Month: November 2020

After coming under fire earlier this month for throwing his support behind Donald Trump’s re-election campaign, Lil Wayne faces even more bad news this week. Federal prosecutors have filed charges against the Funeral rapper which could land him in prison for up to 10 years, according to TMZ. Stemming from a December 2019 search of his private plane at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport, Wayne’s been charged with possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon. Wayne was convicted of attempted criminal possession of a weapon in 2009 after a 2007 arrest in New York City for having a .40 caliber pistol in his bag.

Howard Srebnick, Wayne’s attorney, said at the time of the 2019 incident that Wayne was “cleared” to leave the airport despite federal agents finding the guns, but it appears that prosecutors are now following through on the procedure. As a felon, Wayne wouldn’t have been allowed to carry firearms for any reason; while the agents in question may not have felt they had reason to arrest him, apparently, the court is going by the letter of the law in this case. Wayne previously eight months in prison due to his 2007 arrest after being sentenced to a year on Riker’s Island. Things could get worse this time around, although Srebnick maintains that Wayne never “fired it, brandished it, used it or threatened to use it” with regard to his current handgun charge.

50 Cent, who previously mocked the backlash against Wayne for supporting Trump, again trolled the younger rapper on Instagram upon learning of his predicament, writing, “Wait a minute. Trump still got 63 days left. Call him, Wayne. Get that fool on the phone. They gonna try to put you in jail for supporting Trump.”

With several musicians experiencing breakout moments on TikTok, artists are starting to realize that they shouldn’t overlook the platform. Recently, Fleetwood Mac was catapulted back into the limelight when a TikTok went viral featuring their 1977 song “Dreams” — it even caused Rumours to return to the Billboard 200 albums chart. But Fleetwood Mac isn’t the only veteran act to share their music on the platform as Queen just announced their catalog will now be made available.

Fans will have ten of Queen’s classic hits at their disposal on TikTok. The songs made available on the app include “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Another One Bites The Dust,” “Don’t Stop Me Now,” “We Will Rock You,” “Under Pressure,” “We Are The Champions,” “I Want To Break Free,” and more.

To commemorate the official arrival of their music, Queen created their own account and launched the new dance challenge #SingWithQueen. In the challenge, fans are urged to keep up with Freddie Mercury’s vocals as he gives a call-and-response melody at Queen’s iconic 1985 Live Aid concert.

The move to include Queen’s music arrives after Sony secured a massive deal with the streaming platform. Now, Sony musicians like Beyonce, Travis Scott, and more will have their music on the platform. The influx of available songs marks a major turn for TikTok, which narrowly avoided being banned by the Trump administration this summer.

Timed to the release of the new Zack Snyder’s Justice League trailer, Jason Momoa has shared an emotional note honoring the director’s late daughter. As fans of the highly-anticipated Snyder Cut know, the upheaval with the Justice League theatrical cut started when Snyder had to step away from the production after the suicide of his daughter Amber. Since then, the social media campaign #ReleaseTheSnyderCut focused not just on restoring the director’s original vision of the film, but also on suicide prevention. Those efforts are now getting a major boost from Momoa on Instagram.

“I am deeply connected to the Snyder ohana supporting and spreading awareness is the least I can offer,” Momoa wrote before directing fans to a link to the Amber Snyder Tribute Fund, which is now part of his Instagram bio. Momoa also shared the following message from the Snyder family:

We’ve created this official tribute site, as many continue to be inspired by Autumn, offering their support to the important work of this foundation. Today, more than ever, recognizing and destigmatizing conversations surrounding mental health, suicide awareness and prevention is crucial. We are honored by the amazing way Autumn’s legacy has inspired so many to dedicate their efforts and resources to helping others when they need it most.

You can see Momoa’s full post below:

The message is another example of Momoa’s thoughtful and compassionate side that’s not afraid to defy “masculine” stereotypes. The actor recently revealed to InStyle that he’s been going to therapy to explore male vulnerability to help him be a better father and example to his son. He also was proud to admit that he loves wearing the color pink and he doesn’t “really give a shit what anyone thinks.”

