SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Stephen Curry is aiming to return to the Golden State Warriors lineup on Sunday for the first time sine breaking his left hand in October.Coach Steve Kerr said Tuesday that the hope is that Curry will be able to play against Washington. Curry has been practicing in recent weeks and will be re-evaluated on Saturday before a final decision is made."He's had that date in his mind," Kerr said. "He'll continue to work this week and we'll make that determination on Saturday."Curry hasn't played since breaking his left hand on Oct. 30 against the Phoenix Suns. The Warriors (12-45) have the worst record in the NBA this season after making five straight trips to the NBA Finals.Curry has played only four games and Klay Thompson has missed the entire season recovering from a serious knee injury.Kerr said he wants Curry to get time to play with recently acquired forward Andrew Wiggins down the stretch to help make for a smoother transition next season.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kobe Bryant’s wife remembered him as a devoted father and husband who arrived early for school pickups and wrote heartfelt cards and letters.Rob Pelinka, Bryant’s longtime agent and closest friend, recalled getting a text from the NBA superstar moments before he was killed last month in a helicopter crash. The message asked for help in securing an internship for another friend’s daughter.Michael Jordan called Bryant “a little brother” and said when he died, "a piece of me died.”Bryant's athletic achievements were only part of the reason that 20,000 Lakers fans gathered Monday for a public memorial service at Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. The event offered another chance to honor Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and the other seven victims of the crash with tears, memories and laughs.Los Angeles already knew that Bryant was much more than a basketball player. His friends and family told the world.“I couldn't see him as a celebrity, nor just an incredible... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kobe Bryant’s wife remembered him as a devoted father and husband who arrived early for school pickups and wrote heartfelt cards and letters.Rob Pelinka, Bryant’s longtime agent and closest friend, recalled getting a text from the NBA superstar moments before he was killed last month in a helicopter crash. The message asked for help in securing an internship for another friend’s daughter.Michael Jordan called Bryant “a little brother” and said when he died, "a piece of me died.”Bryant's athletic achievements were only part of the reason that 20,000 Lakers fans gathered Monday for a public memorial service at Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. The event offered another chance to honor Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and the other seven victims of the crash with tears, memories and laughs.Los Angeles already knew that Bryant was much more than a basketball player. His friends and family told the world.“I couldn't see him as a celebrity, nor just an incredible... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kobe Bryant's wife offered a poignant portrait of her NBA superstar husband and their daughter Monday at a packed memorial service for the two, who were among nine people killed last month in a helicopter crash in Los Angeles.Speaking at times through tears, Vanessa Bryant praised her husband's devotion to their family as she addressed thousands of fans gathered at Staples Center to remember Bryant and 13-year-old Gianna.“God knew they couldn't be on this Earth without each other,” Vanessa Bryant said. “He had to bring them home to have them together. Babe, you take care of our Gigi.”The service took place at the downtown arena where Bryant played for the Los Angeles Lakers for the final 17 seasons of his two-decade NBA career. Thousands of Lakers fans, many wearing Bryant's jersey or team colors, attended the tearful gathering to honor Los Angeles' most popular athlete and a global basketball icon.The ceremony began with Beyonce performing her songs “XO” and “Halo" with... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kobe Bryant's wife offered a poignant portrait of her NBA superstar husband and their daughter Monday at a packed memorial service for the two, who were among nine people killed last month in a helicopter crash in Los Angeles.Speaking at times through tears, Vanessa Bryant praised her husband's devotion to their family as she addressed thousands of fans gathered at Staples Center to remember Bryant and 13-year-old Gianna.“God knew they couldn't be on this Earth without each other,” Vanessa Bryant said. “He had to bring them home to have them together. Babe, you take care of our Gigi.”The service took place at the downtown arena where Bryant played for the Los Angeles Lakers for the final 17 seasons of his two-decade NBA career. Thousands of Lakers fans, many wearing Bryant's jersey or team colors, attended the tearful gathering to honor Los Angeles' most popular athlete and a global basketball icon.The ceremony began with Beyonce performing her songs “XO” and “Halo" with... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kobe Bryant's wife offered a poignant portrait of her NBA superstar husband and their daughter Monday at a sold-out memorial service for the two, who were among nine people killed last month in a helicopter crash in Los Angeles.Speaking at times through tears, Vanessa Bryant praised her husband's devotion as she addressed thousands of fans gathered at Staples Center to remember Bryant and 13-year-old Gianna.“God knew they couldn't be on this Earth without each other,” Vanessa Bryant said. “He had to bring them home to have them together. Babe, you take care of our Gigi.”The service took place at the downtown arena where Bryant played for the Los Angeles Lakers for 17 seasons of his two-decade NBA career.The ceremony began with Beyonce performing her songs “XO” and “Halo" with dozens dozens of backup musicians. Alicia Keys performed Beethoven's “Moonlight Sonata” later in the program.After Jimmy Kimmel welcomed the crowd, Vanessa Bryant remembered the family's life with... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kobe Bryant's wife offered a poignant portrait of her NBA superstar husband and their daughter Monday at a sold-out memorial service for the two, who were among nine people killed last month in a helicopter crash in Los Angeles.Speaking at time through tears, Vanessa Bryant praised her husband's devotion as she addressed thousands of fans gathered at Staples Center to remember Bryant and 13-year-old Gianna.“God knew they couldn't be on this Earth without each other,” Vanessa Bryant said. “He had to bring them home to have them together. Babe, you take care of our Gigi.”The service took place at the downtown arena where Bryant played for the Los Angeles Lakers for 17 seasons of his two-decade NBA career.The ceremony began with Beyonce performing her songs “XO” and “Halo" with dozens dozens of backup musicians.After Jimmy Kimmel welcomed the crowd, Vanessa Bryant remembered the family's life with Gianna and her three siblings and then eulogized her husband. They had been... [More]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson will not play this season, though it has not been ruled out that he could still compete in the Olympics this summer.It was expected that Thompson would miss the entire season as he recovers from a torn knee ligament, and the Warriors said it definitively before their game against Houston on Thursday night. Coach Steve Kerr said it is too early to rule Thompson out to play for the U.S. team and he hasn't formed an opinion on what would be best for Thompson given July is still five months away.“Just the determination by the training staff that even though he's coming along well there isn't really any chance that he's playing,” Kerr said. “This is what I expected from the beginning given the severity of the injury and the normal timetable, and so here we are. It's no surprise.”Thompson tore the ACL in his left knee last June 13 during the deciding Game 6 of the NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors and had surgery July 2. He was... [More]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson will not play the rest of the regular season, the team said Thursday.It was expected that Thompson would miss the entire season as he recovers from a torn knee ligament, and the Warriors said it definitively before their game against Houston.Thompson tore the ACL in his left knee last June during the deciding Game 6 of the NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors and had surgery July 2. He was re-evaluated over the All-Star break and the team said Stephen Curry's Splash Brother “is making good progress and is right on track with his rehabilitation timeline.” Golden State expects him ready to go for training camp in late September.The question now will be whether Thompson still wants to play in the Tokyo Olympics if he hasn't returned to game action.An update on Curry's recovery and progress from a broken left hand is planned for Feb. 28 and he expects to be back on the court in March.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

CHICAGO (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo is passionate about helping children in Greece and Africa. Kevin Love is trying to shine the brightest light he can on mental health by sharing his own struggles. Chris Paul is aiming to ensure that technology comes to schools where it hasn’t been affordable.Former President Barack Obama is aware of all those endeavors.And he’s trying to make sure plenty of other people find out as well.That’s why Obama invited that trio of NBA stars to sit alongside him for a panel discussion hosted by his foundation on Saturday, saying he invited that trio of basketball stars to laud what he called their “extraordinary leadership” when it comes to their off-court work.“It’s so much bigger than basketball,” Love said.Obama clearly agrees. The foundation that was created in 2014 has championed causes like the ones that are near and dear to Antetokounmpo, Paul and Love, which is why the 44th President decided to invite them to sit for what was called a “fireside chat.”Most... [More]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — In Brooklyn a couple of days back, Bob Myers realized something he has rarely seen as Golden State's general manager or even dating to his days as a busy sports agent: Nobody wanted to be traded from the NBA's worst team.