The argument happens most every year. Who is the NBA MVP?LeBron James has been the best player for most of his 15 years in the league, and he's won the award only four times. Russell Westbrook won it last year, buoyed by averaging a triple-double, yet seems to not even be in the conversation this season with very similar numbers. James Harden was a popular pick last season, saw his assist and rebound numbers dip this season, yet is generally considered the runaway favorite.Part of the issue is this: There's no clarity on how the MVP is defined.No one knows the criteria. The award ballot sent to MVP voters simply says "The winner of this award receives the Maurice Podoloff Trophy, named after the first Commissioner of the NBA."Is it the player most valuable to his team?Is it the player most valuable to the game?Is it the best player?Those are only some of the many gray areas.Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers has said many times over the years that James would win annually, if not for... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — It's rookie Cedi Osman's turn to start at point guard for the Cavaliers. Just about everyone else has gotten a chance.With guards Jose Calderon and George Hill out with injuries, Osman will make his first career start at guard on Thursday night when the Cavs host the Washington Wizards. Osman has made nine previous starts this season, but all were at small forward.The 6-foot-8 native of Turkey follows Calderon, Hill, LeBron James, Derrick Rose, Iman Shumpert and Isaiah Thomas to the point this season. Cleveland has been besieged by injuries and coach Tyronn Lue, who is back after missing nine games due to health reasons, is using his 29th different starting lineup against Washington.Calderon has given Cleveland a huge lift lately, but he's dealing with a sore left hamstring. Hill will miss his third straight game with a sprained left ankle. Calderon took part in the team's shootaround on Thursday, but was later ruled out by the Cavs.Lue could have started Jordan Clarkson... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — All-Star point guard John Wall is set to return to the Washington Wizards for the first time in two months.Wizards coach Scott Brooks said Saturday that Wall would play later in the day against the Charlotte Hornets.Wall hasn't played since having surgery on his left knee on Jan. 31. He is averaging 19.4 points and 9.3 assists in 37 games this season."It's exciting to have John back," said Brooks. We've got one of the fastest players in the league and oiur offense has been sputtering. It's going to be nice to get the Ferrari back."The Wizards went 15-12 without Wall, but have lost four of five to slip into sixth place in the Eastern Conference.Brooks said that there will be no minute restriction for Wall. Brooks also said that Wall most likely will not play on Sunday at Chicago in the second game of a back-to-back.___More AP NBA coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington Wizards point guard John Wall is not planning to change his style whatsoever when he returns from his latest knee surgery — whenever that might be."I'm just going to be John Wall," he said Monday after the second full-contact practice of his comeback from an operation on Jan. 31. "That's all I know how to do."The All-Star declared himself "feeling great" but said he is not sure when he will be able to play in a game for the Wizards, who desperately need help at the moment. Washington has lost three consecutive games heading into Tuesday night against the visiting San Antonio Spurs; coach Scott Brooks said Wall will not play in that one."It's getting close. He's had two really, really good days. His energy level is high. He's anxious. You can tell. He wants to get out there," Brooks said. "We still want to be patient."Washington has dropped to sixth in the Eastern Conference at 40-33 and will only have eight games remaining after facing the Spurs.The Wizards... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington Wizards point guard John Wall says he feels good after a pair of full-contact practices but is not sure when he will return to game action for his struggling team.Wall spoke to reporters on Monday, his first remarks in Washington since having surgery on his left knee Jan. 31. He said he lost about 10 or 15 pounds during his rehab, without intending to.The Wizards have lost three consecutive games heading into Tuesday night against the visiting San Antonio Spurs. Coach Scott Brooks said Wall will not play in that game.Washington has dropped to sixth in the Eastern Conference at 40-33. The team is 14-11 without Wall during his current absence and 19-17 overall this season without him.___More AP NBA coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington Wizards coach Scott Brooks is not entirely sure when All-Star point guard John Wall will return to full-fledged practicing after missing 1½ months so far because of surgery on his left knee.Brooks also doesn't know how much Wall will get a chance to play before the regular season ends on April 11. But Brooks insisted Tuesday that none of that really matters, so long as Wall eventually does make it back into Washington's lineup."He's moving in the right direction. He looked good today, with his shooting and his ball-handling and his work that he does on his own," Brooks said before the Wizards hosted the Minnesota Timberwolves. "I don't know how many games he will play. We're just going to wait until we know that he's ready to play. We're not desperate. It would be great to have him. I'd love to have him tonight. But that's not happening. We're not going to put ourselves in any position that we have to (use) him. We just want to make sure that he's ready to play."Wall... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — Washington still doesn't know when John Wall will play again. The Wizards simply know that the All-Star is getting closer.Wall worked out on the floor in Miami about a half-hour before the Wizards visited the Heat on Saturday night. He's done some courtwork in the past as part of his ongoing recovery from knee surgery, and this session was a continuation of the process."This Wednesday will be six weeks and we said six to eight weeks," Wizards coach Scott Brooks said. "It won't be six weeks."Wall took some jumpers and free throws, plus some layup drills that required him jumping off of both feet. Officially, he is still out indefinitely, though the Wizards seem convinced he will be back before the end of the regular season.Wall had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on Jan. 31, plus had surgeries on both knees after last season. The Wizards were 26-22 when Wall left the lineup; entering Saturday, they were 12-6 since he got hurt and have stayed very much in the mix for a top-four seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.Tomas Satoransky has been starting since, and Brooks said several players should be credited with adjusting their games with this no-Wall lineup."We had to change a little bit how we play," Brooks said. "He's such a dynamic player, he can score, he can help us score in transition as fast as anybody in the league. We couldn't expect Tomas to all of a sudden be that speedster up and down the court."