(Via Jason Momoa on Instagram)

After a short-lived run as the host of NBC’s The Tonight Show, Conan O’Brien escaped Jay Leno’s blue jeans-stained clutches and set up shop on TBS, where Conan has aired for the last 10 years. But the nightly talk show is coming to an end in 2021, as O’Brien is once again on the move, this time to HBO Max for a weekly variety series.

“In 1993 Johnny Carson gave me the best advice of my career: ‘As soon as possible, get to a streaming platform.’ I’m thrilled that I get to continue doing whatever the hell it is I do on HBO Max, and I look forward to a free subscription,” O’Brien said in a statement. HBO Max chief content officer Casey Bloys added, “Conan’s unique brand of energetic, relatable, and at times, absurdist, comedy has charmed late-night audiences for nearly three decades. We can’t wait to see what he and the rest of Team Coco will dream up for this brand new, variety format each week.” Conan Without Borders will continue on TBS.

Between Late Night, The Tonight Show, and Conan, O’Brien has been a nightly talk show fixture for nearly 30 years (and a TV staple for even longer, dating back to his days as a writer for SNL and The Simpsons). He’s not going anywhere, not with the HBO Max variety series, but this feels like the end of a “Walker Level”-era nonetheless.

In the new video for “Headass (Idiot Shinji)” from his album Anime, Trauma, And Divorce, Open Mike Eagle recruits comedian Jak Knight (who’s crafted a niche lane for himself as rap’s go-to cameo comic) to break down the meaning behind the slang term in a segment titled “How Black People Talk.” After a fed-up Professor Jak reaches his limit of explaining the phrase — which doesn’t take long — he pops in a VHS (ah, nostalgia) of the actual music video and lets Mike and Video Dave do the talking.

Because Open Mike Eagle has such an absurdist streak, he naturally appears as a person with a literal gluteus maximus on his cranium to lead a “headass support group.” Lyrically, Mike and Dave recount some of their headass, over-analyzing moments from past relationships and their anxieties about their rap careers.

If I can be headass for a moment here, I feel like I need to explain where the “Idiot Shinji” portion of the song’s title comes from for those readers not well-versed in the first item from Mike’s album title. In the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion, which is about (among other things) a lot of trauma and the ways people deal with it (or refuse to), the lead character, teenaged robot pilot Shinji Ikari, is nicknamed “Idiot Shinji” by his fellow teenaged robot pilot Asuka Langley due to his tendency to overthink pretty much every situation he finds himself in — including the life-or-death ones they frequently encounter as the pilots of giant robots.

So, it all ties together with the theme of anime and trauma and general headassery, which is something Open Mike Eagle is very good at doing on his new album Anime, Trauma, And Divorce. The album’s out now on Mike’s own Auto Reverse Records and you can listen to it here. You can also watch the classic anime Neon Genesis Evangelion on Netflix, but unless you too would like to be traumatized, I don’t recommend it.

“I love to guard.”

That statement isn’t one most young players lead with, especially not ones just shy of their 20th birthday who are expected to be taken in the lottery of the NBA Draft. It’s what separates Onyeka Okongwu from much of this year’s class, and it’s what makes him one of the most intriguing prospects for teams hoping to establish an identity during a rebuild.

Okongwu knows who he is, and knows precisely how he can contribute Day 1. It’s where he can go from here that is even more exciting.

“I feel like me coming into the league, right away I can provide just off of my defense,” Okongwu tells Dime on a mid-October zoom in preparation for his MyCover Shoot. “I really provide a lot to a team, plus I’m an athlete so I can run up and down the court well. I move well, I’m able to switch out to guards, I’m able to do all of the little things that coaches love. I’m a defender. I love to guard. I love to guard whoever the coaches want me to guard. I’m a rim protector and have a great natural defensive instincts and my awareness is unbelievable. I really believe in my defensive awareness and abilities coming right into the league. I feel I can be a defensive anchor on a team.”

