LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Miami Heat forward Derrick Jones Jr. was carted off the court and fitted for a neck brace after colliding with Indiana Pacers center Goga Bitadze late in the third quarter Friday.Jones was trying to get around a screen when he ran into the 6-foot-11 Bitadze and fell to the floor. Jones lay on his stomach for several minutes with his right hand over the back of his head.Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said after Miami's 109-92 loss that the issue was with Jones' shoulder and neck. Jones was evaluated by doctors on-site and was getting more tests Friday night, including an MRI and CT scan. Spoelstra urged caution before reacting one way or another until all tests have been completed. But the initial signs, including that Jones had movement and was not reporting numbness in his extremities, were considered positive.The Heat face the Pacers in an Eastern Conference first-round playoff series beginning Tuesday.Players from both teams stood on the court in silence as Heat... [More]

Vlade Divac has stepped down as general manager of the Sacramento Kings and will be replaced on an interim basis by Joe Dumars.The Kings announced the move Friday, a day after they ended their 14th straight season without a playoff berth. That’s the longest active drought in the NBA and one shy of the record.“This was a difficult decision, but we believe it is the best path ahead as we work to build a winning team that our loyal fans deserve,” Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé said. “We are thankful for Vlade’s leadership, commitment and hard work both on and off the court. He will always be a part of our Kings family.” Divac was initially hired by the Kings in March 2013 as vice president of basketball operations and franchise operations. He became general manager in August 2015 but was unable to get the Kings back into the playoffs.He traded DeMarcus Cousins to New Orleans in 2017 and made the decision to draft Marvin Bagley III second overall in 2018, one spot ahead of Luka Doncic.The Kings... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Miami Heat forward Derrick Jones Jr. was carted off the court and fitted for a neck brace after colliding with Indiana Pacers center Goga Bitadze late in the third quarter Friday.Jones was trying to get around a screen from Bitadze when he collided with the 6-foot-11 center and fell to the floor. Jones lay on his stomach for several minutes with his right hand over the back of his head.He had a towel over as he was carted off the court.Players from both teams stood on the court in silence as Heat personnel and eventually emergency medical workers tended to Jones. Once the brace was on, they rolled him onto a backboard and lifted him onto a stretcher before wheeling him off the floor.Heat center Bam Adebayo, one of Jones’ closest friends on the team and someone who was not playing in Friday’s game, followed the group of rescue workers off the floor. Jones appeared to have movement in most of his extremities, and was tapping the toes of his sneakers on the court several times while being evaluated.The Heat did not have any immediate diagnosis.Jones has averaged 8.6 points, 4 rebounds and 23.4 minutes for the Heat this season. He won the slam dunk championship during the All-Star break.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Mo Bamba will not play for the Orlando Magic in this season’s playoffs, after the team announced Friday that he has left the bubble for testing related to his previous bout with coronavirus.Bamba was diagnosed with COVID-19 on June 11. The 22-year-old appeared in 62 games with the Magic this season but logged only 11 minutes of action in Orlando’s first two seeding games at Walt Disney World.He did not appear in any of Orlando’s final six seeding games.“On the advice of the Magic’s human performance staff and team physicians, Orlando Magic center Mo Bamba has left the NBA campus for a comprehensive post-Coronavirus evaluation,” the team said in a release Friday announcing the move.The 7-foot Bamba averaged 5.4 points and 4.9 rebounds for the Magic this season. He was the No. 6 overall pick in the 2018 draft.Orlando plays Milwaukee in the first round of the NBA playoffs.

