Month: November 2020

Dwight Howard enjoyed something of a renaissance this season in Los Angeles. After several years of bouncing around to different teams and mostly failing to find a niche as a reliable productive contributor, he took one of the more circuitous routes anyone could’ve imagined and ended up at the sight of one of his most infamous flame-outs.

But Lakers fans proved they could forgive and forget, and under LeBron James’ veteran leadership, Howard settled into the type of role that fits him best at this point of his career and proved to be solid rotation player in a championship team. His future with the team was uncertain heading into free agency, so when the moratorium opened on Friday night, Howard appeared to settle that lingering question when he tweeted that he was re-signing with the Lakers.

That turned out to be premature, however, and Howard was quickly forced to delete the tweet when a report from Shams Charania of The Athletic indicated that he and the Lakers had not reached a deal and that Howard was still exploring his options. A couple hours later, it appears Howard won’t be staying in L.A. after all, as he’s reportedly agreed to a one-year deal for the veteran’s minimum to join the Philadelphia 76ers.

Free agent Dwight Howard has agreed to a one-year deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, his agent Charles Briscoe tells @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 21, 2020

The Dwight Howard contract in Philadelphia is for the veteran minimum exception of $2.6M, per league sources.

The cap hit is $1.6M

— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) November 21, 2020

He’ll likely fill a similar role as he did in Los Angeles as a reserve center to come off the bench and play defense and catch lobs. The deal reunites Dwight with Daryl Morey, the former Rockets exec who joined Philadelphia’s front office last month after parting ways with Houston.

Back in March, Car Seat Headrest vocalist Will Toledo appeared in an apocalyptic gas mask attached with two floppy ears and debuted new music. The band had just announced their latest LP Making A Door Less Open, which arrived back in May. Though the album has been out for several months, Car Seat Headrest has yet to do any late-night TV performances of their new songs — until now.

Car Seat Headrest brought their driving track “Can’t Cool Me Down” to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon! with an at-home performance. With a haphazard setup, the full band managed to squeeze themselves into one tiny room, gear and all, will Toledo singing from a cramped closet.

Ahead of their Tonight Show appearance, Toledo told the New York Times that his gas mask persona was actually envisioned well before the pandemic. “It was supposed to be sort of an exotic alternative to reality — like a challenge, I guess, to normal life,” Toledo said. “And now it just feels a lot more pointed in a way that I wasn’t planning on and don’t really take any pleasure in.”

Watch Car Seat Headrest perform “Can’t Cool Me Down” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon! above.

Making A Door Less Open is out now via Matador. Get it here.

Like many things about the Donald Trump presidency, the way the White House press secretary has handled the media is unprecedented over the last four years. Especially when it comes to the most recent person in that position, Kayleigh McEnany.

McEaney ended a press conference early on Friday and with a fairly dismissive comment about “good and substantive questions,” but saved special ire for CNN White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins.

“I don’t call on activists,” she said after Collins attempted to ask a question.

It’s unclear what activism the press secretary is talking about, as it seems the only thing Collins truly advocates for outside of her work is her love of the Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturdays, but the remark got her attention and she fired back at McEnany as she walked away.

“I’m not an activist and you haven’t taken questions since October 1,” Collins said. “That’s not doing your job. Your taxpayer-funded job.”

Collins later appeared on CNN to discuss the meeting Trump had with Republican Michigan lawmakers in an apparent attempt to overturn election results that showed Joe Biden winning the state in the presidential election. But the segment was ended by Tapper complimenting Collins for her work and defending her as one of the best correspondents the network has ever had.

“I just wanted to note that you’re one of the best White House correspondents ever, in the history of this country,” Tapper said. “You do a fantastic job, and we’re very lucky to have you. We are all 100 percent behind you. So thanks for the report, and thank you for all you do.

Collins later tweeted video of the segment as well, sharing her appreciation for Tapper’s words and his support throughout her career.

Collins may have been “attacked from the podium” on Friday, but she got high praise on CNN as a result.

The Atlanta Hawks have made moves to bolster their frontcourt over the last few months. From trading for Clint Capela to taking Onyeka Okongwu in the first round of the 2020 NBA Draft, it’s evident that Atlanta wants to bolster its big men with Trae Young manning the point. The latest example of this is the biggest addition they’ve made yet.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Oklahoma City marksman Danilo Gallinari will head to the Atlanta Hawks on a three-year deal worth $61.5 million.

Gallinari has moved around plenty in his decade-plus in the NBA, and there have always been concerns about his ability to stay on the floor. But when he’s been able to play — and he has stayed pretty healthy over the last two years — no one has ever doubted his ability to score. Last season, Gallinari was excellent for the Thunder, averaging 18.7 points and 5.2 rebounds in 29.6 minutes per game. He connected on 43.8 percent of his field goal attempts and 40.5 percent of his threes.

Atlanta is building a pretty interesting team around Young, and one thing they don’t really have is someone who can get buckets when he’s not on the floor. Gallinari fixes that, and while we’ll have to wait and see if the Hawks can make the playoffs, at the very least, their offense is going to be a blast.

R. Kelly was originally supposed to stand trial for his federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges back in July. The trial was pushed back indefinitely due to safety precautions in light of the coronavirus pandemic, but it now looks like Kelly now has gotten a definitive answer to when he’ll appear in court.

Per a report from HotNewHipHop, Kelly’s trial has now been set for April 7 by district court judge Ann Donnelly. Earlier this month, Donnelly approved a motion for Kelly’s case to be tried in front of an anonymous jury.

“Empaneling an anonymous jury is appropriate given the seriousness of the charges, the defendant’s history of obstructing the judicial process, the potential for juror intimidation and the intensity of media attention given to this case,” Donnelly said.

The singer will remain in prison in Chicago’s Metropolitan Correctional Center until the spring court date after being denied an early release over coronavirus concerns. While awaiting trial, Kelly has had quite a few reported issues. He was the victim of an alleged jail cell attack perpetrated by a fellow prisoner back in September. The singer had reportedly learned of the potential of the attack and alerted guards, who did not heed his warning. Following the incident, Kelly’s attacker was transferred to a different prison to address the singer’s safety concerns.

One of the fun surprises when you get to college is learning that most college professors are not nearly as scary as your high school teachers made them out to be. Some are tough, for sure, and there are always a few a-holes thrown into the mix, but for the most part professors are smart, compassionate human beings who care about both the academic performance and the personal well-being of their students.

But some take it even a step farther.

A college student on Twitter shared a pre-Thanksgiving e-mail she and her classmates received from a professor, and it’s just the best example of real human-kindness.

It reads:

“Good morning. I know this has been a difficult time for a lot of you—some of you have had Covid, some of you are currently in quarantine, and some of you may not be able to go home for Thanksgiving as you have family members who are socially distancing.

I don’t want anyone to feel alone at Thanksgiving, or to miss out on a homecooked family dinner, so I want to invite you to share my Thanksgiving dinner. I’ve talked with my kids and we would be happy to make extra portions of everything and drop it by your apartment or residence (as long as it’s within a 20 mile radius of ____.) Since we’re all socially distancing we would leave it outside and not have physical contact with you.

I truly want you to take me up on this offer if you are in town. As I mentioned, my kids have been socially distancing and will make the food wearing masks to reduce the likelihood of anything being spread.

My youngest daughter is vegan so there’ll be a vegan option. Check out the menu below.

If you are socially distancing with a roommate or significant other, I’d be happy to drop off two or even three portions.”

It appears from the poster’s bio that this professor is from the University of Iowa. After the tweet went viral, people began asking if there was a way that they could donate to help fun her generous effort. Then came the follow-up: “She emailed me back and said she ‘truly does not want donations’ but is blown away from the response. :)”

The post prompted others to share supportive and generous messages from their own professors, lending further credence to the idea that teachers are genuinely the best people on the planet.

Most of the responses, though, were people who said the email made them teary, as it’s a much-needed example of the kinds of people the world needs more of.

But the truth is there are a lot of people like this out there. My own daughter is a college student and any time she’s been dealing with mental health struggles, her professors have not just been accommodating, but actively and personally supportive. She’s had teachers share their own experiences with her and made sure she knew she wasn’t alone. She’s an A-student, and when her anxiety has spiked, she’s been given the time and grace she needed to work through her struggles without sacrificing her grades. She’s learned that being responsible and being healthy are not mutually exclusive, and that compassion is a key component of learning.

So yes, thank goodness for kind and generous teachers who don’t need to go above and beyond their work with students in the classroom but so often do so anyway. That kind of caring will be remembered far longer than any facts or figures and will go a long way toward building the better world we all want to live in.

As far as free agency is concerned, all of the news out of Sacramento has revolved around the baffling situation with Bogdan Bogdanovic. Earlier this week, a report emerged that the Kings and the Bucks had agreed to a sign-and-trade deal that would send Bogdanovic to Milwaukee in exchange for D.J. Wilson, Donte DiVincenzo, and Ersan Ilyasova.

