OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — As he has long desired, DeMarcus Cousins will finally get a chance to play for a winner once he's healthy from a torn left Achilles tendon.When Boogie returns to the court this season, the volatile big man will give the Golden State Warriors five 2018 All-Stars in their starting lineup to chase another title — with Cousins trying for his first after never appearing in the playoffs. The center, who has had his problems with technical fouls, will sign with the two-time defending champions after the moratorium period is lifted Friday, a person with direct knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Monday night. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the contract is yet to be completed.Cousins is set to join a starting lineup of two-time MVP Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, fresh off his second straight NBA Finals MVP, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green."The 3rd splash Brother," Curry posted on Twitter with a series of happy crying emojis. "Let's go @boogiecousins."Cousins'... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Golden State first-round draft pick Jacob Evans III has signed his contract and is set to play in the summer league with the two-time reigning NBA champions.The Warriors selected the 6-foot-6 guard/forward with the 28th overall pick out of Cincinnati and formally introduced him at a news conference last week, his proud family in attendance.Evans averaged 11.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.14 steals during his three-year career at Cincinnati. He says he can't wait to learn from all the superstars around him, such as Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson. Evans called the Warriors "probably the greatest team ever in NBA history."Summer league was set to begin Monday in Sacramento, California.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The deadline for Kevin Durant to opt into his contract with the Warriors for next season passed Friday night without him doing so, making the two-time reigning NBA Finals MVP a free agent — yet his intention has always been to stay put and re-sign with Golden State.Much like a year ago, Durant declined to opt in for the second year of his deal, allowing him to work on a more lucrative contract once the signing period begins Saturday night.Durant only had to inform the Warriors if he planned to opt in, and the team had long been prepared for this move — merely a procedural decision — knowing his plans for months.The 29-year-old Durant could sign for as many as four years and about $160 million. He has made clear all along his commitment to the Warriors, especially after winning a pair of championships in his first two seasons with Golden State.A year ago, Durant declined to opt in for the second year of his contract to become an unrestricted free agent. That also was... [More]

An NBA free-agent class with a little something for everyone hits the market on July 1. The group includes an array of superstars, big men, glue guys and sharp-shooters.Here's a look at some of the players to follow when the action begins:THE SUPERSTARS— Kevin Durant (player option): Has expressed his desire to remain with the Warriors. He's in the middle of his prime as one of the game's premier players.— Paul George (player option): He has one of the best all-around games in the league and is still fairly young at 28.— LeBron James (player option): Still the free-agent grand prize at age 33, James has shown few signs of wear and tear despite 15 stellar seasons in the league.— Chris Paul (unrestricted): Among the league's best point guards even at 33, but he's struggled some with injuries over the years, including a hamstring issue in last year's playoffs.BIG MEN— Clint Capela (restricted): He's emerged as one of the league's top young big men after averaging 13.9 points, 10.8 rebounds... [More]

An NBA free-agent class with a little something for everyone hits the market on July 1. The group includes an array of superstars, big men, glue guys and sharp-shooters.Here's a look at some of the players to follow when the action begins:THE SUPERSTARS— Kevin Durant (player option): Has expressed his desire to remain with the Warriors. He's in the middle of his prime as one of the game's premier players.— Paul George (player option): He has one of the best all-around games in the league and is still fairly young at 28.— LeBron James (player option): Still the free-agent grand prize at age 33, James has shown few signs of wear and tear despite 15 stellar seasons in the league.— Chris Paul (unrestricted): Among the league's best point guards even at 33, but he's struggled some with injuries over the years, including a hamstring issue in last year's playoffs.BIG MEN— Clint Capela (restricted): He's emerged as one of the league's top young big men after averaging 13.9 points, 10.8 rebounds... [More]

