NBA

11:54 AM ET The NBA has instructed teams to be vigilant about the impact of a verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial for the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis this week, including the possibility of game postponements, sources told ESPN. The looming specter of possible protests, civil unrest and team reactions in the aftermath

1:15 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN BOSTON — After Celtics star Jayson Tatum scored 44 points to lead his team to a 119-114 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Saturday, overcoming a spectacular 47-point performance from Stephen Curry in the process, Tatum said it was a thrill for him to go toe-to-toe with the future

5:57 PM ET LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Lakers will not visit President Joe Biden at the White House to celebrate their 2020 NBA championship when the team travels to Washington, D.C. for a game against the Wizards later this month, a source with knowledge of the situation told ESPN. Scheduling challenges and continued

9:55 AM ET An MRI on the right ankle sprain of Donovan Mitchell revealed no structural damage, but the Utah Jazz guard is expected to miss several games before he is cleared to return, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Mitchell suffered the injury during the third quarter of Friday’s 119-111 win over the Pacers when

1:59 AM ET DALLAS — Tom Thibodeau, the notoriously gruff first-year New York Knicks head coach, cracked a hint of a grin when asked about his demeanor following a 117-109 win Friday night over the Dallas Mavericks. It was New York’s fifth consecutive victory, marking the franchise’s longest winning streak in seven years. The Knicks,

5:11 PM ET Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell needed to be helped off the floor and into the locker room by teammates during the third quarter of Friday’s game against the Indiana Pacers due to a right ankle injury. He did not return. X-rays were negative on Mitchell’s ankle, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Sources

9:46 PM ET LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis has been cleared for full-contact practice and his return to game action is imminent, Lakers coach Frank Vogel said Thursday. It’s been a while since Vogel has had a reason to smile when asked about the health of his players — the latest

11:10 AM ET NEW YORK — Brooklyn Nets center LaMarcus Aldridge announced on Thursday that he is retiring from the NBA after 15 seasons. “For 15 years I’ve put basketball first,” Aldridge wrote. “And now, it is time to put my health and family first.” Aldridge said that he experienced an irregular heartbeat during the

7:00 AM ET Tim BontempsESPN Two months ago, this year’s race for the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award looked as competitive as any in recent memory. But injuries have laid waste to the deep field of contenders, leaving Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic clearly standing above the rest of the field. Jokic, who has not

7:00 AM ET NBA Insiders What will happen in the key NBA standings races in the final weeks of the regular season? What are the biggest storylines and teams to watch? We polled the ESPN Forecast panel of experts — including NBA writers, editors and analysts — for their predictions now that we are two-thirds

1:25 AM ET In the midst of one of the hottest streaks of his brilliant 12-year career, Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry had to chuckle when asked if he’d like the NBA single-game 3-point record back from his longtime teammate Klay Thompson. “Absolutely,” Curry said after scoring 42 points during Wednesday’s 147-109 win over

3:41 PM ET In the wake of Golden State Warriors star guard Stephen Curry setting a franchise record for points — and passing Wilt Chamberlain in the process — forward Draymond Green treated his longtime teammate to dinner Tuesday night in Oklahoma City to celebrate the two-time league MVP’s latest achievement. Making the meal even

7:03 AM ET LUKA DONCIC HITS the brakes, changes directions with a behind-the-back dribble, then picks up the ball and steps back to his left before launching a 3-pointer. It’s March 31 inside Boston’s TD Garden, and Celtics guard Marcus Smart, one of the NBA’s premier on-ball defenders, has just gone from within breathing distance

7:00 AM ET NBA Insiders The Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks have all separated themselves from the pack in the Eastern Conference. The rest of the standings? Well, that picture is much less clear. With six teams — the Atlanta Hawks, Miami Heat, Charlotte Hornets, Boston Celtics, New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers

5:00 PM ET As the Minnesota Timberwolves and Brooklyn Nets resume play after Monday’s game was postponed in the wake of the police shooting of Daunte Wright, Wolves president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas said he hoped playing Tuesday would “give our guys a platform to show and say what they feel.” “We live here,”

12:54 AM ET SAN FRANCISCO — Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray injured his left knee at the end of the fourth quarter of Monday’s game against the Golden State Warriors and did not return. The Nuggets are working to get Murray an MRI on the knee to evaluate the severity of the injury, a source

10:33 PM ET SAN FRANCISCO — Stephen Curry is the all-time points leader in Golden State Warriors history, passing Wilt Chamberlain‘s previous record of 17,783. Curry’s record-setting basket came on a driving layup with 1:40 left in the first quarter of Monday’s game against the Denver Nuggets. Needing just 19 to surpass Chamberlain, Curry finished

7:00 AM ET Let the battle for the Eastern Conference begin in the NBA. With Kevin Durant back after missing nearly two months with a hamstring injury, the star-studded Brooklyn Nets are getting whole again — just in time for an epic matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night (7 ET on ESPN). In