Month: June 2021

After putting away the Utah Jazz on Friday night in Game 6, the Clippers headed to Phoenix on Sunday for Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals against a well rested Suns team. Both squads were down a superstar, as Kawhi Leonard continues to miss time with a knee sprain and Chris Paul finds himself still in COVID-19 protocols at the worst possible time.

That meant all eyes were on their star teammates to step up in a big spot, and both Devin Booker and Paul George delivered for their teams on Sunday afternoon. In the end, Booker and the Suns came out ahead in a 120-114 victory that has everyone hoping for six more games like what we saw on Sunday in what was a game of punches and counterpunches, with both All-Stars putting on a shot-making exhibition.

Booker got his first career triple-double on Sunday, taking over as a scorer and playmaker in Paul’s absence, scoring 40 points on 15-of-29 shooting to go along with 13 rebounds and 11 assists. Booker did much of his scoring damage in the third quarter, dropping 18 on the Clippers as he abused the drop coverage they kept showing him with Ivica Zubac in the pick-and-roll game, with Patrick Beverley picking up way too high and being in no place to recover and really bother Booker. Like Chris Paul did in Game 4 to close out the Nuggets, Booker went to the same play and the same spot over and over again, scoring at one point 16 straight for the Suns, mostly in the midrange.

Paul George nearly matched Booker shot for shot in the third, scoring 14 of his own as he got hot from long-range, finishing with 34 points on 10-of-26 shooting, five assists, and four rebounds.

In the fourth quarter it was more of the same early for Booker, as George went to the bench for a rest and the Suns pounced on the L.A. bench, this time going to his right to force the Clippers to change up their coverage.

When they did and sent more bodies at him, he started to facilitate in the halfcourt and on the break, with his 10th assist coming in spectacular fashion on a give-and-go with Mikal Bridges for what felt like the early dagger.

The Clippers made a valiant effort at a late rally, with Rajon Rondo and Terance Mann hitting threes to cut the Phoenix lead to two.

But once again Booker had the answer, slipping free for a dunk to push the lead to four and then icing the game with free throws after a Nic Batum missed three on the ensuing Clippers possession. Also stepping up for the Suns was Deandre Ayton, as he has all postseason, with 20 points and nine rebounds, helping the Suns punish the L.A. small-ball lineups in key moments by attacking the rim.

All five Suns starters hit double figures, along with Cam Johnson with 12 points off the bench, as they played a simply magnificent game start to finish. The Clippers were excellent as well. Reggie Jackson once again gave them a needed lift with backcourt scoring with 24 points on 10-of-19 shooting, and DeMarcus Cousins provided a surprising boost off the bench in the first half with 11 points — although this second stint was far less impactful.

In the end, the Suns had more juice, more legs, and the better superstar for the night. George couldn’t score at the same rate in the fourth quarter and without his steady input, and the rest of the Clippers going cold for much of the quarter from three, things slipped away to a point where their late rally was just too little too late. It’s a huge confidence booster for a Suns team that is riding an incredible wave right now from their first two series wins, and has been incredibly composed in key moments, led by their young superstar in Booker. Game 2 will come on Tuesday night and after an instant classic in Game 1, it’s hard not to be excited for the possibility of another banger in Phoenix.

Celebrity boxing matches are all the rage these days. We’re a couple weeks removed from Floyd Mayweather and Logan Paul’s matchup. Former NFL wide receiver Chad Johnson and MMA fighter Brian Maxwell duked it out as well. And we can’t forget Nate Robinson and Jake Paul’s fight at the end of last year. That being said, there are some other names around the celebrity world who want to square off in the ring, two of those being newly-inducted XXL Freshman rappers Toosii and DDG.

Toosii hopped on Twitter to share his desire for a fight, writing, “I need a boxing match set up.” The tweet came to DDG’s attention after it was reposted by a hip-hop page on Instagram. In response, DDG wrote, “Did somebody say box?” to which Toosi replied, “Let’s set it up.” It appears that there isn’t any bad tension between the two rappers, so if the fight becomes a reality, it should all be in good fun.

This comes days after Toosii and DDG were inducted into the 2021 XXL Freshman class. They joined Blxst, Pooh Shiesty, 42 Dugg, Toosii, Iann Dior, Flo Milli, Coi Leray, Lakeyah, Rubi Rose, and Morray as the other acts on the annual list.

Pooh Shiesty is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Father’s Day 2021 was a big make-up for Father’s Day 2020, when the nation was at the height of the pandemic, forcing many to call off an annual visit. But as always, it was a big deal on social media. There were the usual posts of appreciation for dads, and the requisite posts of younger photos of hot fathers. (There was also a Ryan Reynolds-crafted cocktail.) The love also extended to father figures, for people who may have never sired any offspring but whose roles in people’s lives have been nonetheless parent-like.

