Orlando Magic rookie Jalen Suggs will not need surgery on his fractured right thumb and will be reevaluated every two weeks before a decision is made on his return to the court, the team said Tuesday.

Per the Magic, Suggs' return "will ultimately depend on the healing of the bone."

Suggs fractured the thumb during Monday night's 101-96 loss at the Philadelphia 76ers.

The fifth overall pick in this year's draft out of Gonzaga, he has been a bright spot for the four-win Magic, averaging 12.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 21 games.

The New York-based law firm leading the NBA's investigation into the workplace culture of the Phoenix Suns under owner Robert Sarver has begun scheduling and conducting in-person interviews of current and former team employees, but it's unclear whether those who have signed non-disclosure agreements will be able to speak freely to investigators.

The Suns organization and the NBA each declined to answer questions from ESPN about whether the former employees will be released from their confidentiality agreements in order to avoid potential legal penalties if they speak to investigators.

A Suns spokesperson said the organization "is fully cooperating with the investigation" but declined to answer questions about the NDA release, citing the ongoing investigation.

NBA spokesperson Mike Bass also declined to answer the question, saying: "It would be irregular to detail the methods of any investigations while it is ongoing -- as doing so could potentially prejudice or otherwise jeopardize the integrity of the investigation. All those participating will be assured that the process will be fair and impartial."

The league launched an investigation after ESPN published a story that included allegations of racism and misogyny in a sometimes hostile and toxic workplace during majority owner Robert Sarver's 17-year tenure in Phoenix. The Suns subsequently encouraged employees with any pertinent information to participate, league sources said. Recently, two investigators visited Phoenix and, over a videoconference call, ensured confidentiality to everyone who requested it to participate in the investigation, sources previously told ESPN.

But one former Suns employee told ESPN they remain uncertain about whether they can speak freely about their experiences in Phoenix, saying they would be "happy to speak" with the investigators if they are assured they will not face legal consequences. The employee is hopeful that "the NBA would have my back."

The investigators, who are expected to return to Phoenix as soon as next week, have been coordinating off-site interviews with employees in the days and weeks ahead, league sources said. The attorneys have requested documents from the Suns, including emails, human resources records and information about non-disclosure agreements, league sources said.

A former Suns human resources employee previously told ESPN that the organization would often make a settlement agreement when an employee threatened to sue or raised issues that could lead to legal action. It's unclear how many former employees have signed non-disclosure agreements, but team sources said the number of former employees who signed NDAs, along with the total amount spent on severance packages, is of interest to minority members of the Suns ownership group.

"The league and the Phoenix Suns say they want an 'open and transparent investigation', but what is taking so long with employees being released from NDAs?" said one former Suns executive. "This should be done already."

Michael Selmi, an Arizona State University law professor who focuses on employment and discrimination law, told ESPN that he would expect all current and former employees who signed non-disclosure agreements to be allowed to speak to the league's investigators.

"If you do go after employees [with signed NDAs] that participate in the investigation, it would be hard to label that as 'full' cooperation,'" Selmi said.

"The reality is [NDAs are] hard to enforce," Selmi added. "Most people abide by them because the fear of penalties can be strong, but there's very little enforcement in courts over NDAs, so that means there is not as much case law about when NDAs are enforceable and when they're not."

Selmi explained that "fear of penalties" could include potential legal action from the Suns against employees who signed NDAs.

Under Article 24 of the league's constitution, NBA commissioner Adam Silver is granted broad powers "with protecting the integrity of the game of professional basketball and preserving public confidence in the League."

Such broad powers extend to investigations, including that Silver has the right to require "testimony and the production of documents and other evidence" from any employee, owner or member of the NBA.

In the weeks since the Suns provided employees with the contact information for the investigating attorneys, that contact information has been shared widely among former employees, with many reaching out to the investigators to inquire about times to meet, league sources said.

Evander Kane says there's a "good plan in place" for his return to the NHL, following his first practice with the San Jose Sharks' minor league affiliate on Tuesday.

Kane, 30, completed a 21-game suspension for violating the league's COVID-19 protocols. According to multiple sources, the suspension was due to Kane's submission of a fake vaccination card to the NHL and the Sharks.

He was sent through waivers on Nov. 28 and assigned to the AHL San Jose Barracuda after no team claimed him. While the Sharks continued a five-game road trip in New Jersey, Kane wore a bright yellow jersey in his first practice with the Barracuda on San Jose's practice rink.

Kane said he's leaving it up to the Sharks and his new agent, Dan Milstein of Gold Star Sports, to work out the next steps of his NHL career. The winger is signed through the 2024-25 season with a $7 million cap hit. It's widely expected that the Sharks, or a third trade partner, would have to pick up part of that annual salary to facilitate a trade. Kane also has a limited no-trade clause.

"I look forward to whatever is to come here in the next week or so," he said.

