After falling to 2-2 with a one-point loss to the Denver Broncos, New York Jets owner Woody Johnson called an internal meeting on Sept. 30 with his top football people. In that meeting, Johnson -- concerned about the direction of the team -- broached the idea of benching quarterback Aaron Rodgers, multiple sources confirmed to ESPN.

Johnson's suggestion, first reported by The Athletic, triggered different reactions. One source, who attended the meeting, indicated that it was "said in jest in a provocative nature." Others in the meeting interpreted it differently.

One source said Johnson appeared to be serious, while another said, "If Woody really wanted Rodgers benched, he would've been benched."

Rodgers survived the threat -- it's unclear whether he knew about it -- but two people in the meeting are no longer with the team. Eight days later, Johnson fired coach Robert Saleh after three-plus seasons. On Tuesday, general manager Joe Douglas met the same fate after five-plus seasons on the job.

The Jets (3-8), one of the NFL's biggest disappointments, are poised for an organizational reset in the offseason. The search for a new GM already is underway, Johnson announced Tuesday.

The Sept. 30 meeting, previously reported by ESPN, turned out to be a watershed moment in the season. It created tension in the building, with one source saying at the time that Johnson was "out for blood."

Typically, Johnson meets with Douglas and Saleh after every game. This one was a larger-scale meeting because it included the three coordinators and other members of the front office, which changed the tenor. People were stunned when Rodgers' job status was mentioned.

The four-time MVP didn't play particularly well in the 10-9 loss to the Broncos, a game in which the Jets failed to score a touchdown, but the idea of replacing him with Tyrod Taylor seemed extreme. Two weeks later, the Jets made a move designed to help Rodgers, acquiring his close friend Davante Adams from the Las Vegas Raiders. Johnson pushed for the trade, sources said, agreeing to pick up more than $11 million in remaining 2024 salary.

Rodgers has yet to comment on Johnson's suggestion that he be benched.

Johnson, 77, has taken a more hands-on approach since the end of last season in both personnel and contract matters. Just last week, he instructed interim coach Jeff Ulbrich to bench safety Tony Adams, sources said. Johnson also has attended daily meetings -- classroom sessions with coaches and players.

He recently called this Jets roster the best he has had in 25 years of ownership, expressing confidence -- even after firing Saleh -- that it would snap the franchise's 13-year playoff drought. The Jets are on the verge of mathematical elimination, but there should be plenty of drama, starting with Rodgers.

Rodgers, who turns 41 on Dec. 2, has said he'd like to play in 2025, but that likely won't be with the Jets. One source said he'd be "shocked" if Johnson signs off on another year of Rodgers, who is mired in one of the worst statistical years of his legendary career.

Davante Adams' future also will be a key storyline. He's under contract for 2025, but his cap charge is a prohibitive $38.3 million, meaning he'd have to renegotiate to stay. On Wednesday, he said he wants his future to be in New York.

"I hope it is," he told Kay Adams during his weekly spot on the "Up & Adams" podcast. "I see us being a winning organization regardless of what you see on the outside."

Indiana Fever star guard Caitlin Clark will not play in the new 3-on-3 league Unrivaled in its inaugural season, a source with knowledge of the situation told ESPN on Wednesday.

Unrivaled announced the players who will be on its six teams Wednesday, but there are still two wild-card spots to be filled to complete the 36 players who make up the league.

All Unrivaled's games will be played in Miami, beginning Jan. 17.

Clark was the WNBA Rookie of the Year this past season after being the No. 1 pick out of Iowa, where she set the NCAA Division I career scoring record for women's and men's basketball.

Clark will still be busy with events in the WNBA's offseason. Last week, she took part in a pro-am for The Annika LPGA tournament. It was announced Tuesday that she will be the guest speaker for a women's sports awards luncheon in Kansas City, Missouri, on Feb. 4 at T-Mobile Center. It is one of the largest events in the country celebrating National Girls and Women in Sports Day.

Clark averaged 19.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and a league-best 8.4 assists this past season for the Fever, who finished 20-20 and advanced to the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

BRISTOL, Conn. -- Mickey Mouse and many of Disney's iconic characters will be part of the NBA's first animated alt-cast on Christmas Day.

Disney and ESPN announced Wednesday that the Dec. 25 game between the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks will be on ESPN2, Disney+ and ESPN+ as "Dunk the Halls."

Even though this is the first time with the NBA, ESPN has done alternate animated broadcasts for NFL and NHL games.

