Month: February 2023

I said this last night but I think it bears repeating; Drake may very well be the funniest human being alive.

It’s not just that he constantly does hilarious things, consistently leaning into the public perception that he’s a total cornball. It’s that he’s always in on the joke. He knows how things are going to play, he does them anyway, and he laughs at himself as much as we do.

Take last night’s historical Los Angeles Lakers game; Drake was one of several music stars to congratulate LeBron James on breaking the NBA’s all-time scoring record. But instead of merely recording a straightforward message to the camera like Rihanna and Snoop Dogg, Drake staged an elaborate skit in front of a green screen.

At first, it appears that the Toronto star is standing in the gym at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio. This seems like a completely logical thing for Drake to do — even a likely one — because Drake is the kind of guy who buys Pharrell’s old jewelry for nostalgic value. But then, the background shifts to a staged club VIP section as Drake “admits” he’s recording from a night out. Because Drake is also the guy who loves doing comedic sketches for award shows (it’s a shame he hasn’t hosted SNL again for the past seven years).

Naturally, his goofball moment landed differently for different people, but the reactions on Twitter have been pure gold either way. Check them out below.

The Last Of Us is dominating in its inaugural season. Not only is the series acquiring a massive fanbase, but it also did something that not many can do: make Nick Offerman look like a big old softie and make Melanie Lynskey seem like a mean girl. These are two things we are not used to seeing!

Lynskey made her highly-anticipated guest appearance in episode four, and viewers were surprised to learn that she wasn’t playing her usual soft-spoken characters. In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Lynskey says she was hesitant to take on such a darker role. “[Craig Mazin] said to me, ‘I hope you’re not offended, but I would love for you to play a war criminal.’ I said, ‘Ugh, I don’t know,’” Lynskey recalled.

The Yellowjackets star did take on the role of Kathleen, the tough war criminal whose brother was leading the resistance movement before his death. While speaking on The Last Of Us podcast, Mazin and developer Neil Druckmann said that they needed Kathleen’s character to balance out Joel and Ellie. As Mazin explained, via Collider:

Humanity will probably not descend into a Mad Max-style culture in a post-apocalyptic world where 80 people just love killing. It’s not what happens. What happens instead is we’re 80 people who love each other as family, friends and neighbors and that means we must protect ourselves at any cost, and anyone who gets in our way must be taken out. Joel was once one of those people. That’s how he knows the guy asking for help isn’t hurt, and they’re being conned. It was important for us to put a face on these people, so we have this character in Kathleen who we understand is suffering when we meet her. Even though she has the gun in her hand, she is suffering. We have this revolutionary who quietly becomes a terror and does horrible things in service of this, but is still someone we empathize with.

And thus, Kathleen’s character was created. Mazin added that Lynskey was the first person they thought of for the role, which is when Lynskey was approached.

Lynskey (Via Collider and told EW that the character is supposed to show off the complex layers of flawed people. “I wanted her to be kind of gentle. I wanted her to be soft-spoken and delicate in the way she looked around. I wanted her to feel like a sweet person, and then to have a surprising capacity for violence,” the actress explained. “I thought the difference between how she carries herself and how she speaks and the things she’s doing would be interesting.”

Despite the darker character arch, Lynskey says she enjoyed the stint. When asked if it was fun to play a villain after all these years of good guys, the actress replied, “It is really fun. I would do something horrible, like one time I did some scene where [Kathleen] was like, ‘Kids die every day’ or something like that. I was like, ‘It’s just my vendetta.’ Craig and I would always say ‘my vendetta’ with a New Zealand accent.” Things do, historically, sound less horrible in a New Zealand accent.

(Via Collider and EW)

Tony Khan has plenty to be proud of in the four years since launching All Elite Wrestling. He has AEW competing with WWE in terms of interest, talent, and where fans spend their money, as the organization embarks on launching non-televised live performances in addition to their weekly episodic shows and PPVs. The differentiator in propelling AEW into a true challenger brand starts with their current television deal.

“When we launched, having the availability and accessibility and prestige of TNT/TBS set us apart from a lot of other promotions that have launched,” Khan told Uproxx Sports in an exclusive interview. “We launched with such a strong roster and we had some of the top stars in wrestling from our very first show. And the roster has grown so much and strengthened a lot over the years. Now, I think we’ve just grown to the point where we’re doing our most consistent run of TV shows right now.”

