7:29 PM ET Former major league slugger Alex Rodriguez and billionaire Marc Lore are finalizing a deal to purchase the Minnesota Timberwolves from majority owner Glen Taylor, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Saturday. Taylor will continue to hold full control of the team for two years before Rodriguez and Lore take over in 2023.
NBA
6:03 PM ET Associated Press ATLANTA — Atlanta Hawks guard Tony Snell is expected to miss at least two games, including Sunday’s game at Charlotte, with a right ankle sprain. Snell left Friday night’s 120-108 win over Chicago in the third quarter with the injury and did not return. The Hawks say tests confirmed the
10:17 AM ET Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant is no longer driven by championships. After all, he has won two. Instead, he says it’s the desire to be at his best that fuels him. “I wasn’t expecting to be a happy human being from a title,” Durant told ESPN’s Rachel Nichols in an interview that
12:18 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN BOSTON — All it took for the Boston Celtics to end their season-long seven-game homestand with a victory Friday night was a 17-point comeback to force overtime, and the best game of Jayson Tatum‘s career. The 23-year-old All-Star finished with a career-high 53 points — including 35 points in the
12:27 AM ET Andrew LopezESPN NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Pelicans‘ experiments with Zion Williamson as their primary ball handler this season have mostly been relegated to him getting a rebound and pushing it up or the team going with it off of dead balls and free throws. But Friday night against the Philadelphia
8:51 PM ET Associated Press MIAMI — Victor Oladipo will not be with the Miami Heat when they depart Saturday for a four-game West Coast trip, and more evaluation will be required before the team knows the full extent of his right-knee issue. Oladipo hurt the knee during the fourth quarter of Miami’s win over
10:42 PM ET ESPN News Services ATLANTA — Trae Young scored 42 points to help the Atlanta Hawks overcome a sizzling performance by Zach LaVine to beat the Chicago Bulls 120-108 on Friday night. LaVine scored 39 of his career-high 50 points in the first half, and Nikola Vucevic had 25 points and 10 rebounds
8:55 PM ET The LA Clippers‘ injury issues continue, as starting point guard Patrick Beverley underwent surgery Friday to repair a fractured fourth metacarpal bone in his left hand. The Clippers announced that Beverley had surgery on Friday morning and that there is “no immediate timetable” for his return. He will be reevaluated in three
7:38 PM ET Associated Press MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Bucks were without all five of their usual starters Friday night as they hosted the Charlotte Hornets a night after losing at Dallas. Reigning two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo sat out his fourth straight game with a sore left knee. He missed his sixth game in the
6:02 PM ET Associated Press BARCELONA, Spain — Pau Gasol played his first game in two years on Friday after returning to Barcelona, the team where he started his career two decades ago. The former two-time NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers had not played since 2019, when he made his last appearance for
2:31 PM ET Kelly CohenESPN Earl Simmons, the rapper, songwriter and actor known as DMX, died Friday at the age of 50. DMX, who rose to fame in the early 1990s, died after having a heart attack earlier last week. “We are deeply saddened to announce today that our loved one, DMX, birth name of
1:12 PM ET Associated Press TORONTO — Patrick McCaw, a reserve who has played on three NBA championship teams, was waived Thursday by the Toronto Raptors. He has been limited to five games this season because of a knee injury. He played less than seven minutes a game. McCaw signed with the Raptors in January
3:02 AM ET The LA Clippers and Phoenix Suns have played twice this season, and there have been contentious moments resulting in technical fouls, flagrant fouls, ejections and plenty of “chirping.” After Paul George scored 33 points to help the Clippers take a 113-103 win over the Suns at Staples Center in a game that
1:38 AM ET Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green said Thursday that he believes his tweets about women’s sports and the pay-gap with male athletes have been “extremely misconstrued,” saying in part, “I am on their side.” Green spoke about the topic one day after U.S. women’s national team star Megan Rapinoe ripped his remarks,
8:58 PM ET Seven months after winning the franchise’s 17th title, the Los Angeles Lakers will finally unveil their 2020 NBA championship banner, the team announced. Prior to Thursday’s rematch against their 2020 Finals opponent, the Miami Heat, Lakers CEO and president Jeanie Buss revealed the team’s plans to display the banner at long last
12:13 PM ET Golden State Warriors president and chief operating officer Rick Welts, a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, will retire after the 2020-21 NBA season, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Thursday. Welts has spent 46 years working in the NBA and, in 2011, became the most prominent sports executive
12:31 PM ET Toronto Raptors guards Fred VanVleet and DeAndre’ Bembry and Los Angeles Lakers guard Talen Horton-Tucker have been suspended one game each without pay for leaving the bench area during an on-court altercation during the Lakers’ 110-101 win on Tuesday. Raptors forward OG Anunoby and Lakers big man Montrezl Harrell were fined for
10:32 AM ET Center Khem Birch is finalizing a contract buyout with the Orlando Magic and plans to sign with the Toronto Raptors upon clearing waivers, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Thursday. The 28-year-old Birch, a native of Montreal, is averaging 5.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 19.8 minutes per game for