NBA

6:57 PM ET ESPN News Services Miami Heat center Meyers Leonard stood during the national anthem before Saturday’s game against the Denver Nuggets, saying afterward he can be both a patriot and a supporter of Black Lives Matter. “I think I can be a beacon of light … not only for my voice or platform

1:00 PM ET The pre-restart training camp Mike D’Antoni so eagerly anticipated for the Houston Rockets — a team remodeled midseason with a drastic shift in philosophy to microball — never really materialized. Due to late arrivals, including both of the team’s superstars, as well as Austin Rivers‘ excused exit and reentry, the Rockets never

12:48 AM ET NBA Insiders Last year, a dark horse contender pulled off consecutive upsets to win the NBA championship. Who could be this year’s Raptors? Friday night’s action featured three of those dark horses: the Houston Rockets. Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics. Saturday’s games will show us a handful more: • Miami Heat vs.

5:56 PM ET Andrew LopezESPN The way the New Orleans Pelicans handled the minutes of rookie forward Zion Williamson was seemingly the talk of the NBA on Thursday night as the league returned to play in Orlando, Florida. On Friday afternoon, Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin spoke to reporters to try

7:04 AM ET The Milwaukee Bucks are big favorites to come out of the Eastern Conference. According to Caesars Sportsbook, they enter the bubble at minus-230 to reach the NBA Finals in October. Still, respect from Vegas is one thing, but execution in Orlando is another. While the Bucks hold the league’s best record, the

12:51 AM ET NBA Insiders It’s not easy to recall the storylines and themes that dominated the 2019-20 NBA season prior to its suspension, which seems like eons ago. But the battle for supremacy between the Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers in their home market — and more largely the Western Conference — was

1:00 PM ET LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Basketball is back. Finally. After 141 days, the NBA will return inside of the bubble at the ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort on Thursday night. It feels as if the world has changed a dozen times since the night of March

6:41 AM ET After 20 full weeks on hiatus, the 2019-20 NBA season is finally ready to restart. In case you’d forgotten, the Milwaukee Bucks lead the Eastern Conference, the Los Angeles Lakers are atop the West, the Memphis Grizzlies are clinging to the West’s 8-seed and the Toronto Raptors are still — more than

2:25 PM ET Denver Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly has spoken with Michael Porter Jr. about the second-year forward theorizing the coronavirus pandemic is “being used for population control.” Connelly did not make a statement, but Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said he learned about Porter’s comments — which were made on a

6:05 AM ET FRED VANVLEET TRUDGED from the lobby of the Ritz-Carlton Naples, out the double doors and into the stifling Florida humidity. The Toronto Raptors guard squinted, his eyes adjusting to the sunlight as the words came into focus. He saw “Black Lives Matter” in large, white letters across each side of two buses

6:24 AM ET In the NBA, where rosters can change dramatically from season to season, how much of an edge is it to have continuity heading into the league’s 2020 restart? Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone, whose team checks in near the top of our list, has high hopes. “Continuity [will] help with trying

10:07 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Houston Rockets guard Eric Gordon is feared to be lost for one to two weeks because of a left ankle injury suffered in a scrimmage Tuesday, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The Rockets are expected to have a clearer sense of Gordon’s injury timeline once he’s evaluated again Wednesday, sources

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