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In a first for a high-profile ex-professional athlete, North Carolina A&T freshman golfer J.R. Smith — a retired 16-year NBA guard — has signed with Excel Sports for NIL representation, agent Lance Young told ESPN.

Smith, 36, is beginning his second semester for the Aggies, and his emergence as perhaps the most well-known Division I golfer has inspired significant endorsement possibilities that could earn him well into the six figures under the NCAA’s new name, image and likeness legislation.

There’s significant NIL interest among golfing equipment and clothing manufacturers and video game companies, Young told ESPN.

Smith has expressed a desire to become a bridge to the sport of golf for underrepresented minority groups, and his matriculation as a full-time undergraduate at N.C. A&T — an HBCU in Greensboro, North Carolina — has captured significant attention. Smith has a considerable social media following, too, including 6 million followers on Instagram.

Smith earned roughly $90 million in salary in his NBA career. He won titles with the Cleveland Cavaliers (2016) and the Los Angeles Lakers (2020) and earned a Sixth Man of the Year Award with the New York Knicks in 2013. As one of the final prominent preps-to-the-pros players, Smith made the leap from St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark, New Jersey, to the NBA draft in 2004. He was the 18th overall pick to New Orleans.

NIL agreements don’t have the full freedoms that professional endorsement agreements do. Smith can’t promote sponsors in NCAA-sanctioned events, but he can do such things as commercials and social media postings. Companies such as alcohol, tobacco and gambling are banned from NIL representation.

As another example, an NIL deal can’t include performance bonuses for playing well in a college golf tournament. Nevertheless, Smith’s appeal to companies will be in his popularity as a former NBA player who can deliver brands an avenue to new and broader audiences.

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Facing the most monumental task in his 11 years as Bears chairman two-and-a-half weeks ago, George McCaskey refused to detail exactly what traits he envisioned in a new head coach and general manager. It didn’t matter whether the coach was an expert in offense or defense, McCaskey said. He didn’t need to be beloved by his players — as long as he was respected.

On Jan. 10, McCaskey set the tone for a wide-ranging interview process that, by its end, saw the Bears interview at least 13 GM candidates and 10 potential head coaches.

There was one thing, though, that was not negotiable.

“The primary quality we’ll be looking for in both the general manager and the head coach is leadership,” he said.

On Tuesday, McCaskey hired Ryan Poles, a 36-year-old first-time GM. After interviewing three finalists, Poles picked his head coach Thursday morning: Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus. The 51-year-old has never been a head coach at any level of football.

That’s not to say that Eberflus can’t be the face of the franchise for years. Or that, behind the scenes, Poles can’t set the tone for Halas Hall for the next decade. Because neither has led a team before, though, it’s all projection — McCaskey’s projection. Bears fans have reason to be skeptical: Eberflus is now the fifth different head coach employed during McCaskey’s 11-year tenure — and the fourth one hired. During that span, the Bears have not won a single playoff game.

The Bears have made these leadership projections constantly for half a century. In the Super Bowl era, John Fox is the only man they hired who had previous NFL head coaching experience. Eberflus and Poles, though, are the first coach/GM tandem in franchise history who are rookies at the same time. That ups the degree of difficulty for both men — and the amount of faith one must have in McCaskey to believe it will work.

After all, Poles chose Eberflus over two finalists who had not only NFL head coaching experience, but winning records. Jim Caldwell, who interviewed with Poles on Tuesday at Halas Hall, was 62-50 in three years with the Colts and four years with the Lions. Dan Quinn was 43-42 in five-and-a-half seasons with the Falcons, including a Super Bowl appearance — and collapse after being ahead of the Patriots 28-3 — five years ago. He interviewed Wednesday, the same day as Eberflus.

Shortly after Poles picked Eberflus on Thursday, Quinn told the Cowboys he would return as defensive coordinator. Hours later, he was named PFWA Assistant Coach of the Year.

“I would like to thank Ryan and the McCaskey family for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to lead the Chicago Bears, one of the most storied franchises in all of sports in one of the greatest cities in the world,” Eberflus said in a statement. “I am truly humbled and honored to be named your head coach and together we will do everything in our power to bring a Super Bowl championship back to Chicago.”

In a statement, Poles said his new coach impressed him with his vision for the Bears. Poles said his “experience, passion, character and attention to detail made him the right man for both the job and the culture we intend to establish here at Halas Hall.”

