8:00 AM ET ESPN staff This year’s edition of The Basketball Tournament is unique for a multitude of reasons. Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the event is positioned to offer American fans the first televised team basketball event since the NBA suspended its season in March. But the TBT will also benefit from an

3:59 PM ET Indiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo will not play for the team for the NBA restart in Orlando, Florida, he told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Friday. Oladipo is sitting out, but he will travel to Orlando with the team to do his rehab there. He won’t play, but he will get paid. He

7:44 AM ET As the NBA calendar resumes and teams prepare for the conclusion of the season in Orlando, Florida, few franchises have been more representative of the myriad concerns than the Los Angeles Lakers. The West’s top seed has faced positive coronavirus test results in the immediate aftermath of the league shutdown, family tragedy

7:29 PM ET A second NBA bubble? The NBA has yet to officially restart the 2020 season in Florida, but the league has already begun discussions with the National Basketball Players Association for a secondary bubble with the eight teams that were eliminated from postseason consideration, according to a report by ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan. There

9:08 PM ET As a precaution, the LA Clippers shut down the team’s practice facility on Thursday after a positive coronavirus test within the traveling party headed to Orlando, Florida, for the league restart, sources told ESPN. The Clippers could reopen the facility for workouts prior to the team’s planned Wednesday departure for Florida, sources

1:14 PM ET Along with the plan to restart the season, the NBA included a 113-page health and safety manual distributed to teams and players that featured protocols such as maintaining 6 feet of separation in every setting outside of practices and games. That means while players can set screens on each other and wrestle

7:00 AM ET NBA Insiders It was 10 years ago today that the most anticipated free-agency period in NBA history began, culminating on July 8, 2010, with The Decision and LeBron James announcing that he was taking his talents to South Beach. We asked our NBA insiders to reflect on the show, the fallout and

8:56 PM ET Eric WoodyardESPN In the upcoming August and November elections, Michigan residents will be able to use the Henry Ford Detroit Pistons Performance Center in Detroit as a “satellite center” to register and vote on site. Both the Aug. 4 and Nov. 3 elections will be company-wide paid days off to staff members

1:35 PM ET Free-agent guard JR Smith has signed a contract with the Los Angeles Lakers for the rest of the season, the team announced Wednesday. Smith and the Lakers have been discussing a deal since starting guard Avery Bradley opted out of the season restart on June 23. Smith, 34, hasn’t played an NBA

4:09 PM ET As teams finalize their traveling parties for the Orlando restart, several NBA general managers say that they’ve tried to quell concerns among staff members who might not feel comfortable attending during the coronavirus pandemic. Some of the concerned are at an age with higher risk and/or have underlying health issues. These GMs,