From Broderick Turner: The Clippers continue to shape their roster to try to remain competitive in the uber-competitive Western Conference, their latest deal to come in the acquisition of sharpshooting guard Bradley Beal after he clears waivers following a buyout from the Phoenix Suns.
Beal’s agent, Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports, confirmed to The Times on Wednesday that his client has agreed to a two-year, $11-million deal that includes a player option for the second season, allowing him to become a free agent after the 2025-26 season.
Beal became available for the Clippers after securing a buyout from the Suns on his current contract, that had two years and $110 million left. He gave back about $13.9 million for the buyout, according to people not authorized to speak on the matter.
Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank had repeatedly said this summer that the team wanted to create cap flexibility in order to be in position to go after free agents. By doing so, the Clippers were able to get Beal.
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DODGERS
From Dylan Hernández: There were no tears.
There were no tears when he addressed the crowd in a Fox interview that was played over the Truist Park sound system.
There were no tears when manager Dave Roberts removed him from the game in the top of the third inning so the fans could salute him one final time.
Freddie Freeman didn’t cry Tuesday at the All-Star Game.
“I didn’t know how it was going to go,” Freeman said.
This was the kind of setting that could have very easily turned the emotional Freeman into a sobbing mess, and he admitted as much the previous day. He was returning to the market in which he spent the first 12 years of his career to play in the kind of event that is often a source of reflection.
The absence of tears represented how much can change in four years, especially four years as prosperous as the four years Freeman has played for the Dodgers.
“Time,” Freeman said, “heals everything.”
For both sides.
CHARGERS
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: Chargers running back Najee Harris likely will begin training camp on the non-football injury list, general manager Joe Hortiz said Wednesday, after the running back suffered a minor eye injury during a fireworks incident on July 4.
As veteran teammates reported for camp Wednesday morning, Harris was still getting evaluated by doctors in the Bay Area and was expected to join the team later in the day.
“Everything that’s been relayed to us has been positive,” Hortiz said.
Harris suffered a “superficial” eye injury in a holiday weekend fireworks accident, according to a statement from his agent, Doug Hendrickson, and was “fully expected to be ready for the upcoming NFL season.”
GALAXY
Myrto Uzuni scored a goal in the 40th minute and added an assist, Owen Wolff scored his first goal of the season and Austin FC beat the Galaxy 2-1 on Wednesday night to snap the Galaxy’s three-game home win streak.
Brad Stuver had three saves and his ninth shutout — second in MLS behind Vancouver’s Yohei Takaoka (10) — this season for Austin (8-8-6).
Diego Rubio, on the counter-attack, played a ball-ahead to Uzuni, who cut back to evade a defender at the edge of the box and then blasted a shot inside the left post to open the scoring.
LAFC
Denis Bouanga scored on a first-half penalty kick and Hugo Lloris made it stand up for his third straight clean sheet as LAFC edged Minnesota United 1-0 on Wednesday night.
Bouanga scored his 11th goal when he sent a right-footed shot past Dayne St. Clair in the 42nd minute. The PK was awarded after Jeremy Ebobisse was fouled by defender Nicolás Romero, who received a yellow card.
Lloris finished with three saves for his league-high-tying ninth clean sheet of the season for LAFC (10-5-5).
KOBE BRYANT POLL
We asked, “Is Kobe Bryant one of the 10 best players in NBA history?” After 1,396 votes:
Yes, 75.7%
No, 24.3%
THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
1939 — Henry Picard beats Byron Nelson 1-up in 37 holes to win the PGA championship.
1955 — Beverly Hanson beats Louise Suggs by three strokes in a playoff to capture the first LPGA championship.
1966 — Jim Ryun becomes the first American to hold the record in the mile since 1937. With a time of 3:51.3 at Berkeley, Calif., Ryun shatters Michel Jazy’s mark of 3:53.6 by 2.3 seconds.
1979 — Sebastian Coe breaks the world record in the mile with a time of 3:48.95 in Oslo, Norway. The time is rounded up to 3:49.
1983 — Bobby Hebert passes for 314 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Michigan Panthers to a 24-22 win over the Philadelphia Stars in the first USFL championship game.
1983 — Tom Watson wins his second straight and fifth career British Open title. Watson shoots a 9-under 275 at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England to finish one stroke ahead of Andy Bean and Hale Irwin.