“That's unprecedented,” Myers said Friday after dealing much of the Warriors roster this week.Golden State dealt D'Angelo Russell, Jacob Evans III and Omari Spellman to the Minnesota Timberwolves ahead of Thursday's trade deadline for Andrew Wiggins and draft picks — Minneosta's first-rounder and second-rounder in 2021, unless the first-rounder is in the top three and then it would roll over to 2022.It was “somber” as Myers put it after Golden State opted to send so many players packing for new opportunities. He felt it. Coaches felt it. The young Warriors said heartfelt farewells, having built tight bonds by being thrown into the fire because of injuries to stars such as Splash Brothers Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson and following Kevin Durant's offseason... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — Most of the top NBA playoff contenders stayed out of the down-to-the-wire frenzy at the trade deadline.Miami and the Los Angeles Clippers beefed up instead.And a slew of other teams — including the Golden State Warriors — made moves with short-term finances and long-term ramifications in mind.The NBA’s 3 p.m. EST deadline Thursday for trades to be consummated did not arrive quietly, with a flurry of deals getting struck in the final hour and at least one other notable move falling apart before reaching the finish line. Deals that included at least 41 players and 15 future draft picks were struck on either Wednesday or Thursday — the biggest move likely being the one Thursday that saw Andrew Wiggins going from Minnesota to the Warriors so D’Angelo Russell could leave Golden State finally be paired with his good friend Karl-Anthony Towns with the Timberwolves.Here's how busy the Timberwolves were at trade-deadline time: They announced the jersey numbers of eight new players Thursday... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — Most of the top NBA playoff contenders stayed out of the down-to-the-wire frenzy at the trade deadline.Miami and the Los Angeles Clippers beefed up instead.And a slew of other teams — including the Golden State Warriors — made moves with short-term finances and long-term ramifications in mind.The NBA’s 3 p.m. EST deadline Thursday for trades to be consummated did not arrive quietly, with a flurry of deals getting struck in the final hour and at least one other notable move falling apart before reaching the finish line. Deals that included at least 41 players and 15 future draft picks were struck on either Wednesday or Thursday — the biggest move likely being the one Thursday that saw Andrew Wiggins going from Minnesota to the Warriors so D’Angelo Russell could leave Golden State finally be paired with his good friend Karl-Anthony Towns with the Timberwolves.Here's how busy the Timberwolves were at trade-deadline time: They announced the jersey numbers of eight new players Thursday... [More]

Anthony Davis is LeBron James’ teammate in Los Angeles, and they’ll be teammates at the All-Star Game in Chicago as well.James took his fellow Lakers All-Star with the No. 1 overall pick of the Feb. 16 game’s draft on Thursday, as he matched wits with fellow captain Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks for the second consecutive year.James is looking to go 3-0 as an All-Star captain, after his team beat the one picked by Golden State’s Stephen Curry in 2018 and topped the one Antetokounmpo selected last year as well. James had the No. 1 overall pick for this year’s first round, the starters’ round — since he received the most overall votes from fans.And Davis, predictably, was the pick.“I know you’re all surprised,” James said.Antetokounmpo made Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, “my African brother,” he said, his first pick. James stayed with the LA theme by taking the Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard with the third overall pick, and Antetokounmpo stayed with African-born players by selecting... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — Most of the top NBA playoff contenders stayed out of the down-to-the-wire frenzy at the trade deadline.Miami and the Los Angeles Clippers beefed up instead.And a slew of other teams — including the Golden State Warriors — made moves with short-term finances and long-term ramifications in mind.The NBA’s 3 p.m. EST deadline Thursday for trades to be consummated did not arrive quietly, with a flurry of deals getting struck in the final hour and at least one other notable move falling apart before reaching the finish line. Deals that included at least 41 players and 15 future draft picks were struck on either Wednesday or Thursday — the biggest move likely being the one Thursday that saw Andrew Wiggins going from Minnesota to the Warriors so D’Angelo Russell could leave Golden State finally be paired with his good friend Karl-Anthony Towns with the Timberwolves.Marcus Morris leaves New York for Los Angeles, going from the woebegone Knicks to the title-hoping Clippers — who added... [More]

