Month: July 2022

The Chicago Bulls dynasty was, of course, centered around the brilliance of Michael Jordan. But as we all saw during The Last Dance, Jordan was unable to reach a championship level until the team paired him with Scottie Pippen, who is pretty universally considered the best second option in the history of the NBA.

Pippen does have one thing over Jordan: his son is playing at Summer League this year. Scotty Pippen was a very solid player for the Vanderbilt Commodores for three years before deciding he was going to make the jump to the Association. While he went undrafted this year, he is one of the more well-known members of the Los Angeles Lakers’ Summer League team in Las Vegas this year.

On Friday night, Pipped scored a game-high 19 points with four rebounds, three assists, and three steals in the team’s 104-84 loss to the Phoenix Suns. But his most notable moment came before the game, when he told Cassidy Hubbarth of ESPN that his father has been spelling his name wrong for years.

“My dad’s name’s with a -y as well,” Pippen said. “He just changed it to the -ie, but we’re both the same.”

Pippen said he has “no idea” why his dad does this. A message for Scotty (the dad): If you wanna explain why this is the case, hit us up.

Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder is not your typical Marvel movie in a number of ways. It’s goofier. It’s less serious (though it still finds room for a terrifying Christian Bale turn). It has a gorgeous scene in a Best Buy parking lot. It’s also quite a bit shorter. MCU movies tend to clock in around the 140 minute mark. One is even an epic. Thor 4? Gets it done in under two hours. It’s so short that some on social media are speculating that there could be one that’s twice as long, birthing the hashtag “#ReleaseTheWaititiCut.” Well, sorry, it ain’t gonna happen.

In an interview with NME (as caught by Variety), Waititi didn’t address the issue head-on but did imply he would never do one because he’s no fan of those editions. “I’ve been thinking about director’s cuts,” Waititi said. “I watch director’s cuts of a lot of other directors. They suck. Director’s cuts are not good. Directors need to be controlled sometimes and if I was to say, ‘Ah you wanna watch my director’s cut? It’s four and a half hours long!’ It’s not good at four and a half hours. There’s a lot of cup-of-tea breaks in there, you don’t even have to pause it.”

He did, however, entertain the idea of what a Thor: Love and Thunder director’s cut would be like. “I’d say my cut would probably have a few more jokes in there,” he said. “There might be a couple of deleted scenes but as I always say, a scene is deleted because it’s not good enough to be in the film. I think the deleted scenes section on the DVD, not that they use them anymore, should just be a list of the scenes and no links so you can’t click on them!”

We’re assuming he has no problem with director’s cuts that attempt to save a film butchered by studios: Blade Runner, Once Upon a Time in America, Nightbreed, Heaven’s Gate, and, of course, that storied “Snyder Cut” of Justice League. But maybe he doesn’t like them either.

Besides, if there was a four-hour version of Love and Thunder at any point, it was probably the assembly cut, which is nothing anyone would want to watch anyway.

(Via Variety and NME)

Prior to the end of last month, it’d been almost four years since Lupe Fiasco released an album. His last project came back in 2018 with Drogas Wave. That project arrived with 24 songs and multiple features from Nikki Jean as well as contributions from Damian Marley, Simon Sayz, Crystal “Rovel” Torres, Elena Pinderhughes, and Bishop Edgar Jackson. Last month, Lupe returned with Drill Music In Zion, which delivered a ten brief songs with Ayesha Jaco and Nayirah. Now that the album has been out and available to enjoy for some time, Lupe took a moment to explain the project’s title during a sit-down with SiriusXM.

“What I can say, and this isn’t to get you to listen to the album by any means,” he said. “The best definition of the title was actually from my sister. My sister does the opening record on the album, Ayesha Jaco. She did the opening on my first two records, Food & Liquor and The Cool.” He added, “I gave the title to her, and it’ll make sense when we get into it because I did this record in three days, and I didn’t have time.” He continued:

There’s a scene from Matrix 2 where they’re in Zion, so everybody knows the name of the little sanctuary where the humans were able to live in the Matrix movie is Zion. That place is a sanctuary away from all the agents and other stuff. But there’s a scene in there and the whole arc of the movie the robots have found a way to drill down in Zion. So they finally found it and maybe it’s Matrix 2 there’s a scene where they’re all standing in Zion and it’s all quiet then all of a sudden you see pieces of the ceiling fall and it’s this whole epic scene. So that one scene in the film became the whole inspiration from the joint.”

Lupe also noted that a line in a freestyle also sparked the idea to call the album Drill Music In Zion and said that he was forced to commit to it at that point.

You can check out Lupe’s interview with SiriusXM above.

The Los Angeles Lakers’ to-do list this summer includes figuring out what the future holds for Russell Westbrook. Despite the fact that new head coach Darvin Ham said that he knows how he plans on using Westbrook during the 2022-23 campaign, the polarizing point guard has seen his name pop up in trade rumors one year after the team acquired him from the Washington Wizards.

