In 1991, the Chicago Bulls win the first NBA championship in the team’s 25-year history with a 108-101 victory in Game 5 over the Los Angeles Lakers. MVP Michael Jordan scores 30 points, Scottie Pippen has 32 and John Paxson 20.

On this date:

1920 — Man o’ War wins the Belmont Stakes, which was run at 1 3/8-miles, in 2:14 1/5. He shatters the world record by 3 1/5 seconds and sets the American dirt-course record for that distance.

1930 — Max Schmeling beats Jack Sharkey on a fourth-round foul for the vacant heavyweight title in New York. Schmeling becomes the first German — and European — heavyweight world champion.

1939 — Byron Nelson wins the U.S. Open in a three-way playoff with Craig Wood and Denny Shute.

1948 — Citation, ridden by Eddie Arcaro, wins the Belmont Stakes and the Triple Crown with an eight-length victory over Better Self. It’s Arcaro’s second Triple Crown. He rode Whirlaway in 1941.

1948 — Ben Hogan wins the U.S. Open with a record 276, five fewer than Ralph Guldahl’s 1937 record.

1954 — Milwaukee Braves spot starting pitcher Jim Wilson throws first no-hitter in history of County Stadium when he blanks Philadelphia Phillies, 2-0.

1979 — Bobby Orr becomes the youngest player in NHL history to be selected for the Hockey Hall of Fame. The 31-year-old is inducted months after officially ending his NHL career as the Hall waives its usual three-year waiting period.

1981 — Larry Holmes stops Leon Spinks in the third round for the WBC heavyweight title in Detroit.

1983 — Patty Sheehan wins the LPGA championship by two strokes over Sandra Haynie.

1984 — 38th NBA Championship: Boston Celtics beat LA Lakers, 4 games to 3, to win the championship title.

1990 — Egypt, a 500-1 shot, stuns the Netherlands when Magdi Abdel-Ghani makes a penalty kick with eight minutes remaining to tie the World Cup favorites 1-1.

2002 — NBA Finals: Los Angeles Lakers beat New Jersey Nets, 113-107 for a 4-0 sweep and 3rd straight title; MVP: Shaquille O’Neal for 3rd consecutive Finals series.

2005 — Annika Sorenstam closes with a 1-over 73 for a three-shot victory over Michelle Wie in the LPGA Championship. The 15-year-old Wie shoots a 69 to finish second. It’s the highest finish by an amateur in a major since 20-year-old Jenny Chuasiriporn lost a playoff to Se Ri Pak in the 1998 U.S. Women’s Open.

2008 — The Boston Celtics overcome a 24-point deficit and beat the Los Angeles Lakers 97-91 to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the NBA finals. No team has ever overcome more than a 15-point deficit after the first quarter, and the Celtics post the biggest comeback in the finals since 1971.

2009 — Pittsburgh’s Max Talbot scores two second-period goals as the Penguins beat the defending champion Detroit Red Wings 2-1 in Game 7 and win the Stanley Cup at Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena.

2011 — The Dallas Mavericks win their first NBA title by winning Game 6 of the finals in Miami, 105-95. Jason Terry scores 27 points and Dirk Nowitzki adds 21 as the Mavericks win four of the series’ last five games.

2013 — Andrew Shaw scores on a deflection in triple overtime to lift the Chicago Blackhawks to a 4-3 victory over the Boston Bruins in a riveting Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals. The Blackhawks gets third-period goals from Dave Bolland and Oduya to erase a 3-1 deficit.

2016 — Sidney Crosby sets up Kris Letang’s go-ahead goal midway through the second period and the Pittsburgh Penguins win the fourth Stanley Cup in franchise history by beating the San Jose Sharks 3-1 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final.

2017 — Kevin Durant caps his spectacular first season with the Warriors by bringing home an NBA championship. Durant, who joined Golden State last July, scores 39 points in a finals-clinching 129-120 victory over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

2019 — Stanley Cup Final, TD Garden, Boston, MA: St. Louis Blues beat Boston Bruins, 4-1 for a 4-3 series victory; first title in franchise history.

2021 — Danish soccer midfielder Christian Eriksen suffers an on-field cardiac arrest during a Euro 2020 match with Finland in Copenhagen. Eriksen is revived with a defibrillator and the game controversially continues with a 1-0 Finland win.

