Kevin Durant is heading out of the Brooklyn Nets and will join the Phoenix Suns in a stunning trade, according to reports.
The 34-year-old will be a prize catch for new Suns owner Mat Ishbia, who completed his takeover at Phoenix this week and pledged to create a team that is "the best in class".
Nets team-mate T.J. Warren will join Durant in making the switch, ESPN said, with Phoenix giving the Nets three players in Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and Jae Crowder, plus four unprotected first-round picks and a 2028 pick swap.
The first-round picks will reportedly be for the 2023, 2025, 2027 and 2029 drafts.
Durant's exit ahead of Thursday's trade deadline follows the Nets trading Kyrie Irving to the Dallas Mavericks, meaning two superstars of the NBA have left Brooklyn within days.
A 13-time All-Star and two-time NBA Finals MVP, Durant has averaged 29.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists this season.
A knee problem has meant he has not played since January 8, with the Nets going 5-9 in his absence, having won 17 of their previous 19 when Durant featured.
Durant and Irving arrived in Brooklyn together in 2019 but started only 71 regular season games together.
Their exits will mean the Nets have traded their only two players to average above 20 points per game this season.
Durant's move will see him leave a team sitting fifth in the Eastern Conference for the side fifth in the Western Conference.
Kyrie Irving got off to a winning start as the Dallas Mavericks fought out a 110-104 win at the home of the Los Angeles Clippers.
Fresh from his trade from the Brooklyn Nets, Irving shot a team-high 24 points on debut for Dallas.
The Mavs were without Luka Doncic, but the addition of Irving to their ranks meant they had sufficient firepower to overcome the Clippers and rise to fourth in the Western Conference.
Tim Hardaway Jr. weighed in with 19 points, six assists and five rebounds, and his three-pointer with 26.8 seconds remaining effectively slammed the door shut on the prospect of a late Clippers fightback.
It meant Norman Powell's 24-point game off the bench for the Clippers came in vain.
Celtics sink Sixers but suffer Brown blow
Behind 19-of-35 shooting from three-point range, the injury-hit Boston Celtics had too much for the Philadelphia 76ers, with the Eastern Conference leaders scoring a 106-99 win.
Despite Joel Embiid scoring a game-high 28 points and James Harden weighing in with a 26-point game and 11 assists, the 76ers were sunk by a Boston side who had six players in double figures, led by Derrick White and Malcolm Brogdon who both hit 19 points.
Worryingly, Jaylen Brown suffered what the Celtics described as a "facial contusion" when banging into team-mate Jayson Tatum as both went after a rebound in the closing stages of the second quarter.
It forced Brown out of the game and could see him sidelined for an extended spell, with reports claiming he suffered a fracture. That came as a fresh blow to a Celtics side who came into the game without starters Marcus Smart, Al Horford, and Robert Williams.
Brown's injury meant he and Tatum combined for only 16 points. Tatum managed just 12 points but added nine assists and eight rebounds.
It ended the double act's streak of 55 straight regular-season games combining for 40 or more points in games played together. That was the longest streak by a pair of team-mates in the NBA since a 60-game run from the 76ers' Wilt Chamberlain and Hal Greer from 1965 to 1966.
Lillard heroics see Blazers blunt Warriors
Damian Lillard's triple-double helped the Portland Trail Blazers see off the Golden State Warriors, who were again without the injured Stephen Curry.
In Curry's continuing absence, Jordan Poole weighed in with 38 points and Klay Thompson collected a 31-point haul, but reigning NBA champions Golden State went down 125-122 at Moda Center.
Lillard finished with 33 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in a game that was locked at 95-95 heading to the fourth quarter.
Russell Westbrook's spell with the Los Angeles Lakers is coming to an end as he prepares to join the Utah Jazz ahead of the NBA trade deadline.
According to The Athletic's Shams Charania and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Lakers plan to send Westbrook, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Damian Jones and a 2027 first-round pick to the Jazz; Jarred Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley will go the other way.
The Lakers are also reported to be getting D'Angelo Russell from the Minnesota Timberwolves, who will receive Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Mike Conley and a second-round pick compensation in return.
Westbrook's Lakers future had been in doubt, with many expecting him to depart before Thursday's deadline.
The Lakers had apparently been keen on using Westbrook in a trade to acquire Kyrie Irving from the Brooklyn Nets.
But his move to the Dallas Mavericks went through quickly after he requested a trade last week.
Westbrook, the 2017 NBA MVP, was claimed to have engaged in a heated verbal exchange with Lakers coach Darvin Ham at half-time during Tuesday's game against his former team the Oklahoma City Thunder, in which LeBron James broke the all-time NBA points record.
While ESPN reports they "dapped up" before leaving after the game, it was another hint of things not being quite right for Westbrook in LA.
Despite their being questions about his form this season, Westbrook is still ranked fifth for assists (391) this season – Russell, one of the Lakers' new arrivals, is tenth (334), though he is averaging more points per game (17.9 to 15.9).
