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What Had Happened Was: 7/31/17

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    Budapest 2017 FINA World Championships – Day 17
    Simone Manuel of the United States looks on following the Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay Final day seventeen of the Budapest 2017 FINA World Championships on July 30, 2017 in Budapest, Hungary. Adam Pretty/Getty Images
    Rhiannon Walker By @InstantRHIplay

    Game. Blouses.

    • ESPN universal news group editor Claire Smith received the J.G. Taylor Spink Award, the top honor for a baseball writer, during Hall of Fame Weekend in Cooperstown, New York. The trailblazer was the first full-time female reporter to cover a major league baseball beat, as well as the first African-American woman.
    • Olympic gold medalist Simone Manuel won the 100-meter freestyle at Saturday’s world championships, upsetting world-record holder Sarah Sjöström in the last 10 meters. Manuel, who became the first African-American woman to win an individual gold medal in swimming last summer, set an American record (52.27 seconds) in the event.
    • NBA Hall of Famer Allen Iverson was AWOL from a BIG3 game in Dallas on Sunday. Iverson, 42, has played in just three of his team’s six games this season and was a last-minute scratch for his homecoming game in Philadelphia earlier this month. The league has now launched an investigation into his unexpected absence.
    • UFC fighter Jon Jones returned from a yearlong suspension in style, becoming the first man to knock out light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier during the pair’s championship bout on Saturday. With a head kick, foot sweep and barrage of punches combo, Jones knocked Cormier out with just three minutes remaining in the third round. With the victory in the main event of UFC 214, Jones took back the undisputed UFC light heavyweight championship that was stripped from him two years ago. After the fight, Jones issued a challenge to current WWE champion and former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar:

    Top three tweets

    1. I WANNA BE JUST LIKE YOU WHEN I GROW UP

    2. BEAST MODE IS A NATIONAL TREASURE!

    3. HE’S GOT THE MOVES

    ICYMI

    On this day in sports history

    The New York Nets acquired Julius Erving from the American Basketball Association‘s Virginia Squires for George Carter and more than $1 million on July 31, 1973. Erving was the league’s leading scorer during the 1972-73 season and repeated as scoring champ in his first season with the Nets. Thanks to the trade, Erving returned to his native Long Island, New York, and brought New York two championships (1974, 1976).

    Picture-perfect

    Rhiannon Walker is an associate editor at The Undefeated. She is a drinker of Sassy Cow Creamery chocolate milk, an owner of an extensive Disney VHS collection, and she might have a heart attack if Frank Ocean doesn't drop his second album.

    This Story Tagged: MLB What Had Happened Was UFC Simone Manuel Claire Smith … View All Jon Jones USA Swimming