Voiding Kawhi Leonard’s contract? Plus, an NFL record and Big Dumper feats

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Good morning! Watch “The Natural” today.

While You Were Sleeping: Two seasons, saved

The WNBA playoffs can be sneaky. The best-of-3 first round began Sunday, as NFL games dominated most TVs (more on that below), and suddenly, last night, we already had two elimination games. Sneaky indeed.

Both series will go to a third and final game, though. Quickly:

The Fever kept its season alive first with a 77-60 blowout win over the Dream, which was simply impressive. Indiana is still a good team without Caitlin Clark in the fold. Kelsey Mitchell scored 19 points and Aliyah Boston had 15. Atlanta will be favored Thursday, but don’t assume anything.
Seattle took the opposite route: snatching an improbable win late from the star-laden Aces, 86-83, in a game Las Vegas led for a majority of the clock. The Storm trailed by four with just a minute left in this one, too, before Skylar Diggins and Dominique Malonga turned into superheroes. This was a very fun game. Again, Vegas should win Game 3, but there’s nothing easy here.

Pickles: The Clipper mess goes deeper

So much of the ongoing Clippers-Kawhi Leonard scandal is rooted in minute details. Spreadsheets, documents, lawsuits, line items. If you stare too long, your eyes can glaze over.

Forget all the numbers for now. The possible punishment here is very, very real, and will likely be unprecedented if all the reported facts thus far prove true. Three quick touchpoints to help us reframe this a bit:

If you haven’t read anything on the topic, Leonard and the Clippers are under intense scrutiny after “Pablo Torre Finds Out” broke news that Leonard had a no-show, $28 million marketing job with a company called Aspiration, who happened to be a Clippers sponsor before folding. Since, multiple reports — from both Torre and The Athletic — suggest the Clippers brazenly cheated to pay Leonard more than what league salary cap rules allow.
Yesterday, John Hollinger published an intriguing explainer on what the punishment for this could be. What leapt out at me: the NBA voiding Leonard’s contract and banning him from re-signing with the team. Despite his prodigious absences, Leonard is still an elite NBA player. Losing him would be a big deal.

And yet, as John explained, even that massive penalty could have unforeseen effects on both the Clippers and the entire league. Imagine if a healthy Leonard hit the free agency market with no money owed. Chaos. Unchartered territory. And would that benefit Leonard? Good question.

John’s piece is worth a look today.

News to Know

Raleigh dumps record holdersCal Raleigh hit his 55th home run of the season last night, seen above, which gives him the record for most dingers hit by a switch hitter in a single season (previous holder: Mickey Mantle). Later in the game, he decided to hit No. 56, which tied Ken Griffey Jr.’s franchise record. Raleigh’s season is incredible on its own, but producing this much on offense as a catcher makes it a rarity. Doesn’t hurt to move your name past guys named Griffey and Mantle, either. Again, we are hailing Big Dumper.

Eagles-Chiefs earns top spotSunday’s Super Bowl rematch drew a record 33.8 million viewers, a stunning number that stands tied as the highest-rated NFL game since the league started tracking numbers in 1988 (2007 Patriots-Colts matched the total). It was pretty obvious the league cleared space for this game on the schedule — and it worked. Also in the NFL sphere: Richard Deitsch talked to experts on the whole Tom Brady/booth “fiasco,” and they told him it’s not that big of a deal. Huh.

More news

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What to Watch

📺 Soccer: Chelsea at Bayern3 p.m. ET on Paramount+Our pick for match of the day in today’s Champions League slate, but there are plenty of other top teams playing this afternoon.

📺 MLB: Guardians at Tigers6:40 p.m. ET on FS1We’re still on full playoff watch over the next two weeks, and Cleveland sits 2 1/2 games back of the final AL wild card spot.

📺 WNBA: Mercury at Liberty8 p.m. ET on ESPNGame 1 was a thriller and left Breanna Stewart hobbling. Things feel shaky for the defending champs, for now at least. This should be good. Lynx-Valkyries follows at 10 p.m. on the same channel.

Get tickets to games like these here.