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
NBA
12:27 AM ET Weeks after the team issued a statement condemning “racism, bigotry, violence and prejudice in all its forms” the Los Angeles Lakers announced a pair of moves to aid in their mission to spur positive social change. The Lakers announced the hiring of Karida Brown as the team’s director of racial equity and
5:43 PM ET Eric WoodyardESPN Bucks guard Sterling Brown, who was tased by Milwaukee police in 2018 after being cited for a parking violation, sees the NBA’s restart in Orlando as an opportunity to campaign for issues of social justice and racial equality. “A lot of eyes will be on us while we’re in Orlando,”
2:11 PM ET Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says if his players take a knee during the national anthem, he hopes to join them. In an interview with ESPN’s Outside the Lines on Thursday, Cuban was asked how he would react if he saw his players not standing for the anthem. “If they were taking
8:21 PM ET NBA Insiders Who will be the most important and exciting players to watch when the NBA returns next month? The league is set to restart action on July 30 in Florida with eight seeding games for each of 22 teams before a potential play-in series and then the standard playoffs. LeBron James
5:37 PM ET The NBA Coaches Association fears new league standards and guidelines that could bar team staffers in high-risk categories for the coronavirus from attending the season’s restart in Orlando could “severely jeopardize” their future employment opportunities. NBCA executive director Dave Fogel and president Rick Carlisle have concerns that several assistants and three head
1:03 AM ET Brian Windhorst Close ESPN Senior Writer ESPN.com NBA writer since 2010 Covered Cleveland Cavs for seven years Author of two books Tim Bontemps After months of work, the NBA released its health and safety protocol for the resumption of the 2019-20 season on Tuesday. It covers the teams’ ramp-up over the next
10:09 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Any athlete who has a positive test for COVID-19 will have to rest and refrain from exercise for two weeks from the later of the date of the player’s first positive test and/or resolution of their symptoms, if they have any, according to the NBA’s health and safety protocol for
11:49 PM ET Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone had the coronavirus in March but wasn’t informed of it until months later, he told CBS Denver 4 in an interview Monday. “I’d say around March 20, I started not feeling well, and we began reaching out to team doctors to see if I could get a
7:00 AM ET Eric WoodyardESPN Jason Miller/Getty Images While lying on the court in pain after tearing his left Achilles tendon on Dec. 6, Rodney Hood began to contemplate his basketball future. “The initial thought is like, ‘Damn. Most guys used to retire after the Achilles injury,'” the Portland Trail Blazers swingman told ESPN this
10:40 PM ET With a group of players concerned about the NBA restarting its season amid a pandemic and social unrest around the country, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said he is listening and his sense is that the league and its players will be able to “work through most those issues over the next few
6:06 PM ET Adrian Wojnarowski Close Senior NBA Insider Host of The Woj Pod Joined ESPN in 2017 Malika Andrews Close ESPN Staff Writer Staff Writer Joined ESPN in 2018 Appears regularly on ESPN Chicago 1000 As a growing faction of NBA players remains uncertain about committing to the league’s plan for restarting the season
7:00 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN Next month, the NBA is set to descend upon Walt Disney World to attempt to finish out the 2019-20 season. And while winning a championship will be the goal for all 22 teams, plenty of what transpires could have enormous implications and reshape the league. Because of the unusual circumstances
6:18 PM ET LOS ANGELES — After Friday’s NBA players’ group call revealed just how adamant a faction of the league is against resuming the season in Orlando next month, members of the Los Angeles Lakers insist that ample time remains to get their team on the same page. “[There’s] no divide,” one Lakers player
12:13 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN The NBA informed teams in a memo Saturday that COVID-19 testing for players and staff taking part in the league’s restart will begin June 23 and take place every other day. The memo, which was obtained by ESPN, says players and “essential team staff” — any coaches, trainers or medical
2:56 PM ET Former Murray State star Ja Morant is asking a Kentucky judge to remove a Confederate monument in downtown Murray. Morant, who was drafted with the second pick in the 2019 NBA draft by the Memphis Grizzlies, led Murray State to a conference championship in 2019. “Murray felt like a second home from
5:47 PM ET The debate about whether the NBA season resuming would benefit or distract from the Black Lives Matter movement continued Saturday with players weighing in on social media. Houston Rockets guard Austin Rivers made the case on Instagram that NBA players earning their salaries would allow them to financially aid the cause while
8:29 PM ET When the National Basketball Players Association conducted a conference call and vote on restarting the season a week ago, Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving was an active participant — although his questions were of a mundane nature. Sources say Irving asked, as an injured player, if he would count among the Nets’