Kansas was picked No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 preseason men's basketball poll Monday, getting the nod on half of the 60 ballots from a national media panel to start the season ahead of Alabama and two-time defending national champion UConn.

Kansas scooped up 30 first-place votes from the AP panel. The Crimson Tide, led by All-America guard Mark Sears and Jarin Stevenson, earned 14 first-place votes, and UConn, which is trying to become the first school since John Wooden's teams at UCLA to win three straight titles, received 11 first-place votes and is third.

Houston earned four first-place votes and is fourth, just ahead of Iowa State, which returns its top four scorers from a team that was a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament. Gonzaga received one first-place vote and is in sixth.

Duke, led by consensus No. 1 recruit Cooper Flagg, is No. 7, ahead of Baylor, North Carolina and Arizona to round out the top 10.

The Jayhawks were preseason No. 1 a year ago, too, but the season hardly went as planned. They were dragged down by injuries and struggled in Big 12 play, and a team led by All-American center Hunter Dickinson ultimately was routed by Cincinnati in the conference tournament and by Gonzaga in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Kansas coach Bill Self retooled in the offseason, landing one of the nation's top transfer classes with AJ Storr (Wisconsin), guard Zeke Mayo (South Dakota State) and Rylan Griffen (Alabama) joining Dickinson and fellow seniors Dajuan Harris Jr. and KJ Adams Jr. -- both part of the Jayhawks' 2022 national title squad -- to form a deeper and more talented team.

"We welcome being No. 1, especially with our returning players like Hunter, Dajuan and KJ, and then you add the players we brought in," Self said. "The goal is to be No. 1 at the end of the season, and though we welcome this, it is not the end goal."

The new-look Big 12, which lost Oklahoma and Texas but welcomed Arizona, Arizona State, Utah and Colorado, has three of the top five and five of the top 10 in the preseason AP poll. The SEC leads the way overall with nine ranked teams.

"To have three Big 12 teams in the top five and five in the top 10 just shows how competitive this league will be," Self said. "Every year we talk about the Big 12 being the toughest conference in the nation, and with the four additions it became even stronger."

No. 11 Auburn, Tennessee and Texas A&M start off the second 10, followed by Purdue and Creighton. John Calipari has Arkansas at No. 16, with Indiana, Marquette, Texas and Cincinnati -- making its first poll appearance since 2019 -- also in the top 20.

The Boilermakers are trying to win a third straight Big Ten title after the departure of AP player of the year Zach Edey.

"We have three starters back from a Final Four team. We have five freshmen. We have a lot of guys with experience outside of those three starters," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "We're excited about it. We're excited about this group."

Florida, UCLA, Kentucky, Ole Miss and Rutgers round out the preseason Top 25.

"I'm excited about the expectations," said Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell, whose team is ranked in the preseason poll for the first time since 1978. "We always had high expectations, and now in a league with 18 teams, you know, people are saying, 'How good are you? There's 18 teams. They're great coaches.' I don't know where we sit. If you came to our practice yesterday, you would say, 'Oh, boy.' And if you came a couple of days earlier, you might think, 'Hey, they're going to be pretty good.'"

Outside looking in

Illinois is tops among others receiving votes after reaching the Elite Eight. Rick Pitino has St. John's on the doorstep along with Xavier, Texas Tech and Wake Forest. The first regular-season poll is due out Nov. 11.

Trying to make history

Four schools that have never appeared in the Top 25 received preseason votes, led by the McNeese Cowboys, who went back to the NCAA tournament last season. Little Rock, Grand Canyon and High Point also received votes.

Stats and streaks

Kansas is ranked No. 1 in the preseason poll for the fifth time, trailing only North Carolina (10), Duke (9) and UCLA (8) for the most since the preseason rankings debuted in 1962. ... Houston has the longest active Top 25 streak at 86 weeks. The Jayhawks are second at 65. ... Iowa State has its best preseason ranking in school history. Texas A&M matched its best. ... Kentucky is in the preseason poll for a record 57th time. The Tar Heels appear for the 55th time.

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- The Highmark Stadium lights dimmed as the Buffalo Bills prepared to exit the tunnel. Smoke filled the field under a pink hue.

The starting defense was announced one by one before the team's first "Monday Night Football" game of this season, Week 3 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

As safety Taylor Rapp was called out of the pop-up wagon-tunnel, the last player was set to emerge. This moment of significance was not lost on Damar Hamlin, who made the sign of the cross before stretching out his arms, circling and then pumping his fists when his name was called, taking in the cheers that rained down.

Hamlin ran through the smoke and joined his teammates.

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The Bills went on to beat the Jaguars, 47-10.

Mondays have been important within the arc of Hamlin's NFL career. It was during a "Monday Night Football" game in Week 17 of the 2022 season when Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest against the Cincinnati Bengals, setting off an outpouring of concern and sympathy that transcended football in the following days and weeks.

It was also on "Monday Night Football" -- the blowout of the Jaguars -- when he recorded his first career interception. The days in between saw Hamlin progress from a backup safety with an uncertain future to a starter on the Bills' defense.

With countless Mondays to come -- starting with a MNF jaunt against the New York Jets (8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN) in which the Bills are looking to break out of a two-game slump -- Hamlin is working to strengthen his role on the field while growing his impact off it.

"I won't lie, Monday nights are a little bit more meaningful to me, but I'm so deep into my process that maybe when it's all said and done and I'm back reflecting and I'm doing whatever I'm doing after I'm done playing, and watching 'Monday Night Football' [will] probably be a lot more special to me," Hamlin said.

THE EVENTS OF Monday, Jan. 2, 2023, will forever stay with Hamlin.