Okongwu is an exceptional athlete, with ample skill and production on the offensive end, capable of skying above the rim and running with guards in transition, but it’s on defense where he thrives. His abilities as a defender at the rim and out in space make him exceptionally valuable in the modern NBA, where spread pick-and-roll is the name of the game and opposing offenses try their best to pick at weak spots and target mismatches. Okongwu’s ability as a shot-blocker will help cover up for mistakes, while also being able to switch out on perimeter players and not provide an easy weak point to prod at.

The 19-year-old has a presence beyond his years, and it shows in his commitment to defense. He’s not just good at it, but he enjoys playing on that end and working on his craft. That’s not often the case and when you bring together a true love of playing defense with the physical and mental tools he possesses.

The result – and Okongwu’s potential ceiling in the league – is pretty spectacular.

***

Okongwu prides himself on being a versatile defender, capable of blocking shots at the rim as well as stepping out to defend on the perimeter in switches. He is a tremendous athlete but couples that with strong instincts and basketball IQ that help him maximize those physical abilities in a way that so many similar athletes struggle to. He puts in the time in the film room to learn tendencies and makes sure his body is able to do what his mind tells it. He says he spends a lot of time on his hips and flexibility to be able to keep up with guards and wings when they drive from the perimeter, as yoga has become a big part of his workout schedule.

Still, at 6’9, 245 pounds, there are some who wonder if he’ll be able to remain as effective on the defensive end in the NBA as he goes up against bigger, stronger competition than he faced in college. For Okongwu, those concerns are the same as he heard as a recruit going from Chino Hills to USC, and if he allowed any of that doubt to creep into his mindset prior to playing for the Trojans, his success in college as a defender (2.7 blocks per game) only served to boost his confidence and belief that he’ll be able to carry his defensive skillset into the NBA.

“I’ve always been a good shot blocker and I always heard people say, like, ‘Oh, you’re not going to always block everything in college.’ I heard it all, but I was like, ‘Yes I can,’” Okongwu said defiantly. “I just always feel like blocking shots isn’t about height or anything, it’s about your instincts and when to block and when not to block. I just know when it’s the right time to go for the block.”

Part of his continued development is gaining that understanding of when to and when not to leave his feet. It’s among the critiques some have of his defensive game — that he will, at times, get himself out of position to go after blocks — but it’s something that he’s constantly working on and believes he’ll continue adapting to at the NBA level. There are times to go for blocks and there are times to stay grounded with your arms straight up to avoid fouling (something he was very good at in college, averaging just 2.7 fouls per game), and that’s an ever-present learning experience for a young player with the bounce and blocking ability Okongwu has. Still, his instincts for protecting the rim are tremendous, and as he enters the league, that figures to be his calling card.

Those instincts were honed as a middle schooler, playing for the RC Bulls Elite before he’d go off to star alongside the Ball brothers at Chino Hills High School and play for legendary AAU squad the Compton Magic. His mindset on defense is simple: no matter what’s happening for him offensively, it can’t affect the impact he’s bringing the team on defense.

It’s something he credits to his old coach Ron Austin, as years later his advice still rings through Okongwu’s head.

“I was probably like 13 or 14 years old and I was playing on a travel ball team and my coach, his name was Ron Austin, he told me, ‘You can have a bad day on offense, but never a bad day on defense.’ He told me that and it always stuck with me,” Okongwu recalled. “I always played defense hard, and it just came naturally to me. It became a natural ability to have a sense of what I’m doing on defense.”

Austin recalls Okongwu always taking well to defensive drills and coaching, developing those skills and instincts from an early age. While Onyeka shrugs off the idea that being a big for his whole career — Austin says he was about 6-foot in the fifth grade — was an advantage, Austin notes that it has helped him have a more refined ability down low on both ends, while also growing up in the modern era when bigs are asked to, as he put it, be like guards.

