J.R. Smith has signed with Excel Sports Management to represent him in potential NIL deals, according to ESPN. 

Excel Sports is an "industry-leading management and marketing agency that represents top-tier talent" such as Tiger Woods, Justin Thomas and many other professional golfers. 

Smith, the 2013 NBA Sixth Man of the Year, is currently in his second semester at North Carolina A&T, an HBCU in Greensboro, North Carolina, and is a member of the men's golf team. According to the report, Excel’s Lance Young said Smith is drawing significant NIL interest from clothing manufacturers, golf equipment and video game companies. 

A new NCAA rule permits college athletes to sign NIL deals where they can endorse products based on their image and likeness. In October, Stanford's Rachael Heck, the 2021 NCAA Individual Champion and ANNIKA Award winner, signed with Excel. 

Smith, 36, had a 16-year NBA career and won a title with the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers and the 2020 Los Angeles Lakers, which was the last year he played in the NBA. Exactly a year and a day after he won the title with the Lakers in the NBA's COVID bubble, Smith made his college golf debut and was stung by several yellow jackets after aggravating a nest while searching for a wayward tee shot in the woods. 

In December, Smith tweeted out that he received a 4.0 GPA in his first semester. 

It's only been 49 days since the 2021 Major League Soccer season concluded with New York City FC's triumphant MLS Cup win in Portland, and there are still 30 days before the 2022 campaign gets underway, yet it's been an entertaining offseason so far.

The league's embrace of its role in the global transfer market, that of a seller, has never been more evident than in this offseason. Players developed in MLS academies and U.S. colleges such as Ricardo Pepi, Daryl Dike, Tajon Buchanan, Cole Bassett, Justin Che, James Sands and Kevin Paredes have all left for Europe. Rodolfo Pizarro, Leandro Gonzalez Pirez and Eduard Atuesta have left the league for some of the biggest clubs in South and Central America.

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Yet, in the face of these intriguing exports, there have been numerous deals that have led to fresh faces arriving and established stars moving within the league. The Houston Dynamo smashed their transfer record to sign Sebastian Ferreira to a designated player deal. The LA Galaxy dealt longtime United States midfielder Sebastian Lletget to the New England Revolution.

So, with the transfers, trades and subsequent questions piling up, ESPN's Jeff Carlisle and Austin Lindberg looked into some of the most interesting, exciting and complex deals that have brought new players to new teams in MLS for 2022.

Lorenzo Insigne | Forward | 30 | Napoli to Toronto FC

The Italy international was the offseason's most spectacular capture given that his reported annual salary of $15 million is more than double the previous record of $7.2 million (the reported part anyway) for former LA Galaxy forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic. And it's one that has led to questions about whether it's a sign that MLS in general is loosening its purse strings, especially given the player's pedigree and importance to the Azzurri ahead of the 2022 World Cup.

The reality is this looks more like a Toronto team reverting to type. This is an organization that shelled out eight-digit transfer fees for the likes of Michael Bradley, Jermain Defoe and Alejandro Pozuelo. In Insigne's case, he arrived on a free transfer, allowing TFC to plow more money into his salary. Only a handful of MLS teams have shown anything close to the financial wherewithal to do anything close to what Toronto did.

The trend in MLS of signing young players -- especially from South America -- so they can be transferred out at a profit later also remains in force. The league's roster rules, including the U-22 initiative, invites teams to go that route. The more likely outcome as it relates to Insigne is that teams will look at the signing carefully and see how it plays out before thinking about whether to follow suit. -- Jeff Carlisle

Kellyn Acosta | Midfielder | 26 | Colorado Rapids to LAFC

Trading for a "rental" is pretty commonplace when looking at the North American sports landscape, but it's not something seen all that often within MLS, yet that's exactly what LAFC have done in sending up to $1.4 million in general allocation money to Colorado for Acosta. The FC Dallas academy graduate has just a year remaining on his contract, and in the wake of his trade to Los Angeles, he made public his desire to play in Europe and that the Rapids had received interest from clubs on the continent.

Acosta will be joining an LAFC side in transition. Gone is Bob Bradley, in has come Steve Cherundolo for his first foray into senior management in any top flight. And while Latif Blessing and Jose Cifuentes are two foundational midfield pieces, the Black and Gold also have seen anchors of the engine room Mark-Anthony Kaye and Atuesta depart the club in the past six months.