Eberflus built an opportunistic defense after arriving in Indianapolis four years ago as part of an arranged marriage. He agreed to leave the Cowboys, where he was the passing game coordinator and linebackers coach, to join new Colts head coach Josh McDaniels. The Patriots offensive coordinator infamously backed out of the job after the Super Bowl, though. Eberflus stayed anyway.

Over the last four seasons, only the Patriots have forced more takeaways than the Colts’ 107. Last year, only Quinn’s Cowboys topped Eberflus’ 33. According to Football Outsiders’ Defensive DVOA metric, the Colts’ defense has ranked No.s 8,7,19 and 11 the last four years.

Squint and you can see shades of the last defensive coordinator the Bears hired to be a first-time head coach: Lovie Smith. Like Smith, Eberflus plays a base 4-3 defense with a reliance on Cover 2. Eberflus worked under former Bears executive Chris Ballard in Indianapolis and considers Rod Marinelli, a longtime Smith lieutenant, one of his mentors. He even emphasized Charles Tillman’s “Peanut Punch” to his players, with amazing results: linebacker Darius Leonard led the NFL with eight forced fumbles last year.

Even if Eberflus can turn back the clock to dominant Bears defense, he needs to drag the offense into modernity. Over the last 15 seasons, the Bears have finished in the top quarter in league scoring exactly once.

More than any other factor, the performance of second-year quarterback Justin Fields will determine if Eberflus gets more than the four years afforded Matt Nagy, the three given Fox or the two that Marc Trestman experienced.

Poles liked Eberflus’ offensive coaching plan enough to hire him. Now he needs to execute it. Finding an offensive coordinator — and, to a lesser extent, quarterbacks coach — to grow Fields’ game will be the most important thing Eberflus can do in the next week. He’ll lean on his NFL experience — he’s worked for the Browns, Cowboys and Colts dating to 2009 — and his connections through super-agent Trace Armstrong to find one.

Eberflus was a finalist in the Jaguars’ search, but still felt like an under-the-radar hire, given the experience of Caldwell and Quinn. His underdog status is not new: Eberflus joined his hometown Toledo Rockets as a walk-on and graduated as a captain, team MVP and eventual athletic department hall of famer. He climbed the Toledo coaching ranks before following Gary Pinkel to Missouri and then jumping to the NFL.

Thursday, he became a head coach for the first time. The Bears will soon find out whether he can lead.

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Bears special teams coordinator Chris Tabor is leaving for the same position with the Panthers. They announced the agreement Thursday.

Tabor was an assistant special teams coach for the Bears from 2008 through ’10 under coach Lovie Smith and returned as a coordinator when Matt Nagy took over in 2018.

The Bears were ninth in longtime NFL writer Rick Gosselin’s annual special teams rankings each of the last two seasons. Meanwhile, the Panthers were 28th this season.

Tabor helped steer the Bears out of their skid at kicker after Cody Parkey struggled in 2018 and Eddy Pineiro got hurt after a solid 2019 season. Tabor coached kicker Cairo Santos as he set the franchise record for field-goal accuracy in 2020 at 93.9%, and he followed by making 86.7% this season.

Tabor also took over the Bears as acting head coach when Nagy tested positive for the coronavirus and missed the Week 8 game against the 49ers.

With the Bears hiring Matt Eberflus as their new coach Thursday, there figures to be significant — if not total — turnover on the coaching staff. Defensive coordinator Sean Desai has already interviewed for another job, and it seems unlikely Eberflus will retain offensive coordinator Bill Lazor.

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SAN FRANCISCO — Draymond Green is going into TV.

The Golden State Warriors star has received an exclusive multiyear agreement to join Turner Sports as an active player, set to make appearances with the network’s “Inside the NBA” program among other content opportunities with Turner Sports and Bleacher Report.

So, this means Green will sit alongside the studio team of Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith as an analyst when his schedule permits, while also working remotely to contribute to various other programs and special projects throughout the season.

TNT made the announcement Thursday.

“I’ve had an amazing experience working with Turner Sports in recent years and I’m a big believer in the way they entertain and genuinely connect with fans on all levels,” said Green, currently sidelined by an injury. “Today’s announcement helps to formalize our relationship and I couldn’t be prouder to officially be a part of the of the TNT family.”

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The 2022 NBA All-Star Game is just a few weeks away, and on Thursday night the NBA revealed the 10 players voted in as starters along with the two All-Star captains who will draft their teams for the eventual showdown in Cleveland on Feb. 20.

