7:59 AM ET THE GOLDEN STATE Warriors know how fleeting life atop the basketball world can be. Following five consecutive NBA Finals trips, the team suddenly finds itself out of postseason contention in 2019-20 with a league-worst 15-50 record. Serious injuries to star players and the departure of Kevin Durant, a two-time Finals MVP, will
Month: May 2020
Mike D’Antoni, Houston Rockets, (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) This Houston Rockets‘ season was more of the same from Mike D’Antoni, always surrounded by dazzling superstars and never quite hitting the peak. All the way back in February, the Rockets seemingly were souring on Mike D’Antoni. Before landing Robert Covington for a full-time small ball
Spencer Dinwiddie, Brooklyn Nets, (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty images) Spencer Dinwiddie said on Twitter that if fans could crowdfund his next NBA contract, he’d let them decide where he plays. Now he’s actually set up a GoFundMe campaign. Spencer Dinwiddie has been focused on bringing cutting-edge financial creativity to the NBA. He’s spent nearly a
8:00 PM ET As the nation reels from the coronavirus pandemic, Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard is mourning the loss of Melissa Rios, the mother of his 6-year-old son David, he told reporters Friday. Rios, 31, died of an epileptic seizure on March 27 at her home in Calabasas, California. “I’ve had some things
4:59 PM ET As the uncertainty grows, and science, economic and competitive elements collide, there’s one constant in the struggle to revive the NBA: Owners and players are delivering Adam Silver full room to operate, govern and make the decision on resuming play amid a pandemic. No power grabs, no factions, no public criticisms on
Dwyane Wade, #3, Chris Bosh, #1, LeBron James, #6, Miami Heat, (Photo by Ron Elkman/Sports Imagery/Getty Images) The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. It’s Friday, which means mailbag day! Hit us up on Twitter
7:00 AM ET MICHAEL JORDAN MISSED. With 35.8 seconds left in Game 1 of the 1997 NBA Finals between the Chicago Bulls and the Utah Jazz, the greatest player in NBA history actually just bricked what should have been the winning free throw. And now, for roughly 26 seconds, the basketball world is in chaos:
Welcome back to Basketball Insiders’ “Looking Back” series! We’ve already gone over how the first and second overall pick have fared since 2009, so naturally, the next pick up is the third overall pick. Like with the first two, we categorize these players by if they are hits, misses, in the middle, or role players.
2:03 PM ET The University of Florida is open to hosting events involving professional sports teams looking for a way to play during the coronavirus pandemic, athletic director Scott Stricklin said in a statement Thursday. After Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said Wednesday all professional sports teams are welcome in the state for practicing and playing,
Enes Kanter, #11, Boston Celtics, (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) Enes Kanter is spending his quarantine planning for a career after basketball. Apparently that career is going to be as a professional wrestler with WWE. The world around us is changing rapidly and it’s forcing everyone to think deeply about their present and their future.
8:54 AM ET A COUPLE OF years ago, Jud Buechler’s daughter Reily was walking through Los Angeles International Airport when she spotted one of Buechler’s longtime teammates: Scottie Pippen. She texted her father about her celebrity sighting. Her phone rang. “Reily,” Buechler implored his daughter, “turn around right now and introduce yourself. Tell him how
10:05 AM ET Bobby Marks NBA teams will withhold more than $30 million from player paychecks on Friday, as players receive their first salary reduction since the league and the union agreed to a plan to temporarily cut pay by 25%. But five of the NBA’s top-10 earners this season — LeBron James, Stephen Curry,
Michael Jordan, Luc Longley, Steve Kerr, Chicago Bulls, Mandatory Credit: John Gichigi /Allsport Episodes 7 and 8 of “The Last Dance” were filled with memorable quotes giving the world a glimpse into Michael Jordan’s psyche and how he motivated his Chicago Bulls teammates. The Last Dance has been quite an entertaining watch for fans of
Episodes 7-8 of “The Last Dance” may have been the best ones yet. Here’s what we learned about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls this week. From Michael Jordan‘s first NBA retirement to his father’s murder to his turbulent relationship with teammates born of his insanely competitive nature, Episodes 7-8 of The Last Dance provided the
Dwight Howard, #12, Orlando Magic, (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) Was Dwight Howard robbed of an MVP Award? Is he a Hall-of-Famer? How big is his sweet tooth? Our Dwight Howard FAQ has all your answers. Dwight Howard’s long, slow slide out of his prime has cast his career in a different light. He’s
7:56 PM ET The NCAA announced Wednesday that it has extended indefinitely the deadline for college basketball players to withdraw from the NBA draft and retain their college eligibility amid the coronavirus pandemic. The deadline was June 3, but Dan Gavitt, the NCAA’s senior vice president of basketball, said in a statement that it will
Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images As the most memorable face of a now defunct Charlotte Bobcats franchise, Gerald Wallace doesn’t get as much love as he probably deserves. There’s no beating around the bush: The Charlotte Bobcats were mostly a terrible, miserable, unwatchable basketball team during their 10 years of existence. They made the playoffs
Welcome back to Basketball Insiders’ “Looking Back” series! We’ve already gone over how the first and second overall pick have fared since 2009, so naturally, the next pick up is the third overall pick. Like with the first two, we categorize these players by if they are hits, misses, in the middle, or role players.
