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In the NBA playoffs, protecting home court extends from the hardwood to the box office. After Joel Embiid’s Philadelphia 76ers rallied from a 3-1 series deficit in the first round, the 2023 NBA MVP had one request as his team prepared to face the New York Knicks. “I just have a message for our fans,”…

This story is part of Peak, The Athletic’s desk covering the mental side of sports. Sign up for Peak’s newsletter here. Dr. Jennifer Lerner is a professor of public policy, decision science and management at Harvard. She served as the first chief decision scientist for the U.S. Navy. Dr. Brian Gill is a senior researcher at GiveWell…

NEW YORK — Jalen Brunson was all set to have himself a night. He is the captain of the New York Knicks and, at the moment, the prince of a city that was so ready to celebrate a long holiday weekend with another Euro-step toward a championship 53 years in waiting. Oh, and James Harden…

Imagine being an NBA front office executive watching these Western Conference finals. You see Victor Wembanyama, the 7-foot-4, 22-year-old basketball alien who descended upon San Antonio just a few short years ago, dominating in the kind of way we’ve never seen against the historically great, reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder. And you wonder, while scanning…

Imagine being an NBA front office executive watching these Western Conference finals. You see Victor Wembanyama, the 7-foot-4, 22-year-old basketball alien who descended upon San Antonio just a few short years ago, dominating in the kind of way we’ve never seen against the historically great, reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder. And you wonder, while scanning…

In an alternate reality where community is a greater motivating factor than personal prosperity, the NAACP wants Black boys to lead. It’s their bodies and their talent that propel and bankroll the dominant Southeastern Conference in football and basketball. And yet, across the South, it’s their people’s representation and their people’s rights under the 15th…

After an Eastern Conference final Game 1 that went into overtime, the New York Knicks handled Game 2 with much more aplomb. They beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 109-93 and never lost real control of the game. Despite that, New York heads to Cleveland as underdogs for Game 3. The Cavs are 2.5-point favorites with a…

NEW YORK — Kenny Atkinson and his players are on the same page. The right page? Mmm, that’s a whole other story. “Our process was right tonight,” Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell said after the Cavs were taken apart by the New York Knicks in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals. Over and over…

As we reach the NBA’s summit in our Player Tiers project, there aren’t any surprises. But last year, I had 10 players in Tier 1. That’s not the case this year, even as I strived to be inclusive. The great thing about basketball is that no player is perfect. There might be perfect stories, which…

Oklahoma City’s Jalen Williams will be evaluated daily as he continues to deal with a left hamstring injury, multiple sources confirmed to The Athletic on Thursday. Williams, who played only seven minutes in the Thunder’s victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals on Wednesday, will undergo treatment and…