CLEVELAND — Luka Doncic grabbed at his left leg. He immediately thought of Dru Smith. The Miami Heat guard’s knee injury suffered in 2023 when he slipped off the side of the Cleveland Cavaliers court haunted Doncic while he winced in pain near the Lakers bench.

The Lakers superstar avoided serious injury after falling off the side of the Cavaliers’ raised court on Monday, but the threat of a player being hurt by Cleveland’s unique 10-inch drop off between the court and the arena floor came into focus again during the Lakers’ 129-99 loss to the Cavaliers.

“It is absolutely a safety hazard,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said after Doncic was able to return later in the first quarter. “And I don’t know why it’s still like that. I don’t. You know, you can lodge formal complaints. A lot of times you don’t see any change when you lodge a formal complaint.”

Doncic was injured shooting a fadeaway three with 7:58 left in the first quarter. He was hopping on one foot after releasing the shot and hopped right off the platform, grabbing immediately for his left leg. When he hobbled to the locker room, Doncic could barely put any weight on his leg.

But he returned with 1:32 remaining in the first quarter and finished with 29 points, six assists and five rebounds. He didn’t have any additional braces or wraps on his left leg, but he said he didn’t feel quite 100%.

“I kind of got scared,” Doncic said. “It wasn’t a great feeling and looking back at the video I think I got a little bit lucky. It hurts obviously more now, but, just, I tried to go.”

Smith was injured much more severely in 2023 when he was closing out on defense, landed on a stat sheet and slipped over the edge. He suffered a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament sprain in the accident, and the Heat contacted the NBA to express concerns about the floor at the time.

“It’s tough to see another player get hurt on this court, with the fall, with the drop off,” Lakers guard Gabe Vincent said Monday, “so hopefully something can get fixed with that, but we’re fortunate that [Doncic] is OK.”

Cleveland’s Rocket Arena, which opened in 1994 and was last renovated in 2019, is also home to the Cleveland Monsters, an American Hockey League affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets. The basketball court is raised to accommodate the ice underneath the floor. But several teams in the NBA, including the Lakers, share their arena with hockey teams and none have a court that drops off like Cleveland’s.

“It’s the only court like this so, I guess it’s my fault,” Doncic said. “I [gotta] stop jumping like that.”

The Lakers have history with concerning courts this year. In November, Doncic said during a postgame news conference that the Lakers’ custom NBA Cup court used during a home game against the Clippers was dangerously slippery. The team flagged the problem to the league and the Lakers did not use the court again because it was not deemed safe for play in time for the other NBA Cup games.

But when asked if there was a way he could bring the latest problem up with the league, Doncic demurred.

“I don’t know,” Doncic said, “don’t involve me in that.”

Similarly, Redick said any changes would be “way above my pay grade.”

The Indiana Hoosiers defeated the Miami Hurricanes last week to cap the college football season.

Just one day before the transfer portal window closed for players who competed in the national championship, Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney sounded the alarm over what he sees as a lack of governance in the sport.

During a wide-ranging news conference, Swinney specifically raised concerns about Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding’s alleged repeated, unauthorized contact with Clemson linebacker Luke Ferrelli. Swinney suggested Golding was working to get Ferrelli’s name into the transfer portal.

On Tuesday, the NCAA contacted Clemson about Swinney’s accusations and launched an investigation.

“The NCAA will investigate any credible allegations of tampering and expect full cooperation from all involved as is required by NCAA rules,” NCAA vice president of enforcement Jon Duncan said in the statement obtained by The Athletic. “We will not comment further on any ongoing investigation.”

The newly adopted 15-day window for other FBS and FCS athletes, including graduate transfers, opens the day after the CFP quarterfinals end. There are built-in exceptions for players who experience a head coaching change.

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“This is a whole other level of tampering,” Swinney said in reference to Ole Miss’ alleged communication with Ferrelli. “It’s total hypocrisy. … This is a really sad state of affairs. We have a broken system, and if there are no consequences for tampering, then we have no rules, and we have no governance.”

Ferrelli, a highly sought-after recruit, elected to enter the portal in January. He did visit Ole Miss but eventually agreed to a contract and enrolled in classes at Clemson. However, shortly after classes at Clemson started, Swinney said football team general manager Jordan Sorrells said “Ole Miss was going hard” after the linebacker. 

Sorrells later asked an Ole Miss official to get the school to end all communication with Ferrelli. According to Swinney, the Ole Miss official made it clear he did not support tampering. On Jan. 15, Ferrelli asked to be entered into the portal with the intention of transferring to Ole Miss.

The next day, Clemson submitted a complaint to the NCAA detailing alleged “blatant” tampering. As of Friday, Clemson athletic director Graham Neff made it clear that legal action was not off the table. 

“I’m not trying to get anybody fired, but when is enough enough?” Swinney said. “If we have rules, and tampering is a rule, then there should be a consequence for that. And shame on the adults if we’re not going to hold each other accountable.”

Swinney expressed concern about the message unchecked tampering could send to future college football players. 

“This is not about a linebacker at Clemson,” he said. “I don’t want anyone on our team that doesn’t want to be here. But it’s about the next kid and the next kid and the message that’s being sent with just blatant tampering being allowed to happen without consequences. This isn’t about our program. It’s about college football.”

Swinney said the current college football climate invites misconduct and must be fixed. The two-time national championship-winning coach backed moving the transfer portal window from January to the spring. He also called for spring football to resemble an NFL team’s OTAs and proposed limits on free transfers.

Fox News Digital contacted Ole Miss’ athletic department for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

A record 4,900 FBS players and more than 3,200 FCS student-athletes entered the transfer portal during the 2024-25 academic year.

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Wonder what Caitlin Clark thinks about the confusion surrounding Austin Reaves’ imminent return to the Lakers lineup? Or whether Jeanie Buss has turned on LeBron James? Or if she has nothing but praise for Luka Doncic?

Tune in to the Lakers’ matchup against the New York Knicks on the NBC Sports debut of “Basketball Night in America” on Sunday night to find out. Clark, the uber-popular WNBA star, will serve an analyst on the pregame show, beginning at 3 p.m. PT, one hour before tipoff.

Should Reaves return Friday or Sunday after missing a month with a left calf strain, it would mark only the seventh time the guard has played together with James and Doncic. That might be the first topic addressed by Clark, who will join the studio team of Maria Taylor and three former NBA stars: Carmelo Anthony, Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady.

Expectations that Reaves would take the floor Wednesday in a nationally televised game against the Cleveland Cavaliers were heightened Tuesday when ESPN insider Shams Charania posted on X that the Lakers guard would be “available to return to the lineup on Wednesday.”

A few moments later, however, the post was deleted with no explanation and the Lakers’ injury report lists Reaves as out.

Clark might stick to lauding Doncic, considering that the superstar NBA guard complimented her game in 2024, saying “that’s the women’s Steph Curry. She can shoot it better than me.”

Clark, who attended Iowa, is the all-time leading scorer in NCAA history. In two seasons with the Indiana Fever, she was named WNBA Rookie of the Year and is a two-time All-Star despite missing much of the 2025 season with a severe groin injury.

“Caitlin is one of the most captivating players and dynamic scorers in basketball,” NBC Sports Executive Producer Sam Flood said in a statement. “We’re excited to have Caitlin join Hall of Famers Melo, Vince, Tracy and Reggie in New York for the launch of Sunday Night Basketball.”

The Lakers-Knicks game will begin a doubleheader that also includes the Oklahoma City Thunder facing the Denver Nuggets.