EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The New York Giants are interviewing former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett on Wednesday to be their offensive coordinator, a source told ESPN, confirming an NFL Network report.

The Giants recently requested permission to speak with Garrett about their head-coaching position before hiring Joe Judge. They needed permission because Garrett was still under contract.

His contract with the Cowboys expired Tuesday, and the Giants brought him in to talk about being one of Judge's top assistants.

The Giants also interviewed Mike Shula for the job earlier this week, and Judge was expected to talk with former Cleveland Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens about a spot on his offensive staff. Shula was the Giants' offensive coordinator under Pat Shurmur and helped with the development of rookie quarterback Daniel Jones. Kitchens worked with Judge earlier in their careers at Mississippi State.

Garrett, 53, spent the past nine seasons as the Cowboys' head coach. He previously served as their offensive coordinator.

Garrett also has ties to the Giants organization, having played there from 2000 to 2003, and is well-respected inside their building.

At Judge's introductory news conference, co-owner John Mara was asked about the possibility of hiring Garrett as the Giants' offensive coordinator.

"I certainly wouldn't have any objection to that," Mara said. "I have a lot of respect for Jason. At the end of the day, that's going to be Joe's decision."

Garrett's experience as a head coach could serve as an asset to Judge, who has never been a head coach at any level. Judge spent the past eight seasons as an assistant under Bill Belichick in New England, most recently as the special-teams coordinator and wide receivers coach.

Garrett had been with the Cowboys since 2007. He led Dallas to an 85-67 record as the head coach, making it to the playoffs three times.

The Cowboys finished 8-8 this past season and allowed Garrett's contract to lapse while hiring Mike McCarthy as his replacement.

Garrett has experience working with young quarterbacks. He was a key figure in the development of current Cowboys starter Dak Prescott, a fourth-round pick in 2016. Prescott finished fourth in the NFL with a QBR of 70.1 this season.

Jones, the No. 6 draft pick out of Duke last year, had his ups and downs throughout his rookie year. He threw 24 touchdown passes with 12 interceptions but also lost 11 fumbles.

Wednesday was a good day for hip-hop legend Ice Cube.

After countless calls and months of planning, his BIG3 basketball league has announced major changes for the upcoming season of professional 3-on-3 hoops.

The league is now officially recognizing that athletes are playing a completely new sport known as FIREBALL3 as the result of game innovations, unique rules and league policies introduced by the BIG3 over its first three seasons -- such as the 4-point shot and 14-second shot clock.

The BIG3 has also lowered its minimum age for qualifying athletes from 27 to 22, will use a red ball known as a FIREBALL and will hold open tryouts to welcome all athletes starting in 2020.

Also, once per half, a team can challenge a foul call with the "Bring the Fire" rule, which will result in an in-game one-on-one possession with the victor winning the call.

"I think lowering the age does erase the stigma [of this being a retirement league]," Ice Cube told ESPN. "It might've kept people from playing in the BIG3 because they don't want to seem like they're done.

"So we want to get rid of all the stigmas that the league had and when we first started the league. We vowed not to be rigid and to evolve with what the league is doing and what it needs to be, so this allows us to make the right moves at the right time and still keep the integrity of what basketball is."

All of these changes were made to gain more credibility entering the fourth season. Some of the league policies over its first three seasons have already encouraged player choice in the use of cannabidiol (CBD) for recovery, single foul shots, player empowerment and coach challenges.

Last year, seven-time NBA All-Star Joe Johnson became the first BIG3 player to land an NBA deal, as he reentered the NBA picture after a dominant effort in the 3-on-3 ranks. Johnson didn't make the final roster, but did receive a training camp invite with the Detroit Pistons.

Nate Robinson, Gilbert Arenas, Josh Smith, Amar'e Stoudemire, Mike Bibby, Stephen Jackson, Glen "Big Baby" Davis and Rashard Lewis are among the long list of other former NBA players who have competed in the BIG3 since it started in 2017. All athletes are now welcome, even two-sport players.

