NEW YORK — For the second season in a row, the Final Four does not feature a single Cinderella.

It’s likely a symptom of the NCAA’s name, image and likeness (NIL) and transfer-portal era, in which players possess unprecedented mobility and bigger-budgeted programs can poach the standouts from smaller schools.

That’s not to say this ...Read more

HOUSTON — Josh Whitman glanced at his phone for a moment Saturday night amid all of the hugging, celebrating and reflecting on Illinois’ 71-59 win over Iowa in the Elite Eight.

The Illinois athletic director had 110 text messages in his inbox, everyone wanting to share their congratulations and excitement for the Illini’s first Final Four...Read more

The Lakers followed the lead of their oldest member, the triple-double producing LeBron James, in dispatching the Wizards 120-101 at Crypto.com Arena on Monday night.

Two days off between games left James looking spry, with lob dunks and dunks on the fast break contributing to his 21 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds. James was eight for 16 ...Read more

Anthony Edwards wasn’t in that big of a hurry to get back from injury.

As the Minnesota Timberwolves and Dallas Mavericks tipped off Monday Edwards wasn’t present on the floor, even though he was listed in the starting lineup. It turned out he was late getting to the floor (the second time this has happened in his career), and Mike Conley ...Read more

MIAMI – For those insistent on postseason math, yes, the head-to-head season-series tiebreaker was at stake in this one.

But for the Miami Heat this was about more than play-in math. This was about breaking out of a brutal late-season funk that included a road loss a night earlier to the NBA-worst Indiana Pacers.

So against the Philadelphia ...Read more

The Boston Celtics’ streak of short-handed success came to an end Monday night.

After beating the Atlanta Hawks last Friday without Jaylen Brown and Charlotte Hornets on Sunday without Brown and Derrick White, Boston flopped in a rematch with the Hawks, losing 112-102 without a crew of contributors headlined by a resting Jayson Tatum.

The ...Read more

CHICAGO — The Chicago Bulls are waiving Jaden Ivey after the guard made anti-LGBT statements in a series of lengthy religious tirades on Instagram, a source confirmed to the Chicago Tribune.

Ivey spoke for more than three hours in total during three separate Instagram live sessions over the last week. Several hours later, the Bulls made the ...Read more

HARTFORD, Conn. — The Mohegan Tribe announced Monday morning that it has reached an agreement to sell the Connecticut Sun after 23 years of ownership.

Pending approval from the WNBA’s Board of Governors, the team will be sold to the Tilman J. Fertitta family and relocated to Houston ahead of the 2027 season. The team will play its final ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Any NCAA Tournament loss is cruel.

Regardless of the score, losing is cruel and can be crushing. A team goes through so much together for months, and then a wonderful season comes to a sudden end in a matter of hours. Time to put away the balls and go home.

That’s what happened to Duke on Sunday. Seconds away from a victory ...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — Will Wade and the LSU administration did what they could to avoid talking about N.C. State during Wade’s introductory press conference Monday afternoon in Baton Rouge, La.

Neither LSU President Wade Rousse nor Athletic Director Verge Ausberry mentioned Wade’s one-year stop in Raleigh, N.C. They spoke of his first stint at ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The ten seconds that led to the Braylon Mullins’ miracle shot were a series of reflex plays, reactions, the ultimate in instincts taking over, living in the split second, rather than in the moment.

And yet, the seed was sown, the chain of events that placed a teenager from Greenfield, Ind., 35 or so feet from the basket Sunday ...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — It appears Justin Gainey is coming home for a second time.

N.C. State is closing in on hiring Gainey, a program alumnus and former Tennessee associate head coach, to become its next men’s basketball coach, with an official announcement expected this week, sources told the News & Observer. Gainey would replace Will Wade after...Read more

Boxing great Floyd Mayweather said he’s not sure he’s still interested in being part of an ownership group of a Las Vegas NBA expansion team.

After stating on multiple occasions, as recently as 2022, that he wanted ownership of an NBA team in Las Vegas, the Southern Nevada resident said that is no longer the case.

“In the past, I talked ...Read more

These are the kinds of matchups that expose a team’s flaws. Because the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder have every intention of repeating as NBA Finals winners the second time around.

And there’s a decent chance the Thunder, should they emerge from a Western Conference field featuring Victor Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs, Nikola...Read more

Five takeaways from the Heat’s embarrassing 135-118 loss at Indiana on Sunday evening:

▪ The Heat suffered the indignity of losing to the league’s worst team for the second time in 2 ½ months. What’s more, Miami finished 2-3 against the two teams that began Sunday in the basement of each conference (Indiana and Sacramento).

Miami, ...Read more

It was the kind of ending that was exciting, shocking, coming so suddenly.

Duke had the ball and the lead over Connecticut with time running out Sunday in the NCAA East Region final at Capital One Arena. They were ever-so-close to returning to the Final Four. Maybe one pass away.

Instead, UConn will be going to Indianapolis. The Huskies pulled...Read more