10:11 PM ET Malika AndrewsESPN MILWAUKEE — After Kenny Atkinson fulfills his postgame duties, loosens his tie and boards the team plane to Indianapolis, he plans to have a glass of red wine. The head coach of the Brooklyn Nets is cautious to get too high off a win over the Milwaukee Bucks, but he
Month: April 2019
The pressure ratchets up on everyone in the NBA playoffs, but these players, in particular, will have everything to prove. The playoffs not only determine who wins the championship each year; it’s also where legacies are formed. Otherwise great players are derided if they are unable to raise their game in the postseason or lead their
Basketball Insiders continues it’s “Fixing” series for teams who have been eliminated from playoff contention. Today’s team: the Phoenix Suns. The Suns shifted into a full rebuild in 2015. Four years later, the roster makeup has changed, but their state remains the same. In what may have been the tightest playoff race we may have
Tattoos are being covered up, shoes are being dumped down garbage chutes and $1.5 million is reportedly missing. What in the world is happening with Lonzo Ball and Big Baller Brand? As the Lakers season has slowly eroded, Lonzo Ball hasn’t been on the court. He hasn’t played Jan. 19 and it was announced on
NEW ORLEANS, LA – FEBRUARY 23: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on against the New Orleans Pelicans on February 23, 2019 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the
5:16 PM ET Malika AndrewsESPN MILWAUKEE — With home-court advantage throughout the playoffs already clinched, the Milwaukee Bucks have turned their attention toward managing their players’ health in preparation for the postseason. In that spirit, Giannis Antetokounmpo will not play against the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday due to a sore left calf. Coach Mike Budenholzer
By now, everyone has read about Zion. This article is nothing new. Even the people who have written about Zion have, by now, read about Zion. Still, the timeline grows hazy. Only a few days removed from his team’s loss to Michigan State, the exact details and sequence of even his most recent games start
I don’t know what nerve Joel Embiid touched within Eric Bledsoe, but it was a big one. It’s no secret that Joel Embiid had been buying up real estate in the minds of his opponents, and it appears Eric Bledsoe is the latest one he’s put a house in. That’s not just me saying that
11:57 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN INDIANAPOLIS — As the Boston Celtics have meandered their way through the regular season — failing to live up to their lofty preseason expectations — many around the NBA have been ready to abandon them as a potential option to emerge from the East. At some point, the reasoning goes,
Basketball Insiders continues it’s “Fixing” series for teams who have been eliminated from playoff contention. Today’s team: the Phoenix Suns. The Suns shifted into a full rebuild in 2015. Four years later, the roster makeup has changed, but their state remains the same. In what may have been the tightest playoff race we may have
12:18 AM ET Adrian WojnarowskiESPN Milwaukee Bucks great Sidney Moncrief has been elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2019, sources tell ESPN. A formal announcement will come Saturday in Minneapolis. Moncrief was named to the All-Star team and the all-NBA team each season from 1981-82 to 1985-86. He averaged 15.6
The Thunder have been slipping as the regular season winds down but they still have everything they need for a historic playoff run. The Oklahoma City Thunder seem a bit stuck right now. They have two of the best players in the NBA and are clearly good enough to make the playoffs and give opponents
LOS ANGELES, CA – MARCH 29: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on during a game against the Charlotte Hornets on March 29, 2019 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms
The challenge in judging this year’s crop of Most Valuable Player candidates is that the players in question have such vastly disparate cases. More so than in almost any other year, selecting a single most deserving player is almost entirely a matter of personal taste. A voter who values single-handed, precedent-shattering production might favor James
The Houston Rockets season got off to a rocky start but they’re rounding into form as the playoffs start. Here’s why they can accomplish what they couldn’t last season, and win it all. The Rockets were a hamstring injury and a few 3-point misses away from a berth in the Finals last season, and a
3:25 PM ET Dwyane Wade, down to what could be the final four games of his career as the Miami Heat‘s playoff status remains in flux, says he will seek professional help to deal with life after basketball. In an interview with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols that aired Friday on The Jump, Wade said he has
The Final Four is the biggest stage in college basketball. Who is ready to use that platform and announce themselves as a top NBA Draft prospect. This NCAA Tournament has been mostly chalk but many of the big name prospects have already been eliminated. With the Final Four coming in this weekend, which players are
The Golden State Warriors have taught us more about DeMarcus Cousins since his return from a meniscus tear than he has shown us about the team. The truisms that players would have you believe about big men are pretty silly. You’ve got to “feed” post players, they say, reward them for running the floor or
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – MARCH 29: Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors looks on during the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on March 29, 2019 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms
1:14 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN PHILADELPHIA — The last time the Milwaukee Bucks ended the regular season with the NBA’s best record, they also had the NBA’s Most Valuable Player. Forty-five years later, history might be about to repeat itself. Thanks to the latest spectacular performance from Giannis Antetokounmpo — who finished with 45 points,
Kevin Durant to the Knicks is either absolutely positively done or a huge question mark, depending on whom you ask. If it’s longtime NBA reporter Ric Bucher you want to believe, Durant might as well already throw on the blue and orange and move to the Big Apple. “From everything I’ve heard, it’s done. Yes,
9:17 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN PHILADELPHIA — Milwaukee Bucks guard Eric Bledsoe was ejected less than three minutes into Thursday night’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers after an aggressive game of catch with Sixers center Joel Embiid. At the 2:36 mark of the first quarter, Embiid and Bledsoe got tangled up, and Embiid extricated himself
The Toronto Raptors have a history of following impressive regular seasons with playoff disasters. Here’s why this season could be different. The Raptors have looked very good in Kawhi Leonard’s first year with the team. Thanks to internal development along with a handful of other acquisitions over the last year, this Raptors team looks very
We’re finally entering the homestretch of the 2018-2019 NBA season. Every team in the league has either five or six games left in their season. With such little time left, the playoff picture is almost all but formed. The top eight teams in the Western Conference have all clinched playoff berths. What remains to be
The Denver Nuggets are one of the league’s most pleasant surprises this year. After missing out on a playoff berth with a loss on the final day of the regular season a year ago, the Nuggets have stormed to a 51-24 record, tying them atop the Western Conference with the defending champion Warriors. Along with
11:54 AM ET LeBron James believes this offseason will be “critical” for himself and the Los Angeles Lakers after the franchise missed the postseason for the sixth consecutive season. “I’ve never played fantasy basketball,” James told Bleacher Report in a story published Wednesday. “But I will be as active as I need to be for
Kevin Durant obtained his 15th and 16th technical fouls of the season, which will have him suspended for the Warriors matchup with the LeBron-less Lakers. Kevin Durant probably didn’t want to play the Los Angeles Lakers anyway. After all, the Golden State Warriors Thursday night nationally televised matchup with the fracturing Lakers doesn’t seem all that enticing
Reports broke Friday evening that the New York Police Department was investigating an allegation of rape against former Knicks star Kristaps Porzingis. On Friday evening, the New York Post reported that the Special Victims Division was investigating a rape allegation made against Kristaps Porzingis. Although the victim apparently didn’t file a police report until this
1:15 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN NEW YORK — Most players go out of their way to give the impression they don’t have a clue what’s being written about them. Kyle Lowry isn’t like most players. The All-Star guard for the Toronto Raptors has no problem admitting he reads plenty, and when it comes to the
6:19 PM ET DETROIT — Blake Griffin will not play for the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night against Indiana as he continues to rest a sore left knee. Pistons coach Dwane Casey said Griffin still needed some time to recover. He has been largely healthy this season, playing in 72 games; now, in a critical