Month: July 2020

The Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers are widely projected, both in betting markets and consensus opinion, as the top three contenders to win the 2020 NBA title. As such, that trio of teams is discussed with immense frequency, with all three delivering star power combined with rosters built to win at a high level right now. If there is a No. 4 team in terms of buzz as the NBA’s restart materializes in Orlando, it might be the Houston Rockets, even while acknowledging that Mike D’Antoni’s team currently sits in a tie for fifth place in the West.

For one, the Rockets are trying something (very) different in essentially punting the traditional center position in favor of a small-ball look for the ages. That is interesting enough on its own but, when you throw in popular and prolific stars like James Harden and Russell Westbrook, there is immense interest in Houston and many believe the Rockets can make a deep run if things break correctly in the bubble.

ROSTER

Bruno Caboclo
DeMarre Carroll
Tyson Chandler
Chris Clemons
Robert Covington
Michael Frazier
Eric Gordon
Jeff Green
James Harden
Danuel House Jr.
Luc Mbah a Moute
Ben McLemore
Austin Rivers
P.J. Tucker
Russell Westbrook

SCHEDULE

Friday, July 31 – 9:00 pm ET – vs. Dallas Mavericks
Sunday, Aug. 2 – 8:30 pm ET – vs. Milwaukee Bucks
Tuesday, Aug. 4 – 9:00 pm ET – vs. Portland Trail Blazers
Thursday, Aug. 6 – 9:00 pm ET – vs. Los Angeles Lakers
Sunday, Aug. 9 – 8:00 pm ET – vs. Sacramento Kings
Tuesday, Aug. 11 – 2:00 pm ET – vs. San Antonio Spurs
Wednesday, Aug. 12 – 4:00 pm ET – vs. Indiana Pacers
Friday, Aug. 14 – TBD – vs. Philadelphia 76ers

STANDINGS

1. Los Angeles Lakers: 49-14
2. Los Angeles Clippers: 44-20 (5.5)
3. Denver Nuggets: 43-22 (7.0)
4. Utah Jazz: 41-23 (8.5)
5. OKC Thunder: 40-24 (9.5)
6. Houston Rockets: 40-24 (9.5)
7. Dallas Mavericks: 40-27 (11.0)
8. Memphis Grizzlies: 32-33 (18.0)
9. Portland Trail Blazers: 29-37 (21.5)
10. New Orleans Pelicans: 28-36 (21.5)
11. Sacramento Kings: 28-36 (21.5)
12. San Antonio Spurs: 27-36 (22.0)
13. Phoenix Suns: 26-39 (24.0)

WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE?

Given the team’s placement in the standings, it might seem crazy to refer to Houston as title-or-bust. What isn’t crazy, though, is that the Rockets have big-time ambition. The Rockets are all-in on their playing style but, from a practical standpoint, they are also all-in on this roster. Harden and Westbrook have the star power, Eric Gordon, Robert Covington and P.J. Tucker are well-compensated role players, and Mike D’Antoni is in the final year of his contract. Realistically, it would be a “success” if Houston reached the second round, simply because they’ll have to beat a good team to get there. If they do, it likely means a match-up against the Lakers or Clippers, and Houston won’t be favored in that scenario. Internally, they’d probably be disappointed with anything shy of the conference finals, even acknowledging that means taking down one of the L.A. squads.

X-FACTOR

A lot of things need to happen for Houston to reach its ceiling, from Harden and Westbrook dominating to Tucker and Covington flying around on defense and holding up against (much) bigger competition. In the middle, though, Eric Gordon is someone that just has to be good for the Rockets. The 31-year-old produced his worst shooting season as a professional in 2019-20, converting only 37 percent of his shot attempts and 31.9 percent of his three-point offerings. While no one thinks that will continue, it wasn’t as if it was a short blip. Gordon just wasn’t himself before the league shut down and, without a ton of depth to lean on, the Rockets desperately need him to take some of the load off Westbrook and Harden. Houston can win a series without Gordon excelling, but they can’t win the West and they definitely can’t win the title. That seems like an X-factor of the highest form.

