Sports
No homecoming for Jaren Jackson Jr. (knee) as Jazz visit Grizzlies
Feb 11, 2026; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Jazz forward Jaren Jackson Jr. (20) plans his next move around Sacramento Kings guard/forward DeMar DeRozan (10) during the first half at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Peter Creveling-Imagn Images The high-profile homecoming for Jaren Jackson Jr. will not materialize.
When the Memphis Grizzlies sent the veteran forward to the Utah Jazz shortly before the Feb. 5 trade deadline, they realized the schedule-makers had built in an intriguing mid-February matchup.
But when the Grizzlies play the visiting Jazz on Friday, Jackson will not be in uniform. The former Defensive Player of the Year, in his eighth NBA season, underwent successful surgery earlier this week in Salt Lake City to remove a localized pigmented villonodular synovitis (PVNS) growth from his left knee. A physical performed after the trade revealed the growth.
Jackson, the league’s top defender in 2022-23, will be out for at least four weeks, according to the Jazz, and could return to the court later this season.
In his team debut on Feb. 7 against the Orlando Magic, he had 22 points, three assists and three steals in 25 minutes. He is averaging 19.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 48 games, all but three with the Grizzlies.
Jackson, John Konchar and Vince Williams Jr. went from the Grizzlies to the Jazz on Feb. 3. Memphis received Walter Clayton Jr., Kyle Anderson, Taylor Hendricks, Georges Niang and three first-round draft picks.
Utah coach Will Hardy has only worked with Jackson briefly, but he said the Jazz knew the quality person and player they were getting.
“When we traded for Jaren, obviously there is so much talk about (Jaren) the player,” Hardy said. “And I’m very excited about the player. But what we are trying to build as an organization and a program, Jaren’s character, and who he is as a person, is just as important.
“That has been evident since the day that he (joined the Jazz). He is a high-character guy. He has a good sense of humor. He also has a respect level that comes with him because of how he has played during his career.”
Letting go of another key member of the Grizzlies’ core was difficult for Memphis general manager Zach Kleiman, but it could be a move that pays dividends.
“We felt good about the return (for Jackson) and we felt it healthier for the organization to turn the page as much as we were able to and be able to build this team with a clear mind as to what we’re trying to achieve going forward, which is pivoting to a younger build,” Kleiman said. “We’re not shying away from that. That’s where this team is.”
While the Grizzlies adjust to life without Jackson for the first time since he was taken with the No. 4 pick in the 2018 draft, they are hoping to snap a four-game losing streak without star guard Ja Morant.
Sidelined with a left elbow sprain since Jan. 23, Morant missed the team’s last 11 games and is expected to miss another two weeks. He has only appeared in 20 games because of a variety of injuries.
With Morant out, guard Ty Jerome recently returned from a right calf injury that had him unavailable from the start of the season. In his six games back, Jerome has averaged 19.7 points in 20.2 minutes.
Other contributions have come from Jaylen Wells, Cam Spencer and Cedric Coward, who were selected to play in last Friday’s Rising Stars mini-tournament at NBA All-Star Weekend. Coward was withheld from action due to knee soreness.
Jazz standout Keyonte George missed six of the final seven games before the break due to injuries to each ankle. He is averaging 23.8 points in 48 games.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Super Bowl LX ratings given late boost, still shy of record
Feb 4, 2026; Santa Clara, CA, USA; NBC Peacock television camera with Super Bowl LX logo at Levi’s Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Nielsen adjusted the ratings for Super Bowl LX, bumping the final viewership numbers to 125.6 million.
The Seattle Seahawks’ victory over the New England Patriots was originally reported to have averaged 124.9 million viewers across NBC, Peacock, Telemundo and other digital platforms. Nielsen said the update was to due a Big Data provider not properly collecting data from its devices on game day.
The new figure still makes Super Bowl LX the second-most watched in history, trailing the record 127.7 million who watched last year’s Super Bowl. However, the Feb. 8 game, won 29-13 by Seattle, was the most-watched show in NBC history and drew a combined average household rating of 39.7.
–Field Level Media
Sports
All-Star events draw biggest audience in 24 years
Feb 15, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; Team USA Stars guard Anthony Edwards (5) of the Minnesota Timberwolves celebrates with the MVP trophy after the championship game during the 75th NBA All Star Game at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images The NBA’s All-Star festivities drew their largest viewing audience in nearly a quarter-century last weekend, the league announced Thursday.
The league said 46 million people in the United States watched All-Star weekend across the NBC platforms and ESPN, the most since 2011 and more than triple last season.
Capped off by Sunday’s reformatted USA vs. World mini-tournament of four 12-minute games, the weekend also featured Friday’s celebrity game and Rising Stars event and Saturday’s 3-Point Contest, Shooting Stars and Slam Dunk Contest.
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards was named MVP of Sunday’s 75th NBA All-Star Game at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif. Edwards led the USA Stars to a 47-21 win against USA Stripes in the final.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Prez Charlie Baker still wants to ad at-large bids to NCAA Tournament
NCAA president Charlie Baker still envisions an expanded NCAA Tournament field. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images NCAA president Charlie Baker rolled out the red carpet ahead of the Selection Committee exercise to set the top 16 seeds in the men’s tournament field this weekend and couldn’t help but dream of a bigger dance.
Baker and members of the Selection Committee are running their annual bracket stacking drill to be released Saturday with the public finding out where the NCAA sees the top 16 seeds in the tournament at this stage of the season.
The field will not increase in size in March. The men’s and women’s tournament field remains at 68 for 2026. But 2027 could bring a boost in field size to 72 or more, Baker has said.
“I think there’s some very good reasons to expand the tournament, so I would like to see it expand,” Baker said on Thursday in a session with select media, as detailed by tournament TV partner CBS, a network making headlines about coverage — and non-coverage — of news events and interviews. “You have to remember that some of the folks we’re talking to are going through some pretty interesting corporate conversations of their own. And I think for us, we accept and acknowledge that, but we’re still talking.”
Debate remains around how to structure a bracket growing by as many as eight spots. Baker said the number of at-large bids awarded — currently 36 — is not enough. But he doesn’t want to fiddle with the 32 at-large bids going to conference and conference tournament champions to satisfy the “bubble” teams that might be labeled the “last four out” on Selection Sunday.
“It puts some other really good teams that probably might belong there,” Baker said of the push to increase at-large bids. “But it also protects the AQs, right? Because I don’t want to end up in a situation where people say we need to do something about the AQs because we’re keeping too many good teams out of the tournament.”
–Field Level Media
Super Bowl LX ratings given late boost, still shy of record
NYT Strands hints, answers for February 20, 2026
