Month: March 2022

Kevin Garnett’s place in Boston Celtics lore was never in question after the role he played in helping the franchise to its 17th championship in 2008. Garnett made up a Big Three in Boston along with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, the latter of whom became public enemy No. 1 for that squad after he bolted for Miami to team up with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh.

For years, Allen has had a contentious at best relationship with his former teammates in Boston, as Garnett, Pierce, and others felt betrayed by Allen’s decision to leave for their top rival in the East at the time. While Pierce has indicated a desire to reconcile at some point, there haven’t been a lot of indications of when exactly that would come, but the signs have been pointing to an easing of tensions recently, starting with this year’s All-Star Game when the 75th Anniversary team was celebrated in Cleveland.

On Sunday, Garnett’s No. 5 jersey went into the TD Garden rafters alongside the rest of the franchise legends and there was a lot of “will he, won’t he” talk about whether Allen — who was not at Paul Pierce’s jersey retirement in 2018 — would attend. Shortly before tipoff, Allen arrived at the arena for his first appearance with the Celtics since he left in a fairly momentous occasion.

Allen was seated with Kendrick Perkins courtside and got a nice ovation from the Celtics crowd when he was shown on the Jumbotron in the first quarter.

It’s cool to see Allen back in the TD Garden and reuniting with his old teammates given how important he was to that 2008 team. Old grudges can die hard in the NBA, but it’s good to see all parties recognizing that it’s best to try and move on and reconcile sooner rather than later, while everyone is still here to be able to celebrate and reminisce together.

Last spring, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood announced that they were joining forces for a new band called The Smile. Shortly after that announcement, the pair performed a bunch of new music at Glastonbury’s 2021 Live At Worthy Farm festival. In the meantime, a new solo song by Yorke, entitled “5.17,” appeared in a recent episode of the British drama series Peaky Blinders.

If you’re a fan of the new record, there’s another one on the way soon. As Pitchfork noted, the Apple Music listing for the new songs suggests that “5.17” will be followed by “That’s How Horses Are,” another song by Yorke for Peaky Blinders. Last month, Peaky Blinders director Anthony Byrne spoke to NME and revealed that Yorke and Greenwood will contribute multiple records to the current season of the show.

“I’m over the moon about all of that,” Byrne said. “The music has always been really important historically, and I was really keen to bring a dramatic score into it. We’re using that much more in this season. It’s a much heavier season so the score is taking things in a very different direction.”

This isn’t the first time that Radiohead’s music has appeared on the show. “You & Whose Army?” and “Pyramid Song” have both been used.

You can listen to “5.17” in the video above.

The Players Championship this week has been a marathon, as weather has wreaked havoc on Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, causing stops and starts due to torrential rain and, even once the moisture passed, players were left to deal with brutal wind conditions on Saturday as The Players morphed into an Open Championship for a day.

While the conditions made it miserable to play in, with steady winds of 15-25 miles per hours and gusts well over 40, it created spectacular theater on Saturday, as fans were glued to their TVs watching the world’s best players get absolutely rocked by the combination of insane wind and all the water that lurks, waiting to drown a bad shot at any time at TPC Sawgrass. Two holes in particular stood out, with the long par 4 18th playing dead into the wind, with water all down the left side of the fairway, and the iconic 17th, a 136-yard par 3 on an island green, with wind blowing dead into the players faces.

Players were hitting 7- and 8-irons into 17 on Saturday, sometimes clubbing up as much as 50 yards to account for the wind, and those that could flight their ball low fared pretty well. Those that hoisted their shots up into the air or couldn’t commit fully to a swing saw their ball get killed by the wind and fall to a watery grave, 19 in all, creating an incredible 5-minute long compilation video of delicious golf failure.

Most years, the 17th at Sawgrass feels a bit over-shown, as the large green tends to be pretty easy for players to hit in normal conditions. However, on Saturday it produced some of the greatest theater in sports, as players were absolutely rattled by the wind and found that normally spacious green had become a coin-flip to hit. The best reaction came from Brooks Koepka, who on his second visit to 17 on the day could only laugh as his ball went way too high and got gobbled up by a huge gust, falling miles short of dry land.

It was the ideal day to be watching golf on TV and not be out on the course yourself, which was unfortunate for the players who found themselves in the late tee time window and had to be the ones whose misery provided so much entertainment.

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

Shortly after Tommy Egan moved to Chicago in Power Book IV: Force, he ran into his half-brother, JP. They were both unaware that the other existed, but through their discovery, they formed a bond that was focused on them helping each other out. JP has shown Tommy videos and photos of their mother when they were young while Tommy has offered to help clean up JP’s grandmother’s house as well as lend JP money when his bar gets shot up. As their bond strengthens, JP and Tommy are in for a surprise at some point in the future.

Who Starts Following Tommy Around Chicago In ‘Power?’

As Tommy’s beef with Jenard continues, the latter offers D-Mac, a younger member of CBI, $5,000 to tail Tommy and see what he’s up to. D-Mac has been introduced several times during the season. We know that he’s JP’s long-lost son, one who was taken away from him by his ex-wife some years ago. We also know that D-Mac is the one who shot up JP’s bar. At this point, it’s clear that D-Mac has some disdain for his father, but for some reason, when he discovers that Tommy and JP are spending time together, he quickly returns to Jenard and tells him he can no longer do the job. It should also be noted that during episode one, D-Mac briefly held Tommy at gunpoint during their first meeting.

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

Kanye West has spent much of the year attacking Pete Davidson, who is now dating Kim Kardashian, through his songs, videos, and Instagram posts. Through it all, Pete’s responses have been limited, but enough seemed to be enough for the SNL comedian as he decided to take a moment to respond to Kanye’s antics. His response came via text messages, which were shared through screenshots posted to Instagram by SNL writer Dave Sirus.

Earlier Sunday morning, Kanye shared an Instagram post in which he once again expressed his frustration with his daughter North’s use of TikTok, as well as her attendance at the “godless Sierra Canyon school.” “I said I am not allowing my daughter to be used by TikTok, to be used by Disney,” he wrote. As a result, Pete decided to text Kanye and ask him to “take a second a calm down.” After calling Kim the “best mother I’ve ever met,” Pete added, “I’ve decided I’m not gonna let you treat us this way anymore and I’m done being quiet. Grow the f*ck up.” Kanye then asked for his whereabouts, to which Pete replied, “In bed with your wife.”

Pete tried to schedule a meet-up with Kanye, who told him to come to Sunday Service if he wants to talk to him. In a new video, Kanye spoke about the text messages. “At this point, it’s going too far,” he said. “The boyfriend texts me, antagonizing me, bragging about being in bed with my wife. He texts me, talking about bragging about how he’s in bed with my wife. And it’s like, well, who’s watching my children?” He added, “Kim gets Black people out of prison, you know who puts them in prison? The person that the boyfriend has a tattoo of,” which is a reference to Pete’s tattoo of Hillary Clinton.

In additional videos, Kanye accused Kim of keeping North away from him by not letting him go to his Donda 2 listening party in Miami, as well as a basketball game for his Donda Sports Academy team in Chicago.

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

So far, in the first season of 50 Cent’s Power Book IV: Force, Tommy Egan has made plenty of enemies since his move to Chicago. He was originally set to go to Los Angeles, but after some time in Chicago, he figured that the Windy City was best for him. Since this decision, Tommy has rubbed shoulders with the Serbian Mafia, the Irish Crime Family, and CBI, with each of them being quite vocal with their distaste toward Tommy. Walter Flynn, from the Irish Crime Family, would love to run Tommy out of Chicago, but a personal struggle has made it hard for him to focus on that task.

What Is Walter Flynn Hiding In ‘Power?’

Walter is hiding some type of illness that has not been revealed so far in Power Book IV: Force. It seems to be something severe as it causes him to have paralyzing cough attacks as well as some levels of exhaustion. In the latest episode, Walter is discovered on the floor of his office by his brother-in-law Paulie. It becomes clear that Walter’s fall came after he fainted, and it did a number on him, as it caused a cut on his forehead.

It appears that Paulie and Walter’s son Vic are the only people who know the severity of the illness and even the exact nature of it. Walter’s daughter Claudia, however, has been kept out of the loop with everyone around her telling her that Walter’s sickness is just a bad case of bronchitis and nothing to be worried about.

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

Tucker Carlson was late to realize that maybe Russian President Vladimir Putin isn’t such a stand-up guy, but that hasn’t stopped him from spewing lunatic anti-Ukraine nonsense. The Fox News host has used his highly watched nightly program to air unhinged conspiracy theories. There’s one place his rants are popular: Russia, who’ve been airing his segments on state TV. Now we’re learning that doing that isn’t an option. It’s an order.

Mother Jones obtained a 12-page document from the Kremlin that instructed state-friendly media outlets to air plenty of Tucker. “It is essential to use as much as possible fragments of broadcasts of the popular Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who sharply criticizes the actions of the United States [and] NATO, their negative role in unleashing the conflict in Ukraine, [and] the defiantly provocative behavior from the leadership of the Western countries and NATO towards the Russian Federation and towards President Putin, personally,” the memo reads.

The document cogently sums up Carlson’s take on the invasion like this: “Russia is only protecting its interests and security.” It also includes a Tucker quote Kremlin officials really enjoyed: “And how would the US behave if such a situation developed in neighboring Mexico or Canada?”

The document is one of many that have been sent to media outlets in Russia, where independent reporting is now verboten. The nation’s leaders want its citizens to live in a bubble, where they’re fed lies about Ukraine and the many nations that have supported it over the last three weeks. Luckily, they have Fox News’ biggest star to help them.

(Via Mother Jones)

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

While Tommy Egan is running around Chicago trying to make a lane for himself while seemingly pissing off everyone around him, there’s another person from the Windy City who’s trying to do the same. Claudia Flynn, daughter of Walter Flynn from the Irish Crime Family, has been seeking a true position within her family’s business, but Walter has no desire to move her from her role as an accountant for the business. As a result, Claudia sets out to sell her own product, a unique coke-like drug called Dahlia. With Tommy’s help, the two get to work, but it doesn’t come without Claudia having to do things she’s never done before.

Who Are The People That Claudia Has Killed In ‘Power?’

In the first six episodes of Power Book IV: Force, Claudia has killed two people and both have occurred with the past couple of weeks. Her first kill was Mai, her romantic partner that helped develop the Dahlia drug. That murder happened when she and Mai had a fight over the new drug. In this past week’s episode, Claudia kills Reggie, her old distro, after he attacks her for ignoring his calls and texts about collaborating to sell Dahlia. Unlike Mai’s murder, Reggie’s death came as an act of self-defense for Claudia.

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

Drake and Jack Harlow have been living their best lives in Turks & Caicos for a few days now. The two artists have also been bonding during this time as they’ve been seemingly able to find common ground despite being in difference places in their respective careers. Harlow is gearing up to release his upcoming second album while Drake is a few months removed from his sixth album Certified Lover Boy. Harlow has often called Drake an inspiration for his career, and that becomes clear when you hear some of his songs like “Baxter Avenue” and “Nail Tech.”

Hopefully, the pair’s time in Turks & Caicos will produce a collaboration or two, but for now, their trip is certainly blessing the lives of others around them. A recent Instagram post from Drake revealed that he and Harlow surprised a fan, who is also a singer, with $20,000. “Me and Jack Harlow blessing the island on behalf of Stake,” Drake wrote in the caption. “My fav thing in the world is to try and change someone’s day, week, month or year.”

In the video, Drake begins by saying, “I’m with GQ Switzerland’s ‘Most Attractive Man of the Decade,’ Jack Harlow. And we’re gonna try to bless somebody’s life tonight.” The duo then brings out Janardo Laporte, an entertainer at the Grace Bay Club, after his rendition of Drake’s “Hold On, We’re Going Home” made the rapper feel a “little self-conscious,” a Drake himself admitted. “It’s better than the OG, I’m not gonna lie,” he added.

After the trio plays roulette on the crypto gambling platform, Stake, Drake asks Laporte what he would do with the money if he won. “I got three kids,” Laporte replies. “So I wanna do something for my kids. And enhance my music career a little bit.” Drake then surprises Laporte and hands him $20,000 in cash. “I wasn’t expecting this, I was on my way home!” Laporte said.

Drake and Jack captured the whole moment on video, which you can watch above.

Jack Harlow is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Russia invaded Ukraine three weeks ago, and it hasn’t gone as swimmingly as they hoped. The Ukrainian people, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, have put up a fight. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has lost support among the American rightwing. Well, not all of it. Former president Donald Trump continues to mumble aimlessly when asked to condemn the leader, whose invasion he’s called “savvy” and “genius.”

On SNL’s Weekend Update, hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che tried to find the funny in a tragic situation. “Russia has passed a ‘fake news’ law that makes it illegal for any organization to report information that contradicts what the government says,” Jost joked, “which explains the recent headline, ‘6-foot-5 Putin Not Insane.’”

Jost also discussed reports that, after McDonald’s announced they were closing their eateries in Russia, locals have been “hoarding” their wares. That, he said, included some “honorary Russians,” at which points the famous image of Trump flashing thumbs up while surrounded by an ocean of McDonald’s food popped up.

Che, meanwhile, tried to make light of rising gas prices, saying fuel has become “so expensive, that America, we might have to move back in with our ex,” he said, adding, “Come on, Iraq. You know we never stopped loving you, baby.”

The two also took on Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who’s hopping mad that people keep slamming him over the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill that just passed in his state. The bill, which prohibits the teaching of gender identity and LGBTQIA+ issues in kindergarten through the third grade, has been slammed as homophobic and transphobic, prompting DeSantis, an angry man caught on video bullying students, to scream at his critics. That includes Disney, the monster corporation who effectively owns a fiefdom in his state, and whom he dubbed “Woke Disney.”

“Florida governor Ron DeSantis, seen here waving COVID into the club, attacked Disney for opposing the state’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, calling the company a woke corporation,” Jost told the crowd. “Disney denied the claims of wokeness with roughly 90 years of cartoons,” he said, showing images of the company’s extremely un-“woke” cartoons over the decades.

You can watch Weekend Update in the videos above and below.