EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsDENVER -- If you asked another young star what it felt like to go into the defending champs' building and put up a career playoff-high 43 points in a 106-99 Game 1 win to tip off the second round, he might call it a statement performance.If he was really feeling himself, he might say Saturday night represented a…

EmailPrintFormer Michigan standout and Los Angeles Lakers draft pick Darius Morris has died at 33, his family announced Saturday.No cause of death was given. TMZ reported Morris' body was found in the Los Angeles area on Thursday. He was a Los Angeles native."With great sadness we announce the passing of our dearly beloved son, Darius Aaron Morris," Morris' family told…

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsAfter missing the past two-plus seasons with a knee injury, Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball has exercised the $21.4 million option on his contract for the 2024-25 season, sources told ESPN on Saturday.Ball has undergone three surgeries on his left knee, the most recent a cartilage transplant in 2023. There remains some guarded hope that he could return…

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsDALLAS -- Mavericks reserve power forward/center Maxi Kleber will be sidelined indefinitely after suffering a third-degree dislocation of the AC joint of his right shoulder, sources told ESPN.The injury could sideline Kleber for the remainder of the Mavs' playoff run, a source said.Dallas will face the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals series that begins…