MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Memphis Grizzlies guard Marcus Smart will miss at least six weeks because of an injury to his right ring finger.

His injury came days after fellow guard Ja Morant was lost for the season. Morant had surgery Thursday to repair a labral tear in his right shoulder and is ‘expected to make a full recovery ahead of the 2024-25 season.”

Morant was injured during practice Saturday. The two-time All-Star was in a sling for a game against Phoenix on Sunday, and the season-ending news came a day later.

It was the latest setback for the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 draft. He was suspended for the first 25 games for displaying a gun on social media, his second such suspension in less than a year after missing eight games last season for a similar offense.

Morant returned from the 25-game suspension and averaged 25.1 points in nine games, with the Grizzlies going 6-3 in those contests. But they are well under .500 without their best player, dimming Memphis’ playoff prospects after qualifying the past three seasons.

Smart’s absence will surely affect the team’s backcourt. He is averaging 14.5 points and 4.3 assists a game.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — MarvinHarrisonJr. made it official on Thursday. Ohio State’s star wide receiver will skip his senior season at Ohio State to enter the 2024 NFL draft, he announced on Instagram.

The decision was not a surprise. It became a foregone conclusion when Harrison opted out of playing in the Buckeyes’ Cotton Bowl loss to Missouri.

Harrison is projected to be the first non-quarterback drafted and possibly the first overall pick.

Harrison said in December that he was conflicted about his decision. He was a Heisman Trophy finalist (finishing fourth) and won the Biletnikoff Award as the country’s top receiver. But he hadn’t been on a Buckeyes team that has beaten Michigan or won a Big Ten championship.

His father, Marvin Harrison Sr., is a Pro Football Hall of Famer.

The news came shortly after Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka announced Thursday that he will return for his senior season.

“I’m back,’ he wrote in a graphic posted on Instagram.

Egbuka, the nation’s top-ranked receiver prospect in the 2021 recruiting class, emerged as a breakout star for the Buckeyes as a sophomore in 2022 to put himself in a position to be an early-round draft pick.

Replacing Jaxon Smith-Njigba as the starting slot receiver, he became only the ninth 1,000-yard receiver in school history as he caught 74 passes for 1,151 yards and 10 touchdowns to complement Harrison.

“I think you start thinking of legacy at Ohio State as a football player, one of the main questions you’re going to be asked is, ‘Did you beat the team up north?’ and I just haven’t done that yet,” Harrison said. “That’s why I think it’s still weighing on me so much that I haven’t been able to make a decision.

“And, I always wanted to play in the Big Ten championship. It’s in Indy where my dad played. To not ever have been able to get there definitely rubs me the wrong way. Obviously, I’ll probably play there one day (in the NFL), but it’d be really nice to play there in college and with Ohio State.”

But Harrison’s decision to go to the NFL had been regarded as inevitable by those inside the program.

Harrison caught 67 passes for 1,211 receiving yards (18.1 per catch) and 14 touchdowns this season from high school teammate Kyle McCord, despite being the focus of opposing defenses. McCord transferred after the Michigan game, landing at Syracuse.

A four-star recruit, Harrison emerged as a budding star in the Rose Bowl as a freshman. He started in that game because receivers Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson chose not to play in that game to protect against injury as they entered the NFL draft. Harrison caught three touchdown passes in Ohio State’s comeback victory over Utah.

He caught 77 passes for 1,263 yards and 14 touchdowns last year with C.J. Stroud at quarterback.

‘Marvin has been a pro ever since he stepped in our building,’ Ohio State coach Ryan Day said at the Cotton Bowl. ‘Everyone wants to talk about his dad and what he’s done and being a Pro Football Hall of Famer. He certainly did a great job raising his son.

‘But Marvin was his own man. He had big shoes to fill. He’s got his father’s name. But from the minute he stepped in our building, you knew that he was going to be a pro.’

Day marveled at the hours Harrison spent on the Monarc ball machine catching passes. Day said that he’d sometimes come to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on Saturdays after the game and see Harrison catching balls and going over plays that didn’t go perfectly in the game.

‘I think that legacy that he’s leaving behind to the younger players is tremendous,’ Day said. ‘I think it’s been said publicly so I don’t think I’m putting it out there, but when you ask him, ‘What do you want to do in football?’ he says, ‘I want to be the best receiver that ever played.”