“Yeah, when he was young he learned a lot from my son [Rashad]. He always had that low game, box skills and he always continued to craft that, but he still wanted to spend the extra time to step out and take the three-point shot,” Austin said. “Once I told him he needed to develop that, he really started stepping out and shooting. He really took the time to learn how to learn that craft.”

Having a varied skillset is vital in the modern game, but Onyeka’s refinement as a big man is what figures to allow him to impact the game immediately at the next level. There’s plenty of potential to tap into with his jump shot, which many point to as the swing skill that would allow him to really become a star at the NBA level.

Teams will want to see him become a better playmaker, but he has a base ability that gives him a high floor as a rotation contributor right away. His efficiency in college in nearly every category reinforces that, as he was in the 94th percentile as a post scorer, 75th percentile as a roll-man, 72nd percentile in transition, and 82nd percentile off of offensive rebounds, per Synergy (via The Stepien). That comes from years of work to maximize his skillset as an athlete, as well as developing a mindset that he can and should be able to physically dominate any opposition.

It’s that last part that Austin has been most impressed with as he’s watched his former player advance through his career.

“He’s really developed his inside presence as far as blocking shots and basically dominating,” Austin said. “Cause I went to a couple of his games last year at SC and I was overwhelmed at how he could just go over the rim and just dunk on people. And how he was able to block a lot of shots. He ran the floor real well, he got out and ran to fill the lanes real well. He’s going to be something else.”

***

Okongwu has been a high school state champion, a 5-star recruit, and now an expected lottery pick in the NBA Draft. But while the spotlight has grown he is a bit reticent to embrace it.

He doesn’t get caught up much in the hype and his soon to be found stardom, and points to “humble beginnings” as the reason for shying away from attention off the court. His family is a big reason for his humility, a trait his mother, Kate, says is one of the things she appreciates most about her son. She regularly reminds Onyeka never to forget where he’s come from, as all of those experiences he’s had have led him to this point and will carry him beyond basketball.

“I always tell him basketball is going to go away some time – hopefully 10 years if you’re lucky to play for the next 10 years – but at the end of the day, remember to be a better person and a better version of yourself,” Kate said. “Don’t forget who you are, because if you remember who you are, usually thinks won’t go sideways.”

His maturity and work ethic as a player and person is something he’s always had. Kate recalls her son doing much of his homework in the school office while in junior high because, on top of schoolwork, he was trusted to assist with the office work by the school staff. She insists it’s a natural trait, but at least some of it is certainly learned, watching Kate work as a nurse while also making sure he had every opportunity to pursue his basketball dreams.

“My mom is my everything,” Okongwu said. “She’s the reason that I’m here right now. She’s put in so much time and effort into my basketball and into my life in general, and I owe her everything. That’s why we’re so close right now.”

Onyeka’s drive to be a basketball star is fueled by his family. To in some part pay his family back for all the work they put in to his career, and also to carry on the legacy of his older brother, Nnamdi, who died in 2014 after suffering a brain injury in a skateboarding accident while a senior, starring for Chino Hills. He says he is his brother’s walking legacy, wearing the same 21 Nnamdi wore, and it was after his brother’s death that he began channeling his full energy into his basketball dream. It was around that time Austin recalls him really starting to state that he wanted to play pro ball and putting in the extra work before and after practices to take his game to the next level, doing individual workouts and putting work in on the other end as other age groups in the program practiced.

Basketball was where he could channel that emotion and carry his brother’s memory, but it’s something that’s shaped his entire life. When children deal with tragedy at an early age, it can have the effect of accelerating their maturity as they’re forced to face a suddenly harsh reality, and Kate Okongwu saw that take place with Onyeka.

“Growing up and the tragedy that happened along the way, the death and the breakup of his family, kind of made him a little bit – he sees life from a different perspective after that, and it made him a little bit more wiser than normal, I’d say,” Kate said. “You get to see life from different aspects than you used to see. You appreciate every little minute and every little second, because nothing is really guaranteed in life anymore.”

His experience also shapes what Okongwu wants to do off the court with the resources that come with being an NBA player. He wants to host camps and be an inspiration for kids, but his mom says his goals also extend beyond basketball to help other children who have lost siblings.

