MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee Bucks coach Adrian Griffin says Damian Lillard will be available for Thursday’s matchup with the Boston Celtics after missing a game for what the team labeled as personal reasons.

BEREA, Ohio (AP) — Never flashy or full of himself, Amari Cooper downplayed his record-setting performance a few weeks ago in Houston.

HONOLULU (AP) — Justin Rose is among 39 players at the Sony Open who started the new PGA Tour season last week at Kapalua, one of the eight signature events for the elite that offer $20 million in prize money and more FedEx Cup points than regular tournaments.

Iconic coach Nick Saban is retiring after leading Alabama to six national titles in 17 seasons and winning another at LSU.  The 72-year-old Saban, who restored a program once ruled over by Bear Bryant to the top of the college football world since taking over in 2007. His decision was first reported by ESPN. Saban led the Crimson Tide to eight Southeastern Conference championship and six national titles. Alabama lost to Michigan in the College Football Playoff semifinals.

Juan Soto, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Pete Alonso are among 194 players across Major League Baseball still negotiating salaries for the 2024 season leading into Thursday’s deadline to exchange proposed salaries in arbitration. Four players reached agreements on one-year contracts Wednesday: Colorado right-hander Cal Quantrill for $6.55 million, Kansas City left-hander Kris Bubic for $2.35 million, Pittsburgh righty JT Brubaker for $2,275,000 and Atlanta righty Huascar Ynoa for $825,000. Soto, Guerrero and Alonso headline the list of 194 abitration-eligible players still without a deal. If an agreement isn’t reached before Thursday’s deadline, players and teams swap proposed salaries to be judged by an arbitrator.

HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — The Tennessee Titans have requested an interview with Las Vegas interim coach Antonio Pierce, potentially giving the Raiders competition should they eventually offer him the full-time job.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Two late goals in extra time gave Real Madrid a 5-3 win over Atletico Madrid in the semifinal of the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Liverpool staged a second-half fightback and scored twice in a three-minute span to beat Fulham 2-1 in the first leg of the English League Cup semifinals on Wednesday.

EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — The arrival of Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as Minnesota Vikings general manager two years ago initiated a personnel strategy he branded a “competitive rebuild,” shaped by an organization disinterest in tanking and a dire need for a younger and more financially flexible roster.

Aaron Rodgers’ Tuesday appearances on “The Pat McAfee Show” are over for the rest of this NFL season, possibly longer. McAfee announced at the beginning of his Wednesday show on ESPN that his fourth season of doing a weekly segment with the New York Jets quarterback had concluded. As his staff applauded in the background, McAfee said a lot of people would be happy to hear that news, including himself. Rodgers implied during a Jan. 2 appearance on McAfee’s show that comic Jimmy Kimmel’s name might appear on a list of associates of Jeffrey Epstein, a millionaire accused of sex trafficking involving underage victims before he died by suicide.

Rory McIlroy is offering another proposal to golf's fractured landscape, suggesting that players need to give up their status as independent contractors unless they want to go back to competing for prize funds from 10 years ago.

Defensive coordinator Wink Martindale and the New York Giants have parted ways after coach Brian Daboll fired two of his most trusted assistant coaches. The Giants announced the separation on Wednesday after more than a day of talks on how to work around the final year of Martindale’s contract. He was supposed to earn in the neighborhood of $3 million in 2024. No details of the split were released. The departure of Martindale means Daboll has to replace two coordinators and four assistants in the wake of a disappointing 6-11 season.

LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — The Chicago Bears are sticking with coach Matt Eberflus in 2024 after the team showed improvement over the second half of the season.

PHOENIX (AP) — The NCAA Division I Council approved a package of rules Wednesday related to how athletes are compensated for their celebrity endorsement work and proposed allowing schools to be more involved with such transactions that now total in the millions of dollars across the country.