Is that the sort of environment that will help Acosta feel settled? Is this putting him in a position to succeed? If not, will the club have earned enough goodwill to convince the player to re-sign? Or will Acosta prove an expensive stopgap, destined for Europe as a free agent in 12 months? -- Austin Lindberg

Paul Arriola | Forward | 26 | D.C. United to FC Dallas

When it comes to predicting who would break MLS' record for the highest amount of assets in an intraleague move, Arriola likely wouldn't have been on the top of most lists. But with Dallas flush thanks to a plethora of outgoing transfers in the past year -- including Bryan Reynolds, Tanner Tessmann and Pepi -- Arriola was tapped to be a major part of FCD's rebuild.

Arriola is by no means the most talented player in the league, but he is a known commodity, and given the hit-or-miss nature of foreign signings -- and in Dallas, it's been more miss than hit -- he provides a dependable and on-occasion dynamic wing presence who is also willing to work on the defensive side of the ball.

There has been some allocation money inflation. While the amount went up by a mere $100,000 in 2022, it will go up by $275,000 in 2023 and another $685,000 in 2024, leading Dallas to dip into those pools of funds to get this deal done. But there has long been a sense that domestic players are undervalued in MLS, so perhaps this is a case of GMs taking more note of proven MLS players. -- Carlisle

Facundo Torres | Forward | 21 | Penarol to Orlando City SC

The Orlando attack will look very different in 2022 than it did in 2021. Gone are Dike (West Brom), Nani (Venezia) and Chris Mueller (Hibernian), and in have come DPs Ercan Kara and Torres.

It's Torres who is the Lions' new crown jewel, though. Orlando GM Luiz Muzzi called the Uruguay international one of the three most exciting young players in all of South America, and likened Torres' talent to that of Julian Alvarez, the 21-year-old Argentina striker expected to leave River Plate for Manchester City this month.

This offseason marks our first opportunity to get a glimpse of the sort of investment new owners the Wilf family, who completed their purchase of the club last July, will make in the squad. Torres' transfer fee reportedly could rise as high as $9 million. Kara and fellow January arrival Cesar Araujo were also in all likelihood signed for seven-figure fees.

Torres marks the rebirth of one of the league's best-supported teams. If he's as good as advertised, Orlando could soon be one of the league's best, period. -- Lindberg

Albert Rusnak | Forward | 27 | Real Salt Lake to Seattle Sounders

Rusnak can thank MLS players of yore for his new deal in Seattle. Back in 2015, MLS and the MLS Players Association (MLSPA, then known as the MLS Players Union) agreed to a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that was viewed as a win for the owners. The union's leadership and player representatives were heavily criticized. Players admitted there was lots of potential salary budget room left on the table, but it did contain the first stab at a limited form of free agency, one that the MLSPA hoped would expand over time.

And it did. The CBA agreed upon last February expanded the pool of players eligible for free agency by 149% from the 2019-20 offseason to now.

Rusnak was the biggest beneficiary, maintaining his designated player status with the Sounders. Now it will be seen just how much Seattle benefits. There is plenty that is lining up for both team and player. The team's sporting director, Craig Waibel, and assistant Freddy Juarez managed Rusnak last year in Salt Lake. Rusnak looks set to augment Seattle's attack, one that already had Nicolas Lodeiro and Raul Ruidiaz.

The funny thing is that dream pairings on paper don't always work out as planned. In 2018, Justin Meram was thought to be a prize capture for Orlando City, but he never settled and was back with previous club the Columbus Crew by season's end. In Rusnak's case, plenty of eyes will be on how he meshes with Lodeiro or if he ends up supplanting him. But it will likely still count as a free agency victory for the broader pool of MLS players. -- Carlisle

Colorado Avalanche star center Nathan MacKinnon, who was bloodied on a hit Wednesday, has been diagnosed with a facial fracture and concussion, coach Jared Bednar confirmed Friday.

Sources told ESPN's Emily Kaplan on Wednesday that MacKinnon has a broken nose.

MacKinnon left the ice in the first period of Wednesday night's 4-3 victory over the visiting Boston Bruins and did not return.

The Avs said MacKinnon suffered an upper-body injury as he absorbed a shoulder shot from the Bruins' Taylor Hall.

The hit caused MacKinnon's own stick to snap back into his face. Blood gushed from his nose to the ice as MacKinnon lay facedown.

MacKinnon, a five-time All-Star, was able to skate off on his own but didn't return.

Hall was originally given a five-minute major, but it was reduced to two minutes after a video review.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

EDMONTON, Alberta -- Evander Kane knows he will not be universally loved by by fans of the Edmonton Oilers.

