Category: NBA News Blog

NBA news blog

ESPN Michael Jordan documentary ‘The Last Dance’ TV schedule, dates and times

ESPN Michael Jordan documentary TV schedule, dates and times, in April and May, 2020:

IN THE U.S.

Sunday, April 19, ESPN

9 p.m. ET – Premiere of “The Last Dance” Episode 1

10 p.m. ET – Premiere of “The Last Dance” Episode 2

Sunday, April 26, ESPN

7 p.m. ET – Re-air of “The Last Dance” Episode 1

8 p.m. ET – Re-air of “The Last Dance” Episode 2

9 p.m. ET – Premiere of “The Last Dance” Episode 3

10 p.m. ET – Premiere of “The Last Dance” Episode 4

Sunday, May 3, ESPN

7 p.m. ET – Re-air of “The Last Dance” Episode 3

8 p.m. ET – Re-air of “The Last Dance” Episode 4

9 p.m. ET – Premiere of “The Last Dance” Episode 5

10 p.m. ET – Premiere of “The Last Dance” Episode 6

Sunday, May 10, ESPN

7 p.m. ET – Re-air of “The Last Dance” Episode 5

8 p.m. ET – Re-air of “The Last Dance” Episode 6

9 p.m. ET – Premiere of “The Last Dance” Episode 7

10 p.m. ET – Premiere of “The Last Dance” Episode 8

Sunday, May 17, ESPN

7 p.m. ET – Re-air of “The Last Dance” Episode 7

8 p.m. ET – Re-air of “The Last Dance” Episode 8

9 p.m. ET – Premiere of “The Last Dance” Episode 9

10 p.m. ET – Premiere of “The Last Dance” Episode 10

ESPN’S JORDAN DOC ON NETFLIX (outside of the U.S.)

Monday, April 20 – 12:01 a.m. PT – “The Last Dance” Episodes 1 and 2

Monday, April 27 – 12:01 a.m. PT – “The Last Dance” Episodes 3 and 4

Monday, May 4 – 12:01 a.m. PT – “The Last Dance” Episodes 5 and 6

Monday, May 11 – 12:01 a.m. PT – “The Last Dance” Episodes 7 and 8

Monday, May 18 – 12:01 a.m. PT – “The Last Dance” Episodes 9 and 10

Kentucky guard Tyrese Maxey entering 2020 NBA draft

The Kentucky Wildcats continue their long tradition of producing NBA prospects. Here’s the Courier-Journal with the latest:

Kentucky’s run of one-and-done players will continue.

Freshman guard Tyrese Maxey has declared for the NBA draft as expected, becoming the 26th player to enter the draft after just one season in John Calipari’s 11 seasons as Kentucky’s coach. Kentucky has had at least one one-and-done player in each of those seasons.

ESPN projects Maxey as the No. 6 pick in its most recent 2020 mock draft…

The SEC All-Freshman Team honoree finished the year averaging 14 points and 3.2 assists per game while shooting 29.2% from 3-point range.

The 2020 draft is scheduled for Thursday June 25, though with the coronavirus pandemic affecting the entire planet, all scheduled dates for pretty much anything, in or out of sports, should be considered subject to change.

Kevin Garnett part of 2020 Basketball Hall of Fame class

The 2020 Basketball Hall of Fame class was announced this weekend, and one of the former NBA superstars to make it is Kevin Garnett.

Here’s the New York Post reporting his reaction to the honor:

“It’s the culmination,” Garnett said on ESPN. “It’s the culmination, man. You put countless hours into this. You dedicate yourself to a craft. You take no days off. You play through injuries. You play through demise. You play through obstacles. You give no excuses for anything. You learn, you build.

“This is the culmination. All those hours … this is what you do it for, right here. For me, to be called a Hall of Famer, is everything.”

The Class of 2020 will be enshrined in the Hall, located in Springfield, Massachusetts, on Saturday, August 29, 2020.

LaMelo Ball and manager reportedly buy Australian NBL team

LaMelo Ball is expected to be drafted high in the 2020 NBA draft. He prepared this season by playing pro basketball in Australia. And he went out in style, reportedly by buying the team he’d been playing for. Per ESPN.com:

Potential No. 1 NBA draft pick LaMelo Ball and his manager, Jermaine Jackson, have purchased his Australian NBL team, the Illawarra Hawks, Jackson told ESPN on Thursday.

“We own the team,” Jackson said. “It’s a done deal.”

No financial details were revealed, and the team has not commented on the sale.

Ball arrived in Australia in August as part of the league’s Next Stars program and established himself as a strong candidate to be the top pick in the draft. The 6-foot-7 point guard averaged 17.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.0 assists in 12 games with the Hawks, posting back-to-back triple-doubles before a foot injury ended his season.

Ball played for the team, put up big stats, his season ended, and then he bought the team. That’s a Big Baller move.

Of course, real big ballers then go on to do great things in the NBA. Which from the looks of it, LaMelo has the ability and potential to do.

Blazers guard Damian Lillard staying in shape with home gym

Here’s an update on Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, via NBC Sports Northwest:

“I haven’t been able to get into the training facility,” Lillard said. “At the moment, they don’t want us in the practice facility. They don’t want us training with any of our coaches or anything like that. They also don’t want us training at a third-party gym or with a third-party trainer, so it’s basically like if you don’t have a gym at home, you can’t train. So fortunately for me, I have a gym at home, so I’ve been able to kind of continue and get work done.”

