Category: Basketball

Another day, another write-up about LeBron James potentially joining the Cleveland Cavaliers after his current deal with the Los Angeles Lakers runs out this summer. This time, it was Cleveland’s current superstar, Donovan Mitchell, weighing in on the matter.

Mitchell told SiriusXM NBA Radio that being a teammate with James would be special, but that isn’t his focus right now.

Mitchell’s entire quote can be read below:

“As a Bron fan, to be able to be a teammate, that would obviously be special, but that’s not something in my control. I control what we got here. There’s always going to be reports, that’s natural, it’s gonna be a thing.

At the end of the day, to your point, my main focus right now is trying to get this championship. And whatever it happens, it happens. Like, that’s not up to me, that’s not up to anybody else in the locker room. So I’m big on believing what I can control. But yeah, it’s LeBron James, right?

At the end of the day, that’s not my focus. I’m not here to worry about that. I know I’m gonna get asked about that a bunch all weekend, but my focus is [with the current team]. We just traded for James Harden, Dennis Schroder, Keon Ellis, I would say, ‘Let’s try to find a way to get a ring,’ and go from there.

"It’s LeBron James, right?"

Here’s Donovan Mitchell’s thoughts on the rumors that LeBron could finish his career in Cleveland@TermineRadio | @Jumpshot8

Click here for more All-Star coverage – https://t.co/j3RPgmlH7epic.twitter.com/lm2My2U5HQ

— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) February 15, 2026

Questions like this are going to keep coming up, given the recent rumors and the fact that no meaningful basketball is being played during All-Star Weekend.

Mitchell has the right perspective. This isn’t something that he can control, and this Cavs team is good enough to win a championship this season with how open the Eastern Conference is.

At the same time, it’s also worth acknowledging that Mitchell seems open to it based on what he’s said here and the fact that he’s made it no secret that he grew up rooting for LeBron. And there have already been rumors that Mitchell and Harden have started recruiting LeBron back home.

There would be something poetic about Mitchell — who was one of the children in attendance at The Decision in 2010 — potentially leading a championship-level Cavaliers team with James 17 years later.

We’ll see how this all plays out. The team would need to make plenty of roster moves before James could sign with the Cavs for a third stint. However, if both Mitchell and LeBron want this reunion to take place, the Cavs will undoubtedly find a way to make it all work.

In our latest NBA Reacts poll, I wanted to see how good Jazz fans think the Jazz will be next season. With the addition of Jaren Jackson Jr. last week, the Utah Jazz became the center of NBA attention, but not for the right reasons. Adam Silver, in typical form, fined the Jazz for resting Jackson in the fourth because he doesn’t understand or care about the NBA or the small-market fans. Or any fans, really.

Anyways, what should have been focused on was how good the Jazz looked with Jackson on the floor. Utah’s defense looked incredible, and they had some impressive offensive flow that gave a preview of the Jazz next season. The question is, how far will the Jazz go next season with Jaren Jackson Jr.? Here’s what Jazz fans think.

The majority of Jazz fans think the Jazz will be a top-6 playoff seed, and I have a hard time not agreeing. The Jazz have the potential to be an elite defensive team with Jacon Jr. paired with Walker Kessler.

At FanDuel you can see for this season and next. Something tells me those odds fort he Jazz are going to be good!

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Dailyn Swain scored 18 of his 25 points after halftime, Matas Vokietaitis had 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Texas pulled away in the second half to beat Missouri 85-68 on Saturday night.

Texas (16-9, 7-5 SEC) has won four straight and five of six.

Jordan Pope added 15 points, 12 in the second half, for the Longhorns.

Nicholas Randall threw down a put-back dunk after a missed layup by T.O. Barrett that made it 41-all with 14:39 left to play. Tramon Mark answered with a three-point play and Pope hit a 3-pointer a little more than two minutes later that gave Texas a six-point lead. Vokietaitis made two free throws to ignite an 8-1 spurt that made it 59-48 with 9:09 left.

Mark Mitchell and Jayden Stone each scored 16 points for Missouri (17-8, 7-5).

There were 41 personal fouls called. Texas made 21 of 23 (91%) from the free-throw line, where the Tigers shot 68% (26 of 38).

The Longhorns outscored Missouri 40-28 in the paint. The Tigers went into the game outscoring conference opponents in the paint by an average 10.4 points – the second-best margin in the SEC.

