Category: NBA

The Cleveland Cavaliers may have to wait a little longer for James Harden’s debut with the team. Harden was initially expected to play on Saturday against the Sacramento Kings. According to the latest injury report, he may have to wait.

Harden is listed as questionable for Saturday’s game with the reason being “trade pending.” This designation isn’t uncommon for those who were recently traded. Currently, 18 players are on the league’s current injury report with the designation of “trade pending.”

If Harden can’t go on Saturday, he would have to wait until Monday when the Cavs conclude their Western Conference road trip against the Denver Nuggets.

Reports that the Cavs traded for Harden came through on Tuesday. The official trade announcement from the team came the following day.

Harden hasn’t played since Jan. 30. He missed his last two games with the Los Angeles Clippers for personal reasons — which was due to the impending trade — and he wasn’t available for Cleveland’s first game since the trade was announced on Wednesday.

On the season, Harden is averaging 25.4 points, 8.1 assists, and 4.8 rebounds per game on .419/.347/.901 shooting splits.

Harden isn’t the only Cavalier who may be missing Friday’s game. Dean Wade has also been added to the injury report with a left ankle sprain. He is listed as questionable for the game.

Wade is averaging 5.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game on .417/.340/.750 shooting this season.

The Cavaliers will also be without the services of Evan Mobley (calf), Max Strus (foot), and Emanuel Miller (G League).

PRINCETON, N.J. (AP) — Olivia Hutcherson had 19 points, seven rebounds and five steals, Skye Belker had 16 points and four 3-pointers, and No. 23 Princeton beat Pennsylvania 69-50 on Friday night for its 16th straight victory in the series.

The Tigers have never lost to Penn in the Carla Berube era (14-0).

Princeton trailed 30-28 at halftime before scoring 24 points in the third quarter to take a nine-point lead. The Tigers started the fourth on an 11-3 run to make it 63-46.

Madison St. Rose added 15 points and six assists for Princeton (19-2, 7-1 Ivy League), which improved to 9-1 at home this season. The Tigers have won 17 of their last 18 games.

Mataya Gayle and Simone Sawyer each scored 16 points for Penn (13-8, 3-5). Tina Njike grabbed 10 rebounds to go with nine points.

The Quakers ended the first half on a 13-2 run to take the lead. Hutcherson made a free throw with 7:40 left in the third to give Princeton the lead for good at 35-34.

Up next

Penn: Has a week off before playing at Cornell on Feb. 13.

Princeton: Plays at Columbia on Feb. 13.

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Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP mobile app). AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball

Luka Doncic was diagnosed with a strained left hamstring and listed as out for the Lakers' game against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday at Crypto.com Arena.

The Lakers have not indicated a timetable for Doncic's return.

Doncic was injured late in the second quarter of the Lakers’ win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night. He threw a pass to Maxi Kleber that was a turnover, turned to run back on defense and immediately grabbed his left hamstring.

Doncic went up and down the court a couple of times but was unable to play any longer. The Lakers called a timeout, and Doncic headed to the locker room and did not return.

After the game, Doncic was limping down the hallway. Coach JJ Redick said Doncic would undergo an MRI exam Friday.

Doncic leads the NBA in scoring (33.4) and is second in assists (8.7). He's missed eight of the Lakers' 42 games because of injuries and the birth of his daughter, and they're 4-4 without him.

“We need him,” guard Austin Reaves said after the game. “He’s our best player and the engine of a lot of the stuff that we do. Yeah, so, hopefully we get good news.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

BOSTON — Amid all the chao of Thursday’s NBA midseason tradeline deadline, the Celtics traded for two-way player John Tonje.

Tonje, who was drafted by the Utah Jazz 53rd overall in June, was in the middle of standout season with the Salt Lake City stars when he learned he was traded. He ultimately landed in Boston as part of the trade that sent Chris Boucher to the Jazz.

For Tonje, the Celtics mark a new opportunity, but also a reunion of sorts.

The 24-year-old doesn’t know a ton of people in Boston, but he does know one: Celtics guard Baylor Scheierman.

Tonje and Scheierman were AAU teammates in high school, years ago at the Omaha Sports Academy. That club no longer exists, but its legacy lives on: for the first time, the Celtics have two players from Nebraska.

When Scheierman found out that Tonje was coming to Boston, he immediately texted him to congratulate. The two reunited on Friday morning at the Auerbach Center, as Tonje got his first time of the new organization.

