Chicago Bulls guard Josh Giddey signed a four-year, $100 million extension on Tuesday.

• Giddey, 22, averaged 14.6 points along with career highs of 8.1 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 1.2 steals in 70 games with the Bulls in 2024-25.

  He had seven triple-doubles and 30 double-doubles last season after being acquired from the Thunder in a trade that sent Alex Caruso to Oklahoma City.

  A restricted free agent in limbo entering training camp next month, Giddey had the option of accepting the Bulls' one-year, $11.14 million qualifying offer and entering unrestricted free agency in July 2026.

  Oklahoma City decided to part with Giddey because of his unreliable perimeter shooting and off-court concerns around allegations that he maintained a relationship with a minor. However, NBA and Newport Beach (Calif.) police investigations resulted in no charges.

  He shot a career-best 37.8 percent from 3-point range with the Bulls and made a career-high 105 three-pointers.

  The No. 6 overall selection the 2021 NBA Draft by the Thunder placed himself in rare company with his overall production through four seasons in the league. In 280 career games, the Australian has averaged 14.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 0.9 steals.

  With 3,942 points, 2,100 rebounds and 1,703 assists, Giddey is one of eight players all-time to reach those minimum thresholds after four seasons along with Larry Bird, Luka Doncic, Grant Hill, LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Oscar Roberston and Ben Simmons.

  --Field Level Media

The Brooklyn Nets confirmed a multi-year contract extension Monday with forward Ziaire Williams.

• Terms were not disclosed, but multiple outlets reported in June that it was a two-year, $12 million deal and that the second season was a team option.

  Williams, the No. 10 overall pick of the 2021 NBA Draft, played his first three seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies and was traded to the Nets ahead of the 2024-25 season with a 2030 second-round pick for Nemanja Dangubic and Mamadi Diakite.

  Williams, who turns 24 on Friday, appeared in 63 games (45 starts) for Brooklyn and averaged 10.0 points and 4.6 rebounds, both career highs.

  He has averaged 8.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 213 career games (95 starts).

  --Field Level Media

Former NBA stars Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard, along with former women's star Sue Bird, highlighted a decorated group inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday night in Springfield, Mass.

• Women's stars Maya Moore and Sylvia Fowles, head coach Billy Donovan, Miami Heat owner Micky Arison, referee Danny Crawford and the 2008 U.S. Olympic men's team also were inducted.

  Anthony and Howard were members of the 2008 U.S. Olympic team.

  The class was announced in April at the NCAA Final Four in San Antonio.

  Anthony ranks 10th in NBA history with 28,289 career points and was a 10-time All-Star. He won three Olympic gold medals (2008, 2012, 2016), led Syracuse to the 2003 NCAA title and was named to the NBA's 75th anniversary team in 2021.

  "Pardon my language, but damn," an emotional Anthony said during his induction speech. "Tonight, I just don't step into the Hall of Fame, I carry the echoes of every voice that ever told me I couldn't. ... I had to build a new road. I had to write a new ending."

  Howard, who was elected as a first-ballot member, was a three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year (2009-11) and eight-time All-Star. He ranks 10th in NBA history with 14,627 career rebounds and 13th with 2,228 blocked shots.

  "My mother lost seven children (in miscarriages), and He allowed me to bring sunshine into her life," Howard said. "I'm just honored to stand in front of you as one of the greatest basketball players ever."

  Bird won five Olympic gold medals (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020), four WNBA titles and two college crowns at UConn. She was a 13-time WNBA All-Star and holds the league's career assists record of 3,234.

  Donovan coaches the Chicago Bulls after previously leading the Oklahoma City Thunder and has 434 regular-season victories following a victory Friday. He also led Florida to back-to-back NCAA titles (2006, 2007) while accumulating 502 college wins.

  The 2008 U.S. Olympic team went 8-0 while winning the gold medal and prevailed by an average of 27.9 points. The co-captains were Kobe Bryant, Jason Kidd and Dwyane Wade, while other members included LeBron James, Chris Paul as well as Anthony and Howard.

  Moore led the Minnesota Lynx to four WNBA titles (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017) and won two NCAA titles at UConn and picked up two Olympic gold medals.

  "Figure out what motivates you every day you get out of bed," said Moore, who has focused on social justice issues since retiring before the 2019 season. "I want to challenge you up-and-comers, every day to seek out joy and connection."

  Fowles won four Olympic gold medals, retired as the WNBA's leading rebounder (4,006) before being passed and was an eight-time WNBA All-Star and two-time WNBA champion.

