Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers have agreed to a three-year, $192.9 million maximum contract extension that guarantees the former MVP a total of $299.5 million through the 2028-29 season, sources told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne.

Embiid announced that he and the team had agreed to the extension Friday morning, saying he hopes to remain a Sixer “for the rest of my career.”

“Philadelphia is home. I want to be here for the rest of my career,” Embiid wrote on Instagram. “I love this community and everything you’ve given me and my family. There is a lot more work to do. You guys deserve a championship and I think we’re just getting started!”

Embiid will decline his $59 million player option for the 2026-27 season and sign the new, three-year extension. He will earn $69 million in the final year of the new deal.

His career earnings will swell to $514.8 million with the new agreement, fourth highest in NBA history behind LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Paul George.

The 76ers also announced the extension Friday without disclosing terms. In a statement, Josh Harris, a managing partner of the ownership group, called Embiid “one of the greatest Sixers of all time” who was “on his way to being one of the best players to ever play the game.”

“We’re ecstatic that this extension keeps him and his family in Philadelphia for years to come,” Harris said. “Joel is a great family man, leader, and person. He is an elite two-way player with a combination of size, strength, and athleticism that this league has rarely — if ever — seen. He is integral to this franchise’s quest for another NBA Championship, and we are honored that he continues to choose this organization as his NBA home.”

Embiid’s deal closes an offseason in which the 76ers committed $550 million in new money. They extended All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey on a $204 million deal and signed George to a four-year, $212 million contract. The Sixers also signed free agent forward Caleb Martin, guard Eric Gordon and center Andre Drummond and re-signed guards Kelly Oubre and Kyle Lowry.

Embiid, 30, remains the cornerstone of the franchise, the 2023 NBA MVP who has made All-NBA five times and shown himself to be one of the most dominant centers in the modern history of the sport. He has averaged 27.9 points in his career — fourth most behind Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain and Luka Doncic, according to ESPN Research.

Last season, Embiid averaged 34.7 points but did not play enough games to qualify for the scoring title. His 1.03 points per minute made him the first player to average a point per minute since Chamberlain in 1961-62, per ESPN Research.

BOSTON — A dozen Tufts University men’s lacrosse players have been diagnosed with a rare muscle injury after participating in a voluntary, supervised 45-minute workout the team conducted, a university spokesperson said.

Five of the players diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis remained hospitalized Friday, according to Patrick Collins, director of media relations for the school.

The workout Monday was led by a graduate of the university who had completed Navy SEAL training.

Rhabdomyolysis is an injury where a person’s muscles break down, according to the Cleveland Clinic. The life-threatening condition can occur after another injury or excessive exercise without rest.

Both the number of confirmed cases and the number of those hospitalized could change, Collins said.

“Our thoughts are with the players and their families, and we are hoping for their quick return to good health under the care of local medical experts,” Collins said in a written statement.

“Meanwhile, we are closely monitoring the condition of the rest of the team and have postponed all team practice activities until each team member has been evaluated and medically cleared to return to participation,” he added.

Given the seriousness of the injuries, Tufts is appointing an external, independent investigator to conduct a thorough review as quickly as possible, with a goal of taking any steps needed to support the safety of the school’s student-athletes, he said.

The university is still learning about the circumstances that led to the injuries, he said, and cannot provide additional details until the investigation is complete.

Lahore: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) issued an advertisement to search for a High-Performance Coach for the Red Ball Team.

The High-Performance Coach will assist the Head Coach in game planning while he will also work closely with the Head Coach in pre- and post-tournament preparations to enhance performance.

As per PCB, five years’ experience and minimum level two coaches are eligible to apply, aspirants can submit applications till October 7.

In the series against Bangladesh, Tim Nelson took over as high-performance coach, brought in by Red Ball coach Jason Gillespie from South Australia.

It is also reported that Tim Nelson will be Red Ball’s high-performance coach, advertised as a necessary step for a permanent appointment.

A few days after the official start of NBA free agency this summer, Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers flew from his Los Angeles-area home to Miami for a recruiting visit. After the initial flurry of signings around the league were complete, Rivers was surprised to see a familiar face without a team — shooting guard Gary Trent Jr.

Trent had known Rivers since he was 6 years old thanks to his father, Gary Trent Sr., whose NBA career overlapped with Rivers’. Trent Jr. had been a productive player with the Toronto Raptors for three and a half seasons but failed to reach an extension or find a multiyear deal on the free agent market. Word was out that Trent could be seeking a one-year deal for the 2024-25 season, and Rivers jumped at the opportunity.

The Bucks were seeking a replacement in their starting lineup for guard Malik Beasley and saw a youthful energy in Trent, who could fit smoothly alongside Milwaukee’s superstar duo of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard.

Signing Trent to a one-year deal served as the biggest offseason addition for a team that prioritized depth signings over bold moves. The Bucks also swapped out players such as Jae Crowder and Patrick Beverley, who saw their roles and production reduced during the postseason, for a new crew of veteran backups in Delon Wright and Taurean Prince.

