Two young NBA stars inked nine-figure extensions on Monday, just days before their 2024-25 regular season is set to tip off.

Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs and Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green signed extensions with their respective teams. Orlando announced the extension but not the terms, however ESPN reported the deal is a five-year, $150.5 million rookie contract extension. ESPN also reported Green’s deal is a three-year, $106 million rookie contract extension, according to Green’s representatives.

Both stars were selected in the 2021 NBA draft − Green second overall and Suggs fifth overall − and are each coming off one of the best seasons of their young careers.

Suggs played a career-high 75 games last season, averaging 12.6 points per game that stepped up his game offensively while becoming a defensive specialist for the Magic. His 1.4 steals per game was top 10 in the league and he was named NBA all-defensive second-team while also knocking down 39.7% of his 3-point attempts. In the playoffs, he broke out for a career-high 24 points in Game 3 of the first round against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Green is coming off an iron man of a season in which he started every game for Houston in 2023-24 and was one of 17 players in the league to not miss a single game. He averaged 19.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per game last season and became a more consistent shooter toward the end of the season for a team that fell just short of qualifying for the play-in game.

Oregon and Georgia are up, Texas is down and Alabama is way, way down in the USA TODAY Sports NCAA Re-Rank 1-134.

The Ducks are the new No. 1 after Georgia rises three spots to No. 2 after the Bulldogs’ 30-15 win in Austin. That loss sends Texas down six spots to No. 7.

That drop reflects the Longhorns’ uninspiring strength of schedule. While wins Michigan and Oklahoma came when both teams were ranked, the Wolverines and Sooners have since dropped out of the College Football Playoff picture.

While the Bulldogs looked the part of the nation’s best team beating Texas on the road, the Ducks hold the edge thanks to an unbeaten record and this month’s win against Ohio State.

The Buckeyes stay at No. 3, followed by No. 4 Penn State, No. 5 Miami and No. 6 Iowa State.

Tennessee moves up three to No. 10 after beating Alabama 24-17. That’s two losses this month for the Crimson Tide sandwiching a narrow win against South Carolina.

That drops the Tide five spots to No. 16 and into fifth among SEC teams, trailing the Bulldogs, Longhorns, No. 9 LSU, the Volunteers and No. 15 Texas A&M. Alabama next takes on No. 23 Missouri.

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Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported Candace Parker’s tenure in Chicago. She played with the Sky for two years.

NEW YORK — The WNBA season is over, and what a season it was. Skyrocketing TV ratings. Big attendance spikes. Jerseys of top players flying off the shelves. Charter flights and more purpose-built facilities. 

The gains made during this season have been transformative and will help push the league to the next level. Expansion is on the way, a new TV deal is going to help significantly bolster salaries and incoming talent will only help elevate the level of play. 

There’s been so much demand this season that before the 2024 WNBA Finals – which the New York Liberty won in a thrilling Game 5 – commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced the 2025 Finals will move to a seven-game series, mirroring the NBA. Additionally, first-round games will switch to a 1-1-1 format, allowing both teams to host games.

Simply put, there’s never been a better time for this league.

With that in mind, here are the winners and losers from the 2024 WNBA season.

WINNERS

Players

Those paltry salaries are soon to be a thing of the past. 

The current collective bargaining agreement doesn’t expire until after the 2027 season, but no one expects it will last that long. Not when a league that was already trending upward has experienced the kind of explosive growth the WNBA has. 

The new media-rights deal alone is worth a reported $200 million a year, more than three times the current package. Sponsors are flocking to both the league and the individual teams. The expansion fee for the Portland team was $125 million, and there’s another team still to come. 

While players are still weighing their options, they are widely expected to opt out before the Nov. 1 deadline for both the WNBA Players Association and the league. If either side does so, the CBA would expire at the end of next season. 

‘It’s a hard thing to navigate while the season is still happening. I think that we’re pretty much in a place where we know what we want to do,’ Breanna Stewart, the vice president of the WNBPA, told the Associated Press recently.

While players are likely to also want improvements in working conditions and family benefits, salaries are expected to be the top priority. The league’s minimum salary is $64,154 while the supermax is $241,984. 

New fans

We see you, W fans whose allegiance was originally centered around one player. 

You rooted for Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese when they were in college, and followed them to Indiana and Chicago, respectively. But once you got there, you realized there was a lot more to the league than just one or two players. You were dazzled by A’ja Wilson’s record-breaking season and impressed with Napheesa Collier’s stifling defense. You fell for Kahleah Copper’s all-around brilliance and can’t believe Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins-Smith have only been playing together a year. 

By embracing the whole league, you’ve made it better and we’re glad you’re here. 

Sponsors who got in early

It’s not only trendy to invest in women’s sports these days, it’s good business, too. But kudos to the companies that were early adopters of the WNBA (and NWSL, too). Companies such as American Express, State Farm and Pepsi. And let’s not forget the OGs, Gatorade and Nike. They saw the potential decades ago rather than waiting to follow the herd. 

Germany

New York’s first title would not have been possible without the play of rookie Leonie Fiebich (13 points, seven rebounds, two steals) or Nyara Sabally (13 points, seven rebounds, 71% FG), two young German stars who played this summer at the Paris Olympics. Germany is a team on the rise internationally, and the next step in the evolution of the WNBA involves globalization of the game. Might more young Europeans be headed over to the States to play in the summer soon? 

Free agency 

Free agency was never considered that big of a deal in the WNBA until the past few years. Candace Parker leaving LA for her hometown of Chicago – and leading the Sky to a title in one of her two season there – started the trend. Then the Liberty made a hard play for Stewart, a seven-year Seattle Storm star, and veteran guard Courtney Vandersloot, then of Chicago. The Liberty were bold in their declaration of wanting to win a title and promised to treat players the right way if they committed to New York. 

It took an extra year, but their plan worked. And you can bet other teams will try to follow suit and get even more aggressive in free agency. 

LOSERS

Other new fans

The only upside to the season ending is we no longer have to hear or see the trash humans who used Caitlin Clark as an excuse to direct racist and homophobic abuse at other players. The W is not desperate enough that it needs these folks in its fan base, and league officials now have six months to figure out a way to weed them out. 

Owners who still think they can operate on the cheap

One super team won it all (New York), the other super team (Las Vegas) went to the semifinals. The other two teams to play in the Finals (Minnesota) and semifinals (Connecticut) are franchises that have made serious commitments to winning. 

A clear message has been sent across the league, and players are paying attention to which owners are investing in their teams (like with state-of-the-art practice facilities) and which aren’t. The gap between the have and have-nots in the WNBA is going to get wider if all owners don’t meet the moment. 

HBO

How has the cable giant not yet committed to ‘Hard Knocks: WNBA’ and what do we have to do to get them there?

While we’re at it, now that Unrivaled has signed a TV deal with TNT to broadcast the new 3-on-3 league, can the W get its own version of ‘Inside the NBA,’ pretty please? Sydney Colson commenting on women’s hoops would be must-see TV.

Us

No more WNBA for six whole months. Good thing the regular-season schedule is expanding in 2025 and going up to 44 games, plus a best-of-seven Finals series. 

If you need a women’s basketball fix, have no fear, because the college season is just around the corner. The best part about college hoops, of course, is that you can see the future of the WNBA when you watch young superstars such as Paige Bueckers (UConn), JuJu Watkins (USC), Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame), Flau’jae Johnson (LSU) and MiLaysia Fulwiley (South Carolina), among others.

LOS ANGELES − The Los Angeles Dodgers, their shirts stripped off, wading in a pool of beer and champagne nearly up to their ankles in the clubhouse Sunday night, were drunk with emotion trying to explain what this meant to them.

They had just pounded the New York Mets 10-5 and won the National League pennant at Dodger Stadium, but this title was nothing more than the warmup act.

Now comes the moment that Major League Baseball, its TV partners, its corporate advertisers and millions of baseball fans have been clamoring for the past 43 years.

The Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees, for the first time since 1981, will face each other in the World Series.

Hollywood vs. Broadway.

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Rodeo Drive vs. Fifth Avenue.

Shohei Ohtani vs. Aaron Judge.

Mookie Betts vs. Juan Soto.

Freddie Freeman vs. Giancarlo Stanton.

The rich vs. the richer.

Two of the most iconic franchises in sports, which had the best records in their respective leagues this season, playing for baseball’s ultimate prize.

‘As a fan of baseball, how can you not be excited about this?’ Dodgers infielder Max Muncy asked. ‘You’re talking about two of the biggest franchises. The biggest stars in the sport. We got Shohei, Freddie and Mookie. On the other side, you got Aaron Judge, Giancarlo, Juan Soto, Gerrit Cole.

‘The game’s biggest stars on the absolute biggest stage.

‘So how can you not be excited about this? This is the World Series.’

This is Magic Johnson vs. Larry Bird.

This is Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier.

This is Jack Nicklaus vs. Arnold Palmer.

This is Coke vs. Pepsi.

‘It’s what the people wanted,’ Betts said. ‘What we all wanted.’

Just the idea of Judge and Ohtani being on the same stage, the two MVP favorites who are fighting for the same ultimate team prize, could cause an international meltdown with all of the hype.

‘I can’t even imagine how excited the whole nation of Japan is now,’ said Dodgers shortstop Tommy Edman, the MVP of the National League Championship Series with 11 RBI, tying a postseason franchise record. ‘If they weren’t already fans of baseball before, even more so now. Everybody wants to see these two teams play on the biggest stages. It’s a World Series full of superstars.’

Judge, who led the American League with 58 homers, and Ohtani, who led the National League with 54 homers, will mark the World Series’ first matchup between home-run leaders since the Yankees’ Mickey Mantle and the Dodgers’ Duke Snider met in 1956.

It will be the first time Ohtani and Judge have ever played in a World Series.

‘I really feel like we finally arrived, I finally arrived at this stage,’ Ohtani said. ‘The goal was to get to this far. I also pictured myself getting this far with the contract that I’ve signed (10 years, $700 million). Just being able to play on this kind of stage with the team effort, and all the games were really hard. But I’m just glad that we’re at this stage right now.’

Dodgers center fielder Kevin Kiermaier, who’s retiring after the season, battled emotions trying to describe what this means to him. He was on that Tampa Bay Rays team that lost to the Dodgers in the 2020 World Series. It was the COVID World Series, played on a neutral site in Arlington, Texas, with limited fan seating.

When the Dodgers won that World Series, they passed out masks instead of champagne bottles. There was no parade in downtown Los Angeles, or anywhere else.

Now there will be a parade for the ages in New York or Los Angeles, with the Yankees hoping to celebrate their first championship since 2009 and the Dodgers their first in a full season since 1988.

‘This is great for baseball,’ Kiermaier said. ‘Two iconic organizations, two perennial powerhouses, teams that are always in the thick of it. It doesn’t get better than this.

‘I play baseball, but I’m a fan of baseball. The amount of talent that’s going to be on the field for the next few weeks, it’s going to be must-see TV.

‘It should be one hell of a Series. I can’t wait to see how it unfolds.’

The World Series starts Friday night (8 p.m. ET, FS1) at Dodger Stadium, and when the two teams see each other and exchange pleasantries, they will share a deep appreciation knowing what it took to get there.

The two teams have been carrying a heavy burden with enormous expectations and pressure to win the World Series.

No one cares that the Yankees have been to the playoffs 25 times since 1995, or that they haven’t had a losing season since 1992.

No one cares that the Dodgers have been to the playoffs 12 consecutive years, winning four pennants.

All that matters is whether they won a World Series trophy at the end of the year.

It’s World Series or bust every year.

It’s life in New York and LA.

“There’s a lot of pressure, a lot of expectations,’ said Muncy, who set a postseason record by reaching base 12 consecutive times. ‘Especially this year when you’re talking about some of the names we have. It definitely played heavy.’

The Dodgers, knocked out of the playoffs in the first round the past two years, knew that another first-round exit could have serious repercussions. There were people whose jobs were on the line.

“We changed things about how we went about it this year,’’ Muncy said. “This year, it was very player-driven. The past couple of years, we kind of sat around waiting for the organization to tell us what we were going to do. They tried to do certain things. They wanted to up the intensity.

‘This year, all of us players that have been here, we said: ‘Hey, no. This is what we’re doing. We’re changing things up. This is what we want to do.”

So instead of letting their first-round bye become a hindrance because of the five off-days, they took advantage of the opportunity, hanging out together and bonding, asking their families to understand.

‘Everyone stresses about having five days off,’ Muncy said. ‘We said, ‘This is a reward.’ So we wanted to treat it as a reward. We had a lot of fun. So the biggest thing we all did was we were here as a group at the stadium, seven or eight hours a day, hanging out, getting closer, having fun, eating good food, talking about what we wanted to do.

‘So instead of spending five days at home, we spent five days here at the field, and that brought us all together.’

It was similar to the rallying cry they had in Atlanta in mid-September when they were told starter Tyler Glasnow was out for the season. The players openly wondered if it ended their World Series hopes. Manager Dave Roberts told them to quit feeling sorry for themselves, and if he believed in them, they should believe in one another.

‘We were talking about a starting rotation that was supposed to have All-Stars, Hall of Famers, and that just didn’t happen,’’ Muncy said. ‘When you’re talking about your ace that’s done for the year, that was a kick in the gut. You could tell everyone was down. It was like, ‘Oh, man, not again.’

‘Then we had a meeting, and it was: ‘Guys, look around. We still have Hall of Famers in this room. We have guys that are getting paid a lot of money in this room. We can still do this.’

‘Well, look at us now.’

The bulk of the credit, says Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations, goes to Roberts. He held the team together when it seemed things were unraveling with all the devastating injuries, requiring the use of a franchise-record 40 pitchers.

‘This is as determined of a group as any I’ve been around,’ Friedman said. ‘The professionalism. The way they prepare. The way they complete. It’s a really special group.

‘Beyond the talent, which is obvious, the passion to win was something that was so apparent during the year with the adversity we faced.’

Roberts, who watched his team score an NLCS record 46 runs, shouted to the sellout crowd of 52,674 while accepting the National League trophy: “I’ve never believed in a group of guys more than I believe in these guys. Most importantly, they believe in each other.’

Now, here they are, about to play the biggest Series of their lives, resurrecting memories of the ’81 World Series with Reggie Jackson, Dave Winfield, Goose Gossage, Fernando Valenzuela, Ron Cey, Steve Garvey and Tommy Lasorda.

‘The whole world was hoping for this potential matchup, this showdown,’ Roberts said. ‘I think it’s going to be great.’

Not just for the Dodgers.

Not just for the Yankees.

But all of baseball.

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It’s looking like no race for a division crown in the NFL is going to be tighter than the one in the NFC North.

The Detroit Lions knocked the Vikings down from the top of the division, giving Minnesota its first loss of the season. Both teams are 5-1, though the Lions have the tiebreaker with the head-to-head victory. The 5-2 Green Bay Packers, however, are not far behind after their huge takedown of the Houston Texans. While Jordan Love flashed some brilliance — amid the occasional mental mistake — it’s the Packers defense that’s making the team look like an elite contender.

Here are the winners and losers from Sunday of Week 7 in the NFL.

WINNERS

Chiefs keep adapting, look like the best team in football

It seems like any time a key Chiefs player suffers an injury, they find a way to push their short-term replacement into becoming a steady contributor. Running back Isiah Pacheco is out? Enter Kareem Hunt, who was formerly with the team and may just help solve the offense’s red zone issues.

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The Chiefs entered Sunday ranked 29th in red zone efficiency (38.89%). In a 28-18 win against the San Francisco 49ers, Hunt recorded a pair of red zone rushing scores in the second quarter alone. In fact, Kansas City scored touchdowns on four of its five trips inside the 20. The Chiefs, winners of the last pair of Super Bowls, continue to look like the best team in football, and it’s because of their balance. Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s defense flies under the radar, but Kansas City (6-0) has one of the NFL’s smartest, contextually sound defenses. The Chiefs limited the Niners to 2-of-11 (18%) third-down conversions and intercepted Brock Purdy three times.

Jared Goff, Ben Johnson and the Lions take control of the NFC North

Coordinator Brian Flores and the Vikings entered Sunday with one of the fiercest defenses in the NFL, one that had confounded passers like C.J. Stroud and Brock Purdy. All Lions quarterback Jared Goff did was complete 22 of 25 throws for 280 yards and a pair of scores in a massive 31-29 win.

Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, sure to become a head coach in the next hiring cycle if he finds an opportunity to his liking, leaned on his dominant offensive line to bore running lanes, which only unlocked the play-action passing game. This is where Goff is most comfortable. It also mitigated the Minnesota pass rush and the misdirection and disguises Flores uses to generate pressure. Coach Dan Campbell, even after a disastrous fumble return gave Minnesota (5-1) a one-point lead, managed the clock perfectly inside two minutes. And so now the Lions (5-1) have claimed an early edge in the division.

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Packers D completely erases C.J. Stroud, Texans passing attack

The Texans certainly miss star receiver Nico Collins, but they nonetheless have a dynamic passing attack behind quarterback C.J. Stroud. The Packers absolutely shut it down. Green Bay, in an intriguing matchup, held Stroud to 10 of 21 completions for 86 yards, a career low. Stroud did not throw a touchdown.

The leading Houston receiver was tight end Dalton Schultz (one catch, 28 yards). Stefon Diggs, who got into it with Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander, caught five passes on seven targets for 23 yards, 17 of them coming on one play. The defensive line deserves a ton of credit for delivering constant pressure on Stroud, but first-year defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, who spent six seasons in the NFL as a defensive backs coach, has molded the Green Bay (5-2) secondary into one of the top units in the league.

Eagles continue get-right stretch, pass rush rolls over another opponent

Philadelphia’s defense entered Sunday coming off a season-best five-sack outing in a win over the Cleveland Browns. To follow that up, the Eagles terrorized Daniel Jones and the Giants, sacking New York eight times in a rout. The Giants could never find any solid footing on offense and scored just three points. Because of the sack yardage, New York finished with only 43 net passing yards.

It shows how dangerous Philadelphia can be, even though it converted just 1-of-13 third down tries. While the pass rush starred, so did Saquon Barkley, making his return to MetLife Stadium with 187 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown on 19 touches. The NFC East is wide open, but the Eagles (4-2), now healthy on offense, are trending up.

LOSERS

Where do the Jets go from here?

It’s hard to see New York being true sellers at the trade deadline, given its many efforts to go all in on this build with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback. But it’s also hard to see the Jets not trying to build for the future and recoup some of the assets they divested in acquiring many of their players now that New York (2-5) is sliding further down the standings after Sunday night’s 37-15 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Rodgers turns 41 in December and is under contract for one more season. Yet his play and his chemistry with his teammates has been acutely erratic. Even Davante Adams, the experienced Rodgers ally, didn’t have a reception in the second half against Pittsburgh on three targets. The Jets have lost four straight and need to clean mistakes rapidly; they have the New England Patriots (1-6) next, and they should win. But this season has been a case study of what happens when a team superficially polishes a deeply flawed and undisciplined roster: The issues linger.

A bad situation gets worse for the Browns

We’ve written in this space how impossibly onerous Deshaun Watson’s fully guaranteed contract is. Now, staring down a likely season-ending Achilles tear and lengthy rehab, there’s not even a guarantee that Watson will be fully healthy for the start of next season.

In any case, the Browns (1-6) still need to develop a plan for their future franchise quarterback because it has become clear that Watson is not that player. Still, according to Spotrac.com, the Browns owe Watson $92 million in base salary in 2025 and 2026, and the potential dead cap hit for a release is almost comical for how oppressively high it would be. The Browns are looking like a team that will be picking in the top five – potentially even first overall – in the 2025 NFL draft. Selecting a quarterback should be the priority. Either way, Watson presents a sunk cost that will continue to set the team back for years.