BIGGEST ON-COURT QUESTION

It’s simple, but it’s also the reality. Houston’s small-ball playing style creates questions that can’t be answered until the Rockets are on the floor under the bright lights. At the outset, the Rockets were lighting the league on fire, proving to be virtually unguardable and holding up enough on defense to keep things interesting. Then, Houston lost four of the last five games before the hiatus and, given the pressure on Harden (and Westbrook), it’s at least plausible that the Rockets just can’t play with the frantic pace required for an entire postseason. In a macro sense, it is a lot of fun that a team is trying something this different, and the Rockets are going to start and close games without a traditional big man anywhere on the floor. Houston also opens itself up for jokes if it doesn’t go well, but Daryl Morey doesn’t appear to be recoiling from that. This should be quite interesting.

While retirement is a great time for the retiree to reflect on their career and the future prospects ahead, sometimes it also provides a similar opportunity for other to the same. Joe Budden recently reevaluated his reaction to Logic’s announced retirement from rap and apparently realized that his past criticisms of the younger rapper were a little too harsh. The former Slaughterhouse member took some time out of the latest episode of his podcast to apologize for calling Logic “the worst rapper ever.”

“I’m sorry man,” he said. He blamed his reaction on his own insecurity (which most observers could have guessed from how he treats basically every younger rapper who has ever sold more records than him). “Last week, I came in here feeling pretty tumultuous. Fresh out of Twitter jail, unable to properly read the room. And just hating myself and life, honestly. Unfortunately, I projected some of that onto you, Lodge. And for that, I want to apologize.”

He continued by acknowledging his wrongdoing and even deprecated himself a bit. “That was wrong of me,” he said. “I should be able to think that you aren’t the best rapper in the world but celebrate your retirement. Because that is a time when somebody should be happy and look back on their career and get sh*t off and be with their fans. Nobody wants to hear from this old grumpy f*ck saying, ‘F*ck you.’ Especially after that guy was allowed to retire peacefully. I felt bad.”

Logic himself acknowledged that it was comments like Budden’s “worst rapper” jibe that caused him to decide to retire. Of course, he’ll have a soft landing — he was recently signed to an exclusive streaming deal with Twitch worth upward of $1 million.

This slideshow shows how you can protect your information.

Everything you do online is tracked.

Whether you’re buying a new toy for your kid, researching a trip idea, posting a photo on Instagram, or sending an email to your boss, everything you do online is tracked. Web trackers — such as cookies — collect this personal data for a variety of reasons. They also share it with a number of interested parties, including companies that are trying to sell you stuff.

This online profile is commoditized and follows you…

These trackers create a profile of you based on your personal data and online habits. This data includes your location, what sites you visit, and even the way you move and click your mouse around the screen. Social sites, like Facebook, can track almost all your web activity with embedded widgets on various sites and if you’re signed into Google, anything you do on your phone and computer are linked together to contribute to this profile too.

For example, the profile will know that you’re married, a mom of kids (with another on the way!), that you live in Portland, Maine with a dog, and that you love pizza, horror movies, and yoga. It will also know that you’re looking for modern furniture for your home and that you’re considering a move to Austin.

This online profile is commoditized and follows you from site to site, showing you targeted ads for things you might buy.

But there’s good news!

Creeped out? The good news is you have choices when it comes to protecting your data, starting with using a browser that protects your privacy without you having to do anything.

If you use Firefox, third-party tracking cookies are blocked by default. You can also still use social media like Facebook to stay connected to friends and family, while still keeping the company out of your other business on the web with the Facebook Container extension.

Brooklyn rapper Medhane is currently facing sexual misconduct allegations. As Brooklyn Vegan notes, a post on Reddit’s r/HipHopHeads collects multiple allegations made against the rapper on social media. One Instagram Story claimed Medhane “[forces] himself onto women” and is “manipulative.” That post was shared by another account, and they added, “The last post isn’t mine, but I know multiple people who have experienced sexual assault and manipulation from him. It’s not my story to tell but I can vouch that there’s a pattern with this man.”