As for the suspension, Kane wouldn't elaborate on the vaccination card scandal.

"You'll have to refer to the NHL statement. I served my time, did my 21 games, and now I'm back," he said, adding that he is now fully vaccinated.

The suspension was only part of the controversy surrounding Kane in the offseason. The NHL investigated allegations of domestic assault made by his estranged wife, Anna Kane, in a divorce filing, and said they "could not be substantiated."

Anna Kane also accused him of betting on NHL games and influencing the outcomes of Sharks games for his own financial benefit. The NHL investigated those claims and found no evidence that Evander Kane had bet on hockey, which is prohibited by league rules. Kane said the accusations were "obviously" false.

"I didn't lose any sleep over it. It was definitely not great to be associated with that at the time. But they investigated me heavily, interviewed a bunch of different people and found what they found, which is nothing," Kane said of the gambling investigation. "Anybody who's played with me or coached me knows how competitive I am, so that would probably be the last thing that anyone would suspect."

The Sharks did not bring Kane to their training camp before the 21-game suspension removed him from the roster to start the season. Multiple reports have indicated that Sharks players did not want Kane back in their locker room. Kane said he was surprised to hear that.

"I don't think you're going to have a group of people for 150 or 160 days get along perfectly, but I think there's been a misconception of the entire team or multiple players," he said. "It's funny: I had my end of the year meeting last year and it was all positive, positive, positive. But apparently something happened over the summer that I wasn't aware of. It was all new to me and news to me. It was interesting."

That said, Kane hasn't spoken with any Sharks teammates over the past month.

"No, I've been doing my own thing. Getting myself prepared, handling my business. As I'm sure they have," he said.

Kane has 506 points in 769 NHL games, including 49 points in 56 games last season.

Five-star quarterback Malachi Nelson committed to USC on Tuesday, following former Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley to the Trojans.

"Yeah, This feels right," Nelson wrote on Twitter, along with a graphic that included the words "STAYING HOME."

Yeah, This feels right ✌? pic.twitter.com/HyVe11X4mf

— ✨Malachi Nelson✨ (@MalachiNelson9) November 30, 2021

Nelson is the No. 3 prospect in the 2023 class, according to ESPN's rankings, and had been committed to the Sooners since July. He decommitted from Oklahoma in the hours following Riley's departure and is now the first big commitment of Riley's USC tenure.

Nelson is a 6-foot-3, 175-pound prospect from Los Alamitos High School in Los Alamitos, California. He's the second-best quarterback in the class of 2023, per ESPN's rankings, just behind Arch Manning from Isadore Newman High School in Louisiana.

Oklahoma has seen seven decommitments since Riley left, but Nelson is the first to follow him to USC.

ESPN 300 running back Raleek Brown, who is still committed to Oklahoma as part of the 2022 class, told ESPN on Sunday that Riley joining USC "changes everything" in his recruitment.

Riley has already been out to see Brown and there is a good chance Brown eventually follows Nelson and flips to USC.

Nelson is now the second commitment in USC's 2023 class and the highest-ranked.

Michigan's first victory over rival Ohio State in 10 years has given the Wolverines a clear path to their first appearance in the College Football Playoff.

After upsetting the Buckeyes 42-27 at the Big House on Saturday, the Wolverines are No. 2 in the selection committee's latest rankings, which were released on Tuesday night. The final rankings, which will determine which four teams will play in the two CFP semifinals on New Year's Eve, will be released on Sunday at noon on ESPN.

Unbeaten Georgia remained No. 1 for the fifth consecutive week, followed by Michigan, Alabama, Cincinnati and Oklahoma State.

As long as Michigan defeats No. 13 Iowa in Saturday's Big Ten championship game in Indianapolis, it figures to play in a CFP semifinal at either the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic or Capital One Orange Bowl.

Georgia reached 12-0 for the first time since its last national championship season in 1980 with a 45-0 victory at Georgia Tech on Saturday. The Bulldogs play Alabama in Saturday's SEC championship game in Atlanta. Georgia might get in the CFP even if it loses to the Crimson Tide because of its dominance this season.

"I don't see how that has anything to do with anything," Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart said. "I've said all my career that to win SEC championships is almost just as hard, because the years I spent at Alabama you could say that winning the SEC championship was just as hard as trying to win a national championship, and it's one of our goals. We want to put it on this wall in [the team meeting room], and to do that, you've got to win the SEC. That's what we're focused on."

The Crimson Tide's ranking remained unchanged after yet another closer-than-expected victory, a 24-22 win in four overtimes at Auburn in the Iron Bowl. Alabama, the defending national champions, won each of its final three SEC games by seven points or fewer.

Cincinnati, which is attempting to become the first team from a Group of 5 conference to crash the CFP, plays No. 21 Houston at home in Saturday's AAC championship game on ABC.