“We kept in touch a little bit throughout college — not like a whole lot,” Scheierman said. “But, so it’s cool to have someone from Nebraska, for sure.”

Plenty of people from Omaha were excited to see Tonje and Scheierman reunite.

“I had a bunch of people from back home blowing up my phone,” Scheierman said. “All my old AAU teammates. It’s cool that he’s that he’s here with us. He’s a talented player.”

Tonje appeared in 32 games for the Salt Lake City Stars this season, averaging 18 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. That came on the heels of a big-time NCAA Tournament run with Wisconsin Badgers, in which he averaged 19.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Before Wisconsin, he spent four seasons at Colorado State, and one year in Missouri.

But, before all of that, Tonje was another very talented Nebraskan basketball player, just like Scheierman.

“He can score in a variety of ways,” he said. “He’s a good defender. I think those are the two biggest things that stood out to me back in those days. I was completely different player and build back in those days, but I think those are the two things that stuck out the most, was just his physical maturity, it was just the ability to score.”

Tonje’s locker room at TD Garden sits across the way from Scheierman’s, and two will undoubtedly have plenty of time to catch up in the coming months.

But, for now, Scheierman has gotten a kick out of a pretty unlikely reunion that emerged amid the chaos of a busy trade deadline.

“It’s a cool thing,” Scheierman said. “Just for Nebraska to have two Nebraskans on the same team.”

A professional athlete is now a partial owner of prediction market platform Kalshi, and it’s a big one. 

Key Takeaways

• NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo said on X that “it was time to make some (opinions) of my own.”
  
  
• Kalshi had a trade market up on Giannis earlier this week and was offering a spread on his team’s Friday night game. 
  
  
• The NBA asked for the regulation of prediction markets that offer contracts on games in May 2025.

In an unprecedented move, NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo announced Friday on the social media site X that he’s a shareholder of a trading exchange that offers sports event contracts. 

“The internet is full of opinions,” the Milwaukee Bucks star wrote. “I decided it was time to make some of my own. Today, I’m joining Kalshi as a shareholder.

“We all on Kalshi now.”

We all on @Kalshi now pic.twitter.com/cCNGxfLWO8

— Giannis Antetokounmpo (@Giannis_An34) February 6, 2026

The nine-time All-Star and 2021 NBA champion will partner with Kalshi at live events and in marketing.

As an NBA player, he's forbidden from trading on NBA markets, Kalshi announced, citing its insider trading policy.

“Giannis is a legend,” said Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour said in a statement. “He’s exactly the type of long-term partner we want to align our growing brand with, and we couldn’t be happier he’s on board.”

Giannis’ team was listed as a 1.5-point underdog on Kalshi against Indiana in a game that had received more than $90,000 in trading volume on the same day of the announcement. Kalshi even has a page involving Giannis, with contracts on nine active markets.

Earlier this week, Kalshi had a market posted on whether The Greek Freak would be traded before the NBA’s deadline and to which team. He ultimately remained with the Bucks. 

Gray area

According to the NBA’s 2023 Collective Bargaining Agreement, players can have passive investments under 1% in sports betting companies, but they are not allowed to own, operate, or manage sportsbooks. Kalshi falls into a unique category. 

Kalshi is federally regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), allowing it to offer outcome contracts on sports in all 50 states. However, the trading exchange has run into several legal roadblocks in states with legal, regulated sports betting. Massachusetts recently won a court decision to keep Kalshi from operating there, but a temporary restraining order has yet to be implemented. 

Nevada is also trying to keep prediction markets out of its jurisdiction and is in a lengthy court battle with Kalshi, which argues that it can’t be regulated by states and it offers contracts, not wagers. 

NBA request 

The league has not yet issued a statement on Giannis’ agreement with Kalshi. In May 2025, however, the NBA asked the CFTC to provide a regulatory framework for single-event games after Kalshi started offering moneylines and spreads on the league’s contests. 

“If the CFTC does ultimately decide to permit the continued offering of sports event contracts, we encourage it to close this gap and to adopt a comprehensive regulatory and oversight framework analogous to those governing state sports betting markets, and to impose meaningful limitations on the continued expansion, via self-certification, of these markets into ever more exotic and narrow event propositions,” the NBA wrote in a letter to the federal agency. 

