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- [00:03]
Frank Isola
Chevy is called the heartbeat of America for a reason.
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Frank Isola
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Frank Isola
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So your drive always hits the right chord.
- [00:27]
Frank Isola
Chevrolet together.
- [00:28]
Commercial Announcer
Let's drive.
- [00:32]
Pablo Torre
Pardon the eruption, but I'm Pablo Torre, and there is no one else I'd rather host this show with than you, Tony.
- [00:38]
Frank Isola
I'm Frank Isola. Tony abandoned you. Deal with it, kid. He ain't here. I was a late sub.
- [00:46]
Pablo Torre
Tough to discover.
- [00:47]
Frank Isola
Like Mikel Marino, I was a late sub. Hopefully I'll come on and score like he did.
- [00:53]
Pablo Torre
Oh, geez. Little soccer bar remind me of him. Young, athletic.
- [00:58]
Frank Isola
I wish.
- [00:58]
Pablo Torre
Yeah, off the bench. Mackellhurst favorite.
- [01:01]
Frank Isola
I was waiting for the word. Good looking.
- [01:03]
Pablo Torre
You didn't include that strong jawline.
- [01:06]
Frank Isola
There you go. There you go. Welcome to pti. Mike and Tony are off on a yoga retreat. So I'm joined by my good friend from the podcast. Pablo Torre finds out. Mr. Pablo Torre, everyone. They must be Belgium fans. All right, let's start today with the World Cup. Spain scored in the first half against Belgium, then surrendered a goal for the first time in the tournament. And it stayed 11 until the final minutes when Spain scored on a rebound. So Spain advances to the semis where they'll face Kylian Mbappe in France. That is a dream matchup. And we've got Erling Haaland, Harry Kane and Lionel Messi all on the field tomorrow. So, Pablo, where do you want to start?
- [01:48]
Pablo Torre
I want to start with the fact that this tournament field is the biggest there's ever been. Right? 48 teams, and yet at the very end, it's as if this was exactly how you wanted it to go. Yeah, you have, by the way, in Belgium. I wonder if Christian Pulisic just feels a little bit better about any of this, because look at what Belgium just did to Spain, right? Took him to the wire. America, hey, maybe straighten up your spine just a little bit. But to me, I'm looking at England, I'm looking at Norway, and I'm looking at the idea that Erling Haaland is gonna walk out there at 25 years old, was born in England, and he gets to be. If there's anybody who's gonna come out of this with their Q rating in America, just jacked all the way up because Messi's already so up there. And of course, Haaland is himself, literally Enormous. But I think that likability and that skill and that skull and all these goals he scored, I'm focusing mostly right there for this, for this semifinal.
- [02:43]
Frank Isola
I love when you said this, you know, when 48 teams. But the teams that you would expect. Are you saying that's the team that FIFA wanted or the teams you would expect? Because it does. It does seem quite convenient. It does. Like, it does seem like that. All right, first of all, let's give Belgium a lot of credit because Spain hadn't been scored upon. So De Kettler, the guy that scored the two goals against the U.S. on Monday, he got the equalizer late in the first half. That was a great showing by Belgium. Their goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois, had to come out of the match. His replacement gives up the rebound. And then the player, Mikel Mourinho, who plays for Arsenal, has a habit of doing this. He scored. So that's heartbreaking for Belgium. But we are getting a dream matchup now between France and Spain, who a lot of people think were the two best teams going into the tournament.
- [03:25]
Pablo Torre
Yes.
- [03:25]
Frank Isola
Now, as for the other side of the bracket, you're so right though, about Holland and Norway with Erlan Haaland against England with Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham. Haaland plays over in England in the Premier League for Man City. He knows a lot of these players. He'll be going up against some of his teammates in the game on Sunday, tomorrow. I was there over the weekend and watch what he did to Brazil. And this is what you love about Earl and Haaland. You know, Gabrielle and Marquinhos are two of the best center backs in the world and he threw them around like they were ragdolls. He has just been the most dominant player in the tournament. He's becoming a biggest star. You see him on social media. It looks like he's having a grand old time. He gets it. He performs on the field, off the field, he's great with kids, he's having fun with different foods that he's eating, engagement with the fans. So that part I love. The winner of that will get the winner of the. Of Argentina. Switzerland. Nobody's mentioned Switzerland yet. Who knows if they'll spoil the party. But I'll say this about Argentina, with Messi, those players around him, they are as tough as nails. And they were down to nothing late to Egypt and they scored three goals in 11:12 minutes, whatever it was, to win it. And they'll be a tough out. I feel like they're hanging on by a thread. Pablo So I do think they're vulnerable. I think the winner of Norway England gets to the final.
