The Sports Report: For LeBron James, taking less pay was a noble gesture

Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. Let’s get right to the news.

From Dan Woike: LeBron James said he wanted to give the Lakers something back by taking close to $3 million less in his deal to keep the team from the salary cap’s second apron.

“Like when you’re in a relationship — like I’ve been married for a while now. I’ve been with my wife since high school — there’s certain things that sometimes you have to do,” James said Sunday. “…You have to understand in a relationship, in order for a relationship to work … both sides have to work.

“Me being able to be in a situation where I can protect the franchise under the second apron, understanding this new thing is very hard on a lot of teams as far as them trying to get better and whatever the case may be. I’m, I’ve been in a relationship with the Lakers going on seven years. I’m absolutely OK with [taking a pay cut].”

By staying under the second apron, the Lakers are able to be more flexible in the ways they can improve the roster, maybe most importantly giving the franchise the ability to trade multiple players for one player, though they still cannot take back more money than they send out in a deal.

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CLIPPERS

From Broderick Turner: Speaking to the media for the first time since his postseason was cut short in the first round of the playoffs, Clippers star Kawhi Leonard said his injured knee was feeling good, allowing him to participate with Team USA in the upcoming Olympics.

Though the knee issues that caused him to miss the final three games of the Clippers’ series with the Mavericks were concerning enough that Leonard feared he could miss another Olympics, his return to the court over the last month have him reassured.

“I took the time,” he said Sunday. “I was able to turn [it] around over the last two weeks. I’m out here now and I’m having a good time.”

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DODGERS

From Jack Harris: Justin Wrobleski didn’t suffer many growing pains in his major league debut Sunday afternoon.

His first time on a big league mound, the 23-year-old left-hander showed virtually no signs of nerves or intimidation.

“He even said there were some starts in triple-A that he felt more nervous than he did today,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Which you don’t hear very often. But I think he meant it.”

In the Dodgers’ 9-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers at Dodger Stadium, Wrobleski did learn a couple of important lessons.

Twice, he left a pitch over the heart of the plate.

And both times, he turned around to watch them sail out of the yard, the only blemishes in his five-inning, four-run, four-strikeout MLB debut.

“That’s part of the game,” Wrobleski said. “But end of the day I can’t be too up or down about anything. It was an awesome day for me.”

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Five more Dodgers join Shohei Ohtani as MLB All-Star Game selections

Dodgers box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

ANGELS

Hayden Wesneski threw 6⅓ innings, Michael Busch hit a two-run home run and the Chicago Cubs shut out the Angels 5-0 on Sunday.

Wesneski (3-5) gave up a single to the second batter he faced, then retired the next 18 Angels to help Chicago win a series for the first time in five tries. He allowed a hit, walk and two strikeouts.

“I filled up the zone and made them swing earlier than they wanted to,” Wesneski said. “It’s always nice to help the bullpen.”

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Angels box score

MLB scores

MLB standings

SPARKS

From Marissa Kraus: As Phoenix Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts watched the Sparks play the Las Vegas Aces from his home Friday, he was jealous of the electric Crypto.com Arena atmosphere and competitive matchup he saw. It made him excited for Sunday’s game against the Sparks, which exceeded his expectations.

Natasha Cloud scored a career-high 31 points as the Mercury overcame the absence of Diana Taurasi to defeat the Sparks 84-78 after a tense fourth-quarter duel Sunday at Crypto.com Arena.

For Sparks coach Curt Miller, it was not only a disappointing game, but a frustrating one too.

“I’m frustrated that we didn’t play how we were capable of playing,” Miller said. “I don’t think we played with the same spirit, intensity and focus. The No. 1 thing you realize as a coach with a lack of focus is when you struggle coming out of a timeout and look at them in the eye and diagram something and they don’t know where they are supposed to be.

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Sparks box score

WNBA standings

GALAXY

Gabriel Pec scored two goals, the second in the final minute of regulation, and the Galaxy handed Minnesota United its sixth loss in a row with a 2-1 victory on Sunday night at Dignity Health Sports Park.

The Galaxy (12-4-7) took a 1-0 lead when Pec scored in the 25th minute.

Minnesota United (8-9-5) didn’t pull even until Teemu Pukki scored in the 73rd minute for his third goal this season.

Pec’s winner in the 90th minute was his ninth goal of the season and came on a cross from substitute Maurico Cuevas, who deftly touched the ball over a Minnesota defender to create space for his pass.

