NBA

5:18 PM ET MILWAUKEE — Before the Phoenix Suns even arrived in Milwaukee for the biggest game of their lives in Tuesday’s Game 6 of the NBA Finals (9 p.m. ET, ABC), their coach could sense his team’s hangover had cleared from Saturday’s tough loss in Game 5. “When we got on the plane, the

4:21 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN MILWAUKEE – For eight years, Giannis Antetokounmpo has worked toward the moment he and the Milwaukee Bucks find themselves in right now: one win away from an NBA championship. So it should come with little surprise that Monday afternoon, a little more than 24 hours before playing the biggest game

Jul 17, 2021 Who are the NBA free agents to watch in 2021 and 2022? The 2020 free-agent class featured less star power than normal, as the league blitzed through a condensed transaction period featuring the draft and free agency in the same week. The 2021 class has thinned out after Giannis Antetokounmpo, Rudy Gobert

2:14 AM ET PHOENIX — If there ever was a time for Monty Williams to come up with one of the adages he has been heralded for, it was after his Phoenix Suns‘ 123-119 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Saturday. The defeat was Phoenix’s third in a

11:09 PM ET LAS VEGAS — Team USA built some needed momentum for the Olympics with a quality win over current world champion Spain, 83-76, Sunday night in their final exhibition game before heading to Tokyo. After falling behind by as many as nine points in the first half, Team USA showed off his shooting

2:28 AM ET PHOENIX — Jrue Holiday knows what everyone wants him to do. No one needs to tell him to be more aggressive offensively. Or to keep shooting, that his shots will eventually start falling. “We always kind of throw that out there,” says his father, Shawn Holiday. But Shawn has coached his son

1:43 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN PHOENIX — As Suns star Devin Booker drove into the lane inside the final 30 seconds of Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Saturday night, it felt like it was about to be a storybook moment. The Suns were trailing by one, and Booker — who had already hit

6:08 PM ET ESPN News Services Denver Nuggets wing Will Barton has declined his $14.7 million player option for the 2021-2022 season and will become a free agent, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. There is a strong interest between the team and Barton to negotiate a new deal once free agency opens in August, sources

3:58 PM ET Wes Unseld Jr., has agreed to a four-year deal to become the new head coach of the Washington Wizards, sources told ESPN on Saturday. Washington officials completed an agreement with the Denver Nuggets associate head coach and his agent Brian Eflus on Saturday on a long-term deal to replace Scott Brooks, sources

8:06 PM ET Tim BontempsESPN PHOENIX — Two days after Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s ridiculous block of Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton‘s dunk attempt late in the fourth quarter of Game 4 of the NBA Finals helped save Milwaukee’s season, he still can’t explain exactly how he was able to pull it off. “It’s

10:07 PM ET PHOENIX — After coming up small in what would have been the biggest win of his career, missing out on taking a 3-1 lead over the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA Finals, Phoenix Suns point guard Chris Paul went to the tape. Just like Paul and teammate Devin Booker reviewed the film

11:00 AM ET Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love is withdrawing from Team USA and will not travel to Tokyo for the Olympics, his agent, Jeff Schwartz, told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Friday. Love spent 10 days with Team USA in Las Vegas preparing for the Games but is still returning to full form from a

8:00 AM ET NBA Insiders The Milwaukee Bucks know what it takes to come back from a 2-0 deficit, having already done so in the second round against the Brooklyn Nets. Now, after falling behind 2-0 in the NBA Finals, the Bucks return to Phoenix with the series level at two games apiece. Can the

3:40 PM ET DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks hired Hall of Fame point guard Jason Kidd as head coach in large part because they believe he’s uniquely suited to guide Luka Doncic as the 22-year-old two-time All-NBA selection pursues his championship aspirations. In a news conference Thursday to introduce Kidd and new general manager Nico

2:44 PM ET Adrian Wojnarowski Close Senior NBA Insider Host of The Woj Pod Joined ESPN in 2017 Brian Windhorst Close ESPN Senior Writer ESPN.com NBA writer since 2010 Covered Cleveland Cavs for seven years Author of two books LAS VEGAS — Bradley Beal is expected to miss the Tokyo Olympics because of health and

2:04 AM ET MILWAUKEE — When are we going to see a Khris Middleton game? From the Deer District to the bluffs of Lake Michigan, this has been the persistent question around town since the Bucks returned to Milwaukee down 2-0 to the Phoenix Suns in the 2021 NBA Finals. Giannis Antetokounmpo will get his

8:41 PM ET LAS VEGAS — Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal has entered the health and safety protocols at Team USA camp, sources confirmed to ESPN. USA Basketball announced a player had entered the protocol but didn’t name the player. Beal, who played 30 minutes in Team USA’s win over Argentina on Tuesday night, is

12:07 PM ET Denver Nuggets assistant coach Wes Unseld Jr. and Milwaukee Bucks assistant coach Darvin Ham are the front-runners in the Washington Wizards‘ coaching search, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Bucks assistant Charles Lee also has emerged as a finalist for the job, sources said. Unseld, who has served as a Nuggets assistant since