Boupendza’s cell phone was stolen in Gabon in November 2023 and was used to access the video. A group says it intends to release the video unless Boupendza pays an undisclosed amount of money, the sources said, which could result in Boupendza being sentenced to prison in his home country.

FC Cincinnati hasn’t commented publicly on the situation but the club is said to be supporting Boupendza and is concerned for his general welfare.

Multiple reports, including one from the Daily Mail, indicated the tape was leaked, and that Boupendza risks being sentenced to prison. The sources who spoke to The Enquirer said Boupendza was the victim in the situation and that he didn’t release the tape.

This situation appears to be as serious as it is because of how pornography is viewed in Gabonese culture, and questions about the relevant Gabonese laws have further complicated the situation.

The Daily Mail story cites Gabonese Penal Code, article 430, which essentially says the distribution or recording of pornographic material is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine.

With prison time part of the dialogue in the situation, it’s conceivable Boupendza could be facing the end of his international career representing the Gabonese national team. A years-long prison sentence could jeopardize his playing career at club level, too.

Sources indicated that FC Cincinnati’s and Boupendza’s separate legal teams are working to understand the intricacies of the Gabonese laws that might be relevant, and how those might be applied in a situation where Boupendza himself isn’t actively leaking the tape. It’s also unclear if the country in which the video was recorded could be material to any possible future legal proceedings.

Boupendza was acquired by FC Cincinnati to great fanfare locally last summer during the secondary transfer window. It was a big-money, win-now move for the club to bring in an established goal-scorer to help FC Cincinnati win its first major trophy, the Supporters’ Shield, during the 2023 Major League Soccer regular-season stretch run.

Boupendza also scored a pivotal first-round MLS Cup playoffs goal to help send FCC’s match against New York Red Bulls to penalty kicks, which Cincinnati won and used to sweep the best-of-three series.

During the postseason, Boupendza fell out of favor with his national team during the November international window but told local reporters during his final interview of the year that he was working to smooth over relations with the Gabon soccer federation.

FC Cincinnati players are scheduled to begin reporting back to Cincinnati this weekend ahead of the 2024 MLS season.

Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce is shutting down any talks of retirement.

‘I have no reason to stop playing football,’ Kelce said on Thursday ahead of the Chiefs’ wild-card weekend playoff matchup against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. ‘I have no desire to stop anytime soon.’

During an interview with The Wall Street Journal in November, Kelce revealed that he ponders retirement ‘more than anyone could ever imagine’ due to the wear and tear of his body. ‘The pain. The lingering injuries – the 10 surgeries I’ve had that I still feel every single surgery to this day,’ the 34-year-old revealed.

But Kelce clarified on Thursday that he plans to retire ‘much further down the road.’ He added, ‘I love (playing football)… I just love the challenge that it gives me every single day to try and be at my best.’

Kelce said he uses the offseason to dabble in other career paths, including his guest hosting appearance on NBC’s ‘Saturday Night Live’ in March following the Chiefs Super Bowl 57 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. But during the NFL season, it’s business as usual for Kelce.

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‘That’s the point of the offseason, getting out there and being able to find what you love to do,’ Kelce said. ‘I’ve been fortunate to do a few things outside of the sports world that I’ve been enjoying doing, like getting on camera. The ‘SNL’ stuff kind of opened up a new happiness and maybe a new career path for me.

He added: ‘But it’s funny for me to even say that at this point in my career. I think it’s so much further down the road than it is right now.’

Kelce closed out the 2023 regular season with 93 receptions for 984 yards and five touchdowns, just 16-yards short of recording his eighth 1,000-yard season. Head coach Andy Reid gave Kelce the opportunity to suit up for the Chiefs’ regular-season finale against the Los Angeles Chargers, but Kelce opted to rest instead because it ‘just never felt right.’

‘I just didn’t care enough about (1,000 yards),’ Kelce said. ‘I felt like I could get some rest and let the guys go out there and just play the game instead of worrying about getting this old guy 16 yards.’

Kelce, who was drafted out of Cincinnati by the Chiefs in the 2013 NFL draft, said he’s more concerned with the team’s legacy, than achieving a personal stat: ‘Without a doubt, I’m thinking more Super Bowls when I (talk) legacies and having that desire to be a certain type of teammate day in and day out.’

