Month: November 2020

It was really weird watching the Golden State Warriors look mortal last season. Yes, there were a number of unique circumstances that contributed to this, but recent NBA history has been defined by Golden State having an air of indomitability around them.

Think of what it took for them to get to that point — devastating injuries to a pair of likely Hall of Fame inductees in the previous NBA Finals, and one of those players leaving in the offseason, and an injury suffered by a third likely Hall of Fame inductee during the season, and a number of players who played crucial roles during their reign of dominance (Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, etc.) no longer being on the roster, and Draymond Green getting load managed, and this, and that, and a few other things, and a few more.

Basically, if it took a remarkable sequence of events for the Warriors to land Kevin Durant in free agency in 2016 — a cap spike, an already-loaded roster with a spot for him, a pair of 3-1 series comebacks in the Western Conference Finals and the NBA Finals that went in opposite directions for the Dubs — it took, arguably, an even more remarkable sequence of events for the house of cards to come tumbling down so magnificently last season. The once-inevitable Golden State Warriors went 15-50, the worst record in the NBA by four games.

The renewed optimism around this team took a major blow last week, when Klay Thompson blew out his achilles. He is set to miss his second consecutive season, which is awful news for anyone who likes basketball, even if they are someone who views the Warriors as a New York Yankees-esque evil empire. But like Yankees teams of old, their stretch of excellence raised the bar to the point that all hurdles are expected to be cleared, no matter how gigantic they are.

As such, Golden State is expected to compete for a title, even if one could argue very easily that they are not in the same tier as squads like the Milwaukee Bucks or the Los Angeles teams, regardless of whether Thompson would have been able to play. This begs the question: How the heck could the Warriors win their fourth title in seven seasons?

The easiest and most likely answer, of course, is they cannot. It is impossibly difficult to win a championship, and even the team with the best odds as of this writing (the Lakers) have implied odds of only about 22 percent to lift the Larry O’Brien trophy. At +2000, Golden State is tied for the seventh-best odds to win it all, and that’s still quite the mountain to climb.

It almost feels silly to say this, but Steph Curry and Green are simultaneously crucial and extremely easy to figure out in this whole equation. If the two of them do not play like the absolute best versions of themselves — Curry a two-time league MVP who is in perpetual control of everything on the offensive end of the floor, Green a defensive stalwart and magnificent playmaker — this entire conversation is over. The Warriors cannot achieve what they want to achieve without this happening. They both had strange seasons last year, with Curry missing all but five games due to injury and Green never needing to get out of first gear. The grind of their run atop the league was so physically and mentally draining that, if all goes well, they will return to the team re-energized this time around.

Everything else is far trickier. The Warriors have no clear answer as to who defends Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, who guards whichever of LeBron James or Anthony Davis isn’t being checked by Green, or who is going to bang with Nikola Jokic, or who checks James Harden or Damian Lillard. Firepower beyond their former MVP is a question, too. For the brilliance of Curry and Green, Steve Kerr has to figure out a way to make the puzzle pieces fit around them in such a way that everyone’s abilities can be maximized.

Take, for example, the entire frontcourt beyond Green. Golden State has to find out what it has in James Wiseman, the No. 2 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. Theoretically, he can anchor the defense and be a devastating lob threat, but that is a ton to put on someone who has not played in a competitive basketball game since last November due to the NCAA’s general desire to make everything it touches worse. Kevon Looney has been reliable over the years, but only appeared in 20 games last season and has never been much more than a role player. Guys like Marquese Chriss and Eric Paschall got a ton of run last year and showed flashes — Paschall especially, as the former Villanova standout averaged 14 points and 4.6 rebounds in 27.6 minutes a night. Chriss, who is only 23, has never consistently put it all together, while Paschall has to show he can still contribute in a lesser role on a team with higher expectations.

In the backcourt, the Warriors made a pair of savvy moves by bringing in Kelly Oubre as Thompson insurance and signing heady backup point guard Brad Wanamaker away from Boston. Andrew Wiggins is still here, while Damion Lee is in a similar boat to Paschall as someone who looked nice last season but did not exactly get high-stakes reps.

Things can basically be broken down to the Chriss/Lee/Paschall camp — basically, how do these guys respond to expectations after cutting their teeth in a low-stakes environment last season? — and whatever Oubre and Wiggins give them. I will not sit here and say this is a make-or-break year for Wiggins, because everyone (myself included!) has gotten burnt by thinking the Wiggins breakout could be on the horizon. Having all the time he’s had in the Warriors’ system could, perhaps, really help him, and maybe the team can maximize his athletic gifts and occasional ability to score in bunches, but that might be an overly-rosy hope for someone who has never quite put it all together despite being the former No. 1 pick in the Draft.

Oubre gives them a similar player to Wiggins in terms of being something of a black hole with interesting physical gifts, although he settled into a role as a nice No. 2 option next to Devin Booker in Phoenix next year. Neither dude is a world-class shooter, but playing next to Curry and Green will mean they’ll get really good looks, and they have to knock them down somewhat reliably. They can both attack the rim and take dudes off the bounce a bit, too, a pair of skills that could work nicely with their teammates’ ability to playmaker.

And while neither guy is prime Gary Payton as a defender, they have the length and athleticism to contribute on that end of the floor if they’re engaged, which has been a huge question mark for both in their careers — this could be the most important contribution that these two and Wiseman can make, because while Golden State’s offense should be much better than it was in last season (30th in offensive rating), there’s no guarantee its defense (26th) will take a requisite step forward.

Again, there are so many ifs here that the Warriors winning a championship can be really hard to imagine. That is before we even consider that Curry will turn 33 during the season and Green will turn 31, and that teams seemed to relish beating up on them last year as payback for all the times the Dubs beat up on them during their run atop the league, and it’s plausible teams will find that extra gear to beat a now-healthy Golden State side.

For all of that, the Warriors have earned the benefit of the doubt to some extent. Their run has been defined in part by their ability to come up with answers when questions arise, and this season will certainly present a whole lot of those. Whether Curry, Green, Kerr, and everyone else can answer them will be the difference between Golden State being in the title hunt again, or the fat lady warming up her vocal cords to belt out a song to formally announce the end of this era.

Fivio Foreign’s debut album B.I.B.L.E is reportedly due in December and he’s been dropping off new singles for the last several weeks. Today’s entry to that collection of singles is “Trust,” which arrived with a mellow music video that offsets the energetic production from Axl Beats. The video finds Fivio and his friends having a house party and even features a cameo from the late Chicago rapper King Von.

Fivio’s star rose like a rocket this year after he was selected to represent the burgeoning Brooklyn drill movement on the XXL 2020 Freshman Class. During the customary cypher for Fivio’s group, his flirtation with Mulatto made the two trend on Twitter, then he capitalized with the Polo G-featuring “Bop It” video.

With videos for “Move Like A Boss” featuring Young M.A., “Zoo York” with Lil Tjay and Pop Smoke, and “Ah Ah Ah” with DreamDoll, Fivio Foreign is picking up steam ahead of his release, which also included the song “Salute” with Hit-Boy and Big Sean.

While there isn’t a release date announced for B.I.B.L.E just yet, Fivio aims to have the album released sometime in 2020. With only one month to go, there isn’t much time left so keep your eyes open.

Watch the “Trust” video above.

In the early days of COVID-19 lockdown, movies and shows dealing with communicable diseases were extremely popular on streaming services and people hunkered down and attempted to understand why coronavirus required radically altering daily life in order to protect others from the deadly disease.

One of those movies was the 2011 film Contagion, which detailed an outbreak of a disease that quickly causes chaos all over the world as scientists try to grasp how to create a vaccine to limit its chaos. And one of the stars of the film says he learned from experts working on the movie just how likely a real-life disease similar to the one from the movie would unleash chaos on Earth.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jude Law explained that scientists working to make the movie accurate told him that a similar virus had the very real possibility of spreading death the way COVID-19 has in 2020.

“There was absolutely the sense that this was going to happen,” Law said. “The great scientists on set with us who had worked with Scott [Z. Burns] the writer and [director] Steven [Soderbergh] were very learned and experienced individuals who knew what to expect. And they all said to us that this was going to happen — and it was a case of when rather than if.”

He continued, “The way they described it, which is exactly as it has happened, just made sense. What’s scary is you learn in a set like that because you’re being advised by experts, but it doesn’t necessarily sit.”

Contagion‘s experts aren’t the only ones predicting the likelihood of a pandemic, of course, but it’s yet another eerie warning that went largely unheeded by the general population. Not everything in Contagion matches up with what we’ve actually experienced in 2020, but even the trailer is familiar enough to be downright unsettling. Law said that the initial warnings stayed with him after making the film, but seeing it all play out this year brought back what he learned during filming.

