It was Dec. 4, 2021.

Gregg Popovich stepped down.

All-Star guard Darius Garland was ruled out by the Cleveland Cavaliers for Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round series Saturday against the Miami Heat because of a sprained left big toe.

Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers go into the NBA Playoffs as the top seed in the Eastern Conference, the highest-scoring offense during the regular season and one of the favorites for the championship.

Tyler Herro scored 30 points while sinking two 3-pointers in overtime and the Miami Heat regrouped after losing an early lead to beat the Atlanta Hawks 123-114 on Friday night and make NBA Play-In Tournament history.

It was the year of the long winning streak in the NBA.

Tyler Herro went from raising eyebrows with a shot he missed to turning heads one week later with all the baskets he made.

The fifth full season of the NBA’s play-in tournament starts Tuesday.

Michael Malone, who coached the Denver Nuggets to the NBA title in 2023 and has led the team to eight consecutive winning seasons, was fired in a stunning move that comes with less than a week in the regular season.

Tyler Herro had 25 points and nine assists and the Miami Heat extended their season-best winning streak to six games with a 124-103 victory over the Boston Celtics.

Tuomas Iisalo has won as a head coach.

Jimmy Butler has been through these first-game-back matchups against former teams before.

The last time a Miami Heat team lost eight consecutive games, before now, was 2008.

This fall will mark the 10th anniversary of the NBA changing its playoff rules and not guaranteeing a division champion a top-four seed regardless of their record.

Donovan Mitchell scored 26 points, Darius Garland had 10 assists and the Cleveland Cavaliers survived some sloppiness in the final two minutes to win their 12th straight game, 112-107 over the banged-up Miami Heat.

Tyronn Lue and Doc Rivers said they were saddened.

Things rarely happen in the NBA at 8:57 a.m. on a Sunday.

Terry Rozier declined to answer questions Friday about the investigations by federal prosecutors into unusual betting patterns surrounding his play in a game when he was with the Charlotte Hornets in 2023.

Tyler Herro spent All-Star weekend last year vacationing.

Jimmy Butler has been suspended by the Miami Heat for the second time in three weeks, this time for two games.

Jimmy Butler walked out of the Miami Heat locker room on Friday night wearing a Michael Jordan jersey.

Jimmy Butler is expected to play for Miami again Friday when it hosts the Denver Nuggets, a game that would be his first since the Heat confirmed that he wants a trade and that they are trying to accommodate that request.

The Lakers and the Clippers both went back to work Monday night in Los Angeles’ first two NBA games since catastrophic wildfires killed at least 24 people and destroyed significant sections of their hometown.

Pat Riley turns 80 in a couple of months.

Jimmy Butler says he needs to find joy again on the basketball court.

The New Orleans Pelicans were in Miami when they learned of a deadly terrorist attack in New Orleans' famed French Quarter.

When LeBron James broke another NBA record earlier this month, the one for most regular-season minutes played in a career, his Los Angeles Lakers teammates handled the moment in typical locker room fashion.

If Jimmy Butler wants a trade, the Miami Heat have no plans to make him happy.

Miami Heat guard Dru Smith has suffered another season-ending injury, this one a torn Achilles in his left leg.

Jimmy Butler knows there are tons of questions about his future with the Miami Heat.

There's a lot of basketball left to be played in this NBA season.

Erik Spoelstra is blaming himself for a “horrendous mistake” after calling a timeout the Miami Heat didn’t have with 1.1 seconds left in overtime.

Here are some of the awards that Victor Wembanyama received over the last 12 months: the NBA rookie of the year trophy, a spot on the All-Rookie team, a first-team All-Defense selection, three rookie of the month awards and most recently an Olympic silver medal.

Grant Hill will be back for another stint as managing director of the U.S. senior men's national basketball team.

LeBron James didn’t need another Olympic experience to complete some missing box on his resume or add to a legacy that was secured long, long ago.

The Boston Celtics ran away from the rest of the NBA in the regular season.

Tyler Herro hit six of Miami’s franchise playoff-record 23 3-pointers to lead the Heat to a 111-101 victory over the Boston Celtics and tie their first-round playoff series at one game apiece.

The Boston Celtics had almost no trouble at all with the 14 teams that didn’t make the playoffs this season, going 35-4 against those squads.

Tyler Herro scored 24 points and was an assist shy of a triple-double, rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 21 points and the Miami Heat grabbed the last spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs, running away from the Chicago Bulls 112-91 in a play-in tournament elimination game.

The results are in: Jimmy Butler is out.

All four teams in the finales of the NBA play-in tournament on Friday night are dealing with injury issues.

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers are staying in New Orleans for a couple more days.

Contrary to popular belief, there has been some defense played in the NBA this season.

Jayson Tatum had 26 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists and the Boston Celtics withstood a late rally to beat the Miami Heat 110-106.

There are few surprises in USA Basketball’s men’s player pool for the Paris Olympics that was announced Tuesday, with most of the big names like LeBron James, Joel Embiid, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant on the list.

Erik Spoelstra was hosting a clinic in the Philippines this past summer while the Miami Heat coach was there as an assistant with USA Basketball for the World Cup.

Erik Spoelstra and the Miami Heat have agreed on a long-term contract extension.

Erik Spoelstra was part of 12 Christmas games as a staff member, assistant coach or head coach in his first 20 seasons with the Miami Heat.

LeBron James couldn’t help but notice the new floor in Miami on Monday, the one with the word “Culture” splashed across midcourt and with team president Pat Riley’s long mantra painted in each of the lanes.

Victor Wembanyama's rookie season with the San Antonio Spurs is set to begin.

After a summer where the Miami Heat were hoping to land Damian Lillard, the reigning Eastern Conference champions reported for training camp on Monday with a familiar refrain in mind.

