11:56 AM ET The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency authorization on Saturday allowing public use of a saliva-based test for the coronavirus developed at Yale University and funded by the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association. The test, known as SalivaDirect, is designed for widespread public screening. The cost per sample
NBA
12:28 PM ET The New Orleans Pelicans dismissed coach Alvin Gentry, sources told ESPN on Saturday morning. After a disappointing performance in the NBA’s Orlando restart, the franchise moved quickly on Gentry’s removal. Gentry had one year left on his contract. The Pelicans move into the coaching marketplace with the Brooklyn Nets and Chicago Bulls.
2:27 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic announced on Instagram Saturday that his grandmother had passed away from the coronavirus. The news comes less than two hours before he and the Blazers were set to take on the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA’s first-ever play-in game.
2:27 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard was unanimously voted the Most Valuable Player of the seeding games portion of the NBA’s attempt to restart its season inside the NBA’s bubble at the Walt Disney World Resort. Lillard, who led all players in the bubble with
3:50 PM ET LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — When Tyronn Lue turned down the Los Angeles Lakers coaching job a year ago, there were those telling him he had made the mistake of a lifetime. LeBron James was on board, Anthony Davis on the way and walking on an offer seemed shortsighted. To Lue, it
7:00 AM ET The NBA playoffs might not officially start until Monday, but postseason intensity will hit Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex two days early. After a thrilling Thursday of seeding-game action, the Portland Trail Blazers and Memphis Grizzlies clinched spots in the Western Conference play-in round. (Game 1 is 2:30 p.m. ET
7:00 AM ET The 2020 NBA playoffs are almost here. Once the Portland Trail Blazers and Memphis Grizzlies face off to determine who’ll be the final playoff team in the Western Conference, things will be as close to normal as they can be in 2020: 16 teams (eight from each conference) playing best-of-seven series to
11:29 PM ET NBA Insiders Saturday’s play-in game (2:30 p.m. ET, ABC) between the Portland Trail Blazers and Memphis Grizzlies is the rare NBA win-or-go-home contest, at least for the Grizzlies. If Memphis wins on Saturday, the rematch is Sunday (4:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), with the winner advancing to the NBA playoffs to face the
6:38 PM ET Vlade Divac has stepped down as general manager of the Sacramento Kings and Joe Dumars has assumed the role of the team’s interim executive vice president of basketball operations, the team announced Friday. Divac’s exit came a day after the Kings concluded bubble play with a 136-122 win against the Lakers. They
6:47 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — After Miami Heat forward Derrick Jones Jr. needed to be immobilized and stretchered off the court after falling violently to the floor in a collision with Indiana Pacers center Goga Bitadze in the third quarter of Indiana’s 109-92 victory Friday afternoon, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra