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- [00:00]
Mike Wilbon
Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile.
- [00:02]
Tony Kornheiser
Now I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited Premium Wireless for $15 a month is back. So I thought it would be fun if we made $15 bills, but it turns out that's very illegal.
- [00:17]
Patrick McEnroe
So there goes my big idea for the commercial.
- [00:19]
Tony Kornheiser
Give it a try@mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment of $45 for a three month plan equivalent to $15 per month required new customer offer for first three months only. Speed slow after 35 gigabytes of networks busy. Taxes and fees extra. See mintmobile.com.
- [00:32]
Mike Wilbon
Pardon the interruption, but I'm Mike Wilbon. We're off tomorrow for the fourth of July. Tony, how you gonna spend the holiday weekend?
- [00:39]
Tony Kornheiser
Tony Kornheiser Golfing, napping, confiscating pickleballs. Not a fan of pickle boy? Not me.
- [00:47]
Mike Wilbon
No, not a big fan. But you know what though, Tony, welcome to pickleball.
- [00:51]
Tony Kornheiser
Go ahead, go ahead.
- [00:52]
Mike Wilbon
Who has more Achilles injuries? The NBA in the spring or pickleball every week?
- [01:01]
Tony Kornheiser
If you a pickleball court, somebody over the age of 60 is going down in a heap once an hour. Welcome to PTI Boys and Girls. Today's episode, Clayton Kershaw's historic strikeout, USA's win over Guatemala and Patrick McEnroe joins us from Wimbledon for five good minutes. But we begin today with the Los Angeles Lakers finally getting a big man. They signed former overall number one pick seven foot DeAndre Ayton to a two year contract. Ayton had just been released by Portland where he had played the last two seasons. He averaged 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Trailblazers this past season playing just 40 games. Wilbon, what does this do for the Lakers and how does it affect how you see the West?
- [01:43]
Mike Wilbon
It improves the Lakers and it probably does more specifically for luka doncic than LeBron. I mean doncic, you know, is, you know, vocal and has been in management situations where he played in Dallas and now the Lakers. About the kind of player Ayton, who he really can tag team with and take advantage of a lob threat at the rim. We hear that Ayton's defense is spotty. He can be a rim defender, he can be a lot of things, but he can also just take nights off. We saw that even when Chris Paul had to go to the, you know, I'm going to use this jockey phrase to the whip hand and really press him to get them to the Finals in 2021 when the Suns got There and. And that was the best of Ayton, but you had Chris Paul really riding him to get there. I don't know. Is Luca that guy? Can luka do that? LeBron can do that, but who's going to get that out of Ayton? Are they now even with Oklahoma City and Houston and. No, they're not. Not even Minnesota to me. Not even Dallas to me. No, they're not. But this is a step in the right direction for the Lakers, and that's where it starts. Just a step. They got more to go.
- [02:55]
Tony Kornheiser
I'm going to go in a different direction and tell you that the most important thing this does in my mind is guarantee that LeBron will be there all year. LeBron James now finally has a big man who will play like a big man, not drift out there and take threes. That's what they were lacking last year. Luka Doncic was their number one rebounder. That's not going to happen now. I mean, I understand deandre Ayton hasn't been what people thought he was going to be, but he has also averaged 16 and 10 throughout his career, and he's going to be a presence for this particular team. And so the threatening comments that were made by LeBron James and Rich Paul seven to ten days ago about, you better work on what's happening with the Lakers. The implied threat was that LeBron would want to leave. Well, they worked on it. They gave him a credible big man. Not an incredible big man, but a credible big man. They can reset. And Mike, I think it could be a big deal. And I think they could become true contenders in the West. True contenders, Tony.
- [03:54]
Mike Wilbon
I believe that. But this is not the finishing touch. By the way, some credit to Raoul Pelinka, who every year there's sort of, oh, they got to do this, they got to do that. And he's. He's. He's done this multiple times. Got into a conference championship round anyway, two seasons ago, two postseasons ago, and he got him, Luka, out of. Just falling out of the heavens. And now, DeAndre. These guys were the numbers one and three overall picks in their drafts not too long in their draft, not too long ago. So this is a nice move. I'm not. It's not the finishing move. Let's not get crazy. Let's move to baseball, where Clayton Kershaw did something last night only 19 pitchers had done before him. Kershaw struck out White Sox third baseman Vinnie Capra for his 3,000th career. K. There are fewer players who have reached 3,000 strikeouts and 3,000 hits. Tone. So how significant is this milestone in your mind?