- [04:44]
Pablo Torre
Yeah, the Argentina story is so interesting too because it reminds me a bit of when you saw the Dream team in the 92 Olympics because all these guys, they play Michael Jordan and then of course you have Instagram now they're taking photos and posting it with Messi, like the shot that they're in together. That's the kind of historical figure that they're dealing with. But I want to move on to the present here at Wimbledon in England because the men's semis over in the tennis had dramatic storylines heading into today's matches. You had a second seeded Goliath and Alexander Zverev facing the wild card, David and Arthur Ferry. And you had top ranked in defending championik Sinner facing a man 15 years his senior, the seven time champ, Novak Djokovic. But the action was pretty anticlimactic in the end as Zverev and Sinner both won in straight sets. And so Frank, your takeaway from who won and how these matches actually played out.
- [05:34]
Frank Isola
Yeah, we didn't get a day like we had yesterday with Mohova in the Coco Gauff that semifinal. Straight threats, straight sets for both winners today. Zver it's interesting if you go back to 2022 when he lost in a dollar in the semifinals. Remember he broke his ankle in the semifinals and you know, he was out for a while. And then going into the French Open this year, he held the title of the best player on tour to never win a major. Well, he wins the French now. He's one match away from winning Wimbledon as well. And we haven't seen a German win at Becker. Boris Becker I think won it three times in the 80s. That and Michael Shtique, who I used to love when Bud Collins would call him a shtick figure because of his long, long lean frame. But Novak Djokovic against Sinner, you know, Sinner, since fallen behind 21 in the first round, has won 17 straight sets. So he's been dominant. But I'll say this about Novak Djokovic. You know, if you go all the way back to 91 when Pablo Torre was a little kid, Jimmy Connors made an unbelievable run to the semifinals of the US Open and he was 39. It was treated like the greatest thing we've ever seen. Djokovic does it and nobody thinks that it's that big of a deal. I mean it's still impressive that he could perform at a high level. The problem is after playing five sets. In his previous match in the quarterfinals, three of the sets went to a tiebreaker. He just, he's just not good enough anymore to get past that and win a semis and win a final of a major.
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Pablo Torre
I was six years old when Jimmy Connors was doing that. I am 40 years old watching Novak Djokovic look every piece of his 39 years. You're right, he played five hours and 15 minutes before. And in this one, he said after the match he was more explosive, he was more reactive. He was better than me. And that is both, I think, the exhaustion you allude to and also just the age difference. And this is the opportunity in front of Jannik Sinner now, right? Alcaraz isn't here. Alcaraz is hurt. Novak Djokovic just described. And so he is 10 and four against Verev. He's won nine in a row. This feels like it's all there for center to claim. And if he doesn't, that's a real squandered opportunity for a guy who is clearly right now the number one in a, I don't know, maybe a four man race as you put Djokovic right there at the fourth spot in Zverev at the three. But it's right there for him to win.
- [07:45]
Frank Isola
That's a great stat. So sinner, 10 and four against Zverev and he's won the last nine. That's pretty impressive. And Sinner's Italian, if you didn't know. All right. And now to the NBA. The NBA's CAP circumvention investigation into the Clippers and Kawhi Leonard. The Raptors said yesterday they want to know what NBA punishment might be before finalizing their trade for Kauai after the league told them they'd be on the hook for it. Pablo, you broke the original story way back when. I want to pull a surprise for it. What questions does all this raise in your mind?