2023 — NBA Finals: Denver Nuggets beat Miami Heat 94-89 to win the franchise’s first Championship; clinch series 4-1; MVP: Denver C Nikola Jokić.

Yet his durability and scoring dependability over those six seasons during one of the franchise’s most memorable eras cemented his status as one of the Bulls’ all-time greats.

Walker, who averaged 20.6 points while missing just 18 games and making four All-Star teams in Chicago, has died, the Bulls confirmed to the Tribune on Saturday evening. He was 84.

“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Chet Walker, a legendary figure in our team’s history,” the Bulls said in a statement. “Chet left an indelible mark on the court and in the hearts of fans. His skill, dedication and contributions to the game made a lasting impact on the sport of basketball and the city of Chicago. We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends and all who were touched by his legacy.”

Walker died Saturday in Long Beach, Calif., after a long illness, according to an article on the Bulls website.

Nicknamed “Chet the Jet” for his agility, Walker teamed with fellow forward Bob Love to form a potent scoring pair. Along with the fiery backcourt of Norm Van Lier and Jerry Sloan and anchored in the middle by Tom Boerwinkle, the Bulls posted four straight 50-win seasons and advanced to two straight Western Conference finals under coach Dick Motta at a time the fledgling franchise became more identifiable with the blue-collar, hardworking city.

“That basically laid the foundation for basketball in Chicago,” Walker said during his 2012 Hall of Fame acceptance speech in Springfield, Mass.

The Bulls acquired Walker in a September 1969 trade from the Philadelphia 76ers, for whom he had started on what some consider one of the best teams of all time. Led by Hall of Famers Wilt Chamberlain, Hal Greer and Billy Cunningham, the 1966-67 76ers went 68-13 and defeated the San Francisco Warriors in the NBA Finals, only to be broken up two years later.

With his strong face-up game, devastating pump fake and knack for clutch scoring, Walker quickly put to rest any whispers that the 76ers traded him because his game was in decline. He averaged 21.5 points his first season in Chicago, helping the Bulls make the playoffs.

All 13 of Walker’s teams advanced to the postseason.

“He was as clutch a player as you could have,” Boerwinkle once told the Tribune.

Walker was inducted into the inaugural class of the Bulls Ring of Honor in January.

Photos: Meet the 13 Chicago Bulls’ inaugural Ring of Honor class

Born Feb. 22, 1940, as the youngest of 10 children in rural Mississippi, Chester “Chet” Walker was raised by a strong, single mother who moved the family to Benton Harbor, Mich. Walker overcame poverty to earn a scholarship to Bradley University in Peoria, where he earned two All-America nods and won NIT titles in 1957 and 1960.

The Syracuse Nationals, who moved to Philadelphia to become the 76ers, drafted him in the second round. Walker made the All-Rookie team and played in seven All-Star games.

He averaged 19.2 points in 1974-75, his final season, and didn’t enter the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame until 2012 via the veterans committee. In several interviews, Walker attributed the wait to his leadership role with the players union, which included a lawsuit against the Bulls and NBA.

“I think I was blacklisted,” Walker matter-of-factly told the Tribune in 2007, alluding to both the end of his career and the wait for the Hall of Fame.

Motta, with whom the soft-spoken Walker never got along, rejected his star forward’s contract demands before that season. Motta and Bulls ownership also refused Walker’s demand that he be traded or released.

So Walker sued the Bulls and the NBA for violation of federal antitrust laws. He reached a settlement but never played again.

Along with union President Larry Fleischer and prominent player representatives Oscar Robertson and Bob Cousy, Walker also played a leading role in trying to block NBA owners who wanted to limit bidding wars for players by merging with the upstart American Basketball Association.

Though the merger ultimately happened in 1976, provisions were allowed for free agency that began an economic renaissance for players — but not for Walker. Meanwhile, the Bulls’ golden era ended. They plummeted from 47 victories to 24 without Walker.

After his playing career, Walker moved to Hollywood and began a career as a movie producer. He won an Emmy award for his made-for-TV movie, “A Mother’s Courage: The Mary Thomas Story.” The film focused on the strength of Isiah Thomas’ mother in raising nine children as a single parent on Chicago’s West Side.

