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.
Good morning, Winners! Welcome back to TMW. Thanks so much for rocking with us today. We appreciate your time.
Folks, it brings me great joy to tell you that the Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty will, indeed, be having the WNBA Finals rematch that we’ve all been itching to see. This series will feed families, indeed.
It also pains me to tell you that the basketball gods have blessed us with this matchup too soon. Getting these two sides going against each other in a non-finals setting feels like a crime against humanity.
Imagine the Celtics and Lakers playing each other in the conference finals back in the 1980s. Exactly! You can’t. People would riot. And, right now, I feel like rioting.
The stakes are so incredibly high.
On one side, you’ve got the inarguable MVP of the WNBA in A’ja Wilson, alongside her star-studded cast of superfriends who’ve seemingly been playing their way out of slumps all season long. They broke out in a big way this series, with Chelsea Gray and Kelsey Plum, in particular, returning to form.
Conversely, you’ve got a Liberty team looking for revenge after their 3-1 defeat in the Finals last season. Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, Jonquel Jones and their awesome supporting cast have been a well-oiled machine this season. You haven’t heard a peep from his team all year. They haven’t been concerned with awards or the spotlight. The most boastful member of their team is Ellie the Elephant. It’s clear this team only wants to get back to the Finals. They’ll have to face the team that won it all at the Liberty’s expense in front of their home fans in Brooklyn last season.
It’s poetic, honestly — a masterful stroke of irony from the basketball gods here. Sure, the Liberty and Aces will play again. But only ONE of them will play for a championship this season. I’m not sure anyone saw this coming when the season began.
This is going to be a tough series. The Liberty are, by far, the best team in the W. The Aces have the best player in the league with a championship-caliber squad. This is a best-of-five playoff series — we have no idea how this will turn out.
The only thing we can be certain of is that the basketball will be of the highest quality. And we can’t ask for much more than that.
Show him the money
Why does it feel like the center of the college football universe suddenly revolves around UNLV?
The future of the Mountain West Conference basically depends on whatever decision this school makes. Then, suddenly, the school’s quarterback benches himself for unknown reasons to us but clearly known reasons to the school’s administration.
Matt Sluka announced that he’s stepping away and redshirting for the remainder of the season after contributing to a 3-0 start for the Rebels — the best in school history.
https://twitter.com/MatthewSluka/status/1838799758577799607?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1838799758577799607%7Ctwgr%5E53bb23301e87a05cf3ab173454ddae78b91c31b6%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fftw.usatoday.com%2F2024%2F09%2Funlv-qb-matthew-slukas-redshirt-nil-money
He says he committed to UNLV based on “certain representations” that were made to me and were not held up after he enrolled. What were those representations? We have no idea.
Our Charles Curtis is speculating it has something to do with NIL money. It’s been reported that he may have been approached with more money to transfer to another school. We can’t be sure. But the bottom line is obviously that Sluka won’t be playing another down for UNLV this season.
Some are chiding his decision and calling him a quitter. And I get it. He’s stepping out in the middle of a season. The optics certainly aren’t great.
But, while the circumstances are a bit different, we see moves like this pretty frequently in college football. Players matriculating to the NFL forgo final games and bowl eligibility to preserve their health for a bigger payday on draft night. Coaches pack up and leave whenever the next best opportunity arises.
If this is Sluka bailing for a bigger payday elsewhere, then this move is no different, especially if UNLV broke some promises along the way.
I’m sure more will come out about this down the line. Until then, I’d hesitate to make rash determinations about Sluka or his character.
UPDATE: Well, we have a bit of context now. ESPN’s Pete Thamel reports that a UNLV coach promised Sluka a minimum of $100,000 from the school’s NIL collective, of which he’s only reportedly received $3,000.
Former UNLV QB Matthew Sluka’s NIL representation, Marcus Cromartie of Equity Sports, told ESPN that Sluka was verbally promised a minimum of $100,000 from a UNLV assistant coach for transferring there. None of that money was paid, per Cormartie.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) September 25, 2024
Yeah, I’d quit too.
Is it time for Kawhi to hang it up?
When Kawhi Leonard withdrew from the US Olympic basketball team over the summer, we were all trying to figure out why.
Well, now we know.
Leonard reportedly underwent a procedure on his knee over the summer and will be limited to strengthening the knee in training camp this year, The Athletic reports. It’s unclear exactly when he’ll play again. Lawrence Frank wouldn’t commit to Leonard being ready for the beginning of the year.
“No one has a crystal ball,” he told reporters when asked if his star player would be ready to start the season. “I think you just have to respond to how he responds.”
This is Leonard’s third knee surgery in four seasons with the Clippers. He already had one when he tore his ACL in 2021. He had another after tearing his meniscus in 2023. And we can’t discount everything he went through with the Spurs, either.
Leonard’s knees are a problem that won’t go away. He’s still an excellent player and one of the best in the NBA when he’s healthy. But he’s also never healthy when the Clippers need him to be the most.
You have to wonder how close we are to the end of the road for Leonard’s NBA career. He’s already 33 years old with multiple knee surgeries. At some point, something’s got to give.
I hope he can play ball. Leonard is one of my favorite players to watch. But, more crucially, I just wish him the best with his health. Get well soon, Kawhi.
Quick hits: Please be normal about Caitlin Clark … A triple-play for the playoffs … and more
— Caitlin Clark doesn’t care about Dijonai Carrington poking her in the eye. Neither should you.
— This Padres triple-play against the Dodgers is even sicker when you realize it clinched them a playoff spot. Here’s Charles with more.
— Josh Allen is atop this week’s QB rankings for Christian D’Andrea.
— Here’s Robert Zeglinski with his weekly fantasy studs, duds and sleepers for Week 4.
— Could Bill Belichik be the move for the Jaguars? Cory Woodroof says maybe.
— Aaliyah Edwards recapping her season with the Mystics on TikTok warms my heart. Here’s Meg Hall with more.
That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for reading. Have a great Wednesday. Let’s do this again tomorrow. Peace.
-Sykes ✌️