"We might get NFL players; you never know. Whoever thinks they can ball," Ice Cube said. "[Musicians] Chris Brown, J. Cole may try out. You never know. Whoever feels like they can ball on this level, it'll be good to see and look. ...

"This is not a publicity stunt. It's not a charity thing. It's if you're good enough, and the coaches, player-captains, co-captains are the one that will be the judge if someone can get to the combine, so you're going to have to show what you can do."

Ice Cube founded the league with entertainment executive Jeff Kwatinetz, and they're looking to continue to appeal to a more diverse audience. This is the start.

"The only way to really do this is to project that we believe it's a different thing. So now instead of being a different version of a playground game, it's something that's new and fresh," Kwatinetz said. "We're never going to be the best of what we do as a niche sport. We're never going to be better than the NBA, but in the same way cricket and baseball or rugby and football [coexist], you don't have to be better than the other to be different."

Dallas Mavericks power forward Kristaps Porzingis plans to return Wednesday night against the Sacramento Kings after missing the previous eight games with right knee soreness, sources told ESPN.

Porzingis remains listed as questionable on the NBA's official injury report.

The Mavs went 4-4 without Porzingis, whose recovery was complicated by an illness that prevented him from working out for a few days.

"But this was the plan to come back around this time even if I didn't get sick," Porzingis told reporters after the Mavs' road win over the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night.

Porzingis is averaging 17.3 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game in his first season with the Mavericks.

The New Orleans Pelicans anticipate that rookie Zion Williamson will make his regular-season debut Jan. 22 against the San Antonio Spurs.

Williamson, the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft, has missed the entire season thus far while recovering from October knee surgery. David Griffin, the Pelicans' executive vice president of basketball operations, told reporters Wednesday that the team wants Williamson to participate in two more practices before playing in a game.

Williamson, 19, is slated to join the Pelicans in practices Friday and Sunday, one day before New Orleans travels for a game Monday at Memphis.

According to Griffin, Williamson would then make his debut at home against San Antonio.

Griffin also told reporters that the Pelicans and Williamson never considered the possibility that the rookie forward would be sidelined for the entire season.

Former major league pitcher Tim Hudson has been named the pitching coach for the Auburn baseball team, it was announced Wednesday.

Hudson, a standout hitter and pitcher for the Tigers in 1997, compiled a 222-133 record with a 3.49 ERA and 2,080 strikeouts over 17 seasons with the Athletics, Braves and Giants. He was a four-time All-Star selection and won a World Series with San Francisco in 2014.

"Tim has already impacted Auburn baseball, Auburn University and our community enough to last a lifetime," Auburn coach Butch Thompson said in a statement. "But amazing people always seem to have more to give, and that couldn't be more true for Tim and Kim Hudson.

"I've never been more excited for our current pitchers and future recruits to be able to learn from one of the best competitors of all time," Thompson added. "I believe Tim's experience makes Auburn the premier pitching development experience in amateur baseball. Adding Tim to the mix with Chris Joyner, Anthony Sandersen and Blake Logan will form an elite group of teachers."

In 1997, Hudson led the Tigers to the College World Series and was named an All-American and SEC Player of the Year after going 15-2 with a 2.97 ERA and 165 strikeouts while also hitting .396 with 18 home runs and 95 RBIs.

"I appreciate Coach Thompson for giving me the opportunity to join the great coaching staff at Auburn baseball," said Hudson, who replaces Steve Smith. "I'm thrilled to have the chance to work with these young men and help them build on a successful and memorable 2019 season.

"There's no doubt that we have a great pitching staff, and I'll do my best to get to know each of those pitchers to help them be as successful as they can be, both on and off the field. I'm excited about getting started, and I'm grateful for this chance to rejoin the Auburn baseball family. I can't wait to put that Auburn uniform on again."

Auburn begins its 2020 season on Feb. 14.

