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1:53 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN Winston Churchill once said of Russia, “It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.” If there is an NBA equivalent to that quote, it is Philadelphia 76ers star Ben Simmons. There might not be a more confounding player in the NBA than Simmons. He has the size

5:02 PM ET Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis will be re-evaluated in two to three weeks after suffering a calf strain during Sunday’s loss to the Denver Nuggets, a source told ESPN. Davis underwent an MRI on Monday which revealed an aggravation near his Achilles, the source said. The Lakers and Davis will be

2:06 PM ET Six-time All-Star forward Blake Griffin and the Detroit Pistons have agreed that he will be out of the lineup until the franchise and his representatives work through a resolution on his playing future, Pistons general manager Troy Weaver told ESPN. The Pistons will continue to pursue trade scenarios involving Griffin and talks

12:08 AM ET Los Angeles Lakers star big man Anthony Davis aggravated tendonosis in his right Achilles, a source told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, and was held out of the second half of Sunday’s 122-105 loss to the Denver Nuggets. Davis missed two games earlier this week with the injury. The Lakers officially termed it as

8:01 PM ET Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant will miss at least the next two games with a mild left hamstring strain, the team announced Sunday. The Nets are scheduled to play the Sacramento Kings on Monday and the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday. Durant has missed nine of the Nets’ 28 games this season. Six

11:01 PM ET The Brooklyn Nets annihilated the Warriors in Kevin Durant‘s return to the Bay Area on Saturday night, defeating Golden State 134-117. It was Brooklyn’s league-high seventh 130-point game. Before the game, Nets coach Steve Nash said that while he believes this game against his former team carries extra weight for Durant, the

2:24 AM ET As the Brooklyn Nets ‘Big Three’ of Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving continue to work on building their on-court chemistry, Irving and Harden had a brief conversation at practice this week to clarify their roles. “We established that maybe four days ago now,” Irving said after the Nets’ 134-117 win

7:36 PM ET LeBron James and Kyle Kuzma both received warnings for violating the NBA’s anti-flopping rule in the Los Angeles Lakers‘ 115-105 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday, the league announced. The NBA said James’ violation occurred with 2 minutes, 33 seconds remaining in the second quarter when James, positioned between Dillon Brooks

1:52 PM ET New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson will undergo surgery on his fractured right hand and is expected to miss four to six weeks, sources tell ESPN. Robinson suffered a fracture of the fourth metacarpal on the hand, sources said. Dr. Michelle Carlson at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York will

12:00 AM ET Steve RichardsESPN Three of the brightest young stars in the NBA put on a show Friday night as Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis of the Dallas Mavericks and Zion Williamson of the New Orleans Pelicans posted an array of dazzling numbers. Doncic had a career-high 46 points and 12 assists, Porzingis had

2:44 PM ET NEW YORK — Kevin Durant practiced with the Brooklyn Nets on Friday after missing six days in the league’s contact tracing coronavirus protocols and is slated to play on Saturday against his former team, the Golden State Warriors. Friday was the first time Durant has been with the Nets since he was

2:50 AM ET SAN FRANCISCO — Golden State Warriors star guard Stephen Curry is happy to let his game do the talking as it pertains to the MVP race this season. Curry, 32, is in the midst of one of the best stretches of his career, averaging 35.3 points a game and shooting 53-for-101 from

10:44 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge grew up in Eugene, Ore., and after a stellar four-year career at BYU, made his living over his 14-year NBA career as a tough, hard-nosed guard who could shoot. Decades later, Ainge fell in love during the draft process with another Oregon

7:22 PM ET Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young has been fined $20,000 for “directing inappropriate language toward a game official,” the NBA announced Thursday. The incident occurred on the final possession of the Hawks’ 118-117 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday at American Airlines Center. Young had been knocked to the floor while setting

7:00 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN When the Brooklyn Nets added James Harden to a roster that already included Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, the bookmakers in Las Vegas were quick to declare the NBA’s newest Big Three as the favorites to win the Eastern Conference, despite the fact that the Nets had started the season

11:58 PM ET DALLAS — As soon as Danilo Gallinari‘s difficult buzzer-beater attempt clanked off the rim, Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young ripped out his mouthpiece and stomped toward referee Josh Tiven to protest a critical no-call on the final possession of a 118-117 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. Young had been knocked to the

2:04 PM ET One day after Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban confirmed that his team had stopped playing the national anthem before games, the NBA on Wednesday issued a statement saying that wouldn’t be the case. “With NBA teams now in the process of welcoming fans back into their arenas, all teams will play the

9:28 PM ET The Dallas Mavericks have stopped playing the national anthem before home games at the direction of owner Mark Cuban, he confirmed to ESPN on Tuesday. The Mavericks do not plan to resume the tradition to play the national anthem before games in the future. Cuban, who declined further comment, made the decision

1:45 AM ET Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr watched Michael Jordan drop in so many impossible shots over the years that he had to chuckle when asked whether Stephen Curry made a behind-the-head circus shot late in the first quarter of Tuesday night’s 114-91 win over the San Antonio Spurs reminded him of

10:23 AM ET Associated Press LOS ANGELES — Safety investigators say the pilot of Kobe Bryant’s helicopter flew through the clouds in an apparent violation of federal standards, and likely became disorientedjust before the helicopter crashed and killed Bryant and eight others. Robert Sumwalt, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said Tuesday that pilot

7:00 AM ET Andrew LopezESPN THE ONLY THING standing between Zion Williamson and the rim was Steven Adams. It was the fourth quarter of Williamson’s 10th career NBA game, and the No. 1 overall pick had just caught the ball at the elbow. Adams waited just above the restricted circle, ready for contact. Someone was

1:50 AM ET After a 105-100 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night that again saw Stephen Curry on the bench for half of the fourth quarter, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr said he will not extend the star guard’s minutes to “chase wins” this season. Kerr noted coming into the season

6:25 PM ET Indiana Pacers assistant coach Bill Bayno has resigned his job, citing mental health issues, sources told ESPN on Monday. Bayno, 58, began a leave of absence two weeks ago and worked through terms of a departure with the organization in recent days. Bayno has privately described a need to step away from

7:01 AM ET The Milwaukee Bucks have won four straight games and are back within striking distance of the Eastern Conference’s best record — a mark they’ve owned in each of the past two seasons. Meanwhile, the top two teams in the Western Conference, the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Lakers, are on four-game win

12:27 AM ET LOS ANGELES — Lakers All-Star big man Anthony Davis is listed as questionable for Monday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder with tendonosis of his right Achilles tendon, the team announced. A league source told ESPN it is “very likely” Davis will miss the Thunder game as a precaution and Davis, 27,

3:51 PM ET The New York Knicks have reached agreement on a trade to acquire Detroit Pistons guard Derrick Rose and reunite him with coach Tom Thibodeau, sources told ESPN on Sunday. The Knicks are sending guard Dennis Smith Jr., and a 2021 second-round draft pick via the Charlotte Hornets to Detroit, sources said. The

12:02 PM ET Brian Windhorst Close ESPN Senior Writer ESPN.com NBA writer since 2010 Covered Cleveland Cavs for seven years Author of two books Adrian Wojnarowski Close Senior NBA Insider Host of The Woj Pod Joined ESPN in 2017 Cleveland Cavaliers forward Larry Nance Jr. has a fractured finger on his left hand that likely

1:44 AM ET DALLAS — Luka Doncic hasn’t had a lot of reason to flash his infectious smile lately. He’s a firm believer in the professional benefits of enjoying basketball, but that’s difficult to do when his Dallas Mavericks have lost 10 of their last 13 games, as was the case when he reported for

6:56 PM ET NEW YORK — Kevin Durant will be ineligible to play in the Nets’ next three games after he drove with a team employee who tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, sources told ESPN. Durant will be eligible to rejoin the team on Friday, Feb. 12, coach Steve Nash said on Saturday. The

7:49 PM ET Malika Andrews Close ESPN Staff Writer Staff Writer Joined ESPN in 2018 Appears regularly on ESPN Chicago 1000 Adrian Wojnarowski Close Senior NBA Insider Host of The Woj Pod Joined ESPN in 2017 After a confounding night surrounding the status of Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant at the Barclays Center — which