PTI - Minnesota pairs LaMelo Ball with Ant-Man in explosive new backcourt

Episode Date: June 25, 2026

Michael Wilbon & Tony Kornheiser breakdown LaMelo’s new fit in Minnesota, Ohtani’s sync issues with catcher, and the US mens soccer Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pardon the interruption, but I'm Michael O'Antony. Boston police are looking for two men who robbed a children's lemonade stand. I'm Tony Kornheiser. I'll be honest, Mike. Not our best moment. No, no, I guess not. I guess it wouldn't be. You know what?

I never see children's lemonade stands in the DMV, and I see them quite frequently in Chicago. What is that? Do you see them here? Am I missing something? I have. I have seen it in the beginning. Okay. Okay.

I have. Good enough. I have, yeah. Not everywhere, but I've seen it. Welcome to PTI, boys and girls. In today's episode, Shohei struggles with his catcher. Nelly Carter goes for her third straight major, and Taylor Twelman joins us for five good minutes. But we begin today with the Charlotte Hornets trading former rookie of the year La Mello Ball to Minnesota.

From Nazreid, a number one draft choice in 2003, three pick swaps before that, and three second round picks. Wilma, do you understand why the Hornets did this and how much better does it make the Timberwolves? Well, the understanding to me is not on the Hornets.

It's not. The Hornets can take Kobe White who can be nearly as productive as the Melo Ball with a lot less style and plug him in there and, you know, they get something

that they want to move forward. Look, Le Mellow Ball's incredibly popular among kids and everybody in Greater Charlotte. I mean, everybody in that fan base loves him. But Tony, I don't trust him. I don't. And so if you're asking me to understand this, I got to understand it from Minnesota's point of view. And I understand the purpose. The purpose is

to give Anthony Edwards someone who can help him avoid being double team every time he walks out of the locker room before he gets upset and wants to yonis himself somewhere else. I got that. But LaMello Ball, LeMello Ball misses like an average of 25 games a year. I don't trust him. He's got a bag. a deep bag, as my son says. I get all that. But I don't trust him to be an all-star, a great player alongside Anthony Edwards, who needs something else. I get that he needs another guard, maybe, a guy who can get in the ball, a pass

first point guard, and Lamello ball can pass it, he can pass it. I don't trust him, and I'm thinking they gave up a lot to Minnesota Timberwolves to get LeMello ball. So I'm going to yield to you on your knowledge of the situation. and I'm probably going to track over what you just said. I don't actually understand it from the Charlotte Hornets point of view because they were becoming a good team. If I have this number right, since January 1st, they were 33 and 16.

They won a play in game. They appeared ready to launch a little bit, and that had centered on lamello ball. Lamello ball 20 points a game, seven assists a game, five rebounds a game, good shooter from three. And contrary to what you just said, he was reliable this year, 72 games this year after, well, okay, but maybe that's the start of a trend. So maybe there's something there that I don't know about.

What it does for Minnesota, you're right. I mean, it takes a lot of the scoring burden off of Anthony Edwards. It is interesting to me that a few years ago, Anthony Edwards was the number one pick in the draft, La Milla Ball, the number three in the same draft, and now they're playing together, because it takes years to figure out how these drafts work. But they give up, right? They give up Nasreed. They trade him.

They traded Julius Randall an hour and a half ago. Mike, this is 35 points and 13 rebounds that are gone. And two big bodies. Six, nine guys. San Antonio and Oklahoma City were being praised for drafting big. Minnesota just went small. Minnesota is trying to catch them. Again, I'm not sure I understand from either point of view

how this necessarily makes you better. or more competitive? Well, Kobe White can replace production-wise. Really? Kobe West can score 20. He can get those numbers? He can score 20. He already did it last year.

Is he going to pass the ball with the flamboyance of lamellow ball? No, he's not. Is he going to be more efficient? I think he will. That's why they freed up this money. Okay, we want to keep Kobe White. But, again, you give up Nas Reid, and you just gave up Julius Randall,

and you did this before, and I get to Anthony Edwardsies cat leave, win a title, you know, I mean, he sees these things happening. And it just seems to me, Tony, the Minnesota seems a little desperate to take the big swing. I get taking the big swing to help make cat, uh, uh, uh, Ant Man happy. Is this going to make him happy? Mike, they're now going to rely. They're going to, they're going to rely on a big man on Rudy Gobert, who is not much of a

scorer and is about to be 34 years old tomorrow. So I don't, I don't like that part of me. That's what I'm saying. Size. The West is. big Utah going big OKC, San Antonio, huge. And in Minnesota, just,

their strength was size and depth and power. Let's move to last night's drama between Shohei and catcher, Dalton, rushing. Miscommunication between the Dodgers' battery mates in the second inning led

to a past ball and the twins' first run of the game. Later in the same at bat, rushing tried to dissuade Otani from challenging a ball call only to be wrong when it was called a strike on review. After giving up three runs in the inning, Otani took over-pitched calling duties himself in the third and cruised from there. Tom, what's the word for last night's interactions between Otani and rushing?

