Defensive end Trey Hendrickson said Wednesday he's disappointed and confused by Cincinnati Bengals executive Katie Blackburn's recent comments on his contract talks with the team.

On Tuesday, at the NFL's annual meeting, Blackburn, the Bengals' executive vice president, said of Hendrickson, "I think he should be happy at certain rates that maybe he doesn't think he'd be happy at. I think some of it is on him to be happy at some point, and if he's not, you know, that's what holds it up sometimes. So, you know, it takes him to say yes to something, and also, we have all the respect in the world for him."

Hendrickson, who is looking for a new contract after posting 17.5 sacks each of the past two seasons, expressed his displeasure with those comments Wednesday in an appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show."

"First off, yesterday was April Fools' [Day] so I was traded to all 31 teams and had like a hundred different contracts. The one thing I was hoping was an April Fools' joke [were those comments]. Called my agent [Harold Lewis], found out it was not and that was a little disappointing because the communication has been poor over the last couple of months," he said.

Hendrickson said the Bengals have not communicated with his agent directly about his contract, saying that has "been something that's been a little bit frustrating."

"We're on the D-end National Football League Street. The market value for that is going up like it did for wide receivers last year. Where I fit in that road is all up to discretion. We're willing to talk about those things. With the market continuing to go up, I'm not going to apologize for that, because I've been basically asking for the same thing every year, to be solidified as a Cincinnati Bengal for life."

Trey Hendrickson

Hendrickson, who is set to enter the final year of his contract, said the team told him in a meeting with his agent last year that something would get done with his contract this year, which he said was reiterated at the scouting combine in February.

"Open line of communication is always open with me and my agent so if they have anything they'd like to discuss, we've been nothing but willing to listen," he said.

Hendrickson, 31, is coming off his best season in the league. He led the NFL in sacks and was named to the All-Pro team for the first time in his career. Hendrickson also made the Pro Bowl for the fourth straight season. However, at $21 million, he ranks 10th among edge rushers in average annual salary, according to OverTheCap.com.

Hendrickson's contract is the final hurdle remaining for the Bengals in an offseason where they also needed to address deals for wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. The Bengals took care of both of their star wide receivers last month, signing Chase to a four-year, $161 million extension and Higgins to a four-year, $115 million contract.

"Through this process, communication, when I say it's been poor, it's been like here and there," he said. "And respect to Ja'Marr and Tee. I don't want to take anything from all the great things they've accomplished in their careers. They deserve everything that they've gotten and no doubt in my mind they're going to excel in the National Football League. I have a tremendous respect for both of them. But when it comes to my situation, it would have been nice to know in some ways like, 'Hey we're going to put you in the queue,' no problem with me."

Hendrickson said he's not looking to become the highest-paid defensive end or "first in line" to get a deal done but with organized team activities set to begin later this month, there's an urgency to get something done.

"When you have things like OTAs coming and guys like Sam Hubbard, who's been a tremendous captain for our team last year, that leaves a vacancy for that and I'm excited to fill that but how do we reach that before we get there. Those are the things that matter when you're talking about a Super Bowl. It's in the little things and the little details," he said.

Hubbard, also a defensive end, announced his retirement from the NFL last month after seven seasons with the Bengals.

The Bengals had granted Hendrickson permission to seek a trade earlier this offseason, but so far there have been no developments on that front. Asked Wednesday if he has a deadline in mind on when he needs to get a deal or if it comes to it, force a trade, Hendrickson said he doesn't know if he "can put a time stamp" on that.

"That's where to read what I read yesterday was confusing, like it's my decision. I would have been willing to sign three years ago, two years ago and this year. It was communicated to me we would get something done this year and reiterated with [director of player personnel] Duke [Tobin]'s comments at the combine. I treat it like a house now, house value has gone up, it's the cost of living. In some ways life continues to go forward. I know I'm a football player. I'm training to be the best Trey Hendrickson I can be, and however that looks, whatever team, we can address that," he said.

Regarding his contract, he said "there are things I'm willing to do and things I'm not willing to fudge on."

"I don't think I want to play for incentives that will be out of my control. I don't think I want to play on a short-term contract and see where it goes. I would like to be able to tell my wife, here's where we're going to build a family together," he said.

He noted that the price keeps going up each year based on contracts signed by his peers the past few years. Just this year, both Maxx Crosby and Myles Garrett have reset the edge rusher market with their deals.

"Three years ago, it was the Rashan Garys, the Montez Sweats, those guys were balling out. The next year it was the Brian Burns, the Josh Allen deals, they were balling," he said. "Now it's getting to the point where guys with two years left on their deals, Maxx Crosby, Myles Garrett, guys with one year left on their deals Danielle Hunter, myself, TJ [Watt] and obviously Micah Parsons, he's an incredible athlete as well.

"I see that as that's the street. We're on the D-end National Football League Street. The market value for that is going up like it did for wide receivers last year. Where I fit in that road is all up to discretion. We're willing to talk about those things. With the market continuing to go up, I'm not going to apologize for that, because I've been basically asking for the same thing every year, to be solidified as a Cincinnati Bengal for life."