Mitchell and Swain went into game as the only players in the SEC — and two of just 11 in the country — with at least 400 points, 130 rebounds and 80 assists this season.

Tipoff was delayed about 20 minutes due to the late arrival of an official after traffic was snarled by a vehicle collision.

It was the first sellout of the season at the 15,061-seat Mizzou Arena.

Up next

Texas: Hosts LSU on Tuesday.

Missouri: Plays at home Wednesday against No. 19 Vanderbilt.

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

SEATTLE (AP) — Hannes Steinbach scored 26 points on 12-of-17 shooting and Zoom Diallo scored 17 points and Washington beat Minnesota 69-57 on Saturday night and ended its three-game losing streak.

Despite just 4-of-13 (31%) shooting from 3-point range by Washington (13-13, 5-10 Big Ten), the Huskies found success overall shooting 29 of 46 (63%). Inside the arc Washington was 25 of 33 (76%).

Steinbach just missed his 17th double-double of the season, grabbing nine rebounds. He entered the game as the nation's fourth-leading rebounder at 11.4 boards per game.

Cade Tyson scored 22 points, Bobby Durkin scored 13 points and Isaac Asuma 11 for Minnesota (11-14, 4-10 Big Ten).

Washington went on a 14-0 run in the last 3:57 of the first half turning a one-point deficit into a 39-26 lead.

To start the run, Courtland Muldrew's step-back basket put Washington up 27-26. Steinbach followed with a layup before a Franck Kepnang jumper made it 31-26.

Washington went on to maintain the double-digit lead for all the second half and Steinbach's dunk with 2:59 to go gave Washington its biggest lead at 69-49.

Up Next

Minnesota: Slides down Interstate 5 to play Oregon on Tuesday.

Washington: Plays next Saturday at Maryland.

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Aden Holloway scored 20 points and Labaron Philon Jr. and reserve Latrell Wrightsell Jr. each scored 19 points and Alabama beat South Carolina 89-75 on Saturday night for the Crimson Tide's fourth consecutive win.

Holloway finished 6-of-9 shooting, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range, Philon was 5 of 8 — 4 of 7 from 3 — and Wrightsell 6 of 11 and 3 of 7 from distance.

Aiden Sherrell scored 11 points and Amari Allen grabbed 10 rebounds and eight points for Alabama (18-7, 8-4 SEC).

Meechie Johnson scored 24 of his 26 points after halftime, Kobe Knox had 21 points and Mike Sharavjamts 14 for South Carolina (11-14, 2-10 SEC).

Holloway's 3-pointer with 9:56 before halftime ended a tie at 23-all, Jalil Bethea followed with a dunk on a fastbreak and Alabama (18-7, 8-4) led for the remainder.

Holloway and Philon made consecutive 3s in a 37-second span and Alabama took its first double-digit lead at 41-29 with 2:52 before halftime.

Alabama led 45-32 at halftime and maintained the double-digit lead until Johnson's 3 with 8:20 left capped his personal 11-2 run and reduced South Carolina's (11-14, 2-10) lead to 63-56.

Wrightshell made a pair of free throws with 2:48 remaining and Alabama stayed ahead by double digits the rest of the way.

Up Next

South Carolina: Travels to face 14th-ranked Florida on Tuesday.

Alabama: Hosts 21st-ranked Arkansas on Wednesday.

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Observations

• The NBA leaned in hard on the Hollywood bit with stars being brought into the arena among a throng of adoring paparazzi throughout the evening.
• The NBA ad where the singer spits out players names with the instrumentals for Tears for Fears’ ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’ is catchy. Maybe someone will do a song about this year’s Spurs roster.
• The Dunk Contest is on its deathbed.

State Farm 3-Point Shooting Contest

In a league that continues to display the 3-point shot more, it was really nice to hear Reggie Miller provide the player-by-player analysis of how their respective forms could portend to success in this contest. The 4-point logo spot was a dead spot for nearly all of the participants tonight.

First Round

Donovan Mitchell had a blazing hot start on his first two racks, but faded late for 24 points. Jamal Murray could not find any momentum from rack-to-rack and languised with 17 points. Norman Powell looked like Rashard Lewis out there with a high release and finished with 23 points. Bobby Portis, like Murray, had a scattershot performance and ended up with a paltry 15. Tyrese Maxey has the makings of a Lillard-like easy-shooting form, but scored 17.