The telecast will be entirely animated, with the players' movements in sync with what is happening in real time on the court. That's done through player-tracking data enabled by Sony's Hawk-Eye Innovations' optical tracking system and Beyond Sports.

The animated version of the game will be set on iconic "Main Street, USA" in Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World Resort. Shots of "Main Street, USA" and other famous landmarks within the park will be regularly shown, including Cinderella's Castle.

The traditional broadcast will air on ABC and ESPN.

The Oklahoma City Thunder's stint without a center will end Wednesday night with the debut of 7-footer Isaiah Hartenstein.

Hartenstein is active for Wednesday's home game against the Portland Trail Blazers, the team said about 30 minutes before tipoff. He was sidelined for the first 15 games of the season because of a broken left (shooting) hand suffered in the preseason finale.

The Thunder signed Hartenstein to a three-year, $87 million contract in free agency this summer, planning to pair him with Chet Holmgren to allow Oklahoma City to always have an outstanding rim protector on the floor.

However, the Thunder haven't had a starter taller than 6-foot-6 since Holmgren suffered a right iliac wing fracture when he took a hard fall in the Nov. 10 loss to the Golden State Warriors. Holmgren, the Rookie of the Year runner-up last season, will miss at least eight to 10 weeks.

Reserve center Jaylin Williams has yet to play this season because of a hamstring strain originally suffered in training camp and recently aggravated.

The Thunder (11-4) have lost three of their past six games, a stretch that began on the night that Holmgren exited in the first half against the Warriors.

Hartenstein, 26, played a key role in the New York Knicks' 50-win campaign last season, averaging 7.8 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in a part-time starting role.

MILWAUKEE -- Chicago Bulls forward Patrick Williams will miss at least the next week as the team waits for inflammation in his surgically repaired foot to calm down, coach Billy Donovan said Wednesday.

Williams was limited to 43 games last season before undergoing season-ending surgery on his foot in February. He first appeared on this season's injury report Monday, but played 31 minutes in a win over the Detroit Pistons in the second game of a back-to-back.

"In the game [Monday], he mentioned he was feeling [discomfort] more at halftime," Donovan said before the Bulls played the Bucks in Milwaukee. "After the game, he started to feel a lot more pain than he was feeling beforehand."

Williams remained in Chicago instead of traveling with the team on Wednesday in order to receive more imaging on his foot. Donovan said the team believes the injury occurred because of a front-loaded early schedule after Williams was unable to play five-on-five for most of the summer while rehabbing.

Williams, the No.4 pick in the 2020 draft, is averaging 9.9 points and 5.0 rebounds while starting 15 games for the Bulls this season.

The Bulls will also be without guard Lonzo Ball for at least another week as he continues to rehab a sprained right wrist. Ball attempted some on-court activities during a road trip in New York last week, but he experienced discomfort catching passes and has not been able to make any progress beyond shooting.

Donovan says Ball will attempt to ramp up again next week to see how his wrist responds to increased activity.

"He's going to need more time on that," Donovan said. "I do think he'll do more ballhandling, he'll do more shooting, he'll do more. For him to be really ramped up where we can actually see [how he responds] I would say through the weekend and middle of next week, hopefully he'll be able to do a lot more."

Milwaukee Bucks star Khris Middleton has been medically cleared for a period of time but is still working to feel physically ready for his season debut from double ankle surgeries in the offseason, sources told ESPN on Wednesday.

Middleton has increased his on-court activity and has consistently completed 3-on-3 play over the past several weeks.

The team is supportive of Middleton as he works toward a return to the court as his best self, but his absence has lasted much longer than people around the organization anticipated.

"He's looked good," Bucks coach Doc Rivers said of Middleton on Wednesday. "He's working his butt off. Listen, I think he's close. And he's just going to keep working. This is the best I've seen him, I will say that."

The Bucks are still hopeful Middleton, 33, will participate in some 5-on-5 scrimmages before he returns to game action, but his return will be based on when he feels ready.

Since joining the Bucks as coach on Jan. 29, Rivers has coached Middleton for only 15 regular-season games. The trio of Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard have played only seven games together under Rivers.

Middleton is a three-time All-Star, a 2021 NBA champion and an Olympic gold medalist. Injuries have limited him to 88 regular-season games since the start of the 2022-23 season, but he has still been a productive player when he plays and the Bucks believe he can be a difference-maker after their 5-9 start. Middleton averaged 15.1 points, 5.3 assists and 4.7 rebounds on 49% shooting last season.

"I feel good, just not good enough to play that's all," Middleton told reporters near the end of October.

