Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I guess Gregg Popovich won’t be retiring for a while. In today’s SI:AM: 🇫🇷 The Spurs’ incredible luck⛏️ Denver hangs on🤔 UConn in the Big 12?If you're reading this on SI.com, you can sign up to get this free newsletter in your inbox each weekday at SI.com/newsletters.The Spurs’ lean years should be over soonVictor Wembanyama, the most hyped NBA prospect since
LeBron James, will (almost certainly) be a Spur. San Antonio won last night’s draft lottery and will have the first pick on June 22. It’s no secret who the team will be taking. Wembanyama is 7'3" (though some have pegged his height as tall as 7'5"), with the defensive abilities you’d expect from someone that size and the perimeter offensive skills of someone a foot shorter. In Jeremy Woo’s cover story from the March issue of Sports Illustrated, he called Wembanyama “not only the most promising talent in
France, but also the premier
basketball prospect on Earth.” There are other great prospects available in this year’s draft, like Scoot Henderson and Brandon Miller, but picking anyone other than Wembanyama would be malpractice.With the draft lottery in the rearview, the Wembanyama hype train will only pick up steam. His arrival will be the most anticipated story in the NBA from now until October. Anyone who hasn’t been watching him from afar will have five months to familiarize themselves with his game and salivate over the possibilities of what he could do in the best league in the world. As much as the focus was on which team would secure the right to take Wembanyama, last night’s result is also a best-case outcome for the player. He gets to go to a respected organization with a Hall of Fame coach in Gregg Popovich, who has experience in nurturing big men and international talent.The Spurs are currently mired in their longest stretch of mediocrity in the franchise’s history, having missed the postseason in four consecutive years after failing to qualify for the playoffs only four times since joining the NBA in 1976–77. Previous lean periods have been brief and ultimately beneficial. A 28–54 season in ’86–87 earned them the No. 1 pick that became David Robinson. When Robinson was limited to six games due to injury in ’96–97, the Spurs floundered but wound up with the No. 1 pick again and took Tim Duncan. San Antonio is perhaps the best-run organization in the NBA over the past three decades, but it’s unbelievable how lucky the franchise has gotten in the draft lottery and in syncing up that lottery luck with the availability of can’t-miss No. 1 prospects.Winning the lottery should quickly reverse the Spurs’ fortunes. Not only are they adding a celebrated prospect who could make an immediate impact, drafting Wembanyama will make San Antonio a more desirable destination for free agents. Any number of veteran players would jump at the chance to mentor a rising star like Wembanyama while being coached by the universally respected Popovich. The Spurs also have as many as 12 first-round picks between 2024 and ’28, including an unprotected first-rounder from the Hawks in ’25. They could hang onto all that draft capital, or use it to trade for top talent. And they’ve already got a couple of promising young players in Jeremy Sochan and Keldon Johnson. That combination of assets and Popovich’s coaching means the future is bright for the Spurs.The best of Sports Illustrated David Zalubowski/AP The Nuggets barely held on to beat the Lakers, 132–126, in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. Rohan Nadkarni outlines the two biggest takeaways that could impact the rest of the series.Albert Breer reports that top pick Bryce Young won’t be running with the Panthers’ starters when the team assembles for OTAs.Could UConn join the Big 12? Pat Forde writes that it would be a terrible, football-focused decision for a basketball-first school.Inter Milan cruised over their cross-town rivals to book a spot in the men’s
Champions League final. The Nerazzurri will play either
Manchester City or
Real Madrid.The SI
golf staff had a fantasy draft of contenders at this week’s PGA Championship.Ja Morant issued a statement (buried during the fourth quarter of last night’s Lakers-Nuggets game) after being suspended again for flashing a gun on
Social Media. Blue Jays pitcher Jay Jackson conceded that he was tipping his pitches during the plate appearance where Aaron Judge was accused of cheating.The WNBA is back in action Friday, and we're
BREAKING down the most sought-after seats of opening weekend using insight from SI Tickets.The top five...… things I saw last night:5. Anthony Davis’s denial on Nikola Jokić’s attempted lob to Aaron Gordon. (Davis also led all scorers with 40 points.)4. Jokić’s flat-footed, high-arcing three that surprised Davis.3. Aaron Judge’s long home run to center that broke an advertising sign. 2. Jorge Soler’s walk-off homer as the Marlins improved to a preposterous 13–1 in one-run games this season. (They’ve won only 21 games in total.)1. Bruce Brown’s thunderous dunk in Game 1 against the Lakers.SIQThe first
baseball game broadcast on TV (on this day in 1939) was actually not an MLB game. Which two teams were featured in that historic game? Columbia and Princeton universitiesBoys’ Latin and William Penn high schools in the Philadelphia city championship gameGiants old-timers vs. Dodgers old-timersToronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Royals of the minor International LeagueYesterday’s SIQ: On May 16, 2000, four years before the Malice at the Palace, players from which team jumped into the stands and brawled with fans at Wrigley Field? CubsDodgersCardinalsPiratesAnswer: Dodgers. The incident occurred after a fan sitting behind the visitors bullpen (which used to be in foul territory next to stands on the first-base side) allegedly hit Dodgers catcher Chad Kreuter on the head and took his hat. Kreuter and several teammates responded by climbing the wall and entering the stands. Things got ugly from there. Players tussled with fans. Fans showered the players with drinks and trash. “You’ve got morons throwing things and morons cheering them for doing it,” Cubs announcer Chip Caray said. “Folks, this is an absolute disgrace. And now punches being thrown. It’s getting nasty, folks. It’s getting real nasty. You like to think that the fans here at Wrigley Field are classy, but this is disgraceful.”A total of 19 Dodgers players and coaches were suspended for a total of 84 games (60 of which were suspensions handed down to players). Kreuter received the longest suspension of any player at eight games, matching the punishment given to three
Los Angeles coaches.One fan, Ronald Camacho, sued Kreuter and the Dodgers, alleging Kreuter put him in a chokehold that injured his neck and shoulder. The suit was settled the following February, with the Dodgers reportedly agreeing to pay Camacho $300,000. He also sued the Cubs and was awarded $475,000 in damages in 2003.