Month: November 2022

Ted Cruz has been a busy man lately. For some odd reason, he invested time riding in the recent Houston Astros championship parade (and had a beer chucked at him in the process). He also recently stopped by The View, where protesters trashed him as a “piece of sh*t,” and Ted’s also been ceaselessly touring for months to support a so-called “red wave” that did not happen on Midterm Election Day.

It’s not looking pretty for the GOP. Yes, J.D. Vance won in Ohio, and there were plenty of scattered GOP victories across the U.S., but John Fetterman bested Dr. Oz, and Lauren Boebert may very well have lost her election bid to a relatively unknown candidate, Adam Frisch. Meanwhile, Ted went live with a special Election Night podcast extravaganza, during which he admitted that maybe he wasted time on that super-mega bus tour. “Now that hurts,” he remarked about stiffing his family.

As Cruz tells it, Heidi had absolutely enough after he didn’t come “home for a long time.” And no wonder: even though he planned to take his daughter to a World Series game, “I missed my daughter Catherine’s 12th birthday.” Why did he do so? “Because I was out doing a rally to save this country.” It’s not great, and Ted conceded that “I have been doing politics now for a decade,” but he’s never seen Heidi so mad at him after he chose to be political in Florida rather than celebrate his daughter’s birth.

It’s saying quite a lot that Heidi put up with Ted elbowing her in the face during a rally and how he refused to defend her to Trump, who had taken potshots at Heidi’s looks. Yet it appears that Ted went several steps too far with his devotion to the bus tour, and she let him know as much. Sad!

About 13 percent of the 2022-23 season is over for the Miami Heat. That isn’t a gigantic number, but the Heat are just 4-7 in the first 11 games, prompting some to wonder whether it is time to worry about Miami’s long-term prospects. Erik Spoelstra’s team finished as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference last season before making a run to the Eastern Conference Finals, but Miami lost a key piece in PJ Tucker — without really replacing him — and 2022-23 expectations were muted to some extent.

Still, the start of the campaign has been underwhelming, with Miami losing to Sacramento and Indiana in recent days before a Monday night loss at home to Portland. The Heat are still playing solid defense, ranking above the league average in overall efficiency, but Miami isn’t dominating on defense and its offense is scuffling. The Heat rank No. 20 or worse in offensive efficiency, effective field goal percentage, two-point percentage, three-point percentage, offensive rebound rate, and myriad additional categories.

For a team with a long track record of shooting success, Miami’s 34.4 percent three-point clip isn’t terrifying by any means, but the Heat are getting very little from Duncan Robinson and Gabe Vincent to go along with modest contributions from Kyle Lowry. Jimmy Butler has missed two games, which might explain some of the downturn, but Miami is just 3-6 with Butler in the lineup. He is also shooting less than 48 percent from inside the three-point arc, and the experiment with either Butler or Caleb Martin as the de facto power forward isn’t exactly flying in the early going.

Long story short, the Heat have earned the benefit of the doubt, at least with regard to overall competence. Miami doesn’t project to necessarily repeat its 53-win effort — and the roster is worse than it was a year ago — but the combination of Spoelstra, Butler, Bam Adebayo and shooting should bring enough to be comfortable. The Heat might want to start figuring it out soon, though, before the sample is too large to avoid.

Where does Miami rank in this week’s DIME power rankings? Let’s take a glance.

1. Milwaukee Bucks (9-1, Last week — 1st)

The Bucks lost by 19 points on Tuesday and still have the best profile in the NBA. Milwaukee is the only team with fewer than two losses, and Hawks head coach Nate McMillan repeatedly called the Bucks “the best team in the league” even after Atlanta beat Milwaukee on Monday. The Bucks have the best defense in the NBA by almost three points per 100 possessions and a bad half against the Hawks doesn’t take them out of the top spot.

2. Cleveland Cavaliers (8-2, Last week — 3rd)

It’s not often that the top two teams on this list each lost on the previous bay, but Cleveland fell by a two-point margin on the road on Monday. There is no grand shame in that, and the Cavs have the best net rating (+10.5) in the league. They’ve done it with Darius Garland only playing four games, and it’s been a highly impressive start.

