The NBA continues to resist the idea of expansion despite an obvious location in Seattle and strong candidates in Las Vegas, Mexico City and Kansas City.

"As I’ve said before, expansion is not on our agenda right now. We may turn back to it at some point. And I’ve had this discussion with both Mayor Goodmans (Oscar and Carolyn) in Las Vegas about their desire for us to expand and have said I view us as, in essence, already having a team in Las Vegas because we have a two-week-plus Summer League there every summer, which has enormous economic impact on the city.

"So before the NFL announced they were putting a franchise, before the NHL put in a franchise, the Golden Knights, in Las Vegas, we of course had an All-Star Game in Las Vegas. So we’ve been heavily involved there for a long time.

"Expansion, at least for right now, even to the question earlier about parity, I’m very focused on creating a competitive 30-team league right now. Part of it, in a way it’s quite remarkable that when you have a league with the amount of basketball being played on a global basis and the 450 best players in the world all coming to one league, and understandably people are saying can’t you do more to create more competition among your 30 teams, at least from a competitive standpoint my first reaction isn’t to think, all right, let’s add a 31st team or 32nd team. It is to see what is it we can do system-wise, training-wise, whatever it takes to create more competition within this league.

"But invariably, as I’ve said before, it’s only natural for any business to grow and expand at some point, so we’ll look back to expansion.

"It’s not just Las Vegas. There are lots of terrific markets out there in the United States and some in countries attached to the United States who also have wonderful cities that could potentially house NBA teams. So those are all things we’ll continue to look at."

The NBA last expanded in 2004 with Charlotte, which replaced a franchise that had relocated to New Orleans.

The Philadelphia 76ers are expected to soon conclude their investigation into social media allegations against Bryan Colangelo.

Some league sources expect Colangelo to lose his job as president of basketball operations.

A league source said Colangelo was visibly shaken when the report broke while he was attending a workout in Los Angeles.

Colangelo has missed predraft workouts on Wednesday and Thursday.

“The only way that he’ll get out of it is if he comes with evidence that somebody set him up,” said a league executive, speaking on condition of anonymity. “If it is out there where they can’t prove either way, I don’t think he’ll keep his job. And if there’s involvement with a family member, it doesn’t look like he has a chance either.”

The start of the NBA Finals could have played a factor in Philadelphia's timetable, according to sources. The league did not want the controversy to further distract from Game 1.

Dwane Casey is meeting with the Detroit Pistons on Thursday regarding their head coaching vacancy.

The Toronto Raptors parted ways with Casey this offseason despite finishing with the second best record in the NBA.

The Pistons are searching for a replacement for Stan Van Gundy.

The Golden State Warriors discussed aspects of their team culture that make them special.

"It doesn't feel like a job," Green said. "I think that's why it's been so hard to beat this team. You look at so many teams that may try to match things up with personnel or putting 'All-Stars' together [or] 'Superteams' together. But you miss certain elements of it that really makes it all go."

"A coach does not create the culture," said Steve Kerr. "Players really create the culture through their force of personality and leadership within the group. The coach's job is to shape the culture."

The authenticity of Stephen Curry defines the Warriors.

"When you know everybody here and everybody's open to be themselves, really he is," Durant says. "That's what the culture is set, [that] it's all right to be who you are. Steph started off here. He's the one that's been here the longest. So, it's like, everybody in here is just kind of doing their best to assist him in whatever he needs to be, as a young player all the way up until now.

"So if you come in here and you have an ego, or you think you're bigger than the team, the guy who we built this around is not. So maybe you need to go. You know what I'm saying?"

The NBA Finals MVP has often also been the player to have the highest PER in the series, but there have been a number of years during the Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James era where that hasn't been the case.

- Finals MVP in parentheses 

1991: Michael Jordan: 34.1 (Michael Jordan)

1992: Michael Jordan: 27.1 (Michael Jordan)

1993: Michael Jordan: 31.7 (Michael Jordan)

1994: Hakeem Olajuwon: 25.6 (Hakeem Olajuwon)

1995: Hakeem Olajuwon: 25.7 (Hakeem Olajuwon)

1996: Shawn Kemp: 27.5 (Michael Jordan)

1997: Michael Jordan: 29.3 (Michael Jordan)

1998: Michael Jordan: 28.7 (Michael Jordan)

1999: Tim Duncan: 28.0 (Tim Duncan)

2000: Shaquille O’Neal: 36.6 (Shaquille O’Neal)

2001: Shaquille O’Neal: 33.8 (Shaquille O’Neal)

2002: Shaquille O’Neal: 38.5 (Shaquille O’Neal)

2003: Tim Duncan: 30.4 (Tim Duncan)

2004: Chauncey Billups: 29.3 (Chauncey Billups)

2005: Chauncey Billups: 24.4 (Tim Duncan)

2006: Dwyane Wade: 30.5 (Dwyane Wade)

2007: Tony Parker: 25.4 (Tony Parker)

2008: Ray Allen: 20.6 (Paul Pierce)

2009: Kobe Bryant: 28.7 (Kobe Bryant)

2010: Pau Gasol: 25.3 (Kobe Bryant)

2011: Dwyane Wade: 32.6 (Dirk Nowitzki)

2012: Mike Miller: 33.7 (LeBron James)

2013: LeBron James: 29.2 (LeBron James)

2014: LeBron James: 32.6 (Kawhi Leonard)

2015: LeBron James: 27.5 (Andre Iguodala)

2016: LeBron James: 33.4 (LeBron James)

2017: Kevin Durant: 32.6 (Kevin Durant)

Tyronn Lue revealed he has been getting treated for anxiety after taking a medical leave of absence

Lue had been having chest pains and occasionally coughing up blood when he left the team in March. 

"I'm glad it wasn't anything serious," Lue told ESPN's Rachel Nichols in an exclusive interview. "Just anxiety, and the medication I'm on is great. No more chest pains, so everything's been great."

Lue had undergone a number of tests before his decision to take a leave of absence in mid-March.

During the two weeks Lue was away, he was able to get some rest, make lifestyle changes and begin a medication routine that helped reduce some of the stress.

"I think for the first time in my career, 20 years, I had a chance to focus on me. It wasn't as bad as people thought it was. But I did have some chest pains for the last couple of years. And I was just trying to be able to get through it not knowing what was wrong with me," Lue told Nichols.

"So the two weeks I took off, just finally had a chance to focus on myself and change my diet. Hired a chef. Stopped drinking as many Shirley Temples. And stopped with the sweets and got back to taking care of myself. Now I feel great."

Lue added he received support from his players, coaching staff, management and others around the NBA.

Kevin Love will be available to play in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

Love was in the concussion protocol following his injury in Game 6 but has now been cleared.

Bob Myers had an extended conversation on the eve of The Finals to discuss the present and future of the Golden State Warriors.

“I definitely know this is ending,” Myers said. “I don’t need any reminders. The narrative is, ‘This will go on forever.’ On the record, it can’t. Nothing does, especially in a sport where the competition is so great.” 

The Warriors barely beat the Rockets to reach their fourth straight Finals.

“No team should last forever. It’s not good for anybody,” Myers said. “I’m fully aware. I don’t need a reminder from Houston to know how fragile this whole thing is. That’s a part of it. That’s why you have to appreciate it.”

Myers was asked how much his decision making will be influenced by the Warriors' success or failure against the Cavaliers.

“I don’t know. I don’t think you can evaluate anything until your year is over, good, bad or in the middle,” Myers said. “It’s an incomplete product. Who knows. I have no idea if we win or lose, what that will look like. I think our players have shown they’re made of the right stuff. So you don’t do anything rash. They’ve earned the right to continue on this journey.”

The Warriors have future decisions to make with new contracts coming due for Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.

“At one point, players get older and teams get broken up,” Myers said. “It always happens. You just don’t know when.”

Stephen Curry has won the regular season MVP award twice but has yet to win a Finals MVP. Andre Iguodala won the award in 2015 while Kevin Durant won it in 2017.

"It took to the second question of my first media availability, so I'm pretty sure that narrative's going to take life, as it has since 2015," Curry said. "But it doesn't make or break my career or whatever you want to say looking back. If we win this championship and I don't win Finals MVP, I'm going to be smiling just as wide and just as big."

Curry said the Finals MVP-void narrative isn't coming from his inner circle.

"Not even the people close to me," he said. "That's kind of the nature of the beast being on this stage four times in a row. You've always got to look at what you don't have. There is always that thing about society always looking at can you attain more and more and more."

"I can guarantee you that Steph is not up late thinking about winning the Finals MVP," Draymond Green told ESPN. "We're all trying to win another championship. If he gets [the award], he gets it. But that's not what he, or anybody else on this team, is playing for."

Curry realizes he has to be comfortable accepting criticisms.

"That's fine. It's part of the beast," he said. "It's part of my motivation to try to get back to this stage because I want more championships. But I've never really highlighted the individual type -- even before my regular-season MVPs, I've never even really attacked it as if that was the goal, per se. Like I said, my values around how I play, good things usually happen for me and my team if I'm in that type of mindset.

"... But I'm going to play aggressively, confidently with that right energy and motivation to help my team win. And usually when I'm in that mindset, good things happen. Whether that means it's a Finals MVP or not, who cares, but I'm going to be playing like it for sure."

Ron Baker has exercised his $4.5 million player option for the 18-19 season with the New York Knicks.

Baker signed a two-year, $8.9 million deal with the Knicks last offseason.