6:33 PM ET Los Angeles Lakers big man Anthony Davis (right heel contusion) is listed as probable for Game 6 of the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat on Sunday. Davis acknowledged on Friday after the Lakers’ Game 5 loss to the Heat that he originally suffered the injury during the Western Conference finals against
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4:48 PM ET LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The NBA upheld the two calls Los Angeles Lakers coach Frank Vogel took exception with in L.A.’s 111-108 Game 5 loss to the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals on Friday, however the league did find two other calls that should have gone the Lakers’ way. In
7:25 AM ET LeBron James has lived through many NBA Finals games in which he’s played great and lost. It’s one of the stories of his career. But the Game 5 duel James staged with Jimmy Butler in the Miami Heat‘s season-saving 111-108 victory Friday over the Los Angeles Lakers instantly goes in the pantheon
5:43 PM ET Kristaps Porzingis underwent surgery to address the lateral meniscus injury in his right knee suffered during the playoffs, the Dallas Mavericks announced Friday. According to the team’s statement, Porzingis will begin rehabilitation immediately with no set timetable to be cleared for basketball activities. Sources have told ESPN that the Mavs are optimistic
7:10 AM ET Almost every competitive playoff series reaches a point of strategic equilibrium. All the big adjustments have been made. All that is left is to rearrange the fringes: making tiny rotation tweaks; layering counter atop counter to sets the opponent has smothered in their basic forms; varying the location of those sets. It
7:20 AM ET INSIDE THE NBA’S BUBBLE, there is a pathway around the residences — a nearly mile-long loop and a longer, 1.6-mile loop that encompasses the Coronado Springs resort, one of the Disney properties that has become a home away from home for the league. During the NBA Finals, it hasn’t been unusual to
6:40 PM ET It wasn’t long after LeBron James signed with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018 that murals popped up around town — only to be vandalized. It was presumed his prompt elevation to the “King of LA” had rubbed some in the loyal Lakers fan base the wrong way. Now one victory away
7:15 AM ET NBA Insiders Will the Los Angeles Lakers complete a championship run Friday night or will the Miami Heat rediscover the formula that gave them their only win of the series so far? Which of the Lakers’ All-NBA duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis has the inside track at NBA Finals MVP?
6:47 AM ET With a win on Friday night against the Miami Heat, LeBron James would secure his fourth NBA championship and add yet another accolade to his already amazing resume. But while a potential Los Angeles Lakers title will undoubtedly awaken the take monsters in GOAT arguments about James vs. Michael Jordan, let’s leave
8:17 PM ET The Los Angeles Lakers will try to win their 17th world championship in Black Mamba fashion. The Lakers will wear their special “Black Mamba” uniforms which are styled in honor of the late Kobe Bryant. The Lakers were slated to wear the black alternative uniforms in Games 2 and 7 of the
3:19 AM ET LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — LeBron James woke up from his pregame nap on Tuesday and included two words in a text to the Los Angeles Lakers‘ group chat that said it all: Must win. “We see the message from our leader,” Anthony Davis said after the Lakers’ 102-96 Game 4 victory
1:08 AM ET The Los Angeles Lakers took a commanding 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals by leaning on the thing that has defined their greatness all season: defense. The Lakers not only held the Miami Heat to 96 points, their lowest output of the postseason, but they also did so with a key tactical
6:42 PM ET On his way out of the NBA bubble in Orlando, Florida, Houston Rockets star Russell Westbrook wanted to show his appreciation for the housekeepers of the Grand Floridian hotel, and he did it with an $8,000 tip, according to the Dallas Morning News. “They took great care of us,” Westbrook told Bleacher
7:26 AM ET This is the third NBA Finals in six seasons in which injuries have either completely changed the series midstream or forced one team to game-plan for two different opponents. The Los Angeles Lakers, under at least a little pressure after the Miami Heat‘s rousing Game 3 win saw L.A.’s series lead tighten
6:50 AM ET Chris Herro didn’t want to send the text, didn’t even want to pick up the phone. But he was the father of a 19-year-old, worried and couldn’t stop himself. It was 11:30 on a summer night, and his son, Tyler Herro, had been drafted a few weeks earlier by the Miami Heat.
