Month: October 2021

The Golden State Warriors will, indeed, have the final member of their projected opening game starting lineup when the 2021-22 NBA regular season begins. After much was made of the fact that he had apparent religious objections to getting a COVID-19 vaccine, starting small forward Andrew Wiggins has ended up receiving one of the shots, anyway.

The news was announced by Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who said that Wiggins will now be able to play in all games the Warriors play in accordance with regulations laid out for workers by the city of San Francisco.

While the NBA has not mandated the vaccine for players amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it has said that players need to follow whatever their local guidelines are about getting vaccinated, and in the Bay Area, that means getting the vaccine or being able to participate in games and organized team activities. While Wiggins would have been able to play in road games, opting to not get the vaccine would have meant he’d be unavailable for all 41 home games at Chase Center.

The team had been concerned over the fact that Wiggins did not get vaccinated, and while he did apply for a religious exemption to the local mandate, his efforts were unsuccessful. Wiggins has not expressed why he’s decided to get vaccinated.

The Chicago Sky are one win away from making the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2014. The Sky successfully defended their home court on Sunday afternoon in Game 3 of their semifinal series against the Connecticut Sun with an 86-83 victory.

For a moment, it did not look like the Sky would be able to hold off the side with the best record in the league despite the game taking place at Wintrust Arena. While things were tight for essentially all of the first three quarters, Connecticut managed to get a little bit of breathing room at the start of the fourth. The Sun went on a 10-2 run to give themselves an eight-point lead after league MVP Jonquel Jones made a layup a little less than 90 seconds into the final frame.

And then, the floodgates open. After Allie Quigley drew a foul while shooting a three and drained all three free throws on the ensuing Sky possession, Chicago ripped off an 18-4 run to go up by six. As was the case for much of the game, Kahleah Copper came up gigantic during this stretch, scoring nine of her playoff career-high 26 points during this spell.

The Sky defense was swarming during this stretch, forcing five turnovers and making the Sun’s offense get all out of whack. But Connecticut kept battling, consistently getting the lead down to one possession. Alyssa Thomas, in particular, was a thorn in Chicago’s collective side, scoring seven of the team’s nine points down the stretch.

Ultimately, Connecticut just couldn’t get over the hump, with Chicago’s defense rising to the occasion on multiple possession down the stretch when the Sun looked like they were in a position to go ahead. There was one opportunity that will stick out above the rest, though: With the team down by one and the game in its waning moments, Connecticut’s defense swarmed Allie Quigley and Jasmine Thomas forced a turnover. The ball was thrown ahead to Briann January, who had a layup but looked to misjudge the angle, and as a result, her attempt at an up-and-under hit off the backboard and fell into the arms of Courtney Vandersloot.

Copper’s 26 points on 9-for-14 shooting led the way for Chicago, with Quigley pitching in 21 and both Azura Stevens and Candace Parker registering double-doubles — the former had 15 points and 11 rebounds, the latter had 10 and 10. DeWanna Bonner’s 22 points were the most for Connecticut, with Thomas scoring 18 off the bench and Jones having the same double-double as Parker.

The Sky will look to prevent the series from returning to Connecticut for a decisive Game 5 with one more game in their home building. That one’s slated to tip off on Wednesday evening at 8 p.m. EST on ESPN.

Drake and Kanye West have not seen eye to eye over the past couple of months. The latest chapter in their long-standing beef saw them trade disses over songs from their albums Certified Lover Boy and Donda. West also doxxed the address to Drake’s mansion in Toronto while the Canadian rapper leaked one of West’s unreleased collaborations with Andre 3000. But now, according to Rap-A-Lot CEO J. Prince, they have come together for a specific reason.

On Instagram, Prince revealed that West and Drake have joined the fight for the freedom of Larry Hoover, the co-founder of Chicago’s Gangsta Disciples. “IF YOU FAIL TO PLAN YOU PLAN TO FAIL,” Prince wrote under a picture of himself standing with West, Hoover’s wife Winndye Jenkins, and their son Larry Hoover Jr. “Good plans in the making to free our brother Larry Hoover with the support of @champagnepapi and @kanyewest.”