- [04:51]
Tony Kornheiser
Well, he is the 20th ever. He's only the fourth left hander. Steve Carlton, Randy Johnson, Cece Sabathia, they're all in the hall of Fame. Kershaw is going to the hall of Fame. So are the two active players who are on this list right now, Scherzer and Verlander. They're going to the hall of Fame. I don't know all that much to make about it because a lot of these pitchers are what I would call modern pitchers where the strikeout is now more important, more prevalent than it was say 40 or 50 years ago. I was surprised, Mike, speaking of lefties, Warren Spahn not on this list. I'm not surprised by Koufax because he didn't pitch long enough. All of these 20 guys are either going to the hall of Fame or are in the hall of Fame, with two exceptions, Curt Schilling and Roger Clemens. And Clemens is out right now because of the PEDs. I noted that there are fewer guys to 3,000 strikeouts than 3,000 hits. Is that supposed to tell us it's harder to get the 3,000 strikeouts? And I wonder, Mike, is there going to be another one or is this it? Cuz they don't pitch a lot of innings anymore. Will Chris Sale get there? Will Garrett Cole get there? Will anybody ever get there? I don't know.
- [05:56]
Mike Wilbon
Yeah, Tony, it's interesting when you just go down the list and I started it just before we went on the air. I wanted to know the top five and Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, Clemens, Carlton and Bly Levin. Bly Levin sort of surprises me there, but he pissed like 23, 24 years. But then. Tony, it's a nice note that you make about the sort of the modern nature of the list. Although we're old enough now that you have to put Gibson and Jenkins, the two people that I grew up watching the most, like they're straddling that, right? They're not back with Walter Johnson, but it's been 60 years. I mean it's been a long time for Gibson and Jenkins and I'm glad they're on that list. So you look at the list and it's quite representative to me. I found it fascinating to go through. And Kershaw, good for him. I just, you know, I don't know what's more important that or sort of what are we going to remember that or postseason success, postseason struggles, World Series, rings, like what? You know, where do you fall down? Maybe all of it. Maybe it's a tactic of all of it.
- [06:58]
Tony Kornheiser
Good for him that he did it in LA with the only team he has ever played for, only Gibson. One other, Walter Johnson, went all the way down with one team. Let's move to soccer quickly, where last night in St. Louis, the United States men's team beat Guatemala 2 to 1 to advance to the finals of the Gold Cup. Both United States goals were scored by Diego Luna in the first 15 minutes. The US then desperately hung on to the lead for the next 75 minutes. The US will now play Mexico on Sunday in Houston. Wilbon, has this run made you more optimistic about the United States prospects in next year's World Cup?
- [07:34]
Mike Wilbon
No, it has nothing to do with the prospects of next year's World cup because they ain't beat any of those teams and that's not this tournament. But Luna, who you mentioned the most overused word in sports today, and it's used usually by athletes, is dog. He's got that dog. Not everybody has that dog. Luna seems to have that dog in him. That's the way he played last night. And if you can discover one player who plays with that kind of infectious spirit and determination, then you've done something important in this competition. That's what's important. Does this bring the United States closer to any of the top, you know, FIFA ranked teams in the world? No. But I liked watching Luna last night, Tone. I did.
- [08:27]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah. So I can't help much with this because you're Mr. Soccer, not me. You go to Premier League games. I don't do that. But I can, I can refer to Taylor Twillman, who was our guest a couple of times in the last two weeks, including yesterday. A couple of weeks ago, we asked him what would constitute, at minimum, success in the Gold cup for the United States. And he said, you got to get to the finals. At least get to the finals. So they got to the finals. So that's to me successful. Even if they lose to Mexico. Unless they lose six. Nothing. And then yesterday he looked at both teams and he said he thought the United States had enough talent to win like four nothing. Well, they only won two to one. They only won two to one. He also said there'd be a pro United states crowd in St. Louis and people who watched the game told me, no, it was pro Guatemala, which makes me think that in Houston on Sunday, it's going to be pro Mexico. It's going to be pro Mexico. So we'll see. Let's take a break. Coming up is it more impressive how Novak Djokovic is playing at his age or what Carlos Alcaraz is accomplishing at his. And we're going to ask Patrick McEnroe.
- [09:24]
Mike Wilbon
We're also asking why so many top seeds are out so early. What are you seeing from Naomi Osaka and Emma Raducanu? Tony, you didn't answer the question about whether it gives you more confidence going into World Cup.
