News

1:15 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN BOSTON — After Celtics star Jayson Tatum scored 44 points to lead his team to a 119-114 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Saturday, overcoming a spectacular 47-point performance from Stephen Curry in the process, Tatum said it was a thrill for him to go toe-to-toe with the future

5:57 PM ET LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Lakers will not visit President Joe Biden at the White House to celebrate their 2020 NBA championship when the team travels to Washington, D.C. for a game against the Wizards later this month, a source with knowledge of the situation told ESPN. Scheduling challenges and continued

9:55 AM ET An MRI on the right ankle sprain of Donovan Mitchell revealed no structural damage, but the Utah Jazz guard is expected to miss several games before he is cleared to return, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Mitchell suffered the injury during the third quarter of Friday’s 119-111 win over the Pacers when

1:59 AM ET DALLAS — Tom Thibodeau, the notoriously gruff first-year New York Knicks head coach, cracked a hint of a grin when asked about his demeanor following a 117-109 win Friday night over the Dallas Mavericks. It was New York’s fifth consecutive victory, marking the franchise’s longest winning streak in seven years. The Knicks,

5:11 PM ET Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell needed to be helped off the floor and into the locker room by teammates during the third quarter of Friday’s game against the Indiana Pacers due to a right ankle injury. He did not return. X-rays were negative on Mitchell’s ankle, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Sources

2:09 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame has announced the list of Hall of Famers scheduled to present the 2020 class of honorees — led by Michael Jordan honoring Kobe Bryant. Jordan, who spoke at Bryant’s memorial service in February 2020, will also introduce Baylor women’s coach Kim Mulkey, making

9:46 PM ET LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis has been cleared for full-contact practice and his return to game action is imminent, Lakers coach Frank Vogel said Thursday. It’s been a while since Vogel has had a reason to smile when asked about the health of his players — the latest

7:00 AM ET NBA Insiders What will happen in the key NBA standings races in the final weeks of the regular season? What are the biggest storylines and teams to watch? We polled the ESPN Forecast panel of experts — including NBA writers, editors and analysts — for their predictions now that we are two-thirds

7:00 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN Two months ago, this year’s race for the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award looked as competitive as any in recent memory. But injuries have laid waste to the deep field of contenders, leaving Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic clearly standing above the rest of the field. Jokic, who has not

1:25 AM ET In the midst of one of the hottest streaks of his brilliant 12-year career, Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry had to chuckle when asked if he’d like the NBA single-game 3-point record back from his longtime teammate Klay Thompson. “Absolutely,” Curry said after scoring 42 points during Wednesday’s 147-109 win over

3:41 PM ET In the wake of Golden State Warriors star guard Stephen Curry setting a franchise record for points — and passing Wilt Chamberlain in the process — forward Draymond Green treated his longtime teammate to dinner Tuesday night in Oklahoma City to celebrate the two-time league MVP’s latest achievement. Making the meal even

7:03 AM ET LUKA DONCIC HITS the brakes, changes directions with a behind-the-back dribble, then picks up the ball and steps back to his left before launching a 3-pointer. It’s March 31 inside Boston’s TD Garden, and Celtics guard Marcus Smart, one of the NBA’s premier on-ball defenders, has just gone from within breathing distance

7:00 AM ET NBA Insiders The Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks have all separated themselves from the pack in the Eastern Conference. The rest of the standings? Well, that picture is much less clear. With six teams — the Atlanta Hawks, Miami Heat, Charlotte Hornets, Boston Celtics, New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers

5:00 PM ET As the Minnesota Timberwolves and Brooklyn Nets resume play after Monday’s game was postponed in the wake of the police shooting of Daunte Wright, Wolves president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas said he hoped playing Tuesday would “give our guys a platform to show and say what they feel.” “We live here,”

10:33 PM ET SAN FRANCISCO — Stephen Curry is the all-time points leader in Golden State Warriors history, passing Wilt Chamberlain‘s previous record of 17,783. Curry’s record-setting basket came on a driving layup with 1:40 left in the first quarter of Monday’s game against the Denver Nuggets. Needing just 19 to surpass Chamberlain, Curry finished