Westbrook is set to play on his fifth team in as many years, having spent time with the Thunder, the Houston Rockets, the Washington Wizards and the Lakers since 2018.
Patrick Mahomes will look to etch his name into the history books again on Sunday with victory in Super Bowl LVII, and he received inspiration ahead of the Kansas City Chiefs' clash with the Philadelphia Eagles from LeBron James' record-breaking exploits.
James scored 38 points for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday, that tally seeing him move to 38,390 in his regular-season career and surpass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's long-standing record of 38,387.
LeBron's history-making feat was a hot topic as the Chiefs spoke to the media on Wednesday, with Mahomes effusive in his praise for the man many consider the greatest basketball player of all time.
"Yeah, I mean, first off, I talk to him every once in a while and try to gain as much advice as possible," Mahomes said at a press conference.
"But I think you gain inspiration because, I think, you heard him talking about it last night. It wasn't something that he was chasing.
"It wasn't something that he even thought was possible. He just continued to work every single year, every single day. And he got there and he's still at it, playing at a high level. And so, like I said, it's legendary stuff.
"I mean, there's some records that no one thinks will ever be broken. And to see a guy that puts in the work every single day and gets to that milestone who's not even a scorer first, he's one of the greatest scorers of all time and has the most points of all time. But he's not even a scorer.
"He just continues to work and work and try to win championships, and he's able to reach goals that I don't think anyone ever thought were going to be broken."
LeBron James brought the NBA to a standstill on Tuesday. Even the Los Angeles Lakers' game against the Oklahoma City Thunder was paused.
With 38 points at Crypto.com Arena, James moved to 38,390 in his regular season career, surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's long-standing record of 38,387.
The four-time champion has been the league's pre-eminent star across stints with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Miami Heat and the Lakers.
Now, across basketball history, he stands alone.
It is a remarkable achievement and only becomes more impressive when delving into the numbers behind James' new record.
Beating the Thunder
The Thunder may have put a slight dampener on James' big night by winning Tuesday's game, but the 38-year-old actually has more career points than Oklahoma City's entire active roster combined (21,900).
Indeed, the Thunder are merely one of five rosters James can better, along with the Indiana Pacers (36,515), the Orlando Magic (33,164), the San Antonio Spurs (32,364) and the Houston Rockets (28,642).
Had James not got over the line on Tuesday, he would have done instead against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday – and that would have been fitting, too.
James has scored more points against the Bucks (1,751) than against any other team. In fact, the Thunder (994) are the team he has scored the third-fewest against – more only than against the Lakers (829) and the Cavaliers (580), two teams he represented.
The Lakers forward scored at least 1,000 points against each of the other 27 teams, while he has scored 1,000 in each of his 20 NBA seasons. That is another record he has taken from Abdul-Jabbar (19).
James would have no doubt enjoyed being able to achieve this legendary feat in front of a home crowd, but he has actually scored more points on the road (19,251 in 694 games) than at home (19,139 in 716).
Unsurprisingly, however, Cleveland's Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse is the arena to have seen the most James points (11,670). The Lakers' Crypto.com Arena (4,649) nudged ahead of the Heat's Miami-Dade Arena (4,613) into second place on Tuesday.
Wade's helping hand
In that home crowd in LA, sitting in front of Lakers owner Jeanie Buss, was Dwyane Wade, a two-time title-winning team-mate of James' on the Heat.
Wade also joined James on the Cavaliers for a season and, although now retired, has assisted more points for the new all-time scoring leader than any other player (776).
Eric Snow (630) is second on that list, with Mario Chalmers (591) third and Mo Williams (501) fourth, followed by Kevin Love (486) and Kyrie Irving (469).
Russell Westbrook has only been playing with James in LA since 2021, but he is ninth on 375. Anthony Davis (269) is 11th and Chris Bosh (267) 12th.
Ricky Davis assisted James' first NBA points and 42 altogether. Davis, who retired in 2010, was the first of 148 different players to assist James.
But the bulk of James' points have been unassisted, of course. His 26,855 unassisted points alone would rank him 13th in the all-time list, ahead of Kevin Durant (26,684), who is second to the Lakers man among active players.
James has scored 10,882 points from layups, 8,074 from two-point jump shots and 8,047 from free throws. Of the rest, 6,711 have come from three-pointers, 4,190 from dunks, 310 from hook shots and 176 from tip-ins.
Another Lakers record
The record was reached with a fadeaway jumper, and several members of Lakers royalty were in the house to see it – including Abdul-Jabbar.
James followed Abdul-Jabbar as the seventh different player to lead the NBA in all-time scoring since the end of the league's first season in 1946-47.
Four of those seven have now represented the Lakers, with James and Abdul-Jabbar joined by George Mikan (1952-53 to 1957-58) and Wilt Chamberlain (1965-66 to 1983-84). Chamberlain took ownership of the record while a Philadelphia 76er, before playing for the Lakers.
Chamberlain succeeded Bob Pettit, one of the remaining three who did not turn out for the Lakers. Joe Fulks, the leading scorer in the NBA's first season, and Dolph Schayes are the others.
