Bones Hyland knew he wanted to land back in Minnesota.

After joining the Timberwolves on a two-way deal in the middle of the 2024-25 campaign, Hyland was a free agent over the summer. But after consistent communication with the Wolves, Hyland re-signed with Minnesota in the weeks leading up to training camp.

This is where Hyland always believed he’d end up in his career. Trade rumors linking the guard to the Timberwolves were fervent over the past couple of seasons. He heard them. And when he finally ended up in Minneapolis, the fit was seamless.

“I felt the continuity, I felt the energy, I felt the love when I first got over here, so it was everything once I stepped into the premises of Minnesota basketball,” Hyland said. “I was like, ‘This is where I belong, for sure.’ I definitely love it over here, I like how it’s all about winning, the teammates are very cool, the coaches are cool. Everyday it’s like I’m happy coming to work, so I feel good.”

The connection in recent years between the guard and the Wolves was clear: Tim Connelly drafted Hyland to the Nuggets back when Connelly was in Denver.

“That’s my guy, man,” Hyland said.

Hyland is a “hooper” — someone who could pick up a ball at a park and run 5 on 5 for hours just for the fun of it. Connelly loves those types of players.

Their relationship was first forged at the NBA Draft Combine. During Hyland’s interview with Denver, the Nuggets front office asked the guard to rap one of his songs.

“I feel like ever since then we’ve had a different connection, like a real close connection,” Hyland said. “He always has my back. That’s a guy I’m always appreciative of everyday. Every time I see Tim, it’s always a big hug. I’m very thankful for him in just believing in me.”

Especially at times when not everyone has. After a standout rookie season in Denver, Hyland seemed to fall out of favor with the Nuggets after Connelly departed for Minnesota. The guard was eventually traded to the Clippers, where he fell out of the rotation and was eventually waived.

Hyland said his career started out “on the upscale, career was going uphill,” but noted the trade to the Clippers was “a little wobbly.” Still, he said his time in Los Angeles was a learning experience, filled with opportunity to learn from the likes of James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Russell Westbrook.

“I learned patience, I learned how to go about life everyday,” Hyland said. “I learned that my work ethic was already up there, but just seeing Hall of Famers and them being established already, still getting their work in everyday and staying late after practice and getting work in before practices. Working out with James everyday when I was out there with the clippers. I learned a lot. I feel like it turned me into a man more, I matured more. I don’t take things for granted.”

The 25-year-old is passing those lessons onto second-year guard Rob Dillingham, who he sees some of himself in Hyland.

“I kind of give him pointers, like me not playing the last year and a half and him not playing his rookie season. Like, ‘Bro everything is patience, everyday try to get one percent better,’ ” Hyland said. “If you’re playing or not, come in with a smile on your face and be a good person to yourself first, and a good person to others, everything else will take care of itself.”

By JAKE COYLE

NEW YORK (AP) — Like thousands of actors, Tilly Norwood is looking for a Hollywood agent.

But unlike most young performers aspiring to make it in the film industry, Tilly Norwood is an entirely artificial intelligence-made character. Norwood, dubbed Hollywood’s first “AI actor,” is the product of a company named Xicoia, which bills itself as the world’s first artificial intelligence talent studio.

Since the Dutch producer and comedian Eline Van der Velden launched the digital character’s prospective career, Tilly Norwood has been all the talk in Hollywood.

But not in a good way. Guilds, actors and filmmakers have met the Xicoia product with an immediate wave of backlash, protesting that artificial intelligence should not have a starring role in the acting profession. In a statement Tuesday, the Screen Actors Guild said that “creativity is, and should remain, human-centered.”

“To be clear, ‘Tilly Norwood’ is not an actor, it’s a character generated by a computer program that was trained on the work of countless professional performers — without permission or compensation,” the guild said. “It has no life experience to draw from, no emotion and, from what we’ve seen, audiences aren’t interested in watching computer-generated content untethered from the human experience.”

