Month: February 2022

The Denver Nuggets found themselves in a position few teams have overcome this season, trailing by 10 to the Warriors in the fourth quarter at the Chase Center. Few teams have been better at putting opponents away once they take a late lead than Golden State, but on Wednesday night in San Francisco, the Nuggets were able to pull off a rather incredible comeback.

As often happens for Denver, their comeback was propelled by Nikola Jokic, who had nine points and five assists in the final seven minutes of the game to help the Nuggets find their way to a 117-116 win, stealing one on the road.

After a Monte Morris fastbreak layup gave Denver a 114-113 lead, Stephen Curry seemed to rip the Nuggets hearts out with an and-one bucket with just under six seconds to go, giving the Warriors a two-point lead as Denver advanced the ball up the floor on a timeout.

Naturally, the Nuggets turned to Jokic to make the right play and he took every possible second working his way across the lane and once the Warriors collapsed onto him he found Morris for the game-winning three just before the buzzer.

Jokic finished the game with 35 points, 17 rebounds, and eight assists as he continues to pile up outrageous stat lines on a near nightly basis. He got help from Bryn Forbes, who had 22 points off the bench, as well as the big late buckets from Morris, who had five of his 13 on the final two shots for Denver to lift them to the win.

Quinton Brock ended his 2020 year by rocking out with his single, “To The Moon,” and he ended 2021 by showing off his softer side with “Touch.” While it remains to be seen how the Brooklyn-via-Buffalo singer will end 2022, he’s kicking off the year by continuing his pursuit to “change rock music forever.” His latest step in doing so comes with his brand new single, “There For You.” The new track sees Brock glide with ease to new love over the song’s surfy and R&B-laced production.

Brock’s journey as a singer began with his come-up in the surf/blues rock duo The Get Money Squad. His step into rock and roll was inspired by Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the lost godmother of rock and roll, who helped inspire and remind Brock that rock and roll was a genre pioneered by Black artists overcoming adversity. Prior to “Touch” and “To The Moon,” Brock released “All Falls On Me” in 2020 and shared his debut project Scooter. in 2019. That presented eight tracks and a lone guest appearance from Pink Siifu.

During an interview with Uproxx in 2020, Brock shared how determined he was to succeed by revealing he “got a literal chip tattooed on my shoulder” as motivation. He also said that he wants his next tattoo to be “a heart on my sleeve.”

You can listen to “There For You” in the video above.

The last week has been quite tumultuous for Kanye West and Kid Cudi. They’ve been close collaborators for 15 years now and, despite their differences, Kanye has always lent a hand to Cudi in times of need. Recently Cudi, who’s been very vocal about his struggles with mental health, sent out a concerning message on Instagram. “God…please watch over me and keep my mind sane,” Cudi wrote. “I could use it right now. To anyone who feels alone, I’m with you and I love you.” Kanye caught wind of the message and re-shared it to his Instagram page with the caption, “Love you family.”

Cudi did not directly respond to Kanye’s message, but he did share a message of appreciation to fans who showed him support. “I really wanna say thank u for all the love yall been givin me the past few days,” Cudi wrote. “U have no idea how much u all mean to me. I am forever grateful to have so much love and support from all over the world and I wont let yall down. I love you all. [prayer hands and heart emoji].”

The rapper’s exchange comes after some bad blood emerged between them. Kanye recently said he won’t put Cudi on his upcoming album, Donda 2, due to Cudi’s friendship with Pete Davidson who is currently dating his ex-wife Kim Kardashian. Cudi responded to Kanye’s message about Donda 2 and wrote in part, “Too bad I dont wanna be on ur album u f*ckin dinosaur hahaha.”

The Sex and the City follow-up And Just Like That… wrapped up its 10-episode run earlier this month, after two months of sometimes startling developments. There was the Peloton business. There was the lack of Samantha Jones. There was the uproar over Che Diaz. What there wasn’t was Candace Bushnell, the former New York Observer journalist whose ‘90s column “Sex and the City” birthed the show of the same name. She wasn’t involved in the revival (nor was really involved in the most of the show or the movies). But in a predictably juicy interview with The New Yorker, she strongly intimated that she wasn’t feeling it.

