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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

8:11 PM ET NBA commissioner Adam Silver prepared players for a potentially grim landscape amid the coronavirus pandemic, suggesting there are no guarantees when fans could fully return to NBA arenas next season. Silver said that 40 percent of the league’s revenue comes from money built around game nights in arenas. “This could turn out

7:30 AM ET Michael Jordan stood under the basket, looking out over the 250 or so campers sitting before him. He needed a volunteer. Nearly everyone in the gym, including me, stretched their arms to the ceiling in hopes of being the one Jordan chose. It was the summer of 1989, long before Jordan’s six

7:39 AM ET MICHELE ROBERTS CAN’T remember when she first heard about the “bubble,” the idea of isolating NBA players in a hotel so the league could resume its season amid the coronavirus pandemic. But she remembers her reaction to it vividly. “When that one was first floated,” said Roberts, the executive director of the

8:42 AM ET Let’s lead off our five NBA things with some vintage Michael Jordan greatness: 1. A new generation learning all things Jordan Mark Bartelstein, now one of the most powerful agents in the NBA, was just beginning his career when he walked into the Hyatt in Lincolnwood, just outside Chicago, for his engagement

5:21 PM ET While the first wave of NBA teams prepare to reopen facilities for individual workouts on Friday, several team officials say the psychological effects of returning to organized activities during a global pandemic must be considered for players and staffers around the league — especially those who already have a heightened concern about

10:06 AM ET IN “THE LAST DANCE,” Michael Jordan professes his love for Scottie Pippen, anoints him the best teammate he ever had and acknowledges he couldn’t have reached pro basketball’s zenith without him. But Pippen has been notably silent since the documentary began its run last month, and those close to him say he’s

11:01 PM ET LOS ANGELES — The Lakers will not be among the first wave of NBA teams that reopen their facilities for individual workouts on May 8, Frank Vogel said, but L.A.’s head coach is just fine with that. “There’s a competitive balance element to this that I personally am not really all that

6:20 PM ET NBA commissioner Adam Silver and National Basketball Players Association executive director Michele Roberts will host a call for all players on Friday, sources told ESPN. That’s the same day the league has permitted teams to reopen practice facilities for voluntary, social-distanced workouts in areas where that has been permitted by local public

7:00 AM ET Bottom 10 Inspirational Thought of the Week “And now the matador shall dance with the blind shoemaker!” — Jean Girard, “Talladega Nights” Here at ESPN’s Bottom 10 headquarters, located in the dumpster behind the warehouse where Mike Golic Jr. stores his sneaker collection, we have always been obsessed with footwear. We have

7:00 AM ET Nick DePaulaESPN From overly built high-tops to space-age heat-molded constructions to the phone-syncing sneakers of today, NBA players have laced up more collective design, technology and innovation than any other association. The league has long fueled the footwear industry throughout its history, with iconic on-court moments giving life to off-court trends, all

10:00 PM ET Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley admits he’s still “really, really sad” about the fact that his longtime friendship with Michael Jordan deteriorated years ago because of critical comments Barkley made about the way Jordan ran the then Charlotte Bobcats franchise. But Barkley doesn’t sound optimistic about a reconciliation. “The guy was

7:00 AM ET Bottom 10 Inspirational Thought of the Week As we got on the floor, was embarrassing, trust meThe saleswoman walk me straight over to HuskyI still got stonewashed denim, Bobby Brown patent leatherMembers Only jacket, ain’t nobody fresher than me I said I got on my good clothes — “Good Clothes” by Little

7:00 AM ET “You’re actually rooting for the clothes, when you get right down to it.” This famous line from “Seinfeld” might have been intended to mock sports fandom, but when it comes to uniform appreciation, it’s actually appropriate. In this case, we are rooting for the clothes — the best clothes in NBA history,

12:37 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN Michael Jordan addressed one of the most famous quotes of his career — “Republicans buy sneakers, too” — in the fifth episode of ESPN’s “The Last Dance” on Sunday. Jordan, who has largely stayed away from any political commentary throughout his public life, didn’t back away from the statement —