Months after the world was reminded of the best run in Chicago Bulls history, the franchise closed a chapter on one of its worst.The Chicago Bulls fired coach Jim Boylen on Friday as the new front office begins its remake of a team that missed the playoffs for the fourth time in five years — — a tough stretch for a franchise whose dominance in the 1990s was chronicled in the ESPN documentary “The Last Dance.”The Bulls finished 22-43 this season and were one of the eight teams that didn't qualify for the NBA's restart at Walt Disney World, where the playoffs begin next week. The move was hardly a surprise. Only Tim Floyd (.205) had a lower winning percentage than Boylen (.317) in franchise history.“This was a very difficult decision, but it is time for our franchise to take that next step as we move in a new direction and era of Chicago Bulls basketball,” said rturas Karnisovas, the team's new executive vice president of basketball operations. “Jim is a great human being that cares deeply... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Kyle Lowry spent 13 years chasing an NBA championship before finally getting the ring. His career is closer to the end than the beginning. He’s made his money. His jersey will sway from rafters in Toronto one day. He’ll be a candidate for the Basketball Hall of Fame a few years after retiring.It begs the question: What’s left?Lowry’s answer is succinct: More.Getting that first NBA title last season finally satisfied one quest for the Raptors’ point guard — but also whet his appetite for another one. So now the defending champions are returning to the NBA playoffs, with their on-court leader determined to win the whole thing once again.“That feeling is unmatched,” Lowry said. “Other than my children being born, I don’t think I’ve had a feeling like that, ever. And that’s the motivation to keep doing that.”He’s shown all season that the fire is real, too.Now 34 years old, Lowry led the Raptors — who lost NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard and fellow starter Danny Green... [More]

The Chicago Bulls fired coach Jim Boylen on Friday, the new front office beginning its remake of a team that missed the playoffs again. The Bulls, who finished 22-43 this season, were one of the eight teams that didn't qualify for the NBA's restart at Walt Disney World. That meant they wouldn't make the postseason for the fourth time in five years — a tough stretch for a franchise whose dominance in the 1990s was chronicled in the ESPN documentary “The Last Dance.”The move was hardly a surprise. Only Tim Floyd (.205) had a lower winning percentage than Boylen (.317) in franchise history.“This was a very difficult decision, but it is time for our franchise to take that next step as we move in a new direction and era of Chicago Bulls basketball,” Karnisovas said in a statement. “Jim is a great human being that cares deeply about this organization and the game of basketball.”A longtime NBA assistant, Boylen got his first head coaching job in the league in December 2018 when the Bulls fired... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Luke Walton was trying to find the right words to motivate his players to finish the season strong.The Sacramento Kings had been eliminated from playoff contention, which was nothing new for the team with the NBA’s longest streak of missing the postseason.Yet, even players who’d spent their whole careers with the organization had never heard the type of speech their coach made this week. This wasn’t the normal talk of playing for pride, of trying to make an impression for next season. “He said something like, ‘We don’t know when the basketball is going to come back after this time,’” guard Bogdan Bogdanovic said. The 22 teams who qualified for the NBA’s restart will be down to 16 by the end of the weekend, when the playoff bracket is set. The other six clubs exit World Disney World the same way as tourists who normally pack the place.Their fun is over. Now it’s back to the real world, and the real world in 2020 is an unsettling place. “The unknown, none of... [More]

NBA players are building on the framework of Colin Kaepernick’s protests during the national anthem that helped raise awareness about police brutality, efforts that have permeated the league since it restarted its season in Florida last month amid the coronavirus pandemic. But where Kaepernick’s demonstrations raised awareness, NBA players want their actions to move the needle further. But transforming the widespread embrace for social justice in America from a moment into a movement requires targeting systemic barriers and changing laws, not just mindsets.One target has been voting, with initiatives such as the LeBron James-led More Than A Vote.“We have some ears," James said recently, “and we will continue to push the envelope."Pushing the voting envelope could provide a tangible legacy for today’s socially conscience players who want to transition symbolism into substantive change.According to Pew Research Center, Black voter turnout saw a sizable jump during the 2018 midterm elections... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo has been suspended for Milwaukee’s final game of the regular season, handed a one-game penalty Wednesday for headbutting Washington’s Moe Wagner.It’s unknown if Antetokounmpo would have played in Thursday’s game against Memphis anyway, given that the Bucks have already secured the No. 1 overall seed in the NBA playoffs that start next week.Antetokounmpo will be eligible for Game 1 of the Bucks’ first-round series against Orlando, which will almost certainly be played Monday or Tuesday at Walt Disney World.The incident happened Tuesday night, when Wagner took a charge against Antetokounmpo in the second quarter. Antetokounmpo appeared to be speaking angrily, followed Wagner to the other end and the headbutt took place a few seconds later.Antetokounmpo said after the game that the headbutt was a “terrible action” and that if he “could go back, turn back time and go back to that play, I wouldn’t do it.” He said he was frustrated by an accumulation of contact, on a night where he had already been awarded 12 free throws in his first 10 minutes of play.Antetokounmpo was ejected from the game for the Flagrant-2 foul. He finishes the regular season with averages of 29.5 points, 13.6 rebounds and 5.6 assists, numbers that are likely good enough to win him a second consecutive NBA MVP award.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana Pacers coach Nate McMillan wasn't sure how this season would end.So before the league's teams arrived in the NBA bubble, McMillan and president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard started discussing a potential contract extension.On Wednesday, McMillan and the Pacers added another year to his current deal, which was set to expire after next season.“It's just a one-year extension. I felt that was appropriate for both sides," McMillan told reporters on a pregame Zoom call. “Normally, I don’t do any negotiations 'till after the season. But this has been an unusual season for all of us — coaches, players and management — and we’d been talking about this. We just thought a one-year extension really was appropriate."The relationship between McMillan and Pritchard predates their arrival in Indianapolis.After Pritchard finished the 2004-05 season as Portland's interim coach, he became the team's assistant general manager and was later promoted to GM before he was... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Damian Lillard has no shortage of motivation.There’s the painful kind, the kind that comes from dealing with the death three months ago of a cousin who was very close to him. There’s the made-up variety, stemming from the belief he shared Tuesday night that people who cover the league don’t respect his work. There’s the silly stuff, like a back-and-forth on social media with other NBA players.And then there’s probably the biggest sort — his want to get the Portland Trail Blazers back to the playoffs.He topped a 51-point performance on Sunday by offering a 61-point performance on Tuesday, doing all that with the Blazers’ postseason fate still not secure and knowing that any loss would put a sizable dent in those playoff hopes. He’s the 12th player in NBA history to have consecutive 50-point games, and just the second — joining only Wilt Chamberlain — to have three 60-point games in a season.“Couldn’t have been a better time for that type of game,” Lillard said... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo was ejected from Milwaukee's game against the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night after the NBA MVP headbutted Moritz Wagner.Wagner took a charge from Antetokounmpo, who didn’t like the call in what had become a physical game.During a break in the action with Milwaukee challenging the call, Antetokounmpo approached Wagner and started jabbering at him before headbutting him and drawing the ejection in the second quarter.He had 12 points and nine rebounds in 10 minutes before exiting the floor.The game itself is meaningless.The Bucks have already clinched the top seed in the East, while the Wizards, who are winless in the bubble, have already been eliminated from playoff contention.Antetokounmpo's headbutt could draw a punishment from the league and keep him out of the team's final seeding game against the Grizzlies on Thursday.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — There will be an NBA Bubble MVP.The league announced that there will be an All-Seeding Games Team and a Player of the Seeding Games, honoring the best performers from the seeding games that started July 30 and will conclude Friday.The awards will be announced Saturday afternoon, prior to Game 1 of the Western Conference play-in series. A panel of sportswriters and broadcasters who have been on-site at the Walt Disney World resort covering the season restart will vote for the award winners. There will be a five-player first team and a five-player second team, with no breakdowns by position.Top candidates would likely include Phoenix's Devin Booker, Dallas' Luka Doncic, Portland's Damian Lillard, Houston's James Harden, Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo and Indiana's T.J. Warren.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