UConn says forward Aubrey Griffin will miss the remainder of the season after doctors confirmed she suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee last week. The fifth-year senior forward was going up to contest a layup in the third quarter of the Huskies 94-50 win last Wednesday over Creighton when she grabbed her knee and collapsed to the floor. She decided to wait for an official diagnosis until the team returned from its two-game road trip to have the knee examined by UConn doctors, who confirmed the injury.

ROME (AP) — Lazio advanced to the Italian Cup semifinals by beating Roma 1-0 on Wednesday in a tense derby that saw three players sent off.

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — While the Washington Capitals try to return to the playoffs with the third-oldest roster in the NHL, coaches and players kept a keen eye on the world junior championship in Sweden.

Pete Carroll is out after 14 seasons as the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, responsible for two NFC championships and the only Super Bowl title in franchise history during his long tenure. The 72-year old coach is moving into an advisory role with the organization, according to a statement from owner Jody Allen on Wednesday. Seattle closed the regular season with a 21-20 win at Arizona on Sunday. The Seahawks entered the final two weeks of the regular season with the chance at reaching the playoffs for the 11th time with Carroll in charge, but a Week 17 loss to Pittsburgh left Seattle in need of help it didn’t get to close out the season.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Clippers have signed two-time NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard to a contract extension, the team said Wednesday.

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Just over a year after Lionel Messi led Argentina to the World Cup title in Qatar, international soccer is back in the Middle Eastern nation for the Asian Cup.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — There was always the hope, and perhaps even the expectation, that Chris Jones would still be wearing a Kansas City Chiefs jersey this season when he walked out of Arrowhead Stadium following their victory in the AFC championship game last year.

Police in South Florida say a man fatally shot a 30-year-old Buffalo Bills fan during an altercation outside Hard Rock Stadium after the Bills defeated the Miami Dolphins in the final regular season game. Miami Gardens police say Dylan Brody Isaacs and his friends had an altercation with a driver as they were returning to their vehicle after Sunday's game. Police say the driver pulled out a gun and shot Isaacs, who died at the scene. The man then fled in a Honda Accord, which was located in Palm Beach County the next day.  Detectives have identified and interviewed a suspect, but police haven't released the person's name.

Erik Spoelstra was hosting a clinic in the Philippines this past summer while the Miami Heat coach was there as an assistant with USA Basketball for the World Cup. One of the kids asked about his longevity with the Heat. Over the next few minutes, Spoelstra talked about friendships, loyalty and how fortunate he is that the Heat value stability. The latest reminder of all that came Tuesday with Miami signing Spoelstra to a history-making deal spanning eight years and worth roughly $120 million, the biggest contract in terms of total salary ever given to an NBA coach.

DALLAS (AP) — Marc-Andre Fleury’s quest to claim sole possession of second place in career NHL goaltending wins will wait until Friday.

Troy Lesesne has replaced Wayne Rooney as coach of D.C. United, two months after Lesesne was fired by the New York Red Bulls. The 40-year-old agreed to a three-year contract. Lesesne took over the Red Bulls from Gerhard Struber on May 8 with the team in last place. The Red Bulls made the playoffs by finishing eighth in the Eastern Conference and beat Charlotte in the first round before losing to Cincinnati. Lesesne coached New Mexico United in the second-tier United Soccer League Championship from 2018-21, then was hired as a Red Bulls assistant coach in January 2022.

Former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Julio Urías won’t be charged with a felony after his arrest in September on suspicion of domestic violence. A charge evaluation worksheet from the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office says Urías was arguing with his wife when he “pushed (her) against a fence and pulled her by the hair or shoulders.” However, the document says, “Neither the Victim’s injuries nor the Defendant’s criminal history justify a felony filing.” The DA is turning the case over to the city attorney to consider filing a misdemeanor. Urías still faces possible punishment from Major League Baseball, which could suspend the 27-year-old pitcher if it finds he violated the league’s domestic abuse policy.

ZURICH (AP) — The Brazilian and Argentine soccer federations were both fined by FIFA on Wednesday for a brawl between rival fans ahead of their World Cup qualifying game in November.