One of those people is George Takei. The Star Trek alum has been married for about as long as California has allowed same-sex marriage — he and his husband, Brad Altman, were the first gay couple to apply for a marriage license in West Hollywood back in 2008 — but they’ve never had kids. And on the big holiday, Takei took to Twitter to lament that fact.

“One of my biggest regrets was never becoming a dad,” Takei wrote. “In my generation, coming of age in the 50s and 60s, it just wasn’t something very available to gay men, even those in couples. But I’m happy I could still be ‘Uncle George’ to so many.”

Takei received a lot of love for his post, with many pointing out that “Uncle Georges” are important, too.

Others wished him a happy Father’s Day.

And some shot their shot and tried to get adopted by the erstwhile Sulu.

So Happy Father’s Day to all, from George Takei to anyone else who’s been dad-esque.

Even if Billie Eilish songs seem to get better on repeat listen, that’s not going to happen for the pop star herself. Why? Because Billie doesn’t listen to her songs once they’ve been released. In a new cover story with Rolling Stone the singer unpacked her relationship to her own music, and it’s not what fans might expect. According to Eilish, the music feels like such a specific moment in her life that she doesn’t want to go back. Though she realizes that listeners will be getting the music in a totally different moment than the one she wrote it in.

“It’s not because I don’t like it anymore, she said. “I don’t know how to explain this, but all the songs on the album feel like a specific time, because they feel like when I wrote them and made them. It’s so funny that to the rest of the world it’s going to feel like a certain moment for them, and it’s going to be so different than mine. That’s such a weird, weird thing to wrap my head around. And I will f*cking love it. I love it. That’s the reason you do this. It’s for that.”

Check out the full covery story here.

Maria Bartiromo doesn’t get the level of attention of a Tucker Carlson or a Sean Hannity, but it’s not for lack of trying. After all, the Fox News host is one of the people who got her employer sued for billions of dollars by Smartmatic. Formerly a fairly respected financial analyst, she rebranded as a Trump mouthpiece, repeating falsehoods about things like the 2020 election and about the Jan. 6 insurrection. Well, she’s finally had enough…of people calling her out for lying.

On Sunday, Bartiromo did an interview with Ron Johnson, the Wisconsin senator so far right that he’s gotten temporarily suspended by YouTube for spreading COVID-19 misinformation. They were discussing the Capitol storming, which both have tried to downplay. In the past, Johnson has tried to put the blame on Nancy Pelosi, not the then-president who egged his supporters on.

Bartiromo was angry that Pelosi keeps calling the deadly event as an “armed insurrection,” and Johnson was right there with her, claiming that no guns were recovered from the scene. (As per NBC News, there may not have been that many guns, but 39 defendants have been accused of wielding weapons such as “tomahawk axes, crowbars, flagpoles, a knife, an ice axe, a firecracker, a stun gun, baseball bats, fire extinguishers, a wooden club and chemical spray.”)

Baritromo then pivoted to a defense of her show in general, which has been routinely called out for spreading non-truths. “I am so incredibly proud of this team on Sunday Morning Futures and of working alongside you,” Bartiromo said. “We have been telling every story. We’ve been on the right side of it for seven years going. I’ve been trashed every day along the way.”

Then she twisted the knife. “Keep trashing me!” she shouted. “I’ll keep telling the truth.”

It was a moment eerily reminiscent of a certain classic Dril tweet, and while the second part is up for debate, the first only helped inspire many to do what she asked.

Some worried that Bartiromo was somehow getting even worse.

Others pointed out that, yes, there were weapons in the Capitol siege.

Others reminded people that she helped get her company sued.

And some thought she should be worried about her legacy, which ain’t looking good.

You can watch a clip from the segment in the video above.

(Via Raw Story)

Kevin Durant played all 53 minutes of Game 7 on Saturday night, scoring 48 points to set a new NBA record for the most points in a Game 7 in league history, but that wasn’t enough to topple the Bucks as Milwaukee managed to escape overtime with a 115-111 win.

For the series, Durant averaged 42.7 minutes per game as he logged massive time on the court to do everything he could to get the Nets to the conference finals, scoring 35.4 points per game including 48 and 49 point efforts in Games 5 and 7. After carrying such a load with his star teammates injured, it would have been hard to blame Durant for taking this summer completely off, particularly given that this was his first season back from his Achilles injury.

However, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Durant is expected to join Devin Booker, Jayson Tatum, Bradley Beal, Draymond Green, and Damian Lillard as commits to play for Team USA at the Tokyo Olympics this July.

That six is quite the group, and has to make Gregg Popovich and the rest of USA Basketball very happy, given there were legitimate concerns over whether stars would have much of any interest in playing in this year’s Olympics given the condensed season and the physical toll that took on much of the league — including a number of stars who had to exit the playoffs with injuries. Getting commitments from those six is big for USA Basketball and gives them a great core to work with as they start piecing together the rest of the roster, even if it isn’t quite as star heavy as the Olympic roster sometimes is top to bottom.

