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🚨 Headlines
🇺🇸 Flag bearer: LeBron James was chosen by his fellow athletes to be Team USA’s male flag bearer at Friday’s Opening Ceremony. The women’s flag bearer will be announced today.
🏀 USA 92, Germany 88: It was quite a day for LeBron, who also led Team USA’s comeback win over Germany, scoring their final 11 points to wrap up their exhibition schedule with a 5-0 record.
🏈 Love holds out: Jordan Love won’t take the field at Packers training camp until he signs a contract extension. He could become the NFL’s highest-paid QB by the end of the week.
🏈 Owens is excused: Bears safety Jonathan Owens has been excused from training camp so that he can attend the Olympics and support his wife, Simone Biles.
❤️ Honoring Khyree: The Vikings will honor Khyree Jackson, their fourth-round pick who died in a car accident two weeks ago, with “KJ” decals on their helmets this season. They’ll also pay Jackson’s full signing bonus to his family.
⚾️ MLB trade deadline: One week out
The MLB trade deadline is a week away, and with over two-thirds of the league in playoff contention, there could be a lot of wheeling and dealing in the next seven days.
Where it stands: 22 of 30 teams are within five games of (or currently hold) a playoff spot — 13 in the NL and nine in the AL. There are obvious title contenders who will buy and cellar dwellers who will sell, but teams in the middle must decide whether to improve, stand pat, or retool for the future.
The buyers: The six division leaders (Orioles, Guardians, Astros, Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers) will of course look to bolster their rosters to some degree, and these six teams (among others) will likely do the same:
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Yankees (60-42): With Aaron Judge having another monster year and Juan Soto hitting free agency in the offseason, the Bombers are expected to go all-in on winning No. 28.
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Royals (56-45): Led by MVP candidate Bobby Witt Jr., the age-defying Salvador Pérez and an excellent pitching staff, Kansas City can taste the end of its eight-year playoff drought.
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Braves (54-45): Atlanta added four players at the 2021 deadline who were integral to their World Series run. What magic can GM Alex Anthopolous conjure this year?
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Red Sox (53-46): After consecutive sub-.500 seasons, Boston’s veterans want to add pieces who can help them return to the postseason.
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Mariners (53-49): Seattle has allowed the fewest runs in the AL but they’ve also scored the second-fewest. They need to add some bats to their elite pitching staff.
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Padres (52-50): San Diego has hung around in the wild card race, but with injuries to Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish they could use a couple more pitchers for the stretch run.
Most intriguing sellers: Four underperforming (or downright bad) teams have particularly tantalizing players who could be on the move.
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White Sox (27-75): Baseball’s worst team has two of this year’s best starters in Garrett Crochet and Erick Fedde, who are both among the top five in pitcher WAR.
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Marlins (35-65): Center fielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. is on his way to a 20-20 season (13 HR, 19 SB) and lefty reliever Tanner Scott (1.27 ERA, 16 saves) was the team’s lone All-Star.
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Blue Jays (45-54): Toronto has taken an unexpected step back this season, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. could fetch a king’s ransom with 1.5 years left of team control.
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Athletics (40-62): Rookie closer Mason Miller is striking out 47% of batters he faces and could net the A’s a veritable cornucopia of prospects to bring with them to Las Vegas.
🎧 Baseball Bar-B-Cast: Yahoo Sports’ Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman preview the deadline
🌎 The world in photos
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan — Charlie Woods in action during Monday’s opening round at the 76th U.S. Junior Amateur Championship. That follow through looks just like his dad.
Causeway Coast, Northern Ireland — Divers launched off an 87-foot cliff at Kinbane Castle during the fourth stop on the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series. What a photo!
Teahupo’o, French Polynesia — Here’s American surfer Carissa Moore taking part in a training session ahead of the Paris 2024 surfing competition, which begins Saturday.
Le Dévoluy, France — Probably my favorite shot from this year’s Tour de France.
📆 The U.S. sports calendar
Which month is your favorite?
🏈 Fantasy corner: Who will be WR1?
Who will end the season as the No. 1 wide receiver in fantasy football? Here are the top four contenders, according to our experts.
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CeeDee Lamb (Cowboys): He ended last year as WR1 after increasing his targets, receptions, yards and TDs for the fourth consecutive season since debuting in 2020. Dallas loves to throw the ball, and Lamb is as durable as they come, having missed just one game in his career.
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Ja’Marr Chase (Bengals): His production has dipped since exploding as a rookie in 2021, and last season was marked by inconsistency with Joe Burrow (wrist) missing so much time. But he’s expected to get more work out of the slot this year, which is fantasy catnip, and his immense talent speaks for itself.
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Tyreek Hill (Dolphins): At 30, he’s the oldest on this list (by five years!), but his ceiling remains the highest. He’s coming off a year in which he led the league in yards and TDs despite missing a game, and his Sonic-esque speed may be the NFL’s single biggest weapon.
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Justin Jefferson (Vikings): His QB downgrade from Kirk Cousins to Sam Darnold is an obstacle, but he’s still the NFL’s most talented receiver and was a monster last season even without Cousins. Plus, he gets to play indoors.
More Fantasy Football: Mock draft 2.0 | Potential Year 2 breakouts
📆 July 23, 1996: Strug’s iconic vault
28 years ago today, Kerri Strug stuck the landing on an injured ankle to clinch the U.S. women’s first team gymnastics gold.
Before and after: The popularity and success of that year’s team, dubbed “the Magnificent Seven,” inspired a generation and gave rise to a powerhouse. Prior to 1996, the U.S. women had medaled just three times in the team all-around competition. Since then, they’ve medaled in six straight Olympics.
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⚾️ 2009: White Sox centerfielder Dewayne Wise* robbed a home run in the ninth inning to preserve Mark Buehrle’s perfect game, the 18th in MLB history.
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⚾️ 2021: The Cleveland Indians announced they’d be renamed the Guardians, the winner from among 1,200 options that were considered.
*Impeccable timing: Wise, a light-hitting outfielder, entered as a defensive substitute in the ninth, and his robbery came against the first batter of the inning.
📺 Watchlist: Team USA women’s final tune-up
Team USA takes on Germany this afternoon in London (3pm ET, FS1) for its final Olympics tune-up.
Déjà vu? Team USA lost to Team WNBA in Saturday’s All-Star Game, just as they did three years ago before heading to Tokyo and winning their seventh straight gold medal. They’re heavily favored to make it eight straight in Paris.
More to watch:
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⚾️ MLB: Mets at Yankees* (7:05pm, TBS)
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🏀 The Basketball Tournament: Round of 16 (7-9pm, FS1)
*Subway Series: This is their second and final series of the season after the Mets swept the Yankees in a two-game set last month.
🥇 Olympics trivia
Only one nation has won a gold medal at every Summer Olympics. Which nation is that?
Hint: Only the United States and Soviet Union have won more Summer golds overall.
Submitted by: Jordan W. (Canton, Ohio)
Answer at the bottom.
⚾️ The hottest man in baseball
Bobby Witt Jr. has been one of the best players in baseball this season and could not be hotter at the moment.
By the numbers: Since returning from the All-Star break, the Royals shortstop is batting .800/.824/1.467 (2.290 OPS) with 2 homers, 2 doubles, 1 triple, 6 RBI and zero strikeouts.
Yahoo Sports feature: The Bobby Witt Jr. story
Trivia answer: Great Britain
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