The NBA In-Season Tournament semifinals and final debuted last season in Las Vegas.

The Los Angeles Lakers held a press conference to introduce the team’s new head coach, JJ Redick.

Tyronn Lue says he wants to be coach of the Los Angeles Clippers longterm and declined to address directly speculation that the Lakers would target him in their search after firing Darvin Ham.

A strike has shut down all shipping on the St. Lawrence Seaway, interrupting exports of grain and other goods from Canada and the United States via the Great Lakes to the rest the world.

Golden State Coach Steve Kerr has said no playoff series truly begins until a team wins on the opponent’s home court.

The Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles will be renamed Crypto.

The NBA playoffs should be entertaining, as they always are.

James chose that year deliberately: His oldest son, LeBron James Jr., will graduate from high school in 2023. The uniqueness of 2020 has forced James and the Lakers to consider whether they should practice load management this season. James and the Lakers haven't decided on their plans for the regular season, with James saying there's “a fine line” between strategic rest and unnecessary inactivity. We think he’s going to be very effective and provide extraordinary value for every year he decides to play as a Laker. I’m sure he’ll hang many jerseys someday, but we hope one of those will be a Lakers jersey.”___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

For the first time in his long career, Rondo is the oldest guy on the team. “To be honest, I’ve been doing that for the last five or six years of my career,” Rondo said. I've been working to understand young talent, understand the (collective bargaining agreement). This is a young team with so much upside and versatility. ... We're on the the upswing for great things here in the city of Atlanta.”His future career can wait.

(CNN) - President Donald Trump will award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to famed basketball player Jerry West in the Oval Office Thursday afternoon. Clutch -- will be the sixth professional athlete to whom Trump has presented the medal, the highest civilian honor in the US. West was drafted by the Lakers in 1960, shortly before the franchise relocated to Los Angeles. During his time in leadership for the Lakers, West helped rebuild the team, bringing on Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant in the 1990s. Trump has diverged from some of his predecessors, who took to celebrating several Medal of Freedom honorees at large, public ceremonies inside the White House.