Month: February 2022

The 2022 NBA Slam Dunk Contest was, well, let’s just say not great. Obi Toppin gave us some great dunks en route to a win, but didn’t finish a few of his best clean enough to earn 50s, while Juan Toscano-Anderson was solid but not spectacular early and fell off late, and Cole Anthony and Jalen Green both struggled with missed attempts as the contest dragged on into the night in Cleveland without presenting too many show-stopping moments.

The reaction from some of the legends and current players courtside told the story of the event, as they couldn’t hide their disappointment in all the misses and failed attempts.

The best, though, was Giannis Antetokounmpo who hilariously chastised Stephen Curry for his role in ruining the dunk contest by “changing the game” and making it so young players just launch threes instead of playing above the rim.

It’s a pretty hysterical moment and of all the complaints of Curry ruining basketball by making everyone want to shoot threes, this is easily the best one. Giannis’ comedic timing remains incredible and it was honestly a highlight of a dunk contest that produced very few beyond Obi Toppin. Now, one way to fix this would be for, you know, a star like Giannis to participate. I’m just saying.

After a Skills Challenge that leaned hard into doing something new and out of the box, the NBA used the second spot in its All-Star Saturday festivities for a longtime favorite, the 3-Point Contest. Thanks to a final round record 29 points, Minnesota Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns managed to fend off Luke Kennard and Trae Young en route to a win.

Round 1

Luke Kennard: 28
Karl-Anthony Towns: 22
Trae Young: 22
Patty Mills: 21
CJ McCollum: 19
Desmond Bane: 18
Fred VanVleet: 16
Zach LaVine: 14

The story of the first round was Kennard, who got scorching hot from the top of the key and the final corner, where he parked his all-moneyball rack. As a result, the Los Angeles Clippers’ sharpshooter entered the final round with the top score of the bunch.

Joining him in the final round were Towns and Young, both of whom needed their final moneyball to earn a spot. The pair each took a moment to compose themselves before they let it fly — Young, in particular, took the last shot of the round with a spot in the final on the line. He took a breath, let it fly, and knocked Mills out of contention.

Final Round

Karl-Anthony Towns: 29
Trae Young: 26
Luke Kennard: 26

Towns started things off with a bang in the final round, hitting four of his shots on his all-moneyball rack and setting the bar awfully high for his other two opponents to have to clear.

A cold first rack for Young ultimately was his downfall. While the Hawks’ star caught fire towards the end of his run, Towns’ score was ultimately just a little too much. The same was true for Kennard, who ended with the same score as Young.

Towns’ final round was the best in the competition’s history, eclipsing his pal Devin Booker’s 28-point final round performance in 2018. He is the second player in Timberwolves history to win the competition, joining fellow big man Kevin Love in 2012.

The Taco Bell Skills Challenge went through quite the change this year, with a new team format that featured four separate events that were added together for the team’s total points. The teams were three rookies (Scottie Barnes, Cade Cunningham, and Josh Giddey), the Antetokounmpo brothers (Giannis, Thanasis, and Alex), and the Cavs (Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen, and Evan Mobley).

They would compete in three competitions — shooting, passing, and a relay — before a halfcourt shootout for the title. The shooting competition opened with a solid rookie performance, a shaky effort from the Antetokounmpos, and then the Cavs dominating thanks to Evan Mobley and Darius Garland going off from three-point range.

After the Antetokoumpo brothers took a chaotic passing contest (this is probably the portion that needs the most work), they and the Cavs were tied with two events to go. In the relay, the Rookies won to advance to the finals, where a halfcourt shootout would decide the winner. As for who they would face, with the Cavs and Antetokounmpos tied, Garland and Thanasis went shot for shot from the top of the key to advance, and unsurprisingly Garland hit his first three to knock out the brothers.

In the halfcourt shot challenge, Cade Cunningham found the bottom of the net in just 9.9 seconds, setting the bar high for the Cavs to follow. Mobley had the answer though, drilling his first halfcourt shot to steal the prestigious Skills Challenge trophy away from his fellow rookies and keep the title for the hometown team.

It was an interesting change to the format, and really they should just do the relay (maybe add an extra pass) and the halfcourt shootout and tighten this thing up a bunch more. While it dragged on a bit, in the end they got to an entertaining finish and there were some genuinely cool moments as the home crowd erupted for the efforts of their Cavs.

