Month: January 2021

I have read every article about what’s happening with Reddit and GameStop and Wall Street, including our own, but I still understand only 10 perfect of what’s happening. It’s turning all of us into the “Pepe Silvia” meme. If only we had Margot Robbie in a bathtub to explain everything, like she did with mortgage bonds in The Big Short. Unfortunately, the actress is doing literally anything else, so you’ll have to settle for The Daily Show host Trevor Noah’s face superimposed on Robbie’s body. It’s the next best thing.

“Basically, there’s a group of people on Reddit who don’t use the stock market to invest, they use it to gamble,” Noah-as-Robbie said. “And, yeah, that’s what a lot of serious investors do, too, but these guys on Reddit are more honest about it and they love to troll the people who aren’t. So, there’s a store called GameStop that sells video games since games can be downloaded now. Which is why serious investors decided to short GameStop, which means to bet against it. But the Redditors are gamers who have a semi-ironic love for the store. So they started making memes encouraging each other to punish the serious people by buying worthless GameStop stocks.”

Are you beginning to understand? Good… Now, f*ck off. Watch the clip below.

It was another tough night for Bradley Beal and the Wizards on Wednesday, as they suffered their third straight loss, this time at the hands of the lowly Pelicans, who escaped with a 124-106 victory, giving Washington their seventh loss in their last 10 contests and ownership of the league’s worst record.

For Bradley Beal, it was another night of dubious distinctions, as the Wizards superstar remains the NBA leader in scoring at 34.4 points per game despite racking up the Ls, and with his 47-point explosion against New Orleans, passed Walt Bellamy for the most consecutive 40-point games (10) that ended in a loss.

Beal, who’s been the subject of persistent trade rumors since before the season, didn’t try to hide his frustration when speaking to reporters after the game. He had a blunt response for the poor reporter tasked with asking him the most obvious question about his mental state, yet Beal also appeared to use the opportunity to reiterate his commitment to the team.

Omg.

Reporter: “Are you frustrated?”

Bradley Beal: “Is the sky blue?”

— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) January 28, 2021

Here is the single most important Bradley Beal quote from his postgame session today.

Amidst all the trade talk, he said this:

“It’s tough. We wanna win. I wanna win. This is why I stayed. I wanna win (here). I figure this is the place I can get it done.”

— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) January 28, 2021

Outside of Beal’s Herculean efforts, little has gone right for the Wizards this season, and Beal didn’t even pretend to know the solution for how to repair things going forward as Washington tries to find a way to salvage as season that has quickly gone south.

Bradley Beal on how to solve the issues for the 3-11 Wizards: “I swear, if I had that answer, I think I would be a genius, probably. I think if we all had that answer, we’d all be blurting it out right now, but I don’t have that answer.” pic.twitter.com/rFMd03nLDY

— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) January 28, 2021

And despite his comments, Beal will continue to be at the center of trade rumors until the March trade deadline, and it may not be his decision if the front office decides to seriously entertain the offers that are certain to start pouring in, given the rapidly deteriorating situation.

Wednesday marked four years since Migos dropped their third album, Culture II, and to celebrate the anniversary, the Atlanta rap group shared a new behind-the-scenes trailer. It gives their supporters a look into the creation of their upcoming album, called, of course, Culture III. Viewers can see the trio recording music in Atlanta and at an L.A. mansion often referred to as “The Compound.”

“We’re just young men trying to grow,” Quavo says in the trailer. “Right now, we’re at a point in our life we’re allowed to sit down and build and start from scratch.” Elsewhere, Offset took a moment to share how the long period between Culture II and Culture III benefited the group. “We were absent for a reason though,” he said. “How we were putting so much music out, you could flood the market. With everything going on, I’ve never been so political in my life. I got out my first time to vote this year. And all that happens from just seeing everything happening in the world.”

