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4:30 PM ET ESPN Betting Insiders An action-packed NBA All-Star weekend begins Friday night and continues Saturday at 8 p.m. ET with the skills challenge, 3-point contest and slam dunk contest. Then on Sunday the 72nd NBA All-Star Game tips off at 8:30 p.m. ET. So who are the players and teams to bet on

6:33 PM ET SALT LAKE CITY — Dwyane Wade, Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol and Gregg Popovich headline the list of finalists for the 2023 class of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, it was announced Friday as part of NBA All-Star weekend. “I love the class,” Jerry Colangelo, chairman for the Hall of Fame,

6:23 PM ET PHOENIX — Kevin Durant believes the Phoenix Suns have what it takes to finally win an NBA championship. “I think we got all the pieces to be successful,” Durant said during a Thursday news conference, his first as a member of the Suns. “We got guys that have experienced what it’s like

8:52 PM ET Jamal CollierESPN CHICAGO — Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo exited in the second quarter of Thursday’s 112-100 victory over the Chicago Bulls with a sprained right wrist and did not return. Antetokounmpo injured his wrist after running into the stanchion while attempting to block a shot at the rim from Bulls guard

7:40 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell. That’s the list. In the more than 76-year history of the NBA, only three players have won three consecutive Most Valuable Player awards, and it has been nearly 40 years since Bird last accomplished the feat from 1984 to 1986. There have been plenty

12:27 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN PHILADELPHIA — When Cleveland Cavaliers forward Lamar Stevens was called for a defensive three-second violation — resulting in a technical foul on Cleveland, and a free throw for the Philadelphia 76ers — with 3 minutes, 58 seconds to go in the second quarter of Wednesday night’s game, Wells Fargo Center

12:03 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN PHILADELPHIA — Joel Embiid said after Wednesday night’s 118-112 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers at Wells Fargo Center that he doesn’t know if he’ll be able to play in Sunday’s All-Star Game. “I’m not sure,” the Philadelphia 76ers star said after collecting 29 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals

12:34 PM ET PHOENIX — After almost two decades in the NBA, Chris Paul has seen almost everything the league has to offer. However, after watching his Phoenix Suns make one of the biggest deals in recent league history for superstar forward Kevin Durant, even Paul admits he is still trying to wrap his head

7:31 AM ET The NBA has a different look after last week’s trade deadline, especially the Western Conference. The blockbuster trades of Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns and Kyrie Irving to the Dallas Mavericks were just the headliners in a long series of league-shaking moves that are bound to affect the playoff race and

1:09 AM ET Jamal CollierESPN MILWAUKEE — Jrue Holiday matched a career-high with 40 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo had 36 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 131-125 overtime victory over an undermanned Boston Celtics team on Tuesday, extending Milwaukee’s winning streak to 11 games. The streak, the longest

10:00 AM ET When the NBA summer league was quaint, when it was just the business of evaluating basketball before the evaluation of basketball and the pleasures of Las Vegas, it was played in Boston. In the summer of 2003, LeBron James was there. He hadn’t yet played an official professional game, but he was

11:05 PM ET Kendra AndrewsESPN SAN FRANCISCO — Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry said Monday that there is no target date for him to return from his left lower leg injury that has held him out since Feb. 4. The team plans to reevaluate Curry after the All-Star break, but Curry said he will

8:19 PM ET DALLAS — Kyrie Irving made a polite request during a news conference Monday evening to introduce him to the Dallas media: Please do not ask him about his future beyond this season. The Dallas Mavericks traded for Irving last week despite not having any assurances he would remain with the franchise after

1:22 PM ET Veteran guard Justin Holiday has agreed to a buyout arrangement with the Houston Rockets and plans to sign with the Dallas Mavericks when he clears waivers, sources told ESPN. Holiday was traded to the Rockets last week from the Atlanta Hawks, where he played 28 games this season and averaged 4.5 points

7:35 AM ET CHRISTIAN WOOD SHEEPISHLY raised his right arm in the air and looked toward Spencer Dinwiddie, who had just made a 3-pointer off a pass from the Dallas Mavericks‘ big man to push the lead to double-digits midway through the fourth quarter. You see, Wood made the gesture not as an acknowledgement for

5:52 PM ET The Golden State Warriors completed a four-team trade that allows guard Gary Payton II to pass his physical and three more players — James Wiseman (Detroit), Saddiq Bey (Atlanta) and Kevin Knox (Portland) — cleared beginning Monday, sources told ESPN on Sunday night. The Warriors — who held up the trade after

1:41 PM ET The Golden State Warriors are discussing with the NBA a way to complete their four-team trade with Portland, Detroit and Atlanta, and still preserve their rights to pursue recourse on how the Trail Blazers shared guard Gary Payton II‘s medical information with them prior to the agreement, sources told ESPN on Sunday.