ESPN's Ben Baby contributed to this report.

THE GAME WAS over, but the noise wouldn't stop. Rebecca Lobo and her UConn teammates were ready to head out after a historic victory. But as they walked out of the locker room toward the Gampel Pavilion court, Huskies fans were trying to make time stand still, lingering in the arena long after the final buzzer had sounded.

"The people were still there. Like, singing 'R-E-S-P-E-C-T.' It was like a party no one wanted to leave," Lobo told ESPN. "A euphoric sort of feeling. Almost like they were afraid that if they left, the feeling would go away."

It was Jan. 16, 1995, and No. 2 UConn had defeated top-ranked Tennessee 77-66. It was billed as the first meeting between a traditional powerhouse and an up-and-coming program -- it ended up being one of the most important games in women's basketball history.

On Martin Luther King Day, the game was televised on ESPN at a time when the sport still had limited broadcast exposure. The Associated Press postponed Top 25 poll voting for a day to account for the outcome, an unprecedented delay.

"The energy in the building -- everything about it made it feel like the magnitude that it ended up being," Lobo said. "We had never experienced anything like that."

But the victory was a pivotal step in a season that changed the Huskies' lives, their program and the sport. Over the next 2 months, UConn put the finishing touches on a 35-0 season and won its first NCAA title, including another victory over Tennessee in the national championship game in Minneapolis on April 2, 1995.

The Huskies' 1994-95 journey, culminating in the second perfect season in Division I women's basketball history, included a preseason trip to coach Geno Auriemma's homeland of Italy, a new offense popularized by Phil Jackson's Chicago Bulls, the launch of the game's biggest rivalry and the birth of several legends.

In the years that followed, Auriemma's Huskies have gone on to win 10 more national titles -- and go for their 12th this weekend in Tampa, Florida. With all that winning, it's easy for some championship details to blend together or be lost to time. But not when it comes to the first one.

"That one's still as if it was last week," Auriemma told ESPN.

THE SEEDS OF UConn's championship run were sowed in 1994. That March, the Huskies lost in the Elite Eight to eventual champion North Carolina, a disappointing end to the program's first 30-win season. But the Huskies were optimistic for the following year, when they would return all their major players and add freshman sensation, and Connecticut native, Nykesha Sales.

That summer, the team went on a European trip to Belgium and Italy (Auriemma's home country), an opportunity to gauge the Huskies' process on the basketball court and to bond off it.

One night, Auriemma went from ordering his players around on the court to ordering them to wash dishes. He took the team to a restaurant where there was no English menu, so he made the choices. And a lot of players didn't finish their food.

Lobo, UConn center, 1991 to 1995: "Coach made us all bring our plates back into the kitchen and wash them. He thought we were being ungrateful. Like, 'Don't act like spoiled young kids [because] the food isn't something you're used to eating.' It was a lesson about accountability.

"Really, that's a big part of the culture at UConn -- then and still now."

When Auriemma wasn't instilling life lessons, the team experienced the typical thrills (and occasional mishaps) of traveling and playing abroad.

Chris Dailey, UConn associate head coach, 1985 to present: "Jamelle [Elliott] and Kara [Wolters] got stuck in a small elevator when we were coming home from Milan. Jamelle was so mad. She said it was because Kara's bag was too heavy and because they have the smaller elevators [in Europe]. To this day, we talk about that, and I think Jamelle's a little more cautious going into elevators. But if you saw Kara's bag, you wouldn't have gotten in the elevator, either. It was humongous. She's the worst packer ever."

From a basketball standpoint, the trip couldn't have gone much better. Auriemma and Dailey used the trip to install a triangle offense. They were also preparing to incorporate Sales, who as a freshman wasn't on the trip, into the mix. After seeing how well the Huskies fared against professional European squads, the team felt confident going into the season.

Dailey: "We played five games, and it was our last game. We were in an arena that had the plastic over it because fans throw stuff at teams when they play professionally. Kara Wolters got hurt in warmups, something with her back, so we literally only had five players. And at one point, I think Pam Webber ended up with a triple-double, and one of those was with fouls. They just let her keep playing because we didn't have anyone to sub." But the groundwork was laid.

Auriemma: "Once we got over there and I saw us play, I was convinced when we got back and put Nykesha in the mix, 'Man, it's going to be hard to beat this. We just have a lot.'"

The lineup included point guard Jennifer Rizzotti and an inside combo of 6-foot-4 Lobo, 6-7 Wolters and 6-foot Elliott. Rizzotti and Elliott were so competitive, they couldn't be put on opposing teams during practices or pickup games.

Auriemma: "Jen and Jamelle are just sled drivers. Everything had to be according to their standards."

Rizzotti, UConn guard 1992 to 1996: "Rebecca and [fellow senior] Pam [Webber] were much more of calming leaders for us, like the voices of reason in the locker room after games."

Ranked No. 4 in the preseason poll, the Huskies immediately clicked. Their closest game in November-December was decided by 23 points. Still, Lobo said the Huskies didn't really think about the pressure of trying to win a national championship.