  Arison has owned the Miami Heat since 1995 and presided over three titles (2006, 2012, 2013).

  Crawford was an NBA referee from 1985-2017 and officiated in over 2,000 regular-season games and 300 playoff games, including the NBA Finals in 23 consecutive seasons.

  --Field Level Media

San Antonio Spurs rookie Dylan Harper underwent surgery to repair a partially torn collateral ligament in his left thumb in an attempt to make it back in time for the season opener, per multiple reports on Friday.

• The 19-year-old injured his thumb in a preseason workout on Wednesday. He competed in two Las Vegas Summer League games earlier this offseason.

  Harper scored exactly 16 points in each of the Spurs' two summer victories, though he made just one of his eight 3-point attempts.

  Harper, a guard out of Rutgers, was the No. 2 overall selection in the June draft. During his lone season with the Scarlet Knights, Harper posted averages of 19.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists.

  The Spurs begin the regular season against the Dallas Mavericks and No. 1 overall draft pick Cooper Flagg on Oct. 22.

  --Field Level Media

The reigning NBA champions have already hit a bump in their road to a repeat, more than six weeks before the regular season even begins.

• The Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday announced that rookie forward/center Thomas Sorber tore the ACL in his right knee during a workout a day earlier and will miss the 2025-26 season.

  The Thunder selected Sorber with the 15th pick in June's draft after the 19-year-old averaged 14.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in his lone season at Georgetown. He played in 24 games as a freshman, his season cut short by a turf toe injury that required surgery. He also sat out NBA Summer League with the Thunder while recovering from the surgery.

  The 6-foot-10 Sorber was not expected to be a contributor this season. The Thunder return much of the core of the team that went 68-14 and beat the Indiana Pacers in seven games to win the franchise's first title since the 1978-79 season, when the club was the Seattle SuperSonics.

  If Sorber is looking for any inspiration, he can look to the Thunder roster.

  Nikola Topic missed his entire rookie season in 2024-25 because of a torn ACL but averaged 11 points in three Summer League games in July. And star forward Chet Holmgren, the No. 2 overall pick in 2022, missed his rookie season after suffering a foot injury that summer.

  The Thunder open the season Oct. 21 with a home game against the Houston Rockets.

  --Field Level Media

Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer claimed he had no knowledge of the deal between Kawhi Leonard and Aspiration and would "want the league to investigate" if another team were accused of circumventing the NBA's salary cap,

• "I'd want the league to investigate, take it seriously," Ballmer told ESPN on Thursday in his first interview since the story broke following an extensive report by podcaster Pablo Torre.

  The Clippers are being accused of trying to get around NBA salary cap rules by feeding $28 million to Leonard in the form of a "no-show" endorsement deal with the now-bankrupt company partially funded by Ballmer.

  Aspiration has faced accusations of fraud and one of its co-founders, Joseph Sanberg, agreed to plead guilty in August to defrauding multiple investors.

  "We are aware of this morning's media report regarding the LA Clippers and are commencing an investigation," the NBA said in a statement to ESPN.

  Ballmer told ESPN that Aspiration asked him to introduce the deal to Leonard but denied he had knowledge of the endorsement contract the sides eventually signed.

  Per Ballmer, the introduction came in November 2021 -- three months after Leonard agreed to a four-year, $173 million extension with Leonard. In September 2021, the Clippers announced a $300 million partnership with Aspiration.

  "We even found the email that makes the first introduction. It was early November," Ballmer said. "The introduction got made and then they were off to the races on, on their own. We weren't involved.

  "I eventually learned that they had reached a deal. I have no idea what the deal was."

  Ballmer also expressed no knowledge of the amount of the deal.

  "I don't know why they did what they did, and I don't know how different it is (compared with other endorsement deals)," he said.

  "These were guys who committed fraud. Look, they conned me. They conned me. I made an investment in these guys thinking it was on the up-and-up, and they conned me at this stage. I have no ability to predict why they might have done anything they did, let alone the specific contract with Kawhi."

  Leonard, 34, won the NBA Finals MVP award both times he earned NBA championship titles (2014 with the San Antonio Spurs, 2019 with the Toronto Raptors). He also has two NBA Defensive Player of the Year awards to his name.

  He missed the 2021-22 campaign following knee surgery and has been limited in each of the past three seasons due to ongoing knee issues. He averaged 21.5 points and 5.9 rebounds in just 37 games last season.