Now Medhane has responded to the allegations, and he is denying them. Saying that “rape is reprehensible and unforgivable,” he says he is “deeply pained by these accusations.” While he denies the rape allegations, he admits he “spoke poorly of” a woman with whom he “had a sexual relationship” and called his actions “emotionally abusive” and “problematic behavior.”

He concluded his post, “I am learning from this experience and I will continue to offer a space to communicate to my accuser and her family in attempts to bring healing in a holistic way.”

Read Medhane’s full post below.

“Rape is reprehensible and unforgivable.

I am deeply pained by these accusations. Our protection comes from speaking truth and making it known.

I had a sexual relationship with a woman, and spoke poorly of her to another person.

I acknowledge that this is problematic behavior and have since attempted to make amends with this young woman to no avail.

After her tweet in which she called me a rapist, I reached out to her to try to understand how I made her feel and what I could do to mend the hurt. She didn’t respond.

With the tweets and retweets by individuals of this accusation, I must respond even though to do so puts me in the position of saying a young woman is misrepresenting a sexual encounter.

Speaking poorly of a woman after you have sex with her is wrong and I accept the repercussions of that behavior, as it is indeed emotionally abusive.

I am learning from this experience and I will continue to offer a space to communicate to my accuser and her family in attempts to bring healing in a holistic way.

Peace.”

When the 2019-20 season was suspended, the Indiana Pacers were playing quality basketball. Nate McMillan’s team won 8 of its last 11 games in February and March but, as the NBA restart approaches in Orlando, the Pacers are usually omitted from conversations about legitimate contenders in the Eastern Conference.

Some of that undoubtedly stems from injury uncertainty surrounding Victor Oladipo, with the All-Star shooting guard’s situation at least slightly uncertain in Orlando. Oladipo is participating in scrimmages, but the team’s offensive focal point is still recovering from injury with a potential contract extension looming. From there, 2020 All-Star big man Domantas Sabonis suffered a foot injury that pushed him out of the bubble for treatment and, with Jeremy Lamb already out as he recovers from a long-term ailment, the Pacers are dinged up as the seeding games arrive.

Still, this is an interesting team to monitor and, if nothing else, the Pacers have a chance to compete for a top-four seed, even with a two-game deficit to the Miami Heat for the No. 4 spot in the conference.

ROSTER

Goga Bitadze
Brian Bowen II
Malcolm Brogdon
Aaron Holiday
Justin Holiday
Alize Johnson
Jeremy Lamb (injured)
TJ Leaf
T.J. McConnell
Doug McDermott
Naz Mitrou-Long
Victor Oladipo (status uncertain)
Domantas Sabonis (injured)
JaKarr Sampson
Edmond Sumner
Myles Turner
T.J. Warren

SCHEDULE

Saturday, Aug. 1 – 7:00 pm ET – vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Monday, Aug. 3 – 4:00 pm ET – vs. Washington Wizards
Tuesday, Aug. 4 – 6:00 pm ET – vs. Orlando Magic
Thursday, Aug. 6 – 4:00 pm ET – vs. Phoenix Suns
Saturday, Aug. 8 – 6:00 pm ET – vs. Los Angeles Lakers
Monday, Aug. 10 – 8:00 pm ET – vs. Miami Heat
Wednesday, Aug. 12 – 4:00 pm ET – vs. Houston Rockets
Friday, Aug. 14 – TBD – vs. Miami Heat

STANDINGS

1. Milwaukee Bucks: 53-12
2. Toronto Raptors: 46-18 (6.5)
3. Boston Celtics: 43-21 (9.5)
4. Miami Heat: 41-24 (12.0)
5. Indiana Pacers: 39-26 (14.0)
6. Philadelphia 76ers: 39-26 (14.0)
7. Brooklyn Nets: 30-34 (22.5)
8. Orlando Magic: 30-35 (23.0)
9. Washington Wizards: 24-40 (28.5)

WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE?

Prior to the uncertainty surrounding Oladipo and Sabonis, the Pacers firmly had their eyes on a first-round series victory. Candidly, Indiana wasn’t likely to be favored in a series against the Celtics, Heat or 76ers, but the Pacers bring a lot to the table and played as the equivalent of a 49-win team for a reason. If Sabonis is unable to play, Indiana goes from frisky and dangerous to potentially a more optimal target for top teams, but this is still a team with roster talent and they are firmly a cut above the likes of Orlando, Brooklyn and Washington. With Sabonis and Oladipo, expectations would be different but, if one or both don’t play, being competitive would be a reasonable outcome.

