Alexandre Pato could return to AC Milan in a year's time.

Milan president Silvio Berlusconi said that's what the Brazil striker promised when he ended his injury-plagued stay with the Rossoneri last week and returned home to sign with Corinthians.

North Korea striker Jong Tae Se hopes his signing with a South Korean club will improve ties between the rival Koreas.

The 27-year-old arrived Tuesday in South Korea to sign with the Suwon Samsung Bluewings.

The Boston Celtics won a heated first clash of the season against the New York Knicks on Monday, taking a 102-96 victory at Madison Square Garden over their Atlantic Division rivals.

Boston's win was a surprise, but only a minor one compared with a couple of boilovers elsewhere as Washington won only its fifth game of the season by beating NBA-leading Oklahoma City, while lowly New Orleans beat Southwest Division-leading San Antonio.

Olympic champion swimmer Ryan Lochte is diving into the world of reality television with a six-episode series debuting in April.

Airing on the cable TV network E!, "What Would Ryan Lochte Do?" will follow the 28-year-old swimmer as he prepares for the 2016 Rio Olympics while developing his fashion line, making media appearances, dealing with his family and friends, and searching for a girlfriend.

Lionel Messi added yet another record to his stellar list of achievements over the past 12 months on Monday when he won an unprecedented fourth, consecutive, Ballon d'Or at a FIFA gala in Zurich.

The accolade seals Messi's status as the greatest player of his generation after he saw off Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona teammate Andres Iniesta for the prize.

Defending champions Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka have been confirmed as the top seeds for the Australian Open starting next week.

Australian Open organizers stuck closely to the latest rankings to seed 32 players for each of the men's and women's draws.

Oklahoma City Thunder reclaimed the overall NBA lead with a 104-92 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday, starting a challenging run of road games in winning style.

Elsewhere, high-flying Miami and Memphis posted wins while the Los Angeles Lakers' woes deepened with another home defeat.

Frank Lampard's departure from Chelsea at the end of the season now appears certain.

Lampard's agent Steve Kutner has told British media that Chelsea has no intention of offering the veteran midfielder a new contract when his current deal expires at the end of the season.

Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova returned to the touchline on Sunday for his first game since undergoing throat surgery to remove a second tumor from a saliva gland.

Vilanova was back on Barcelona's bench alongside assistant Jordi Roura for the Catalan capital derby against Espanyol, guiding his side to a 4-0 thrashing of its crosstown rivals to maintain its nearly perfect Spanish league campaign.

Serie A leader Juventus was beaten 2-1 at home by 10-man Sampdoria and two other title contenders also lost Sunday, as the big Italian clubs struggled to get back into full gear after the holiday break.

Italy forward Antonio Di Natale scored twice to help Udinese beat 10-man Inter Milan 3-0, and Fiorentina lost 2-0 to Pescara for its first home defeat of the season.