Month: June 2022

One of the big off-court talking points during the NBA Finals was the role Draymond Green’s podcast played in the whole thing. It ended up being a whole lot of nothing, as the Golden State Warriors beat the Boston Celtics in six games, but there were questions about whether Green’s focus was diverted or if he was going too much away in his postgame shows.

Still, the podcast has gone on unabated, and Green recently did a crossover podcast with another hooper who is in the podcast game, JJ Redick. While there, Green spoke about one moment between himself and Jaylen Brown that drew some attention during the Finals where Brown thought Green was pulling his pants down, and how it made him realize that he was in the Celtics star’s head.

“When Jaylen Brown went in the media and said ‘he tried to pull my shorts down,’ I knew I took his heart,” Green said. “I knew I took his heart. And not that I’ll have it next year — I gotta regain it next year and next time we play them — but I knew for the rest of that series that I had him, because you know you’re standing over me and you’re gonna go to the media and say ‘he tried to pull my shorts down.’ Like, come on, bro, you’re standing over me. Own it.”

Green also told a story of how he sent a quote Brown gave to the team in which Brown said they weren’t afraid of the Warriors, which Green took as evidence that the Celtics were, indeed, afraid of them. Brown saw this video and responded on Twitter, saying that while Green has earned the right to talk after winning a ring, he believes the podcast has led to Green losing his mind.

Green’s been very open to responding to stuff like this on his pod, so we fully expect him to address it sometime soon.

Before Giveon was an R&B superstar, he was a server at a Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant in Long Beach, California. When he landed the job, he didn’t know how far his passion for singing would take him. During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, he recalled a moment from eight years ago, in which he sang for a then-up-and-coming SZA.

While on his way to the third interview for the server job, he saw SZA inside the restaurant.

“I don’t know why Bubba Gump requires three interviews for some reason,” Giveon said. “I’m walking into the third interview and I just see SZA walking and I ambush her like, ‘Hi.’ I just was rambling out the words. I don’t even remember everything I said, but then I said too much. But she was extremely nice.”

At the time of the encounter, SZA had just signed to Top Dawg Entertainment, and had just released her major-label debut EP, Z. While Giveon doesn’t remember exactly what went down during the encounter, he did recall singing a few bars for the “Good Days” singer.

“Yes, I sang for her, OK?! I was gon’ leave that part out,” Giveon continued, following prying from Fallon. “I was a very big fan. Still am. I was singing for her and she was just like, ‘Who is this guy singing?!’ […] She came to a show years later and I told her and she was like, ‘Awww, I don’t remember.’ So I went on Instagram and unsent the DM that I sent her. […] I went to the DM and it said 2014. ‘Hi, my name is Giveon, I was the kid at Long Beach Bubba Gump. Do you remember me?’ I just took it off. If she brings it up, I don’t know what she’s talking about.”

Check out the full interview above.

Give Or Take is out now via Epic. Stream it here.

Lindsay Lohan (the H is silent, btw) is coming for her overdue Oscar. The former child actress/one of the best to ever do it will return to cinema later this year in Falling for Christmas, a Christmas film for Netflix. Earlier this year, Netflix announced a two-picture deal with Lohan. In the meantime, she’s making a gradual return into our lives in preparation for her takeover. Lohan stars in a new ad for Allbirds running shoes, which makes references that even the laziest Lohan fan (for example, someone who still pronounces the H) will understand. It might even be more self-referential than Michael Bay’s motion picture AmbuLAnce.

The ad, titled “Unexpected Athlete: Lindsay Lohan in the Tree Flyers,” opens with a shot of Lohan’s bedroom, which includes a nightstand topped with Oreos and peanut butter, a reference to the delicious snack Hallie (Lohan) and Annie (Lohan) eat in 1998’s The Parent Trap.

“I didn’t run track in high school, I was more of a mathlete,” she says, a reference to her character Cady Heron in 2004’s Mean Girls, who was a mathlete. Later in the ad, Lohan chooses from a collection of shoes in different colors. She picks a pink pair, and says, “well, it’s Wednesday.” If you don’t know that one, I’m not sure why you’re reading this (hint: it is also a Mean Girls reference).

