8:00 AM ET Nick DePaulaESPN “It’s gotta be the shoes.” For many basketball fans in the 1990s, that wasn’t just a line said by Spike Lee’s Mars Blackmon character in a commercial, it was a way of life. Michael Jordan helped turn basketball sneakers into a multibillion dollar industry. Episode 5 of “The Last Dance”
Nine Mexican-inspired cocktail recipes to make your stay-at-home Cinco de Mayo extra spicy. Cinco de Mayo falls on a Taco Tuesday this year and as fate would have it, the world is under a pretty rigid quarantine forcing the closures of your favorite taquerias and carniceria so you won’t be able to order $2 tacos
8:01 AM ET ESPN’s 10-part documentary “The Last Dance,” which chronicles Michael Jordan and the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls, continues Sunday with Episodes 5 and 6. All 10 episodes will air on ESPN and the ESPN App in the United States and can be streamed outside the U.S. on Netflix. Jordan and the Bulls allowed NBA
3:11 PM ET Jeremy Lin says he was surprised, humbled and ultimately grateful after the New York Knicks reached out to propose taking a week on MSG Network to showcase interviews and 2012 games related to the brief but memorable phenomenon that was “Linsanity.” In an interview with Rachel Nichols for ESPN’s The Jump that
The five greatest NBA teams that never won a championship. Bad luck, bad timing, and unforeseen circumstances all influence the outcome of games; did your team make the cut? There can only be one — one champion out of 30 NBA teams every season. Sometimes a season is ruined by injuries, sometimes you run into
1:15 PM ET As the NBA seeks solutions to return to action during the coronavirus pandemic, teams are weighing scenarios for potential games with only essential personnel present. Perhaps a key factor in such decisions, beyond titles or responsibilities, is the health and age of those staffers, NBA general managers told ESPN. One NBA general
7:00 AM ET Editor’s note: This piece on Michael Jordan was originally published in the March 4, 2013, issue of ESPN The Magazine. Watch episodes five and six of “The Last Dance” on Sunday, May 3, at 9 p.m. ET. on ESPN. FIVE WEEKS BEFORE his 50th birthday, Michael Jordan sits behind his desk, overlooking
As many as a dozen players could make strong cases they belong on this year’s ballot for Most Improved, but these seven stood out from the pack. The beauty of an award like Most Improved Player is in how wide a net it casts across the NBA. The more glamorous MVP and Rookie of the
Even if the NBA regular season is canceled, we’ve seen enough to start assessing the first seasons of notable rookies. What did the Miami Heat see from Kendrick Nunn? A month into the basketball-less abyss of the suspended season, Heat rookie Kendrick Nunn made a bold statement. If you watched him at all this year
4:55 PM ET As ownership support grows for the idea, commissioner Adam Silver and the NBA board of governors continued discussions Friday about delaying the start of the 2020-2021 season until December, sources told ESPN. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the NBA’s thinking and planning has progressed on the idea independent of whether the 2019-2020 season
The NBA, as are most major sports, is a star-driven. LeBron James, James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, etc. carry the day in regards to popularity, production and success, whether on the court or otherwise. That said, and despite what some may say to the contrary, no one man can take home the Larry O’Brien trophy alone.
7:02 AM ET AS THE INDIANA PACERS sat at their lockers in Chicago moments before Game 7 of the 1998 Eastern Conference finals, Larry Bird, in his first year as coach, strode to the center of the room to address them. Bird was not big on speeches. The Pacers had done their work in practices
What would it have looked like if the Lakers selected Donovan Mitchell No. 2 in the 2017 NBA Draft, and paired him with LeBron James? For the Denver Nuggets, Donovan Mitchell could be the one who got away. The Nuggets held the No. 13 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft where they selected Mitchell and
LAHAINA, HI – NOVEMBER 26: Malik Hall #25 of the Michigan State Spartans gets a hand in the face of Anthony Edwards #5 of the Georgia Bulldogs as he shoots the ball during the second half at the Lahaina Civic Center on November 26, 2019 in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images) The top
6:59 AM ET Tim Bontemps Brian Windhorst Close ESPN Senior Writer ESPN.com NBA writer since 2010 Covered Cleveland Cavs for seven years Author of two books In the seven weeks since the NBA season was suspended due to the coronavirus, the league has avoided speculation about how and when it may return. But as May
The NBA, as are most major sports, is a star-driven. LeBron James, James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, etc. carry the day in regards to popularity, production and success, whether on the court or otherwise. That said, and despite what some may say to the contrary, no one man can take home the Larry O’Brien trophy alone.
7:59 PM ET For a time, Las Vegas was the most popular idea for a proposed resumption of the NBA season: a bubble city of teams grinding out the playoffs within a quarantine of connected casino hotels and arenas. As time has passed, those talking with NBA commissioner Adam Silver find him still needing to
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. On a media conference call Tuesday, former Phoenix Suns MVP Charles Barkley said he thought his squad that reached the 1993 NBA Finals would fare well in today’s
9:02 AM ET In “The Last Dance,” we witness Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls en route to their sixth and final NBA championship. It’s been a trip, transporting us back in time to a style of play that we will never see again. Since the Bulls’ run to the 1998 title, we’ve seen dynasties
Last week, Basketball Insiders ranked who was the best of the best of each position in the NBA, including executives. This week, Basketball Insiders is taking a look at who are among the most underrated executives in the NBA. What makes an executive underrated? It’s actually a pretty loaded question. Their work may have led
7:00 AM ET Andrew LopezESPN ON THE SECOND day of the New Orleans Pelicans‘ training camp in September, the media was permitted to observe only one play — and what a play it was. Lonzo Ball stood on the sideline preparing to inbound with Zion Williamson at the elbow closest to him. Williamson quickly went
Is Stephen Curry the greatest shooter ever? Is he a “system player”? Why is he always chewing on his mouthguard? Our Stephen Curry FAQ has all your answers. Stephen Curry has been a transformational presence in the NBA, lifting the Golden State Warriors from travesty to dynasty and remaking the league’s offenses in his own image,
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 27: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers sits on the bench injured during their game against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center on February 27, 2020 in San Francisco, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User
7:50 PM ET LeBron James is combining two of his off-court passions — education and entertainment — in a primetime event to honor the high school class of 2020 next month. The Los Angeles Lakers star’s LeBron James Family Foundation is partnering with the XQ Institute and the Entertainment Institute Foundation to present “Graduate Together:
Last week, Basketball Insiders ranked who was the best of the best of each position in the NBA, including executives. This week, Basketball Insiders is taking a look at who are among the most underrated executives in the NBA. What makes an executive underrated? It’s actually a pretty loaded question. Their work may have led
7:00 AM ET Editor’s note: This piece was originally published on June 9, 2015. Tim Duncan will be inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a member of the 2020 class. SAN ANTONIO — “Summertime” arrived in the first quarter of Game 3 and nestled in for the duration of the 2014
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. It’s aggravating we have to keep doing this with Draymond Green, but here we are. Again. Having to halt the attempts to rewrite a man’s career and explain
7:00 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
5:56 PM ET As the NBA continues to try and find ways to salvage the end of its season as the world deals with the coronavirus pandemic, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr acknowledged that his team is operating as if its season already is over. “It feels like the offseason,” Kerr said during a
On a video conference call with the media, Charles Barkley talked about the 1992-93 Phoenix Suns, “The Last Dance,” the Bad Boys Pistons and more. Despite having a Hall of Fame career in the NBA, winning an MVP award during his time with the Phoenix Suns and becoming a world-famous broadcaster, in this time of