5:00 PM ET The NBA schedule is here. And unlike last season’s unveiling that broke games into first and second halves, we know all 1,230 games up front. The 2021-22 season tips off on Oct. 19 with the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks hosting the Brooklyn Nets on ring night. The last time these two Eastern
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5:36 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Kevin Garnett will become the 24th player in Boston Celtics history to have his jersey retired on March 13, when Boston will host the Dallas Mavericks at TD Garden at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC. Garnett, who won the 2008 title with the Celtics, spent six seasons of his Hall
9:00 AM ET Who are the NBA free agents to watch in 2022 and 2023? Most of the league’s superstars have signed long-term extensions with their current teams, leading some league executives to call 2022 “The Offseason of the Rotational Players.” Still, superstars like Bradley Beal, James Harden, Kyrie Irving and Russell Westbrook could become
6:22 PM ET Restricted free-agent swingman Hamidou Diallo has signed a two-year, $10.4 million deal to return to the Detroit Pistons, his agents Thad Foucher and Joe Smith with Wasserman told ESPN. Diallo, 23, arrived in a midseason trade with Oklahoma City and averaged 11 points and five rebounds in 23 minutes a game for
4:25 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN LeBron James took to Twitter to react to ESPN’s offseason survey of 10 NBA scouts and executives leaving him without a single vote for the title of best player in the NBA. James responded to a tweet sarcastically saying he was washed-up as a player, then sent out a separate
4:20 PM ET ESPN News Services The Dallas Mavericks are hiring two-time WNBA champion Kristi Toliver as an assistant coach, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Toliver has previous NBA coaching experience. She spent parts of two seasons as an assistant on the Washington Wizards’ staff. Toliver is currently playing for the Los Angeles Sparks where
7:20 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN The past two seasons have seen the NBA — like the rest of the world — deal with unprecedented circumstances. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused as much upheaval across the NBA as any sports league in North America and beyond, with the 2019-20 season ending in a bubble inside the
4:37 PM ET Kevin Durant and Draymond Green both blamed Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr and team president/general manager Bob Myers for mishandling the fallout from the players’ argument that ultimately contributed to Durant leaving the team following the 2018-19 season. In an interview posted Wednesday on Bleacher Report, Durant and Green both said
10:46 AM ET Longtime NBA journalist Jackie MacMullan will retire from ESPN on Aug. 31, ending a decade-long tenure with the company. MacMullan, who has been an NBA reporter for 40 years, joined ESPN in 2010 after a long career with The Boston Globe. She has appeared on every ESPN platform, as a senior writer
12:38 AM ET Associated Press LAS VEGAS — Louis King slammed home a two-handed dunk with a little more than two minutes left in the third quarter of the NBA Summer League championship game, let out a monstrous roar and promptly flexed with authority. Fittingly, it was King who dominated for Sacramento and finished with
7:26 AM ET Philadelphia 76ers star center Joel Embiid is finalizing a four-year, $196 million supermax contract extension, sources told ESPN. The extension keeps Embiid under contract with the Sixers through the 2026-27 season for a total of $261 million. The four-time All-Star already was set to make $65 million over the final two years
11:28 AM ET A showdown between the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers will highlight the NBA’s Christmas Day schedule, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. In addition to the star-studded, cross-country clash, the Atlanta Hawks will travel to take on the New York Knicks. That game will be a rematch of a first-round playoff series
7:15 AM ET Tuesday’s Las Vegas Summer League championship game (9 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN App) will feature the Boston Celtics and the Sacramento Kings — both undefeated coming into the finale. Boston’s run has been fueled by a pair of second-year players in Payton Pritchard and Aaron Nesmith, a backcourt duo that has shined
7:59 PM ET Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart has agreed to a four-year, $77 million contract extension, sources told ESPN. The extension — which begins with the 2022-23 season — is the maximum allowable off Smart’s $14.3 million salary for 2021-22. The deal does not include a player option. Smart has developed into one of
8:28 PM ET The LA Clippers are trading Patrick Beverley, Rajon Rondo and Daniel Oturu to the Memphis Grizzlies for guard Eric Bledsoe, sources told ESPN on Sunday. The deal saves the Clippers $30 million in luxury tax and creates an $8.3 million traded-player exception that they will have a year to use. Bledsoe, 31,
10:11 PM ET Associated Press MIAMI — Udonis Haslem is officially back with the Miami Heat. Haslem signed another contract — the 10th of his career — with the Heat on Sunday, assuring that he will return for a 19th season with Miami. It is a one-year deal worth about $2.8 million. The 41-year-old would
9:41 PM ET Orlando Magic rookie Jalen Suggs, the No. 5 pick in last month’s NBA draft, has a left thumb sprain and will be sidelined for the remainder of NBA summer league as a precaution. Suggs suffered the injury in the first half of Thursday’s game against the Boston Celtics. The team said an
6:31 PM ET The Brooklyn Nets are hiring former Orlando Magic and Charlotte Hornets coach Steve Clifford as a coaching consultant, sources told ESPN. In his consulting role, Clifford — who was the most sought-after assistant in the marketplace — will be with the team periodically throughout the 2021-2022 season. Clifford has history with Nets