- [08:17]
Pablo Torre
One question is how differently the Clippers and the Raptors feel about this frozen trade. Because the Clippers come out here with five paragraphs and they are saying basically we're innocent. This is a story about Joe Sandberg, the co founder of Aspiration. This is a deal that we were informed later the Raptors needed to be on the hook for in terms of any punishments to Kawhi's contract. They're trying to get this thing done ASAP because they would bear none of the penalties once Kawhi is out of their actual financial cap situation. And also they got pretty good value from the Raptors but the Raptors, on the other hand, Frank, keep in mind this. The Raptors are the ones who went to the league in 2019 and they said, hey, you should know what this guy uncle Dennis Robertson was requesting of us that we wouldn't give. Which is all to say that what I can tell you, according to my reporting, is that the Raptors are acutely aware of all of the fire backstage and we're only seeing the smoke right now around Kawhi Leonard. And so for them, they are the ones who don't want to finalize this trade because they are saying it is plausible that something might happen. Something might happen. And that risk alone, because they know it's grounded in a real again, over 10 months, my reporting and 2019, their own report, they know it's grounded in a real problem. And so the Raptors are good to wait. The Clippers, it's very interesting that they are not quite so patient and they came out public with this with real force.
- [09:39]
Frank Isola
Yeah, I think I interviewed you, interviewed you the day after you broke the story. And I think we both thought maybe within six weeks the whole thing would be wrapped up. We ended up being wrong about that. All right, just to recap here, Kawhi was traded to Toronto. It was Brandon Ingram, Grady Dick, two first round picks, a pick swap and two second round picks. I think the Clippers made out in the deal and I think what Toronto was saying, here's what could happen. Here's a plausible scenario. You tell me if I'm wrong. The league determines that. Kawhi Leonard, you know what, you're going to be suspended, throw out a number, 20, 30, 41 games. Deep down, the Raptors are going to say, well, this is great. He's only going to play probably 60 games anyway. And now we don't have to pay him for those 20 or 30 games. He's going to be at but out. But hold on a second. We're not giving you all those first round picks.
- [10:27]
Pablo Torre
Exactly.
- [10:28]
Frank Isola
So I think. Exactly, Toronto, I think the Clippers have won the trade. That sounds like a home run for them. But don't, don't you think Toronto right now is in the driver's seat because Toronto, the Clippers want the trade to happen. Toronto saying, all right, it'll happen, but we may amend this trade a little bit. How about that?
- [10:47]
Pablo Torre
I saw in the Raptor statement three sentences to the Clippers, five paragraphs, and they're complaining about this. Basically, you're totally right. Bobby Webster, the GM of the Raptors, he can say to himself, hey, I'm gonna get a better deal if there's a punishment.
- [11:03]
Frank Isola
That's right.
- [11:03]
Pablo Torre
And we haven't agreed to it yet. So they're gonna have to come back to the table with us. And I think that is the untold story about what might happen next.
- [11:10]
Frank Isola
And the statement, I think, I don't know if it was from the league or from the Raptors, talked about weeks like this is gonna drag on.
- [11:17]
Pablo Torre
Oh, yeah, the league.
- [11:18]
Frank Isola
So we could be talking. So what are we talking now? September. When? Right at the end of September is when training camp starts. They're really going to let it drag on that long?
- [11:27]
Pablo Torre
Take the over. Yep.
- [11:28]
Frank Isola
Well, you would know. You've been all over it. All right, let's take a break. But coming up, the top two picks from this year's NBA draft dueled last night. Who had the better performance?
- [11:39]
Pablo Torre
And will LeBron James choose his next team soon or will he keep the NBA world in suspense? I think that means that toss up is next.
- [11:47]
Frank Isola
He's going to decide within five minutes. So we can go live with it. How about that?
- [11:51]
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- [12:20]
Frank Isola
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Pablo Torre
I like how you went Britney Spears instead of where I was going, which was Anthony Randolph. Remember when Anthony Randolph dropped 42 in summer league?
- [14:23]
Frank Isola
Golden State Warriors.
- [14:24]
Pablo Torre
Remember when Josh Selby looked like he was going to be a star? I mean, summer league is full of these characters. Of course, these two guys are not, you know, mirages in the desert. They're the actual stars. We're there to see the future stars. At least I'm going to say Darren Peterson. And I say it for this reason. I just like the idea that Darren Peterson, when he talks, he's still kind of talking to Bill Self. He's still sending messages. He's talking about how he didn't have fun at Kansas after the game. And I'm like, this is messy in ways that we don't need anymore. You're in the NBA, dude. We're not really thinking about the Kansas Jayhawks. And yet he keeps on bringing them back. Which gives me as a guy who's in favor of content, gives me great hope, frankly, that someone who's going to keep making a mountain out out of a thing that is so in the rear view is going to give us gifts as we cover him as a pro.
