Category: Sports News

Rick Adelman, the winningest coach in Sacramento Kings history and Basketball Hall of Famer, has died.

He was 79. His cause of death is unknown.

Adelman, a Lynwood, Calif. native who starred at Pius X High School in Downey outside of Los Angeles, led the Kings to the playoffs in all eight of his seasons at the helm from 1998-2006.

His 395 wins are the most in franchise history, and his 1,042 regular-seasons wins are 10th-most among coaches in NBA history.

“The Sacramento Kings organization is deeply saddened by the passing of Rick Adelman, a beloved coach whose leadership, character, and vision helped define an era of Kings basketball that inspired our city and captivated fans around the world,” the team wrote on X.
  
“During his eight seasons in Sacramento, he led the team to unprecedented success and helped create some of the most memorable moments in franchise history. For an entire generation of Kings fans, Coach Adelman represented the very best of Sacramento basketball, and he will be remembered for the way he inspired those around him – with humility, integrity, kindness, and an unwavering belief in the power of teamwork. His leadership helped establish a culture that continues to resonate throughout our organization today.  
  
“Our thoughts are with Mary Kay, his family, friends, former players, and all who loved him.”

Adelman, drafted by the San Diego Rockets out of Loyola Marymount in 1968, played parts of seven NBA seasons for the Rockets, Trail Blazers, Bulls, New Orleans Jazz and Kansas City-Omaha Kings.

He began his coaching career at Chemeketa Community College in 1977 before joining the Trail Blazers as an assistant in 1983. He took over as Portland’s head coach in 1989, leading them to the NBA Finals twice; they lost to the Pistons in 1990 and the Bulls in 1992.

After he was fired in 1994, Adelman sat out a year before taking over the Warriors gig in 1995. He was fired after two disappointing seasons before getting the Kings job in 1998.

The Kings went 16 years without a playoff appearance after Adelman left, and they haven’t won a playof series since 2004.

“Adelman will be remembered not only as a coach and a player, but also as a mentor to so many in the basketball community,” the NBA Coaches Association wrote on X.

SAN ANTONIO — The final frontier awaits. What the Knicks have dreamt of since childhood, what they’ve chased as men.

On a team that won the Eastern Conference for the first time in 27 years and is seeking its first title in 53 years, OG Anunoby is the only player with a ring, but he has never played a minute in the NBA Finals. Jordan Clarkson made the trip with the 2018 Cavaliers, but barely saw the floor in Cleveland’s four-game sweep against Golden State.

Only Mikal Bridges has seen significant action on this stage, starting for the Suns in the 2021 NBA Finals.

Phoenix entered that series against Milwaukee as the favorite and won the first two games by double digits, leaving the level-headed swingman uncharacteristically overconfident that he would be adding another ring to his collection from Villanova.

“I remember going up 2-0 [and] I thought we was good,” Bridges told teammates Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart on the “Roommates Show” in 2024. “We ’bout to win the chip, especially in the West, especially then, the West all had tough teams. East, we were like, whatever … We go see Milwaukee, we’re over here like, ‘Pfft.’ I’m like, ‘It’s light. It’s the East. It’s Milwaukee. I know they got Giannis [Antetokounmpo] and obviously they got hoopers, but the West is tougher than the East.’ We’re like, ‘We good.’ Go up 2-0, we’re looking like, ‘Exactly. This is what we’ve been talking about. It’s the East, bruh. We’re about to win this.’ And then they went on to win four straight. I just couldn’t believe it.”

Bridges was a big reason the Suns were in position to win their first NBA title, scoring 27 points in Game 2 to put his team in control. But the former Villanova star disappeared in the final four games, averaging just over four shots per game despite hitting 53 percent from the field and nearly 43 percent on 3-pointers in the series.

Five years later, Bridges, 29, has put his fingerprints all over the Knicks’ dominant postseason run. Since being benched during a scoreless performance in Game 3 of the first-round series against Atlanta, he has demonstrated newfound aggressiveness, averaging 18.7 points (shooting over 62 percent from the field) while shutting down multiple All-Star guards on the other end of the floor.

Bridges has helped the Knicks build one of the longest postseason winning streaks of all time (11), along with the largest point differential (+19.4 per game) of any team ever to reach the NBA Finals.

But a title will never be taken for granted again.

“[There are] a lot of questions, a lot of talk about how great we are, how great we’ve been,” Bridges recently said. “It doesn’t matter. We just got to worry about being ourselves and stay locked in.

“It’s great to get there, but that’s not our main goal.”

Long-time former NBA coach and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinee Rick Adelman died Monday, June 1, the NBA Coaches Association (NBCA) announced. Adelman was 79.

Adelman coached 29 seasons in the NBA, with head coaching stops at the Portland Trail Blazers, Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings, Houston Rockets and Minnesota Timberwolves. Over that span, he compiled a 1,042-749 (.582) record and reached the postseason 16 times.

His 1,791 games coaches ranks 12th all-time, and his total for victories ranks 10th.