3. Boston Celtics (7-3, Last week — 4th)

Boston lands behind Cleveland in large part due to a head-to-head overtime loss this week. Overall, that isn’t anything to worry about, and Boston just won three straight. That included road wins over the Knicks and Grizzlies and, at this point, Boston actually has the best offensive rating in the league. Regression may be coming, but the Celtics remain loaded.

4. Phoenix Suns (7-3, Last week — 2nd)

Phoenix can’t seem to solve Portland. The Suns have three losses and two of them have come against the Blazers. While that may not be a prominent issue moving forward, the Suns do have a challenge with Cam Johnson and a meniscus injury. Is Jae Crowder an option? If not, the Suns have a power forward problem for a while.

5. Utah Jazz (9-3, Last week — 8th)

This is officially wild from the Jazz. If anything, Utah should be higher on this list based on only this year’s results. The Jazz are in the top three of the NBA in offensive rating. The Jazz have won five of the last six games. It’s going well. Circle a Wednesday night road game against the Hawks as another interesting test.

6. Dallas Mavericks (6-3, Last week — 13th)

Dallas is on a four-game winning streak and the last three games came against impressive competition. Luka Doncic is the early frontrunner for MVP, scoring at least 32 points in every game and averaging 36.0 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 8.3 assists per game. He is the catalyst of the league’s No. 2 offense right now, and Doncic is just absurd.

7. Denver Nuggets (7-3, Last week — 14th)

Denver got rocked by Utah on opening night and it’s been all positive since then. The Nuggets have a 116.6 offensive rating in the last nine games, and Denver has a +9.2 net rating over a 5-1 stretch to end last week. The schedule wasn’t exactly grueling this week with San Antonio (twice) and OKC, but they all count.

8. Atlanta Hawks (7-3, Last week — 16th)

The Hawks trailed the Knicks by 23 points on Wednesday, only to come back in impressive fashion behind Dejounte Murray. That led to a 3-0 week overall, and Atlanta also gave Milwaukee its first loss of the season. That win over the Bucks came without Trae Young and, while there are still defensive questions with Atlanta, Murray looks like a strong addition in the early going.

9. Portland Trail Blazers (7-3, Last week — 5th)

After some positivity on the Blazers last week in this space, Portland posted only a 2-2 week. The losses came to Memphis and Phoenix, so it wasn’t as if it was a disaster, but finding the equilibrium for the Blazers will be interesting.

10. Memphis Grizzlies (7-4, Last week — 12th)

Memphis was lights-out on defense this week. The Grizzlies did lose to the Celtics, albeit in narrow fashion, but Memphis did roll to a 3-1 record over the last seven days. That included a 102.2 defensive rating, and that is Memphis getting back to its stingy roots on that end of the floor.

11. Philadelphia 76ers (5-6, Last week — 10th)

Joel Embiid came back on Monday and looked very good with 33 points and 10 rebounds. James Harden remains sidelined, but with Embiid in the mix, Philadelphia is dangerous, particularly with Tyrese Maxey shooting approximately 82 percent from three-point range.

12. Toronto Raptors (6-5, Last week — 11th)

Toronto doesn’t have a single “bad” loss. That is half the battle, and the Raptors make life intensely difficult on every opponent, both with talent and playing style. Toronto is elite on the glass on both ends, generating more than two assists per turnover, and performing well from an efficiency standpoint. The wins will come.

13. New Orleans Pelicans (5-5, Last week — 6th)

It’s a cruel world sometimes. The Pelicans lost three games by 13 total points this week, and two of the losses happened in overtime. New Orleans did beat Golden State, explaining this ranking, and the Pelicans still have a +3.7 net rating that is encouraging.

14. Golden State Warriors (4-7, Last week — 7th)

Stephen Curry is pretty good and he reminded everyone of that with 47 points on Monday. The Warriors also lost five games in a row before that and the bench has been a catastrophe so far. We’re splitting the difference and putting Golden State in the middle.

15. L.A. Clippers (6-5, Last week — 17th)

Big-picture, Kawhi Leonard playing in only two games so far is terrifying. More encouragingly, the Clippers are 4-1 in the last five games and showing more signs. The offense is not flowing yet by any stretch, but the defense is more than frisky.

16. Minnesota Timberwolves (5-6, Last week — 15th)

The vibes are not strong in the Twin Cities. The defense has been pretty good, allowing fewer than 1.1 points per possession, but the offense is not playing well. Anthony Edwards doesn’t seem to like the approach, Rudy Gobert has been out, and Minnesota has turned the ball over on almost 16 percent of possessions. It’s a process, but it seems like patience is already wearing thin.

17. Chicago Bulls (6-6, Last week — 19th)

Chicago’s defense is carrying a lot right now. The Bulls are in the top five of the league in defensive rating right now, making up for a below-average offense to this point. Chicago is going to need more from Zach LaVine, but the Bulls are at least hanging around where they need to be.

18. New York Knicks (5-5, Last week — 18th)

In on-brand fashion, the Knicks are smack dab in the middle of the league in offense and defense. The depth is a real strength, but the starters are brutal and Tom Thibodeau hasn’t quite figured out the right balance to make it all work on a daily basis.

19. Indiana Pacers (5-5, Last week — 26th)

Indiana gets a bump this week after four wins in the last five games. The Pacers are scoring at a sky-high level with 1.17 points per possession over that sample, and Indiana beat Brooklyn, Miami, and New Orleans. It’s too early to be worried about “too many wins” but the Pacers are not bad right now.

20. Miami Heat (4-7, Last week — 24th)

Miami could use some “get right” games and, on cue, the Heat will play the Hornets twice at home this week. Nothing is assured, but that should help the bottom line.

21. Brooklyn Nets (4-7, Last week — 25th)

The Nets are at least showing some life. The Kyrie Irving absence continues and, well, who knows, but Kevin Durant looks good with 31 points per game and 50-plus percent from the field. Brooklyn is going to have all kinds of issues getting stops, but the offense should be good whether Irving is there or not.

22. Washington Wizards (5-6, Last week — 21st)

Washington basically stood pat in the rankings this week after winning on the road in Charlotte on Monday. As we’ll get to below, beating the Hornets right now isn’t anything special, but they had to hold serve. They did that. Everything else is not fantastic for a team that is dead-last in the league in turnover creation and nearly last in three-point frequency and accuracy on offense.

23. San Antonio Spurs (5-6, Last week — 9th)

A 14-spot dip is about as rough as it gets from week to week, but the Spurs “earned” it. San Antonio lost all four games this week and got absolutely obliterated. The Spurs gave up more than 1.2 points per possession and had a -19.1 net rating.

24. Sacramento Kings (3-6, Last week — 22nd)

There are some very encouraging signs for the Kings. Sacramento is 3-2 in the last five games, and both losses came in narrow fashion. The Kings nearly beat the Warriors, and Sacramento has been borderline frisky on defense. The overall profile isn’t great, but there is stuff to like.

25. Oklahoma City Thunder (4-6, Last week — 20th)

Hot and cold. The Thunder opened 0-3, then won four a row, then lost three in a row. The truth is probably closer to the ugly side for a team with the No. 28 offense, but OKC is well-coached and scrappy defensively. There are just nights when the offense is untenable.

26. Charlotte Hornets (3-8, Last week — 23rd)

Charlotte won two of the first three games by double-digits and there was some positive buzz. Reality set in, though, and the LaMelo Ball-less Hornets are in a dark place. Charlotte is on a five-game losing streak with a -14.3 net rating over that sample. It’s not terribly shocking with Ball on the shelf, but it’s still rough.