A lot of hoopla was made late last year over a New Yorker profile of Jeremy Strong, whose incredibly dedicated, laser-focused working methods on Succession shocked many. Then there’s Tom Holland, who’s pretty committed himself. When he was first playing Spider-Man, he was okay not going to the bathroom as often as he perhaps needed to. For Uncharted, his latest chart-topper, he even went undercover as a bartender, all for a couple scenes towards the start of the film.

As caught by People, Holland made an appearance on SiriusXM’s Pop Culture Spotlight with Jessica Shaw, where he laid out his own, more fun methodology.

“For me, one of my favorite things about what we do for a living is when you get the opportunity to learn a new skill for a reason, other than you just want to give it a go,” Holland said. “So I went to a bartending school. I ended up doing a few shifts at this bar in London, which was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it. And it’s a nice little set piece in the movie.”

But soon people started catching on that one of the most famous actors in the world right now was mixing drinks. “And then eventually I sort of got kicked out.”

He did wind up returning to his brief undercover gig. “I have been back to the bar, but it’s a little bit of a rocky relationship at the minute,” Holland added. “I’ve been giving them a lot of press though. So they just shut up and let me back.”

In Uncharted, Holland’s character is discovered by Mark Wahlberg’s adventurer at a Manhattan bar, where he flips bottles à la Tom Cruise and Bryan Brown in Cocktail and even claims to make a mean Negroni. Perhaps you were in London during his tenure and were lucky enough to have his spin on the classic beverage.

(Via People)

The 2022 NBA Slam Dunk Contest features four newcomers to the contest, which brings both some excitement and uncertainty, as there isn’t a past contestant or champion fans have seen on that stage before.

Rockets rookie guard Jalen Green is the favorite coming in, but Knicks sophomore Obi Toppin isn’t far behind on the oddsmakers list as the high-flying foward out of New York has become a fan favorite at the Garden for his exploits above the rim. For Toppin, it’s an opportunity to shine on Saturday night’s biggest stage and carve out a place in All-Star Weekend lore with a spectacular performance, but no matter the outcome he is thrilled to be experiencing all All-Star has to offer.

While at Mountain Dew’s The Block activation in Cleveland, we got to sit down with Toppin to see how he was feeling about the dunk contest later that night, embracing his role on the Knicks, and what’s next in his improvement on the court.

How’s All-Star Weekend treating you, man?

Man, it’s amazing. Like I always say, like for me to be in this position is a blessing.

You get to do the dunk contest tonight and that is the marquee event of Saturday night. What does it mean to you to be in that event and get the chance to put on for the fans and get to show your stuff here?

It’s amazing. Like I said, like it’s a blessing that I’m here. I’m not gonna take it for granted. I’ve been practicing these dunks that hasn’t been seen in the dunk contest yet so, just gonna go out here, have fun, soak in the moment and just get a win.

I was gonna ask what the prep work is like for the dunk contest, cause at this point you just can’t go out there and wing it, right?

Right, yeah. Nah, nah, nah, you can’t wing it. You definitely got to practice some dunks, cause you gotta wow the crowd. You got to get in tune with the crowd, and I feel like with the dunks that I have I feel like I’m going to do that.

What are some of your favorite dunk contest performances from the past?

Definitely Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon. I feel like when Nate Rob was in the dunk contest — New York, he was with New York — I felt like that was a good one, too. I’m trying to think of other ones I’ve seen. I mean, I watched highlights when Jordan was in there, jumpin from the free throw line and stuff like that, Dr. J, it’s been a lot of good dunk contests. Hopefully, I can surprise people this year.

And being here and getting to partner with Dew and do some stuff for the fans. What is it like to get to do this kind of stuff and interact with fans at All-Star?

To have the opportunity to be here, like it’s amazing. Being here with all these great entertainers, like Druski and basketball players, A’ja, Collin [Sexton] was here. I seen Luke [Kennard], Tyrese Maxey, like there’s a lot of great people here who love to have fun and I’m blessed to be in this position.

For you as a player, what would you say from year one to year two has been the area of growth that you’re most proud of on the court so far?

Ah, I probably say like I’ve been putting in a lot of work and I had a lot of great people around me who help me get the time to put these works in. So like, I felt like I know my role on my team. I know what my role is, and I just go out there and have fun. Like I said, it’s a blessing that I’m in this position that I’m in and I’m not taking it for granted.

Yeah, and part of that role is bringing that energy, which seems to be something that you really embrace. Why is that important to you to try and make sure that when you come in the game, you’re bringing that life and making sure that the energy level stays high?

