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Mark Jones has been an on-air staple on ESPN since the first Bush administration — as in George H.W. Bush, who served from 1989 to 1992.

So, yeah, it’s been a long time.

And now, Jones says, “it’s time to move on.”

Jones’ final ESPN broadcast will be Sunday, when he will serve as the play-by-play announcer for the Orlando Magic at Boston Celtics game on the final day of the NBA’s regular season. It could very well be the last time the phrase “hotter than fish grease” is uttered on the network.

“It’s been a memorable journey these decades with the ABC/ESPN family, but I have decided that it’s time to move on,” Jones wrote in a statement posted Friday on Instagram. “From the day Dennis Swanson hired me in 1990 and working with the best producer in the business, Kim Belton, until today I will forever be grateful for the many friends and colleagues along the way.”

Jones, 64, started at ESPN in 1990. As a play-by-play announcer, he is best known for calling NBA games but he has also covered college football, men’s and women’s college basketball, the WNBA and UFL. On June 2, 2022, Jones, Mark Jackson and Lisa Salters were the first all-Black crew to call an NBA Finals game on TV.

In addition, Jones has hosted the “NBA Today” studio show and been an anchor and reporter on “SportsCenter.”

“Mark has made an enduring impact at ESPN since 1990, serving as a signature voice primarily within our NBA and college football coverage and across nearly all of our platforms,” ESPN said in a statement. “We’re grateful for Mark’s countless contributions and we wish him continued success.”

Separate from his work at ESPN, Jones has also been the primary TV play-by-play announcer for the Sacramento Kings since 2020.

Jones hasn’t indicated what he’ll be doing next, but he ended his announcement with a big prediction for the future — and threw in his signature phrase for good measure.

“As I move on to my next chapter I believe my best work is yet to come,” he wrote. “I’ll be out there cookin’ hotter than fish grease!”

Hip-hop star J. Cole is taking his basketball dreams overseas — again.

When ESPN reported Wednesday that the two-time Grammy winner has signed to play for the Nanjing Monkey Kings in the Chinese Basketball Assn., it might have sounded like an April Fool’s Day prank.

But it’s no joke. Cole’s longtime manager and business partner Ibrahim Hamad reposted the ESPN report on X and wrote that basketball “is still Life for my boy, even at 41.”

Videos and photos posted on social media, some of which were reposted by Hamad, show Cole at a Monkey Kings game wearing team gear and warming up with the other players. The “Work Out” rapper reportedly did not play in the game. One video shows Cole autographing an album for an excited fan.

Cole posted a video to the Chinese social media site Douyin saying he was in China and “excited” to be there.

Born Jermaine Lamarr Cole, the multiplatinum artist played basketball at Terry Sanford High in North Carolina and tried out for the hoops team at St. John’s as a walk-on while attending the university on an academic scholarship. Throughout his music career, Cole has incorporated basketball images and references into his lyrics, performances and cover art.

This will be Cole’s third stint as a professional basketball player. In 2021, the 6-foot-3 guard played three games for Rwanda’s Patriots Basketball Club of the Basketball Africa League, averaging 1.7 points and 1.7 rebounds in about 15 minutes a game.

The following year, he played five games for the Scarborough Shooting Stars of the Canadian Elite Basketball League, averaging 2.4 points and less than one rebound and assist in about 10 minutes a game.

On a recent episode of “Talk with Flee,” Cole spoke with fellow rapper Cam’ron about his lifelong “love and passion for basketball” even though he’s never been the best player on the court at any given time. He said playing professionally overseas has been “like me trying to scratch a last itch.”

“Like, yo, let me see if I could do this,” Cole said. “Could I train and be able to go play professional? Because these teams and these leagues are looking at it like, you know what, he not a—. He could come be on the court, and he could give our league some publicity.”

Cole mentioned the upcoming opportunity to play for Nanjing.

“I’m looking at the clock like, boy, I’m getting older. Like, this might be my last shot,” Cole, whose “The Fall-Off” album dropped Feb. 6 and tour starts July 10, said. “So I’m going to keep my word to them and show up and play in a couple games, although I know I’m not in the best of shape because of the album. But I’m going to go out there and have fun with it.”

Tiger Woods was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and causing property damage following a rollover car crash Friday afternoon in Florida, authorities said.

The Martin County Sheriff’s Office said that Woods, 50, had tried to overtake another vehicle when his Land Rover clipped it. Woods climbed out of the passenger side of the car. He showed signs of impairment at the scene and was arrested, authorities said. Woods was driving alone, and neither he nor the driver of the other car were injured in the crash.

The Martin County Sheriff’s Office released Tiger Woods’ booking photo on Friday night following the golfer’s arrest.

(Martin County Sheriff’s Office via Associated Press)

Woods was released on bail Friday night, the Associated Press reported.

Woods’ talent agency, Excel Sports Management, did not respond to a request for comment.

A breathalyzer test showed he had no alcohol in his system, but he refused to do a urine test, Martin County Sheriff John M. Budensiek said at a news conference around 5 p.m. local time.

The crash occurred around 1 p.m. local time, the department said in a Facebook post. The Jupiter Island Police Dept. was first to respond to the scene and found a pickup truck that had been pulling a pressure cleaner trailer and Woods’ Land Rover rolled over on the driver’s side door, Budensiek said. Officers talked to Woods and then asked the sheriff’s office for help.

