The Sports Report: Will the Lakers get Kyrie Irving?

Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. Let’s get right to the news.

From Dan Woike: Rob Pelinka couldn’t directly address any of the rumors about his team during a television appearance Friday night in Las Vegas.

He did, however, make it clear that the Lakers aren’t done.

“We still have more work to do,” he said during the fourth quarter of an NBA Summer League game.

What the Lakers have done and what they have left to do was a frequent topic of conversations over the first weekend of Summer League.

It started Friday night when LeBron James and Russell Westbrook attended the Lakers’ opening game in Las Vegas where the two stars never acknowledged each other. The awkwardness became the story of the game, with people still talking about it Sunday when the Lakers played again.

The issue, in addition to the failures of last season, have been James’ not-so-secret desire to get Kyrie Irving to the Lakers to replace Westbrook.

Rival scouts and executives, who spoke on condition of anonymity, are split on whether the Lakers can pull off a deal for Irving, with James’ looming deadline for a contract extension in early August viewed as a key date.

One league insider pointed to the Lakers’ current salary-cap sheets — Anthony Davis is the lone player signed beyond this season who’s a significant investment, though Talen Horton-Tucker has an $11-million player option he can exercise next offseason. The lack of long-term money on the books speaks to the team’s desire to keep flexible as James and Davis age.

ANGELS

From Sarah Valenzuela: The Angels have not performed to expectations in the three years they’ve had Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon all under contract. Since May 25, the team has the worst record in baseball at 11-31. Entering Monday, the Angels were seven games back in the American League wild-card race and 19 games out of first place in the AL West.

It is fair to ask whether the Angels would entertain the possibility of trading Ohtani — the reigning AL most valuable player who is in the midst of another MVP-caliber season — before Major League Baseball’s Aug. 2 trade deadline.

The Angels would not comment on any specific players, but others in the industry shared their thoughts on the two-way star’s future.

“I think you have to [consider taking calls on Ohtani],” said Billy Blitzer, a former longtime scout for the Chicago Cubs who pointed to the Angels’ losing records despite having Trout and Ohtani. Blitzer said the value of potential offers would impact the decision whether to try to keep Ohtani.

DODGERS

From Bill Shaikin: Dodger Stadium concession workers could go on strike in advance of next week’s All-Star Game, the union representing those workers said Monday.

Of the food and beverage workers at Dodger Stadium, 99% voted Sunday to authorize a strike, Unite Here spokeswoman Maria Hernandez said in a statement.

The strike could begin “at any time,” according to the statement. The Dodger Stadium All-Star festivities begin Saturday with the Futures game, followed by the home run derby Monday and the All-Star game on Tuesday.

The workers are employed by Chicago-based Levy Restaurants, the company responsible for concession operations at Dodger Stadium. Kevin Memolo, the spokesman for Levy Restaurants, did not immediately return a message Monday.

SOCCER

From Kevin Baxter: The last game the U.S. women’s national team played against Mexico in Mexico was a World Cup qualifier in 2010.

The U.S. lost. Mexico went on to the World Cup directly, and the Americans were forced to win their way into the tournament via an inter-confederation playoff.

A lot has changed since then, with the U.S. winning consecutive Women’s World Cups while Mexico struggled to losing records under three coaches. So when the teams met in the group-play final of another World Cup qualifying tournament — the CONCACAF W Championship — on Monday night, the United States’ 1-0 win was expected.

But it wasn’t easy, with the only goal coming off Kristie Mewis’ thigh after a scramble in front of the net in the final minute of regulation. The goal underwent a lengthy video review before it was allowed to stand.

The victory was the Americans’ 29th straight in CONCACAF World Cup and Olympic qualifying dating to that 2010 loss in Cancun, In fact, the U.S. hasn’t even allowed a goal in qualifying since then.

USC BASEBALL

From Ryan Kartje: As a first-time head college baseball coach, Andy Stankiewicz had fewer than a dozen players left on his roster in 2012 when he took the reins at Grand Canyon, a onetime Division II baseball power stuck in a years-long skid. But he righted the ship almost immediately, guiding Grand Canyon through a transition to Division I, winning five conference titles and leading the Antelopes to back-to-back NCAA tournaments.