After a year of change and turnover for the Bucks — in the past 12 months they swapped Jrue Holiday for Lillard, and hired and fired coach Adrian Griffin before turning to Rivers midway through the season — a quiet summer was welcome for a team that enters the 2024-25 season trying to balance the benefits of continuity with the urgency of its championship expectations.

“We have that stability,” Antetokounmpo said the day after the team’s first-round playoff loss to the Indiana Pacers. “We’re not questioning and trying to figure out how it’s going to look moving forward.

“Now that you know, you just got to work.”

Bucks general manager Jon Horst was limited in his flexibility to change his roster this offseason. Milwaukee’s draft picks were depleted by the trade for Holiday in 2020 and for Lillard last year. Because of the restrictions of the new collective bargaining agreement, the Bucks did not have salary cap space and weren’t allowed to aggregate contracts, acquire a player via sign-and-trade or use the tax midlevel exception.

It left them with little options aside from adding players via the veterans minimum.

Besides, it had still been less than a year since Milwaukee swooped in for Lillard before training camp, sending a package to the Portland Trail Blazers that included Holiday — the starting point guard on the Bucks’ 2021 championship team — who was then sent to the eventual champion Boston Celtics. It was a bold move that paired an All-NBA guard in Lillard with a two-time MVP in Antetokounmpo, with each being the most accomplished teammate either player had ever played with.

Lillard’s arrival also paid off in another way, as Antetokounmpo committed to the Bucks by signing a three-year, $186 million max extension that begins this season.

Antetokounmpo inked his deal one day before the start of the season, but the Bucks’ positive momentum didn’t carry into the games.

Lillard was slow to adjust to a new environment and struggled to find on-court chemistry with Antetokounmpo. Griffin was fired 43 games into the season (with a 30-13 record) before the team turned to Rivers, who went 17-19. With Antetokounmpo missing the entire six-game series against the Pacers because of a strained left calf and Lillard limited by an Achilles injury, the Bucks crashed out in the first round of the playoffs for a second straight season.

When Rivers took over the team in February, he acknowledged how difficult it would be to turn a team around midseason. Now with a full offseason and training camp, he will have an opportunity to establish a style of play, including by adding role players who better fit his vision.

“Think about it: Giannis worked out all [last] summer not knowing he was going to have Dame,” Rivers said the day after last season’s playoff exit. “Dame worked out a little bit, not knowing he was going to have Giannis. Khris [Middleton], the same way. Now all three of them get to work out this summer knowing some of the things we’re going to do.

“The most important stuff is the sets and the stuff that you’re going to run, giving it to them long before camp starts. Because it’s easy for a star player to understand what he can do, it’s better when he understands how he can make everybody else better through those sets.”

The Bucks are betting on a full offseason and training camp to help build chemistry for Lillard and Antetokounmpo. Still, they were encouraged by the numbers with those two players on the floor last season: The team was plus-10.2 points per 100 possessions last season when their two stars shared the floor.

“I’m willing to put in work this summer. I think I have guys around me that they’re willing to do so,” Antetokounmpo said at the end of last season. “I saw how Dame was after the [playoffs]. I saw how Khris [Middleton] was after the game. … I know they’re going to put in the work.”

The question for Milwaukee is how the Bucks will compare to the rest of a stacked Eastern Conference.

Boston is coming off a historic season in which it won its league-leading 18th NBA championship. The Philadelphia 76ers just reloaded by adding superstar Paul George to play alongside Joel Embiid and emerging star Tyrese Maxey. The New York Knicks strengthened their core by adding Mikal Bridges. Emerging young teams, the Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic and Pacers, are on the rise, having finished with playoff spots last season.

Meanwhile, the Bucks return one of the oldest rosters in the NBA with four of their projected starters over 30. Antetokounmpo, who has been injured during the last two postseasons, turns 30 this season. Lillard will be 35 in October. Middleton is 34 and coming off offseason surgery on both ankles. Center Brook Lopez is 36.

“I always like a team that wins to have a little bit of experience, which comes from being a little bit older, knowing how to play the game and have that corporate knowledge of the game,” Antetokounmpo said at the end of last season. “And a little bit of energy.”

The age of its roster and the pressure to maximize each season of Antetokounmpo’s prime — “With Giannis, you’re always on the clock,” Horst told ESPN at the start of last season — guided Milwaukee’s bold moves over the past year in pursuit of another title.

Now the Bucks are counting on an offseason defined by continuity, a few additions to their depth and some better health during the postseason to give them a chance at another championship.

“We’re getting older. We’re not getting any younger, but that doesn’t mean we cannot still perform at a high level,” Antetokounmpo said. “It’s hard to say, ‘Yeah, we’re old and you have to make changes.’ Because these guys, they’re beasts.”