NEW YORK — Backup Knicks center Mitchell Robinson did not break his right pinky finger during practice at the team’s Tarrytown training facility on Thursday. And he didn’t suffer the injury during the Knicks’ Eastern Conference finals-clinching victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday, either.

Which means, according to head coach ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander apparently isn’t amused by a new board game that pokes fun at the Oklahoma City Thunder star’s reputation for garnering foul calls at the hint of contact by an opposing player.

Last week, a lawyer representing the two-time reigning NBA MVP sent a cease-and-desist letter to sports prediction market and...Read more

Part of the rationale to legalize sports gambling was that professional athletes make so much money that they wouldn’t be tempted by bribes. It would be bonkers, the thinking went, to risk untold millions in career earnings by taking dirty dollars to throw games or manipulate statistical outputs.

Bonkers, meet Terry Rozier.

Federal ...Read more

NEW YORK — The Knicks’ long-awaited, mad dash to the NBA Finals just hit its first speed bump.

Mitchell Robinson, the Knicks’ defensive anchor and backup center helping fuel New York’s 11-game playoff winning streak, has suffered a broken right pinky finger and has no timetable for a return, a league source told The New York Daily News ...Read more

MIAMI — With the NBA’s Board of Governors on Thursday approving lottery reform to eliminate tanking, the impact of the changes could have consequences for the Miami Heat both in terms of the team’s pursuit of Giannis Antetokounmpo … or perhaps not at all.

Beyond the dramatic change in lottery odds that will punish the three teams with ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Here's a bit of Dodgers trivia for the bandwagon fans in our midst: Who was the manager before Dave Roberts?

That was 11 years ago. He is Don Mattingly, who returns to Dodger Stadium on Friday as manager of the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Phillies were 9-19 when they fired Rob Thomson and replaced him with Mattingly. They are 20...Read more

FORT WORTH, Texas — Former TCU women’s basketball star Hailey Van Lith was waived by the Connecticut Sun on Thursday, the second time she has been released by a WNBA team this month.

Van Lith, a former Big 12 Player of the Year who led the Horned Frogs to their first Elite Eight in 2025, was waived by the Chicago Sky before the season began...Read more

NEW YORK — A social media influencer who serves up advice on sports betting and romance pleaded guilty Thursday to his role in two sweeping basketball game-fixing schemes involving NBA stars, the NCAA and the Chinese Basketball Association.

Marves “Vezino Locks” Fairley — who was still selling $60 betting tips this past Tuesday on Game ...Read more

CHICAGO — The pieces are beginning to fall into place for the Chicago Bulls.

After hiring two right hands in Acie Law IV and Stephen Mervis earlier this month, new executive vice president of basketball operations Bryson Graham turned his focus to the next item on the checklist: finding a coach to replace Billy Donovan.

This entire process ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — We learned Tuesday morning that the 2026-27 Kentucky-Indiana men’s basketball game, originally slated to be played in Indianapolis on Dec. 27, will instead take place Nov. 20 at Lucas Oil Stadium.

What will be fascinating about the second game in the renewed series between border rivals UK and IU is whether Mark Pope’s ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — In the NBA, it's all: "Together, on three!" Or "defense, on three!"

Or maybe, "Cancún, on three!"

But when the NBA braintrust breaks a huddle, it's, "3-2-1, overreact!"

"3-2-1, obfuscate!"

"3-2-1, complicate!"

The NBA's owners are expected to meet Thursday to approve new "anti-tanking draft reform" via a "3-2-1 lottery." I ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The 76ers have four primary candidates — Jameer Nelson, Matt Lloyd, Nick U’Ren and Mike Gansey — in their search for a new day-to-day lead front office executive, according to a report from the Stein Line.

Bob Myers, the president of sports for Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment and former president of basketball ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Milan Momcilovic, the top 3-point shooter in all of college basketball last season, has decided to remove his name from the 2026 NBA draft and return to school.

Kentucky could end up being his next destination.

Momcilovic — a 6-foot-8 forward from Pewaukee, Wis. — spent the first three years of his college career at Iowa...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Lakers informed employees Wednesday there would be a round of layoffs as the organization continues restructuring under new ownership, according to multiple people.

Those familiar with the situation but unable to speak publicly confirmed to The Los Angeles Times that at least 15 people across multiple departments, including ...Read more

CHICAGO — Andrej Stojaković is withdrawing his name from the NBA draft and will return to Illinois for his senior season.

Stojaković made the announcement on social media Wednesday. His return means the Illini will have five key pieces of their Final Four team back for the 2026-27 season.

The 6-foot-7 wing first announced his return to ...Read more

NEW YORK — Karl-Anthony Towns knows the struggle as well as anyone.

He understands the patience, loyalty and heartbreak Knicks fans endured as they waited — and waited and waited — for this return to the NBA Finals.

He used to be right there with them.

“I grew up a Knicks fan,” Towns, who was born and raised in New Jersey, said ...Read more

HARTFORD, Conn. — The March glory of the past few years has dimmed, if not obliterated, memory of that “blue period” of UConn men’s basketball. Maybe the low point was Jan. 20, 2018, when Villanova, the old Big East rival, came to Hartford on a Saturday afternoon.

The Wildcats were ranked No. 1 in the country. UConn, destined for a 14-...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — One little line. One short disclaimer. That’s all it would have taken.

The biggest mistake that Bob Myers made earlier this month, while laying out the future for the Philadelphia 76ers’ front office, was coming off like the competent, respected executive he has been throughout his career — and never making it clear that ...Read more