Over time, Khan’s AEW has mixed foundational pieces like Jon Moxley, Kenny Omega, Chris Jericho, and the Young Bucks, with blossoming stars such as Jade Cargill, MJF, Britt Baker, and Hangman Page, while also bringing in established veterans like Bryan Danielson, Sting, Saraya, and CM Punk, among others.

Every great rivalry needs passionate fans on both sides. That passion and yearning to see AEW as the clear top promotion often overflows into demands for the newest hot free agent to join AEW — see Mercedes Moné, Kota Ibushi, and basically any top star who has hit the market.

This hasn’t necessarily been a surprise for Khan, as it was part of his logic for launching the promotion.

“There are always going to be free agents and big names that become available over time in pro wrestling, and I think that’s one of the reasons that the launch of AEW was so exciting,” Khan says. “That was actually part of my presentation to Warner executives five years ago, was that we would be creating the first truly competitive free agent market in pro wrestling in two decades. I felt like there was a disparity, the choices available to a wrestler, as far as which promotions they’d want to work with. And I think now, with the rise of AEW, it’s provided better choices and an alternative for the wrestling fans, but also for the pro wrestlers. And historically, particularly in the cable TV era, that free agent market and the excitement around it can generate a lot of buzz for a wrestling company, and sometimes for multiple wrestling companies as wrestlers go back and forth.”

Not unlike WWE, AEW remains in the crosshairs of the internet wrestling community, with nearly every move drawing visceral reactions, both positive and negative. But for Khan, who to this day participates in online message boards and websites, he’s learned to roll with the punches.

“I’ve been part of the internet wrestling community since almost the very beginning, since I was 12 years old. If I’ve ever taken a break from it, it’s probably not been much more than a day. I pretty consistently have been reading and talking about wrestling on the internet for the better part of the last three decades,” he says. “I love the feedback from the fans. I love engaging with the internet wrestling fans and seeing what they think. And sometimes you’ll get mixed opinion, but when there is a very strong, uniform opinion on something, it can be a good signal or a hint as to what the right direction for us could be.”

Some of that feedback could be as small as making motion graphics for pay-per-views.

Other areas include the portrayal of the AEW women’s division. That, specifically, is an area Khan believes has been at its strongest over the past year, citing the mix of “great free agents” and the way they’ve helped foster a “growing rivalry” with some of the women who have been with AEW from the beginning.

“In particular, Toni Storm and Saraya have been very polarizing to the fans, they’ve got great star power and great experience that they brought to AEW and some of their comments and their attitudes towards the homegrown AEW wrestlers who helped build up the company when we launched have done them no favors and made them no friends in the locker room,” Khan says. “And we have a lot of homegrown wrestlers, stars like Dr. Britt Baker and the AEW Women’s World Champion, Jamie Hayter, who’ve been with us from the very first year and are very offended and disrespected by Toni Storm and Saraya and the things that they’ve said about our homegrown women wrestlers. So I think the free agents have really come in and helped shake things up, and it’s certainly made for a heated series of rivalries and intrigue around the championship.”

As he reflects on the last four years and looks toward the future, Khan is bullish on AEW’s future. As reported by Fightful, the organization’s television rights deal is set to expire toward the end of 2023. But Khan was careful to characterize AEW’s future deal as a media rights deal, instead pointing solely to a new television deal.

“I expect big increases in the rights for the AEW programs and we’re on a good pace to make a very lucrative deal for the AEW media rights going forward,” Khan said.

When asked about the recent report that AEW was set to launch its own streaming service, Khan didn’t confirm or deny the rumors.

“We’ve done 174 episodes of Dynamite, 80 episodes of AEW Rampage, our 17th pay-per-view event will be March 5 in Revolution, so we’ve done hundreds and hundreds of hours of AEW content in our library,” Khan says. “I also purchased Ring of Honor last year, which is a great promotion with over 20 years of history, thousands of hours of video in their library. So overall, AEW has access to so many great wrestling events, including some events that are widely considered to be some of the best wrestling events of all time. There’s a lot of interest in this library as well as the new weekly content we continue to produce each week, and I do think there’s a lot of demand for the library and it makes a lot of sense for us to try to make that AEW library available to fans all over the world on demand.”

Despite mentioning AEW and ROH in the same breath regarding a media library, Khan made it clear he sees ROH as a complimentary promotion to AEW, similar to New Japan Pro Wrestling.

“AEW and Ring of Honor both have a great legacy,” he says. “There are some of the biggest stars in wrestling who won championships in both promotions. Even today, Samoa Joe, the king of television, is a TV champion representing both promotions as the TNT champion of AEW and the Ring of Honor World Television champion simultaneously and is a Hall of Fame star, a first-ballot Hall of Famer for Ring of Honor and one of the biggest names in AEW. And both companies have had a great relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling historically. And now I think that the promotions compliment each other very well. But I want to run them as separate promotions that exist in the same metaverse of pro wrestling along with New Japan Pro Wrestling and some of our other partners.”

For now, Khan will continue to steer AEW into its next phase of growth, while launching the next phase in ROH’s journey, which reportedly includes episodic television.

Paul Rudd is 53 years old, but even when he’s 83, he probably still won’t look 53. Maybe that’s an exaggeration, but the man has been the subject of blood-sacrifice jokes for at least a decade. He recently revealed, however, that it’s slightly more difficult to get into Ant-Man fighting shape these days than it was for 2018’s Ant-Man And The Wasp and 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. So, he might not be immune to the rigors of time after all. To that end, Rudd fielded a question from Men’s Health about his secret to both “happiness” and “eternal youth.”

His answer was a commonsensical one, although I’m not so sure how easy it is for the average person to accomplish: “Sleep.” No really. Paul Rudd believes that a solid night’s sleep is the most important part of self-care and looking like a spring chicken. This was also his mindset for getting back into that Ant-Man suit. Yep, shut-eye takes priority:

“Then diet. Then weights. Then cardio. People ask me, ‘Can you send me your meal plan? How many times a week do you work out? Do you drink? Do you eat carbs? Do you have a cheat day?’ The most important part of training is sleep. People will set their alarm and then sleep for four hours and they’ll get up so that they can train. They’re doing themselves a disservice. If you can somehow get eight hours of sleep …”

I dunno, man. It’s easier said than done to head to bed early when there’s so much to do in daily life, but Paul Rudd surely knows where it’s at. Also, there’s something to be said about muscle recovery during sleep, and Rudd was surely motivated to keep up (at least in a sense) with Jonathan Majors and his bodybuilding biopic bod, which could have carried over into Kang preparation for the MCU.

Whatever Paul Rudd is doing, though, is working, so there’s no sense in stopping now. You can see his sunshiney face on the big screen again when Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania debuts on February 17.

(Via Men’s Health)

President Joe Biden continued his push back against airlines, concert promoters, and other companies that embed “junk fees” into their service as he expressed his intentions for proposed legislation during last night’s (February 7) State Of The Union address.

Biden’s plan for the Junk Fee Prevention Act would also include extra resort fees, credit card late fees, and any other hidden charges toward customers — no matter what industry.

“For example, we’re making airlines show you the full ticket price upfront and refund your money if your flight is canceled or delayed,” Biden said. “Baggage fees are bad enough — they can’t just treat your child like a piece of luggage. Americans are tired of being played for suckers.”

On February 1, he also tweeted, “You shouldn’t have to pay an extra $50 to sit next to your child on the plane, pay a surprise ‘resort fee’ for a hotel stay, pay $200 to terminate your cable plan, or pay huge service fees to buy concert tickets. It’s time for Congress to pass the Junk Fee Prevention Act.”

Back in October, the White House released a statement that defined junk fees as “mandatory fees that often hide the full price” and “surprise fees that consumers learn about after purchase.” This would include those pesky service fees that companies like Ticketmaster tack on to your ticket at checkout.

“These fees can also create an uneven playing field for businesses, making firms that price in a fair and transparent manner seem more expensive than their rivals,” it read.

This continued discussion comes after months of debate over Ticketmaster’s monopoly and fans having more trouble than ever getting tickets for Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen, and other popular acts.

