NEW: The Thunder are built upon a tragedy that seared their city 30 years ago. When Sam Presti arrived in 2008, he was so inspired by the recovery that he built his team in its image, forging bonds with those whose lives forever changed on April 19, 1995. www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...

NEWS: The Phoenix Suns, while facing several lawsuits from current and ex-employees, told employees this spring that in order to retain their jobs they needed to sign an agreement limiting their ability to sue the team, team sources told ESPN. www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...

NEW: The Clippers have won three playoff series with Kawhi Leonard. They've also faced a string of lawsuits, fines and investigations -- now leading to owner Steve Ballmer. "At some point," one ex-staffer says, "Steve has got to get out of the Kawhi business." www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...

NEWS: A pair of Phoenix Suns minority owners who were holdovers from the Robert Sarver regime are suing the team, alleging that current Suns owner Mat Ishbia has refused access to internal records. It's the sixth lawsuit against the team since Nov. 2024. www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...

NEWS: The Suns have fired an employee who is suing the team for discrimination, harassment and retaliation, ESPN has learned. All told, there have been five civil lawsuits filed in federal court against the organization by current or former employees in a 10-month span. www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...

NEWS: A judge sentenced Ben McLemore to more than eight years in state prison Wednesday after the former NBA guard was found guilty for raping and sexually assaulting a 21-year-old woman at a Lake Oswego house party in 2021: www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...

NEW: "We never even considered that the impossible could happen on May 12," one Mavericks source tells ESPN. "I'm not sure there has ever been a more abrupt reversal of fortune.” How Cooper Flagg and the Mavs responded to a shocking NBA draft lottery: www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...

NEWS: The Suns are being sued by a current employee, the fourth suit against the team since November. In this one, a staffer says he was demoted after raising security concerns and that the Suns failed multiple arena audits, with handguns & knives making it inside: www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...

NEW: On Boston's Jrue Holiday, the long lineage of his defensive prowess (which dates back more than 50 years in a family defined by its remarkable athletic success) and his philosophy today. www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...

NEW: Adam Silver, Mike Krzyzewski, Steve Kerr, Jerry Colangelo, Larry Brown and Hank Egan, who coached Gregg Popovich in college, all weigh in on the legacy of the legendary coach. "He impacted more people in our game than anybody," Krzyzewski tells ESPN. www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...

Dispatch from Boston, where the Celtics ousted the Magic in style, posting the biggest win by any team trailing at halftime in playoff history. Along the way, the Celtics proved that they can find ways to win even when a team takes away what they do best: www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...

Dispatch from Orlando, where Jayson Tatum’s 37 points — including 16 in the fourth quarter — and a new celebration involving his injured right wrist gives the Celtics a chance to close out the bruising Orlando Magic back in Boston: www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...

Dispatch from Orlando, where Jaylen Brown says of the Celtics' first-round series vs. Orlando, "There might be a fight break out or something because it's starting to feel like it's not even basketball and the refs are not controlling their environment." www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...

Dispatch from Boston, where Kristaps Porzingis laughed off a bloody forehead gash, fired up the TD Garden crowd and said the Celtics "won't let anybody punk us." Said Boston HC Joe Mazzulla: "I like watching him bleed on the court. I think it's important." www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...

NEW: Five years ago today, Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19, and the NBA shut down, signaling to many the start of the pandemic in America. After dozens of interviews with those directly involved, Tim MacMahon and I reconstructed the events of that day: www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...

NEWS: Nate Robinson first learned nearly 20 years ago, when he was playing for the New York Knicks, that his kidneys weren't functioning properly and that he would one day need a transplant. Today, after a successful surgery, he has a new kidney. www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...

NEW: As a child, Payton Pritchard dreamed of making the NBA, even if others suggested a backup career. Now, he’s the king of half-court heaves, a fourth-quarter dynamo and a front-runner for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year. On the highs and lows of his journey: www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...

NEW: On lineage and legacy, fathers and sons and what it means to be a Sabonis. "He is a warrior," Arvydas tells ESPN of Domantas. "Like me." www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...

On the 20-year anniversary of the “Malice at the Palace,” my story from 2016 on Metta World Peace lamenting how that event defined his time in Indy: “That’s something that I can never, ever forgive myself for.” www.espn.com/blog/los-ang...

New ESPN feature story from earlier this week, with reporting from Las Vegas, Maine and North Carolina -- on the improbable rise of Cooper Flagg and the legendary 1980s NBA team that helped shape him: www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...

NEWS: Ex-Phoenix Suns staffer sues team, claiming racial discrimination, retaliation and wrongful termination, according to lawsuit obtained by ESPN. The lawsuit also alleges racial, sexual and financial misconduct among current and former Suns executives. www.espn.com/nba/story/_/...