The Chiefs and Kelce will face former teammate Tyreek Hill during the wild-card playoff game on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium, where game-time temperatures are expected to be near zero degrees, one of the coldest games in NFL playoff history.

It’s not clear if Kelce’s rumored girlfriend Taylor Swift will be in attendance.

Bill Belichick is gone. So what’s next? The New England Patriots could shake up the NFL universe by doing something they, and a number of other NFL teams, have never done before: hire a Black non-interim head coach. It’s possible that could change in New England with Jerod Mayo.

Mayo in New England is interesting to watch for one huge reason. Thirteen teams, roughly 40% of the league, have never had a Black non-interim head coach. Those teams include Atlanta, Baltimore, Buffalo, Carolina, Dallas, Jacksonville, the Los Angeles Rams, New Orleans, the New York Giants, Seattle, Tennessee and Washington.

There’s one more: the Patriots.

Bill Belichick’s long and decorated career as Patriots head coach comes to an end

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Of those 13 spots that have never hired Black non-interim head coaches, six are currently hiring: Atlanta, Carolina, New England, Seattle, Tennessee and Washington. If some of these teams fully open both their search process, as well as their minds, we could see some of those barriers on those teams fall as well.

Since 1993 the Patriots have only had three head coaches: Bill Parcells from 1993-1996; Pete Carroll from 1997-1999; and Belichick from 2000-2023. So it’s not like the team has had numerous opportunities. But this is one.

It’s hard to put into words how seismic the Patriots having a Black non-interim head coach would be. The only situation that would be more impactful is if the Cowboys ever hired a Black head coach.

The NFL has been absolutely putrid in diversifying its head coaching ranks. The league is getting better but it’s still not good.

The Patriots, as flawed as they have been, remain one of the league’s gold standards. The owner of the franchise, Robert Kraft, is one of the top three most powerful owners in the NFL and perhaps in all of sports. Kraft hiring a Black head coach would be one of the more significant moves in the history of a league that has spent decades severely discriminating against Black head coaching candidates.

There’s another reason why this move would be so impactful: it’s the Boston area itself.

It’s no secret that Boston has a long track record of horrific racism and anti-Blackness. Both Boston area athletes and visiting players have talked about it for decades. Celtics player Jaylen Brown was asked this last March by the New York Times: Other athletes have spoken about the negative way that fans have treated Black athletes while playing in Boston. Have you experienced any of that?

‘I have, but I pretty much block it all out,’ Brown said. ‘It’s not the whole Celtic fan base, but it is a part of the fan base that exists within the Celtic nation that is problematic. If you have a bad game, they tie it to your personal character.

‘I definitely think there’s a group or an amount within the Celtic nation that is extremely toxic and does not want to see athletes use their platform, or they just want you to play basketball and entertain and go home. And that’s a problem to me.’

‘Cause they racist as (expletive),’ James responded. ‘They will say anything. And it’s fine. It’s my life … I’ve been dealing with it my whole life. I don’t mind it. I hear it. If I hear somebody close by, I check them real quick, then move onto the game. They’re going to say whatever … they want to say.’

A Red Sox fan threw a bag of peanuts at Baltimore Orioles center fielder Adam Jones in 2018. New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia once said: ‘I’ve never been called the ‘N-word,’ except in Boston. We all know. When you go to Boston, expect it.’

Former All-Star outfielder Torii Hunter told ESPN he was ‘called the N-word in Boston 100 times. Little kids, with their parents right next to them. That’s why I had a no-trade clause to Boston in every contract I had.’

Things are better. In a remarkable moment last year Boston Mayor Michelle Wu apologized to two Black men who were wrongly accused of murdering a white woman in the late 1980s.

‘I am so sorry for what you endured,’ Wu said. ‘I am so sorry for the pain that you have carried for so many years.’

So, yes, Boston has changed for the better. Hiring Mayo would be further proof that’s true.

Saban found members of those groups in numerous ways — from graduate assistants, to former head coaches looking to turn their careers around, to men who worked their way up the ladder over multiple years on his staffs. Among his grad assistants or early-career support staffers over his years were future NFL coaches Brian Daboll, Josh McDaniels, Adam Gase and Joe Judge.

