Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
At each stop, Ball had to figure out how to connect with teammates he had never met, most of whom were much older. But he learned early that hooping was its own language, and that the curmudgeonly veterans wary of the skinny California kid with the wild hair and the one-legged jumper could be bought. Not with cash, but with dimes. “Usually when I come to a new team, I start off passing a lot, just so you can get people running, you know what I’m saying?” Ball said. “And then from there, I mean, day in and day out, you play more, people see more, you understand what people can do.”
Kevin Gray Jr.: The Mavericks, in Santa Monica, CA, are bonding as team as Dwight Powell also is seen with the group as Cooper Flagg, Kyrie Irving, Dusty May and co. prepare for training camp 👀! #MFFL (🎥: nikowilliamss_IG via NW Media)
The NBA baller's lawyer says the California leg is personal -- Beasley wants to spend a few days with his two young children before school starts. Then it's all business in Hawaii ... where he's scheduled for a resort promotion tied to his social media work.
There were surprising suitors along the way. The Boston Celtics, James' consistent nemesis through the years, expressed interest, sources told ESPN. The LA Clippers even discussed a lucrative one-season contract north of $20 million that would allow him to stay at his Brentwood, California, home, sources said.
NBA star Anthony Edwards has tied up another loose end with a resounding court victory over baby mama Ayesha Howard who has been dubbed a 'vexatious litigant' by a California court. The Minnesota Timberwolves player, 24, has been locked in a year-long fight over child support with Howard, despite having already paid her over $110,000 towards the upkeep of their toddler daughter Aubri.
Advertisement
Shaquille O'Neal is weighing in on LeBron James’ NBA destiny. The retired athlete — who played eight seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers from 1996 to 2004 — addressed James’ decision to leave the California-based team ahead of his unprecedented 24th NBA season. “Go where you can win, LeBron. When it’s over for us, it’s over,” O’Neal, 54, exclusively told the California Post in a new interview.
Tom Osborn: This just in amidst the playoff push: Warriors will host the eighth annual California Classic Summer League at Chase Center on July 3, 5 and 6, featuring three days of play between the Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, the Heat and the Spurs.
Seth Davis: I don't know LeBron or Bronny, but I live in southern California and I cover this sport closely. I have literally never heard one remotely negative impression of Bronny from people who have interacted with him. All the more reason to be in awe of what LeBron has accomplished during his incredible life. We are all witnesses!
In February 2025, we reported that Howard asked for their paternity and child support case to be heard in California after the “Starting 5” star filed in Georgia. Howard claimed in court docs that she and Edwards “spent time together in various cities while he played for the Minnesota Timberwolves, and during his off-season,” before discovering in January 2024 that she was “pregnant with his child.” She also alleged in the docs that Edwards was not pleased when she revealed the pregnancy news to him and then blocked her from further communicating with him and urged her to “get da abortion.”
Rumors about the Mavericks’ interest in Myers began circulating last summer while Harrison was still employed. The Mavericks, league sources say, would still love to hire him, but there is skepticism that Myers would leave his native California to come to Texas and resign from his post as president of sports for Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which holds ownership stakes in the Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Devils and Crystal Palace F.C.
Advertisement
In the docs, obtained by TMZ Sports, Luka and his attorney Laura Wasser point out he is not a California resident, and neither are their daughters. He says he's been trying for months to get Anamaria to move to Cali with their kids, but she's refused, since moving back to Slovenia last May. As we reported, that distance is exactly why he says he pulled the plug on their engagement.
Sources familiar with Dončić's situation told ESPN that the petition was filed in California -- where one of Dončić's daughters was only with him there for three months last spring, and his other daughter has never been to the state. Dončić had "no idea" Goltes had filed the petition.
Victor Wembanyama blamed his struggles, which included a season low for made field goals, on a lack of rest due in part to a taxing schedule since the All-Star Game in Inglewood, Calif. "I didn't recover tonight," he said. "With all the time changes from L.A. to here, and coming late from Detroit, I wasn't recovered today. I need to do a better job getting my treatment in, getting more sleep. I couldn't sleep last night. Yeah, I wasn't in shape today."
Out in California, Jayson Tatum was a talking point during interviews and, according to sources who’ve spoken to Heavy, among the players in less public settings. Jaylen Brown, the only Celtic in the Sunday game, was asked about his running mate and if he’d been there for Tatum’s recent five-on-five session with the club’s G-League affiliate. “I didn’t get to watch that one,” Brown said from his media day perch. “But I’ve seen some previous to that, and he looked good, to be honest. He looks like he’s progressing along. He’s checking off all the right boxes.