12:05 PM ET Ryan Pannone, an assistant coach with the New Orleans Pelicans, has accepted an offer to become an assistant coach under Nate Oats at Alabama, he told ESPN on Saturday. Pannone comes from a different background than most assistant coaches in the college basketball ranks, previously serving as the head coach of the
NBA
8:00 AM ET The NBA playoffs are where the best players shine. But who are those players? We turned to our experts to find out, asking them to rank the top 25 players participating in the 2023 NBA playoffs, then created a composite ranking from those individual lists. It’s been nearly seven months since we
9:52 PM ET Associated Press MIAMI — Max Strus and Jimmy Butler scored 31 points apiece, and the Miami Heat got into the playoffs by rallying in the final minutes to beat the Chicago Bulls 102-91 in an Eastern Conference play-in game Friday night. Tyler Herro added 12 points and Bam Adebayo grabbed 17 rebounds
6:58 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Two-time defending NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo were named the three finalists for the league’s MVP award for a second straight season Friday night. The awards finalists for all seven of the league’s major individual honors, which are voted on by media members, were
6:53 PM ET Andrew LopezESPN New Orleans Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin said Friday that Zion Williamson, who has been out since Jan. 2 with a right hamstring strain, was not cleared to play 5-on-5 basketball, and that Williamson wasn’t simply choosing not to play in Wednesday’s win-or-go-home game against the
9:11 PM ET Jamal CollierESPN MIAMI – DeMar DeRozan‘s daughter, Diar, was escorted out of Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena by team security Wednesday night following the Chicago Bulls‘ 109-105 victory over the Toronto Raptors after the NBA notified the team of online threats directed at the nine-year old, Beth Esler of Bulls PR confirmed to ESPN.
7:43 PM ET ESPN News Services SEATTLE — Prosecutors in Washington state charged former NBA star Shawn Kemp on Friday with first-degree assault in a parking lot shooting last month over a stolen cellphone, saying that a text message Kemp sent just before the shooting showed his intent to confront and shoot the person who
5:35 PM ET New York Knicks All-Star forward Julius Randle, who has been out since March 29 with a left ankle sprain, is targeting a return against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday, sources told ESPN on Friday. Randle, 28, has been steadily improving and plans to test his left ankle prior to game time before
12:15 AM ET After completion of the NBA play-in tournament, we now know the teams who’ll be participating in the NBA draft lottery, giving us a better picture of the complete pick order for the 2023 NBA draft. There are still plenty of ties to be broken, which will determine better odds for the lottery
12:28 AM ET ESPN News Services MINNEAPOLIS — Karl-Anthony Towns had 28 points and 11 rebounds to lead Minnesota into the playoffs, as the Timberwolves muscled and hustled their way past the Oklahoma City Thunder 120-95 to finish the play-in tournament Friday night. Rudy Gobert had 21 points and 10 rebounds in his return from