Kon Kneuppel (27 points) started the competition well, and the two last elder participants – Devin Booker (channeling his inner Klay Thompson with 30 points) and Damian Lillard (showing no visible wear from his myriad leg injuries with 27 points) finished in the top three for Round 1.

Final Round

Kneuppel faded in the bright lights of Intuit Dome and shot quite a good amount of back rim bricks and ended in third with 17 points.

Booker and Lillard staged a shootout for the ages. Lillard was consistently great on each rack and put tons of pressure on Booker with his 29 point performance.

I had a hard time believing Lillard in his congratulatory interview when he said that he knew it would be these three competitors in the finals, but he was a deserving winner tonight. Booker hit on 9 of his first 10 and had several opportunities to overtake Lillard on the final rack, but missed his final three – falling just two short of 3-time winner Lillard.

CHAMPION: Damian Lillard (Portland TrailBlazers)

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Kia Shooting Stars

The Shooting Stars event was brought back from the dead, with the team leads assigned to be designated passers for each round – it turned out that the leads / passers truly mattered to the final outcome.

Team Harper, led by 2 Chainz, had our favorite father-son(s) combination – Ron and Ron, Jr. along with Spur rookie Dylan.

Team All-Star, led by Druski, had Scottie Barnes, Chet Holmgren, and former Piston Rip Hamilton.

Team Cameron (as in Indoor Stadium), led by actor Anthony Anderson, had former Dukies Kon Knueppel, Hawk Jalen Johnson, and former Clipper Corey Maggette.

Team Knicks fielded Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Allan Houston and was led by Jalen’s dad, Rick Brunson.

First Round

Team All-Star: Druski as the designated passer, resembled the skit of the guy that couldn’t make any shots in an empty gym with some horrific passing displays. The team finished with only 16 points.

Team Cameron: Anderson took his duties more seriously and Kneuppel’s corner three surpassed Druski’s total with many seconda to spare. Cameron finished with 24.

Team Harper: Ron, Sr. missed an open lay-up! And the sons could not make up for dad’s lack of shooting touch. However, the Harpers finished with 18. Did you all know T-Chainz played Division I basketball?

Team Knicks: Allan Houston’s baseline three put the Knicks into the finals with a staggering 31 points.

Final Round

Team Cameron: Maggette played to the adoring home Clipper crowd and converted several key buckets on the way to a 38-point showing.

Team Knicks: The team rode a wave of momentum with the halfcourt shot to an emphatic 47 point victory. But we know that, just like with their Emirates Cup title, there’ll be a post-All Star swoon coming. So we Pounders are good.

CHAMPION: Team Knicks

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Between Competition Entertainment

Ludacris – in a Dominique Wilkins jersey – went through a quick set while the stage was getting set for the dunk contest.

First song was ‘Get out the Way” – a good euphemism for what the Spurs are doing to the other Western Conference teams so far.

Next song: “When I Move You Move” – a great analogy for the in-game movement of the Spurs’ cadre of excellent guards

CHAMPION: People between 35-50 years old who grew up on hiphop.

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AT&T Slam Dunk

The judges were: former Spur Brent Barry – resplendent in the Clipper warm-up jacket he wore when he won the 1996 contest in San Antonio, Corey Maggette, Dwight Howard, Dominique Wilkins, and ‘Doctor J’ Julius Erving. I really liked that the NBC telecast hyped up the players with walk-in videos. They staged the dunk set on the Wall side of the arena to create a solid background effect. Miami Heat president Pat Riley came to support his young player – resembling British actor Jonathan Pryce.

First Round

Carter Bryant – deemed ‘Carter the Kid’ – his first attempt was reminiscent of Vince Carter’s (2000) twist-in-the- wrong-direction for a one-handed jam. That netted him a score of 45.6. Bryant, with a chance to get into the top two, tossed a nice ball to himself and punched in a windmill slam that resulted in a 49.2.

Keshad Johnson – given the name ‘Flight 305’ (Dade County) – he sauntered in with Bay Area rap royalty E-40 and then followed it by doinking his first attempt. The second one involved leaping over E-40 for a one-handed jam with a hand to the side of the head for measure. His 47.4 score placed him first of the quartet. After two botched tosses, he converted a reverse two-handed dunk and, after dancing better than dunking, the judges gave him a 45.4.

