NBA

12:04 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN BOSTON — Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving says he plans to burn sage before every game this season to honor his Native American heritage. Irving was seen burning sage on the court at TD Garden during warm-ups before his Nets beat the Boston Celtics 113-89 on Friday night in the

3:58 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN The Los Angeles Lakers will repeat as NBA champions, according to a survey of NBA general managers. That prediction was one of many takeaways from NBA.com’s annual survey of all 30 front offices prior to the start of the new season. The survery featured 33 questions, ranging from what player

12:26 PM ET Marc Spears NBA free agent guard Jeremy Lin is expected to sign a deal to play with the Golden State Warriors‘ G-League team, a source told The Undefeated. Lin averaged 11.6 points and 4.3 assists in 480 games in the NBA from 2010-19. The former Harvard guard began his career with the

12:17 PM ET Associated Press LOS ANGELES — Vanessa Bryant, the widow of Kobe Bryant, has denounced a lawsuit from her mother claiming she is owed years of pay for working as an unpaid assistant and support promised by the basketball legend, who was killed in a helicopter crash in January. Bryant issued a statement

11:20 AM ET Months before he agreed to purchase the Utah Jazz for $1.66 billion, Ryan Smith, who was formally approved as owner by the NBA’s Board of Governors on Friday, said he was “really close” to making a bid to buy the Minnesota Timberwolves. Smith, who made his fortune as the co-founder of the

Dec 2, 2020 ESPN.com staff Whether you are dipping your toes into fantasy hoops for the first time or are a grizzled veteran, the 2020-21 ESPN Fantasy Basketball draft kit has everything you need to crush your drafts. From player rankings and outlooks to draft strategies and more, we’ve got you covered from every angle,

8:53 PM ET The NBA’s G League is determined to push forward with its season despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, league sources have told ESPN. In the face of health and financial concerns, a primary motivation is to not let the league-run Ignite team fall on its face in the program’s inaugural campaign.

7:28 PM ET The NBA is investigating allegations made against Jerry West and the LA Clippers involving the free-agency recruitment of Kawhi Leonard in 2019, a league source confirmed to ESPN. TMZ Sports reported this week that a man who claims to be close to Leonard filed a lawsuit against West and the Clippers, alleging

6:01 PM ET Associated Press The NBA coach’s challenge is back, and here to stay. Following the recommendation from the league’s competition committee, the NBA’s board of governors voted Thursday to keep the challenge as an option for coaches going forward. It was introduced last year on a one-year trial. Coaches challenged 700 calls last

6:18 PM ET Adrian Wojnarowski Close Senior NBA Insider Host of The Woj Pod Joined ESPN in 2017 Ramona Shelburne Close ESPN Senior Writer Senior writer for ESPN.com Spent seven years at the Los Angeles Daily News The Houston Rockets are increasingly expanding trade discussions on All-NBA guard James Harden beyond his preferred destinations of

4:24 PM ET Charges against Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kevin Porter Jr. stemming from his arrest last month have been dismissed, his lawyer Alex Spiro told ESPN. Porter was arrested Nov. 15 and charged with improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle after he flipped his Mercedes SUV along an interstate southeast of Cleveland.

10:59 AM ET Eric WoodyardESPN A new NBA season will tip off Tuesday, but the league’s mission to support empowerment for the Black community, as demonstrated in the Orlando bubble, hasn’t been forgotten. The NBA Board of Governors in early August announced a $300 million initial contribution to establish the NBA Foundation, dedicated to creating

3:35 PM ET With every passing season, the modern NBA edges towards a certain … sameness. Meaning: statistical flatness. The devolution of traditional, role-based statistical differentiation. With every 3-pointer canned by some 7-footer – or double-double posted by a point guard – the lines sorting categorical production by position are blurred. And in time, those

8:07 PM ET Kobe Bryant would have been happy for LeBron James and Anthony Davis winning the Los Angeles Lakers‘ 17th NBA title, Shaquille O’Neal told ESPN. “After all that we went through [in 2020], it was a good ending for them to win the championship,” O’Neal said. “I am sure if [Bryant] was still

9:35 PM ET Associated Press MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Memphis Grizzlies have a talented young core that they are determined to keep together, and they exercised the 2021-22 options for reigning NBA Rookie of the Year Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., Brandon Clarke and Grayson Allen. The Grizzlies announced the moves Wednesday night. The No.

7:15 PM ET Eric WoodyardESPN It was a normal Tuesday for Giannis Antetokounmpo, outside of inking a big business deal. He ate dinner with family, visited the Buy Buy Baby store in Wisconsin to shop for toys and clothes for his infant son, Liam, then went home and fell asleep, only to wake up for

4:23 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Gordon Hayward‘s bad luck with injuries appears to have followed him to Charlotte. Hayward, who signed a four-year, $120 million contract with the Hornets last month after spending the past three seasons with the Boston Celtics, suffered an avulsion fracture of the fifth metacarpal on his right (shooting) hand in

3:14 PM ET Houston Rockets star James Harden did not directly answer questions about his desire to be traded during his first media availability since his brief holdout at the beginning of training camp. “Right now, I’m just focused on being here,” Harden said Wednesday, a day after playing 21 minutes in a preseason win