So my word is pecking order, even though I know that that is two words. The pecking order on the Dodgers is Shohei is first and everyone else isn't. And the catcher after the game, by the way, called his play embarrassing and apologized for it. For most of the year, Otani has, of course, pitched to Will Smith, who's their number one catcher, but he's out now. And if you remember the last game, Otani allowed rushing to make the decisions as to whether or not they should appeal on a ball strike situation. And after the game, he said, I'm going to take matters into my own hands the next time, which is what he did. And he was right in this particular case. And then, as you say in the third inning, and he had already given up three runs.

And the third inning, he began to call all the pitches himself. And at that point, Mike, for the next four innings, only two players reached base against him. He gave up no runs. He had six strikeouts. And the Dodgers won the game four to three. So, you know, that's the pecking order in terms of the Dodgers. I think Sho Hayotani gets to do what he wants. He also, by the way, he went two for five and knocked in a run

and the catcher went 0 for four. So what are we talking about? It reminds me, I don't have a word. It reminds me of what I'm going to go basketball here, the great basketball players who sees control of locker rooms and teams sometimes by the neck. And you know guys I'm talking about. This is what that reminded me of.

It was like, okay, we're teammates. I understand you're trying to do the best you can't hear a youngster, but just settle down. Let, let Papa take control of this. It reminds me of bird and magic and Jordan and Isaiah reminds me of those guys because they would have to say the teammates sometimes, just pipe down.

You know, I'll take it over here. So on that point, I'll give you another analogy. He treated the catcher like he was a young caddy at golf and all he had to do was show up and shut up. That's right. Because this guy was picking out the shots. And that's what he did. I mean, with this catcher, yeah, it's like 484, and with Will Smith, it's 07.

I felt bad for him. In fact, let's, well, he acknowledged it. He acknowledged it he's going to have to get it. Let's move to golf, because we're talking about golf. Nellie Carter is playing in the U.S. Women's PGA Championship at Hazeltine in Minnesota. Carta shot two under par 70 today. Two under. This is the third LPGA major of the year and Carta has won the first two.

Will Bynd you love Nellie Corder. I do. What would it mean if she won three months? majors in a row. You start to take your place among the greats. Among the greats. I mean, only a couple of people ever. And the first one is Babe D. Drinks and going back, what, 85 years ago, have won three. And Babe Diedrichson, of course, won all three. That's all they had did. But this is great. I mean, so many people have not done it. Anna Cossornsome didn't do it. Sayreepa did do it. And so you're doing something. You're inserting yourself into historical

context when the next place for you is the Hall of Fame. I mean, that, that's just how that goes. And so Nelly Corta is so great for the game, Tony. When she's out there playing like this, interest is higher, ratings are higher, people in the sport are busier. I've been around, you know, I like to watch Women's Golf. I go to some LPGA events, and Nelly Corta is a huge star. She helps everything rise when she wins.

Yeah, so I mean in my life as a sports writer, I occasionally wrote about women's golf. And in my time as a sports writer, the two most dominant women were Nancy Lopez and Anacosorenstam. And I would point out they never won three in a row. I mean, they didn't do this. They didn't do this. Recently in golf, much like in women's tennis since Serena Williams has left, somebody will bubble up for a year or two, win everything. and then go back down as the next one bubbles up. And in that category, to me,

would be people like Lorena Ochoa and Cary Park and Lydia Co. But the gold standard was Sorenstam and Nancy Lopez. If you do this, and we can go back 50 or 60 years, you know, Pat Bradley didn't do it, Julie Inster didn't do it, Doddy Pepper didn't. It's very, only two people ever did it. So it's very, very hard to do. If Nelly Corder were to get,

this, that would give her five majors. In the last 60 years, only Annika Sorenstam has 10. That would give her five majors in three in a row. And that would be what we would call right now a Scotty Schephler situation, right? That you'd be able to start comparing them to the greats of all time. To the grades of all time. I'm glad you mentioned Lydia Cole who's still out there. And I don't even think she's out there. She's out there. And she's playing and winning. And she might be one of those people who could challenge Nellie. It would be great to see. Fabulous to see. But isn't it like tennis right now where each tournament, it seems a new person wins a mention. There's a really great field right now in the LPGA.

It's broadened. There's just no superstar. There's no superstar right now. Let's take a break. Yeah, let's take a break. We're coming up. How should the United States approach tonight's World Cup game so it does not lose momentum? We will ask Taylor Twelman.

We'll also ask them why the world's best players are having so much success so far. Staples Preferred Business Membership, built for busy business owners, because you've got bigger things to think about. With Staples Preferred, get free delivery, no minimums. Staples Preferred unlocks up to 3% back, plus 10% savings on print and exclusive wireless offers. One less thing on your plate. Actually, a lot less.

Visit staples.ca slash preferred. That was easy. The United States men have already won their group at the World Cup, but they are back on the pitch tonight, which makes it a perfect time for a visit from our great friend, the lead analyst for MLS on Apple TV, Taylor 12. And let me start with this. The United States head coach Maricio Pochitino is changing the lineup to apparently keep some of his players out of jeopardy, which you'll explain to us. Do you agree with his decision? And do you think there's any risk to the team's momentum? It's obviously the theme of what tonight is.

First and foremost, I 100% agree with the decision because you don't want to cut off your nose, spite your face, in a game where the result is inconsequential until anything that you do in the rest of the World Cup. I'm not saying the game is meaningless, but the result is inconsequential. So why would you lose one of the four players that are on yellows? If they got a second yellow tonight,

they would be suspended in the first knockout stage. If they don't get a yellow tonight, those yellows wipe clean. cleaned and then you start the knockout stage with no yellow. So Tony and Michael, it's absolutely 100% the right decision. Now, the second part to that is I understand why people are saying, listen, if they lose the game tonight, 4-0, you lose the momentum. No, you don't. Here's the meaningful part of tonight. You get answers to questions on how deep your team is. What players coming off the bench you can count on when the knockout stage starts. So you get some answers to a

manager that hasn't really used the substitutions in a manner that I thought he would. He'll get some answers tonight on how deep his squad really is. Taylor, besides the yellows for a second, and guys who have one, are there any U.S. players who should benefit

from this lineup change? You're actually thinking I'd like to see them a little bit on the field. Yeah, absolutely. If Chris Richards is not going to play, which Pochitino has said that, he's a staple at centerback. Well, where's your depth? Is it trusty? Is it Miles Robinson?

Is it others? So you need to have a good understanding of your depth in the back. By the way, remember, us three talked about this. He brought 10 defenders. Seven of those can play centerback. You've got to find out which one of those can actually play. Now, Antony Robinson's on a yellow. So is that Max Arfston, who we saw in those games?

He's dynamic going forward. If you need a substitute that's an attacking sense in the knockout stage, can he provide that? Tyler Adams, won't start. So is that Sebastian Burrhalter? Can he play 70 minutes? There's about three or four players that you're going to get real good ideas of whether or not in the knockout stage,

when you need something off the bench, you're going to find out tonight whether or not that player is capable of doing that. All right, as excited as we are to watch the U.S. play again, let's broaden this out and get to world stars. Messi has five goals and Bobby four, Holland four, Vinnie Jr. four. I mean, is this coincidence that the great stars are doing? doing this or is it something beyond that? I think it's a little bit of both, actually.

I think stars always deliver, and especially when the World Cup comes together, you need your stars to really shine the brightest. And I think it's been fantastic early on in this tournament that we've already got that from some big names. Quite honestly, Harry Kane should be on that list, but he missed a golden chance against Ghana. He should probably have three goals. However, there's a part of me that says 48 team tournament. So is some of the competition a little watered down that is allowing the cream rise to the top a little bit sooner than we do?

I think this is going to be the best golden boot race in World Cup history because I think when it's all said and done and Boppe messy, even Erling Hollywood, Norway qualifying for the knockout stage, I think those guys are going to consistently score goals as far as their team goes. I just think the big names are going to be there at the end. We will get you out of here on this, and it is a big name that we haven't mentioned. Cristiano Ronaldo had two goals against Uzbekistan. He had been not doing well at all. What changed to make him so effective after such a long, dry spell for him? I mean, Tony, to your point, he didn't score a goal from the run of play in the last 10 major tournament games.

That's over 1,000 minutes before those two goals against Uzbekistan. On one hand, I'm going to say it's Uzbekistan. That's why he scored two goals. However, if you look into the nitty-gritty and really look at the analysis of how they played in the attacking third, they basically told Christian and Rinaldo, stay as high up the field as you can. Do not participate in possession and play behind the defenders. What that means is, in layman's terms, your wide players can play very vertical. They can get him behind.

And then Rinaldo has to operate in 20-yard spaces. get in front of goal, one-time finishes. That's how he scored the two goals. I'm not completely convinced that he has turned the corner, but if they play that way the rest of the tournament, you may see a few more Ronaldo goals. I just think Portugal may be better suited with someone more mobile.

It's a great pleasure to have you on every time. It is. Thank you so much. Thank you, Taylor. No problem, guys. Enjoy your weekend. Let's take one last break, but still to come, don't call Caleb Williams Iceman at least not officially. And then that's do it again.

And by do it, I mean, blew it. So. Oh, yeah, that's another one I watched. I stayed up late. I was going to call you because I get a couple of calls, text from people, and they're dying. And I'm like, is Tony asleep or is he suffering? No, I'm staying up after 10.

Happy time, people. Happy 27th birthday, Colin Gillespie. Not nearly as famous or accomplished as his villain over 10. teammate Jalen Brunson. But this past season with the Phoenix Suns, a six one guard had career highs and games started, 58, minutes per game 28.5, points per game 12.7 and assists per game 4.6. And as a result, Gillespie re-signed with the Sons for four years and $48 million. Gillespie was on a national championship team with Brunson, Mikhail Bridges, and Dante D'Vincenzo at Nova. This is another example of a Villanova guard exceeding expectations.

He was two-time Biggie's player of the year, yet still went undrafted by the NBA. Well, who's laughing now? Jay Wright. How good a coach is Jay Wright for winning tonight and getting them ready for later? I mean, who's better than Jay Wright recently? The answer is nobody. Nobody, nobody. Happy anniversary, Steve Carlton.

Around this day, 40 years ago, the Phillies Hall of Fame lefty was granted his wish and was unconditionally released by the club after 15 seasons and 4. Philadelphia. Then 41, Carlton was released just 18 strikeouts short of 4,000, but struggling with a 4-8 record and a 618-E-R-A. Carlton did not want to retire and he signed with the Giants. He got the 18Ks there retired, then unretired four days later and went to the White Sox. Carlton pitched two more years, compiling a 12-and-21 record with the Giants, White Sox, Cleveland, and Minnesota after leaving the Phillies. He's a four-time young winner, two-time world champion, 10-time All-Star with a career record of 329 and 244 and a 3-22 ERA.

I remember Carlton pitching to Carlton Fisk, Tony, because they were on the White Sox. With the White Sox? With the White Sox? With the White Sox? Yeah. Hall of Famous Bo. I was all lost on me. I don't remember anything.

Happy trails to another sure win for the Nationals. The Phillies were down to their last strike for the second straight night before winning again. With two outs in the ninth, Nats reliever Orlando Rbalta got ahead on Kyle Swarver one and two before ultimately walking. Washington manager Blake Boutherrather then brought in Richard Love Lady who got ahead of Derek Hill one and two before before before before before before he'll hit a go-ahead to be the game winner. Why take out Rolta? Why bring in Love Lady for a third straight night? I stayed up past 10 p.m. for this. This is even worse than the night before because they didn't learn.

The NAC should be 3 and 0 in this series and now tonight they face Christopher Sanchez. I keep staying up, but it's agonizing. Great games, though, Wilburne. Great games. Richard Lovellady sounds like the name of a bond villain. I love that name. Cubs swept your Mets. Sweep your Mets.

That from baseball is all that mattered last night. They're not my Mets anymore. They were my Mets. Let's go to the big finish. Let's do it. The patent and trademark office denied Caleb Williams' application for Iceman. Does that make sense to you? I'm not going to deal with this.

I'm happy to have it. a Caleb Williams and a Caleb Wilson. That's the only confusion I want. I don't care about the other stuff. Coach's Association President, J.B. Bickerstaff, call the Trailblazers coach Mike the Norrie's one-year contract, a slap in the face to our value.

Your thoughts. This is what you said yesterday. Yes. It's like word for word. Yeah. Ridicrous. Cubs shortstop, Dansby Swanson, has 15 RBI in the first three games against the Mets.

How many tonight? He doesn't need any. I mean, it's ridiculous. The number, I think he had 13. He had 11 in the doubleheader alone. Good for Danes Bonson, who had been benched, and now he's back. Good for him. 40-year-old Al Horford agreed to a two-year-year-14 million dollar extension with the dubs.

Is that significant? He's only the 13th player in NBA history to go 20 seasons now, and you think it's significant because they can get LeBron. Last one. The Pistons traded reserve Big Nana, Isaiah Stewart to the Grizzlies for three future seconds. Is that significant? but more so because they're freeing up room in Detroit. Maybe for Norman Powell, I'm just saying, we're out of time. Try to do better the next time.

I'm Tony Cornynajer. I'm Mike Wilbon. Same time tomorrow, knuckleheads. Here's SportsCenter. PTI.