Cliff Robinson guided UConn out from the bottom and almost helped take the Portland Trail Blazers to the top.He was one of the NBA's best sixth men, a versatile player who became a predecessor of the modern center.Not bad for a guy who was warned he might not even get a second season in Storrs.“He averaged five points as a freshman and I remember I told him, ’You have two choices: I can kick you out if you keep doing what you do, or I’m going to watch you play a lot of years in the NBA,'" former UConn coach Jim Calhoun said. “He chose the latter, which was good.”Robinson died Saturday at 53, remembered as much for his personality as his skills by the teams he played for during an 18-year career.“His personality and energy were unmatched, and his contributions on the court were unmistakable, helping the Trail Blazers into the playoffs each of his eight seasons with the team,” the Blazers said. "His streak of 461 consecutive games played with the Trail Blazers still stands as a franchise... [More]

Cliff Robinson guided UConn out from the bottom and almost helped take the Portland Trail Blazers to the top.He was one of the NBA's best sixth men, a versatile player who became a predecessor of the modern center.Not bad for a guy who was warned he might not even get a second season in Storrs.“He averaged five points as a freshman and I remember I told him, ’You have two choices: I can kick you out if you keep doing what you do, or I’m going to watch you play a lot of years in the NBA,'" former UConn coach Jim Calhoun said. “He chose the latter, which was good.”Robinson died Saturday at 53, remembered as much for his personality as his skills by the teams he played for during an 18-year career.“His personality and energy were unmatched, and his contributions on the court were unmistakable, helping the Trail Blazers into the playoffs each of his eight seasons with the team,” the Blazers said. "His streak of 461 consecutive games played with the Trail Blazers still stands as a franchise... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — NBA players want change that makes their communities safer. They want people to vote — hopefully in their home arenas.And they want to keep playing basketball.Teams returned to the court Friday after the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association agreed on commitments that made players comfortable continuing.An emotional Chris Paul, the union president, detailed the events of the previous two days, when players upset by the latest police shooting of a Black man left them considering leaving the Disney campus and going home. “We’re all hurt, we’re all tired of just seeing the same thing over and over again and everybody just expects us to be OK just because we get paid great money,” Paul said. “We’re human, we have real feelings and I’m glad that we got a chance to get in a room and talk with one another and not just cross paths and say good luck in your game today.”All 13 teams remaining in the postseason scheduled practice Friday — the anniversary... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — NBA players want change that makes their communities safer. They want people to vote — hopefully in their home arenas.And they want to keep playing basketball.Teams returned to the court Friday after the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association agreed on commitments that made players comfortable continuing.An emotional Chris Paul, the union president, detailed the events of the previous two days, when players upset by the latest police shooting of a Black man left them considering leaving the Disney campus and going home. “We’re all hurt, we’re all tired of just seeing the same thing over and over again and everybody just expects us to be OK just because we get paid great money,” Paul said. “We’re human, we have real feelings and I’m glad that we got a chance to get in a room and talk with one another and not just cross paths and say good luck in your game today.”All 13 teams remaining in the postseason scheduled practice Friday — the anniversary... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — NBA players want change that makes their communities safer. They want people to vote — hopefully in their home arenas.And they want to keep playing basketball.Teams returned to the court Friday after the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association agreed on commitments that made players comfortable continuing.An emotional Chris Paul, the union president, detailed the events of the previous two days, when players upset by the latest police shooting of a Black man left them considering leaving the Disney campus and going home. “We’re all hurt, we’re all tired of just seeing the same thing over and over again and everybody just expects us to be OK just because we get paid great money,” Paul said. “We’re human, we have real feelings and I’m glad that we got a chance to get in a room and talk with one another and not just cross paths and say good luck in your game today.”All 13 teams remaining in the postseason scheduled practice Friday — the anniversary... [More]