Bushnell, whose life partially loosely Sarah Jessica Parker’s Carrie Bradshaw, was asked by the reporter whether she felt similar to the characters in the new show, who feel like they “have suddenly awoken into a sense of being out of step with culture.”

Her response was simply, “No.” She added that she was “really startled by a lot of the decisions made in the reboot,” distancing herself from it by saying, “it’s a television product, done with Michael Patrick King and Sarah Jessica Parker, who have both worked with HBO a lot in the past. HBO decided to put this franchise back into their hands for a variety of reasons, and this is what they came up with.”

When asked if she “sees” herself in the characters anymore, she replied, “Not at all.” But her fictional analog and her parted ways a while ago. “Carrie Bradshaw ended up being a quirky woman who married a really rich guy. And that’s not my story, or any of my friends’ stories.”

But Carrie and her were simpatico for a while, particularly how much both were making in media during a happier time. When she worked for Vogue, in the ‘90s, she says she was paid $5,000 a month — nearly $10,000 a month now, adjusted for inflation.

“I mean, this was a time that writers were getting a Vanity Fair contract for six pieces and two hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year,” she said. “People valued writing; it wasn’t considered something everyone can do. Now, because of the computer, everyone has to do it, so we think everyone can do it.”

(Via New Yorker)

The Los Angeles Lakers have had a dreadful season, with a combination of poor play overall that, when coupled with injury woes, has pushed them down into a fight for a play-in spot in the West heading into the All-Star break.

The Lakers just recently got Anthony Davis back from a sprained left MCL, and his play since returning has been one of the bright spots in another rough patch of play, as he seemed to be getting closer to the elite level he’d long established for himself. He continued that in the first half against Utah on Wednesday, scoring 17 points in 17 minutes before disaster struck as he jumped to catch a lob and came down on Rudy Gobert’s foot, rolling his right ankle terribly and writhing on the ground in pain.

Davis stayed down for some time as trainers attended to him and eventually was helped off the court without putting any weight on that leg and into the locker room.

The ESPN broadcast showed a reverse angle of the injury that showed Davis’ ankle turning over almost completely 90 degrees, as it looked as bad of an ankle turn as you can have.

The Lakers will release an official update later, but it would seem that Davis’ night is done and he could miss another stretch of time with what appeared to be a nasty sprain. Hopefully it’s nothing more than a sprain, but that will be determined after further tests as the Lakers once again may find themselves without their star big man for some time.

UPDATE: Initial X-rays came back negative, so the good news is there isn’t a fracture, but Davis is done for the night and an MRI to come will provide further insight into the severity of the sprain.

The New York Knicks played host to the Brooklyn Nets, who were without Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Ben Simmons, on ESPN on Wednesday night, and put on a show in the first half, leading by as many as 28 and took a 21-point advantage into the break.

However, the second half was an all-too-familiar disaster for the Knicks, as they watched the Nets steadily reel them in over the course of the final 24 minutes, punctuated by rookie Cam Thomas’ 16-point fourth quarter, including a dagger in the closing seconds that left the Knicks faithful in The Garden in shock. The loss dropped the Knicks to 25-34, pushing them to 3.5 games out of the final play-in spot in the East, and vibes in Manhattan couldn’t be much worse.

There are reports swirling that Tom Thibodeau could be on his way out soon, but the issues seem to run much deeper than just the coach in New York. After the game and before the late game between the Jazz and Lakers, ESPN went back to its NBA Countdown crew so that Stephen A. Smith could get some things off of his chest in what is an instant classic Stephen A. rant, as he goes after just about everyone, from Thibs to Julius Randle to Leon Rose, calling the team “trash” and saying fans should boycott the team for the rest of the season.

It’s all gold from Stephen A., who is rarely operating at a higher level than he is when the Knicks are absolutely awful, but the best part to me is when he talks about how he’s embarrassed that he let last year’s success convince him the Knicks had turned the corner and now he owes all kinds of people dinners and suits for bets he’s made about New York being back.

