2:19 PM ET ESPN Insiders The NBA season ended just under two weeks ago with uncertainty around when the 2020-21 season would begin. On Friday, ESPN reported that the league’s Board of Governors is discussing starting the season as soon as Christmas Day. The move would mean that the end of the 2019-20 season and
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LeBron James is fresh off another championship but what do players in the generation after him think about his GOAT status? Keeping busy during a pandemic can be challenging especially for NBA players now that the “bubble” has come to and end with no clear idea when the 2020-21 season will start. Aaron Gordon and
7:20 AM ET Next season will reintroduce the eight teams that didn’t make the cut for the NBA’s restart this summer in Orlando, Florida. For the Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves and New York Knicks, the tipoff to the 2020-21 season will be their first
Oct 21, 2020 Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS — New Indiana Pacers coach Nate Bjorkgren went right to work Wednesday. Less than 24 hours after accepting the job, the 45-year-old former Toronto Raptors assistant started explaining his plan. He expects the Pacers to move the ball and take more 3-pointers. He wants the defense to be more
Lauri Markkanen struggled this season but has shown glimpses of his vast potential in the past. Can he really be the Bulls‘ offensive centerpiece? After taking the NBA by storm during his first two seasons, many expected Lauri Markkanen to ascend into an All-Star caliber player this year. Unfortunately, the Finnish forward regressed and posted
Can a defensively struggling superstar lead an NBA franchise to playoff success? The Atlanta Hawks may find themselves betting on it. Is a stout defense necessary for a team to succeed in today’s NBA? Or can a gargantuan offense prove enough to skirt the obligation of defending, even to the point where the typical blood-sweat-pain
5:18 PM ET Five weeks after the LA Clippers suffered an embarrassing playoff collapse, Tyronn Lue addressed the team’s chemistry and leadership issues on his first official day as the franchise’s new head coach. Lue, who won a championship and went 128-83 in less than three full seasons as head coach in Cleveland, will try
WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 12: John Wall #2 of the Washington Wizards speaks with Jordan McRae #52 during a break in play against the Utah Jazz at Capital One Arena on January 12, 2020 in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is
1:38 PM ET The 2020 NBA draft on Nov. 18 will be held virtually and hosted from ESPN’s studios in Bristol, Connecticut, the NBA and ESPN announced Thursday. Commissioner Adam Silver will be in studio at ESPN to announce the selections for the first round, and deputy commissioner Mark Tatum will be in studio to
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – FEBRUARY 8: General view of the Indiana Pacers logo (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) What is Dolphins’ fantasy impact with Tua Tagovailoa starting? by John Buhler Nate Bjorkgren will replace Nate McMillan as head coach of the Pacers. The Indiana Pacers have been consistent playoff participants over the last few years, but
11:34 AM ET Eric WoodyardESPN The 2020 NBA draft is less than a month away, but the Minnesota Timberwolves still don’t see a can’t-miss guy to take with the No. 1 pick. After months of planning to make the top pick for the second time in franchise history, Timberwolves president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas
Omer Yurtseven, the 7-foot tall, Georgetown center, posted an impressive junior season in 2019-20; he averaged 15.5 points, 9.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks. With legitimate NBA size and skills, it’s no mystery why he’s confident. “I don’t think anyone has my combination of tools and versatility,” Yurtseven recently told Basketball insiders. But he’s also a
2:12 PM ET Stan Van Gundy has agreed to a multiyear deal to become the next head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans, sources told ESPN on Wednesday. Van Gundy, the former Miami Heat, Orlando Magic and Detroit Pistons head coach, becomes the seventh coach in Pelicans franchise history. The Pelicans and Van Gundy’s representative,
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. The 2020 NBA Draft is less than one month away, taking place about four months later than usual thanks to an elongated season disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.
What can hypothetical future contenders like the Hawks, Bulls, Spurs and Pelicans learn from this year’s conference finalists? In the penultimate episode of The Good Place, Chidi Anagonye offers a Buddhist perspective on death: “Picture a wave. In the ocean. You can see it, measure it, its height, the way the sunlight refracts when it
6:30 AM ET NBA Insiders The NBA has plenty to figure out ahead of the start of free agency and trade season. The transaction moratorium will be lifted sometime before the Nov. 18 draft, but before then, let’s dive into the biggest storylines this offseason has to offer. Which players are the most intriguing targets?
