NBA Offseason = fire emoji
Last Friday night (cue Katy Perry – add in musical notes emoji), Kawhi Leonard announced that he’s going to Hollywood and he’s bringing Paul George with him. The superstar duo will be in red and blue as they try to bring the Clippers a championship.
With Paul George gone, Russell Westbrook was not feeling the Thunder and wanted out. He’s off to the Houston Rockets to reunite with James Harden, while OKC is getting Chris Paul, two protected first-round picks and two pick swaps.
Leonard signed a three-year, $103.1 million deal that includes a player option for the 2021-22 season. He will make $32.74 million next season and $34.37 million in 2020-21. With the shorter contract, Leonard is lined up with George and the two are set up to be part of the 2021 free-agent class.
In other words, the time is now Clippers. Anyone else counting the days until the NBA is back?
We are the Champions
The U.S. Women’s National soccer team beat the Netherlands 2-0 to win the FIFA World Cup and came home to a lot of excitement and support. Before their victory parade in NYC, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed equal pay legislation as a show of support.
You may remember – and if you don’t, that’s why we’re here – Alex Morgan, Carli Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe and Becky Sauerbrunn filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation, claiming they deserve to be paid equal the American men for their international performances. They claim that, because it’s true. The women’s team has won four World Cup titles since 1991; the men have won zero.
According to the suit, the men received 5.4 million in performance bonuses for the 2014 World Cup, while the women were paid a collective of $1.7 million in 2015 (when they won the whole thing). So, yeah, pay these badass women!
The ESPYs
After the parade, the ladies headed to beautiful Los Angeles, CA for the ESPYs, where the USWNT won best team and Alex Morgan won best female athlete. Honestly, they are having a really good week.
Other highlights from the awards were:
Best Male Athlete: 2018-1019 NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jimmy V Award for Perseverance: Rob Mendez
Lindsey Vonn, Rob Gronkowski and Dwyane Wade celebrating their incredible careers.
Best NFL Player: Patrick Mahomes.
Best MLB Player: Christian Yelich.
Best NHL Player: Alexander Ovechkin
Best Female Action Sports Athlete: Chloe Kim
One Less Lonely Pitcher
The American League won its seventh straight All-Star game Tuesday night, thanks in no small part to the impressive pitching of All-Star MVP and Cleveland Indians’ pitcher Shane Bieber (no relation to Justin.)
The hometown hero had the people yelling Baby, as he struck out the side in the fifth inning. And he did so with 19 pitches.
The scoreboard at Progressive Field had a tough night of misspelled names, incorrect pictures and incorrect team logos, causing fans to ask, what do you mean? When the starting lineups were shown, it had Cody Bellinger and Ketel Marte playing for the Atlanta Braves. They play for the Dodgers and Diamondbacks respectively. At least it kept them in the National League.
NFL Supplemental Draft
The NFL had its supplemental draft, which is for players whose eligibility changed after the January deadline to declare for the regular old draft.
The Arizona Cardinals made the only pick and that pick was Washington safety Jalen Thompson. He was picked in the fifth round, so the Cards will forfeit their 2020 fifth-round pick.
