NBA

8:13 PM ET Star rookie guard LaMelo Ball has been cleared to resume individual basketball activity after a CT scan on his fractured right wrist showed that it has healed, the Charlotte Hornets said Monday. According to the team, Ball had further evaluation on the wrist by Dr. Michelle Carlson of The Hospital for Special

6:35 PM ET Houston Rockets small forward Sterling Brown suffered facial lacerations during an assault Sunday night, the team said. In a statement Monday, the Rockets said Brown “had no prior knowledge of or interaction with the assailants.” He is expected to make a full recovery, per the team. The Rockets are in Miami for

6:39 PM ET Nets star Kevin Durant will miss Brooklyn’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday as he continues to deal with a left thigh contusion. Nets big men Nic Claxton and Reggie Perry have been placed in the league’s health and safety protocols and will also miss Tuesday’s game in New Orleans.

3:49 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN NBA free agency ahead of the 2021-22 season will begin on Monday, Aug. 2, at 6 p.m. ET, with contracts allowed to be officially signed on Friday, Aug. 6, at 12:01 p.m., the league said. Monday’s announcement comes in the wake of the league saying last month that the NBA

3:23 PM ET ESPN News Services Antron Pippen, the oldest child of Scottie Pippen and a former player himself, has died, the longtime NBA great said Monday. Pippen shared the news in an Instagram post accompanied by several photos of the two from over the years. “The two of us shared a love for basketball

12:43 PM ET The NBA league office is eliminating restrictions on international travel for fully vaccinated personnel, according to a memo to teams obtained by ESPN. NBA team personnel based in the United States had been barred from traveling internationally for scouting purposes for the entirety of the 2020-21 season, starting in October of 2020.

7:00 AM ET A few quality wins have propelled the Philadelphia 76ers back into our No. 1 spot. Joel Embiid and the 76ers have won four straight, with the past three coming against playoff teams in the LA Clippers, Brooklyn Nets and Dallas Mavericks. The Utah Jazz, meanwhile, have dropped two of their past four

7:56 PM ET Miami Heat big man Bam Adebayo pulled out his phone, looking to see who had texted him after his game-winning baseline jumper to beat the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday, 109-107. “Let’s check,” he said, scrolling through a pile of messages. “My mommy. Juwan Howard. And all my friends and homeboys. Closest people.”

4:54 PM ET The New Orleans Pelicans are finalizing a multiyear deal with Brazilian guard Didi Louzada, league sources told ESPN on Sunday. The Pelicans acquired Louzada with the No. 35 pick in the 2019 NBA draft in the same draft-night deal that netted New Orleans center Jaxson Hayes and guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Louzada has

6:22 PM ET Andrew LopezESPN New Orleans Pelicans coach Stan Van Gundy said his team “deserved to lose” after two mistakes at the end of regulation led to a 122-112 overtime loss to the New York Knicks on Sunday afternoon. The Pelicans led by three with 7.8 seconds to go at the end of regulation,

4:07 PM ET Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant suffered a left thigh contusion in the first quarter Sunday against the Miami Heat and has been ruled out for the remainder of the game. Durant appeared to get tangled with Miami’s Trevor Ariza when he drove toward the basket for a layup in the first quarter.

1:31 PM ET ESPN News Services NEW YORK — The NBA fined the San Antonio Spurs $25,000 on Sunday for violating the league’s player resting policy — in a game the Spurs won by 26 points. The Spurs sat DeMar DeRozan, Patty Mills and Jakob Poeltl to give them rest on Saturday night in Phoenix.

11:54 AM ET The NBA has instructed teams to be vigilant about the impact of a verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial for the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis this week, including the possibility of game postponements, sources told ESPN. The looming specter of possible protests, civil unrest and team reactions in the aftermath

1:15 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN BOSTON — After Celtics star Jayson Tatum scored 44 points to lead his team to a 119-114 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Saturday, overcoming a spectacular 47-point performance from Stephen Curry in the process, Tatum said it was a thrill for him to go toe-to-toe with the future

1:50 AM ET Golden State Warriors star guard Stephen Curry scored 47 points on Saturday night, becoming the first player since Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant to score at least 30 or more points in 10 straight games at age 33 or older. Curry, in his 12th NBA season, acknowledged this is one of

5:57 PM ET LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Lakers will not visit President Joe Biden at the White House to celebrate their 2020 NBA championship when the team travels to Washington, D.C. for a game against the Wizards later this month, a source with knowledge of the situation told ESPN. Scheduling challenges and continued

11:50 AM ET MIAMI — Jimmy Butler labeled the reigning Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat as “soft” after Friday night’s 119-111 loss at Minnesota, Miami’s third straight defeat and one that dropped the Heat to 28-28 with 16 games left in the regular season. It was Miami’s 10th loss in its past 16 games. “It’s

9:55 AM ET An MRI on the right ankle sprain of Donovan Mitchell revealed no structural damage, but the Utah Jazz guard is expected to miss several games before he is cleared to return, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Mitchell suffered the injury during the third quarter of Friday’s 119-111 win over the Pacers when