6:55 AM ET The NBA’s return-to-play plan, which includes a likely 22-team field competing in Orlando, Florida, in regular-season games and a play-in tournament to decide postseason berths, is expected to pass in a Thursday board of governors vote. The Memphis Grizzlies and Orlando Magic were holding the No. 8 seeds in their respective conferences
Basketball is back, baby. Well, sorta. OK, actually, not really. But they’re talking about it. Finally. Beyond that, they’re apparently making true, meaningful progress. And although the NBA is circling through potential scenarios — bubble games, re-seeding, ignoring conferences, etc. — there’s a very real chance that this shindig gets underway by mid-July. To celebrate
8:48 PM ET NBA Insiders Who are the favorites for MVP, Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and the other major NBA awards for the 2019-20 season? The league is expected to approve a return-to-play plan on Thursday, with growing support for a 22-team field that likely will play regular-season and play-in
Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers, (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) Kobe Bryant was part of a symbolic NBA protest after Eric Garner’s death more than five years ago. Vanessa Bryant pointed out that the message is as relevant as ever. More than five years ago, Eric Garner was killed by a chokehold administered by an
1:30 PM ET Near the end of the NBA’s board of governors call on Friday, Oklahoma City Thunder owner Clay Bennett delivered an impassioned soliloquy on why the league and owners needed to consider the competitive and financial plights of smaller-market teams that could be left out of the season’s summer resumption in Orlando, Florida
7:25 AM ET When speaking with players, coaches, executives, referees and even typically skeptical agents in recent weeks, their display of support for Adam Silver reveals a remarkable building of capital in his six years as NBA commissioner. Under his leadership, the league and its partners have gotten richer. Silver has expanded support of players
ST PAUL, MINNESOTA – MAY 31: Demonstrators protest death of George Floyd (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) How is the NFL, MLB and NFL world responding to the George Floyd protests? It’s been a difficult week for America as many of the nation has come together to protest the death of George Floyd at the hands
8:45 PM ET NBA Insiders As the NBA prepares for a possible return to play in the midst of a hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, which awards races are still in play? The NBA is expected to approve a return-to-play plan on Thursday, with growing support for a 22-team field that will include regular-season
5:48 PM ET Charlotte Hornets owner and Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan joined the chorus of athletes, coaches and executives expressing their grief and outrage over the death of George Floyd. “I am deeply saddened, truly pained and plain angry,” Jordan said in a statement Sunday. “… I stand with those who are calling out
NBA, Adam Silver, (Photo by Brian Ach/Getty Images for TIME 100 Health Summit ) After a hiatus of more than two months, the NBA has reportedly set July 31 as a target date for resuming their season. On March 11, when Rudy Gobert’s positive coronavirus test was announced and the NBA season was formally suspended,
8:00 AM ET Editor’s note: This piece was originally published on June 1, 2018. Two lead changes. Three ties. A controversial replay reversal. A potentially series-changing blunder. The final minute of regulation in Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals featured just about everything. We let the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors tell the
10:11 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown led a peaceful protest march through Atlanta on Saturday night. Brown, who streamed part of the march live via his Instagram account and also posted videos of speeches to his page, said during the livestream that he’d driven 15 hours from Boston in order to
4 UFC fights to look forward to in June and July by Ben Coate Chicago Cubs announcer Len Kasper unsure there will be baseball by Mark Carman Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images Real talk from Damian Lillard: if the NBA regular season has fewer than 82 games and doesn’t expand the playoffs, some players are going
LeBron James, #23, Los Angeles Lakers. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) LeBron James took to Twitter to salute rapper Killer Mike for his speech about the Atlanta anti-racism protests on Friday night. Anti-racism protests are sweeping the nation following the murder of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer earlier this week in
5:24 PM ET Detroit Pistons coach Dwane Casey lived through desegregation in Kentucky and said he knows what it has felt like to go into a new school unwanted and unwelcome. He’s seen the deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky. On Saturday, Casey, who is black,