“The Sacramento Kings organization is deeply saddened by the passing of Rick Adelman, a beloved coach whose leadership, character, and vision helped define an era of Kings basketball that inspired our city and captivated fans around the world,” the team said Monday in a statement.

“During his eight seasons in Sacramento, he led the team to unprecedented success and helped create some of the most memorable moments in franchise history. For an entire generation of Kings fans, Coach Adelman represented the very best of Sacramento basketball, and he will be remembered for the way he inspired those around him – with humility, integrity, kindness, and an unwavering belief in the power of teamwork."

The membership of the National Basketball Coaches Association joins the NBA family in mourning the passing of legendary Head Coach and Hall of Famer, Rick Adelman.

Rick Adelman coached in the NBA for 29 years, serving as a Head Coach for 23 seasons with the Portland Trail… pic.twitter.com/ksRQzGkF9Z

— NBA Coaches Assoc. (@NBA_Coaches) June 1, 2026

Adelman led the Trail Blazers, who featured star players like Clyde Drexler and Terry Porter, to two NBA Finals appearances, in 1990 and 1992.

The father of current Denver Nuggets head coach David Adelman, Rick also played seven seasons in the NBA for the San Diego Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers, Chicago Bulls, New Orleans Jazz and Kansas City-Omaha Kings.

As a player, Adelman averaged 7.7 points, 2.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game, across 462 appearances.

Adelman was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2021, and he received the NBCA Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023.

The Dallas Mavericks are moving arenas.

Following the conclusion of the 2030-2031 season — which marks the end of the team’s 30-year lease with the city of Dallas — the Mavericks will move north to where the old Valley View Mall used to be in northern Dallas to play their home games.

The Mavericks moved to the American Airlines Center in 2001 after leaving Reunion Arena for a “state of the art arena.” The team entered into a co-lease with the Dallas Stars to play their home games there for 30 seasons with team options to extend throughout the agreement. The team informed the city today that it would not be renewing its lease and purchased 104 acres of land where the old mall used to be.

The Stars have been in talks in recent weeks to move to an arena in Plano as well, completely deserting downtown and leaving it with only one major sports team — the Dallas Wings. The Wings currently play home games in Arlington’s College Park Center but will reportedly move to downtown Dallas for the 2027 season.

There had been speculation over the last few months that Dallas City Hall could be a new location for an arena that would keep the team in downtown Dallas where it’s been since the team’s inception in 1980, but the City Council has dragged its feet in recent meetings over whether to demolish the building or invest in renovating the structure for City Council use.

The Mavericks were done waiting.

The move ends an era in downtown Dallas sports history. The Mavericks will have played their first 51 seasons of basketball in the area before moving north in 2031 to build an entertainment district and new arena that the Dallas Morning News estimates could impact the city’s sports landscape for decades.

The team plans to build a new corporate headquarters, training facility, a luxury hotel, and a separate 5,000-seat theater for concerts and smaller sporting events, DMN reported Monday.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Stephen Curry has a new long-term shoe and apparel deal with Chinese sportswear company Li-Ning.

The Golden State star's Curry Brand announced Monday the partnership to keep building Curry's global reach in basketball, golf and lifestyle. Curry and Li-Ning will team up on brand creation and product development along with sports culture initiatives with what they called “a shared commitment to inspiring the next generation of athletes around the world.”

Curry called it "the partnership of a lifetime.” He wore the Li-Ning shoes of both Dwyane Wade and teammate Jimmy Butler earlier this year during what was considered a sneaker free-agency process.

The 38-year-old Curry parted ways with Under Armour last November after more than a decade, then began wearing different shoes almost nightly the rest of the season — pulling pairs from a large crate parked by his locker at Chase Center.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA

The youngest New York Knicks fans in New York City received permission from Mayor Zohran Mamdani to watch their team in the NBA Finals, no matter how late the games go.

Mamdani signed an executive order on June 1 declaring that bedtimes had been "repealed" during the series as they "should not impede the ability of New York's Cutest to cheer for the Knicks and watch every second."

He was joined at the signing ceremony by a group of children clad in Knicks colors who "signed" the order with their handprints.

Steph Curry continues to connect from long range. Even when it comes to shoe deals.

The Golden State Warriors star signed a 10-year endorsement contract with Chinese company Li-Ning, according to ESPN’s Sham Charania, citing industry sources on Monday, June 1.

Curry, 38, confirmed his partnership with the Chinese Company with a video posted on social media.

“The next stage is set,’’ Curry said in the video.

The next stage for Curry Brand is set. 👟👀@StephenCurry30 🤝 Li-Ning. pic.twitter.com/l99Ak3Lzmz

— Octagon (@Octagon) June 1, 2026

During Curry’s 17-year NBA career, he has remained loyal to the Warriors but been more flexible with his endorsement deals.

Curry began his NBA career in 2009 with a Nike deal that lasted four years. He left the Swoosh for Under Armour, and that relationship lasted until Curry and the company parted ways in 2025.

 Now Curry is taking his brand overseas by signing what ESPN characterized as “landmark’’ deal at Li-Ning that “expands his Curry Brand venture globally.’’

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