News

12:55 AM ET Andrew LopezESPN NEW ORLEANS — Zion Williamson had just finished another layup at the rim while dealing with contact from the Utah Jazz‘s Ed Davis. The announced sold-out Smoothie King Center crowd sprang to its feet, reveling in what the New Orleans Pelicans rookie was doing in his preseason home debut. The

10:29 AM ET Eric WoodyardESPN Milwaukee Bucks guard Eric Bledsoe will miss the start of the 2019-20 season after suffering a small fracture of his rib, a source confirmed to ESPN. Bledsoe could be out for up to three weeks, the source said, after getting injured during the Bucks’ 133-99 preseason win on Wednesday night

10:29 AM ET Eric WoodyardESPN Milwaukee Bucks guard Eric Bledsoe will miss the start of the 2019-20 season after suffering a small fracture of his rib, a source confirmed to ESPN. Bledsoe could be out for up to three weeks, the source said, after getting injured during the Bucks’ 133-99 preseason win on Wednesday night

12:21 AM ET OKLAHOMA CITY — The numbers didn’t show it, but the hordes of NBA front office personnel in attendance weren’t really there looking for those anyway. They were there to see the hypersonic first step, the spring-loaded bounce and the complete skillset of likely 2020 lottery pick R.J. Hampton, and he delivered in

4:04 PM ET SAN FRANCISCO — Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green does not believe either he or his teammates will stop speaking out on causes they believe in, despite the backlash the NBA has received over the past week in the wake of Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey’s tweet in support of Hong

8:16 AM ET Kyrie Irving‘s preseason debut was cut short. The Brooklyn Nets guard played just one minute against the Los Angeles Lakers in Shanghai on Thursday after aggravating the facial fracture he suffered in an offseason pickup game before training camp. Irving was wearing a mask for the game and was guarding the Lakers’

11:57 PM ET Andrew LopezESPN CHICAGO — It was a step forward for New Orleans Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson on Wednesday night against the Chicago Bulls. But it was also a step back for the Pelicans’ defense. Despite a game-high 29 points for Williamson through just the 3:54 mark of the third quarter, New Orleans

5:33 PM ET President Donald Trump, in his first public comments about the NBA’s relationship with China, criticized Warriors coach Steve Kerr and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich for their response to questions about the controversy. Trump weighed in on the topic Wednesday afternoon, saying the NBA has to “work out their own situation” with China

12:26 AM ET TULSA — Chris Paul, the president of the NBA’s players association, said he isn’t very well informed about the league’s growing friction with its business partners in China in part because of his focus on the Oklahoma City Thunder‘s training camp. “I don’t know but so much about it right now,” Paul

1:01 AM ET ESPN News Services The NBA Cares event in Shanghai involving the Los Angeles Lakers was canceled on Wednesday just hours before it was scheduled to begin, adding to the fallout from a recent tweet by Rockets GM Daryl Morey that showed support for anti-government protesters in Hong Kong. The NBA did not

11:46 AM ET Kevin Durant said Tuesday that the New York Knicks can’t rely on their “brand” to land the best players, many of whom don’t even remember the franchise being good. “I think a lot of fans look at the Knicks as a brand and expect these younger players in their lifetime don’t remember

9:55 AM ET ESPN News Services Russell Westbrook tallied 13 points in 21 minutes in his first game action as a member of the Houston Rockets, a 134-129 loss to the Toronto Raptors in Tokyo. “It wasn’t bad,” said Westbrook, the longtime Oklahoma City star and former MVP now in his first season with Houston.

9:00 AM ET Some people like power rankings. I prefer tiers. It’s a big-picture method of capturing how good teams are today, and where they are in the NBA’s rise-and-fall cycle. It is an especially interesting exercise approaching the most wide-open season in recent memory. More teams than usual have claims to membership in the

11:49 AM ET ESPN.com staff We’re just a couple of weeks away from the tipoff to the 2019-20 fantasy basketball campaign, which means we are entering the heart of draft season. To get you properly prepared, our experts recently took part in our third mock draft. This one is a 10-team draft for a head-to-head

6:42 AM ET Kyle Lowry and the Toronto Raptors have agreed on a one-year, $31 million contract extension that takes the five-time All-Star guard out of July’s free-agent market, agent Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports told ESPN. The extension guarantees Lowry two years and $64 million on the books — including the $33.3 million left