Lobo: "We weren't walking into Gampel looking at all the banners then, like players do now."

Sales, UConn guard/forward 1994 to 1998: "We really had some good, tough, hard-nosed leaders that can get the best out of you on the court but also had great relationships with you off the court, which really matters. They did everything they preached. They came ready, they played hard, they were tough and gritty and knew the game."

Dailey: "We were definitely not the most talented group, but we were the best team. It's about chemistry, how to play and playing together. We were better at that than everybody we played that year."

ONE DATE LOOMED large: Jan. 16. ESPN brokered a matchup between the Huskies and Tennessee, which at that point had won three NCAA titles. Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt agreed to come to Storrs, Connecticut, two days after playing at Auburn.

Holly Warlick, Tennessee assistant coach, 1985 to 2012: "Pat was always going to do whatever was best for women's basketball to grow. UConn was up and coming, and she thought it was important for us to play them. Plus, Pat always wanted to get ready for the NCAA tournament. She just accepted the challenge.

"We as assistants weren't always very happy. Like, 'growing the game' again? Can't we just worry about trying to win?"

Dailey: "Tennessee's thing back then, they would put two big guys on the block and throw it in and dare you to be able to guard them and stop 'em. And they would pressure you and press and press and press. So every day from the first day of practice, we had our practice players pressure our guards."

Auriemma: "The practice the day before, I think it lasted like 45 minutes or something. I had to stop. It was just ruthless. Those guys were so ready to play. It was unbelievable."

Dailey: "Then they didn't even press us, but we were ready for it."

Tennessee was 16-0, UConn 12-0. The Huskies had a 41-33 lead at halftime, and the Lady Vols never got closer than four points in the second half. Wolters had 18 points, Rizzotti 17. Lobo had 13 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 blocks.

Mimi Griffin, ESPN analyst, who called the game with Robin Roberts: "Women's basketball had great rivalries before, but the masses did not know about them. This one particular game established a rivalry with sustainability at the highest level, and in the backyard of ESPN and New York-based media. All the stars aligned."

Later that night, several players attended the UConn men's game versus Georgetown in Hartford.

Dailey: "They were walking down [into the stands], they get a standing ovation. It was just this moment that will always stand out to me."

The UConn-Tennessee rivalry ultimately consumed women's basketball for the next decade-plus. But in the moment, it reaffirmed the Huskies' confidence for the rest of their season.

Carla Berube, UConn forward, 1993 to 1997: "That game probably just put in our minds, 'We can play with anybody. We can beat anyone in the country.'"

Auriemma: "Maybe because of what happened the year before, we were determined to not take our foot off the gas or go to practice and pretend like we're way better than we are. I was able to coach them really hard, really demanding. The more I pushed them, the more they wanted to be pushed.

"I had never been through a season where the feeling was, 'If we show up every day and play, I don't think anybody can beat us.'"

Rizzotti: "That was the first year they were really starting to show women's basketball highlights. As the season continued, and we stayed undefeated, ESPN kept putting us on 'SportsCenter.' So it was a big ritual for us: Watch 'SportsCenter' and see what Keith Olbermann would say about us."

UCONN GOT ANOTHER confidence-building win in front of 17,000 fans in Kansas City, Missouri, against No. 17 Kansas on Jan. 28 in a nationally televised doubleheader with the Huskies men's team, which was also unbeaten heading into its game.

Rizzotti: "It was the first time we ever chartered anywhere with the men's team, which was probably the last, because they lost and we won. We're on the charter [to go home] and CD's like, 'You've got to be quiet in the back.'"

Auriemma: "The ride out there was a trip, and the ride back was an LSD trip. I sat all the way in the back, like I charged a toll. You had to go by me to go use the restroom. I would not have wanted to be in [the UConn men's team's] shoes that ride home."

The spotlight in Storrs intensified, especially on Lobo, the front-runner for national player of the year.

Auriemma: "Unfortunately for Rebecca, but fortunately for the rest of them, she took the brunt of it all. Eventually, the only way we could somewhat get a handle on it is we just stopped sending her to press conferences, just started sending other people. But even that didn't necessarily calm anything down."

Lobo: "At St. John's, I went to the scorer's table to check into the game. A St John's player was there at the same time, and the game wasn't particularly close. She said to me, 'After the game, can I get my picture with you?' I was blown away, thinking, 'What? We're competing against each other!'"

Rizzotti: "She was the face of the program in a way that no one had ever had to deal with before. She was a rock."

Even Auriemma, whose wisecracking personality was perfect for entertaining the media, at times got overwhelmed by all the attention.

Auriemma: "I was like, 'I can't handle all this.' When we won the Big East championship that year, I said to [wife] Kathy, 'We've got to get out of town.' We went to Newport, Rhode Island, for two-three days, because we didn't have practice.

"But you couldn't get away from it. I never knew it would become like that on a regular basis."

UCONN WON ITS first three NCAA tournament games -- over Maine, Virginia Tech and Alabama (a Final Four team the year before) -- by an average of 35.7 points. At the regional in Storrs, Virginia was the Huskies' last hurdle to the Final Four. UConn jumped ahead, but the Cavaliers rallied and took a seven-point lead at the break. It was the only time all season the Huskies trailed at halftime.