Luka Doncic, just 23 and with 8,531 points through 311 career games, is perhaps the most credible challenger to James' crown. James had 8,319 points through 311 games, albeit he was only 22.
Matching James' longevity is a huge ask; either way, he will be number one for a long, long time.
Time spent at the top is a record Abdul-Jabbar can at least retain for now, having ranked first in scoring for a mammoth 14,187 days. The NBA was only 13,671 days old when he took the record, meaning he led the league for more than half of its existence.
Still more to achieve
That is not the only Abdul-Jabbar mark that remains, with the 75-year-old out in front on 57,446 minutes played. James (53,743) is third, while he is tied for ninth in games played (1,410) – a statistic led by Robert Parish (1,611).
Abdul-Jabbar is the man to beat for MVP awards, too, with six, and James' four appear unlikely to be added to now, given his age and the Lakers' woes.
James should pass Abdul-Jabbar for All-Star selections, though, as the pair are tied on 19, while the modern great already has a leading 13 All-NBA First Team selections.
In the playoffs, James already topped the charts for points (7,631) and games played (266), although the 'GOAT' debate will rage on as Michael Jordan has the edge in Finals MVPs (six to James' four).
Among players with 500 or more games, Jordan (30.1) is also the leading man for points per game in the regular season, even if James (27.2 in fifth) is averaging 30.2 this year, the third-highest mark of his career.
At that rate, even if James cannot reel in Jordan, he should be able to establish a considerable buffer to any and all pretenders to his new crown.
Bundesliga strugglers Hoffenheim have appointed Pellegrino Matarazzo as their new head coach.
Hoffenheim have taken two points from their past nine games and are just three points above Stuttgart in the relegation play-off place.
After parting company with Andre Breitenreiter on Monday, Hoffenheim have turned to American-born Matarazzo, who was sacked by Stuttgart four months ago.
Matarazzo previously spent two and a half years at Rhein-Neckar-Arena working as under-17 coach and then assistant coach of the first team.
"As I've been living in the region since 2017, I've witnessed TSG's development first-hand even after my exit," Matarazzo said after his appointment was confirmed on Wednesday.
"The situation is undoubtedly demanding. I'm convinced of the team's quality and will approach the task full of verve and with great confidence.
"TSG is synonymous with offensive, courageous and fresh football. I want to quickly get the team back to playing the kind of football that has set them apart for many years."
Matarazzo will oversee his first training session on Wednesday and will be in the dugout for the first time as head coach for Saturday's home match against Bayer Leverkusen.
United States president Joe Biden has praised LeBron James for "inspiring the nation" after surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time regular season NBA scoring record.
Los Angeles Lakers forward James entered Tuesday's game with the Oklahoma City Thunder needing 36 points to break Abdul-Jabbar's record, which had stood for 39 years.
The four-time MVP moved past Abdul-Jabbar's 38,387 career points to go outright number one with a 14-foot fadeaway jumper late in the third quarter at Crypto.com Arena.
James' game-high 38 points on 13-of-20 shooting with three steals were not enough to prevent the Lakers from losing 133-130 to the visiting Thunder.
But it was job done on an individual level as he strengthened his case as being the greatest basketball player of all time – a debate that will rumble on for some time.
A number of sports stars and wider global figures have paid tribute to James, who now has 38,390 career points to go with the four NBA titles won with three different teams.
"LeBron, congratulations. With your whole heart and soul you broke a hell of a record. You elevated the game," US president Biden said in a video message.
"More than that, like Kareem, Bill Russell and others who came before you, you challenged and inspired the nation to be better, do better and live up to our full promise."
James rose with both arms in celebration after making history and posed for photos with 75-year-old Abdul-Jabbar, who was in attendance in Los Angeles.
Fellow Lakers great Magic Johnson said: "I never thought that Kareem's scoring record would be broken by anybody.
"It means more to myself and to our fans because you're wearing that purple and gold and broke it as a Laker.
"This historic moment is so special because we will never see another LeBron James."
James has 7,314 points across five seasons with the Lakers, having previously scored 23,119 in 859 games for the Cleveland Cavaliers and 7,919 in 294 for the Miami Heat.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver added: "It's a towering achievement that speaks to his sustained excellence over 20 seasons in the league.
"And quite amazingly, LeBron continues to play at an elite level and his basketball history is still being written."
James is averaging 30.2 points per game this season, which is the seventh-best record in the division, narrowly ahead of Kevin Durant (29.7) and Stephen Curry (29.4).
Golden State Warriors guard Curry and Brooklyn Nets forward Durant also congratulated James on his remarkable achievement.
"Your sustained level of play for 20 years, reaching this pinnacle of scoring in basketball, it is unbelievable," Curry said.
"Way down the road, when we're reflecting back on our careers, we'll be able to be at that level knowing what it was like to battle at the highest level."
Durant added: "It's even funny to just even say that, coming from where you have come from, how hard you grinded for this long.
"It's been an inspiration since day one. Much love and keep setting the bar high."
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