“He said one of the things he’d like to do is see if he can get a committee of kids that lost a sibling,” Kate said. “Because he remembers that when he lost his sibling, you know, he used to say, ‘Mom, nobody ever asks me how I feel. They only ask how is your mom feeling. Nobody remembers that we lost a sibling.’ So he told me he would like to, at one point in his life get those kinds of kids together, because as much as the parents hurt, also the siblings do hurt, but few remember that.”

***

Basketball won’t be there forever, but it’s certainly where Onyeka thrives now and has a chance to make quite the name for himself in the coming years.

What makes him such an intriguing prospect isn’t just the skills he possesses now, but the potential for him to become so much more. The most frequent player comparison made by draft analysts towards Okongwu is Bam Adebayo, the Miami Heat’s All-Star center who played a huge role in their run to the Finals this year. Adebayo had a similar physical profile to Okongwu when he came out of Kentucky, and his development in Miami has taken him from a helpful role player to a superstar — a path Okongwu hopes to forge for himself.

Adebayo is about the only player Okongwu will happily accept a comp to, as he appreciates being mentioned alongside Bam because of his defensive gifts as well as Adebayo’s development of an all-around game offensively.

“For one thing, Bam is a good defender,” Okongwu said of why he appreciates the Bam comparisons. “He’s able to go out there and guard and he’s a great defender, and on offense he’s able to bring the ball up the court and he’s able to attack slower bigs off the drive. I feel like I can do that, you know, take big men out and beat them off the dribble. And he’s a good playmaker, and that’s something I hope to also become a great playmaker too alongside having a solid shooting stroke.”

Okongwu has immense self-confidence in his game, but has the ability to also understand and embrace critiques about what he needs to improve on. His perimeter shooting will likely determine whether he has a chance to reach NBA superstardom. He didn’t show much perimeter shooting while at USC, but he says that was part of his game in high school and AAU ball growing up. His free throw efficiency indicates he has the shooting touch to be able to expand in that area, but he also understands that is something that’s going to take time before it can become a threat at the NBA level.

The same goes for his playmaking abilities, another of the knocks against him as an offensive player, but is something he is determined to add to his arsenal in order to ingratiate himself to his new teammates: “Being a good playmaker helps your teammates love you, because they know you’ll get them involved and pass the ball more,” he said.

In a few years, he hopes to bring a far more diverse skillset to the offensive end of the floor, but for now he’s happy to embrace his strengths as a roll man and lob threat, running the floor in transition, and attacking opposing bigs on the block and in faceups. All the while, he’ll be coming in early and staying late to try and add to his game, just as he did as a 13-year-old.

Offensive growth might be the pivot point in his journey to potential stardom, but defense will be the foundation of his game, as it always has been. It’s not just that he’s talented on the defensive end, but it’s where he plants his flag. It’s his identity as a basketball player. The place where he’ll always have a good day.

“There’s a lot of big players out there who just like me who don’t do what I do,” Okongwu said. “I feel like me, since I was little, I’ve just always been a defender. I just think it’s in my blood being a defender. I love defending the ball.”

NBA players captivate fans on a nightly basis with what they’re able to do on the hardwood. It’s the best basketball league in the world, and even on the laziest of winter evenings, those who suit up and play the game remind us of this. But with how players use social media as a way to shorten the gap between themselves and fans — along with the fact that players are as comfortable as ever to explore interests away from the floor — NBA players have become increasingly comfortable letting their off-court interests help define them as much as what they do on the court.

On this episode of Dime Breakdowns, we decided to look at some of the most interesting hobbies and hobbyists in the league. Some of these aren’t new interests — for example, players have always dabbled in music, and that legacy has been carried on by Victor Oladipo, who might have the best pipes of anyone to ever play in the league. Others, like Serge Ibaka’s love of cooking for his teammates on YouTube or Paul George’s use of fishing as a way to clear his head, aren’t as widespread but are well-known things that they love.

