The Lakers wasted no time in doing exactly what we knew they were doing: Signing Bronny James to a contract. It just so happened that he became the first second round pick to sign, a four-year deal, and with the new CBA people saw the announcement and began to lose it.
Bronny James has agreed to a four-year, $7.9 million deal with the Lakers, a league source told ESPN. Team option on the fourth year.
On the surface this seems beyond ludicrous. To be fair, it is the largest contract of all time given to a second round rookie pick — but it has nothing to do with LeBron or nepotism; it’s just the new normal of the 2023 CBA. The minimum annual salary for a 4-year deal is exactly what Bronny received, which means the total money side of this had nothing to do with who his dad is. The truth is that revenues are rising, the salary cap is expanding — and that’s why we keep seeing new records for contracts, with the trickle down effect being that rookies are getting more money as a result.
Pelle Larsson, the first second-rounder to sign this year got a three-year, $5.4 million deal from the Miami Heat — and had they added a fourth year he would have been on the exact same contract as Bronny James.
Now, we can certainly argue about the nature of this deal. A second round pick with as many questions as Bronny getting a contract before Summer League is definitely a perk of being LeBron’s son — but in the grand scheme of things it’s really a minor issue. He’s the No. 55 pick, who probably won’t contribute much, and earning just under $2M a year is relative chump change, commensurate with what the majority of deep rotation guys will make this season.
In the end this is all no harm, no foul. LeBron is going to ride out his career in Los Angeles, play with his son, continue with business ventures in the city — and sail off into the sunset.
The USA Olympic Track and Field Trials ended with a major statement by arguably the most dominant track athlete in the world right now.
There was never any doubt that women’s 400-meter hurdles superstar Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone would qualify for Paris; it was all about how fast she would run and by how wide a margin she’d win by.
The 24-year-old McLaughlin-Levrone promised to “let it fly” prior to the final, and she lived up to her word. Competing against a talented field, McLaughlin-Levrone lowered her own world record from 50.68 to 50.65 seconds to cap off the final day of competition at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
“I’m just amazed, baffled, and in shock,” McLaughlin-Levrone told NBC’s Lewis Johnson after the race.
Unparalleled dominance
For context, second-placed Anna Cockrell (52.64 seconds) and third-placed Jasmine Jones (52.77 seconds) both ran personal bests to seal their Olympic spots, becoming two of the 12 fastest women of all-time in the process, yet still finished two seconds behind the reigning Olympic champion. That’s a level of domination straight out of a video game.
No one has owned this event like McLaughlin-Levrone. She owns seven of the 10 fastest times in history, and has not lost a 400m hurdles race since a silver medal finish in the 2019 World Championships to fellow American Dalilah Muhammad, who ran what was then a world record time of 52.16 seconds. (Incidentally, Muhammad finished 6th in Sunday’s race, the final Olympic trials of her decorated career)
McLaughlin-Levrone’s incredible world record progression
McLaughlin-Levrone, who missed last year’s World Championships in Budapest due to injury, has set 400-meter hurdles world records in her last five US and global championship finals.
2021 US Olympic Trials – 51.90 seconds 2020 Tokyo Olympics (held in 2021) – 51.46 seconds 2022 US World Championship Trials – 51.41 seconds 2022 World Championships – 50.68 seconds 2024 US Olympic Trials – 50.65 seconds
For 16 years, Russia’s Yuliya Pechonkina held the world record at 52.34 seconds. Dalilah Muhammad set a new standard in the 2019 US World Championship Trials at 52.20, lowered it again to 52.16 in the aforementioned Worlds in Qatar, and McLaughlin-Levrone has since taken this race to unprecedented heights. She’s running high-level 400m flat times but with ten 30-inch barriers in the way.
Is there anyone who has any shot at beating McLaughlin-Levrone in Paris?
Barring something completely unexpected, the one woman within shouting distance of McLaughlin-Levrone is Femke Bol of The Netherlands. Bol won bronze in the Tokyo Olympics, silver in the 2022 Worlds, and gold in last year’s Worlds in McLaughlin-Levrone’s absence. Her personal best of 51.41 seconds is the third fastest in history, and she broke the indoor 400m flat world record earlier this year, so she’s a force to be reckoned with.
It’s been nearly two full years since the last time Bol’s silver to McLaughlin-Levrone’s gold at the World Championships in Oregon. The stars have otherwise not aligned for those two to race each other in any of the 400m hurdles, 400m flat, or even the 4x400m relays. We should see them competing in both the hurdles and as anchors for their respective countries in the Olympic relays. If anyone stands a chance to create an epic long-term rivalry with the former University of Kentucky standout, it’s the 24-year-old Bol.