Edmonton is the fourth franchise for the 30-year-old forward whose contract was dumped by the San Jose Sharks. There will be questions about his past, from suspensions due to violations of COVID-19 protocols, a bankruptcy and self-confessed gambling problems. Allegations of abuse lodged by his ex-wife were not proven in court.

Kane met with the media Friday for the first time since landing a deal for the rest of the season.

"I want to clear up a lot of the misinformation, a lot of the storylines painting me in a certain light that are completely untrue, inaccurate and false," Kane said. "I would encourage (fans) to be open-minded, to allow me to do what I do best and get to know me on the ice, off the ice, around the rink, in the community, and see what I bring to the table.

"Every city I've been in, I've always worked in the community and done what I can to help make that city, that community a better place."

There is no denying Kane's talent with 506 points in 769 games. But Kane has continually generated headlines for the wrong reasons.

Last fall, he was suspended 21 games for violating COVID-19 protocols by submitting a fake vaccine card. He was investigated by the league for another alleged violation this season that concluded earlier this week.

Kane declared bankruptcy in 2021, with more than $26 million in debts. He's publicly admitted he has a gambling issue, but has denied that he bet on or influenced NHL games.

"I take responsibility for things I've done wrong," Kane said. "But I'm definitely not taking responsibility for things I haven't done...

"It's funny that people think that I am going to come in, like some kid on the playground, and disrupt everything. That's just not the case," he said. "I've had a lot of experience on and off the ice, I've been in this league a long time, and I try to share those experiences with my team, and try to help them prevent making the same mistakes that I have."

Oilers president of hockey operations and general manager Ken Holland said he has done his homework on Kane.

"I talked to people in our organization, I talked to people outside the organization," Holland said. "In the end, you're talking about chemistry. When it comes to his talent, his skill set, obviously he's a very, very talented player that's going to make us better."

Holland, coach Dave Tippett and Kane had dinner in Vancouver earlier this week, when the Oilers were in town to play the Canucks. They met for two and a half hours.

"I left that dinner feeling that Evander would be a real positive addition to our hockey team," Holland said.

Kane is expected to make his Oilers debut when the team faces Montreal on Saturday night.

He said "quite a few teams" showed interest in signing him after he and the Sharks parted ways.

"I had to make a decision that was going to be the best for me, and those teams continued to dwindle down, and we got to a number where Edmonton was obviously in the mix," Kane said. "It just became more and more evident that this was the best fit for me."

Kane is a two-time 30-goal scorer and has surpassed 20 in a season five other times.

Juventus have signed Dusan Vlahovic from fellow Serie A side Fiorentina, it was announced on Friday.

Vlahovic, 21, was one of the most in-demand players in world football following a stellar 2021 in which he scored 33 goals and is Serie A's joint leading scorer with 17 this campaign.

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Fiorentina have signed Brazilian striker Arthur Cabral from Swiss side FC Basel as a replacement.

Not Wordle, just Dušan Vlahović.#DV7

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) January 28, 2022

He has been linked with a move to Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur but once reports emerged that he was close to joining Juventus, it led to an angry response from Fiorentina with racist and threatening banners erected outside the Artemio Franchi Stadium.

In October, Fiorentina released a statement which said Vlahovic would not be renewing his contract, which led to tension between the 21-year-old and the club's hardcore support.

Less than three weeks after the release of the statement, Vlahovic refused to take a penalty against Cagliari which had been awarded in front of the ultras section of the crowd. He could be seen mouthing: "I'm not feeling it" to a teammate.

Fiorentina have a long-standing rivalry which Juventus and history of letting their best players go the Bianconeri, which has often left to angry reactions.

In 1990, Roberto Baggio was transferred to Juve for $10.8 million which led to angry demonstrations in the street while more recently, in 2020, Federico Chiesa moved on loan with the obligation to complete the deal for €40m plus €10m in variables."

CINCINNATI -- Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow knows that his ears will probably be ringing on Sunday.

One of the loudest stadiums in the NFL has been a main topic of conversation as Cincinnati prepares for Sunday's AFC Championship Game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Burrow said it's par for the course this deep in the postseason.

"It's always going to be a topic when you're playing on the road in the playoffs," Burrow said. "It was loud last week. We handled it OK. We had a couple of mistakes.

"But I think we've had a good week of practice within that noise. I think we're going to be more well prepared for it."

All week, the Bengals have prepared for the expected decibel levels at Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium. Cincinnati piped in artificial crowd noise for practices inside Paul Brown Stadium that could be heard from blocks away.

During a Monday Night Football game in 2014, the crowd for Kansas City's win over the New England Patriots set a mark recognized by the Guinness World Records for the largest crowd roar at a stadium at 142.2 decibels.