12:54 AM ET SAN FRANCISCO — Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray injured his left knee at the end of the fourth quarter of Monday’s game against the Golden State Warriors and did not return. The Nuggets are working to get Murray an MRI on the knee to evaluate the severity of the injury, a source

7:00 AM ET Let the battle for the Eastern Conference begin in the NBA. With Kevin Durant back after missing nearly two months with a hamstring injury, the star-studded Brooklyn Nets are getting whole again — just in time for an epic matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night (7 ET on ESPN). In

7:00 AM ET Even Stephen Curry can’t believe he’s on the verge of surpassing a record held by the great Wilt Chamberlain. “That’s surreal to be honest,” Curry said after a loss to the Atlanta Hawks last week, after which he sat 129 points behind the Warriors’ all-time lead. “[Chamberlain has] got a lot of

5:55 PM ET NEW YORK — Kyrie Irving will not play in the Brooklyn Nets‘ game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday. He is out due to personal reasons, the team announced. The Nets will also be without LaMarcus Aldridge, who is listed as out for a non-coronavirus-related illness. James Harden was diagnosed with a

3:33 PM ET Golden State Warriors rookie center James Wiseman suffered a tear to the meniscus in his right knee and could miss the rest of the season, sources told ESPN. Wiseman, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, underwent imaging Sunday for an injury suffered on Saturday night. Further consultation with

9:14 AM ET Forward Alize Johnson has agreed to a multi-year deal with the Brooklyn Nets worth up to $4.1 million, his agent George Langberg told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Johnson’s productivity parlayed two consecutive 10-day contracts into the new deal with the Nets. Johnson had his choice of a bit more guaranteed money elsewhere, but

7:29 PM ET Former major league slugger Alex Rodriguez and billionaire Marc Lore are finalizing a deal to purchase the Minnesota Timberwolves from majority owner Glen Taylor, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Saturday. Taylor will continue to hold full control of the team for two years before Rodriguez and Lore take over in 2023.

10:17 AM ET Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant is no longer driven by championships. After all, he has won two. Instead, he says it’s the desire to be at his best that fuels him. “I wasn’t expecting to be a happy human being from a title,” Durant told ESPN’s Rachel Nichols in an interview that

12:27 AM ET Andrew LopezESPN NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Pelicans‘ experiments with Zion Williamson as their primary ball handler this season have mostly been relegated to him getting a rebound and pushing it up or the team going with it off of dead balls and free throws. But Friday night against the Philadelphia

12:18 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN BOSTON — All it took for the Boston Celtics to end their season-long seven-game homestand with a victory Friday night was a 17-point comeback to force overtime, and the best game of Jayson Tatum‘s career. The 23-year-old All-Star finished with a career-high 53 points — including 35 points in the

3:02 AM ET The LA Clippers and Phoenix Suns have played twice this season, and there have been contentious moments resulting in technical fouls, flagrant fouls, ejections and plenty of “chirping.” After Paul George scored 33 points to help the Clippers take a 113-103 win over the Suns at Staples Center in a game that

1:38 AM ET Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green said Thursday that he believes his tweets about women’s sports and the pay-gap with male athletes have been “extremely misconstrued,” saying in part, “I am on their side.” Green spoke about the topic one day after U.S. women’s national team star Megan Rapinoe ripped his remarks,

8:58 PM ET Seven months after winning the franchise’s 17th title, the Los Angeles Lakers will finally unveil their 2020 NBA championship banner, the team announced. Prior to Thursday’s rematch against their 2020 Finals opponent, the Miami Heat, Lakers CEO and president Jeanie Buss revealed the team’s plans to display the banner at long last

12:31 PM ET Toronto Raptors guards Fred VanVleet and DeAndre’ Bembry and Los Angeles Lakers guard Talen Horton-Tucker have been suspended one game each without pay for leaving the bench area during an on-court altercation during the Lakers’ 110-101 win on Tuesday. Raptors forward OG Anunoby and Lakers big man Montrezl Harrell were fined for

12:43 AM ET After missing almost two months because of a left hamstring strain, Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant quieted any lingering doubts about his health as the playoffs near: He looked like same superstar he has always been. Durant, coming off the bench in his return from a 23-game absence, scored 17 points on