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Latest on NBA All-Star Saturday (all times local):7:30 p.m.Rookie Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz put on a show in the slam dunk contest to cap off NBA All-Star Saturday.Mitchell edged Larry Nance Jr. by two points, sealing his victory with a close approximation of the 360-degree spin dunk that Vince Carter used to win the 2000 contest."I wanted this so badly," Mitchell said. "This is one of my favorite events of All-Star weekend. To not only be in it, but to win it, it's crazy."Before making his winning dunk, Mitchell peeled off his Jazz jersey and wore a vintage Carter jersey from the Toronto Raptors.Mitchell — three inches shorter than the 6-foot-6 Carter — needed a score of 47 to beat Nance, and he got a 48 from the five judges: DJ Khaled, Mark Wahlberg, Chris Rock and Hall of Famers Julius Erving and Lisa Leslie.Nance, who was trying to win the contest 34 years after his father won it, had earned a perfect 50 with a dunk off a double alley-oop off the glass.Mitchell... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington Wizards point guard John Wall is expected to miss about six to eight weeks after having arthroscopic surgery on his left knee.The team announced the predicted timeline after Wall's operation on Wednesday.If Wall is sidelined for two months, he would sit out more than 25 games and return for the last half-dozen or so of the regular season.He already missed Washington's past two games, both victories, including 102-96 against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night.In all this season, Washington is 7-6 without their All-Star guard, and 28-22 overall, which puts them fifth in the Eastern Conference.Wall is second on the Wizards in scoring, averaging 19.4 points, and is second in the league with 9.3 assists per game.___More AP NBA coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball

CLEVELAND (AP) — Kevin Love's heart was questioned last week. The focus has switched to his broken left hand this week.And so it goes for the Cleveland Cavaliers, a championship-chasing team plagued by as much malfunction as dysfunction.Love fractured a bone in his left hand in the first half of an ugly loss on Tuesday night in Detroit, and the All-Star forward's injury and status likely will have a major effect on the team's plans to fix a season spiraling away.The Cavaliers are expected to provide a further medical update on Wednesday after Love, the team's second-leading scorer and top rebounder, is re-examined in Cleveland by team doctors.Early indications are that he'll miss as much as two months. Love's absence complicates things for the Cavs, who are 5-8 in January heading into Wednesday's game against Miami. The Heat can leap over Cleveland into third place in the Eastern Conference standings with a win.Love previously had surgery on the hand in 2009 when he was with Minnesota."It's... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington Wizards point guard John Wall will have arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on Wednesday and could miss much of the rest of the regular season.The Wizards announced Tuesday that Wall would have the operation in Cleveland and that a timeline for his return would be determined afterward.A person with direct knowledge of the injury said Wall could miss six to eight weeks. That person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team did not release any estimate of the length of Wall's absence. Washington's last regular-season game is April 11."It just proves that he wasn't the John that we know," backup guard Tomas Satoransky said. "His knee was bothering him all season long."This is the latest knee problem for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 NBA draft out of Kentucky. Wall had surgery on both of his knees before last season.Coach Scott Brooks delivered Tuesday's news to other players at a shootaround ahead of Washington's night game... [More]

DETROIT (AP) — Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond has been added to the NBA All-Star Game, replacing injured Washington guard John Wall .The Pistons announced Drummond's selection Tuesday night.Drummond is an All-Star for the second time. He also represented the Pistons in 2016. He entered Tuesday night's game against Cleveland averaging 14.7 points and 15.1 rebounds.After Drummond was initially left out of this year's All-Star game, he posted to his Twitter account: "Guess I gotta start doing back flips after every point I score to get attention around here!"___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington Wizards point guard John Wall will have arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on Wednesday and could miss much of the rest of the regular season.The Wizards announced Tuesday that Wall would have the operation in Cleveland and that a timeline for his return would be determined afterward.A person with direct knowledge of the injury said Wall could miss six to eight weeks. That person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team did not release any estimate of the length of Wall's absence. Washington's last regular-season game is April 11."It just proves that he wasn't the John that we know," backup guard Tomas Satoransky said. "His knee was bothering him all season long."This is the latest knee problem for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 NBA draft out of Kentucky. Wall had surgery on both of his knees before last season.Coach Scott Brooks delivered Tuesday's news to other players at a shootaround ahead of Washington's night game... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington Wizards point guard John Wall will have arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on Wednesday and could miss much of the rest of the regular season.The Wizards announced Tuesday that Wall would have the operation in Cleveland and that a timeline for his return would be determined afterward.A person with direct knowledge of the injury said Wall could miss six to eight weeks. That person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team did not release any estimate of the length of Wall's absence. Washington's last regular-season game is on April 11."It just proves that he wasn't the John that we know," backup guard Tomas Satoransky said. "His knee was bothering him all season long."This is the latest knee problem for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 NBA draft out of Kentucky. Wall had surgery on both of his knees before last season.Coach Scott Brooks delivered Tuesday's news to other players at a shootaround."The message is we just need... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington Wizards point guard John Wall will have arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on Wednesday and could miss much of the rest of the regular season.The Wizards announced Tuesday that Wall would have the operation in Cleveland and that a timeline for his return would be determined afterward.A person with direct knowledge of the injury said Wall could miss six to eight weeks. That person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team did not release any estimate of the length of Wall's absence. Washington's last regular-season game is on April 11.This is the latest knee problem for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 NBA draft out of Kentucky. He had surgery on both of his knees before last season.In July, Wall agreed to a $170 million, four-year contract extension that starts with next season.He was selected last week to participate in his fifth NBA All-Star game but now is expected to miss that event in Los Angeles next month.Wall is second... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington Wizards point guard John Wall will have arthroscopic surgery on his left knee and could miss much of the rest of the regular season.The Wizards say Wall will have the operation Wednesday in Cleveland and that a timeline would be determined after the procedure.A person with direct knowledge of the injury said Wall could miss six to eight weeks. That person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team did not release any estimate of the length of Wall's absence. Washington's last regular-season game is on April 11.Wall had surgery on both of his knees before last season.He was recently selected to his fifth NBA All-Star game. He is averaging 19.4 points and 9.3 assists this season.___AP Sports Writer Tom Withers in Cleveland contributed to this report.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two people familiar with John Wall's status say the Washington Wizards point guard will have surgery on his left knee.One person tells The Associated Press that the length of Wall's absence will be determined after the surgery. The other says the expectation is that Wall could miss six to eight weeks.Both people spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Tuesday because the Wizards had not announced that Wall needs an operation.He had surgery on both of his knees before last season.Wall was recently selected to his fifth NBA All-Star game. He is averaging 19.4 points and 9.3 assists this season.___AP Sports Writer Tom Withers in Cleveland contributed to this report.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball

ATLANTA (AP) — John Wall has a recurrence of soreness and swelling in his left knee and sat out the Washington Wizards' game against the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night.Wall was selected to his fifth All-Star team as a reserve Tuesday despite missing a total of nine games in late November and early December with the sore knee. He received platelet-rich plasma injections in late November to reduce the inflammation that caused the soreness.Coach Scott Brooks said before the game that Wall had more swelling and discomfort following Washington's game at Oklahoma City on Thursday. He said the sore knee has bothered Wall the last two games."After the last game a couple days ago, the swelling was there and it's sore," Brooks said. "Hopefully it calms down and we can continue to manage it as the season goes on."Wall was with the team in Atlanta."John definitely wanted to play," Brooks said, adding the team will "see how it is early next week and make a decision on what we're going to do next."Brooks said it was "pretty incredible" that Wall had 21 points and 12 assists in the loss to the Thunder despite the discomfort."I marvel at his toughness and his ability to play through it all," he said.___More NBA basketball: https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball

NEW YORK (AP) — LeBron James got Kevin Durant and reunited with Kyrie Irving in the NBA's first All-Star draft.Stephen Curry picked James Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo, the NBA's top two scorers, and grabbed his other two Golden State teammates in the selections Thursday.The draft was not televised, and neither James nor Curry would reveal who they chose first when they were interviewed on TNT when the rosters were unveiled. However, Durant later said that he had been the No. 1 selection.James was among those who said fans should have watched the proceedings and his decision to draft Irving could have made for a must-see moment. The point guard asked out of Cleveland last summer and the Cavaliers traded him to conference rival Boston."Kyrie was available on the draft board, he's one of the best point guards we have in our league," James said. "It was an easy choice for me."James and Curry will be the captains Feb. 18 in Los Angeles for the first NBA All-Star Game that doesn't use the... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — LeBron James got Kevin Durant and reunited with Kyrie Irving in the NBA's first All-Star draft.Stephen Curry picked James Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo, the NBA's top two scorers, and grabbed his other two Golden State teammates in the selections Thursday.The draft was not televised, and neither James nor Curry would reveal who they chose first when they were interviewed on TNT when the rosters were unveiled.James was among those who said fans should have watched the proceedings and his decision to draft Irving could have made for a must-see moment. The point guard asked out of Cleveland last summer and the Cavaliers traded him to conference rival Boston."Kyrie was available on the draft board, he's one of the best point guards we have in our league," James said. "It was an easy choice for me."James and Curry will be the captains Feb. 18 in Los Angeles for the first NBA All-Star Game that doesn't use the Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference format.James had the No.... [More]