  In 13 seasons with the Spurs, Raptors and Clippers, the six-time All-Star has averaged 20.1 points and 6.4 rebounds in 733 games.

  --Field Level Media

Guard Cam Thomas re-signed with the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday.

• Terms were not disclosed by the team, however miultiple media outlets reported it was a one-year, $6 million qualifying offer.

  As a restricted free agent, Thomas' agreement to the one-year deal will make him an unrestricted free agent next summer and free to sign with any team without Brooklyn having the right to match offers. Thomas, 23, also cannot be traded this coming season without his consent.

  Thomas wasn't able to reach a long-term contract deal with Brooklyn this offseason.

  ESPN reported that his representatives, Ron Shade and Alex Saratsis of Octagon, declined the Nets' offers of two years and $30 million with a team option for a second season, or one year and $9.5 million with incentives up to $11 million while waiving the no-trade clause.

  His market was limited by the number of teams with significant salary cap space, and Thomas is the first of the remaining restricted free agents to make a decision. He's also just the fifth former first-round pick to sign a qualifying offer since 2017, according to ESPN.

  Hamstring issues limited Thomas to just 25 games (23 starts) last season, when he averaged career highs with 24.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists.

  He became a full-time starter in the 2023-24 campaign, when he averaged 22.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.9 assists and a career-high 31.4 minutes in 66 games. For his career, Thomas averages 15.1 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 23.2 minutes in 215 games (80 starts).

  Brooklyn selected Thomas with the 27th overall pick of the 2021 NBA Draft out of LSU.

  --Field Level Media

The NBA reportedly is tinkering with the All-Star Game format again, this time adding an international twist.

• The 2026 competition will feature two teams of U.S. players and one team of international players squaring off in a round-robin event, ESPN reported Wednesday night.

  Per the report, the sides would each square off in games using 12-minute quarters.

  League officials and representatives of the National Basketball Players Association put the plan in front of the NBA's competition committee on Wednesday, and the reaction was favorable, according to ESPN.

  Another change for 2026 would be a move of the event from a Sunday night timeslot to a Sunday afternoon. The All-Star Game is slated for Feb. 15 at the Los Angeles Clippers' home arena in Inglewood, Calif., and it will be aired by the league's new television partner, NBC.

  The 2025 All-Star format, a mini tournament, was largely panned. Three teams of All-Star were drafted by captains, and a fourth team was the winner of the Rising Stars Challenge. Those sides met in semifinals and a final, with each game played to a target score of 40 points instead of having a game clock.

  Television ratings for the Feb. 16 event in San Francisco dropped 13 percent.

  NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in late April, "I thought we made almost an immeasurable amount of progress (with the All-Star Game). I thought this was a little better, but it was a miss. We're not there in terms of creating an All-Star experience that we can be proud of, that our players can be proud of."

  Asked then if the NBA planned to follow the lead of the NHL, which scrapped its standard All-Star Game for the well-received Four Nations Face-Off, Silver said, "I'm not sure that makes sense, with the level of development, if that's fair to lump all the other countries together these days."

  --Field Level Media

The Los Angeles Clippers are being accused of trying to get around NBA salary cap rules by feeding $28 million to superstar Kawhi Leonard in the form of a "no-show" endorsement deal with a now-bankrupt company partially funded by Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, according to an extensive report by podcaster and former ESPN contributor Pablo Torre.

• Ballmer reportedly gave $50 million in funding to the sustainability business Aspiration, which has faced accusations of fraud and whose co-founder, Joseph Sanberg, agreed to plead guilty in August to defrauding multiple investors.

  The NBA said on Wednesday in a statement to ESPN, "We are aware of this morning's media report regarding the LA Clippers and are commencing an investigation."

  According to a document obtained by Torre and reportedly signed by Leonard, the six-time NBA All-Star was to receive $28 million in cash from Aspiration over the course of four years between 2022 and 2025, as long as he was playing for the Clippers.

  However, there is no record of Leonard doing any marketing for, mentioning or endorsing Aspiration, as would be expected in such an endorsement deal.

  "It was to circumvent the salary cap," a source who used to work for Aspiration told Torre on the "Pablo Torre Finds Out" podcast.

  The Clippers denied the accusations in Torre's report, saying in a statement Wednesday, "Neither Mr. Ballmer nor the Clippers circumvented the salary cap or engaged in any misconduct related to Aspiration. Any contrary assertion is provably false."