The World Cup is over.

Erik Spoelstra has never lived in the Philippines so returning as an assistant coach for USA Basketball at the World Cup this summer is not, technically, a homecoming for the Miami Heat coach.

Maximizing player rest and limiting travel demands were again part of the NBA’s formula for the coming regular season.

There are some rising star players on this U.S. roster for the Basketball World Cup.

Tyronn Lue has waited a long time for this trip.

Everything from the history books to the way they’ve played through most of the postseason suggests the Denver Nuggets are on the verge of capturing their first NBA title in 47 years in the league.

The Denver Nuggets have shown a lot of poise in their first NBA Finals.

Erik Spoelstra has preached about the value of adversity for months, not shying away from saying that it helped the Miami Heat get to these NBA Finals.

The Denver Nuggets' playoff run has been fueled by the two-man game of Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray.

Nuggets rookie Christian Braun gets high praise from coach Michael Malone, and his star teammates Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray also rave about the rookie.

For the Miami Heat, shooting at Denver’s 5,280 feet of mile-high altitude during Game 1 of the NBA Finals wasn’t a problem.

The NBA Finals will end in six games.

Cancel that flight plan, Denver.

Gabe Vincent scored a career-high 29 points, Duncan Robinson added 22 and the eighth-seeded Miami Heat are now just one win from the NBA Finals after rolling past the Boston Celtics 128-102 on Sunday night in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference title series.

Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals is Sunday night.

As much as this latest Eastern Conference finals pairing between the Heat and Celtics is a matchup that will lean heavily on stars like Jimmy Butler and Jayson Tatum, Game 1 proved it also will be a clash of Boston's rookie coach Joe Mazzulla and Miami's Erik Spoelstra.

Miami’s Erik Spoelstra and Denver’s Michael Malone are two of the four NBA coaches to have spent at least eight years with their current team.

Inside the Miami Heat locker room Erik Spoelstra stepped onto the NBA championship logo on the center of the floor and gathered his team around him.

Jimmy Butler scored 24 points, Bam Adebayo added 23 and the Miami Heat are headed back to the Eastern Conference finals after topping the New York Knicks 96-92.

Jimmy Butler scored 27 points and added 10 assists, Bam Adebayo finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds and the Miami Heat moved a win away from their third trip to the Eastern Conference finals in the last four years by topping the New York Knicks 109-101.

NBA playoff scoring leader Jimmy Butler was with the Miami Heat for their film session Thursday.

Jimmy Butler is different.

They brawled in 1997.

Jimmy Butler scored 42 points and the Miami Heat staged a second straight stunning fourth-quarter rally before winning 128-126 in overtime at Milwaukee in Game 5 to cap an upset of the top-seeded Bucks in their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.

Anthony Davis scared Los Angeles Lakers fans by grabbing at his right shoulder and saying he couldn’t move his arm.

Max Strus and Jimmy Butler scored 31 points apiece, and the Miami Heat got into the playoffs by rallying in the final minutes to beat the Chicago Bulls 102-91 in an Eastern Conference play-in game Friday night.

Chicago played at Miami and Oklahoma City was in Minnesota to open this NBA season.

Getting to the play-in tournament probably wasn’t the goal of any team when training camps opened back in September.

Mikal Bridges scored a career-high 45 points, including 15 in a row for Brooklyn to break open a game that had been close for 3 1/2 quarters, and the Nets beat the Miami Heat 116-105 on in the final game for both teams before the All-Star break.

The outrage, frustration, sadness and anger over the killing of Tyre Nichols was evident around the NBA on Friday.

The Miami Heat have had to grind through the season's first half.

After losing 57 games a season ago, the Indiana Pacers are a.

Jayson Tatum scored 29 points, Jaylen Brown added 28 and the Boston Celtics topped the Miami Heat 111-104 on Friday night in a rematch of last season’s Eastern Conference finals.

LeBron James has just one player left to catch in his pursuit of the NBA's all-time scoring record.

Tyler Herro and the Miami Heat have agreed on a four-year contract extension that could be worth $130 million, a person with knowledge says.

Tim Cone has won 24 championships as a basketball coach in the Philippines.

The NBA commissioner pondered pausing this season when the virus numbers were at their worst for many teams.

A frustrated Bam Adebayo tore his jersey apart as he walked off the court after the final buzzer.

Jimmy Butler had 47 points, nine rebounds and eight assists and the Miami Heat forced the Eastern Conference finals to a decisive seventh game by beating the Boston Celtics 111-103 on Friday night.

Heat guard Tyler Herro remained sidelined because of a strained left groin as Miami tries to stave off elimination in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals.

The Celtics' confidence is high after seizing a 3-2 Eastern Conference finals lead over top seed Miami.

The Eastern Conference finals between the Heat and Celtics are as close as can be, heading back to Miami all tied up at two wins apiece.

The Celtics will be without center Robert Williams III will be out for Game 3 of their Eastern Conference finals matchup with the Heat due to soreness and swelling in his left knee.

The Boston Celtics got outworked by the Miami Heat in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals but returned the favor in Game 2.

Things have been working out just fine so far in this postseason for Jimmy Butler and the top-seeded Miami Heat.

Jimmy Butler scored 41 points, and the Miami Heat turned things around with a huge third quarter on the way to beating the shorthanded Boston Celtics 118-107 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals on Tuesday night.

Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka and Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra have enormous respect for each other and a bond that stems from their shared history in the sport.

Bam Adebayo scored 23 points, Jimmy Butler had 22 points and 12 assists, and the Miami Heat beat the Philadelphia 76ers 119-103 on Wednesday night for a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Tyler Herro was told before the season began that he wouldn’t be in the Miami Heat starting lineup.