Month: August 2020

When the Bucks refused to come out of the locker room ahead of Game 5 on Wednesday against the Magic in protest of the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, they began a movement that spread throughout all of the major sports leagues, which put play on pause on Wednesday and Thursday in solidarity.

Saturday, they returned to play as the league restarted the playoffs after a three day pause in which players met with each other and with owners to discuss next steps and how teams and the league can try to impact more change in their communities. For Milwaukee, they were able to speak with the Wisconsin attorney general and lieutenant governor and provided the push needed to get the state legislature back in session to vote on a police reform bill — and seeing them do that has led to other teams having similar calls with local and state officials to try and figure out how to impact change.

The Bucks finished off the Magic on Saturday afternoon in a 118-104 win in the rescheduled Game 5, but after the game the focus was still on the movement for social justice. Giannis Antetokounmpo explained to reporters how the Bucks decision came about, citing George Hill and Sterling Brown as the catalysts, with the rest of the Bucks rallying around their teammates and making a united front.

“I saw George and Sterling, George decided not to play the game and he didn’t put pressure to none of his teammates,” Antetokounmpo said. “Not me, coach, Sterling decided to do the same thing. He came in talking to us and I decided as a leader, as Giannis, that’s who I am, I’m not playing this game. I didn’t want to play this game. I told coach I’m not playing this game. I can’t leave my teammates behind. They felt a type of way about all the frustration that was going on, it wasn’t in the right space to play the game. A hundred percent fully support them. Win or lose, I support them. Going out there or not going out there, staying in the locker room, I support them. So, we decided as a team not to go out there, and that’s how it happened.”

It illustrates just how spontaneous the decision was — which was reportedly a point of contention for some other players in the Bubble — but the result of their choice not to play is undeniable, as they sparked important conversations and pushed the league and local officials to respond and do a bit more.

The Milwaukee Bucks finished off their series with the Orlando Magic with a 118-104 win on Saturday in their rescheduled Game 5 after the Bucks refused to play on Wednesday in protest of the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, which prompted a league-wide halt of play to press for further action from the league and owners.

Some of those actions were on display in the arena on Saturday, as there was signage encouraging people to vote this November, and both coaches spoke on voting in their in-game interviews. As for the game itself, the Bucks took control early, as Giannis Antetokounpo exploded for 22 first half points on 9-of-11 shooting, but the Magic would close the gap to as few as three in the second half. A run led by Marvin Williams and Khris Middleton in the fourth as Giannis sat with five fouls would push the Milwaukee lead back to double digits, as they held on for a comfortable victory and advance to the next round to face the Heat.

Here are three takeaways from the final game of the series and what comes next for both teams.

Can the Bucks find another gear?

It’s the same question that’s been posed of this Bucks team for two years, but can the supporting cast around Giannis provide enough, particularly offensively, to push them to the Finals. The Miami Heat are next up for the Bucks and pose quite the threat, as they are a team built to capitalize on Milwaukee’s greatest defensive weakness, which is their willingness to give up three-pointers. The Heat are the best three-point shooting team in the league and have proven this year that can give the Bucks problems, beating them twice. We know their plan will be to light it up from distance, and as such it’ll be incumbent on the Bucks to find a way to match their offensive output.

With Bam Adebayo, they have one of the few players in the league that can pose problems for Antetokounmpo, and will surely be focused on building a wall against him to force the ball to move to the others. That means Middleton, who struggled for much of the Orlando series but had a nice performance in Game 5 with 21 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists, will need to play at an All-Star level and Eric Bledsoe — who has looked OK but not spectacular offensively to start the playoffs — will have to shake loose of his postseason woes. The Heat present a lot of questions the Magic can’t — particularly shooting the basketball — and while it wasn’t ever really in doubt, the Bucks will need to play much better in the next round to advance.

Where do the Magic go from here?

Orlando chose to lock up their core for the foreseeable future last summer and the result was pretty much the same as a year ago: a first round appearance, a scrappy Game 1 win, and then four straight losses to a superior team. The roster imbalance in Orlando is painful to watch, as they simply don’t have the shooting to consistently stay in games with the best teams in the league. That’s not to say there aren’t good players on this team, as Nikola Vucevic has become a legitimate All-Star in recent years and had some huge games against the Bucks and an excellent defense in this series. Markelle Fultz looks like he’s turned the corner and has emerged as a more than solid point guard in this league after his struggles in Philadephia, and Jonathan Isaac, pending his recovery from a torn ACL suffered in the Bubble, is an emerging defensive star in this league.

Their guard situation is rough, with Evan Fournier surely picking up his $17 million player option and Terrence Ross set to make $13.5 million (Fultz’s final year of his rookie deal pays him $12.8 million) and they need to either re-sign D.J. Augustin or find a replacement for him on the open market where they won’t have much money to offer. The lack of cap space this offseason, coupled with uncertainty about the future of the cap, makes things very difficult on the Magic to upgrade this roster. It was the concern when they locked up guys from a 7-seed finish a year ago, and if trades are made difficult by the cap situation leaguewide, next season figures to look an awful lot like this one.

Will Mike Budenholzer make necessary adjustments?

This might be a silly question as I think we know the answer is no, but Bucks fans still might be holding out hope that Bud will be willing to adapt to an opponent next round. As stated above, Miami is a nightmare matchup for the Bucks defensive philosophy of collapsing on the rim and allowing for kick outs to shooters. At minimum, the Bucks have to try force more of those shots to come from the likes of Jae Crowder, Andre Iguodala, and Jimmy Butler rather than Duncan Robinson, Tyler Herro, and even Kelly Olynyk. Whether they’ll make adjustments to holding defenders on those players more to keep them from catching fire, Robinson in particular, remains to be seen as they have a very strong commitment to what they do, but that does leave them vulnerable to hot shooting nights — and Miami is a team that can replicate that for a number of games.

Maybe more important is whether Bud will be willing to tighten his rotation in the next round and give Antetokounmpo and Middleton the extended, high 30s and even low 40s minutes that they are rarely asked to play. Bud loves his first quarter line change sub and rarely asks his stars to even sniff a 40-minute outing, but in the playoffs you simply have to give extended minutes to your top guys (and in the process cut back on some of your bench minutes, possibly eliminating guys from the rotation entirely). Part of extending Giannis’ minutes is keeping him out of foul trouble, and while he’s the Defensive Player of the Year, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Heat try to go at him some early in games to see if they can push the star into picking up some early fouls.

All of this is to say, next round will be fascinating and the Bucks, currently, don’t hold the form they once did in the regular season when they were mowing teams down. If they find that, all this may be moot and they might end the series quickly, but Miami’s playing well and they’ll be looking to take an early game off the Bucks to bring some of those postseason doubts back into their minds.

Saturday would have been Michael Jackson‘s 62nd birthday, so to celebrate, Spike Lee decided to honor the King Of Pop with an updated video for “They Don’t Care About Us.” In the video, Lee included footage from the George Floyd protests that occurred around the world with scenes and outtakes from the song’s two original videos.

“Great protest songs can’t get old, stale or non-relevant because the struggle still continues. That’s why THEY DON’T REALLY CARE ABOUT US is the anthem during this chaotic, pandemic world we are all living in,” Lee said in a statement released with the new video. “To celebrate Michael Jackson’s born day, we have made the THEY DON’T REALLY CARE ABOUT US 2020 short film to continue the struggle for equality for all. That’s the truth, Ruth. Be safe.”

Originally released back in 1996, the song is best known as a protest anthem thanks to its two music videos. The first video was shot in two areas in Brazil: Pelourinho, the historic city center of Salvador, and in a favela of Rio de Janeiro called Dona Marta. Authorities in the latter attempted to block Jackson from recording the video in the city but failed to stop him in the end. Jackson would later record a second video for the song, one that was filmed in a prison with cellmates and presented footage of police officers attacking African Americans, the military crackdown of the protest in the Tiananmen Square, war crimes, execution, and other human rights abuses.

Watch the updated video for “They Don’t Really Care About Us” above.

After receiving a challenge from 10-year-old drummer Nandi Bushell, Dave Grohl accepted the young prodigy’s challenge and shared a video of him playing “Everlong” from Foo Fighters‘ 1997 album, The Colour And The Shape. The battle began when Bushell shared a video to Twitter of her performing the 1997 track with a caption that challenged Grohl to a battle. “My dream is to one day jam with Dave Grohl, @taylorhawkins and all the @foofighters! Mr Grohl I would love to have a drum battle with you! I LOVE Everlong it’s really hard to play as it’s so fast but so much FUN!”