While commissioner Rob Manfred has cleared Carlos Beltran of possible discipline in the Houston Astros' sign-stealing scandal of 2017, the New York Mets' silence about their newly hired manager continues.

Sources told ESPN that the Mets are assessing the situation concerning Beltran, who is supposed to open spring training with the team next month in what would be his rookie season as a big league manager.

Historically, the Mets have been sensitive to criticism in the New York market. In recent days, there have been hard questions raised in the media about Beltran's past denials about his role in the Astros' cheating scandal and his accountability for what occurred.

Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch were fired Monday, hours after being implicated in the report by Major League Baseball, and suspended for one year. Similarly, Alex Cora, who was a bench coach with the Astros in 2017 and part of the sign-stealing scheme, was let go by the Boston Red Sox as their manager Tuesday, in what the team is saying was a mutual decision.

Besides those three, Beltran was the most prominent person mentioned when Manfred presented his report, and the Mets have not issued any statements reiterating that he'll continue to be the team's manager.

Two of the game's brightest minds, Alex Cora and AJ Hinch, are now unemployed, forced to confront the possibility that their suddenly tainted reputations might prevent them from ever managing again. Two of the sport's most dominant teams, the 2017 Houston Astros and the 2018 Boston Red Sox, now shoulder the reputation of cheaters, their illegal sign-stealing practices spoiling the memories of their greatness.

It has been an unimaginably dispiriting start to the 2020s for Major League Baseball, and this might only be the beginning.

The Astros have been hit with an array of penalties that include year-long suspensions for their two most important employees, the loss of four draft picks within the first two rounds and the largest allowable fine. But the Red Sox, who got out in front of looming punishment by firing Cora on Tuesday evening, are next. And other teams might eventually be incriminated in one of the biggest cheating scandals in sports history.

Many, as you might imagine, have thoughts. ESPN spoke to more than 15 executives, coaches, scouts and players about key topics surrounding the Astros' cheating scandal -- from the stiffness of the penalties to the perceptions of wrongdoing to potential ways to prevent it. Opinions were provided under the condition of anonymity because MLB asked its personnel not to comment.

The 2020 Astros were not hurt nearly enough

A longtime executive went through the penalties to illustrate how the Astros were not necessarily harmed in a big-picture sense.

• A $5 million fine? Chump change for a team that profited far more than that by winning the World Series, and something that probably pales in comparison to not having to pay Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow during their season-long suspensions.

• The loss of a first- and second-round pick in the 2020 and 2021 drafts? Successful teams pick later, which lessens the value of their picks, and they're constantly giving up future assets for immediate returns.

The longtime exec called those draft picks "a liquidated cost," and a veteran scout said the organization "should have been hammered" internationally -- an area where the Astros were not penalized whatsoever.

• The biggest blow, it seems, comes from the suspensions of Luhnow and Hinch, the two foundational pieces in the Astros' resurgence. Both were subsequently fired by owner Jim Crane, who must find a new GM and manager with only weeks remaining until spring training. But the Astros can simply replace them internally, with bench coach Joe Espada expected to be the new manager and assistant GM Pete Putila probably handling most of the baseball-operations work moving forward.

Firing Luhnow and Hinch grants the Astros "a clean slate," the executive said -- a benefit for Crane, given the fallout.

"In one sense, it was on the lighter side because the commish was clear and then they broke the rules some more," another executive told ESPN." So this was the least they could do. If this was isolated, maybe it's not so bad. But they were brazen in breaking the rules."

Isn't a tarnished reputation enough?

That's the question a longtime manager posed when asked if the penalties were enough to serve as a deterrent for other teams, making the point that Luhnow and Hinch could struggle to work in baseball again and might never hold such high-profile positions.

"At the end of the day," the source said, "all we have in this game is our reputation."

A front-office executive agreed, calling the punishments "stiff" while saying: "I would be surprised if anyone else would want to jeopardize their livelihoods and reputations."