What is abundantly clear is that McLaughlin-Levrone is one of one. It is inarguable that she is the greatest of all-time in this discipline, and when the track portion of the Olympics begins in early August—women’s 400m hurdles qualifying starts Aug. 4 and the final is Aug. 8—a worldwide audience will get to see why she’s one of the most special athletes of her generation.
Scottie Scheffler earned his sixth PGA Tour victory since January 1 on Sunday as he defeated Tom Kim to win the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands.
He officially won four of the eight Signature Events with the Travelers over. The former Texas Longhorn’s other two wins include the 2024 Players Championship and a second Masters in three years.
The only way to put it is that Scheffler is on a heater.
He is on one historic run as he became the latest player to win six or more times in a single season since Tiger Woods in 2009. The 28-year-old also became the first player since Arnold Palmer did it in 1962 to win six times before July 1.
With this victory, Scheffler took home a $3.6 million check, bringing his 2024 total to $27,696,858.
He continues to break his single-season record. With the Open Championship and FedEx Cup playoffs, there is no telling what the final total could be.
Since his first Signature Event victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational on March 10, Scheffler has won roughly $23 million.
Kim also took home a nice $2.6 million check for finishing second behind one of his best friends. Tony Finau, Patrick Cantlay, Justin Thomas and Akshay Bhatia split fifth place, each winning $702,500.
This week’s tournament did not feature a cut, so everyone who played received a check.
With a $20 million purse, let’s break down how much each player made at the Travelers Championship.
2024 Travelers Championship Prize Money Payout
1: Scottie Scheffler: $3,600,000 2: Tom Kim: $2,160,000 T3: Tom Hoge: $1,160,000 T3: Sungjae Im: $1,160,000 T5: Patrick Cantlay: $702,500 T5: Tony Finau: $702,500 T5: Justin Thomas: $702,500 T5: Akshay Bhatia: $702,500 T9: Brian Harman: $520,000 T9: Wyndham Clark: $520,000 T9: Cameron Young: $520,000 T9: Shane Lowry: $520,000 T13: Xander Schauffele: $400,000 T13: Collin Morikawa: $400,000 15: Tommy Fleetwood: $360,000 T16: Patrick Rodgers: $310,000 T16: Robert MacIntyre: $310,000 T16: Adam Svensson: $310,000 T16: Matthieu Pavon: $310,000 T20: Seamus Power: $241,333.33 T20: Rickie Fowler: $241,333.33 T20: Viktor Hovland: $241,333.33 T23: Sepp Straka: $183,500 T23: Hideki Matsuyama: $183,500 T23: Christiaan Bezuidenhout: $183,500 T23: Taylor Pendrith: $183,500 T27: Corey Conners: $144,000 T27: Adam Hadwin: $144,000 T27: Austin Eckroat: $144,000 T27: Ludvig Åberg: $144,000 T31: Kurt Kitayama: $117,600 T31: Lee Hodges: $117,600 T31: Denny McCarthy: $117,600 T31: Stephan Jaeger: $117,600 T31: Si Woo Kim: $117,600 T36: Mackenzie Hughes: $97,333.34 T36: Brendon Todd: $97,333.34 T36: Matt Fitzpatrick: $97,333.34 T39: Adam Scott: $89,000 T39: Keegan Bradley: $89,000 T39: Michael Thorbjornsen: $89,000 T42: Nick Taylor: $75,000 T42: Will Zalatoris: $75,000 T44: Victor Perez: $63,000 T44: Lucas Glover: $63,000 T44: Andrew Putnam: $63,000 T44: Jason Day: $63,000 T48: Eric Cole: $49,285.71 T48: Russell Henley: $49,285.71 T48: Davis Riley: $49,285.71 T48: Cam Davis: $49,285.71 T48: Webb Simpson: $49.285.71 T48: Jake Knapp: $49,285.71 T48: Sahith Theegala: $49,285.71 T55: Adam Schenk: $44,750 T55: Billy Horschel: $44,750 T55: Emiliano Grillo: $44,750 T55: J.T. Poston: $44,750 T55: Thomas Detry: $44,750 T55: Sam Burns: $44,750 T61: Max Homa: $42,750 T61: Chris Gotterup: $42,750 T63: Harris English: $41,500 T63: Jordan Spieth: $41,500 T63: Chris Kirk: $41,500 66: Nick Dunlap: $40,500 67: Ben Griffin: $40,000 T68: Justin Rose: $39,250 T68: Taylor Moore: $39,250 70: Peter Malnati: $38,500
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
At the end of May 64 college baseball teams began a journey, with Omaha as their dream destination.