Where and when coaches who worked for Saban got their first head coaching jobs

In 2015 alone his assistant coaches at Alabama included Mario Cristobal, Lane Kiffin, Billy Napier, Kirby Smart and Mel Tucker, while the support staff included Dan Lanning. All began this past season as head coaches for Power Five conference schools.

But Saban did the same kind of hiring during his only two NFL seasons, 2005 and 2006. Over that time his Miami Dolphins teams employed seven assistants who later became, or returned to, the head coaching ranks.

As for the future, former Alabama grad assistant and staffer Glenn Schumann has quickly risen to become Georgia’s defensive coordinator, while two other former staffers have moved into offensive coordinator roles – Charlie Weis Jr., at Mississippi, and Alex Mortensen at UAB.

Where Saban’s former assistants are currently head coaches

Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots mutually agreed to part ways after 24 seasons. A few hours following the announcement on Thursday, Tom Brady posted a heartfelt message on social media to express his gratitude.

“I’m incredibly grateful to have played for the best coach in the history of the NFL,” Brady posted on social media. “He was a great leader for the organization, and for all of the players who played for him. We accomplished some amazing things over a long period of time, many of which will be hard to replicate. he worked every day to help us achieve the ultimate goal, in the ultimate team sport. And, although we were successful, some of the greatest lessons I learned were in the moments where we faced the most challenging adversities. He set the tone for the organization to never falter in the face of adversity, and to do what we could do, and what was in our control, which was to go out and DO OUR JOB.“I could never have been the player I was without you Coach Belichick. I am forever grateful. And I wish you the best of luck in whatever you choose next.”

Belichick and Brady will forever be linked. The two were part of a Patriots reign that lasted two decades (2000-2019). Belichick and Brady won six Super Bowls together in New England. Brady was named Super Bowl MVP four times, league MVP three times and made first-team All-Pro on three occasions as a member of the Patriots.

Brady’s era in New England ended in 2020 in a highly publicized split. The future Hall of Fame quarterback played his final three years in Tampa Bay with the Buccaneers. Brady captured a Super Bowl 55 win as Tampa Bay’s starting QB and was named Super Bowl 55 MVP.

Brady initially announced his retirement from the NFL following the 2021 season, but decided to come out of retirement 40 days later to play in 2022. Brady retired for a second time “for good” in February 2023. The Patriots retired Brady’s No. 12 jersey in September of 2023.   

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NEW YORK — Marcus Stroman is heading back to New York and moving into the Yankees’ rotation.

The right-hander and the Yankees are in agreement on a two-year contract, according to a Yankees official with direct knowledge of the contract. The official spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because the deal was not yet official.

Outbid for prized Japanese starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Yankees — with plenty of uncertainty in their rotation following ace Gerrit Cole — were in need of an established starter.

Stroman, who met with Yankees GM Brian Cashman earlier this week in Tampa, is guaranteed $37 million for two years. His deal can become a three-year, $55 million deal if an innings threshold (140) is reached in 2025.

After losing out on Yamamoto, balking at the asking price for two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell, and unwilling to part with another prospect-rich trade package for Chicago White Sox starter Dylan Cease, the Yankees’ interests turned to Stroman, a Long Island native.

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This was a departure from the organization’s previous stance, voiced by Cashman following the 2019 MLB trade deadline, after deeming the Toronto Blue Jays’ asking price (they wanted Clint Frazier) too steep for Stroman.

“We were interested in Stroman but we didn’t think he would be a difference-maker,’’ Cashman told Yahoo Sports’ Wallace Matthews in September 2019. “We felt he would be in our bullpen in the postseason.’’

Stroman, who instead was traded to the Mets that summer, followed up with a Twitter post, comparing his superior pitching stats against the Yankees’ starters.

But with Stroman searching for a job and the Yankees looking for at least one more established starter, a mutual need brought both parties together; Stroman is said to have scrubbed his social media of any past postings critical of the Yankees. He confirmed his pending signing with several Instagram Story posts.

Stroman retained Brodie Van Wagenen as his agent, who, as Mets GM, traded for Stroman in 2019.

Following the 2023 season, Stroman opted out of the final year of his Chicago Cubs contract, at $21 million, to test free agency.