Auriemma: "I was scared to death: 'We're not even going to get to the Final Four.' This is ridiculous."

Lobo: "Jen and Jamelle came in [to the locker room], and they were like, 'Come on, let's go! We're going to kick their asses in the second half. We are not losing this game!' As players, they were the two toughest SOBs on any team. So then I had a feeling like, 'Yep, we got this.'"

Auriemma: "I went in at halftime. Apparently, Jen and Jamelle had already read the riot act in there, so I guess whatever I said didn't matter anymore. But they came out and played great."

Still, it was tense until the end. The Huskies, up by three, forced a critical five-second violation by the Cavaliers with 19 seconds left.

Berube: "I do remember feeling a little stressed, like, 'This can't be the end. This is not how this was written.' Our defense finally came through when it needed to."

Stanford, which had defeated UConn in three previous meetings, awaited the Huskies in the national semifinals in Minneapolis. The programs had gone head-to-head for some recruits, including Lobo. At the time, the relationship between Auriemma and Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer was frosty.

Lobo: "There was a lot going into that game -- a feeling like we had been disrespected. We had played out there my junior year and lost. During our warmups then, we had been counting our made shots and clapping; it's just something you do. Somebody heard one of their players say, 'Oh, they can count!'"

The flexibility allowed by the triangle offense worked perfectly against the Cardinal. The Huskies won 87-60, led by Wolters' 31 points and nine rebounds.

Lobo: "I had not expected it to be so easy."

VanDerveer, Stanford coach, 1985 to 2024: "They were experienced. They played well together. They had a plan. By the Final Four, they were playing with a lot of confidence and just had a lot of weapons. Because they had never won, they were just very hungry. That was a really special team."

Auriemma: "[Then VanDerveer's] prediction was, 'There's no way they can beat Tennessee' in the final. How's that make any sense? We just beat you by 27. Pick us and make yourself look good."

The Huskies and Lady Vols had less than 24 hours to prepare for the championship game; this was the last year that the women's semifinals and final were on back-to-back days. With all the fan attention and frenzy surrounding the team, UConn stayed outside the city instead of at the NCAA-provided hotel in downtown Minneapolis.

Lobo: "That whole weekend was a whirlwind. It felt like if we weren't on the basketball court, we were somewhere accepting an award for something. Sleep had never been an issue for me. Now here I was before the national championship game, having the hardest time getting any sleep. And it was this ridiculous turnaround. I probably got like four hours of sleep that night."

UConn was still unbeaten, but Tennessee had won championships before. The Huskies didn't like being considered the underdog, and then the Lady Vols irritated Rizzotti even before tipoff.

When the Huskies went to warm up, the Tennessee players were stretching in the center circle, including on UConn's side of the court.

Rizzotti: "It was kind of an audacious statement to think that you could just sit on our half of the court because that's what you did every other game of the year. I told them to get off. And they all looked at me. I walked over the scorer's table, and I said, 'Get them off our half of the court. We're trying to warm up.' They made the move."

Lobo: "That just pissed her off, which was the wrong thing for them to do. Jen will look for anything to use as a sign of disrespect to get motivated; to this day, she's like that in her personality."

Then the game started, and whistles became the Huskies' biggest concern. Lobo, Wolters and Rizzotti were in foul trouble in the first half.

Lobo: "I got my third foul on a screen-and-roll; Dee Kantner called it, and I still give her a hard time for it. I don't think it was a foul, but it also probably was a stupid risk for me to take on the roll."

Auriemma: "We were down six at halftime and I was very calm, actually. I said, 'So we have three All-Americans sitting on the bench, and we're down six. If we played against anybody and their three All-Americans are sitting on the bench, how much do you think would be up at halftime? And they're like, '20.' I go, 'Exactly. It's not going to end like this.'

"And in the last 10-12 minutes of that game, Rebecca became Rebecca Lobo, national player of the year."

Lobo: "I just ran the baseline, demanded the basketball, got it, turned and shot it. And the shots were going in. It was a different feeling than I had ever felt before -- like I'm going to take a little bit more ownership of this."

"Then I looked up at the clock, saw the time and the score, and it hit me that there was no mathematical way that we could lose the game."

Auriemma: "The biggest shot of the game was, I think, Nykesha threw it to Jamelle and Jamelle scored to give us the lead late in the game against a kid like 6-foot-3. Jamelle was barely 5-10, 5-11. And I thought, 'That's the one right there.'"

UConn won the national championship 70-64 behind Lobo's 17 points and eight rebounds, with four other Huskies scoring in double figures. The image of Lobo running back toward the UConn bench with arms in the air defined the moment.

LATER, BACK AT the team's hotel, the celebration was on for the team, their families and supporters. A "guardian angel," as Lobo put it, had filled the tub in her and Rizzotti's room with ice and alcohol.

Eventually, Auriemma and most of the players gathered in his suite with a VHS tape of the game to watch.