7:00 AM ET FOR YEARS, MICHAEL JORDAN and Kobe Bryant had been protective of their relationship. Jordan would call Bryant his “little brother,” Bryant would call Jordan his “big brother,” and they’d praise each other’s work ethic and accomplishments. But rarely would either volunteer much more, each man knowing all too well that any glimpse

7:00 AM ET When the NBA hands out its awards, it keeps the regular season separate from the postseason, issuing one MVP for the first 82 games and a second for the final four to seven (depending on how long it takes for the champion to finish off its last opponent). There’s no award at

May 2, 2020 ESPN’s 10-part documentary series “The Last Dance,” which chronicles Michael Jordan and the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls, continued on Sunday with Episodes 5 and 6. Jordan and the Bulls allowed NBA Entertainment to follow them throughout the season and document their final championship together. The series features never-before-seen footage, as well as interviews

8:00 AM ET Nick DePaulaESPN “It’s gotta be the shoes.” For many basketball fans in the 1990s, that wasn’t just a line said by Spike Lee’s Mars Blackmon character in a commercial, it was a way of life. Michael Jordan helped turn basketball sneakers into a multibillion dollar industry. Episode 5 of “The Last Dance”

8:01 AM ET ESPN’s 10-part documentary “The Last Dance,” which chronicles Michael Jordan and the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls, continues Sunday with Episodes 5 and 6. 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

3:11 PM ET Jeremy Lin says he was surprised, humbled and ultimately grateful after the New York Knicks reached out to propose taking a week on MSG Network to showcase interviews and 2012 games related to the brief but memorable phenomenon that was “Linsanity.” In an interview with Rachel Nichols for ESPN’s The Jump that

1:15 PM ET As the NBA seeks solutions to return to action during the coronavirus pandemic, teams are weighing scenarios for potential games with only essential personnel present. Perhaps a key factor in such decisions, beyond titles or responsibilities, is the health and age of those staffers, NBA general managers told ESPN. One NBA general

7:00 AM ET Editor’s note: This piece on Michael Jordan was originally published in the March 4, 2013, issue of ESPN The Magazine. Watch episodes five and six of “The Last Dance” on Sunday, May 3, at 9 p.m. ET. on ESPN. FIVE WEEKS BEFORE his 50th birthday, Michael Jordan sits behind his desk, overlooking

4:55 PM ET As ownership support grows for the idea, commissioner Adam Silver and the NBA board of governors continued discussions Friday about delaying the start of the 2020-2021 season until December, sources told ESPN. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the NBA’s thinking and planning has progressed on the idea independent of whether the 2019-2020 season

7:02 AM ET AS THE INDIANA PACERS sat at their lockers in Chicago moments before Game 7 of the 1998 Eastern Conference finals, Larry Bird, in his first year as coach, strode to the center of the room to address them. Bird was not big on speeches. The Pacers had done their work in practices

6:59 AM ET Tim Bontemps Brian Windhorst Close ESPN Senior Writer ESPN.com NBA writer since 2010 Covered Cleveland Cavs for seven years Author of two books In the seven weeks since the NBA season was suspended due to the coronavirus, the league has avoided speculation about how and when it may return. But as May

7:59 PM ET For a time, Las Vegas was the most popular idea for a proposed resumption of the NBA season: a bubble city of teams grinding out the playoffs within a quarantine of connected casino hotels and arenas. As time has passed, those talking with NBA commissioner Adam Silver find him still needing to

9:02 AM ET In “The Last Dance,” we witness Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls en route to their sixth and final NBA championship. It’s been a trip, transporting us back in time to a style of play that we will never see again. Since the Bulls’ run to the 1998 title, we’ve seen dynasties

7:00 AM ET Andrew LopezESPN ON THE SECOND day of the New Orleans Pelicans‘ training camp in September, the media was permitted to observe only one play — and what a play it was. Lonzo Ball stood on the sideline preparing to inbound with Zion Williamson at the elbow closest to him. Williamson quickly went