Walker has said in many interviews that Mary Thomas reminded him of his own mother’s sacrifices. Isiah Thomas stood on stage as one of Walker’s presenters during his Hall of Fame speech.

“People would come into the old Chicago Stadium, and it was so loud that you couldn’t hear yourself think,” Walker said during the induction. “I love Chicago — great city, great town, great people.”

K.C. Johnson is a former Chicago Tribune sports reporter.

Silver, speaking in his annual pre-NBA Finals news conference, did not offer any hints on when the next series of deals will be completed, other than saying “in the relative near term.” The current deals with ABC-ESPN and Turner Sports expire after next season and the NBA has been talking with NBC, ESPN and Amazon, among other networks and platforms, about what comes next.

“It’s complicated for several reasons,” Silver said. “One is the advent of new platforms, particularly streaming and the interest of streaming companies and in the traditional media companies also carrying our games on streaming platforms. It’s complicated because with multiple partners, all seeking similar assets in many cases, you’re just figuring out the right way to balance those games as they go to different partners.”

The expectations, from networks and others involved in the process, is that the new agreements will be for 11 years and could exceed $70 billion in total value. Those would smash the existing norms for both value and deal length; the current one is nine years, $24 billion.

“We tend to do long-term deals,” Silver said. “We think that’s good for the stability of the league. But it means to a certain extent you’re trying to predict the future, which is of course impossible. Part of it is a bet on the partners that we’ll ultimately align with and their ability also to adjust the times and their willingness to continue to invest in media and to become global, which is very important to the league as well.”

What remains most unclear is how, or if, Turner will remain involved with the NBA when the new deals get struck.

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav sounded an ominous note in late 2022, saying that Turner and WBD “don’t have to have the NBA” once their current deal expires. If WBD is not part of the next deals, one of the most recognizable changes for fans could be the demise of the highly popular “Inside the NBA” program featuring former NBA stars Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith.

“That show, in particular, is special.” Silver said.

When the deals get done — whether it’s in the coming days, weeks or even months — it would clear the way for the next major item on the NBA’s to-do list, that being expansion.

Silver has been very clear on the order of his top agenda items in recent seasons, those being preserving labor peace (which was achieved with the new Collective Bargaining Agreement) and getting a new media deal (talks ongoing). Then the league, at some point, will turn its attention toward adding new franchises.

“By turning to expansion, it doesn’t mean that we’re going to announce that now we’re ready to add teams,” Silver said. “It means that there will be a committee of NBA governors that will focus on it. … I actually am looking forward to that. I think the league, it’s not preordained that we will expand this time, but I know there’s an enormous amount of interest out there”

In other topics covered by Silver:

Caitlin Clark

Silver didn’t opine on the hard foul that Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark took from Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter last weekend, a play that has been scrutinized in countless ways from countless parties.

“As a fan, obviously, it’s nothing new in basketball that there’s sort of welcome-to-the-league moments, especially for heralded rookies,” Silver said. “But of course, I want to see Caitlin treated fairly and appropriately in the league. I would say, seems like she can take care of herself. She’s a tough player.”

Silver calls Clark “an incredible talent” and says all the attention she helps brings is good for the game — while noting that the growth of the fan base for the women’s game didn’t start just now, either. He also said it can’t be ignored that there are “larger societal issues at work … some having to do with race” when discussing the attention Clark generates and how that is received.

“Sports, historically, has been a platform for people to talk directly about these issues,” Silver said. “I don’t think we should hide from them, and I think the players are happy to engage about these issues.”

Tanking

Silver said he believed the $750,000 fine the NBA issued to the Dallas Mavericks was appropriate last season, after a brief investigation showed the team engaged in “conduct detrimental to the league” by sitting out most of its key players against the Chicago Bulls on April 7, 2023.

The Mavs still had a chance to reach the playoffs, but the NBA said the it believed the team made its roster decisions that night “in order to improve the chances of keeping its first-round pick in the 2023 NBA draft.” That pick became Dereck Lively II, who has played a significant role for the Mavericks in their run to the NBA Finals.