Auriemma: "They're introducing the starting lineups, and they're sitting there booing the introductions. I was sitting on the couch, trying to keep myself awake or something. The game's going on. They're yelling and screaming, throwing stuff, and I was running commentary and they're like, 'Shut up!''

Lobo: "At some point, because he can't help himself, he starts rewinding and treating it as if it's a film session. Missy Rose, who was a sophomore that year, just looks at him and flips him the double bird. It was just so perfect. It was something she would never do in a real-world environment. But we had just won the national championship and we're enjoying one of the greatest celebratory moments of our lives."

Eventually the players dispersed, and with his family asleep, Auriemma took in the moment alone.

Auriemma: "That's probably when it really hit me. And then I heard a thump and open the door. There's the paper, back when they used to give the newspaper at a hotel. I am sitting there reading [about the victory] in USA Today. And I go, 'Yeah, I was there.'"

But a bigger celebration -- seemingly with everyone in the state of Connecticut -- was still to come. Along with all the new expectations. UConn had crossed over into superpower territory.

Auriemma: "We were flying back from Minneapolis. I said to Jeff Hathaway, our assistant [athletic director] at the time, 'Isn't there a way that we can have what we have and do what we just did, but not have to deal with what's coming next?' He said, 'No, unfortunately, those two things go together.'"

Lobo: "We land at Bradley Airport, and there's thousands of people there on the other side of the chain-link fence. We go over to greet them, and we're all massively hung over and exhausted. All we want to do is sleep.

"Then we get on these charter buses to get to campus ... people lining the sides of the highway, on the overpasses. They had signs, like they had spray painted on a sheet, 'Go UConn, national champs.' We couldn't help but joke it was reminiscent of the summer in 1994 and the O.J. Bronco chase."

Auriemma: "It's like man landing on the moon. [TV] helicopters flying above us ... they interrupted the soap operas to show where our bus was."

Dailey: "I think of Nykesha Sales' mother. She was at the Bloomfield exit. Ever since, for every other championship, she's been there."

Lobo: "We get on campus and find out we're still not able to go home, there is a reception at Gampel that afternoon. And it's completely packed. We were super appreciative, of course. Then it was like, 'Can we finally go to sleep?'"

For Lobo, the circus never slowed down. She went on talk shows like "Late Show with David Letterman," missed her graduation because of U.S. national team commitments and became one of the first three players to sign with the WNBA. Now an ESPN analyst and mother of four, she thinks back on how magical UConn's 1995 title run was.

Lobo: "I understand the perfect storm of all the factors that came into play: us being in the backyard of ESPN, the proximity to New York media, the NHL strike [during the 1994-95 season] that meant there were more minutes available on 'SportsCenter.' That we were undefeated.

"But I do sort of believe in the fate part of it. I knew I wanted to play for Coach Auriemma and that I belonged there. I believed it so much; it drove me to be able to tell my parents for the first time in my life that I was doing something against their wishes. They didn't want me to go there.

"It sounds obnoxious when teams say something like they were 'destined to win.' But it did feel like there was something set in motion that helped us play a role that we were meant to play."

Dailey: "There will never be another feeling like the first time that we won a national championship. I don't think it could ever be better."

Oklahoma freshman guard Jeremiah Fears will enter the 2025 NBA draft and forgo his remaining college eligibility, he announced on ESPN's "The Paul Finebaum Show" on Wednesday.

"I was lucky to walk into a great situation at Oklahoma with a lot of opportunity," Fears said. "I had great teammates and coaches working with me every day to help a young freshman achieve his dreams."

Fears, the No. 7 prospect in ESPN's NBA draft projections, was named to the SEC All-Freshman team after averaging 17.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 30 minutes per game this season.

Glen Taylor has agreed to the Marc Lore-Alex Rodriguez group acquiring 100% ownership of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx at the same $1.5 billion price the sides reached agreement on in 2021, sources told ESPN.

As part of the agreement, Taylor decided not to appeal an arbitrators' ruling from February that ruled in favor Lore-Rodriguez in a dispute over the sale contract.

The NBA has started the transfer process, including ultimately holding a board of governors vote, sources said.

Lore and Rodriguez initially agreed to purchase the team from Taylor in 2021 in a three-part sale. The first two tranches, totaling 36% of the teams, changed hands for about $500 million as planned. But in March 2024, Taylor called off the sale when he believed Lore and Rodriguez breached terms of the sale agreement and missed a deadline to finalize the deal.

There was a disagreement, and the issue eventually went to arbitration, where Lore and Rodriguez prevailed in a split decision among a three-judge panel.

In the meantime, Lore and Rodriguez shored up their group by adding partners, including billionaire former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, billionaire former Google executive Eric Schmidt, and Blue Owl Capital, an NBA-approved private equity fund. The group raised an additional $950 million and put it in escrow to demonstrate that it was prepared to execute the transaction.

Over the past six weeks, the Lore-Rodriguez group and Taylor held discussions and came to an agreement to finalize the deal.

Taylor, 83, purchased the Wolves in 1994 for $94 million, saving the team from a possible relocation to New Orleans. He had put the team on the market and pulled it off several times over the past two decades.

