Good Morning! Here’s what happened in the world of sports on Wednesday, June 26.

Technical difficulties- here’s a delayed Remix

NBA

Round one of the 2024 NBA Draft is in the books. It was a fascinating night, as the lack of clear top tier prospects produced surprises all across the board. You can look through and catch up on all 30 picks here, but these are the most important takeaways:

• The Atlanta Hawks took French forward Zaccharie Risacher with the first pick. It’s the second year in a row a French player has been drafted first overall (Victor Wembanyama). Three other French prospects were taken in the first round, including Alexandre Sarr at 2nd overall to the Wizards.

• After drafting guard Stephon Castle (UConn) fourth overall, the Spurs traded the eight pick to the Timberwolves. Minnesota fans are super excited by the upside of their selection, Kentucky guard Rob Dillingham.

• Two-time National Player of the Year Zach Edey (Purdue) was taken 9th overall by the Memphis Grizzlies. Edey was a matchup nightmare in college– will he be able to adjust to the faster pace of the pro game?

• One of the most popular selections of the night, the Los Angeles Lakers drafted SEC player of the year Dalton Knecht (Tennessee) at pick 17. Knecht gives new head coach JJ Redick a talented wing who’s ready to contribute right away.

• Three of my favorite picks: the Bulls drafted home-town kid Matas Buzelis. The 76ers took Duke sharpshooter Jared McCain. And the Celtics added yet another another three-point threat, taking Baylor Scheierman (Creighton) with the last selection of the night. Great players and great team fits.

MLB

A pretty exciting Wednesday night in Major League Baseball. Here’s what stood out:

• Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Shohei Ohtani hit a home run and the Dodgers won. Well this time it was historic- Ohtani set a Dodgers record of 10 consecutive games with an RBI. On the mound, rookie starter Gavin Stone threw a complete game shutout for LA.

• The Milwaukee Brewers had a walk-off win, taking down the Texas Rangers 6-5 in 10 innings. The highlight of this one was rookie Jackson Chourio’s inside-the-park home run.

• Gunnar Henderson is a superstar, and you should know about him. The Baltimore Orioles shortstop hit his 26th home run of the year, leading the O’s to a 4-2 victory over the Cleveland Guardians.

• The Houston Astros had a really rough start to the season. But after winning their 7th game in a row, the Astros have a .500 record for the first time. Starter Spencer Arrighetti struck out 10 over seven innings in last night’s win against the Rockies.

• Aaron Judge hit his 30th home run of the year, but the Mets demolished the Yankees 12-2. First Grimace, now a Subway Series sweep– all of a sudden the Mets are .500 and just a game and a half out of a wild card spot.

SOCCER

Georgia upsetting Portugal 2-0 is a remarkable story, but Czechia vs Turkey was one of the best soccer games of the year. This contest had the most cards ever given in a European championship game, with 16 yellows and 2 reds. The referee had no clue what was going on. Both teams flopped aggressively. Goalies made diving saves. Czechia played a man down for the majority of the game, but managed to score midway through the second half to tie the score 1-1. With the Czechs throwing everything they had at goal, Turkey scored on a counter-attack in stoppage time to put the game away and seal a 2-1 win. It was truly madness– I would argue it was international soccer at its finest. Sorry to see Czechia sent home.

Elsewhere in the world of soccer:

• Belgium, Romania, and Slovakia all advanced on a tiebreaker over Ukraine, with Romania the surprise winners of the group. Belgium has drastically failed to meet expectations so far, and now face an unlucky round of 16 draw against France. And we should take a moment for Ukraine, who were inches away from moving forward.

• Ecuador won a fast-paced game 3-1 over Jamaica in the Euros– you’ll see more of this game if you scroll down. And in the upset of the day, Venezuela beat Mexico 1-0. Mexico had chance after chance, but just couldn’t put one in the net.

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

US soccer legend Alex Morgan was left off the Olympic team for this summer’s games in Paris. It’s the first major tournament the US will play without Morgan since 2008. As they have for decades, the US boasts an incredibly talented group of young forwards. Still, the end of an era for one of the greats.

Intriguing moves continue to be made in the NBA. As widely expected, the Knicks have re-signed OG Anunoby to a five year, $212.5 million deal. And as part of a draft day trade, the Wizards sent Deni Avdija to the Trailblazers for last night’s 14th overall pick (they drafted Bub Carrington from Pitt) and Malcolm Brogdon. Keep track of these less heralded moves– you never know which one will end up being the key to an unlikely postseason run.

The Anaheim Ducks have released a new logo, jersey, and color scheme. While many will yearn for the classic Mighty Ducks look of the original team, I’m a fan of this bold embrace of orange. It’s going to pop once they get on the ice.

NBC and Peacock revealed they will use an A.I. version of broadcaster Al Michales as part of their Olympic coverage. I guess human Al was ok with them using artificial Al, but I’m not a fan of this. Not even going to pretend to spin it as something cool.

PLAY OF THE DAY

Take a look at this one:

Technically an own goal, but come on… that’s crazy.

TODAY’S BIG GAMES (all times Eastern)

SOCCER: USA vs Panama, 6 PM on Fox

• Team USA looks to continue their strong start to the Copa America, taking on a Panama team that has given the Americans some trouble in the past. A win would all but guarantee a spot in the knockout rounds.

GOLF: Rocket Mortgage Classic, 3 PM on Golf Channel (or ESPN+ all-day)

• Round one tees off from Detroit today. Defending champion Rickie Fowler headlines a strong field.

NBA DRAFT: Round Two, 4 PM on ESPN

• Kyle Filipowski (Duke), Tyler Kolek (Marquette), and Bronny James (USC) are three big names to keep an eye on for round two.

“When you come to a fork in the road, take it”- Yogi Berra

Enjoy your Thursday