NEW YORK (AP) — Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving is joining rapper Common and others for a TV special calling for action following the death of Breonna Taylor.Irving is producing “#SAYHERNAME: BREONNA TAYLOR,” which will debut Wednesday at 7 p.m. EDT on the PlayersTv digital and broadcast network.Taylor, a 26-year-old Black emergency medical technician, was shot eight times in Louisville, Kentucky, by plainclothes officers serving a narcotics search warrant without knocking at her apartment on March 13. No drugs were found. Louisville has seen weeks of protests over the shooting and demonstrators around the country have chanted her name.The broadcast will include specific calls for action, such as calls to the offices of city and state officials, voter registrations and social media posts bringing attention to Taylor's case.Irving, who has been outspoken about social justice issues, says as society is calling attention to police brutality and systemic racism, it is “critical to magnify how... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving is joining rapper Common and others for a TV special calling for action following the death of Breonna Taylor.Irving is producing “#SAYHERNAME: BREONNA TAYLOR,” which will debut Wednesday at 7 p.m. EDT on the PlayersTv digital and broadcast network.Taylor, a 26-year-old Black emergency medical technician, was shot eight times in Louisville, Kentucky, by plainclothes officers serving a narcotics search warrant without knocking at her apartment on March 13. No drugs were found. Louisville has seen weeks of protests over the shooting and demonstrators around the country have chanted her name.The broadcast will include specific calls for action, such as calls to the offices of city and state officials, voter registrations and social media posts bringing attention to Taylor's case.Irving, who has been outspoken about social justice issues, says as society is calling attention to police brutality and systemic racism, it is “critical to magnify how... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — JR Smith was not ready to wrap up his 15-year NBA career when he left the Cleveland Cavaliers in late 2018, and the ensuing 20 months were not much fun for the veteran shooter.“I went through a very depressed state for a long time," Smith said Monday. "I’m a big video gamer, (but) I didn’t even play (NBA) 2K anymore. I don’t want to hoop, I don’t want to work out, I don’t want to play 2K, I don’t want do anything with basketball.”Thanks to a call from the Los Angeles Lakers, Smith is getting another shot on basketball's biggest stage. He joined the Western Conference leaders for workouts last week before they head to Florida for the conclusion of the NBA season.The 34-year-old Smith was added to the roster because Lakers starter Avery Bradley declined to return for the rest of the season, citing family concerns. The Lakers needed a depth replacement who could immediately fit in alongside LeBron James while playing solid wing defense, providing a 3-point threat and meshing... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Jaylen Brown is encouraged by the steps the NBA is taking to connect with its players’ desire to support social justice causes.He also wants to see the league go further with some of those plans as it prepares to restart the season later this month in Florida. One of the Celtics’ young stars, the 23-year-old has been one of the most outspoken voices among players since the NBA paused its season in March. From encouraging young Americans to take COVID-19 seriously, to driving 15 hours from Boston in May to lead a protest march in the days after the release of the video of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis, Brown has actively used social media to raise awareness on several fronts to his more than 1.6 million followers on Twitter and Instagram. While he said Monday that he initially considered not playing in Orlando because of the pandemic and family concerns, he ultimately decided the opportunity to amplify his voice on the NBA’s worldwide stage won out. “Once I thought about... [More]

After four months of waiting and planning, the NBA bubble is ready to be tested.The first six teams — Brooklyn, Denver, Orlando, Phoenix, Utah and Washington — are scheduled to arrive Tuesday at the Disney complex. Another eight teams arrive Wednesday, the last eight arrive Thursday, and with that training camps will be on the cusp of beginning.If the plan works, all teams will be at Disney for at least 5-1/2 weeks and some teams will be there for more than three months. And not everyone in the league has an abundance of optimism that the experiment — involving daily testing, separation from friends and family for weeks if not months, and strict regulations regarding just about everything imaginable at Disney — will be enough to complete the season.“I’m not very confident,” New Orleans guard Brandon Ingram said. “But they’ve got us going ... so we’ll see.”The process for arrivals will be streamlined — players and team staff will be immediately taken to the testing room at their Disney hotel... [More]