MTV’s supernatural teen drama tv show Teen Wolf based on the 1985 supernatural teen drama movie of the same name, was a hit for anyone who frequented Tumblr in 2011.

The show starred Scott McCall as a hot-shot lacrosse player who just so happen to be a werewolf (hey, high school is rough). Over the six seasons from 2011-2017, the show incorporated many different supernatural elements beyond just werewolves, including banshees and giant reptile humans.

Rumors of a possible revival movie have been circulating for months after cryptic social media posts from MTV and other actors involved in the show. Finally, Paramount+ has confirmed the series would be getting its own movie spin-off.

The streaming service has confirmed who would be back for the movie, which includes: Tyler Posey as Scott McCall, Holland Roden as Lydia Martin, Shelley Hennig as Malia Tate, Crystal Reed as Allison Argent, Orny Adams as Coach Bobby Finstock, Linden Ashby as Sheriff Noah Stilinski, JR Bourne as Chris Argent, Seth Gilliam as Dr. Alan Deaton, Colton Haynes as Jackson Whittemore, Dyan Kelley as Deputy Jordan Parrish, Melissa Ponzio as Melissa McCall and, finally, Dylan Sprayberry as Liam Dunbar.

The list is strange for several reasons: one being the inclusion of Crystal Reed’s character, who infamously died in season four. But mainly, the absence of three main cast members, Dylan O’Brien, Arden Cho, and Tyler Hoechlin, who played Stiles, Kira, and Derek, respectively. No reason was given for Hoechlin, but O’Brien has been busy with some high-profile roles, which might have made him pass on the teenage drama.

As for Cho, the only woman of color in the show, rumor has is that the network wasn’t offering her enough money compared to the other actresses.

Production is expected to take place later this year.

The Brooklyn Nets played one of the worst first halves of basketball any team has all season, trailing by 21 at the half and by as many as 28 to the Knicks in Madison Square Garden.

While the Knicks are always capable of giving up a lead, with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving both out (and Ben Simmons still not ready to play), it was hard to see where the offensive burst would come from if they were to claw their way back in. However, after starting to reel in the Knicks in the third quarter, rookie Cam Thomas — who had been 2-for-11 through three quarters — put the team on his back in the fourth in an absolutely stunning comeback win for Brooklyn.

Thomas had 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting in the fourth quarter, as he found his stroke and did not care who was in front of him once he got to his spot and rose up for a jumper. The rookie tied the game for the first time midway through the fourth, as the MSG crowd could only watch in disbelief that this was happening again.

Thomas then gave the Nets their first lead of the game with another pull-up from the right wing, as he picked apart the Knicks defense and hit tough shot after tough shot.

Brooklyn would eventually find itself up three and had the ball with 16 seconds to play, shot clock at 10 after a wild sequence featuring a pair of offensive rebounds — and threw an inbound pass the Thomas in the backcourt and cleared the stage for him to go one-on-one with Quentin Grimes to try and find the dagger. Thomas stalked the Knicks rookie down, sized him up, and drilled a stepback 28-footer that left the Garden speechless and had the Knicks bench going crazy.

It was a comeback that should’ve been unbelievable, but has become all too familiar a sight for Knicks fans this season, as they’ve seen a number of late leads evaporate as their crunchtime offense slows down and they lose all rhythm. The Knicks are now just 4-3 in their last seven games that they’ve held a 20-point lead, which seems impossible, but illustrates just how frequent these collapses are.

Still, the other team has to find shotmaking in order to make those comebacks happen and on Wednesday night, without their top two bucket-getters, it was the rookie Thomas who has shown that ability throughout his first season in the league who shook off a dreadful start to the game and found his stroke to carry Brooklyn to a thrilling win.

