Armando Bacot, who played five years of basketball for North Carolina, says he was paid “$2 million plus” in NIL compensation. “To be able to make over $2 million just in college,” he said, “is crazy.” Some would agree with that. An undrafted Bacot signed a minimum-salary contract with the Utah Jazz. In effect, he took a pay cut.
Idle thought: Is it asking too much of college athletes making the really big bucks to pay their own tuition? Assuming they go to class.
Star treatment: A Lakers No. 9 jersey, to be worn by the 55th player selected in the NBA draft, is now on sale along with his father’s jersey. Do we really have to ask how many other late second-round picks had their pro jerseys online before playing a game? I’m wondering, then, how soon until Nike gives Bronny James a signature shoe?
Family dynamics: Are we supposed to believe that if Daddy LeBron had advised his 19-year-old son to go back to school, his son wouldn’t have done it?
The difference: The Caitlin Clark Effect was in evidence again when the WNBA’s All-Star fan voting increased this year by almost 600 percent.
Wondering: Am I any less of an American patriot because the U.S. loss to Uruguay in the Copa America didn’t make me lose sleep?
Numbers game: Does the USA defeat sting any worse because Uruguay’s population of 3.4 million is dwarfed by our 340 million? It shouldn’t. All they’ve got in Uruguay is soccer. We’ve got pickleball, y’all.
Ballin’: In addition to his hitting and fielding talents, Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson is a young star who bursts out of the batter’s box looking to turn singles into doubles. Too many big leaguers turn doubles into singles.
All his: If he stays healthy, Aaron Judge — who at the halfway point in the schedule is enjoying a Triple Crown season — is on his way to locking up the AL MVP award.
Rising: The Red Sox are better than people thought they’d be. A wild-card contender.
Magical memory: It was a great decision by Norfolk State to install in its Hall of Fame the 2011-12 men’s basketball team. By upsetting No. 2 seed Missouri, the Spartans created a special moment that only the early rounds of the NCAA Tournament can produce.
Wrong audience: A changed, enfeebled Sports Illustrated is trying to annoy this longtime reader by including in its current edition a story about “breaking” (once called breakdancing) as an Olympic sport in Paris. I don’t need this sort of aggravation.
Hoop du jour: To be fair, 3-on-3 basketball is another new Olympic event that strikes me as pretty lame.
Future watch: The 34-year-old Klay Thompson signed by the Mavericks isn’t the player he was before tearing his ACL and rupturing an Achilles tendon. But Dallas is getting someone who in his peak years with the Warriors scored an NBA-record 37 points in a quarter. And showing his prowess as a spot-up shooter, he once scored 60 points in three quarters on 11 dribbles. Thompson taking passes on the perimeter from Luka Doncic might work out very nicely for the Mavs.
Anniversary: On July 1, long-retired Bobby Bonilla received another installment of $1,193,248.20 from the Mets, his 14th. He’s got 11 more payments coming to him.
Bob Molinaro is a former Virginian-Pilot sports columnist. His Weekly Briefing runs Fridays in The Pilot and Daily Press. He can be reached at [email protected] and via Twitter@BobMolinaro.
