9:18 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert reclaimed the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award Wednesday night, becoming the fourth player to be named the league’s top defender at least three times over the course of his career. Gobert, who won the award in 2018 and ’19 before Giannis Antetokounmpo won
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8:34 PM ET Boston Celtics president Brad Stevens has received team permissions to interview several assistant coaches for his franchise’s head coaching job, including the LA Clippers‘ Chauncey Billups, sources told ESPN. Stevens started making calls on Wednesday to get the OK to talk to several candidates, including Billups, Milwaukee Bucks‘ Darvin Ham and Charles
4:04 PM ET Atlanta Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter will miss the rest of the NBA playoffs because of a torn lateral meniscus in his right knee, the team announced Wednesday. Hunter experienced some mild swelling in his right knee prior to Game 1 against the Philadelphia 76ers in their Eastern Conference semifinal series, and he
4:35 PM ET LeBron James intends to change his Los Angeles Lakers jersey number to No. 6 next season, a source confirmed to ESPN. James, who has worn No. 6 as a member of Team USA and wears the same digit on his practice jersey, had worn No. 23 during his first three seasons with
12:04 PM ET Nate Bjorkgren has been fired as Indiana Pacers coach after one season with the team, sources told ESPN. Bjorkgren was informed Wednesday of the decision to dismiss him, sources said, after he met with management Tuesday. The Pacers are expected to pursue a more experienced, established head coach after Bjorkgren lost the
12:53 PM ET Miami Heat president Pat Riley was fined $25,000 by the NBA on Wednesday for violating the league’s anti-tampering rule. Riley was fined for comments made during a June 4 radio interview regarding Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James who played for the Heat from 2010-14 before returning to the Cleveland Cavaliers. “I
3:25 AM ET Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell didn’t feel well at halftime of Tuesday’s Game 1 against the visiting LA Clippers. He was a bit under the weather, feeling nauseated and a little light-headed. And he really felt sick about his performance in the first half. “Yeah, I was definitely feeling it a little
2:04 AM ET PHILADELPHIA — Joel Embiid‘s night started with a loss and ended with a win in perhaps his most impressive playoff performance to date. The Philadelphia 76ers‘ 118-102 Game 2 victory over Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday began shortly after the NBA announced Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic won league MVP honors, with Embiid
2:58 AM ET SALT LAKE CITY — As Paul George stood at the line with 10 minutes, 11 seconds remaining in Tuesday night’s Game 1, Utah Jazz fans serenaded him with chants of “Playoff P!” And with 1:37 left, the taunt of choice, and the loudest of the night, was an “overrated” chant that 18,007
9:53 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone said Tuesday that forward Michael Porter Jr. should be “good to go” for Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinal series against the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night and that guard Will Barton could return to the court for the first time in almost two