NEW YORK — The Knicks’ defense of their NBA Cup title will not come easily.

As the 2026-27 schedule continues to roll out, the NBA on Wednesday unveiled the group play matchups for its in-season tournament.

And the Knicks’ group is absolutely loaded with contenders.

The Knicks are part of an East Group B that also includes the ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — So instead of the Dodgerfication of the Lakers, we're getting the Disneyfication of the Lakers.

Hakuna Matata?

Yes, it's weird and distressing, watching billionaires play catch with our ballclubs.

But this high-stakes game of hot potato that resulted in Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner acquiring the Lakers for $12.5 billion from ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — No, Wolves fans. You have not fallen through the time vortex and landed back in 2021.

But, yes, this is about Ben Simmons coming to Minnesota.

A report on Monday has Simmons, healthy and seeking NBA re-employment, is about to begin workouts with the Australian national team. Corresponding speculation was immediate, with a ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Bob Iger's purchase of the Lakers isn't the former Disney boss's first foray into ownership of a professional sports franchise in Southern California: Twenty-five months ago Iger and his wife Willow Bay, dean of the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, acquired a controlling interest in soccer club Angel City for $...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Lakers are being sold … again?

The Lakers are being sold … by the Dodgers owner who was supposed to save them?

The Lakers are being sold … to one guy who owns an underachieving women’s professional soccer team and another guy who owns a piece of the hated San Francisco Giants?

What in the name of Luka is going on ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Less than a year after Dodgers owner Mark Walter bought the Lakers for a record-breaking sum, L.A.’s iconic NBA franchise is now being sold to Joshua Kushner and Bob Iger for $12.5 billion, sources familiar with the matter but not authorized to speak publicly confirmed to The Los Angeles Times, $2.5 billion more than the ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Russell Westbrook was an NBA enigma, right up to the very end.

The 37-year-old point guard posted a video to social media Wednesday announcing his retirement. The imagery was striking. The messaging was somewhat cryptic, but that was his way of saying goodbye.

“Sometimes you don’t even know when you’ve already ...Read more

SEATTLE — Around these parts, numbers that include a 12 have a way of catching your eye or attention. Perhaps it’s just the predominance of seeing them everywhere, especially as fall draws closer.

But the number that included a 12 on Wednesday morning and was quickly garnering national headlines might have grabbed eyeballs in a different ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Throughout his storied career as a media executive, Bob Iger has made repeated attempts to own a major sports franchise. On Wednesday, he succeeded with a splash, joining Joshua Kushner to purchase the Lakers for $12.5 billion.

The sale surprised the NBA. Only 14 months ago, the the Buss family sold the Lakers to Dodgers owner ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — What difference a year makes.

Less than a year after Dodgers owner Mark Walter bought the Lakers for a record-breaking sum, L.A.’s iconic NBA franchise is now being sold to Joshua Kushner and Bob Iger for $12.5 billion, sources familiar with the matter but not authorized to speak publicly confirmed to the Los Angeles Times, $...Read more

FORT WORTH, Texas — We have approximately two months remaining of terrifying headlines, such as “Transgenders Taking Over Sorority RushTok?” and “The Next Regular Season WNBA MVP Will Be a Man.”

Few words mobilize voters like “Trans,” and it doesn’t matter if the population of this community can fit in the standard living room. ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Former UNC and NBA star Antawn Jamison isn’t playing basketball anymore, but he’s still had a newsy 2026.

Jamison was deeply involved in the hiring of new UNC men’s basketball coach Michael Malone, and he goes in depth about that process as well as what it was like playing for Malone in the NBA in his “Sports Legends...Read more

Although they are no longer surefire contenders and their superstar is saddled with an injury-prone roster, the Golden State Warriors still expect Steph Curry to sign a lucrative extension with the only organization he has ever played for.

Coming off a season in which his team went 37-45 and missed the playoffs, general manager Mike Dunleavy ...Read more

The Warriors will open their season on the road in Los Angeles for the second consecutive season.

The NBA announced on Tuesday morning that the Warriors will play at the Lakers on Oct. 21, where they will get their first look at the new-look Lakers trio of superstar Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler.

This is the fourth time in the ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The 76ers will be one of the NBA’s highest-profile teams this season after adding LeBron James and Jaylen Brown to a roster that already included Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe.

And they’re being treated as such as the league announces its schedule. That started with the opening week slate and marquee meetings ...Read more

DENVER — Nikola Jokic needs to look at Josh Kroenke the way he looks at Jaylin Williams.

Crazy eyes. Brows in attack mode. Nostrils burning like sparklers at an Independence Day picnic. A grown man who’s not gonna take this bleep anymore.

You think the Denver Nuggets would ever sit on their hands over the summer — any summer — if the...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The trolleys stopped running at midnight so Tom Hoover waited outside the Philadelphia Warriors locker room for a lift back to Villanova. He was a teenage college student and his ride after sitting in the stands at Convention Hall was the passenger seat of Wilt Chamberlain’s purple Cadillac El Dorado.

A 40-minute drive, ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — As the final seconds of the Minnesota Lynx’s 103-90 win over the Dallas Wings ticked away Sunday, a Target Center crowd of 14,421 began chanting, “Kay-la, Kay-la.”

Kayla McBride waved to the Lynx fans, heading to the bench after sinking her WNBA single-game record 10th 3-pointer. The late-game corner 3 capped off her ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Nobody throws a premature party like the 76ers. From the 2012 blowout to welcome Andrew Bynum to a 2016 rally at the Art Museum after going 10-72 and getting the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft — a pick that turned out to be Ben Simmons — to the parade of big-name free agents and trade pieces who have come and gone since, this ...Read more

MIAMI — In terms of power play, a case could be made that the Miami Heat have never been better positioned when it comes to the two starters in their power rotation.

With this being the Heat’s 39th season, that certainly says plenty about the expectations with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo.

Best one-two power punch in the current ...Read more