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Grieving the death of a cousin and missing his mother, Damian Lillard struggled emotionally after the NBA shut down because of the coronavirus. But he also found inspiration in his activism for Black Lives Matter and his flourishing music career. The Trail Blazers were just out of the playoff picture, sitting ninth in the Western Conference standings on March 11 when the league was shuttered. The team will be among 22 that will depart next week for Orlando as part of the re-start. Portland will have eight games to secure a playoff berth, starting on July 31 with Memphis. “We don’t have time to ease our way in, we don't have time to try and figure stuff out, we’ve got to come in assertive and aggressive and just go after it,” he said. “And if we fail, we fail, but we gotta at least come out there with that mentality of we don’t have time to kind of ease into it.”Lillard welcomes the chance to resume playing after a difficult few months. He admittedly had no idea how... [More]

There were the tweets from strangers. “I hate you.” “You ruined the whole world.” “You deserve it.” And there was the scorn from inside his own locker room, the presumption that he infected a teammate with coronavirus, the suggestion that his recklessness somehow caused the entire sporting world to come to an absolute standstill.Utah center Rudy Gobert is still standing tall, after all that and more.Plenty of eyes will be on Gobert when the NBA season , the one that shut down March 11 when he became the first player in the league to be diagnosed with the coronavirus, takes a giant step toward returning by having teams gather at the Disney complex in Central Florida over the next few days. The Jazz will be a fascinating case study during this restart, particularly regarding whether or not Gobert and Donovan Mitchell — a fellow All-Star who was diagnosed with the virus shortly after the shutdown began and did not hide his anger with Gobert about it all — can coexist peacefully again.“I’m... [More]

Portland guard Damian Lillard was in the gym a few days ago and took notice of what injured Trail Blazers big men Jusuf Nurkic and Zach Collins were doing during their individual workouts.That’s when he realized a bright side of the NBA’s coronavirus shutdown.The injured guys weren’t injured anymore.Plenty of aches and pains around the NBA have healed in the almost-four-month span since the league had to suspend its season because of the pandemic, which means the 22 teams that will be arriving at the Disney campus near Orlando, Florida next week should be coming in with mostly healthy rosters.Keeping players healthy once they get to Disney will be another challenge, as workloads ramp up quickly for the July 30 resumption of games — but, at least at the start of camps for the resumed season, rosters will be deeper than they were when the league shut down on March 11.“I hate to even use that term, like a ‘silver lining’ came out of this because this is something that nobody ever predicted,”... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The sudden suspension of the NBA season was a double disappointment for Anthony Davis.“It happened on my birthday, which is kind of a bummer because I couldn't do anything,” the Los Angeles Lakers' seven-time All-Star big man said with a laugh.Davis turned 27 on March 11 when the NBA shut down amid the coronavirus pandemic. After a few homebound months spent largely improving his video game skills, Davis is back at work as the Lakers attempt to achieve their interrupted goals.Davis, LeBron James and the Lakers are gathered for individual workouts this week in preparation for their trip to Orlando, where they're among the favorites to win it all in this extraordinary NBA season. The Lakers (49-14) were leading the Western Conference and preparing for their first playoff run together when everything stopped.Davis still loves the Lakers' chances of contending for the franchise's 17th championship.“Actually, I think our chances are higher, just because we’re all rested and... [More]

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson credits his mother’s wisdom with helping him manage life’s unanticipated twists and inevitable assortment of successes and setbacks.It has served the NBA’s top overall draft choice well during a highly unusual debut season that has gone nothing like he imagined, yet still holds plenty of promise.“The last 12 months have been a different experience,” Williamson said Thursday, projecting his typically affable, smiling, easy-going manner during a video conference at the New Orleans Pelicans’ practice headquarters. “My mom tells me, ‘Life is life. You may go through a lot of bad times. You may go through a lot of good times. It’s just: Try to prepare yourself as best as you can.’”Now Williamson and the Pelicans are preparing to make a “playoff push,” something that appeared highly unlikely when he was sitting on the sidelines with a surgically repaired knee, watching New Orleans labor through a franchise-worst 13-game losing streak that left... [More]

