The Sports Report: Can the Clippers afford Kawhi Leonard and Paul George?

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

From Andrew Greif: After the NBA draft concluded in late June, the Clippers’ top basketball executives arrived in a hotel conference room and described the ways they envisioned their new draft picks factoring into the team’s future.

At the center of that future, reiterated Lawrence Frank, the president of basketball operations, remained stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.

“We’re trying to maximize these two and figure out ways that we can get better,” Frank said.

The earliest indications for how far the Clippers are willing to commit to both players could arrive in the coming days or weeks. Leonard and the team can begin discussing a contract extension starting Wednesday. George will be eligible for his own extension in September. The maximum both can sign for is four years and $220 million.

What other teams are watching closely is whether a Clippers franchise that has gone out of its way to accommodate its superstars since their arrival in 2019 still is willing to invest the full amount in either, given their history of injuries, or whether the Clippers will instead seek shorter deals.

“We do talk kind of what the plan is, but we really can’t get into those specifics until the appropriate date,” Frank said after the draft. “And you know, we’ll just have the dialogue and just have very, very honest and open conversations and see if there’s something that makes sense for all sides.”

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LAKERS

From Dan Woike: LeBron James won’t be retiring from the NBA — at least not now.

In what was a formality after a series of social media posts praising the Lakers’ offseason moves, James said he wasn’t through with the NBA during an acceptance speech Wednesday night at the ESPYs in Los Angeles.

“I don’t care how many more points I score or what I can or cannot do on the floor,” the NBA’s all-time leading scorer said during his acceptance speech for best record-breaking performance. “The real question for me is, ‘Can I play without cheating this game?’ The day I can’t give this game everything on the floor is the day I’ll be done,” James said. “Lucky for you guys, that day is not today.”

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DODGERS

From Jorge Castillo: Mookie Betts feels better than he has in a while. Getting past the nagging injuries that hindered him the last two seasons is reason No. 1. Reason No. 2 might seem frivolous: He’s running less on defense.

That is one of the benefits of playing more infield than ever before as a major leaguer. All those long jogs from right field to the dugout? Tracking all those balls in the outfield? He says that adds up and takes a toll.

“All the way out there and back 18 times,” Betts said last week, pointing to the Dodgers’ dugout and out to right field. “Then instead of me taking three steps to the right, backhand, boom, throw to first, you’ve got to take 30 at a full sprint. That in itself is an extra load.”

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Dodgers, Padres to open 2024 season with two games in South Korea

NL WEST STANDINGS

Dodgers, 51-38
Arizona, 52-39
San Francisco, 49-41, 2.5 GB
San Diego, 43-47, 8.5 GB
Colorado, 34-57, 18 GB

WILD-CARD STANDINGS
top three teams qualify

Miami, 53-39
Arizona, 52-39
San Francisco, 49-41
Philadelphia, 48-41, 0.5 GB
Milwaukee, 49-42, 0.5 GB
San Diego, 43-47, 6 GB
Chicago, 42-47, 6.5 GB
New York, 42-48, 7 GB
Pittsburgh, 41-49, 8 GB

AL WEST STANDINGS

Texas, 52-39
Houston, 50-41, 2 GB
Seattle, 45-44, 6 GB
Angels, 45-46, 7 GB
Oakland, 25-67, 27.5 GB

WILD-CARD STANDINGS
top three teams qualify

Baltimore, 54-35
Toronto, 50-41
Houston, 50-41
New York, 49-42, 1 GB
Boston, 48-43, 2 GB
Seattle, 45-44, 4 GB
Angels, 45-46, 5 GB
Minnesota, 45-46, 5 GB

SOCCER

From Kevin Baxter: Jill Ellis showed up for lunch wearing a track suit and a warm smile.

The track suit is what she’s worn to work for much of her adult life. The smile, however, is new because for the first time in a dozen years a Women’s World Cup is approaching and Ellis isn’t under pressure to field a team, develop a game plan, fret over injuries or break down opponents.

And the tournament looks a lot different from that perspective.

“I’m truly excited for it because I just recognized what a major event it is,” she said. “I don’t miss the preparing piece, but I definitely miss kind of the behind-the-scenes looking at the game and really studying that. I can’t just be a fan.”

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Adalberto Carrasquilla converted the decisive penalty kick after Cristian Roldan failed to convert his attempt, and Panama beat the defending champion United States 5-4 in a shootout after a 1-1 tie on Wednesday night to reach the CONCACAF Gold Cup final against Mexico or Jamaica.

Iván Anderson scored his first international goal in the ninth minute of extra time, and Jesús Ferreira tied the score for the U.S. six minutes later.

After beating Canada on penalty kicks in Sunday’s quarterfinal, the U.S. went to a second shootout for the first time in a Gold Cup.

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Carlos Vela and Stipe Biuk scored goals 10 minutes apart late in the second half to lead LAFC to a 3-0 victory over St. Louis City on Wednesday night.

LAFC (10-6-6) has never lost to an expansion team, winning all seven contests by a combined 16-1 score. Defending champions are now 10-4-5 against expansion teams since 2010. Two of the four wins by an expansion team over the reigning champions came last season when Charlotte FC swept New York City FC.