  According to the report by Torre, legal documents from Aspiration's March 2025 bankruptcy filing show parties that remain to be paid, including KL2 Aspire LLC, a corporation that shows Leonard as its manager, which Aspiration still owes $7 million.

  Leonard originally signed with the Clippers in 2019 before agreeing to a three-year contract extension worth around $150 million in early 2024.

  The 34-year-old won the NBA Finals MVP award both times he earned NBA championship titles (2014 with the San Antonio Spurs, 2019 with the Toronto Raptors). He also has two NBA Defensive Player of the Year awards to his name.

  He missed the 2021-22 campaign following knee surgery and has been limited in each of the past three seasons due to ongoing knee issues. He averaged 21.5 points and 5.9 rebounds in just 37 games last season.

  In 13 seasons with the Spurs, Raptors and Clippers, the six-time All-Star has averaged 20.1 points and 6.4 rebounds in 733 games.

  Accusations of circumventing the salary cap are rare. The most well-known case involved the Minnesota Timberwolves getting hit in 2000 with a $3.5 million fine and losing five first-round draft picks (later amended to three) for signing an illegal secret agreement with power forward Joe Smith.

  Any potential punishment for the Clippers' actions would likely not be so severe under the current CBA, which allows for a fine of up to $4.5 million for a first offense, the forfeiture of one first-round draft pick, and/or the voiding of any contracts or transaction that violated league rules.

  --Field Level Media

Dallas Mavericks power forward P.J. Washington agreed to a four-year, $90 million contract extension.

• ESPN reported Wednesday that Washington's representation, LIFT Sports Management, confirmed the deal.

  Washington's extension spans through the 2029-30 season. He will pocket $14.1 million in 2025-26 while playing in the final season of a three-year, $46.5 million deal.

  Washington, 27, averaged 14.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.1 blocks and 1.1 steals in 57 games (56 starts) last season with Dallas.

  He has contributed 13.1 points, 5.9 boards and 2.3 assists in 390 career games (320 starts) with the Charlotte Hornets and Mavericks.

  The Hornets selected the Kentucky product with the 12th overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.

  --Field Level Media

Philadelphia 76ers guard Jared McCain told reporters Tuesday that he plans to be ready for training camp as he finishes recovering from a meniscus tear.

• "Yeah, my plan, for sure, is to participate," McCain said. "I mean, anything can happen, but for right now, I'm on pace, and I'm doing great for that."

  McCain, as well as other members of the Sixers and Philadelphia Flyers, appeared at the teams' arena as it was christened Xfinity Mobile Arena, changed from its previous name, Wells Fargo Arena.

  The 2024 first-round pick indicated that he has yet to receive clearance from the 76ers to be able to practice in full.

  "I think right now, it's just kind of taking it day by day," McCain said. "I'm getting on-court, doing a lot of stuff, a lot of live stuff, but I still have to talk to them about exactly if I'm free for everything, but I'm definitely getting there."

  McCain, 21, received an NBA Rookie of the Year vote despite playing in just 23 games (eight starts) before his injury.

  He was averaging 15.3 points per game on 46 percent shooting, including 38.3 percent from distance, when he was injured Dec. 13, 2024, against Indiana. McCain also recorded 2.6 assists and 2.4 rebounds per contest last season.

  Philadelphia, which is coming off an injury-marred 24-58 campaign, opens the new season Oct. 22 at the Boston Celtics.

  --Field Level Media

Milwaukee on Sunday re-signed forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo, the older brother of Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo.

• Antetokounmpo, who missed the 2024-25 season while recovering for a torn Achilles tendon, is currently playing for Greece in EuroBasket 2025.

  His contract, guaranteed for one year and $2.9 million per an ESPN report on Sunday, indicates that Giannis, 30, a two-time NBA MVP and nine-time All-Star, is staying with Milwaukee to start the season.

  Thanasis Antetokounmpo, 33, played in 34 games as a reserve for the Bucks in 2023-24 and averaged 0.9 points, 0.4 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 4.6 minutes.

  He has played in 198 games (11 starts) for the New York Knicks (two games in 2015-16) and Bucks (2019-24), averaging 2.4 points, 1.6 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 7.7 minutes.

  New York selected Antetokounmpo in the second round of the 2014 NBA Draft, but he played overseas in other professional leagues in 2013-15, and in Spain (2016-17) and Greece (2017-19). He first signed as a free agent with Milwaukee in July 2019.

  --Field Level Media

Jeremy Lin announced his retirement from professional basketball via Instagram on Saturday night.

