👋 Good Morning Stump Nation!

Happy Wednesday! A lot to report today! Some more NBA free agency news, the last of the Round of 16 matchups in the EUROs, and the early stages of Wimbledon! Does anybody remember the Goga Bitazde pic from a couple of years ago at the NBA Draft? If you don’t we’ve got a GOGA UPDATE in our Stump Story! Check it out below!

If you haven’t checked out Episode 6 of the POD! YOUTUBE LINK!

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Links below ⬇️⬇️⬇️ 

LETS. GET. INTO. IT.  

THE DAILY STUMPED🔮

Which men’s tennis legend has won the most Wimbledon titles all-time with 8 career wins?

• A. Novak Djokovic

• B. Roger Federer

• C. Bjorn Borg

• D. John McEnroe

• E. Peter Sampras

Answer at the bottom of The Stump!

ON THIS DAY🗓️ 

On this day in 1959…

23-year-old South African phenom Gary Player wins the first of his 9 major golf titles at the British Open in historic Muirfield, Scotland!

He wins by 2-strokes over Fred Bullock and Flory Van Donck.

Little video for you folks: LINK

YESTERDAY IN SPORTS📰 

Breaking News…

• 🏀 Former UConn legend and NBA Crossover King Kemba Walker announces his retirement from pro basketball!

• 🏀Biggest Free Agency Moves of Yesterday:

  • J. Isaac signs 5-year, $84 Million extension with Magic

  • D. Mitch signs 3-year, $150 Million max extension with Cavs

• 🏈 Jets QB Aaron Rodgers misses two days of mandatory minicamp for pre-planned Egypt trip…do with that what you will

Top Final Scores💯 

• ⚽️EUROs:

  • Netherlands def. Romania, 3-0; Turkiye def. Austria, 2-1

    • Both advance to quarterfinals

• 🏀WNBA: Sky def. Dream, 85-77; Liberty def. Lynx, 76-67

• ⚾️ Red Sox def. Marlins, 8-3; Guardians def. White Sox, 7-6; Reds def Yanks, 5-4

• ⚽️COPA:

  • Brazi draws Colombia, 1-1, both advance to knockouts

• 🎾 WIMBLEDON! 

  • Defending women’s champ Marketa Vondrousova STUMPSET in Round 1 vs UNRANKED Jessica Maneiro

  • (2) Djokovic and (4) Zverev both advance in straight sets to the second round!

What Caught Our Eye👀 

• ⚽️ Brazil making up for the lack of juice shown the other day by USA! WHAT A GOAL!!!!

• 🎾 Who knew the umpires had royal escorts!?

• 🏀 What a format for WNBA All-Star Weekend! Team USA vs WNBA All-Stars!

STUMP STORY OF THE DAY✍️ 

Goga Bitazde: Questions, please…

From a pretty unsubstantial draft process to signing a contract to being a key contributor to a playoff team, this is the story of Goga Bitazde.

If you aren’t familiar with that picture above, let me explain it to you. On the left is Zion Williamson, the assumed number one pick of the 2019 NBA Draft, surrounded by media fighting over the chance to get the best camera angle and ask their preferred question.

On the right is our guy, Goga Bitadze, a 6’11” center from Montenegro who played professionally overseas prior to entering his name in the 2019 NBA Draft at 19 years old. Obviously, there isn’t much media attention. I’d argue there was none. Goga, a highly touted prospect in his own right, turned into just another person in the room when it came to Zion.

This photo caught the attention of some NBA stars with Draymond Green tweeting, “He should frame this pic… look at it every day and grind!”, and NBA HOFer Dwyane Wade saying, “Use it as fuel”.

The Pacers took Goga with the 18th pick in the draft, 17 behind Zion. Goga never really found his footing with the Pacers after getting stuck at the bottom of a deep center rotation. He spent three and a half years there. His most noticeable playing time happened in the 2022 FIBA EuroBasket, where he punched fellow NBA big man Furkan Korkmaz in the tunnel. Shortly after the incident, he was released by the Pacers. In February of 2023, he signed a deal with the Magic.

He finally was able to find some time in the rotation in Orlando and showed some real potential. He has a good stroke and can really stretch the defense with the three-ball, and is arguably an elite rebounder. He provides incredible rim protection and has a knack for creating blocks and effecting shots.

In his first full season in Orlando this past year, Goga started 33 games and played the role of the first big man off of the bench. In games he started, he averaged 7.5 points and shot nearly 59% from the field, along with 1.7 blocks.

Two days ago, Goga signed a three-year deal worth $25 million. It's a pretty remarkable feat for a guy who couldn’t crack the rotation for three years in Indiana. Even more remarkable, he got cut about a year ago. He was even one of the top Centers on the market and many teams were courting his services. He decided to stay with the team that had taken a chance on him the year prior.

This is just another story of a guy who has grinded out a career in the NBA, through ups and downs. A guy who the media doesn’t spend a lot of attention talking about, and a guy who has never got the attention he deserves. Even during the draft process, he wasn’t the center of any discussion. Goga has earned the attention now, and it’s hard not to talk about him.

JUICE STATION🧃 

Quote of the Day

Song of the Day

Glue Guy of the Day

Defined: Glue Guy (Noun, Verb, Adj., etc.) - a person, thing, idea, or thought that holds together the larger group. Not the star, not the main character, but a hard hat and lunch pale type who knows its role. The GLUE of the group.

WHAT TO WATCH📺️ 

Soccer⚽️:

• EUROs Round of 8: Hold…

• COPA America: Hold…

• MLS: Massive 10-game slate from the American league

  • Charlotte FC vs Inter Miami (7:30 PM ET), Toronto FC vs Orlando City FC (7:30 PM ET), Minnesota vs Vancouver (8:30 PM ET)

MLB⚾️: Big time slate for the guys and gals!

• Red Sox @ Marlins (6:40 PM ET), Mets @ Nationals (6:45 PM ET), Brewers @ Rockies (8:40 PM ET), D’Backs @ Dodgers (10:10 PM ET)

WNBA🏀: Only one game slate.. Phoenix @ Dallas (8:00 PM ET on NBATV)