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It’s no secret that the Lakers were going to get a makeover after the departure of LeBron James, but ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith seems less than pleased with the makeover’s racial makeup. Within 24 hours of ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania reporting the news that James would be playing his next and likely final season elsewhere, the Lakers made a move to acquire Walker Kessler from the Utah Jazz. The acquisition gives the Lakers some assurances at the center position. However, the move also gives the Lakers another white player. Who, along with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, makes three...

Being the United States president can be pretty overwhelming. Fortunately for the 44th U.S. President Obama, had basketball to turn to relieve himself of some of the stress. ...Obama played and he played without any reservations. "they didn't adopt any "presidential rules," and he paid for it dearly one time as someone caught him on the mouth and gave him a busted lip. "There ain't no presidential rule?" Stak chimed in. "I got the scars to prove it," Obama bragged. The affable U.S. president said hoops was as much a part of his schedule as meeting diplomats from other countries....

As they prepare to be inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday, two-time WNBA MVPs Candace Parker and Elena Delle Donne and four-time championship-winning coach Cheryl Reeve spoke Friday about what progress has been made in the league's officiating and style of play -- and what needs to improve. Speaking one day after the WNBA suspended Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas for her hit on the Indiana Fever's Caitlin Clark, Parker, Delle Donne and Reeve agreed that the league needs to do a better job of protecting its players and cracking down on excessive contact. Parker and...

Alyssa Thomas will serve her one-game suspension on Saturday when the Phoenix Mercury visit the Toronto Tempo.The WNBA has suspended Phoenix’s Alyssa Thomas for one game after she made contact with her fist to Caitlin Clark’s throat in Wednesday night’s matchup against Indiana. It happened with 6:52 left in the second quarter and was deemed to be a non-basketball act. The league gave Thomas a Flagrant Foul 2 penalty for it. No foul was called on the play by officials. The WNBA is allowed to review a game to reclassify a Flagrant foul or to classify as Flagrant any...

Caitlin Clark has been urged to leave the WNBA behind after she was the victim of another sickening act of on-court violence. The Indiana Fever superstar, who has transformed the fortunes of the WNBA since entering the league in 2024, appeared to be punched in the throat by Alyssa Thomas of the Phoenix Mercury. It is the latest example of Clark falling victim to rough treatment from rivals, which also marred her rookie season in 2024. But the WNBA continues to overlook the physicality imposed on Clark and referees didn't even bother to call a foul for the incident involving...

Owner James Dolan says the Knicks are going to the White House: "We just received an invitation which we've accepted, still have to figure out the details…I've known the president 30 years and I'm very proud to bring the team to the White House"

The New York Knicks are NBA champions. In a Game 5 of the NBA Finals Saturday night that looked much like the previous four, the San Antonio Spurs took a double-digit lead in the first quarter. But like in three of the previous four games, the Knicks rallied — this time from a 16-point deficit — to secure a 94-90 Game 5 win and a 4-1 series victory in the NBA Finals. Jalen Brunson led the way with a legacy-securing 45-point effort as New York’s only reliable source of offense on a night in which both teams struggled from the...

The New York Knicks‘ return to the NBA Finals has created one of the hottest ticket markets in sports history, and the prices fans paid to attend Game 3 at Madison Square Garden have left many stunned... One fan revealed she paid an astonishing $20,000... For many supporters, the biggest frustration is how quickly lifelong Knicks fans have been priced out of the building... "It’s unfair to us true Knicks fans. I feel like a peasant outside the castle.” A different fan echoed those concerns. “I think the price of tickets is kind of outrageous. You see a lot of...

A record-breaking comeback, capped off by what could go down as a legendary play. The long road back to the top of the NBA is almost complete for the New York Knicks, and the step they took Wednesday night was unforgettable. The Knicks came back from 29 points down and moved to the brink of their first championship since 1973 by beating the San Antonio Spurs 107-106 on OG Anunoby's tip-in with 1.2 seconds remaining. "That has to be the most iconic shot in the history of New York basketball," Knicks coach Mike Brown said. It's certainly high on the...

President Donald Trump said Thursday that he has accepted an invitation from New York Knicks owner James Dolan to attend an NBA Finals game at Madison Square Garden next week. "The answer is yes," Trump said. "[Dolan] has invited me, and I'm going. I'll be there. It could be Monday. Maybe I'll do both [Game 3 and Game 4]." The Knicks, who are playing in the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999, hold a 1-0 series lead over the San Antonio Spurs before Friday's Game 2 in San Antonio. New York's 14-point comeback victory in Game 1 on...

The defending champs have been dethroned. Facing a hostile crowd in Oklahoma City, the San Antonio Spurs showed no sign of nerves, using a balanced attack, excellent 3-point shooting and a stingy defense to pull out a 111-103 victory in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals Saturday night. The Spurs now advance to the NBA Finals for a chance to win their sixth NBA championship — and the first since 2014. They’ll have to get past the New York Knicks to do so, with Game 1 set for Wednesday in San Antonio. Victor Wembanyama, named the Western Conference finals...

The New York Knicks are going to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999. They swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals with a 130-93 victory in Game 4 on Monday, continuing a remarkable playoff run. After falling down 2-1 against the Atlanta Hawks in the first round, New York has won 11 straight games and done so in dominant fashion: The team's +262 point differential is the largest in NBA history in an 11-game span, regular season or playoffs. The Knicks will face either the Oklahoma City Thunder or San Antonio Spurs in the 2026...

It’s safe to say the WNBA is the most toxic and dysfunctional professional sports league in US history. And the league is incapable of learning from its mistakes. As Joe Hoft reported earlier this year, Caitlin Clark was injurted in the 2026 pre-season opener for the Indianapolis Fever. They had their golden goose, and they ran it over. To date, rather than provide officiating that was fair and protected Clark, the league allowed women in the league to pull, push, hit, poke, hammer, and totally abuse Clark. The beatings and abuse took their toll. No one could have put up...

Brandon Clarke, forward for the Memphis Grizzlies, has died. He was 29 years old. It is unknown exactly when, how or where Clarke died. What they're saying:"We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of Brandon Clarke.Brandon was an outstanding teammate and an even better person whose impact on the organization and the greater Memphis community will not be forgotten. We express our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones during this difficult time," the team shared in a statement on its official X account on Tuesday. Brandon Clarke, forward for the Memphis Grizzlies, has died. He was 29 years...

The University of Virginia fired its head women’s basketball coach, Amaka Agugua-Hamilton, in a shocking move after the Cavaliers made a surprise run to the Sweet 16, though reports suggest a toxic culture had developed within the program. Virginia had been coming off one of the program’s most successful seasons in recent memory – reaching the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2000 – when the school made the announcement that Agugua-Hamilton was out in a terse statement released over the weekend. But behind the scenes, Agugua-Hamilton was the subject of an internal investigation, USA Today reported. The outlet...

A’ja Wilson’s close friend Michael McManus, widely known on social media as Deloris, reacted following the NCAA women’s Final Four matchup between the UConn Huskies and South Carolina Gamecocks on Friday, which concluded with Geno Auriemma involved in a heated confrontation with Dawn Staley, Wilson’s former coach. Auriemma, who coached the defending champion UConn in its 62-48 defeat to Staley’s South Carolina, approached the Gamecocks bench in the closing moments, leading to a In a post on X, Deloris labeled Auriemma “classless” and issued a strong accusation: “Geno is a classless piece s**t who has built his legacy on sabotaging...

Former Chicago Bulls guard Jaden Ivey says his wife isn’t speaking to him after the team cut him amid fallout from anti-LGBTQ+ comments he made on an Instagram live stream. “That’s why my wife in here, and she not even texting me,” Ivey, 24, revealed on another Instagram live stream on Tuesday, March 31, “Those who are around me, those who are my family members betraying [me] because of what I spoke. The truth. Betraying me. Saying that I’m losing my mind. Saying that I’m crazy. … Those are my own household. All because of the Gospel. All because I...

STORRS, Conn. (WTNH) — The University of Connecticut has taken down its lampposts on the Storrs campus ahead of the Final Four matchups for the men’s and women’s basketball teams this weekend. “The removal of the lamp posts is a pro-active way of preventing possible vandalism that could result from the celebration of this weekend’s games,” UConn officials said. “This is the third time we have removed the lamp posts, and it has proven effective, along with an increased security presence and student messaging.”

The Bulls are cutting bait with Jaden Ivey, waiving the guard following comments on social media livestreams against the LGBTQ community and the Catholic church. The team announced he was waived “due to conduct detrimental to the team” in a statement. Growing concerns about Ivey date back to last month and his comments on a livestream on his personal Instagram account on Monday about the LGBTQ community were the last straw for the Bulls, according to the Chicago Sun Times. Ivey has been posting several lengthy videos on his social media in recent weeks, with the topic of the NBA’s...

The divide continues to deepen between Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks' controlling owners. Cuban, who sold the majority share of the franchise to the Adelson and Dumont families in December 2023, has privately grumbled for more than a year about the business partners he chose. He took those complaints public during an appearance on an episode of the "Intersections" podcast that published Tuesday morning. "I don't regret selling," Cuban said. "I regret who I sold to. I made a lot of mistakes in the process, and I'll leave it at that." After the sale closed at a $3.5 billion...