Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Phoenix’s Devin Booker have been 3-point champions at All-Star weekend before, and they’ll try to win that trophy again Sunday. The NBA revealed the 15 players Tuesday who will be taking part in the other on-court events besides the All-Star Game in Atlanta, with the overwhelming majority of them pulling double-duty between those competitions and the game itself. Curry, Booker, the Boston duo of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, Chicago’s Zach LaVine and Utah’s Donovan Mitchell — all of them All-Stars — will be the six competitors in the 3-point contest. All-Stars Luka Doncic of Dallas, Domantas Sabonis of Indiana, Julius Randle of New York, Nikola Vucevic of Orlando and Chris Paul of Phoenix will be five of the six entrants in the skills competition. They’ll be joined by Portland’s Robert Covington, the only current NBA player who is a graduate of a historically Black college and university. Covington went to Tennessee State. HBCUs will be a major part of... [More]

PHOENIX (AP) — Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker was selected Wednesday to replace injured Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis in the NBA All-Star Game. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver choose Booker to take Davis' spot a day after Booker was snubbed by the league's head coaches for a reserve spot in the March 7 game in Atlanta. Booker received a big ovation from the home crowd Wednesday night when the sixth-year guard was announced as a two-time All-Star during the starting lineup introductions. Coach Monty Williams said pregame that the honor was well deserved. “The situation at the time was a bit weird for us when Devin didn't get the call, but we're grateful for what has transpired over the last few hours and we're just happy for Book,” Williams said. After Booker was snubbed Tuesday night, there was a chorus of disbelief from some of the league's top players, including LeBron James. “Devin Booker is the most disrespected player in our league!!! Simple as that,” the Lakers star tweeted.... [More]

PHOENIX (AP) — Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker was selected Wednesday to replace injured Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis in the NBA All-Star Game. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver choose Booker to take Davis' spot a day after Booker was snubbed by the league's head coaches for a reserve spot in the March 7 game in Atlanta. Booker received a big ovation from the home crowd Wednesday night when the sixth-year guard was announced as a two-time All-Star during the starting lineup introductions. Coach Monty Williams said pregame that the honor was well deserved. “The situation at the time was a bit weird for us when Devin didn't get the call, but we're grateful for what has transpired over the last few hours and we're just happy for Book,” Williams said. After Booker was snubbed Tuesday night, there was a chorus of disbelief from some of the league's top players, including LeBron James. “Devin Booker is the most disrespected player in our league!!! Simple as that,” the Lakers star tweeted.... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker was selected Wednesday to replace injured Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis in the NBA All-Star Game. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver choose Booker to take Davis' spot a day after Booker was snubbed by the league's head coaches for a reserve spot in the March 7 game in Atlanta. “Devin Booker is the most disrespected player in our league!!! Simple as that,” Lakers star LeBron James tweeted after Booker was left out Tuesday. Davis, voted in as a reserve, is sidelined by a strained right calf. Booker received his second straight All-Star selection, both as an injury replacement. He's averaging 24.7 points, 4.3 assists, 3.8 rebounds and shooting a career-high 50.1% from the field. Booker and fellow All-Star Chris Paul have helped Phoenix to a 20-10 record, fourth-best in the NBA. The Suns last had two All-Stars in 2009-10 with Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire.

New Orleans forward Zion Williamson now can be called an NBA All-Star, and only three others in the game’s 70-year history have gotten there at a younger age. Williamson is one of four first-time All-Stars, all revealed Tuesday night when the league announced the reserves for the March 7 game in Atlanta. Joining him as fellow All-Star rookies: Boston’s Jaylen Brown, New York’s Julius Randle and Chicago’s Zach LaVine. Phoenix’s Chris Paul is an All-Star for the 11th time, and Brooklyn’s James Harden is one for the ninth consecutive year. The rest of the reserves include Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons, Boston’s Jayson Tatum and Orlando’s Nikola Vucevic from the Eastern Conference, along with the Los Angeles Lakers’ Anthony Davis, the Los Angeles Clippers’ Paul George, Utah teammates Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, and Portland’s Damian Lillard from the Western Conference. “It's definitely an honor," Mitchell said. Team captains LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers and Kevin Durant of the... [More]

PHOENIX (AP) — The bubble was encouraging for them and so was the offseason. But the real proof that the Phoenix Suns might be ready to end their 10-year playoff drought obviously wouldn't come until all the new players were actually on the floor. So far, so good. The Suns — built around the All-Star backcourt of Chris Paul and Devin Booker — have won six of the past seven games to push their record to 14-9 about one-third through the slightly shortened 72-game NBA season. That’s good for fourth place in the Western Conference behind the Jazz, Lakers and Clippers. Booker's goal is to show the Suns are just beginning to show what they can do. They've got another big opportunity Wednesday when they host Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks, who are 16-8 and second in the Eastern Conference. “We're at a crucial part of the season where we have to lock in more than ever,” Booker said. “We need to do our work early instead of trying to make up games toward the end of the year.” Phoenix... [More]