X-FACTOR

With Sabonis seemingly likely to miss at least part of the team’s processional, the Pacers really need Myles Turner to be his best self. The 24-year-old center is appealing for his combination of floor spacing and rim protection, but Turner was seemingly surpassed by Sabonis in Indiana’s pecking order this season. Furthermore, the Pacers may have to make a decision between the two, acknowledging that both are likely better at center. If Sabonis is gone, Turner is the team’s best big man by far. If Sabonis plays, the big men playing well together in a high-level environment might answer some big-picture questions for the organization.

BIGGEST ON-COURT QUESTION

Can the Pacers score consistently in a playoff environment? Indiana finished the pre-hiatus schedule with the NBA’s 17th-best offense. That isn’t a damning figure, per se, but the Pacers weren’t exactly explosive on a nightly basis. Defensively, Indiana was quite good, ranking No. 7 in the league on a per-possession basis, but there are questions about the team’s ability to score enough when things slow down. Oladipo’s performance in the team’s early scrimmage has quieted some chatter, simply because he is the team’s best offensive creator by a considerable margin. Still, Sabonis acted as a fulcrum on the interior this season and, if either or both is limited or out, Indiana will need to heavily rely on Malcolm Brogdon and T.J. Warren to generate enough offense to survive.

Many actors have appeared in both Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Natalie Portman, for one, and Peter Serafinowicz, who voiced Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace and played Garthan Saal in Guardians of the Galaxy), but the list shortens if it only contains Disney’s Star Wars movies and the MCU. Think: Andy Serkis (The Last Jedi and Black Panther), Lupita Nyong’o (The Force Awakens/The Last Jedi/The Rise of Skywalker and Black Panther), Mads Mikkelsen (Rogue One and Doctor Strange). One name not on the list is Brie Larson, although not for a lack of trying.

In a video on her YouTube channel, the Captain Marvel star revealed, “I auditioned for Star Wars… I auditioned for Hunger Games, I auditioned for the Terminator reboot. I actually was thinking about the Terminator reboot today because I got a flat tire and I was like, ‘Oh the last time I got a flat tire was when I was driving into my audition for Terminator. Got a flat tire at the audition, and then didn’t get the job.” Larson didn’t say which Star Wars movie at the time, but in a subsequent chat with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story co-writer Gary Whitta on the Animal Crossing-inspired Animal Talking show, she confirmed, “You wrote Rogue One, right? I auditioned for that, I didn’t get it.”

Larson didn’t get to play Jyn Erso (I assume), but she starred in her own Marvel movie and appeared in the highest-grossing movie of all-time. Not the worst consolation prize.

(Via SlashFilm)

50 Cent is well-known for trolling his rivals, critics, and well, everyone on social media but yesterday, the mogul issued a rare apology for one of his memes after realizing that its target actually did get hurt recently. After Megan Thee Stallion revealed that she’d been shot in both feet during an altercation with Tory Lanez, 50 deleted a meme making light of the incident and apologized for sharing it in the first place.

Apparently, the reason he did repost the meme was he didn’t believe the news that she’d been shot. I suppose as the subject of a number of false rumors himself (anyone else remember the old severed hand myth?), he is more likely to dismiss any celebrity news as conjecture and speculation. However, upon seeing Megan’s post, he realized the seriousness of the situation and replaced his trolling meme with a video of Meg talking about the shooting along with an apology.

“Damn, I didn’t think this sh*t was real,” he wrote. “It sounded so crazy.” He continued by addressing Megan directly and tagging her, “I’m glad you’re feeling better and I hope you can accept my apology. I posted a meme that was floating around. I wouldn’t have done that if I knew you was really hurt. Sorry.”