Neither team scored until Vela took a pass from José Cifuentes in the 72nd minute and scored his seventh goal of the season. Biuk added his second goal of the campaign, using an assist from Dénis Bouanga to push the lead to 2-0. Cifuentes netted his first goal this season, scoring with an assist from 19-year-old Nathan Ordaz in the second minute of stoppage time to complete the scoring. It was the second assist for Ordaz, who also has a goal in his rookie season.

USC BASKETBALL

From Eric Sondheimer: Former Sierra Canyon girls’ basketball standout Juju Watkins, a McDonald’s All-American who won the Gatorade national player of the year award last season after averaging 27.3 points, 13.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists, has been busy this summer preparing for her freshman season at USC.

She’s one of the most celebrated female basketball players to enter the college game in years and has been training with the Trojans this summer.

“Honestly, I’m excited,” she said on Tuesday while participating in a Gatorade awards presentation. “I’m glad I can have a fresh start. There’s a lot of expectations for me personally and from everybody. I’m ecstatic to see what these next few years will consist of. The plan is to keep working hard and showing up on the court.”

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USC FOOTBALL

C.R. Roberts, whose record-setting performance helped USC beat Texas in a 1956 road game played in the segregated state, has died. He was 87.

Roberts died of natural causes on Tuesday in Norwalk, the university said Wednesday.

Roberts, a fullback, set a single-game rushing record with 251 yards on 12 carries in the Trojans’ 44-20 victory in Austin, a mark that stood for 20 years. Fearing rioting by the segregated crowd, USC’s coaching staff pulled Roberts early.

Upon arrival, the Trojans tried three different hotels before finding one that would allow its Black players to stay. USC officials had permitted Roberts to travel despite Texas’ segregation laws.

“I was upset that they didn’t want me down there,” Roberts said in a 2015 USC online article for Black History Month. “Damn right, I had something to prove to them.”

SPARKS

From Annika Johnson: Nneka Ogwumike scored 20 points with 11 rebounds, but the Sparks limped into the All Star break with a sixth consecutive loss as the league-leading Las Vegas Aces dominated 97-78 on Wednesday at Crypto.com Arena.

All Star forward A’ja Wilson scored 16 of her 25 points in the first quarter as the Aces (19-2) won their 12th consecutive game against the Sparks (7-13), who haven’t defeated their Western Conference counterpart since 2019.

Azurá Stevens reached double-digit scoring for the fifth consecutive game with 22 points and 12 rebounds.

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SPORTS ON TV

Local teams on TV today:
All times Pacific

None

The rest of today’s sports on TV listings can be found here.

THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1881 — William Renshaw sets the record for the shortest men’s championship match by time and games by beating John T. Hartley 6-0, 6-1, 6-1 in 37 minutes at Wimbledon.

1934 — Babe Ruth hits his 700th career home run against Detroit.

1941 — The PGA tournament is won by Vic Ghezzi with a 1-up 38-hole victory over Byron Nelson at Cherry Hills CC Denver

1943 — The first night game in All-Star history is played at Philadelphia’s Shibe Park. Boston’s Bobby Doerr provides the big blow, a three-run homer, for the AL’s 5-3 win.

1963 — Early Wynn wins his 300th and last MLB game at 43.

1968 — Gary Player wins the British Open by two strokes over Bob Charles and Jack Nicklaus. It’s the second Open championship for Player and his fifth major title.

1971 — Reggie Jackson hits a mammoth home run off the power generator on the right-field roof at Tiger Stadium to highlight a barrage of six homers — three by each team — as the AL beats the NL 6-4 in the All-Star game.

1972 — Robert Irsay buys the stock of the Los Angeles Rams for $19 million and swaps the franchise for the Baltimore Colts. The players and coaches are not affected.

1980 — Amy Alcott shoots a record score of 280 to win the U.S. Women’s Open by nine strokes over Hollis Stacy.

1996 — Cigar matches Citation’s modern North American record of 16 consecutive wins, pulling away to take the $1.05 million Arlington Citation Challenge by 3½ lengths.

1997 — Alison Nicholas holds off Nancy Lopez for a one-stroke victory in the U.S. Women’s Open. Nicholas shoots a 72-hole total of 10-under 274, the most under par in the 52-year history of the event.

2003 — Beth Daniel becomes the oldest winner in LPGA Tour history, birdieing the final two holes to beat Juli Inkster by a stroke in the Canadian Women’s Open. At 46 years, 8 months and 29 days, Daniel breaks the age record set by JoAnne Carner in 1985.

2014 — Mo Martin hits the best shot of her life to become a major champion in the Women’s British Open. Martin hit a 3-wood that hit the pin on the par-5 closing hole at Royal Birkdale, settling 6 feet for an eagle. Martin closes with an even-par 72 and finishes at 1-under 287 for a one-shot win over Inbee Park and Shanshan Feng.

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.

2019 — Wimbledon Women’s Tennis: Simona Halep beats Serena Williams 6-2, 6-2 in just 55 minutes; first Romanian to win a Wimbledon singles title.

—Compiled by the Associated Press

And finally...

Reggie Jackson hits a mammoth home run that in the 1971 All-Star Game. Watch and listen here.