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
NBA
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
11:45 PM ET NBA Insiders Entering the final week of seeding games in the NBA restart, teams have only a few more opportunities to improve their place in the standings. There are still four teams pushing for the final spot in the Western Conference playoffs, and it’s now guaranteed that there will be a play-in
11:00 AM ET When the New Orleans Pelicans were struggling defensively early in the season, a small change in December helped get them back on track. The Pelicans decided to drop their bigs on pick-and-rolls more, and the team immediately saw an improvement on the court. From Dec. 17 to Jan. 21, the Pelicans were
7:23 AM ET NBA Insiders Zion Williamson‘s rookie season might have only five days left in it. Even though they were 3.5 games back of the 8-seed in the West when the NBA season resumed last month, the New Orleans Pelicans were a popular choice to reach the postseason and set up a tantalizing first-round
12:06 AM ET During the final moments of the first five-minute quarter of the Milwaukee Bucks’ first five-on-five scrimmage since the NBA’s shutdown in March, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s team found itself down a bucket. When a long miss by the opposing team caromed off the rim and floated toward the baseline, Antetokounmpo launched himself with both
7:21 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The first double-overtime game inside the NBA’s bubble at the Walt Disney World Resort, a thrilling 134-132 victory for the Denver Nuggets over the Utah Jazz, was overshadowed by a pair of clock operation malfunctions at the end of the first overtime period. The first
12:00 PM ET After a career game on Thursday against the Denver Nuggets, Portland Trail Blazers reserve wing Gary Trent Jr. sat on a stool a day later in front of a widescreen TV doing his media Zoom, talking about his development, his improvement, his progression, his confidence. It was an extended media session for