Ten-time NBA All-Star Carmelo Anthony has been notified that he has been elected into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2025, sources tell ESPN's Shams Charania.

Anthony, a six-time ALL-NBA selection, was drafted third overall by the Denver Nuggets in 2003, a draft that featured LeBron James going first to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Dwyane Wade going fifth to the Miami Heat.

Anthony quickly developed into one of the league's premier scorers, averaging 21 points per game over the course of his rookie season. He would go on to average 24.8 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists over eight seasons and 564 games for the Nuggets, which included a Western Conference finals loss to the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2008-09 season.

In 2011, Anthony was traded to the New York Knicks as part of a blockbuster three-team deal as the Baltimore native returned to the East Coast and quickly became a fan favorite for a Knicks fan base that was clamoring for a superstar. He led the NBA in scoring in 2013 but could not lead the Knicks beyond the second round of the playoffs that season. Melo would average 24.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 412 games with the Knicks.

After seven seasons with the Knicks, Melo was traded to the Thunder ahead of the 2017 campaign but spent just one season in Oklahoma City. He then spent parts of the next five seasons with the Houston Rockets, the Portland Trail Blazers and the Lakers, joining L.A. for 2021-22, his final season in the NBA. He would finish with career averages of 22.5 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game over his 19-year career while shooting 44.7% from the floor, 35.5% from 3-point land. Anthony finished with 28,289 points, good for 10th on the NBA's career scoring list.

As a collegian, Anthony made his one-and-only season at Syracuse count, leading the Orange to the 2003 NCAA championship and earning Most Outstanding Player honors along the way.

Anthony also starred for the United States in Olympic play, capturing a bronze medal in 2004 followed by three straight gold medals during the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Games, finishing as the most-decorated American men's Olympic basketball player of all time.

The NBA is looking into Memphis Grizzlies superstar Ja Morant using his hands and arms to mimic shooting a gun toward the Golden State Warriors' bench late in Tuesday night's game between the Western Conference rivals, sources told ESPN on Wednesday.

The league probe will also look into Warriors guard Buddy Hield's gesture ahead of Morant's finger-guns motions, sources said. League officials will conduct an investigation and talk to involved parties as soon as Wednesday, the sources said.

The incident occurred during a timeout with 20.1 seconds remaining in the Warriors' 134-125 road win over the Grizzlies.

As Morant walked toward the Grizzlies bench on the other side of the court, he formed imaginary guns with the fingers on both hands, pointing them toward the Warriors bench with his left arm fully extended. The referees issued double technical fouls to Morant and Hield.

Morant, 25, a two-time All-Star, has twice been suspended by the NBA due to brandishing a firearm on social media.

The first incident occurred in March 2023 during an Instagram live stream while Morant was partying at a suburban Denver nightclub after a loss to the Nuggets. The NBA issued an indefinite suspension that ended up spanning eight games.

Morant was suspended for the first 25 games of the 2023-24 season for conduct detrimental to the league after he brandished a firearm during an Instagram live stream on his friend's account in May 2023.

The Grizzlies (44-32) have lost seven of eight games to slip to sixth place in the Western Conference standings. Memphis fired coach Taylor Jenkins on Friday.

FOLLOWING A SIX-POINT loss to the Brooklyn Nets, the Detroit Pistons had just set the all-time mark for consecutive losses in a single season in NBA history, dropping 27 in a row. It was Dec. 26, 2023. Inside the locker room, the mood was somber and quiet -- apathy a constant threat to seep into a season well on pace to becoming the worst in NBA history. Cade Cunningham, the team's 22-year-old cornerstone, spoke first.

"Don't jump off the boat," he said. " Right now is the easiest time to stand off and be on your own, but we need to continue to lean on each other and continue to push each other and hold each other accountable more than ever now."

There's perhaps no player in the league who would know better. After being selected No. 1 in the 2021 NBA draft, he had endured a miserable 23-win rookie campaign and an injury-marred 17 wins the following year, and he was now in the middle of a season that was breaking all the wrong records.

And after enduring the worst record in franchise history last season, at 14-68, Cunningham carries those low moments with him as he leads a miraculous Pistons turnaround this year, quieting what might remain of any bust talk as a heavy favorite to win the NBA's Most Improved Player.

"There was a time where I didn't give them much else to think," Cunningham told ESPN, when asked about the early bust talk. "But I felt support since day one being here, though, and more than anything I wanted to hold up my end of the bargain."

Detroit is 42-32 this season entering Wednesday's showdown with the West-leading Oklahoma City Thunder (9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN), making the Pistons the first team in NBA history to triple their win total from the previous season, excluding the two lockout seasons in 1998-99 and 2011-12, per ESPN Research.

Cunningham is averaging career highs in points per game (25.7), assists per game (9.2) and field goal percentage (46.2%). He has a chance to become the first Pistons player to average 25 points per game in a season since Jerry Stackhouse in 2000-01, when he set the franchise record with 29.8 PPG.

"I don't think people are giving him his full respect," New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson, another former No. 1 pick, told ESPN. "In my opinion, he's an All-NBA player this year. He's been doing his thing, but from watching Cade from afar and my few interactions with him, he's somebody that's gonna let his work speak for him."