However, the stadium capacity is smaller than several college football stadiums, including those in the SEC.

"I think a lot of the guys, and specifically Joe, is ready for that because guys like him and (Ja'Marr) Chase and guys who played in the SEC played against opponents where it was hundreds of thousands of fans in the stadium," Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd said.

Still, the Bengals should be well prepared for the potential pre-snap disruption in Kansas City. Cincinnati has spent the week working on its nonverbal communication in anticipation of all the noise.

Cincinnati committed two false start penalties in the team's road win over Tennessee in last week's divisional playoff game. Bengals left tackle Jonah Williams, who played college ball at Alabama, said both stadiums can be plenty loud.

"It's a big deal," Williams said. "I don't think that these things are mutually exclusive. I think the SEC [stadiums] can be loud and Arrowhead can also be loud. I don't think anyone means to slight them by saying that."

The fourth-seeded Bengals are looking to block out the noise, upset Kansas City and advance to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1989. Williams added that at a certain point, all noise eventually falls on deaf ears, no matter the volume.

"It could be 140 decibels," Williams said. "It could be 300 decibels. It doesn't matter. You can have no ear drums. But as long as you're communicating nonverbally and have a good understanding of the scheme and how to work together, that's our plan."

PITTSBURGH -- Longtime Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert will step down after the 2022 NFL draft in April, team owner Art Rooney II said Friday.

"We have left the door open, Kevin and I, to possibly have him fill an ongoing role after the draft," Rooney said. "We will be conducting a search for a new GM starting immediately. Probably won't make a hire until after the draft. We will be interviewing people. We've already interviewed two of our in-house candidates: Omar Khan and Brandon Hunt."

Colbert's imminent departure will leave coach Mike Tomlin as the lone standing member of the longtime nucleus of the Steelers. Tomlin signed a three-year extension with the team last year, and Rooney said Friday that Tomlin's role will not expand or change under a new general manager.

"I don't expect to make dramatic changes in terms of those responsibilities, coach versus GM," Rooney said. "I think it's worked well, and we're not really trying to make a big change there."

Rooney said that Colbert will hold his "normal role" through the draft and, because of that, that it's not critical for the Steelers to have their next general manager on board before the draft.

Colbert is going on with business as usual in draft preparation, Tomlin said last week.

"My plan and our plan is to proceed in the short term like we always do," Tomlin said. "He's already bringing me up to speed with draft availability and value in that space and planning about how we're going to move. ... We have big-time continuity and understanding within our relationship, and it's been great. It needs to be great as we get into this offseason work."

Colbert has worked on year-to-year deals since the end of the 2019 season and often maintained that he would be around as long as quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Roethlisberger announced his retirement after 18 seasons on Thursday.

Like Tomlin, Rooney said the organization is looking at all options to replace Roethlisberger, including in-house candidates Dwayne Haskins and Mason Rudolph. Even with the change at general manager, Rooney doesn't anticipate being more involved in the quarterback search than in previous player searches and evaluations.

"You have to take advantage of whatever opportunity you have to get the best quarterback you can find," Rooney said. "And you don't always have the luxury of saying, 'I want A, B and C and go to the grocery store and order a quarterback.' We'll evaluate all the options we have.

"Certainly, mobile quarterbacks are the wave of the future, and having mobility at that position is something that would be desirable. The other thing that's desirable is somebody that can read a defense and complete a pass downfield. There are a lot of pieces to the puzzle that you have to put together, and you don't always get someone that meets every criteria you might want. You just have to get the best player, plug them in, put the best players around them and try to put everybody in position to be successful."

Though the Steelers often prefer to keep hires in-house, Rooney said the organization would evaluate outside candidates for the general manager position, along with other openings on staff, such as defensive coordinator.

"We're going to fill these positions with the best people we can find for the job, whether they're internal or external," Rooney said. "We're certainly not afraid to bring somebody in from the outside if need be. When we hired Coach Tomlin, we had some good internal candidates in that round and wound up hiring somebody from the outside. We just don't try to get too much of a narrow focus and really try to get the best person for the job wherever they're coming from."

Internally, Khan, the team's vice president of football operations and business administration, and Hunt, the pro scouting coordinator, are top candidates for the job. Both have interviewed for other general manager vacancies around the league this offseason. Khan has been with the Steelers for 21 years, while Hunt has been with the team for 14.

Colbert, who has been with the Steelers for 22 seasons, took over as general manager in 2010 after a decade as the director of football operations. He has been with the team for two Super Bowl titles and three AFC championships.