But some players presented an interesting scenario: If you were to go back in time and tell Crane that he would win the World Series, but then have to suffer through the fallout of this scandal -- the fine, the loss of draft picks, the suspensions and subsequent firings of his two most important employees, the public smearing for unethical practices -- would he take that deal? The players, emphatically, believe that he would.

And that brings us to another point: The position players who used the system and potentially reaped the benefits were unharmed.

"It's hard for me not to look at my own numbers against them and be pissed," a retired major league pitcher said. "Everyone involved deserves to be seriously punished because it's wrong."

How can a player-driven scheme not punish any players?

This was definitely on the minds of executives and players alike. And for good reason. One player likened it to giving immunity to a burglar just so he can tell you how he broke into your house and stole your television.

"It makes zero sense," one rival player said.

But when pushed on how to dole out punishments, that same player was at a loss. Another player might have summed it up best.

"You can't punish a whole team," this pitcher said. "And some of those guys are not with the Astros anymore. It has to be the organization. Like in college football -- when there's misconduct, by the time it's found, most players and sometimes coaches are gone. The fans and the current players take the brunt of the punishment. Same here."

Executives were more concerned about the message it sends. Perhaps they're also concerned about their own fates being tied to the players.

"It doesn't seem like there are any consequences for players for doing this stuff, so as a result, why would they stop?" one executive asked. "I suppose if they see how much trouble they can get their manager in, then maybe that will matter."

One thing is for sure -- it's going to be a major topic this spring.

"Frankly, players have been aware for a while," another exec said. "But now that people have lost jobs, it will be addressed again with our team and I'm sure every other one in baseball starting next month."

What did opposing players know or suspect of the Astros cheating?

It was a pretty open secret among rival players that the Astros were stealing signs in some fashion, but no one ESPN spoke with knew to what extent they were doing it.

"I faced Carlos Beltran in 2017," one pitcher said. "I actually went back and looked at the AB. I knew it could be the last time I might pitch against him and I wanted to get him out. He was always such a hard out. I got ahead 0-2, then he laid off four straight pitches. I couldn't believe it. When I went back to watch it, I heard the banging. I just figured I was tipping or whatever. No one knew to what extent they were doing it, but we all suspected something."

Some players said suspicions about the Astros illegally stealing signs were a constant topic of conversation coming in and out of series in Houston dating as far back as 2016. Grievances were filed, one player said, and baseball did not act until the issue reached the public. But multiple pitchers also put the onus on themselves, assuming they were tipping their pitches or, at worst, the Astros had an elaborate -- but legal -- process of stealing and relaying signs. They definitely wondered how the Astros were winning the battle when the bases were open (meaning no runner on second base).

"MLB knew teams were up to something more than I think I even realize because why else would these employees be sitting with us monitoring all this stuff and then putting the clubhouse TVs on eight-second delays," one pitcher said. "That's where I figured the stealing was coming from. I guess I wasn't that far off. TVs were used."

2017 World Series, Game 4

A longtime scout cited Game 4 of the 2017 World Series from Minute Maid Park to prove a point about the Astros' sign-stealing chicanery. Dodgers starting pitcher Alex Wood performed well, giving up only one run and one hit over the course of 5⅔ innings -- but his process was telling.

That night, Wood and his catcher, Austin Barnes, switched their sequence every eight pitches or so out of paranoia that the Astros were stealing the signs, the scout said. Earlier this offseason, in the wake of Mike Fiers' public comments about the Astros' illegal sign-stealing, Wood told The Athletic that he had "heard whispers of some of the shady stuff they'd been doing" and thus accounted for them -- though he did not realize the extent of them.

The Astros went 8-1 at home while on their way to a championship that October, winning every postseason game except the one against Wood. The seven other starting pitchers who faced the Astros at Minute Maid Park that month -- names such as Chris Sale, Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia, Yu Darvish and Clayton Kershaw -- gave up a combined 28 runs in 31⅓ innings.

The scout also recalled a handful of ugly swings and misses by some of the Astros' stars during that postseason, when the bat path was nowhere near the pitch's trajectory.

