Rumors

J.R. Smith, 40, was at Madison Square Garden to see the Knicks dominate the Philadelphia 76ers in a 137-98 win on Monday, May 4, giving New York a 1-0 edge in the second-round series. But Smith, who played for the New York Knicks for four seasons, became a victim of the chaos as the celebrations poured into the city streets. As seen in a video shared by New York Basketball, fans became rowdy while celebrating the playoff win, and Smith got caught in the middle of the raucous.

People

NBA Communications: Eastern Conference Semifinals schedule: New York Knicks vs. Philadelphia 76ers

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Yet sources have insisted this week that the Blazers are as interested in actually trying to land Antetokounmpo for themselves as other frequently mentioned suitors such as Miami, Minnesota, Golden State and New York. I'm also that Portland engaged in trade talks with Milwaukee as recently as the Tuesday before the league's annual in-season trade deadline (which always falls on a Thursday) before various interested teams finally conceded that the Bucks were not truly willing to part with Antetokounmpo even as they were already spiraling to a 32-50 finish.

marcstein.substack.com

NBA Communications: The National Basketball Association (NBA) announced today that 71 players have filed as early entry candidates for NBA Draft 2026, which will be held Tuesday, June 23 (First Round) and Wednesday June 24 (Second Round) at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

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“What’s the story? This is the new story. This is Stephon Marbury the person, not Stephon Marbury the player,” he emphasized. “Athletes have a voice and you no longer can tear people down just because of past mistakes.” He ended our call with a pointed message regarding the “gatekeeping” of New York sports culture: “And for the record, if you were not born on New York soil and you’re writing about New York kids, make sure you keep the volume down.”

ScoopB.com

Q. Do you have any regrets about your career and your decisions? Patrick Ewing: My only regret is leaving when I did. You know, I played 15 years in New York and you hear the team is better off without him or little rumbles from maybe some of your teammates… Ah, you know, he's you know, he getting too much touches in too much time. So, you know, I just got tired. I got worn down with it. I'm like, man, it's 15 years I'm still hearing the same bullsh*t. just got tired and I'm like, you know what, man? It's time to go. you know, Seattle came, they gave them a great offer, but that's the only regret that I have.

YouTube

Keerthika Uthayakumar: Detroit, Denver, New York, Boston & San Antonio have all lost at home this postseason. Home teams are 8-5 so far this playoffs, the most combined losses through the first 2 games of a postseason since 2020-21.

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Before his career-best 40.7 percent shooting from 3-point range this season, and before he led the NBA with 205 3-pointers off the bench, and before he tied an NBA record with five games of at least seven 3-pointers off the bench, there was Atlanta. “Rock bottom?” Hardaway repeated before a long pause. “It was Atlanta. One-thousand percent.” It was his third NBA season, in the summer of 2015 after he had been traded to the Hawks from New York, which moved on after taking him with the 24th pick in 2013. After averaging a little more than 23 minutes a game in New York, Hardaway thought he was headed for a bigger role with the Hawks. Instead, he found himself sitting in Budenholzer’s office, getting a lecture. “Bud was like, ‘You’re not gonna play the first 25 games. I don’t care if people are injured or not. Like, you won’t see the floor. We’re trying to make you into the player we want you to become,'” Hardaway remembered.

New York Times

Marc Stein: Both Washington and Utah had top-eight-protected picks in the 2026 draft owed to New York and Oklahoma City, respectively, meaning both teams had to secure one of the bottom four records in the league to assure that they didn’t lose their first-round pick. And both succeeded.

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Lauren L. Williams: Hawks injury report for Game 2 tomorrow at New York: Onyeka Okongwu (right knee inflammation) is questionable. Jock Landale (right high ankle sprain) is out.

Twitter

ESPN Insights: Jalen Brunson got off to a hot start for New York, highlighted by 19 1st quarter points, the most by a Knicks player in the opening quarter of a playoff game in play-by-play era (since 1997-98). It didn't matter if he was left open or had to play through contact, he shot 60% in a half for the 3rd time in his postseason career (min 15 FGA)!

Twitter

Deni Avdija: “Everybody thought Chicago was going to take me at No. 4. It made the most sense. Then, when Chicago drafted Patrick Williams, it was a surprise because nobody really thought about him going fourth. Once that happened, the draft got messy. It became, ‘He’s available, he’s available,’ and you know how it is. I ended up thinking, ‘Man, I’m really going to New York at No. 8.’ As a Jewish guy in New York, that could have been crazy. Then they chose someone else, and I was like, ‘Okay, D.C., here we go.’ I don’t know if I would have wanted New York in my first year. There would have been a lot of distractions, I think.”

YouTube

The Spurs honored Bayern before Sunday night's regular season finale because this is the final season of the 92-year-old New York City native's 50-year run working courtside at three different venues. He first took a seat at the scorer's table at HemisFair Arena at the start of the 1975-76 season, the Spurs' final campaign in the American Basketball Association. "We were still in the ABA playing with a red, white and blue basketball," Bayern said. "I would never have imagined we'd be here five (NBA) championships later."

San Antonio Express-News

Bobby Marks: 7 teams will finish over the luxury tax and pay a penalty - Cleveland ($68.7M) - Golden State (67.9M) - New York ($44.4M) - LA Lakers ($22.2M) - Houston ($7.2M) - LA Clippers ($6.7M) - Minnesota ($6M) - Projected payment to the 23 teams is $4.9M This is the lowest tax distribution since 2020-21

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