideline leader, and it’s someone who has plenty of history with the team. Sources tell ESPN that the Knicks

7:22 PM ET The NBA is investigating what LA Clippers guard Lou Williams did while on an excused absence from the Orlando, Florida, campus, so it can assess the length of his re-quarantining process, multiple sources told ESPN on Saturday. Williams was photographed at an Atlanta gentleman’s club on Thursday night by the rapper Jack

1:17 PM ET The New York Knicks and Tom Thibodeau are finalizing a five-year deal to make him the franchise’s next head coach, sources tell ESPN. Knicks president Leon Rose and agent Spencer Breecker of CAA Sports were working Saturday to complete contractual terms and a signed agreement is expected in the near future, sources

6:38 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Philadelphia 76ers coach Brett Brown said Thursday that Ben Simmons has had a “paradigm shift” in his thinking when it came to taking 3-pointers. Simmons didn’t waste any time proving his coach was right. Playing at a new position — power forward — as part of Philadelphia’s new-look starting lineup

8:05 PM ET Andrew LopezESPN New Orleans Pelicans rookie forward Zion Williamson returned to the NBA campus on Friday night, the team said in a statement. Williamson, who initially left the bubble in Orlando, Florida, on July 16 to tend to a family medical emergency, now enters the NBA quarantine period before he can rejoin

1:16 PM ET LA Clippers guard Lou Williams is the latest member of the team to leave the NBA campus with an excused absence. Williams joins Patrick Beverley and Montrezl Harrell as Clippers players who had to leave the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. Beverley left to tend to an emergency personal matter,

7:15 AM ET Remember the regular season? It was a thing, I swear. Here is the first part of my official NBA awards ballot for that season. Most Valuable Player 1. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks2. LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers3. James Harden, Houston Rockets4. Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers5. Kawhi Leonard, LA Clippers A few

7:00 AM ET Editor’s note: This story originally ran on April 21, 2020. BEN SIMMONS CAN still summon the bounces in his head. The first sprung high off the rim, then the ball descended straight back down to the iron, where it bandied about two, three, four times before finally nestling through the strings, coronating

6:06 PM ET MILWAUKEE BUCKS COACH Mike Budenholzer would like to know what constitutes the antonym of asterisk. If such a word exists, he says, that’s what should be attached to whichever team wins the 2020 NBA championship under such unusual circumstances. It’s also, he argues, what should be affixed to the 1999 San Antonio

Jul 14, 2020 If the sixth-seeded Philadelphia 76ers play up to their potential, they are a legitimate title contender in the NBA’s 2019-20 restart. This team has the talent to beat any of the Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers in a seven-game series. But these mysterious dudes also face a gargantuan amount

7:51 PM ET In the first NBA game played in more than four months, LA Clippers guard Lou Williams sat in the team’s socially-distanced bench area Wednesday and noticed the new atmosphere all around him. The 2019-20 season was on again as the Clippers and Magic got the season restart underway with the first scrimmage