ESPN's Jamal Collier contributed to this report.

LOS ANGELES -- LeBron James says he's taking a break from social media.

The NBA's all-time leading scorer and Los Angeles Lakers star posted on X and Instagram on Wednesday to announce that he's stepping away from his pages. James has 159 million followers on Instagram, 52.9 million on X.

James started the farewell by reposting something that Rich Kleiman, Kevin Durant's longtime manager, posted to X on Oct. 24.

"We can all acknowledge that sports is the last part of society that universally brings people together. So why can't the coverage do the same?" Kleiman wrote that day. "It's only click bait when you say it. When the platform is so big, you can make the change and allow us all an escape from real life negativity. I for one find it all a waste of breath."

James, on Instagram, posted a screengrab of Kleiman's post and added the caption, "Amen!!" and then below it wrote, "Damn shame what it's come to!" On X, his repost of Kleiman simply said, "AMEN!!"

Kleiman has posted only a handful of times since his Oct. 24 post, and evidently, James isn't planning to post much -- or anything -- until further notice.

His announcement came one day after he said "everybody on the internet called me a liar all the time" when he said he was watching Dalton Knecht's college games last year at Tennessee -- long before the Lakers drafted the sharpshooting guard.

"And with that said I'll holla at y'all! Getting off social media for the time being. Y'all take care," James posted, followed by emojis of a hand holding up two fingers -- often symbolizing someone leaving a place -- and a crown, a nod to his "King James" moniker.

James, who will turn 40 next month and is the NBA's oldest active player, is a four-time NBA champion and a three-time Olympic gold medalist, the most recent of those coming earlier this year at the Paris Games.

The Lakers are 10-4, winners of six straight and next play Thursday at home against Orlando.

Sen. Dick Durbin plans to introduce the Fair Ball Act, a bill that would further protect minor league baseball players from previous legislation that exempted them from wage and hour laws, sources told ESPN on Wednesday.

In the bill, Durbin (D-Illinois), who has been an outspoken advocate for minor league players and is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, promotes rolling back the exemption granted by the Save America's Pastime Act (SAPA), whose inclusion in a 2018 spending bill allowed teams to avoid abiding by the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Should the Fair Ball Act pass, players would be entitled to minimum wage and overtime laws in the absence of a collective bargaining agreement.

Minor league players, who unionized with the Major League Baseball Players Association in September 2022, struck a deal with MLB on a collective bargaining agreement in March 2023 and drastically increased salaries and benefits after years of below minimum wage pay.

"Workers deserve a fair playing field everywhere -- including in baseball," Durbin said in a statement. "Executives at MLB lobbied Congress hard for federal wage and hour law exemptions in order to avoid legal liability with the 2018 Save America's Pastime Act. While I commend MLB for voluntarily recognizing the unionization of Minor League Baseball players in 2022, it is time to roll back SAPA in deference to the gains made by that historic unionization. I'm proud to stand with these workers, unions and the integrity of the sport. I stand ready to pass the Fair Ball Act into law."

MLB declined comment when reached by ESPN.

The treatment of minor leaguers led to a class-action lawsuit in 2014 by players, who argued that MLB teams had run afoul of labor laws. Two years later, SAPA was introduced by Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Kentucky) to exempt MLB teams from having to pay minimum wage to players, who made as little as $1,000 per month and were paid during the season only. While SAPA never gained traction in Congress, its language was included in a spending bill passed in 2018.

The unionization of the minor leagues lifted minimum salaries, ranging from $19,800 per year for players at teams' complexes (previously $4,800) to $35,800 at Triple-A (previously $17,500). MLB later agreed to pay $185 million to settle the class-action lawsuit.

"For generations, minor league players' working conditions were indefensible," MLBPA executive director Tony Clark said in a statement. "This indignity was compounded by the perversely named Save America's Pastime Act -- a law that was enacted to save money, not baseball, by depriving minor leaguers of a minimum wage. By narrowing the act so that it applies only when players are protected by a CBA, the Fair Ball Act is a win not just for minor leaguers, but for the institution of collective bargaining as a whole."

The contraction of more than 40 minor league teams before the 2021 season and past treatment of players continue to resonate, and the Fair Ball Act -- which is also being sponsored by Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut), Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut) and Peter Welch (D-Vermont) -- is intended to keep MLB from using SAPA as a leverage point during negotiations after the minor league agreement expires following the 2027 season.

The current session of Congress ends Jan. 3, 2025, and with judicial appointments, a spending bill and disaster aid among the current legislative priorities, the Fair Ball Act could be pushed to the next session or, like SAPA, folded into a larger bill.

"What made the Save America's Pastime Act so bad, is it was Exhibit A for how American politics should not work," Garrett Broshuis, a former minor league player and lawyer who filed the antitrust suit, told ESPN. "It didn't have a committee hearing. It was snuck in on page 1,967 of the bill in the dark of night. Most of the congressmen and congresswomen didn't know it was in there when they were voting for it. It was an example of rich people getting special treatment at the expense of their workers.

"This opportunity to narrow that exemption is overdue, and I commend Sen. Durbin, the MLBPA and all the others who have been working on this."

NEW YORK -- With uncertainty looming over when Japanese baseball star Roki Sasaki will sign with a major league club, Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred offered some clarity Wednesday, saying that he expects Sasaki to be part of the 2025 international amateur class.

That would mean Sasaki, one of the top pitchers in the world, will be posted after Dec. 2 and will not sign with a club before Jan. 15.

"It kind of looks like the way it's going to shake out that the signing there, just because of the timing, will happen in the new pool period," Manfred said at MLB's Manhattan offices, where the owners meetings are taking place this week.

Earlier this month, the Chiba Lotte Marines made official what was anticipated around the baseball industry for months, announcing it would post Sasaki this winter.

The signing period for international free agents stretches from Jan. 15 to Dec. 15 every year. All 30 clubs have 45 days to negotiate with a player from Nippon Professional Baseball once he is posted. If a deal is not struck in that 45-day period, the player is returned to his NPB team.

In Sasaki's case, he is considered an international amateur free agent and, as a result, can only sign a minor league deal because he is under the age of 25 and didn't play six seasons in NPB. That designation, combined with international bonus pools being capped, suppresses the amount of money teams can pay the 23-year-old Sasaki, who surely would have garnered a nine-figure contract in an unrestricted market if he had waited another two years to join an MLB club.

Sasaki would have been eligible for the 2024 signing period only if he were posted before Dec. 2 because the 45-day negotiating window would elapse before the 2025 signing period begins. Most clubs have spent their allotment for the 2024 period. Sasaki waiting until the 2025 period resets each club's budget. That could theoretically give other teams a better opportunity to land a starting pitcher with a triple-digit fastball, nasty splitter and top-flight slider at a bargain price a year after the Los Angeles Dodgers signed then-25-year-old Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a 12-year, $325 million contract last winter.

The Dodgers have been widely considered the favorites to sign Sasaki, too. They had the most international bonus pool money remaining for the 2024 signing period -- about $2.5 million -- ostensibly to offer Sasaki. Rules stipulate their 2025 bonus pool is capped at approximately $5.1 million.

The largest bonus pools for 2025 are set at around $7.5 million, though most teams have committed the majority, if not all, of their money to players in nonbinding deals. Clubs could, however, choose not to honor those verbal pacts and trade for international bonus space to offer Sasaki more money.

Chris Sale and Tarik Skubal have a lot in common: left-handed, pitching Triple Crown winners, former Tommy John surgery patients. And now, first-time Cy Young Award recipients.

Sale's comeback season with the Atlanta Braves ended with the National League honor, getting 26 of the 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers' Association of America to finish ahead of Philadelphia's Zack Wheeler, who got the other four.

Skubal, the ace for the Detroit Tigers, won the American League award in unanimous fashion, with Seth Lugo of the Kansas City Royals finishing a distant second in the voting.

It was just the third time two left-handers won Cy Young honors in the same season, with Steve Carlton and Sparky Lyle winning in 1977 and Randy Johnson and Barry Zito in 2002.

Sale, 35, finished 18-3 with a 2.38 ERA and 225 strikeouts -- leading the National League in wins, ERA and strikeouts. He and Skubal were the first pitchers to win the Triple Crown in a full season since Clayton Kershaw and Justin Verlander did it in 2011 (Shane Bieber did it in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season).

Sale's resurgence was a blast from last decade, when he was one of the top starting pitchers in the sport. He had battled a series of injuries since 2019, including Tommy John surgery in March 2020.

"To be able to show my sons the hard work, the dedication, not giving up. My wife having my back the whole time. I'm sure I was real peachy at times during those injuries," Sale said. "I was talking to my dad the other day and whether it did or didn't happen, he was proud of me."

From 2020 to 2023, Sale made just 31 starts, although 20 of those came with the Boston Red Sox last season. The Braves took a chance and acquired him in an offseason trade.

