12:39 PM ET Eric WoodyardESPN Two important players will be absent from the Milwaukee Bucks‘ lineup when the team with the NBA’s best record hits the court this week for the long-awaited restart. Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer confirmed that Eric Bledsoe and Pat Connaughton will miss Friday’s game against the Boston Celtics as they continue
NBA
6:41 AM ET After 20 full weeks on hiatus, the 2019-20 NBA season is finally ready to restart. In case you’d forgotten, the Milwaukee Bucks lead the Eastern Conference, the Los Angeles Lakers are atop the West, the Memphis Grizzlies are clinging to the West’s 8-seed and the Toronto Raptors are still — more than
6:30 AM ET STANDING ACROSS FROM each other at center court, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James shook hands. The 2016 NBA All-Star Game was the first and only international All-Star Game in NBA history. And with Bryant participating for the last time in his career, he shared a playful message with the officials surrounding them.
2:25 PM ET Denver Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly has spoken with Michael Porter Jr. about the second-year forward theorizing the coronavirus pandemic is “being used for population control.” Connelly did not make a statement, but Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said he learned about Porter’s comments — which were made on a
3:30 PM ET Steve Fainaru Close ESPN Senior Writer Winner, 2008 Pulitzer Prize in International Reporting Four-time first-place winner in Associated Press Sports Editors competition Co-author of New York Times best-selling book, “League of Denial” Mark Fainaru-Wada Close ESPN Staff Writer Investigative reporter for ESPN’s Enterprise and Investigative Unit since 2007 Co-author of New York
4:21 PM ET Andrew LopezESPN New Orleans Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson is a game-time decision for the opening game of the NBA restart on Thursday, coach Alvin Gentry said on Wednesday afternoon. Gentry said the medical team will ultimately decide whether Williamson — who was away from the team for 12 days due to a
3:49 PM ET The Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday labeled a Sports Illustrated story about a sexual assault allegation against one of the team’s top basketball executives and the ensuing internal investigation a “one-sided, incomplete and sensational form of journalism, with its inaccuracies, mischaracterizations and omissions.” Sports Illustrated reported that a woman accused Mavericks director of
2:12 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis says the plan is for him to play against the LA Clippers when the NBA kicks off its season restart Thursday night. “That’s the plan,” Davis said after fully participating in Wednesday’s practice. “I’ll get evaluated again tonight by one of the doctors here
1:04 PM ET The LA Clippers assembled one of the deepest rosters in the NBA, and coach Doc Rivers believes it is built for the bubble after having already been tested by the unpredictability of the NBA’s restart during the coronavirus pandemic. The Clippers were without five of their top 10 players last week after
6:05 AM ET FRED VANVLEET TRUDGED from the lobby of the Ritz-Carlton Naples, out the double doors and into the stifling Florida humidity. The Toronto Raptors guard squinted, his eyes adjusting to the sunlight as the words came into focus. He saw “Black Lives Matter” in large, white letters across each side of two buses