The sheriff’s office determined that the pickup truck was slowing down to make a turn into a driveway off of a two-lane road with no shoulder when the driver looked in his mirror and saw the Land Rover approaching quickly from behind. The pickup driver tried to get out of the way of the approaching car. The Land Rover swerved at the last moment to avoid a crash, clipped the back end of the trailer, listed to the side and rolled onto the driver’s side door.

At the scene, Woods appeared lethargic, the sheriff’s office said, and was arrested following “in depth” roadside tests. The sheriff said he does not know exactly what Woods was intoxicated with, but concluded it was likely due to “some type of medication or drug.”

Because Woods refused to submit to a urinalysis, “we will never get definitive results as to what he was impaired on at the time of the crash,” the sheriff said. No drugs or medications were found in Woods’ car.

In addition to DUI and property damage, Woods also was charged with refusal to submit to a lawful test, Budensiek said. All three charges are misdemeanors.

Under Florida law, Woods had to remain in Martin County jail for at least eight hours following the arrest.

Asked if Woods would get preferential treatment, Budensiek said the celebrity would not be with other inmates who could take advantage of his position. Otherwise, it would be just another case.

“We know we arrested a high-profile figure,” Budensiek said. “I’m not trying to dramatize, but it doesn’t matter who you are. If you break the law, we’re going to follow the law. That’s a really easy path to take.”

Woods recently competed at the TGL indoor golf finals but has not confirmed whether he intends to play at the Masters starting April 9 in Augusta, Ga.

Woods was seriously injured in a rollover crash near Rancho Palos Verdes in 2021.

Around Thanksgiving 2009, a report that Woods had been in a car accident near his home erupted into a major scandal involving allegations of affairs with multiple women. It resulted in Woods’ divorce from Elin Nordegren, the mother of his children.

Assistant Editor Christie D’Zurilla contributed to this story.

U.S. hockey star Jack Hughes might have lost more than a couple of teeth during the gold-medal-winning victory against Canada at the Milan-Cortina Olympics last month.

The puck that Hughes smacked into the net in overtime to give the United States its first men’s Olympic hockey gold since the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” was seemingly forgotten amid the raucous celebration.

But this week, the Hockey Hall of Fame began displaying that puck along with the one Megan Keller knocked into the net in overtime to give the U.S. women’s team gold in Milan. The International Ice Hockey Federation apparently secured the frozen vulcanized rubber disks immediately after the games and handed them to the Hall of Fame located in Toronto.

Hughes is happy “his” puck surfaced but believes he is the rightful owner of a piece of memorabilia that David Kohler, president of SCP Auctions, estimated might be worth $1 million.

“I don’t see why Megan Keller or I shouldn’t have those pucks,” Hughes told ESPN. “I’m trying to get it. Like, that’s [B.S.] that the Hockey Hall of Fame has it, in my opinion. Why would they have that puck?”

Hughes might not like the answer. The provenance of the puck is similar to that of a basketball or football used in a notable moment. It is dissimilar to a historic home run because a baseball leaves the field of play, and the owner becomes the fortunate fan.

“Because of the increasing value of memorabilia, ownership of items has become standardized over the last decade or so,” said an expert who agreed to speak anonymously because they work in the acquisition of such items. “Whoever purchased the puck owns it. Jerseys belong to the team, shoes and gloves to the player, the puck to whoever supplied it to the Olympics.”

That would be the International Ice Hockey Federation, the governing body of the Olympics hockey tournament. The IIHF employees who immediately secured those precious pucks amid gold-medal bedlam apparently did their job well.

“The puck was designated for archival preservation with the Hockey Hall of Fame to ensure its long-term safekeeping and historical recognition,” an IIHF spokesperson said.

The pucks are featured in an “Olympics ‘26” display that also contains a hockey stick used by Brady Tkachuk of the U.S. team and a U.S. jersey worn by four-time Olympian Hilary Knight.

It might strike some as odd that the display is in Canada, where fans are mourning the loss to the United States, but that’s been the location of the Hall of Fame since it was established in 1943. HOF president Jamie Dinsmore said in a statement that the display contains “donated items,” although it is unclear whether the IIHF has donated or merely loaned the pucks to the HOF.

“The Olympics ’26 display will help ensure that these unforgettable Olympic moments are preserved for our guests from around the world to experience,” Dinsmore said.

Meanwhile, Hughes told ESPN he wants the puck to become the property of one particular fan — his father, who collects memorabilia for him and his brothers Quinn and Luke. All three play in the NHL.

“I wouldn’t even want it for myself. I’d want it for my dad. I know he’d just love, love having it,” Hughes said. “When I look back in my career, I don’t collect too many things for myself, but my dad’s a monster collector for the three of us. I know he would have a special place for it.”

Or it could be sold at auction, where certainly it would pay for any dental work Hughes needs after getting teeth knocked out during the gold-medal game. Various auction houses have estimated the value of the puck to be from $40,000 to $1 million.

Should he acquire the puck, though, Hughes might not even consider selling it. The first pick of the 2019 NHL draft, he signed an eight-year, $64 million contract extension with the New Jersey Devils four years ago.