Basketball Page 1 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
6 Most Underrated NBA Teams Heading Into the 2026-27 Season
The NBA’s projected win totals reveal six teams that could be underrated heading into the 2026-27 season, including the 76ers, Raptors and Rockets....
Bill Simmons Said LeBron James Was Going to Cavaliers, Then Something Happened
Bill Simmons suggested LeBron James was going to return to Cleveland before something changed. Here’s what we know about the mystery surrounding his free agency....
Sacramentp Kings Nightmare Rebuild Could Make Them the NBA’s Worst Team
The Sacramento Kings endured a disastrous offseason. Could their roster make them one of the NBA’s worst teams at the worst possible time?...
The Clippers Just Got Themselves Into a Five-Year Rut
The Clippers are facing a bleak future after losing five first-round picks and $30 million in the NBA’s punishment over the Kawhi Leonard investigation....
Jaylen Brown’s Boxing Debut Raises a Bigger Question for the Sixers
Jaylen Brown made his boxing debut in Nigeria, but taking that kind of risk while playing in the NBA is exactly why the Sixers are hard to trust....
Joe Lacob Has a Bold Plan for the Warriors' Next Era
The Warriors may be nearing the end of the Stephen Curry era, but Joe Lacob could already be positioning Golden State for its next dynasty....
The 5 NBA Figures Under the Most Pressure Heading Into the 2026-27 Season
LeBron James, LaMelo Ball, Mitch Johnson, Mike Dunleavy Jr. and Bob Iger are among the NBA figures facing major pressure in 2026-27....

US avoids shocking loss to Italy, clinches World Cup QF berth
Jackie Young had a big fourth quarter and Breanna Stewart made her only basket of the game to put the United States up for good, helping the Americans escape with a 55-52 win over Italy in the FIBA Women's World Cup on Sunday in Berlin.,The U.S. (2-0), which clinched a quarterfinal berth with the vi...

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert to retire at end of year
Cathy Engelbert will retire at the end of this year, ending her seven-year tenure as the WNBA's first commissioner.,Engelbert, 61, has brokered two collective bargaining agreements and overseen increases in viewership and game attendance in the WNBA as well as growth in the league itself. The WNBA w...

U.S. opens FIBA World Cup with blowout against China
The United States opened its quest for a record-extending 12th FIBA Women's World Cup title with a 94-61 rout of China on Friday in Berlin.,Caitlin Clark tallied 14 points and 11 assists to lead the favored American squad as action in Group D got underway. Paige Bueckers and Rhyne Howard also scored...

Ben Simmons agrees to 1-year, $3.5M deal with Kings
Former No. 1 overall draft pick Ben Simmons agreed to a one-year, $3.5 million deal with the Sacramento Kings, his agents confirmed to ESPN on Friday.,The three-time All-Star point guard returns after sitting out the 2025-26 campaign while recuperating from chronic back issues.,Simmons, 30, last pla...

Enes Kanter Freedom sues Sky, alleges rights were violated
Enes Kanter Freedom, ejected from a WNBA game last month after a verbal dispute with Chicago Sky guard Natasha Cloud, filed a lawsuit on Thursday in connection with the incident, alleging a violation of his First Amendment rights.,Defendants in the suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Nort...

Rockets sign G Amen Thompson to extension
The Houston Rockets announced a contract extension with guard Amen Thompson on Thursday.,The five-year, rookie-scale extension is worth $208 million and includes a 10% trade kicker, according to ESPN.,"Amen represents everything we want our organization to be about," general manager Rafael Stone sai...

Liberty's Satou Sabally (concussion) out for rest of 2026
New York Liberty forward Satou Sabally will miss the remainder of the regular season and the postseason, taking the time off to recover from a head injury suffered on June 23 in a game against the Las Vegas Aces, the team said Thursday.,It was her second concussion in less than a year. Sabally also ...

Report: Rockets, Amen Thompson reach 5-year, $208M extension
Houston Rockets guard Amen Thompson has agreed to a five-year, $208 million rookie-scale contract extension, ESPN reported Thursday morning.,Per the report, Thompson's deal includes a 10% trade kicker.,Thompson, 23, is entering the final season of a four-year rookie contract he signed in 2023. He wi...

NBA fines Clippers $30M, strips 5 1st-rounders in Kawhi Leonard probe
The NBA fined the Los Angeles Clippers $30 million and stripped away five first-round draft picks to punish the franchise for violating salary cap circumvention rules involving star forward Kawhi Leonard, who was ordered to pay $700,000, the league announced Wednesday.,The NBA's investigation, condu...

Misplaced mail forces Wings C Li Yueru to miss FIBA World Cup
Dallas Wings center Li Yueru is unable to travel to Berlin for the FIBA World Cup because of a lost passport and will not play for China.,The Chinese team is scheduled to open play in the event Friday against the United States.,She posted the news on Instagram on Wednesday.,"Unfortunately, my passpo...

Project B adds Russell Westbrook as co-founder
Russell Westbrook is going back to work, joining Project B on Wednesday as a co-founder and its new chief strategy officer.,The recently retired NBA superstar will help the upstart five-on-five women's basketball league launch in early 2027.,"At every step of my career, what was most valuable to me ...

76ers bring in 7-foot-6 Tacko Fall, 2 others
The Philadelphia 76ers signed three players including 7-foot-6 center Tacko Fall, the team announced on Tuesday.,Guard Jameer Nelson Jr. and forward Saint Thomas also signed contracts, with the team not disclosing terms.,Fall, 30, played last season for the Ningbo Rockets of the Chinese Basketball A...

Healthy Victor Oladipo asks for 'opportunity to prove it'
Out of the NBA since the 2023-24 season, two-time All-Star Victor Oladipo says he is finally healthy and ready to make a comeback.,The 34-year-old guard penned an open letter to the league's general managers in The Players' Tribune on Tuesday, asking for an opportunity.,The No. 2 overall pick in the...