Month: April 2022

The Philadelphia 76ers have drawn first blood against the Toronto Raptors. Game 1 of the first-round series between the Atlantic Division foes took place on Saturday evening, and in the most emphatic performance that we have seen on the first day of the 2022 NBA playoffs, the Sixers were able to defend their home court with a 131-111 win.

The story of the night was the play of second-year guard Tyrese Maxey. After appearing in 12 playoff games for Philadelphia last year and coming off the bench in all of them, Maxey got the start in the backcourt alongside James Harden on Saturday and submitted one of the best performances of his career. The No. 21 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft scored a playoff career-high 38 points on 14-for-21 shooting in 38 minutes of work — Maxey missed his career-best mark by one point.

Beyond the fact that he made five of his eight attempts from three, Toronto’s defense struggled mightily to stay in front of him, as his lightning quick ability off the bounce gave the Raptors headaches. That was especially true in the game’s third quarter, when Maxey exploded for 21 points.

The Sixers’ three most highly-paid players all chipped in with very good evenings, as Tobias Harris had 26 points with six assists and six rebounds, while both James Harden (22 points, 14 assists) and Joel Embiid (19 points, 15 rebounds) put up double-double performances. But the man of the evening was Maxey, who is in the midst of establishing himself as one of the brightest young guards in all of basketball.

Game 2 between the Sixers and Raptors will take place on Monday night at 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT.

Scottie Barnes, one of the best rookies in the NBA this season and a crucial piece to the Toronto Raptors’ plan of attack on both ends of the floor, left Saturday night’s Game 1 against the Philadelphia 76ers with a foot or ankle injury. During the game’s fourth quarter, Joel Embiid had the ball just below the free throw line and attempted to spin into the paint for before throwing a pass to Tobias Harris on the perimeter.

While OG Anunoby was manning Embiid up, Barnes came over to help, and Embiid appeared to accidentally step on his left foot and ankle. Barnes immediately went down in a ton of pain, and after play stopped a few seconds later, got tended to by the Raptors’ medical staff.

Barnes was helped to the back, and ultimately, Cassidy Hubbarth of ESPN reported that Barnes was ruled out with a sprained ankle, although they were still awaiting further information on the extent of his injury. Barnes was excellent on the night at the time of his departure, scoring 15 points with 10 rebounds and eight assists.

The No. 4 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, Barnes has averaged 15.4 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.7 blocks in 35.4 minutes per game for Toronto, which started him in all 74 games in which he appeared. He was not Toronto’s only injury on the night, as Thaddeus Young likewise had to leave the game after suffering a sprained left thumb.

With the return of Coachella — a festival with no use for masks or mandatory vaccinations — the advent of festival season is officially back in swing. Though the event ran into a little bit of trouble with Kanye West dropping out last minute, they quickly subbed in The Weeknd, and kicked off last night with an epic Harry Styles performance that included several new singles and a Shania Twain cover or two. But even with Harry taking up all the oxygen on the lineup last night, other artists were quietly on the move, too.

For instance, Justin Bieber came out and joined Daniel Caesar for a rendition of “Peaches” right before Harry took the stage, and several hours before, on a stage far, far away, cult favorite Carly Rae Jepsen was letting fans know what the “Western Wind” billboard teasers have been all about. Performing the song live for the first time during her set, Jepsen also shared a snippet of the track on Twitter, which you can hear above. Along with the track came what looks very much like an album cover, and if it is, then Western Wind is the name of her upcoming new album, too. In the meantime, look out for the official single release coming soon.

For the second time since the conclusion of the 2004 postseason, the Minnesota Timberwolves have won a playoff game. Minnesota, the 7-seed in the Western Conference, traveled to Memphis to take on the 2-seed Grizzlies on Saturday afternoon, and despite a productive game from Ja Morant, the Timberwolves were able to steal homecourt advantage away with a 130-117 win.

The charge was led by Anthony Edwards, who was nothing short of magnificent in his playoff debut. After having a monster play-in game against the Los Angeles Clippers to secure a postseason berth for the Timberwolves earlier in the week, Edwards went out and had the fourth-highest scoring debut in NBA playoff history. The former No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft went for 36 points on 12-for-23 shooting and connected on four of his 11 attempts from deep. Only two players in Timberwolves history — Sam Cassell and Troy Hudson, with the former hitting the 40-point mark twice — have scored more points in a playoff game.

There was nothing that the Grizzlies could do, as Edwards — as confident as ever — was in total control of his game. His ability to scorer was nothing short of effortless, as he kept getting to his spots and knocking down shots.

He even flashed some comfort as a distributor, racking up six assists on the day.

Edwards was not the only Timberwolves player to show out. Karl-Anthony Towns responded to a bad game against the Clippers be going for 29 points and 13 rebounds, including a poster dunk on potential Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr.

Morant’s 32 points and eight assists led the way for Memphis, will Dillon Brooks providing another 24 and the frontcourt combination of Jackson and Brandon Clarke combining for 25 points, 16 rebounds, and seven blocks.