West previously showed support for Hoover through “Jesus Lord,” off of Donda. At the end of the song, a voicemail from Hoover Jr. can be heard, where he says, “My father has not called any shots from one of the most secure and segregated prisons in the world / And will not, once released, call any shots for the Gangster Disciples.” He adds, “If my father’s intentions were to lead us to death, destruction / Into the Hell that he has had to live in for the past twenty-six years / Man, he would be dead to me.”

Pete Davidson wasn’t sure he was coming back to SNL. He spent part of the summer casting doubt on whether he’d make it for another round of the show, where he’s resided since 2014. But in the end he returned (as did Cecily Strong). And in his first Weekend Update monologue of Season 47, he made sure to mock the “cool dress’ he wore to this year’s Met Gala.

The annual event, long one of the biggest fashion and cultural extravaganzas in New York City, was more eventful than usual this year. There was praise for the outside-the-box designs, while the presence of AOC, even with a dress that bore the words “Tax the rich,” drew criticism, including from predictable people. Davidson showed up in a black dress with a white jacket.

But Davidson made sure he threw the best insults. “I look like James Bond at his quinceañera,” he joked. But he had more. “I look like if one of the three blind mice sold fentanyl.” Later he had another: “I look like Tilda Swinton on casual Friday.”

Davidson admitted that he’s no stranger to wearing dresses, which freaks out and angers some members of his family. Among them is his uncle, who he says worries that wearing frocks makes him “look gay.”

“Meanwhile, he grew up in the ’80s, which is somehow the gayest and the most homophobic generation of all time,” Davidson added. “All the songs were like, about the boys, and how they’re back in town. Also, his favorite movie is Top Gun. It’s as close to a movie about men being in love with each other as like, the ’80s allowed. It’s like Brokeback in the sky.”

Davidson delivered his monologue while wearing a tee-shirt featuring an image of the late Norm Macdonald, who was honored at the end of Weekend Update. Davidson ended his segment by saying, semi-cryptically, “I can’t believe I’m back.”

You can watch Davidson’s monologue in the video above.

Through four playoff games so far, basketball fans are seeing the best version of Brittney Griner that has ever graced a WNBA court. If she keeps it up, the Phoenix Mercury could upset the 2-seed Las Vegas Aces and punch their ticket to the Finals for the first time since 2014.

The seven-time All-Star is averaging 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 5.3 assists, and two blocks per game on 68 percent shooting from the field. She’s been nothing short of incredible, unlike anything we’ve seen from her since back in 2017, before a gnarly fall caused a bruised knee and a sprained ankle. She was never able to fully recover until last year, when she left the Wubble and had the first extended period of rest of her career.

We shouldn’t be surprised. Griner was Team USA’s fulcrum at the Tokyo Olympics, averaging a team-best 16.5 points per game on an astounding 69 percent from the field. Though Breanna Stewart won MVP of the tournament, it would be easy to make a case for Griner. All she’s done during the WNBA playoffs so far is keep the momentum. Since making a name for herself as a dunking, shot-blocking machine at Baylor, Griner has stood out as a marvel. This fall, she is finally making good on that promise again.

Even in a series in which legendary teammate Diana Taurasi scored her playoff career high, Griner has been the most dominant player on the floor through two games. But her overall greatness and momentum are only part of the reason Griner holds the key to the series.

Griner’s Mercury teammates, to be clear, deserve endless credit for the way they have moved and read the floor when Griner has the ball in the post. Because she generates so much attention and gravity when she’s operating in isolation, Phoenix players know they must take advantage of open space on the floor. Quick decisions from Griner have kept the offense plugging along and helped the Mercury steal a road Game 2.

Here’s an example of Griner feeding Taurasi an easy shot in Game 1 while four Aces defenders have their eyes on the MVP runner-up:

That happens because the energetic Brianna Turner cuts deep into the paint while both Skylar Diggins-Smith and Kia Nurse create space by lifting up beyond the three-point line. As Mike Prada noted on Twitter, the Phoenix coaching staff deserves credit here as well. The organized chaos is clearly designed, as players know the timing and direction of their off-ball movement and have clearly repped it all season.

