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7:05 AM ET While it’s unclear how much time will elapse before play resumes in the 2019-20 NBA season, if it does at all, there are concerns among the league’s general managers and athletic training staffers that games might begin again before players are physically ready. “If you tell us two weeks in advance, and

12:05 PM ET As information gathering on draft-eligible prospects remains limited during the coronavirus pandemic, many NBA teams are united in hopes of encouraging the league office to push the date of the draft from June 25 to no sooner than Aug. 1, sources told ESPN. Multiple top team executives expressed to ESPN their belief

7:00 AM ET CHRIS MCCULLOUGH GLIDED through the air for a two-handed stuff at the rim. It was Jan. 12, 2017, and the Long Island Nets’ momentum was mounting. Inside Barclays Center — the Brooklyn Nets‘ G League affiliate also called the arena home during its inaugural season — Long Island was amid a fourth-quarter

8:29 AM ET As we approach the one-month mark since the night the NBA stopped, let’s look back on some of the good and bad of the 2019-20 season so far: 1. The state of the Spurs I found it — the precise moment the Spurs defensive backslide hit its nadir: The Gregg Popovich we

12:24 AM ET The semifinals for the NBA 2K Players Tournament are set for Saturday and each will feature a player from the Phoenix Suns and the LA Clippers in the two head-to-heads to determine the finalists. After quarterfinal action Thursday on ESPN2, four players came out victorious: Suns guard Devin Booker, Clippers big man

9:18 PM ET Emily RandESPN The NBA 2K Players Tournament has been a delightful and peculiar competition to watch. It has offered a candid peek into NBA players’ lives that we wouldn’t have had otherwise, set against the backdrop of the global coronavirus pandemic. It also has revealed which players are true gamers. Esports and

7:03 PM ET LOS ANGELES — Doc Rivers says he isn’t sure what shape or form the NBA will take if it can resume this season, but he is certain that Kawhi Leonard will be in “phenomenal” shape if there’s a postseason. As teams try to remain prepared during this unprecedented time, with the season

11:36 PM ET After his 17th year in the league — which was shaping up to potentially be an all-timer — came to a screeching halt when pro basketball, like the rest of the world, shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic, LeBron James says it would be hard to accept an incomplete ending. “I

7:00 AM ET Derick E. Hingle/USA TODAY Sports It’s as unforgettable a moment as there is in NBA history, no matter how much San Antonio Spurs fans would love to forget it. Chris Bosh pulled down the rebound then passed out to a backpedaling Ray Allen, who calmly knocked down a 3-pointer with 5.2 seconds

8:02 PM ET In recent weeks, officials within the NBA and NBPA have been collaborating in assessing the viability of multiple blood-testing devices for the novel coronavirus that could provide accurate results within a matter of minutes, a process that would hopefully enable the league to track the virus in what’s considered a critical first

8:21 PM ET ESPN News Services Kevin Garnett was recently selected to be enshrined into the Basketball Hall of Fame, but he’s “not entertaining” the idea of the Minnesota Timberwolves retiring his No. 21, saying he still hasn’t forgiven team owner Glen Taylor after an acrimonious split in 2016. “Glen knows where I’m at, I’m

3:02 PM ET In an attempt to shield lesser-income employees from being asked to take a pay cut during the uncertain economic times caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the Los Angeles Lakers plan to ask the team’s top brass to make a monetary sacrifice, league sources confirmed to ESPN. Lakers ownership, after consulting with the

7:26 AM ET IN THE FRONT YARD of Jamal Crawford‘s Seattle-area home is a concrete half court with a nothing-special hoop that had, for a period of months that stretched into years, remained reserved for a singular purpose: It had been lowered from the regulation 10 feet to 6 feet so that the 19-year NBA

8:22 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Commissioner Adam Silver said Monday night that he has told people in the NBA that there will be no way for the league to make a decision about when it can return until May 1 at the earliest — and probably not even then. “Essentially what I’ve told my folks

1:05 PM ET Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot strode onto the sun-speckled grass at Soldier Field on Monday to make an announcement that was difficult for any sports fan to misinterpret: “We are not playing.” “We’d rather be here in Soldier Field, or Wrigley, or Sox park or at the United Center or Wintrust [Arena], cheering

7:00 AM ET This story was originally published on April 13, 2016. Kobe Bryant will be inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a member of the 2020 class. BY THE TIME he was 14, Kobe Bryant had made up his mind: His quest for basketball greatness would be a solitary journey.