The league has experienced multiple betting scandals over the last number of years. Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier is facing federal illegal gambling charges after he was arrested in October for allegedly taking part in a 2023 scheme. 

Ex-Toronto Raptors center Jontay Porter was banned from the NBA after he manipulated playing time to help a group of bettors win player prop bets in 2024. Porter is currently awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to wire fraud charges.

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here

Maxi Kleber is far down the list of impactful players on the Lakers roster. He is often only playing during garbage time and doing little during those minutes to make a compelling case for extended play.

However, against the Sixers, Kleber had his best performance as a Laker.

With Jaxson Hayes suspended for one game, Kleber had to step up in his place and he delivered.

His 4 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists don’t tell the full story of how well he played in this game. From grabbing offensive rebounds to defending multiple positions, Kleber was doing everything that impacts winning. It’s why, during his 26 minutes of play, he had a plus-minus of +23, the best on the team.

After the win, Marcus Smart discussed why Kleber is a guy that everyone loves.

“The ultimate professional,” Smart said. “I mean, there’s a reason why Maxi is still in this league, still going, and it’s the reason why he’s on this team with us and it’s the reason why we celebrate him the way we do because he comes in every day, no matter what, and he gives that.

“Whether it’s in practice, whether it’s in the game, whether he plays two minutes, whether he plays 20. We enjoy watching him actually do that because we know how hard he works and we know what he’s going to give every night. That’s nothing of a surprise for us. We’re just excited to see him out there getting a chance to do it.”

As a defensive role player, Smart is well aware of what it takes to embrace a position on a team. For Kleber, his role is smaller than Smart’s, but just as important to the team’s fabric. He’s a leader and an example for the younger players to look up to on how to carry themselves in the NBA.

“Maxi, it doesn’t matter if he’s played and had a big impact and then is a DNP the next game…his spirit, his approach, his being a teammate and rooting for other people, it never changes,” Lakers head coach JJ Redick said. “For all our guys, he’s an easy guy to root for.”

Against Philly, Kleber ended the game with one of his best moments of the night.

With the Lakers leading by eight points with under a minute to go, LA needed one more score to put the game to bed.

LeBron James put the exclamation point on the win with an emphatic dunk, but Kleber is the one who set it up. As James drove inside, Kleber set a Gortat screen on Joel Embiid, stopping the Sixers big man from contesting LeBron’s drive.

While James drove to the rim, Kleber put his hands up to indicate to the refs that he was not fouling Embiid. When LeBron completed the play, Kleber kept his arms up and pumped them in the air in celebration.

Kleber won’t often play 20-plus minutes, but he stays ready to contribute. And thanks to Kleber’s level of preparedness, the Lakers turned a double-digit deficit into a feel-good win.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.

Not much movement for the Phoenix Suns at the deadline, but in an effort to reset everythign for you, it’s time to provide a summary of where things stand for the team after the NBA trade deadline:

The players the Suns acquired:

• Amir Coffey
• Cole Anthony

The picks and players the Suns sent out:

• Nick Richards
• Nigel Hayes-Davis

The new, full Suns roster

1. Devin Booker
2. Jalen Green
3. Dillon Brooks
4. Grayson Allen
5. Royce O’Neale
6. Mark Williams
7. Khaman Maluach
8. Ryan Dunn
9. Jordan Goodwin
10. Collin Gillespie
11. Cole Anthony
12. Amir Coffey
13. Oso Ighodaro
14. Rasheer Fleming
15. Koby Brea (TW)
16. Jamaree Bouyea (TW)
17. Isaiah Livers (TW)

Suns draft picks remaining

Information via Spotrac.

• 2026 2nd (76ers)
• 2027 1st (Cavs)
• 2028 1st (heavily swapped)
• 2029 2nd (own)
• 2030 1st (Least favorable of PHX, MEM, and WAS)
• 2032 1st (own, frozen)
• 2032 2nd (worst of HOU, CHI, PHX)

With all that in place, what are you looking for next from Suns? What do you think is their most pressing need this offseason? Come chat with us in the comments below.

LeBron James left the Cleveland Cavaliers the first time partially because he wasn’t able to recruit a co-star to Northeast Ohio. Sixteen years later, James might find himself on the other end of the equation.

Former Cavalier and ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins said on a recent episode of the Road Trippin’ Show that the new backcourt duo of Donovan Mitchell and James Harden is ready to recruit James back to Cleveland for next season.