However, it came to light later in the week that Bogdanovic had not, in fact, agree to said deal and that the whole thing was in danger of going up in flames. That’s exactly what ended up happening, as Woj reported on Thursday that Bogdanovic had indeed decided to enter free agency and explore other options.

There was some good news for the Kings, however, as news emerged that De’Aaron Fox has agreed to a max extension with the team that would secure his future in Sacramento in the long term.

Sacramento Kings young star De’Aaron Fox has agreed to a five-year, $163M maximum extension, with clause to reach the $195.6M super max, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.

Deal negotiated by his agent @chrisgaston_ of @FamFirstSports.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 21, 2020

Fox is one of the most talented young point guards in the NBA, and he’s the face of the Kings’ franchise right now. The team added a really fun running mate in the Draft in Iowa State guard Tyrese Haliburton, and now, they made sure that Fox isn’t going anywhere any time soon.

After providing positive contributions to a title-winning team in 2019-20, Dwight Howard enters free agency in stronger standing around the NBA than he has in several years. He was seemingly rejuvenated with the Los Angeles Lakers, performing well on defense with high usage on offense, and it made all kinds of sense when Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that Howard would be re-signing with the Lakers on Friday evening.

https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1329941998019764224

However, Charania quickly backtracked, indicating shortly thereafter that no deal was done.

To be fair, Howard actually delivered a positive message about returning to the Lakers, bolstering the belief that he would, in fact, be signing with Los Angeles. But then he also deleted the tweet.

It has to be said that Howard and the Lakers could still find common ground on a contract, with both sides potentially benefiting from a continued partnership. At the same time, it is unquestionably odd to see this kind of drama, especially with Howard’s own social media presence involved.

In reality, there is not a huge rush to get this done, especially if Howard signs for the minimum, which is relatively substantial for a player with his level of experience. Only time will tell, though, and what seemed to be an easy transaction may not be anymore.

Jordan Clarkson will keep his high-scoring game in Utah. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Clarkson’s agent, Rich Paul, confirmed that the player and the Utah Jazz came to terms on an agreement that will hand Clarkson a hefty chunk of change. Clarkson will get $52 million from the franchise over four years.

Clarkson joined the Jazz after last season began, and as Wojnarowski laid out, the team was hell-bent on keeping him around after he showed the ability to be a microwave scorer off the bench.

After starting the season in Cleveland, Clarkson played 42 regular season games as a member of the Jazz, with all of two of them coming in a bench role. Clarkson averaged 15.6 points in 24.7 minutes per game for Utah, and connected on 46.2 percent of his field goals and 36.6 percent of his threes.

The Jazz have a few big decisions they need to make on the horizon with potential extensions for Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell coming soon — Mitchell is extension eligible now, while Gobert’s up for an extension next summer. But before they get to that point, they apparently wanted to make sure that one of their most important offensive players will stick around, and as a result, Clarkson’s future is in Salt Lake City.

Jimmy Butler is the person who arguably benefited the most from the Miami Heat’s Finals run last season. For the past few years, he’d earned a reputation for being too demanding of his teammates, and after two straight exits from the Timberwolves and the 76ers, it was starting to look like Butler might well be the culprit he appeared to be.

But like so many things in the NBA, it turns out he just needed to find the right fit. And the Miami ended up being the perfect landing spot. Team president Pat Riley is notorious for pushing his players to the limit physically and mentally, and when it comes to pure competitive nature, he’s in the same class as Michael Jordan.

From that perspective, Butler is the ideal Heat player. And knowing just how demanding he is of his teammates, it speaks volumes to their character when he goes to great lengths to express just how badly he wants to play with them. So it wasn’t that much of a surprise to learn that he jokingly threatened Goran Dragic physically if he didn’t return to Miami in free agency.

More Goran Dragic to AP: Jimmy Butler called him last week and (half-seriously, we think) suggested physical violence could be coming his way if he didn’t return to Miami. “Jimmy’s a tough guy. … I didn’t want him chasing my ass,” Dragic said.

— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) November 20, 2020

Dragic proved in Orlando that he has a lot left in the tank before his untimely injury effectively torpedoed their title chances. Heading into next season, a healthy and intact Heat squad will have the opportunity to show that last season wasn’t a fluke, though they’ll have to make it through another gauntlet in the East that’s working to get better in free agency as well.