“In terms of what Dallas did last year, we sanctioned them. We did what we thought was appropriate at the time,” Silver said. “I would only say that the success they saw this season, that they’re now seeing in the playoffs and here they are at the finals, I don’t attribute it to one draft pick — as important as that draft pick has been to their team.”

The network said in a news release that all three teams’ games will be available through “traditional cable providers, streaming services and free, over-the-air broadcast” and “will reach a widely expanded Midwest footprint, including most of Illinois and parts of Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin, pending league approvals.”

The network offered limited details in the wake of the announcement, and its ownership now faces a short runway to get a new media company off the ground in time for the Bulls and Hawks seasons in the fall.

There are plenty of questions to answer before then. What type of auxiliary programming will be offered? What purchases — such as satellite antenna or cable subscription — would fans need to make in order to watch their teams? And who will be on the air as game commentators, pregame and postgame hosts and sideline talent?

Bulls broadcasters Adam Amin and Stacey King are expected to retain their roles for the 2024-25 season, while a source said on-air talent for the Hawks “is not yet confirmed.”

The Chicago Sports Network (CHSN) said it has begun the hiring process for staff and will announce distribution and media agreements as they are finalized throughout the summer.

The network will be produced in partnership with Nashville, Tenn.-based Standard Media. Jason Coyle, formerly president of the Stadium network, was named CHSN president.

“As we set out to design the network, we began and ended every discussion with the simple question: What is best for our fans?” Coyle said in a statement. “What is the best approach to distribution? How can we push the limits of both in-game and studio production? We plan to serve our fans on as many platforms and in as many markets as our rights allow.”

The teams’ contract with NBC Sports Chicago, which has held the rights for all three teams since 2004, is set to expire in October. NBCSCH will continue to air the remainder of the 2024 Sox season.

Launching a regional network is a common trend in professional sports, with more than 30 teams from the New York Yankees to the Portland Trail Blazers starting their own standalone broadcast companies over the past two decades. Some attempts have been more successful than others: The then-Charlotte Bobcats gave up after a year, the Kansas City Royals never debuted their proposed network and the Houston Rockets have floundered through several rocky trials.

The success of a franchise-affiliated regional network fluctuates depending upon market, accessibility and team success. The concept isn’t new in Chicago, where the Cubs serve as the cornerstone of Marquee Sports Network with additional broadcast offerings for the Sky, Red Stars and regional programming such as the Chicago Hounds rugby team and local college and high school games.

CHSN would differ from Marquee in one key feature: over-the-air (OTA) accessibility.

Viewers can access OTA broadcasts via a satellite antenna, eliminating the need for a cable or streaming subscription. A Bulls source confirmed to the Tribune that all games on CHSN, including Hawks and Sox games, would be available for free OTA.

Tribune reporter Phil Thompson contributed.

LaVine isn’t at the top of any team’s list of summer targets, but according to reports from Yahoo Sports and the Philadelphia Inquirer, he could be a viable backup plan if the 76ers don’t land Paul George in free agency. Jimmy Butler and Brandon Ingram also were named as secondary options for the 76ers.

This isn’t the first time LaVine has been tied to another team or even the first time the 76ers have shown interest in the two-time All-Star shooting guard. But nearly six months after LaVine first broached the issue of being traded, it’s fair to ask if this the one that will stick.

After the Miami Heat bounced the Bulls out of the play-in tournament for a second straight year, executive vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas insisted he is committed to making changes this summer — but that didn’t mean a commitment to moving LaVine in this trade window.

Karnišovas’ tenure at the helm of the Bulls front office has been defined by hesitance, earning the ire of fans after opting for inaction at three consecutive trade deadlines. But in the case of trading LaVine this summer, a little trepidation might be warranted.

As teams wait for the NBA playoffs to end before starting to wheel and deal, there’s little evidence around the league that LaVine will be a top priority for any team. Most reports have suggested teams would desire an additional asset to be attached in order to move LaVine, whose contract — which totals $138 million over the next three years — has become an outsized burden compared with his perceived value.

So what does this mean for the Bulls? In short, they’re stuck in a serious rut.

LaVine’s value is at an all-time low after he played some of his worst basketball — averaging 19.5 points on 45.2% shooting while dropping to 34.9% behind the 3-point arc — in an injury-riddled season in which he appeared in only 25 games.