“My sources told me that Donovan Mitchell and James Harden are ready, are starting to push to go and recruit LeBron James this offseason,” Perkins said. “My sources tell me that as soon as James Harden got on the phone, got around the team, the initial was, ‘We’re about to make this run, we’re about to go all out. We want LeBron James.’”

Kendrick Perkins says sources told him Donovan Mitchell and James Harden are already recruiting LeBron back to the Cavs 👀👀👀 pic.twitter.com/L4KdfTbZ1x

— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) February 6, 2026

There’s certainly smoke to the rumors that LeBron could be coming back to Cleveland. Earlier on Friday, Jason Lloyd of The Athletic said on the radio that, “If (Lebron) plays anywhere next year, it’s going to be here (Cleveland).” According to reports from earlier this month, the Cavs would welcome James back as well.

Whether or not James returns next season remains to be seen. However, if what Perkins is saying is true, it’s good to see that the Cavs backcourt is bought into this team.

What we do know is that Harden wanted to come to Cleveland. He waived his partial no-trade clause to be here. And, Mitchell is excited to play with him.

We’ll see how that group pairs on the court before worrying too much about how they sell other players on joining them.

With an eight-game winning streak on the line, the New York Knicks (33*-18) face the Detroit Pistons (37-13) tonight at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. For the good guys, Karl-Anthony Towns is questionable with a right eye laceration, Josh Hart is questionable with a left ankle sprain, OG Anunoby is probable with a right toe soreness, and Miles McBride is out with a left ankle issue. For Detroit, Jalen Duren is day-to-day with right knee soreness and Tobias Harris is day-to-day with left hip soreness.

Tip off is 7:30 p.m. EST on Amazon and MSG. This is your game thread. This is Detroit Bad Boys. Please don’t post large photos, GIFs, or links to illegal streams in the thread. No hair pulling or name calling. And go Knicks!

* Should be one more, but the Cup final doesn’t count.

The playoff rematch between the Detroit Pistons and the New York Knicks won’t quite have the spark we were hoping for. The Pistons’ injury report is littered with important players. Jalen Duren is questionable after playing just 13 minutes in yesterday’s loss to the Washington Wizards due to right knee soreness. Tobias Harris, who missed that game, is now listed as probable. Duncan Robinson also makes an appearance with a left quad contusion. He’s also listed as probable. The Knicks are even worse off. Karl-Anthony Towns is doubtful with an eye laceration. Miles McBride remains out, and OG Anunoby is questionable with right toe soreness. New addition Jose Alvarado can’t suit up yet.

The Pistons are also playing on the second night of a back-to-back, but perhaps fitting for this team’s personality, Detroit excels on no rest. They are 7-1 this season on the second night of back-to-backs this season. That is the best winning percentage in the NBA.

Game Vitals

When: 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Watch: Prime Video
Odds: Pistons -5.5

Projected Lineups

Detroit Pistons (37-13)

Cade Cunningham, Duncan Robinson, Ausar Thompson, Tobias Harris, Jalen Duren

New York Knicks (33-18)

Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Mitchell Robinson

Question of the Day

Which NBA Trade Deadline addition will have the bigger impact for their team — Kevin Huerter for the Pistons or Jose Alvarado for the Knicks?

To say James Harden and Daryl Morey have a history together would be an understatement. They were one of the most successful marriages in basketball until they weren’t. Morey fully believed in Harden’s style of play for the better part of a decade. He worked with him and Mike D’Antoni to create an efficient, small-ball team with the Houston Rockets that was truly ahead of its time.

That Rockets group never reached the Finals, but were good enough to do so. They unfortunately ran into the Kevin Durant Golden State Warriors — a team that was possibly the best collection of talent assembled on an NBA roster.

The Harden and Morey partnership continued with the Philadelphia 76ers. It worked well there until it came time to negotiate a new deal. Harden wanted a long-term max contract extension after the 2023 season. The Sixers didn’t give it to him, which led to Harden calling Morey a liar to a somewhat disinterested crowd in China.

Harden’s breakup with Morey and the Sixers was messy. Those hard feelings seemed to have lingered two and a half years later.

Morey had a press conference on Friday afternoon addressing the Sixers’ moves at the deadline. In them, he said that the rest of the conference didn’t make any trades that impacted their ability to compete in the East, which would include the Cleveland Cavaliers trading for Harden.

