Feb 5, 2021 Eric WoodyardESPN LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo might be competitors in rival conferences, but they share the same sentiments regarding the league’s plans to hold an All-Star Game in March in Atlanta. Fresh off a 33-point, 12-rebound performance in Milwaukee’s 123-105 win at Cleveland on Friday night, Antetokounmpo backed James’ position on

1:44 AM ET DALLAS — Luka Doncic hasn’t had a lot of reason to flash his infectious smile lately. He is a firm believer in the professional benefits of enjoying basketball, but that’s difficult to do when his Dallas Mavericks had lost 10 of their previous 13 games, as was the case when he reported

10:01 PM ET Houston Rockets star center Christian Wood has a right ankle sprain, an MRI on Friday showed, and he will be reevaluated on a weekly basis, general manager Rafael Stone said. Wood rolled the ankle during the third quarter of Thursday’s 115-103 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. The Rockets had expressed worry about

9:27 PM ET The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association will have a finalized agreement for an All-Star Game on March 7 in Atlanta by next week, according to a league memo shared with teams and obtained by ESPN. The single-night event will encompass the Eastern Conference-Western Conference game as well as the skills

6:58 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN When more than 90 players who signed as free agents become eligible to be traded Saturday, it will mark the unofficial start of trade season in the NBA. Several big names have already been traded since mid-November, including James Harden, Russell Westbrook, John Wall, Victor Oladipo, Chris Paul and Jrue

2:18 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant and Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James led the first round of fan voting for this year’s NBA All-Star Game. The update was released by the NBA on Thursday. Durant, who missed all of last season — his first as a member of the Nets

Feb 3, 2021 LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers might have missed each other in the playoffs last year, but Lakers reserve Jared Dudley revealed in a new book that his team was primed for the “Battle for L.A.” because of Paul George. “We hear some of those guys talking about

Feb 3, 2021 USA Basketball is in the planning stages of creating a pre-Olympic bubble in Las Vegas for Team USA, Australia and Spain to train and play exhibition games against one another before leaving for Tokyo, managing director Jerry Colangelo told ESPN. With NBA players expected to make up the core of all three

1:00 AM ET Eric WoodyardESPN The back-to-back reigning MVP clocked out early Wednesday night. In 31 minutes, Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo was near picture perfect, recording a triple-double through three quarters for the fourth time in his career. Therefore, he took on a new role as team photographer. While sitting on the sideline, “The

7:40 PM ET Associated Press No additional NBA players have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past week, the league said Wednesday, after nearly two dozen games had to be called off in the past month because of virus-related issues. That continued a good two-week trend: After 27 players were positive in results released between