DENVER — Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets saluted former coach Michael Malone as he transitioned to the college game Monday with a shocking move to North Carolina.

“I’m happy for him,” Jokic said. “Probably a little bit different. Was he ever a coach in college? No?”

Malone was in fact a college hoops assistant coach throughout ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Chicago Bulls need to enter an era of hands-on ownership.

President and CEO Michael Reinsdorf voiced that belief Tuesday while addressing the media in a video conference following the firing of executive vice president Artūras Karnišovas and general manager Marc Eversley. The news conference marked Reinsdorf’s first ...Read more

INDIANAPOLIS – Dan Hurley let all of his emotions out before Monday night’s national championship game. He wore sunglasses to cover his tears walking through the team hotel and on the bus ride over to Lucas Oil Stadium, welling up with pride knowing his team was one of the last two standing.

By the time the game ended and his players shed ...Read more

Angel Reese has a message for Atlanta Dream fans: ATL Barbie is here to stay.

The two-time WNBA All-Star told People on Tuesday that she was excited when she learned she had been traded to the organization after spending her first two seasons with the Chicago Sky.

"The team has welcomed me so much, the atmosphere, the culture. ... I'm so ...Read more

CHICAGO — The Chicago Sky can’t continue down this road.

In trading Angel Reese on Monday, this franchise stumbled upon a crossroad. The decisions made in the coming weeks and months will define this team for decades. Yet it’s unclear if principal owner Michael Alter is even aware that he’s standing at the intersection of two diverging ...Read more

INDIANAPOLIS — The Big Ten had waited 26 long years to win a national championship in men’s basketball.

To put things in perspective, that was even longer than the wait list for tickets to Bozo’s Circus.

But that legendary drought finally ended Monday at Lucas Oil Stadium when Michigan held off UConn 69-63 in the NCAA Tournament ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Already without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, the Lakers ruled out LeBron James out for Tuesday's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

James was questionable as he manages a chronic left foot injury. The Lakers are fighting for playoff seeding with four games left before the postseason, but with two consecutive losses and ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Was that really Aday Mara?

It was the most maddening part of March.

It was a Cinderella story that smelled like rotting pumpkin.

It was a big dance over the sensibilities of everything that is UCLA.

Seriously, was that really Aday Mara?

The biggest player on the giant national champion Michigan basketball team Monday night ...Read more

INDIANAPOLIS — It began as an impossibility, a young coach gathering a bunch of transfers, preaching selflessness and persistence, launching an ambitious mission with a clear destination. It was an impossibility that somehow, against the odds and long-held norms, became an inevitability.

The Wolverines found one more way to confound the ...Read more

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — After the UNC Board of Trustees approved his new contract, Michael Malone officially became the new Tar Heels men’s basketball coach on Tuesday.

“Michael was the first coach we engaged with as part of the search process because of his reputation as a selfless teacher and innovator who brings an incredible ability to ...Read more

INDIANAPOLIS — The end had come, there was no staving it off any longer. Alex Karaban’s last, desperate shot from far back with 17 seconds left was short of the rim, and fell to the floor.

And that’s how it ended, the national championship game on April 6 the ultimate expiration date. Karaban’s four years at UConn, during which he grew ...Read more

INDIANAPOLIS — He calls her his “guardian angel” and the “strongest person I’ve ever known,” but when Yaxel Lendeborg limped off the court Saturday night, grimacing in pain, his mother felt helpless.

“I was so scared, and I was down,” Yissel Raposo recalled Monday night, just as the scene was turning celebratory inside Lucas Oil...Read more

PHOENIX — The South Carolina women’s basketball team’s season is over.

It ended Sunday without the Gamecocks cutting down the nets. It ended with blue and yellow confetti falling in Mortgage Matchup Center, not garnet and black.

The spot in South Carolina’s trophy case for a fourth national title will remain vacant for another year.

...Read more

The Nuggets were offered a free pass into third place a week before the playoffs. The Trail Blazers almost ripped it away from them on Monday night at Ball Arena.

Vexed by an inexplicable disparity from the 3-point line for most of the night, Denver charged back from a 16-point deficit with 8:30 to play. It was the team’s second consecutive ...Read more

INDIANAPOLIS — Nobody said winning a national title was going to be easy.

An offensive grind from start to finish. A first half without a single made jumper. A version of Yaxel Lendeborg that was less than 100%.

No. 1 seed Michigan, like it has all season long, found a way to overcome it all and push past No. 2 seed UConn, 69-63, in Monday�...Read more

Nickeil Alexander-Walker is your Most Improved Player of the Year, the Atlanta Hawks have no answer for any of the Knicks‘ centers and Jalen Brunson’s clutch gene has activated just in time for New York’s playoff push.

And yet the Knicks nearly needed an extra period to put away the pesky Hawks, 108-105, at State Farm Arena Monday.

...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Detroit Pistons entered the fourth quarter leading 98-76, appearing to be on the verge of one of their worst losses of the season. For three quarters, the Pistons struggled against the Orlando Magic and trailed by as many as 26 points.

Javonte Green started the fourth quarter with a 3-point shot, helping the Pistons begin ...Read more

CHICAGO — It’s been more than 41 years since Chicago Bulls Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf made it clear there would be no tanking involved in the 1985-86 season.

“That’s losing, and I don’t like losing on purpose,” Reinsdorf said in December 1985. “I don’t ever want to be party to losing on purpose. Losing breeds losing, and pretty ...Read more