Two weeks later, Grohl responded. He kicked off his performance by playing “Everlong” for about 30 seconds before sharing a message with the young drummer, in which he noted that he hasn’t played the song since its recording in 1997. (He pointed out Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins has performed the song ever since.) He also mentioned he was pushed to respond to her after he received “100 texts” following Bushell’s challenge. Then Grohl played “Dead End Friends” by Them Crooked Vultures, his supergroup with Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme and Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones.

Bushell has received plenty of attention from notable band members over the past year. Earlier this summer, Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello showed love to the young drummer following her performance of “Guerrilla Radio,” in which she played the drums, guitar, and bass. She also received a shoutout from Metallica’s Kirk Hammett after her performance of “Enter Sandman.”

Check out the videos form both Bushell and Grohl above.

A member of the United States men’s national team is headed to the best team in Italy. For weeks, it’s been reported that Schalke midfielder Weston McKennie, a native of Texas and a product of the highly-regarded FC Dallas academy, has been in high demand, with clubs in England, France, and Germany wanting to acquire the 22 year old’s services. Earlier this week, however, Juventus came into the fold, and on Saturday, his move became official.

According to Fabrizio Romano of Sky Sports, the deal is a one-year loan. At its conclusion, Juventus has the option to buy, but if he plays in at least 60 percent of the club’s matches this year, that option becomes an obligation.

McKennie arrived in Turin to seal his move on Thursday, one day before his birthday.

Considered one of the cornerstones of the USMNT’s ongoing youth movement, McKennie is a talented and hard-working player, albeit one whose game has some wrinkles that need to be ironed out. He’s a pit bull in the middle of the pitch, battles defensively and when a ball is in the air, and is capable of being a clever passer. He does, however, need to become more consistent as a passer and can have little lapses in focus, but when he is on his game, McKennie is capable of playing in the midfield for a club with the clout of Juventus. Additionally, he’s known for his leadership, as he’s already captained the national team in the 2019 Gold Cup final against Mexico and saw his name in the running to captain Schalke last year.

McKennie joins a club in a period of transition as Italian legend and ex-Juve player Andrea Pirlo took over as manager despite having no coaching experience beyond a nine-day stint as the manager of the club’s U-23 side for nine days prior to his appointment. He brings reinforcements to a midfield that is bringing in Brazil’s Arthur and features France’s Adrian Rabiot and Uruguay’s Rodrigo Bentacur. His best hope, at least at the start, might be to rely on cup matches to get minutes, but if he is able to break into their starting XI, he’d become the first American to play in Serie A since 2016.

Last week, the unthinkable happened: Jim Gaffigan lost it. The famously apolitical comic — who never swears, is a good family man, who goes to church every Sunday (or at least did in the before-time), who never makes waves, and who regulates himself to jokes about Hot Pockets — had finally, at long last, had enough of American president Donald J. Trump. And his long-pent-up frustrations erupted in public, in a frankly incredible Twitter rant that pulled zero punches.

On Saturday, Gaffigan, calmed down but no less angry, decided to circle back. He didn’t routinely cuss, but, one thing aside, he also didn’t apologize, and he didn’t back down. Instead, he thanked those who supported his well-earned tirade and it abundantly clear he meant what he said.

“I wanted to say thank you to everyone who has expressed support about my tweets. I know the bots & trolls can be scary but the truth requires direct sunlight,” Gaffigan wrote on Instagram. He did have one addendum: “Well, maybe I was a little harsh to Karen,” referring to one woman who took umbrage with his sentiments and only received a four-letter insult in response.

He continued:

“We need to wake up. Decency is on the ballot. It can and will get worse if Trump is re-elected. The bullying happening on both sides is wrong but Trump won’t even try to fix it. Makes [sic] sure you make a plan for how you are going to safely vote.”

His statement was posted alongside a screengrab of an Instagram exchange with someone identifying as a “midwestern grandma,” who said she’s “so sad our kids have to grow up in and I truly fear it’s going to get worse.” Gaffigan responded, “We need to be truthful. Even if it makes others uncomfortable.”

Gaffigan’s tweetstorm came in the wake of Trump’s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, where he tried to act presidential and repeatedly fell back on his old ways. On Twitter, the comic called Trump a “liar and a criminal,” a “fascit who has no belief in law,” and said that “everything Trump accuses the Democrats of he’s guilt of.” He repeatedly told people to “wake up,” and of his tireless supporters said the following: “You know he lies. Constantly. Yet you dont care? What because he insults people that make you and me feel dumb?”