But for a player like LaVine, value can fluctuate rapidly. He’s only 29 with a proven ability to anchor a team’s scoring. So he easily could rebuild his stock — and thus boost his trade value for the Bulls — by coming out strong to start the 2023-24 season.

The safest option — and therefore the likeliest given the tendencies of the Bulls front office — is to keep LaVine through the summer. In a best-case scenario, he would stay injury-free and return to a more standard form, at which point the Bulls could hear more serious interest at the trade deadline.

However, the front office also prefers to make deals in the summer rather than during the in-season trade window, which means Karnišovas and Co. could hold out until next summer.

If that feels like a marathon for Bulls fans itching for a change, well, it makes sense. But it’s in the team’s best interest for the front office to get the highest value out of a LaVine trade rather than jump at the first offer.

Of course, all of this is complicated by the front office’s apparent willingness to re-sign DeMar DeRozan, who voiced his eagerness to stay in Chicago on the “Run It Back” podcast earlier this month. If the Bulls bring back both LaVine and DeRozan this fall, it would be hard to align Karnišovas’ fervent promises to enact change against the repetitive reality of the roster.

But even with a glimmer of interest in LaVine from other teams, the Bulls seem entrenched in that vision — at least at the start of the summer.

Ball is attempting to become the first U.S. athlete to successfully return to competition from a knee cartilage transplant after missing the last two seasons with a confounding injury. In an episode of his podcast “The WAE Show” released Friday, Ball disclosed that he also received a meniscus transplant at the same time as the cartilage procedure.

“To make a long story short, ultimately it started with a meniscus tear, basically started on the Lakers when I tore it the first time,” Ball said. “Tore it a couple more times to a point where there was no more meniscus left, cartilage was gone and the bone was messed up, so I had to get a new meniscus from a donor.”

Similarly to the cartilage transplant, no NBA player has received a meniscus transplant and successfully returned to the league. The Bulls now face two looming questions as Ball nears the third year of his injury: Will he ever be able to return? And even if he does, will he be the same player as before?

It has been more than two years since Ball played in an NBA game. The meniscus injury occurred in January 2022. After the Bulls insisted he would return before the end of that season, Ball’s recovery lingered into the ensuing year.

“We were trying to figure out what the problem was so that was a wasted year,” Ball said. “But now we’re here.”

Ball made significant improvements in the 14 months since his third and final procedure, including running and performing basic basketball drills without pain. He has not returned to five-on-five scrimmages, which will be a crucial step for his recovery. The Bulls remain hopeful he will be able to begin contact drills by the end of the summer, which would position him to return to team activities at the start of the 2024-25 season.

But the reality of Ball’s injury only is bleaker with the acknowledgement of this additional procedure.

While the front office weighs critical free-agency decisions regarding DeMar DeRozan and Patrick Williams, the early weeks of the offseason have been focused on realigning Billy Donovan’s coaching staff.

The Bulls did not re-up the contract of assistant coach Chris Fleming, the only holdover from Jim Boylen’s staff, while Josh Longstaff left to join the staff of new Charlotte Hornets coach Charles Lee. The two vacancies will be filled by Wes Unseld Jr. and Dan Craig, as first reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Respected assistant Maurice Cheeks also chose to step back from his lead assistant duties, making room on the front row for John Bryant.

For a fed-up fan, this might seem like minutiae. It’s difficult to envision how a few tweaks to the coaching staff could deliver the wholesale changes that fans have been clamoring for ever since the Bulls crashed out of the play-in tournament with a loss in Miami for the second consecutive year. And it’s true that the Bulls likely would remain mired in the same issues if they again decline to make major changes during trade windows.

So what can be learned from these coaching changes about how the Bulls are approaching next season?

The two departures make sense for different reasons. Despite Fleming’s proximity to key players — particularly Coby White, to whom Fleming was assigned as a personal coach since White’s rookie season — he was the last remaining vestige of a coaching era the Bulls are trying to forget.

Longstaff, meanwhile, was set to move to the front bench with Bryant, and his hiring in Charlotte reflects his rising potential in the league.

