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6:46 AM ET Nick DePaulaESPN When the NBA last descended upon Orlando, Florida, the sneaker world saw some of the most iconic themes and launches in All-Star Weekend history. Brands began planning some 16 months in advance for the 2012 event, with Nike’s detailed “Galaxy” collection celebrating the region’s nearby NASA space center at Cape

6:37 AM ET THE DAY AFTER Rudy Gobert tested positive for the coronavirus, triggering the suspension of the NBA season, the Utah Jazz center tried to get in touch with his co-star, Donovan Mitchell. Gobert had just learned that Mitchell was the only other member of the team’s 58-person traveling party to test positive. Gobert

11:37 PM ET Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard told CNN on Monday night that he will join the team in Orlando for the restart of the NBA season. “I feel like we have a great opportunity, the Lakers do, for winning the title this year … Yes, I will be joining my team in

1:28 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Philadelphia 76ers forward Mike Scott said the NBA giving players a list of phrases they may put on the backs of their jerseys when the season restarts in Orlando, Florida, later this month, rather than allowing players to choose what they want to say, was a “bad miss.” “They gave

7:09 PM ET The Milwaukee Bucks and Sacramento Kings shut down their practice facilities Sunday, sources told ESPN, after receiving the results of a recent round of testing for the coronavirus. It was not immediately clear if there was more than one positive test on the Bucks, but Milwaukee plans to keep its facility closed

10:29 PM ET The NBA is less than a month away from restarting the 2019-20 season. With teams beginning to arrive at Walt Disney World on Tuesday and training camps set to begin on Thursday, it’s time to take stock of the teams that will face off later this month at Disney’s ESPN Wide World

Jul 2, 2020 ESPN staff This year’s edition of The Basketball Tournament is unique for a multitude of reasons. Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the event is positioned to offer American fans the first televised team basketball event since the NBA suspended its season in March. But the TBT will also benefit from an

8:00 AM ET Carmine CarcieriESPN It has been more than three months since we’ve had organized hoops in the United States, but basketball officially returns this weekend with Fourth of July fireworks. The Basketball Tournament begins its 11-day tournament — which includes nine alumni teams and a four-time champion — starting with the Round of

8:21 PM ET LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — As NBA teams prepare to leave for Orlando in the coming days, organizations have received directives on the process for transporting players unable to travel on the team charters, according to a league memo acquired by ESPN. If a player misses a scheduled COVID test in the

12:47 PM ET ESPN News Services The NBA announced the schedule Saturday for scrimmages at the Walt Disney World Resort, with 33 games set for between July 22 and July 28. Each of the 22 teams that will be part of the season restart has been scheduled for three games. The Orlando Magic and LA

5:51 PM ET Andrew LopezESPN New Orleans Pelicans assistant coach Jeff Bzdelik will not accompany the team to Orlando for the restart of the NBA season, Bzdelik’s agent, Warren LeGarie, told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Friday afternoon. According to team sources, the decision, which takes into account CDC guidelines, was made after Bzdelik, 67, consulted

3:59 PM ET Indiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo will not join his team for the NBA restart in Orlando, Florida, he told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Friday. Oladipo had been hesitant to commit to join the Pacers at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex due to the risk of reinjuring his quadriceps tendon. The

6:38 PM ET LOS ANGELES — Lakers assistant coach Lionel Hollins will not join the team when it flies to Orlando, Florida next week for the restart to the NBA season, a league source confirmed to ESPN on Friday. Hollins was deemed a higher-risk individual due to underlying medical conditions, the source told ESPN. He

7:44 AM ET As the NBA calendar resumes and teams prepare for the conclusion of the season in Orlando, Florida, few franchises have been more representative of the myriad concerns than the Los Angeles Lakers. The West’s top seed has faced positive coronavirus test results in the immediate aftermath of the league shutdown, family tragedy

7:29 PM ET A second NBA bubble? The NBA has yet to officially restart the 2020 season in Florida, but the league has already begun discussions with the National Basketball Players Association for a secondary bubble with the eight teams that were eliminated from postseason consideration, according to a report by ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan. There