Even before she was starring on a TV show that had multiple colons, Olivia Rodrigo has not had a normal high school experience! After her breakout role on High School: The Musical: The Series, Rodrigo tried her hand at writing a couple songs of her own, and then became a viral sensation over night with the success of her official debut single, “Drivers License.” Of course, by now you probably know that she followed that up with “Deja Vu,” “Good 4 U,” and a No. 1 album that broke every record in the book.

So now the cherry on top of Olivia’s extremely successful year is something that actual teenagers can relate to — graduating from high school! In a sweetly simple Instagram post, Olivia let the world know that she’s no longer a high school student with the “bye high school!!!!!!!” caption on a photo of her in a cap and gown. This comes alongside the news that after debuting at No. 1, Sour is still the No. 3 album on the Billboard chart this week. Not a common occurrence for most graduating seniors, but Olivia’s life nonetheless. Congrats to the graduate, and here’s hoping the lack of homework leaves more time for writing another album full of pop bangers.

Polo G’s upward trek to stardom has been impressive, to say the least. The Chicago went from a promising upstart with his 2019 debut, Die A Legend, to a name that is undoubtedly worthy of respect with his sophomore effort, The GOAT. The growth in Polo G’s artistry continued with his third effort, Hall Of Fame. The 20-track album was released with guest appearances from DaBaby, Lil Durk, Nicki Minaj, Roddy Ricch, Young Thug, and many more and on Sunday, it officially became the rapper’s first No. 1 album after it topped the Billboard 200.

Hall Of Fame checked in atop the album charts with 143,000 album units sold in its first week, also giving him the biggest sales week of his career. This number is comprised of 124,000 streaming equivalent album units, thanks to 181.9 million on-demand streams of the album’s tracks, and 18,000 pure album sales. Prior to Hall Of Fame debuting at No. 1, Polo G’s highest position on the albums chart was No. 2 which is where his 2020 effort, The GOAT, peaked.

Upon hearing word that Hall Of Fame was projected to go top the Billboard 200, Nicki Minaj, who appeared on “For The Love Of New York” from the album, hopped on Twitter to congratulate the rapper on the new achievement.

“CONGRATULATIONS POLO SOOOOOO FN HAPPY FOR YOU first #1 album,” she wrote. “Chicago, stand TF UP Talented & humble. Stay on ya grind boo. Make sure y’all check out the video he just dropped w|Da Baby too. Dope.”

You can revisit our review of Hall Of Fame here.

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

Nicholas Braun, arguably everyone’s favorite unfathomably tall TV star, is about to get even bigger. The Succession stand-out will go from playing lovably awkward Cousin Greg to playing the less lovably awkward — and fairly creepy — villain-of-sorts in the film version of Cat Person, the New Yorker short story that became the publication’s most downloaded piece of fiction back in 2017.

As per The Hollywood Reporter, Braun will act opposite Emilia Jones, recently seen in Locke & Key and the Sundance smash Coda. In the take on Kristen Roupenian’s story, Jones will play a 20-year-old college sophomore who gets involved with an older regular at the movie theater at which she works. After developing a text message rapport, attempts to take things next level go awry.

Hailed as a perceptive take on modern dating, Cat Person will get the adaptation treatment courtesy of filmmaker Susanna Fogel, who won a DGA Award for directing the pilot of HBO’s The Flight Attendant, and who directed the Mila Kunis-Kate McKinnon comedy-thriller The Spy Who Dumped Me. She also co-wrote Booksmart.

It will be another chance to see Braun — all 6’7” of him — on the big screen. Later this month he’ll appear in Zola, the much-hyped stripper saga. And you’ll eventually get to see him in Season 3 of Succession as well as the still untitled WeWork show, in which he’ll play an even more unlikeable character than the Cat Person dude: Adam Neumann.

[via THR]

The Phoenix Suns opened their Western Conference Finals series with the L.A. Clippers on Sunday afternoon, but prior to Game 1 they made an announcement of the latest award of the NBA season, with James Jones being honored as the 2020-21 NBA Executive of the Year at midcourt, receiving a standing ovation from the Suns faithful.

It is a well deserved award for Jones, who has done extremely well in his tenure in Phoenix in building a roster that has become one of the most balanced in the NBA. The big addition this year for the Suns was trading for Chris Paul, a move that has been a clear victory for Phoenix, but he’s also made terrific moves in filling out depth as well, signing Jae Crowder, bringing Dario Saric in via trade two years ago, and has hit on draft picks and draft day trades, most notably in bringing in Mikal Bridges.

The Suns have been one of the best teams and stories in the NBA this season, and Jones has been rightfully awarded for his contributions in constructing this roster. The other likely top contenders for the award were Sean Marks of the Brooklyn Nets, who managed to make the James Harden trade happen to create their Big Three, and Travis Schlenk of the Atlanta Hawks for the roster overhaul he did to help the Hawks into the playoffs and, possibly, to a Conference Finals appearance of their own, pending Sunday night’s Game 7 in Philly.