NEW YORK — With WNBA players experiencing recent surges in online hate, commissioner Cathy Engelbert held a meeting with the WNBPA’s executive committee and Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Committee.

The consensus from Tuesday’s meeting was mostly positive, with the players deeming Engelbert’s acknowledgment of needing ...Read more

The hardest three minutes of basketball that Napheesa Collier will play this season are hopefully behind her.

They were her first.

“I needed that sub,” the Lynx star said.

She headed to the bench early and full of adrenaline Wednesday in the Lynx’s 86-76 win on the road against the Seattle Storm. “[It’s] just like a year of pent-up ...Read more

It is a Miami Heat mantra that has been in place since Pat Riley’s arrival as franchise steward in 1995: “Stay ready so you don’t have to get ready.”

Such was the plan by the Heat’s social-media wing on Tuesday, albeit unbeknownst by the team’s basketball side.

With the only problem being LeBron James still wasn’t ready when it ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Take all the time you want, LeBron. It's your life.

Yes, it's annoying to have to hear about it every day, but it's your decision when to tell us where you're going to play your 24th season of pro ball.

So, go ahead, keep NBA schedule-makers on pins and needles. Savor having workers at my local Trader Joe's discussing your ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The latest turn in LeBron James’ free agency saga happened late Tuesday, when the Miami Heat published a YouTube livestream link scheduled for July 27 titled “LeBron James Introductory Press Conference.”

A Heat spokesperson told multiple outlets it was a mistake by the organization’s social media team, which prepared ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — As Mark Pope pointed out at his introductory news conference, his main assignment as Kentucky men’s basketball coach is restoring the Wildcat program to championship level.

Though less vital than job one, Pope’s secondary responsibility to the Big Blue Nation is to win more than Kentucky’s share of games against the ...Read more

CHICAGO — The temperatures are no longer blistering in Chicago, while the air quality is creeping toward normal breathability. It was a good opportunity to get some movement in.

That aligned with the pre-practice message from coaches to the girls basketball players at the South Side’s Foster Park on 84th Street on Tuesday morning. The ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Walmart heiress Nancy Walton Laurie and her husband Bill Laurie are contemplating bidding on a Las Vegas NBA expansion franchise, a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed to the Review-Journal.

The couple’s interest in a bid was reported by Sportico. They live in Henderson and have an estimated net worth of $17.8 ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — If a team at the top of the WNBA standings somehow acquired a player of Napheesa Collier’s caliber midseason — without giving up its first-year phenom, a few trusty veterans or a haul of future draft picks — it would likely be viewed as one of the league’s biggest blockbuster trades.

Instead, that improbable boost is ...Read more

MIAMI — Sixteen years later, the choice LeBron James is about to make is still the Decision with a capital D. It is that big even now, and that’s astounding. And the tea leaves indicate it will be the Miami Heat again — which is as wonderful now, though wholly different, as it was in 2010 when LeBron first took his talents to South Beach ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — A judge accepted former NBA star Lamar Odom’s no contest plea to DUI Tuesday.

Odom, 46, was arrested on DUI and speeding charges in January by the Nevada Highway Patrol. Police said he drove more than 110 mph on Interstate 15 south of Russell Road and failed multiple sobriety tests while smelling of marijuana.

He entered rehab ...Read more

MIAMI — This time Chris Bosh won’t be impacted by a decision by LeBron James, but the former Miami Heat star said it only makes sense for James to turn back the clock to 2010.

As in when Bosh and James signed on with the Heat as free agents.

This time, Bosh, out of the game since 2016, is merely an interested bystander. But that doesn’t ...Read more

MIAMI — Will there be more? Is there Miami Heat history still to be written by LeBron James?

And if there is, could there possibly be another top-10 moment for the King on the Heat’s court?

To appreciate why the Heat subjected themselves to this free-agency waiting game is to appreciate how much those initial four seasons with LeBron meant...Read more

CHICAGO — The best in women’s basketball will gather in Chicago this week for WNBA All-Star weekend, a three-day event headlined by the All-Star Game on Saturday at the United Center.

The two teams will be coached by WNBA greats Teresa Weatherspoon and Cynthia Cooper. Team Coop features Paige Bueckers, Breanna Stewart and Angel Reese, while...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Lakers have signed forward Matisse Thybulle to a one-year, $3.3-million contract, people familiar with the deal but not authorized to speak publicly told The Los Angeles Times Monday.

Thybulle, who spent last season playing for the Portland Trail Blazers, made the NBA's all-defensive team twice over his seven-...Read more

MIAMI — A case could be made that everything changed for the Miami Heat when the Milwaukee Bucks on June 22 agreed to trade Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Yet when asked last week about his team’s dramatic change last season to a movement system that largely eschewed pick-and-roll offense, Erik Spoelstra said it could well be more of the same, even...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Steve Gansey was playing with his son a few weeks ago, as ESPN hummed in the background, when he heard something unusual. It was Kendrick Perkins, talking to his "NBA Today" co-hosts, about a photo that recently went viral.

It was taken in 2000, and was on the front page of the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s sports section. Ten ...Read more

MIAMI — Typically, the spirit of altruism is an after-the-fact sentiment when it comes to the transactional world of the NBA.

Understood.

Still, in the days and now weeks since the Miami Heat completed the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade with the Milwaukee Bucks, both sides spoke of how throughout the process there was an attempt by Milwaukee to...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Given the historical levels of success of Kentucky men’s basketball vs. UK football, what follows will qualify as a major upset:

For the 2026-27 school year, there will be more former Wildcat players serving as NCAA Division I football head coaches than there will be ex-Cats working as D-I men’s basketball head men.

...Read more

MIAMI — The balls have stopped bouncing, but with one ball still up in the air for the Miami Heat.

Having completed their eight-game summer-league schedule late Friday night, the waiting game remains for Pat Riley’s team regarding the free agency of LeBron James.

The final tally for the Heat in the combined outings at the California ...Read more