That night in Cincinnati, the Bills and Bengals were meeting for a key Week 17 matchup as the AFC playoffs loomed. The conference's No. 1 seed was up for grabs.

Hamlin collapsed in the first quarter after making a tackle and was resuscitated with life-saving CPR administered by athletic trainer Denny Kellington. The entire organization and the public got behind Hamlin and the emotional impact was significant for all involved.

After stays at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and later at Buffalo General Medical Center/Gates Vascular Institute, Hamlin continued his recovery process. Once he was medically cleared to return to football in April 2023 -- after meeting with specialists in Buffalo and three additional specialists around the country -- Hamlin says he took a day-by-day approach to get mental clarity needed to return.

Doctors determined the cause of Hamlin's cardiac arrest was commotio cordis, which can take place when someone takes a sudden, blunt impact to the chest. Around 10 incidents are reported in the U.S. each year.

Hamlin says he decided to continue playing football not to prove anyone wrong, but because of the dreams he has always had.

"Football has always been my passion," Hamlin said. "I never wanted to do anything else in my life."

Hamlin began workouts with teammates in the spring of 2023. He participated in some activities, but without a helmet. The helmet returned in early June, and a first day in pads at a practice followed during training camp.

Before camp, Hamlin and head athletic trainer Nate Breske did tackling drills at the team's indoor practice facility to get him some contact.

"There was a concern, obviously initially, in what would his play look like," former Bills defensive backs coach and passing coordinator John Butler said on how Hamlin looked after the time away, "and we were obviously respectful of the process it was gonna take to go through that, but as he recovered in rehab, his play was to par, but we also knew that it was also going to continue to improve."

Hamlin, 26, made it clear along the way that he understood the example he was setting, but does not want his cardiac arrest incident to define him.

"I thank everybody in this entire building from the top down for supporting me and giving me the space to allow me to heal and have my process exactly how I needed it to go," Hamlin said. "It truly propelled me into allowing myself to be free this season. Last season was primarily just about healing and making myself do the hard stuff, thrusting myself into things that were uncomfortable, that made me fearful or gave me anxiety. But I was doing the hard stuff last year to make it easier this year."

During the 2023 season, he played in five games with zero starts -- and the snaps he did get were almost solely on special teams. Then in 2024, there was an opportunity.

The Bills' starting safety tandem of the past seven seasons left. Jordan Poyer was released in the offseason -- signing with the Miami Dolphins -- and Micah Hyde became a free agent as he contemplated retirement.

Some of the competition the Bills brought in included free agent Mike Edwards, who missed most of OTAs and training camp with injuries, and rookie Cole Bishop, who missed most of camp and the preseason with a shoulder injury.

The team needed new starters.

The focus for Hamlin was on earning that starting spot in 2024, something that became clear to his coaches and those in the organization. According to defensive coordinator Bobby Babich, the takeaway from a meeting with the four-year veteran going into the year was that he's ready "to just be Damar Hamlin the person and the football player."

Hamlin took feedback from Babich and safeties coach Joe Danna and approached the opportunity with purpose.

"I just wanted to be able to continue my career and continue to develop, as a player that I knew I could be from before I even knew if I was gonna be able to play again," said Hamlin.

Danna noted that Hamlin did a good job of taking the coaching they gave him and applying it to the field.

Hamlin earned the starting job thanks to his consistency over the offseason and training camp.

"I mean, what else can't this young man do?" Bills coach Sean McDermott said before Week 1.

"It's one thing to come back off of an ACL or a broken bone. It's another thing to come back off of what he came back off of, right? Let alone just to decide to play football and contact football, right? In full pads at the NFL level .... I don't think I need to say anything more."

IN THE BILLS' first "Monday Night Football" game of this season, the team built a 20-3 lead against the Jaguars at home. On first-and-10 from the Jacksonville 41-yard line with 4:28 left in the second quarter, quarterback Trevor Lawrence faked a handoff to running back Tank Bigsby, and then surveyed the field. A poor throw by Lawrence over rookie receiver Brian Thomas Jr.'s head landed in the arms of Hamlin, who ran across the field before being tackled.

"Man, it was special. We all know my last start on 'Monday Night Football,' and how that game went," Hamlin said in the postgame news conference. "So to be able to come all the way back from that and to have a special moment like that, it's all God right there. So, I've been giving him the praise like crazy lately ... It makes all the emotions way easier when you just go out there and you think about, I just want to make plays for my teammates. It makes it all simple again."

The moment was electric in the stadium and the entire sideline erupted. There was so much chaos during the celebration, Hamlin dropped the football before Rapp picked it up -- a keepsake Hamlin would later give to his mother.

"I was late to the end zone when they went to celebrate and I see him drop the ball. I was like, 'What the hell is he doing?' Snatched the ball, gave it to him and he's like, 'Man, I don't even know what I was thinking,'" Rapp recalled. "I was super happy for him, just man, just everything he's been through, for him to come back like that on a Monday night when this happens, [I'm] so, so happy."

DAMAR HAMLIN PICKS OFF LAWRENCE.

: #JAXvsBUF on ESPN
: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/cSxknIWzDB

NFL (@NFL) September 24, 2024

The choice Hamlin made in running the pick back, well, could use some work. He noted that, while there are some coaching points he could take, it's easier said than done when you see a 300-pound body shifting in the direction you are running.

"Terrible. It was terrible," Babich said of Hamlin's return. "... We had a wall set up and all of a sudden, he starts cutting across the field and we tell 'em, 'You cut across the field, you're on your own.' But hey, it was his first one. Hopefully there's many more to come and he'll learn his lesson there."

As far as plans for the next one?

"After getting the first [interception] off your back ... it makes the second one feel a little bit easier to get," Hamlin said. "So, I feel like it's on the way. Hopefully Monday night."

