7:35 AM ET By the time LeBron James made The Decision, he was already the best basketball player in the world. He was 25 years old and had just won his second consecutive MVP award. Ten years later, James is still at the top of the NBA, and that decision to take his talents to

12:26 PM ET The Los Angeles Lakers are planning to sign free-agent guard JR Smith and submit his name as part of the franchise’s roster for the Orlando restart, sources told ESPN. Smith and the Lakers have been discussing a deal since starting guard Avery Bradley opted out of Orlando last week, sources said. Smith

7:00 AM ET WEARING AN IMPECCABLY tailored cream jacket, a light-blue button-down shirt and a jet-black tie with a contrasting platinum clip, LeBron James walked through the players’ entrance at Miami’s AmericanAirlines Arena for the first time. The day before, July 8, 2010, on The Decision broadcast, James told a national TV audience that he

9:29 PM ET Chesapeake Energy Corporation, which holds the naming rights to the Oklahoma City Thunder‘s arena, announced Sunday it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, pointing at a steep drop in oil prices and gas demand during the coronavirus pandemic. The company said in a release it planned to continue to operate during its

7:00 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN Next week, 21 of the 22 teams participating in the NBA’s restart will begin trickling to Orlando to start isolating. But one team from beyond the state’s borders has already traveled to central Florida and kicked off what could amount to nearly four months away from home. While the Toronto

12:46 AM ET Going for the last ring like it was the first… The 20th annual BET Awards aired virtually Sunday, and the highlight of the show featured rapper Lil Wayne honoring late Basketball Hall-of-Famer Kobe Bryant. In 2009, Lil Wayne had a single called “Kobe Bryant” that wound up being featured on the mixtape

1:04 AM ET Marc J. Spears Oklahoma City Thunder guard Chris Paul, president of the National Basketball Players Association, told ESPN’s The Undefeated on Saturday that the players’ union and the league are collaborating to allow players to wear jerseys with personalized social justice, social cause or charity messages on the backs instead of their

7:15 AM ET LEG· A· CY Noun Something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past. — Merriam-Webster Professional athletes in the television age have absconded with the word legacy and returned it mangled beyond recognition. Seemingly every basket, home run or touchdown is accompanied by a player absorbed by

Jun 25, 2020 Dallas Mavericks center Willie Cauley-Stein informed the team that he will opt out of the restart of the NBA season, opening up a roster spot the Mavs intend to fill by signing point guard Trey Burke, sources said. Cauley-Stein, who expects to become a father in July, averaged 5.2 points and 4.6

Jun 26, 2020 Tim BontempsESPN With the ongoing coronavirus pandemic set to be part of American life indefinitely, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said the league’s plan to return to play next month in a closed campus environment in Florida was the best option available to the league. “We know that COVID-19 will be with us