11:15 AM ET Houston Rockets star James Harden will be required to isolate until Friday and continue to test negative for the coronavirus before being cleared to return to play, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Harden should be available to play against the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday. Harden was fined $50,000 by the NBA
NBA
7:00 AM ET Since Rudy Gobert entered the NBA in 2013 as the 27th overall pick of the Utah Jazz, he has been known as an affable French import, a 7-foot-1 “Stifle Tower” — with a remarkable 7-foot-9 wingspan — who won consecutive Defensive Player of the Year awards anchoring his team’s elite defense. But
10:40 AM ET The Houston Rockets and NBA are reviewing video of James Harden partying maskless at a strip club to determine if he violated the league’s COVID-19 protocols, putting the perennial All-Star’s availability for Houston’s season opener Wednesday night in question, sources told ESPN. The video, which was published by Black Sports Online and
5:29 PM ET The Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder game for Wednesday night has been postponed as the Rockets do not have the league-required eight available players needed to proceed with the game, the NBA announced. The NBA said three Rockets players have returned tests that were either positive or inconclusive for coronavirus under
7:32 AM ET New Philadelphia 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey shared concern that his career in the NBA might have been over after sharing a post on social media that expressed support for a protest group in Hong Kong. “In the last 12 months, I had moments where I thought I might never
9:22 PM ET NEW YORK — Ahead of the Nets’ season opener against the Warriors, Golden State coach Steve Kerr sat down to watch some film of his former player, Kevin Durant. He pulled up Brooklyn’s preseason game against Boston and took in Durant’s first competitive games since tearing his Achilles in June of 2019.
3:23 PM ET LOS ANGELES — When ABC announcer Mike Breen called the closing seconds of the Los Angeles Lakers‘ NBA Finals-clinching victory in October, he proclaimed, “Banner No. 17 will soon hang in the rafters.” He was right about the hanging part. What Breen didn’t know was that when the Lakers open up the
7:00 AM ET It seems like only 2½ months ago, LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers were hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy as champions inside the Orlando bubble. Oh, wait. That’s exactly what happened. Yes, after only 72 days away, NBA basketball is back! Are the Lakers a lock for another title, or could
6:56 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN In a change from his past statements on the topic of expansion, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Monday afternoon that the league has looked at some of its analysis of the ramifications of expanding beyond the league’s 30 teams. “I think I’ve always said that it’s sort of the manifest
9:00 AM ET With the NBA season tipping off this week, here’s a look at the betting market around the country — including the teams attracting the most and least action, the biggest bets and some of the odds that have been on the move. Lots of Lakers love • The defending champion Los Angeles
7:30 AM ET IT WAS THE summer of 2000, and to New York Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy, it felt about 104 degrees in the shade. He decided to move summer league workouts from his Westchester base to Fairfield University, home to an air-conditioned gym. He also decided to let assistant Tom Thibodeau run the
5:11 PM ET Los Angeles Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma has agreed to a three-year, $40 million extension, including a player option prior to the 2023-24 season, sources tell ESPN. Kuzma, 25, finalized talks on his rookie extension on Sunday, sources said. In a rare non-max contract rookie extension that includes a player option, the deal
9:55 AM ET All-NBA big man Rudy Gobert will sign a five-year, $205 million contract extension with the Utah Jazz, he told ESPN after agreeing to the largest deal for a center in league history. “It means that they believe in me,” Gobert told ESPN. “They believe in what we’ve been building over the years
6:13 PM ET Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has a mild muscle strain in his right foot and is doubtful for Tuesday night’s opener against the Brooklyn Nets. Green initially injured his foot during a scrimmage earlier in the week and had an MRI that came back clear, but Warriors coach Steve Kerr said
12:04 AM ET Russell Westbrook drove the lane, found Thomas Bryant open for an easy dunk while the Washington Wizards‘ big man was fouled and then immediately ran to Bryant to scream his approval. In his first game with the Wizards, Westbrook only logged 17 first-half minutes in Washington’s 99-96 victory over the Detroit Pistons.
11:20 AM ET Months before he agreed to purchase the Utah Jazz for $1.66 billion, Ryan Smith, who was formally approved as owner by the NBA’s Board of Governors on Friday, said he was “really close” to making a bid to buy the Minnesota Timberwolves. Smith, who made his fortune as the co-founder of the
12:04 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN BOSTON — Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving says he plans to burn sage before every game this season to honor his Native American heritage. Irving was seen burning sage on the court at TD Garden during warm-ups before his Nets beat the Boston Celtics 113-89 on Friday night in the
3:58 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN The Los Angeles Lakers will repeat as NBA champions, according to a survey of NBA general managers. That prediction was one of many takeaways from NBA.com’s annual survey of all 30 front offices prior to the start of the new season. The survery featured 33 questions, ranging from what player