NBA

5:05 PM ET Joe DeMartinoESPN Editor Close General Editor Joined ESPN in 2006 Massachusetts native, Northwestern graduate Adam Vinatieri, perhaps the most clutch player in NFL history and the league’s all-time leading scorer, has announced his retirement on Wednesday after 24 seasons. We could go on and on about Vinatieri’s best moments in the league,

11:44 AM ET Marc J. Spears Rapper J. Cole of the Rwanda Patriots BBC has completed his contractual obligation to the Basketball Africa League and has departed from Rwanda because of a “family obligation,” a source told ESPN’s The Undefeated. Jermaine Cole had 5 points, 3 assists and 5 rebounds in 45 minutes of three

11:07 AM ET ESPN News Services The Charlotte Hornets are picking up the team option on coach James Borrego’s contract for next season, according to multiple reports. Borrego is 95-124 in three seasons with the Hornets, including a 33-39 mark this season. The Hornets qualified for the play-in tournament as the 10th seed in the

6:46 AM ET TAJ GIBSON HAS heard all the questions before. When Tom Thibodeau takes a job, Gibson knows what’s coming. And when Thibodeau was named coach of the New York Knicks last year, Gibson fielded all those regular questions — including those from Knicks forward Julius Randle. There’s an internal script that plays out

8:32 AM ET Trae Young almost certainly will face more harsh treatment from Madison Square Garden fans Wednesday night when the Hawks continue their playoff series against the Knicks, but the star guard’s father says his son “loves” being New York’s latest basketball villain. In a scene reminiscent of Reggie Miller‘s famous spats with Spike

5:30 AM ET PHOENIX — With the Los Angeles Lakers‘ once 15-point lead whittled down to just one and 16,000 screaming fans sensing a 2-0 series lead for their Suns, LeBron James and Anthony Davis took over Game 2 on Tuesday. Davis blocked Deandre Ayton‘s hook shot with 3:15 remaining, initiating a 55-second sequence in

3:22 AM ET LOS ANGELES — After Tim Hardaway Jr. delivered a 3-point dagger for the Dallas Mavericks that took the air out of Staples Center, Luka Doncic waved to the road crowd asking to hear some noise before letting out a scream. For the second straight game, the LA Clippers could not stop Doncic

2:12 AM ET For as long as they have shared basketball rights — and hearts — in Los Angeles, there have been remarkably few playoff matchups between the Lakers and Clippers over the years. Like zero, to be precise. Fifteen years ago, the Lakers were one win away from creating the first “Hallway Series” at

11:51 PM ET NEW YORK — After the Nets took a 2-0 series lead over the Celtics on Tuesday, Brooklyn All-Star guard Kyrie Irving contemplated the reception that he would receive from the TD Garden crowd when his team travels to Boston — where he used to play — for Game 3 on Friday. “I

9:46 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum and Brooklyn Nets forward Jeff Green both left with injuries Tuesday night in Game 2 of the first-round series between the two teams. Tatum exited the game with 8 minutes, 48 seconds to go in the third quarter when he was accidentally poked in the

7:23 PM ET Dallas Mavericks center/power forward Kristaps Porzingis has been fined $50,000 for violating the rule prohibiting players from going into bars, clubs, lounges or similar establishments, the league office announced Tuesday. Porzingis violated the rule when he attended a club on Sunday but will not miss any games due to the infraction, according

7:23 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Julius Randle was voted the NBA’s Most Improved Player on Tuesday after leading the New York Knicks to the playoffs during his best season. Randle was a runaway winner after earning his first All-Star berth in his seventh NBA season, receiving 98 first-place votes from a panel

8:00 AM ET BOBAN MARJANOVIC is singing. Just a minute ago, Boban was talking about growing up in Serbia and being 7-foot-4 and playing for the Dallas Mavericks, but now, he is warbling, in thickly accented English, a Vanessa Carlton song with the joy and energy of a devoted tween. “I’d walk a thousand MILES

2:54 AM ET The Denver Nuggets walked into the locker room at halftime of Game 2 of their first-round playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers with a lead, but also had the inescapable presence of Damian Lillard‘s supernova first half simmering in the air. Lillard had the flamethrower set to maximum heat, firing in

12:02 AM ET On the eve of the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder, the NBA’s social justice coalition released a statement Monday night calling on the U.S. Senate to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act as a way to honor the memory of Floyd and “others who have been victims of police

12:13 AM ET After a poor shooting night from long range in their overtime win over the Miami Heat in Game 1, the Milwaukee Bucks regressed to the mean in spectacular fashion in their 132-98 blowout win in Game 2 at Fiserv Forum. Milwaukee started the game with a historic first quarter, in which they

8:08 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson was named the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year on Monday night, edging out teammate Joe Ingles and New York Knicks guard Derrick Rose for the award. “For me, it was tough,” Clarkson said in an interview on TNT’s “Inside The NBA.” “My first couple

4:38 PM ET SAN FRANCISCO — Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers is “pretty confident” that he’ll be able to sign star guard Stephen Curry to an extension this summer after the 33-year-old led the league in scoring by averaging 32 points a game and was a top-three finalist for the MVP award. “I