With the 65th annual Grammy Awards officially behind us, all eyes are on Super Bowl LVII. While sports fans anticipate a cutthroat showdown between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs, music fans are more so interested in the halftime show. This year’s featured performer is none other than Oscar-nominated singer Rihanna. But before she takes the stage, Madame Tussauds New York wants to preserve a little piece of this moment in entertainment history.

Not only is the “Work” singer known for her breakout songs but the Fenty boss has also carved a line for herself in the fashion world. Ahead of the big game, Madame Tussauds has unveiled a new wax figure of Rihanna dedicated to her contributions to fashion and is dressed in her 2018 Met Gala’s ‘Heavenly Bodies: Fashion And The Catholic Imagination’ look designed by Margiela. The figure is on display in its Glow Gala room.

When discussing the singer’s upcoming Super Bowl performance in a statement, Joerg Hanel, Madame Tussauds New York’s general manager, said, “Rihanna is sure to make history with her upcoming live show this Sunday, so the timing is perfect for us to reveal her new figure exclusively at Madame Tussauds New York where fans can admire and pose with the icon.”

This isn’t the only Rihanna wax figure being added to their collection; Madame Tussauds Orlando has announced later this year, their figure will sport the singer’s outfit from the Super Bowl 2023.

To purchase tickets to Madame Tussauds New York City, click here.

Many of us are still shocked at Beyoncé’s surprising Album Of The Year loss at the 2023 Grammys this past Sunday (February 5). Beyhivers are, however, excited at the fact that while she didn’t get the coveted AOTY honor for her seventh studio album Renaissance, she did make history that night. On Grammy night, Beyoncé took home the Grammy awards for Best Dance Recording with her hit single, “Break My Soul,” Best R&B Song with “Cuff It,” Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance with “Plastic Off The Sofa,” and Best Dance/Electronica Album with Renaissance.

These wins brought the total amount of Grammys she’s earned in her career up to 32, which has made her the most Grammy-awarded artist of all time.

Let’s break down the Grammys she has won over the course of the past two decades.

Bey won her first two Grammys in 2001 at 43rd Grammy Awards as a member of Destiny’s Child. She shares the win with her bandmates Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams for Best R&B Song and Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal with their hit single, “Say My Name.” The following year, the group won again for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal with “Survivor.”

Her first wins as a solo artist came in 2004, when she took home the awards for Best Contemporary R&B Album for her solo debut album, Dangerously In Love. On that album is the song “Dangerously In Love 2,” for which she won Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. Her Luther Vandross duet “The Closer I Get To You” won the Grammy for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals. And of course, her solo breakthrough, “Crazy In Love,” which features Jay-Z, won Best R&B Song and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.

In 2006, she, alongside her Destiny’s Child bandmates, took home the award for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals for their song “So Amazing” from their last album, Destiny Fulfilled.

The following year, her sophomore album, B’Day, won Best Contemporary R&B Album.

In 2010, “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It),” won three Grammys, including Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, Best R&B Song, and Song Of The Year. “Halo” won the award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Both of these songs come from Beyoncé’s third solo album, I Am…Sasha Fierce, which won the Grammy for Best Contemporary R&B Album. Her cover of Etta James’ “At Last,” which she performed in the movie Cadillac Records, Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance.

In 2013, Love On Top from her fourth studio album 4 won Best Traditional R&B Performance. Later that year, she would release her game-changing self-titled fifth album by surprise.

With Beyoncé, she released a music video for each track, and several artists followed suit with the surprise release strategy. Given the album’s cultural impact, it seemed as though the Album Of The Year award was a given for the 57th Grammy Awards in 2015.

That year, she and Jay-Z took home the Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song award for their collaboration, “Drunk In Love.” Beyoncé also won the award for Best Surround Sound Album, however, her loss for Album Of The Year sent the world into a big shock.

Two years later, the world was equally shocked when her sixth album, Lemonade, lost the Album Of The Year award again. She did, however, take home the Grammy for Best Urban Contemporary Album, as well as Best Music Video for Lemonade single “Formation.”

In 2019, she and Jay-Z won the Best Urban Contemporary Album for their joint album, Everything Is Love. The following year, her Netflix documentary, Homecoming, which goes behind the scenes of her 2018 Coachella performance, won the award for Best Music Film.