Although Megan recently posted her own photo to Instagram with the caption “Unbreakable,” she did admit that the shooting was “the worst experience of my life” after previously saying that she was “real life hurt and traumatized.” The police are investigating Tory Lanez for his alleged role in the shooting.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Jurassic World: Dominion recently became the first major studio movie to resume shooting in the U.K. in July, and Bryce Dallas Howard showed off the bruises to prove it. That film won’t arrive until June 2021, but before that happens — this September, actually — an animated series is coming to Netflix to quench some dinosaur thirst. Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous presents the idea that, yes of course, parents would (still) send their kids to an island summer camp where they can frolic with peaceful, veggie loving dinosaurs. I think there’s no mystery how this is gonna turn out.

The series hails from executive producers Steven Spielberg (who seems determined to keep shaking everyone up, just like he did with 1993’s Jurassic Park), Colin Trevorrow, and Frank Marshall, and the visuals arrive courtesy of DreamWorks Animation at the behest of Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment. From the synopsis:

Set against the timeline of the blockbuster film Jurassic World, Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous follows a group of six teenagers trapped at a new adventure camp on the opposite side of Isla Nublar. When the events of the film unfold and dinosaurs are unleashed across the island, each kid realizes their very survival rests on the shoulders of themselves and their fellow campers. Unable to reach the outside world, our six teens will go from strangers to friends to family as they band together to survive the dinosaurs and uncover hidden secrets so deep they threaten the world itself.

Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous arrives on September 18, and here’s a poster.

The release date for the audiobook of Lana Del Rey’s poetry collection, Violet Bent Backwards Over The Grass, was leaked earlier this month (and she later confirmed it). The date was set for today, July 28, so the audiobook is out now. The audiobook isn’t currently available on streaming services, but Del Rey has shared one of its tracks individually, “LA Who Am I To Love You.”

She begins the poem, backed by simple-yet-evocative piano from Jack Antonoff, “I left my city for San Francisco / Took a free ride off a billionaire’s jet / LA, I’m from nowhere, who am I to love you? / LA, I’ve got nothing, who am I to love you when I’m feeling this way and I’ve got nothing to offer? / LA, not quite the city that never sleeps / Not quite the city that wakes, but the city that dreams, for sure / If by dreams you mean in nightmares.”

Del Rey says of the release, “Violet Bent Backwards Over The Grass is the title poem of the book and the first poem I wrote of many. Some of which came to me in their entirety, which I dictated and then typed out, and some that I worked laboriously picking apart each word to make the perfect poem. They are eclectic and honest and not trying to be anything other than what they are and for that reason I’m proud of them, especially because the spirit in which they were written was very authentic.”

Listen to “LA Who Am I To Love You” above.

Violet Bent Backwards Over The Grass is out now via Simon & Schuster Audio. Get it here.

As Netflix recently revealed in The Umbrella Academy‘s second-season trailer, the show goes back in time to 1960s Dallas. The siblings get separated slightly in the timeline, and Five lands on the brink of nuclear apocalypse, so they must all find each other (again) and save the world (again). The historical backdrop provides plenty of fuel for the show to branch out in relevant directions, but there’s also a cute revelation — and perhaps a nod to The Mandalorian‘s The Child — with the inclusion of Baby Pogo,.

Pogo, of course, is the hyper-intelligent talking chimp who’s comparable to Bruce Wayne’s butler, Alfred Pennyworth, and a motion-capture creation played by Adam Godley. However, it’s fair to say that there were some — SPOILER ALERT — mixed feelings about Pogo’s role last season. He was regarded mostly positively, for sure, but it was difficult to reconcile whether Pogo was entirely benevolent when he was complicit in Sir Reginald Hargreeves’ maneuverings and secrecy. Later in the season, the chimp clearly felt terrible about helping to conceal Vanya’s powers over the years, and he ended up dying as part of her rage tour, which I feel solidified some goodwill towards him since, you know, he ended up paying the price for staying silent in a tragic way.

The lure to revisit Pogo in Season 2 must have been too much to resist, but it’s not like this didn’t happen without warning. The trailer showed a shadowy glimpse of a young chimp, and now, Netflix has revealed a first official look at the little guy.

Pretty damn cute. The Umbrella Academy returns for Season 2 on July 31.