Jase Richardson (son of Jason) – was not surprisingly coined ‘J-Rich Reignited’ – a milquetoast toss-it-to-himself and catch it mid-air for a two-hand reverse dunk. This type of dunk has been done too many times in the last decade-plus. He earned a score of 45.4 for this. After missing his next four – including one where he wiped out and fell on his backside – he threw down a 270 power dunk and received a 43.4.

Jaxson Hayes – the third best dunking big on the Lakers was assigned the moniker ‘Action Jaxson’ – then proceeded to fizzle out on a one-handed floating dunk from well within the free throw stripe. He deservedly got the 44.6 score he received (skewed higher by Howard’s 47). After a between-the-legs try (think Isaiah Rider) that bounced high off the rim, his next attempt went through mostly cleanly and got him 47.2.

Final Round

‘Carter the Kid’ (1st Round – 94.8)

Attempt #1: He one-upped Johnson’s try with a high toss to himself and a between-the-legs throwdown that impressed Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady and generated 50s across the board.

Attempt #2: After missing a Jamal Crawford backboard toss and Vince Carter combo multiple times, he was forced to do a 360 slam to beat the dunk-clock. This got him a 43.0 (and likely bringin back bad memories of missed dunks in San Antonio’s earlier games) and ceded the contest to Johnson.

‘Flight 305’ (2nd Round – 92.8)

Attempt #1: He converted the one that he unsuccessfully tried in the previous one – a baseline between-the-legs reverse that netted him a 49.6.

Attempt #2: Johnson started from deep in the backcourt and tossed home a one-hander that was outshined by so many of Zach LaVine’s prior ones from 2016-2017. His 47.8 score necessitated a 47.5 for Bryant on his final attempt.

CHAMPION: Keshad Johnson (Miami Heat)

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Now we can all look forward to Victor Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox’s appearances in the All-Star Game tomorrow night.

Want to know how silly NBA All-Star Weekend can be?

Before we get into the (more) serious stuff, let’s start with dessert. The NBA’s signature event is a no-holds-barred opportunity to ask the league’s biggest stars some truly unhinged questions during their media availability Saturday ahead of Sunday’s game. 

Questions that would typically be considered shockingly inappropriate in any other context are fair game in this milieu. Here are some of the most chuckle-worthy things that came out of Saturday.

Anthony Edwards, who oozes charm and seemingly loved the odd-ball questions more than the basketball-related ones, was asked about a popular Instagram account (@nbaresdev) ranking him as the seventh hottest player of all time. 

His response?

“My mom and daddy did a pretty good job, but my old lady ain’t going to like that, though,” Edwards said. “She want me to suppress it. I be trying to hide it and be ugly for these folks. But they ain’t wrong, though. They probably got me a little low on that list, honestly.”

Edwards was also asked which All-Star he wouldn’t want his sister to date. 

“I’m going to go with JB,” he said of Boston’s Jaylen Brown. “He is from the city (Marietta, Georgia). He can’t date my sister.”

Then there was Kevin Durant, who was asked if he had to either give up X (formerly called Twitter) or video games, which one he’d choose. Durant, of course, is infamous for trolling his detractors on the social media app. 

“I’m going to go Twitter because they don’t deserve to hear this God-level talk I’m giving to them,” Durant said. 

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Meanwhile, Nikola Jokic was asked whether he’d rather win the MVP Award every year or have his horses win their races.

He picked his horses. 

Another highlight was when Luka Doncic was asked in front of Boban Marjanovic if the center was his favorite teammate. 

“Definitely not,” he said of Marjanovic, whom he played alongside on the Mavericks from 2019-2022.

Now that we’ve had our foray into the silly, here’s more relevant news. 

Victor Wembanyama said he wants to make the All-Star Game more competitive by making “exclamation-point plays, playing in a solid manner and sharing the ball with energy.”

Other NBA stars weren’t on the same page, including Edwards who balked at the idea that the U.S. versus World format could duplicate the intensity of the Olympic Games. “No,” he said. 

Durant, similarly, made it clear that he thought the intensity of Sunday’s game didn’t matter much. 

“I just feel like fans and media need something to complain about,” he said. “And the All-Star Game don’t make them feel like they felt when they were kids.”

Meanwhile, Brown made it clear that he’s in favor of a 1-on-1 competition to increase interest in the weekend. 

“Luka, Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander), (Jalen) Brunson, Donovan (Mitchell) — I would challenge all them guys, 1-on-1,” Brown said. “We could donate to whatever charity. Let’s set it up.”