The only players allowed to enter the Trail Blazers practice facility at the moment are the players who are still rehabbing from injuries, including Zach Collins, Jusuf Nurkic and Rodney Hood…

Lillard has thought about the players around the league who aren’t able to continue to train and workout in a home gym.

“People who don’t have that and at some point are going to be expected to come back as a professional athlete and perform on call, that makes it tough,” Lillard added.

It’s no surprise, of course, that Lillard has a gym at home. Most NBA players do. And for the near future, home is where they’ll be staying safe and healthy while waiting this whole thing out as the world deals with the coronavirus saga.

ESPN Michael Jordan documentary reportedly coming in April

There will be some top-notch basketball TV-viewing available in April. Not the NBA. But something we all want to see. Here’s the New York Post reporting:

ABC/ESPN’s highly anticipated 10-part Michael Jordan documentary, “The Last Dance,” is being moved up to April, The Post has learned.

Sources said the start date will be Sunday, April 19. It was originally slated for June…

Netflix owns the international rights to the docuseries.

And here’s the Chicago Sun-Times:

Fans haven’t been the only ones pining for the early release. Lakers star LeBron James told ESPN’s “Road Tippin” podcast last week that there’s no better time to air the series.

”If they release that thing right now? The views on it?” he said. “Listen, if I’m Michael Jordan, I’m going in there and I’m making a conference call and I’m like, ‘OK, what’s the reason that we’re going to hold on to it until June now? Compared to now when everybody is at home?’ Because it’s done [being edited]. It’s done. Yeah, it’s done.”

There’s no reason to think the NBA will suddenly return to action in April. This Jordan doc should absolutely be the best basketball TV we get.

Kings launch program to connect with community during coronavirus

One by one, organizations across the NBA, sports, and the world in general are adapting to our present reality: dealing with coronavirus. Teams have to protect their players and staff, and once they have a handle on that, they’re able to look around and see what they can do for others. Here’s the Sacramento Bee reporting on the Kings:

The Kings are launching a program entitled “In This Together,” a wide-ranging effort to engage and connect with the community during the coronavirus crisis through online activations, health awareness, physical and educational activities, business support and more.

The initiative is part of a league-wide campaign to help the global NBA community through difficult and unprecedented times as the world wrestles with a global pandemic. The NBA, which hasn’t played a game since its first player contracted the coronavirus on March 11, has encouraged teams to develop programs in four categories: Know the Facts, Acts of Caring, Expand Your Community and NBA Together Live.

We’ll keep sharing stuff like this with you, but starting this week will resume also putting up pure basketball content as well. We’ll be posting an exclusive player interview with you later today.

OJ Mayo will reportedly sign with team in China

For those of you wondering what guard O.J. Mayo is up to lately, here’s ESPN.com with an update:

Former NBA guard O.J. Mayo is close to joining the Chinese Basketball Association to play for powerhouse Liaoning Flying Leopards, pending medical and other procedural clearances.

Mayo, 32, landed in the northern Chinese city of Shenyang — home to the No. 3-ranked Flying Leopards — from Taipei on Friday. He has since entered a 14-day quarantine, as mandated by government medical officials.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/28967006/ex-nba-guard-oj-mayo-poised-join-chinese-league-powerhouse

Mayo, who is now 32 years old, played in the NBA during the 2008-16 seasons, first four seasons with the Grizzlies, one season with the Mavs, then three seasons with the Bucks. His NBA career average is 13.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game.

Knicks owner James Dolan tests positive for coronavirus

Knicks owner James Dolan has tested positive for coronavirus. But the good news is, his symptoms are minor, and hopefully he should be fine.

Here’s New York Newsday reporting:

Madison Square Garden executive chairman and chief executive officer James Dolan has tested positive for the coronavirus, joining 10 NBA players and a number of staffers from other teams who have been disclosed to have the fast-spreading virus.

The Knicks announced the news late Saturday night in a tweet, noting: “He has been in self-isolation and is experiencing little to no symptoms. He continues to oversee business operations.” …

No Knicks player has been reported to have tested positive for the virus. The Nets tested all players at a private facility and four players were revealed to have tested positive, including Kevin Durant.

And the New York Post:

According to a source, Dolan is self-isolating with his family in the Hamptons and his test came back earlier this week. The Knicks said he “continues to oversee business operations.”

Dolan, who owns the Knicks and Rangers, is 64 years old. He did not attend the Knicks’ final road trip to Washington and Atlanta, but sat baseline at the Garden for their final home game on March 8 against the Pistons. Detroit’s Christian Wood became one of 10 players to test positive.

We wish Dolan a speedy recovery. Fortunately, it sounds like he’ll be just fine.

Pistons forward Christian Wood almost fully recovered from coronavirus

The bad news is, this is another coronavirus item. The good news is, it’s about a player’s near-full recovery. Here’s the Detroit News reporting:

The Pistons cleared the first wave of COVID-19 testing on Wednesday, with only one positive test.

Christian Wood, one of the first NBA players to test positive for coronavirus, is almost fully recovered. In order to be cleared, a person needs two negative tests, spaced at least 24 hours apart. Wood passed the initial test Wednesday and will take the second test on Thursday, a league source told The Detroit News.

The Pistons also tested 16 other members of their traveling party of more than 50 people, which included players, coaches, front office members and support staff. That group traveled to road games against the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers on March 8 and 11, respectively.

Here’s to more good news coming soon, we hope.