THE BILLS ENTER Monday night seeking to rebound from two less-than-ideal performances. Hamlin has played well at times, but mistakes and mixed performances by the defense highlight the safety group's room to grow.

As for the Mondays that will follow, Hamlin says he's focused on looking forward and taking advantage of the opportunity he has on the field. The safety is scheduled to become a free agent next offseason. For now, he's intent on helping the Bills avoid a three-game losing streak.

"As tough as it is, as hard as the days are, as much as the grind as all of that s--- like, as hard as it is to be in this league and have success day in, day out -- the grind, the pain, the hurt of my body every day -- as hard as this s--- is, I'm still living my dream," Hamlin said.

The incident from that fateful January night on MNF left Hamlin with a personal mission as well. He continues his impact off the field spreading awareness on CPR and the use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs), helping various communities that have touched him.

"There's only one person in the history of the world that's ever done what he's done and to ever take that for granted is irresponsible," Butler said. "... All of those hurdles that he overcame and then I'm sure he's continuing to overcome because I'm sure that whole process never leaves you, so I just think it's a level of mental toughness that not many people have.

"I admire everything he's continuing to go through, and I think it's just a blessing that he continues to have that type of impact on so many different people."

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- It was a typical off-day in the New York Jets' training room. About a dozen players were receiving treatment for various injuries, trying to heal up as fast as possible for the next game. Most were on their phones, texting or scrolling or playing games to pass time.

Tight end Tyler Conklin was texting a friend when he glanced up and happened to make eye contact with tackle Tyron Smith. Then a look of disbelief came over Smith's face.

"Dude," Conklin said, "you look like you just saw a ghost."

Just then, Conklin received a text.

"Oh, s---," he said. He saw the same ghost.

In that moment, in what seemed like a synchronized symphony of pings and buzzes, the players in the training room learned with the rest of the world that their coach, Robert Saleh, had been fired after the Jets' 2-3 start in his fourth season.

The news broke on social media at 10:08 a.m. Tuesday, when it was first reported by ESPN's Adam Schefter.

ESPN sources: Jets fired HC Robert Saleh.

Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 8, 2024

The actual news occurred only minutes earlier, less than 100 yards from the training room, where chairman Woody Johnson and his brother, vice chairman Christopher Johnson, walked into Saleh's first-floor office at 10:03 to terminate his employment. That conversation took less than two minutes.

There was no formal announcement by the team initially. The players, the staff and most in the building found out the same way many NFL fans consume news.

Tackle Morgan Moses got a phone alert while he was working out in the weight room. Center Joe Tippmann saw it on his family group text as he was pulling into the facility's parking lot. One player said he was in the bathroom when the news broke.

"It started as like a scene out of 'John Wick,' when he becomes excommunicado and everybody at the Continental gets a buzz on their phone," said quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who was in the training room. "That's literally how it was: Phone starts buzzing, and you're faced with the reality."

A new reality for the Jets, who were left to work through ownership's decision to fire Saleh and make defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich the interim coach.

It was the first time since 1975 that the Jets fired a coach during the season. Saleh, 45, hadn't even been born. Leaguewide, it usually occurs about twice a year -- 44 coaches were fired or resigned in season from 2000 to 2023, per ESPN Research. The Jets, perennial losers over the last decade-plus, managed to stay off that carousel until now.

The firing produced a week like no other, and that's saying something for a franchise that has endured some tumultuous weeks in its star-crossed history. It saw Bill Parcells retire and Bill Belichick quit on back-to-back days in 2000. It saw starting quarterback Geno Smith get punched in the jaw by a teammate in the locker room in 2015. Heck, this is the franchise that produced one of the most viral NFL moments in the Butt Fumble with Mark Sanchez in 2012.

Saleh's ousting was unfamiliar territory because of the timing, but ownership didn't believe he was capable of ending the franchise's 13-year playoff drought. The Jets and Ulbrich spent Tuesday absorbing the news and moving forward. They didn't have long to linger before they started preparing for the Buffalo Bills on Monday (8:15 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN) at MetLife Stadium. A victory would give them a share of the AFC East lead.

"Oh, s---," indeed.

WOODY JOHNSON TOLD reporters Tuesday that he made the choice to fire based on Saleh's body of work (20-36 over three-plus seasons), not the last two games -- 10-9 and 23-17 losses to the Denver Broncos and Minnesota Vikings, respectively. Saleh produced the worst winning percentage (.357) of any coach in team history with a minimum of 40 games.

"I just think we can do better," Johnson said.

The Jets, with a healthy Rodgers and a rapidly closing championship window, went into the season with huge expectations. Johnson reinforced that sentiment in his post-firing conference call with the media, calling this probably the best roster he's had in 25 years of ownership. Everyone in the building knew the stakes, but the gut feeling, according to a source close to Saleh, seemed to be he'd get until midseason if the team continued to sputter.

The mood in the building changed Sept. 30, the day after a sloppy and listless loss to the Broncos. The Johnson brothers and team president Hymie Elhai met with Saleh and were "out for blood," a source close to the situation said. Woody Johnson was getting antsy even though his team was 2-2.

Despite the warning flare, Saleh was shocked when he was fired, according to sources close to the situation. The loss to the Vikings in London, where they fell behind 17-0, was too much for Woody Johnson to stomach. That it happened in London, where Johnson lived from 2017 to 2021 as the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom, may have been a contributing factor.

Citing Johnson's ties to London, former Jets coach Eric Mangini, an FS1 analyst, said on-air days before the game that it was an "absolute must-win" for Saleh, and Johnson would be "pissed off" with a loss. In 2008, Mangini failed to make the playoffs with former Green Bay Packers legend Brett Favre as his quarterback (sound familiar?), and he was fired only hours after the final game.

