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*NBA (2)*

a basketball player with the number 45 on his jersey dribbles the ball

National Basketball Association
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Diamond drops Mavs, Pels but agree to air NBA, NHL in 2024-25
With the NBA and NHL deals now set, Diamond will focus on crafting a reorganization plan that will hope to address serious concerns about its economic viability moving forward. Diamond is scheduled to present its new deals to a bankruptcy judge on Sept. 3.

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The NHL regular season begins Oct. 8, and the NBA will follow on Oct. 22.

NBA files motion to dismiss Warner Bros. Discovery lawsuit
The league filed its motion for a dismissal late Friday, and it contained the NBA's pointed reply on several fronts to WBD's lawsuit filed July 26 -- two days after the NBA signed a new 11-year media rights deal worth nearly $76 billion with Disney (parent company of ESPN), NBC and Amazon Prime Video that runs from the 2025-26 season through the 2035-36 season.
 

Warriors' Stephen Curry signs 1-year, $62.6 million extension​

The Golden State Warriors have signed star guard Stephen Curry to a one-year extension, the team announced Thursday. The extension is worth $62.6 million, his agent, Jeff Austin of Octagon, told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, and keeps Curry under contract with Golden State through the 2026-27 season. Curry will become the fourth NBA player, along with LeBron James, Paul George and Kevin Durant, to pass $500 million in career earnings. In 2023-24, his 15th season, Curry averaged 26.4 points on 40.8% 3-point shooting, 5.1 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game. But the Warriors are entering a new era without Klay Thompson, who left for the Dallas Mavericks during free agency after 13 seasons with Golden State.

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Free agent Lonnie Walker IV joins Celtics on 1-year deal
Walker, 25, averaged nearly 10 points in 17.4 minutes per game for the Brooklyn Nets last season. A strong shooter, over half of Walker's field goal attempts came from 3-point range, and he made 38.4% of them.

Pacers, guard T.J. McConnell agree on 4-year, $45M extension
He played an instrumental role in Indiana's run to the Eastern Conference finals this past season, averaging career highs in scoring in the regular season (10.2 points) and the playoffs (11.8).

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McConnell joined Hall of Famer Michael Cooper as the only players to average 10 points and five assists off the bench in a single postseason (minimum of 10 games), according to ESPN Stats & Information.
 
Diamond drops Mavs, Pels but agree to air NBA, NHL in 2024-25
With the NBA and NHL deals now set, Diamond will focus on crafting a reorganization plan that will hope to address serious concerns about its economic viability moving forward. Diamond is scheduled to present its new deals to a bankruptcy judge on Sept. 3.

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The NHL regular season begins Oct. 8, and the NBA will follow on Oct. 22.

Judge approves Diamond Sports Group's deals with NBA, NHL
A federal judge approved Diamond Sports Group's deals with the NBA and NHL on Tuesday, another step forward in the bankrupt operator's nearly 18-month quest to emerge from Chapter 11 reorganization.

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Diamond's revised deals with the NBA and NHL, details of which have not been made public, ensure that the company will air games for the 22 teams still under its portfolio for the entirety of the upcoming 2024-25 seasons.

New Jersey floats $400 million in tax breaks to lure 76ers
The Sixers, which already have a training complex and headquarters facility in Camden, called New Jersey's offer "thoughtful and compelling," though the team is still talking to Philadelphia leaders about a new arena in the city.
 
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Lakers to have No. 44 band on uniform in Jerry West's honor
Considered one of the greatest shooting guards ever to play, West led L.A. to nine NBA Finals appearances, winning the championship in 1971-72. He was a 14-time All-Star, and his average of 27.03 points per game ranks No. 8 in league history.

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The Los Angeles Lakers will honor Jerry West's No. 44 for all 82 games this upcoming season.

Silver acknowledges 'interest' in NBA exspansion
The topic of expansion has been an ongoing one in NBA circles over the past few years, with both Seattle and Las Vegas being floated as potential homes for new teams. As time has passed, Silver has repeatedly said that the league was going to address expansion in a specific order, taking care of its new collective bargaining agreement and then its new television deal before turning to the topic of expansion.
 

Sources: Joel Embiid, Sixers reach 3-year, $192.9M extension​

Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers have agreed to a three-year, $192.9 million maximum contract extension that guarantees the former MVP a total of $299.5 million through the 2028-29 season, sources told ESPN's Ramona Shelburne. Embiid will decline his $59 million player option for the 2026-27 season and sign the new, three-year extension. He will earn $69 million in the final year of the new deal. His career earnings will swell to $514.8 million with the new agreement, fourth highest in NBA history behind LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Paul George.

Embiid, 30, remains the cornerstone of the franchise, the 2023 NBA MVP who has made All-NBA five times and shown himself to be one of the most dominant centers in the modern history of the sport. He has averaged 27.9 points in his career -- fourth most behind Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain and Luka Doncic, according to ESPN Research. Last season, Embiid averaged 34.7 points but did not play enough games to qualify for the scoring title. His 1.03 points per minute made him the first player to average a point per minute since Chamberlain in 1961-62, per ESPN Research.

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Sources: Pelicans bring in Elfrid Payton on training camp deal
He previously played with New Orleans during the 2018-19 season and had perhaps his best NBA season. He averaged 10.6 points and career highs in assists per game (7.6) and rebounds per game (5.2). During the late stage of that season, Payton recorded consecutive games with a triple-double.

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Payron last played in the NBA in 2021-22 when he spent time with the Phoenix. He spent time last season with the G-League's Indiana Mad Ants.

Hawks sign guard Kevon Harris, foward Joey Hauser
Harris, 27, played in 36 games for the Orlando Magic over the past two seasons on a two-way contract, averaging 4.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 12.9 minutes per game....Hauser, 25, played in 50 games (eight starts) last season for the Ontario Clippers of the G League.

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Both players reportedly will play under one-year, minimum-salary contracts.
 

Grizzlies retiring Tony Allen's No. 9 on March 15​

Allen, now 42, played seven seasons in Memphis (2010-17) and epitomized the franchise's "Grit and Grind" era. Allen made the NBA All-Defensive team six times in that span and helped Memphis reach the playoffs all seven seasons, including a trip to the 2013 Western Conference finals. He ranks second in franchise history in steals (762), sixth in games (462) and 10th in blocked shots (217). Allen averaged 8.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.4 steals in 820 games (441 starts) with the Boston Celtics (2004-10), Grizzlies and New Orleans Pelicans (2017-18). The Celtics' 2004 first-round pick (No. 25 overall) won an NBA championship with Boston in 2007-08.

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Former Bucks player Junior Bridgeman buys stake in franchise
Bridgeman, 71, played for the Bucks from 1975 to '84 and again from 1986 to '87. His 711 career games played for Milwaukee ranks him third in franchise history, behind only current Bucks Giannis Antetokounmpo and Chris Middleton.

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The Bucks announced Bridgeman's purchase in a news conference that included co-owner Jimmy Haslam, coach Doc Rivers, general manager Jon Horst and most of the team's current players. Bridgeman said after the news conference he has a 10% stake in the team.

Former MVP Derrick Rose retiring from NBA after 16-year career
Rose won the 2008-09 Rookie of the Year and was an All-Star the next three seasons. He became the youngest MVP in NBA history, winning the honor as a 22-year-old in 2010-11, when he averaged 25.0 points and 7.7 assists per game to lead the Bulls to a league-best 62-20 record before they made a run to the Eastern Conference finals.

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Rose finished his career with an average of 17.4 points and 5.2 assists in 723 games played, including 518 starts. He played only 77 games over the last three season, including 24 in his lone season in Memphis,
 
Patrick Ewing rejoins Knicks as basketball ambassador
The Hall of Fame big man, selected by the Knicks with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1985 NBA draft, steadily anchored New York rosters for a decade and a half. The franchise's last period of stability before now -- and its last two NBA Finals trips (1994, 1999) -- came during Ewing's dominant tenure.

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After he retired as a player in 2002, Ewing embarked on a 14-year career as an NBA assistant coach, serving on staffs with the Washington Wizards, Orlando Magic, Charlotte Hornets and Houston Rockets. In 2017, Ewing was named coach at Georgetown, his alma mater, and he led the Hoyas to a surprise Big East tournament title at Madison Square Garden in 2021. But Georgetown fired Ewing in 2023 after the program slumped badly in his final two seasons.

Redick: LeBron, Davis will play in Lakers' early preseason games
James and Davis have both beamed about how great they feel in camp so far, crediting their international experience and playing in the Paris Olympics with keeping them in tip-top shape heading into the season.

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Last preseason, James sat L.A.'s first game and Davis sat in the third, with the pair both logging fewer than 20 minutes in game No. 2.
 
LeBron, Bronny James first farther and son to play together. Makes history
The historic moment came at the start of the second quarter when Bronny James, who was celebrating his 20th birthday, checked into the game and joined his father on the court.

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LeBron James, 39, lead L.A. in the first half with 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting and 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting, respectively. Neither played in the second half. Bronny did not score in his 13:25 of action, missing the only shot he took and committing four turnovers.

Lakers' Bronny James earns Redick's raves in preseason debut
Bronny James finished with two points on 1-for-6 shooting in the Lakers' 124-107 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves to open their six-game exhibition slate, but he led the team with three blocked shots in 16 minutes while adding one rebound and one assist.
 
The Miami Heat will honor longtime team president Pat Riley by permanently naming their playing floor in his honor, the team announced on Monday. Riley, now in his 30th year with the franchise, has led the Heat to three championships and seven NBA Finals appearances. He was also the head coach for the 2006 championship and led the historic acquisition of LeBron James and Chris Bosh in 2010 that resulted in four consecutive Finals appearances and titles in 2012 and 2013. Riley was named to the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2008.

 
The survey, conducted at the start of each season and polling all 30 front offices across the association, saw 83% of the vote come in for Boston -- which, if it wins the title, would be the first repeat NBA champion since the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and '18. The only other teams to receive a vote were the Oklahoma City Thunder, who got 13% of the vote, and last year's Western Conference champions, the Dallas Mavericks, who received a single vote.

 
Danny Green retires from NBA, won titles with 3 different teams
He finishes with career averages of 8.7 points and 3.4 rebounds in 832 games. His 1,577 3-pointers rank 43rd in NBA history, and he is one of only 12 players to make that many 3s and shoot at least 40% from beyond the arc. He is also ninth in postseason 3-pointers, with 315.

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Drafted in the second round by the Cavaliers in 2009, Green spent one season in Cleveland before eventually finding his spot with the Spurs, where he spent the majority of his career and averaged a career-high 11.7 points while playing in 81 games in 2014-15. He also made the All-Defensive Team in 2016-17.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver expects to play in China again
China refused to broadcast two preseason games that were held in the country between the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets as corporate sponsors fled. Silver said the NBA suffered "dramatic" financial consequences from the reaction, with the league previously estimating it lost hundreds of millions of dollars over the controversy.

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The NBA is working to expand its global footprint, hosting several preseason games in Abu Dhabi and several regular-season games in Mexico City and Paris in the past few years.
 
Jerry West becomes first three-time inductee to basketball Hall of Fame
He had already been inducted for his playing career with the Lakers, and then again in 2010 as a member of the 1960 U.S. team that won an Olympic gold medal.

Vince Carter, Chauncey Billups reflect on Hall of Fame journey
Vince Carter played 22 years in the NBA, becoming the only player to appear in the league across four different decades. He scored over 25,000 points, made eight All-Star teams, won the 1999 Rookie of the Year award and was named to a pair of All-NBA teams....Chauncey Billups, took a far different path. The third overall pick in the 1997 NBA draft by the Boston Celics, Billups was traded three times in his first three NBA seasons before rebuilding his career as a backup with the Minnesota Timverwolves. He then got his big break in 2002, when he signed a five-year deal to join the Detroit Pistons and became a key cog in one of the defining teams of this century

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Those honorees, plus the rest of the class -- New York Knicks legend Dick Barnett; the late Walter Davis, a six-time All-Star; college basketball coaches Bo Ryan and Harley Redin; and high school coach Charles Smith -- will all officially be inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame on Sunday in Springfield, Massachusetts.
 
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