It is the time of year when every injury report causes eyebrows to raise.D'Angelo Russell, not in Golden State’s lineup at Washington on Monday?Hmmm.Tristan Thompson, scratched by the Cleveland Cavaliers for their game against New York the same night?Interesting.That’s because it’s the week of the NBA trade deadline, when teams need to be careful with the health of players they might be trying to deal.The deadline is Thursday at 3 p.m. EST. It arrives quickly now, once the NBA moved it from its longtime spot on the calendar after the All-Star break to its current one the week before. It allows traded players to use the break to acclimate themselves to a new situation, rather than returning to a team that might deal them a couple days later.Russell could be making that adjustment. He’s been considered a trade possibility since virtually the moment the Warriors acquired him from Brooklyn in July in the sign-and-trade transaction that sent Kevin Durant across the country. He’s a point guard... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Golden State Warriors star guard Stephen Curry is making progress in his comeback from a broken left hand and could return in March.Curry was injured Oct. 30 in the fourth game of the season and had surgery two days later."He's made some big strides," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said before Saturday's game against Cleveland. "I guess the word is a month away from having another evaluation. We're really hopeful that around that time he'll be able to play. We'll determine that around March 1."Kerr said that Curry has been participating in non-contact and individual drills while also working on his conditioning."He needs to progress over the next month to lot of action, one-on-one, three-on-three, five-on five," Kerr said. "That's all part of the plan."Golden State (10-39) has the NBA's worst record without the two-time MVP, who led the Warriors to three titles and five straight Finals appearances. Curry averages 23.5 points in 11 seasons. "It's good to see Steph on the floor and on the sidelines with the team and traveling," Kerr said. "The mood is brighter when Steph is around. He's giving the young guys a lot of words of wisdom."The Warriors and Cavaliers met in the Finals every year from 2015-18, but both have struggled all season. Golden State has lost five in a row overall and 10 straight on the road. Cleveland has lost nine straight at home and 14 of 17 overall.

The All-Star Game is going to have plenty of new faces.The NBA released the list of the players Thursday voted by the league’s head coaches as reserves for the Feb. 16 game in Chicago, including six who will be All-Stars for the first time.Kyle Lowry of the NBA champion Toronto Raptors is headed back to the game, as are Miami’s Jimmy Butler, Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons, Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton, Portland’s Damian Lillard, Denver’s Nikola Jokic, Houston’s Russell Westbrook and — for the first time since 2016 — Oklahoma City’s Chris Paul.The other reserves are all first-time selections: Miami’s Bam Adebayo, Boston’s Jayson Tatum, Indiana’s Domantas Sabonis, New Orleans’ Brandon Ingram and the Utah duo of Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert.“Definitely it is an honor,” Tatum said in a statement. “I am extremely blessed and grateful. Third year, to make the All-Star team, it is a surreal feeling. I’m just very excited and it is a dream come true.”Those six — combined with starters Pascal Siakam,... [More]

The All-Star Game is going to have plenty of new faces.The NBA released the list of the players Thursday voted by the league’s head coaches as reserves for the Feb. 16 game in Chicago, including six who will be All-Stars for the first time.Kyle Lowry of the NBA champion Toronto Raptors is headed back to the game, as are Miami’s Jimmy Butler, Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons, Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton, Portland’s Damian Lillard, Denver’s Nikola Jokic, Houston’s Russell Westbrook and — for the first time since 2016 — Oklahoma City’s Chris Paul.The other reserves are all first-time selections: Miami’s Bam Adebayo, Boston’s Jayson Tatum, Indiana’s Domantas Sabonis, New Orleans’ Brandon Ingram and the Utah duo of Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert.“Definitely it is an honor,” Tatum said in a statement. “I am extremely blessed and grateful. Third year, to make the All-Star team, it is a surreal feeling. I’m just very excited and it is a dream come true.”Those six — combined with starters Pascal Siakam,... [More]

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Victor Oladipo spent 12 months working, wondering and watching. He strengthened his body, his mind, his injured right knee and promised to return a better player.Now, he's finally healthy enough to start proving it.The All-Star guard expects to make his long-anticipated season debut Wednesday when the Indiana Pacers host Chicago.“I don't expect to do anything out there miraculous, I just expect to play basketball to the best of my ability,” he said Tuesday. “I know I'll get better as time goes on and I've got to be patient with my body and patient with the game. But I'm a competitor. I know it isn't going to be easy."Oladipo probably knew that much the moment he couldn't get up after crashing to the floor late in the first half of last January's game against Toronto. He left the court on a stretcher amid a crescendo of cheers from his adoring fans.Players around the league quickly took to social media to offer their encouragement, too.The next day, team officials announced... [More]