MINNEAPOLIS — Congratulations and welcome to the Timberwolves’ new owners, Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez.

Having spent the past 35 years observing Minnesota sports. I’ve picked up a few tips.

Here’s How To Be a Minnesota Sports Team Owner:

1. When the going gets tough … eradicate your franchise

This worked well for Carl Pohlad, who ...Read more

SEATTLE — It happened as quickly as the rules allow, yet, for a lot of people, likely still felt overdue. Sue Bird’s name has long been surrounded by accolades — four-time WNBA champion, all-time league assist leader, four-time Olympic gold medalist — but will soon attain the ultimate honor.

Saturday, it was announced that the Seattle ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO – Facing a Houston lineup stocked with skyscraping centers and wings with enough athleticism to touch the clouds, Golden State’s flowing offense and free-wheeling sets were ground-bound in Sunday night’s 106-96 loss in Chase Center that featured Draymond Green earning both a technical and flagrant foul.

After scoring 125 ...Read more

The Chicago Bulls are finding a winning rhythm in a crucial final stretch of the regular season.

The Bulls won their third consecutive game Sunday, beating the Charlotte Hornets 131-117 on the road. It wasn’t a major test for the Bulls — the Hornets were one of the lightest opponents for the Bulls this season, ranking second-to-last in the ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — He has made 17 baskets.

He has played in the equivalent of less than three full games.

Seventeen Lakers have spent more time on the court. Sixteen Lakers have scored more points.

He has been but a speck of lint on the Lakers' lapel, a bit of dust at the end of the Lakers' bench, a small and irrelevant bystander in the Lakers' ...Read more

NEW YORK — You can’t always take Josh Hart seriously. His jokes fly fast, often hiding more truth than fiction. But every now and then, Hart hits the nail on the head. When the Knicks swingman spoke about how Jalen Brunson’s return might change the way New York plays, his words felt prophetic.

“Kal and OG being in a good rhythm ...Read more

BOSTON — Even without the services of two of their best players, the Celtics cruised to an expectedly one-sided victory over the last-place Washington Wizards on Sunday

With starters Jayson Tatum (ankle) and Kristaps Porzingis (illness) both sitting out, Boston defeated Washington 124-90 at TD Garden to improve to 58-20.

Seven Celtics ...Read more

SAN ANTONIO — The Cooper Flagg season ended with the ball in Cooper Flagg’s hands, one last shot to put Duke ahead in the final seconds. The shot every player thinks about in his driveway, even if there isn’t a commercial to document it.

This entire season had been building toward this, the entire NCAA Tournament, and Flagg turned in the ...Read more

OKLAHOMA CITY — The postseason road the Los Angeles Lakers want to take probably will roll through Oklahoma City at some point, the unquestioned best team in the Western Conference having played its way to the top with a level of all-around excellence rarely seen.

And the Lakers, heading into the final week of the regular season, have either ...Read more

SAN ANTONIO — In the end, blank stares replaced the knowing smiles of what had been an ultra-confident team.

Tyrese Proctor sat at his locker inside the Alamodome with a white towel covering his head, a similar pose to a year earlier when Duke was knocked out of the 2024 NCAA Tournament in Dallas by N.C. State.

That loss, to a Wolfpack team ...Read more

SAN ANTONIO – On the day Billy Donovan reached basketball immortality, his old program wrote an amazing story worthy of his legacy.

The Florida Gators – Coach Todd Golden’s unbelievable, inconceivable Florida Gators – punched their ticket to the national championship game with a gritty, emotional 79-73 win over Auburn on the very same ...Read more

MIAMI — The rumbling you are hearing is the tank rolling into South Florida, to arrive on Monday night at Kaseya Center in the form of the Philadelphia 76ers, having shut down Joel Embiid, Paul George, Tyrese Maxey and anyone else who might get in the way of losing, reverting to The Process of again coveting draft-lottery chances.

It’s the ...Read more

PORTLAND, Ore. — For the better part of 15 years, Brent Barry stayed involved in professional basketball by sitting around.

Once his playing career ended — which included a five-year stint in Seattle with the SuperSonics — Barry transitioned into being a voice of the league as a television analyst. When he wanted a different challenge, he...Read more

LOS ANGELES — They all realize what’s at stake and that having a healthy Kawhi Leonard gives the Los Angeles Clippers their best chance to win right now when it matters so much in the jumbled Western Conference.

So, when Leonard played on the second night of back-to-back games this season and his first in more than a year against the Dallas...Read more

SAN ANTONIO — For all of Cooper Flagg’s talents and production, the No. 1 Duke Blue Devils failed time and time again on the offensive end late Saturday night and were shockingly bounced from the NCAA Tournament.

Even with Flagg scoring 27 points, Duke made just one field goal in the game’s final 10 minutes, allowing Houston to erase a 14...Read more

MIAMI — At a time when more is needed than good job and good effort, that is what the Heat wound up with Saturday night for a second consecutive game at Kaseya Center.

A game after falling to the Memphis Grizzlies on a Ja Morant buzzer-beating jumper, the Miami Heat this time blew a seven-point lead late in regulation and fell, 121-115, in ...Read more

DETROIT — After missing the last six games because of a calf injury, Cade Cunningham returned to the lineup for the Detroit Pistons, who began a four-game homestand against the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night.

The All-Star point guard led Detroit with 25 points (9 of 24 field goals, 2 of 6 3-pointers), eight rebounds and three assists. ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — After a 15-point victory against Brooklyn on Thursday, Timberwolves coach Chris Finch knew his team didn’t have a full tank of gas, and he sounded this warning for the next few games:

“We’re gonna need to regroup here and find a second wind,” Finch said. “Because we still have a lot of basketball that means a lot to ...Read more

SAN ANTONIO — Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr. has a chance to add something rare to his growing NCAA Tournament legacy: a national championship.

A Gators’ career-high 34-point night pushed them past Auburn, 79-73, and into Monday night’s national title game while cementing his status as one of the best shotmakers in recent memory on ...Read more