12:52 AM ET CHICAGO — Perhaps no one in recent history cared more about winning the All-Star Game than Kobe Bryant. The format changes and his memory combined to create a game Sunday night at the United Center that would’ve made Bryant proud. Technically, the winner was Team LeBron over Team Giannis 157-155, and charity,
NBA
12:58 AM ET The 69th NBA All-Star Game featured notable changes at the United Center in Chicago, highlighted by the two teams — Team LeBron and Team Giannis — racing to the wire toward the target score, rather than playing to the buzzer. The new format seemed to bring out playoff-level intensity in the players,
12:09 AM ET The 69th NBA All-Star Game was bound to be delightful. There were 10 first-time All-Stars, LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo served as captains for the second straight season, and it was in Chicago for the first time in 32 years. New changes to the format of a game constantly wrought with questionable
11:52 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN CHICAGO — The 2020 All-Star Game saw Kawhi Leonard win the first Kobe Bryant MVP Award and saw both teams honor the late Los Angeles Lakers legend in the most fitting fashion: by playing hard to the last second. Under the new Elam Ending rule instituted this season, with the
11:13 PM ET The Cleveland Cavaliers and John Beilein have discussed the possibility of him stepping down as head coach during the NBA All-Star break, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Brian Windhorst. Beilein left for the All-Star break weighing his future as coach — including the possibility that he’s coached his final game, league
11:23 PM ET Chicago Bulls president Michael Reinsdorf has been gathering background on potential candidates to take over the franchise’s basketball operations, sources confirmed to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The John Paxson-Gar Forman front office leadership structure is unlikely to continue in its current form beyond this season, sources say. The Chicago Sun-Times was first to
8:42 PM ET CHICAGO — The tributes to the late Kobe Bryant began well before Sunday night’s All-Star Game at the United Center. Before the players were announced and the game tipped off, the lights went down and Lakers Hall of Famer Magic Johnson took center court to make a speech honoring Bryant. During Johnson’s
2:53 PM ET Associated Press DETROIT — Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, who is the Quicken Loans founder and chairman, is slowly returning to work eight months after he had a stroke. Gilbert, 58, returned to his Detroit office early this year. He’s there one or two days a week, using a wheelchair and accompanied
11:37 PM ET Lawrence MurrayESPN.com The 2020 NBA All-Star Slam Dunk contest at the United Center in Chicago already had the potential to be memorable Saturday night. 2008 winner Dwight Howard was returning! Pat Connaughton was participating for the first time! Derrick Jones Jr. was back after coming in second back in 2017! And Aaron
11:03 PM ET CHICAGO — Miami Heat forward Derrick Jones Jr. outlasted Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon in a memorable slam dunk contest on Saturday that required two tiebreaker jams. But the final result was not without controversy, with at least two judges contending afterward that they wanted the second dunk-off to end in a