SOUTHIGTON, Conn. — The mere mention of the large, gray, trunked mammoth that wandered into the banquet room was enough for Dan Hurley to cringe.

Addressed more directly, he just waved it off. “Not another summer of that,” he said, as the dais was breaking up.

That should be enough to calm any fears that Hurley would entertain the ...Read more

SEATTLE — NBA commissioner Adam Silver indicated Thursday that there could be authorization to start a formal expansion process from the league’s owners coming in July during the next Board of Governor’s meeting.

Prior to Game 1 of the NBA Finals in Oklahoma City, Silver said he believes the current sense from owners is that expansion ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Jay-Z is in an Oklahoma City state of mind.

The billionaire rapper and producer bet $1 million to win $2.3 million on the Thunder to win the NBA Finals in five games over the Indiana Pacers.

Jay-Z placed the bet at Fanatics Sportsbook, which doesn’t operate in Nevada, at +230 odds, the book posted Thursday on X (@FanaticsBook)....Read more

OKLAHOMA CITY — For Hawks guard Trae Young, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s run to the NBA Finals comes with some conflicting feelings.

A fan of the team while growing up in Norman, Okla., Young is rooting for them as a hometown kid seeing the local franchise reach the pinnacle of an NBA season. But it mostly provides motivation to bring a ...Read more

CHICAGO — The Chicago Sky are set to make history Saturday when they face the Indiana Fever at the United Center — the first professional women’s basketball game played in the 31-year-old arena.

But one of the marquee matchups of this WNBA season took a hit when the Fever announced May 26 that Caitlin Clark would be out at least two weeks...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — By now, you’ve probably heard of the Kevin Bacon effect — the theory that everyone in Hollywood is only a few steps removed from Kevin Bacon. But let me introduce you to the Orlando Magic effect, a tragicomic tale in which the Magic unwittingly became the Kevin Bacon of the NBA.

Because somehow, some way, a single 2016 ...Read more

Charles Barkley isn’t quite done covering the NBA this season.

On Saturday, Barkley and his "Inside the NBA" colleagues said goodbye as TNT signed off following Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals. After 35 years, TNT will no longer air NBA games, which are moving to NBC and Amazon’s Prime Video as part of the league’s 11-year, $76 ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Jay Wright to the New York Knicks makes sense from every perspective except one.

Jay Wright’s.

He shouldn’t want this job. The city of Philadelphia shouldn’t want it for him. The list of reasons is as long as the one in the other direction. In fact, they are one and the same.

The money? Nope. There is as much money in ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Last summer, the 76ers made decisions that could ultimately set the franchise back for years to come.

They signed Paul George to a maximum-salary free-agency deal and gave Joel Embiid a supermax extension with the goal of building a superteam. But the All-Star trio of Tyrese Maxey, Embiid and George missed a combined 134 games ...Read more

DETROIT — The New York Knicks fired coach Tom Thibodeau on Tuesday. His surprise jettison came after he led the Knicks to their most successful season in 25 years.

New York advanced to the Eastern Conference finals following a 51-31 regular season. The Knicks' season ended in a six-game series against the Indiana Pacers, who will represent ...Read more

SEATTLE — The WNBA is looking into a complaint from Jewell Loyd who alleged that a Storm assistant coach cursed at her during a game this season, according to league sources who were not authorized to speak to the media.

It’s unclear when the alleged incident occurred, and the complaint is believed to have been lodged by the former Storm ...Read more

NEW YORK — The Knicks fired head coach Tom Thibodeau. The new question: Now what?

A franchise “singularly focused on winning a championship” must now settle on its locker room voice and basketball mastermind of the future.

The problem? The field hasn’t been more saturated with options in a long time.

Four NBA head coaches were ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Tim Connelly is a soft-spoken, likable gentleman who seems incapable of purposeful deceit. But when the Minnesota Timberwolves president of basketball operations discusses roster management, I often wish that comic quote bubbles were a real thing and not imaginary.

Just to know what he has up his sleeve.

Connelly is a human ...Read more

The NBA Finals start between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers on Thursday, and it’s a series that matters to the Golden State Warriors of the past and future.

In fact, the series hasn’t even started, and the Warriors are already in the crosshairs.

Well before Game 1, ESPN already compared the Thunder to the last NBA dynasty...Read more

NEW YORK — The New York Knicks read the room — and the writing was on the wall for head coach Tom Thibodeau.

The Knicks parted ways with Thibodeau, the fourth-most winningest coach in franchise history, just three days after their season ended in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Indiana Pacers on Saturday, a league source...Read more

NEW YORK — Jalen Brunson made his stance crystal clear.

Moments after the New York Knicks were eliminated in the Eastern Conference finals, Brunson was asked if he believed Tom Thibodeau was the right coach to lead the team moving forward.

“Is that a real question right now?” Brunson said. “You just asked me if I believe [Thibodeau] is...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — Let’s be perfectly clear about this. There is no room for argument on this point.

Rivalries made college sports.

Then and now.

Then: Army-Navy. The Ivy League. Michigan-Ohio State. Oklahoma-Texas. California-Stanford.

And now: UCLA-USC. Alabama-Auburn. Duke-UNC. The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.

Without those...Read more

HARTFORD, Conn. — Mark Daigneault didn’t come to UConn to play basketball, and he didn’t join the basketball program just to hang out. That was readily apparent to those around him soon after he became a student manager in 2004.

“He was a kid that had a quiet maturity,” Jim Calhoun said. “It took me about halfway through the year to...Read more

NEW YORK — Someone is set to make history in the 2025 NBA Finals.

If the Indiana Pacers win the championship, it would mark the first in the 58-year history of the franchise.

If the Oklahoma City Thunder win it, it would be their first since moving to OKC 17 years ago. The organization won one title — in 1979 — as the Seattle Supersonics...Read more