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson credits his mother’s wisdom with helping him manage life’s unanticipated twists and inevitable assortment of successes and setbacks.It has served the NBA’s top overall draft choice well during a highly unusual debut season that has gone nothing like he imagined, yet still holds plenty of promise.“The last 12 months have been a different experience,” Williamson said Thursday, projecting his typically affable, smiling, easy-going manner during a video conference at the New Orleans Pelicans’ practice headquarters. “My mom tells me, ‘Life is life. You may go through a lot of bad times. You may go through a lot of good times. It’s just: Try to prepare yourself as best as you can.’”Now Williamson and the Pelicans are preparing to make a “playoff push,” something that appeared highly unlikely when he was sitting on the sidelines with a surgically repaired knee, watching New Orleans labor through a franchise-worst 13-game losing streak that left... [More]

The coronavirus numbers kept climbing Thursday, with a single-day record for new cases being set in Florida and the NBA revealing that the count of players and staff from the 22 remaining teams that have confirmed diagnoses of COVID-19 continues to grow.The NBA numbers: nine more positive players from tests conducted between June 24-29 to bring the total to 25 who have been positive since mandated testing began June 23, as well 10 positive-testing staff members from the teams that will start arriving at the Disney complex near Orlando, Florida next week for the resumption of the season.And statewide, health departments around Florida got more than 10,000 new positive cases back on Wednesday, a single-day record for a state that remains very much under siege from the virus and likely a troubling sign for the NBA — which remains hopeful that highly restrictive rules at Disney will keep players and staff safe.“It’s so much uncertainty,” San Antonio guard DeMar DeRozan said Thursday. “Name... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Ben Simmons’ back pain threw his postseason status into uncertainty had the NBA season reached its natural conclusion.Check out Simmons these days on Instagram.He’s muscular, spry — and throwing down dunks without a wince on his face. The All-Star guard who watched the Philadelphia 76ers from the bench during the final days in March is now healthy, confident and ready to dominate.“I’m feeling better than I was at the start of the season,” Simmons said Thursday. “I’ve been working since I had the injury, working until now to be prepared for whatever happens and wherever we go. I’m feeling great and been rehabbing this whole time, so I’ve been feeling ready and I’m very comfortable.”Simmons, the NBA’s leader in steals, had been quiet except for social media posts since the league shut down March 11 because of the coronavirus pandemic. The 23-year-old had missed eighth straight games and was receiving daily treatment for nerve issues in his lower back when the season stopped.... [More]

