News

2:53 PM ET NEW YORK — As the Brooklyn Nets embark on the 2022-23 campaign, they do so hoping they can change the narrative surrounding their team and put the focus back on the floor instead of making headlines off of it. “We want to erase everything that was said about our team the last

7:32 PM ET EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — As the Los Angeles Lakers attempt to integrate a new coach, rebound from one of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history and maximize what’s left in LeBron James‘ brilliant career, they have reaffirmed their faith in Rob Pelinka to lead the franchise through it. Pelinka, the Lakers’

2:19 PM ET Kendra AndrewsESPN SAN FRANCISCO — Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green offered a public apology and announced he will step away from the team indefinitely after an altercation on Wednesday between him and Jordan Poole. “I’m going to continue to stay away, as I’ve been away, and continue to do work on

8:50 AM ET Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs has suffered a left knee capsule sprain and bone bruise, the team announced. There’s relief that Suggs avoided a more serious injury, sources told ESPN. His timeline on a return will depend on response to treatment, the team said. Suggs was helped off the court and into

8:25 PM ET Associated Press PARIS — Top NBA draft prospect Victor Wembanyama will join France’s national team next month for a pair of World Cup qualifying games. The French federation made the announcement Friday. The 7-foot-3 Wembanyama is among 12 players selected for a road game at Lithuania on Nov. 11 and a home

3:47 PM ET Ramona Shelburne Close ESPN Senior Writer Senior writer for ESPN.com Spent seven years at the Los Angeles Daily News Adrian Wojnarowski Close Senior NBA Insider Host of The Woj Pod Joined ESPN in 2017 The Golden State Warriors are taking “every legal course of action” to discover how video of Draymond Green

8:00 AM ET The LA Clippers enter the 2022-23 season — Year 4 of the Kawhi Leonard–Paul George era — with enormous expectations. They have a superstar two-way duo. They have perhaps the deepest roster in the league. They are loaded with veteran experience and interchangeable players at almost every position. And they have a

11:30 PM ET OKLAHOMA CITY — The Adelaide 36ers, the seventh-place squad in Australia’s 10-team National Basketball League last season, boarded a 6 a.m. commercial flight on Sept. 28, when a few players sat in business class and the rest of the roster and staff squeezed into coach. The team made connections in Sydney and

4:46 PM ET Kendra AndrewsESPN SAN FRANCISCO — Draymond Green apologized to the Golden State Warriors on Thursday morning for an altercation with Jordan Poole the day before, Warriors general manager Bob Myers said. Green subsequently left the training facilities and is not expected back until Saturday. The Warriors are still in the process of

8:00 AM ET MIAMI — UDONIS HASLEM was vacationing in Orlando with his family this past July when he saw a black SUV pull up to his rental house. “My antenna goes up,” the Miami Heat veteran says of the moment. “A black SUV? I can’t see inside it? I told my kids, ‘Go in

9:49 PM ET Golden State Warriors‘ All-Star Draymond Green threw a punch at teammate Jordan Poole at practice on Wednesday, sources told ESPN. The two players had been verbally sparring prior to some pushing, which escalated when Green took a swing and made contact with Poole, sources said. Team officials are reviewing the episode. Poole

3:46 PM ET As NBA executives consider the transformative impact 7-foot-4 French prospect Victor Wembanyama’s performance on Tuesday could impose on the NBA’s tanking and trade market this season, his agent insists that there’s no plan to listen to some team executives who suggest shutting down the projected No. 1 pick until the 2023 NBA

8:00 AM ET NBA Insiders The NBA was without its full slate of stars for much of last season, as a number of the league’s best players missed extensive time. But the start of the 2022-23 season marks a fresh start and return to the court for those stars. Marquee veterans such as Kawhi Leonard

5:30 PM ET As Robert Sarver prepares to sell the NBA’s Phoenix Suns and the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, investment bank officials who have managed the sales of professional sports franchises told ESPN that they expect the transaction’s final price to set a record. “It’ll be the highest price ever paid for an NBA team,” one

12:09 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN The Milwaukee Bucks are slight favorites to win the 2023 NBA championship, and Luka Doncic was tapped as most likely to win the 2023 Most Valuable Player award in NBA.com’s annual survey of all 30 of the league’s general managers. The 21st edition of the survey was released Tuesday and

