News

3:26 PM ET Eric WoodyardESPN Coming to America from Greece, as a teenager, was not always the smoothest transition for Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. Before “Giannis” became a household name, those who couldn’t pronounce his last name, in addition to his rare freakish athletic ability and ball-handling skills at his size, often called the

6:23 PM ET New Orleans Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson‘s lawyers have asked a federal judge in North Carolina to void his marketing agreement with Gina Ford and Prime Sports Marketing, who sued him for $100 million in damages for breaching their contract. In a motion filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Winston-Salem, North Carolina,

9:41 PM ET LOS ANGELES — Lakers forward Jared Dudley says it’s a “misconception” that the NBA would resume its season in a bubble location that is so closely monitored that players would be restricted from exiting the premises until all the games are finished. “You will be allowed to leave,” Dudley said Wednesday on

4:11 PM ET NBA teams are expecting the league office will issue guidelines around June 1 that will allow franchises to start recalling players who’ve left their markets as a first step toward a formal ramp-up for the season’s resumption, sources told ESPN. Teams expect a similar timeline from the league on when they’ll be

7:00 AM ET What if Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen could’ve played alongside prime Derrick Rose? How many titles would the Celtics have won if Larry Bird and Bill Russell were on the same team? Imagine LeBron James taking his talents to South Beach to team up not only with Dwyane Wade, but Tim Hardaway

4:33 PM ET Former Chicago Bulls forward Horace Grant has fired back at claims Michael Jordan made about him during “The Last Dance” documentary series on ESPN. In a radio interview with Kap and Co. on ESPN 1000 in Chicago on Tuesday, Grant said it “is a downright, outright, completely lie” that he leaked much

May 16, 2020 Kane Pitman The Illawarra Hawks’ 2019-20 NBL season began with unprecedented hype and ended with a $2.4 million debt as the league commits to saving the foundation franchise. What transpired in between was a LaMelo Ball-driven rollercoaster ride that projected the league into the worldwide spotlight as hoops fans from across the

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

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