- [15:13]
Frank Isola
Did you like that they were experimenting with the one free throw if you got fouled shooting instead of going, listen for summer league, it's great. G league's because they bring in New refs and every, you know, they're trying to make their mark. The games take forever. I liked it. Did you like it?
- [15:26]
Pablo Torre
I like, like in the honor of soccer, I. I like a quicker game. Yes.
- [15:31]
Frank Isola
Bang. All right. All right, what's next? Toss up. What do you expect LeBron to do
- [15:36]
Pablo Torre
with his free agency decision? Decide soon or drag it out?
- [15:40]
Frank Isola
Wait, wait. I think it's being dragged out already. I guess there was a quote where they said it could be a couple of weeks. A couple of weeks? I mean, what are we doing here? All right, so a few things about LeBron Shams reported, and this is an actual, real report that, that team executives are recording voice messages to, to send to LeBron the idea that the great, the Godfather himself, Pat Riley, first of all, someone's going to have to do it for him and he's going to record a message. How many takes will it be to convince LeBron it's absurd? LeBron's a great player, but why? Why are we going down this road? If you have a question, just call the teams up. So that part of his absurd. But Pablo, I still say because the World cup is here in the States. He loves the idea that, that all the great players, it was Ronaldo till he went home. Messi and Mbappe, they turn on the TV and what's everybody talking about, including this show? The future of 41 year old LeBron James. He's dragging this thing out definitely until next week when the World cup gets to the semifinals and the finals.
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Pablo Torre
You see what's happening at the World cup final with Johnny Infantino. What happened with Roger Clemens in George's box? Remember Susan Waldman? Yeah, the Rockies. He's in George's box.
- [16:49]
Frank Isola
John Brennan's box.
- [16:51]
Pablo Torre
Oh, my God. So I love that. I love the idea of that. Of course, take over on all of this and you know, to take the over. Not just because you're hearing it from the guy who's made 11 episodes out of one single NBA investigation. You know it because LeBron is already having us subscribe to his agent's podcast, which cannot stop talking about this. Every day there's more. We had a whiteboard, we got the voice notes. We had Bob Myers in studio with Max Caliban and Rich Paul. Look, he's very good at generating coverage. I don't know if he's as good at generating mystery, at least around how long this is going to take. I would take the over on all of this because you get more LeBron that way. And that's kind of the ultimate goal.
- [17:36]
Frank Isola
He was photographed golfing with Draymond Green in Puerto Rico. I'm surprised that you weren't invited on that trip.
- [17:42]
Pablo Torre
Hurt.
- [17:43]
Frank Isola
I still think warriors. But I got to be honest with you, the more and more you hear it sounds like Cleveland is is a legitimate suitor for LeBron. I still say he's going to join Steph Curry and Draymond. We'll see what happens. All right, that's it. We all know who won that round. Let's take one last break before we come back. Scotty Shepler does something he hasn't done
- [18:03]
Pablo Torre
in nearly four years, and Wemby posts a cryptic tweet of his own. Talk about what it might mean.
- [18:12]
Frank Isola
Was the tweet leave me alone Britney Spears.
- [18:15]
Pablo Torre
I cannot believe that I forgot about that.
- [18:19]
Frank Isola
His security guard had to say, what are you doing? She tapped him in the back.
- [18:22]
Pablo Torre
Not quite a boy, not quite a full grown center.
- [18:26]
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- [18:57]
Frank Isola
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- [19:01]
Commercial Announcer
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Frank Isola
It can help you with practically anything
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Pablo Torre
on the web, like restoring a vintage
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Frank Isola
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- [19:15]
Pablo Torre
There's no place like Chrome.
- [19:17]
Frank Isola
Check responses set up required compatibility and availability various 18/. It's a Friday. Happy time. Happy earliest 28th birthday Shay Gildis Alexander SGA is still 27 until Sunday and then he's already a four time All Star, attorney, time MVP, a one time NBA champ and a Finals MVP. Many assume the title he and the Thunder won in 2025 was the first of many, but they got knocked out in this year's Western Conference finals by Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs. Afterward, SGA said he failed, adding quote, there's a reason for that. Now I have to look at that reason and try to make sure it never happens again. This summer with Team Canada, he's reportedly been working on his own off ball game.