DALLAS (AP) — The Dallas Mavericks signed guard Trey Burke on Wednesday after center Willie Cauley-Stein decided not to rejoin the team for the planned resumption of the season.Burke spent part of the 2018-19 season with the Mavericks after coming over in the blockbuster trade that also brought Kristaps Porzingis from the New York Knicks.The 27-year-old Burke played 25 games this season with Philadelphia before he was waived in February, about a month before the NBA shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic.Cauley-Stein, acquired in a deal with Golden State before the trading deadline this year, opted out of playing because of the impending birth of his daughter this month.President of basketball operations Donnie Nelson said the Mavericks chose a guard over an interior player because of a need for backups behind All-Star Luka Doncic and shooting guard Tim Hardaway Jr.Jalen Brunson, one of the backups to Doncic, won't play if the season resumes because of shoulder surgery.Burke has career averages of 10.5 points and 3.5 assists in 386 games over seven seasons. He has played for Utah and Washington in addition to the Knicks, Mavericks and 76ers.The Mavericks are supposed to resume the season July 31 against Houston in Orlando, Florida.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers says Lou Williams is expected to join the team for the NBA’s restart in Florida.Williams has described himself as “50-50” on whether he would finish out the pandemic-interrupted season because he didn’t want to distract from the ongoing push for social justice in the wake of George Floyd’s death while in police custody. “Obviously, up until we get on the plane, anything can happen,” Rivers said during a video conference with media Wednesday. “But I do expect Lou to be with us. I would be very surprised if he's not.”Williams, last year's Sixth Man of the Year, was averaging 18.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 5.7 assists in 60 games before the league shut down in March due to the coronavirus. Rivers said he doesn't think any of the Clippers are opting out from resuming the season. The team heads to Orlando, Florida, on July 8.“But listen, it is their choice and we support that,” the coach said. "There are so many reasons for everybody to... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — J.R. Smith has joined LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers for their championship push.The Lakers announced their long-anticipated signing of Smith as a substitute player Wednesday, the first day allowed under the rules of the NBA's summer restart.Smith is the Lakers' roster replacement for Avery Bradley, who cited family reasons last week for his decision not to finish the season with his team in Orlando amid the coronavirus pandemic.“We’re not going to ask him to come in and be Avery Bradley,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. “He’s going to come in and be J.R. Smith. He’s going to just fill that position more than fill that role. Avery’s loss is obviously a huge loss for us, but we’re a next-man-up team. J.R. is going to come in and help fill that need, but we have a lot of guys in that position that can do the same.”The 34-year-old Smith hasn't played in the NBA since November 2018, but the 2013 Sixth Man of the Year is a longtime trusted teammate of James. During... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers says Lou Williams is expected to join the team for the NBA’s restart in Florida.Williams has described himself as “50-50” on whether he would finish out the pandemic-interrupted season because he didn’t want to distract from the ongoing push for social justice in the wake of George Floyd’s death while in police custody. “Obviously, up until we get on the plane, anything can happen,” Rivers said during a video conference with media Wednesday. “But I do expect Lou to be with us. I would be very surprised if he's not.”Williams, last year's Sixth Man of the Year, was averaging 18.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 5.7 assists in 60 games before the league shut down in March due to the coronavirus. Rivers said he doesn't think any of the Clippers are opting out from resuming the season. The team heads to Orlando, Florida, on July 8.“But listen, it is their choice and we support that,” the coach said. "There are so many reasons for everybody to... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — J.R. Smith has joined LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers for their championship push.The Lakers announced their long-anticipated signing of Smith as a substitute player Wednesday, the first day allowed under the rules of the NBA's summer restart.Smith is the Lakers' replacement for Avery Bradley, who cited family reasons last week for his decision not to finish the season with his team in Orlando.The 34-year-old Smith hasn't played in the NBA since November 2018, but the 2013 Sixth Man of the Year is a longtime trusted teammate of James. During their four years together with the Cleveland Cavaliers, they won a title in 2016 and reached four consecutive NBA Finals.Bradley was a starter and a key role player in his first season with the Lakers, averaging 8.6 points per game and playing solid wing defense. But the Western Conference-leading Lakers also excelled while Bradley missed 13 games due to injury, with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope capably filling the role.Smith... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia 76ers coach Brett Brown says All-Star guard Ben Simmons is “good to go” for the NBA restart after sitting out the final games before the shutdown with a back injury.Brown, whose contract runs through 2021-22, also expected fellow All-Star Joel Embiid to start the season in the best shape of his professional career.The Sixers need their franchise stars at full strength if one of the early favorites to win the East Conference can shake off both an ordinary regular season (39-26; 6th in the East) and a nearly five-month layoff to return contenders for their first NBA championship since 1983.The 23-year-old Simmons had missed his eighth straight game and was receiving daily treatment for his nerve issues in his lower back when the season stopped. Embiid was recovering from surgery on his left hand and had just returned after missing five games with a sprained left shoulder at the time of the shutdown. “I’m looking for Joel to come in as good a shape as he has... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving aren't coming back. DeAndre Jordan and Wilson Chandler aren't going, either.Spencer Dinwiddie is a maybe, with his status unclear after both he and Jordan tested positive for the coronavirus.The Brooklyn Nets don't look ready for a restart, but general manager Sean Marks said Wednesday there was no discussion of the team not traveling to Florida for the resumption of the NBA season.“Look, we have a job to do,” Marks said. “Again, we have to bring a team to Orlando. We will bring a team to Orlando. We will go down there and we will compete. That’s our jobs here.”It's not an easy one for interim coach Jacque Vaughn, who took over when the Nets surprisingly parted ways with Kenny Atkinson on March 7. He won his first two games, capped by an impressive victory over the West-leading Lakers in Los Angeles.Then the season stopped and his challenges really began.Vaughn had moved Jordan into the starting lineup, but now the job apparently goes back to... [More]