“When 2020 started, and we heard about what was initially happening in China, what fast became apparent around the world, it rang alarm bells,” Law said. “Unfortunately, I wasn’t hugely surprised.”

[via THR]

The 2020-21 NBA season is scheduled to start on Dec. 22, 2020, giving the league its highest-profile day on the calendar with its traditional Christmas Day slate. The season will, obviously, look much different than usual due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with largely empty stadiums and a packed slate to wrap things up prior to next summer’s Olympics.

Before things begin, the league will put forth an eight day-long preseason to get teams ready to go on the heels of either a truncated offseason or a remarkably long one, depending on whether or not the squads participated in the Orlando Bubble. Here’s the entire slate, which runs from Dec. 11 until Dec. 19.

Obviously the big, grand preseason tours that some squads will go on to places like China won’t occur this year, but the league is still putting a handful of intriguing matchups in this period. Things start off in a big way with five games on the opening evening of the preseason, with one of the tilts — Clippers vs. Lakers — seeming ripe for a rematch 14 days later on Christmas. There are a few other games that look like potential Dec. 25 matchups, like both of Boston’s, who play Philly on the 15th and Brooklyn on the 18th.

There is no word on exactly when the NBA will release its full regular season schedule, but Andrew Lopez of ESPN has reported that the league will split things into halves, and it’s believed the first half schedule will come out close to Dec. 1.

It seems all the best stories from Complex‘s Hot Ones interview show come from the segment in which host Sean Evans pulls a photo from the guest’s Instagram and prompts the guest to explain it. It’s also probably no coincidence this segment usually comes after the first few wings have lowered the subject’s guard but before those last three tear them apart and reduce them to coughing fits, tears, and pained contortions.

Shortly before Lil Nas X wound up doing all the latter (while struggling to guzzle an entire carton of soy milk, no less), he was asked just what John Mayer once said to him to make him cry as a photo of the two flashed across the screen. “Maybe he said something super inspirational,” Nas answered. “John Mayer’s a super cool dude. He just says cool sh*t.” He elaborates that the two were at Columbia Records CEO Ron Perry’s party once, “And then John Mayer just walks by the pool and says something super cool and walks away. And it made me cry a little bit.”

After that, though, the interview quickly turns toward Nas’s expert use of the internet and memes — right before he manages to turn himself into another one. Unfortunately, he has no one to blame but himself (seriously, watch to end).

Watch Lil Nas’ full interview with Hot Ones above.

As the COVID-19 cases in the Ravens’ organization pile up, including for MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson, the NFL has rescheduled both of their next two matchups.

The Steelers game that was initially scheduled for the night of Thanksgiving has been moved to Tuesday night, while the subsequent Thursday night game against Dallas, which was regularly scheduled as a Thursday Night Football bout, will become a double-header next Monday night alongside ESPN’s usual broadcast.

The decisions “were made out of an abundance of caution to ensure the health” of all personnel involved, the league said in a statement Friday afternoon.

Baltimore has been under intense scrutiny during its outbreak because the team’s strength and conditioning coach has routinely shirked mask and social distancing requirements, according to multiple reports. In addition to Jackson, defensive lineman Calais Campbell, who considered sitting out the year due to having asthma, tested positive in recent days. And on Jackson specifically, he will be unable to play against Pittsburgh despite the game being pushed due to when his positive test came.

Recent reports suggest at least 12 Ravens players have tested positive for the virus in addition the coach in question, who some have indicated was symptomatic and still present in the team facility.

Wheel of Fortune has a long history of players making hilarious gaffes, but a contestant getting the right answer has rarely caused problems on the show. Wednesday’s Wheel may be a clear exception, though, as a contestant was actually scolded and called “ungrateful” when he questioned a puzzle’s construction after he answered correctly.

It all started when contestant Darin correctly solved the puzzle about items that start with the word “kitchen.”

“Cabinet, oven, towels, sink,” Darin said, correctly. But after the celebration music was over, he asked a question about the weirdness of the phrase “kitchen oven.” correctly answered. However, the contestant pointed out it didn’t necessarily make sense.

“Kitchen oven? What was that?” Darin said.

“Yeah, where else would you keep an oven?” Sajak responded, before he riffed a bit.

“You won! Don’t argue, Darin! You got the puzzle!” Sajak said. “Ungrateful players, I’ve had it!”

Sajak raised his voice, perhaps a bit surprisingly, before he said “no I’m only teasing” at a regular volume. But the moment was a bit of a shock for fans, some of which thought Darin had made a good point.