That work could make Cunningham the third player in Pistons history to average nine or more assists per game in a season, joining Isiah Thomas (six times) and Kevin Porter (13.4 in 1978-79), and the first to have a 25-9 season.

His goals are much higher, however.

"I think I can be the best basketball player in the world. I think I'm on my way," Cunningham said. "I want people to understand that and that's what I'm working to show people every time I play."

WITH FIVE SECONDS remaining in regulation, Detroit Lions All-Pro receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown pulled out his phone, hoping to capture the scene from his courtside seat in Miami. It was March 19. The Pistons and Heat were tied 113-113.

As he pressed record, he told his girlfriend, Brooklyn Adams, and Lions teammate Craig Reynolds, how he had never witnessed the Pistons win in person..

Pistons veteran Tim Hardaway Jr. inbounded the ball to Cunningham in the waning seconds, and as Cunningham broke free, he launched a 25-foot 3 that banked in to give the Pistons the improbable win at the buzzer.

Cunningham raised his No. 2 Pistons jersey in front of the Kaseya Center crowd in jubilation.

He had finished with a triple-double, with 25 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists in the victory.

Former Pistons two-time All-Star Andre Drummond, now with the Philadelphia 76ers, posted the viral image of Cunningham.

Drummond still roots for Detroit. He was part of the most recent Pistons team to reach the playoffs in 2018-19, and he has said he wants to someday retire in Detroit.

"This is amazing to see Detroit win. People actually look at me crazy for posting or liking stuff in Detroit, but it's, like, Detroit's my home," Drummond told ESPN. "To see the success of the city of what's going with the team, I almost feel like I'm a part of it even though I don't play for the team."

St. Brown, a fourth-round selection in the 2021 NFL draft, also relates to Cunningham's rise. The Lions have ascended from a 3-13-1 season in 2021 to a record-setting 15-win season in 2024.

"Obviously, it's different sports but we've kind of had the same journey, in terms of just team success. I feel like I know exactly how it feels," St. Brown said.

"I'm glad to watch it and to be able to sit back and to see them come from really nothing to being a solid team right now. I see myself and the Lions in them a lot."

It didn't take long for Cunningham to win over the long-frustrated Detroit fan base. On draft night, he broke out a pair of Cartier sunglasses, known around town as "Buffs," which is an iconic fashion piece in the city.

He learned about the city's culture through popular rappers like 42 Dugg, Sada Baby and Babyface Ray, as well as the underground movie scene and through the Tubi TV show McGraw Ave. When the league announced that Cunningham was named to his first NBA All-Star game in January, 42 Dugg was one of the first to share the news.

"I feel like Cade fits more into the culture with all of us being young and up and coming," 42 Dugg said. "He fits more into us. We've seen Cade out a few times. He gives us more of something to root for. We're all behind Cade."

Cunningham has nine triple-doubles this season, third-most in Pistons history behind NBA legend Grant Hill, who posted 13 in 1996-97 and 10 in 1995-96.

No other player in Pistons history has ever had five in a season.

Cunningham's style has often been compared to Hill's before injuries robbed him of peak.

Hill, the managing director of the USA men's national team, doesn't mind hearing his name attached to a rising star such as Cunningham, who he sees as a strong candidate for the FIBA World Cup and Olympics during the next cycle.

"I think there's some similarities in terms of trying to just control the game and trying to have an impact on the game in a number of different ways," Hill told ESPN.

"He thinks the game at a very high level, and he's got just this incredible feel and incredible basketball instincts, and I do feel like those were some of the similarities that we brought to the game."

ASK THOSE AROUND Cunningham for an underrated quality of his game, and the response is nearly universal. It's the leadership he provided when the losses mounted, and now, too, when the wins are doing the same.

"Very rarely do you find a guy who can grow and develop and not leave people behind," said Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff ahead of Detroit's 123-103 win over Washington on March 11. "Cade has the uncanny ability to not only take care of himself and do what's best for his development and growth, but he makes sure that his teammates are always right alongside, and giving them the same opportunities that he's getting."

Consider: Cunningham has the third-most points created this season on drives (1,162), behind MVP front-runner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, according to Second Spectrum.

And he has assisted on 75 3-pointers to teammate Malik Beasley and 84 dunks to Pistons center Jalen Duren, both the most in the NBA respectively by any passer-shooter combo, per Second Spectrum.

That potential is why Pistons owner Tom Gores agreed to sign Cunningham to a five-year, $224 million maximum rookie extension last offseason, a deal that was met with questions across the league.

"What I saw in Cade is not something you just see on the court. He embraced the adversity; he didn't put it on anybody else. He took his own accountability," Gores told ESPN. "Part of the reason I didn't blink is he didn't blink. He didn't start like, 'Oh, geez, Detroit.' He was all in.

"And we knew we had to change some things and sometimes you learn the most in the tough times ... you go through some war with each other and you see how somebody acts, and I thought he handled it so well in so many ways. So I didn't blink, honestly."

