DENVER — The Nuggets’ alphabet soup TV playoff schedule is an ABCDEFU to fans.

When it popped up on social media on Tuesday night, there was a collective groan. At a time when the league should be uniting its audience, it traffics in fragmentation and causes frustration.

Want to fully appreciate Nikola Jokic’s pursuit of a second ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Julius Randle might have found a unique way to defend Denver center Nikola Jokic that the Timberwolves might not have tried.

“Probably gotta call God and talk to him for a little bit and ask him for a few favors,” Randle said.

Divine intervention is one tactic the Wolves haven’t called on over the years against the three-...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Good.

This is how it should be.

This is what the Orlando Magic deserve.

A single game. Forty-eight minutes. One night where everything is on the line and nothing is guaranteed. A win-or-go-home showdown Friday night at Kia Center with their entire season — and maybe more — teetering in the balance.

This is what they’...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Bright lights, big stage, same LeBron.

Unmoved by postseason pressure, superstar LeBron James said he doesn't plan to change his preparation ahead of the Lakers' playoff opener against the Houston Rockets on Saturday. Approaching his record-tying 19th postseason appearance, James has reason to believe in his well-established ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — In the 13th game of the 2017 Eagles season, Carson Wentz, the team’s best player, blew out his knee in Los Angeles. At the end of that game the Birds were 11-2, and after Wentz’s backup won the next two games, they cruised into the playoffs with the No. 1 seed. From there, they won the franchise’s first Super Bowl.

Wentz�...Read more

Azzi Fudd touched down in Texas for the first time on Wednesday afternoon, just two days after going No. 1 overall in the WNBA draft to the Dallas Wings, but the UConn women’s basketball star had already secured cowboy boots in time for her introductory press conference Thursday.

Fudd arrived wearing monochrome black boots to complement her ...Read more

NEW YORK — Former Cleveland Cavaliers player and coach Damon Jones is expected to enter a guilty plea in his sports betting case, according to a court filing Thursday.

Jones was arrested in a blockbuster pair of indictments in Brooklyn Federal Court in October that also netted an NBA player, an NBA coach and 31 other suspects. He’s accused ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Lakers guard Luka Doncic will be eligible for postseason awards after the NBA and NBA players' association announced Thursday they ruled in his favor on his extraordinary circumstances appeal of the 65-game rule.

Doncic, a leading candidate for most valuable player and a lock for his sixth All-NBA team, played in 64 games before...Read more

MIAMI — In a case of too little way too late, the NBA ruled after the fact that Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball should have been ejected for the trip and takedown that took Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo out of Tuesday night’s play-in game.

With Adebayo lost for the night early in the second quarter, the Heat went on to a season-ending ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Four months after being pushed into retirement by the Clippers, future Hall of Famer Chris Paul apparently took delight in the team's quick exit from the postseason Wednesday night.

Paul posted the familiar meme "stopped by my biggest hater's funeral" on his Instagram story shortly after the Clippers blew a 13-point fourth-...Read more

SEATTLE — The Seattle Storm just did what their housemates haven’t.

While the Kraken have missed the playoffs in three consecutive seasons, clinging stubbornly to an aging core that will never win a Stanley Cup, the Storm embraced a rebuild this month that could make them WNBA contenders for seasons to come.

On Monday that meant drafting a...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Amid a glittering sports celebration, a team from Los Angeles dominated the WNBA draft.

But it wasn't Los Angeles' WNBA team.

The Sparks couldn't hold a candle to UCLA.

At a Monday event during which six Bruins were drafted among the first 18 picks — a WNBA record — the Sparks didn't have their first pick until No. 20 in ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As he exited the arena bowl into the unknown of the offseason late Tuesday night, it was as if Miami Heat president Pat Riley had been here before.

Because he had.

A quarter century ago.

Also in Charlotte.

As aware then, as he must be now, that change was necessary, inevitable, mandated by the moment.

That was in 2001, ...Read more

INGLEWOOD — Steph Curry had two defenders on him and a tie on the scoreboard as he faded away with 50 seconds remaining against the Clippers in a win-or-go-home game at Intuit Dome.

After burying the improbable 3-point shot, he roared, flexed and celebrated to a crowd that was obviously cheering for the visitors. On the very next possession, ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Barely 24 hours after LaMelo Ball’s play on Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo, the NBA handed out its discipline for the act.

Upon review, the Charlotte Hornets’ star point guard was hit with a Flagrant 2 foul and fined $35,000 “for making unnecessary and reckless contact,” the league announced on Wednesday night. Ball was...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The Magic will have one last chance Friday to advance to the playoffs after falling to the 76ers in the Nos. 7 vs. 8 game of the NBA play-in tournament on Wednesday night.

In a tight, chippy contest that featured 12 lead changes and was tied nine times, the Sixers pulled away late for a 109-97 victory inside Xfinity Mobile ...Read more

CHICAGO — For Skylar Diggins, the weeks of free agency leading up to her decision to sign with the Chicago Sky created a rare moment of reframing.

More than 80% of the league was out of contract in anticipation of the newly signed collective bargaining agreement. For months, every team took on an amorphous shape with no guarantees except for ...Read more

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida power forward Alex Condon will return for his senior season to help the Gators try to avenge their disappointing NCAA Tournament exit and boost his NBA draft stock, a source confirmed to the Orlando Sentinel.

Condon entered his name into the draft following Florida’s 2025 national title run, but withdrew after ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Four-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson has agreed to a supermax contract to return to the Las Vegas Aces, the team announced Wednesday.

After leading the Aces to their third championship in four years with a historic 2025 campaign, Wilson became an unrestricted free agent along with a majority of the league. The deal she and the team ...Read more

MIAMI — The previous Miami Heat season ended with the ignominy of Miami being swept from the first round of the playoffs by a combined 122-point margin, an NBA record blowout. The Heat season that ended Tuesday night in Charlotte, N.C., was worse. Didn’t even get that far. Perished in play-in purgatory.

But give Miami this much. The Heat ...Read more