• "It's been the honor of a lifetime to compete against the fiercest competitors under the brightest lights and to challenge what the world thought was possible for someone who looks like me," he wrote. "I've lived out my wildest childhood dreams to play in front of fans all around the world. I will forever be the kid who felt fully alive every time I touched a basketball."

  Lin is a nine-year NBA veteran. After going undrafted in 2010, the point guard began his career with the Golden State Warriors, playing in 29 games as a rookie. However, he rose to prominence during his second NBA season as a member of the New York Knicks.

  Famously, Lin had an 11-game stretch, dubbed "Linsanity", in which he averaged 23.9 points and 9.2 assists while leading the Knicks to a 9-2 record. That included a career-high 38-point performance against the Los Angeles Lakers.

  Across his NBA career, Lin averaged 11.6 points, 4.3 assists, and 1.1 steals. He had stints with the Warriors, Knicks, Houston Rockets, Lakers, Charlotte Hornets, Brooklyn Nets, Atlanta Hawks, and Toronto Raptors. He won an NBA title in 2019 with the Raptors.

  --Field Level Media

Though the NBA off season has been going on for multiple months now, the roster gymnastics aren't quite finished yet for every team.

• The Dallas Mavericks let go of Olivier Maxence-Prosper -- their 2023 first round pick -- by using the waive-and-stretch provision in his contract Thursday afternoon, according to ESPN.

  The move will spread the remaining $3 million on his contract across the next three years, which will now put the Mavericks $3.6 million under the second apron, according to Spotrac. Waiving Maxence-Prosper also frees up an extra roster spot, as the Mavericks are reportedly targeting Dante Exum to bring back as a backup point guard.

  With All-Star Kyrie Irving missing at least half, and potentially more, of next season with a torn ACL, the Mavericks are lacking point guard depth. Right now the only "true" point guard Dallas has on the roster is D'Angelo Russell.

  Exum was able to fill the backup point guard role for Dallas well the last two years, appearing in 75 games and averaging 8.0 points per game while shooting 52 percent from the field and 47 percent from 3-point range. His salary was $3 million last year, so with the opened-up cap space he won't have to take a pay cut.

  The 6-foot-8 Maxence-Prosper was taken with the 24th pick in the 2023 draft out of Marquette with a pick that was traded to Dallas from Sacramento. In two seasons with the Mavericks he played in 92 games, averaging just 10 minutes per game. His per-game averages during his time in Dallas were 3.5 points, 2.2 rebounds and 0.7 assists, while shooting just under 40 percent from the field.

  With rookie phenom Cooper Flagg, All-Star Anthony Davis and P.J Washington in line to start, there were too many forwards on the roster for Maxence-Prosper to warrant a spot. The Mavericks attempted to trade Maxence-Prosper but were unable to find a deal before ultimately waiving him.

  --Field Level Media

Doris Burke signed a multi-year contract extension with ESPN, but she will no longer be part of the NBA Finals announcer team for ABC/ESPN, the company revealed Thursday.

• Following an initial report of Burke's demotion in The Athletic, ESPN announced that Tim Legler will join the four-person "lead NBA broadcast team" in Burke's place. Mike Breen remains the main play-by-play man, Richard Jefferson will continue to be an analyst with Legler and Lisa Salters will become the main sideline reporter.

  Burke, an ESPN veteran of more than 30 years, became the first woman to serve as a TV game analyst for a championship in one of the four major sports leagues when she called the 2024 NBA Finals.

  She worked with Breen and Jefferson in the 2025 NBA Finals but it was reported as early as June that Burke might be headed for an adjusted role.

  Burke will join play-by-play caller Dave Pasch on ESPN's No. 2 broadcast team in the 2025-26 season.

  Burke, 60, entered the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018 as that year's Curt Gowdy Media Award recipient.

  --Field Level Media

South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley confirmed she interviewed this summer for the New York Knicks' head coaching vacancy, saying she was prepared to become the first woman to lead an NBA team if the job had been offered.

• Speaking on the "Post Moves" podcast hosted by Candace Parker and Aliyah Boston, Staley said she entered the interview curious about how the Knicks envisioned her candidacy. "If the Knicks would have offered me the job, I would have had to do it," she said. "It's not just for me, it's for women ... it's the freakin' New York Knicks."

  The Knicks ultimately hired veteran coach Mike Brown to succeed Tom Thibodeau, who was dismissed after guiding the team to its first Eastern Conference finals in a quarter-century. According to league sources, Staley impressed New York executives during the process but was not among the finalists.