The Bulls clearly were eager to add an assistant coach with prior head coaching experience, often one of the best ways to create a more versatile staff to navigate a long season. Unseld is fresh off 2½ seasons as head coach of the Washington Wizards and also brings synergy with the front office, as he worked with Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas for six seasons in Denver while serving as an assistant to Nuggets coach Michael Malone.

There are two clear priorities for the Bulls coaching staff: creativity and player development.

Despite a disappointing finish, the latter already took a jump last season with the addition of shooting coach Peter Patton, who helped improve the efficiency of players such as Ayo Dosunmu and Alex Caruso. With breakout performances from White and Dosunmu, the Bulls are inspiring more confidence in their ability to build young players into top contributors on both sides of the ball.

Improving creativity is a tougher piece to the puzzle. The Bulls finished in the bottom half of the league in offensive rating for a second straight season. Stagnancy has become the status quo on that end of the court — an issue exacerbated by injuries but also resulting from how the coaching staff builds and tweaks schemes over the course of the season.

Outside of these necessary areas of improvement, perhaps the most important takeaway from the realignment of the coaching staff is the front office’s continued commitment to Donovan.

Throughout his end-of-season interview, Karnišovas made it clear that any form of change is on the table this summer — except for one: Donovan isn’t going anywhere.

Despite Donovan’s 156-162 record over four seasons in Chicago, the front office remains impressed with his work ethic and player development acumen. Karnišovas described Donovan as a “great leader and a great coach” whom he trusts to create a winning culture.

“I like what Billy has done here the last four years,” Karnišovas said. “Billy is someone you build a program with. He’s a very good coach and even a better human being.

“We established a winning expectation, we defined a profile for the Bulls player and we put an emphasis on player development. It is also on me to facilitate Billy with the resources he needs to build a team that can be successful consistently.”

The staff adjustments are a clear reflection of Karnišovas’ intention to put Donovan in a position to succeed. But the most crucial step comes next: assembling a balanced roster that’s better equipped than the recent iterations that failed to make the playoffs.

James isn’t projected to be picked in the first round of the NBA draft. In fact, most mock drafts place him deep in the second round. But the eagerness of his father — a four-time MVP and four-time NBA champion — to play at least one season with his son has brought heightened attention to the 19-year-old’s future despite playing only 25 games as a freshman at USC last season.

For Bronny, the NBA dream is a little bit different.

“My dream has always just been to put my name out, make a name for myself and of course get to the NBA,” James said this week. “I never thought about playing with my dad — but of course he’s brought it up a couple times.”

James is a different player from his father, flexing more of a three-and-D style of play. He had a solid outing during Monday’s drills, posting a 40-inch max vertical jump and going 19-for-25 to finish second in 3-point shooting.

Here’s what else we heard at the NBA combine.

Terrence Shannon Jr. addresses his pending court case

The combine was a crucial moment for the Illinois standout, who addressed the media for the first time since his arrest in December. He faces one count of rape or an alternative count of felony aggravated sexual battery and is accused of assaulting a woman at a bar in Lawrence, Kansas, last fall.

Shannon was suspended by Illinois and missed six games but was reinstated to the team after receiving a temporary restraining order against the university.

Before his arrest, Shannon was projected as a first-round pick, and he lived up to those expectations on the court in his final year with Illinois, averaging 23 points, four rebounds and 2.3 assists. But his NBA prospects have severely shifted because of his looming court date on June 10 — 16 days before the draft. He did not participate in Monday’s drills or any five-on-five scrimmaging because of a strained hamstring.

“Obviously it’s a real serious accusation and I’m aware of that,” Shannon said of the rape charge. “I can’t go into much detail about it, but I’m focused on what I can control and that’s basketball and what I do on the court, in the weight room and with my family.”

Zach Edey out to prove himself

It might not seem like the former Purdue standout has much to prove heading into the NBA draft — after all, he’s a two-time national player of the year who led the Boilermakers to their first Final Four in four decades. But starring in college is much different than landing a spot in the NBA.

“I’m the college player of the year, but I’m going to the NBA,” Edey said. “You’ve got to leave all that behind. Now I’m an NBA player. I have to reestablish myself.”

Edey made the most of his combine outing this week. His physical testing proved all of the tangible differences that make him stand out from the rest of the 2024 draft class — he weighed in at 299 pounds, measured 7-foot-5 in shoes and recorded a wingspan close to 7-foot-11.