"The biggest thing is health," Sale said. "I was healthy earlier in my career and I was able to sustain some success and stay out on the field. Ran into a buzz saw over the past handful of years. Just couldn't stay healthy, couldn't stay on the field, and you're not doing anything when you're not on the field."

He responded with a season that looked like his prime years with the White Sox and Red Sox from 2012 to 2018, when he received Cy Young votes all seven seasons -- finishing second, third, fourth, fifth (twice) and sixth (twice). He had been tied with Mike Mussina and Nolan Ryan for the most top-five finishes (6) without winning.

Sale in 2024 made his most starts and pitched his most innings since 2017, not missing a start until the final week of the season, when he was scratched in a crucial season-ending series against the New York Mets due to back spasms and then missed the Braves' wild-card series loss to the San Diego Padres.

Along the way, Sale won his final eight decisions as the Braves won a wild card, overcoming a disappointing first half to make a late run and capture a playoff spot on the final day of the season. The Braves went 12-2 over Sale's final 14 starts, with Sale posting a 1.93 ERA.

He not only led the NL in the Triple Crown categories, but also led in ERA+, fewest home runs allowed per nine innings (0.5), strikeout rate (32.1%) and most strikeouts per nine (11.4). He led the majors in FanGraphs WAR (6.4) while ranking third behind Skubal and Cincinnati's Hunter Greene in Baseball-Reference WAR (6.2).

Sale is the Braves' first Cy Young winner since Tom Glavine won for the second time in 1998, and his ERA was the lowest for a Braves left-hander in the expansion era (since 1961).

With his signature unorthodox sidearm delivery, Sale's stuff hasn't lost anything from his prime, despite all the injuries. He averaged 94.8 mph on his fastball and batters hit just .171 with one home run in 280 at-bats off his slider.

"It's special and I appreciate it," Sale said. "It wasn't just me rolling out there and throwing the baseball. There were a lot of people who got me here: Teammates, family, training staff. For me to go out there and do what I was able to do, I wouldn't have done it without them. The last few years were tough, so to go through what I went through with the support I had, I'm very thankful."

Skubal, who celebrated his 28th birthday on Wednesday, had the breakout season that many saw coming after the second half of the 2023 season. He finished 18-4 with a 2.39 ERA and 228 strikeouts. He was certainly the team MVP for the surprising Tigers, who had a historic surge over the final seven weeks of the season to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2014.

"It was a ton of fun to be part of," Skubal said. "The last two months of our season and even the postseason was very special. The memories and the experience will obviously help our club going forward and I'm glad we got to experience it as a team and as a young team."

Skubal, who had Tommy John surgery in college at Seattle University, was a ninth-round pick of the Tigers in 2018, but he climbed quickly through the minors and reached the majors in 2020. After a solid rookie season in 2021, he battled injuries in 2022 and '23, but he posted a 2.80 ERA in 15 starts last season, including 2.15 over his final 10 outings.

That carried over into 2024. Skubal won his first six decisions, posting a 1.80 ERA, and made his first All-Star team. With the Tigers under .500 as the trade deadline approached, Skubal's name was mentioned in trade rumors, but the Tigers kept him -- although they did trade Jack Flaherty to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

An unlikely run to the postseason followed. The Tigers were 55-63 on Aug. 10 but went 31-13 in their final 44 games. Skubal went 5-0 with a 1.85 ERA over that stretch, including two 2-1 victories.

His ERA was the lowest for a qualified Detroit starter since Mark Fidrych in 1976 and he becomes the Tigers' first Cy Young winner since Max Scherzer in 2013. Verlander, Willie Hernandez and Denny McLain (twice) also won the award with Detroit.

Skubal has a five-pitch repertoire, and his four-seam fastball averaged 96.8 mph and ranked in the 99th percentile of all pitchers in Statcast run value. He mixes in a changeup, sinker, slider and knuckle-curveball. Overall, batters hit just .201 against him with a .558 OPS.

"It's special," Skubal said. "All the hard work, all the stuff that goes on behind the scenes, moments like this make it extremely worth it."

Paul Skenes, the 22-year-old who burst on the scene for the Pittsburgh Pirates, finished third in the NL balloting, becoming just the fifth rookie to finish among the top three in Cy Young Award voting. Only Fernando Valenzuela won both awards in the same year, in 1981 with the Dodgers in the National League.

Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase, with a 0.61 ERA in 74 1/3 innings over 74 games, was third in AL balloting and is the first reliever to finish among the top three in Cy Young voting since San Diego closer Trevor Hoffman came in second for the NL award in 2006.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.