8:32 PM ET LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — LeBron James often says that in order to grow, one has to become comfortable being uncomfortable. He applies that sentiment to his playoff mindset. “Until the series is completed, I kind of stay on edge, stay locked in on the job at hand,” James said Monday after
6:55 AM ET NBA Insiders The Miami Heat surprised the Los Angeles Lakers and halted their dreams of an NBA Finals sweep on Sunday, with Jimmy Butler posting a 40-point triple-double. The Heat’s unexpected victory meant that they can tie the series with a Game 4 win on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET, ABC and the
12:46 AM ET LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Jimmy Butler‘s 40-point triple-double on Sunday pushed the injury-ridden Miami Heat to a 115-104 win in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, avoiding a 3-0 series death knell. For 45 minutes, Butler slashed to the basket and jockeyed with Lakers defenders for offensive rebounds on his way
11:38 PM ET As insistent as the Miami Heat were that they would come into Game 3 of the NBA Finals squarely in the series, a pall descended over the team as it fell behind 2-0 in unimpressive form. They lost two key starters in Game 1 — defensive ace and offensive facilitator Bam Adebayo
2:17 AM ET LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Despite being in a 0-2 hole after being dominated by the Lakers for most of Game 2 of the NBA Finals, the Miami Heat are holding onto a belief that they can find a way to win. Sure, they played Friday’s game without one of the team’s
6:42 AM ET EARLY IN THE first quarter of Game 1 of the NBA Finals, the heavily favored Los Angeles Lakers appeared lethargic, disjointed. Coach Frank Vogel called time, down 23-10, and made some substitutions. One of them, 34-year-old Rajon Rondo, who shot 41.8% in the regular season, surveyed the floor, noted the Miami Heat‘s
2:22 AM ET LeBron James has never seen a more “dominant duo” than Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. But nearly two decades after Shaq and Kobe dominated the early 2000s with their three consecutive titles, the Los Angeles Lakers might have the closest thing to that legendary tandem. James and Anthony Davis dominated the Miami
9:55 AM ET Before the Los Angeles Lakers‘ first official training camp practice, Frank Vogel and his staff gathered the team in their film room for a PowerPoint presentation on what their defense would look like. Vogel wanted them to be the league’s most physical team — echoes of the “smashmouth basketball” vision that guided
1:12 AM ET Long before Kobe Bryant grudgingly attended the Los Angeles Lakers’ free agent pitch meetings for Dwight Howard in 2013 and LaMarcus Aldridge in 2014, he identified a rare talent who could eventually want to inherit the mantle Bryant left with the franchise. Bryant was the elder statesman on the 2012 Olympic team
10:49 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Friday night that it is unlikely the league will take a break next summer for the Olympic Games, a decision that could dramatically impact the tournament if it is able to be played. “We’ll consider it. I think it’s unlikely,
8:00 AM ET THE OTHER DAY in practice, Miami Heat forward Andre Iguodala caught the ball on the wing, looked toward the corner and fired a pass to Derrick Jones Jr. under the basket for an easy dunk. It was not what he was supposed to do. The ball was moving and finding energy with
6:55 AM ET The Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers have combined to play in nine of the past 15 NBA Finals series — including seven consecutive from 2008 to 2014 — without ever facing each other. That is, until Game 1 on Wednesday, the first time the two teams met on the NBA’s biggest
10:58 PM ET On Thursday, Doc Rivers snatched an opportunity to sculpt a young tandem — Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons — whose stardom would tantalize any coach, but who have yet to make good on their talent. Rivers enters a Philadelphia 76ers organization with title aspirations that believes an upgrade on the bench can
6:50 AM ET THERE’S A PLAY in today’s NBA that can produce everything from a cut to the basket to a high-value 3-point shot. It’s a side out-of-bounds box set that features interchangeable positions and multiple options. And whenever the Golden State Warriors run it, they have to pantomime. “I didn’t want my guys yelling
12:47 AM ET The Los Angeles Lakers made a loud statement with a 116-98 Game 1 win over the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. LeBron James recorded 25 points, 13 rebounds and 9 assists, Anthony Davis added a game-high 34 points and 9 rebounds, and the 3-pointers were dropping for the Lakers, who turned