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
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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
7:50 PM ET LeBron James is combining two of his off-court passions — education and entertainment — in a primetime event to honor the high school class of 2020 next month. The Los Angeles Lakers star’s LeBron James Family Foundation is partnering with the XQ Institute and the Entertainment Institute Foundation to present “Graduate Together:
7:00 AM ET Editor’s note: This piece was originally published on June 9, 2015. Tim Duncan will be inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a member of the 2020 class. SAN ANTONIO — “Summertime” arrived in the first quarter of Game 3 and nestled in for the duration of the 2014
7:00 AM ET Ohm Youngmisuk Close ESPN Staff Writer Ohm Youngmisuk has covered the Giants, Jets and the NFL since 2006. Prior to that, he covered the Nets, Knicks and the NBA for nearly a decade. He joined ESPNNewYork.com after working at the New York Daily News for almost 12 years and is a graduate
5:56 PM ET As the NBA continues to try and find ways to salvage the end of its season as the world deals with the coronavirus pandemic, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr acknowledged that his team is operating as if its season already is over. “It feels like the offseason,” Kerr said during a
7:33 AM ET NBA Insiders Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls built a dynasty in the 1990s. Their six NBA titles came in a pair of three-peats and included a 72-win season, multiple MVPs and multiple scoring titles. Our NBA experts ranked each Bulls title team from worst to best, considering the quality of each
7:00 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN Luka Doncic could become the best-ever NBA player from Europe. Trae Young has already become one of the NBA’s most dynamic offensive players. Zion Williamson is the most electrifying rookie since LeBron James. Ja Morant has turned the Memphis Grizzlies into must-see TV. But which rising star would NBA decision-makers
9:37 PM ET Andrew LopezESPN As the saying goes, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” For New Orleans Pelicans rookie forward Zion Williamson, there’s been a slightly different take on that. In the quarantined style of life that everyone in America has had to adapt to, Williamson says: “With a goal, there’s a way.
7:28 AM ET A few days after the Bulls won their sixth championship, Phil Jackson organized a dinner for players, coaches, and their wives at a Chicago restaurant. Midway through, he gathered the players into a private area. They sat in a circle, drinks and cigars in hand. Each made one toast. “It was so
12:00 AM ET ESPN’s documentary series “The Last Dance” aired episodes 3 and 4 on Sunday, and they focused on the rise of the Chicago Bulls from a struggling franchise to a power in the NBA’s Eastern Conference. For the Bulls, this meant clashing with the division rival and NBA champion Detroit Pistons. It also
6:36 PM ET ESPN’s 10-part documentary series “The Last Dance,” which chronicles Michael Jordan and the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls, continued on Sunday with Episodes 3 and 4. 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
8:23 AM ET ESPN’s 10-part documentary, “The Last Dance,” which chronicles Michael Jordan and the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls, continues on Sunday with Episodes 3 and 4. All 10 episodes will air on ESPN and the ESPN App in the U.S. and can be streamed outside the U.S. on Netflix. Jordan and the Bulls allowed NBA
4:36 PM ET Texas Tech freshman Jahmi’us Ramsey declared for the 2020 NBA draft on Saturday. The No. 23 prospect in the ESPN 100, Ramsey emerged as one of the top freshman guards in this year’s class with a strong season in the Big 12. He averaged 15.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists for
6:55 PM ET The NBA is reopening team practice facilities for players in states and municipalities that are loosening stay-at-home restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic beginning on Friday, sources told ESPN. Players can return to team facilities in states such as Georgia for voluntary individual workouts as soon as next week, which allows for NBA
7:00 AM ET Editor’s note: This as-told-to, from Phil Jackson, was originally published in the May 4, 1998, issue of ESPN The Magazine. In what appears to be the final season of the Chicago Bulls‘ 1990s reign, coach Phil Jackson has periodically collected his thoughts and analyzed the swirling action around him. Beginning with a
12:30 PM ET On Sunday night, as Cleveland Cavaliers forward Larry Nance Jr. sat down with his family to watch the first two episodes of ESPN’s 10-part documentary on Michael Jordan and the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls, he was suddenly transported to his rookie season playing alongside Los Angeles Lakers icon Kobe Bryant. As he watched
8:00 AM ET MY OLDEST SON was 5, in his second month of kindergarten, when his teacher asked why his dad hadn’t been seen in the pickup line for a couple of weeks. “He’s living with Dennis Rodman,” my son answered, dripping nonchalance, as if this were a task every Catholic-school dad would eventually get
8:49 AM ET Let’s punctuate the waiting game with five things from actual NBA games: 1. Bring back great starting lineup introductions This is one of the most important takeaways from “The Last Dance”: We need to restore starting lineup introductions to their Jordan-era glory. All these years later, I still get goosebumps when that
12:43 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN In an attempt to stay connected during the NBA shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said the team has had an assortment of guest speakers talk to its players over the past few weeks. “We’ve had Mark Wahlberg, who was great,” Ainge
3:34 PM ET Three months after the tragic death of Kobe Bryant, nearly 100 items of Bryant memorabilia — including game-worn sneakers from the NBA Finals and a championship ring originally belonging to his mother, Pam Bryant — are being auctioned off. “We believe it is the largest collection ever in one place of Kobe
8:25 AM ET The 1990s Chicago Bulls will always be remembered as Michael Jordan‘s team, but the triumphant basketball dynasty was bookended by virtuosic performances that go beyond the GOAT. Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman provided the team with defensive greatness that helped ensure the Bulls went a perfect 6-0 in the NBA Finals. Both
7:25 PM ET NEW YORK — After testing positive for the coronavirus, New York Knicks owner James Dolan has recovered and is volunteering to donate blood plasma for various medical trials, a team spokesperson confirmed to ESPN. Dolan’s second test — nearly three-and-a-half weeks after the positive test result — was negative. He has registered
6:34 PM ET Should the NBA set a plan in place to restart in the coming months, it will need to include a runway of “at least” three or four weeks for players to prepare to play games, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Chris Paul said Wednesday. “I’m just letting you know, and I don’t think
6:54 AM ET When Kendrick Perkins emerged as a key member of the Boston Celtics team that won the 2008 NBA championship, he credited his growth to Doc Rivers, the coach he called his “father figure.” That is, until his “father” shipped him to Oklahoma City in 2011. “Yeah, I didn’t like that,” Perkins told
2:52 AM ET The Nigerian basketball community was as stunned as the rest of the world when news broke that Brooklyn Nets point guard Spencer Dinwiddie was in the process of acquiring a Nigerian passport, which could see him represent the African nation at the next Olympics. It comes barely two months after the Nigerians
4:16 PM ET Former Chicago Bulls teammates Michael Jordan and Steve Kerr have had their disagreements before, but this one probably won’t end with anyone getting punched in the face. Jordan took an unflinching stance in Episode 2 of the documentary series “The Last Dance” when addressing then-teammate Scottie Pippen’s decision to delay foot surgery