At the 2021 ceremony, her Megan Thee Stallion collaboration, “Savage,” won the Grammys for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song. “Black Parade” and “Brown Skin Girl,” which are featured in her Disney+ short film Black Is King, won the Best R&B Performance and Best Music Video awards respectively.

So although Bey has not won the coveted Album Of The Year award, each of her solo albums have won Grammys in other categories. As the artist who hold the most Grammys, its safe to say the music speaks for itself.

Cardi B and Offset’s lovey-dovey ways can’t be stopped — not even by a (rumored) backstage fight at the Grammys between Offset and his Migos bandmate Quavo. Hope you’re not already tired of them because they’re about to invade your local fast-food joint.

That’s right; the next stars to get their own McDonald’s meal will be Cardi B and Offset. Apparently, that’s what they were filming their Valentine’s Day-themed Super Bowl commercial for last month; photos have surfaced online of what appears to be the promotional poster for the meal, which appears to include a cheeseburger, Quarter Pounder with cheese, barbecue sauce, large fries, an apple pie, a large Hi-C, and a large Coke. So, nothing too wild — remember the Saweetie remixes? — but perfect for sharing if you’re spending your V-Day on a budget.

Cardi and Offset are just the latest music stars to partner with the Golden Arches — a tactic that has been quite lucrative for the fast-food company. Previously, McDonald’s partnered with Korean boy band BTS, Latin music star J Balvin, and Houston rap hero Travis Scott. Each meal has been accompanied by a merch collection co-designed by the musicians in question, ranging from apparel to toys to all kinds of bizarre accessories.

We’ll likely find out more about the upcoming meal during the Super Bowl, when the commercial will air alongside spots featuring Jack Harlow and Missy Elliott, Diddy, and more.

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

The L.A. Clippers currently sit in the No. 4 slot in the Western Conference. Before the 2022-23 season began, that would’ve seemed like a relatively normal outcome, particularly when acknowledging Kawhi Leonard projects to avoid back-to-backs for the foreseeable future. However, it’s been a roller coaster for the Clippers in 2022-23, to the point where many would be surprised to see L.A. in the top half of the playoff picture.

As recently as one month ago, the Clippers were scuffling at an existential level. L.A. lost six straight games between late December and early January, falling back to the .500 mark in the process, and L.A. even dipped below .500 after back-to-back losses in mid-January. That wouldn’t be alarming for a lot of franchises, but the Clippers have been the definition of “all in” for a long time, particularly after the wild flurry of activity that saw the team mortgage its draft future (and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) in pursuit of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.

Quietly, though, the Clippers are right back in the mix after a 10-5 stretch, and two of those losses came on the second night of back-to-back sets with neither Leonard nor George on the floor. In fact, the Clippers look the part of a contender at full strength. In simple terms, L.A. is 21-10 in games when Leonard plays, and that is encouraging enough on its own. The Clippers are also 8-1 in the last nine games with Leonard on the floor and, for the season, L.A. has a +8.1 net rating in 999 minutes with Leonard in the mix. When adding George to the mix, the results are even better, as the Clippers have outscored opponents by 143 points in 626 minutes when the top-billed pairing shares the floor, translating to a +11.4 net rating with elite metrics on both offense and defense.

The Clippers do have questions, even beyond the simple reality that everything is tied to the health and availability of the superstars. L.A. was reportedly involved in the Kyrie Irving pursuit and, in recent years, the Clippers have been more than willing to jump into the trade market with little regard for luxury tax burden. That could manifest again with another lead guard or perhaps a bit of depth behind Ivica Zubac at the center spot, but it remains true that the Clippers have star power, depth, versatility, and experience. That’s not a bad combination for a team that seems to be flying largely under the radar into mid-February.

Where do the Clippers find themselves in this week’s DIME power rankings? Let’s explore.

1. Milwaukee Bucks (37-17, Last week — 1st)

Milwaukee was the showcase team a week ago in this space and all the Bucks did was win all three games this week. Giannis and company have the league’s longest winning streak (nine) and a bunch of headline-grabbing matchups in the near future.