The college basketball landscape in the 1950s was dominated by the Baron of the Bluegrass, Adolph Rupp, who led Kentucky to the last two of his four national championships while putting the finishing touches on a dynasty that remains to this day.

Their names alone invoke greatness: Walt Hazzard and Gail Goodrich, Sidney Wicks and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Mike Krzyzewski needed three seasons to rebuild Duke.

Duke grew into a national power in the 1990s, then stayed entrenched there as college basketball rolled into a new millennium.

Duke remained above all when it came to the AP Top 25 poll for the 2010s, though with a smaller margin than before.

Dean Smith returned North Carolina to national prominence in the 1970s, regularly taking the Tar Heels on deep NCAA Tournament runs. But it was in 1982 that he took them to the March Madness mountaintop — with a little help from Michael Jordan.

UCLA's dynasty under coach John Wooden began in the 1960s with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, then known as Lew Alcindor, and kept right on going with Bill Walton in the '70s.

The AP Top 25 men's college basketball poll was originally designed in the 1940s to foster conversation among fans.

Jim Valvano is best known for leading NC State to the 1983 national championship in one of the biggest underdog victories in sports history. Before that, the late coach helped lead Iona into the national spotlight. The Gaels made their debut in The Associated Press men's college basketball poll in 1980, but were never ranked again. That puts them among 13 programs to go one and done in the AP Top 25 over 75 years. Army, led by Bob Knight, is among that group. So is the 1986-87 Northeastern team led by future UConn coach Jim Calhoun.

One season ended with an surprise team making an unforgettable run to the national championship. The other never found resolution due to a global pandemic.

Notre Dame freshman Hannah Hidalgo loves everything about the steal, from the quick move of her feet to the fast hands knocking it free and the open lane toward a breakaway basket. Hidalgo is the game's best at it right now, leading the country with 74 steals for the 18th-ranked Fighting Irish. Hidalgo has always taken pride in her defense and knows what a difference it can make. She's not alone in her belief in the power of steals. East Carolina's Danae McNeal and Siena's Elisa Mevius are both in the top five in steals per game this season.

Kentucky has been crowned the all-time No. 1 team after a review of 75 years of AP Top 25 polls for men's college basketball. The Associated Press began ranking teams in January 1949 with Saint Louis at No. 1, though the Wildcats would soon take over the top spot. Teams were awarded points based on where they landed on each ballot. Kentucky had 17,852 points and North Carolina had 17,268. Duke, Kansas and UCLA rounded out the top five. Louisville was sixth, Arizona seventh and Indiana, Syracuse and Michigan State made up the top 10.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Guenther Steiner, the first employee hired by Haas F1 and one of the stars of the Netflix docuseries on Formula One, has not been retained as team principal after a decade with the series' only American team.

Ken Klee happily traded a vacation in Costa Rica for the opportunity to coach the newly launched Professional Women's Hockey League franchise in Minnesota. The former NHL defenseman got the call to coach after Charlie Burggraf stepped down for personal reasons a week before the start of the season. Klee has Minnesota off to a 2-0 start and enjoyed having his team play its home-opener in front of a women's pro hockey record crowd of 13,316 fans. The 52-year-old is no stranger to women’s hockey. He coached the U.S. national women’s team to win gold at the 2015 and ’16 world championships.

CHICAGO (AP) — Blackhawks center Connor Bedard is expected to miss six to eight weeks after he had surgery to repair his fractured jaw.

The NHL players union has launched a mental health program aimed at educating and helping players learn more about their own well-being and that of their teammates and families. Players like Arizona’s Connor Ingram, Colorado’s Samuel Girard and Florida's Spencer Knight have opened up about struggles with mental illness. The voluntary program offered by the Mental Health Commission of Canada is a type of preventative measure the union hopes helps its members get ahead of potential problems. New York Rangers forward Blake Wheeler and Calgary captain Mikael Backlund are among the roughly 20 players who took part in the pilot program.