As for Doncic, who has missed the Lakers’ last four games because of a hamstring injury, he intends to “play a little bit” on Sunday. He said he feels “pretty good,” though he added, “No, I will not try to dunk on LeBron.”

On the subject of James, who’s the only All-Star holding a news conference Sunday, Edwards acknowledged that whenever the superstar decides to retire, he “might cry a little bit.”

Wembanyama doesn’t think he’ll tear up when James hangs up his jersey, but the future face of the league said he’d love to pick the brain of the guy who’s held that title for the last two decades. 

“I’ve never had the chance to spend time with him, to have full discussion, but I would love to,” Wembanyama said. “I don’t know how many millions of basketball players are on Earth, and all of them can learn something from LeBron.”

Meanwhile, when Edwards was asked if his interest has increased in becoming the eventual face of the league, he didn’t hesitate. 

“Man, them folks got Wembanyama,” he said. “They got Wembanyama. They’ll be all right.”

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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There’s no denying it: the NBA All-Star Game isn’t quite what it used to be. Decades ago, it was a true showcase of the best basketball talent in the world, with players taking the game as seriously as a late regular-season game with playoff implications.

Now, things have changed, and the All-Star Game — while still packed with talent — resembles a serious, competitive basketball game about as much as the NBA Street franchise does. Sure, it’s not exactly Shadeur Sanders playing flag football on the seriousness scale, but it’s not what so many of us grew up watching, either.

So how would you propose fixing the game, and the weekend (the three-point contest isn’t what it once was, either, and the slam dunk contest has fallen all the way off)?

The bigger question might be: is it even fixable at all? There’s a lot fighting against making the game competitive. The schedule is more demanding than it used to be, so players are more eager to find time to rest. Players are pushing their bodies to the limit like never before, with injuries at a high; that, combined with a better understanding of medicine and science than we used to have, means players are far less willing to put their body on the line for a game that is ultimately meaningless. And players have grown so accustomed to the game being an uncompetitive dunking exhibition, that there’s no incentive to start playing differently.

So it might not be fixable. If I were in charge, though, I’d still make a change: just go back to how it used to be. It may not be as good as it once was, but it’s not broken, either. We don’t need the shenanigans of elam endings and Team USA vs. Team World and a never-ending carousel of changing rules and concepts. Just let the 12 best players from the Western Conference play the 12 best players from the Eastern Conference, and let the players hopefully cycle back to feeling competitive about the game at some point.

As for the dunk contest? That might be broken for good, in part because it’s nearly reached the limit of what the human body is capable of, and now it’s hard to stand out. It could use more star power, though, so if I were the commissioner, I’d negotiate in the next CBA to try to get the players association to commit to two All-Stars in the contest every year (though that’s obviously a very low priority).

What are your All-Star fixes?

Boston Celtics two-way player Ron Harper Jr. appeared twice in the NBA All-Star Weekend festivities, but fell short of leaving a mark on either competition.

The 25-year-old participated in the Castrol Rising Stars mini-tournament on Friday and the Kia Shooting Stars competition on Saturday.

Harper Jr. started at shooting guard for Team Austin in the first game of the three-game mini-tournament, across from his brother, San Antonio Spurs rookie Dylan Harper, who started at forward for Team Melo.

While Ron Harper Jr. logged the second-most minutes of any player on Team Austin, he finished the game as its only scoreless player.

The G League star shot 0-5 from the field and 0-2 from three point range, and spent the majority of his time on the offensive end uninvolved and standing in the corner without the ball.

Both three point attempts were particularly rough. One came early in the game, when Harper Jr. dribbled into a shot and got blocked. The other attempt came on the second-to-last play of the game, when he took a shot several feet behind the perimeter with plenty of time left on the shot clock… and missed everything.

Dylan Harper got the ball on the next possession, took it at his brother, made him dance with a couple moves, and sunk the game-winning shot.

Ron Harper Jr got gamed by his little brother Dylan Harper with their father Ron Harper sitting courtside

Such a cool moment for the Harper family pic.twitter.com/OHxGQdSiax

— Ian Inangelo (@iinangelo) February 14, 2026

Nevertheless, it wasn’t all negative for Harper Jr. While his stat line was not glamorous, he did a lot of the unsung dirty work for Team Austin.

He posted a team-high 7 rebounds, including 3 offensive boards, and 2 assists, displaying excellent effort while battling in the trenches. He got a good tip that led to another rebound he was uncredited for, recovered a ball lost by one of his teammates, and got the game started by assisting on an alley-oop dunk.