  Staley, 55, acknowledged that she challenged the organization with questions about inclusivity and the implications of hiring a woman, which may have impacted her chances at getting the job.

  "The NBA has to be ready for a female head coach," she said.

  A Naismith Hall of Famer and three-time NCAA champion with South Carolina, Staley signed a contract extension in January worth more than $25 million through the 2029-30 season. She has previously been linked to NBA openings, including an interview with the Portland Trail Blazers in 2021.

  Her candidacy with New York came amid a broader but gradual rise in women on NBA sidelines. Several women currently serve as assistants, including the Los Angeles Lakers' Lindsey Harding, who was the first female head coach to win G League Coach of the Year honors in 2024. No woman has yet been appointed to a full-time NBA head coaching role.

  --Field Level Media

Florida Panthers executive Matthew Caldwell accepted a 10-year deal to serve as the CEO of the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves and WNBA's Minnesota Lynx, the teams announced Wednesday.

• Caldwell, who will relinquish his role as the president of business operations with the NHL's Panthers, will begin overseeing "day-to-day business operations and high-level strategic initiatives for the Timberwolves, Lynx and Iowa Wolves" (of the G League). He will assume those responsibilities on Sept. 2 from interim-CEO Kelly Laferriere, who has led the organization during its ownership transition period.

  Caldwell joined the Panthers as chief operating officer in 2014 before being promoted to CEO in 2016. Now, he will serve under new Timberwolves and Lynx owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez.

  "I love the NHL. I've enjoyed hockey and I'm a big fan of it," Caldwell said. "But the NBA is just a much bigger, global platform. I really believe in Marc and Alex and their vision and what they're trying to do. They're trying to make Minnesota best in class."

  Lore and Rodriguez provided a joint statement: "Our vision is for the Timberwolves and Lynx to set a new standard of excellence in pro sports and we're confident that Matthew is the leader needed to make that a reality. Leading our organization into an innovative new era requires an exceptional individual at the helm and Matthew's proven track record leading the business of the Florida Panthers is undeniable. We can't wait to see the remarkable impact his bold leadership will have on this organization."

  Panthers owner Vincent Viola was quick to applaud Caldwell for his leadership, vision and dedication to the NHL franchise.

  "There are very few opportunities I would advise him to pursue, but working with Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore on a global platform like the NBA is at the top of that list," Viola said. "It's tremendously bittersweet for our family, but we recognize this is an exceptional opportunity and great next step in his career. Matt's impact on our organization has been immeasurable and he leaves with our respect and gratitude."

  Caldwell was proud of what he accomplished during his time with the Panthers, who are the two-time reigning Stanley Cup champions.

  "These past nine years as CEO of the Florida Panthers have been the highlight of my professional career. The Viola family has been a second family to me, and I will be forever grateful for the opportunity to have led this historic franchise turnaround," Caldwell said. "... The Panthers franchise is in great hands with the executive team and hockey leadership in place and I will be cheering from afar as the team continues its championship run."

  Owner and alternate governor Michael Viola will oversee the search for a new president of business operations for the Panthers.

  --Field Level Media

The Cleveland Cavaliers announced on Tuesday that guard Max Strus underwent surgery on his left foot and may miss three to four months, which will sideline him for a portion of the 2025-26 regular season.

• Strus, 29, suffered a Jones fracture during a recent workout and underwent surgery at Forte Sports Medicine and Orthopedics in Indianapolis. A Jones fracture is a break of the bone linking the pinkie toe to the foot's base.

  The prolific distance shooter also missed the first two months last season after suffering a sprained right ankle during pre-season workouts.

  He returned in late December and played in 50 regular season contests, averaging 9.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists. Strus shot 38.6 percent from 3-point range, converting 2.3 treys per outing. In nine playoff games, he averaged 11.7 points, including two games with 20 or more points in the East semifinals vs. Indiana.

  After one season in Chicago and three in Miami, the DePaul product joined Cleveland on a four-year, $63 million sign-and-trade deal. In his first season with the Cavs, he averaged a career-high 12.2 points per game.

  Strus averages 10.4 points across 309 career contests, including 156 starts.

  --Field Level Media

Now that is one expensive card.

• A signed card featuring Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant sold for $12.932 million on Saturday, establishing a record for most ever paid for a sports collectible card.

  This record-setting card is known as the 2007-08 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Dual Logoman Autographs Jordan & Bryant card. It surpassed the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card, which was sold for $12.6 million in August 2022.