“I never believed any of [the doubters],” the new USC coach told The Times this week. “I believe in what I can do and I believe opportunities present themselves in life, and you just tackle them. You can’t make excuses. You have to find solutions.”

Now, as he takes the helm of college baseball’s most storied program, Stankiewicz faces perhaps the most daunting challenge of his career. Even if he doesn’t see it that way.

“What I see at USC is opportunity,” Stankiewicz said. “Obviously there are challenges, but I look at an opportunity for us to do something really special.”

BRITISH OPEN

From Sam Farmer: History is cool and all, but Collin Morikawa is entirely focused on the present.

He allowed himself a few hours over the weekend to walk around this town, the birthplace of golf, and then he turned his attention to defending his British Open title.

“You’ve got to embrace the history, you have to embrace everything that’s happened before us,” said Morikawa, 25, who grew up in La Cañada Flintridge and hasn’t won a major championship or PGA Tour event since claiming the Claret Jug last year at Royal St. George’s. “But I’m here to win a tournament.”

Morikawa missed the cut at the Scottish Open last week, yet Rick Sessinghaus, his swing and mental coach, said that actually could benefit him because it gave him the weekend to further familiarize himself with the Old Course.

“Collin is a sponge for learning golf courses, and he’s proven that on the PGA Tour,” said Sessinghaus, who walked with Morikawa for nine holes Monday. “I think St. Andrews has enough variability that knowing some nuances and sight lines, where this hill is and where this pot bunker is and so forth — he was taking notes today, looking back at some of the tee boxes to get more of a perspective on some of the blind shots — that only enhances his level o

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THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1901 — Cy Young of the Boston Red Sox wins his 300th game with a 5-3 victory over the Philadelphia A’s.

1930 — Bobby Jones wins the U.S. Open. Jones, who also won the British Open, the American Amateur and the British Amateur, becomes the only golfer to take all four events in the same year.

1954 — The Major League Baseball Players Association is founded.

1964 — Mickey Wright wins the U.S. Women’s Open for the fourth time by defeating Ruth Jessen by two strokes in a playoff.

1970 — Jack Nicklaus wins his second British Open, beating Doug Sanders by one stroke in an 18-hole playoff at the Old Course in St Andrews, Scotland. It’s the first playoff at The Open since 1963 and the first at 18 holes.

1975 — Tom Watson wins an 18-hole playoff by one stroke over Jack Newton to win the British Open at Carnoustie Golf Links in Scotland.

1980 — Mary Decker has her fourth record-setting performance of the year, setting an American mark in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:01.17 at an international meet at Stuttgart.

1995 — Noureddine Morceli of Algeria shatters his world record for 1,500 meters at the Nikaia Grand Prix in Nice, France, with a time of 3:27.37. It is the second world record for Morceli in 10 days.

1998 — France wins soccer’s World Cup, beating heavily favored Brazil 3-0 in the championship match.

1999 — The U.S. men’s basketball team wins its sixth straight World University Games gold medal and 40th straight game — both records — by routing Yugoslavia 79-65 in the final.

2012 — Every country competing at the London Games includes female athletes for the first time in Olympic history after Saudi Arabia agreed to send two women to compete in judo and track and field.

2014 — Mario Goetze volleys in the winning goal in extra time to give Germany its fourth World Cup title with a 1-0 victory over Argentina. The win is Germany’s first as a united country. West Germany won the World Cup in 1954, 1974 and 1990.

2015 — Novak Djokovic gets the better of Roger Federer at Wimbledon, beating him in four sets to win his third Wimbledon title and ninth Grand Slam championship.

2015 — South Korea’s In Gee Chun birdies four of the last seven holes to rally for a one-stroke victory at the U.S. Women’s Open. The 20-year old Chun shoots a 4-under 66 in the final round and finished at 8 under, becoming the first player to win her U.S. Open debut since Birdie Kim in 2005.

2017 — Sam Querrey stuns top-seeded Andy Murray in five sets in the Wimbledon quarterfinals, 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-1.

Compiled by the Associated Press

And finally

Germany wins the 2014 World Cup. Watch and listen here.