8:43 PM ET The Los Angeles Lakers have hired Milwaukee Bucks assistant Darvin Ham to be their next head coach, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Ham, who takes over the Lakers as a first-time head coach, replaces Frank Vogel, who was fired in April after the team went 33-49 and missed the playoffs this season.
NBA
7:26 PM ET BOSTON — Heat guard Tyler Herro will not play in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals on Friday night because of a strained left groin as Miami tries to stave off elimination against the Boston Celtics. On the Celtics’ side, big man Robert Williams III (left knee soreness) and guard Marcus
8:00 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN BOSTON — As they find themselves on the precipice of the 2022 NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics might find motivation in a series that happened a decade ago. The Oklahoma City Thunder were near the top of the basketball world in 2012, having reached the Finals with a roster featuring
8:00 AM ET NOBODY IN THE Dallas Mavericks‘ front office exchanged high-fives after details were finalized on the deal made minutes before the Feb. 10 trade deadline. The consensus in the room was that moving on from big man Kristaps Porzingis was in the best interest of the franchise, but it wasn’t a cause for
11:40 PM ET SAN FRANCISCO — Stephen Curry celebrated the Golden State Warriors‘ return to the NBA Finals by adding a new trophy to his collection as he was named the first Western Conference finals Most Valuable Player on Thursday. After the Warriors eliminated the Dallas Mavericks with their 120-110 win in Game 5, Curry
9:34 PM ET The Portland Trail Blazers are hiring ESPN’s NBA draft analyst Mike Schmitz as an assistant general manager, assigning him leadership of the franchise’s domestic and international scouting departments, sources told ESPN. New Blazers GM Joe Cronin targeted Schmitz to take a lead role in player evaluation and hired him away from ESPN,
11:27 PM ET Kendra AndrewsESPN SAN FRANCISCO — The Golden State Warriors are heading back to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2019 and for the sixth time in the last eight years. The Warriors punched their ticket with their 120-110 win over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 on the Western Conference
2:10 AM ET SAN FRANCISCO — Luka Doncic‘s initial reaction to the end of the longest playoff run of his young NBA career was to express disappointment in himself. “I don’t like losing, especially like this,” Doncic said after the Dallas Mavericks were eliminated Thursday night with a 120-110 Game 5 loss to the Golden
11:22 PM ET Brianna Williams Toronto Raptors global ambassador and Grammy Award-winning artist Drake succinctly summarized the relationship between athletes and musicians on “Thank Me Now,” the final track of his 2010 debut album titled “Thank Me Later.” “I swear sports and music are so synonymous, cause we want to be them, and they want
6:45 PM ET William E. Ricks LeBron James has been busy off the court since the Los Angeles Lakers failed to make the postseason this year. He enjoyed a vacation to the Maldives with his family in April, engaged in a Twitter Q&A with his followers a few weeks ago and saw his son Bronny