In a new piece by Dave McMenamin of ESPN, we learned that the Lakers have been trying to figure out a potential new landing spot for Westbrook. While McMenamin confirmed a previous report from Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports that the Lakers have spoke to the Brooklyn Nets, he also revealed that another team viewed as a contender to acquire Westbrook is on the table: the Indiana Pacers.

With the Lakers engaged in trade talks with the Brooklyn Nets and the Indiana Pacers in the last week — with sources telling ESPN that both scenarios involve sending Westbrook out — the positioning of James and Westbrook was notable.

Much was made of Westbrook’s appearance at the Lakers’ Summer League game on Friday evening, as he and LeBron James sat on opposite sides of the court from one another but did not publicly interact. James has, per reports, been adamant about his desire for the Lakers to acquire Kyrie Irving from the Nets, which would require sending Westbrook to Brooklyn.

As for the Pacers, their presumed deal for Westbrook would send Myles Turner and Buddy Hield — the latter of whom the team nearly acquired before pivoting to picking up Westbrook — to Los Angeles. The catch, according to Marc Stein’s latest newsletter, is that there is skepticism that the Lakers would be able to meet Indiana’s asking price.

A second source I spoke to expressed pessimism that the Lakers would have the required assets to assemble a trade in which they acquire both Hield and Myles Turner from Indiana. Various reports have described the two Pacers as prime targets for L.A. if it is unable to assemble an Irving trade construction that Brooklyn is prepared to accept.

One would assume that any sort of deal would require Westbrook and the Lakers’ two prized future first-round draft picks in 2027 and 2029, with the 9-time All-Star’s expiring contract serving more as a way to make the salaries work. There’s no word on whether or not Los Angeles could attempt to sweeten the pot by including players like Talen Horton-Tucker or Kendrick Nunn.

Chris Evans hasn’t been Captain America for a few years now, and he seems fine with that. It means he doesn’t have to hit the gym as often as he once did. In fact, he’d rather return to Human Torch than good ol’ Cap. (Though he probably won’t be coming back as the other Buzz Lightyear anytime soon.) When a director on the fourth Captain America film was announced, there was some speculation about whether he’d return, even though the reins (which is to say the shield) have been passed onto Anthony Mackie. But Evans managed to shoot that one down.

The Hollywood Reporter reported on the as-yet-untitled fourth film landing its director, namely The Cloverfield Paradox’s Julius Onah. In a tweet promoting the article, the publication said it was “unclear” whether Evans would return to the role, arguing that “stacked casts,” even in solo outings, have become a “key ingredient” of Marvel movies.

But, as caught by Vulture, Evans had a five-word response. “Sam Wilson is Captain America,” he wrote on Twitter.

Avengers: Endgame ended with a much older Steve Rogers passing his shield onto Mackie’s Sam Wilson, who was then still the Falcon. But at the conclusion of the Disney+ spin-off The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Wilson officially switched alter egos, taking on the role of the new Cap.

In other words, no, Mackie won’t have to share his lead role with another actor. Then again, Evans said nothing about filing a fun little cameo.

(Via THR and Vulture)

The case can be made that no player needed Summer League more than Portland Trail Blazers lottery pick Shaedon Sharpe. After not playing a minute during the 2021-22 college basketball season as a member of the Kentucky Wildcats, Summer League presented a chance for Sharpe — a 5-star shooting guard prospect in the class of 2021 — to show off his tantalizing skill set.

Unfortunately for Sharpe and the Blazers, his stint in the desert came to an end after a little more than five minutes. Sharpe left Portland’s first game in Las Vegas with a shoulder injury, and on Saturday afternoon, the team released a statement and announced that he will not be able to take the floor again.

An MRI taken yesterday revealed Trail Blazers guard Shaedon Sharpe with a small labral tear in his left shoulder, the team announced today.

Sharpe will begin immediate rest and rehabilitation. He will miss the remainder of Summer League and will be reevaluated in 10-14 days.

A 6’5, 19-year-old Canadian guard, Sharpe went seventh overall in the 2022 draft. The silver lining to this is that the team did not say he needed surgery, so here’s to hoping that rest and rehab will work out well and Sharpe will be able to take the floor by the time training camp opens up.

On Friday night, The Strokes brought their talents to Lancashire’s Lytham Festival. The showcase kicked off last weekend and it has or will invite artists like Diana Ross, Nile Rodgers & Chic, Snow Patrol, Tears For Fears, and more to perform. During their set on Friday night, The Strokes took it upon themselves to invite a fan onto the stage to sing “Ode To The Mets” from their 2020 album, The New Abnormal. It came after the fan was spotted holding a sign that read, “Can I sing ‘Ode To The Mets’ with you?” The Strokes’ lead vocalist Julian Casablancas invited her up and said, “I’m gonna be peeved if she sings it better than I do.”