The trailer arrives after Quavo revealed Culture III would arrive at some point this year. He shared the news during an appearance on The Etcs podcast co-hosted by Kevin Durant and former Uproxx writer Eddie Gonzalez. “We done with the album, we just waiting on 2021, man so everything can crack up,” he said. “I just want to be with the people,” he said. “I want to touch the people and that’s what we gon’ do at the top of the year.”

You can watch the Culture III trailer above.

Two of the NBA’s top teams collided on Wednesday night, as the Lakers and Sixers squared off in Philadelphia, with the Sixers sneaking away with a 107-106 win after nearly blowing a 14-point lead in the second half. It took a Tobias Harris jumper with 2.4 seconds remaining to salvage what was shaping up to be an ugly fourth-quarter collapse.

Harris had 24 points and seven rebounds on the night, but it was Joel Embiid who led the way for Philly as he continued his streak of dominant play, finishing with 28 points, six rebounds, four assists, and a pair of blocks. But the big man also had a scary moment in the second half as he went up for a layup and came down hard on his hip.

Upon review, it appeared LeBron shoved Embiid while he was in the air and was subsequently hit with a Flagrant 1.

Joel Embiid was visibly in pain and went down hard on his back after being fouled.

LeBron was called for a flagrant 1 and Embiid stayed in the game. pic.twitter.com/LSOVsgVy5f

— ESPN (@espn) January 28, 2021

Any situation where a player gets hit in the air like this is taken seriously by the officials and is sometimes grounds for Flagrant 2 and automatic ejection. This, of course, is at the discretion of the officiating crew, and in this instance, they ruled it a Flagrant 1 and allowed LeBron to remain in the game.

Afterwards, Embiid sounded off on the play, claiming that LeBron received preferential treatment in this instance and that, if the roles were reversed, he believes he would’ve been hit with a Flagrant 2 and ejected.

Embiid on the LeBron flagrant: “You look at it, that’s a very dangerous play, and I guarantee if it was me I would have probably been ejected from the game.”

— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) January 28, 2021

There’s obviously a lot of gray area in these incidences, and the wording in the rule book certainly leaves things open to interpretation as to what constitutes “unnecessary and excessive” contact. Regardless, Embiid obviously didn’t appreciate what was inarguably a dangerous foul on LeBron’s part and something he’ll surely be feeling in the morning.

The Washington Wizards were a bad team to start the season, and things have only gotten worse with injuries and being the team that, thus far, has been hit hardest in terms of sheer number of positive COVID-19 tests. However, this isn’t exactly new territory for Washington, which for the past two seasons has gone 57-97 following five straight seasons at .500 or better.

Bradley Beal has carried the load these past two and a half seasons, as John Wall has dealt with various injuries (and then was dealt to Houston right before he returned) and the Wizards have failed to build a competent roster around the All-Star guard as he enters his prime. Beal recommitted to the Wizards in 2019 on a two-year max extension to quiet trade rumors, in hopes that the franchise would put things together and he could lead their path back to the playoffs. However, that has yet to happen, and the apparent frustration of Beal is not just understandable but justified, as the consistent losing has clearly taken a toll on him.

It hasn’t impacted what he does on the court, as he currently leads the NBA in scoring at 34.4 points per night (and that was before Wednesday’s 47-point outburst in New Orleans) a full four points clear of Kevin Durant, and is doing so on career-best efficiency, shooting 48.3 percent from the field. Those are preposterous numbers, particularly given the lack of help around him and, as such, the immense attention he receives from opposing defenses, but his monstrous output simply can’t push the Wizards over the hump.

On Wednesday, he had 47 points and six assists in a 124-106 loss to the scuffling Pelicans, as it was him and a rag-tag group that went to New Orleans — Garrison Mathews was the second-leading scorer for Washington with 15 off the bench.

That performance in another loss gave Beal a special spot in dubious NBA history, breaking a tie with Walt Bellamy for the most consecutive losses when putting up 40 points.

Beal’s face on the bench — which, late game candids of Beal on the bench have become a go-to for producers of Wizards broadcasts — told the story, as did this tweet from his wife, Kamiah Adams-Beal.