Technically, Saleh wasn't hired by Woody Johnson, who was serving the final days of his ambassadorship, and some close to the situation believe Johnson never fully embraced Saleh as his coach. When Saleh was introduced to the media Jan. 21, 2021, he hadn't yet met or spoken to Woody Johnson. The coaching search was spearheaded by Christopher Johnson, the acting owner, and general manager Joe Douglas.

Saleh and Woody Johnson are different personalities. Saleh is a patient, stay-the-course guy; Johnson, 77, can be demanding, looking for instant results. When the Jets endured a brutal defensive stretch in 2021, allowing 175 points over a four-game span, Johnson tried to pressure Saleh into demoting Ulbrich, sources close to the situation said.

Ironically, Woody Johnson has now entrusted his team to Ulbrich, a former NFL player and longtime assistant universally admired throughout the organization. He's popular among players. Before Saleh's team meetings, Ulbrich had a habit of dapping up his defensive guys, including cornerback Sauce Gardner and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams. Then he sat next to them in the aisle of the team auditorium -- and the players said they loved that.

JOHNSON COULD HAVE fired Saleh after last season, but he decided to give him a fourth season -- something he'd never done with a coach coming off three straight losing seasons.

He announced his decision on Christmas Eve with three games remaining, citing an improved culture, strong defense and desire to maintain continuity for Rodgers, who, despite a season-ending Achilles injury in Week 1, gave Saleh a public endorsement a few days before Johnson went public.

The future Hall of Famer also threw his support behind Douglas and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, a close friend of Rodgers.

To keep his quarterback happy, Johnson gave mulligans to everyone after a second straight 7-10 season. Not that he had much choice. "Woody was boxed in," a former league executive said, "and I'm sure that didn't make him happy."

Johnson lost patience this season as he watched the same issues from previous years -- a painfully slow starting offense and too many penalties. In fact, the Jets have almost as many first-quarter penalties (13) as points (14). He got tired of seeing his team undermined by an offense that ranked among the league's worst (last in scoring and second to last in yards during the Saleh era).

It was supposed to be different with Rodgers, just like it was supposed to be different with Favre all those years ago. But after five games, they have scored 93 points, the same five-game total last season with Zach Wilson at quarterback.

There's widespread speculation that Rodgers was the driving force behind Saleh's ousting. Rodgers has emphatically denied that -- stating on the "The Pat McAfee Show" on Wednesday, "As far as any of the ridiculous allegations out there, I'm not going to spend more than one sentence in response to it, and that is that I resent any of those accusations because they are patently false."

Woody Johnson said he didn't solicit input from Rodgers, though he did call Rodgers on the eve of the firing.

According to Johnson, they spoke for about five minutes. He said he checked on Rodgers' sprained ankle and his mindset after his three-interception performance against the Vikings. Johnson congratulated his quarterback on becoming the ninth player in history to reach 60,000 passing yards. Saleh's status didn't come up.

"In terms of whether I was going to [fire him] or not, we didn't discuss that," Johnson said.

Rodgers said he didn't get wind of it until he got that text in the training room Tuesday morning.

The Rodgers-Saleh relationship has been under a microscope since June, when Rodgers skipped a mandatory minicamp to vacation in Egypt. Saleh fined him. There was also the win over the New England Patriots, when Saleh tried to embrace Rodgers after a touchdown and was gently shoved by the quarterback -- another viral moment.

Despite the perception of a rift, both men insisted their relationship was fine.

On the plane ride home from London, Saleh and Rodgers exchanged several texts, according to team sources. The texts were described as positive, a back-and-forth of ideas on ways to improve the offense.

On Tuesday morning, they spoke for about five minutes at the facility after Saleh was fired. On Wednesday, Saleh reached out to Rodgers to continue the conversation and they talked for another 30 minutes. Saleh doesn't believe Rodgers influenced ownership's decision, according to sources close to the situation.

After returning from London, Saleh made the decision to strip Hackett of his playcalling responsibility, according to sources familiar with Saleh's thinking.

The plan was to demote him and give playcalling to passing game coordinator Todd Downing -- a change ultimately made by Ulbrich. It was a tough call, knowing Rodgers' close relationship with Hackett, but Saleh made the moves Tuesday morning. He was looking ahead to the Bills.

About a minute later, the Johnsons showed up at his office to deliver the news. Saleh requested the opportunity to address the team one last time, team sources said. He was denied.

SOON AFTER THE news broke, the players and staff began to take steps forward and a series of meetings occurred.

By 11 a.m., the players on the leadership council -- one veteran from each position group -- were summoned to a meeting at the facility. The Johnsons, along with Ulbrich, addressed the council in a meeting that lasted about 10 minutes. They confirmed the coaching change and explained the rationale behind it, leaving the players with the impression that ownership had high hopes for the season under Ulbrich's leadership.

Shortly afterward, there was a players-only meeting for about 10 minutes. It wasn't your typical players-only meeting.

"It wasn't like last year, for instance," Conklin said. "We had one last year and it was like, 'S--- is kind of falling apart.' This was more like, 'Hey, let's not panic. There's a lot more season.' Usually, with a players-only meeting, the sky is falling. This was like, 'Hey, guys, the sky isn't falling.'"

Rodgers spoke at the meeting, stressing the importance of accountability -- the theme of the day, according to members of the leadership council. Several players spoke up. Punter Thomas Morstead, a member of the council, told reporters there can be a "walking-on-eggshells kind of feeling" when a coach is ousted in-season, with players wondering about job security with a new man in charge.

"We wanted to be open about the situation because it was just so raw at that time," said linebacker C.J. Mosley, another council member. "We just wanted to make sure that we kind [of] took the time to really just reflect on why that happened, to let guys really express their emotions."