After the fan got onstage, Casablancas joked that he was “gonna go do some blow” and left. The fan then sang the entirety of “Ode To The Mets,” and when Casablancas returned, he asked his bandmates what they thought of the fans’ performance. “It’s alright,” Albert Hammond Jr. said while laughing. Nick Valensi added, “No comment” and “I’m the Simon Cowell of the group, obviously.” Bassist Nikolai Fraiture chimed in saying, “She gets an E for effort” while drummer Fabrizio Moretti yelled, “She was f*ckin’ awesome!” Casablancas then congrulated the fan for “tremendous effort” and added the moment was a “really great memory and a great journey for you.” However, Casablancas didn’t let the fan off the hook without some jokes.

“Should I mention that she’s German?” he said. “Does that make a difference? Unfortunately she doesn’t make it, she doesn’t make it, but we love her forever, and we will have the memory… Now, what’s the next song?”

You can watch the moment between the fan and The Strokes in the video above.

Back in May, The Black Keys released their eleventh album Dropout Boogie. The project arrived a year after their tenth effort Delta Kream which earned a Grammy nomination at this year’s award show for Best Contemporary Blues Album. Dropout Boogie arrived with ten songs and a lone guest appearance from Billy F Gibbons, and soon, The Black Keys will bring the project, and Delta Kream, along for their first-ever amphitheater tour. Ahead of those string of shows, the duo that is Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney stopped by CBS Mornings’ Saturday Sessions to perform songs from Dropout Boogie.

During their time on Saturday Sessions, The Black Keys performed “Wild Child” and “It Ain’t Over” from Dropout Boogie before taking a trip back in time to play “Gold On The Ceiling,” the double Platinum record from their 2011 Grammy-winning album El Camino. In addition to the performances, Auerbach and Carney also took a moment to look back and their careers during an interview with CBS’ Anthony Mason.

“We communicate now more than we did even when we were 22,” Carney said. “We turned into old farts.” Auerbach added, “We’ve only got each other to talk to, we might as well go back in the van. Especially with the 20th anniversary, it’s made us put some things in perspective. I’m always reminded when I get with Pat how easy it is to just make music. We don’t even talk about, it’s a magical gift we were given.”

You can watch The Black Keys perform “Wild Child,” “It Ain’t Over,” and “Gold On The Ceiling” on CBS Mornings’ Saturday Sessions above.

The Black Keys is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

It’s been a couple weekends since Canadian “intellectual”/windbag Jordan Peterson has tweeted, and there’s a good reason for that: The social media service has suspended him. The blubbery psychologist and author is really mad that Elliot Page is trans, and a tweet in which he misgendered him got him booted. He’s refused to delete it, and instead recorded a 15-minute video in which he defied his critics. But those critics have responded by turning him into a meme.

Peterson’s video — which is, again, 15 minutes long — features a number of ridiculous moments, but most people seized upon a moment where he sneers, “Up yours, woke moralists. We’ll see who cancels who.” His delivery would be over-the-top even for a Bond villain, with strong “I’ll get you, my pretty” vibes.

But some Twitter users didn’t cancel Peterson. Instead, as caught by Kotaku, they took that clip and dropped it into video games, including Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, Metal Gear, Half-Life, and Remedy’s Control. And so the guy who in May got triggered when people mocked his thoughtless comments about a swimsuit model into an over-the-top villain.

And just for good measure, here’s Jordan Peterson as embodied by Kermit the Frog, which does admittedly feel like a rude thing to do to a perfectly good Muppet.

Meanwhile, we hope Elliot Page is having a very nice day.

(Via Kotaku)

Amber Heard has not been silent. Since a jury found her guilty of defaming her ex-husband Johnny Depp, the actress’ lawyers have vowed to fight it, either by appealing or asking that it be thrown out entirely. Now they’re calling for a mistrial, citing the fact that one of the jurors should not have been there.

As per Variety, Heard’s attorneys have discovered one of the jurors was never received a summons. Instead, it went to another person in the same household, someone who is 25 years older. It’s not yet been made public what relationship they had, and their names were redacted from the filing.

“As the Court no doubt agrees, it is deeply troubling for an individual not summoned for jury duty nonetheless to appear for jury duty and serve on a jury, especially in a case such as this,” Heard’s attorneys wrote. “This was a high-profile case, where the fact and date of the jury trial were highly publicized prior to and after the issuance of the juror summonses.”

The defamation trial — Depp’s second, after he unsuccessfully sued The Sun — was a wild one, filled with shocking revelations and stories about jurors falling asleep during presentations. Depp himself has been taking baby steps back into the spotlight, even lining up a project with Netflix. But one thing he won’t do is play Jack Sparrow ever again. Probably.

(Via Variety)