I feel like bringing the energy is important just because it’s like bringing the life to a party. Like you need that one person to bring spark to a team. Like you need somebody to rally the guys up, because when they’re up, like we’re good, right? You always want to be happy. You can’t be upset in the leauge, because you in the top — like it’s not even, I don’t even know the percentage, but not a lot of people are here. A lot of people pray to be in this position. So just going every day happy and just have fun and do what you do.

Something it seems you’ve made a concerted effort in this year is attacking the basket more. Was that just some where you looked at what you did last year and said I can do more if get to the rim and attack a little more?

Yeah, I felt like I had great coaches, like Thibs is a big person in that. Like he talked to me about that. Kenny Payne, like our whole coaching staff talks to me and basically was telling me different areas I can work on this summer. And one area was attacking the basket with my athleticism and using my athleticism. So like speaking with Thibs like he said we need to put you in pick-and-rolls, we need to get you downhill getting to the basket and use your athleticism. So having them around me, having them talk to me about that helped me tremendously for this year.

Lastly, as a player when you know what your role is and you’re trying to perfect what you do in that, but also knowing that maybe you have more to offer. How do you balance that in the work you put in to know that when the next opportunity that comes and when the role expands, that you’re ready for that?

This is only my second year in the league. Like I have a lot of work to go and a lot of work to do. So like I know what I’m really good at right now, and I’m gonna stick with that. But then when it’s time for me to show different things while I’m working on those things, like shooting the ball, dribbling the ball, playing defense, different things like that, like I know I’m working on that every single day. So one day I can be the best defender, one day I can be a really good shooter — I ain’t gonna be the best shooter, Stephen Curry got that [laughs]. So just me putting in my work and hopefully getting getting to the goals I want to get to.

LeBron James has done a whole lot of things in his NBA career, but there’s one thing he’s mentioned in the past that won’t be attainable for a few more years. The Los Angeles Lakers star has made clear on a few occasions that he’d like to play with his oldest son, Bronny, before he retires.

It’ll take a minute before that happens — Bronny is at least two years away from the NBA, as he is currently a high school junior and a four-star recruit in the class of 2023. But on Saturday, James gave his clearest indication yet that he plans on chugging along until he can take the floor in the NBA game with his eldest child.

“My last year will be played with my son,” James said, per Jason Lloyd of The Athletic. “Wherever Bronny is at, that’s where I’ll be. I would do whatever it takes to play with my son for one year. It’s not about the money at that point.”

The thing with James is that he is still playing at a very high level for any player, let alone someone who turned 37 years old in December. Perhaps he’d be able to go up against Bronny for a year or two before joining forces somewhere else in the league, but for now, James can only sit back and wait for him to get to the league, killing time by going up against youngsters who played alongside Bronny in high school and AAU.

They don’t call him “Teflon Don” for nothing. For the last several years, Donald Trump has been on the verge of losing everything. He’s been caught on tape bragging about sexual assault. He’s been impeached twice. He’s even openly confessed to crimes. So take it with a quarry of salt that the former president may be finally toast. And yet the twin investigations into his business by the New York State attorney general’s office and the Manhattan district attorney are nothing to sneeze at, especially when the former has already claimed to have found “significant evidence” of fraud.

One expert laid out a grim scenario for the reality TV star-turned-most powerful person on the planet. Investigative journalist David Cay Johnston appeared on MSNBC Saturday, where he was asked if Trump was at risk of personal bankruptcy.

“Oh, it is possible that Donald, at the end of the day, will be left with nothing but his presidential pension and his union pension from his TV show, because those are the only assets he has that would be protected,” Johnston stated. “And given that Donald brags about how much ‘he loves money, he cares about money more than anything else,’ that’s his words, not mine, this is a very troubling for him.”

Johnston claimed Trump “could lose not just the Trump Organization but his apartment, his mansion in Westchester County, his golf courses, Mar-a-Lago, all of that can be at risk in these both criminal and civil proceedings that are coming against him in a number of jurisdictions.” He added, “Especially if the New York attorney general arranges to have his business put out of business.”

Whatever winds up happening, Trump’s definitely in deep doo-doo. A recent report stated that he probably needs to start selling some properties to stay afloat. Long as he has at least one resort where he can rant to strangers about the election he lost bigly.

You can watch Johnston’s predictions in the video below.

(Via Raw Story)

(SPOILERS for this week’s Power Book IV: Force will be found below.)