Since Team Austin lost the game, it did not advance in the mini-tournament and Harper Jr. did not get another chance to shine.

During the Kia Shooting Stars competition, Harper Jr. and his team — which consisted of himself, his brother, Dylan, and his father, Ron Harper Sr., as well as celebrity passer 2 Chainz — also failed to progress past the first round.

The competition had four teams of three players shoot from seven spots, from a layup to an elbow jumper to a deep three-point shot from the logo, in an attempt to rack up as many points as possible over 70 seconds.

Team Harper finished the first round in third place, with 18 total points. Ron Jr. hit 3 of his 9 shots for 7 points, while his brother and father finished with 9 and 2 points, respectively.

Still winners in our eyes 😂💫 pic.twitter.com/44wsIG7ceX

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) February 14, 2026

They were in second place following their performance, but Team Knicks — the eventual winner — came next and immediately unseated Team Cameron for the top spot in the competition, pushing Team Harper to third.

Only the top 2 teams made the final round, so Team Harper was left behind and Harper Jr.’s participation in All-Star Weekend came to an end.

The Celtics’ next participant in the festivities will be Jaylen Brown, who will start for Team USA Stripes in tomorrow’s All-Star Game, which will feature a four-game tournament between two teams of U.S. players and one team of international players.

Team USA Stripes will play in games 2 and 3, which are slated to begin at 5:55 p.m. and 6:25 p.m. EST. The two teams with the best records will advance to an All-Star Championship game at 7:10 p.m. EST. The games can be viewed on NBC or streamed on Peacock.

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Top-seeded Taylor Fritz beat Marin Cilic in straight sets and No. 2 Ben Shelton rallied past defending champion Denis Shapovalov on Saturday night, setting up a Dallas Open final between the world's highest-ranked Americans.

Fritz had 22 aces in his 7-6(5), 7-6(3) victory, while Shelton sparked his game with a scintillating crosscourt forehand winner while facing three break points early in the second set and going on to a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) win.

The 28-year-old Fritz is ranked seventh in the world, two spots ahead of Shelton, who is coming off an Australian Open quarterfinal appearance that ended with a loss to Jannik Sinner in straight sets.

Fritz, a 10-time ATP Tour champion, and Shelton split their first two meetings. Shelton has three tour titles.

“Are you guys telling me that's the final you want to see?” Shelton asked, prompting cheers from fans at the indoor football stadium that is also the practice field of the Dallas Cowboys at club headquarters. “I'm super-excited for that matchup.”

Shelton came back from a set down for the second consecutive match, after beating Miomir Kecmanovic in the quarterfinals.

The 23-year-old was down a set and facing three break points at 1-1 in the second when the crosscourt winner got him going. He later had two set points on the seventh-seeded Shapovalov's serve, and converted the second to force the deciding set.

Shelton won three of the last four points in the tiebreaker, clinching the victory with another forehand winner.

Fritz had three set points in the first tiebreaker and three match points in the second against the unseeded Cilic.

The 2024 U.S. Open finalist closed out the first with his third consecutive ace after Cilic saved two set points.

One of Cilic's eight double faults — Fritz didn't have any — gave Fritz an early opening in the second tiebreaker. Fritz won his first match point when the 2014 U.S. Open champion's service return went long.

The 37-year-old Cilic used his powerful serve to escape several tough spots in a match with 38 aces. Cilic, who was seeking his 600th career singles victory, saved all five break points against him, while Fritz didn't face any in his third victory in four meetings with Cilic.

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

The bass thumped, the lights dimmed and Hollywood did what Hollywood does best: It oversold the moment.

At the brand-new Intuit Dome on Saturday night, the NBA Slam Dunk Contest opened like a blockbuster premiere. Each participant received a custom movie trailer introduction, complete with dramatic narration and slow-motion highlights.

Then came the dunks.

The four contestants — Carter Bryant of the Spurs, Jaxson Hayes of the Lakers, Keshad Johnson of the Heat and Jase Richardson of the Magic — each had two attempts in the first round. The top two would advance to the finals. Five judges sat courtside like royalty: Julius Erving, Dominique Wilkins, Dwight Howard, Corey Maggette and Brent Barry — men who once treated rims like their own personal property.

The highlight of the first round belonged to Johnson. And it wasn’t even close.

