ATLANTA — Travis Schlenk came to the Hawks from the Warriors with a plan to build them in Golden State’s image. The roster would have players at all positions who can dribble, pass and shoot. The defense would be fast and furious. Size would be sacrificed for skill and versatility.

It turns out that’s a hard formula to duplicate without ...Read more

INDIANAPOLIS — Maybe it was the foot Jalen Brunson injured in Game 2.

Maybe after touching earth in embarrassing fashion in Game 5, Aaron Nesmith got his revenge against the Knicks’ All-Star guard in Game 6.

Maybe the decreasing number of bodies plus the rising number of minutes are finally taking a toll.

Maybe it was the painful ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Lakers announced dates and sites for three preseason games on Friday, including a game against the Golden State Warriors in Las Vegas on Oct. 15 at T-Mobile Arena.

The Lakers open preseason play Oct. 4 and 6 at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Phoenix Suns, respectively. The complete ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The commitment to Kentucky by Fairleigh Dickinson forward Ansley Almonor as a transfer Thursday morning brought the number of scholarship players for Mark Pope’s first UK team up to 11.

A 6-foot-7, 219-pound forward, Almonor is a career 38.5% 3-point shooter. The product of Spring Valley, N.Y., a senior-to-be, should give ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — After an exchange of blowouts that has lasted six games, there’s no telling what could happen in the seventh.

Jamal Murray’s shooting efficiency reverted to Game 2 form, Michael Porter Jr. was held to single-digit scoring for a third consecutive game, and the Nuggets were crushed, 115-70, by the Timberwolves in a potential ...Read more

MIAMI — While Miami Heat executive Udonis Haslem continues to discuss team business in his dual media role, expect no admonishment this time from Heat president Pat Riley.

Unlike previous opining on the best playing roles for the Heat’s Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo, Haslem, the former team captain who this past season was named the Heat’s ...Read more

SEATTLE — Last week, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert surprised many, including several players and a few general managers, when she abruptly announced the league would provide charter flights to teams for the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

Initially, the news drew widespread praise, then the celebrations turned to criticism following a seemingly ...Read more

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. — After sitting through presentations and meetings explaining analytics and formulas and metrics that could get more ACC men’s basketball teams into the NCAA Tournament, Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton walked away with his own, much simpler idea.

“Add more teams,” Hamilton said.

Sixty more, in fact, to get the ...Read more

Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello told reporters pregame that “college is different from the pros” when talking about Fever star guard Caitlin Clark’s transition into the WNBA.

It now seems like Brondello predicted Clark’s struggles in Thursday’s 102-66 Liberty victory over the Fever. In the first half of Clark’s home debut at ...Read more

NEW YORK — The Knicks listed starting forward OG Anunoby as out due to a left hamstring strain for Game 6 of the team’s second-round playoff matchup against the Indiana Pacers on Friday.

Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said Anunoby had progressed between Games 4 and 5 from doing most of his work in a pool to light on-court work, but didn’...Read more

LOS ANGELES — As the Lakers continued meeting with prospects in the final days of the NBA draft combine, their coaching search continued to be a strong topic of conversation among rival scouts and executives.

Internally, Lakers sources not authorized to speak publicly have tried to describe their coaching search as being a "wide open" process...Read more

NEW YORK — The prize awaiting the victor of the Knicks and Pacers’ second-round slugfest is a meeting in the Eastern Conference finals with basketball’s biggest juggernaut.

That would be the Boston Celtics, who, after rolling to an NBA-best 64-18 record in the regular season, booked their ticket to the third round of the playoffs with a ...Read more

CHICAGO — All eyes were on Bronny James this week in Chicago as the son of Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James showed out at the NBA combine at Wintrust Arena.

James isn’t projected to be picked in the first round of the NBA draft. In fact, most mock drafts place him deep in the second round. But the eagerness of his father — a four-time...Read more

MIAMI — Having maximized NBA draft picks at No. 13 and No. 14, it’s as if Adam Simon is playing three-card poker, attempting to fill out a straight at No. 15.

Simon, the Heat’s vice president of basketball operations and assistant general manager, is optimistic about the team’s No. 15 selection in the June 26 NBA draft, even with many ...Read more

DENVER — Revenge games provide a platform for players to show why they should have won MVP honors. Nikola Jokic staged a revenge game to show why he did win MVP honors.

The premise was that the Minnesota Timberwolves were trying to reconnect in this series after getting skunked twice at home. They exuded confidence, convinced Tuesday would be...Read more

NEW YORK — It’s funny when you think about it.

Tom Thibodeau finished fifth among his peers in Coach of the Year voting, an award rightfully claimed by Oklahoma City Thunder coach Mark Daigneault, who captained the youngest team ever to both win 55 games in a season and secure to the No. 1 seed in either the Eastern or Western Conferences ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Before Reed Sheppard became a Kentucky Wildcat, yours truly heard through the grapevine that a respected coach opined he was sure the high school hero would be a good college player. He was not so sure Sheppard would be a pro.

One year later, that same Reed Sheppard could be the No. 1 overall selection in the NBA draft on ...Read more

SEATTLE — While being introduced as Washington's men's basketball coach on March 27, Danny Sprinkle donned a purple tie and sat at a table inside Alaska Airlines Arena. Facing rows of family members, media, athletic department employees and increasingly important donors, he laughed and told the truth.

"It's the wild, wild west now in college ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The best possible outcome for the NBA and its Finals in June would be a matchup between the New York Knicks, with their Villanova DNA and their bulldog playing style, and the Minnesota Timberwolves and their defense played with the ferocity of an actual wolf pack. Jalen Brunson and Anthony Edwards would goose with fresh names ...Read more

Nobody could hear a word Adam Silver was saying, but the speech was probably nice.

On a night Ball Arena drowned out the NBA commissioner’s presentation of Nikola Jokic’s third MVP award with “M-V-P” chants, Jokic proceeded to give Silver a treat. He went for 40 points, seven rebounds and 13 assists to lead the Nuggets to a 112-97 Game ...Read more