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2:54 PM ET LOS ANGELES — Anthony Davis will sit out Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves because of a right calf contusion, Los Angeles Lakers coach Frank Vogel said after L.A.’s morning shootaround. “Well, we just want to be responsible with it,” Vogel said on a video conference call with reporters. “We want to

2:16 AM ET Fresh off a four-day forced quarantine, which followed weeks of his desire to be traded dominating headlines, Houston Rockets superstar James Harden had a performance Saturday night that reminded people why he’s a perennial MVP candidate. It just wasn’t quite enough to carry an extremely short-handed Houston team, missing six players due

9:20 PM ET Eric WoodyardESPN In Sunday’s New York Times, an advocacy group took out a full-page advertisement calling on the NBA and its owners to force Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores to sell his team because of his ownership of a prison telecom company. “It hurts,” Gores said during Saturday’s media availability ahead of

11:33 AM ET Four Houston Rockets players — center DeMarcus Cousins, point guard John Wall, shooting guard Eric Gordon and two-way guard Mason Jones — who were considered close contacts under the NBA’s COVID-19 protocols will be forced to quarantine until Wednesday, a league source told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The players had already been ruled

1:15 AM ET A bloodied Kawhi Leonard was forced to leave the LA Clippers‘ 121-108 win at the Denver Nuggets in the fourth quarter after taking an inadvertent elbow to the face from teammate Serge Ibaka. Ibaka was going up for a rebound when his elbow collided with Leonard’s face. Leonard immediately collapsed to the

6:03 PM ET The Houston Rockets are traveling to Portland with nine players — one more than the minimum required to play an NBA game — for Saturday’s road game against the Trail Blazers. The Rockets, whose season opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder was postponed due to a lack of available players, have six

2:44 PM ET K.C. Jones, who personified winning as a hard-nosed point guard and then coach of the Boston Celtics during a Hall of Fame career has died, the Celtics confirmed Friday. He was 88. K.C. was Jones’ given name, although some joked the “C” stood for championships. It was easy to see why. He

6:56 PM ET The NBA delivered a warning to teams on Thursday that franchises are forbidden from pursuing and administering newly released coronavirus vaccines on a team-wide basis ahead of public health guidelines for prioritization, according to a memo obtained by ESPN. In informing teams that medical experts advising the NBA are in agreement with

7:00 AM ET Since Rudy Gobert entered the NBA in 2013 as the 27th overall pick of the Utah Jazz, he has been known as an affable French import, a 7-foot-1 “Stifle Tower” — with a remarkable 7-foot-9 wingspan — who won consecutive Defensive Player of the Year awards anchoring his team’s elite defense. But

11:15 AM ET Houston Rockets star James Harden will be required to isolate until Friday and continue to test negative for the coronavirus before being cleared to return to play, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Harden should be available to play against the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday. Harden was fined $50,000 by the NBA

11:43 PM ET Russell Westbrook needed only three quarters to get his first triple-double as a Washington Wizard, but he will have to wait a bit longer to get his first victory. The All-Star point guard made his Washington debut in typical Westbrook fashion with 21 points, 15 assists and 11 rebounds. But it wasn’t

5:29 PM ET The Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder game for Wednesday night has been postponed as the Rockets do not have the league-required eight available players needed to proceed with the game, the NBA announced. The NBA said three Rockets players have returned tests that were either positive or inconclusive for coronavirus under

10:40 AM ET The Houston Rockets and NBA are reviewing video of James Harden partying maskless at a strip club to determine if he violated the league’s COVID-19 protocols, putting the perennial All-Star’s availability for Houston’s season opener Wednesday night in question, sources told ESPN. The video, which was published by Black Sports Online and

3:01 AM ET LOS ANGELES — A 22-point lead had shrunk to one and the LA Clippers could feel the Los Angeles Lakers coming for them on championship ring night. The Clippers could’ve felt déjà vu as they were on the verge of blowing another massive lead. But Paul George made sure the Clippers didn’t

9:22 PM ET NEW YORK — Ahead of the Nets’ season opener against the Warriors, Golden State coach Steve Kerr sat down to watch some film of his former player, Kevin Durant. He pulled up Brooklyn’s preseason game against Boston and took in Durant’s first competitive games since tearing his Achilles in June of 2019.

