7:00 AM ET YEARS AGO, AFTER a bad hurricane hit Wilmington, North Carolina, Michael Jordan came back to help the recovery effort. Jordan doesn’t go home very often, but he had some friends with him on that trip and wanted to show them where he’d grown up while they were in town. The house, a
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10:22 PM ET Many basketball fans enjoy debating who was better between Michael Jordan and LeBron James. But when the Los Angeles Lakers‘ star fantasizes about playing with Jordan, it’s as his teammate, not his adversary. “Me personally, the way I play the game — team first — I feel like my best assets work
4:55 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN The NBA’s draft lottery won’t take place Tuesday in Chicago as was originally planned, but whenever it does happen it is likely to look the same as last year, league sources told ESPN. Since play was suspended March 11 due to the coronavirus pandemic, teams at the top of the
6:43 AM ET NEARLY 22 YEARS have passed since Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf took one last shot at keeping the team together, but he remembers the meeting like it was yesterday. “I remember the date,” Reinsdorf said. “It was July the 3rd in 1998.” The Bulls had won their third straight NBA title and
10:45 PM ET NBA Insiders What will be the legacy of “The Last Dance”? ESPN’s 10-part documentary series about Michael Jordan and the 1990s Chicago Bulls concluded on Sunday night, offering unprecedented access to one of the greatest dynasties and players of all time. With the NBA season on hold, Jordan and that era of
6:52 PM ET Associated Press LOS ANGELES — The pilot flying Kobe Bryant and seven others to a youth basketball tournament outside Los Angeles did not have alcohol or drugs in his system, and all sustained immediately fatal injuries when their helicopter slammed into a hillside, according to autopsies released Friday. The reports by the
8:57 AM ET THE MOVIE THEATER was empty when the Chicago Bulls walked in. It was Nov. 23, 1995, and the Bulls, in Salt Lake City to face the Utah Jazz the following night, decided to catch the 5 p.m. showing of “Casino” after the team’s Thanksgiving feast. By the time they left the three-hour
2:59 PM ET A week after NBA commissioner Adam Silver told players to prepare for what could be the “single greatest challenge of all of our lives,” the president of the players’ association, Chris Paul, has affirmed publicly — and adamantly — that players want a return to competition. The Oklahoma City Thunder guard, in
7:00 AM ET Editor’s note: This as-told-to, from Phil Jackson, on Chicago’s historic 1998 playoff run and the end of the Bulls’ dynasty, was originally published in the May 18, June 1 and July 13, 1998, issues of ESPN The Magazine. Watch Episodes 9 & 10 of “The Last Dance” on Sunday at 9 p.m.
7:59 AM ET THE GOLDEN STATE Warriors know how fleeting life atop the basketball world can be. Following five consecutive NBA Finals trips, the team suddenly finds itself out of postseason contention in 2019-20 with a league-worst 15-50 record. Serious injuries to star players and the departure of Kevin Durant, a two-time Finals MVP, will
8:00 PM ET As the nation reels from the coronavirus pandemic, Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard is mourning the loss of Melissa Rios, the mother of his 6-year-old son David, he told reporters Friday. Rios, 31, died of an epileptic seizure on March 27 at her home in Calabasas, California. “I’ve had some things
4:59 PM ET As the uncertainty grows, and science, economic and competitive elements collide, there’s one constant in the struggle to revive the NBA: Owners and players are delivering Adam Silver full room to operate, govern and make the decision on resuming play amid a pandemic. No power grabs, no factions, no public criticisms on
7:00 AM ET MICHAEL JORDAN MISSED. With 35.8 seconds left in Game 1 of the 1997 NBA Finals between the Chicago Bulls and the Utah Jazz, the greatest player in NBA history actually just bricked what should have been the winning free throw. And now, for roughly 26 seconds, the basketball world is in chaos:
2:03 PM ET The University of Florida is open to hosting events involving professional sports teams looking for a way to play during the coronavirus pandemic, athletic director Scott Stricklin said in a statement Thursday. After Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said Wednesday all professional sports teams are welcome in the state for practicing and playing,
8:54 AM ET A COUPLE OF years ago, Jud Buechler’s daughter Reily was walking through Los Angeles International Airport when she spotted one of Buechler’s longtime teammates: Scottie Pippen. She texted her father about her celebrity sighting. Her phone rang. “Reily,” Buechler implored his daughter, “turn around right now and introduce yourself. Tell him how
