Basketball

1/7/2026 |  Redick: LeBron James exhibiting ‘a different kind of greatness’ with the Lakers this season (Associated Press (AP)) NEW ORLEANS (AP) — LeBron James sat at his locker — having just scored 30 points in 33 minutes to help the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Pelicans on Tuesday night — when the subject of his availability to play the next night in San Antonio came up.

1/7/2026 |  Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic remain on top in second round of fan voting for NBA All-Star Game (NBC Sports) The fans know who they want — the 10 All-Star starters from the first round of fan voting a week ago remain the 10 who would start after another week of voting has been added to the totals.

1/7/2026 |  Chicago Sky Offseason Preview (Spotrac News) Draft picks
The Chicago Sky finished second-to-last in the 2025 WNBA season with a 10-34 record. That would be great news, at least in terms of the upcoming draft, if the Sky hadn’t handed that pick to the Minnesota Lynx to move up one spot in the 2024 draft for Angel Reese. So instead of picking No. 2 overall in the 2025 WNBA Draft, Chicago drafts at No. 5, thanks to several other trades that gave them Connecticut’s first-round pick. Chicago still has its own second- and third-round picks, No. 17 and No. 32 overall, plus an extra second-rounder from New York, No. 26.

1/7/2026 |  Connecticut Sun Offseason Preview (Spotrac News) Draft picks
The Connecticut Sun finished 11th in the WNBA standings in 2025 with an 11-33 record. Connecticut won’t be picking as high in the draft as it could be, given its poor results, but it does have two late-first-round picks in what could be a decently deep draft — No. 12 and 15 overall. The Sun also has its own second and third-round picks — No. 18 and 33.

1/5/2026 |  Mavericks, Rockets headed to China in October to play pair of preseason games (Associated Press (AP)) The NBA is going back to China next season, as expected, announcing Monday that the Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets will play a pair of preseason games at the gambling hub of Macao in October.
The games, like the preseason ones this season between Brooklyn and Phoenix, will be played at Macao’s Venetian Arena, which is owned by the Sands Corp. — a casino operator there as well. Sands president and chief operating officer Patrick Dumont is governor of the Mavericks, which made Dallas a logical pick to play in the China games before too long.