NEW YORK (AP) — Tom Thibodeau made the first addition to his New York Knicks coaching staff on Tuesday, hiring Kenny Payne as an assistant.Payne has spent the last 10 years at Kentucky, where he has been John Calipari's associate head coach since 2014. He was part of the staff that won the 2012 national championship and won its first 38 games in 2014-15.Thibodeau said Payne has “an outstanding ability to forge relationships with players.”“He knows what it takes to win and has learned from one of the best coaches there is in John Calipari," Thibodeau added.Thibodeau was hired last month as coach of the Knicks, who have been one of the NBA's worst teams. Payne, on the other hand, has been part of one of college's best.The Wildcats reached four Final Fours and won 295 games with Payne working under Calipari, who like Thibodeau praised Payne's relationships with players.“As a basketball coach and a teacher, he could run any program in the country,” Calipari said. “Simply, he’s as good as they... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo will miss the Milwaukee Bucks’ game Monday with the Toronto Raptors after having oral surgery.Bucks coach Mike Budehnolzer said Monday it was uncertain whether Antetokounmpo would play in the team’s final two seeding games Tuesday against the Washington Wizards and Thursday against the Memphis Grizzlies.“I believe he’s going to be here in the arena today to support and be with his teammates,” Budenholzer said. “We’ll see how he responds, how he feels tomorrow.”Budenholzer said NBA protocols dealing with dental issues enabled Antetokounmpo to get treatment without having to spend time in quarantine. The Bucks have clinched the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference for a second straight season. ___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Zion Williamson’s rookie season is ending without a playoff berth.It’s not an uncommon stop on the NBA learning curve.Even for No. 1 draft picks, like Williamson was a year ago, winning takes time. The last player to go from being the top overall selection one year to a playoff-game starter the very next season was Derrick Rose — more than a decade ago. LeBron James needed three years to make the playoffs. John Wall needed four seasons. So did Kyrie Irving, his wait ending in large part because James returned to Cleveland.Williamson is about to learn what that process is like. The New Orleans Pelicans are out of playoff contention, something they pretty much knew was the case after a loss to San Antonio on Sunday afternoon — and something that became mathematically certain that night, when Portland beat Philadelphia.“What I see is what everybody else on the planet sees: that he’s a hard-working, aggressive player,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said of Williamson.... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Zion Williamson’s rookie season is ending without a playoff berth.It’s not an uncommon stop on the NBA learning curve.Even for No. 1 draft picks, like Williamson was a year ago, winning takes time. The last player to go from being the top overall selection one year to a playoff-game starter the very next season was Derrick Rose — more than a decade ago. LeBron James needed three years to make the playoffs. John Wall needed four seasons. So did Kyrie Irving, his wait ending in large part because James returned to Cleveland.Williamson is about to learn what that process is like. The New Orleans Pelicans are out of playoff contention, something they pretty much knew was the case after a loss to San Antonio on Sunday afternoon — and something that became mathematically certain that night, when Portland beat Philadelphia.“What I see is what everybody else on the planet sees: that he’s a hard-working, aggressive player,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said of Williamson.... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Zion Williamson’s rookie season is ending without a playoff berth.It’s not an uncommon stop on the NBA learning curve.Even for No. 1 draft picks, like Williamson was a year ago, winning takes time. The last player to go from being the top overall selection one year to a playoff-game starter the very next season was Derrick Rose -- more than a decade ago. LeBron James needed three years to make the playoffs. John Wall needed four seasons. So did Kyrie Irving, his wait ending in large part because James returned to Cleveland.Williamson is about to learn what that process is like. The New Orleans Pelicans are out of playoff contention, something they pretty much knew was the case after a loss to San Antonio on Sunday afternoon -- and something that became mathematically certain that night, when Portland beat Philadelphia.“What I see is what everybody else on the planet sees: that he’s a hard-working, aggressive player,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said of... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green’s suggestion for Devin Booker’s future did not amuse the NBA.The league fined Green $50,000 on Sunday for violating the league’s anti-tampering rule with his comments about Booker, the Phoenix Suns’ star guard.“Get my man out of Phoenix,” Green said Saturday during an appearance as an analyst for TNT. “It’s not good for him. It’s not good for his career.”Asked on-air if he was tampering, Green replied, “maybe.”The league tightened its rules before this season when it comes to matters such as tampering, salary cap circumvention and free agency timing rules — with one emphasis being the rule prohibiting player-to-player tampering.Booker has not been to the playoffs with the Suns, who have not made the postseason in 10 years. The Suns are 5-0 so far inside the so-called bubble at Walt Disney World, which is playing host to the NBA's restart, and that streak has moved Phoenix into playoff contention.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports