NBA

6:40 PM ET It wasn’t long after LeBron James signed with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018 that murals popped up around town — only to be vandalized. It was presumed his prompt elevation to the “King of LA” had rubbed some in the loyal Lakers fan base the wrong way. Now one victory away

3:56 PM ET LA Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank has been honored with the NBA Executive of the Year Award, it was announced Thursday. Frank, who helped orchestrate the franchise’s biggest offseason by signing Kawhi Leonard as a free agent and trading for Paul George in July 2019, received 10 first-place votes and

6:47 AM ET With a win on Friday night against the Miami Heat, LeBron James would secure his fourth NBA championship and add yet another accolade to his already amazing resume. But while a potential Los Angeles Lakers title will undoubtedly awaken the take monsters in GOAT arguments about James vs. Michael Jordan, let’s leave

8:17 PM ET The Los Angeles Lakers will try to win their 17th world championship in Black Mamba fashion. The Lakers will wear their special “Black Mamba” uniforms which are styled in honor of the late Kobe Bryant. The Lakers were slated to wear the black alternative uniforms in Games 2 and 7 of the

1:43 AM ET Miami Heat All-Star swingman Jimmy Butler still believes his team can turn things around in the NBA Finals despite the fact that the Los Angeles Lakers took a commanding 3-1 lead after a 102-96 Game 4 win on Tuesday night in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Butler, who has praised his team’s mental

3:19 AM ET LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — LeBron James woke up from his pregame nap on Tuesday and included two words in a text to the Los Angeles Lakers‘ group chat that said it all: Must win. “We see the message from our leader,” Anthony Davis said after the Lakers’ 102-96 Game 4 victory

1:08 AM ET The Los Angeles Lakers took a commanding 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals by leaning on the thing that has defined their greatness all season: defense. The Lakers not only held the Miami Heat to 96 points, their lowest output of the postseason, but they also did so with a key tactical

4:35 PM ET ESPN News Services Miami Heat star center Bam Adebayo will return for Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Lakers, the team announced. Adebayo had officially been listed as questionable for Tuesday’s contest because of a neck strain that forced the All-Star center to miss Games

7:26 AM ET This is the third NBA Finals in six seasons in which injuries have either completely changed the series midstream or forced one team to game-plan for two different opponents. The Los Angeles Lakers, under at least a little pressure after the Miami Heat‘s rousing Game 3 win saw L.A.’s series lead tighten

8:32 PM ET LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — LeBron James often says that in order to grow, one has to become comfortable being uncomfortable. He applies that sentiment to his playoff mindset. “Until the series is completed, I kind of stay on edge, stay locked in on the job at hand,” James said Monday after

3:29 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN When Doc Rivers and the LA Clippers parted ways after seven years together last week, Rivers was expecting to take a break from coaching after spending 16 consecutive seasons patrolling NBA sidelines. But then, within a few hours of that news becoming public, he’d received a call from the Philadelphia

6:55 AM ET NBA Insiders The Miami Heat surprised the Los Angeles Lakers and halted their dreams of an NBA Finals sweep on Sunday, with Jimmy Butler posting a 40-point triple-double. The Heat’s unexpected victory meant that they can tie the series with a Game 4 win on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET, ABC and the

11:38 PM ET As insistent as the Miami Heat were that they would come into Game 3 of the NBA Finals squarely in the series, a pall descended over the team as it fell behind 2-0 in unimpressive form. They lost two key starters in Game 1 — defensive ace and offensive facilitator Bam Adebayo

5:45 PM ET Associated Press LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic have been ruled out of Game 3 of the NBA Finals, meaning the Miami Heat will be depleted once again Sunday night. Adebayo was ruled out with a neck injury. Dragic is out with a torn left plantar fascia. Both

6:42 AM ET EARLY IN THE first quarter of Game 1 of the NBA Finals, the heavily favored Los Angeles Lakers appeared lethargic, disjointed. Coach Frank Vogel called time, down 23-10, and made some substitutions. One of them, 34-year-old Rajon Rondo, who shot 41.8% in the regular season, surveyed the floor, noted the Miami Heat‘s

9:55 AM ET Before the Los Angeles Lakers‘ first official training camp practice, Frank Vogel and his staff gathered the team in their film room for a PowerPoint presentation on what their defense would look like. Vogel wanted them to be the league’s most physical team — echoes of the “smashmouth basketball” vision that guided

2:22 AM ET LeBron James has never seen a more “dominant duo” than Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. But nearly two decades after Shaq and Kobe dominated the early 2000s with their three consecutive titles, the Los Angeles Lakers might have the closest thing to that legendary tandem. James and Anthony Davis dominated the Miami

2:17 AM ET LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Despite being in a 0-2 hole after being dominated by the Lakers for most of Game 2 of the NBA Finals, the Miami Heat are holding onto a belief that they can find a way to win. Sure, they played Friday’s game without one of the team’s