“Folks have speculated on the improvements of our East competitors,” Morey said, “I don’t see it personally. There weren’t any needle movers in my opinion.”

Daryl Morey: "Folks have speculated on the improvements of our East competitors, I don't see it personally. There weren't any needle movers in my opinion"

LMAO pic.twitter.com/5WvlPk8OW8

— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) February 6, 2026

It’s hard to see this as anything other than a shot at Harden.

Even if you don’t think the Darius Garland for Harden swap drastically improves the Cavs, the change is significant enough to be a “needle mover.”

Also, the Cavs are one of the hottest teams in the league. They’ve won eight of their last 10 game mostly without Garland, and vaulted past the 76ers in the process. Adding someone coming off an All-NBA season would seem to qualify as changing the landscape of the conference.

The Cavs play the 76ers once more this season on March 9. We’ll see what kind of showing Harden has in that game.

Welcome to February Daily Topics at Golden State of Mind. A question (almost) every day this month to give the community a prompt to talk about!

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The 2026 NBA trade deadline is officially behind us, and it’s safe to say, the Golden State Warriors ended up right in the middle. Golden State sent Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Kristaps Porziņģis and, to help facilitate that move, traded Trayce Jackson-Davis to the Toronto Raptors for a second-round pick.

That’s perhaps more than fans were expecting, but less than they were hoping for, given the rumors of Giannis Antetokounmpo that had swirled for weeks. It wasn’t a big swing, but it wasn’t nothing, either.

The Warriors finally found a home for Kuminga. They cleared future salary space by offloading Hield’s contract. They opened up cap space and a roster spot for Pat Spencer (who used his final game of two-way eligibility on Thursday), and likely another player as well. They grabbed a former All-Star in Porziņģis, and will have a few months to see how well he fits, and decide if they want to re-sign him this offseason.

So what grade do you give Mike Dunleavy Jr. and the rest of the front office for both their maneuverings and their lack thereof?

Personally? I’m not a fan. There’s nothing they could have done about Antetokounmpo — they put all their chips on the table and Milwaukee decided otherwise. But the end result felt like they were trying to straddle both sides and failed to land on either. Getting rid of Hield’s contract gives them flexibility in the offseason, but they also could have just made that move over the summer, to see if something better materialized. Really, the only reason for making the move they made is to see if they want to re-sign Porziņģis, and his health — he’s played 17 games this year, and 60 just once in the past nine seasons — has me scared that the Warriors will do exactly that. Add in his declining play and the rape allegations that have been levied against him, and it’s not really the move I was clamoring for. But they do get some credit for ending the Kuminga saga, and getting an intriguing, All-Star talent without sacrificing a draft pick.

I’ll give them a C+. What’s your grade?

Greetings, Panthers fans. Welcome to the weekend.

Feel free to use this thread to chat about (almost) anything you want: video games, food, movies, non-football sports, you name it. As long as it’s allowed by the site’s ToS, it’s fair game here.

You know the drill.

This is now an open thread

VIGO, Spain (AP) — A late goal from Raúl García de Haro gave Osasuna a 2-1 win over Celta Vigo in La Liga on Friday and dealt the home side a first defeat at Estadio Abanca-Balaídos since November.

García de Haro got on the end of Alejandro Catena’s clever knock down with 11 minutes remaining to side-foot the ball home at the far post.

Ante Budimir put visiting Osasuna ahead shortly before halftime with his 11th goal of the season only for Borja Iglesias to equalize from the spot for Celta eight minutes into the second half.

Celta’s winless run was extended to four games in all competitions and left it in seventh place.

Osasuna was one place behind and closed the gap between the teams to four points.

“This is out second consecutive away win,” Budimir said. “We competed very well and we got what we deserved through hard work.”

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

METZ, France (AP) — Struggling Metz held high-flying Lille to 0-0 at home but the point was not enough to lift it off the bottom of Ligue 1 on Friday.

Metz had not won in eight games and it looked second best for much of the match against a team whose early season promise had tapered out after a run of four league defeats.

But visiting Lille could not breach a staunch Metz defense.

Lille had to settle for fifth place, six points behind Lyon.

Metz remained rooted to the bottom of the table with the same points as Auxerre and a point behind Nantes, both of which have a game in hand.

Six points separate the last three from safety.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer