“The Goal of the Game.”

It’s a statement but also a question we can ask ourselves as sports parents.

It’s driven into our kids very early, often by us.

Is it to win?

Is it to be the “best?’

Or is it to just enjoy the experience?

“Dad, according to Mom, asked the parents in our group not to worry about how good we were, or weren’t,” writes author Harvey Araton, through the eyes of a kid named “Z,” in a new middle-grade novel.

Z’s dad was the coach of the boy’s first soccer team. It’s a neighborhood collection of grade school buddies. Dad didn’t just roll out the ball, though. He orchestrated drills that mimicked game situations that gave everyone a shot at the action.

“You scrimmage too much, and the same kids, the stronger players, will dominate the ball, and then how do the other kids get better?” Z overhears his dad telling his mom early in the book.

Everyone notices, in fiction and reality, when others don’t have this growth mentality.

Z and his teammates hear opposing parents scream for blood, or at least a foul, when his team, once a doormat, incrementally starts to get better and begins to dominate.

The kids of manic youth sports parents, one of whom Araton admits to once being himself, is whom he wants to reach. The veteran sportswriter, most recently with The New York Times for 25 years, covered the Danny Almonte age scandal at the 2001 Little League World Series, and the ensuing escalation of Little League World Series coverage into American living rooms.

He has pondered or written about (or both) kids choosing between club and high school soccer and early sports specialization.

He also played the role of sports dad to two now-grown sons (36 and 32). 

“Kids learn playing sports,” Araton tells USA TODAY Sports. “I think there’s a joy in that. I just feel, especially at these early years, it’s becoming infected with this ambition that there could be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and I think too many parents become obsessed with turning their children into potential cash machines.”

Araton launched the book last week with a signing at his local bookstore in Montclair, New Jersey. He made sure to also include a panel discussion about youth sports. He spoke with us about how his novel imitates the raucous life America lives within it, and the lessons he has gleaned from it.

YOUTH SPORTS SURVIVAL GUIDE: Pre-order Coach Steve’s upcoming book for young athletes and their parents

Is it your child’s ambition or your ambition? Ask them

Araton is from Staten Island, which he describes as New York City’s last developed borough. It still has large swaths of parks and fields, where his story is set.

He had grown up on the basketball courts near his public housing development. The free play felt natural as it took him to the local Jewish community center and high school. He eventually played at a health club in Brooklyn as an adult and even worked in Madison Square Garden, where he covered the Knicks, the team he had idolized as a kid.

His competitive juices carried him into fatherhood when his older son, Alex, was in first grade and had the option of going out for a travel team. It’s a decision many of us have faced.

“I remember asking him if he wanted to try out,” Araton says. “And he was kind of a naturally cautious kid and said, ‘Not really,’ and I remember being disappointed, a little deflated. Maybe I already was thinking, ‘If he doesn’t go into this next level, he’ll fall behind and never catch up, (and) there will go any chance of playing in high school.’ I mean, I could look at my kids, look at their size even at that age and know that they weren’t likely to be D1 college athletes.

“But I remember being disappointed and over the next couple of weeks, I came up with five or six different ways to pose the same question. Well, Nick’s trying out, you sure you don’t want (to)? And he kept saying no. And then the last time that I asked, he said, ‘No, dad.’ And then he looked at me and said, ‘But if I don’t play travel, can I still play in the town league?’

“And I remember feeling this sensation of shame because I realized in that moment that I was projecting my own ambitions and my own sports values onto this 6-year-old kid. And all he wanted to do at that point in his life was just run around and play with a bunch of kids he knew and maybe take one or two things out of any game and feel good about himself and look forward to the snacks.”

It’s all Z wanted to do, too.

Consider if your youth sports world is ‘completely out of control’

The book’s central character, who tells the story in the first person, is a combination of Araton’s two sons. Charly, Alex’s younger brother, was 4-foot-11 when he entered high school but played on the basketball team for four years.

Z is left-footed with really good field vision like Alex and he’s small and feisty like Charly was. It doesn’t seem to bother Z when his young team is losing because he knows he will celebrate the things they all did well, or at least enjoyed, at Big Mitch’s restaurant afterward.

Big Mitch is the father of his friend and teammate, Lloyd.

“You only let in, like, seven or eight goals on an undefeated travel team,” he tells Lloyd, the team’s goalie, in the book. “Do you think a kid who was out of shape could do that?”

Z becomes less comfortable when sports becomes more and more competitive. His father has a horrific accident and the team eventually gets a coach from England, who adopts a similar skills-first mindset with the kids. Kevin, the coach, who has also had a traumatic experience with his father, takes Z under his wing.

As the boys and girls on the team continue to rise in competition level, and travel further and further away from Staten Island, Z gets a much more transactional coach.

He feels himself immersed in a world over which he has less and less control, similar to the experiences Araton observed and felt as a soccer dad.

“The reason why I chose soccer is because I probably was most closely involved with that, whether it was as coaching them in the early grades or just being at the games and kind of like, living for it a little bit,” he says. “I understand why parents are so heavily involved. After a week of work you really look forward to the experience of the games. It’s like an adrenaline rush but also I think, it created a whole social network with the parents of their teammates and friends and everything. So I get the temptation, and the seductiveness, of it all, but (it) all got completely out of control, as well.”

‘Children are not investments. They’re developing human beings.’

While Araton was growing up on Staten Island, the borough’s Mid-Island Little League won it all in Williamsport. Years later, as a sportswriter, Araton caught up with Danny Yaccarino, who came within one strike of a perfect game during that 1964 Little League World Series against Monterrey, Mexico. 

He wrote a column, (‘After Perfection at the Age of 12, What’s Next?’) detailing how Yaccarino became a very good high school pitcher and reached the Baltimore Orioles organization and yet, he was always haunted by the feeling of coming so close to near-perfection as a Little Leaguer and not getting it.

“Not only did he get a lot of bench jockeying and all that stuff throughout his career, but he also put incredible pressure on himself,” Araton says. “He turned out to be a minor league pitcher and he never went very far. But he told me that he finished his career feeling like an abject failure.”

Z feels an emptiness, too, at the climax of the book. It’s a feeling that can be induced by us.

‘Parents, being vulnerable, and easily manipulated into spending vast sums of money, (wind) up treating their children like they are speculating on a stock, an investment,’ Araton says. ‘They’re not stocks that will pay off at 8 or 9 or 10 years; they’re developing human beings.’

Avoid the ‘temptation’ that you have a sports genius

“Z, we’re running behind,” his mother yells upstairs, trying to get him moving for his U-13 fall season-opening game. She’s now the team’s driven parent-manager.

“Are you all dressed?”

It’s a red flag for all of us.

“The construction of this story is really about Z coming to an understanding of what role sports should play in his life,” Araton says. “And when I say that, I mean, at that particular time, kids are always subject to change. He’s at a point in his life where he’s experienced family trauma, and, when he looks around, he doesn’t see the friends who he loves, the kids that he grew up playing with. He sees a lot of strange kids. And that’s not what he wants. More than playing at an elite level, he wants to play with kids who know him, who know what he’s gone through.

“He realizes that he still loves the game, but will only play it under his terms.”

Isn’t that what we all want? What about our kids, too?

“You could offer them the higher-level stuff,” Araton says, “but if it’s being forced upon them, and if you’re calling up to their bedroom every time there’s practice, then it’s clear that they don’t really want to do it.

“I wouldn’t deny an exceptional child that kind of pathway any more than you would, say, if you had a child who (was) a mathematical genius or a classical violinist, you would want them to have the best teachers to best capitalize on their special talent. But the temptation is so great because sports is the most visible thing in the community. …

‘It’ll become pretty obvious to a parent if they have someone special. But this whole notion that they can create one by spending significant sums of money, I think it’s really overstated.”

‘Chill’ and let your kid truly experience sports

Araton points to another interview he did, with Yael Averbuch, the general manager of the New Jersey/New York Gotham FC of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL). She played for an exclusive club team in high school, won two national championships playing for the University of North Carolina and was drafted professionally.

Her mother said she never had to yell upstairs for practice. Yael was the one yelling to them.

Araton’s sons, like Z, had to figure out where sports fit into their lives. It worked out for them, too.

Alex, who played high school soccer, is a special education teacher and Charly, the high school basketball player (who has grown to about 5-foot-9 today), works in marketing strategies for a fashion brand. He still plays in men’s leagues.