Strangely, this also provided him with confirmation.

"Good hitters don't miss pitches like that," the scout said, "unless they think they are getting something hard and they get spin instead."

Less technology? More technology?

So what can baseball do to stop this problem going forward? A veteran pitching coach says he believes MLB can quell the sign-stealing issue with one simple mandate: a technology shutdown at the start of games. It means no iPads in the dugout and no functioning TVs nearby, with the only exception being the replay-review room -- where an MLB representative is always stationed throughout the game, a policy that was instituted last season.

A longtime manager says he believes video coordinators should not be allowed near the dugout and should not be in communication with the players and coaches because they can provide teams with the most valuable resource of all -- real-time video of the game, rather than the standard eight-second delay that is current policy.

"It's Pandora's box," the source said. "You allow communication in the dugout [with the video replay room], and players are asking, 'What signs are they using?'"

But a current pitcher says he believes an uptick in technology might hold the answer, and summoned another sport for a potential solution. In the NFL, coaches and players -- usually quarterbacks and linebackers -- use headsets to communicate plays on the field, the pitcher noted. And the same should be true for a catcher, pitching coach or manager and the pitcher, with other players -- the third baseman, shortstop, center fielder, or anybody else who traditionally reads the signs to determine positioning -- gaining access if they desire.

The system wouldn't just crack down on sign-stealing, the pitcher said, but potentially also quicken the pace of games, an ongoing pursuit by MLB. Catchers wouldn't be making so many trips to the pitcher's mound to change sign sequences. And perhaps those prolonged bullpen games that come into play when a starting pitcher gets knocked out early would be minimized.

Is anyone shocked Alex Cora lost his job in this?

Not after the news out of Houston broke Monday. More than one player agreed Cora was the "ringleader" for the Astros sign-stealing saga. As often is the case with teams, the bench coach has intimate knowledge of the goings-on with players even more than the manager does. In this case it cost Cora his job with the Red Sox. There was no getting around it.

"A few of us texted with each other that we knew Cora was next," one player said. "It's been a rough 24 hours for baseball."

British number three Kyle Edmund beat Andreas Seppi to reach the quarter-finals of the Auckland Classic.

The 25-year-old recovered from a break down in the second set to beat the experienced Italian 6-3 7-6 (7-4).

He will play American world number 20 John Isner in the last eight.

Edmund reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open two years ago but has since fallen to 69 in the rankings going into this year's event, which starts in Melbourne on Monday.

British number one Dan Evans will play his Adelaide Open quarter-final against Russia's Andrey Rublev on Thursday.

A number of tennis greats played in a charity match to take the amount of money raised for the bushfire appeal to over 4m Australian dollars.

Home player Nick Kyrgios raised A$1,600 (£954) in aces alone at Wednesday's Rally for Relief, while Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal - who between them have won 39 Grand Slams - joined together to donate A$250,000 (£132,285).

The firefighters in attendance were given a lengthy, standing ovation by the crowd, while one joined Nadal on court to play doubles.

"Back home in Canberra, I couldn't even go outside. It was emotional," said Kyrgios, who made the first pledge to the appeal.

"I'm so happy we had Roger, Rafa, Novak [Djokovic] - some of the greats to get behind it. We're doing everything we possibly can to overcome this together."

A number of players have pledged to donate money for each ace they hit while in Australia, including all those involved in the exhibition match.

Ongoing bushfires in the country have killed at least 28 people and destroyed an estimated 10 million hectares (100,000 sq km) of land.

Australian Open qualifying has also been affected by smoke in Melbourne, with the city's air quality rated "very poor" on Wednesday.

The two teams for the doubles were:

Kyrgios, representing Team Wozniacki, then played a singles match against Federer for Team Williams, with the Swiss winning 7-6 (7-4). Team Williams were also the overall winners.

American Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, said she had taken her daughter, Olympia, to meet the firefighters.

"For 20 years, this has been my home. We're all here tonight to support and help out," she added.