SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Mac McClung scored 17 points in 16 minutes, Paris Bass added 15 and the Los Angeles Lakers opened the California Classic with a 100-66 victory over the Miami Heat on Saturday.
Let the talking begin. The trading, too, and eventually the signing.
Free agency officially opens Thursday in the NBA, with teams able to begin negotiating at 6 p.m. Eastern with players who are not under contract — although, in reality, free agency and the slew of offseason movement is already off and running.
DENVER (AP) — The Denver Nuggets have agreed to a deal that would send guards Will Barton and Monte Morris to the Washington Wizards for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith, a person with knowledge of the negotiations said Wednesday.
Los Angeles Lakers guard Russell Westbrook is exercising his option to play for $47.1 million next season, a person with direct knowledge of the decision said Tuesday.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither Westbrook — a past NBA MVP and one of the league’s top 75 all-time players — nor the Lakers revealed the decision publicly.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The Memphis Grizzlies announced Friday the final pieces of their draft night trade sending guard De'Anthony Melton to the Philadelphia 76ers for the draft rights to forward David Roddy and wing Danny Green.
During a break between Golden State's Western Conference finals games against Dallas, then-Warriors top assistant Mike Brown jumped on a plane to San Diego to watch his new star De’Aaron Fox work out and take the Sacramento guard and his family to lunch.
A parade awaits in San Francisco to celebrate the champion Golden State Warriors. The NBA draft is a few days away, with presumed top-three picks Jabari Smith, Chet Holmgren and Paolo Banchero set to take their first steps toward realizing their enormous potential.
RUNNEMEDE, N.J. (AP) — LeBron James might be on the cusp of setting another record.
And someone will have to pay a lot of money to make it happen.
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — Darvin Ham recognizes the enormity of the task he is undertaking with the Los Angeles Lakers, and this first-time head coach is not intimidated.
Ham is expected to immediately return a veteran-laden, oddly constructed roster to championship contention.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Jaylen Brown is starting the NBA Finals on the road. Except it might seem like a homecoming for him, in a couple of ways.
Brown plays for the Boston Celtics, who will visit the Golden State Warriors for Games 1 and 2 of the NBA Finals, which start Thursday night.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — When Steve Kerr looks at the way the Boston Celtics built a championship-caliber team, he sees plenty of similarities to how his Golden State Warriors got to the NBA Finals in 2015.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Preview capsule for the NBA Finals, which start Thursday:
East No. 2 BOSTON CELTICS (51-31, 12-6) vs. West No. 3 GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (53-29, 12-4)
CLEVELAND (AP) — The Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday hired former Los Angeles Lakers coach Luke Walton as an assistant under J.B. Bickerstaff.
The 42-year-old Walton finished his 11-year NBA playing career with the Cavs in 2012 before getting into coaching.
MIAMI (AP) — Somewhere, Gregg Popovich must be pleased.
Ime Udoka and Steve Kerr played for Popovich with of the San Antonio Spurs, both served as assistant coaches under him, and neither makes any effort to hide the affinity they have for the NBA’s career victory leader.
MIAMI (AP) — Not this time. After being thwarted on the doorstep of the NBA Finals three other times in the previous five seasons, the Boston Celtics have broken through.
BOSTON (AP) — Kyle Lowry listened politely while Jimmy Butler shared the credit for Miami’s Game 6 victory until his fellow All-Star took the humility too far and called his 47-point, elimination-avoiding performance “decent.”
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A person with knowledge of the decision says Darvin Ham has accepted an offer to be the next head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.
The person spoke with The Associated Press on Friday on condition of anonymity because the deal has not been publicly announced.
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — If anyone had doubts about the Chargers' future in Los Angeles, owner Dean Spanos is hoping Wednesday's ceremonial groundbreaking for a new team headquarters answers them.
Time for the NBA draft lottery, where some team will get a nice reward for a miserable season.
Not the Los Angeles Lakers, though. Their misery is set to make a good year even better for the New Orleans Pelicans.
The journey of two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and his brothers from difficult upbringings in Greece to NBA champions is the subject of an upcoming film.
“Rise” debuts June 24 on Disney+, the streaming service announced Tuesday.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Warriors coach Steve Kerr tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday evening and will be replaced by associate head coach Mike Brown on the bench for Golden State in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Sacramento Kings officially announced the hiring of Mike Brown as their new head coach with hopes he can end the NBA's longest playoff drought ever.
General manager Monte McNair said Monday that Brown was picked to replace interim coach Alvin Gentry.
DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic tumbled toward the baseline after getting bumped by Chris Paul just before the halftime buzzer, the apprentice showing he has watched one of the masters at drawing fouls.
The trick spurred a critical fourth foul on Paul, setting up the Dallas Mavericks to get even in the Western Conference semifinals.
The Sacramento Kings have agreed to hire Golden State assistant Mike Brown as their head coach.
A person familiar with the decision confirmed on Sunday that Brown will take over the franchise with the longest playoff drought in NBA history.
MIAMI (AP) — These are Jimmy Butler’s three highest-scoring games in a Miami uniform: 40 points against Milwaukee, 40 points against the Los Angeles Lakers, 45 points against Atlanta. And those efforts have quite a bit in common.
Zach LaVine has an Olympic gold medal. What he doesn’t have is NBA playoff experience.
At last, that part is about to change.
No active NBA player has been in more regular-season games without making his playoff debut than LaVine, who has appeared in 478 games with the Chicago Bulls.
DENVER (AP) — The NBA has suspended Denver Nuggets guard Facundo Campazzo for Game 1 of a first-round playoff series against Golden State for a shoving incident in the regular season finale.
Campazzo forcefully pushed down Los Angeles Lakers guard Wayne Ellington in the second quarter Sunday.