As of the last public reveal of the fan vote, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James had surpassed Golden State Warriors rival Stephen Curry as the leading vote-getter in the West, putting him in line to be a captain for the fifth consecutive year. Curry, meanwhile, was in a tight race with the Dallas Mavericks‘ Luka Doncic and Memphis Grizzlies‘ Ja Morant to be a starter at guard. The race was even closer in the East, in which three players are separated by fewer than 200,000 votes for the second guard spot.

Before the starters were announced Thursday night, we asked our experts to break down those two races, plus three other big All-Star questions, including which player could join Morant as a first-time All-Star in 2022.

1. Which of the three leading vote-getters among West guards (Curry, Doncic, Morant) should NOT be an All-Star starter?

Kendra Andrews: Surprisingly, this came down to Curry and Doncic, but Doncic is the one who should not be an All-Star starter. Morant has been the most jaw-dropping player to watch, and the way he has led the Grizzlies to the third seed in the West — ahead of the Mavericks, Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets — makes him untouchable in this category. Both Curry and Doncic have had their shooting woes this season, but Curry is still the greatest shooter of all time and deserves to be a starter.

2dTim Bontemps

7dTim Bontemps

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Jamal Collier: Doncic. Curry and Morant have been the best players on two of the top teams in the conference. The success of both the Warriors and Grizzlies has been relatively surprising compared to preseason expectations, all while Curry and Morant have authored some of the most thrilling moments and jaw-dropping on-court performances. Doncic and the Mavericks finally started clicking in January, but the other two guards had already staked their claim into the early MVP discussion.

Kirk Goldsberry: Doncic because his individual numbers haven’t been great — both his scoring and efficiency numbers have dipped since last season — and because he’s looking up at those other two guys in the Western standings. Curry is slumping but he’s still an MVP candidate who is a fan favorite, while Morant is both a human highlight film and the breakout star for Memphis. A Curry-Morant backcourt seems pretty electrifying to me.

Tim MacMahon: Doncic is the least deserving based on his relatively slow start, which was due in large part because he reported to camp out of shape. He has had recent performances that indicate he’s rounding into first-team All-NBA form — and he’s still a top-10 scorer and nightly triple-double threat — but Curry and Morant have been more impactful and spectacular.

Kevin Pelton: I actually went with Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul as my second starter. Morant and Doncic represent an extreme example of how much weight to put on the first half of this season — where Morant has blown up on the court — vs. acknowledging an established level of play. Of them, I’d lean to the Grizzlies’ guard. But Paul hits the sweet spot of consistent greatness, ranking ahead of them in value metrics because he has been healthy all season.

2. Which of the four leading vote-getters among East guards (DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, Trae Young and James Harden) should get the two starting spots?

Collier: DeRozan and Young, as long as we’re OK with ignoring that DeRozan is a frontcourt player for the Chicago Bulls. He’s having, perhaps, the best season of his career to help carry Chicago to its best start in a decade, which gives him the nod over LaVine, his teammate. Even though Atlanta’s record has been one of the league’s biggest disappointments in the first half, Young has carried the Hawks to an elite offense. Young is having the best season of his career and although Harden has been fantastic recently, he has taken a step back from his usual excellence.

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MacMahon: How DeRozan is listed as a guard is another discussion, but he’s at the top of this list of candidates. I’ll go with Young as the second guard from the East. You could hold the Hawks’ record against him, but Atlanta’s run to the East finals last postseason should have put to rest the argument that Young isn’t a winner. He’s the only player in the league to rank top-five in scoring and assists, and is one of the game’s great showmen.

Goldsberry: I’m going with the veterans here for a few reasons. First, check this out: DeRozan and Harden were born 19 days apart in August 1989 in Los Angeles. They grew up together, and if they started in the backcourt together, it would be awesome. Second, you can justify this choice with their performances. Young has been impressive, but it hasn’t translated to winning in the ways the other three players have done. I’ll give DeRozan the nod over LaVine because he has been so special — those buzzer-beaters, hello! — in his first season in Chicago, and Harden deserves respect for combining scoring and assists in ways that have kept the Brooklyn Nets near the top of the East.

Andrews: DeRozan is a lock. He has been an absolute game-changer for the Bulls and has been the biggest key — not LaVine — to them having the second-best record in the East. Looking at the other candidates: Harden’s numbers haven’t been great, but he’s on the Nets. Young has played extremely well, but the Hawks aren’t winning as much. That being said, Young should get the other starting job in the East’s backcourt. He’s currently fifth in scoring and is coming off an Eastern Conference Player of the Week showing that highlighted how lethal he has been.