The restart is about to restart.Basketball will be played again inside the NBA’s bubble at Walt Disney World on Friday, albeit of the practice variety. Playoff matchups are set to resume on Saturday, meaning games will have stopped for three days while players protested the shooting of a Black man by police in Wisconsin earlier this week.To shut up and dribble has never been less of an option for players. LeBron James is helping lead a massive get-out-the-vote effort, and Stephen Curry appeared with his family in a video aired as part of the Democratic National Convention last week. The bubble's purpose was two-fold — crown a champion, and help players seek societal changes that simply haven’t come fast enough for their liking. That was what brought them to Central Florida, and ultimately, that's why they decided to stay now.“There’s a lot of emotions built up with what’s going on," Miami’s Andre Iguodala said Thursday night from the bubble at Lake Buena Vista, Florida.Iguodala, the First... [More]

Portland guard Damian Lillard is leaving the NBA's bubble at Walt Disney World for further tests on his injured right knee.Lillard will leave the bubble in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, and return to Portland on Thursday, the Trail Blazers said. He was diagnosed Tuesday with a knee sprain, which occurred in Game 4 of the team's first-round Western Conference series against the Los Angeles Lakers.The team did not make any mention if the uncertainty over the remainder of the NBA season played a role in Lillard's decision. All three NBA games scheduled for Wednesday — including Game 5 between the Lakers and Blazers, which Lillard would not have played in and Portland would have had to win to extend its season — were postponed as part of a player protest against racial injustice.Players made the extraordinary decisions to protest the shooting by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Sunday of Jacob Blake, a Black man, apparently in the back while three of his children looked on.Even if the playoffs... [More]

If the NBA playoffs resume, Denver and Dallas will face elimination games.The Nuggets have staved off elimination once and when and if their series with the Utah Jazz resumes — it's scheduled for Thursday, though that now seems very questionable — they will have to do it again. So will the Dallas Mavericks, down 3-2 to the Los Angeles Clippers.Players boycotted Wednesday's three scheduled games in protest of the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man in Wisconsin who was apparently shot in the back by police while his three children looked on. Players were meeting Wednesday night to determine next steps.The Nuggets rallied from a 15-point second half deficit to beat Utah in Game 5 on Tuesday and extend that series, while the Clippers got the biggest win in their playoff history — a 43-point romp over Dallas to take a 3-2 lead in that matchup, two nights after Luka Doncic made a gamewinning, buzzer-beating 3-pointer in Game 4.“Game 4 is the ultimate high and (Game 5) is the ultimate low,”... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — All three NBA playoff games scheduled for Wednesday have been postponed, with players around the league choosing to boycott in their strongest statement yet against racial injustice.Called off: Games between Milwaukee and Orlando, Houston and Oklahoma City and the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland. The NBA said all three games would be rescheduled, yet did not say when.And the reverberations quickly moved into Major League Baseball and the WNBA. The Milwaukee Brewers and Cincinnati Reds reportedly decided not to play as scheduled Wednesday and WNBA players also are not playing three regular season games in Bradenton, Florida.The dramatic series of moves began when the Bucks — the NBA’s team from Wisconsin, a state rocked in recent days by the shooting by police of Jacob Blake, a Black man — didn’t take the floor for their playoff game against the Magic. The teams were set to begin Game 5 of their series shortly after 4 p.m., with the Bucks needing a win to advance... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — All three NBA playoff games scheduled for Wednesday have been postponed, with players around the league choosing to boycott in their strongest statement yet against racial injustice.Called off: Games between Milwaukee and Orlando, Houston and Oklahoma City and the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland. The NBA said all three games would be rescheduled, yet did not say when.The dramatic series of moves began when the Bucks — the NBA’s team from Wisconsin, a state rocked in recent days by the shooting by police of Jacob Blake, a Black man — didn’t take the floor for their playoff game against the Magic. The teams were set to begin Game 5 of their series shortly after 4 p.m., with the Bucks needing a win to advance to the second round.Players had been discussing boycotting games in the bubble after the shooting of Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. More discussions among players on teams still in the bubble were scheduled Wednesday, presumably on how — or if — to go forward... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — All three NBA playoff games scheduled for Wednesday have been postponed, with players around the league choosing to boycott in their strongest statement yet against racial injustice.Called off: Games between Milwaukee and Orlando, Houston and Oklahoma City and the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland. The NBA said all three games would be rescheduled, yet did not say when.The dramatic series of moves began when the Bucks — the NBA’s team from Wisconsin, a state rocked in recent days by the shooting by police officers of Jacob Blake, a Black man — didn’t take the floor for their playoff game against the Magic. The teams were set to begin Game 5 of their series shortly after 4 p.m., with the Bucks needing a win to advance to the second round.Players had been discussing boycotting games in the bubble after the shooting of Blake by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin. More discussions among players on teams still in the bubble were scheduled Wednesday, presumably on how —... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — All three NBA playoff games scheduled for Wednesday have been postponed, with players around the league choosing to boycott in their strongest statement yet against racial injustice.Called off: Games between Milwaukee and Orlando, Houston and Oklahoma City and the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland. The NBA said all three games would be rescheduled, yet did not say when.The dramatic series of moves began when the Bucks — the NBA’s team from Wisconsin, a state rocked in recent days by the shooting by police officers of Jacob Blake, a Black man — didn’t take the floor for their playoff game against the Magic. The teams were set to begin Game 5 of their series shortly after 4 p.m., with the Bucks needing a win to advance to the second round.Players had been discussing boycotting games in the bubble after the shooting of Blake by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin. More discussions were scheduled Wednesday, but even before that the Bucks apparently decided they would act.“Some... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo figured somebody was in trouble.Even though the Milwaukee Bucks had just defeated Orlando for a 3-1 lead in their playoff series, Mike Budenholzer wanted to talk to them in the locker room afterward.Antetokounmpo looked around, wondering if a teammate was about to be scolded.“Usually when coach wants to talk to us after a game, somebody messed up,” Antetokounmpo said. This time, it was because the Greek Freak did really well. Antetokounmpo was voted NBA Defensive Player of the Year on Tuesday, becoming the fifth player to win that award and MVP in a career.The All-Star, who was MVP last year and is the favorite to repeat this season, ended the two-year reign of Utah center Rudy Gobert as Defensive Player of the Year.He got the news with the rest of his teammates on the league's best defensive team a day earlier.“Coach was so excited, he was so happy,” Antetokounmpo said. “He told me I won Defensive Player of the Year. He jumped on the... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo was voted NBA Defensive Player of the Year on Tuesday, becoming the fifth player to win that award and MVP in a career.The Milwaukee Bucks All-Star, who was MVP last year and is the favorite to repeat this season, ended the two-year reign of Utah center Rudy Gobert as Defensive Player of the Year.Antetokounmpo received 75 first-place votes from a panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters, finishing with 432 points. Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis was second (200 points; 14 first-place votes) and Gobert (187 points; six first-place votes) third.Antetokounmpo joined Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson and Kevin Garnett as players to do the MVP-Defensive Player of the Year double.He led the Bucks to the NBA's best record and helped them limit opponents to 101.6 points per 100 possessions, the league's top defensive rating, as of March 11. Voting was conducted on games through then, before the season was suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Portland guard Damian Lillard has a sprained right knee and will be sidelined Wednesday when the Trail Blazers play a win-or-else Western Conference first-round game against the Los Angeles Lakers.The Blazers trail the best-of-seven series 3-1, and now will play without their leading scorer.Lillard got hurt while driving to the basket and drawing a foul with 7:16 left in the third quarter of Monday’s game against the Lakers. The knee seemed to buckle as Lillard made an awkward landing and he was clearly limping as he made his way to the foul line.During a time-out that was called about a minute later, Lillard briefly made his way into an area of the arena that isn’t visible from the court. He returned to the bench before the time-out was over and remained in the game for about another minute, before departing for good with 5:18 left in the third.An MRI performed Monday night was inconclusive, prompting the Blazers to schedule the second one Tuesday — after... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The next coach of the Philadelphia 76ers can count on having Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.One day after the Sixers fired Brett Brown following another early playoff exit, general manager Elton Brand said he’s evaluating the front office and considering more changes but doesn’t plan to trade either of his two top stars.“I’m not looking to trade Ben or Joel,” Brand said Tuesday. “I’m looking to complement them better. They are 24 and 26 years old, respectively. You try to make that fit as long as you can. They want to be here, they want to be with our organization and I see them here for a long, long time.”Simmons was sidelined for Philadelphia’s first-round sweep against Boston.“That’s a huge key to us getting swept,” Brand said. “I would love to see this group with Ben Simmons, but I don’t want to make any excuses. But I think that attention to detail, that energy level, that certain push that we didn’t have at times.”The Sixers underachieved after reaching the Eastern... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Milwaukee Bucks guard George Hill vented his frustration at social injustice Monday following the shooting by police of a Black man in Wisconsin, saying the NBA's decision to resume its season in a bubble at Walt Disney World has prevented players from working to address the country's problems with racial violence and police brutality.Hill spoke after he watched a video of the wounding of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old man who was shot, apparently in the back, by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, as he leaned into his SUV while his three children sat in the vehicle. The shooting sparked violent protests, turning Kenosha into the nation's latest flashpoint in a summer of racial unrest. Blake remained hospitalized on Monday.The NBA resumed its season on July with players isolated at Disney after a 4 1/2-month break because of the coronavirus pandemic.“First of all, we shouldn’t have even come into this damn place, to be honest,” Hill said on a video conference call following... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Patient and positive, Brett Brown was the perfect coach for the Philadelphia 76ers when they set up a long-term home in the NBA basement.They'll be looking for someone else now that they want to be on top.The 76ers fired coach Brown on Monday, a day after his seventh season ended in a first-round postseason sweep.The 76ers were 43-30 this season and had woefully underachieved in a year when they were expected to be serious contenders in the Eastern Conference.After the sixth-seeded Sixers were swept by the Boston Celtics, the move was expected.“I have a tremendous level of respect for Brett both personally and professionally and appreciate all he’s done for the 76ers organization and the city of Philadelphia,” general manager Elton Brand said in a statement. “He did many positive things during his time here, developing young talent and helping position our team for three straight postseason appearances. Unfortunately, we fell well short of our goals this year and I believe... [More]

One after the other, Luka Doncic and Donovan Mitchell turned in record book-worthy performances on the same court at Disney.In different series. And in different fashions, too.But the two young players have their opponents sharing a similar dilemma: How to stop them? Or at least, slow them down.Doncic and the seventh-seeded Dallas Mavericks are tied at two games apiece with the Los Angeles Clippers heading into Game 5 on Tuesday in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The dynamic Doncic made sure of that with a buzzer-beating, 3-pointer in overtime Sunday to cap another triple-double. Adding even more to the intrigue was this: His step-back shot was on a left ankle so tender he was a game-time decision.Not to be outdone in the nightcap, Mitchell erupted for 51 points in Game 4 to give the sixth-seeded Utah Jazz a 3-1 lead over Denver. It was just enough to hold off the Nuggets and Jamal Murray, who went for 50 points. Mitchell “is playing out of this world right now,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia 76ers fired coach Brett Brown on Monday, a day after his seventh season ended in a first-round postseason sweep.The 76ers were 43-30 this season and had woefully underachieved in a year when they were expected to be serious contenders in the Eastern Conference.Instead, they weren't close, and the move was expected after the sixth-seeded Sixers were swept by the Boston Celtics.Brown had guided the 76ers back from the bottom of the NBA, but now someone else will try to take them further.“I have a tremendous level of respect for Brett both personally and professionally and appreciate all he’s done for the 76ers organization and the City of Philadelphia,” general manager Elton Brand said in a statement. “He did many positive things during his time here, developing young talent and helping position our team for three straight postseason appearances. Unfortunately, we fell well short of our goals this year and I believe it is best to go in a new direction."Brown... [More]