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. Thank you so much for rocking with us today.
Cooper Flagg cooked Team USA on Monday. There’s not really any other way to put it.
You always hear those stories about the youngins playing well against the OGs of the game during Team USA training camp. There’s always somebody on the Select Team giving the actual team fits.
The most prominent example you’ll probably clock immediately is the 1992 Dream Team vs. Chris Webber, Grant Hill and the rest of the Select Team. Rumor has it that the Select Team actually won a game against the best players in the world, as hard as that is to believe.
There’s also the story from the artist formerly known as Ron Artest, in which he talked about LeBron James giving Hall of Famers work (including Michael Jordan!) at just 15 years old.
These are usually stories we only hear about. Old basketball folktales about legends in the making. These games are usually played behind closed doors and in secret. You almost never see them.
With Cooper Flagg? Whew, boy. We saw it.
Pull-up three-pointers over Anthony Davis. Turnaround jumpers over Jrue Holiday. Smart hit-ahead passes and sky-high putback attempts. This kid has the goods, folks.
17-year-old Duke commit Cooper Flagg is TORCHING Team USA 🔥 pic.twitter.com/6E7IblYhFA
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) July 8, 2024
That’s not just anybody he’s doing that against. Those are the best players in the world. They are the best defenders in the world. And Flagg made this look like a regular pick-up run. This is not normal.
RELATED: Cooper Flagg choosing Duke is so devastating.
This single scrimmage will change the NBA’s landscape. At least two teams were going to tank heading into this year’s NBA draft. After watching this? The Faking the Funk for Flagg club is going to be packed.
If you’re like me and your team (the Wizards) is locked in on bottoming out, you’d better build a shrine and send prayers to the basketball gods. You’ll need all the help you can get for this one.
READ MORE: Here’s our first 2025 NBA mock draft and, yup, he’s right up there at the top.
Is Novak Djokovic fun or insufferable?
I can’t completely tell. Djokovic won his Round of 16 matchup against Holger Rune on Monday, which is pretty incredible on its own.
This guy tore his meniscus a few weeks ago and opted for surgery. Now, he’s a few rounds away from another Wimbledon Finals appearance. That’s not unheard of, but at 37 years old, that’s incredible.
But that’s not the story today. Petty Djokovic is the story today.
The audience cheered for Rune during the match, and he was given a good “Ruuuuuuune” chant, which sounds a lot like “Boooooooo” if you’re unfamiliar with it. Djokovic might be unfamiliar with it.
He went off on the crowd in his post-match interview, telling his haters to have a “gooooooood night.” Again, it sounds a lot like “boooooooo.” Even when he was told they were just cheering for Rune, he literally said he wouldn’t accept it.
“I know they were cheering for Rune but that’s an excuse to also boo. I’ve been on the tour for 20 years so, trust me, I know all the tricks. I know how it works,” he said. “I’ve played in much more hostile environments than here. You guys can’t touch me.”
We’re officially in our Petty Djoker era, folks. He usually doesn’t talk like this. I don’t know if it’s the knee injury or what, but something about this tournament has him juiced up.
Let’s see how far this goes.
Joey Chestnut eats wings, too
Last week, I accepted Joey Chestnut as the ultimate Glizzy Gobbler after he ate 57 hotdogs in five minutes. Disgusting yet impressive.
It turns out he doesn’t only specialize in glizzies. Boneless wings better run and hide because he’s coming for them, too. He gulped down 200 in 38 minutes in a promotion for Buffalo Wild Wings. Here’s Cory Woodroof with more.
“Chestnut devoured 200 BWW boneless wings in under 38 minutes on Monday, which extends the restaurants’ all-you-can-eat boneless wings and fries promotion on Mondays and Wednesdays through Aug. 14.
The professional eater called it a “record for generations” on Twitter (X) before taking on the challenge, which we’re sure filled him up quickly and made him not want to eat boneless chicken wings for a good while.
What a meal for Chestnut to devour, which benefits us all in the end.”
This should not be humanly possible, yet here we are. Joey Chestnut is truly one of the greatest athletes among us.
Quick hits: Don’t worry about Jamal Murray yet … The other Josh Allen is now Josh Hines-Allen … and more
— Robert Zeglinski maps out why Jamal Murray’s contract extension not being done yet shouldn’t concern Nuggets fans
— Josh Allen is changing his name to Josh Hines-Allen. This is a pretty cool story. Christian D’Andrea has more.
— Elly De La Cruz has to be the most exciting player in baseball. Here’s Charles Curtis with his latest superhero move.
— Christian D’Andrea ranked all 32 NFL team’s logos from worst to best
— Pascal Siakam forgetting what team he played for is hilarious. Here’s Cory Woodroof on that.
— Giannis Antetokounmpo celebrating Greece’s Olympic bid with his kids just warms my heart. Here’s Bryan Kalbrosky with more.
That’s a wrap, folks! Thanks so much for reading. Let’s do this again tomorrow. Until next time — peace!
-Sykes ✌️