Unfortunately, the ad contains zero references to the abhorrent but relentlessly rewatchable Georgia Rule (2007) for the five other fans out there.

Beyond music, Vince Staples has a nicely fleshed-out IMDb page and lately has been especially stacked with news on that front: In separate reports shared within 24 hours of each other, it was revealed that Staples has joined the cast of a couple notable projects.

Deadline reports today that Staples has been brought into the fold of the new White Men Can’t Jump movie, joining a cast that includes Jack Harlow, Sinqua Walls, Lance Reddick, Teyana Taylor, and others. It hasn’t yet been revealed what sort of role Staples will be playing in the film.

On top of that, Variety reported yesterday that the rapper has been tapped by Showtime to join the main cast of comedy pilot The Wood, based on the 1999 movie (starring Omar Epps, Richard T. Jones, and Taye Diggs) of the same name.

Variety notes Staples will “star as Jamal, an aspiring photographer from Ladera Heights, who has been cut off by his upper-class family when he decided to follow his own path instead of going to historic Morehouse College.” The publication also notes, “The show is described as an honest look at friendship and dating from the perspective of three young Black males born and raised in the gentrifying LA suburb of Inglewood. The trio’s struggles to balance fatherhood, ambition and loyalty force them to question if they are growing apart, or closer together.”

Staples will star alongside Xavier Mills, Karen Obilom, Melvin Gregg, and Essence Renae, as well as Richard T. Jones and Tamala Jones, reprising their respective roles of Slim and Tanya from the original movie.

This latest credits follows Staples’ lead role in the 2019-2021 Adult Swim cartoon Lazor Wulf, as well as appearances on Insecure, American Dad, and more.

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

While Friends was one of the most popular sitcoms of the late ’90s, the show did not come without its own criticism. The titular friend group consisted of six very straight and white twentysomethings who notoriously lived in New York City, one of the most diverse cities in the world. And how did they make all that money anyway?!

Co-creator Marta Kauffman feels “embarrassed” for the show’s legacy. Kauffman credits 2020 and the murder of George Floyd as a catalyst that made her feel “guilt” for how she approached Hollywood and her show. It was after what happened to George Floyd that I began to wrestle with my having bought into systemic racism in ways I was never aware of,” Kauffman told the LA Times. “That was really the moment that I began to examine the ways I had participated. I knew then I needed to course-correct.”

In her efforts to make things right, the Kauffman has donated $4 Million to her alma mater, Brandeis University, to help fund the African and African American studies department. This will help bring more resources and support to young academics of color at the university.

Kauffman says she wishes she could have done more during that time, but now she is committed to more diverse storylines in her other shows, like Grace And Frankie. “I’ve learned a lot in the last 20 years,” the writer explained. “Admitting and accepting guilt is not easy. It’s painful looking at yourself in the mirror. I’m embarrassed that I didn’t know better 25 years ago.”

(Via LA Times)

William Shatner, now 91, has accomplished a lot in his multi-decade career. He originated the now-iconic Captain Kirk in the Star Trek franchise and won two Emmy awards for The Practice and its spin-off, Boston Legal. He was also, of course, “The Negotiator” in Priceline commercials. Thankfully, Kaley Cuoco has taken the lead there so he can rest. He has also been to space, for real.

The Wrap reports that a documentary about the actor is in the works at Legion M and Exhibit A Pictures. The doc is being directed by Alexandre O. Philippe, who directed the 2010 film The People Vs. George Lucas, which explored Star Wars fans’ fascination with its creator. Footage from the Shatner doc is expected to debut at San Diego Comic Con 2022 in July, in a panel moderated by writer/director and fanboy Kevin Smith.

“For years I’ve had people approaching me to do a documentary about my life, but I turned them all down because it didn’t feel like the right fit,” Shatner said in a statement per The Wrap. “Alexandre and I hit off right away, and when I heard how Legion M wanted to incorporate audiences to be a part of it, it was perfect. Fans have been responsible for my career — it only seems right that they should own this doc.”