The Heat forward walked out dancing alongside Bay Area legend E-40 to “Tell Me When to Go,” a cultural anthem that turned the Dome into a West Coast block party.

Keshad Johnson’s swag was on a MILLION as a he walked out and dunked on E-40 in his first @att Slam Dunk! @SFSkyforce | @MiamiHEATpic.twitter.com/kHBjOXpn8b

— NBA G League (@nbagleague) February 15, 2026

Then Johnson did exactly that — he told us when to go. He leapt over E-40, cleared him cleanly, smiled midair like he was posing for a magazine cover and hammered it home with authority. It was swagger. It was theater. It was what this contest is supposed to be.

The building erupted.

Keshad Johnson over E-40 at @ATT Slam Dunk

Tap to watch: https://t.co/BpnjnxQ8vCpic.twitter.com/zGQfU8kDdR

— NBA (@NBA) February 15, 2026

Then came the local favorite: Hayes, who plays center for the Lakers.

Playing in front of family and friends in his adopted city, Hayes promised excitement. 

“I’m just excited. My whole family is here, and I’m excited to put on a show,” he said beforehand. He had studied old contests on YouTube, scrolled Instagram for ideas, searching for that one dunk that “gets people going.”

His first attempt didn’t.

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Hayes took off from just inside the free-throw line and finished with a one-handed slam. The judges awarded it a 44.6 — the lowest score of the first round. In a building that had just witnessed Johnson turn a dunk into a music video, Hayes’ attempt felt like a warm-up layup line drill.

Los Angeles is unforgiving when it’s underwhelmed. The murmurs were immediate.

His second dunk showed more imagination. Hayes tossed the ball to himself, caught it off the bounce, went between the legs and flushed it. It took several attempts — momentum bleeding out with each miss — but when he finally completed it, the score reflected the improvement: 47.2. His 91.8 total was enough to avoid immediate elimination, but he missed the finals by a point.

Jaxson Hayes taps it to himself & goes between the legs for his second slam in @ATT Slam Dunk

Tap to watch: https://t.co/BpnjnxQ8vCpic.twitter.com/pBALENoNJ0

— NBA (@NBA) February 15, 2026

Hayes had joked earlier that if he could dunk on anyone, it would be “LeBron.” Saturday night, he couldn’t even dunk over the moment. 

In a city that breathes basketball mythology, Saturday felt like a missed opportunity for the Lakers’ sixth Slam Dunk Contest participant.

The finals belonged to Bryant and Johnson, and the contrast was electric versus surgical. Johnson brought the showmanship. Bryant brought the hammer.

On his first dunk of the finals, Bryant rose, went between the legs with violent precision and detonated the rim. The judges flashed perfect 50s across the board. 

CARTER BRYANT WITH A 50

He needs a 47.5 on his final attempt to win @ATT Slam Dunk!

Tap to watch: https://t.co/Cc3TznvNLrpic.twitter.com/YMeqAi2whh

— NBA (@NBA) February 15, 2026

But when the moment mattered the most, Bryant faltered. Needing just 47 points to win the contest, Bryant couldn’t finish any of his attempts on his final dunk. With the clock winding down, Bryant ditched his between-the-legs, off the backboard, reverse dunk and settled for a simple 360 instead. The judges didn’t buy it, and Bryant had blown his chance to be crowned champion.

When the dust settled, it was the Johnson, the Heat forward, who stood alone as the champion, having delivered the most entertaining dunk of the night. In doing so, he proved that consistency, patience and theatrics were all that was needed to follow in the footsteps of legendary past winners like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Vince Carter. 

RUNNING WINDMILL JAM FOR THE WIN!

Keshad Johnson is your 2026 @ATT Slam Dunk Champion pic.twitter.com/jAhyHzesvr

— NBA (@NBA) February 15, 2026

“I give all the glory to God,” Johnson, a native of Oakland, said after the contest. “Always believe in yourself.”

The NBA’s Slam Dunk Contest remains a strange beast — equal parts nostalgia and innovation, judged by men who once defined it. Saturday night proved something important: Creativity wins the crowd, but execution wins the crown.

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Josh Hubbard scored 32 points, Achor Achor scored 18, and Mississippi State ended a three-game skid by beating Ole Miss 90-78 on Saturday.

Hubbard finished 12-of-16 shooting and Achor went 6 of 8. Jayden Epps added 12 points for Mississippi State (12-13 4-8 SEC). The Bulldogs shot 57% (33 of 58).