3:07 AM ET SACRAMENTO — As fiery a competitor as Luka Doncic is, he couldn’t stop smiling after the Dallas Mavericks’ 133-128 overtime loss Saturday night to the Sacramento Kings. That’s how much Doncic enjoyed playing with new teammate Kyrie Irving for the first time — and how excited Doncic is about the possibilities for

7:05 PM ET The Golden State Warriors are under a 9:30 p.m. ET deadline on Sunday to make a decision on squashing a four-team trade with the Portland Trail Blazers, Atlanta Hawks and Detroit Pistons because of issues surrounding Gary Payton II‘s abdomen injury, sources told ESPN on Saturday. After Payton arrived in a Thursday

3:44 PM ET Having pulled off a string of deals in the days and weeks leading up to the NBA trade deadline on Thursday, Los Angeles Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka said the team got ahead of the work to be done this summer in free agency. “I think

3:52 AM ET LOS ANGELES — After the LA Clippers traded point guards Reggie Jackson and John Wall away on Thursday’s deadline, Paul George and Marcus Morris Sr. made it no secret that they want the Clippers to add Russell Westbrook should he become available. Westbrook was traded from the Los Angeles Lakers to the

7:52 PM ET Kendra AndrewsESPN SAN FRANCISCO — Significant concerns over Gary Payton II‘s physical exam with Golden State has put Thursday’s four-team trade involving the Warriors, Detroit Pistons, Atlanta Hawks and Portland Trail Blazers in jeopardy, sources confirmed to ESPN. The Warriors have until Saturday to go through with the deal or rescind the

3:26 PM ET SACRAMENTO — Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic said he loves and respects “my guys” Dorian Finney-Smith and Spencer Dinwiddie, but he didn’t hesitate to sign off on trading them for Kyrie Irving when team management presented the possibility to him. “We’ll obviously miss them here, but Kyrie’s Kyrie, man,” Doncic said after

3:17 AM ET LOS ANGELES — Anthony Davis explained that his body language during the Lakers‘ 133-130 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday had everything to do with his team’s struggles and nothing to do with LeBron James‘ record-setting night. “It’s about the game,” Davis said after putting up 23 points and 16

11:57 PM ET ATLANTA — Kevin Durant hasn’t played a game yet for the Phoenix Suns, but his presence on the roster already is paying dividends for them. Players and coaches spoke openly about how much they believe Durant will help the team in a variety of ways after he and T.J. Warren were sent

2:57 PM ET Dan HajduckyESPN Close Hajducky is a reporter/researcher for ESPN. He has an MFA in creative writing from Fairfield University and played on the men’s soccer teams at Fordham and Southern Connecticut State universities. A signed Kobe Bryant jersey, worn during his lone MVP season in 2007-08, has sold for $5,849,700 with Sotheby’s,

1:15 AM ET After three-plus tumultuous years and a second trade request in eight months, All-NBA forward Kevin Durant was traded from the Brooklyn Nets to the Phoenix Suns for a package that includes dynamic forward Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder and four unprotected future first-round picks, sources told ESPN on Wednesday night. In

8:27 PM ET ESPN News Services The Los Angeles Lakers have agreed to a deal to land Minnesota‘s D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt in a three-team trade also involving the Utah Jazz, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. In the trade, the Timberwolves will receive guards Mike Conley and Nickeil Alexander-Walker and picks, while

7:00 AM ET Brian Windhorst Close Brian Windhorst ESPN Senior Writer ESPN.com NBA writer since 2010 Covered Cleveland Cavs for seven years Author of two books Ramona Shelburne Close Ramona Shelburne ESPN Senior Writer Senior writer for ESPN.com Spent seven years at the Los Angeles Daily News MIKE MANCIAS HAD been given pointed instructions by

7:10 PM ET LOS ANGELES — After his first practice with the Dallas Mavericks, All-Star guard Kyrie Irving said he felt “really wanted” by his new team, a stark contrast to feeling “very disrespected” at times during his turbulent 3½-season tenure with the Brooklyn Nets. “I just know I want to be places where I’m