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5:54 PM ET LOS ANGELES — With the Los Angeles Lakers‘ first preseason game looming Friday against the LA Clippers — which will be just six days into training camp and 61 days since their clinching Game 6 NBA Finals victory — coach Frank Vogel sounds like he’s calling off the big guns. “We haven’t

12:16 PM ET Tim MacMahon Close ESPN Staff Writer Joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009 Covers the Dallas Cowboys and Dallas Mavericks Appears regularly on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM Adrian Wojnarowski Close Senior NBA Insider Host of The Woj Pod Joined ESPN in 2017 James Harden indicated to the Houston Rockets before the beginning of training

2:14 AM ET Months ago, LeBron James bit his tongue when Kyrie Irving‘s comments on Kevin Durant‘s podcast seemed to disparage the Los Angeles Lakers star’s late-game abilities. Now James has opened up about his former teammate’s take on a podcast appearance of his own. James, appearing as a guest on the Road Trippin’ podcast

7:12 PM ET LOS ANGELES — LeBron James says that the most satisfying part of the two-year, $85 million contract extension he signed with the Los Angeles Lakers last week isn’t the money. It isn’t the fact that it assures him 20 seasons in the NBA. It isn’t the pride in knowing he’s worked hard

3:31 PM ET Houston Rockets coach Stephen Silas referred to disgruntled superstar James Harden’s absence from training camp as a holdout on Monday and said there is “no timetable” he is aware of for the perennial All-Star guard to report. After Harden missed Houston’s first team workout Sunday, Silas cited the NBA’s COVID-19 protocols as

6:59 AM ET The league looks a little different since our last rundown of all 30 teams. Star guards Russell Westbrook and John Wall swapped teams. Jrue Holiday and Gordon Hayward changed uniforms. The Philadelphia 76ers got a new head coach and a new president of basketball operations. What about the Los Angeles Lakers? L.A.

7:05 PM ET Andrew LopezESPN Zion Williamson will head into his second NBA season with “no restrictions,” the New Orleans Pelicans star said Sunday. Talking to reporters as the Pelicans opened their training camp, Williamson flashed the biggest smile of the day when asked about what limitations he might have this season. “Me and [Pelicans]

3:46 PM ET Disgruntled Houston Rockets star James Harden did not participate in the team’s first practice of training camp Sunday because of the NBA’s COVID-19 protocols, coach Stephen Silas said. Silas said that Harden is expected to have an individual workout at the Toyota Center on Sunday evening, but the first-year coach said he

6:02 PM ET Michael Porter Jr. is ready to do more than just fill the void on the Denver Nuggets caused by the departures of key wing players like Jerami Grant and Torrey Craig. The second-year forward is prepared to not only be a full-time starter, but believes he’s ready to be the third star

5:20 PM ET Russell Westbrook may be changing teams and jersey numbers, but the Washington Wizards‘ newest point guard said he isn’t going to change his demeanor on the court no matter what people think of him. Westbrook joined the Wizards on Saturday but did not practice due to paperwork from the trade having just

2:50 PM ET The NBA has warned teams that protocol violations that lead to coronavirus spread impacting opposing teams and causing schedule derailments could result in “fines, suspensions, adjustment or loss of draft choices and game forfeitures,” according to a memo obtained by ESPN. For players violating safety protocols this season, the league warns that

3:07 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN The NBA released the first half of its regular-season schedule Friday, as it continues to adjust to the new reality placed upon it by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Rather than what typically happens — the NBA announcing its full 82-game schedule — the league instead unveiled only half of its

10:35 PM ET LOS ANGELES — Anthony Davis said he signed the lengthiest contract he possibly could to stay with the Los Angeles Lakers — inking a five-year, $190 million pact Thursday — in part as an insurance policy should he suffer a career-threatening injury. “That could have been a two-year, three-year deal,” Davis told

4:21 PM ET The NBA schedule has been released for the first half of the 2020-21 season. The regular season tips off on Dec. 22, 72 days after the Los Angeles Lakers hoisted the Larry O’Brien Trophy inside the NBA’s Orlando bubble. Since then, we’ve had the NBA draft, a flurry of coaching changes and