PHOENIX (AP) — Phoenix Suns All-Star guard Devin Booker sat out Saturday night against the Denver Nuggets because of a left hamstring injury he suffered in overtime Friday night. Booker was hurt with about two minutes left in overtime when he landed awkwardly while going for a rebound. He slowly walked to the bench and didn't play during the final few possessions and the Nuggets rallied for a 130-126 victory. Suns coach Monty Williams said on Saturday that Booker's hamstring was sore and that his status for the coming week was uncertain. Phoenix won't play again until Wednesday when it hosts Oklahoma City. Booker leads the Suns with a 22.9 scoring average and had 31 on Friday. Williams wasn't sure who would start in Booker's place, adding that his production couldn't be replaced by just one player. When Booker went to the bench in overtime, he was replaced by Cameron Payne, who is averaging 7 points and about 17 minutes. The Suns are off to an 8-6 start this season and trying to make the playoffs for the first time in more than a decade. ___ More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

PHOENIX (AP) — Chris Paul is a little uncomfortable with the notion that he comes to the Phoenix Suns as a wise veteran player who can impart his knowledge to the next generation of stars. Sure, he knows he's in his mid-30s and time isn't going backward. Yes, he's ready to pair with Devin Booker, who just turned 24 and is one of the game's top young scorers. And certainly, after 15 years, 1,020 regular-season games and 109 postseason games, he's learned a few things along the way. But just because he's got a Ph.D. in NBA basketball doesn't mean he's coming to the desert to be a professor. “I'm not James Naismith by no means,” Paul said grinning. “It's fun for me. First things first, I'm not just coming here to teach everybody. I'm (Booker's) teammate. We're here to hoop, we're here to compete and that's the way I approach this.” Paul, 35, showed he can still play at a high level last season in Oklahoma City, making his 10th All-Star team while averaging 17.6 points and 6.7 assists per game.... [More]

Chris Paul holds a $44 million option for the 2021-22 season, a massive payday that may have kept some teams from trying to trade for the All-Star point guard. The Phoenix Suns weren’t deterred. They have a pair of All-Stars in their backcourt now, with hopes the duo of Paul and Devin Booker — one of the league’s most dynamic young scorers — will be enough to get the franchise back to the postseason for the first time since 2010. The trade sending Paul to the Suns from Oklahoma City was completed Monday night, a blockbuster to start what could be a wild few days of NBA transactions before training camps begin next month. The particulars: The Suns get Paul and forward Abdel Nader, while the Thunder get Kelly Oubre Jr., Ricky Rubio, Ty Jerome, Jalen Lecque and a protected 2022 first-round pick. “We are excited to welcome Chris Paul and Abdel Nader to Phoenix,” Suns general manager James Jones said. “Chris’ leadership and competitive approach to the game will have an immeasurable impact on... [More]

All-Star guard Chris Paul is being traded from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Phoenix Suns, where he'll play alongside one of the league's most dynamic young scorers in fellow All-Star Devin Booker, a person with knowledge of the situation said Monday. The Thunder are acquiring Ricky Rubio, Kelly Oubre, Jalen Lecque, Ty Jerome and a first-round pick that will be conveyed sometime between 2022 and 2025, said the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the trade had not been finalized by the league. Rubio reacted to the trade news with a tweet: “... what a business," he wrote. It is a huge leap for the Suns, who went 8-0 inside the NBA's restart bubble at Walt Disney World in a frantic, but futile, quest to make the playoffs. Paul is owed about $41 million for this season and has a $44 million player option for next season, which was too much of an impediment for other teams that considered acquiring him last summer. The Suns, however, deemed it worth... [More]

All-Star guard Chris Paul is being traded from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Phoenix Suns, where he'll play alongside one of the league's most dynamic young scorers in fellow All-Star Devin Booker, a person with knowledge of the situation said Monday. The Thunder are acquiring Ricky Rubio, Kelly Oubre, Jalen Lecque, Ty Jerome and a first-round pick that will be conveyed sometime between 2022 and 2025, said the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the trade had not been finalized by the league. Rubio reacted to the trade news with a tweet: “... what a business," he wrote. It is a huge leap for the Suns, who went 8-0 inside the NBA's restart bubble at Walt Disney World in a frantic, but futile, quest to make the playoffs. Paul is owed about $41 million for this season and has a $44 million player option for next season, which was too much of an impediment for other teams that considered acquiring him last summer. The Suns, however, deemed it worth... [More]