And he was efficient in shooting drills Monday, going 14-for-25 from 3-point range and shooting 60% on shots off the dribble. Edey also recorded a 31.5-inch vertical and ran the three-quarters court sprint in 3.51 seconds, two figures that might help offset concerns about his agility matching up to NBA competition.

Devin Carter headlines combine drills

This year’s combine had increased participation — in both drills on Monday and scrimmages on Tuesday and Wednesday — after plenty of players chose to sit out the event last year. That reflects a lower-expectation draft class full of athletes jockeying to improve their draft stock.

Monday’s drills allowed teams to observe the physicality of the players in attendance. Carter, Trentyn Flowers, Keshad Johnson and Reed Sheppard tied for the best maximum vertical jump at 42 inches.

Carter, a guard out of Providence, stood out in the physical drills, measuring the longest wingspan of any point guard (6-8.75) and finishing third in the agility drill at 10.63 seconds before setting a record for the three-quarter court sprint at 2.87 seconds.

Nearly a year after going into cardiac arrest during a workout, he is close to achieving his goal of playing in the NBA just like his famous father.

“It’s just a great thing to happen to me, in terms of just being grateful for everything,” James said at the NBA draft combine. “I put in the work and stuff like that to get back, so I feel like I’ve earned the opportunity. I’m extremely grateful for everything that’s been given to me.”

James played in a scrimmage on Tuesday after participating in drills the previous day, when he had his vertical leap measured at 40 1/2 inches and his height — without shoes — at 6-foot-1 1/2 despite being listed by Southern California as 6-4. He also answered questions from reporters, something he didn’t do last season.

The son of NBA career scoring leader LeBron James, Bronny James was one of the nation’s top prospects when he decided to stay near home and committed to USC last May out of Sierra Canyon School in nearby Chatsworth. But things took an unexpected turn last summer.

James went into cardiac arrest because of a congenital heart defect during a basketball workout at USC in late July and needed surgery. He was hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and later seen by doctors at the Mayo Clinic and Atlantic Health-Morristown Medical Center in New Jersey.

“It was a tough time, for sure,” he said. “All this work that I put in, it just really built me into someone that would never give up. It paid off because I put in the work after that situation, and I’m back to where I want to be.”

James said the possibility that he wouldn’t be able to play again was discussed. Even now, the fear from the cardiac arrest “is still lingering.”

“I feel like my parents were a big factor believing in me and giving me the love and affection that I needed at that time,” he said. “I still think about everything that could happen. I just love the game so much that it overpowers it.”

James missed the first month of the season. He averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 25 games for the Trojans.

“That would set anybody back, what he went through,” said Isaiah Collier, a projected first-round pick after starring as a freshman at USC. “Y’all gonna see what he’s really capable of real soon. I feel like Bronny’s a great player. He definitely deserves to be here. He’s gonna be fine.”

USC went 15-18 overall and 8-12 in the Pac-12 during a season marked by injuries to several players. The Trojans missed the NCAA Tournament after three straight appearances, and coach Andy Enfield left to take the job at SMU.

James declared for the draft and entered the transfer portal on April 5, hours before USC introduced Eric Musselman as its new coach. He has until later this month to decide if he wants to turn pro or play at least another year in college.

The only time James addressed the media last season was following his first game, when he appeared for less than a minute to thank the doctors, athletic trainers and support system that helped him return to play. He did not take questions that day and — despite numerous requests — never granted any interviews. James said he was just following his advisors’ advice.

LeBron James, his wife and daughter were frequent spectators at USC games. The elder James has said repeatedly he would like to team with his son. The four-time MVP and four-time NBA champion just completed his 21st season and could become a free agent if he opts out of his contract with the Los Angeles Lakers. But James also said following a season-ending loss to Denver that he hasn’t “given much thought lately” to playing alongside his son.

“The kid has to do what he wants to do — and I don’t want to say kid no more, young man has to decide what he wants to do. I just think the fact that we’re even having the conversation is pretty cool,” he said at the time.

Bronny James said his goal is to get to the NBA — not necessarily play on the same team as LeBron.

“My dream has always just been to put my name out, make a name for myself and, of course, get to the NBA,” he said. “I never thought about playing with my dad. But of course, he’s brought it up a couple times.”