Game 2 between the Grizzlies and Timberwolves will tip off on Tuesday night at 8:30 p.m. ET on NBA TV.

Earlier this week, NLE Choppa shared a video on his social media where he claimed that he made a BBL supplement. The Me Vs. Me rapper claimed the “herbal concoction” is made up of akpi, fennel, fenugreek, basil, and “other sacred ingredients that I cannot get all into for the people that be stealing.” Here’s the issue so far: a BBL, which stands for Brazilian butt-lift, is a surgical procedure that transfers fat from one part of the body and injects it into the buttocks for a voluminous look. The odds of a supplement being able to do this are none to zero, and with that being said, fans wasted no time roasting the Memphis rapper.

However, that wasn’t all. Four days after releasing the supplement, NLE Choppa returned to Twitter with a claim that it was “such a success.” As a result, he added that he is currently “looking for things to reverse autism, Dwarfism, Down syndrome, and many other disorders.” As expected, NLE Choppa’s latest message earned him more roasts, but that didn’t distract him from his goal of providing BBLs with an all-natural, non-FDA-approved supplement.

“They gone tear a man down when you try to help but let em die it’s long live this RIP that, he was woke this, tryna heal his people that,” NLE Choppa tweeted in response to the criticism he received. “Naw b*tch he gone now should’ve embraced him instead of disgraced him. Sad ass putrid ass generation. He gone keep doing him tho. HE/HIM, I AM.”

You can check out some of the roasts fans had for NLE Choppa below.

NLE Choppa is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

For the second game in a row, a protest occurred while the Minnesota Timberwolves were playing basketball. During Saturday afternoon’s Game 1 between the Timberwolves and the Memphis Grizzlies, someone threw what appeared to be a number of flyers onto the floor at FedExForum, interrupting play so the flyers could be all cleared off.

But before that could happen, the protestor took tied themself to the stanchion that holds up the backboard and the rim. Security in the arena managed to get them untied before they were ushered into the back.

A close-up view showed that the protestor used a chain — which they somehow were able to get into the arena — to secure themself to the stanchion before they were carried out.

At one point during the Timberwolves’ play-in win over the Los Angeles Clippers in Minnesota, a protestor made their way onto the court and glued their hand to the floor. They were, likewise, taken into the back by security. Per several media reports, the protestor in Memphis was part of the same organization as the person who glued themself to the floor. As they revealed during the Clippers game, the organization seeks to raise awareness for a factory egg farm owned by Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor that has allegedly conducted an inhumane mass killing of chickens suffering from a form of avian flu.

After three years away, Coachella returned to Indio, CA this weekend. And while some might have expected young fans to rage across the polo fields with all the angst of two previous cancelations in the rearview mirror, the sense on site was a lot more tepid, as if everyone wanted to get their feet wet before fully diving in. It’s far too early to say if the past few years have changed Coachella’s identity or changed how young people approach these massive cultural events, but the initial sense is that things have slowed down a little, and the traditional revelry has given way to something more appreciative and understated.

All that said, the fashion-forward appeal of Coachella remains. There were costumes and skin, lots of transparent lace and vibrant colors. With years of opportunities to show off festival fashion squandered by a pandemic, fans dressed their best and made 2022’s edition count. Below we have some photos of our favorites, who returned to one of the world’s best festivals with a commitment to show off exactly why Coachella is what it is. As they prepared for a day that included Harry Styles, Arcade Fire, Lil Baby, and more, everyone looked predictably great with the giant art structures and palm trees as a backdrop.

With the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival returning for the first time in three years, it looks like the organizers’ have adjusted their hip-hop strategy. While in past years, the festival has gambled a bit more on rising stars in the genre like Aminé and Dej Loaf, this year, the focus shifted to providing more established stars like City Girls, Cordae, and Lil Baby.

This isn’t a bad thing at all, though. While day one of the 2022 Coachella Festival only sported a handful of rap acts, by honing in on more proven quantities, the festival offered an excellent cross-section of samples of where the genre currently is, with one or two glimpses at where it could be going.

Whereas rap acts are usually spread pretty evenly around the festival grounds, this year, it appears there was a more streamlined concept. The majority of the rap acts who appeared did so on the Sahara stage; the only two exceptions were Princess Nokia and Lil Baby. Nokia was upgraded from the tiny Sonora tent to the main stage, albeit for an early afternoon set, while Lil Baby played a primetime set on the main stage that felt too early in hindsight.

Lil Baby’s impressive set appeared to incorporate some of the lessons he’d learned during his recent Back Outside arena tour. The set design was more ambitious, depicting a busy trap house motel, and Baby’s performance was much more fluid and animated, suggesting that he’s grown in confidence and settled into himself as a showman. Though it was light on guests, Gunna did appear to perform “Drip Too Hard” and “Pushin P,” to a predictable massive crowd pop.