1994 — Brazil wins a record fourth World Cup soccer title, taking the first shootout in championship game history over Italy.
2005 — Tiger Woods records another ruthless performance at St. Andrews, closing with a 2-under 70 to win the British Open for his 10th career major. He wins by five shots, the largest margin in any major since Woods won by eight at St. Andrews five years ago. He joins Jack Nicklaus as the only players to win the career Grand Slam twice.
2006 — Stacey Nuveman and Lovieanne Jung homer to power the United States to the World Cup of Softball title with a 5-2 victory over Japan.
2011 — Japan stuns the United States in a riveting Women’s World Cup final, winning 3-1 on penalty kicks after coming from behind twice in a 2-2 tie. Goalkeeper Ayumi Kaihori makes two brilliant saves in the shootout. Japan, making its first appearance in the final of a major tournament, hadn’t beaten the Americans in their first 25 meetings.
2011 — Darren Clarke gives Northern Ireland another major championship, winning the British Open by three strokes over Americans Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson.
2016 — Henrik Stenson shoots an 8-under 63 to beat Phil Mickelson by three strokes, becoming the first man from Sweden to win the British Open.
THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
1924 — Jesse Haines of the St. Louis Cardinals pitched a 5-0 no-hitter against the Boston Braves.
1925 — Tris Speaker is the 5th player to reach 3,000 hits.
1936 — Carl Hubbell’s 24-game winning streak over two years began as he beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-0 on five hits.
1941 — Joe DiMaggio’s hitting streak of 56 games was stopped by Al Smith and Jim Bagby of the Indians before 67,000 at Cleveland. The Yankees still won, 4-3.
1956 — In the second game of a doubleheader against Kansas City, Ted Williams hit his 400th home run. Williams connected in the sixth inning off Tom Gorman to give the Red Sox a 1-0 win over the A’s.
1966 — Chicago’s Billy Williams hit for the cycle to lead the Cubs to a 7-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in the second game of a Sunday doubleheader. Williams singled in the first inning, doubled in the third, had an RBI-triple in the fifth, homered to center in the seventh and popped out to third baseman in foul territory. The Cardinals took the opener 4-3 in 11 innings.
1969 — Jim Kaat, Gold Glove winner for seven straight years, was charged with three errors, leading to three unearned runs against the Chicago White Sox. Nevertheless, he won the game at Minnesota 8-5.
1974 — Bob Gibson struck out Cesar Geronimo of the Reds in the second inning to become the second pitcher in major league history to record 3,000 strikeouts. Cincinnati beat St. Louis, 6-4.
1978 — Doc Medich of the Texas Rangers saved the life of a 61-year-old fan who had a heart attack just before a scheduled game at Baltimore. Medich, a medical student, administered heart massage until help arrived.
1987 — Don Mattingly became the first AL player to homer in seven consecutive games as the New York Yankees disposed of the Texas Rangers 8-4.
1990 — Minnesota became the first team in major league history to pull off two triple plays in one game, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Boston as the Red Sox beat the Twins 1-0.
2007 — Ryan Garko hit a tying pinch-hit home run in the ninth inning and singled home the winning run in the 11th to give Cleveland a 6-5 win over the Chicago White Sox.
2011 — Dustin Pedroia singled with two outs in the top of the 16th inning, snapping a scoreless tie and giving the Red Sox a 1-0 victory over the Rays. It was the longest 1-0 game in the major leagues since the Brewers at Angels on June 8, 2004 went 17 innings.
2016 — Starling Marte hit a solo home run in the 18th inning and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Washington Nationals 2-1 in a marathon game that lasted almost six hours. Pinch-hitter Daniel Murphy homered with two outs in the ninth inning for Washington.
2022 — Second-generation players take the first two spots in the 2022 amateur draft as SS Jackson Holliday, son of Matt Holliday, goes first overall to the Orioles, while OF Druw Jones, son of Andruw Jones, is selected second by the Diamondbacks. P Kumar Rocker, who had been the #10 pick in 2021 but had failed to come to an agreement with the Mets following a disagreement over the health of his pitching arm, goes #3 to the Rangers, who sign him mere hours after his selection. Rocker is coming off a brilliant stint of pitching in the independent Frontier League.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.