It raised some noise on social media, and fans also noted that later on, Sajak apologized again to the contestant he scolded in the moment.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you, Darin,” Sajak said at the end of the show.

It was a moment that had fans talking on Twitter, as some thought Sajak was clearly kidding while others wondered if he was actually frustrated by the comments. It’s Sajak’s job to give fans good TV, and the jokes are a part of it. But considering he actually went back and apologized at the end of the show, it’s likely that even he knew he may have been a bit too harsh on Wednesday.

Sometimes the best new R&B can be hard to find, but there are plenty of great rhythm and blues tunes to get into if you have the time to sift through the hundreds of newly released songs every week. So that R&B heads can focus on listening to what they really love in its true form, we’ll be offering a digest of the best new R&B jams that fans of the genre should hear every Friday.

Tinashe — Comfort & Joy EP

‘Tis the season to be jolly and Tinashe is coming through with some holiday cheer this week in the form of her Christmas EP, Comfort & Joy. The project is stacked with seven songs made just for the festive winter spell including the classic “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” with a Nashe twist.

Chloe x Halle — “Sending My Love”

Chloe x Halle got into their ’90s R&B bag by doing their own rendition of Zhane’s 1994 bop “Sending My Love” for Spotify. The Ungodly Hour duo really took an already timeless R&B song and made it their own.

Kelly Rowland — “Hitman”

Kelly Rowland is set to drop her forthcoming EP K on December 4 and this week she shared the music video for “Hitman,” which is expected to live on the project. This follows her previously released track “Crazy.”

Teenear — “Special Delivery”

Flordia native Teenear shared her smooth single “Special Delivery” with lots of love. The rising R&B singer is quickly making a name for herself, and we’re definitely paying attention.

Check out this week’s R&B picks, plus more on Uproxx’s Spotify playlist below.

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

Steph Curry is no stranger to pressure. He helped lead the Golden State Warriors to five straight Finals appearances and has played in some of the biggest games of the decade. In the playoffs, teams tend to live and die by every possession, and one seemingly tiny mistake can make the difference between winning a title or going home empty-handed.

Curry has experienced both. He’s been on a team that overcame a 3-1 deficit, as well as one that infamously blew one against the Cleveland Cavaliers. In each case, it’s difficult for us mere mortals to comprehend the type of stress that comes with those scenarios and the mental fortitude required to perform at a high level amid all the tension.

Still, Curry claims it’s nothing compared to how nervous he gets when it comes to his other favorite pastime and having to face off against pro golfers. On Friday, Curry will participate in “The Match: Champions for Change,” a charity golf tournament featuring Charles Barkley, Peyton Manning, and Phil Mickelson. Ahead of that tournament, Curry talked about how he gets rattled when teeing off against real golf pros.

Via Adam Kramer of Bleacher Report:

“I’ve played in NBA Finals, I’ve played in world championships and played with Team USA,” Curry says. “I’ve played in a lot of big games. There is no comparison to how nervous I was on the first tee, standing there with other professionals, trying to compete.”

The event starts at 3 p.m. ET on TNT at Stone Canyon Golf Club in Oro Valley, Arizona and will feature Curry paired up with Manning against Barkley and Mickelson, with Andre Iguodala joining the announcing booth. The proceeds will reportedly go primarily to Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

(Via Bleacher Report)

Four season finales of interest are coming your way this weekend:

How To With John Wilson (Friday, HBO 11:00 p.m.) — This week, Wilson dives into the art of whipping up the perfect risotto. Wilson previously spoke with us about capturing the intimacy and absurdity of life in New York.

The Undoing (Sunday, HBO 9:00 p.m.) — Finally, we’ll find out whodunnit. I have my suspicions, although who knows if mere “muck” will arise, or Hugh Grant’s fascinating turn will truly lead to the real murderer being exposed? (It’s Paddington.)

Fargo (Sunday, FX 10:00 p.m.) — The Chris Rock-led season finale sees Josto gain revenge, Oraetta making an admission, and Loy learning a lesson. Sorry, Deafy shall materialize no more, but his carrot sticks shall linger as legends tend to do.

The Walking Dead: World Beyond (Sunday, AMC 10:00 p.m.) — The newest spinoff in this zombie-filled universe has reached the season finale point with an accident, and injury, and a discovery. Maybe the tire fire will finally go out? Nah.