All of this is important when you consider Phoenix’s opponent, the Aces. Las Vegas is known for playing technically sound basketball and beating teams with their collective size and IQ. Because of Griner’s dominance, the Mercury have been able to reverse that trend. Phoenix has out-rebounded Las Vegas 66-57 through two games, while their field goal percentage is three points higher. Phoenix is scoring nearly 129 points per 100 possessions in the series, a number the Aces just can’t keep up with.

The imbalance on offense isn’t all because the Mercury are dominating, though. Part of the reason Griner’s gravity and play-making have been so important is because it’s allowed Phoenix to bomb away from deep. For how good the Aces are, responding by doing the same is something teams coached by Bill Laimbeer have nearly never done. Through two games, the Mercury have attempted nearly twice the number of threes (57) as Las Vegas (35). Much of that has come from Taurasi, but by having a legit inside-out scoring game and the interior gravity of Griner, Phoenix has been able to squarely win the shooting battle.

The simplest solution would be for Las Vegas to be able to defend Griner with one player, which is of course easier said than done. One reason for optimism, however, is that All-Star center Liz Cambage was able to play more than 24 minutes in Game 2 after fewer than 10 in Game 1 as she recovers from COVID-19.

In plays where Cambage defended Griner on the block, Cambage’s size and length bothered Griner in a way starter Kiah Stokes could not. Simply being able to get a hand in Griner’s face changes a lot.

Of course, not having to send an extra defender helps as well. From a pure geography standpoint, the Aces often end up sending power forward A’ja Wilson as the second defender, leaving Turner, a great cutter, to streak to the basket and cause a domino effect that leaves a shooter open. If Cambage can simply hold her own and contest shots without fouling, the Aces can play a more traditional defense and take fewer risks.

Taurasi’s gaudy 37-point night turned heads on Thursday for good reason, but just about everything the Mercury offense has done has come because of Griner. In order to keep the upset hopes alive, Phoenix will count on Griner to continue to be a step ahead of the defense and use both her mind and body to continue to dominate the Aces.

It looks like Kanye West still isn’t done with Donda. The rapper has been continuously making changes to the album he released at the end of August, including removing Chris Brown from “New Again.” He’s also looking to use the name for an upcoming tech line. According to legal documents that were obtained by TMZ, West filed a trademark application on September 21 that would allow him to use the album title on a wide array of tech products.

Some potential products that West would include in the line are tablet computers, audio speakers, surround sound systems, smartwatches, smart glasses, wearable activity trackers, protective flip cover for tablets, earbuds, headphones, and wireless headsets for both computers and mobile devices. If things go as planned, West may also look to add wireless receivers that come on jewelry and smart rings, as well as downloadable electronic publications that include books, magazines, journals, brochures, leaflets, pamphlets, and newsletters.

There’s no telling when this tech line would launch, but if it does, it could prove to be a big success. Until then, fans can stay tuned for a possible upcoming collaboration between West, Post Malone, and Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold, as the trio was captured in the studio together. West will also join Mike Dean on the production team for Ghostface Killah’s upcoming album, Supreme Clientele 2, which the Wu-Tang rapper says will arrive in February 2022.

While much of the world suffers and burns, the wealthiest elites decided to do something: They became astronauts. Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Richard Branson devoted a chunk of the year to seeing which could go to outer space first. Branson wound up winning (though Bezos had the most mocked ship), while many people left on earth wondered they didn’t spend some of their billions making the planet better. In lieu of their income being properly taxed, they suffered the next best thing: They got mocked on SNL.

Season premiere host Owen Wilson strapped on a bald cap to play Bezos, the Amazon honcho whose already unimaginable wealth ballooned even further during the pandemic. In a time of too many Star Trek shows, he got his own: Star Trek: Ego Quest, in which he ventured further out into the cosmos, along with a crew of “random weirdos.” Among them are his brother Mark, played by Wilson’s own brother, Luke.

Would Bezos make like the Enterprise and cruise around the universe, exploring new life, often intervening to make other species’ lives better? Of course not. Their mission is to “just sort of fly around space goofing off, in a ship that looks like a penis.”

Soon enough Bezos learns he’s not the only idle billionaire doing not much in the outer reaches of space. Branson (Alex Moffat) is out there, too, as is Mikey Day’s Elon Musk, who gets lampooned despite actually hosting the show earlier this year.

You can watch the sketch in the video above.

It seems like the bad things that happen to the Detroit Lions are exponentially worse than the bad things that happen to other teams in professional sports. An example: Last week, the team lost to the Baltimore Ravens at home because Justin Tucker drilled an NFL record 66-yard field goal as time expired. It looked like it might have been short, but Tucker had it bounce off of the crossbar and in.

Fast forward to Sunday and the Chicago Bears’ defense forced a turnover against the Lions that seems like it should not have been possible. Detroit faced a first-and-goal from the Bears’ 8-yard line, and Jared Goff was in the midst of getting thing all organized when the ball was snapped to him prematurely. This part isn’t new, but what is extremely unusual is that the ball hit off of Goff’s shoulder and popped up in the air.

Thanks to some good awareness by Bilal Nichols, the ball landed softly in his hands for a weird fumble/interception hybrid.

It is one of the more absurd turnovers you will ever see, and shortly after, the Bears were able to get out of the shadow of their own uprights thanks to this dime by rookie signal caller Justin Fields.

Chicago would score a little later on the drive to go up, 14-0, thanks to an impressive run by David Montgomery.

Last month, Norm Macdonald passed away, prompting an avalanche of clips being shared across social media. A king of late night TV, he was a regular on chat shows, which he routinely torched with unpredictable, hilarious behavior. He also spent five seasons on SNL, three and a half of those as the solitary fake anchor on Weekend Update. And when the show came back for its 47th season, the current anchors made sure to pay him tribute.

Colin Jost and Michael Che ended this season’s maiden segment by turning it over to the man himself. “It is a bittersweet night for us tonight,” Jost said. “Norm is the reason I ever wanted to do Weekend Update, and so tonight, we thought we’d turn the last few jokes of Update over to Norm.”

What followed was a short montage of Weekend Update bits, in which Macdonald skewered the likes of Bill Clinton and, of course, O.J. Simpson, whose trial he relentlessly and mercilessly mocked. “In a brilliant move during closing arguments, Simpson attorney Johnnie Cochran put on the knit cap prosecutors say O.J. wore during the night of the murders,” Macdonald said in the clip. “Although O.J. may have hurt his case when he suddenly blurted out, ‘Hey, hey. Easy with that! That’s my lucky stabbing hat!’”

Elsewhere on Weekend Update, Pete Davidson did one of his confessional monologues, during which he wore a tee-shirt bearing an image of, you guessed it, Norm Macdonald.

You can watch the montage in the video above.

One has to be a real creep to be booted from MAGA land. But that’s what happened to Corey Lewandowski. Last week, the troubled Trump loyalist was formally ejected from the former president’s PAC after he was accused by a donor of sexual harassment. But there’s more: The same woman who made the allegations has claimed that Lewandowski also confessed that he had murdered two people.

The Daily Mail obtained a statement from Trashelle Odom, a Trump donor who claims that Lewandowski, who has worked as a political operative and a commentator, made inappropriate comments about his genitals and made numerous sexual and physical advances throughout the evening. But that wasn’t all he discussed, as per Odom’s statement:

“That is when Lewandowski told me that he ‘was from a bad part of Boston and have killed people … I initially believed that he was joking and attempted to laugh it off. That is when Lewandowski went into detail and stated something to the effect of, ‘when I was 10, I stabbed someone over and over again, killing him.’ He continued and shared that when he was older he, ‘stabbed a man in the back of the head, also killing him.’”

Odom said that after Lewandowski made these comments, she was “intimidated and frightened and fearful” of her safety. After she resisted his advances, Lewandowski allegedly threw his drink at her, hitting her dress, shoe, and foot. He then called her “stupid.”

After the allegations came out, Lewandowski was fired from Trump’s PAC. South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem also severed ties with him. Lewandowksi, through his lawyer, has denied the allegations.

(Via The Daily Mail)