NBA

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

10:55 AM ET The NBA has placed Lou Williams on 10-day quarantine after the LA Clippers guard was investigated by the league for what he did while on an excused absence from the Orlando, Florida, campus. The league announced Williams’ quarantine on Sunday, three days after Williams was photographed by the rapper Jack Harlow at

1:45 PM ET Note: This article was originally published on December 12, 2019. It has been updated to reflect the selection of Tom Thibodeau on July 25, 2020. The New York Knicks have found their next sideline leader, and it’s someone who has plenty of history with the team. Sources tell ESPN that the Knicks

7:22 PM ET The NBA is investigating what LA Clippers guard Lou Williams did while on an excused absence from the Orlando, Florida, campus, so it can assess the length of his re-quarantining process, multiple sources told ESPN on Saturday. Williams was photographed at an Atlanta gentleman’s club on Thursday night by the rapper Jack

1:17 PM ET The New York Knicks and Tom Thibodeau are finalizing a five-year deal to make him the franchise’s next head coach, sources tell ESPN. Knicks president Leon Rose and agent Spencer Breecker of CAA Sports were working Saturday to complete contractual terms and a signed agreement is expected in the near future, sources

6:38 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Philadelphia 76ers coach Brett Brown said Thursday that Ben Simmons has had a “paradigm shift” in his thinking when it came to taking 3-pointers. Simmons didn’t waste any time proving his coach was right. Playing at a new position — power forward — as part of Philadelphia’s new-look starting lineup