The extent to which basketball players show off their off-court interest vary, but these hobbies tend to include a little bit of everything.

While Cloud Nothings have put out a number of impressive albums over the years, 2020 marks a special milestone for the Ohio indie rockers. It’s been an entire decade since the group released their debut album Turning On, and they’re showing no signs of slowing down. Back in October, Cloud Nothings made a lively return with a new single to announce their album The Shadow I Remember and now, the band is offering another taste of the upcoming project.

The album’s lead single “I Am Something” was a dizzying collection of instruments alongside and equally-disorienting visual. But for their new track “The Spirit Of,” Cloud Nothings take a more steady approach. The song opens with upbeat riffs as vocalist Dylan Baldi sings of the growth he’s made over the past ten years. In true Cloud Nothings fashion, the song begins to dissipate before dissolving completely into a frenzy of rushing guitars and screeching vocals.

Ahead of their “The Spirit Of” release, the band revealed that they worked with renowned producer Steve Albini on the upcoming LP. Cloud Nothings had previously worked with the producer on their 2012 effort Attack On Memory but this time, they said working on the record “felt like we were all adults.”

Listen to “The Spirit Of” above.

The Shadow I Remember is out 2/26/21 via Carpark. Pre-order it here.

When James Harden came to Houston in 2013, he did so as a former sixth man oozing with potential. In Oklahoma City, he had fit himself snugly into the super sub role who could carry the offense in bursts when Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook rested, but closed games as a tertiary option to his two star teammates.

The Rockets banked on Harden’s star potential and it paid off in the form of some of the most productive offensive seasons the league’s ever seen from one player. Harden emerged as the league’s preeminent scoring guard, taking up massive amounts of usage on a team that made him their ever-present focus. When they added fellow star backcourt mates, it was always incumbent on them to work their way into Harden’s team — a process that led both Chris Paul and Westbrook to want out not too long after arrival. Playing with Harden isn’t the easiest thing, but the Rockets happily made him the center of their universe.

Now, seven years after arriving in Houston, Harden appears to be on the outs, issuing a request to be traded to another team with the Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers topping his desired destinations list — and Brooklyn the focus of his efforts currently. In both places are familiar faces, as Daryl Morey is now running basketball operations in Philly and Mike D’Antoni is an assistant in Brooklyn, but on both teams he’d be entering a place not built solely for him. After years of being the sun that the rest of the team revolved around, it begs the question: Can James Harden ever go back to being in orbit?

Harden has become basketball’s most frequent and aggressive isolation scorer, a man capable of breaking down nearly any opponent to get the shot attempt he wants or, sometimes preferably to him, force contact to get himself to the free throw line. He is nearly unrecognizable to the player that the Thunder had, both in his diverse array of skills and mindset on the floor. To play that style requires an intense commitment from everyone around you, and it’s hard to get fellow stars to buy in. It worked best with Chris Paul, as they’d take turn isolating with shooters around them, but it was still Harden’s show, not Paul’s, and that steadily drove a wedge between the two, with tensions reaching an apparent boiling point after just two seasons together. Westbrook lasted just one season, likewise struggling to find his place alongside his friend and who, on the court, barely resembled the man he’d played with previously.

Both teams atop Harden’s target list would be trading for him to play alongside at least one All-Star, and would have to effectively ignore history to believe it was assured things would go smoothly. In Brooklyn, he’d be joining Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, although it’s possible the Rockets would insist on Irving being a part of a trade package, which would make for a very interesting decision for the Nets. They are two fellow ball-dominant players who see themselves as elite end of game options, and while they’ve said the right things about handing off responsibility to each other this offseason, adding a third cook to the mix would only further complicate matters.

