Jul 2, 2020 ESPN staff This year’s edition of The Basketball Tournament is unique for a multitude of reasons. Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the event is positioned to offer American fans the first televised team basketball event since the NBA suspended its season in March. But the TBT will also benefit from an
NBA
Jun 30, 2020 On July 4, the seventh annual edition of The Basketball Tournament, a winner-take-all event for a $1 million prize, will commence in Columbus, Ohio. Precautions due to the COVID-19 pandemic have included shrinking the pool to 24 teams, holding the tournament in a central location (Nationwide Arena) and demanding an extensive health
8:00 AM ET Carmine CarcieriESPN It has been more than three months since we’ve had organized hoops in the United States, but basketball officially returns this weekend with Fourth of July fireworks. The Basketball Tournament begins its 11-day tournament — which includes nine alumni teams and a four-time champion — starting with the Round of
7:29 PM ET A second NBA bubble? The NBA has yet to officially restart the 2020 season in Florida, but the league has already begun discussions with the National Basketball Players Association for a secondary bubble with the eight teams that were eliminated from postseason consideration, according to a report by ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan. There
4:55 PM ET The NBA is closing in on signing off on a second “bubble” in Chicago for the eight teams that were not invited to play in Florida, enabling them to participate in a mini-training camp and subsequent games against other clubs with a target date of September, sources told ESPN on Thursday. The
9:08 PM ET As a precaution, the LA Clippers shut down the team’s practice facility Thursday after a positive coronavirus test within the traveling party headed to Orlando, Florida for the league restart, sources told ESPN. The Clippers could re-open the facility for workouts prior to the team’s planned Wednesday departure for Florida, sources said.
6:15 PM ET LOS ANGELES — When the NBA season came to a screeching halt on March 11 because of the coronavirus pandemic, a bucket of cold water doused both the Los Angeles Lakers‘ hot streak (they were 8-2 since the All-Star break) and Anthony Davis‘ birthday candles (he turned 27 that day). At the
5:47 PM ET Andrew LopezESPN Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton doesn’t care that his team faces long odds to make the playoffs when the NBA season resumes later this month, saying that hearing the doubts from those counting the Suns out just makes the team want to “shut them up even more.” “We’re coming to
1:14 PM ET Along with the plan to restart the season, the NBA included a 113-page health and safety manual distributed to teams and players that featured protocols such as maintaining 6 feet of separation in every setting outside of practices and games. That means while players can set screens on each other and wrestle
4:58 PM ET Eric WoodyardESPN Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell can now smile and admit, “It’s been a long few months for me.” Mitchell tested positive for the coronavirus, drew negative social media comments for addressing racial issues in America and was involved in some friction with teammate Rudy Gobert. But the All-Star guard says