NEW YORK (AP) — As Monty McCutchen visits NBA teams on behalf of referees, he's hearing plenty of what he calls constructive criticism, delivered in a professional way."That's exactly what we're hoping to attain on the floor, is that no one is asking everyone to agree, no one is asking for there not to be constructive criticism," McCutchen said. "What we are trying to achieve is the sense of how to disagree respectively, how to disagree with an empathy and understanding."McCutchen left his job on the floor during this season to become the league's vice president and head of referee development and training. With some high tensions with both players and coaches, he and head of referee operations Michelle Johnson have been conducting respect-for-the-game sessions with each team in hopes of creating a stronger working relationship.He believes the meetings are going well, that players are seeing the commitment of the officials to have better communication.Though some players have complained... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Stephen Curry has been medically cleared to resume full practice beginning Wednesday with the hope he can return from his latest right ankle injury later in the week.Curry was re-evaluated Tuesday as scheduled and the Warriors said the two-time MVP is making good progress. Golden State hosts Atlanta on Friday, so if all goes well Curry could be back for that game or Sunday's home matchup with Utah.He rolled his ankle driving for a layup in the first quarter of a win against the Spurs on March 8 and has missed the last six games. He had already missed 11 games in December with the sprained right ankle, which he injured again March 2 at Atlanta but played with it.Meanwhile, Splash Brother Klay Thompson was scheduled to be re-examined Thursday as he works back from a fractured right thumb.___More AP NBA coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Kevin Durant will miss at least two weeks with a fractured rib on his right side, joining fellow All-Stars Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson on the injury list for the defending champion Golden State Warriors.An MRI exam Friday for the NBA Finals MVP revealed the incomplete fracture, and the Warriors said Durant would be re-evaluated in two weeks. Durant said he got hit in the ribs at Minnesota last Sunday and initially thought it was just a bruise, but he was sore the next couple of days. He played Wednesday night against the Lakers and felt it again when he hustled to close out on the wing and "felt something stretch and pull.""It was a little sore the next couple of days but not something I was worried about," Durant said.He worked out Thursday and it took him longer to loosen up. By Friday morning, he experienced significant discomfort. It's an injury Durant has never had previously."Hopefully it gets better in the next week or so and see what happens," said Durant,... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Kevin Durant will miss at least two weeks with a fractured rib on his right side, joining fellow All-Stars Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson on the injury list for the defending champion Golden State Warriors.An MRI exam Friday revealed the incomplete fracture and the Warriors said Durant would be re-evaluated in two weeks. Durant said he got hit in the ribs at Minnesota last Sunday and initially thought it was just a bruise but he was sore the next couple of days. He played Wednesday night against the Lakers and felt it again when he hustled to close out on the wing and "felt something stretch and pull."Curry missed his fourth straight game Friday after re-injuring his troublesome right ankle. He will be re-evaluated Tuesday, while Thompson has a fractured right thumb and will be examined again next Thursday.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Stephen Curry wanted nothing more than to play on his milestone 30th birthday, a home game against the Lakers on Wednesday night.The two-time MVP is doing his best to see the big picture and realize health is No. 1 over earning the No. 1 seed. The playoffs are a month away and he plans to be in top form to lead another special Golden State run."I've been through this countless times but I feel very confident in the approach that we're taking to get to as close to 100 percent as possible going into the stretch run of the regular season and then obviously the playoffs," Curry said after his team's shootaround Wednesday. "I would obviously love to be out there playing every game down the stretch, to be out there with my squad. At this point there's enough time. Not just me, we have a bunch of guys banged up, that we all can prioritize health and understand that we need to all be ready to go."Curry will miss at least the next four games for the ailing defending champions... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Stephen Curry wanted nothing more than to play on his milestone 30th birthday, a home game against the Lakers on Wednesday night.The two-time MVP is doing his best to see the big picture and realize health is No. 1 over earning the No. 1 seed. The playoffs are a month away and he plans to be in top form to lead another special Golden State run."I've been through this countless times but I feel very confident in the approach that we're taking to get to as close to 100 percent as possible going into the stretch run of the regular season and then obviously the playoffs," Curry said after his team's shootaround Wednesday. "I would obviously love to be out there playing every game down the stretch, to be out there with my squad. At this point there's enough time. Not just me, we have a bunch of guys banged up, that we all can prioritize health and understand that we need to all be ready to go."Curry will miss at least the next four games for the ailing defending champions... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Stephen Curry wanted nothing more than to play on his milestone 30th birthday, a home game against the Lakers on Wednesday night.The two-time MVP is doing his best to see the big picture, though. The playoffs are a month away and he plans to be in top form to lead another special Golden State run."I've been through this countless times but I feel very confident in the approach that we're taking to get to as close to 100 percent as possible going into the stretch run of the regular season and then obviously the playoffs," Curry said after his team's shootaround Wednesday. "I would obviously love to be out there playing every game down the stretch, to be out there with my squad. At this point there's enough time, not just me, we have a bunch of guys banged up, that we all can prioritize health and understand that we need to all be ready to go."Curry will miss at least the next four games for the ailing defending champions as he heals from his latest right ankle injury,... [More]