Malik Dia tied a career-high with 32 points and reserve AJ Storr scored 21 for Ole Miss (11-14, 3-9). When he was at Bellarmine, Dia scored 32 points on Jan. 7, 2024 when the Bruins beat Drake 87-65.

The Rebels now have dropped seven straight. Mississippi State entered having lost eight of nine.

Mississippi State built a 13-3 lead and never trailed. Travis Perry made a 3-pointer with 8:13 before halftime and AJ Storr followed with a layup 30 seconds later to bring the Rebels within 24-21.

The Bulldogs countered when Jamarion Davis-Fleming threw down a dunk, Epps made a pair of foul shots and Hubbard made a 3 to stretch the margin to 10.

Storr made a layup and Dia's jump shot reduced the Ole Miss deficit to 31-26 with 4:20 remaining before halftime. Mississippi State used a 16-2 run to close the half with a 47-28 lead.

The Bulldogs led by double digits the entire second half.

Up next

Mississippi State: Hosts Auburn on Wednesday.

Ole Miss: Travels to face Texas A&M on Wednesday.

___

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NBA Commissioner Adam Silver spoke Saturday during All-Star Weekend about the league’s hot-button issues, including tanking, the lottery, expansion and the league’s pending investigation into whether the Clippers arranged a multimillion-dollar endorsement deal for Kawhi Leonard to circumvent the salary cap. 

When it comes to tanking, Silver, who fined the Jazz $500,000 and the Pacers $100,000 on Thursday for recently sitting star players in games, said he believes the problem is becoming increasingly pervasive. 

“We’ve got to look at some fresh thinking here,” Silver said. “What we’re doing, what we’re seeing right now is not working. There’s no question about it. Yes, is there more I can do? Have I attempted not only to respond to behavior we’ve seen but send a clear message that we’re going to be scrutinizing everything we see going forward? Absolutely.”

Silver added that the NBA Competition Committee began earlier this season “reexamining the whole approach to how the draft lottery works.” When asked if there have been discussions about taking draft picks away from teams that tank instead of fining them, he didn’t hesitate.  

“There is talk about every possible remedy now to stop this behavior.” Silver said.

As for expansion, when Silver was asked if reports were true about Seattle and Las Vegas being front-runners to secure new NBA franchises, Silver cautioned that nothing has been decided. 

“We will make decisions in 2026,” he said. “I think in fairness to the cities, Seattle and Las Vegas in particular, I’ve been very clear, I don’t want to tease teams. I don’t want to tease cities or mislead anyone. I think we wanted to get through collective bargaining, national television deals. We’ve done that, and now we’ve turned to it as a league.

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“My sense is at the March Board of Governors meetings we’ll be having further discussions around an expansion process. We won’t be voting at the March meeting, but we will likely come out of those meetings ready, prepared to take a next step in terms of potentially talking to interested parties.”

Silver also made it clear that the league isn’t necessarily looking to add two teams specifically, clarifying that an expansion “doesn’t have to be any number of teams.”

Meanwhile, the elephant in the room of All-Star Weekend is that while Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is showing off his $2 billion arena (Intuit Dome) that’s hosting the events, he and his team are being investigated regarding allegations that they circumvented the salary cap to retain Leonard by helping secure him a $28 million endorsement deal with the company Aspiration.

Ballmer and the Clippers have staunchly denied those allegations. And the NBA hired the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to investigate the matter. 

“I haven’t come to any decisions whatsoever yet on the Clippers matter,” Silver said. “… From everything I’ve been told, the Clippers have been fully cooperative. But as I said, I’m not involved day to day in the investigation.”

Silver added that the situation is “enormously complex.”

“You have a company in bankruptcy (Aspiration),” Silver said. “You have thousands of documents, multiple witnesses that have been needed to be interviewed.

“I will say, just in case anyone is wondering, the fact that All-Star is here this weekend has had no impact on the timeline of the investigation. Our charge to the Wachtell law firm is do the work and then come back and make recommendations to the league office, and that’s where things now stand.”

When Silver was asked to what extent he’s beholden to the CBA and the NBA’s Constitution in regard to any punishment that would be handed out for a salary cap circumvention, he was definitive. 

“I am completely beholden to the constitution and the CBA,” he said. “I believe in the rule of law. I have broad powers in certain areas, but those are broad powers that are granted to me by those very documents.”