- [09:37]
Tony Kornheiser
I think it does because the guys coming back are going to be juiced up by this.
- [09:42]
Ryan Reynolds
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- [10:45]
Tony Kornheiser
Players are heading into the third round at Wimbledon, which is where we find our long, we love ESPN tennis commentator Patrick McEnroe. Patrick, we're going to start with a comparative question. What is more impressive to you? The way Novak Djokovic is playing at 38 years old or what Carlos Alcaraz is accomplishing at 22 years old?
- [11:07]
Patrick McEnroe
Well, I would say it's the 38 year old Novak Djokovic, guys, because the fact that he's still playing at this level, we've really never seen this before on a consistent basis in men's professional tennis. Carlos Alcaraz is phenomenal. He's won the last two Wimbledon titles. He won in Paris just a couple of weeks ago for the second time. He's the guy who's the favorite to win this title, no doubt about it. But we've seen greatness at that age before. But what Djokovic is continuing to do to play at this level in the majors is phenomenal. He played well in Paris, got to the semifinals there, getting dismantled by sinner who's the other favorite in the semifinals, but he feels very comfortable on the grass. In fact, he said in his press conference today after his straight set win that, that that's the best he's felt in a long time. And if he plays like that, he said that he thinks he can beat anyone in the tournament, but it's likely he would have to beat Sinner in the semifinals and then Alcaraz in the final. And trust me, he will have to play his A game to have a chance to beat both of them back to back.
- [12:12]
Mike Wilbon
Be something to see all those guys still left in the tournament the way it's going. Patrick, so many of the top seeds are out already. Are we just looking at sort of fluke circumstances or do you see more a common thread here?
- [12:27]
Patrick McEnroe
I think it's a little more flukey, Mike, than, than we've seen before. There's. There are 19 seeds of the 32 out in the men's field. There's 17 out in the women's field already. You know the conditions the first couple of days, it was brutally hot here for the first two days, which is very unusual for London this time of year. That made the courts actually play a little, a little quicker, and I think that could have been part of it. But you know, there is a lot more parity in men's tennis. In women's tennis, down the line, not at the top of men's tennis. Sinner and Alcaraz, between the two of them, have won the last six major titles. So we had the era of the big three. Now we're pretty much in the era of the big two. They've distanced themselves from the rest of the field. In the women's game, it's definitely more spread out. In fact, here at Wimbledon, there's been eight different winners of the ladies singles title in the last eight years. And it's very possible, in fact, I'd say likely, that we'll see a ninth winner. At the moment, you'd have to say Irina Sabalenka, the favorite, the top seed. You had Coco Gauff being upset in the opening round, which was a big shock. Jessica Pegula, the three seed, also being upset in the opening round. So not wide open, but I think there's more players in the ladies tournament that can win it. Whereas on the men's side, it's pretty much Alcaraz center. Maybe Djokovic is the third favorite at the moment.
- [13:52]
Mike Wilbon
Well, let's stick with the women's side for a second. Patrick, I'm glad you mentioned it. I am excited that Osaka and Raducanu, who are kind of removed from their major championships, are seeming to be at least on the front porch of the big action again. How do you assess where each of them is right now?
- [14:12]
Patrick McEnroe
Well, let me start with Emma Raducanu, who's obviously from Great Britain, so there's a lot of attention on her always. She came literally out of nowhere a few years ago, as you both remember, coming through the qualifying, winning the US Open, which was one of the most unpredictable, amazing efforts that we've seen in the modern era of professional tennis. She's struggled since then. She's had some injuries. She's a superstar now in England, so she makes a ton of money off the court. But finally she seems to be finding that love of the game, that a game again. But here's the that's the good news for Emma Radicano. The bad news is that in round three, she's got to take on Sabalenka, who's got the most power of any woman out there and who certainly has the ability to essentially blow her off the court. Naomi Osaka, a very different story. She won four majors in her career, including, as you will remember, beating Serena Williams in the final at the U.S. open. She won two at the U.S. open. She won two in Australia. She's never played her best tennis on a grass court. But I'll tell you what, guys, the draws really opened up in her section of the draw I mentioned. All the seeded players are out, many of whom were in her part of the draw. So she's got an excellent chance, I believe, to get through to the semifinals, where she would likely play Sabalenka if she gets that far. But here's another American to look out for. There's Madison Key, she won the Australian this year. But Amanda Anisimova, that's another player that I think could be a huge surprise. She's knocking on the door of the top 10, and she's a player that's also in the same section. I think it's going to be between Anisimova and Osaka to likely threaten Sabalenka, most likely in the semifinals.