1:03 AM ET Day 1 of the 16-player NBA 2K Players Tournament on ESPN concluded Friday night after four first-round matchups. For each matchup, the players had a chance to choose which team they wanted to control. The winners cannot use the teams they played with Friday night in future rounds. What follows is some

9:19 AM ET Nick DePaulaESPN This year’s Basketball Hall of Fame class is led by a trio of NBA legends: Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett. And while all three racked up countless on-court accolades, they also each enjoyed notable successes in the sneaker world. In fact, this year’s group marks just the second

5:53 PM ET The NBA and ESPN are working on televising a H-O-R-S-E competition involving several high-profile players, sources told ESPN. Discussions have been ongoing among the NBA, NBPA and ESPN about a competition among several players in isolation — presumably using home gyms — that would include them competing shot for shot in the

Apr 1, 2020 Where does the star-studded 2020 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class rank? Since Tim Duncan announced his retirement in the summer of 2016, joining Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett in concluding their careers after the 2015-16 season, NBA fans have been anticipating the prospect of celebrating three league MVPs being inducted

12:02 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN The Class of 2020 will arguably be the most star-studded in the history of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. All eight finalists — led by Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett — were selected on Saturday for enshrinement and will be inducted Aug. 29 in Springfield, Massachusetts.

8:03 AM ET The Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2020 could be one of the most star-studded ever, a group that is expected to include Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and the late Kobe Bryant. But which active players are on track for basketball immortality? Ahead of Saturday’s announcement of the full class, our NBA

5:54 PM ET As part of larger corporate cutbacks amid the coronavirus pandemic, layoffs are underway within the Utah Jazz. Those cutbacks include non-basketball personnel, and some employees are taking salary reductions, sources told ESPN. The Jazz are one of approximately 80 companies within the Larry H. Miller Group, which confirmed the layoffs as “a

8:45 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

12:51 PM ET The manager for potential No. 1 NBA draft pick LaMelo Ball told ESPN that they have purchased his Australian NBL team, although in a statement later, the Illawarra Hawks said no sale has been completed. “We own the team,” Jermaine Jackson told ESPN. “It’s a done deal.” No financial details were revealed.

8:06 AM ET Al Horford never expected to become a live-in physical education teacher for his three children — especially for the oldest, Ean, his 5-year-old son. But when the COVID-19 hiatus and accompanying self-isolation hit the United States, the Horfords found themselves together in an apartment in the Philadelphia area without a yard. There

8:20 AM ET WORD SPREAD QUICKLY among the Toronto Raptors: Did you hear? Gobert has it. Donovan Mitchell too. See? Right here on Twitter. The defending NBA champions quickly realized what was coming: Their final basketball game came just two days earlier, on March 9 against the Utah Jazz. They would be quarantined. But what

12:04 PM ET Eric WoodyardESPN While some might speculate that the NBA season will not resume because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Milwaukee Bucks, who had the league’s best record when play stopped, are going forward as if they will eventually be on the court. “We are operating and functioning and just have a mentality

11:55 AM ET Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who expressed optimism last week that the NBA season could resume as soon as mid-May, has backed off discussing any potential timetables for the league playing games again. “I have no idea,” Cuban said Wednesday on ESPN’s Get Up. “I mean, the only thing I know is

9:51 AM ET In the 2016 NBA Finals, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers became the first team in NBA history to overcome a 3-1 Finals deficit, beating the 73-win Golden State Warriors to give the city of Cleveland its first major professional sports championship in 52 years. To do so, the Cavs needed to