Van der Velden, founder of the AI production studio Particle6, last weekend promoted Tilly Norwood at the Zurich Summit, the industry sidebar of the Zurich Film Festival. She said then that talent agencies were circling Norwood and that she expected to soon announce a signing.

Many in Hollywood, though, hope that never happens.

“Hope all actors repped by the agent that does this, drop their a$$,” wrote actor Melissa Barrera (“In the Heights,” “Scream”) on social media. “How gross, read the room.”

“Any talent agency that engages in this should be boycotted by all guilds,” wrote Natasha Lyonne on Instagram. The “Russian Doll” star is directing a feature titled “Uncanny Valley” that pledges to use “ethical” artificial intelligence in combination with traditional filmmaking techniques. “Deeply misguided & totally disturbed,” she added. “Not the way. Not the vibe. Not the use.”

Artificial intelligence is often used as a tool in film production, though its implementation is hotly debated. It was a major bargaining point in the lengthy strike by SAG-AFTRA that concluded in late 2023 with some safeguards put in place to protect the use of actors’ likenesses and performances by AI. A yearlong strike by video game actors hinged on AI protections. In July, video game actors approved a new contract that mandates employers obtain written permission to create a digital replica.

But there have been numerous controversies over the use of AI in acting. The Oscar-winning 2024 film “The Brutalist” used artificial intelligence for Hungarian dialogue spoken by Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones’ characters, the revelation of which prompted debate in the industry.

FILE – Actor Frances Fisher holds a sign that says “AI is not art” at a rally by striking writers and actors outside Paramount studios in Los Angeles on July 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

Van der Velden responded to the stir around Tilly Norwood on Instagram.

“To those who have expressed anger over the creation of my AI character, Tilly Norwood, she is not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work — a piece of art,” Van der Velden said on Sunday. “Like many forms of art before her, she sparks conversation, and that in itself shows the power of creativity.”

Van der Velden didn’t respond to interview requests Tuesday. In her post, she argued that AI characters should be judged as their own genre.

“Creating Tilly has been, for me, an act of imagination and craftsmanship, not unlike drawing a character, writing a role or shaping a performance,” she added. “It takes time, skill and iteration to bring such a character to life.”

That statement was also shared on Tilly Norwood’s own Instagram account. Posts include photos of the creation drinking coffee, shopping for clothes and preparing for various projects. As of Tuesday, the account had more than 33,000 followers.

“Had such a blast filming some screen tests recently,” one post reads. “Every day feels like a step closer to the big screen.”

On the heels of a dramatic late-season collapse last year, Derek Falvey sat in a room full of reporters and reaffirmed his faith in manager Rocco Baldelli.

“Rocco is my manager,” Falvey, now the team’s president of baseball and business operations, said on Sept. 29, 2024. “I believe in his process. I believe in him. I believe in the partnership I have with him.”

One year to the day, Falvey delivered the news to Baldelli that that partnership was no more.

Following conversations with ownership Monday morning, Falvey had a nearly two-hour conversation with Baldelli in which he told the manager that the Twins were headed in a different direction after seven seasons.

“It’s incumbent upon me as the head of this to talk with ownership about what the right direction is going forward,” Falvey said. “We had those discussions privately about what that means and where we are and what we’ve learned … over the course of a longer period of time and, ultimately, we collectively arrived at this being the right time for a new voice and a new direction.”

After picking up Baldelli’s 2026 contract option this year, something which Falvey publicly confirmed for the first time Monday, the underperforming Twins put together a second consecutive fourth-place finish and suffered their first 90-loss season since 2016.

Baldelli’s teams were 527-505 (.511) in his seven years in charge, and while he is the one taking the fall rather than the front office, Falvey called it a “collective underperformance” from the group and said the decision was not “about a failure of Rocco.”

Instead, Falvey said, he takes “personal responsibility” for the results over the past two years.