10:05 AM ET Bobby Marks NBA teams will withhold more than $30 million from player paychecks on Friday, as players receive their first salary reduction since the league and the union agreed to a plan to temporarily cut pay by 25%. But five of the NBA’s top-10 earners this season — LeBron James, Stephen Curry,
7:56 PM ET The NCAA announced Wednesday that it has extended indefinitely the deadline for college basketball players to withdraw from the NBA draft and retain their college eligibility amid the coronavirus pandemic. The deadline was June 3, but Dan Gavitt, the NCAA’s senior vice president of basketball, said in a statement that it will
7:00 AM ET With the season on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic, ESPN polled its NBA experts to rank the greatest players in the league’s 74-year history. It’s no surprise that Michael Jordan ended up on top, but there were close calls and heated debates throughout the rankings — and outside of them. We
7:00 AM ET LeBron James or Michael Jordan? Bill Russell or Wilt Chamberlain? Stephen Curry or Kevin Durant? Old school or new school? These debates rage on endlessly in every corner of NBA fandom, and our experts have done their best to answer them, ranking the greatest players in the league’s 74-year history. ESPN’s NBA
9:57 PM ET Participants on a Tuesday Board of Governors call with NBA commissioner Adam Silver left the virtual meeting increasingly positive about the league’s momentum toward a resumption of play this season, sources told ESPN. Owners and executives on the call were encouraged about the league’s progress toward minimizing health risk upon a return
2:45 PM ET The National Basketball Players Association started polling its membership Tuesday about how individuals stand on a return to play this season, sources told ESPN. NBPA regional representatives — including Tim McCormick and Frank Brickowski — were among the union officials polling players with a yes or no question on their current desire
7:00 AM ET LeBron James or Michael Jordan? Bill Russell or Wilt Chamberlain? Stephen Curry or Kevin Durant? Old school or new school? These debates rage on endlessly in every corner of NBA fandom, and our experts have done their best to answer them, ranking the greatest players in the league’s 74-year history. ESPN’s NBA
10:29 AM ET The NBA has reached an agreement with the National Basketball Players Association to extend until September the 60-day window that preserves the league’s right to terminate the collective bargaining agreement in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, sources told ESPN. For now, the extension staves off the NBA’s ability to trigger the
7:00 AM ET LeBron James or Michael Jordan? Bill Russell or Wilt Chamberlain? Stephen Curry or Kevin Durant? Old school or new school? These debates rage on endlessly in every corner of NBA fandom, and our experts have done their best to answer them, ranking the greatest players in the league’s 74-year history. ESPN’s NBA
7:00 AM ET What would happen if Michael Jordan played in today’s NBA? It’s a popular hypothetical in the middle of this “The Last Dance” run, with a vast number of variables to consider when making comparisons across eras. But no matter how you look at the question, it becomes clear that MJ would dominate
May 9, 2020 ESPN’s 10-part documentary series “The Last Dance,” which chronicles Michael Jordan and the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls, continued Sunday with Episodes 7 and 8. Jordan and the Bulls allowed NBA Entertainment to follow them throughout the season and document their final championship. The series features never-before-seen footage, as well as interviews with more
8:00 AM ET Editor’s note: This story on Michael Jordan’s brief tenure with the Birmingham Barons was originally published on April 5, 2019. Get all the latest updates for “The Last Dance” here. He has made it very exciting tonight. With the Barons leading 5-1, Jordan steps in for the fourth time … two of
7:57 AM ET ESPN’s 10-part documentary “The Last Dance,” which chronicles Michael Jordan and the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls, continues Sunday with Episodes 7 and 8. All 10 episodes will air on ESPN and the ESPN App in the United States and can be streamed outside the U.S. on Netflix. Jordan and the Bulls allowed NBA
1:44 AM ET Associated Press BEIJING — Yao Ming, the former Houston Rockets star and now president of the Chinese Basketball Association, says the league has three options for resuming the season that has been on hold since Feb. 1 over the coronavirus pandemic. Yao said the league might play out the full schedule; play
9:44 PM ET As Kevin Love made the 20-minute drive from his home to the Cleveland Cavaliers‘ practice facility Friday, even the snow flurry being cleared by his SUV’s window wipers on a May day in Northeast Ohio didn’t dampen his mood. “It was the longest I’ve ever gone without shooting a basketball,” Love told