NBA

8:41 AM ET Despite years of injury setbacks since he burst onto the scene at the Texas Longhorns, Patriots BBC star Prince Ibeh is shining at the Basketball Africa League (BAL) and fighting for a long-awaited NBA breakthrough. Ibeh, who was at Texas from 2012 to 2016, still has time on his side, but he

1:24 AM ET During an impassioned speech that took place in the middle of the season after a loss, Russell Westbrook told the Washington Wizards that they were going to make the playoffs despite all the injuries, a COVID-19 outbreak and losing streaks the team had to endure this season. On Thursday night, Westbrook delivered

7:46 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid and Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry are the finalists for this year’s NBA Most Valuable Player award. The top three vote-getters for each of the NBA’s major end-of-season awards — MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the

7:37 PM ET NEW YORK — New York City basketball fans are excited about playoff basketball returning to Madison Square Garden — and they’re buying the tickets to prove it. The New York Knicks announced Thursday they’ve sold out their reduced-capacity tickets for Games 1 and 2 of their series against the Atlanta Hawks. The

7:08 PM ET All-Star guard Paul George says he is in a much better headspace as he enters his second postseason with the LA Clippers. Last year, George said that he had bouts of depression while being in the bubble and away from family and friends when the NBA resumed its season in isolation in

3:59 PM ET The NBA fined Atlanta Hawks interim coach Nate McMillan $25,000 on Thursday for making comments Wednesday “asserting bias by the NBA relating to the 2020-21 Playoffs,” the league announced. On Wednesday in a Zoom call with the media, McMillan, whose Hawks play the Knicks in the first round of the Eastern Conference

3:05 PM ET Associated Press ATLANTA — Hawks forward Cam Reddish is expected to miss the opening round of the playoffs as he continues his extended recovery from an ailing right Achilles. The team said Thursday that Reddish has expanded his rehabilitation to include unrestricted individual workouts and limited participation in team practice. His status

2:51 PM ET All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell practiced Thursday for the first time since spraining his right ankle more than a month ago and plans to play in the Utah Jazz‘s playoff opener. “That’s the goal,” Mitchell said. “Barring any setbacks, God forbid – knock on wood – that’s the goal. I’m just trying to

11:00 AM ET The NBA on Thursday announced the launch of NBA Bet, a multimedia content initiative including a betting-centric show that will debut Friday on NBA TV. “NBABet presented by BetMGM” will air weekly on the league’s network and feature betting analysis as well updating odds from BetMGM’s data feed. In addition to the

7:00 AM ET Anthony OlivieriESPN.com On November 19, 2004, Indiana Pacers forward Metta World Peace (then named Ron Artest) laid on the scorer’s table at the Palace of Auburn Hills, former home of the Detroit Pistons, where a confrontation was afoot. With 45 seconds left and the game in hand for the Pacers, World Peace

12:52 AM ET The 2020-21 NBA playoffs — and play-in! — are finally here. And this thing is as wide open as ever. But before we lock in the full, 16-team field, here’s a look at the play-in tournament, during which two teams from each conference will secure the Nos. 7 and 8 seeds: Eastern

3:54 AM ET The Golden State Warriors were disappointed after losing a 103-100 heartbreaker to LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night in L.A., but they weren’t broken. Despite letting a chance to become the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference playoffs slip away, the Warriors remain buoyed by how well

1:30 AM ET LOS ANGELES — By all accounts, the play-in tournament has been a resounding success for the NBA this year. It created exciting new scenarios toward the end of the regular season and mostly stemmed the widespread tanking which had made a mockery of the final month of play for the 14 teams

12:57 AM ET LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Lakers‘ postseason run opened with Wednesday’s winner-take-all play-in game against the Golden State Warriors. And it took everything the defending champions had to win it, 103-100. LeBron James‘ 34-foot 3-point heave to beat the shot-clock buzzer fell through the net with 58.2 seconds remaining, breaking a

12:00 AM ET When Ja Morant virtually spoke to the media Wednesday night, he wasn’t sure which California city would be the destination for the Memphis Grizzlies‘ team flight the next day. He just knew that he’d be bringing a big suitcase. “Our plan is to pack for a three-game road trip,” Morant said after

7:59 PM ET NEW YORK — After a regular season riddled with injuries, the Brooklyn Nets are entering the NBA playoffs as close to fully healthy as they’ve been all season. Star guard James Harden, who missed over five weeks with a hamstring strain, was available to play in just two games during the final

8:18 PM ET As the LA Clippers return to the postseason hoping to erase stinging memories of last season’s playoff collapse, Kawhi Leonard feels “confident in this unit” and says the Clippers’ success will come down to how mentally strong they will be. As the fourth-seeded Clippers prepare to play the Dallas Mavericks in the

12:00 AM ET The 2020-21 NBA playoffs — and play-in! — are finally here. And this thing is as wide open as ever. But before we lock in the full 16-team field, here’s a look at the first round of the play-in tournament, during which two teams from each conference will secure the Nos. 7