The first No. 24 jersey worn by Kobe Bryant with the Los Angeles Lakers recently sold for $889,000, including buyer's premium, at Sotheby's. A jersey used by Jerry West from 1964 to 1967 also sold for $533,400 on the same night. Bryant wore the jersey while posting 23 points in a 118-112 victory against the Seattle Supersonics on Nov. 3, 2006. He would score 50 points or more in a game on 10 occasions in that 2006-07 season.
"Just something I wanted to do," Thomas said. "My last two years, I wanted to put on a little more weight, try the strong, bulky route. I mean, it was cool. I never liked how I looked, honestly. But the results were still good. At the end of the day, it's about how you look and how you feel, so I feel like I look better and I feel better. We'll see how it goes this year."
Ulrich Chomche. He has a unique name; he's a unique player and he's taken a unique path to the NBA, being both the youngest player selected in the 2024 NBA Draft at age 18 and the first player selected out of the Basketball Africa League. Even though he missed about one third of his first professional season with apartialMCL tear in his right knee, Chomche showed tantilizing flashes throughout his time with the Raptors 905 last season.
"I think it's going to be a little bit less than it was in the past, with Quickley, RJ, BI, and Scottie, all of them can handle the ball so they will be splitting those responsibilities this year" said Rajakovic when asked about how much Barnes will be on-ball. With the addition of Brandon Ingram to Toronto this season, it has caused a lot of curiosity about how the team will ingratiate him into the offense.
Gafford missed the final two months of the Mavs' injury-ravaged 2024-25 season after suffering a Grade 3 sprain of the MCL in his right knee on Feb. 10. Since arriving in Dallas before the 2023 trade deadline, Gafford has averaged 11.9 points on 72.7% shooting, 6.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks while splitting the starting center role with Dereck Lively II. He signed a three-year, $54 million contract extension this summer.
Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier suffered a Grade 2 tear of three ligaments in her ankle and a muscle in her shin during the collision Friday with Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas, a source close to the situation told ESPN. The injury carried a minimum six-week recovery period, the source told ESPN, meaning Collier would not have been able to return this season had the top-seeded Lynx advanced beyond their best-of-five series against the Mercury.
NBA training camps have officially begun! Monday marked the arrival of media day for most of the league's 30 teams, with on-court practice beginning Tuesday -- exactly three weeks before the Oklahoma City Thunder will raise their 2024-25 NBA championship banner. We've got you covered as you dig into the 2025-26 season, with roster breakdowns for all 30 teams, top storylines, decisions and lingering issues to watch out for over the next few weeks.
Bauman said the Sixers' first formal proposal of the offseason came on Sept. 24 -- nearly three months into free agency -- with a four-year, $39 million offer. Days later, Grimes was offered a one-year, $8.8 million deal that gave him $100,000 more than his qualifying offer in order to waive an inherent no-trade clause. Those frameworks were declined, Bauman said, and negotiations never advanced.
For Al Horford, the decision to leave the Boston Celtics was a hard one after spending seven of his past nine seasons there, including winning the 2024 NBA title -- the first of his 18-year journey through the league. But as Horford contemplated his future this offseason, two things were easy: He knew he wouldn't retire, and he knew that if he had to leave the Celtics, joining the Golden State Warriors was the obvious thing for him to do.
Brown was a key x-factor for the Denver Nuggets during their 2023 NBA championship run. After the team celebrated their victory and moved into the 2023 offseason, Brown hit free agency. During the team parade, he highlighted that re-signing with the Nuggets was a priority for him. However, Brown decided to chase the bigger payday, signing a two-year, $45 million deal with the Indiana Pacers.
But the Fever won their first-round series on the road, and have pushed four-time MVP A'ja Wilson and the Aces to a Game 5 tonight. The obvious question is how, and while part of that answer can be credited to Kelsey Mitchell becoming James Harden, the Fever's successful run has as much to do with their physical brand of hoops.
Las Vegas has MVP A'ja Wilson and the home-court advantage in the winner-take-all, but Indiana already has pulled one series upset by defeating the No. 3 seed Atlanta Dream 2-1 in the first round. Caitlin Clark, last season's Rookie of the Year, has not played since mid-July because of a groin injury. The Fever have relied on All-Stars Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston to carry the team, which has been injury ravaged at the guard position.
I'm very excited. Any time you get a chance to go back to the drawing board and look to where you can be better - obviously I missed a lot of games with injuries - but anytime you can go back and just work from the foundation and see where you can improve - I'm always excited for that part of basketball.
It wasn't just the fact that the Heat were bounced out of the first round; it was the fact that they didn't even look like they belonged on the same floor as the Cleveland Cavaliers. Many times in that short four-game series, it didn't feel as if the two teams were even playing the same sport. That was the biggest problem for Spo. And, you'd have to imagine that was one of the bigger motivators for him during the offseason.