Araton says those middle-grade age groups – 8 to 12, give or take – are the ages where people know the least amount about who their children are as athletes.

“Don’t be disappointed if at the age of 8, they are not willing to do all this stuff and make all that sacrifice,” he says. “They might be ready when they’re 11. Kids do things on their own time schedules. So just accept who they are and let them experience sports in the way they want to. They’ll enjoy it more and get more out of it.

“If they’re not playing for the idea of feeling good about themselves, about learning to be a coachable kid, and be a good teammate, to play with kids from all different backgrounds and develop their skills at the fundamental level at the age of 7, 8, 9, 10,” Araton says, “then they’re playing for the wrong reasons.

“Each shall develop at their own rate. I just think that parents have to chill and let the kids experience it for themselves.”

Borelli, aka Coach Steve, has been an editor and writer with USA TODAY since 1999. He spent 10 years coaching his two sons’ baseball and basketball teams. He and his wife, Colleen, are now sports parents for two high schoolers. His Coach Steve column is posted weekly. For his past columns, click here.

SAN FRANCISCO — The Golden State Warriors handed the Sacramento Kings their seventh consecutive defeat with a 137-103 win in front of a sold out crowd at Chase Center on Jan. 9.

The Warriors were led by guard Stephen Curry who recorded a double-double with 27 points and 10 assists on the evening. De’Anthony Melton had 19 points off the bench, a game-high for all reserves. Draymond Green had 11 points, including 3-of-4 from three, and eight assists.

The Kings were right there with the Warriors after Dennis Schroder tied the game at 84 with 3:13 left in the third quarter. After that it was another collapse by Sacramento, mostly with Curry on the bench.

‘The end of the third quarter was the key to the game,’ Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. ‘They played well and hung with us. We never really got much going defensively in the first 32 minutes of the game or so. Good stretch at the end of the third to go up I think 14 going into the fourth to get some separation and obviously a great fourth as well.’

Kerr added: ‘Really good close to a game that we weren’t really handling very well through most of the first three quarters.’

Kerr said the early game lull wasn’t a concern but rather ‘to be expected.’

‘Sometimes, some of these games this time of year turn into a little bit of a pickup game for a while and loose. I think understanding how difficult it is to get through the 82 (games) and how hard these guys play night in and night out,’ Kerr said. ‘It’s just going to be nights when you don’t have that defensive edge. As a coach you pick your spots when to get on them a little bit and when to leave them alone. Tonight was a leave it alone night and trust that they’re going to find their way and they did.’

Kings crumble in the third quarter … again

Kings head coach Doug Christie addressed the third quarter collapse with the team in the locker room immediately after the game before speaking to reporters, he said.

‘It’s unacceptable. It can’t happen,’ Christie told reporters after the game. ‘It’s been a theme. Good enough to win, but also good enough to hang in there and get beat. So there’s a nastiness and a fire, it has to make you mad for you to break through.’

The Kings were led by DeMar DeRozan with 24 points on 10-of-19 shooting. Zach LaVine and Schroder each scored 15 while Russell Westbrook added 13 points and seven assists.

‘The competitiveness has been there, but there’s a two-minute, three-minute span where it’s not there. In our game, that’s enough to do it,’ Christie said. ‘That’s why a 20-point lead in our game really isn’t that much anymore. It just takes a couple minutes, make some threes, get a couple stops, momentum changes and that’s what happened.’

What happened to the Warriors-Kings ‘rivalry’?

There was once thought to be a budding rivalry between these two teams, following a seven-game series won by the Warriors during the 2023 NBA Playoffs. The Kings got revenge the following year knocking out Golden State in the NBA Play-In Tournament.

The Warriors (21-18) look to turn the page during their eight-game home stretch, where they’ve defeated the Milwaukee Bucks and now the Kings with six games left in the stand.

Despite being on the end of their dynasty run Golden State is out to prove that they have something left in the tank.

The Warriors are now 14-6 in their previous 20 regular-season meetings with Sacramento. The Kings won their first meeting with Golden State, 121-116, on Nov. 5, 2025.

Since they moved to Sacramento in 1985, the Kings’ all-time record against the Warriors is 77-91.

Curry shared his thoughts on whether a rivalry with the Kings exists.

‘Geographically, yes,’ Curry told USA TODAY Sports with a smile on his face. ‘That’s about it.’

Kings vs. Warriors highlights

ATLANTA — No. 1 seed Indiana took control with an interception return for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage and never let go for a 56-22 rout of No. 5 Oregon in the College Football Playoff semifinals at the Peach Bowl.

The pick-six by D’Angelo Ponds sparked the latest jaw-dropping victory for a team that stands one win away from the most unexpected national championship in Bowl Subdivision history. Indiana will face No. 10 Miami in the title game on Monday, Jan. 19, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

The Peach Bowl was a rematch of the Hoosiers’ 30-20 win at Autzen Stadium in October. Indiana becomes just the second team to beat an opponent in the regular season and then again in the playoff since the format debuted in 2014.

Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza was nearly perfect, completing 17 of 20 throws for 177 yards and finishing with more touchdowns, five, than incompletions. Wide receiver Elijah Surrat had 75 yards receiving and two touchdowns. Kaelon Black led the running game with a team-high 63 yards on 12 carries and two scores.

Donte Moore completed 24 of 38 passes for Oregon for 285 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Dierre Hill Jr. led the Ducks with 85 rushing yards, 71 coming on one long run, and Jay Harris added 35 yards on 16 carries.

A junior who had only 26 carries on the year heading into Friday night, Harris was thrust into a bigger role because of injuries to leading rusher Noah Whittington and top backup Jordon Davison.

It took the Hoosiers only 11 seconds to get on the board. After a short kickoff return placed Oregon at its 20-yard line, Moore threw an out route to the left sideline that Ponds jumped and ran back 25 yards for a 7-0 lead, delighting a Mercedes-Benz Stadium crowd that leaned heavily toward Indiana.

Oregon’s offense settled down to even the score on the ensuing possession, converting three third downs as part of a 14-play, nearly eight-minute drive capped by Moore’s 19-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jamari Johnson with 7:11 remaining in the first quarter.

Indiana’s offense responded on its first drive. Mendoza completed all four of his attempts for 41 yards, including an 8-yard score to receiver Omar Cooper Jr., as part of a 75-yard drive that put the Hoosiers back in front 14-7 with 40 seconds left in the opening frame.

After punting on the next possession, the Ducks stopped a promising Indiana drive by stripping and sacking Mendoza on third down and took over at their 13-yard line.

But Moore fumbled on the next play for his second costly turnover. Winding up to deliver a screen to his left, the sophomore’s hand hit Hill on the shoulder and bounced away before being recovered by IU at the 3-yard line.

Black then punched it from a yard out to put Indiana up 21-7 with 8:17 left in the half.

The lead would mushroom by the end of the half to put the Ducks in an insurmountable hole.

First, another Oregon punt led to a 61-yard touchdown drive ending with Mendoza finding receiver Charlie Becker on a perfectly thrown 36-yard heave, pushing IU ahead 28-7 with 3:13 to go.

Then Moore was sacked and fumbled again, setting up the Hoosiers on the lip of the red zone. Six plays later, Mendoza hit Sarratt from 2 yards to make it 35-7 with 59 seconds left before the break.

Both teams exchanged scores coming out of the locker room, with the Ducks converting the two-point try after a short Harris touchdown run to make it 42-15 midway through the third quarter. Oregon looked to make it a three-touchdown game late in the quarter but was stopped on fourth-and-short at the Indiana 31-yard line.

The Hoosiers’ exclamation point came after an Oregon punt near its own goal line was blocked with just 13:04 to play. Under two minutes later, Mendoza hit Sarratt from 3 yards out on third-and-goal to make it 49-15.

But the Hoosiers weren’t done yet. After forcing a turnover on downs, IU ran five times for 65 yards, ending with Black’s 23-yard score, to go ahead 52-15 with 5:13 remaining.

A Moore touchdown pass to Roger Saleapaga with 22 seconds completed the scoring and helped the Ducks avoid the biggest loss in Peach Bowl history.

With a win against Miami, the Hoosiers would become the first 16-0 national champion since Yale in 1894. Prior to hiring coach Curt Cignetti, Indiana had won 16 games in a two-year span just once (1987-88) in program history.

American golfer Brooks Koepka applied for reinstatement of his PGA Tour membership on Friday, according to ESPN.  Koepka is a five-time major champion who was a member of the tour from 2014 to 2022.

Koepka, who recently left LIV Golf, is ranked No. 244 in the Official World Golf  Ranking because LIV golfers were not receiving points for those respective events in the standings.

Despite his ranking, Koepka could compete in the four major tournaments in 2026 because of his five-year exemption as a result of winning the 2023 PGA Championship.

Koepka decided to leave the PGA Tour in 2022 to join the newly formed LIV tour.

He won just five events during his LIV tenure from 2022-25 and completed a 3-0 playoff record, earning a victory in three consecutive years.

Koepka had a year remaining on his tour, which was financed by a Saudi Arabian group, but decided to leave early. LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil said Koepka and the league ‘mutually agreed’ that he would no longer compete as a member in December.

The PGA had not commented on Koepka’s potential return. Koepka cited family reasons as part of his decision to leave LIV and explore his options. Koepka’s wife, Jena, posted on Instagram last October that she had suffered a miscarriage. 

The national championship game for the 2025-26 College Football Playoff has been set between No. 1 Indiana and No. 10 Miami.

So, who is going to win?

That’s a question college football pundits and fans will be debating for the next 10 days until the big game on Monday, Jan. 19 at 7:30 p.m. ET. Oddsmakers, for their part, have already declared a favorite as the season winds down in Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

Opening odds from BetMGM have the Hoosiers as the early betting favorite to win the national title following their dominating Peach Bowl win over No. 5 Oregon.

Fernando Mendoza finished with five touchdown passes against the Ducks’ defense, and the Hoosiers scored 21 of their 56 points off turnovers, including D’Angelo Ponds’ pick-6 on the first play of the game. Indiana’s win over Oregon improved its record to 26-2 under Curt Cignetti in just two seasons.

Carson Beck gave the Hurricanes a ‘home’ game for the national championship with his 3-yard rushing touchdown in the winding seconds of the fourth quarter in the Fiesta Bowl against No. 6 Ole Miss. After sneaking into the 12-team field, the Hurricanes have been playing some of their best football in the last three games, led by Beck and star defensive players Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor.

Both teams are appearing in the national championship game for the first time in the CFP era.

Here’s what you need to know on who is favored in the national championship game from the opening odds:

Indiana vs Miami national championship game odds

Odds courtesy of BetMGM as of Friday, Jan. 9 at 11:30 p.m. ET

Spread: Indiana -7.5
Over/under: 48.5
Moneyline: Indiana (-300) | Miami (+240)

When is national championship game? Date, time, where, TV channel

Date: Monday, Jan. 19
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Location: Hard Rock Stadium (Miami Gardens, Fla.)

The 2026 CFP Championship between Indiana and Miami is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on Monday, Jan. 19 inside Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti isn’t one to smile on the sidelines.

But there appears to be something that can get a smile — even if only for a second — out of the Hoosiers coach, who has orchestrated one of the more remarkable turnarounds in college football history in just two seasons in Bloomington: a cold beer.

‘I’m really not thinking about the next game. I’m thinking about cracking open a beer,’ Cignetti told ESPN’s Molly McGrath following No. 1 Indiana’s 56-22 win over No. 5 Oregon in the College Football Playoff Peach Bowl semifinal.

Indiana opened the game with a pick-6 from D’Angelo Ponds, the defensive player of the Peach Bowl, on the first play from scrimmage. It didn’t stop there, as they scored seven touchdowns on 10 drives (excluding the final drive, where they went into victory formation).

Fernando Mendoza was once again phenomenal for Cignetti’s program in the Peach Bowl, completing 17-of-20 passes for 177 yards and five touchdowns.

Indiana’s 34-point win over Oregon is the sixth-largest win in CFP history. It is also just the second time in CFP history that a team has beaten the same team in the regular-season and the CFP in the same season. The team that lost the regular-season meeting entered Friday’s Peach Bowl with a 4-1 record in the rematch.

With its win, Indiana picked up its 26th overall win under the 64-year-old coach. The Hoosiers will now face No. 10 Miami in the national championship game on Monday, Jan. 19 at 7:30 p.m. ET inside Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

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Concerns about the ice hockey arena being built for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, continued after a test event confirmed the venue remains unfinished amid ongoing construction less than four weeks from the first game of the Olympic women’s hockey tournament.

Santagiulia Arena was open to the public for the first time for an Italian Cup game held on Friday, Jan. 9 after numerous reported problems in recent months as organizers scramble to get the building ready in time for the Games.

International Ice Hockey Federation president Luc Tardif said during a news conference earlier in the week that although parts of the rink and arena might not be complete in time, the playing surface, practice facilities and dressing rooms would be ready when the men’s hockey tournament begins on Feb. 11. The women’s tournament begins on Feb. 5.

Tardif also revealed that the arena’s capacity would be 11,800, short of the 14,000-seat capacity originally planned.

This is the first Winter Olympics in which NHL players are slated to participate since 2014. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said last month the league would renege on sending its players if there are any safety concerns with the ice. The league is sending its own experts to Italy. The rink is slated to be smaller than NHL standards but within IIHF standards.

What observers said about Olympic hockey arena

The Athletic’s Chris Johnston was at the test event and shared video.

He said the ice surface and seating are in place. He also reported:

‘The ice surface appeared soft and snowy in its debut, and there was a delay in the first period after a hole developed in front of one of the goals.’
‘There were still multiple large holes in the exterior of the building as of Friday night, which poses a major challenge to icemakers since they can’t properly regulate the conditions inside the arena.’
‘The permanent dressing room area is also still under construction, with only three of the planned 14 rooms anywhere near complete.’ 

Johnston added, however, that ‘there’s no sense on the ground that the Olympic tournament is in jeopardy.’

Florian Wieser, who played in the game, said the hole in the ice was a small one and was fixed in five minutes.

‘Ice was really good,’ Wieser posted on social media. ‘I was surprised how good it was and it will only get better.”

The Hockey News reported that a new coat of ice would be put down after this weekend’s event.

“Today the ice was not perfect, but it will be done again with new ice next week and I’m confident that it will continue to improve,” local Italian RAI play-by-play commentator Matteo Floccari told The Hockey News. “The Olympic Games here will be the biggest occasion ever that Italian ice hockey has ever had, having the greatest players in the world here. It will absolutely help grow the game in Italy, with (Sidney) Crosby and (Connor) McDavid coming here.

‘The jobs being done here have been growing in importance day-by-day and the situation is improving. I’m sure that for the beginning of the Olympics everything here, inside and outside will be ready.’

The Dallas Mavericks, once again, are set to be without Anthony Davis.

An MRI taken Friday, Jan. 9 revealed that Davis, 32, suffered ligament damage in his left hand, the team said in a press release. The Mavericks added that Davis is seeking multiple opinions.

Davis suffered the injury Thursday, Jan. 8 in a game against the Utah Jazz. It came late in the fourth quarter of the game, an eventual 116-114 Utah victory, when Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen drove to the basket along the right baseline. Davis went to defend Markkanen and when the two made contact, Davis immediately favored his left hand.

He briefly remained in the game but was then later substituted.

At the time he left the game, Davis had scored 21 points on 10-of-20 shooting, adding 11 rebounds and 4 assists.

For Davis and the Mavericks, it’s another frustrating setback that has kept him from assimilating with the team; earlier this season, Davis dealt with a lower foot and Achilles injury that also sidelined him for a few weeks. Dallas traded for Davis in February 2025 as part of the deal that shipped Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Since acquiring him, Davis has played only 29 out of 80 games.

The Mavericks have struggled amid injuries to Davis and veteran point guard Kyrie Irving, who suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in March 2025. That has left No. 1 overall rookie Cooper Flagg to carry the Mavericks. Flagg only recently turned 19 years old and has a diverse skill set, but his effectiveness has been limited at times when opposing teams have focused their energy on limiting him as Davis and Irving have been sidelined.

Complicating this further, Davis had been expected to be a potential trade target, as the Mavericks are undergoing something of a rebuild. The team fired former general manager Nico Harrison Nov. 11, 2025, and Davis’ age and salary may not align with Dallas’ long-term plans to compete.

The NBA trade deadline is Feb. 5; given the projected timeline of Davis’ injury, that likely means he will remain sidelined beyond the deadline.

In 20 games this season, Davis is averaging 20.4 points, 11.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.

Veteran NBA official Bill Kennedy suffered a non-contact injury during a game between the Orlando Magic and the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday, Jan. 9.

Kennedy is known within the NBA community for his entertaining challenge verdicts during basketball games. Several of his verdicts had gone viral throughout the early part of the season.

Kennedy was seen running up the court late in the first quarter as the 76ers were running up the court after stealing the ball from the Magic. He left the game in a wheelchair.

Michael Smith and James Williams continued to officiate the game. A backup official was not named to fill in for Kennedy in a brief statement by the verified NBA Official account on X.

Bill Kennedy’s entertaining moments

One day after Trinidad Chambliss’ 2025 season came to an end, his college career did, too.

The Mississippi quarterback’s waiver for an additional season of eligibility was denied by the NCAA, with college sports’ governing body announcing its decision on Friday, Jan. 9.

Chambliss was asking for a medical redshirt for the 2022 season, when he was at Division II Ferris State and didn’t play any games while dealing with persistent respiratory issues that ultimately led to the removal of his tonsils.

“Approval requires schools to submit medical documentation provided by a treating physician at the time of a student’s incapacitating injury or illness, which was not provided,” the NCAA said in a statement. “The documents provided by Ole Miss and the student’s prior school include a physician’s note from a December 2022 visit, which stated the student-athlete was ‘doing very well’ since he was seen in August 2022. Additionally, the student-athlete’s prior school indicated it had no documentation on medical treatment, injury reports or medical conditions involving the student-athlete during that time frame and cited “developmental needs and our team’s competitive circumstances” as its reason the student-athlete did not play in the 2022-23 season.”

The NCAA added its decision “aligns with consistent application of NCAA rules.”

In his first and ultimately only season at Ole Miss, Chambliss threw for 3,937 yards, 22 touchdowns and three interceptions while rushing for an additional 527 yards and eight touchdowns. He finished eighth in Heisman Trophy voting.

Chambliss helped lead the Rebels to one of the best seasons in program history, with a 13-2 record and a run to the College Football Playoff semifinals, where they fell to Miami 31-27 on Thursday, Jan. 8 in the Fiesta Bowl. Chambliss threw for 277 yards and a touchdown in the loss.

Prominent sports attorney Tom Mars represented Chambliss during his waiver process. Mars said in a statement that he assumes Ole Miss will file an appeal with the NCAA and that ‘there is now an opportunity to move this case to a level playing field where Trinidad’s rights will be determined by the Mississippi judiciary instead of some bureaucrats in Indianapolis who couldn’t care less about the law or doing the right thing.”

‘I deserve (another year),’ Chambliss said Dec. 30. ‘I’ve only played three seasons of college football. I feel like I deserve to play four. I redshirted in 2021. That was my freshman redshirt. Then I medically redshirted in 2022. Played in 2023, 2024 and this is 2025.’

Chambliss took a traditional redshirt season during his true freshman year at Ferris State and did not play during the ensuing 2022 campaign.

The NCAA said that this academic year, it has received 25 eligibility clock extension requests that cited an incapacitating injury, nine of which came from football players. Of those 25 waiver requests, the NCAA approved 15, including six in football. All 15 that were approved provided medical documentation from the time of the injury while all 10 that were denied didn’t.

Chambliss had previously committed to return to Ole Miss for the 2026 season if his waiver was approved, shutting down speculation that he could follow former Rebels coach Lane Kiffin to LSU.

Without Chambliss, Ole Miss and new head coach Pete Golding will likely have to look elsewhere for a quarterback for next season. Austin Simmons, who started the season ahead of Chambliss before being sidelined with an injury, entered the transfer portal and signed with Missouri earlier this week.

What is Trinidad Chambliss’ NFL draft projection?

Chambliss is projected to get a shot in the NFL. He’ll probably be drafted in the middle of the 2026 NFL Draft, according to experts.Chambliss is ranked as the No. 6 quarterback prospect on Mel Kiper of ESPN’s 2026 NFL Draft preview published Jan. 2.

Pro Football Focus ranks Chambliss as the No. 5 quarterback and No. 83 player overall.

Clarion Ledger Ole Miss reporter Sam Hutchens contributed to this story.