Over the weekend, Juicy J and Wiz Khalifa unleashed a new joint album after more than a decade of working together. Stoner’s Night arrived after weeks of anticipation and a couple of singles: “Pop The Trunk” and “Backseat” with Project Pat. Now that the album is here, Juicy J and Wiz are looking to further promote it with a brand new video for the track “Weak.” It finds Juicy J leading a cast of women who aim to get strong. It also sees Wiz kicking it in a room full of models while Memphis rapper Big30, who also appears in the song, drops some bars from a kitchen.

Juicy J and Wiz Khalifa’s Stoner’s Night —their first project since the deluxe release of the former’s fifth album The Hustle Continues — boasts 16 songs and appearances from Big30, Project Pat, and Elle Varner. As for Wiz Khalifa, he recently teamed up with producers Cardo and Sledgren for Wiz Got Wings.

Stoner’s Night is not Juicy J and Wiz’s first project together. Back in 2016, they teamed up with producer TM88 to form the group TGOD Mafia for TGOD Mafia: Rude Awakening.

You can watch the video for “Weak” above.

Stoner’s Night is out now via Trippy Music LLC. You can stream it here.

For a 5-year-old to lose their teddy bear is akin to the death of a family member or a pet. Children become attached because they truly believe their stuffed animals have an innate life force.

That’s why when a child loses their attachment object, it can be impossible to replace, even if the parents find something that’s identical.

“If there was a machine which copied a favorite object in every way down to atomic level, we would still prefer the original. It has an essence to it,” psychologist Bruce Hood told The Guardian. “We anthropomorphize objects, look at them almost as if they have feelings. The children know these objects are not alive but they believe in them as if they are.”

That’s why 5-year-old Ezekiel Burnett was devastated after losing his teddy bear, aka “Original Teddy” at Milwaukee Airport last November. He was boarding a plane with his parents when he threw it up in the air on the concourse and it got stuck in the rafters.

Recognize this face? The search for bear’s owner continues! Thank you for helping us spread the word and to those who pointed out that this bear likely belongs to a kid born with CHD. How special he must be. Let’s get him home!pic.twitter.com/hCZc4RhF0P

— MKE – Milwaukee Airport (@MKE – Milwaukee Airport)
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The family didn’t have time to stop and retrieve the bear for fear of missing their flight. So Original Teddy was left behind.

“He’s had this bear since day one and slept with it every night. It has a lot of sentimental value to him,” his dad, David Burnett, recounted. “When we got back home he literally cried the whole flight and was still upset. So, it’s really special to him.”

In January, the bear was found and returned to the airport’s information desk and it put out several tweets searching for Original Teddy’s family. A post featuring the bear went viral and was seen more than 4 million times.

Earlier this month, David Burnett and his wife were watching “Survivor” on TV when she nearly jumped out of her chair like “she won the lottery” after seeing a video of the bear shared by a friend on Facebook. “She couldn’t even speak,” he later recalled.

The family got in touch with the airport and it shared the good news on Twitter.

Update: Thank you all so much! We found the owner and we are working out the details for their reunion! Stay tuned! pic.twitter.com/EgZSzXRJ9z

— MKE – Milwaukee Airport (@MitchellAirport) February 9, 2022

This type of bear resonated with many of the people who shared the video and tweets because it has a heart on its chest with stitches. These bears have been given to children born with congenital heart defects. Ezekial was born with a healthy heart and was given the bear as a gift from a friend of the family.

Teddy and 5-year-old Ezekiel have been REUNITED! Thank you @SouthwestAir and the 4 million people across the globe who followed along on Teddy’s journey. We’re so glad he’s home!pic.twitter.com/UWv9cI7m8G

— MKE – Milwaukee Airport (@MKE – Milwaukee Airport)
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Southwest Airlines was kind enough to fly the family from their home in Texas back to Milwaukee to retrieve the bear at a ceremony in one of its terminals.

“We’re very honored to be a part of this special moment,” Airport Director Brian Dranzik said. “Small moments like this, along with the bigger ones, are why we support our hometown airport.”

David Burnett said that his son was overjoyed that the bear had been found and can’t quite understand the “magnitude” of the event, “but has been talking about it every single day.”

At the ceremony, Ezekiel and Original Teddy were reunited and hopefully, this time, it’s forever.