NBA

1:51 AM ET For the last six years, the NBA has bathed in the congratulatory spirit of compromise, the model for commissioner-player communication. In ousting the racist former LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling, both the players and the league could claim satisfaction. The player voice was heard so powerfully that for the first time in

6:05 PM ET The Milwaukee Bucks have boycotted Game 5 on Wednesday against the Orlando Magic to protest the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The NBA announced shortly after that all of Wednesday’s playoff games — including Game 5 between the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder and Game 5 between the

4:10 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The Milwaukee Bucks‘ decision to not take the floor for Game 5 of their first round playoff series against the Orlando Magic promoted the NBA to postpone all three games scheduled for Wednesday. The NBA said the three Game 5s (Bucks-Magic, Houston Rockets–Oklahoma City Thunder,

1:58 AM ET It took 13 months from when they started believing they were going to win a championship that the LA Clippers had to finally play a truly meaningful game. Oh, there were important games, like the first few in their series with the Dallas Mavericks. There were games they badly wanted, like opening

6:53 PM ET Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo was named the 2019-20 NBA Defensive Player of the Year on Tuesday. Antetokounmpo won the award in a landslide, receiving 75 first-place votes from a panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters and earning 432 points total. The 2018-19 MVP, Antetokounmpo becomes just the fifth player to win

6:30 AM ET Under every socially distanced player seat in the gyms in the NBA bubble is one of the newest pieces of league technology — and it has Kobe Bryant’s fingerprints on it. Last month, the NBA announced a partnership with Hyperice, a recovery technology company based in Orange County, California, that provides all

6:45 AM ET Tim MacMahon Close ESPN Staff Writer Joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009 Covers the Dallas Cowboys and Dallas Mavericks Appears regularly on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM Kevin Pelton Close ESPN Senior Writer Co-author, Pro Basketball Prospectus series Formerly a consultant with the Indiana Pacers Developed WARP rating and SCHOENE system We hear you,

11:00 PM ET Game 4 between the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers was always going to be memorable. It was taking place on August 24 — 8/24, the numbers that the late Kobe Bryant wore. Bryant and his daughter Gianna were among nine people who died in a helicopter crash in January. The

5:00 PM ET The Philadelphia 76ers have fired coach Brett Brown, the team announced Monday. Brown’s dismissal is expected to be a precursor for more upheaval for the 76ers, whose senior leadership — including general manager Elton Brand — will begin exploring changes in the front office structure, sources said. The franchise’s plan is that

2:17 AM ET Moments after Paul Millsap blocked his shot and stared him down, Donovan Mitchell had the ball on the left wing, a one-point Utah Jazz lead and Millsap standing in his way. Mitchell sized up the Denver Nuggets power forward, dribbled between his legs and drilled a 25-footer before staring at the Denver

9:20 PM ET When Luka Doncic first stepped foot on the AdventHealth Arena court Sunday afternoon, he hoped to prove to himself and the Dallas Mavericks’ medical staff that he could play in Game 4, about 40 hours after spraining his left ankle. Doncic received clearance to play and then proceeded to deliver a historic

3:29 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Philadelphia 76ers forward Tobias Harris returned to Sunday’s playoff game against the Boston Celtics after a scary fall that saw him land head-first on the floor. Harris was coming down the lane when he jumped in the air and got tangled up with Celtics forward

1:21 AM ET Over his 17 seasons in the NBA, LeBron James has developed a system to prepare for the playoffs. There is a ramp up at some point in the last third of the NBA season. A handful of games where he pushes himself to play more minutes than most observers would probably like

11:11 PM ET Oklahoma City Thunder guard Chris Paul wasn’t shy about shouldering the blame for his team’s 2-0 hole entering a critical Game 3. He said he had to show up. And that’s what he did on Saturday, putting the Thunder back in the first-round NBA playoff series with a 119-107 overtime victory over

2:44 PM ET Eric WoodyardESPN Sparks were flying during Game 3 of the Milwaukee Bucks–Orlando Magic series. With the Bucks holding a comfortable 19-point first-half lead, both Marvin Williams and James Ennis III were ejected for their altercation at 5:39 in second quarter. Officials hit both players with correctly judged double fouls as well as

6:34 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic was on the ground. He had just driven to the basket against the Milwaukee Bucks but didn’t get the foul call. His coach, Rick Carlisle, stepped in to defend him, as coaches do. “Four f—ing times!” he repeatedly yelled at

11:43 PM ET Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic sprained his left ankle late in the third quarter of Friday’s 130-122 loss to the LA Clippers in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series and was ruled out after briefly returning in the fourth quarter. Doncic, a 21-year-old All-Star, said he will have an MRI on

1:25 PM ET LeBron James fired back at a digital ad campaign for misconstruing one of his tweets about voter suppression, writing on Twitter Friday: “Nobody should be able to use my name (or anyone else name) to lie and deceive about the election.” James was addressing a story in the Washington Post about a