Last season at Wrigley Field, the 5-foot-7, 180-pound Stroman posted a 9-4 record and 2.28 ERA in his first 16 starts, but a ribcage cartilage injury limited him to nine more starts.

Stroman, who turns 33 on May 1, finished the year at 10-9 with a 3.95 ERA, striking out 119 batters in 136.2 innings and posting a 1.259 WHIP.

Stroman’s price point was considerably less than agent Scott Boras’ lefty clients tied to some degree of Yankees’ interest, Snell and Jordan Montgomery.

As the Yankees continue to search for bullpen and rotation help, they’ve had interest in free agent right-hander Yariel Rodriguez, the intriguing Cuban pitcher who sat out the 2023 season and has been showcased for various MLB clubs.

Given the Yankees’ recent pattern on building bullpens, signing free agent lefty closer Josh Hader to an expensive long-term contract would be a departure from strategy, though a short-term deal might be appealing.

The Yankees have also been linked to interest in hard-throwing reliever Jordan Hicks, who remains in free agency.

Patrick Mahomes. Vince Carter. Dustin Pedroia. Tim Tebow.

These sports stars come to mind when thinking of No. 15.

For the Denver Nuggets, there’s not a clear-cut answer as to who is most-identified with the digit.

Carmelo Anthony was the first superstar to make No. 15 popular in the Mile High City. But recently, Nikola Jokić has put his stamp on the number.

In an episode of his ‘7 PM in Brooklyn’ podcast that was published Thursday, Anthony shared with co-host The Kid Mero why he thinks the Nuggets gave Jokić his old jersey number.

‘It was a petty maneuver,’ Anthony said. ‘It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, we got numbers to choose from.’ It was like, ‘Here, you got 15.”

Anthony was drafted by Denver with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2003 draft after he won the national championship with Syracuse. The Nuggets went to the playoffs in all of Anthony’s seven full seasons there, including a run to the 2009 Western Conference finals. He was named an All-Star four times and, alongside Kenyon Martin, Chauncey Billups, J.R. Smith and Allen Iverson, made the Nuggets a pop culture phenomenon with signature sneakers and powder blue jerseys.

Jokić is a two-time MVP and was named last year’s Finals MVP after Denver won its first championship. The Serbian star was picked up by the Nuggets in the second round of the 2014 NBA draft while the ESPN broadcast was showing a Taco Bell commercial.

Anthony said that Denver trading center Jusuf Nurkic in 2017 helped Jokić step into his own star power. At the time, Anthony was settled into life with the New York Knicks, where he started a new chapter wearing No. 7. Per his request, he was traded to the Big Apple after the 2011 All-Star break. There were reports that Anthony wasn’t happy in Denver and that he clashed with head coach George Karl.

Anthony, who officially retired in May after a 19-year career, said Denver giving his old number to Jokić continued a narrative that Anthony was a ‘disgruntled’ athlete who didn’t appreciate his role in the mid-market city. Anthony said giving the number away was a sign of ‘disrespect.’

‘I’m like, (expletive) is going on? 15?’ he said. ‘So now, just start thinking, this is because this is the narrative that they put out there. ‘He wanted to leave. He wanted to do this.’ Nah. But why would you disrespect by even offering that? The disrespect in you offering that showed me that you just wanted to erase everything that came prior to that right there. So yeah, (expletive) y’all. You’re saying, (expletive) me dead smack to the rest of the world. Cool. I ain’t never said nothing bad about y’all.’

Anthony and Mero cited Jokić’s nonchalant attitude as reason for believing that the MVP wouldn’t have cared about what number he was given when he joined the franchise. They said that because of Anthony’s international reach — he was an Olympic athlete and a face of the NBA — it is possible Jokić intended to show respect to Anthony with the number.

‘I don’t know. He could have worn it because he wanted to pay homage,’ Anthony said. ‘But what I believe is that they gave him 15 to try to erase what I did. … Only thing I know is what I believe is that that was done purposely. That was a slap in the face.’

Jokić has worn No. 15 since his days playing youth basketball in Serbia, including in the ABA League before joining the NBA. According to The Athletic, Jokić first started wearing the number because he was the biggest kid on the team and the No. 15 jersey was the largest one.