2:37 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN As the NBA’s board of governors met Friday afternoon to assess options for how to restart the season, the league’s general managers have expressed their preference to go straight to the playoffs. In a survey of all 30 general managers, which was viewed by ESPN, 16 said they would prefer
Stephen Jackson, #5, (Photo by Ron Jenkins/BIG3/Getty Images) Retired NBA veteran Stephen Jackson was a close friend of George Floyd. He’s working to make sure all the officers involved are held accountable. Being an NBA player doesn’t protect anyone from police violence, racial profiling and racial abuse, a fact that has been, unfortunately, made clear
7:17 PM ET Adrian Wojnarowski Close Senior NBA Insider Host of The Woj Pod Joined ESPN in 2017 Ramona Shelburne Close ESPN Senior Writer Senior writer for ESPN.com Spent seven years at the Los Angeles Daily News The NBA is planning a Thursday vote of the league’s Board of Governors — with owners expected to
2:59 PM ET ESPN News Services Former NBA player Stephen Jackson spoke at a rally Friday afternoon in Minneapolis in remembrance of his friend George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who died in police custody after pleading that he could not breathe. “I’m here because they’re not gonna demean the character of George Floyd, my
Thabo Sefolosha, #25, Atlanta Hawks, (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) The Whiteboard is The Step Back’s daily basketball newsletter, covering the NBA, WNBA and more. Subscribe here to get it delivered to you via email each morning. The news this morning is consumed with reports about chaotic protests in Minneapolis and around the country,
6:50 AM ET MICHELE ROBERTS HAD just stepped out of an Uber when her phone started buzzing. It was a little after 8 p.m. on March 11, and the National Basketball Players Association executive director had left her New York office after meeting with NBA commissioner Adam Silver to discuss the next steps amid the
Basketball is back, baby. Well, sorta. OK, actually, not really. But they’re talking about it. Finally. Beyond that, they’re apparently making true, meaningful progress. And although the NBA is circling through potential scenarios — bubble games, re-seeding, ignoring conferences, etc. — there’s a very real chance that this shindig gets underway by mid-July. To celebrate
6:20 PM ET Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard believes a play-in tournament for teams on the outside of the playoff picture “would be perfect” as the NBA considers options for how it could potentially restart its season. The Blazers were 3½ games behind the Memphis Grizzlies for the final playoff spot in the Western
CHICAGO, IL – MARCH 20: Basketball star Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls talks to the press 20 March after practice at the Berto Center in Deerfield, Illinois. Jordan reiterated that he has returned to basketball because of his love for the game. (COLOR KEY: Microphone (L) is red) AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read
9:12 AM ET ESPN News Services LeBron James and other high-profile athletes have taken to social media to voice their outrage over the death of a black Minnesota man who was pinned down by police. George Floyd, 46, died Monday night while in Minneapolis police custody. A bystander’s video showed an officer kneeling on the
5:48 AM ET DAMIAN LILLARD HAS never entered the Portland Trail Blazers‘ training center through the media entrance, but there’s nothing natural about May 8, the first time he walks into the facility since the NBA shuttered it March 20 because of the coronavirus pandemic. Wearing a mask, Lillard steps into a makeshift check-in area,
Urban Meyer (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images) Urban Meyer recruited LeBron James to play for Notre Dame football. Before he was the best basketball player of his generation, LeBron James was a pretty good wide receiver at St. Vincent-St. Mary’s in Akron, Ohio. LeBron could have been an All-Pro tight end if he decided to
7:49 PM ET Count the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as the latest institution to have its best-laid plans felled by the coronavirus. Jerry Colangelo, the chairman of the board of the governors for the Hall, told ESPN on Wednesday that enshrinement ceremonies for the Class of 2020, one of the most star-studded lineups
MILWAUKEE, WI – JANUARY 20: Former Marquette Golden Eagle Dwyane Wade addresses the media prior to game between the Marquette Golden Eagles and the Providence Friars at the Fiserv Forum on January 20, 2019 in Milwaukee, WI. (Photo by Larry Radloff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) Dwyane Wade’s new hairdo shocks followers and gets love from
The 2020 NBA Draft was scheduled to take place in approximately one month from today. But then the COVID-19 pandemic happened and resulted in delays for just about every profession worldwide. So instead of preparing for the upcoming draft and/or analyzing the 2020 NBA Playoffs, we are looking back at recent drafts and how the