Lakers select Bronny James with the 55th pick; Winners and losers of the 2024 NBA Draft; The USMNT suffered a painful defeat

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🏀 Good morning everyone, but especially…

JAMES FAMILY

In October 2004, Cleveland Cavaliers played eight pre-season games in two weeks. This is next month LeBron James received the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award and a season that included the Olympics in Athens. But something else happened that October that was far more important. James became a father for the first time.

Fast forward 20 years and that kid, Bronny Jameshas now been drafted by an NBA team — and not just any team, Los Angeles Lakersthe team his father plays for (Yes, technically, the father opted out of his contract a few days ago, but let’s skip the formalities for a moment). When the 2024-25 Lakers season begins this fall, there are high expectations that James, 39, and James, 20, will be more than father and son.This will be teammatesmarking the first time in NBA history that such a combination has occurred.

There has been and will continue to be a never-ending sea of ​​opinions about the developments that have brought us to this point. And there will be basketball conversations, but this moment should also recognize something else. Congratulations to LeBron and Savannah James, along with Bronny James and their inner circle.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s fascinating to delve deeper into what’s happened to get to this point. But we also have to respond to the noise with nuance. This is a great move by Gary Parrish of CBS Sports on one aspect of the recent discussion.

• Parrish: “Was the whole process rigged? Yes. Could it be reasonably described as nepotism? Absolutely. But these things happen all the time in basketball. Billy Donovan helped his son get a job. John Calipari helped his son get a job. Giannis Antetokounmpo’s brother was on the roster in Milwaukee for five years. Jalen Brunson of father is working in New York. In other words, there’s nothing too special about LeBron and his agent creating this situation for Bronny. And although some have criticized the Lakers for going with the plan, I personally think the 55th pick (that usually doesn’t make any sense) is a small price to pay to retain the NBA’s all-time leading scorer and ensure he signs a contract extension and retires with the club.”

As for the rest of the NBA Draft content, here’s a sample of what else you can find on our site:

👍 Honorable Mentions

⚽ And this is not a good morning for…

UNITED STATES MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM

The U.S. men’s national team is in a bit of a pickle this morning. After losing 2-1 to Panama in the Copa America group stage final, the USMNT now likely has to win Monday’s match — and possibly by a wide margin — if they want to advance to the knockout stages. The catch is that they’ll have to do it against a Uruguay team that’s up 2-0 with a +7 goal differential, but it’s doable, and Here are all the situations that will secure an advance.

Chuck Booth has it all player rankings from Thursday’s match, plus we have a coach Gregg Berhalter Sound off Later Tim Weah18th minute red card and Chuck’s rating of this defeat in the USMNT’s five worst losses has been handed over. Here’s Chuck’s take on Thursday’s game:

• Booth: “After having a goal canceled in the first five minutes of the match, it looked like the USMNT would start well but it wasn’t to be as Weah was shown a red card in the 18th minute. Joy of Balogun folarin bringing the USMNT to glory has evaporated as quickly as Cesar Blackman score the equalizer first Jose Fajardo The final winner has been found. Occurring at Copa America, this is the biggest loss the USMNT has suffered in recent years.”

👎 Not so honorable mentions

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🏈 Evaluate the candidates for the Hall of Fame of NFL stars

With the NFL’s Hall of Fame game less than five weeks away, now seems the best thing to ask whether some of today’s stars will be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. . We are not talking about players like Patrick Mahomeswhose achievements to date have made him a reliable player for Canton in the tournament.

ARE NOT, This exercise will put other players under the microscope.. Think Matthew Stafford. Think Davante Adams. Think Russell Wilson. To be considered, a current player must be on the roster and have played at least eight seasons. Nine CBS Sports NFL editors and writers participated and each player needed five votes to pass the threshold to be included on the roster. Now it wouldn’t be fair for me to spoil the fun — but I won’t let that stop Bryan DeArdo from evaluating the Saints’ defensive tackle Cameron Jordan and his chance to win the game’s highest honor.

• DeArdo: “Attractive is the best word to describe Jordan’s Hall of Fame case. He is an eight-time Pro Bowler and has amassed an impressive 117.5 career blocks. Jordan was also a member of the 2010s All-Decade Team, a distinction that would further bolster his case. Based on our polling, it seems that Jordan’s sole All-Pro selection will not hurt his future Hall of Fame chances.”

🤼 International Fight Week Continues

Saturday nights UFC 303 is expected to create a round-the-clock event at International Fight Week — the return of Conor McGregor after a three-year hiatus. But that, of course, is not what we will getInstead, the UFC has put together a new main event. have a champion Alex Pereira And Jiri Prochazkaand a co-main event with Brian Ortega And Diego Lopes. Our own Brian Campbell has a great article about Pereira’s rapid rise.

• Campbell: “But considering Pereira’s short and storied history as a UFC fighter, when he transitioned to MMA late in his career after being named a two-division champion with Glory kickboxing, it’s no surprise that he took the risk that came with the huge reward of replacing McGregor at the top weight class in the UFC’s biggest summer blockbuster… In just eight UFC fights, Pereira has has a 7-1 record with six knockouts, has won titles in two weight classes and has wins over past champions such as Sean Strickland, Israel Adesanya, Jan BlachowiczProchazka and Hill.”

📺 What we watch this weekend

Here’s how to catch it Classic Rocket Mortgage from Detroit Golf Club.

Friday

⚽ Copa America — Colombia vs Costa Rica6pm on FS1
⚽ Copa America – Paraguay vs Brazil9pm on FS1
⚾ Astros vs Mets7:10 p.m. on Apple TV+
⚾ Padres at Red Sox7:10 p.m. on Apple TV+
🏅 US Olympic Gymnastics Trials8 p.m. on NBC
🏅 United States Olympic Track and Field Trials8 p.m. on USA Network; 10 p.m. on NBC

Saturday

⚽ Euro 2024 — Round of 16: Switzerland vs. Italy12pm on FS1
🏀 BIG3 — Week 31 p.m. on CBS
🏅 US Olympic Gymnastics Trials3pm on NBC
⚽ Euro 2024 — Round of 16: Germany vs. Denmark3 p.m. on Fox
⚾ Dodgers vs Giants or Rangers at Orioles7:15pm on Fox
🏅 US Olympic track and field qualifiers8 p.m. on NBC
⚽ Copa America — Argentina vs. Peru8pm on FS1
⚽ Copa America — Canada vs Chile8pm on FS2
🤼 UFC 30310pm on PPV

Sunday

⚽ Euro 2024 – Round of 16: England vs Slovakia12 noon on Fox
🏀 Dream of freedom1 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Fever in Mercury3 p.m. on ESPN
⚽ Euro 2024 – Round of 16: Spain vs Georgia3 p.m. on Fox
🏀 Lynx at the sky3 p.m. on ESPN3
⚾ Rangers at Orioles7:10 p.m. on ESPN
🏅 United States Olympic Track and Field Trials7:30 p.m. on NBC
⚽ Copa America — Mexico vs Ecuador8pm on FS1
⚽ Copa América — Jamaica vs Venezuela8pm on Fox
🏅 US Olympic Gymnastics Trials8:30 p.m. on NBC