Month: August 2020

Jusuf Nurkic took the floor on Saturday afternoon with a heavy heart. Nurkic had been open about his grandmother’s struggles after contracting COVID-19, and prior to the game, the big man posted a picture on Instagram announcing that she had passed away.

The Portland Trail Blazers ended up winning their game against the Memphis Grizzlies, thanks in large part to Nurkic having his best performance in the bubble. Nurkic was immense, going for 22 points and 21 rebounds while pitching in six assists and giving the Blazer frontcourt some serious punch. As a result, the Blazers don’t need to suit up for a second play-in game against the Grizzlies, and instead get an extra day of rest before their 1-8 series against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Still, Nurkic is unable to go home and be with his family right now, and after the game, he discussed the struggle that was playing today. He said that while he wanted to miss Saturday’s game, his grandmother “made me play.”

“I don’t have much to say about it,” Nurkic said after the game. “I didn’t want to play, she made me play, I guess. Personally, I thought, ‘I’m not gonna play tonight.’ But just being in the locker room, shooting the ball out there in warm-ups and stuff, I think I already came, did all those decisions to stay here and be with the team, so, might as well. I think she’d want me to play, so I’m glad we won and we’re in the playoffs, what we came for.”

Obviously everyone’s thoughts are with Nurkic and his family as they go through this tragedy, and it’s especially sad that he will not be able to mourn in person with his loved ones. Having said that, it’s nice that he was able to find solace in basketball, and he did one heck of a job playing for her memory against the Grizzlies.

Lil Wayne has been doing anything but staying quiet in 2020. In a year that has produced his thirteenth album, Funeral, a new radio show, and a number of guest features, the rapper added to that with a new update that lets fans know that not one, but two new projects are on the way, from the New Orleans rapper: Tha Carter VI and No Ceilings 2.

The announcement came as the rapper took made an appearance on ESPN. “Carter VI coming soon,” Wayne said. “But, I got No Ceilings coming first. No Ceilings 3.”

While the word “soon” coming from musical artists pertaining to their upcoming releases should be taken with a grain of salt, fans can certainly still be excited about Wayne’s upcoming projects. The last Carter installation came in 2018 with Tha Carter V when the rapper was finally able to release it following his contract dispute with Birdman. Following its first installment in 2009, No Ceilings 2 arrived in 2015, but, unfortunately, it failed to receive as much praise as its predecessor.

The announcement of the two projects comes after 2 Chainz confirmed that Collegrove 2 will arrive this year. The two rappers have already shared what could be its first single in “Money Maker.” Coming off his Funeral deluxe album, Wayne also recently released a video for “Thug Life” with Jay Jones and Gudda Gudda.

The 2020 presidential election is less than three months away and both major party candidates will look to make a final push to win the votes of Americans. In order to cast these votes in the current coronavirus pandemic-restricted climate, many Americans are hoping to take advantage of a mail-in ballot option to submit their vote for president, something that President Donald Trump is making difficult with changes to the postal service.

Trump is reportedly holding billions of dollars back from the United States Postal Service, which has been included by Democrats in a proposed coronavirus relief package. Some believe Trump is doing this to slow the USPS down ahead of the upcoming surge in mail-ballots for November’s election. In response to this report, Taylor Swift took to Twitter on Saturday to condemn his actions in a pair of tweets, one of which said the president was attempting to “destroy our right to vote.”

“Trump’s calculated dismantling of USPS proves one thing clearly: He is WELL AWARE that we do not want him as our president,” Swift said in the first of two tweets. “He’s chosen to blatantly cheat and put millions of Americans’ lives at risk in an effort to hold on to power.”

In the next tweet, Swift requested that Americans request a ballot early and “vote early,” hopefully in an attempt to avoid possible ballot delivery and counting issues closer to the election. “Donald Trump’s ineffective leadership gravely worsened the crisis that we are in and he is now taking advantage of it to subvert and destroy our right to vote and vote safely. Request a ballot early. Vote early.”

Swift’s tweets come after the singer spent a second week atop the Billboard album charts with Folklore.

The NBA, in its effort to figure out a way to keep things fair for the teams in the race for the 8-seed prior to its COVID-19 hiatus, decided to institute a potential play-in series for the final postseason spot. The Eastern Conference didn’t need this, the Western Conference did, and as a result, the Portland Trail Blazers and the Memphis Grizzlies squared off on Saturday afternoon to fight for the right to take on the Los Angeles Lakers in a seven-game series.

The two teams played a tight game, and by the time the dust settled, a second was not necessary. The Blazers picked up a 126-122 victory, sending the upstart Grizzlies home and officially punching their ticket to the playoffs.

After an early feeling-out period by the two teams, Portland began asserting itself about halfway through the game’s first frame. After falling behind early 11-8, the Blazers went on a 22-3 run and took a 31-19 lead into the second. Memphis struggled to get much of anything going from the field, shooting 29.2 percent and hitting one of its five threes. Portland, meanwhile, had as balanced of an attack as they’ve had all bubble — Carmelo Anthony and C.J. McCollum both scored six points, while Damian Lillard and Mario Hezonja each chipped in five.

The Grizzlies started clawing their way back at the start of the second thanks to an 8-2 run in which every point was scored by Jonas Valanciunas, including the first six in the frame. They eventually took the lead while Lillard was on the bench, but for the remainder of the half, it was another Blazer who asserted himself on the game and guided the team to a 58-52 lead at the half.

Nurkic, playing with a heavy heart following the passing of his grandmother due to COVID-19, was magnificent. He went for 15 points and 17 rebounds while pitching in a pair of steals and a pair of assists for good measure. He was +19 in 21 minutes of work during the first half. Lillard pitched in 13 points, while Anthony and McCollum both had 10. For Memphis, Valanciunas’ 16 points and 11 boards led the way, while Morant had 11 points.

Memphis’ offense came alive in the third period. The team dropped 42 points on their opponents in the frame, giving them a 94-89 lead heading into the third, thanks in large part to the play of Morant. While he didn’t always look in control during the first half, his 10 points and seven assists in the quarter were massive for the Grizzlies.

Of course, the fourth quarter of Blazers games in the Bubble have been must-watch, thanks in large part to the play of the Bubble’s seeding games MVP. Lillard has seemingly willed his team to wins late in games, which played a gigantic role in getting Portland jumping Memphis into the 8-seed and needing only one win to make the postseason. That, ultimately, wasn’t quite the case, as his backcourt mate was the one who got the team over the hump.

The Grizzlies fought, but were never quite able to get enough separation between themselves and the Blazers to fend them off entirely. Portland kept coming close to taking the lead, and within 30 seconds late in the fourth, McCollum hit a three, followed by Nurkic cleaning up and offensive rebound, scoring, and converting an and-one to put them up by three.

McCollum, despite his broken back, then connected on a pair of jumpers, extending their lead to six with just over a minute to go.

Memphis kept doing what they could, but the exclamation point came via Anthony. Lillard found him standing alone in the corner, and Anthony — who was 0-for-5 from deep up until this point — went full Olympic Melo, knocking down a gigantic triple that decided the game.

A quick triple by Dillon Brooks cracked the door just a bit, and while Gary Trent Jr. only connected on the first of two free throws in the aftermath, the Blazers came down with the offensive rebound, Anthony went to the line, and made them both. A late three by Morant was a consolation, but it was too little, too late.

Lillard’s 31 points and 10 boards lead the team, while McCollum pitched in 29, including a number of huge buckets down the stretch. Nurkic did a little bit of everything — 22 points, 21 rebounds, six assists — while Anthony scored 21. For Memphis, Morant’s 35 was a career-high, and for good measure, he pitched in eight assists. Valanciunas had 22 points and 17 boards, while Brooks and Brandon Clarke both had 20.

With the win, Portland gets an extra day off before its showdown with Los Angeles. That series will begin on Tuesday, Aug. 18, with a 9 p.m. EST tip on TNT.

Last year’s Shazam! is one of the films that helped save the DCEU, which has struggled to match the success of its big screen counterpart over at Marvel. A sequel was a no-brainer, but, of course, who knows when that will happen. But that hasn’t stopped some online commentators from dropping “reviews” of the as-yet-unmade follow-up at places like Letterboxd. And since even Shazam! director David F. Sandberg has a lot of time on his hands these days, here’s a joke trailer he made using those very write-ups.

“We haven’t shot Shazam 2 yet but there are already reviews up on Letterboxd,” Sandberg wrote on Twitter. “I’m pretty sure that means we’re allowed to start using review quotes for marketing.”

The video lasts about 30 seconds, and it follows the tradition of draping pull-quotes over the screen in dramatic fashion — a practice critic-proof comic book movies rarely employ. Granted, the pull-quotes rarely comment on the purported quality of this, again, movie that hasn’t even been shot yet. Instead, they say things like “I’m fine with this,” and “David F. Sandberg is a sweetheart,” and “Jack Dylan Glazer Im free Thursday to paint ur nails and dance in ur room to Fleetwood Mac.” (The latter refers to the actor playing our hero’s disabled, comic book superfan brother.)

The fist Shazam! concerned an orphan, played by Asher Angel, who discovers he’s been picked by an ancient wizard, played by Zachary Levi, to be his alter ego of sorts. Its success, especially following the even bigger moneymaker Aquaman, helped right the troubled DCEU, which is now doing so well that Justice League, its semi-disastrous attempt at an all-star Avengers mash-up, was famously given a Mulligan.

Meanwhile, production on Shazam 2 is scheduled to start next spring, though, you know, who knows what will happen?

(Via EW)

In March of 2019, Nipsey Hussle was tragically shot and killed in his hometown of Los Angeles outside The Marathon clothing store that he owned, located in the Slauson section of the city. Saturday marked what would have been the rapper’s 35th birthday, so people took to social media to honor his legacy.

Tributes poured in from all corners of the celebrity world. Among them were athletes like Memphis Grizzles guard Ja Morant and Indiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo, the former tweeting the words “It’s Nip Day” with a blue heart. Oladipa made his sentiments known on Instagram, sharing a picture alongside a much-loved quote from Nipsey: “We’re not the cause, we’re the effect.” On the music side of things, Kehlani shared a tweet that said, “happy birthday big nip.” Fellow west coast rapper Dom Kennedy also honored the late rapper by sharing several Nipsey songs in a string of tweets.

Going above and beyond, Snoop Dogg shared a new song entitled “Nipsey Blue” the day before the later rapper’s 35th birthday.

You can see still more thoughtful words from all over social media:

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

Over the past two months, Kanye West has been very active on his Twitter page, using the platform to make announcements to fans and air his many thoughts. In the wee hours of Saturday morning, West shared a slew of updates from his Yeezy clothing line, but it was a tweet with a snake emoji that caught people’s attention. The tweet reads, “Not gonna use a snake emoji cause you know why … I’m not sure if Christians are allowed to use snake emojis.” Some believe the tweet references his and Kim Kardashian’s 2016 beef with Taylor Swift.

The tweet seemed to specifically reference West’s 2016 song, “Famous,” in which he claimed to have “made that b*tch famous,” meaning Swift. The Folklore singer claimed to be blindsided by the song, saying she never approved being called a “b*tch.” Kardashian claimed otherwise, posting a tweet riddled with snake emojis with the words, “Wait it’s legit National Snake Day?!?!?They have holidays for everybody, I mean everything these days!” Swift then launched her Reputaion tour with a giant robotic snake on her stage, apparently in response.

West has yet to confirm or deny the tweet’s possible connection to Swift and Kardashian.

The tweet comes after some apparently beef between West and Drake. After the Toronto rapper’s newly-released “Laugh Now, Cry Later” single, fans pointed out that he may have dissed West on the song with lines like “Distance between us is not like a store, this isn’t a closeable gap, ayy / I seen some n****s attack and don’t end up makin’ it back,” as well as “We took a trip, now we on your block and it’s like a ghost town, baby.”

Earlier this week, the NBA announced that it will hand out awards based on the eight seeding games that occurred in the Orlando Bubble. Those awards were announced on Saturday prior to the first of potentially two play-in games between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Memphis Grizzlies, and to the surprise of no one, Damian Lillard’s torrid form over the last eight games led to him being named the Bubble MVP.

Lillard was given the award unanimously — every single one of the 22 voters put the Blazers star, who averaged a Bubble-high 37.6 points per game, atop their ballots. Devin Booker of the surprising Phoenix Suns came comfortably in second, while T.J. Warren narrowly edged out Luka Doncic for third. Rounding out the field were James Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo, both of whom will battle it out with LeBron James for the full-season MVP award.

Coach of the Bubble isn’t a surprise either. Monty Williams, who led the Phoenix Suns to a surprising 8-0 record, comfortably won the award, with 20 of the 21 ballots placing him atop their lists. The only other coach to get a first-place vote was runner-up Terry Stotts of the Portland Trail Blazers. Rounding out the top-3 was Jacque Vaughn, the interim head coach of the Brooklyn Nets.

To wrap up the Bubble awards, the league had voters pick their All-Seeding Game first and second teams. Lillard, Booker, and Doncic were unanimous first-team selections, while Harden and Warren comfortably made it onto that squad, too. For the second-team, Antetokounmpo was joined by Kawhi Leonard, Kristaps Porzingis, Caris LeVert, and Michael Porter Jr.

Nas recently shared the first single off his upcoming album King’s Disease, namely “Ultra Black.” While the song signaled Nas’ return to the spotlight, discussions about the track weren’t so much about its quality as much as it was about his diss of Doja Cat. On the song, Nas raps, “We goin’ ultra Black, unapologetically Black / The opposite of Doja Cat, Michael Blackson Black” — a line that had fans questioning his choice to diss a black woman, especially in today’s climate. Now Doja Cat has shared her response to the diss in a video she posted to TikTok, but it turns out it didn’t seem to bother her.

“I am so offended and upset about this song,” Doja said as Nas’ “Ultra Black” played in the background. “Have you guys heard ‘Fruit Salad’ by The Wiggles?” She opted instead to put her energy elsewhere.

Nas’ diss is rooted in Doja’s Twitter scandal, which occurred back in May. Insensitive tweets from Doja’s past were uncovered by fans after she was accused of participating in alt-right and incel chat rooms on Tinychat. Soon after a 2015 song by Doja — titled “Dindu Nuffin,” in which she see seemed to mock Black peoples’ accents — was unearthed and condemned by fans as well.

As for Nas, the rapper will release King’s Disease, executive produced by Hit-Boy, on August 21.

For years and years people on the internet have been clamoring to get Idris Elba one of the most coveted jobs in the business: James Bond. It hasn’t worked, and it almost certainly will never work, despite everyone’s best efforts. But here’s some news that may make things a touch better: As per Entertainment Weekly, the acclaimed actor has signed on to produce and star in a romantic spy thriller for Apple.

The film, which has no title and no plot beyond “romantic spy thriller,” will be produced alongside Simon Kinberg, one of Hollywood’s busiest scribes, who made his directorial debut last year with the woebegone X-Men entry Dark Phoenix. But Kinberg also wrote, among others, 2005’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith, itself a “romantic spy thriller,” and a very original one. So perhaps Elba will get something that’s at least more fun and sexy than your typical 007 romp.

Apple has been edging into the film business bit by bit, funding projects like the Will Smith thriller Emancipation, the recent Tom Hanks WWII saga Greyhound, and even giving Martin Scorsese the hefty budget he needs to make his next historical epic Killers of the Flower Moon, after numerous studios didn’t want to give Martin Scorsese money to make a movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro. So good for them.

(Via EW)