Bronny James dismissed the idea that a team might draft him as a way to lure his father.

“This is a serious business,” he said. “I don’t feel like there would be a thought of ‘I’m just drafting this kid just because I’m gonna get his dad.’ I don’t think a GM would really allow that. I think I’ve put in the work and I’ll get drafted because of not only the player but the person that I am.”

The Chicago Bulls, who entered with just a 2% chance at the No. 1 pick and a 9.4% chance to move into the top four, ended up with the No. 11 spot. Last year, the Bulls traded into the first round to select Julian Phillips with the No. 35 pick.

The Hawks hit the jackpot despite just 3% odds after finishing 10th in the Eastern Conference at 36-46. They dropped their final six regular-season games and lost to the Bulls in the first round of the play-in tournament.

“It was a shock,” said general manager Landry Fields, who grinned ear to ear when deputy commissioner Mark Tatum announced the Hawks as the winners. “When I first saw that it wasn’t us between 10 and 12, that launched us into the top four. I was like, all right, we’ve got a real shot at this thing. A bit of surprise, but a lot of excitement.”

The Hawks haven’t won a postseason series since a surprising run to the Eastern Conference finals in 2021. They got knocked out in the first round in 2022 and 2023.

Atlanta has some big decisions to make this offseason, including whether to break up its backcourt of Trae Young and Dejounte Murray. General manager Landry Fields can build with the No. 1 pick, though it’s not clear who will be taken first after Victor Wembanyama was the obvious choice for San Antonio last year.

The Washington Wizards, Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs and Detroit Pistons rounded out the top five. The draft is June 26-27 in Brooklyn.

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Washington and Detroit had the best chances to land the top pick at 14%. Only four teams have won the lottery with slimmer odds than Atlanta, with the biggest longshot being Orlando at 1.52% in 1993. The Magic orchestrated a blockbuster draft night trade with Golden State, sending the rights to Chris Webber to the Warriors for the rights to Penny Hardaway along with three future first-round picks.

San Antonio landed a generational player last year in Wembanyama. The franchise that previously took David Robinson and Tim Duncan with the No. 1 overall pick got its next great big man, and all the Frenchman did was turn in one of the best rookie seasons in NBA history.

The No. 1 pick could once again come from France, whether it’s center Alex Sarr or sharp-shooting forward Zaccharie Risacher, but that’s far from a certainty. UConn guard Stephon Castle and Kentucky’s Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham are both expected to be off the board within the first few selections.

The 7-foot-1, 224-pound Sarr has the size and mobility that teams crave and can defend the perimeter when he’s not blocking shots down low. The 19-year-old from Toulouse is known for his explosiveness around the rim, though he could use some more muscle. It would help, too, if he developed into a more reliable 3-point shooter.

Sarr, whose brother Olivier plays for the Oklahoma City, spent this past season in Australia’s National Basketball League.

Risacher, who was born in Spain and grew up in France, is known as a dynamic, albeit streaky shooter for JL Bourg, whether he’s popping off screens or pulling up for 3-pointers. He often guards the other team’s best player.

Castle joined Andre Drummond in 2012 as UConn’s only one-and-done players when he declared for the draft in April after the Huskies’ latest NCAA championship run. The 6-foot-6 guard averaged 11.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists while often drawing the defensive assignment to shut down the opposition’s top perimeter player. He scored 21 in UConn’s Final Four win over Alabama and had 15 points in the championship game against Purdue.

Sheppard and Dillingham both came off the bench in their lone college seasons.

Sheppard, who was voted the Southeastern Conference’s top freshman by coaches after leading the league in steals, was one of the league’s best playmakers and perimeter shooters. He was Kentucky’s No. 3 scorer at 12.5 points per contest and averaged an SEC-best 2.5 steals that ranked eighth nationally, despite starting just five of 33 games. He also averaged 4.5 assists, 4.1 rebounds and made 52% of his 3-point attempts.

Dillingham was voted the SEC’s top sixth man after averaging 15.2 and 3.9 assists. Kentucky tied for second in the conference and earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament, only to get knocked out by Oakland in the round of 64. Coach John Calipari then left after 15 years for Arkansas.