Mosley said it was "definitely a wake-up call and an eye-opener for a lot of people."

It's a highly unusual situation. A team in the thick of contention usually doesn't sack its coach. In the past 10 seasons, there have been four instances of a coach getting fired with at least a .400 winning percentage, per ESPN Research. But three of the four were at least 12 games into the season, out of the playoff hunt.

From all indications, Saleh didn't lose the locker room. The team still was playing hard for him, evidenced by the late rally against the Vikings. After the firing, some players spoke glowingly of Saleh, most notably Gardner, who said, "I'm going to be completely honest. With what we've been saying [as a team], we're doing it for him still."

Then came a full-scale team meeting, led by Ulbrich. He used the opportunity to pay homage to Saleh, a close friend who had hired him in 2021. He told the players Saleh's firing was on all of them, but the best thing they could do now was to come together as a team.

"Craziness," Ulbrich called those first few hours. At the beginning of the day, he was game-planning for Bills quarterback Josh Allen. Now he was addressing the full team as an NFL head coach, sharing his vision and spelling out some subtle changes in the daily schedule.

His message to the team: "It's time to lock arms" -- a phrase repeated by a handful of players in interviews throughout the week.

After Tuesday's change in leadership, one thing remains constant. Before starting his team meeting Thursday morning to begin preparations for the Bills, Ulbrich took that familiar walk up the aisle to dap up Gardner and Williams.

And they loved it.

The Philadelphia 76ers announced Sunday that superstar center Joel Embiid will sit out for the remainder of the preseason due to left knee injury management.

Embiid wasn't with the team on the start of its three-game preseason road trip to Iowa Friday and Boston on Saturday, instead meeting with doctors Thursday to check on the status of his left knee. That meeting went well, with sources saying that the goal is to put Embiid in the best possible position to make it through the season, and to have his knee as close to 100% as possible.

Last season, Embiid only played in one preseason game, and the expectation this year was that he would be a limited participant in the exhibition slate -- if he wound up doing so at all.

Now, the first time he will wear a 76ers uniform this season won't be until at least the season opener on Oct. 23 against the Milwaukee Bucks in Philadelphia.

Embiid, who played in 39 games last year after a knee injury in late January wiped out his chances of defending his MVP award, dropped 25 to 30 pounds of weight entering training camp -- and has said he hopes to lose more -- to take pressure off his knee.

Philadelphia enters this season with arguably the highest expectations it has had at any point during the Embiid Era after one of the best offseasons in the NBA. The 76ers landed Paul George as a free agent, extending both Embiid and Tyrese Maxey to long-term deals, retaining free agents Kelly Oubre Jr. and Kyle Lowry and signing Caleb Martin, Eric Gordon and Andre Drummond to fill out the team's rotation.

George made his preseason debut Friday in Iowa, while all eight of those players sat out Saturday's loss in Boston on the second night of a back-to-back.

Timberwolves guard Donte DiVincenzo, playing at Madison Square Garden for the first time since being traded from New York two weeks ago, had to be separated from Knicks assistant coach Rick Brunson during a heated exchange after Sunday night's preseason game.

Players and coaches were shaking hands and embracing after the Knicks' 115-110 victory, but DiVincenzo and Brunson -- the father of New York star Jalen Brunson -- had a brief verbal dustup on the MSG floor.

"I was talking to Thibs," DiVincenzo was heard saying on camera to Rick Brunson at one point.

The postgame exchange occurred after DiVincenzo had already been shown on camera at the free throw line shouting toward the Knicks bench earlier in the game.

"That's what happens when they let you run the show," DiVincenzo said twice before shooting a free throw during the first quarter.

DiVincenzo declined to specify who he was jawing with on the New York bench and suggested that he initially was enjoying an inside joke with Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau.

In terms of the postgame exchange with Rick Brunson, specifically, DiVincenzo declined to comment and said he'd prefer to talk things out privately with him.

The moments involving DiVincenzo, who finished with 15 points and seven assists, in some ways overshadowed the fact that it was four-time All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns' first game against his former team of nine seasons, and two-time All-NBA forward Julius Randle's first time back at The Garden after spending six years as a Knick.

Towns had 16 points and 16 boards, while Randle, still rehabbing from right shoulder surgery, didn't play.

During the first timeout, the Knicks played a video on the arena's jumbotron honoring Randle and DiVincenzo.

DiVincenzo, a key member of last season's Knicks team who broke the franchise record for 3-pointers in a season, starred at Villanova alongside Brunson, Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges, all of whom now play for the Knicks.

Jalen Brunson had an arm wrapped around DiVincenzo, who served as a groomsman in the Knicks star's wedding, during a chunk of the postgame verbal exchange on the Garden floor.

Jalen Brunson said, "I was right there," when asked if he saw the exchange between his father and DiVincenzo. "It was words of affirmation."

"My relationship with Jalen, that's my brother and my best friend," DiVincenzo said. "That's a separate relationship. I'll talk about that privately, and figure everything out. But it is what it is."

Wolves star Anthony Edwards said he loves the competitive fire and aggression DiVincenzo plays with.

"You can't be mad at him, man," Edwards said, speaking about the guard's play in general. "He makes all the right plays and shoots the cover off the ball. New York is definitely going to miss him."

The other Timberwolves acknowledged feeling their fair share of emotion over the course of the night, too. Edwards called Towns his brother, while Minnesota coach Chris Finch said it would take a while for it to feel normal seeing the big man in a different uniform.

"It's like a death in the family in some ways," Finch said. "You got to make it through that first year and everything is going to be a little odd. Once we get started, it'll be business as usual."

After missing two straight NBA seasons, Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball is expected to make his return to basketball in Wednesday night's preseason home game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, sources told ESPN.

