8:13 AM ET Not one uniformed member of the Boston Celtics had played in an NBA Finals game before Game 1 on Thursday night. Much was made of this, partly because of the vast Finals experience of the Golden State Warriors but mostly because storylines at this stage must be truffle hunted until no soil

7:17 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN SAN FRANCISCO — Members of the Boston Celtics wore T-shirts with “WE ARE BG” written across them at practice Saturday ahead of Game 2 of the NBA Finals in support of WNBA superstar Brittney Griner, who remains detained in Russia. “The shirts were super important not only showing our support

Jun 3, 2022 SAN FRANCISCO — Not long after the Golden State Warriors‘ fourth-quarter meltdown to drop a rare Game 1 in the coach Steve Kerr era, a relaxed Draymond Green began setting the tone for the team entering Game 2. “It’s fine,” Green said after the Boston Celtics stunned the Warriors 120-108. “You get

Jun 2, 2022 Nike founder Phil Knight and Los Angeles Dodgers part-owner Alan Smolinisky have delivered a written offer of more than $2 billion to purchase the Portland Trail Blazers and plan to remain aggressive in acquiring the team, sources told ESPN on Thursday. Knight and Smolinisky have engaged in discussions with the Paul Allen

8:00 AM ET SAN FRANCISCO — A year ago, Boston Celtics owners Wyc Grousbeck and Steve Pagliuca executed an audacious move: They made their successful coach a rookie team president and replaced him with a rookie coach. Had anyone on the dais the day the move to elevate Brad Stevens was formalized — June 2,

4:06 PM ET Orlando Magic executive Matt Lloyd has agreed to become senior vice president of basketball operations for the Minnesota Timberwolves, sources told ESPN on Friday. Lloyd, who spent a decade with Orlando as assistant general manager and VP of basketball operations, is the first significant hire by Timberwolves’ president of basketball operations Tim

Jun 2, 2022 Jeremy WillisESPN.com LeBron James has become the first active NBA player to have a net worth of $1 billion, according to Forbes. The Los Angeles Lakers megastar, a four-time NBA champion and the league’s No. 2 career scorer, made $121.2 million from May 2021 to May 2022 in on-court salary and off-court

9:45 AM ET The betting public is siding with the Golden State Warriors over the Boston Celtics as the NBA Finals tip off Thursday. The Warriors were -150 favorites to capture the championship as of Thursday morning and have attracted the majority of bets to win the best-of-seven series at most sportsbooks. At online sportsbook

Jun 1, 2022 Tim BontempsESPN SAN FRANCISCO — The Boston Celtics have been managing injuries to both Marcus Smart and Robert Williams for most of the last few weeks. But, on the eve of the NBA Finals, both players said they were ready to go for the start of the league’s championship round against the

10:24 PM ET ESPN News Services Michigan standout freshmen Caleb Houstan and Moussa Diabate are staying in the NBA draft. Both players had to make a decision to stay in school or remain in the draft by Wednesday. Houstan is projected to go No. 25 to the San Antonio Spurs next month, according to the