He served as the pro scouting director for the Detroit Lions from 1990 to 1999.

NEW YORK -- Brooklyn Nets guard James Harden, who missed one game with left hamstring tightness, is "ready to go" against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night, coach Steve Nash said Friday.

Harden was a late scratch against the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday because of the hamstring injury.

The Nets, who come into Saturday's game having lost three straight, are counting on Harden to provide offensive stability over the next few weeks as the group tries to continue to weave Kyrie Irving back into the lineup -- while still playing without star Kevin Durant, who is expected to miss several more weeks because of a sprained MCL in his left knee.

Nash said Irving "needs the time" on the upcoming five-game road trip to keep building up his rhythm after not playing NBA basketball for almost three months.

Irving, who is not vaccinated against COVID-19, is not currently allowed to play in home games because of a New York City vaccination mandate.

"He's still trying to find his game," Nash said. "His level's so good that it's hard to tell, but we can tell, he can tell. He knows that he's not fully back yet. He's right there, and he has patches, but he needs the time. ... He needs reps. And games are reps for him right now. So it's great for him individually. And as a group, it's great to get more comfortable with him, to spend more time with him. To get him reincorporated with the things we're doing and try to move this thing forward."

The issue of how to integrate a star player back into the lineup is one shared by the Nets' opponent on Saturday. The Warriors are working to get their rhythm back with Klay Thompson, who returned earlier this month after missing close to 2½ years while rehabbing separate ACL and Achilles injuries.

"Knowing Klay, it's a little deeper one for me in that I know how much he loves the game," said Nash, who spent five seasons with Golden State as a player development consultant after his own Hall of Fame career ended. "And to have him have back-to-back season-ending injuries more or less was devastating for him personally, so to see him back playing where he needs to be, where he should be, where he wants to be, is a beautiful thing."

Nash said he's been impressed by what he's seen from Thompson after so much time off.

"Missing any extended period of time, it's not straightforward coming back," Nash said. "You have to find your rhythm, you have to find your timing, you have to get your legs back under you. So two years is like an eternity ... that's some people's NBA careers. So for him to come back and play at the level he's playing at is really impressive, and he'll continue to get better."

The Warriors (36-13) are second in the Western Conference standings entering Saturday's game.

"They have that championship experience and pedigree," Nash said. "You also have a bunch of guys that are hungry. They're used to doing that. So Klay, how hungry do you think he is right now? Steph [Curry], after their last couple years, how hungry do you think he is? I think Draymond [Green], as much as anybody's come back this year, [is] in incredible form. So they're hungry, they're motivated. They have that history, and knowing and corporate knowledge."

The Sacramento Kings -- one of the most aggressive teams in the trade market and once an eager suitor for Philadelphia's Ben Simmons -- have ended their pursuit of a deal with the 76ers and turned elsewhere in trade talks, sources told ESPN on Friday.

Inside of two weeks until the Feb. 10 NBA trade deadline, the Kings believe the asking price is too steep and that a pathway to a trade agreement with the Sixers doesn't exist, sources said.

The Kings, who have lost five straight and sit 13th in the Western Conference, are determined to reshape their roster and remain engaged on other fronts, sources said.

Sacramento has several players who could potentially be traded, including forward Harrison Barnes, guard Buddy Hield and center Richaun Holmes.

The Kings' roster represented one of the Sixers' best options for a Simmons deal ahead of the trade deadline. Losing them in the marketplace somewhat diminishes the chances of an in-season trade, although the Sixers still believe there are potential avenues to a deal, sources said.

With the Kings exiting talks and sources saying the Brooklyn Nets will not engage on a James Harden trade, it becomes increasingly possible that 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey will be willing to advance the Simmons discussions into the offseason.

Morey and the Sixers have long believed that the offseason could bring higher-profile players into the trade market for Simmons. Along with free agency, playoff disappointments often give teams and star players reason to pursue change, which could offer the Sixers a wider spectrum of options.

The Sixers' public and private threshold for a Simmons deal has consistently been stated as a return that would keep them as NBA championship contenders.

Simmons is signed through the 2024-25 season, and the Sixers believe that gives them leverage to wait on a deal. Simmons has sought a trade and declined to play, citing mental health reasons, as center Joel Embiid has turned into an MVP favorite while leading the Sixers to a 29-19 start -- two games behind first-place Miami.

Watch the best shots as Rafael Nadal moves one win away from a record 21st Grand Slam men's title after beating Italy's Matteo Berrettini in the Australian Open semi-finals.

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