8:40 PM ET LOS ANGELES — Anthony Davis might have filled his bank account by signing a five-year, $190 million extension with the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday, but one of his teammates now wants him to fill his awards shelf, too. “I’m expecting AD to go for the MVP,” Lakers forward Jared Dudley said

5:26 PM ET First-year Houston Rockets head coach Stephen Silas has not been in regular contact with James Harden, saying he is giving the disgruntled face of the franchise “space” as the season nears. Harden has informed the Rockets that he wants to be traded to the Brooklyn Nets, according to sources, preferring a fresh

2:56 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Dwight Howard said Thursday afternoon that his “infamous” tweet about returning to the Los Angeles Lakers in the opening hours of free agency — only to be followed a short time later by him agreeing to join the Philadelphia 76ers — was the product of a misunderstanding over whether he

7:40 AM ET All-NBA forward Anthony Davis is finalizing a five-year, $190 million maximum contract to stay with the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, Klutch Sports CEO and Founder Rich Paul told ESPN. The deal includes an early termination option prior to the fifth year of the deal in 2024-2025, Paul said. Davis, a free

8:02 PM ET The Houston Rockets have agreed to trade Russell Westbrook to the Washington Wizards for John Wall and a first-round draft pick, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Westbrook, as well as fellow Rockets star James Harden, had expressed concern about the direction of the Houston franchise in the wake of the departures of

4:01 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN The NBA announced its national TV schedule for the first three days of the season — Dec. 22, 23 and 25 — Wednesday afternoon, featuring nine games involving most of the league’s biggest names. Opening night will see the Warriors open the season by travelling to Brooklyn to face the

7:00 AM ET The NBA returns to regular-season action on Dec. 22 following an abbreviated offseason — one that saw the draft and the start of free agency compressed into the same week — with some uncertainty. With the coronavirus pandemic ongoing, the league is facing decisions about how to undertake a campaign outside the

8:45 PM ET The NBA’s Christmas Day schedule is set, and all five matchups are packed with star power. Zion Williamson makes his Christmas Day debut as the New Orleans Pelicans face the defending Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat. Stephen Curry, back from a broken left hand, leads the Golden State Warriors against reigning two-time

7:30 PM ET The 2020-21 NBA season is fast approaching, with play scheduled to begin on Dec. 22. As teams prepare for the upcoming campaign, many will be wearing new threads on the court. Nike and Jordan Brand have been unveiling their new looks across the league throughout the offseason, as various franchises will see

6:18 PM ET Olgun Uluc Andrew Bogut has announced his retirement from professional basketball. Widely regarded as one the greatest and most successful players in Australian basketball history, Bogut made the announcement on his Rogues Bogues podcast on Tuesday morning, choosing to put an end to a professional career that spanned 15 years. It was

6:33 PM ET LOS ANGELES — LeBron James could be one and done playing the 1 for the Los Angeles Lakers. The newly acquired Dennis Schroder says he intends to start at point guard for the defending champions. “I did this off the bench stuff already in two years with OKC,” Schroder, the reigning Sixth

3:54 PM ET After initially planning for a limited number of fans to be in attendance for home games, the Oklahoma City Thunder are reversing course and will open the season with the arena empty, the team announced Monday. “For months, we have worked in close collaboration with Chesapeake Energy Arena, the City of Oklahoma

6:18 AM ET Who are the NBA free agents to watch in 2021 and 2022? The 2020 free-agent class featured less star power than normal, as the league blitzed through a condensed transaction period featuring the draft and free agency in the same week. The 2021 class has more hype, potentially featuring names such as

3:53 PM ET The Boston Celtics have traded Gordon Hayward and second-round draft picks in 2023 and 2024 to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for a conditional 2022 second-round draft pick. The sign-and-trade agreement creates a $27.9 million trade exception for the Celtics, the largest in NBA history. Hayward, 30, declined his $34.2 million player

2:32 PM ET A historically compressed offseason saw free agency begin less than 48 hours after the league concluded its draft. Oh yeah, the NBA trade moratorium was lifted roughly 32 hours before the draft, creating a flurry of player movement seen possibly only in the busiest of hardcore fantasy formats. An already wild league

7:33 PM ET Associated Press SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett will finally enter the Basketball Hall of Fame in May 2021. The NBA said Saturday that the delayed Hall of Fame weekend — it was to have taken place in Springfield, Massachusetts, in August before being pushed back because of