12:14 AM ET NEW YORK — Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons made his long-awaited debut with his new team on Monday after almost a year and a half away from the game. After pushing for a trade out of Philadelphia while citing mental health concerns and then dealing with offseason back surgery, Simmons said he

5:01 PM ET Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns was hospitalized last week with a throat infection that caused him trouble breathing and forced him to be on bed rest for days, sources told ESPN. Towns spoke to the media Monday for the first time since falling ill and said his weight was down to 231

8:00 AM ET NBA Insiders Which NBA players are on the verge of a breakout season? Last year, it was third-year point guard Ja Morant, who increased his scoring to average to 27.4 points per game from 19.1 during his sophomore season and led the upstart Memphis Grizzlies to the league’s second-best record. Morant set

1:37 AM ET ESPN News Services The Phoenix Suns lost their preseason opener at home to a hot-shooting Adelaide 36ers team from Australia’s National Basketball League 134-124 on Sunday night. The Suns, whose last game at Footprint Center was a 33-point loss to the Dallas Mavericks in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals, became

6:28 PM ET Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro — the 2022 NBA Sixth Man of the Year — has agreed to a four-year, $130 million contract extension, his agents, Jeff Schwartz and Mike Lindeman of Excel Sports, told ESPN on Sunday. After averaging 20.7 points a season ago, Herro, 22, lands an annual salary worth

Sep 30, 2022 NEW YORK — Brooklyn Nets star forward Kevin Durant wants to move past an offseason that was consumed by his trade request and his future with the organization. “Can we move on past that at some point?” Durant said after Friday’s practice. “I know it’s an interesting story. I know that it

5:57 PM ET TEMECULA, Calif. — The day after last season mercifully came to an end for the Los Angeles Lakers, Russell Westbrook was asked about LeBron James and Anthony Davis repeatedly stating over the course of the year their intent to “let Russ be Russ” in pursuit of team success. “Yeah,” Westbrook replied bluntly

5:19 PM ET Memphis Grizzlies center Steven Adams has agreed to a two-year, $25.2 million contract extension, tying him to the franchise through the 2024-2025 season, his agent, Darren Matsubara of Wasserman, told ESPN on Saturday. Adams, 29, was entering the final year of his deal, and now is under contract for three years and

12:49 PM ET New Orleans Pelicans forward Larry Nance Jr. has agreed to a two-year, $21.6 million contract extension, his agent, Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports, told ESPN on Saturday. The extension, tying Nance to the franchise through the 2024-2025 season, allows him to join the Pelicans’ key players — including Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram

6:25 PM ET EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — With the Los Angeles Lakers‘ preseason debut fast approaching, the first signs of new coach Darvin Ham’s impact on the team are beginning to reveal themselves. For starters, Ham said Friday that guard Kendrick Nunn and center Damian Jones have joined LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook

5:13 PM ET The independent law firm probe into Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka found that he used crude language in his dialogue with a female subordinate prior to the start of an improper workplace relationship with the woman, an element that significantly factored into the severity of his one-year suspension, sources told ESPN. Those

8:00 AM ET The Brooklyn Nets gave the NBA offseason extended life. Every move the organization made — and didn’t — was examined; every whisper, every tweet broken down to the syllable as the league watched the turmoil unfold throughout the summer. Kevin Durant, who on June 30 requested a trade, then requested for general

5:10 PM ET Jamal CollierESPN CHICAGO — The Chicago Bulls expressed optimism on Thursday following guard Lonzo Ball‘s latest surgery to address the lingering discomfort in his left knee, but his timeline to return to the court remains uncertain. Bulls coach Billy Donovan met with director of athletic performance Chip Schaefer, who was in Los

1:59 PM ET NEW YORK — Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving is confident that “anything’s possible,” for new teammate Ben Simmons now that the talented swingman has “peace around him” in his basketball life. Irving, like coach Steve Nash, is confident that Simmons will be able to fit in quickly to the framework of the

7:26 PM ET EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — On the Los Angeles Lakers‘ road to the title in 2020, Anthony Davis showed the full versatility of his game, shooting close to 40% from 3 in the playoffs in the NBA bubble. Last season, Davis’ outside shot fell off a cliff, with his 3-point percentage plummeting to