NBA

12:57 PM ET Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd has entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols after testing positive for COVID-19. Kidd is the 13th NBA head coach to enter the protocols this season. Kidd tested positive Thursday night after the team traveled to Houston for the road game Friday against the Rockets. Assistant coach

12:16 AM ET NEW YORK — Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant said he hasn’t had any extra conversations with teammate Kyrie Irving about getting a COVID-19 vaccination that would allow him to play in every game this season, not just most of the road games. Irving, who is not vaccinated against COVID-19, returned to the

6:57 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN NEW YORK — Julius Randle apologized in a statement on his Instagram account on Friday, saying that his thumbs-down gesture to Knicks fans during Thursday’s win over the Boston Celtics as well as his postgame remarks were “an example of how sometimes you say things you regret to people you

8:00 AM ET When the Los Angeles Lakers host the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night (10 p.m. ET on ESPN and the ESPN App), the team and the NBA will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Lakers’ 33-game winning streak in the 1971-72 season, regarded as one of the most unbreakable records in NBA history.

12:44 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN NEW YORK — Despite helping his team engineer a remarkable comeback from 25 points down against the Boston Celtics at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night, star forward Julius Randle wasn’t happy. Midway through the fourth quarter, Randle made a layup and, as he ran back to the other end

8:00 AM ET FOR MOST OF Monty Williams’ tenure coaching the Phoenix Suns, the downs have followed the ups. An 8-0 record in the NBA bubble two seasons ago still resulted in missing the play-in game to qualify for the postseason. Last season, making the franchise’s first Western Conference finals in a decade was met

12:39 AM ET DALLAS — Dirk Nowitzki watched and listened to two tribute videos and three high-profile speakers Wednesday night before he finally took his place behind the lectern, which featured “41 FOREVER” on the front and was set up in the center of the American Airlines Center court for a postgame ceremony in which

11:46 AM ET INDIANAPOLIS — Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving will make his season debut Wednesday night against the Indiana Pacers — but Nets coach Steve Nash didn’t want to reveal whether Irving would start or come off the bench. No matter what Nash decides to do, he is confident that Irving will play “a

8:00 AM ET Editor’s note: This story originally published on April 3, 2019. On Wednesday night, the Dallas Mavericks will retire Dirk Nowitzki’s No. 41 jersey after their game against the Golden State Warriors (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN). Before stepping foot on American soil, 19-year-old Dirk Nowitzki played on a second-division team in his German

8:00 AM ET “Will Kyrie Irving play tonight?” is about to become a regular question throughout the rest of the 2021-22 NBA season. Irving, who is not vaccinated for COVID-19, hasn’t played because of the Brooklyn Nets‘ decision prior to the start of the regular season not to allow him to participate due to New

7:11 PM ET The Miami Heat have ruled out forward Jimmy Butler for Wednesday night’s game against the Trail Blazers in Portland. Butler injured his right ankle late in the third quarter of Monday night’s 115-108 loss to the Golden State Warriors. The Heat provided no other updates Tuesday beyond ruling him out against the

10:38 AM ET After missing four games in the NBA’s COVID-19 protocols, Phoenix Suns coach Monty Williams has been cleared and will join the team for Tuesday’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The Suns, at 28-8, have the second-best record in the league. Williams entered the league’s health and

1:31 AM ET ESPN News Services PORTLAND, Ore. — Atlanta Hawks star point guard Trae Young scored an NBA season-best 56 points in a 136-131 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night. Young shot 17-for-26 from the field, 7-for-12 from 3-point distance and 15-for-15 from the line for his career-high scoring total, and

12:27 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN NEW YORK — Memphis Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane has heard the chatter about whether his backcourt mate, Ja Morant, should make his first All-Star Game this season. But after Morant’s latest dominant performance — 36 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists and a game-high plus-24 in 33 minutes of a 118-104

4:20 PM ET After a two-year layoff with significant injuries, there’s optimism that Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson will make his return against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday, sources told ESPN. A final decision on Thompson’s debut is expected to be made once the Warriors return from back-to-back games on Wednesday and Thursday in

8:00 AM ET DeMar DeRozan and the Chicago Bulls ended 2021 with fireworks. They started 2022 with some too. The NBA’s leader in fourth-quarter scoring was at it again this past week, knocking down wild, buzzer-beating 3-pointers in back-to-back fashion to stun the Indiana Pacers and Washington Wizards. Thanks to DeRozan’s late-game heroics, the Bulls

10:03 PM ET ESPN News Services OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma City Thunder rookie guard Josh Giddey, back after missing three games while in the NBA’s health and safety protocols, became the youngest player in league history to record a triple-double during Sunday night’s game against the Dallas Mavericks. Giddey finished with 17 points, 14 assists

5:16 PM ET Marc J. Spears Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has cleared the NBA’s health and safety protocols and is expected to play in Monday’s home game against the Miami Heat, a source told The Undefeated. Green played 34 minutes in the Warriors’ Christmas Day win over the Phoenix Suns, dishing out 10