ELGIN BAYLOR

NBA teams currently have about $4.8 billion in salary committed to players for this season, meaning the average per team is around $160 million.

Anthony Davis is healthy.

LeBron James scored 26 points and Anthony Davis added 23 to help the Los Angeles Lakers to their first win of the season with a 121-110 victory over the Denver Nuggets.

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.

Turns out, March has more madness than just college basketball.

They both carved out sterling reputations as military and political leaders over years of public service.

For the NBA’s 75th anniversary team, 75 players weren’t enough.

The NBA, known today as a leader when it comes to culture and racial issues, was anything but during the 1950s when segregation divided the country.

Kawhi Leonard and Paul George each scored 31 points — the second straight game they have both had over 30 points — and the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Utah Jazz 118-104 in Game 4 Monday night to even their Western Conference second-round series at two games apiece.

Golden State Warriors guard Damion Lee reacts after making a 3-point basket against the Philadelphia 76ers during the second half of an NBA basketball game in San Francisco, Tuesday, March 23, 2021. Jordan Poole added 19 points for the short-handed Warriors, who roared back with a big third quarter after trailing by 24. One member of the family delivered with a big night: Their brother-in-law, Damion Lee, scored 16 points for Golden State in 24 minutes off the bench. He will miss at least the next two games for Golden State before being re-evaluated in a week. Golden State beat the Kings 137-106 at home on Jan. 4.

FILE - Elgin Baylor stands next to a statue, just unveiled, honoring the Minneapolis and Los Angeles Lakers great, outside Staples Center in Los Angeles, in this Friday, April 6, 2018, file photo. Elgin Baylor, the Lakers 11-time NBA All-Star, died Monday, March 22, 2021, of natural causes. The Lakers announced that Baylor died in Los Angeles with his wife, Elaine, and daughter Krystal by his side. When the Lakers moved to Los Angeles in 1960, Baylor became the centerpiece of their Hollywood revival. A Los Angeles County jury unanimously ruled in the Clippers’ favor in March 2011, refusing to award any damages.

LOS ANGELES – LeBron James has agreed to a two-year, $85 million contract extension through the 2022-23 season with the Los Angeles Lakers. Davis and James teamed up last season and won the Lakers' 17th championship in the bubble in central Florida. Instead, James has committed to play through his 20th NBA season with the Lakers, where he moved in 2018 after title-winning tenures in Cleveland and Miami. Los Angeles famously gave a two-year, $48.5 million extension to Bryant when he was 35 years old in November 2013. For instance, Davis could structure his deal to allow Los Angeles to pursue a third superstar in free agency next summer.

Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo shouts from the bench in the second half of an NBA conference semifinal playoff basketball game against the Miami Heat Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

He got the Defensive Player of the Year award earlier in these NBA playoffs. Jordan won both the MVP and Defensive Player in 1987-88 and Olajuwon won both in 1993-94. Antetokounmpo came close to joining the club last season by winning MVP and finishing second in the Defensive Player balloting. James won MVP and was second in Defensive Player voting in 2008-09 and 2012-13, and Shaquille O’Neal did so in 1999-2000. “I'm happy for this, I'm happy for this award," Antetokounmpo said.