Ball, 26, last played in a game for Chicago on Jan. 14, 2022. Multiple procedures on his left knee since then include a rare double cartilage transplant.

A team official confirmed that the No. 2 pick in the 2017 NBA draft is on track to debut on Wednesday. This signifies a major comeback to basketball for Ball, who underwent the cartilage transplant surgery in May 2023.

The Bulls had a 27-13 record up until the last date Ball played a game, the best record in the Eastern Conference at the time. He had the best shooting season of his career in 2021-22, averaging career-highs in field goal percentage and 3-point field goal percentage.

Acquired in a trade with New Orleans prior to the 2021-22 season, Ball averaged 13.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.8 steals in 35 starts before being shut down.

He has career averages of 11.9 points, 6.2 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 1.6 steals in 252 games (239 starts) with the Los Angeles Lakers (2017-19), Pelicans (2019-21) and Bulls.

Information from Field Level Media was used in this report.

STEPHEN CURRY SAT at his locker at Chase Center after the Golden State Warriors' 109-106 preseason win over the Sacramento Kings on Friday night.

To his right was new teammate Buddy Hield, who has moved into the locker next to Curry since coming to San Francisco this summer. They spoke quietly to one another, breaking down some plays from the night's game.

While Hield is one of several new faces in the Warriors' locker room, one familiar face is missing.

The absence of Klay Thompson has been felt throughout Warriors training camp and preseason -- as has the void he's left in the lineup.

"We've got to find our identity with this team because Klay was such a huge part of our identity for the last 12 years," Warriors coach Steve Kerr told ESPN. "His absence is a big void, but it's not anything I'm worried about for Steph and Draymond [Green]. You adapt and you adjust. That's what professional sports are all about."

Golden State is trying to fill part of that void with new additions Hield, De'Anthony Melton and Kyle Anderson. They are also relying on younger players Brandin Podziemski and Jonathan Kuminga to take on bigger roles. But the Warriors know no one can perfectly replicate what Thompson did.

"It's just a different challenge at that two spot, but there's nothing really different we have to do," Curry told ESPN. "We just have to acknowledge what Klay, the skill set obviously, the shooting ability and the attention he attracts in everything on the floor."

Over the past 10 years, Curry has shot 3% better on 3-pointers when sharing the court with his Splash Brother. Forty-two percent of Curry's 3s were considered "heavily contested" when playing alongside Thompson, compared to the 50.8% when Thompson was off the court.

But it's not just Curry, who hasn't been on a Warriors roster without Thompson since the 2010-11 season. Thompson's exit has had ripple effects throughout the entire lineup -- a lineup that remains very much unsettled with just a week left before the start of the regular season

As it stands, Curry and Green, the two longest-tenured Warriors, are the only players with guaranteed starting jobs. Everything else is a competition, and with the Oct. 23 opener against the Portland Trail Blazers quickly approaching, Kerr is still piecing his rotations together.

"It's got to be -- 'Who is going to be the 5? Who's the 4?' We know that Steph is the 1. But what's the combination," Kerr said.

"This feels like a new beginning for us, whereas last year felt like an extension of who we already were. ... It gives us a chance to reinvent ourselves a little bit."

IN THE SECOND quarter of the Warriors' first preseason game in Hawaii, Melton reached in and perfectly stripped the ball away from LA Clippers center Ivica Zubac.

He scooped the ball at the top of the 3-point arc to Curry, who dragged in three defenders. Curry started to line up a shot, but instead passed back to Melton, who was wide open. As Melton shot the ball, Curry turned and started to go back on defense, as he's done countless times on his own shot. He didn't have to watch to know the result.

Melton is one of three players who are being considered for the starting shooting guard role, along with Hield and Podziemski. Each has started in a preseason game as Kerr tests out how they fare with different starting groups, and each has significant starting experience. Melton started 91 of the 115 games he played with the Philadelphia 76ers over the past two seasons. Hield started 115 of the 164 he played with the 76ers and Indiana Pacers in the same time span. And, as a rookie a season ago, Podziemski started 28 times for the Warriors.

Team sources told ESPN that Melton impressed Kerr and the coaching staff at camp, highlighted by his two-way versatility, giving the Warriors more of a defensive option at shooting guard.

Climbing back up in the defensive rankings is a top priority for Golden State this season, Kerr said. The Warriors finished 15th in the NBA in defensive rating last season, and 17th the year before, after leading the NBA when they won the title in 2021-22.

Melton's strength is disrupting the passing lanes; he ranked fifth in deflections per game last season among players to play at least 30 games, according to NBA Advanced Stats.

"[Melton and Curry] look great together," Kerr said. "They just look for each other. De'Anthony is a really good shooter, a playmaker, and gets in the mix on everything defensively. I'm a big fan of De'Anthony."

Hield, on the other hand, offers more of an offensive, floor-spacing option next to Curry -- aligning with Kerr's vow to be a high-volume 3-point shooting team.

"We were fourth in the league in 3-point attempts last year," Kerr said. "Klay probably shot eight or 10 himself. We're going to have to fill that void. It's going to come from multiple people."

Hield has made 1,924 3-pointers in his career, the second-most in the NBA since he entered the league in 2016-17, according to ESPN Research. The only player he trails is his new teammate, Curry, who has 2,154 3-pointers during that span.

He went 6-of-7 from 3 against the Kings on Oct. 9 and afterward said he feels his shot will only get better as he gets more acclimated to his new team and offensive system. So far, Hield is shooting 59% from 3 through the preseason.

Kerr said he anticipates playing Hield during the non-Curry minutes in the regular season and currently likes the idea of him as a sixth man.