7:00 AM ET With the season on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic, ESPN polled its NBA experts to rank the greatest players in the league’s 74-year history. It’s no surprise that Michael Jordan ended up on top, but there were close calls and heated debates throughout the rankings — and outside of them. We
Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images While the NBA season is halted, there’s still plenty to think about in this time away from the game. Today we’ll be focusing on players that would be awesome to watch if they donned the same uniforms. The summer of 2019 turned the NBA from a league of trios to
7:00 AM ET LeBron James or Michael Jordan? Bill Russell or Wilt Chamberlain? Stephen Curry or Kevin Durant? Old school or new school? These debates rage on endlessly in every corner of NBA fandom, and our experts have done their best to answer them, ranking the greatest players in the league’s 74-year history. ESPN’s NBA
Last week, Basketball Insiders dove into NBA nostalgia by looking back at previous NBA drafts of recent memory, starting from 2014 all the way to 2017. Over the next two weeks, we’re going to be changing the formula up a tad. Instead of looking at entire drafts, we’re looking at the individual picks – starting
9:57 PM ET Participants on a Tuesday Board of Governors call with NBA commissioner Adam Silver left the virtual meeting increasingly positive about the league’s momentum toward a resumption of play this season, sources told ESPN. Owners and executives on the call were encouraged about the league’s progress toward minimizing health risk upon a return
Jayson Tatum, #0, Boston Celtics, (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. Basketball Twitter can be a petri dish for absurd ideas and yesterday’s obsessively dissected hypothetical was the random
2:45 PM ET The National Basketball Players Association started polling its membership Tuesday about how individuals stand on a return to play this season, sources told ESPN. NBPA regional representatives — including Tim McCormick and Frank Brickowski — were among the union officials polling players with a yes or no question on their current desire
Last week, Basketball Insiders dove into NBA nostalgia by looking back at previous NBA drafts of recent memory, starting from 2014 all the way to 2017. Over the next two weeks, we’re going to be changing the formula up a tad. Instead of looking at entire drafts, we’re looking at the individual picks – starting
7:00 AM ET LeBron James or Michael Jordan? Bill Russell or Wilt Chamberlain? Stephen Curry or Kevin Durant? Old school or new school? These debates rage on endlessly in every corner of NBA fandom, and our experts have done their best to answer them, ranking the greatest players in the league’s 74-year history. ESPN’s NBA
Zion Williamson, #1, New Orleans Pelicans, (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) Even if the NBA regular season is canceled, we’ve seen enough to start assessing the first seasons of notable rookies. What did the New Orleans Pelicans see from Zion Williamson? Zion Williamson’s rookie debut was going to be a spectacle, especially after he conducted a
10:29 AM ET The NBA has reached an agreement with the National Basketball Players Association to extend until September the 60-day window that preserves the league’s right to terminate the collective bargaining agreement in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, sources told ESPN. For now, the extension staves off the NBA’s ability to trigger the
Last week, Basketball Insiders dove into NBA nostalgia by looking back at previous NBA drafts of recent memory, starting from 2014 all the way to 2017. Over the next two weeks, we’re going to be changing the formula up a tad. Instead of looking at entire drafts, we’re looking at the individual picks – starting