  The Jordan/Bryant card is the second most expensive sports collectible ever, behind Babe Ruth's 1932 World Series "called shot" jersey. That little piece of history sold for $24.12 million in 2024.

  The Jordan/Bryant card was sold through Heritage Auctions. The purchaser's identity was not revealed.

  Chris Ivy, Heritage's director of sports auctions, said via ESPN that the Jordan/Bryant card is "the pinnacle as far as modern card collectors are concerned." He added that "another one can't be created. It's always been looked at by modern basketball collectors as a holy grail."

  Ivy added that the card's previous owner had kept it for more than a decade, turning down "high seven-figure" private offers in that time.

  "The pre-auction estimate was $6 million-plus," Ivy told ESPN, "so sometimes if a piece is unique like this, it's really beneficial to let it have its day."

  -Field Level Media

Indiana Pacers star point guard Tyrese Haliburton admitted that he is taking small steps forward in his recovery from an Achilles injury.

• Very small steps.

  "I'm walking now in my boot," Haliburton said on Saturday while speaking to reporters at the Simple Truth Tyrese Haliburton Pro Camp in Westfield, Ind.

  "Getting closer to walking full time in my shoe. So, that's exciting for me. It's kind of like a new benchmark, a new achievement for me. ... Just being able to walk, it's like the small wins right now. Just taking it a day at a time. I have good days, bad days."

  Haliburton, 25, will miss the upcoming 2025-26 season after sustaining the injury in Game 7 of the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City.

  "I obviously want to be good tomorrow but I know it takes time," Haliburton said. "The team has already ruled me out for the year, so I'm in no rush. It's just about getting 100 percent, not necessarily as fast as I can, but getting 100 percent is important. I don't want to come back and be 85, 90 percent. I want to be able to come back at 100, so I'm just taking my time through that."

  Haliburton averaged 18.6 points, 9.2 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 73 games (all starts) last season and was selected All-NBA third team.

  A two-time All-Star, Haliburton has career averages of 17.5 points, 8.8 assists and 3.7 rebounds in 333 games (294 starts) for the Sacramento Kings (2020-22) and Pacers.

  --Field Level Media

Former Seattle SuperSonics All-Star Shawn Kemp will spend 30 days under electronic home monitoring and must perform 240 hours of community service after pleading guilty to charges in a 2023 case.

• Kemp pleaded guilty in May to one count of second-degree assault in relation to a shooting incident outside a Tacoma, Wash., mall in March 2023. He was sentenced Friday.

  Prosecutors had asked for nine months of jail plus a year of community custody, which is similar to probation. The community custody was granted, and the community service must be done in that year.

  Kemp admitted to firing at two men in a Toyota 4Runner after his cell phone, sports memorabilia and other belongings were stolen from his truck. He traced his phone to the Toyota 4Runner and he said he was fired on by an occupant and shot at the vehicle in self-defense.

  "I should have used better discretion," Kemp, 55, said in court Friday in Pierce County, Wash.

  He told reporters outside the courtroom that he looks forward to going into the community and advocating for gun safety. He also said he should have called police instead of taking the law into his own hands.

  "A simple call to cops probably could have handled this."

  No one was injured in the incident. Prosecutors said they could trace four shots fired by Kemp, with three of them hitting the 4Runner and the fourth striking another vehicle.

  He had no prior criminal history.

  Kemp was selected by the SuperSonics in the first round of the 1989 NBA draft and spent the first eight of his 14 NBA seasons in Seattle. The "Reign Man" averaged 14.6 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game during his career. He made six consecutive All-Star appearances from 1993-98.

  --Field Level Media

NBA free-agent guard Malik Beasley no longer is the target of a federal gambling investigation, his attorneys told ESPN on Friday.

• Authorities from the Eastern District of New York were looking into allegations that Beasley was tied to gambling activity on NBA games and prop bets during the 2023-24 season. He played for the Milwaukee Bucks at the time.

  "Months after this investigation commenced, Malik remains uncharged and is not the target of this investigation," Beasley's attorney Steve Haney told ESPN. "An allegation with no charge, indictment or conviction should never have the catastrophic consequence this has caused Malik. This has literally been the opposite of the presumption of innocence."

  Beasley spent the 2024-25 season with the Detroit Pistons on a one-year, $6 million contract.

  ESPN reported that because of the allegations, discussions about a new three-year, $42 million contract were halted.