Legion M co-founders Paul Scanlan and Jeff Annison said in a joint statement that Shatner is “has led one of the most unique and best-lived lives on the planet, ” adding that “the REAL William Shatner is even more interesting.” Based on that, it’s safe to assume that Shatner’s most public enemy, George Takei, is not involved.

(via TheWrap)

Last year, emo stalwarts Foxing released Draw Down The Moon, the evocative, critically-acclaimed follow-up to 2018’s Nearer My God. With the unveiling of that album, they announced an accompaniment film that was to be recorded at the Grandel Theatre in St. Louis. Today they’re back with “737 (Live At The Grandel)” from that project, coming from the album Live At The Grandel, which will be available on limited edition vinyl on July 8.

The entire album was recorded in under 48 hours in June of last year. It’s sure to be an immersive listen; the band is known for having powerful shows, where their poignant songs become even bigger and more vulnerable than the recorded versions. Talking with Uproxx about the release of Draw Down The Moon, Foxing’s Conor Murphy said, “Early on, critics like yourself or fans of ours or especially management people would always do this thing where they’d say, ‘I can’t believe I’m seeing you guys in a basement right now because you guys are gonna be an arena band.’ It really did us a disservice because everything was a failure when we’re always looking at it in the context of how successful we should be.”

Watch the captivating music video for “737 (Live At The Grandel)” above.

Live At The Grandel is out 7/8 via Hopeless Records. Pre-order it here.

College football realignment has led to a number of moves that have caused fans to raise eyebrows. Whether they seem a little weird or feature big name schools jumping from one major conference to the next, the last decade or two have featured gigantic shakeups in what conferences various universities call home.

On Thursday, we got perhaps the strangest news that we’ve gotten up to this point regarding schools joining a new conference. The two Los Angeles schools in the Pac-12, UCLA and USC, are leaving the conference to join the Big Ten, meaning they will eclipse Nebraska as the two westernmost institutions in the conference. The news comes via Jon Wilner of Pac-12 Hotline.

Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated confirmed the news.

This is quite the strange alliance of schools, because while UCLA and USC are good academic institutions who field prominent athletic departments, the Big Ten accepting a pair of members this far outside of their geographic footprint is quite the move. It would mean that there will be conference games where teams (Rutgers, Maryland, etc.) will have to travel from one coast to the other, which is assuredly something the conference will need to get all sorted out — particularly for smaller, non-revenue sports.

There is no word on whether or not the conference will try to add more schools.

The Atlanta Hawks made their first major move of the offseason on Wednesday afternoon when they sent three first round picks (2023 CHA, 2025 ATL, 2027 ATL), a pick swap (2026 ATL), and Danilo Gallinari to San Antonio for All-Star guard Dejounte Murray.

The Hawks had made clear that they wanted to shake things up this offseason, but after weeks of rumblings that John Collins was going to be on his way out, the Hawks made the first big move with draft capital, not players. Atlanta is almost assuredly not done making moves, as Collins remains on the block and one would expect players like Bogdan Bogdanovic or Kevin Huerter could also be expendable now that Murray is locked in as the starting guard. While the moves they make from here are important, the man who still holds the keys for just how good the Hawks can be is Trae Young.

Adding Murray was an effort to give Young the complementary backcourt mate he’s lacked in his four years in Atlanta, an elite point of attack defender who takes pressure off of Young’s greatest weakness and a secondary playmaker to alleviate the stress placed on Young to create so much for the Hawks on offense. On defense, there’s little doubt how this works in Atlanta’s favor, as Murray, along with De’Andre Hunter and Clint Capela, give the Hawks three defenders with excellent tools in all three phases: point of attack, wing, and rim protection.

