10:39 PM ET NEW YORK — New York Knicks president Leon Rose said Wednesday that he intends to have the next permanent coach of the franchise in place by the end of July. Speaking in his first interview since being hired in March, Rose told MSG Network’s Mike Breen that he intends to have “two
NBA
7:48 PM ET Forward Jabari Parker and center Alex Len, both members of the Sacramento Kings, said Wednesday they’ve tested positive for the coronavirus. “Several days ago I tested positive for COVID-19 and immediately self-isolated in Chicago which is where I remain,” Parker said in a statement released by the team. “I am progressing in
12:50 AM ET Free-agent guard JR Smith, out of the NBA for two years, has emerged as a leading candidate to replace Avery Bradley on the Los Angeles Lakers‘ roster for the season’s Orlando restart, sources told ESPN. Lakers president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka and Smith’s agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, were discussing
6:51 AM ET Tim Bontemps Andrew Lopez While other NBA players started working out in their home markets this week to prepare for training camp, Zion Williamson never left. The New Orleans Pelicans‘ rookie phenom has been working out at the team’s facility throughout the hiatus, one of several players the league granted exceptions to
10:49 PM ET Los Angeles Lakers guard Avery Bradley has opted out of playing in the NBA’s Orlando restart of the season, he told ESPN on Tuesday night. Bradley, who started 44 games for the Lakers this season, informed team management of his decision to stay back. The Lakers will be able to sign a
11:10 AM ET Two-time All-Star Andre Drummond says he plans to pick up his player option that will keep him in Cleveland for another year. Drummond, who was traded to the Cavaliers by the Detroit Pistons in February, has a $28.75 million option for the 2020-21 season. He said on Tuesday’s episode of the ESPN
11:18 PM ET Associated Press DALLAS — Dallas Mavericks veteran guard Courtney Lee will be out injured when the team is scheduled to resume organized workouts next week. The Mavericks said Monday night that Lee injured his left calf during the NBA hiatus. The team said he wouldn’t be available when workouts start up again
5:48 PM ET Portland Trail Blazers forward Trevor Ariza is opting out of participation in the NBA’s Orlando restart of the season, committing instead to a one-month visitation window with his young son, sources tell ESPN. Ariza, a starter, has been involved in a custody case over his 12-year-old son, and the mother’s decision to
8:02 AM ET FOR JULIUS JONES, H Unit has been home for 18 years. He’s on death row, serving time for a crime he maintains he didn’t commit, in a cell alongside 53 others stacked in two rows inside the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. In 2002, Jones was convicted of first-degree murder for the
6:57 AM ET Associated Press BEIJING — The Chinese basketball league has restarted after an almost five-month shutdown for the coronavirus pandemic, with fewer foreign players and no fans in the stands. The CBA was suspended on Jan. 24 after the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, a week before it was scheduled to return following a
11:58 PM ET Baxter Holmes Close ESPN Senior Writer Baxter Holmes (@Baxter) is a senior writer for ESPN Digital and Print, focusing on the NBA. He has covered the Lakers, the Celtics and previously worked for The Boston Globe and Los Angeles Times. Zach Lowe Close ESPN Senior Writer Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) is a senior
12:51 PM ET ESPN News Services Potential early-entry candidates for the 2020 NBA draft will have until Aug. 17 to declare that they are entering the draft, according to a memo obtained by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Saturday. The new deadline is pending the NBA finalizing an agreement with the players’ union on system rule
4:26 PM ET All-Star guard Victor Oladipo plans to ramp up activity with the Indiana Pacers starting next week and evaluate his repaired torn quad tendon prior to making a final commitment to playing in the season’s restart in Orlando, he told ESPN on Saturday. Oladipo, 28, is hopeful to return to play with the
10:51 AM ET NBA Hall of Famer Wayne Embry, who was the first African American to become a general manager in pro sports, believes players should use their voices by continuing to play during the current protests while supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. “I’ve always been a proponent of sports being a model of
3:47 PM ET Los Angeles Lakers chief executive officer and governor Jeanie Buss shared a photograph of a letter on her Instagram account Friday containing racial and misogynistic epithets “so that everyone can see the hate is real and living out there,” she wrote. The two-sentence letter, composed on a type writer, begins with “Dear
7:58 PM ET Andrew LopezESPN For Memphis Grizzlies swingman Justise Winslow, the idea of playing out the rest of the season in Orlando, Florida, is “tricky.” Winslow spoke with former NBA forward Caron Butler on the league’s Twitter feed on Friday afternoon and expressed concern about the continuation of the season, the same way he
10:19 AM ET Projected top-five NBA draft pick Deni Avdija will resume his season with Maccabi Tel Aviv when the Israeli basketball league returns Sunday, he told ESPN. “Before I go to the U.S., I have a job to finish here in Israel,” Avdija wrote in an email. “As a competitor I am committed to
11:50 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter tweeted Friday morning that his father had been released from prison in his native Turkey seven years after he was originally arrested by the country’s authoritarian government. “Wow! I could cry,” Kanter wrote. “Today I found out that 7 years after arresting my dad, taking