Pelton: Again, I’m going off the board. My first vote went to DeRozan, despite the fact he has barely played guard (76 minutes all season, per my analysis of lineup data from NBA Advanced Stats). But my other vote went to the Toronto Raptors‘ Fred VanVleet, who is a distant seventh in the voting. Given proper credit for his defensive advantage over the other three players, he has been the best performer of the group.

3. Denver’s Nikola Jokic and Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid will likely nab starting ‘frontcourt’ spots. Is it time to bring ‘Center’ back to the ballot?

Pelton: Yes, although less because we don’t need to avoid a bad token starting center and more because of the opposite possibility — unwieldy All-Star lineups with multiple centers. If we’re looking to better reflect how the game is actually played, a breakdown more like PG/wing/post makes more sense than the current backcourt/frontcourt split, and it also limits controversy over where players such as DeRozan and the Miami Heat‘s Jimmy Butler should be considered (they’re both wings under this construction).

Friday, Jan. 28
Lakers at Hornets, 7:30 p.m.
Knicks at Bucks, 10 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 29
Nets at Warriors, 8:30 p.m.

All times Eastern

Andrews: No. We’re still in the era of positionless basketball in which it is nearly impossible to solely label certain players as centers, rather than forwards. Embiid and Jokic have certainly brought the prototypical NBA center back in fashion, but there are too few of them around the league for them to have their own category.

Goldsberry: Yes. Centers are a humongous part of the heritage of pro basketball, and the fact this league has gerrymandered the big man off this iconic ballot is an outrage. It’s time to change that and as both Jokic and Embiid have proved this season, the death of the center position has been greatly exaggerated. Size and strength still matter in hoops, but these guys have both resurrected the relevance of the position by being hyperskilled in ways old-school centers just couldn’t fathom. This isn’t charity, these fellas are both legit MVP candidates, too.

Collier: No. These two outliers shouldn’t set the rules. Positions aren’t getting any easier to define, so the more flexibility, the better. The goal should be to get the best and most exciting five players on the floor in each conference, so better to keep things malleable.

MacMahon: No. If anything, it’s time to remove the positions from the voting process altogether. Just pick the best players. My West ballot would include two centers among starters, with Utah’s Rudy Gobert joining Jokic in the frontcourt. But there shouldn’t be a quota on centers selected, which led to some East big men getting the nod over better players back in the day.

4. Which player (other than Morant) who has never been an All-Star is most deserving of a spot this year?

Could Darius Garland be a first-time All-Star with the game in Cleveland? NBAE via Getty Images

Goldsberry: There are three enticing candidates who are with the Cleveland Cavaliers. All-Star selections always skew toward high-profile stars in big-time markets, but Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen each deserve a look. Ultimately I’ll go with Garland, who leads this surprising team in minutes, points and assists. And when he’s been on the floor this season, the Cavs have been at their best; they have a net rating of 9.4 with Garland. Oh, and the game is in Cleveland!

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Collier: VanVleet. The Raptors are in the mix for playoff positioning in the East with VanVleet leading the way as a two-way force. He’s putting up career-highs in points and assists while improving his shooting efficiency and volume, making him deserving of being elevated to an All-Star.

Pelton: VanVleet. I don’t think his All-Star case got enough consideration last season, when the Raptors were below .500 most of the first half. He has been even better this season, and I hope East coaches take notice because there’s a bit more urgency given VanVleet, who turns 28 next month, is older than the rising stars who fill out this category.

Andrews: Garland. This season has been a breakout season for the third-year player and he has been the biggest difference-maker for a Cleveland team stacked with young guns making a surprising run. After losing Collin Sexton and Ricky Rubio for the year, Garland’s production and leadership only got better. He’s averaging a team-best 19.7 points per game and 8.2 assists, good for sixth in the NBA.

MacMahon: With all due respect to Garland, let’s go off the radar with San Antonio’s Dejounte Murray. He’s on pace to become the third player in NBA history to average at least 19 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and two steals per game. The other two? Magic Johnson in 1980-81 and Michael Jordan in 1988-89.

5. Who is your way-too-early pick for All-Star Game MVP?

LeBron James is already a three-time All-Star MVP winner. NBAE/Getty Images

Pelton: James. Returning to his native Northeast Ohio, I anticipate LeBron will be motivated to put on a show for fans and remind everyone how incredible a player he remains at age 37.

