Month: June 2020

When the NBA announced plans to bring players back to their home markets and begin training camp before convening in Disney for the league’s restart, the expectation was that there would be positive COVID-19 tests. When the league’s first 300 tests returned with 16 positives, the league considered that a relatively positive sign, and up until Monday, Rudy Gobert remained the league’s lone known symptomatic positive test.

However, Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie announced on Monday, in a message to Shams Charania of The Athletic, that he had tested positive for COVID-19 and has had symptoms, including fever and chest tightness, and does not know if he’ll be able to join the team in Orlando following self-quarantine.

“Over the past few months, I have been diligent about protecting myself and others from COVID-19 by following all designated protocol and quarantining,” Dinwiddie told The Athletic. “I was ready and prepared to rejoin my teammates as we were to be an early entry team in the resumed season. I flew private to return to New York, passed multiple COVID-19 tests over my first several days in New York and was able to participate in a couple practices within the first week.

“Originally, we were supposed to be one of the teams to enter into the Orlando bubble early, but training camp got switched back to New York and unfortunately I am now positive. Given that I have experienced symptoms, including fever and chest tightness, it is unclear on whether or not I’ll be able to participate in Orlando.

“Hindsight is 20/20.”

Gobert experienced symptoms, including a loss of taste and smell, the latter of which he still says he’s not fully recovered, but the other known positive tests around the league had been asymptomatic cases. The hope is that Dinwiddie will have a mild case and make a full recovery, but it should be noted, even mild cases can still be very difficult and symptoms can last for a significant period of time. On top of that, the unknowns of the long-term effects of the virus remain a concern for some players, as decreased lung function and other issues have been reported in patients even after “recovery.”

Dinwiddie’s positive test also raises concerns about the league’s restart plans, as he passed multiple tests prior to a positive test and even practiced with the team. In theory, this would be mitigated by the bubble once they are there, but by allowing teams to reconvene in home markets prior to bringing everyone to Orlando, there are more opportunities for players to contract the virus outside their own facility.

The Nets, who are currently seventh in the East at 30-34, will restart play without Wilson Chandler, who opted out earlier this week, and now could find themselves going to Orlando without their starting point guard as well. The main concern is Dinwiddie’s long-term health, with basketball as a secondary concern, but Brooklyn may be significantly shorthanded when the restart arrives.

Being a mother is a powerful thing. No one knows this more than Breanna Lockwood and her mother Julie Loving, who might just have the most appropriate last name around. For years, Breanna, 29, and her husband Aaron Lockwood, 28, have tried to become parents. But after 476 injections, eight IVF frozen embryo transfers, two miscarriages and an ectopic pregnancy, they were left heartbroken. Until a hero offered to carry the baby for them. That hero was Julie Loving, Breanna’s 51-year-old mother.

Breanna and Aaron became high school sweethearts and never looked back. In 2016, the two were married. Then it was time for the next plunge in life. Breanna had always known she wanted to be a mother from an early age. They had hoped to do some traveling during their first year of marriage before starting a family. Those plans were put on hold when Breanna’s grandfather fell ill, as she wanted so badly for him to meet his great-grandchild before he passed.

At first, they tried to pregnant on their own. But after a year without success, they decided to make an appointment with Dr. Brian Kaplan at the Fertility Clinics of Illinois. It was there with Dr. Kaplan that they began vitro fertilization. After four years of hope, followed by pain and heartbreak, they gave up trying. The only option left was to find a surrogate, which can cost over $100,000. As Breanna told the Chicago Tribune, “Physically and mentally, I knew I would push through anything, but there’s not a lot where you can push financially, and I think that’s what scared me.”

Just as they thought all hope was lost, enter the hero: Breanna’s mother, Julie Loving. For years, Loving watched helplessly as Breanna and Aaron tirelessly tried to start building a family of their own. Throughout that time, Loving offered to carry the baby for them. “You get in that mode where you’d do anything to help your kids,” Loving to the Tribune. “When you see your kids hurting, and you know that you could help them, I don’t know how to explain it.” And Julie Loving kept offering. “She texted me, and I said, ‘You’re crazy,'” Lockwood recalls. Finally, when the couple seemed to have exhausted all options, they made an appointment for Julie to see Dr. Kaplan.

Before they knew it, the family was at The Fertility Centers of Illinois: Loving inquiring about being a surrogate for her daughter. “This is a very unusual situation,” said Dr. Kaplan to the Tribune. Beyond Julie’s profoundly loving heart, she has also run 19 marathons, competing in countless triathlons and is in very healthy condition. Her primary care physician, her OBGYN, a high-risk obstetrician and even a psychologist signed off on her being her daughters surrogate, and she passed with flying colors.

After a successful transfer of the embryo, a whole lot of science and even more love, the result led to Julie Loving carrying her own grandchild. She is due November 12^th, 2020. Breanna’s gratitude toward her mother goes far beyond even the brave and selfless gesture of being her surrogate. As she puts it: “I feel like I’ve learned everything about being a mom, from my mom. Apparently, the baby is a kicker, but if we have learned anything about Julie, it is going to take quite a boot to ruffle even one of her feathers. You just fall in love more and more every day, the stronger she gets, really feeling her and learning her ways,” she said to the Tribune. “I’m so happy that I can help my daughter and help her husband become a family. That’s really all I want, is to help them.”

One thing is for sure, if the world had more Julie Loving’s, it sure would be a better place.

New movie Fridays have largely gone away in the age of quarantine, as darkened theaters mean new releases are few and far between. Disney+ seems intent upon bringing movie night back, however, as it announced on Monday that it would release content new to the service following a “Movie Night” format throughout the summer. The service released a video highlighting the new movies hitting Disney+ this summer, starting with Friday’s premiere of Hamilton.

The video deemed it the “summer event you’ve been waiting for,” and for good reason. With theaters still closed in most states, the release calendar is barren until at least the end of July, and things might get pushed even further back as coronavirus cases continue to rise in the South. Here are the movies the trailer teased:

The Greatest Showman
Hamilton
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against The Universe
Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief
Beauty and the Beast
Avengers: Infinity War
The Mighty Ducks
X-Men: Days Of Future Past
The One And Only Ivan
Solo
The Incredibles 2
Artemis Fowl
Ant-Man and the Wasp

It’s not entirely clear if movies will come out each Friday, but the video promises new content every week in the summer. And while movies like Solo and Infinity War were already available streaming on another service (Netflix), that won’t rain on Disney’s parade of new content this summer. It’s still a lot more than what you’ll see in theaters this year.

This week represents the 10th anniversary of the beginning of 2010 free agency when the dynamics of the NBA shifted and the era of superstars teaming up began in earnest, as LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh joined forces in Miami.

The announcements of Bosh and Wade came on July 7, with LeBron making “The Decision” on July 8, but the wheels were in motion long before that. Even though there had been discussion amongst themselves about playing together, with a bond that was formed most notably during their summers with USA Basketball, there was still work to do in selling the group on joining forces — and that Miami was the right destination.

The Bulls were heavily in the mix, trying to pitch Dwyane Wade on coming back home, and were willing to look at moving Luol Deng to create the requisite space for all three players. However, it was Pat Riley and the Heat that got the three players on board, with Riley using his championship pedigree as his biggest bargaining chip. As Chris Bosh recalled to Brian Windhorst of ESPN for a 10-year retrospective on that free agency summer, Riley broke out his collection of championship rings, kept in a velvet bag similar to a Crown Royal bag, and even went so far as to give Bosh a 2006 Heat championship ring with a promise that he’d return it once he won one of his own.

However, as Bosh says, he still has that ring as Riley may have forgotten about their deal.

“Oh, yeah, Pat brought his rings out. It looked just like a Crown Royal bag,” Bosh said. “He puts it down, like boom. Big boy talk. When he ended the meeting, Pat gave me a 2006 Heat championship ring.”

“Take it. Keep it. Give it back to me when you win one,” Riley said to Bosh.

“I still haven’t given it back,” Bosh said. “I wonder if he even remembers that? I think I mentioned it once, like, ‘Yo, do you want that ring back?’ And he said, ‘What are you talking about?’ And I kept it moving.”

That means, technically, Bosh has as many Heat title rings as Wade and one more than LeBron, thanks to a somewhat forgetful Pat Riley. It’s a hell of a pitch from Riley to hand over a ring and say “keep this til we win one,” which shouldn’t be a surprise given their bombastic “not four, not five, not six” introductory speech. The Big 3 Heat would win two titles of their own, making four Finals in their four years together, and their lasting impact may be how the three players worked together to make the financials work and sacrifice what was needed to make a potential dynasty happen.

While pairing stars wasn’t new, how the Heat did it was and it has had a huge impact on team-building going forward, with star players seemingly having more influence on personnel and working behind the scenes to get themselves paired up with friends and preferred teammates. Windhorst’s look back includes some fascinating insight into the chase for LeBron, Wade, and Bosh, from missteps by the Bulls — who still believe they were closest to the trio behind Miami — to the Knicks and Nets meetings with LeBron.

For years, fans have wondered when former Cash Money collaborators Lil Wayne and Mannie Fresh plan to release a joint album. The chemistry between the rapper and producer is undeniable, resulting in two decades of hits reaching back to Wayne’s start in the rap game as a member of Hot Boyz and including “Bring It Back” from Tha Carter, “Go DJ” from Tha Carter II, and “Mahogany” from Funeral. Those fans now have a better idea of when that joint project will land thanks to the latest episode of Lil Wayne’s Young Money Radio podcast.

Video-chatting with his longtime friend, Lil Wayne brings up the fans who have been clamoring for the project for the past several years. “Everybody knows the chemistry started with me and you,” he says, “And they always wanna know when we gonna have the actual Wayne/Fresh project.” Mannie excitedly replies that he’s already “packing up computers” to come to Wayne as soon as the rapper’s schedule is cleared. “If that don’t work, come out here,” Fresh says, enticing Wayne with the prospect of “the whole backyard” to record and skate in.

The two explain why there’s been a relative dearth of songs featuring them both in recent times — mostly owing to saving those records for a potential joint project — before solidifying their plan for the project. “2021, after this whole coronavirus bullsh*t is over with, we will drop the album,” Fresh promises. “Only me and him.” Wayne admits he can’t wait to hear it, and that sentiment is likely shared by fans.

So for the love of Wayne, Fresh, and good hip-hop, please wear your mask so coronavirus can go away and we can get this project.

Watch a clip of Mannie’s interview with Wayne above.

If nothing below suits your sensibilities, check out our guide to What You Should Watch On Streaming Right Now.

I May Destroy You (HBO, 9:00 p.m.) — UPROXX recently named this one of the best shows of 2020, so no pressure HBO. Tonight’s episode takes us back to London nearly two months after the incident as Arabella, on the advice of her therapist, comes up with new ways to cope with her trauma while managing the pressures of a book deadline.

The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons – Ever! (ABC, 8:00 p.m.) — Jojo Fletcher’s Bachelor career was a bit of a rollercoaster and tonight, the show’s looking back on how it all went down. From a tearful goodbye to Ben Higgins to the emergence of a new Bachelor villain and the introduction of Wells, her season had a ton of drama and we’re sorting through it tonight.

The Titan Games (NBC, 8:00 p.m.) — More action from the West Division tonight as Victor Cruz and stunt woman Jessie Graff ready to take on the competitions next batch of winners on Mt. Olympus.

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (Netflix) — In case you missed it over the weekend, this Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams-starring comedy is, as the youths say, fire. The two take on the planet’s most-watched singing competition with this campy romp about an Icelandic duo named Fire Saga set on achieving glory on the world’s biggest stage. Ferrell and McAdams play Lars Erickssong and Sigrit Ericksdottir, artists chosen to represent their nation in the Eurovision Song Contest, a real competition that features musicians from all over the world, often performing in wild get-ups. Apparently, people are just now cluing into how terrific a comedic actress McAdams truly is, and this movie’s to thank for that.

Justice League star Ray Fisher has been a supporter of the “Release The Snyder Cut” movement since the beginning, so the Cyborg actor has been understandably pumped ever since Zack Snyder announced that his director’s cut will be arriving on HBO Max. However, Fisher is now taking his excitement perhaps a little too far.

As the official story goes, Avengers director Joss Whedon was brought in to complete Justice League after Snyder exited the film following a family tragedy (his daughter’s suicide). While promoting the film at Comic-Con in 2017, Fisher voiced his support for Whedon when asked about the director taking over for Snyder. “Joss is a great guy, and Zack picked a good person to come in and clean up and finish up for him,” Fisher said.