As a fan of his music, it’s been good seeing Jeremih on the small screen these past few weeks. It’s been more than six years since we received an album from Jeremih, which his last project being 2015’s Late Night. However, he’s still active in the music world as he appears on the theme song for Power Book IV: Force. “Power Powder Respect” also features 50 Cent, who created the Power series, and Lil Durk, who along with Jeremih, hails from Chicago where the show is based in. However, there’s more to Jeremih’s involvement in Power Book IV: Force.

What Role Does Jeremih Have On ‘Power?’

Jeremih also plays Elijah who is the right-hand man to Jenard, the younger brother of Diamond who currently runs the CBI gang. Jenard was previously in charge of CBI while Diamond was in jail, but following his release, Jenard reluctantly surrendered the throne. Elijah makes his first impression in Power Book IV: Force nearly coming to blows with Tommy during their first meeting. Just like Jenard, Elijah is not too fond of Tommy and seeks to get rid of him in the most efficient or quickest way possible, whichever comes first.

New episodes of STARZ’s ‘Power Book IV: Force’ are available to watch on Sunday at 12:00am EST.

(SPOILERS for this week’s Power Book IV: Force will be found below.)

Now that he’s decided to stay put in Chicago, Tommy Egan has one goal for his time in the Windy City: to make as much money as possible. In Power Book IV: Force, he begins by aligning himself with Diamond, who brings him along for a mission that requires them to move a large batch of cocaine in three hours. In this week’s episode, Tommy opts to partner with Liliana and produce their own batch of cocaine, which they hope to use in a deal to unite two of Chicago’s street gangs: CBI and the Irish Crime Family. Tommy’s attempt falls through due to longtime disdain between the two groups. However, a new opportunity lands in his lap at the end of the episode.

What New Product Might Tommy Start Selling On ‘Power’?

Towards the end of the episode, Tommy is stopped by Claudia Flynn, the older sister of Victor Flynn and the daughter of Walter Flynn, who runs the Irish Crime Family. During her meeting with Tommy, Claudia baits him into teaming up with her for a new product that will “kick your teeth in a thousand times over.” Shortly after, Claudia and a woman that she’s romantically involved with are discussing the drug, and it’s here that she reveals it has a chemical compound that is “too close to cocaine.” Claudia also says that it came from a “busted diet pill.”

The drug was first introduced during the inaugural episode Power Book IV: Force in an intimate scene between Claudia and the aforementioned woman.

New episodes of STARZ’s ‘Power Book IV: Force’ are available to watch on Sunday at 12:00am EST.

(SPOILERS for this week’s Power Book IV: Force will be found below.)

We’re just three episodes into Power Book IV: Force, and it’s clear that Tommy Egan is a force to be reckoned with. After packing up his things from New York for a move that was initially set to bring him to Los Angeles, Tommy decided a stop in Chicago was necessary. There, he reconnected with his half-brother JP and found a new love. However, he’s also ruffled feathers with two prominent gangs in Chicago: CBI and the Irish Crime Family. In episode three of Power, which is titled “Firestarter,” we see Tommy start plenty of fires in the Windy City.

What Makes Tommy A Firestarter On ‘Power’?

In previous Power episodes, Tommy’s presence and growing alliance with CBI’s Diamond, who was released from a long stint in jail in episode one, sparks a rift between Diamond and his younger brother Jenard, who led CBI while Diamond was behind bars. The two don’t see eye-to-eye on many things with Diamond wanting to keep Tommy and Jenard eyeing to get rid of him. In this week’s episode, Tommy presents a deal to Diamond that could possibly change things for CBI. However, Jenard’s refusal to let go of the top spot leads to him and Diamond literally fighting with the winner taking over CBI. Diamond won the fight, but it was later revealed that Jenard threw the match, which will certainly cause damage to the unity of CBI.

Elsewhere on this episode of Power, Tommy reignites a fire between CBI and the Irish Crime Family, who have been at odds for years. Tommy’s attempt to settle their differences in the name of making money backfires when Walter Flynn, who runs Irish Crime Family, refuses to put the past behind him during the deal. This causes an intense back and forth between Diamond and Walter during the meeting.

Lastly, Tommy prepares to start another fire by connecting with Claudia Flynn, Walter’s only daughter and older brother of Vic. She teases a new deal with him that would allow her to forge her own path in the drug world, as her family has iced her out of the Irish Crime Family.

New episodes of STARZ’s ‘Power Book IV: Force’ are available to watch on Sunday at 12:00am EST.