7:00 AM ET It seems like only 2½ months ago, LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers were hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy as champions inside the Orlando bubble. Oh, wait. That’s exactly what happened. Yes, after only 72 days away, NBA basketball is back! Are the Lakers a lock for another title, or could

6:56 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN In a change from his past statements on the topic of expansion, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Monday afternoon that the league has looked at some of its analysis of the ramifications of expanding beyond the league’s 30 teams. “I think I’ve always said that it’s sort of the manifest

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9:00 AM ET With the NBA season tipping off this week, here’s a look at the betting market around the country — including the teams attracting the most and least action, the biggest bets and some of the odds that have been on the move. Lots of Lakers love • The defending champion Los Angeles

4:09 PM ET Ty Lue plans on utilizing Kawhi Leonard like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant by employing some triangle sets for the LA Clippers. The new Clippers coach said on Sunday that Leonard will have opportunities to emulate Jordan and Bryant — two players Leonard has spent a lot of time studying and patterning

5:11 PM ET Los Angeles Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma has agreed to a three-year, $40 million extension, including a player option prior to the 2023-24 season, sources tell ESPN. Kuzma, 25, finalized talks on his rookie extension on Sunday, sources said. In a rare non-max contract rookie extension that includes a player option, the deal

9:55 AM ET All-NBA big man Rudy Gobert will sign a five-year, $205 million contract extension with the Utah Jazz, he told ESPN after agreeing to the largest deal for a center in league history. “It means that they believe in me,” Gobert told ESPN. “They believe in what we’ve been building over the years

12:04 AM ET Russell Westbrook drove the lane, found Thomas Bryant open for an easy dunk while the Washington Wizards‘ big man was fouled and then immediately ran to Bryant to scream his approval. In his first game with the Wizards, Westbrook only logged 17 first-half minutes in Washington’s 99-96 victory over the Detroit Pistons.

6:13 PM ET Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has a mild muscle strain in his right foot and is doubtful for Tuesday night’s opener against the Brooklyn Nets. Green initially injured his foot during a scrimmage earlier in the week and had an MRI that came back clear, but Warriors coach Steve Kerr said

11:20 AM ET Months before he agreed to purchase the Utah Jazz for $1.66 billion, Ryan Smith, who was formally approved as owner by the NBA’s Board of Governors on Friday, said he was “really close” to making a bid to buy the Minnesota Timberwolves. Smith, who made his fortune as the co-founder of the

12:04 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN BOSTON — Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving says he plans to burn sage before every game this season to honor his Native American heritage. Irving was seen burning sage on the court at TD Garden during warm-ups before his Nets beat the Boston Celtics 113-89 on Friday night in the

3:58 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN The Los Angeles Lakers will repeat as NBA champions, according to a survey of NBA general managers. That prediction was one of many takeaways from NBA.com’s annual survey of all 30 front offices prior to the start of the new season. The survery featured 33 questions, ranging from what player

12:26 PM ET Marc Spears NBA free agent guard Jeremy Lin is expected to sign a deal to play with the Golden State Warriors‘ G-League team, a source told The Undefeated. Lin averaged 11.6 points and 4.3 assists in 480 games in the NBA from 2010-19. The former Harvard guard began his career with the

7:28 PM ET The NBA is investigating allegations made against Jerry West and the LA Clippers involving the free-agency recruitment of Kawhi Leonard in 2019, a league source confirmed to ESPN. TMZ Sports reported this week that a man who claims to be close to Leonard filed a lawsuit against West and the Clippers, alleging

6:18 PM ET Adrian Wojnarowski Close Senior NBA Insider Host of The Woj Pod Joined ESPN in 2017 Ramona Shelburne Close ESPN Senior Writer Senior writer for ESPN.com Spent seven years at the Los Angeles Daily News The Houston Rockets are increasingly expanding trade discussions on All-NBA guard James Harden beyond his preferred destinations of