Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese both becoming All-Stars make the Magic Johsnon and Larry Bird comparisons more real than ever

This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.

Goooood morning, Winners! Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thanks so much for reading today. We appreciate you giving us a bit of your time. Happy 4th of July Eve, if that’s a thing.

I usually hate Magic Johnson and Larry Bird comparisons for Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, but they’re getting hard to avoid at this point.

Clark and Reese were named to the WNBA All-Star team, making them the first pair of rookies to be named to the All-Star game since 2014, according to ESPN.

RELATED: Chennedy Carter and five other WNBA All-Star snubs

It’s well-deserved on both accounts. Clark has found a rhythm with her scoring and has become one of the best passers in the WNBA. Reese is already the league’s best rebounder by far as a rookie.

I always hesitate to go there because Johnson and Bird were some special rookies. Bird, himself, was an MVP candidate in his first year with the Boston Celtics back in the 1979-80 season. Magic Johnson was inarguably the second-best player on his team behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the eventual NBA champion Lakers.

I don’t think Clark or Reese will see any of that in the immediate future. We’ll see. But these All-Star nods bring them a bit closer to reaching that rare air on the court.

Though it might not be apt from a skill standpoint just yet, here’s where that comparison actually does come into play. Reese and Clark’s careers seem constantly intertwined like those two NBA legends were. Since the 2023 national championship game, they’ve been on this journey together step for step, usually clashing with one another, yes, but simultaneously building up the game with each matchup.

It’s so rare that we get two players whose paths seem so inexplicably tied together like this. There are so few examples of this throughout the history of sports.

Johnson and Bird are the obvious go-tos here. But what else is there? Maya Moore and Candace Parker? Peyton Manning and Tom Brady? Who else? I’m sure I’m missing a few more, but the list is certainly short. The fact that we’re even talking about Clark and Reese in this context is incredible.

As human beings, staying in the moment is not easy. We’re conditioned to look forward constantly. What’s coming next? What’s the next move?

But, with this, I’d like to urge everyone to stay in this moment. Appreciate it. Bask in it. Lock in. Because we’re witnessing something special this league has never seen before.

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Tightening the apron on LA

Lakers fans, I’ve got good news and bad news for you. Let’s start with the good. LeBron James is back! The Lakers re-signed their star on a 2-year, $104 million max contract. That’s a no-brainer for LA. They get to keep their best player.

The bad news? There’s a solid chance this might lock the Lakers in on their current roster without having made any improvements. If James doesn’t take a slight paycut, the Lakers will become a second apron luxury tax team.

Here’s Bryan Kalbrosky with more on what that means for LA.

“Due to the restrictions of the first apron, the front office would have a very unrealistic challenge to clear at least $25 million in salary to access the $12.8 million non-tax mid-level exception.

But they have even more harsh restrictions in the second apron, such as an inability to acquire a player (including a potentially appealing free agent like DeMar DeRozan) in a sign-and-trade.

Unless they significantly reduce payroll, they are also restricted from using the $5.2 million taxpayer mid-level exception.

As of right now, without salary dumping players in a trade, the Lakers can essentially only sign minimum players or re-sign their own players from last season (such as Taurean Prince) if they want to add to their roster.”

Basically, the Lakers are kind of locked in on a roster that only managed to win one single playoff game last year. The team’s biggest changes remain drafting Dalton Knecht and Bronny James. With all due respect to those guys, that doesn’t move the needle too much.

The second apron has been a thorn in NBA teams’ side this offseason. It’s made things extremely boring and has teams moving with a baffling frugality that, quite frankly, I don’t know if we’ve ever seen before.

READ MORE: The NBA’s second apron, explained

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No-Hei Ohtani

Shohei Ohtani is passing up the Home Run Derby again this year, but he’s got a pretty good excuse.

“I’m in the middle of my rehab progression, so it’s not going to look like I’ll be participating,” Ohtani told reporters through an interpreter on Tuesday. Health comes first for Ohtani and the Dodgers with this one — even if it does rob us of a potentially glorious derby.

Ohtani is the National League leader with 27 home runs and is only second in Major League Baseball behind Aaron Judge (32). Not having him participate is a huge loss — especially after the battle between him and Juan Soto a few years ago. We need more of that.

Unfortunately for us, we won’t get it this year.

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Quick hits: Fever-Aces went crazy … Five shocking NFL players still available … and more

— The crowd for Fever-Aces on Tuesday was one of the biggest crowds in WNBA history. Cory Woodroof has more here.

— Here’s Cory again with five NFL free agents that it’s pretty shocking to see haven’t signed with a team yet.

— Meg Hall has more on why Angel Reese deserved the rookie of the month for June.

— Charles Curtis found another game on the internet that I bet you won’t stop playing. 

— Robert Zeglinski has predictions and odds for the 2024 Euro Quarterfinals

— Fans are rightfully ripping Luis Robert Jr. for not attempting to throw the ball on this walk-off sac fly. Shame.

That’s a wrap, folks! Thanks so much for reading. TMW will be back on Friday. Happy 4th! Peace.

-Sykes