A recap of the past 5 days in sports...

The next Answer?

Not that we hadn't known for a while, but, it’s finally official. Ben Simmons went first overall to Philadelphia in last night’s NBA Draft. Simmons will be charged with the daunting task of turning around the worst team in professional sports. The good news? The 76ers’ last No. 1 pick did just that. What is it we say about history repeating itself? With Simmons, the Sixers are full of young talent and #TheProcess seems to be nearing completion. Philly fans, basketball season may soon be bearable again!

Messi dazzles, US bows out of Copa América

Lionel Messi’s free kick goal, which put Argentina up 2-0 on the U.S., was just absurd. I’m not even mad. That’s amazing. Argentina faces Chile in the final for a second straight year, and with a guy who can do that on their team, it’s hard not to like their chances for revenge. Seriously, this kick was so good, you need to watch it from NINE more angles.

Yankees, Dodgers walk off in very different fashions on the coasts

On Broadway, everyone loves to make a big show. So, naturally, when Starlin Castro came up in the bottom of the 9th in the Bronx, he cranked one 443 feet into the left field seats to give New York the win. In LA, sometimes you need to go off-script. Yasiel Puig (with the help of an error by Michael Taylor) turned a would-be single into a walk-off, Little-League homer and a true Hollywood ending. Puig’s 15.2-second home run “trot” was the quickest of the season.

Utley, A-Gon make tag-team catch

Safe to say we won’t see a catch like this one anytime soon. It takes Gold Glove instincts to make a play like this one — lucky for the Dodgers, Gonzalez has four of those.

A taste of his own medicine

Dustin Pedroia (#15, second baseman) lined out to Brett Lawrie (#15, second baseman) on Tuesday. Bonus points for Lawrie for pulling off a 180 while making this outstanding grab.

Pillar smashes into wall, makes sensational grab

Fearless. The man is fearless.

Looking ahead... Looking Back

Take a trip down NBA Draft Memory Lane

June 26  •  Sunday marks 20 years since the insanely deep draft class of ’96 entered the league. The last active player from that year’s draft just hung up his shoes. Some guy named Kobe. Ever heard of him? Give the 76ers a mulligan for choosing Iverson, but can you believe the next 11 teams to pick passed on Mamba? Hindsight is 20/20… 13 years ago Sunday the Cleveland Cavaliers took local wonder LeBron James first overall out of high school. All these years later, you'd have to think they’re happy with that choice.

Sammy Sosa has MLB’s all-time best power month

June 25  •  18 years ago tomorrow, Sammy Sosa belted his 19th home run of June to set the record for most dingers in a calendar month. He’d add another for good measure on the 30th to finish with 20 in June and cap off a ridiculous stretch where he left the yard 24 times in 30 games. To put that month’s power surge in perspective, this season’s home run leaders have 21 bombs in nearly three months.