This is the worst season for the San Antonio Spurs in the last 21 years.They're on pace for only 46 wins.ONLY 46 wins.That's a season fans in other many cities would celebrate wildly. Philadelphia hasn't won 46 games since 2002-03, Minnesota not since 2003-04, Sacramento not since 2004-05. Detroit hasn't had a 46-win season in the last decade. The Knicks have one in the last 17 seasons. Milwaukee reached it once in the last 16 seasons entering this year. Charlotte, once in the last 15 seasons. The Nets, once in the last 12 seasons.But this is San Antonio, the silver-and-black standard for the league, where winning 55 or 60 games and making a deep playoff run is considered as much of an annual rite as the rodeo and the Texas Folklife Festival. And even after a blowout win over Orlando on Tuesday night, the Spurs (38-30) are still on the outside of the playoff picture in the Western Conference.No need to panic just yet. The Spurs are a mere one game in the loss column behind Oklahoma City,... [More]

This is the worst season for the San Antonio Spurs in the last 21 years.They're on pace for only 46 wins.ONLY 46 wins.That's a season fans in other many cities would celebrate wildly. Philadelphia hasn't won 46 games since 2002-03, Minnesota not since 2003-04, Sacramento not since 2004-05. Detroit hasn't had a 46-win season in the last decade. The Knicks have one in the last 17 seasons. Milwaukee reached it once in the last 16 seasons entering this year. Charlotte, once in the last 15 seasons. The Nets, once in the last 12 seasons.But this is San Antonio, the silver-and-black standard for the league, where winning 55 or 60 games and making a deep playoff run is considered as much of an annual rite as the rodeo and the Texas Folklife Festival. And even after a blowout win over Orlando on Tuesday night, the Spurs (38-30) are still on the outside of the playoff picture in the Western Conference.No need to panic just yet. The Spurs are a mere one game in the loss column behind Oklahoma City,... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Stephen Curry will miss at least another week because of his troublesome right ankle, which he re-injured last Thursday against San Antonio.The Warriors said Tuesday their two-time MVP would be re-evaluated in a week. That means he will sit out the next four games — Tuesday at home against the Lakers, Friday at home against the Kings, then road games at Phoenix on Saturday and at San Antonio on Monday.Curry rolled his ankle driving left for a layup at the 9:38 mark of the first quarter in the win against the Spurs.Golden State did not practice Tuesday as originally planned a day after the team celebrated Curry's 30th birthday, which is actually Wednesday. Coach Steve Kerr was in attendance and even danced on stage with his players in social media videos that were shared of the festivities.___More AP NBA: apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Golden State Warriors are again missing more than just two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry, with reserves Andre Iguodala, Jordan Bell and David West all out for the game at Minnesota.Iguodala (sprained left wrist) and Bell (sprained right ankle) each sat for the third straight game, when the Warriors visited the Timberwolves on Sunday. West (right arm cyst) was on the inactive list for the fourth consecutive game.Iguodala was originally deemed a game-time decision by coach Steve Kerr but unable to play.Another player off the bench, Patrick McCaw, was out for a 10th straight game because of a broken left wrist.Curry didn't accompany the team on the two-game road trip because of an injured right ankle. Quinn Cook again started in his place.___For more AP NBA coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball

With the Houston Rockets on top of the NBA and James Harden on top of the scoring race, he may be running away with the MVP vote.Anthony Davis and Damian Lillard might have something to say about that.With stellar play steering their sizzling teams, they have at least entered their names in the conversation with a little more than a month left in the regular season.Harden has been runner-up to Stephen Curry and Russell Westbrook in recent years, but it's looked like his time this season. With more than 31 points and nearly nine assists per game — third in the league in that category — for a team with the league's best record, it's hard to imagine needing to look elsewhere."What Harden and Houston is doing right now, he's the MVP of the league right now," Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas said on NBA TV.Davis and Lillard could deserve some thought.Davis has carried New Orleans with dominant basketball since DeMarcus Cousins was lost for the season last month. The Western Conference player of the... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — You can own a pair of shoes worn in a game by Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry — and support a cause, to boot.Curry posted on Instagram that he'll be auctioning off the sneakers he wore in Golden State's game at the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night to raise money for My Brother's Keeper Alliance.He says the effort "was created to reduce barriers and expand opportunity" in support of "young men and boys of color in their pursuit of achievement and higher success in life."___More NBA basketball: https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball

WASHINGTON (AP) — With an offer to visit the White House as NBA champions rejected and rescinded, Kevin Durant and the Golden State Warriors instead spent their day off in the nation's capital touring the National Museum of African American History and Culture with local students.In town ahead of their game against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night, Warriors players, coaches and front office executives met with students from Durant's hometown of Seat Pleasant, Maryland, which is 8 miles from the White House. Traditionally, the reigning champs will be feted by the president when they play at Washington.The Warriors didn't want to wade into much political talk at their pregame shootaround Wednesday, a day after they went to the museum.Did they miss the pomp and circumstance of the customary White House visit?"No," Durant said. "Not at all."His teammate David West simply shook his head when asked the same question. Coach Steve Kerr? "You're not going to get me to go down that path,... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — The Golden State Warriors are heading to Washington, just not to the White House.The traditional champions' invitation was never granted from President Donald Trump — and it appeared the Warriors might have declined it, anyway. So they plan to spend their day in the city with local children Tuesday."We're doing a great thing anyways," All-Star Klay Thompson said Monday, after the Warriors beat the New York Knicks in the opener of a road trip."The White House is a great honor but there's extenuating circumstances that we felt that we're not comfortable doing. We're not going to politicize anything, we're just going to hang out with some kids, take them to an African-American museum and hopefully teach them things we learned along the way and life lessons, and we'll still be getting some great memories."Warriors All-Star Stephen Curry had said he did not want to go to the White House last September and Trump then made it clear he wasn't welcome, sending a tweet that read :... [More]

LeBron James had a trophy in his hands and a smile on his face.That was Sunday at the All-Star Game, when James again rose above the NBA's best in winning a game and MVP honors.What he really wants is to be celebrating in the postseason, not midseason.The NBA's sprint to the finish begins Thursday with James riding high but starting again from back in the pack as Cleveland tries to catch Toronto and Boston in the Eastern Conference."We just added four new guys before the break, and we have a lot of work to do," James said. "So I really don't like to think that too far ahead. But obviously winning championships is what it's all about. That's what this league is all about and hopefully at the end of the road then I have the Cavs there to actually compete for one, to be in a finals representing the East."The Golden State Warriors are also in the unusual position of pursuers, after red-hot Houston passed them for the league's best record with 10 straight wins leading into the All-Star break.... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Stephen Curry would love to be an NBA All-Star Game captain again next year, especially since the game will be in his hometown of Charlotte.LeBron James would be OK with someone else taking his place, depending on who the top two vote-getters are, although his draft prowess led to Team LeBron beating Team Stephen 148-145 Sunday night .And there's a definite appetite for the NBA to televise the captains' draft rather than conduct it clandestinely like it was this year."Televise it," said DeMar DeRozan of Team Stephen. "Give the people what they want to see. I think everybody wants to see it. At the end of the day, every single person that gets picked, you are an All-Star, so it doesn't matter where you really go, so I think televise it."Players raved about the new format of having captains draft the teams rather than the traditional format of East vs. West.And James finally revealed his draft order: Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, his former Cleveland teammate Kyrie Irving... [More]

PHOENIX (AP) — After Devin Booker hoisted the trophy for winning the 3-point shooting title over All-Star weekend, he said he was bringing it home for the Phoenix Suns fans .They can use any good news they can get.The losses are mounting yet again for the young team, with the talented Booker — mature and poised beyond his years — a beacon of hope that someday things will turn around and the Suns will be the exciting, vibrant franchise they once were.Booker is 12th in the NBA in scoring at 24.2 points per game but, in the talent-laden West, he didn't make the All-Star Game.It didn't help his chances that the Suns are tied with Atlanta for the league's worst record (18-41).Instead, he was one of the 3-point contestants, and won it with a record 28 points in the final round, making 20 of 25 shots, to defeat 2016 champion Klay Thompson."It feels really good," Booker said afterward. "I wanted to go out there and make a name for myself."He wants, he said, to be the best shooter in the game.The... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Stephen Curry would love to be an NBA All-Star Game captain again next year, especially since the game will be in his hometown of Charlotte.LeBron James would be OK with someone else taking his place, depending on who the top two vote-getters are, although his draft prowess led to Team LeBron beating Team Stephen 148-145 Sunday night .And there's a definite appetite for the NBA to televise the captains' draft rather than conduct it clandestinely like it was this year."Televise it," said DeMar DeRozan of Team Stephen. "Give the people what they want to see. I think everybody wants to see it. At the end of the day, every single person that gets picked, you are an All-Star, so it doesn't matter where you really go, so I think televise it."Players raved about the new format of having captains draft the teams rather than the traditional format of East vs. West.And James finally revealed his draft order: Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, his former Cleveland teammate Kyrie Irving... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James and Kevin Durant swarmed all over Stephen Curry in the final seconds, preventing the NBA's best shooter from finding even a patch of open air to launch a tying 3-pointer.Defense? In an All-Star Game?That was just one of the many exciting surprises created by a big change to the league's midseason showcase. After James and Curry got to draft their own teams, this exhibition really seemed to matter to basketball's best.And LeBron picked a winner.James scored 29 points and hit the go-ahead layup with 34.5 seconds to play, winning his third All-Star Game MVP award while his team rallied to win an uncommonly entertaining edition of the event, beating Team Stephen 148-145 Sunday night.For the first time in 67 All-Star games, the league abandoned the traditional East-West format used since 1951, instead allowing the two captains to pick their sides. That twist turned a sometimes staid event into the world's richest pickup game, and the intrigue was reflected on... [More]