8:52 PM ET ESPN News Services SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California will let fans back in outdoor stadiums for pro sporting events in counties with low coronavirus infection rates, the state’s top health official said Tuesday. San Francisco and neighboring Alameda and Santa Clara are the only counties that meet the threshold for pro sports. However,
The sports world makes for a beautiful palette but individual images can get lost in the constant shuffle. Here are the best Getty Images sports photos from this week. Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images Carlos Correa of the Houston Astros celebrates while rounding the bases after hitting a walk-off home run to win 4-3 against Tampa Bay
12:22 PM ET The Indiana Pacers have agreed to a multiyear deal to hire Toronto Raptors assistant Nate Bjorkgren as their head coach, sources told ESPN. The Pacers officially named Bjorkgren as their new head coach Tuesday but did not disclose terms of his deal. Bjorkgren, a disciple of reigning NBA Coach of the Year
7:06 AM ET This NBA offseason is full of decisions that could impact the hierarchy of the league for years to come. Will back-to-back MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo hold off on signing a supermax extension with the Milwaukee Bucks? Will the Golden State Warriors keep or trade the No. 2 overall pick in November’s draft? Will
The Los Angeles Lakers head coach, Frank Vogel, seemed to have run his course in the NBA, right up until he worked the historic franchise back into champions. If there is one thing we all know about sports, it’s the wealth of cliches and coach-speak used to describe them. From lunch pails to hard hats;
After a few days on the open market, Doc Rivers is now the new head coach for the Philadelphia 76ers. Earlier this week, an NBA head coaching market that was rich before got even more lucrative, as Doc Rivers entered the fray. Rivers and the Los Angeles Clippers mutually parted ways after the team’s shocking
James Harden isn’t going to win an NBA title with the Rockets. A move to the 76ers could help him finally secure a championship ring. The chances of the Rockets actually trading James Harden this offseason are extremely low. That doesn’t moving him wouldn’t be in the best interest of both Harden and his current
Oct 15, 2020 Sports Africa Network recently hosted a roundtable with five basketball players from the African continent. The discussion revealed the tremendous potential the sport has for enhancing mutual understanding between Africa and the USA, while highlighting the challenges remaining. Thirteen Africa-born men play in the NBA today, nearly enough to fill a team
1:00 PM ET Phil Mickelson will take part in another high-profile match, but this time Tiger Woods will not be part of it. Charles Barkley will partner with Mickelson in a match against Stephen Curry and Peyton Manning on Nov. 27 at Stone Canyon Golf Club in Arizona. Called Capital One’s The Match: Champions for
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. As I pointed out in last week’s NBA Power Rankings, the Warriors are the team with the most potential to disrupt this offseason, by far. While James Harden,
6:23 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN Sometime between now and the 2020 NBA draft on Nov. 18, the league should lift the monthslong transaction moratorium, allowing its annual round of offseason chaos to officially begin. There are many things the NBA will need to sort out over the next few months, from the salary cap rules
5:24 PM ET ESPN News Services MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota sports columnist and radio personality Sid Hartman, an old-school home team booster who once ran the NBA’s Minneapolis Lakers and achieved nearly as much celebrity as some of the athletes he covered, died Sunday. He was 100. Hartman, whose first newspaper column was published in 1945,
The Denver Nuggets made the mistake of leaving Carmelo Anthony off their legendary players graphic. That was just petty, Denver Nuggets. Now that the NBA offseason is upon us, team social media accounts have to find a way to pass the days and weeks leading up to the draft and free agency. The Nuggets chose
Gayle Benson, New Orleans Saints. (Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports) 3 offseason moves the Toronto Blue Jays must make after early playoff exit by Brad Berreman New Orleans Saints owner Gayle Benson nearly had her car jacked with her inside of it. Stopping an attempting carjacking is now on New Orleans Saints owner Gayle