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Good morning! Dunk for Russ today. Coming up: 

Sons, Prodigal: The saga of Buster Posey

There is no one in baseball, or maybe even sports in general, that fascinates me more right now than Buster Posey. Just consider: 

Posey is, unassailably, a Giants legend. A homegrown star player who won three World Series for the franchise. A fan favorite, a leader and golden boy, wrapped into one person. A prototypical franchise icon, really.
He is also, now, the author of a bizarre and — thus far — disastrous era in Giants history. As president of baseball operations, the 39-year-old has overseen a string of puzzling hires and signings that could actually jeopardize that lion-like legacy. 

It’s the subject of a fantastic story today from Brittany Ghiroli, and it hits on a dynamic that always draws me in: when the prodigal son returns to the franchise that made them great to salvage the future. In many ways, it can be a lose-lose scenario. 

Which is what makes this so intriguing. Why would he even take this job? Wasn’t Posey happy walking off into retirement, draped in Bay Area glory? As he told Brittany, the answer was no. 

San Francisco is 131-152 since Posey won an internal battle for control of the Giants personnel department two years ago, including a 50-71 mark this year. He’s spent a fortune on free agents since then and hired a college coach as manager. He’s also made lesser-known moves that actually seem wise at this juncture. 

But how does this end? Does Posey engineer a franchise turnaround and burnish his image even more? Or does he walk away — by his own choice or not — in short order, having failed the franchise that helped make him a legend? 

I found Posey more honest than I expected in his conversation with Brittany. Make time for this today.

News to Know

Mario Tama / Getty Images

Lakers sold in a shocker
Just over a year after buying the Lakers — one of the iconic franchises in all of sports — at a $10 billion valuation, Mark Walter turned around and agreed to sell the team to Bob Iger, the former Disney CEO, and Joshua Kushner at a $12.5 billion valuation. According to our sources, the deal came together quickly, as the idea of it was just broached last Friday. 

The deal is for Walter’s shares in the Lakers and does not affect his ownership of the Dodgers or Sparks. We have a full file on what we know about the sale that’s worth a read today.
Both Iger and Kushner are new to this. Iger served as Disney’s top executive twice and stepped away in March. Kushner, brother of President Trump’s son-in-law Jared, has a minority share in the Heat (that he’ll now have to sell). Read more on Joshua Kushner here. 

There is also a political element to this. Kushner was recently in the news for his role in FIFA’s disastrous private-equity plan. Walter is also under investigation by a U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Securities and Exchange Commission (the other SEC). Whew.

Westbrook, out
Russell Westbrook announced his retirement from the NBA yesterday after 18 years, an update that sort of stunned me. Not in the logic on the surface — Westbrook is 37 years old — but in that he just felt like a guy who would play until 40, for whoever would sign him. With the news, the surefire Hall of Famer ends one of the league’s best careers for a guard, ever. Read the mind-blowing stats.

More news:

An update on the NFL’s most depressing QB battle: Deshaun Watson will be Cleveland’s starter in Saturday’s preseason opener, with Shedeur Sanders starting in the second preseason game. More here.
Damien Woody is out at ESPN, he confirmed to The Athletic.
For the seventh consecutive year, the Cowboys are the NFL’s most valuable franchise. See the numbers.
The WNBA condemned “online bad-faith efforts” regarding the ongoing transgender athlete debate. Read the statement.
Longtime Barcelona star Xavi Hernández is the new Netherlands men’s soccer coach. Read our full story.
An Arkansas high school football player lived out what I assume is most of our nightmares: going through an entire practice with a snake in his helmet.
White Sox fans really went wild for the pope hats. I would too.
A WPBL team, the Boston Hunters, has already fired its manager after three games. Wild.

📰 Find more news here 24/7.

Watch Guide

David Becker / Getty Images

đź“ş MLB: Phillies vs. Twins
7:30 p.m. ET on Netflix
This is the Field of Dreams Game, played between two teams with playoff dreams. It’ll be played where “Field of Dreams” was filmed in Dyersville, Iowa. It might be a marketing gimmick, but it’s a good one. 

đź“ş NFL: Cardinals at Raiders
8 p.m. ET on ESPN Unlimited
Of the entire preseason slate tonight, I’m most interested to see new-look Las Vegas, with Kirk Cousins starting and No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza getting plenty of reps. Mike Silver has a great interview with Mendoza up today, in which the phrase “holy shuck” is used unironically. 

đź“ş WNBA: Mystics at Aces
10 p.m. ET on Prime Video
This is a first-round playoff matchup if the WNBA season ended today. Good enough for me to watch.

Pulse Picks

Michael Reaves / Getty Images

Our college football staff endeavored to answer what is a murky question right now: Who’s going to win the Heisman Trophy this year? You might be surprised by the first pick in this snake draft. 

New Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham wasn’t wrong about the Ohio State rivalry, Austin Meek writes. But he does have a few things to learn.
Stewart Mandel made his pick for the first college football coach fired this season. Look away, Noles fans. Or be happy. Just read it. 

I would tell my friends about this forever: New Yorkers talked to us about the time France soccer star Michael Olise showed up to a public field to play pick-up. 

Gabby Herzig has an interesting investigation into LIV’s current finances and its future. Despite the outward optimism, it still seems like a mess.
Need someone to root for this NFL preseason? Pick Bengals wide receiver Dohnte Meyers, a 26-year-old rookie who was working for DoorDash a few years ago, waiting for his break. Now he’s the talk of Bengals camp. 

Still a thing: The Big3, which enters its 10th season. Former NBA players really love Ice Cube. 

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Scooters. 

Most-read on the website yesterday: The Lakers news.