27. Los Angeles Lakers (2-8, Last week — 27th)

Listen, it’s been rough for the Lakers. They’ve lost three in a row, and the offense has been dreadful. LeBron isn’t making shots. AD isn’t dominating. They don’t have shooting. It’s a mess…. but Russell Westbrook has been better! In the last five games, he is shooting 55.6 percent from the field in a bench role, putting up his usual counting stats but actually contributing in an efficient manner. That’s something.

28. Detroit Pistons (3-8, Last week — 28th)

A third victory keeps Detroit out of the bottom two. The Pistons maintain the NBA’s worst point differential, but Detroit picked up a nice home win over OKC on Monday. Detroit got smoked by Milwaukee and Cleveland before that, but that’ll happen.

29. Houston Rockets (2-9, Last week — 30th)

The Rockets knocked off the Magic to pick up an elusive second win. Houston lost six in a row, and the Rockets are still in the bottom six of the league in offensive rating and defensive rating. It was also a good week for Jalen Green after a slow start, as he shot 52.9 percent from the field and put up 25.7 points per game over a three-game span.

30. Orlando Magic (2-9, Last week — 29th)

Orlando slips to the bottom after a home loss to Houston. On paper, that might be the easiest matchup in the league, so that’s not a great result. Still, Paolo Banchero is cooking, Franz Wagner is very good, and Orlando should eventually have some healthy guard play. This week did have a 26-point effort from Jalen Suggs, which is encouraging, but the Magic do have work to do.

Rihanna‘s fourth iteration of her Savage X Fenty fashion show has begun streaming this morning (November 9). Per usual, the show features a star-studded line-up of actors, singers, and models, including Winston Duke, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Marsai Martin, and more.

In a controversial choice, this year’s Savage X Fenty show featured Johnny Depp in a near-minute-long cameo. During his brief, albeit, polarizing appearing, Depp wore Fenty silk pajamas, paired with a set of his signature necklaces, as Outkast’s “So Fresh, So Clean” played throughout the spotlight segment.

Earlier this year, Depp’s defamation lawsuit against actress and ex-girlfriend Amber Heard, who has accused Johnny Depp of abuse, garnered much media attention. Because of this, fan response has to Rihanna’s choice to include Depp has been divided.

Some supporters of Depp have congratulated the actor on his appearance in the fashion show, with one Twitter user saying, “The trial is OVER. Johnny Depp is INNOCENT. Amber is GUILTY. Some of you didn’t watch the trial and it shows.”

Many have slammed Rihanna’s choice to feature Depp, an accused abuser, with another Twitter user saying, “rihanna going out of her way to, like, rehabilitate the image of a domestic abuser and rapist is f*cking crazy cause the hell is johnny depp, a rapidly decaying corpse, going to do at a LINGERIE SHOW? but even past all that does she even know her audience?”

You can watch Depp’s segment below.

The Savage X Fenty, Vol. 4 show is now streaming on Prime Video.

Last night, Maxwell Alejandro Frost became the youngest person (and first Gen Z member) to be elected to Congress at age 25. Frost represents Florida’s 10th district. As some fans discovered following the news of his election, he also represents stan Twitter.

Given he’s used the same Twitter account, there were posts unearthed — including him taking a selfie with Harry Styles in 2014 and meeting Ariana Grande.

“yea….you could say we’re friends now @Harry_Styles,” he wrote.

“Ariana Grande at Starbucks !!! IM SO HAPPY SHE IS SO AMAZING TALKING WITH US,” Frost shared in a separate tweet.

Other posts include him stanning Cardi B, defending Taylor Swift in what appears to be a now-deleted post, and encouraging collabs between his faves.

Frost also announced he’d be celebrating his win by going to see one of The 1975’s wild concerts — who he has also loved for quite a while. “I’VE BEEN CAMPAIGNING FOR OVER A YEAR THIS IS WILD!! I’M GONNA SEE @the1975 ON THURSDAY TO CELEBRATE!!!” he shared. Needless to say, most users were happy for the politician, whose energy matches exactly what most of us would do if we won too. Plus, who doesn’t love a concert?

Continue scrolling to see some fan reactions and more of Frost’s old posts.