However, on Monday, the Cyborg actor posted a clip of his support for Whedon with a very pointed caption that makes it clear he didn’t mean a word of it. “I’d like to take a moment to forcefully retract every bit of this statement,” Fisher tweeted.

You can see the clip and Fisher’s caption below:

The Release The Snyder Cut movement has been notably criticized for the actions of some of its toxic members, which has led to HBO Max execs fielding questions on whether they feel that releasing the cut sets a precedent by emboldening aggressive fan campaigns down the road. So, Fisher’s swing at Whedon wasn’t the most diplomatic move. The tweet is also ill-timed considering, just last week, Snyder expressed gratitude to his fan movement for raising money for suicide prevention. It was a positive moment that showed the Snyder Cut movement is mostly a group of passionate fans with good hearts. With Fisher’s latest tweet, that image may be hard to maintain.

(Via Ray Fisher on Twitter)

J Balvin released his highly-anticipated record Colores back in March. While the Colombian singer can’t tour behind his album due to the pandemic, Balvin has found creative ways to stay engaged with his fans. The singer has shared a visual to nearly every one of the tracks off Colores. Following the animated visual to “Azul,” Balvin returns with another animated effort, “Negro.”

Directed by Colin Tilley, the animated video places the singer in a Gotham-style city. The visual imagines Balvin a post-apocalyptic world overrun by miscreants. But the singer has no need to fear, as he’s riding on the hood of a tank armed with three dinosaurs as bodyguards.

In an interview with Apple Music alongside his record’s release, Balvin detailed the inspiration behind “Negro” and said it was one of his favorite songs off of Colores: “This is one of my favorite songs on Colores because it has malianteo, the flavor that made me fall in love with reggaeton. It reminds me of the days of Hector El Father; it makes you want to grab a bat and head out to the streets. The lyrics are brutal. The color and what the song inspires are brutal. Dee Mad made a beat that really hit.”

Watch J Balvin’s “Negro” video above.

Colores is out now via Universal. Get it here.

Summer Walker has new music on the way. She previously teased that an EP was “coming soon” on her Instagram in May, but now we know what the EP is called and when it will arrive. The Atlanta-born R&B star followed up a standout performance at the 2020 BET Awards with the announcement that a new EP, Life On Earth, would be released in the coming month, on July 10.

Even as Walker’s profile has risen in recent months, she warned fans to enjoy what new music they get from her because she plans to quit the music business after 2020. Despite being tapped for high-profile events like the BET Awards and The Roots Picnic, Walker has detailed her distaste for the industry grind repeatedly in the last year or so, from venting about the tribulations of fame and the demands of overzealous fans to accusing her label of trying to censor her on social media due to her love of posting conspiracy theories.

However, if she really does follow through with her threat to give up stardom, she’ll leave behind an impressive catalogue, with singles featuring stars like Usher, Khalid, 21 Savage, and Drake, as well as her fan-favorite albums Last Day of Summer and Over It.

Life On Earth is due 7/10 via LVRN/Interscope Records. Pre-save the album here.

It’s no question the music industry has been greatly impacted by the coronavirus. As the music industry suffers, as does music journalism. That’s why the veteran indie outlet Stereogum has launched a new compilation series in order to help them stay afloat. Titled Save Stereogum: An ’00s Covers Comp, the publication has tapped many big-name musicians, like Run The Jewels’ El-P and The National, to offer covers from throwback songs as part of the compilation.

Stereogum founder Scott Lapatine recently outlined how the pandemic has affected their publication in a Twitter thread. Lapatine bought the site back from former parent company Billboard in January, just months before the pandemic hit the US. “We risk shutting down before we even got a chance to get going as an independent entity,” Lapatine wrote. “We have a plan to modernize and just need to survive this tough time in order to execute it.” Now, Stereogum’s founder has asked 44 of his favorite musicians to share covers and help crowdsource funds for their website.

Along with El-P and The National, the list of 44 musicians includes the likes of Waxahatchee, Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard, Mac DeMarco, Soccer Mommy, Car Seat Headrest, and many more. Those who donate to Stereogum’s crowdsourcing campaign will receive the compilation, artwork, and liner notes.

Check out the list of artists above.

Donate to the Save Stereogum: An ‘00s Covers Comp crowdsourcing fund here.

Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.