However, when compared to the much more low-key Daniel Caesar set that followed, it felt like Baby perhaps should have been the penultimate performer ahead of Harry Styles. The drop in energy coincided with a drop in temperatures as the desert wind picked up; I think going with the higher energy set into the headliner could have improved the reception of both.

Meanwhile, on the Sahara stage, a strong lineup started with City Girls, running through Cordae, South African DJ Black Coffee, Baby Keem, and Big Sean. The only thing that seemed out of order was not starting with Cordae. His live band-backed set was as strong as any I’ve seen, but by the time he hit the stage, the exuberant crowd from City Girls had thinned considerably.

Understandably, curating a massive festival like this takes work. But it does seem that a more experienced hand could have benefitted the sequencing for the hip-hop acts to keep the energy building. Fans who enjoyed upbeat renditions of tracks like “Twerkulator” and “Said Sum” (with surprise guest Moneybagg Yo) didn’t stick around to watch Cordae perform Lost Boy staples like “Thanksgiving” and From A Bird’s Eye View cut “C Carter” — maybe they should have because Cordae’s versatility is always impressive and perhaps City Girls fans would enjoy high-energy fare like “Scottie Pippen” and “Kung-Fu.”

While I’m sure there’s at least some overlap between Cordae’s fans and those of City Girls, that part of the Venn diagram is thin enough that booking them back-to-back wound up appearing awkward – at least, until Cordae’s more hardcore fans and curious heads finally filled the Sahara tent back up.

What did work well was concentrating the hip-hop acts to one or two stages and spreading them out sufficiently enough to allow someone interested mostly in seeing hip-hop to take in most of the sets. I missed Baby Keem, but only because I was so curious to see how Daniel Caesar would handle the big stage with some mellow tunes (the answer is “not well,” but not because his performance wasn’t good. It was just stuck after an electrifying performance from Lil Baby). Ideally, this could be the strategy in the future, too.

Obviously, spreading the acts more evenly between the main stage and Sahara could encourage more movement for hip-hop heads to check out other genres, while omnivores wouldn’t have to zigzag all over the polo grounds. Instead, the hip-hop acts could simply be a home base to return to at either end of the field. As long as someone in booking has a grasp of where acts are in their careers and how their respective sounds compare and complement each other, this new, streamlined strategy could make finding hip-hop at the biggest festival easier and more enjoyable than ever.

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

Arkansas rapper Bankroll Freddie got his moment in 2021 thanks to the release of his Big Bank project. It marked his second full-length effort, following 2020’s From Trap To Rap, since he signed to Quality Control at the end of 2019. Big Bank, which also marked his first project under Motown Records, gave Bankroll Freddie a good look thanks to contributions from EST Gee, Megan Thee Stallion, Pnb Rock, Gucci Mane, 2 Chainz, and more. Unfortunately for Freddie, his progress upward is now on hold after he was reportedly arrested in his home state on Thursday night.

According to TMZ, Freddie was pulled over for speeding earlier this week, but the traffic stop ended with his arrest and a number of charges. Arkansas State Police pulled the rapper over on interstate 55, and during the stop, cops allegedly found guns and narcotics in a pickup truck. As a result, Freddie was charged with resisting arrest, drug and firearm possession, and speeding. TMZ reports that Freddie is being held on $2,870 bond, and for reasons unbeknownst to the publication, he’s also in FBI custody.

Freddie’s arrest comes after he released his song and music video for “Pickin’ Sides” with Detroit rapper Icewear Vezzo.

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

Multiverses are big right now, from Rick and Morty to the MCU. So let’s imagine the following alternate dimension, in which Josh Brolin doesn’t play a comic book baddie. Instead he plays one of its biggest heroes. On a recent podcast, the actor reminisced about how long before he nabbed the role of an arguably hot Thanos (not to mention Cable in Deadpool 2), he was courted to play Batman.

Almost a decade ago, DC was on the hunt for a new Caped Crusader, who would play the character in their own still larval Cinematic Universe. The gig, of course, went to Ben Affleck, who played him in three films, with an appearance in The Flash en route. But Brolin was in the running.

“It would have been the older, the more raspy, for lack of a better word,” Brolin told the hosts of MTV’s Happy Sad Confused podcast about his version of Bruce Wayne. Of course, Affleck’s Batman was a little older than he usually is: middle-aged, with spots of gray in his hair, not only brooding but weary. So it seems like Brolin, who’s about five years older than Affleck, would have played an even older Wayne. He thought that was an “interesting” take, though director Zack Snyder, then overseeing Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, wound up making him slightly younger.

“Honestly, that would have been a fun deal,” Brolin said. “And maybe I’ll do it when I’m 80.”

It all worked out in the end, sort of. The next year Brolin made his first appearance as Thanos in The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and went on to be the super-villain of the Avengers diptych Infinity War and Endgame. As for Affleck’s Batman run, well, that wound up a bit more chaotic than hoped for, though even that had a happy ending when Snyder released his own cut of the troubled Justice League. Then again, The Flash, which brings Affleck back to the role one last time, recently ran into its own troubles.

(Via Deadline)