The Cowboys, after a 37-33 win against Oklahoma in Bedlam on Saturday, have their highest ranking this season. If Oklahoma State defeats No. 9 Baylor in Saturday's Big 12 title game on ABC, it might leapfrog the unbeaten Bearcats, or move into the top four if Alabama or Cincinnati loses.

"There was a lot of discussion, but it's hard to say how it fell at three, four and five," selection committee chair Gary Barta, the athletic director at Iowa, said on ESPN's rankings release show.

With just one loss to the Bearcats, Notre Dame is No. 6, followed by Ohio State, Ole Miss, Baylor and Oregon. The Fighting Irish, who lost coach Brian Kelly to LSU on Monday, don't play this weekend and will have to wait to see how things shake with the other contenders.

"I think this team is really well-positioned," Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick said Tuesday. "I believe we're one of the top four teams in the country. The cumulative results of our last four or five games, I think, are compelling. I think we can play with anybody in the country right now."

Coaching situations can factor into the discussion after next week's games, Barta said on the show.

"The committee was obviously aware of all the coaching changes," he added. "For this week, though, it didn't apply."

The Buckeyes fell five spots after losing to Michigan for only the second time in the last 17 meetings. Oklahoma fell four spots to No. 14 after falling to the Cowboys, and Texas A&M tumbled 10 spots to No. 25 after losing 27-24 at struggling LSU.

Kentucky re-joined the rankings at No. 23, and Louisiana is ranked for the first time this season at No. 24. Previously undefeated UTSA and Wisconsin, which was No. 14 a week ago, fell out of the rankings.

The Badgers being out could eventually hurt the Irish in the long run, as Notre Dame is counting on its September win over Wisconsin to help its final rank.

The NBA has completed a study with infectious disease specialists and testing manufacturers on the preseason antibody test results of 2,300 players and staff, citing further evidence of a need for booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines for league personnel, according to a copy of the study's findings obtained by ESPN.

The NBA's study found Moderna and Pfizer vaccines created higher levels of antibodies compared to Johnson and Johnson and detailed the decline of antibodies over time. The NBA wanted to understand the effectiveness of different vaccines, and what different levels of antibodies might mean for risk of infection.

The NBA is aware of 34 cases of fully vaccinated players or team staff becoming infected with a breakthrough case of Covid-19 through November 19, including 31 that had detectable levels of antibodies significantly lower than those observed in the remaining testing population, according to the report. Three of the 34 infections happened with "not detected" antibody levels, the study said.

The NBA has a 97% vaccination rate among its players, the league says. The NBA is using the findings of the report to encourage eligible players to follow the previous NBA/NBPA recommendation of getting a booster shot, and team doctors are expected to use these results to educate players on the importance of the additional vaccination protection.

Within the 2,388 people tested in the preseason, 75 produced "not detected" results, including 11% who had received the Johnson and Johnson vaccine. That percentage was considerable higher than those who received Pfizer (1%) and Moderna (0.2%).

Those results suggest that those received the J&J vaccine at least two months ago -- or a second dose of Pfizer or Moderna at least six months ago -- are at increased risk of breakthrough infections.

SACRAMENTO -- LeBron James has entered the league's health and safety protocols and will not play in Tuesday's game against the Kings, the Los Angeles Lakers announced.

It is expected that James will miss several games, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

James has already missed 11 of the Lakers' 22 games coming into Tuesday because of injuries and a suspension. L.A. is 7-4 with James this season and 4-7 without him.

If a player has a confirmed positive test for COVID-19, the NBA mandates a minimum of 10 days of isolation away from his team without any physical activity. After that period, a player must undergo a cardiac screening and reconditioning in order to be cleared to return to the court. A player who tests positive could also clear protocol by returning two negative PCR tests within a 24-hour period.

James revealed on Lakers media day in late September that he had received the COVID-19 vaccine.

"I know that I was very skeptical about it all," he said. "But after doing my research and things of that nature, I felt like it was best suited, not only for me but for my family and my friends. And that's why I decided to do it."

The Miami Marlins acquired third baseman Joey Wendle as part of a deal with the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday, sources told ESPN.

In return, the Rays got back Kameron Misner, a 23-year-old outfield/third base prospect.

Wendle spent the past four seasons with Tampa Bay. He had a career-high 11 home runs to go with 54 RBIs and 73 runs scored in 136 games this past season for the AL East champion Rays.

Misner, the 35th overall selection in the 2019 draft, split time between Single-A and Double-A in 2021, hitting .253 with 12 home runs, 59 RBIs and 70 runs scored between the two.

Also Tuesday, the Marlins completed the signing of right-hander Sandy Alcantara to a five-year contract. The sides agreed Sunday to a deal worth $56 million. It includes an option for a sixth season, per the team.

ESPN's Buster Olney and Jeff Passan contributed to this report.