7:00 AM ET Nick DePaulaESPN For the second consecutive season, the NBA will allow sneakers of any color to be worn at any time, giving the league’s biggest sneakerheads the leeway to turn heads no matter the night. Although PJ Tucker has been breaking out a rotation of rare sneakers for years, the new rules
NBA
11:44 PM ET HOUSTON — Giannis Antetokounmpo wanted to protest the call but knew he didn’t have the case. The reigning MVP had nobody to be mad at but himself as he made the long walk from the opposite baseline to the Milwaukee Bucks’ bench. Antetokounmpo had been absolutely dominant since halftime of Thursday’s season
1:20 AM ET HOUSTON — James Harden blamed himself more than he credited the Milwaukee Bucks‘ excellent execution of their unique defensive scheme for his struggles to score in the Houston Rockets‘ 117-111 season-opening loss Thursday night. Harden, the NBA’s scoring champion in each of the last two seasons, finished with only 19 points on
9:10 PM ET Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton, the No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft, has been suspended 25 games for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy, the league announced Thursday night. Ayton tested positive for a diuretic. The National Basketball Players Association already is preparing an arbitration case to reduce or rescind the
9:47 PM ET ESPN News Services HOUSTON — A group of fans at the Houston Rockets‘ season opener against Milwaukee held signs and wore shirts in support of anti-government protesters in Hong Kong on Thursday night. Houston general manager Daryl Morey angered China with a since-deleted tweet in support of the protesters earlier this month.
9:13 PM ET The Cleveland Cavaliers and forward Cedi Osman have agreed to a four-year, $30.8 million contract extension, sources told ESPN. Zach talks to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst about all those contract extensions (20:52), trade targets, and the start of the season. Mina Kimes joins to discuss the Sixers, dog people versus cat people, and
6:38 PM ET EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — The Los Angeles Lakers‘ experiment starting LeBron James at point guard will be short lived. Rajon Rondo is coming for the No. 1 spot. “I’ve given it a lot of thought and I think he’ll be in the starting lineup a lot,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said of
5:03 PM ET The Sacramento Kings say second-year forward Marvin Bagley III will miss 4-6 weeks with a nondisplaced fracture of his right thumb. According to the team, Bagley suffered the injury in Wednesday’s season-opening loss to the Suns. He started and played 28 minutes, scoring 14 points. An MRI determined the extent of the
Oct 22, 2019 Three nights into the 2019-20 NBA season and the league leaders in net rating are … the Phoenix Suns. Just like we all predicted. That’s merely one sign not to overreact to 48 minutes of regular-season basketball. Still, every game matters, and a few early trends already have emerged that I’m eager
1:14 PM ET Associated Press WASHINGTON — Vice President Mike Pence took a swipe at Nike and the NBA in a speech criticizing China’s record on trade and human rights. Pence singled out the shoe company for removing Houston Rockets merchandise from stores in China after the team’s general manager angered the Chinese government with