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

The flowers continue to roll in for rap legend Eminem! After being inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, fans flooded social media to share their love for the emcee. The most noble of those fans was the Detroit native’s own mother, Debbie Nelson.

In a video message posted to social media, Nelson gushes over her son’s accomplishments, saying, “Marshall, I couldn’t let this day go by without congratulating you on your induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. I love you very much. I knew you’d get there. It’s been a long ride. I’m very, very proud of you.”

She then turns her attention to Eminem’s daughter (her granddaughter) Hailie, who accompanied him to the ceremony, with the message, “And also I’m very proud of Hailie Jade, my big girl. I want to tell you, Hailie, great job on your podcast, and God bless you guys. I love you very much.”

This public display of support from his mother is a major step for the pair. If you recall, in the beginning of his career, songs “Cleanin’ Out My Closet” and “My Name Is” landed Eminem in a fierce legal battle in 1999 with his mother as she felt the lyrics in the songs were defamatory. The case was later settled in 2001. Twelve years later, the rapper’s 2013 song “Headlights” hinted that the pair had come to a mutual understanding.

The touching video message from Nelson shows that their relationship is in good standings. To borrow a few words from Jay Z, “no one wins when the family feuds.” We are happy to see that the Marshall family is in a healthy place.

In Luca Guadagnino’s Bones and All, Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russell play two cannibals who fall in love. No spoilers, but the pair did not eat human meat (“mmm… human meat”) during the filming of the coming-of-age movie. Otherwise, a certain someone who worked with Chalamet and Guadagnino might have been more interested.

“On a very practical note, Luca said that we were eating corn syrup,” Russell told Slash Film. “But I know that I wasn’t, because I remember the incredible effects team and the team who were handling all of that sort of stuff told me that it was maraschino cherries, dark chocolate, and Fruit Roll-Ups.” She added that it was “very sweet and [tastier] than anything else maybe you could imagine.”

Apparently cannibals have the same diet as me in fourth grade. Here’s more:

Bones and All is a story of first love between Maren, a young woman learning how to survive on the margins of society, and Lee, an intense and disenfranchised drifter; a liberating road odyssey of two young people coming into their own, searching for identity and chasing beauty in a perilous world that cannot abide who they are.

Bones and All, which also stars Mark Rylance, Michael Stuhlbarg, André Holland, Chloë Sevigny, David Gordon Green, and Jessica Harper, opens in theaters on November 18.

(Via Slash Film)

Last month, Taylor Swift dropped her delightful video for “Anti-Hero,” which included a comedy sketch featuring Mike Birbiglia, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia‘s Mary Elizabeth Ellis, and John Early as her future relatives. It was a fun moment, and now Birbiglia has revealed that when Swift first reached out to him about it, he figured there was a decent chance he was being catfished by somebody who wasn’t actually Swift.

In a Late Show interview last night (November 8), he told Stephen Colbert that he and Swift were first connected via mutual friend Jack Antonoff, who Birbiglia has known for a long time after initially meeting at Bonnaroo “about 15 years ago.” He continued, “It just so happened she was writing the music video the day that we happened to meet, and we were having pizza with Jack and a bunch of folks, and then she thought, ‘Oh, you…,’ apparently, in her mind, she thought, ‘This is the dystopic version, the nightmare version of what my son would be.’”

As for how they got in touch about the video, he said, “I got a text from her… I don’t know, a month or two later. […] I thought maybe I was just being catfished: It’s just a number. […] I just thought, it’s either Taylor Swift — that’d be cool — or it’s someone catfishing me who’s an excellent writer! Because she sent the script to the video that’s wonderful and very funny, and I thought, ‘This is fantastic. Either way, it’s sort of a win-win.’ I go, ‘Count me in, either Taylor Swift or a catfish person!’”

Check out Birbiglia’s Late Show interview below.