- [15:53]
Tony Kornheiser
Patrick, we'll get you out of here on this. I love this question. I love this story. Djokovic said today that Wimbledon's tennis balls are fluffier than they were 10 to 15 years ago, and that as a result, slows down the grass game and allows more baseliners to compete. Do you like the that evolution? And in fact, is this a thing? I mean, I would think if this were true, it would be a major deal because tennis balls, they matter. They matter would be like baseballs going out, you know, in the stadiums, people hitting at 500ft. Is this. What is this? What do you think?
- [16:33]
Patrick McEnroe
Well, they talk, they. They talk about the juice ball in baseball, right? And maybe this is the non juice ball in tennis. And I think, no, I'm not going to argue with Novak Djokovic. There's no doubt that about 20 plus years ago, the All England Club here that runs Wimbledon made the decision that we want the game to be a little bit slower. They changed the nature of the grass, they changed the nature of the ball, and they're constantly tinkering with it because they want it to be a good spectacle, a good viewing spectacle. And they didn't want those big servers, remember Pete Sampers, remember Goran Ivanicevich, Mark Philippus, Richard Krajczyk. It was basically becoming a serving fest at the end of those 1990s, early 2000. So they switch the balls, they change the grass, and it evolves every year. They tinker with it a little bit. But here's the bottom line. You've got to be a great all court player to win this tournament. You've got to be a jock, you've got to be an athlete, you've got to be able to move exceptionally well. And yes, you can come to the net, yes, you can be successful. We've seen Alcaraz do that in the last two years that he's won this title both times beating Novak Djokovic in the final. But you also gotta be able to play from the baseline and you gotta play it well. Djokovic is a perfect example of a guy who's got the all court. He can come forward. Essentially, he started out guys here as more of a defensive player, but the serve has improved, the ability to come forward has improved. And that's why he's looking for his eighth Wimbledon title, which would tie the great Roger Federer, in my view, the greatest offensive player ever to play on this court. Djokovic would love to be able to tie that record and not to mention then hold the all time record of 25 major titles. Currently he's tied with Margaret Court. So he would love to wrap things up here at Wimbledon with number eight and number 25.
- [18:20]
Tony Kornheiser
I love it. I love the fact that they changed the grass. I love the fact that they changed the tennis balls. Thank you, Patrick. It's great to see you again. Thank you.
- [18:27]
Mike Wilbon
Appreciate it.
- [18:30]
Patrick McEnroe
A lot of things have changed here, but Guys, don't ever change. You two okay?
- [18:35]
Tony Kornheiser
We just get older and older. You can catch Wimbledon on ESPN again tomorrow, starting at 8am Eastern. Let's take one last break. Still to come, the Blue Jays could sweep the Yankees and take over the AL East. Is that a big deal?
- [18:49]
Mike Wilbon
And yet another great catch at or above the center field wall. There's a lot of them. A lot of them, Tony. Isn't it great to be in London in mid summer at Wimbledon or anything else? Isn't it awesome?
- [19:05]
Tony Kornheiser
I loved it. I loved it when I was there. Yeah, Covered it a few times. I loved it.
- [19:10]
Ryan Reynolds
As you know, managing maintenance, repair and operations is never easy. But for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Grainger has your back. From professional grade products you can count on to fast, dependable delivery. They're there to help you keep things running smoothly. Plus, their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions. And because Grainger knows safety is always a priority, they're committed to being your partner in protecting both your people and your facilities. Call 1-800-GRAINGER click granger.com or just stop by. Get in the zone AUTOZONE welcome to AUTOZONE. What are you working on today? Hey, that's the spirit.
- [19:51]
Tony Kornheiser
Right now we're celebrating free with a free STP oil filter when you buy five quarts of oil.
- [19:56]
Ryan Reynolds
And free Duralast brake pads when you buy two rotors.
- [20:00]
Tony Kornheiser
Like always.
- [20:01]
Ryan Reynolds
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- [20:08]
Tony Kornheiser
Get in the zone.
- [20:09]
Ryan Reynolds
AutoZone restrictions apply.
