Kevin Durant needs to be honored. He's earned it.
This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.
Goooood morning, Winners! Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thanks so much for rocking with us today. We appreciate you giving us a bit of time.
The Olympics are starting this week, folks! We’re here! The opening ceremony is just a few days away. Before you know it, thousands of athletes will be on the Seine river bearing the flags of their nations.
Speaking of flag bearing, LeBron James will be the male flag bearer for Team USA this cycle. The 39 year old was bestowed the prestigious honor after being voted for by his peers. The female flag bearer will be revealed later on Tuesday.
James bearing the flag is a nice honor. He’s probably participating in what will be his final Olympics and is arguably the greatest male basketball player to ever walk the Earth. He’s more than fitting for this honor.
Personally, I just think it should’ve been Kevin Durant. At least, if we’re going with a basketball player here.
Let me be clear: I’m not hating on this choice. I just think Durant would’ve been a better one. There’s not a basketball player more befitting of that honor than Durant, if we’re picking basketball players. He is Mr. USA Basketball, after all.
Durant has participated in every Olympic cycle he could’ve throughout his career — that includes the 2020 Olympics that nobody really wanted to go to. He’s Team USA’s all-time leading scorer in basketball. He’s got three gold medals and, if the team wins a fourth this year, he’ll have the most gold medals in USA Basketball’s history. It’s inarguable that he’s the best Olympian USA Basketball has ever had.
It’s clear Durant doesn’t feel seen right now. He was upset about being left out of Nike’s latest ad for the Olympics. Even his business partner and agent, Rich Kleiman, voiced his complaints about that (albeit in an extremely passive aggressive way). If Durant was upset about that, I can only imagine how he feels about this.
I just hope, in the end of all this, Durant is recognized for everything he’s done for USA Basketball. He deserves that, at the very least.
(Photo by Glyn KIRK / AFP)
For so long we’ve all been locked in on Scottie Scheffler being the best golfer in the world, and for good reason. Not only was that dude winning, but he was dominant. Scheffler was approaching Tiger Woods territory before the PGA Championship.
I’m not quite there yet, but you’ve got to ask if Xander Schauffele is giving him a run for his money. Two back-to-back major wins at the PGA Championship and the British Open definitely make a solid case for him, though.
Prince Grimes says Schauffele’s recent hot streak should, at the very least, cool bettor enthusiasm about Scheffler.
“A +500 favorite entering play Thursday, Scheffler commanded 13.4% of tickets on a winner and 20.8% of the handle at BetMGM, which was almost three times more than the next player. He ultimately finished tied for seventh at 1-under. Schauffele was a distant fourth in betting, getting 5% of the tickets and 5.7% of the handle after opening at +2500.
After his latest victory, those splits should start to even out as the season winds to a close. Schauffele might not be a better player than Scheffler, but with consistently longer odds, he might be a better bet.”
We’ll see if Schauffele keeps this up. This is an exciting time in golf.
Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
There are three guarantees in life, folks: Death, taxes and Nick Castellanos absolutely bombing one into left field when major world events happen.
When President Joe Biden made the decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential race, you just knew Castellanos would go off. You just knew it. And that’s exactly what he did.
Andrew Joseph has more:
“The Phillies outfielder has long managed to hit home runs during major news events or noteworthy deaths. The meme took a life of its own when he hit a home run during Thom Brennaman’s on-air apology, and Castellanos — despite not being a fan of the meme — has kept it going by hitting dingers at the wildest times ever since.
He hit a home run on the same day that Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt. And in the ninth inning on Sunday — shortly after Biden’s announcement — he did this.“
Nick Castellanos homers are rising to the same level as Simpsons predictions. Who would’ve thought it?
— Prince Grimes tells you why Team WNBA winning the All-Star game vs. Team USA is more about how deep the W is than anything else.
— Shohei Ohtani casually sending 473-foot homers to the moon is so wild to me. Charles Curtis has more.
— Andrew Joseph found this hilarious video of Patrick Mahomes teasing Carson Wentz after nearly tripping. I love this so much. What a fun QB room.
— Caleb Williams and Keenan Allen bonded over … Monopoly? Impossible. Robert Zeglinski has more.
— Arike Ogunbowale winning All-Star MVP was so cathartic. I loved this. Meg Hall has more.
— Here’s Robert again, ranking the 10 best running backs ever.
-Sykes 