- [20:06]
Pablo Torre
I hate to make everything about the Kawhi Leonard trade and that original free agent signing actually, but that's the guy that Kawhi wanted out of the Clippers to get. Paul George. Just pointing that out here. That's how that one even happened in the first place.
- [20:19]
Frank Isola
That didn't work out so well. Happy anniversary. Brandy Chastain. On this day 27 years ago, Chastain made the game winning penalty kick to beat China in the World cup final, then celebrated by three throwing off her jersey in one of the most iconic moments in American sports. Chastain recently told Mike Tirico nobody had ever dreamed or believed or invested in a women's event that would be so big like this one before. And to be honest, we crushed it. While the US men regularly go out in the round of 16, the women's team has won four World Cups since the tournament began in 1991. They'll have a chance at a fifth in Brazil next summer.
- [20:57]
Pablo Torre
And of course you remember that iconic Sports Illustrated cover, Brandy Chastain ripping off her shirt with Grant Wall. The late, great Grant Wall. Frank, the guy, of course, with the byline on that story.
- [21:07]
Frank Isola
Yeah, big moment, big moment in that game. Christine Lilly heading a certain goal off the goal line in the hundredth minute. So give her a little credit as well. Happy trails to making the cut for Scottie Scheffler and Nelly corda. Scheffler went 68:72 in his first two rounds at the Scottish Open to finish at even par, two strokes below the cut line. It's the first weekend he'll miss since August of 2022, a streak of 78 straight tournaments.
- [21:34]
Pablo Torre
Wow.
- [21:35]
Frank Isola
That's 51 more than the next closest golfer, Matt Fitzpatrick. The missed cut comes one week before the British Open where Scheffler is the defending champ. On the women's side, Nellie Corda missed the cut at the Evian Championship, the fourth of the women's five majors quarter, won the first two majors of the year and hadn't missed a cut in two years.
- [21:55]
Pablo Torre
The consistency of Scottie Scheffler is remarkable. The psychological fortitude of Scottie Scheffler is remarkable. The introspection of that guy. I like to like to know what he thinks about what just happened, actually, now that he's broken that streak.
- [22:08]
Frank Isola
All right, and on to the big finish. We've mentioned his name a bunch today. Victor Wembanyama tweeted Spurs fans, I'm here to stay. Whatever it takes, takes. What are you reading to that?
- [22:17]
Pablo Torre
I'm reading into a submax contract. Frank looking at the crystal ball, see, and he might not sign for the max, which would be quite helpful, Tim Duncan style. Actually, I thought it was Grace Harper and Kyle Schwarber. O. They're both in Monday's Home Run Derby in Philly. Does that excite you?
- [22:33]
Frank Isola
Well, of course it excites me. It's in Philadelphia. They're the two hometown players. You always want, you know, the hometown guys to be the stars. They're the big hitters. Absolutely. They should be part of the Home Run Derby. The Marlins swept the Mariners, the Tigers swept the A's, and the Red Sox swept the White Sox. What to you is the biggest deal?
- [22:52]
Pablo Torre
It's. It's the travel scenario. It's a sportswriter enemy. I can tell you the Red Sox were stuck in Chicago left at 3pm they might be late for tonight's game, which is a 7:15 first pitch, which would be a problem. Michigan, meanwhile, lifted the interim tag off of head Coach Mike Boynton Jr. Does that make sense?
- [23:11]
Frank Isola
Yes, it makes a lot of sense. But think about the job that he's walking into. You're replacing Dusty May, who just took the Dallas Maverick job. And all those great players all went in the first round of the NBA draft. It's not going to be easy to repeat, but it's Michigan. And something tells me they have enough nil money to maybe go out and get some players. But that's a tough act to follow. No question about it. All right, last one. Shohei will not pitch as expected tonight and will miss the All Star Game because of continued left knee irritation. Are you irritated by that?
- [23:43]
Pablo Torre
I am. Shohei Ohtani on the mound is something that medically he doesn't need to risk, but the fact that he wants to is one of the great gifts we get as sports fans. I'm sad to miss him.
- [23:53]
Frank Isola
That's a bummer. That's a bummer that he's out of the game. All right, we're out of time. Thanks for watching. Watching. I'm Frank Isola.
- [24:01]
Pablo Torre
And I am Pablo Torre. That was Pablo Torre finds out. I hope you guys have a great weekend.
- [24:06]
Frank Isola
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