12:43 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN In an attempt to stay connected during the NBA shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said the team has had an assortment of guest speakers talk to its players over the past few weeks. “We’ve had Mark Wahlberg, who was great,” Ainge
To grasp how one can be underrated, the definition for rated must be first observed, obviously. Taking a page out of the apathetic/lazy/Jeff Winger best man speech how-to guide and textbook, Webster’s Dictionary states that rate (and its many tenses) is to “assign a standard or value to (something) according to a particular scale.” In
3:34 PM ET Three months after the tragic death of Kobe Bryant, nearly 100 items of Bryant memorabilia — including game-worn sneakers from the NBA Finals and a championship ring originally belonging to his mother, Pam Bryant — are being auctioned off. “We believe it is the largest collection ever in one place of Kobe
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. As you could probably tell from our nonstop coverage over the last week, The Last Dance has been a big deal here at The Step Back (and everywhere else, for
8:25 AM ET The 1990s Chicago Bulls will always be remembered as Michael Jordan‘s team, but the triumphant basketball dynasty was bookended by virtuosic performances that go beyond the GOAT. Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman provided the team with defensive greatness that helped ensure the Bulls went a perfect 6-0 in the NBA Finals. Both
7:25 PM ET NEW YORK — After testing positive for the coronavirus, New York Knicks owner James Dolan has recovered and is volunteering to donate blood plasma for various medical trials, a team spokesperson confirmed to ESPN. Dolan’s second test — nearly three-and-a-half weeks after the positive test result — was negative. He has registered
The 2020 NBA Draft is full of uncertainty but Florida State’s Devin Vassell doesn’t have much mystery to him. Devin Vassell has been one of the draft’s biggest risers throughout this season. Starting on most boards in the late first or early second round at the beginning of the year, Vassell projected early on as
Is Vince Carter the greatest dunker ever? Why did he quit on the Raptors? What was the best version of VC? Our Vince Carter FAQ has all your answers. Vince Carter was one of the most explosive leapers the game had ever seen, one giant quick-twitch muscle waiting to fire. But after 22 seasons, he finishes
6:34 PM ET Should the NBA set a plan in place to restart in the coming months, it will need to include a runway of “at least” three or four weeks for players to prepare to play games, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Chris Paul said Wednesday. “I’m just letting you know, and I don’t think
To grasp how one can be underrated, the definition for rated must be first observed, obviously. Taking a page out of the apathetic/lazy/Jeff Winger best man speech how-to guide and textbook, Webster’s Dictionary states that rate (and its many tenses) is to “assign a standard or value to (something) according to a particular scale.” In
6:54 AM ET When Kendrick Perkins emerged as a key member of the Boston Celtics team that won the 2008 NBA championship, he credited his growth to Doc Rivers, the coach he called his “father figure.” That is, until his “father” shipped him to Oklahoma City in 2011. “Yeah, I didn’t like that,” Perkins told
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. If you’re looking to find some aspect of NBA minutiae to blow your mind, there is literally no better source than NBA Reddit. And in these days of
2:52 AM ET The Nigerian basketball community was as stunned as the rest of the world when news broke that Brooklyn Nets point guard Spencer Dinwiddie was in the process of acquiring a Nigerian passport, which could see him represent the African nation at the next Olympics. It comes barely two months after the Nigerians
With the actual NBA Draft in flux, FanSided’s NBA Network site experts are looking back and reselecting the 2017 draft. The FanSided NBA Network Mock Draft has become a yearly tradition, with our site experts from each of our NBA blogs sharing their team-focused expertise and making draft selections for the teams they represent. This
To grasp how one can be underrated, the definition for rated must be first observed, obviously. Taking a page out of the apathetic/lazy/Jeff Winger best man speech how-to guide and textbook, Webster’s Dictionary states that rate (and its many tenses) is to “assign a standard or value to (something) according to a particular scale.” In
4:16 PM ET Former Chicago Bulls teammates Michael Jordan and Steve Kerr have had their disagreements before, but this one probably won’t end with anyone getting punched in the face. Jordan took an unflinching stance in Episode 2 of the documentary series “The Last Dance” when addressing then-teammate Scottie Pippen’s decision to delay foot surgery