The trade rumors surrounding Beal have been rather constant for some time, and he has yet to indicate publicly that he wants out, although you’d be hard pressed at this point to find anyone who would blame him for such a proclamation. Still, one has to think that the phones will be ringing with serious and strong offers for the star guard as February rolls on and the March trade deadline approaches because the entire hoops world can see that he is a star withering away on an aimless team, tasked with a Sisyphean effort each night of trying to push the boulder that is the Wizards up a hill where the top can never be reached.

The Philadelphia 76ers were in control for almost the entirety of Wednesday night’s showdown with the Lakers, but in the closing minutes, L.A. erased what was an 11-point deficit to take a 106-105 lead with 12 seconds to play.

The play they dialed up for their go-ahead bucket was a beauty, as they had LeBron James come get the ball from Dennis Schröder, who then went to the corner to set a screen for Anthony Davis, forcing Joel Embiid and Danny Green to communicate and navigate an inverted guard-center screen, which they were unable to do, as Davis cut to the hoop for the uncontested layup.

That was the culmination of a rather incredible run, sparked by Alex Caruso’s energy for L.A. and some timely shots from Schröder and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and some disastrous offensive play from the Sixers. However, on their final possession, Philadelphia was able to find the bucket they needed as Tobias Harris took the reins and got to his spot underneath the left elbow for a pull-up jumper to take the lead with 2.4 seconds left.

The Lakers had called their last timeout to set up the AD go-ahead bucket, so they were unable to advance the ball and Joel Embiid was able to force Davis into the halfcourt scoop shot to preserve the win that should’ve been much easier than it was.

Joel Embiid continued his dominance in the game with 28 points, six rebounds, and four assists, out-dueling Davis who finished the night with 23 points and eight boards. LeBron James was the reason Philly could never fully get detached from L.A., as he had 34 points, seven assists, and six rebounds on the night. But it was Harris’ 24 points and Ben Simmons putting together a 17-point triple-double that made the difference for the Sixers in getting a big win over an L.A. team that had yet to lose a road game this season.

The Lakers have seemed determined to see how poorly they can play while still winning this season, and they certainly tried to pull out an absolute theft on Wednesday. Harris’ jumper put an end to that comeback effort, and the team that should have won did, but the end of that game showed why L.A. will always have a chance and the area where the Sixers still have work to do. The Lakers defense late in games is tremendous, and they have two closers in Davis and LeBron surrounded by decent at least shooters. Philly, meanwhile, has to find ways to get some easy buckets in the halfcourt, as the offense looked like they were pulling teeth in the final minutes when the Lakers ratcheted up the pressure.

Still, a win is a win, and the Sixers get a big feather in their cap as they move to 13-6, while L.A. drops to 14-5, likely to fall behind Utah to second in the West by the end of the night.

On Tuesday the Drake University college basketball team — that is, the team for the Iowa-based college, founded in 1881 — was slated to play Missouri University in an NCAA matchup. Just like any other athletic game, the spread, which is the odds of either teaming winning the game, was revealed beforehand, with Drake U standing as a 4-point favorite. However, a mix-up on Twitter quickly spread like wildfire. Fans of Drake — that is, the famed Toronto rap superstar — mistook the game’s spread, which read as “Drake -4,” as a sign of new music from the rapper.

When the rapper’s supporters figured out what the phrase really meant, they expressed their disappointment through a series of “facepalm” and “shaking my head” tweets. One user claimed that they “got my hopes up for nothing.”

It’s no surprise that Drake fans are on the edge: The rapper originally said his upcoming sixth album, Certified Lover Boy, would drop at some point in January, but he recently said he would have to delay the project because of a recent knee injury, the surgery and rehab for which has eaten into time he could be used putting the final polish on his latest opus.

You can read some of the reactions from Twitter users below.