  Beasley, 28, appeared in all 82 games (18 starts) last season with the Pistons and averaged 16.3 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game while shooting 41.6 percent from three-point range.

  He has career averages of 11.7 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists with the Denver Nuggets (2016-20), Minneapolis Timberwolves (2020-22), Utah Jazz (2022-23), Los Angeles Lakers (2023), Bucks (2023-24) and Pistons.

  The NBA suspended Beasley for 12 games in 2021 after he entered a guilty plea to a felony charge of threats of violence. He was sentenced to 120 days in jail to be served after the 2020-21 season and was released after 78 days.

  --Field Level Media

Quenton Marselles Brown, the father of Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown, was arrested following a stabbing in Las Vegas on Wednesday and charged with attempted murder.

• The elder Brown had his first court appearance on Thursday, when his bail was set at $300,000, according to multiple reports.

  Per an arrest report, the incident took place in a parking lot outside a Las Vegas park. A man and his girlfriend were sitting in their car when an SUV parked beside them. Someone exiting the SUV allegedly dinged the door of the car in the adjacent spot, prompting a confrontation.

  The victim's girlfriend told police that the man purported to be Brown "briskly walked after (the victim) while producing (an) unknown object from his right side." He swung his arm and struck the victim in the back before hitting him several times in the stomach.

  Brown's attorney told Las Vegas television station KSNV that his client acted in self-defense. They claimed that Brown was hit over the head with a gun, which was not in the police report.

  Brown was a professional boxer who became the World Boxing Union (WBU) world champion in 2016. Multiple stories about his boxing days list him as 7 feet tall.

  --Field Level Media

The Chicago Bulls will retire former NBA MVP Derrick Rose's No. 1 jersey on Jan. 24, the team announced Thursday.

• The Bulls will host the Boston Celtics that night at the United Center.

  Rose, 36, announced his retirement from the league over social media on Sept. 26.

  The No. 1 jersey has not been worn by a Bulls player since Rose was traded to the New York Knicks in 2016. Michael Carter-Williams and Anthony Morrow were issued the number but switched after fan backlash.

  Rose will be the fifth player in Bulls history to have his number retired, joining Jerry Sloan (No. 4), Bob Love (10), Michael Jordan (23) and Scottie Pippen (33).

  Rose was selected by his hometown Bulls with the top overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft and was named the 2008-09 Rookie of the Year.

  At 22, Rose became the youngest player in league history to be named the NBA MVP during the 2010-11 season.

  Chicago was 245-161 (.603) in games in which Rose played. In his MVP season, he led the Bulls to their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance since 1998 -- the final season of the Bulls' second NBA championship three-peat.

  Rose's career took a turn for the worse after he tore an ACL during the first round of the 2012 playoffs. He sat out the following season and was limited to 10 games in 2013-14.

  A three-time All-Star, Rose posted career averages of 17.4 points, 5.2 assists and 3.2 rebounds in 723 career games (518 starts) with the Bulls, Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons and Memphis Grizzlies.

  Injuries limited Rose to 24 games (seven starts) with the Grizzlies in 2023-24 as he averaged 8.0 points, 3.3 assists and 1.9 rebounds.

  --Field Level Media

Five-time All-Star and former top overall draft pick John Wall announced his retirement from the NBA on Tuesday.

• Wall, who will turn 35 on Sept. 6, last played in the league with the Los Angeles Clippers during the 2022-23 season. Knee injuries limited him to just 147 games since the start of the 2017-18 season.

  "Every jersey I've worn meant more than wins and stats," Wall said in a video posted on social media. "It represented something bigger."

  Wall began the first of his nine seasons with Washington after being selected by the Wizards with the top overall pick of the 2010 NBA Draft out of Kentucky. He averaged 19.0 points, 9.2 assists and 4.3 rebounds in 573 career games (561 starts) with Washington.

  "One of our franchise all-time greats. The definition of an era. A lasting legacy. A forever Wizard. Congratulations on your retirement," the team wrote on social media.

  Wall, who did not play in 2019-20, was involved in a blockbuster trade with the Houston Rockets on Dec. 2, 2020, that saw Russell Westbrook sent to Washington. The Wizards sent Wall and a first-round pick in the 2023 NBA Draft to the Rockets for Westbrook and a lottery-protected first-round pick in the same 2023 draft.

  Wall played one season in Houston (2020-21), sat out the 2021-22 season with an injury and came back to compete in 34 games with the Clippers in 2022-23.

  --Field Level Media