Falcons flop shows how far they have to go

Atlanta came into Sunday on a three-game winning streak, facing a Seahawks team on a three-game losing skid. The Falcons outgained the Seahawks 385-339. They recorded two more first downs than Seattle. Atlanta converted 8-of-15 (53%) third downs, compared to 4-of-11 (36%) for the Seahawks. Total offensive plays: Atlanta 71, 56. The Falcons lost by 20 points.

Atlanta was horrendous in situational football. With 10 seconds to go in the first half, on a third-and-15, the Falcons let Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith step into the pocket and deliver a 31-yard touchdown strike to DK Metcalf.  They allowed Seattle to score the game’s final 17 points. They were enforced for nine penalties (72 yards) and lost the turnover battle 3-0. All three giveaways were in the fourth quarter. One was a fumble return for a touchdown. The Falcons (4-3) have plenty of talent but no pass rush. They’re nowhere near being serious contenders.

The NFL has made its first major scheduling swap of the 2024 regular season.

The Indianapolis Colts and Minnesota Vikings will move into prime time for Week 9, taking on the ‘Sunday Night Football’ slot from the Jacksonville Jaguars and Philadelphia Eagles, the league announced Monday.

The Jaguars’ game against the Eagles will move to 4:05 p.m. ET on Nov. 3 and be broadcast on CBS.

The matchup had been marked as a highly anticipated reunion, as Jaguars coach Doug Pederson was set to face off against the organization he helped lead to its first Super Bowl in the 2017 season. Pederson also played quarterback for the Eagles in 1999, compiling a 2-7 record.

But the Jaguars have sunk to a 2-5 start this season, fueling speculation that Pederson’s job security could be tenuous.

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Jacksonville’s only other prime-time appearance this year was a 47-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 3 as part of a twin bill for ‘Monday Night Football.’

The Vikings, meanwhile, jumped out to a 5-1 start as one of the league’s biggest early-season surprises, while the Colts sit at 4-3, with all four wins coming in the last five weeks.

The two teams will be meeting for the first time since their historic December 2022 tilt, in which the Vikings completed a record comeback by erasing a 33-point deficit to beat the Colts 39-36 in overtime.

This story has been updated to include new information.

WWE ring announcer Samantha Irvin has ended her time with the company.

The highly-praised presenter announced her departure on social media Monday, hours prior to ‘Monday Night Raw,’ which she was the ringside voice of.

‘I love you all tremendously and this does not mark the end of my art, I have a lifetime more to share. Thank you to every WWE fan who accepted me,’ she wrote.

Irvin thanked the people involved in the company including the women’s locker room, backstage crew, superstars and executives.

Legally known as Samantha Johnson, Irvin became the ring announcer for ‘WWE 205 Live’ in 2021 after she tried out as a wrestler. She then moved to NXT before she became the ‘Friday Night Smackdown’ ring announcer in January 2022. In February 2023, she moved to ‘Monday Night Raw,’ where she stayed for the remainder of her time with WWE.

She became a hit with fans instantly, known for her passionate, hyped introductions like for Roman Reigns and The Bloodline, as well as the way she introduced Chelsea Green that went viral and became synonymous with her entrance.

‘I am so lucky to have shared the ring with you and even more lucky to have been a part of your iconic ring announcements,’ Green wrote on social media.

She was on the call for most WWE’s premium live events. ‘Irvin gained praise during ‘WrestleMania 40’ in April when she announced all 14 matches in the two-day event and for her emotional call when she announced Cody Rhodes won the Undisputed WWE Championship. Legendary ring announcer Michael Buffer lauded her performance.

Also a singer, Irvin also appeared on ‘America’s Got Talent’ and ‘I Can See Your Voice’ prior to her time in WWE.

Irvin is engaged to wrestler Ricochet, who recently left WWE and now performs in AEW. Irvin didn’t say what her next career move is but hinted she is working on her next step.

‘To my fans, my entire career I’ve been waiting for you! We are meant to be and I can prove it. Stay tuned,’ she said.

WWE has not announced who will replace Irvin, or if there will be major shifts in its ring announcing team.