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio (AP) — Collin Sexton endeared himself to the Cavaliers with his competitive streak, speed and attitude long before they picked him in the NBA draft.His jersey number showed them something else: He's fearless.Sexton made quite a first impression by deciding to take No. 2, his college number but also the one previously worn in Cleveland by All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving. After showing off his jersey at a news conference Friday, Sexton said he doesn't feel pressure to live up to Irving's high standards."Not at all," he said. "Coming in, I'm going to set goals for myself and then as well there's going to be team goals set. But I feel like I'm not going to have to live up to anybody's shoes, but I'm going to come in and learn and be the best player I can be on the court as well as off the court."Some Cleveland fans feel No. 2 should be retired. After all, Irving made the biggest shot in franchise history in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals before asking to be traded last summer... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee Bucks guard Sterling Brown sued the city of Milwaukee and its police department Tuesday, saying officers' use of a stun gun during his arrest for a parking violation constitutes excessive force and that they targeted him because he is black.Brown's attorney Mark Thomsen filed the lawsuit in federal court, accusing police of "discriminating against Mr. Brown on the basis of his race." The lawsuit alleges officers involved in his arrest used their incident report to try to reframe what happened to give the impression Brown was resisted and obstructed them."Mr. Brown hopes that instead of the typical denial of the claims ... the city actually admit to the wrongs, admit that his constitutional rights were violated," Thomsen said at a news conference outside City Hall after filing the lawsuit.Brown had been talking with officers while waiting for a citation for illegally parking in a disabled spot outside a Walgreens at about 2 a.m. on Jan. 26, when officers took him... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee Bucks guard Sterling Brown sued the city of Milwaukee and its police department Tuesday, saying officers' use of a stun gun during his arrest for a parking violation constitutes excessive force and that they targeted him because he is black.Brown's attorney Mark Thomsen filed the lawsuit in federal court, accusing police of "discriminating against Mr. Brown on the basis of his race." The lawsuit alleges officers involved in his arrest used their incident report to try to reframe what happened to give the impression Brown was resisted and obstructed them."Mr. Brown hopes that instead of the typical denial of the claims ... the city actually admit to the wrongs, admit that his constitutional rights were violated," Thomsen said at a news conference outside City Hall after filing the lawsuit.Brown had been talking with officers while waiting for a citation for illegally parking in a disabled spot outside a Walgreens at about 2 a.m. on Jan. 26, when officers took him... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee Bucks guard Sterling Brown sued the city of Milwaukee and its police department Tuesday, saying officers' use of a stun gun during his arrest for a parking violation constitutes excessive force and that they targeted him because he is black.Brown's attorney Mark Thomsen filed the lawsuit in federal court, accusing police of "discriminating against Mr. Brown on the basis of his race." The lawsuit alleges officers involved in his arrest used their incident report to try to reframe what happened to give the impression Brown was resisted and obstructed them."Mr. Brown hopes that instead of the typical denial of the claims ... the city actually admit to the wrongs, admit that his constitutional rights were violated," Thomsen said at a news conference outside City Hall after filing the lawsuit.Brown had been talking with officers while waiting for a citation for illegally parking in a disabled spot outside a Walgreens at about 2 a.m. on Jan. 26, when officers took him... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee Bucks guard Sterling Brown sued the city of Milwaukee and its police department Tuesday, saying officers' use of a stun gun during his arrest for a parking violation constitutes excessive force and that they targeted him because he is black.Brown's attorney Mark Thomsen filed the lawsuit in federal court, accusing police of "discriminating against Mr. Brown on the basis of his race." The lawsuit alleges officers involved in his arrest used their incident report to try to reframe what happened to give the impression Brown was resisted and obstructed them."Mr. Brown hopes that instead of the typical denial of the claims ... the city actually admit to the wrongs, admit that his constitutional rights were violated," Thomsen said at a news conference outside City Hall after filing the lawsuit.Brown had been talking with officers while waiting for a citation for illegally parking in a disabled spot outside a Walgreens at about 2 a.m. on Jan. 26, when officers took him... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee Bucks guard Sterling Brown sued the city of Milwaukee and its police department Tuesday, saying officers' use of a stun gun during his arrest for a parking violation constitutes excessive force and that they targeted him because he is black.Brown's attorney Mark Thomsen filed the lawsuit in federal court, accusing police of "discriminating against Mr. Brown on the basis of his race." The lawsuit alleges officers involved in his arrest used their incident report to try to reframe what happened to give the impression Brown was resisted and obstructed them."Mr. Brown hopes that instead of the typical denial of the claims ... the city actually admit to the wrongs, admit that his constitutional rights were violated," Thomsen said at a news conference outside City Hall after filing the lawsuit.Brown had been talking with officers while waiting for a citation for illegally parking in a disabled spot outside a Walgreens at about 2 a.m. on Jan. 26, when officers took him... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — For the second straight year, throngs of Golden State Warriors fans turned out for a victory parade to celebrate a team some are calling an NBA dynasty and got a treat when several players got off their buses to mingle with the crowd.Hundreds of thousands of fans in gold and blue and holding signs that read "Dynasty" and "Back to Back Champions" waved from behind barriers set up along the route in downtown Oakland, California, as the Warriors rode by in the open, double-decker buses Tuesday.Stephen Curry, NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant and the rest of the Warriors, who won their third title in four years last week, took turns raising the Larry O'Brien Trophy for the roaring crowd, which officials said could reach up to 1 million fans.Officials had promised an "interactive" parade with some fans able to ask the players questions and giant TV screens for the crowd to see them and hear their answers as the moved along the route. But there were no screens and when Klay Thompson... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — For the second straight year, throngs of Golden State Warriors fans turned out for a victory parade to celebrate a team some are calling an NBA dynasty and got a treat when several players got off their buses to mingle with the crowd.Hundreds of thousands of fans in gold and blue and holding signs that read "Dynasty" and "Back to Back Champions" waved from behind barriers set up along the route in downtown Oakland, California, as the Warriors rode by in the open, double-decker buses Tuesday.Stephen Curry, NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant and the rest of the Warriors, who won their third title in four years last week, took turns raising the Larry O'Brien Trophy for the roaring crowd, which officials said could reach up to 1 million fans.Officials had promised an "interactive" parade with some fans able to ask the players questions and giant TV screens for the crowd to see them and hear their answers as the moved along the route. But there were no screens and when Klay Thompson... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — For the second straight year, throngs of Golden State Warriors fans turned out for a victory parade to celebrate a team some are calling an NBA dynasty and got a treat when several players got off their buses to mingle with the crowd.Hundreds of thousands of fans in gold and blue and holding signs that read "Dynasty" and "Back to Back Champions" waved from behind barriers set up along the route in downtown Oakland, California, as the Warriors rode by in the open, double-decker buses Tuesday.Stephen Curry, NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant and the rest of the Warriors, who won their third title in four years last week, took turns raising the Larry O'Brien Trophy for the roaring crowd, which officials said could reach up to 1 million fans.Officials had promised an "interactive" parade with some fans able to ask the players questions and giant TV screens for the crowd to see them and hear their answers as the moved along the route. But there were no screens and when Klay Thompson... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — For the second straight year, throngs of Golden State Warriors fans turned out for a victory parade to celebrate a team some are calling an NBA dynasty.Hundreds of thousands of fans in gold and blue and holding signs that read "Dynasty" and "Back to Back Champions" waved from behind barriers set up along the route in downtown Oakland, California, as the Warriors rode by in an open, double-decker bus.Stephen Curry, NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant and the rest of the Warriors, who won their third title in four years last week, took turns raising the Larry O'Brien Trophy for the roaring crowd, which officials said could reach up to 1 million fans.Officials had promised an "interactive" parade with some fans able to ask the players questions and giant TV screens for the crowd to see them and hear their answers as the moved along the route. But there were no screens and when Klay Thompson used a megaphone to say hello, his greeting was drowned out by the cheering crowd.Curry... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — For the second straight year, throngs of fans celebrated the Golden State Warriors with a parade for a team some are calling a basketball dynasty.Throngs of fans in gold and blue T-shirts and holding signs that read "Dynasty" and "Back to Back Champions" have taken their places behind barriers set up along the route hours before the celebration is set to start at 11 a.m. Tuesday in downtown Oakland, California.As many as 1 million fans are expected to come out and cheer Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and the rest of the Warriors, who won their third title in four years.The NBA champions have gone back-to-back, beating LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers 108-85 on Friday night to finish off a four-game sweep of these NBA Finals in the fourth consecutive meeting between these clubs.Oakland resident Jasmine Culp, 36, painted her lips blue and dressed in a sparkling golden sequined dress, sash, and blue-gold feather accessories to attend the parade with her three children,... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — For the second straight year, throngs of Oakland fans will get to celebrate the Golden State Warriors with a parade for a team some are calling a basketball dynasty.Hundreds of thousands of fans are expected to line downtown Oakland streets Tuesday to cheer Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and the rest of the Warriors winning their third title in four years.The NBA champions have gone back-to-back, beating LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers 108-85 on Friday night to finish off a four-game sweep of these NBA Finals in the fourth consecutive meeting between these clubs.Oakland city streets have been lined with gold and blue banners and shop and restaurant owners along the parade route say they are getting ready to open their businesses during the celebration.Fasil Lemma, who owns De Lauer's Newsstand, said he will be selling the new championship T-shirts and gear from past championships."It's very exciting," Lemma told the East Bay Times. "We want to serve the community."Officials... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Warriors general manager Bob Myers expects swift negotiations to re-sign two-time reigning NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant and coach Steve Kerr.Durant could sign for as long as four years and about $160 million, and Myers is prepared to give him "whatever he wants." Durant has said all along he wants to stay put, especially after winning a pair of championships in his first two seasons with Golden State."Sometimes you don't negotiate. I'd love to have him for 10 years. Kevin Durant, look what he did for us last year, he did us a great service," Myers said. "He's earned the right to sign whatever deal he wants. I just want him to sign a deal. But want him to be happy and want him to know that we want him as long as he wants to be here. He's earned that, to kind of lay out the terms. He can do whatever he wants. That shouldn't be a long negotiation. Our goal, to be honest, is to try to keep the whole thing together, so that's the pieces of the puzzle we've got to try to... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Warriors general manager Bob Myers expects swift negotiations to re-sign two-time reigning NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant and coach Steve Kerr.Durant could sign for as long as four years and about $160 million, and Myers is prepared to give him "whatever he wants."Myers says: "I'd love to have him 10 years. He's earned the right to sign whatever deal he wants. ... That shouldn't be a long negotiation."Kerr has one year remaining on his original five-year contract, so he would receive a multiyear extension — and Kerr wants to coach Golden State for the long haul, perhaps for another decade if he can.Myers wants to keep as much of the core of the two-time defending champions intact while also realizing the Warriors will be a younger team without the same veteran presence.Key reserve David West is contemplating retirement.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball

CLEVELAND (AP) — The NBA might have to get used to this.Stephen Curry is under contract for basically the rest of his prime. Kevin Durant says he isn't going anywhere. Steve Kerr has more than proven himself as one of the game's best coaches. Free agents will line up for the chance to move west even if that means taking some pay cuts. There's even a new arena coming in a year or so for the Golden State Warriors to call home.It's their league now, without question.For the third time in four years, the Warriors are champions of the NBA world. They've gone back-to-back, beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 108-85 on Friday night to finish off a sweep of these NBA Finals in the fourth consecutive meeting between those clubs.The Cavs may very well be coming apart.The Warriors look very much built to last, and no matter where LeBron James goes this summer it'll probably be Golden State as the prohibitive favorites to win it all again next year."You don't want to cheat the moment," Curry said, the... [More]