Superstars are not excluded from the pains of trying to be creative in the midst of a pandemic. Artists like Cardi B and Taylor Swift have found their own ways to work on their respective projects over the past year. Drake is another act on the list of artists who aim to finish an album amid the coronavirus restrictions, and while fans hoped his upcoming Certified Lover Boy project would arrive this month, the Toronto rapper recently revealed he would need some more time to finish it. During an appearance on Pensados Place, Drake’s go-to producer 40 shared how they’ve worked on the project without being in each other’s presence.

40 explained that he and Drake used a platform called Unity Connect, which allows developers, artists, creators, and more to connect and collaborate with each other from a distance. He also revealed Zoom has been a big help to the process. “I like Zoom because I can screen share him my ProTools screen to his laptop. So he opens up his laptop, he sees my Pro Tools screen and he sees me in the corner on Zoom… and then he’s listening to the playback in realtime of what I’m playing and he’s got his headphones plugged into his MacBook so he’s got digital audio coming off his Mac converter. It sounds amazing,” 40 explained.

He also said jokingly, “If I was an artist, I’d be done going to the studio. Yo, set me up on Connect. I’ll be in my hotel room.”

You can watch his interview in the post above.

Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

In video games you can do anything! Or at least almost anything. Up until recently, savvier players of Cyberpunk 2077 — the much-discussed but deeply troubled new RPG — could even sort of, not quite have sex with the character modeled on and played by Keanu Reeves. But no more: As per PC Gamer (by way of The AV Club), the game’s developers, CD Projekt Red have gone in and removed the mod that allows one to have their way with the star of Johnny Mnemonic.

Before it was deleted, the mod in question allowed players to, as PC Gamer put it, “manually swap character skin textures onto other models.” And so, if you were one of the lucky gamers to acquire this mod, you could hypothetically swap Keanu onto the body of a “joytoy,” which is to say a sexbot.

Mind you, it sounds like it was very, very, very far from fake-having sex with one of Hollywood’s most ageless stallions. “The mod creates a pretty bad approximation of having sex with Keanu,” PC Gamer reports, “because the character remains dressed and doesn’t have Keanu’s voice (it retains the Joytoy’s voice lines).” Still, it’s the thought that counts, we guess.

When PC Gamer reached out to CDPR for an explanation, they were told they were looking out for those big-time actors who put their trust in them, assuming their likenesses wouldn’t be draped over top a video game sexbot. “Our most important rule regarding user-generated content, game mods in particular, is that it can’t be harmful towards others,” they told the publication. “In the case of model swaps, especially those that involve explicit situations, it can be perceived as such by the people who lent us their appearance for the purpose of creating characters in Cyberpunk 2077.”

So if you ever wanted to play a video game in which you have sex with a fully clothed Keanu Reeves as he speaks with another character’s voice, it looks like you’re too late.

(Via PC Gamer and The AV Club)

Facebook may have had modest beginnings: It was a way for college males to rate the hotness of female students. But it somehow grew into a global service that may have helped make Donald Trump president for four years, becoming an unstoppable hotbed of misinformation. And though the site’s top brass has tried to limit its spread (such as banning Trump himself, though he could slink back in), they say they’re finally going to take further steps to reduce its political content altogether.

Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder and CEO of the social media giant, said on a conference call Wednesday that they’re trying a new way to reduce the amount of users sharing fake news from sites with questionable urls: They’re going to reduce the amount of political content in the News Feed section altogether.

“One of the top pieces of feedback that we’re hearing from our community right now is that people don’t want politics and fighting to take over their experience on our services,” Zuckerberg — described by Deadline as “clearly worn down by recent events” — told reporters. Apart from changing what’s in the News Feed, he didn’t specify any other ways to stop the spread of far right lies. “We are still working through the best way to do this,” he admitted.

The announcement comes three weeks after the failed MAGA coup, in which whipped-up Trump supporters stormed the Capitol. They organized in part over social media, not just Facebook but Twitter and, especially, the currently AWOL Parler, which lost a lot of its foundation in the fatal riot. As mentioned, Facebook was quick to ban Trump from their coffers, though, unlike Twitter, the move wasn’t permanent.

(Via Deadline)