Through four seasons, Cunningham has already played for three different head coaches: Dwane Casey, Monty Williams and now Bickerstaff.

He missed most of his second season with a stress fracture in his left leg and has yet to experience the NBA playoffs, but he says he's having the most fun of his career at the helm of Detroit's resurgence.

"Winning. I think that's the main difference for real," Cunningham said. "It's a lot of fun winning games. It's not fun losing at all, so playing in meaningful games and constantly putting ourselves in a position to win has been a lot of fun this year."

Duren said: "He's only gonna continue to get better. This is probably the worst version of him we will see."

The Los Angeles Dodgers acquired speedy outfielder Esteury Ruiz from the Athletics in exchange for minor league right-hander Carlos Duran on Wednesday.

Ruiz, a 26-year-old right-handed hitter who was designated for assignment by the A's three days earlier, will be optioned to the Dodgers' Triple-A affiliate. If called up, he can provide speed off the bench and fill in at both center field and second base.

In his first full season in 2023, Ruiz led the American League with 67 stolen bases and provided solid defense in center field, contributing three outs above average. His slash line, however, was just .254/.309/.345 with five home runs in 132 games.

The 2024 season was a struggle for Ruiz. An injury to his left wrist forced him out for close to seven weeks. After about a week of action, he was shut down again due to lingering discomfort. And then, near the end of September, he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. All told, Ruiz posted a .652 OPS in 29 major league games and a .994 OPS in 16 minor league games.

The emergence of Lawrence Butler and JJ Bleday severely limited Ruiz's role with the A's, and he was taken off the 40-man roster after lefty Angel Perdomo was claimed off waivers from the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday.

Duran, a 23-year-old right-hander who's listed at 6-foot-7, made 19 starts across three levels in the Dodgers' system last year, combining for a 4.73 ERA with 73 strikeouts and 32 walks across 53 innings.

The Dodgers transferred pitcher Kyle Hurt to the 60-day injured list to make room for Ruiz on the 40-man roster.

Rookie second baseman Kristian Campbell and the Boston Red Sox agreed to an eight-year extension Wednesday, marking the earliest in a career the Red Sox have ever locked up a player to a multiyear deal.

The extension is worth $60 million, sources told ESPN.

Barely a week into Campbell's time in the big leagues, the Red Sox showed even more faith in Campbell than they had by breaking camp with him. The deal, which will go through the 2034 season, includes two club options, sources told ESPN.

Campbell, 22, was the consensus minor league player of the year in 2024 after a star-making performance that came out of nowhere. With an unorthodox-looking right-handed swing, Campbell hit .330/.439/.558 with 20 home runs and 77 RBIs while jumping from High-A to Triple-A.

Boston officials entered camp hopeful Campbell would earn the second-base job, and despite the possibility of big-dollar free agent signing Alex Bregman occupying it. Bregman remained at third base, with Rafael Devers switching to designated hitter to accommodate Campbell's arrival.

The Red Sox's continued spending -- they locked up ace Garrett Crochet to a six-year, $170 million deal earlier this week -- enriches a long-term core that includes Devers signed until 2033, super-utility man Ceddanne Rafaela through 2031, Crochet and right-hander Brayan Bello through 2030 and the forthcoming arrival of Campbell's running mates in Boston's big three prospects, outfielder Roman Anthony and shortstop Marcelo Mayer.

Boston's desire to lock in players to early-career deals in hope of maximizing their performance is no secret. And Campbell's first week with the Red Sox only serves as validation: He's hitting .375/.500/.688 with a long home run to left-center field.

Campbell's burgeoning power helped launch him toward the top of prospect lists this winter. After hitting .376/.484/.549 in his lone season at Georgia Tech, Campbell went to the Red Sox in the fourth round with the compensation pick they received for losing Xander Bogaerts to San Diego in free agency. Boston coaches helped rebuild Campbell's swing and saw immediate results, more than doubling his homer-per-game output from college.

At 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds, Campbell will be the solution for a second-base position held down for more than a decade by Dustin Pedroia. Since his retirement following the 2017 season, the Red Sox have been led in games played at second by six different players in seven years.

Britain's Fran Jones was helped off court in a wheelchair after collapsing during a match in Colombia.

Jones was attempting to serve in the ninth game of a deciding third set in Bogota when she fell to the floor.

The 24-year-old initially lay on her back before rolling on to her side as she was attended to by medical staff.

Opponent Julia Riera walked over to check on Jones and helped lift her on to a wheelchair.

Jones, the British number five, was unable to finish the first-round match in the Colsanitas Cup, a WTA 250 tournament.

"Due to a physical issue, Francesca Jones has withdrawn from her match against Julia Riera at 6-2 5-7 5-3 in favour of the Argentinian," read a Colsanitas Cup statement.

"We wish the British tennis player a speedy recovery."

Jones beat Riera in straight sets last week on her way to winning the W75 Vacaria in Brazil, the eighth ITF title of her career.

Meanwhile, Heather Watson is out of the Charleston Open after a straight-set defeat by Iryna Shymanovich in the first round.

The British number seven was beaten 7-6 (10-8) 6-4 by the Belarusian world number 215.