PHILADELPHIA — Throughout his two weeks in Paris this summer, throughout an Olympic tournament in which he fashioned a few marvelous moments and derived so much glee from antagonizing France's basketball fans, Joel Embiid would do something curious and revealing.

Whenever the only Philadelphia-based writer covering the Games asked him a ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Sometimes, she puts a hand in their face. Sometimes, she rebounds. Always, she needles, cajoles, jokes.

“Sometimes,” Katie Smith said, “I think the best defense of all is to make them laugh.”

For an hour before most every Minnesota Lynx practice, Smith, the team’s associate head coach, works on shooting with Kayla ...Read more

ATLANTA — The Hawks head into the regular season with a couple of questions they need to answer.

They’ll have to figure out the best backcourt partner for star guard Trae Young. They also have to decide who will round out the front court alongside Jalen Johnson and Clint Capela.

The team has less than two weeks until training camp opens ...Read more

MIAMI — The ads, texts and emails have become ubiquitous, how voting for a specific candidate could swing the U.S. Senate, Congress or even state houses.

At the moment, it seemingly is all about swing votes.

A case could be made that the same could be at hand for the Miami Heat, with training camp just over a week away.

The known quantities...Read more

SEATTLE — Sooner than most expected, the Storm are back in the playoffs.

Think about where they were at this time last year.

Seattle finished next to last in the WNBA at 11-29 following a forgettable season in which they lost the most games in franchise history.

To return to prominence, all they had to do was re-sign star Jewell Loyd and ...Read more

Last season’s Celtics championship should have been a coronation for Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. And in many ways, it was.

They’ll go down as franchise legends for leading Boston to its first NBA title in 16 years and doing it in dominant, unforgiving fashion. And the years of calls to break up their pairing – that Celtics were ...Read more

Joel Embiid has signed a multiyear contract extension with the 76ers that he expects to keep him in Philadelphia for the remainder of his career.

The three-year deal is worth a projected $192.9 million, according to a source. Embiid will decline his player option for the 2026-27 season and sign an extension that keeps him in Philly through the ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — When the Sparks’ season ends Thursday, they’ll finish with the worst record in franchise history.

And no one is mad about it.

On the contrary. This season – whether the Sparks finish 7-33 or 8-32 – has been a success by so many measures … so long as you ignore the WNBA standings.

Fans came back, the rookies rocked, ...Read more

Caitlin Clark is having a darn good season in the WNBA this year.

You might even call it incredible.

Or tremendous.

Or maybe even amazing.

But would you describe it as dominant?

WNBA legend Sheryl Swoopes would not — even though the Indiana Fever rookie is averaging 19.5 points, a league-best 8.4 assists, to go with 5.7 rebounds and 1.3 ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The person who broke so much NBA news that his scoops earned a pithy nickname announced on X on Tuesday that he is leaving ESPN and retiring from sports journalism to become general manager of the men's basketball program at his alma mater, St. Bonaventure University.

Adrian Wojnarowski, known simply as Woj, littered the hoops ...Read more

UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Despite a thrilling fourth-quarter comeback attempt, the Connecticut Sun came up just short against the Minnesota Lynx, suffering a 78-76 loss at Mohegan Sun Arena on Tuesday.

The loss put the Sun out of contention for the No. 2 seed in the WNBA playoffs, and they need to win their final regular-season game against the ...Read more

NEW YORK — In a strategic move to bolster their depth and veteran presence, the Knicks have signed 35-year-old forward Marcus Morris Sr. to an Exhibit 9 contract, the team announced Monday.

The Exhibit 9 contract, identical to the one used to sign free-agent guard Landry Shamet, protects the Knicks from significant financial obligations in ...Read more

CHICAGO — A playoff spot remains within reach for the Chicago Sky.

Even after falling out of playoff position Friday — and even after collapsing Sunday in a 93-88 loss to the Phoenix Mercury at Wintrust Arena, their 10th defeat in 12 games — the Sky (13-25) haven’t lost hope.

The Atlanta Dream (13-25) beat the Washington Mystics (13-25...Read more

DENVER — Football players weren’t the only ones taking hits during the Colorado-Colorado State game on Saturday night.

In a video published by TMZ, Celtics guard and former Colorado star Derrick White looked like he was struck in the head during a small kerfuffle in the stands at Canvas Stadium during the Rocky Mountain Showdown in Fort ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — A’ja Wilson has recorded the WNBA’s first 1,000-point season.

She accomplished the feat with one minute, 57 seconds remaining in the Aces’ 84-71 win over the Connecticut Sun on Sunday at Michelob Ultra Arena.

Wilson finished with 29 points, nine rebounds and two blocks for the Aces (25-13). This comes after she set the ...Read more

MIAMI – Jimmy Butler will show up on Miami Heat media day on Sept. 30 at Kaseya Center as:

— A. Beetlejuice.

— B. Emo Jimmy 2.0 (a 2023 repeat).

— C. Dreadlock Jimmy 2.0 (a 2022 reprise).

— D. As himself, no adornment, sans stylist (seemingly a long shot, considering how Butler knows his media-day photo becomes the one required to ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Jeanie Buss went to her first women's wrestling match with low expectations.

"My only experience with women wrestling was like Jell-O wrestling or mud wrestling," she said. "I thought it was something that I would not appreciate."

Buss attended that WOW — Women of Wrestling show in 2000 mainly to humor close friend David ...Read more