Not everyone is up for the challenge of being a Marvel villain. It comes with a lot of negativity, the occasional bad costume, and, worst of all, you need to be pretty jacked up. So this sounds perfect for Jimmy Kimmel, who said he wishes he would be a Marvel villain, instead of just your typical run-of-the-mill late-night host. It’s only natural to graduate from one thing to the other!

Kimmel recently had Jonathan Majors on his show, who plays an actual Marvel villain, Kang the Conqueror, in the upcoming Ant-Man sequel. Though Majors doesn’t seem too confident about Kimmel’s desire to be a villain. “Yeah, it’s great, it’s great,” Majors said, adding “I wonder if you’d be as happy being Kang the Conqueror when you gotta wake up at 4:30 and go to the gym, and then go back to the gym at 7.” Are you interested in having a Kang body? It’s really easy! Just wake up before the sun and follow these stressful steps to gain 21 pounds of pure muscles (give or take a few). The movie offers will come rolling in, probably.

Majors and his muscles are gearing up to lead the next Marvel phase with Kang as the Big Bad Guy and will reprise his role in Avengers: Kang Dynasty in 2025. So he will probably have to wake up at 4 am for the next few years, which seems like it would be enough to make anyone a villain. Speaking of villains, remember when Mark Wahlberg had to wake up at 2:30 am for a morning prayer/ workout before his 9:30 am cryotherapy chamber session? Why hasn’t he been recruited by Disney yet?!

As for Kimmel, he said he’d rather be Kang the Relaxer, which is definitely the preferred role. You can check out Majors’ remarks around the 5:50 mark above. And then he starts juggling! He really is a man of the people.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will be released in theaters on February 17th, 2023.

On his new single, “I Know Nothing,” British rapper Slowthai aims to empower the younger generations. As part of a partnership with Beats By Dre and their Defy The Noise campaign, “I Know Nothing” is accompanied by a short film featuring footballers Bukayo Saka, Serge Gnabry, Kingsley Coman, and Ritsu Doan.

In the short film, the footballers are seen practicing and playing games, while these clips are juxtaposed with screenshots of criticism and scrutiny they’ve received from social media.

“My whole generation misguided / We are one and the same / It cuts me deep / I pray understanding that I won’t be heard,” Slowthai raps on the rock-influenced rap track.

“‘I Know Nothing’ is a fight back against those people who are so quick to put the blame on the younger generation,” Slowthai said in a statement. “In a world full of misinformation and judgment it only reveals the true intentions of how miserable people’s lives must be as they are so quick to jump on the bandwagon and applaud or point out people’s failures or vulnerabilities. Instead, we should be lifting people up when we see them fall. social media can and should be used as a tool for connection and good but instead, it serves to gloat and punch down. It fails to show the harsh reality we live in, which can lead to isolation and depression. Let’s lift each other up.”

Check out “I Know Nothing” above and the Defy The Noise short film below.

Early yesterday morning, Jason Isbell was asked by a fan if he’d ever have any interest in running for office as election day had arrived. The country musician has frequently been vocal about his political stances and interactive on social media — so naturally, Isbell shared his answer. And the truth was: he had.

“I have considered it, but I’m gonna need about another ten years of study and I’d like our kid to be settled into her self before she has to deal with a politician parent,” he responded. “We’ll see if we still have a democracy in a decade.”

“I wouldn’t run for anything unless I knew every detail of the job in advance,” Isbell added.

Isbell, who is based in Nashville, has also supported a number of candidates over the years, including Alabama’s Democratic senator Doug Jones, Beto O’Rourke, and more. Last November, he even promised to drop a Texas cover album if O’Rourke had beaten Greg Abbott in this race. “If you need a singer for anything, you just call,” Isbell responded on O’Rourke’s announcement that he was running for Texas Governor.

“I know the people here, even the ones I strongly disagree with on personal and professional issues,” he told Billboard in 2020. “I know them and grew up around them, and I know what makes ’em happy and what makes ’em scared. With that in mind, I feel like it’s important to speak to those people and not ignore them and not try to hide in your own bubble.

Continue scrolling to view some fan reactions to Isbell’s post.