The frequent refrain when discussing how guys could fit alongside each other is to reference how stars come together for a common goal every four years for Team USA at the Olympics. That fails to account for the vast differences between doing so in an international competition where the sole goal is a gold medal and to do so in the NBA where, while a title is the end goal, legacy and individual accolades weigh on everyone’s minds. It’s possible Harden, Irving, and Durant could find a way to coexist, but it would be the first superteam we’ve seen to have three players with their level of on-ball expertise team up. In Golden State, Durant was able to share the ball with Stephen Curry, without needing to worry if Klay Thompson or Draymond Green were getting enough time on the ball. In Miami, LeBron and Dwyane Wade found a similar balance, with Chris Bosh accepting the tertiary, off-ball role. In Brooklyn, it’s hard to imagine any of those three being willing to be the one to raise their hand to take a backseat to the other two, a necessary sacrifice on such a team.

With the Sixers, it’s a bit easier to see the fit between Harden and Joel Embiid, assuming Ben Simmons would be the centerpiece of the deal to acquire the former MVP. Embiid has welcomed closers in the past, namely Jimmy Butler, and has openly pined for having someone who can takeover on the perimeter to create his own shot. Harden, maybe more than any player in the league, fits that description, but there would still have to be some give and take from all parties, including James, to cede some of his preferred style to play more pick-and-roll with Embiid and allow the big man to get his touches inside. It’s been some time since Harden played with a big capable of scoring, and like with Paul and Westbrook, his partnership with Dwight Howard soured considerably over time.

Any team acquiring James Harden is well aware of this history and how effective he is when allowed to do what he wants, particularly the two teams he’s targeting given the corporate knowledge D’Antoni and Morey have. They’ll do their best to accommodate him and build a system that maximizes his immense talents, but it likely won’t ever be the same as it was in Houston. The question for Harden in a trade isn’t the talent or ability, but simply the willingness to do something else and play within a system after years of being given carte blanche. Every star has a dominant style of play, but Harden takes it to a degree you rarely see and, maybe most importantly, he doesn’t have the massive team success to be able to demand everyone else fall in line and bend to his will in the way, say, LeBron James can.

It’s hard to even envision what he looks like in another system, but it’s something that he has to, at least to a degree, have considered before making this request. There’s no doubt in the effectiveness of Harden’s play despite gripes about its aesthetics, but if the goal is to find a new home in which to win a championship, some sacrifices must be made. It’s one thing to workout with your friends in the offseason and play with them on an Olympic team, it’s a whole other to make things work to win a championship in the NBA.

Wherever Harden goes he’s going to remain a focal point, of that there’s no doubt. It’s just that he’ll have to also find a way to revolve around others as well, a skill he hasn’t had to show for some time.

Boardwalk Empire creator Terence Winter has officially exited HBO Max’s prequel series to The Batman. Citing the usual creative differences, Winter will no longer be showrunning the highly-anticipated spinoff that will lead into the events of Matt Reeves‘ film starring Robert Pattinson as the Dark Knight. With his experience on critically acclaimed series like The Sopranos, Winter’s involvement added an air of prestige drama to The Batman spinoff, and he will now have to be replaced.

Whoever Warner Bros. finds as a replacement will also have to juggle the daunting task of expanding The Batman‘s new universe. While the series will focus on the first year of Pattinson’s Batman showing up in Gotham and how that affects the city’s tarnished police department, it will also be a launchpad for new spinoffs in the Battinson-verse. (Don’t quote us on that name.) Via The Hollywood Reporter:

Picked up straight to series in July and designed as a companion TV series to go alongside The Batman, the drama is set in the world Reeves is creating for The Batman feature film and will build upon the pic’s examination of the anatomy of corruption in Gotham City. It ultimately will launch a new Batman universe across multiple platforms and extends the world from the movie and characters of Gotham. It’s unclear if The Batman stars Robert Pattinson (Batman/Bruce Wayne) and Jeffrey Wright (police commissioner James Gordon) will appear in the HBO Max offshoot.

Fortunately, overcoming setbacks for the Battinson-verse has become part of the job for Reeves. Like most of Hollywood, The Batman production was put on hold for months due to the pandemic, and when it finally returned to filming, Pattinson tested positive for COVID-19 after just a few days. So finding a new showrunner shouldn’t be too difficult after dealing with your new Batman catching a potentially deadly virus.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)