Fresh streaming highlights are coming your way as well:

The Mandalorian: Chapter 11 (Disney+ series) — This week, the bounty-hunting Star Wars series reveals Baby Yoda’s name and adds a Grand Admiral Thawn moment to get the fans going. (For kicks, we recently ranked Cobb Vanth actor Timothy Olyphant in his lawman roles, including his turn as the galaxy’s coolest marshal.)

The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two (Netflix film) — Kurt Russell’s hot Santa returns two years after Kate and Teddy saved Christmas. Kate’s now a cynical teenager with family drama, and for some reason, she’s not thrilled to spend Christmas in Cancun. The trouble truly begins when a mysterious toublemaker, Belsnickel, plots to destroy Christmas and make a ground zero out of the North Pole.

Black Beauty (Disney+ film) — Anna Sewell’s literary classic receives a fresh reimagining with Kate Winslet voicing the mustang and Mackenzie Foy becoming the horse’s soul mate. This film is totally going to make everyone cry, right? Nonetheless, it looks like a spellbinding new spin on a childhood favorite.

Small Axe (Amazon film collection) — It’s week two of five for this batch of Steve McQueen-directed movies. The stories, set in London’s West Indian community, will explore the endurance of the human spirit despite setbacks from discrimination and rampant racism, all set from the late 1960s to the 1980s.

Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker (Netflix documentary film) — Shondaland brings us this career spotlight for trailblazer Debbie Allen (Fame), who reimagines the classic ballet guiding a group of stellar young dancers as they gear up to launch Allen’s yearly “Hot Chocolate Nutcracker” production. This film looks like a blast and includes not only fantastic choreography and behind-the-scenes glimpses at the grueling process but also intimate interviews with Allen and all involved.

Here’s the rest of this weekend’s notable programming:

Pandora (CW, HBO 8:00 p.m.) — Earth is basically devoid of life, to the discovery of Xander, Ralen, and Jett, but a mysterious and amnesic Jax is lurking about to help them unravel this strange world’s mysteries.

The Outpost (CW, HBO 9:00 p.m.) — Talon’s struggling with her emotions while death lurks in the background, and a fight arena materializes as an old enemy resurfaces with a dark power in tow.

The Reagans (CW, HBO 9:00 p.m.) — The New Deal and the Great Society are on the verge of being dismantled by Ronald, and those maneuvers spawn far-reaching implications as Nancy’s struggling with her public image.

Murder On Middle Beach (Sunday, HBO 10:00 p.m.) — First-time director Madison Hamburg (who we spoke with) reveals his nearly decade-long journey to investigate who murdered his mother, Barbara, in a still-unsolved case out of Connecticut. The four-part series takes many twists and turns, including an exploration of the “Gifting Tables” Ponzi scheme, as well as interviews with friends, family members, and the law enforcement figures who let the case go cold. It’s a heck of a watch that will keep you guessing.

Moonbase 8 (Sunday, Showtime 11:00 p.m. EST and streaming) — Fred Armisen, Tim Heidecker, and John C. Reilly are here to make space funny as astronauts working toward a lunar mission. This week, Elon Musk’s SpaceX camp moves in next door. Will that lead to rivalry or cooperation?

In case you missed these recent picks:

The Flight Attendant (HBO Max series) — Kaley Cuoco busts away from the The Big Bang Theory with a fun flight of (darkly comedic) fancy. She plays portrays an airline stewardess whose international jet-setting lifestyle includes falling into bed in various countries with various handsome men. During the course of one particularly fateful encounter, Cassie wakes up next to the dead body of a one-night stand. She spends the rest of the series attempting to clean sh*t up. Surrender to this madcap ride.

Saved By The Bell (Peacock series) — Here comes the official reimagining of the original series with a lot of the O.G. crowd on board for more neon-tinged adventures. Zack Morris is now (a terrible) California governor, Kelly Kapowski’s his first lady, and Elizabeth Berkley and Mario Lopez are back as Jessie Spano and A.C. Slater, respectively. If you’re lucky, you’ll see the return of Zack Attack. Screech is sitting this one out, but prepare for some (still lighthearted) social commentary.

Mosul (Netflix film) — Anthony and Joe Russo produce this Matthew Michael Carnahan-directed project about men who fight to take back homes and territory seized by ISIS. Prepare for a dangerous guerrilla operation to go down onscreen, along with an extraordinary display of heroism.

Superintelligence (HBO Max film) — This action-comedy stars Melissa McCarthy and James Corden and follows an all-powerful A.I. that stands on the verge of either enslaving, saving or destroying humanity.