On offense, it remains to be seen what Murray’s impact will be, and the deciding factor there will be Young’s willingness to cede some of the reins to Murray and be an engaged off-ball player. Young has always carried an outrageous offensive burden in Atlanta, posting a usage rate of 33-35 percent in each of the last three seasons, and an assist percentage of 45-47 percent, meaning he’s responsible for creating nearly half of his teammates shots when he’s on the floor. That’s an incredible burden to bear, but we are soon going to learn exactly how much of that is by necessity because of roster limitations and how much of it is by design from Young himself.

Both Lloyd Pierce when he was the team’s coach and Nate McMillan have spoken about wanting Young to be better off the ball, and now, there’s no longer the excuse of not having another creator on the floor. Murray, like Young, is most comfortable operating as a pick-and-roll ball-handler, as nearly half of his usage last year in San Antonio (46.7 percent, per NBA.com) was in pick-and-roll, seventh among players to appear in more than 40 games. Young was second in that category, only behind Chris Paul at 51.3 percent, which means when the two share the floor, there’s going to need to be some give and take on display to keep them both comfortable.

Adding Murray, a career 33 percent shooter from three, and forcing him to mostly operate as a spot-up shooter would not a recipe for success for the Hawks, as teams would happily sag off of Murray at the three-point line to help on Young. That means it’s incumbent on McMillan to devise an offense that allows both to share ball-handling responsibilities to maximize their talents, with Young undoubtedly remaining the Hawks’ offensive engine. The question isn’t whether Young can succeed off the ball, but how willing he is to be an engaged threat off the ball when Murray is running things.

Last season, Young was assisted on just 14.2 percent of his two-point attempts and 22.3 percent of his threes, which are outrageously low figures, particularly given how efficient he was. Young’s greatest strength also may be the biggest weakness of his pairing with Murray. For all the comparisons Young has garnered to Stephen Curry, he tends to operate more like James Harden when he’s not on the ball, remaining far too stagnant and staying way away from the basket, where he’s less of a threat as a spot-up man despite his ability to shoot from long range. If Murray is going to succeed as a secondary ball-handler next to Young, he’s going to need Young to be the elite scoring threat he could be, drawing attention and, when defenses fall asleep, being ready to make them pay in spot-up opportunities.

That will mean more off-ball movement and engagement from Young, and the only person who can assure that happens is him. The good news for the Hawks is Young has incentive to make those changes to his game after getting thoroughly shut down by the Miami Heat in the postseason. That series showed the need to get someone like Murray, and Young has not been shy about his excitement to share the floor with someone he clearly likes and has at least some prior relationship with after All-Star this year. As a bonus, the two are Klutch clients.

Being excited about the possibilities in the summer is different from making actionable changes to how you play on the court. Young has the ability to expand his game beyond the ball-dominance he’s showed he can excel at in the past, and if the Hawks are going to get the most out of this new guard pairing, it’s on Trae to buy-in to that new role at times.

Charli XCX wasn’t about to let this summer pass without her dropping a warm-weather banger: Today, she and Tiësto link up on “Hot In It,” a dance-ready tune on which Charli sings with a confident swagger, “Tonight, I’m gon’ be rockin’ it, droppin’ it / Shake my ass, no stoppin’ it / I look hot in it, hot in it, I look hot in it.”

In an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, Charli said, “I was so honored when I got the call, to be honest, because I feel like we’ve been in each other’s ether for many, many years, and nothing’s ever quite happened, but I’m so happy that we waited for this song because it truly is an Anthem. And every single one of my friends, my friends from back home in Essex, my edgy, cool friends in LA, all ends of the spectrum, my mom, everybody wants to just party to this song. It’s back to my roots. It’s me saying, ‘in it’ on a track. Extremely referential. It’s huge.”

Tiësto also noted, “I was dying to work with Charli for years and like she said, it never happened. And every time I thought, ‘No, I have something’ or she sends or her team send me something and we’ve been so close to many times. So finally I can put you off my bucket list. It’s amazing. And yeah, the song came together. Yeah. Just took to the next level. The original was just a sample, low male vocal and it just didn’t sound as good. And then she re-sang everything and it sounds incredible.”

Listen to “Hot In It” above.

Charli XCX is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.