"He looks the part, doesn't he," Kerr said. "He comes off of the bench and you can feel his impact immediately. He's not shy and we need that. We need a scorer off of the bench, and he's been fantastic his first four games. I'm really excited about Buddy and that role makes a lot of sense for him."

Podziemski is the only candidate who has played next to Curry before, and he'll be tasked with taking on the most playmaking responsibilities. Podziemski led all rookies in assist-to-turnover ratio in 2023-24, and he brought the ball up for 16.4 possessions per game when Chris Paul was not playing last season (24 games), according to Second Spectrum.

"Brandin is a good fit playing with that front line," Kerr said of Podziemski starting alongside Curry and a frontcourt comprised of a small forward, power forward and prototypical big center. "When you have that front line, you need that playmaking to go along with Steph's shooting. Brandin, he's gotten really good."

Podziemski studies everything Curry does -- whether it's standing several feet behind him while he shoots at practice or sitting courtside during his pregame routine. He has also initiated several conversations with Curry during the preseason to discuss how to properly spread the floor when they share the court.

But because of his playmaking, Podziemski could also be looked at as an option to run the second unit and play more of a point guard.

"We have options," Curry said. "We have a defensive-minded guy like Melton. You got a guy who is kind of a connector, can put the ball on the floor [and] create like BP. Me and BP started a couple of times last year. You got Buddy who can shoot [and] space the floor, a veteran who knows how to play.

"To summarize it: I like where we are at in terms of our options."

A COY GRIN spread across Kuminga's face on media day when a reporter mentioned that Kerr had said all but two starting spots were up for grabs.

"Starting is always good," Kuminga told ESPN. "It's easier to get into the flow of the game. You know exactly where you're fitting in. But for me, as long as whatever we do leads to winning, that's the most important thing."

Entering his fourth year, there are high expectations for Kuminga -- both from his coaches and himself.

Kuminga, who has started 74 times in 211 games over three seasons with the Warriors, is eligible for a contract extension until Oct. 21. He and the Warriors have expressed mutual interest in reaching a new deal.

Kuminga is just part of a complicated puzzle for Kerr, who has to decide not only who is starting in the frontcourt, but where.

Kerr made it clear that Green will retain a starting position, either as a small-ball center or at power forward with either Trayce Jackson-Davis or Kevon Looney at the five.

When the Warriors played Green next to a prototypical center last season, the combination allowed Green to play what he called a "free safety" on defense.

"I'm decent at the center but I think I'm really good next to a center," Green said. "Having that option to go to that is huge."

Despite Green's success in the middle of the Warriors so-called "death" lineups in their championship years, Kerr wants to limit his minutes at center. Green agrees that he is naturally a power forward, but complicating the matter is the emergence of Kuminga and Kerr's desire to play him more -- and possibly have him as a high-volume scorer alongside Curry.

If Green starts as a power forward, the only spot for Kuminga would be the small forward. However, there is uncertainty from some coaches if the fourth year player can be comfortable at the three with this group.

According to Cleaning the Glass, Kuminga played at power forward for 96% of his minutes last season. When Kuminga started at the three alongside Green and Jackson-Davis in their first preseason game, Kerr said the group was "not great," but there is a desire to have that combination work.

"The combination of athleticism and rim protection, defensively, has a chance to be really good," Kerr said of that trio. "But it has to flow on the offensive side. We have to get spacing. We've got to make sure we can execute against what defenses will do against that group."

Kuminga's play at small forward improved in the second game against the Kings, when he started alongside Green and Looney in the frontcourt, with Curry and Podziemski at the guard spots.

But slotting Kuminga in at small forward would also mean relegating Andrew Wiggins to the bench. Wiggins has missed training camp and the first four preseason games, but the Warriors expect a bounce-back season from him after two lackluster years.

They still plan on using him to defend their opponents' best scorer and he is another candidate to be a high-volume scorer, with Kerr wanting him to attempt about seven 3-pointers per game. Wiggins shot nearly 40% from 3 on 5.7 attempts per game over 2021-22 and 2022-23, but fell to 36% on 3.7 attempts per game last season.

Kerr sits with his coaching staff nearly every day, sifting through a number of different lineups. They look at numbers from last season. They watch footage from practice.

But the time for experimentation is dwindling with just two preseason games left and opening night around the corner.

"Everything got pushed back a little bit with Wiggs' absence," Kerr said. "We just have to take it game by game for now. We want a starting lineup to form and establish some continuity, for sure.

"We'll get Wiggs in there soon," Kerr told ESPN. "And then we'll just go from there."

This season isn't the first time Kerr has had to make lineup choices. He spoke at lengths last season about struggling to find a group he could trust from a night-to-night basis. That resulted in Golden State using 27 different lineups -- 21 of which included Thompson.

During his time with Team USA during the Olympics, Kerr was tasked with choosing which five would start out of a group of all-time NBA players and benched Jayson Tatum in the process.

"[This] isn't any different other than [with the Olympics] you are telling three Hall-of-Famers they have to sit. That's the tricky part," Kerr said. "But we've had plenty of seasons here in my 10 years where you're wanting to play more guys than you can ... so it's never easy, but that's the job."

Ideally, Kerr would have a concrete idea of his lineups heading into the Oct. 18 preseason finale, allowing that game against the Los Angeles Lakers to serve as a dress rehearsal for the Warriors.

Kerr tends to settle on a 10-man rotation, but feels this team has at least 13 players who could crack the rotation.

"That's a good problem to have, but you also want it to sort itself out," he said. "You want guys to separate and make it really clear who should be playing."

LOS ANGELES -- Jeff McNeil, who fractured his right wrist on a hit by pitch a little more than five weeks ago, is back.

The New York Mets added McNeil to the roster for their National League Championship Series matchup against the Los Angeles Dodgers before Sunday's Game 1, opting to also keep Luisangel Acuña as a backup infielder.

McNeil is coming off playing back-to-back games in the Arizona Fall League, one at second base and the other in right field. With Jose Iglesias locked in as the regular second baseman, McNeil might get starts at one of the outfield corners or be used as a left-handed bat off the bench.

McNeil's bat could be even more valuable given the Dodgers will be without a key left-handed reliever in Alex Vesia, who suffered an intercostal injury in Game 5 of the team's NL Division Series. The Dodgers replaced Vesia with right-hander Brent Honeywell, who will probably be used to provide length out of the bullpen.

Miguel Rojas, who has been playing through a tear in an adductor muscle, did not make the NLCS roster, replaced by left-handed-hitting center fielder Kevin Kiermaier. Rojas' absence means Tommy Edman will be the every-day shortstop, prompting Enrique Hernandez to start in center field.

If Freddie Freeman's sprained right ankle keeps him out of the lineup at any point in this series, the Dodgers will probably move Max Muncy to first base and Hernandez to third, with Andy Pages taking over in center.

The Mets went with 14 position players and 12 pitchers, leaving veteran right-hander Adam Ottavino off the roster.

NEW YORK -- Major League Baseball's postseason is averaging 3.33 million viewers going into the league championship series, an 18% increase over last year's average of 2.82 million.

The division series averaged 3.56 million viewers for 18 games, a 14% increase from last year.

The increases in the division round ratings can be attributed to two series going the distance along with both New York teams, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies being involved.

Friday's night NLDS Game 5 between the Dodgers and San Diego Padres averaged 7.5 million on Fox, Fox Deportes and streaming, the most-watched division series game since 2017.

Saturday afternoon's deciding game between the Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers averaged 3.42 million on TBS, the most-watched division series matchup in a day game window (pre-4 p.m. start) in 17 years.

The game was originally slated to be played at night but was moved up to the afternoon due to the threat of inclement weather.

Fox and FS1 averaged 4.09 million for the National League games, their highest numbers since postseason baseball began airing on FS1 in 2014. Fox also benefitted from the Phillies-Mets being the other series. The Mets advanced in four games.

TNT Sports averaged 3 million for the ALDS series games on TBS and TNT. The Yankees beat Kansas City in four games in the other series.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kansas City Royals general manager J.J. Picollo expects to have a similar budget as last year to plug the holes in a team that reached the AL Division Series this year, though his shopping list heading into the offseason figures to be a whole lot shorter.

Picollo said Monday that the Royals would look for someone to get on base at the top of the lineup and someone to provide more offensive punch in the middle of the order. Their inability to get on base, and drive in runs, cost them dearly down the stretch, particularly in a four-game loss to the Yankees in their best-of-five divisional series.

"There's less questions to answer," Picollo acknowledged. "Two years ago, we were looking at manager, pitching coach, all those things. Last year, there were a lot of holes. This year we had less holes. Now, it's about how do we refine this team?"

That can be just as challenging, Picollo added in his end-of-the-season remarks, but it certainly seems less daunting when the Royals are coming off their first playoff appearance in nearly a decade rather than a 106-loss nightmare the previous year.

"As much as we may say we need a slugger and someone to get on base, there's not that many people available to do that," Picollo said. "So the work is going to be just as difficult, you know? May not be as much quantity. It's more the quality in your acquisition. A little more specific. Whereas last year it was pretty broad."

The Royals were one of the biggest spenders in free agency last year, signing All-Star pitcher Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha -- both of whom started playoff games for them -- along with a slew of relievers and a couple of depth players in the field.

Lugo will be back next season, but Wacha has an opt-out in his contract that he could exercise in the coming weeks.

"We'd like to have him back. There's no question we'd like him back," Picollo said. "I do believe Michael and his wife, they enjoy being in Kansas City. That's always an advantage. He got along great. So there are reasons to be optimistic. But you know, he pitched very well this year, and he's going to have opportunity with other clubs. So we'll work on that."

The Royals had a $117 million payroll when the playoffs began, about half of what the Mets and Yankees had heading into the league championship series. The Royals were more in line with the AL Central rival Guardians, who opened the AL Championship Series on Monday night in New York, and who had a payroll of just under $110 million.

Asked whether the growing disparity in the game bothered him, Picollo replied: "It's hard to say no."

"But that's the rule," he continued, "so there's not a whole lot we can do about it, you know? And I really believe if [Royals owner] Mr. [John] Sherman said, 'You have $75 million to spend,' or $100 million or $150 million, we'd have to make that work. That's our job. So whatever the rules of engagement are with any particular owner, you have to make that work."

In other news Monday, Royals manager Matt Quatraro said he expects his coaching staff to return next season, unless another club offers someone a promotion. He also does not expect to shift around any responsibilities.

"We'll ask the guys in each department to see what they feel like -- either resources or staff -- that they might need or want," Quatraro said. "But I don't see anything jumping off the page that we're definitely going to add this or anything like that."

In terms of health, second baseman Adam Frazier will have surgery Tuesday on his thumb, and first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino will be evaluated in another month to see whether the plate that repaired his own thumb can be removed.

Pasquantino broke his thumb on Aug. 30 but returned for the playoffs as the designated hitter.

The Royals also hope to have Kyle Wright available in the spring after he missed the entire year while rehabbing from shoulder surgery. The Royals knew that would be the case when they acquired him in a trade with the Braves in November.

Two years ago, Wright went 21-5 with a 3.19 ERA as the Braves won the NL East.

"He still has four or five months until opening day, whatever it is. So we're optimistic on Kyle," Picollo said. "We also have to be realistic. I don't think he's going to throw 185 innings this year. But whatever we could get out of him would be a benefit."