Anyway, if the chilliest man in existence, who goes out of his way to appeal to liberals and conservatives, is livid over what a politician who routinely praises dictators and you’re not, maybe it’s time to do some soul-seraching.

It was a difficult week for the NBA community, as players dealt with the emotions of seeing yet another example of police violence against Black Americans when Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back by Kenosha police. That led to players refusing to play in protest and meeting multiple times to discuss whether to resume play and actions they wanted to see the league and owners take.

On top of that, the basketball world reeled from the loss of legendary Arizona basketball coach Lute Olson, former UConn and NBA star Clifford Robinson, and actor, NBA fan, and friend to many players Chadwick Boseman all in the span of a few days. Players offered remembrances of all of those in recent days on social media, and ahead of the Bucks and Magic playing Game 5 in Orlando, the NBA held a moment of silence for Olson, Robinson, and Boseman prior to the national anthem as players kneeled on the sideline.

It’s the culmination of what has been a brutal and emotional week — in the midst of a brutal and emotional year. Like so many of us, players are balancing their obligations for work with the constant mental health stressors, that are only amplified by being away from family in the Bubble. Andre Iguodala spoke recently about how the pause in play was an opportunity for players to hit the refresh button and talk about these issues that with each other and get some of that off of their chest, but the league and teams will have to continue finding ways to address players mental health as the playoffs wear on.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang lifted Arsenal once again in the 2020 Community Shield, scoring once and adding the match-winning kick in penalties to lift the Gunners past Liverpool in the ceremonial start of the 2020-21 season in England. Along the way, he revived an infamous goal celebration to pay tribute to Chadwick Boseman.

The entertainment world was shocked on Friday when Boseman’s death was revealed along with his four-year struggle with colon cancer. Various tributes have poured in from fans in the music and NBA world, and those closest to him have added wonderful stories and examples of his impact on Black people in unforgettable roles in 42, Marshall and Black Panther. It was the latter role that inspired Aubameyang to pay tribute to Boseman after he scored in early in Saturday’s match, when the FA Cup champions took the lead against the Premiere League champions on a brilliant strike.

Aubameyang crossed his arms and clearly said ‘Wakanda,’ a reference to the Wakanda Forever salute made famous by Boseman’s T’Challa in Black Panther. Aubameyang paid tribute to the actor before the match, too.

And it was not the first time the superstar had celebrated a goal with the salute or paid his respects to Black Panther’s influence. In March 2019, Aubameyang celebrated a goal by pulling out a Black Panther mask and gloves and doing the same tribute.

As he said in 2019 according to ESPN, the movie had special signifigance to the Gabonese national.

“I needed a mask which represents me and that’s the Black Panther. In Gabon, we call the national team the Panthers,” he said according to ESPN.

After Saturday’s match, Aubameyang had changed his Twitter avatar to an image of him wearing the Black Panther mask in an Arsenal uniform and retweeted another image of him wearing the Black Panther mask.

It’s clear the loss of Boseman hit Aubameyang hard on Saturday, one of the many athletes who found a special connection to the late actor’s work.

Last week on UPROXX Life’s Expression Session, we took a break from all things whiskey and dove into the world of dark rum. I love dark rum. It’s a great drink that suits sipping and cocktails with equal measure. Admittedly, I’m a bit biased since I moonlight at Berlin’s oldest cocktail bar which happens to be called Rum Trader. Still, dark rum gets a bit overshadowed by whiskey and that’s a shame.

To help rectify that, I was honored to welcome a legend onto last week’s Expression Session, Appleton Estate’s master blender, the legendary Joy Spence. Joy walked us through a three bottle tasting of their new core line: The Signature Blend, 8 Year, and 12 Year. I also tested the 21 Year, which is a powerhouse dark rum everyone should try. Parsing the historical Jamaican rum with Joy provided a lot of opportunities to talk about that Jamaican funk (hogo) you get in their dark rums and learn from a true master about what’s in the bottle. It was a blast.

Of the three I tasted with Joy, for me, the 12 was a standout. But that doesn’t mean the rest were also-rans. Let’s dive into Appleton Estate!

