By Mathias Henry

The Atlanta Falcons have been fined $250,000 (£187,000) by the NFL after Jax Ulbrich - the son of their defensive co-ordinator Jeff Ulbrich - prank called quarterback Shedeur Sanders during the NFL Draft. Jeff Ulbrich has also personally been fined $100,000 (£75,000) for the incident, which the Falcons had said involved 21-year-old Jax Ulbrich getting Sanders' number from an iPad when visiting his parents' home and writing it down to "later conduct a prank call". In video footage on social media, Sanders can be heard taking a call from someone purporting to be the New Orleans Saints' general manager Mickey Loomis. The caller tells Sanders the Saints will make him their next pick before saying that he is going to "have to wait a little bit longer". Sanders - whose father Deion began his storied NFL career with the Falcons - ended up being selected by the Cleveland Browns as the sixth pick of the fifth round, and 144th overall. The Falcons, who issued an apology to Sanders along with Jax Ulbrich, had said Jeff Ulbrich was "unaware of the data exposure or any facets of the prank". The punishment for the incident is reported to be, external "for failing to prevent the disclosure of confidential information distributed to the club in advance of the NFL Draft." "We were proactive in addressing the situation internally and cooperated fully with the league throughout the process, and accept the discipline levied to coach Jeff Ulbrich and the organisation," said a Falcons statement. "We are confident in our security policies and practices and will continue to emphasise adherence to them with our staff whether on or off premises. "Additionally, the Ulbrich family is working with the organisation to participate in community service initiatives in relation to last week's matter." Sanders had called the prank call "childish" but said that "it didn't really have an impact on me".

By Jena Aldredge

Luka Doncic returned to Dallas Wednesday for the first time since the blockbuster trade that sent him to the Los Angeles Lakers, and it hit him hard.

Doncic was shockingly traded in February, and Anthony Davis was one of the players the Mavericks acquired.

Ever since then, Mavs general manager Nico Harrison has been public enemy No. 1 in Dallas. Fans have not forgiven him for trading a global superstar in the prime of his career.

That continued Wednesday with numerous "Fire Nico" signs as Doncic and the Lakers arrived in Dallas.

The arena was filled with white shirts that said "Thank you for everything" in his native Slovenian.

Just before the game, the franchise honored him with a video tribute, and Doncic became emotional.

Harrison said he made the trade to improve the team's defense fresh off an NBA Finals appearance. In Davis' Mavericks debut, he was injured (he has since returned), and Kyrie Irving later tore an ACL.

Since joining the Lakers, Doncic has put up his usual numbers, averaging 27.1 points, 8.1 rebounds and 7.6 assists, and the Lakers are a serious contender.

Aside from the defense though, Doncic would have been in a contract battle with the Mavs. His $207 million extension expires this year, and he was due for a supermax DEAL worth over $340 million. Plus, he could have opted out of any other deals with Dallas. So, Harrison wanted security.

"We really feel like we got ahead of what was going to be a tumultuous summer, him being eligible for the supermax and also a year away from him being able to opt out of any contract," Harrison said shortly after the deal was done. "And so we really felt like we got out in front of that. We know teams, they’ve had it out there, teams have been loading up to try to sign him once that comes available."

Entering Wednesday, the Lakers were 48-31, third in the Western Conference. It would be their best finish since winning the NBA title in 2020.

There are, however, four teams just one game behind them in the standings, which could drop them down to seventh and put them in the play-in tournament.