“We didn’t perform and I feel like I’ve let down the staff, the coaches, the fans and everybody in here when that happens,” Falvey said. “And if I don’t take that personal responsibility, then I feel like I’m not doing my job. And at the end of the day, that’s what’s going to keep motivating our group to continue to work, to try to put the team in a better position to be successful.”

Ultimately, the front office decided new leadership in the clubhouse would help put them in that position.

The Twins dismissed four coaches — the entire hitting crew and their assistant bench coach — after last season’s failure. Now, the fate of the whole coaching staff beyond Baldelli is up in the air.

When Baldelli was hired, he retained some of Paul Molitor’s coaching staff, including bench coach Derek Shelton and hitting coach James Rowson, so it’s possible some of the staff will remain. Those decisions will be made in consultation with the new manager.

While there’s no timeline for getting a new manager in place, that hire could come within the next month or so. Baldelli, the first manager Falvey hired, got the job in late October and now the search for his replacement is underway.

“You have to zoom back out, collectively assess where things are and, obviously, have discussions, feedback and thoughts from ownership around where they feel things are, as well, and you have to arrive at a decision that organizationally is in alignment with ownership and you feel good about moving forward,” Falvey said. “That’s ultimately how we got to the decision we made.”

Briefly

Second baseman Luke Keaschall saw hand specialist Dr. Donald Sheridan on Monday in Arizona, and Sheridan confirmed a tear in the ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb. Keaschall will undergo surgery Wednesday, general manager Jeremy Zoll said. The Twins expect him to be fully ready for spring training. … Emmanuel Rodríguez, one of the organization’s top prospects, will play winter ball this offseason, Zoll said. Between injuries, Rodríguez played in only 65 minor league games this season.

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By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is suing Zillow and Redfin, accusing the real estate companies of entering what the regulator says is an illegal deal to suppress competition in online rental advertising.

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In a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, the FTC alleges that this agreement started in February — when Zillow paid Redfin $100 million. In exchange for that and other compensation, the commission said, Redfin agreed to end contracts with advertising partners, stop competing ads for multifamily properties for up to nine years and serve as a syndicator of Zillow listings on its own sites.

Redfin also fired hundreds of employees shortly after the announcement of this plan, Tuesday’s complaint notes, alleging that the company also helped Zillow hire “its pick” of these workers.

“Zillow paid millions of dollars to eliminate Redfin as an independent competitor in an already concentrated advertising market — one that’s critical for renters, property managers, and the health of the overall U.S. housing market,” Daniel Guarnera, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, said in a statement Tuesday.

Guarnera added that Zillow and Redfin’s actions were a violation of federal antitrust laws. The Commission argues that the companies’ “unlawful scheme” maybe reduce incentives for further competition, and could lead to higher prices and fewer choices for multifamily rental advertising customers.

In a statement, a Zillow spokesperson maintained that its “listing syndication with Redfin benefits both renters and property managers” — adding that it had “expanded renters’ access to multifamily listings.” The Seattle-based company said the agreement was “pro-competitive and pro-consumer.”

FILE – A Redfin “for sale” sign stands in front of a house on Oct. 28, 2020, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)

A spokesperson for Redfin, which was acquired by Detroit-based mortgage giant Rocket Companies earlier this year, added that the company “strongly disagrees with the FTC’s allegations” and was confident about prevailing in court. Redfin reiterated the Zillow partnership had given its users access to more rental listings and advertising customers access to more renters — noting that by the end of 2024, the company had determined that its own number of advertising customers “couldn’t justify the cost of maintaining our rentals sales force.”

The FTC still maintains that the agreement isn’t the partnership Redfin and Zillow say it is. The Commission, which authorized filing Tuesday’s complaint in a 3-0 vote, is seeking to get the companies to end this deal, in addition to other relief from the court — such as potential divestiture of assets or business reconstruction “to restore the competition.”