Good morning, it is Monday, July 1st, and we are headed into your 4th of July week. If you want more on the hot dog eating contest that happens on every 4th of July and why Joey Chestnut will not be there and what he's doing instead, make sure you tune in to this week's podcast. It will be out tomorrow morning, all about the hot dog eating contest. Now, a couple of quick points before we dive into Olympic highlights.
We're in the midst of NBA free agency and LeBron James is officially a free agent. But nobody in the league thinks he's leaving Los Angeles, especially since they drafted Bronny last week. Now LeBron is opting out of his $51 .4 million contract with the Lakers next season, and he could take less money to improve the roster. Then there's Klay Thompson with the Golden State Warriors. Their 13 -year relationship is coming to an end.
That's right, it's the end of the Splash brothers, which is Klay Thompson and Steph Curry. Moving on to Copa America. Team USA enters today's game against Uruguay in a must -win situation in Copa America after a disappointing loss to Panama. United States men's national team forward Tim Weah has been suspended for an additional match and fined $3 ,000 for his red card against Panama. Maybe a good thing for Team USA, Uruguay is without their coach.
Moving on, Wimbledon starts today and just a few weeks after his knee surgery from the French Open, Novak Djokovic is set to play in Wimbledon and he's looking to extend his record 24 major wins. For the first time since 1996, we don't have a Williams sister playing in Wimbledon, so that will be sad, but we'll look forward for new talent. And last but certainly not least on these points, the NHL made history hosting the NHL draft at the Sphere in Las Vegas.
And one of the great moments was Beckett Sennecke, who was shocked when the Anaheim Ducks took him third overall. People thought he would go on top 10, but definitely not top five. And there's a moment where he's hugging his dad and you can read his lips and he just says, holy F. Great moment. It's probably what I would say if I was drafted to an NHL team too.
Now moving on to the Olympics, we'll get to Simone Biles and Taylor Swift in just a moment, but let's start off with a 58 year old Pennsylvania grandma who is headed to the Olympics for a sport she previously retired from. Michelle Rohl was a distance runner turned race walker and she previously competed for Team USA in 1992, 96 and 2000 Olympic Games, but she retired over two decades ago to homeschool her five kids.
Now Rohl, who just welcomed her first grandchild three months ago, returned to the sport by competing in the 20K race walk on Saturday and she finished it in just over an hour and 42 minutes. The sad part is because the United States does not have a spot for race walkers in Paris, She will likely be unable to compete. Now let's talk about what everyone's chatting about right now. Simone Biles. She made the US Olympics team and she's going to lead a fantastic group of women at 27 years old.
She's the oldest female American gymnast since the 1950s to make the Olympics. She'll lead a team of Jordan Chiles, Suni Lee, Jade Carey, Hezly Rivera, and they will all be in Paris. Now, big fan of Simone Biles, Taylor Swift. Simone used Taylor Swift's track Ready For It as part of her floor routine and Taylor Swift lost her mind all over social media so it was really great to see those two fan-girling over each other. That's what we have for your week ahead. Want more?
Check out lastnight'sgame .com. Of course, follow us on social and keep an eye out for the Hot Dog Eating Contest podcast as well as right now we have Wimbledon up and ready to run so you can learn all the secrets of Wimbledon including Rufus the Hawk.