PHOENIX (AP) — Coach Monty Williams could sense a few eye rolls earlier this summer when the Phoenix Suns and their extremely mediocre 26-39 record were invited to the NBA's bubble.A few months later, the Suns are the talk of the league after winning all eight games in Florida and nearly making a run all the way to the playoffs.“I think we've gained the respect of the league and that's huge,” Williams said. “It's huge for us as an organization. It's huge for us as a team. There was some sentiment before this that we didn't belong. I think we changed that sentiment.”The Suns won't be in the playoffs for a 10th straight season after the Portland Trail Blazers edged the Brooklyn Nets 134-133 on Thursday night to clinch the final spot in the Western Conference play-in series. But for Phoenix, it's hard not to be encouraged by its 8-0 run in the bubble.“We took tremendous strides in so many different ways,” All-Star guard Devin Booker said. “Other than just basketball, too. We became closer... [More]

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

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

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

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — The last time Devin Booker walked off the court as a winner in four consecutive games, these were the opponents: Hampton, Cincinnati, West Virginia and Notre Dame.That is, until now.Booker and the Phoenix Suns — the team that came to the NBA restart at Walt Disney World with the worst record in the Western Conference and the second-worst record of the 22 teams in the field — are perhaps the best story of the bubble.They’re 4-0 at Disney, breathing real life into playoff hopes that basically were nonexistent when the season was suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic on March 11. It’s the team’s first four-game winning streak since December 2018; Booker missed one of those games, so it’s his first run of four wins in a row since helping Kentucky make its Final Four run in 2015.“It definitely feels like a tournament, a big AAU tournament, the March Madness tournament,” Phoenix’s Cameron Payne said Friday. “That’s something I never even got a chance to be... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — The last time Devin Booker walked off the court as a winner in four consecutive games, these were the opponents: Hampton, Cincinnati, West Virginia and Notre Dame.That is, until now.Booker and the Phoenix Suns — the team that came to the NBA restart at Walt Disney World with the worst record in the Western Conference and the second-worst record of the 22 teams in the field — are perhaps the best story of the bubble.They’re 4-0 at Disney, breathing real life into playoff hopes that basically were nonexistent when the season was suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic on March 11. It’s the team’s first four-game winning streak since December 2018; Booker missed one of those games, so it’s his first run of four wins in a row since helping Kentucky make its Final Four run in 2015.“It definitely feels like a tournament, a big AAU tournament, the March Madness tournament,” Phoenix’s Cameron Payne said Friday. “That’s something I never even got a chance to be... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Houston's Russell Westbrook hasn't made it to the NBA restart yet.The coronavirus did — but health protocols seemed to work as the league and its players hoped they would.On a day of troubling news for the league — Westbrook revealing that he has tested positive for the virus and two other players facing 10-day quarantines for leaving the league campus perimeter at Walt Disney World — it was also announced that two players tested positive for the virus after arriving in Central Florida last week.But neither of those positive players ever made it out of quarantine, so neither entered the so-called bubble and could mingle freely with other players, coaches and staff. The NBA said both players, neither of whom were identified, “have since left the Campus to isolate at home or in isolation housing.” They could rejoin their teams later.“Our protocols are unbelievable,” said Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry, one of the players who helped craft the restart rules.... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Houston's Russell Westbrook hasn't made it to the NBA restart yet.The coronavirus did — but health protocols seemed to work as the league and its players hoped they would.On a day of troubling news for the league — Westbrook revealing that he has tested positive for COVID-19 and two other players facing 10-day quarantines for leaving the league campus perimeter at Walt Disney World — it was also announced that two players tested positive for the coronavirus after arriving in Central Florida last week.But neither player made it out of quarantine, so neither entered the so-called bubble and could mingle freely with other players, coaches and staff. The NBA said both players, neither of whom were identified, “have since left the Campus to isolate at home or in isolation housing.”“Our protocols are unbelievable,” Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry said. “I think our protocols and our health and safety measures have been top-notch. I think this thing will work perfectly.... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Russell Westbrook of the Houston Rockets said Monday that he has tested positive for coronavirus, and that he plans to eventually join his team at the restart of the NBA season.Westbrook made the revelation on social media. As recently as Sunday, the Rockets believed that Westbrook and James Harden — neither of whom traveled with the team to Walt Disney World near Orlando last week — would be with the team in the next few days.In Westbrook's case, that now seems most unlikely.“I tested positive for covid-19 prior to my teams departure to Orlando," Westbrook wrote on his Instagram page. “I'm currently feeling well, quarantined, and looking forward to rejoining my teammates when I am cleared."Westbrook is averaging 27.5 points, eight rebounds and seven assists per game for the Rockets this season. Houston has clinched a playoff spot and resumes its season with the first of eight seeding games on July 31 against Dallas.Westbrook also offered a word of caution... [More]