2. Boston Celtics (38-16, Last week — 2nd)

Outside of Milwaukee, the top teams aren’t playing exceedingly well right now. That leads to Boston as a default No. 2 with the best season-long metrics, but the Celtics had a weird/bad loss at home to the Devin Booker-less Suns this week and Boston is just 3-4 in the last seven.

3. Denver Nuggets (38-17, Last week — 4th)

The Nuggets have won four of the last five and the only loss came without Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. Denver immediately avenged that defeat with a 34-point bludgeoning of Minnesota, and the Nuggets sit atop the Western Conference by 4.5 games.

4. Philadelphia 76ers (34-18, Last week — 3rd)

Wednesday’s matchup between Philadelphia and Boston at TD Garden should be a lot of fun. In zooming out, the Sixers are 22-6 in the last 28 games, even after a relatively “normal” road loss at MSG on Sunday.

5. L.A. Clippers (31-26, Last week — 8th)

The Clippers have four of the next five games at home, which is always nice. However, L.A. has the second-most difficult remaining schedule (.531 winning percentage) in the NBA, and it’ll be interesting to see how the Clippers navigate it with their eyes always on the playoffs.

6. Cleveland Cavaliers (34-22, Last week — 11th)

After a 9-11 stretch over a 20-game period, the Cavs got right this week. That included a three-game sweep of the Grizzlies, Pacers, and Wizards, and Cleveland has the chance to keep it running this week. In fact, it would be a disappointment if the Cavs didn’t go at least 3-1 against the Pistons, Pelicans, Bulls, and Spurs over the next seven days.

7. Phoenix Suns (30-26, Last week — 12th)

Devin Booker is back and that is an obvious game-changer for the Suns. To be fair, Phoenix did win its final two games without him, but Booker’s return on Tuesday makes it a lot easier to take the Suns seriously. Also, new ownership could mean a big roster swing in the near future, because the Suns have plenty of draft capital to throw around if they want to get wild.

8. Sacramento Kings (30-23, Last week — 9th)

The Kings haven’t been terribly impressive lately, but they benefit from the struggles of other teams in this range. Even with a 4-5 run in the last nine games, Sacramento is the No. 3 seed in the West. That’s good for a top-eight mark here.

9. Memphis Grizzlies (33-21, Last week — 5th)

There is a case for Memphis to slide even further than this. The Grizzlies are 2-8 (!) in the last ten games, and the wins came over Chicago and Indiana at home. Home fans were booing on Tuesday, and the vibes are suddenly horrendous. On the bright side, the Grizz are still a clear favorite to finish second in the West, but they need to find their footing sooner rather than later.

10. Brooklyn Nets (32-22, Last week — 6th)

Cam Thomas made some history with a bevy of 40-point games this week, and it was a lot of fun to watch. However, Thomas probably isn’t going to join Kevin Durant on the marquee in a big-picture sense, and the Nets have a lot of questions following the Kyrie Irving trade. Brooklyn did quite well to get some value given the lack of leverage, but there is still time before the deadline and Durant won’t return until after the All-Star break.

11. Golden State Warriors (28-26, Last week — 10th)

Are the Warriors going to push some chips in with a trade involving their young guys? It’s one of the more interesting questions of the week, but Golden State is also facing an odd situation in which their underlying metrics are strong when their key guys are on the floor, but the overall results are middling. Throw in a Steph Curry injury, and there is a ton of uncertainty, but Klay Thompson making 12 three-pointers on Monday was helpful.

12. Dallas Mavericks (29-26, Last week — 14th)

Luka Doncic won’t play on Wednesday, delaying the first joint appearance alongside Kyrie Irving. There will be plenty of attention paid to Wednesday’s debut for Irving against the Clippers, and Dallas is a wildly interesting team to watch over the next few weeks and, presumably, into the summer as Irving navigates free agency.

13. New York Knicks (30-26, Last week — 15th)

Some of these metrics can also be tied to noise, but it’s a bit odd that the Knicks are below .500 (14-15) at home. In fact, only six teams in the league have lost more than they’ve won in home games, and the other five teams represent the bottom five in the league standings.

14. Miami Heat (29-25, Last week — 7th)

The Heat only had two games in the last seven days. Both were road losses, which isn’t disastrous, but Miami just can’t seem to make a big run. The Heat were the No. 1 seed a year ago and, this time, they are in a tie for No. 6 with the Knicks with two-thirds of the season in the books.