4:55 PM ET The NBA is closing in on signing off on a second “bubble” in Chicago for the eight teams that were not invited to play in Florida, enabling them to participate in a mini-training camp and subsequent games against other clubs with a target date of September, sources told ESPN on Thursday. The

7:31 AM ET WHEN FRANK VOGEL has chatted with the Los Angeles Lakers ahead of traveling to the NBA’s campus at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida, next week, the conversation has mostly been informational. Players want clarity about how restrictive the so-called bubble will be — for instance, under what

7:53 PM ET LOS ANGELES — Lakers coach Frank Vogel says the team will not seek a replacement player for Dwight Howard for the Orlando restart. And, according to Vogel, the team will not ask the replacement player that it did add, JR Smith, to play like the player he replaced, Avery Bradley. Speaking on

5:59 PM ET Houston Rockets forward Thabo Sefolosha has opted out of the season’s restart in Orlando, sources tell ESPN. The Rockets are eligible to sign a replacement for the team’s roster. Sefolosha, 36, had played in 41 games this season, averaging 10 minutes and 2.2 points Veteran forwards Jeff Green and DeMarre Carroll —

7:00 AM ET NBA Insiders It was 10 years ago today that the most anticipated free-agency period in NBA history began, culminating on July 8, 2010, with The Decision and LeBron James announcing that he was taking his talents to South Beach. We asked our NBA insiders to reflect on the show, the fallout and

3:52 PM ET With coronavirus cases on the rise in the United States and some teams recently closing their facilities due to positive cases, NBA commissioner Adam Silver remains “pretty confident” about the NBA’s plan to safely resume play but admits that a spread in the NBA community could bring the league to a halt

7:35 AM ET By the time LeBron James made The Decision, he was already the best basketball player in the world. He was 25 years old and had just won his second consecutive MVP award. Ten years later, James is still at the top of the NBA, and that decision to take his talents to

6:56 PM ET Brooklyn Nets center DeAndre Jordan has tested positive for the coronavirus and opted out of next month’s Orlando, Florida, restart with his team, he announced Monday. “Found out last night and confirmed again today that I’ve tested positive for Covid while being back in market,” Jordan wrote on Twitter. “As a result

7:05 PM ET The NBA and National Basketball Players Association are planning to paint “Black Lives Matter” on the court inside both sidelines in all three arenas the league will use at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, when it resumes the 2019-20 season late next month, league sources told ESPN. The WNBA

11:05 AM ET Ja Morant apologized on Twitter for reposting an image on social media with a profanity directed at police officers on the back of his jersey, writing that it “didn’t clearly and accurately convey what I wanted to share.” On Sunday, the Memphis Grizzlies rookie point guard reposted an image that had the

7:00 AM ET WEARING AN IMPECCABLY tailored cream jacket, a light-blue button-down shirt and a jet-black tie with a contrasting platinum clip, LeBron James walked through the players’ entrance at Miami’s AmericanAirlines Arena for the first time. The day before, July 8, 2010, on The Decision broadcast, James told a national TV audience that he

5:36 PM ET Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert still has trouble smelling after testing positive for the coronavirus in March, he told French newspaper L’Equipe. “The taste has returned, but the smell is still not 100%,” Gobert said in quotes published Wednesday. “I can smell smells, but not from afar. I spoke to specialists, who

4:31 PM ET NEW YORK — Brooklyn Nets forward Wilson Chandler has informed the team that he is opting out of playing in Orlando, Florida. Chandler cited spending more time with his family — particularly his grandmother, who raised him, and three children — as the primary reason for sitting out. The Nets will be

1:04 AM ET Marc J. Spears Oklahoma City Thunder guard Chris Paul, president of the National Basketball Players’ Association, told ESPN’s The Undefeated on Saturday that the union and the league are collaborating to allow players to wear specialized jerseys with a personalized social justice, social cause or charity message on the back instead of

1:04 AM ET The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association are discussing plans to allow players the opportunity to wear a statement on social justice on the back of their jerseys when the season restarts in Orlando, Florida, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The statement would replace a player’s last name on the back