NBA

11:21 AM ET The Indiana Pacers are hiring Rick Carlisle as their new head coach, sources told ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. Carlisle will sign a four-year, $29 million contract, the sources said. This marks a return to Indiana for Carlisle, who previously was the team’s head coach for four seasons (2003-04-2006-07) and went 181-147. Carlisle resigned

1:31 AM ET Seventeen days ago, an NBA title contender enlisted a guard with an All-NBA Defense honor to his name to take on the challenge of defending Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young in a Game 1. On Wednesday night in the opening tilt of the Eastern Conference finals, another NBA title contender handed

2:50 PM ET The Boston Celtics are finalizing an agreement to hire Brooklyn Nets assistant Ime Udoka as their new coach, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Udoka spent the 2020-21 season on Steve Nash’s staff with the Nets. Prior to that, he spent one season with the Philadelphia 76ers and seven years under coach Gregg

3:18 AM ET PHOENIX — Deandre Ayton couldn’t stop smiling after the Phoenix Suns‘ 104-103 win on Tuesday gave them a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals over the LA Clippers. The big man wore a permagrin as he basked in the joy that came from dunking home the go-ahead bucket in the game’s

2:39 AM ET With the play drawn up and ready to go, right before they broke their huddle, Monty Williams’ last message to his team was simple. “Execute it,” he said. “If he throws it, DA, you’ve got to, like, try to dunk it. OK?” Williams was talking to Deandre Ayton, telling his third-year big

3:39 PM ET Phoenix Suns star Chris Paul has declined an invitation to play for Team USA in the Summer Olympics, league sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. USA Basketball had known that Paul was trending toward this decision for several days, sources said. The Suns are in the Western Conference finals against the LA Clippers,

7:00 AM ET The 2021 NBA draft lottery drawing will be unveiled Tuesday night at 8:30 ET on ESPN. The ultimate prize is believed to be the right to select Oklahoma State star Cade Cunningham at No. 1, but inclusion in what NBA evaluators believe could be a historically strong top-5 is a much-coveted circumstance

3:40 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN The idea that Philadelphia 76ers star Ben Simmons will spend the offseason improving his shooting stroke has become an annual discussion in Philadelphia. That certainly will be the case again this offseason, after Simmons melted down at the foul line — and disappeared from Philadelphia’s offense — as the 76ers

10:56 PM ET Andrew LopezESPN For only the second time in 50 years, the Atlanta Hawks are heading to the conference finals. The fifth-seeded Hawks knocked off the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers in Philadelphia 103-96 in Game 7 to advance. In a back-and-forth affair, the Hawks ultimately came out on top. The game featured 20 lead

7:00 AM ET The NBA’s conference semifinals had a bit of everything. We were treated to two thrilling Game 7s, with the Milwaukee Bucks outlasting the Brooklyn Nets in overtime and the Atlanta Hawks stunning the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers at home to advance. We got another historic comeback from the LA Clippers, who were down

1:46 AM ET For most of Game 7, Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young‘s patented “shiver” gesture — the one he unleashes to let onlookers know he has transformed into Ice Trae — had a different connotation. Ice Trae had been ice cold all night, missing 19 of his first 21 shots attempts from the field.

4:54 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN On the day the Phoenix Suns played their first Western Conference finals game in more than a decade, Suns general manager James Jones was honored as the league’s Executive of the Year. In a tight vote, which is conducted by the league’s executives themselves, Jones got nine first place votes

7:16 AM ET The NBA’s Western Conference finals showdown between the Phoenix Suns and LA Clippers will begin without two of the league’s biggest stars. Suns guard Chris Paul, who remains in the league’s health and safety protocols, has been ruled out of Game 1 (3:30 p.m. ET on ABC) and Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard

1:00 AM ET The game could’ve been a movie, the action on the sidelines a soap opera and the dialogue between Kevin Durant and his longtime friend P.J. Tucker a stage play. But for all the drama that spilled on the floor Saturday night in an epic overtime Game 7 that saw the Milwaukee Bucks

12:21 PM ET The Los Angeles Lakers are on the market looking to hire a new head athletic trainer after injuries ravaged their 2020-21 season. Nina Hsieh, promoted to head trainer two years ago, did not have her contract renewed, sources told ESPN. Hsieh worked for the franchise for more than a decade, beginning as

2:30 AM ET LOS ANGELES — Looking back on it now, there was no way to see what Terance Mann did in the Los Angeles Clippers’ 131-119 series-clinching win over the Utah Jazz on Friday night coming. No way. Anyone who says they foresaw the second-year player scoring 39 points to send the Clippers to

12:50 AM ET LOS ANGELES — Patrick Beverley, Terance Mann and Marcus Morris Sr. stood on the court and urged the first sellout crowd at Staples Center in over a year to cheer even louder as history was unfolding in dramatic fashion. For the first time in their 51-year history, the Clippers are going to

3:47 PM ET ESPN News Services Bradley Beal won a gold medal with USA Basketball 11 years ago, leading the Americans in scoring on their way to an undefeated run at the under-17 world championship. He’s looking for another gold this summer on international basketball’s biggest stage. The Washington Wizards guard has committed to playing