12:51 PM ET The Brooklyn Nets will have James Harden on Christmas, but Kyrie Irving will not travel to Los Angeles, and Kevin Durant remained in health and safety protocols as of Friday morning. Nets coach Steve Nash said Harden will play against the Los Angeles Lakers on Christmas night after he cleared health and
NBA
3:00 AM ET SAN FRANCISCO — As the Golden State Warriors roll into a Christmas Day showdown with the Phoenix Suns on Saturday, they do so with a little frustration. It’ll mark their second straight year being on the road during the NBA’s biggest regular-season showcase day. “Generally I like playing on Christmas,” Warriors coach
12:25 AM ET LOS ANGELES — Fans at Thursday night’s game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs commemorated the arena known for more than 22 years as Staples Center at its final event before it will be christened as Crypto.com Arena on Saturday. “Staples,” as it was known colloquially in Los
3:59 PM ET The NBA and National Basketball Players Association are near an agreement to reduce the 10-day quarantine periods for COVID-positive players, sources told ESPN on Thursday. The arrangement — expected to soon be shared with teams — could return some players to active play in six days, based on testing procedures, sources said.
6:28 PM ET Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols ahead of Minnesota’s game in Utah on Thursday. He joins six Timberwolves players in the protocols, including starters Patrick Beverley, Anthony Edwards and Jarred Vanderbilt. 1 Related In a tweet shortly after the announcement, Towns lamented that he can’t catch a
7:21 PM ET Portland Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum‘s right lung is fully healed and he will be re-evaluated next week, the team said Thursday. McCollum was diagnosed with a collapsed lung earlier this month after suffering a rib injury in a Dec. 4 loss to the Boston Celtics. A CT scan on Wednesday revealed
6:44 PM ET The Washington Wizards announced that star Bradley Beal would miss Thursday’s game at the New York Knicks because of health and safety protocols. Beal, 28, joins fellow starter Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in the protocols. Beal, who missed out on the chance to play in the Olympics last year after testing positive for COVID-19,
6:15 PM ET Four more members of the Detroit Pistons — center Isaiah Stewart, point guard Saben Lee, point guard Killian Hayes and shooting guard Rodney McGruder — entered the NBA’s COVID-19 protocols on Thursday. That gives the Pistons five players in the health and safety protocols, including rookie point guard Cade Cunningham, the top
3:46 PM ET Jamal Collier CHICAGO — All Bulls players have cleared health and safety protocols and will be available to play in the team’s next game against the Indiana Pacers, coach Billy Donovan said Thursday. The Bulls had as many as 10 players in the league’s protocols at the start of last week, which
9:45 AM ET Nick DePaulaESPN The NBA’s board of governors has approved an additional sponsorship patch for team uniform sets for the 2021-22 season, with the upcoming shooting shirt patch program allowing teams to include branded sponsor patches on both team shooting shirts and warm-up jackets. Teams can add an existing jersey patch program partner’s