Sep 3, 2020 Tim BontempsESPN LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The NBA playoffs are in full swing inside the league’s bubble at the Walt Disney World Resort, but preparations for the 2020 draft and free agency are already well underway. It’s still not clear when the draft will happen or what the pre-draft process will
NBA
2:16 AM ET The Houston Rockets‘ season and perhaps James Harden‘s reputation were at risk when Oklahoma City Thunder shooting guard Lu Dort caught a pass seemingly wide open on the left wing. Harden, who was guarding center Steven Adams near the block, sprinted to close out on the stunningly sizzling Dort, jumped and extended
11:59 PM ET Eric WoodyardESPN Giannis Antetokounmpo sat on the bench in disbelief as Jimmy Butler sank a pair of free throws with an empty lane and 0.0 seconds on the clock Wednesday night. Just moments earlier, the Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat were knotted at 114 after Khris Middleton sank all three free throws
12:00 AM ET Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry was noshing on pistachio nuts, hummus and pita bread at his Westport, Connecticut, home last Wednesday in preparation for a spirited game of doubles tennis with his pal, former Duke star and ESPN personality Jay Williams, when he received a text from Bucks general manager Jon Horst.
12:41 AM ET FOR A MOMENT, there was a question if Chris Paul would ever play a game in an Oklahoma City Thunder uniform. He arrived last summer after two franchise-altering trades, one sending out All-Star Paul George for young prospects and long-term assets and the other acquiring Paul (and more picks) for team icon
11:27 PM ET The Miami Heat‘s 116-114 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 2 featured one of the strangest endings to an NBA playoff game in recent memory. What seemed like a foregone conclusion when the Heat took a nine-point lead with less than two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter devolved into a
6:18 PM ET Michael Porter Jr. said the LA Clippers passed on him twice in the 2018 NBA draft because their team doctor “thought that I would never play basketball again.” The Clippers had back-to-back first-round picks at 12 and 13 and traded the 12th pick for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander before selecting shooting guard Jerome Robinson.
3:22 PM ET LA Clippers coach Doc Rivers said he’s fairly certain point guard Patrick Beverley will be back for Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Denver Nuggets on Thursday. “You’ll see him for sure,” Rivers said Wednesday when asked if Beverley will play at some point during the best-of-7 series. “I’m
2:02 PM ET Jay Wright has dismissed speculation tying him to the Philadelphia 76ers‘ head-coaching vacancy, saying he is “not a candidate for the job” and that he is “very happy and honored to coach at Villanova.” Wright was identified in multiple reports last week as a possible candidate when the Sixers fired coach Brett
7:22 PM ET Associated Press LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles judge has issued a temporary restraining order keeping the Portland Trail Blazers‘ Trevor Ariza away from his 12-year-old son after the boy’s mother alleged Ariza had physically abused him. Ariza strongly denied the abuse allegations, saying the boy’s mother, his former girlfriend Lana Allen,