NBA

7:50 PM ET NBA Insiders Who are the new favorites to make the NBA playoffs as the No. 8 seed in each conference? Can anybody get past the Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers in the West? Who will be the best rookie in the bubble? After the first weekend of the 2020 NBA restart,

7:24 AM ET The Houston Rockets‘ official Twitter account took what could be considered the first jab in the beef between two of the NBA’s biggest superstars seconds after Giannis Antetokounmpo was announced as the league’s 2018-19 MVP. James Harden finished as the runner-up for the third time in five seasons, which didn’t sit right

10:54 PM ET ESPN News Services T.J. Warren had scored 40 points only once in his NBA career before the sixth-year pro went off for 53 on Saturday night in the Pacers‘ first game of the NBA restart to carry Indiana to a 127-121 win over the Philadelphia 76ers. A small forward acquired from Phoenix

12:15 PM ET The Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers gave fans a reason to tune in on opening night of the NBA restart for the reseeding games, with the Lakers edging the Clippers in a close one. They’ll both be back in action Saturday with two games that offer their own intrigue. The Clippers

5:42 PM ET Doc Rivers has told LA Clippers forward Montrezl Harrell to take as much time as he needs following the death of Harrell’s grandmother. Harrell posted a message titled “I LOVE YOU GRANDMA” on his Instagram story describing just how heartbroken he is. Harrell left the Clippers on July 17 for an excused

8:10 PM ET Orlando Magic big man Jonathan Isaac became the first player in the NBA bubble not to kneel for the national anthem or wear a Black Lives Matter T-shirt over his jersey before a seeding game. The decision to stand came before Orlando’s 128-118 win over the Nets on Friday afternoon, the third

12:48 AM ET NBA Insiders Last year, a dark horse contender pulled off consecutive upsets to win the NBA championship. Who could be this year’s Raptors? Friday night’s action featured three of those dark horses: the Houston Rockets. Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics. Saturday’s games will show us a handful more: • Miami Heat vs.

1:00 PM ET The pre-restart training camp Mike D’Antoni so eagerly anticipated for the Houston Rockets — a team remodeled midseason with a drastic shift in philosophy to microball — never really materialized. Due to late arrivals, including both of the team’s superstars, as well as Austin Rivers‘ excused exit and reentry, the Rockets never

7:04 AM ET The Milwaukee Bucks are big favorites to come out of the Eastern Conference. According to Caesars Sportsbook, they enter the bubble at minus-230 to reach the NBA Finals in October. Still, respect from Vegas is one thing, but execution in Orlando is another. While the Bucks hold the league’s best record, the

12:51 AM ET NBA Insiders It’s not easy to recall the storylines and themes that dominated the 2019-20 NBA season prior to its suspension, which seems like eons ago. But the battle for supremacy between the Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers in their home market — and more largely the Western Conference — was

6:30 AM ET STANDING ACROSS FROM each other at center court, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James shook hands. The 2016 NBA All-Star Game was the first and only international All-Star Game in NBA history. And with Bryant participating for the last time in his career, he shared a playful message with the officials surrounding them.

3:30 PM ET Steve Fainaru Close ESPN Senior Writer Winner, 2008 Pulitzer Prize in International Reporting Four-time first-place winner in Associated Press Sports Editors competition Co-author of New York Times best-selling book, “League of Denial” Mark Fainaru-Wada Close ESPN Staff Writer Investigative reporter for ESPN’s Enterprise and Investigative Unit since 2007 Co-author of New York

2:25 PM ET Denver Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly has spoken with Michael Porter Jr. about the second-year forward theorizing the coronavirus pandemic is “being used for population control.” Connelly did not make a statement, but Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said he learned about Porter’s comments — which were made on a

6:05 AM ET FRED VANVLEET TRUDGED from the lobby of the Ritz-Carlton Naples, out the double doors and into the stifling Florida humidity. The Toronto Raptors guard squinted, his eyes adjusting to the sunlight as the words came into focus. He saw “Black Lives Matter” in large, white letters across each side of two buses

6:24 AM ET In the NBA, where rosters can change dramatically from season to season, how much of an edge is it to have continuity heading into the league’s 2020 restart? Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone, whose team checks in near the top of our list, has high hopes. “Continuity [will] help with trying

10:07 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Houston Rockets guard Eric Gordon is feared to be lost for one to two weeks because of a left ankle injury suffered in a scrimmage Tuesday, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The Rockets are expected to have a clearer sense of Gordon’s injury timeline once he’s evaluated again Wednesday, sources

6:30 AM ET The NBA restart begins Thursday night, as the Utah Jazz–New Orleans Pelicans and LA Clippers–Los Angeles Lakers showdowns welcome fans back to basketball after the league’s four-month hiatus. Will we be watching an all-Los Angeles Western Conference finals? Plenty of our experts think so. Meanwhile, the NBA-best Milwaukee Bucks don’t begin their

7:15 AM ET This is an NBA award season unlike any other. On top of that, the league has loosened positional designations, allowing voters more flexibility in crafting ballots. With MVP, Rookie of the Year and the other major awards covered last week, let’s look at the five-man teams. All-NBA First team G: LeBron JamesG: