An NBA free-agent class with a little something for everyone hits the market on July 1. The group includes an array of superstars, big men, glue guys and sharp-shooters.Here's a look at some of the players to follow when the action begins:THE SUPERSTARS— Kevin Durant (player option): Has expressed his desire to remain with the Warriors. He's in the middle of his prime as one of the game's premier players.— Paul George (player option): He has one of the best all-around games in the league and is still fairly young at 28.— LeBron James (player option): Still the free-agent grand prize at age 33, James has shown few signs of wear and tear despite 15 stellar seasons in the league.— Chris Paul (unrestricted): Among the league's best point guards even at 33, but he's struggled some with injuries over the years, including a hamstring issue in last year's playoffs.BIG MEN— Clint Capela (restricted): He's emerged as one of the league's top young big men after averaging 13.9 points, 10.8 rebounds... [More]

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio (AP) — Collin Sexton endeared himself to the Cavaliers with his competitive streak, speed and attitude long before they picked him in the NBA draft.His jersey number showed them something else: He's fearless.Sexton made quite a first impression by deciding to take No. 2, his college number but also the one previously worn in Cleveland by All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving. After showing off his jersey at a news conference Friday, Sexton said he doesn't feel pressure to live up to Irving's high standards."Not at all," he said. "Coming in, I'm going to set goals for myself and then as well there's going to be team goals set. But I feel like I'm not going to have to live up to anybody's shoes, but I'm going to come in and learn and be the best player I can be on the court as well as off the court."Some Cleveland fans feel No. 2 should be retired. After all, Irving made the biggest shot in franchise history in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals before asking to be traded last summer... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee Bucks guard Sterling Brown sued the city of Milwaukee and its police department Tuesday, saying officers' use of a stun gun during his arrest for a parking violation constitutes excessive force and that they targeted him because he is black.Brown's attorney Mark Thomsen filed the lawsuit in federal court, accusing police of "discriminating against Mr. Brown on the basis of his race." The lawsuit alleges officers involved in his arrest used their incident report to try to reframe what happened to give the impression Brown was resisted and obstructed them."Mr. Brown hopes that instead of the typical denial of the claims ... the city actually admit to the wrongs, admit that his constitutional rights were violated," Thomsen said at a news conference outside City Hall after filing the lawsuit.Brown had been talking with officers while waiting for a citation for illegally parking in a disabled spot outside a Walgreens at about 2 a.m. on Jan. 26, when officers took him... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee Bucks guard Sterling Brown sued the city of Milwaukee and its police department Tuesday, saying officers' use of a stun gun during his arrest for a parking violation constitutes excessive force and that they targeted him because he is black.Brown's attorney Mark Thomsen filed the lawsuit in federal court, accusing police of "discriminating against Mr. Brown on the basis of his race." The lawsuit alleges officers involved in his arrest used their incident report to try to reframe what happened to give the impression Brown was resisted and obstructed them."Mr. Brown hopes that instead of the typical denial of the claims ... the city actually admit to the wrongs, admit that his constitutional rights were violated," Thomsen said at a news conference outside City Hall after filing the lawsuit.Brown had been talking with officers while waiting for a citation for illegally parking in a disabled spot outside a Walgreens at about 2 a.m. on Jan. 26, when officers took him... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee Bucks guard Sterling Brown sued the city of Milwaukee and its police department Tuesday, saying officers' use of a stun gun during his arrest for a parking violation constitutes excessive force and that they targeted him because he is black.Brown's attorney Mark Thomsen filed the lawsuit in federal court, accusing police of "discriminating against Mr. Brown on the basis of his race." The lawsuit alleges officers involved in his arrest used their incident report to try to reframe what happened to give the impression Brown was resisted and obstructed them."Mr. Brown hopes that instead of the typical denial of the claims ... the city actually admit to the wrongs, admit that his constitutional rights were violated," Thomsen said at a news conference outside City Hall after filing the lawsuit.Brown had been talking with officers while waiting for a citation for illegally parking in a disabled spot outside a Walgreens at about 2 a.m. on Jan. 26, when officers took him... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee Bucks guard Sterling Brown sued the city of Milwaukee and its police department Tuesday, saying officers' use of a stun gun during his arrest for a parking violation constitutes excessive force and that they targeted him because he is black.Brown's attorney Mark Thomsen filed the lawsuit in federal court, accusing police of "discriminating against Mr. Brown on the basis of his race." The lawsuit alleges officers involved in his arrest used their incident report to try to reframe what happened to give the impression Brown was resisted and obstructed them."Mr. Brown hopes that instead of the typical denial of the claims ... the city actually admit to the wrongs, admit that his constitutional rights were violated," Thomsen said at a news conference outside City Hall after filing the lawsuit.Brown had been talking with officers while waiting for a citation for illegally parking in a disabled spot outside a Walgreens at about 2 a.m. on Jan. 26, when officers took him... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee Bucks guard Sterling Brown sued the city of Milwaukee and its police department Tuesday, saying officers' use of a stun gun during his arrest for a parking violation constitutes excessive force and that they targeted him because he is black.Brown's attorney Mark Thomsen filed the lawsuit in federal court, accusing police of "discriminating against Mr. Brown on the basis of his race." The lawsuit alleges officers involved in his arrest used their incident report to try to reframe what happened to give the impression Brown was resisted and obstructed them."Mr. Brown hopes that instead of the typical denial of the claims ... the city actually admit to the wrongs, admit that his constitutional rights were violated," Thomsen said at a news conference outside City Hall after filing the lawsuit.Brown had been talking with officers while waiting for a citation for illegally parking in a disabled spot outside a Walgreens at about 2 a.m. on Jan. 26, when officers took him... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — For the second straight year, throngs of Golden State Warriors fans turned out for a victory parade to celebrate a team some are calling an NBA dynasty and got a treat when several players got off their buses to mingle with the crowd.Hundreds of thousands of fans in gold and blue and holding signs that read "Dynasty" and "Back to Back Champions" waved from behind barriers set up along the route in downtown Oakland, California, as the Warriors rode by in the open, double-decker buses Tuesday.Stephen Curry, NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant and the rest of the Warriors, who won their third title in four years last week, took turns raising the Larry O'Brien Trophy for the roaring crowd, which officials said could reach up to 1 million fans.Officials had promised an "interactive" parade with some fans able to ask the players questions and giant TV screens for the crowd to see them and hear their answers as the moved along the route. But there were no screens and when Klay Thompson... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — For the second straight year, throngs of Golden State Warriors fans turned out for a victory parade to celebrate a team some are calling an NBA dynasty and got a treat when several players got off their buses to mingle with the crowd.Hundreds of thousands of fans in gold and blue and holding signs that read "Dynasty" and "Back to Back Champions" waved from behind barriers set up along the route in downtown Oakland, California, as the Warriors rode by in the open, double-decker buses Tuesday.Stephen Curry, NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant and the rest of the Warriors, who won their third title in four years last week, took turns raising the Larry O'Brien Trophy for the roaring crowd, which officials said could reach up to 1 million fans.Officials had promised an "interactive" parade with some fans able to ask the players questions and giant TV screens for the crowd to see them and hear their answers as the moved along the route. But there were no screens and when Klay Thompson... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — For the second straight year, throngs of Golden State Warriors fans turned out for a victory parade to celebrate a team some are calling an NBA dynasty and got a treat when several players got off their buses to mingle with the crowd.Hundreds of thousands of fans in gold and blue and holding signs that read "Dynasty" and "Back to Back Champions" waved from behind barriers set up along the route in downtown Oakland, California, as the Warriors rode by in the open, double-decker buses Tuesday.Stephen Curry, NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant and the rest of the Warriors, who won their third title in four years last week, took turns raising the Larry O'Brien Trophy for the roaring crowd, which officials said could reach up to 1 million fans.Officials had promised an "interactive" parade with some fans able to ask the players questions and giant TV screens for the crowd to see them and hear their answers as the moved along the route. But there were no screens and when Klay Thompson... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — For the second straight year, throngs of Golden State Warriors fans turned out for a victory parade to celebrate a team some are calling an NBA dynasty.Hundreds of thousands of fans in gold and blue and holding signs that read "Dynasty" and "Back to Back Champions" waved from behind barriers set up along the route in downtown Oakland, California, as the Warriors rode by in an open, double-decker bus.Stephen Curry, NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant and the rest of the Warriors, who won their third title in four years last week, took turns raising the Larry O'Brien Trophy for the roaring crowd, which officials said could reach up to 1 million fans.Officials had promised an "interactive" parade with some fans able to ask the players questions and giant TV screens for the crowd to see them and hear their answers as the moved along the route. But there were no screens and when Klay Thompson used a megaphone to say hello, his greeting was drowned out by the cheering crowd.Curry... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — For the second straight year, throngs of fans celebrated the Golden State Warriors with a parade for a team some are calling a basketball dynasty.Throngs of fans in gold and blue T-shirts and holding signs that read "Dynasty" and "Back to Back Champions" have taken their places behind barriers set up along the route hours before the celebration is set to start at 11 a.m. Tuesday in downtown Oakland, California.As many as 1 million fans are expected to come out and cheer Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and the rest of the Warriors, who won their third title in four years.The NBA champions have gone back-to-back, beating LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers 108-85 on Friday night to finish off a four-game sweep of these NBA Finals in the fourth consecutive meeting between these clubs.Oakland resident Jasmine Culp, 36, painted her lips blue and dressed in a sparkling golden sequined dress, sash, and blue-gold feather accessories to attend the parade with her three children,... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — For the second straight year, throngs of Oakland fans will get to celebrate the Golden State Warriors with a parade for a team some are calling a basketball dynasty.Hundreds of thousands of fans are expected to line downtown Oakland streets Tuesday to cheer Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and the rest of the Warriors winning their third title in four years.The NBA champions have gone back-to-back, beating LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers 108-85 on Friday night to finish off a four-game sweep of these NBA Finals in the fourth consecutive meeting between these clubs.Oakland city streets have been lined with gold and blue banners and shop and restaurant owners along the parade route say they are getting ready to open their businesses during the celebration.Fasil Lemma, who owns De Lauer's Newsstand, said he will be selling the new championship T-shirts and gear from past championships."It's very exciting," Lemma told the East Bay Times. "We want to serve the community."Officials... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Warriors general manager Bob Myers expects swift negotiations to re-sign two-time reigning NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant and coach Steve Kerr.Durant could sign for as long as four years and about $160 million, and Myers is prepared to give him "whatever he wants." Durant has said all along he wants to stay put, especially after winning a pair of championships in his first two seasons with Golden State."Sometimes you don't negotiate. I'd love to have him for 10 years. Kevin Durant, look what he did for us last year, he did us a great service," Myers said. "He's earned the right to sign whatever deal he wants. I just want him to sign a deal. But want him to be happy and want him to know that we want him as long as he wants to be here. He's earned that, to kind of lay out the terms. He can do whatever he wants. That shouldn't be a long negotiation. Our goal, to be honest, is to try to keep the whole thing together, so that's the pieces of the puzzle we've got to try to... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Warriors general manager Bob Myers expects swift negotiations to re-sign two-time reigning NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant and coach Steve Kerr.Durant could sign for as long as four years and about $160 million, and Myers is prepared to give him "whatever he wants."Myers says: "I'd love to have him 10 years. He's earned the right to sign whatever deal he wants. ... That shouldn't be a long negotiation."Kerr has one year remaining on his original five-year contract, so he would receive a multiyear extension — and Kerr wants to coach Golden State for the long haul, perhaps for another decade if he can.Myers wants to keep as much of the core of the two-time defending champions intact while also realizing the Warriors will be a younger team without the same veteran presence.Key reserve David West is contemplating retirement.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball

CLEVELAND (AP) — The NBA might have to get used to this.Stephen Curry is under contract for basically the rest of his prime. Kevin Durant says he isn't going anywhere. Steve Kerr has more than proven himself as one of the game's best coaches. Free agents will line up for the chance to move west even if that means taking some pay cuts. There's even a new arena coming in a year or so for the Golden State Warriors to call home.It's their league now, without question.For the third time in four years, the Warriors are champions of the NBA world. They've gone back-to-back, beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 108-85 on Friday night to finish off a sweep of these NBA Finals in the fourth consecutive meeting between those clubs.The Cavs may very well be coming apart.The Warriors look very much built to last, and no matter where LeBron James goes this summer it'll probably be Golden State as the prohibitive favorites to win it all again next year."You don't want to cheat the moment," Curry said, the... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — This was not exactly the same shot from Kevin Durant.Game 3 of the NBA Finals again, yes.Left wing pull-up, yes.Back in Cleveland, yes.Final minute again, yes.But this one was deeper than his dagger was a year ago — and it cut deeper as well. And on a night where Stephen Curry couldn't shoot and Klay Thompson wasn't much better, Durant put the Golden State Warriors on his slender shoulders and carried them to the brink of becoming back-to-back NBA champions for the first time.Durant's 33-footer was the final act in his 43-point night, and the Warriors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 110-102 in Game 3 of the finals on Wednesday night to take a 3-0 lead in the title series for the second straight season. A year ago, his shot from a bit closer — 26 feet, officially — put the Warriors ahead to stay in what became a five-point win. This time, the longer one put Golden State up by six and sent fans starting to head toward the exits."Different game, different season, different feel,"... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — This was not exactly the same shot from Kevin Durant.Game 3 of the NBA Finals again, yes.Left wing pull-up, yes.Back in Cleveland, yes.Final minute again, yes.But this one was deeper than his dagger was a year ago — and it cut deeper as well. And on a night where Stephen Curry couldn't shoot and Klay Thompson wasn't much better, Durant put the Golden State Warriors on his slender shoulders and carried them to the brink of becoming back-to-back NBA champions for the first time.Durant's 33-footer was the final act in his 43-point night, and the Warriors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 110-102 in Game 3 of the finals on Wednesday night to take a 3-0 lead in the title series for the second straight season. A year ago, his shot from a bit closer — 26 feet, officially — put the Warriors ahead to stay in what became a five-point win. This time, the longer one put Golden State up by six and sent fans starting to head toward the exits."Different game, different season, different feel,"... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Learn from your mistakes, Golden State.Learn from how one got away in 2016. Learn from how sleepwalking through the third quarter on Sunday night made Game 2 of this series much more interesting than it ever should have been, at least until Stephen Curry went wild in the fourth quarter. Learn from Boston, both this year and six years ago. Learn from what cost San Antonio a title in 2013, too.Don't give LeBron James hope.Or else.Golden State leads these NBA Finals 2-0, after a 122-103 win put the defending champions two wins away from what would be their third title in the last four seasons. Only four teams have ever wasted a 2-0 lead in the finals — and Golden State is one of them, letting a championship ring slip away against James and the Cavaliers two years ago.The series shifts to Cleveland for Game 3 on Wednesday night. James looked exhausted when Game 2 was over, but he'll be somewhat rested by then. And he will most definitely be fueled by a boisterous home... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Learn from your mistakes, Golden State.Learn from how one got away in 2016. Learn from how sleepwalking through the third quarter on Sunday night made Game 2 of this series much more interesting than it ever should have been, at least until Stephen Curry went wild in the fourth quarter. Learn from Boston, both this year and six years ago. Learn from what cost San Antonio a title in 2013, too.Don't give LeBron James hope.Or else.Golden State leads these NBA Finals 2-0, after a 122-103 win put the defending champions two wins away from what would be their third title in the last four seasons. Only four teams have ever wasted a 2-0 lead in the finals — and Golden State is one of them, letting a championship ring slip away against James and the Cavaliers two years ago.The series shifts to Cleveland for Game 3 on Wednesday night. James looked exhausted when Game 2 was over, but he'll be somewhat rested by then. And he will most definitely be fueled by a boisterous home... [More]