NEW YORK — Sean Marks has asked a lot of Brooklyn. He’s asked it to live with the losses, to stare at the standings without flinching and to trust that all the patience, all the picks and all the flexibility were building toward something better.

That’s an easier sell when the losing still feels like part of the setup. It gets harder when...Read more

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A crushing loss, deep friendships, timely advice and NIL opportunity brought All-SEC forward Thomas Haugh back to Florida.

This combination delivered an offseason windfall for men’s basketball coach Todd Golden’s Gators.

Haugh announced Tuesday he will return for a fourth season rather than enter the NBA draft, where ...Read more

SEATTLE — What’s one word to describe Dominique Malonga’s soon-to-be second season with the Seattle Storm?

Some obvious options:

Potential. Improvement. Ascendance. Expectations.

The 20-year-old center has her own answer.

But first, I’ll take a crack:

Positionless.

That word has been bouncing around Seattle’s training camp, as ...Read more

CHICAGO — Courtney Vandersloot didn’t think it would be this hard to sit on the sidelines.

At this stage of her career, the Chicago Sky point guard is used to missing training camp. Vandersloot spent years logging winter seasons in Europe, flying back to Chicago with just enough time to reintegrate into the roster before diving into the ...Read more

DETROIT — Midway through the first quarter, Goga Bitadze held the ball and attempted to establish a triple-threat position, but he struggled because of the intense defensive pressure from Isaiah Stewart. As a result, Bitadze switched his pivot foot.

The fans inside Little Caesars Arena erupted in cheers as Stewart celebrated the defensive ...Read more

NEW YORK — Stephon Marbury is asking for a pen and paper. The waitress brings him an envelope.

To Marbury, the envelope, like many things in his life, has become a basketball court. On this court, constructed with a few strokes of a pen, Jalen Brunson sits at the center. And he’s on an island defending C.J. McCollum, the Atlanta Hawks guard...Read more

CHICAGO — The Chicago Bulls must do this on their own.

For six years, Billy Donovan was the team’s central source of clarity. While the front office run by Artūras Karnišovas struggled with communication and decisiveness, Donovan shouldered the main responsibility of setting the culture in Chicago.

It made sense — in a sort of lopsided...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Towering superstar Victor Wembanyama toppled onto his face Tuesday night — timberrr!!! — and the NBA playoff scenario immediately became as scrambled as the San Antonio Spurs' 7-foot-4 center's thoughts must have been moments after he suffered a concussion.

Without Wembanyama for nearly three quarters, the Spurs fell to the ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — If you listened to Mark Pope’s final weekly radio show of the 2025-26 season, you heard the Kentucky men’s basketball coach lay down a marker for UK’s 2026-27 roster construction.

“We are desperate to bring creators here to Kentucky,” Pope told the UK Sports Network’s Tom Leach on March 23. “Creators are people ...Read more

Do the Lakers have a new Big Three?

LeBron James, Marcus Smart and Luke Kennard are putting in their bid to make it so.

They combined for 76 points, 16 rebounds and 16 assists to lead the Lakers to a 101-94 win over the Houston Rockets in Game 2 of the Western Conference playoffs.

James had another near triple-double with 28 points, eight ...Read more

BOSTON — Joe Mazzulla had a message for the media when he took a seat behind his pregame podium: Don’t expect Game 2 of Boston Celtics-Philadelphia 76ers to be a repeat of Game 1.

“Today’s going to be a much more difficult challenge,” Boston’s head coach said Tuesday evening. “I expect a better version of the Sixers.”

He got ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — A new NBA-ready arena project proposed for the south Strip aims to be a diamond in the desert.

The Las Vegas Diamond Arena is planned as a 21,212-seat arena, featuring a 100,000-square-foot ground-level plaza and 140,000 square feet of team and broadcast facilities. The venue would feature over 18,000 parking spaces and be within ...Read more

DENVER — It was the picture of disappointment. If hung in the Louvre, there would be a fist on their bellies performing the Heimlich.

The Denver Nuggets collapsed against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Again. They squandered a 19-point second quarter lead. It represented their biggest playoff meltdown since Minnesota erased a 20-point advantage ...Read more

CHICAGO — Billy Donovan is gone after six seasons as the Chicago Bulls coach, and the search for his replacement begins.

But first things first, as Jerry and Michael Reinsdorf are busy sifting through candidates for the next head of basketball operations, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania, who listed several league executives and one super...Read more

DURHAM, N.C. — Duke has received a commitment from guard John Blackwell, one of the top players available in the NCAA portal and a major addition to the Blue Devils program.

Blackwell, who averaged 19 points a game at Wisconsin last season, visited Duke on Monday, it was reported, and made his commitment Tuesday, announcing it on his ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Lynx star forward Napheesa Collier, who underwent surgeries on both ankles in the WNBA offseason, is on a timeline to resume on-court activities in early June, the Lynx announced Tuesday.

“Collier underwent successful surgery on her left ankle on March 24,” the team’s news release said. “Her rehabilitation is ...Read more

CHICAGO — The Chicago Bulls will move forward without Billy Donovan.

The coach decided on Tuesday to step away from the team after six seasons following a meeting with Bulls ownership. Donovan did not tip his hand about a potential decision to leave or stay in the final days of the Bulls regular season. He followed through on a promise to ...Read more

MIAMI — For a moment, it appeared the Heat would have a moment to decompress before having to reassess.

And then Agent G started poking around.

The result? Less than a week removed from postseason elimination, speculation season already is back in full force for the Heat, back where it was at February’s trading deadline, back at the ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Kon Knueppel had an inaugural season in which he looked very much like the NBA’s Rookie of the Year.

But the Charlotte Hornets wing didn’t look at all like himself in the season’s final two weeks.

For those who followed the 20-year-old Knueppel closely, what happened in those final six games (four in the regular ...Read more