- [20:17]
Tony Kornheiser
Happy time, people. Happy 58th birthday. Brian Cashman. Sneaky, young considering. Cashman has been the general manager of the New York Yankees since 1998. That's 27 years. Cashman is the longest tenured GM in baseball. If George Steinbrenner were still alive and running the team, there is no way anyone in the Yankee organization would have a job for that long. Cashman started with the Yankees as an intern in 1986 after graduating from Catholic University where he played the infield. Cashman was at the helm of the Yankees when they won three straight World Series under Joe Torrey from 1998 through 2000. He had another World Series winner under Joe Girardi in 2009 and he's waiting for his first one with Aaron. Boom.
- [20:58]
Mike Wilbon
For a long time there, if you mention Cashman, it seemed you had to mention Theo Epstein because they're with the Yanks and the Sox and they're fighting back and forth and their roads diverged and they both had wildly successful careers, it seems to me.
- [21:12]
Tony Kornheiser
Happy anniversary, Martina Navratilova. On this day 43 years ago, Navratilova beat Chris Evert 613662 for the first of her six straight Wimbledon titles. Navratilova ended up with nine Wimbledon titles and 18 majors overall. Everett also won 18 majors, including seven French Opens and six US Opens. The two contested 80 matches between 1973 and 1988, 60 of which were finals. Navratilova was 4337 in the head to heads with Evert 3624 in the finals. They are the most prolific tennis rivalry of the Open era. Evert and Navratilova were great rivals who became best friends. There is a story about their friendship by Sally Jenkins and the Washington Post that will warm your heart.
- [22:00]
Mike Wilbon
As a lifelong consumer of tennis, Tony I always felt enriched when I got to see them play each other. And as you mentioned, usually at the end of a tournament for the championship, nothing like it. Yeah.
- [22:13]
Tony Kornheiser
Happy trails to extra bases for Riley Green. The Tiger slugger hit one deep to left center last night. NAT center fielder Jacob Young tracked it, scaled the fence and came away with an improbable catch. Young said he thought the ball was going to travel farther, but it died by the wall, so he ended up backhanding it at shoulder height. Here's a fun fact, Mike. Riley Young, Riley Green, rather and Jacob Young played travel ball together as teenagers in Florida.
- [22:39]
Mike Wilbon
I never get tired of seeing these at the wall. Over the wall catches all night long. You can go with them. And they just all seem to be thrilling.
- [22:49]
Tony Kornheiser
And every day somebody says the best catch of the year, and it's not the next day is the best catch of the year as well. Let's go to the big finish. Your guy, the Miz, gave up five earned and three and two thirds. He took the loss to the Mets last night. How'd that taste?
- [23:02]
Mike Wilbon
Tasted great. We got a half game on the brewers, who split. Come on, now. It tasted great to have a cheesehead getting rocked. Blue Jays beat the Yanks last night. Have caught them atop the AL East. I bet you think that's the significant.
- [23:14]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah, I think anytime you're in first place, even if you're tied, it doesn't matter. Yeah, it's significant. Red Pandas out of the hospital after breaking her left wrist when she fell off her unicycle. Your thoughts?
- [23:25]
Mike Wilbon
Sally's gonna miss a few months, apparently, but she's just a great athlete, one of the best in the arena. Any night she's there. James Wood of the Nats joined a Home Run Derby. The Home Run Derby. I bet you're excited.
- [23:37]
Tony Kornheiser
I am because he hit the hits the ball harder than anybody in the National League other than Shohei Ohtani. You know, I'd love to see him in the in Home Run Derby. Last one CFL tonight, Winnipeg Blue Bombers at the Calgary Stampeders. Are you smelling upset?
- [23:50]
Mike Wilbon
I don't really need to be predicting Canadian football, but I'm going to watch Tony when I'm not peeking at the Cubs. Cleveland in the rubber match of that. Not the rubber. Going for the sweep.
- [23:58]
Tony Kornheiser
Watch everything. We're out of time. Try and do better the next time. And I'm Tony Kornheiser.
- [24:03]
Mike Wilbon
I'm Mike Wilfow. Until Monday, knuckleheads. Enjoy the holiday weekend.
- [24:10]
Tony Kornheiser
In 1979, the first words spoken on ESPN weren't just an announcement. If you're a fan, they were a sports prophecy.
- [24:20]
Mike Wilbon
What you'll see in the next minutes, hours and days to follow. Glad you're with us tonight. May convince you you've gone to sports heaven.
- [24:29]
Tony Kornheiser
And right now you're standing on the edge of tomorrow. This fall, the next era of ESPN begins.
- [24:38]
Patrick McEnroe
Sports forever.