The 'Golden Generation' of the USMNT doesn't seem very golden at all

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.

Good morning, Winners! Thanks so much for reading TMW this morning. We appreciate you tapping in with us today. Hope you’re having a good week so far.

The U.S. Men’s National Soccer team is not.

Another year, another incredibly disappointing showing. The USMNT was eliminated from Copa América on Monday night after a 1-0 loss to Uruguay, which can only be described as an embarrassment.

As individually talented as this “golden generation” of USMNT players is, it’s becoming very clear they’re not up to snuff compared to the rest of the world. For a golden generation, these guys sure do lose a lot. They’re feeling real bronze these days.

I’m not the biggest soccer expert in the world, but even I can see that this team is satisfied with its mediocrity. That was made so apparent against Uruguay when manager Gregg Berhalter excitedly signaled the score of the Bolivia-Panama game to let his team know they were in good standing in the aggregate.

Mere seconds later, Uruguay scored what ended up being the game-winning goal.

And what’d the USMNT do afterward? Complain about bad officiating. Granted, it was terrible. And it didn’t help. But, still, the team had its chances and couldn’t capitalize. That’s not on the officials — that’s on the players.

READ MORE: A ref refused to shake Christian Pulisic’s hand after the game

U.S. Soccer is conducting a “comprehensive review” of the men’s national team after this one, according to reporting from The Athletic. That’s precisely what should happen. As Clint Dempsey correctly pointed out, this team is basically in the same spot it was for the 2022 World Cup. Nothing has changed. It’s still a major disappointment.

Copa was seen as the team’s biggest non-World Cup challenge ahead of the World Cup. Now that it’s failed, it’s very clear that changes must be made — even if they’re coming a year or two too late. But better late than never.

---

End of an era

We’ve all tried to predict the end of the Golden State Warriors and their run of dominance through the late 2010s into the early 2020s over the years. More often than not, we’ve all been wrong.

But I think it’s safe call what happened on Monday the official end of it all.

The Splash Brothers are done, folks.  Klay Thompson is a Dallas Maverick now. He accepted a sign-and-trade to the Mavs for a 3-year, $50 million deal after being unable to agree on a new deal with the Warriors.

This is the true end of an era. Fans have been in disbelief about it for days. That’s understandable — Klay was with Golden State for 13 seasons. They won four championships together. He had every big Game 6 — just ask the Thunder about that. It was an incredible stint.

Now, he’ll play with Luka Doncic, which should still be fun. That’s a good pickup for the Mavs, even if it’s just an extra shooter to throw out there and space the floor.

It’ll just look weird. This is Hakeem on Raptors territory. Or maybe Jordan with the Wizards. I guess we better get used to it.

---

The $70 million contract is here

The money floating around the NBA just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Jayson Tatum signed a 5-year, $314 million contract extension to stay with the Celtics. That’s the richest deal in league history.

He’ll make $71 million (!!!!!!) in the final year of this deal, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

Jayson Tatum Super Max Extension pic.twitter.com/SX6g2btQzT

— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) July 1, 2024

Folks. We are not very far away from the first $500 million contract. Brace yourselves for it. The rich are getting way richer.

Now, all those bad deals your favorite team just dished out don’t seem all that bad anymore.

---

Quick hits: NHL Free Agency tracker … Ronaldo Redemption … and more

— Here’s Mary Clark with an NHL Free Agency live tracker for you 

— It’s rare that we ever see Ronaldo fail to convert a penalty kick. He made up for it when it mattered most, though. Here’s Tyler Nettuno with more.

— NBA Bettors are betting on Bronny to win Rookie of the Year and Prince Grimes has an explanation on why

— You won’t be watching Joey Chestnut eat hot dogs on July 4th. Here’s what he’s doing instead, from Charles Curtis.

— Cory Woodroof has more on USMNT fans being done with Gregg Berhalter. Can you blame them?

— Speaking of NHL Free Agency, here are day one winners and losers from Mary again.

That’s a wrap, folks! Thanks so much for rocking with us. We appreciate you! Let’s chat again tomorrow. Peace.

-Sykes