Even if the NBA regular season is canceled, we’ve seen enough to start assessing the first seasons of notable rookies. What did the Golden State Warriors see from Jordan Poole and Ky Bowman? Essentially nothing has gone according to plan for the Warriors over the past year. They were upset by the Raptors in the
7:04 AM ET BEN SIMMONS CAN still summon the bounces in his head. The first sprung high off the rim, then the ball descended straight back down to the iron, where it bandied about two, three, four times before finally nestling through the strings, coronating Kawhi Leonard and the Toronto Raptors as the Game 7
The Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal-led Lakers brought championships to Los Angeles but destroyed many great teams along the way. When Kobe Bryant leaped into Shaquille O’Neal’s arms to celebrate the Lakers defeat of the Indiana Pacers in the 2000 NBA Finals, it was a return to glory for one of the NBA’s most successful
Now more than one month since the shutdown, every day without the NBA has felt longer and longer. That said, we’ve done our best at Basketball Insiders to help sate your yearning for sport. Spencer Davies already brought you Six Things we’ve been watching to help fill that basketball-sized hole in our hearts, and today
2:06 AM ET As Draymond Green watched the first two parts of “The Last Dance,” the proud forward saw parallels between the end of the Chicago Bulls‘ run with Michael Jordan in the 1990s and the end of the Golden State Warriors run last season with Kevin Durant. “It definitely hit close to home,” Green
Los Angeles Lakers guard Dion Waiters opened up about depression, mental health and the plane incident via The Player’s Tribune. Depression is a serious and seriously misunderstood issue in society that’s been prevalent for years now, and that’s especially the case during these strange times of quarantine and social distancing, without sports or entertainment to
7:42 AM ET Who are the best basketball prospects our NBA experts have ever seen? Inspired by ESPN’s MLB team, we asked an ESPN panel about watching some of the league’s standout players before they made it big. The only rule: You had to see the prospect play in person before his first NBA game.
If you didn’t see the first two episodes of ESPN’s “The Last Dance” Michael Jordan documentary, you’re missing out. Don’t miss the next installment. There’s still something mysterious when it comes to Michael Jordan. Not that we don’t know much about MJ – there are thousands of books, interviews and shows dedicated to the GOAT.
10:25 PM ET ESPN’s Michael Jordan documentary “The Last Dance” debuted to the masses on the weekend that was originally scheduled for the start of the 2020 NBA postseason. The untold story of Michael Jordan‘s final season with the Chicago Bulls has been one of the most highly anticipated viewing events over the past several
Now more than one month since the shutdown, every day without the NBA has felt longer and longer. That said, we’ve done our best at Basketball Insiders to help sate your yearning for sport. Spencer Davies already brought you Six Things we’ve been watching to help fill that basketball-sized hole in our hearts, and today
10:00 PM ET ESPN’s 10-part documentary “The Last Dance,” which chronicles Michael Jordan and the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls, premiered on Sunday with Episodes 1 and 2. Jordan and the Bulls allowed NBA Entertainment to follow them throughout the season and document their final championship together. The series features never-before-seen footage, as well as interviews with
“The Last Dance” is set to premiere this weekend, but a 10-hour documentary on Michael Jordan and the legendary Chicago Bulls begs the question: Why are we only seeing this now? “The Last Dance,” a 10-part docuseries on Michael Jordan‘s last championship run with the legendary Chicago Bulls, premieres this Sunday on ESPN, and even
6:49 PM ET Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie is in the process of acquiring a Nigerian passport in order to be eligible to play for the Nigerian national team, a source told ESPN on Saturday. The Athletic first reported Dinwiddie’s pursuit. Despite finishing 10th in All-Star voting for Eastern Conference guards and recording a career
6:47 AM ET ESPN’s 10-part documentary, “The Last Dance,” which chronicles Michael Jordan and the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls, premieres Sunday at 9 p.m. ET with Episodes 1 and 2. Jordan and the Bulls allowed NBA Entertainment to follow them throughout the season and document their final championship together. The series will feature never-before-seen footage, as