10:28 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN BOSTON — Celtics rookie Tacko Fall sat on the bench for the first three quarters of Sunday’s preseason opener at TD Garden against the Charlotte Hornets hearing fans repeatedly chant his name. But when the 7-foot-7 center finally got a chance to check into an NBA game for the first

1:28 PM ET Associated Press PIRAEUS, Greece — Former Cleveland Cavaliers coach David Blatt has left his post as coach of Greek club Olympiakos two months after announcing he had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. In a statement on the club website, Blatt says “after a long and respectful discussion between the owners and myself,

10:44 PM ET SAN FRANCISCO — Anthony Davis cleaned up a LeBron James miss for the first score of the game. James got his first bucket to go — plus an and-1 free throw — a few minutes later to put the Los Angeles Lakers up 11-0 over the Golden State Warriors and L.A. rolled

12:46 AM ET SAN FRANCISCO — Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry knew exactly how he wanted to christen Chase Center on Saturday night. After moving out of Oracle Arena in Oakland after 47 years and moving across the Bay to San Francisco, Curry made it clear to his teammates that he wanted to take

2:02 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN BOSTON — A year ago, the Boston Celtics entered training camp with championship expectations. This year, it remains to be seen just how good Boston can actually be. “There are different kinds of questions [this year],” Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said Saturday before the team’s annual open

2:50 AM ET ESPN News Services Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta strongly denounced a tweet from general manager Daryl Morey on Friday night after the GM posted an image supporting protesters in Hong Kong. Listen….@dmorey does NOT speak for the @HoustonRockets. Our presence in Tokyo is all about the promotion of the @NBA internationally and

Sep 30, 2019 It’s time for our first fall tradition: picking the six most intriguing players of the season. As usual, we (mostly) steer clear of superstars and rookies. Jonathan Isaac, Orlando Magic Orlando’s offseason plan for Isaac led him to a startling discovery. “I did not know I could eat this much,” Isaac says.

12:37 PM ET Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. is poised to become the first professional sports arena in the U.S. with a fully operational sportsbook. On Thursday, Monumental Sports & Entertainment founder Ted Leonsis, owner of the Washington Wizards, Capitals and Mystics, announced a partnership with international bookmaker William Hill. Upon regulatory approval, William

5:09 AM ET HONOLULU – Houston Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni smirked as he stood up and twirled his right index finger, signaling to the referees that he was challenging an offensive foul called on James Harden with 2:02 remaining in the second quarter Thursday night. “In a preseason game?” LA Clippers coach Doc Rivers hollered

10:14 PM ET Ohn Youngmisuk HONOLULU — LA Clippers owner Steve Ballmer made it clear he will not back down from a fight with Madison Square Garden and New York Knicks owner James Dolan and that MSG should be prepared for a long battle over litigation trying to block the building of Ballmer’s proposed new

3:32 PM ET Eric WoodyardESPN EAST LANSING, Mich. — From winning MVP of Ice Cube’s Big3 league to suiting up for the Detroit Pistons during training camp, the past few months have been a whirlwind for NBA veteran Joe Johnson. After sitting out the 2018-19 NBA season, Johnson, 38, revitalized his career through 3-on-3 professional

1:44 AM ET Lonzo Ball and LaVar Ball have been countersued by their former business partner, Alan Foster, for fraudulent concealment and breach of contract. According to legal documents obtained by The Blast, Foster alleges that LaVar Ball embezzled more than $2.6 million from Big Baller Brand and other companies associated with the Ball Family

11:27 PM ET Nick DePaulaESPN As he looks to expand his personal brand both on and off the court, Los Angeles Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma has signed a five-year footwear and apparel endorsement deal with Puma. The deal is expected to pay him north of $20 million over the life of the contract, with additional

12:05 PM ET Associated Press LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. — Writer-director Spike Lee added to his New York Knicks collection by purchasing 13 items associated with his favorite team in a recent auction. The family of late Knicks coach Red Holzman sold off 35 items that netted $319,341, according to SCP Auctions, which handled last week’s

5:53 PM ET Andrew LopezESPN METAIRIE, La. — New Orleans Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson didn’t want to have any miscues on his first official day of practice. So there were no windmill dunks. No dribbling between the legs. He just wanted to be one of the guys. “It’s the first practice,” Williamson said Tuesday. “I’m