Who is No. 1 in the latest NBA Basketball Power Index? Go to Ratings

Andrews: There are a lot of different ways to go on this one, but I’m going with Curry. Curry has been itching to get out of his shooting slump, and if he hasn’t by then, participating in the light-hearted All-Star Game could be the perfect opportunity to do so. And once Curry gets going from deep, there’s not much that tops that.

MacMahon: I’m sure LeBron would love to put on a show in Cleveland, which is of course a home game of sorts for him. He’d also probably relish in reminding everybody he is still arguably the NBA’s best player, regardless of the Lakers’ mediocre record.

Collier: Morant. He’s easily the most likely to do something that makes you go “OH MY GOD.” I’ll take the walking highlight reel to show out on his first chance on an All-Star stage.

Goldsberry: James is frustrated with the Lakers right now, and he might just use this glitzy game in his hometown to remind his peers and the rest of the basketball world that he is one of the league’s greatest players. He has done it all in his career, but this is the first time he has the opportunity to play in an All-Star Game in Cleveland. I think he’ll put on a show.

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The Chicago Bears have hired Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus as their head coach, the team announced Thursday night.

Eberflus, 51, also was considered a candidate for the Jacksonville Jaguars‘ head-coaching vacancy. He will join new general manager Ryan Poles in taking over a Bears team that went 6-11 in 2021 under Matt Nagy and has missed the playoffs in nine of the past 11 seasons.

“I couldn’t be more excited to have Matt become the next head coach of the Chicago Bears,” said Poles, whom the Bears hired Tuesday. “His experience, passion, character and attention to detail made him the right man for both the job and the culture we intend to establish here at Halas Hall. Throughout the search, Matt impressed me when detailing his vision and plan for our team. We look forward to getting to work and assembling a top-notch staff and roster that will help us consistently compete for championships.”

Chicago also interviewed Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn and former Colts and Lions head coach Jim Caldwell for the job.

Eberflus has spent the past four seasons as the Colts’ defensive coordinator under coach Frank Reich. His defenses finished in the top 10 in scoring three times, including being tied for ninth in 2021 at 21.5 points per game.

8hKevin Seifert

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Eberflus inherits a Bears team that ranked sixth in the NFL in total defense in 2021 but struggled offensively and endured instability at quarterback, where Andy Dalton alternated as the starter with rookie Justin Fields.

The first big question for Eberflus in Chicago will be selecting an offensive coordinator, because a big part of the job for the new coach and GM will be solidifying the quarterback position that has haunted the founding NFL franchise for decades.

The Bears do not have a first-round draft pick in 2022 because they traded that selection to the New York Giants to select Fields, who showed flashes of potential as a passer and as a runner but finished with just seven touchdown passes and 10 interceptions. Chicago went 2-8 in the 10 games Fields started this past season.

The Bears made two postseason appearances in their four years under Nagy but last won a playoff game in 2010. They are 1-3 in the postseason since appearing in Super Bowl XLI after the 2006 season, a game the Colts won.

“I would like to thank Ryan and the McCaskey family for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to lead the Chicago Bears, one of the most storied franchises in all of sports in one of the greatest cities in the world,” Eberflus said. “I am truly humbled and honored to be named your head coach and together we will do everything in our power to bring a Super Bowl championship back to Chicago.”

Eberflus, a former linebacker at the University of Toledo who began his coaching career at his alma mater and hometown school, also interviewed for head-coaching jobs last year after his third season with Indianapolis, where he developed a reputation for demanding relentless effort out of his players.

Eberflus’ high standards included counting “loafs” — a term former Bears coach Lovie Smith also used in his Tampa 2 defense. Eberflus refined his style and terminology during a seven-year stint in Dallas, where he worked with Rod Marinelli, who, like Smith, came from the coaching tree of Hall of Famer Tony Dungy.

Now Eberflus is the second coordinator to leave Indianapolis in two seasons.

Last year, the Philadelphia Eagles filled their head-coaching vacancy with Colts offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni, who took a handful of Colts assistants with him.

When Eberflus began his coaching career at Toledo in 1992, he spent nine years with the Rockets as a student assistant, grad assistant, outside linebackers and defensive backs coach. He spent the next eight seasons as Missouri’s defensive coordinator (2001-08) before making the jump to the NFL, where he coached linebackers in Cleveland (2009-10) and Dallas (2011-17) before joining the Colts ahead of the 2018 season.

In Eberflus’ first season in Indianapolis, the Colts improved from 30th to 10th in scoring defense, from 30th to 11th in total defense and from 26th to eighth in rush defense.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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