Now just two teams are left standing in Omaha, with dreams of NCAA baseball immortality alive.
The Men’s College World Series Finals begin on Saturday, with SEC rivals Tennessee and Texas A&M set to begin a best-of-three series to determine this season’s National Champion. When this tournament began the Volunteers and the Aggies were viewed as two of the top teams in the field, as the Aggies were the third-seeded team heading into the tournament, while the Volunteers were the top team in the field.
If history is to be our guide, the Aggies might be in a better position to win the Finals. Since the NCAA expanded to the current format the top-overall seed has won the Men’s College World Series just once, and that was Miami back in 1999, the first season with a 64-team field. More often than not the top seed comes up short, as the Volunteers did back in 2022 when they were the top-seeded team and did not even advance to Omaha.
As for teams seeded No. 3, like Texas A&M, they have won the Men’s College World Series three times. Most recently Oregon State won as a No. 3 seed back in 2018.
Ahead of the Finals getting underway, let’s take a look at each team’s path to this point, a statistical matchup between the two teams, revisit what happened the one time they played this season, and finish it off with a prediction sure to be wrong.
Tennessee’s path to the Finals
The Volunteers enter the Men’s College World Series Finals with a 58-12 overall record, and went 22-8 this season in SEC play.
The Volunteers have lost just once in the entire Men’s College World Series.
Game 1: Tennessee vs. Texas A&M | 7:30 p.m. ET | ESPN/ESPN+
Sunday, June 23
Game 2: Tennessee vs. Texas A&M | 2:00 p.m. ET | ABC/ESPN+
Monday, June 24
Game 3 (if necessary): Tennessee vs. Texas A&M | 7 p.m. ET | ESPN/ESPN+
Statistical matchup
Here is how these two teams matchup in a number of key statistics, provided by both D1Baseball.comand NCAA.com:
Head-to-head
These teams have met just once this season, back in SEC Tournament play.
In that game, back on May 23, the Aggies took an early 1-0 lead thanks to a solo home run from leadoff hitter Gavin Grahovac in the third inning. But the Volunteers chipped away over the next few innings, tying the game in the bottom of the third on a sacrifice fly from outfielder Dylan Dreiling. They took the lead in the fourth on a Fielder’s Choice off the bat of Christian Moore, with Dean Curley scoring from third.
In the bottom of the fifth a double from Kavares Tears brought Dreiling around to score, giving the Volunteers a 3-1 lead. Texas A&M cut that lead to just one with a solo shot off the bat of catcher Jackson Appell in the sixth.
Tears came through again for Tennessee in the seventh, with a three-run blast to left pushed the Volunteers’ lead to 6-2. The teams traded runs in the eighth, and Grahovac added another run for the Aggies in the ninth on a solo shot, but it was not enough as the Volunteers advanced by the final score of 7-4.
A prediction sure to be wrong
What is a preview piece without a prediction that is sure to be wrong?
As the old adage goes, good pitching beats good hitting. As you can see above, the Aggies have a solid staff to call on for this series, and that staff is rested and ready to go.
But the college game is a bit different these days. Watching the entire Men’s College World Series this year, you get the sense that today’s game is about what you can do at the plate. While both teams have potent lineups, Tennessee does have an advantage at the dish.
This is likely a series that goes the entire three games, and when all is said and done, the Volunteers will take home the title.
After a delay of over four hours due to severe weather in the Omaha area, the final game of the opening round of the 2024 Men’s College World Series between Florida and Texas A&M finally got underway after 11:00 p.m. local time. The Aggies took a 3-2 lead into the top of the ninth inning, powered by a pair of runs in the second inning and one more in the third as they built a 3-0 lead.
But the Gators did not go quietly into the night. Florida put a pair of runs on the board in the top of the seventh inning to cut the Aggies’ advantage to just 3-2, and that was the score when the Gators came to bat in the top of the ninth inning. After Brody Donay struck out to start the ninth, center fielder Michael Robertson — a hero for Florida in the 2023 MCWS double-elimination round — got on board with a single to bring Kurland to the plate, representing the go-ahead run.
After the count got to 1-1, Kurland got a backdoor breaking ball that he drove to right, putting everything he had into the swing.
It was almost enough:
Instead of the two-run shot he thought it was off the bat, right fielder Jace LaViolette used every inch of his 6’6 frame to climb the wall in right field, and deny Kurland of the go-ahead blast.
Leaving the Florida second baseman stunned:
LaViolette might have had a quiet night at the plate, going 0-for-2 with a pair of walks, but he put up monster numbers at the dish for the Aggies this season, slashing .311/.453/.751 with 28 home runs.