Appleton Estate Signature Blend

ABV: 40%
Average Price: $25

The Rum:

This rum is a signature entryway spirit to the Jamaican style Appleton Estate is known for. The juice is a blending of 15 rums that have aged at least four years. The rums are then blended into a single spirit and aged once more in oak until it hits exactly the right spot.

Tasting Notes:

Dried apricot and peach mingle on the nose. The sip carries on with that fruit, highlighted by the peach for me. There’s a clear sense of the molasses in the sweetness of the sip with a warming, slightly funky end.

Bottom Line:

This is devised as a mixer. I really dig using it in a tiki or a rum old fashioned thanks to the dried fruit and natural rum sweet edges.

Appleton Estate 8

ABV: 43%
Average Price: $30

The Rum:

This expression was hand-crafted by Joy Spence to commemorate Appleton Estate’s 250th anniversary. The juice is a blend of rums — some pot stilled — that has aged at least eight years. The idea was to create a new signature bottle for the brand that truly defined both Appleton Estate’s long history in Jamaica and Spence’s multi-decade carrier blending rum for them.

Tasting Notes:

I get oak and spice up top with a mild fruitiness. A touch of honey arrives on the palate next to a flourish of bourbon vanilla and a touch of orange rind. But it’s really the Christmas cake spices and that oak that carry this sumptuous sip towards a long and warming end.

Bottom Line:

This works as a perfectly fine sipper, especially on the rocks (or just with a little water). It’s also a wonderful cocktail base. Just make sure the cocktail is highlighting the rum like a Manhattan or El Presidente.

Appleton Estate 12

ABV: 43%
Average Price: $45

The Rum:

This expression is what happens when you let quality rum like the eight above rest an additional four years. Each rum in the blend has been aged at least 12 years (some many more) and are hand-selected by Spence for their exactness in texture and flavor.

Tasting Notes:

There’s an immediate nuttiness next to the dried fruit, oak, and funk. Hazelnuts come to mind mixed with dark chocolate, creating a nougat creaminess. There’s a touch of dark coffee bitterness spiked with orange and vanilla as the sip slowly fades away and leaves you needing more.

Bottom Line:

This is almost too easy to drink, especially with a single rock. It’s also a great go-to for a post-Christmas dinner snifter while the pie is being served.

Appleton Estate 21

ABV: 43%
Average Price: $140

The Rum:

Add another nine years onto the above and here we are. This isn’t even the oldest expression from Appleton Estate — they have a 30 and 50 year — but this is certainly the most attainable. The juice is a blend of rums that were aged in American oak for at least 21 years. The result is a bottle of rum that’ll stand up to even the most snobbish whiskey drinkers.

Tasting Notes:

The oak dances with echoes of vanilla, mild molasses, orange zest, and funk. There’s a real sense of old orange oils, mild worn leather, a spicy Christmas cake dripping in dark chocolate and served with a bitter espresso, and a counterpoint of citrus. The oak, funk, and spice taper off with a little burst of dark cherries and cacao nibs as a final billow of pipe tobacco smoke sneaks in.

Bottom Line:

This is a great bottle at a fairly affordable price. Maybe save it for a celebration though. It deserves to be savored slowly and with purpose. Then again, I paired a dram of this with a bison burger the other night and it was perfect. So, you do you.

Check out the whole tasting below!

Mulatto’s hot streak continues with a brand new video for “Youngest N Richest,” off her debut album Queen Of Da Souf. It finds the rapper heading to country fields, her boastful bars raining on listeners with lines like “I ain’t stand no threat from no p*ssy ho, she just talking / That b*tch said I wouldn’t be shit and now look at her watchin’.”

Just last week, the ATL-bred rapper shared her full-length debut. Across the its 13 songs, Mulatto calls on City Girls, 21 Savage, 42 Dugg, and more to provide verses of their own. Prior to the album, Mulatto was one of 13 names to be included in this year’s XXL Freshman Class, joing other notable newcomers such as Jack Harlow, Rod Wave, Polo G, and more.

Other releases from Mulatto that are worth noting include her “Queen Of Da Souf” remix with Trina and Saweetie and “Muwop,” featuring her favorite rapper of all time, Gucci Mane, both of which appear on Queen Of Da Souf.

You can watch the “Youngest N Richest” video above.

Queen Of Da Souf is out now via RCA Records. Get it here.

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