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Galaxy box score

MLS standings

ULTRAMARATHON

From Kevin Baxter: The Western States Endurance Run isn’t so much a race as it is torture, spooled out slowly and sadistically over 100 miles. It’s a test of willpower, fortitude and pain tolerance more than a measure of stamina, speed or athletic talent.

It is also, one might add, a test of sanity.

Yet so many people want to attempt the world’s oldest 100-mile race, which turned 50 last weekend, that organizers use a lottery each year to wean the nearly 10,000 applicants down to a field of 375.

The California course begins in Olympic Valley, site of the 1960 Winter Games, and finishes in tiny Auburn, a former mining town and railroad hub in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Along the way it climbs nearly three miles up steep, craggy points and plunges more than four miles down narrow canyons. The course is so challenging, calling it a run is more aspirational than factual since all but the fastest racers hike about 20 of the 100 miles.

“It’s the legends, it’s the history, it’s the stories that spread out over more than 50 years that make Western States really, really special,” said John Trent, a former sportswriter and Western States board member who has finished the race 11 times.

“It will change your life. It’ll change the way you view yourself and, more importantly, the way you view others.”

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WIMBLEDON

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and top-ranked Jannik Sinner are one match away from another high-stakes meeting in the Wimbledon semifinals.

Both men reached the quarterfinals on Sunday, with Alcaraz holding off an attempted comeback by Ugo Humbert to win 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 on Centre Court. Sinner then beat Ben Shelton 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (9) on No. 1 Court after saving four set points in the third set.

Alcaraz beat Sinner in five sets in the French Open semifinals in June en route to his first title at Roland Garros, and the two would meet again in the last four if they win their next matches. Alcaraz will play the winner between No. 12 Tommy Paul and Roberto Bautista Agut, while Sinner — this year’s Australian Open champion — faces No. 5 Daniil Medvedev or No. 10 Grigor Dimitrov.

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THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1889 — John L. Sullivan defeats Jake Kilrain in the 75th round in Richburg, Miss., for the U.S. heavyweight championship. It’s the last bare-knuckle boxing match before the Marquis of Queensbury rules are introduced.

1939 — Bobby Riggs beats Elwood Cooke in five sets to win the men’s singles title at Wimbledon.

1941 — Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox hits a three-run, two-out homer in the ninth inning to give the American League a dramatic 7-5 victory in the All-Star game at Detroit’s Briggs Stadium.

1967 — Billie Jean King sweeps three titles at Wimbledon. King beats Ann Hayden Jones 6-3, 6-4, for the singles title; teams with Rosie Casals for the women’s doubles title, and pairs with Owen Davidson for the mixed doubles title.

1978 — Bjorn Borg beats Jimmy Connors, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 to win his third straight men’s title at Wimbledon.

1984 — John McEnroe whips Jimmy Connors 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 in 100-degree temperatures to take the men’s singles title at Wimbledon.

1990 — West Germany wins the World Cup as Andreas Brehme scores with 6 minutes to go for a 1-0 victory over defending champion Argentina in a foul-marred final.

1995 — Top-ranked Steffi Graf wins her sixth Wimbledon singles title, beating Arantxa Sanchez Vicario 4-6, 6-1, 7-5.

1995 — NHL Draft: Detroit Jr. Red Wings (OHL) defenceman Bryan Berard first pick by Ottawa Senators.

2000 — Venus Williams beats Lindsay Davenport 6-3, 7-6 (3) for her first Grand Slam title. Williams is the first Black women’s champion at Wimbledon since Althea Gibson in 1957-58.

2007 — Roger Federer wins his fifth straight Wimbledon championship, beating Rafael Nadal 7-6 (7), 4-6, 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-2. I’s also Federer’s 11th Grand Slam title overall.

2010 — Paul Goydos becomes the fourth golfer in PGA Tour history to shoot a 59.

2012 — Roger Federer equals Pete Sampras’ record of seven men’s singles titles at the All England Club, and wins his 17th Grand Slam title overall, by beating Andy Murray 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4.

2014 — Germany hands Brazil its heaviest World Cup loss ever with an astounding 7-1 rout in the semifinals that stuns the host nation.

2022 — Gymnast Simone Biles aged 25, becomes the youngest person to receive the US Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden.

Compiled by the Associated Press