15. New Orleans Pelicans (29-27, Last week — 22nd)

New Orleans recently lost ten games in a row, but the ship is seemingly on course now. The Pelicans just won three in a row, including a solid win on Tuesday against a full-strength Hawks team. Without Zion Williamson, the Pelicans don’t have the same ceiling, but Brandon Ingram changes a lot for the better, and New Orleans could make a move in the next two days with plenty of flexibility.

16. Minnesota Timberwolves (29-28, Last week — 13th)

We’ll learn a great deal about Minnesota in the next two weeks. The Wolves have seven of the next games on the road against conference foes, and none of those games project to be terribly favorable. The two home games come against Charlotte and Washington, providing a nice respite, but the Wolves are hovering around .500 and in a place they likely don’t want to be.

17. Oklahoma City Thunder (26-28, Last week — 20th)

The Thunder at least kind of spoiled the party in Los Angeles on Tuesday, beating the Lakers on a monumental night for LeBron James. OKC is just a pretty good basketball team right now and, in addition to the fantastic play of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey and Jalen Williams are excelling on a regular basis.

18. Atlanta Hawks (27-28, Last week — 19th)

Are the Hawks finally going to trade John Collins? How about Bogdan Bogdanovic or even Justin Holiday? Atlanta has been the picture of average so far this season, and that isn’t enough to satisfy expectations that were raised after the addition of Dejounte Murray. The Hawks did just play reasonably well on a five-game road trip, but it might be a busy week in Atlanta.

19. Utah Jazz (27-28, Last week — 16th)

“Trader Danny” Ainge might have his hands full this week. All things considered, the Jazz sitting at 27-28 is pretty impressive in the middle of a clear rebuild, but Utah also has a mismatched roster and it would behoove Ainge to garner some value for supporting pieces. Utah also starts a road trip on Friday, just hours after the deadline passes.

20. Los Angeles Lakers (25-30, Last week — 18th)

The entire sports world was focused on LeBron James on Tuesday and with good reason. He is now the all-time scoring leader, surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to break a record that seemed virtually unbreakable, and it was a wild scene in Los Angeles. Now, the attention can shift back to a Lakers team that isn’t playing very well and is clearly trying to pull some transactional strings before Thursday.

21. Chicago Bulls (26-28, Last week — 24th)

Every time the Bulls are truly in the wilderness, they seem to pull it back from the depths. That happened with three straight wins this week, and Chicago is No. 9 in the East at this moment. There is still an argument for a retooling, if not a rebuilding, process, but the Bulls do have a real chance to make the playoffs as constructed.

22. Portland Trail Blazers (26-28, Last week — 21st)

Portland probably needs to have a big week. The Blazers have the next four games at home and, beyond that, it wouldn’t shock anyone if Portland had a move or two up its sleeve when it comes to the deadline. At the moment, Portland is outside of the top ten in the West, and that is a letdown given some of the early buzz.

23. Toronto Raptors (25-30, Last week — 23rd)

As many have noted, Toronto is a team to watch closely this week, and the Raptors were reportedly in the mix for an expanded Kyrie Irving deal with Brooklyn that didn’t materialize. The Raptors also posted a very solid 4-3 record on a lengthy seven-game road trip that just ended, and that could impact organizational thinking.

24. Orlando Magic (22-33, Last week — 25th)

Orlando has the fifth-worst record in the NBA, but the Magic are a cut (or two) above the bottom four. For one, Orlando has a bunch of intriguing young talent, but the Magic are also 17-13 in the last 30 games. That is genuinely impressive for a rebuilding team over a growing sample.

25. Washington Wizards (24-29, Last week — 17th)

The Wizards just can’t be normal. It’s almost a bit at this point. Washington recently won six games in a row to climb back into the Play-In mix. On cue, the Wizards just went 0-3 this week, including a pair of home losses, and it’s difficult to figure out what the next step might be for Washington before Thursday.

26. Indiana Pacers (25-30, Last week — 26th)

Indiana has been dreadful for what amounts to a calendar month. The Pacers are 2-12 in the last 14 games, plunging into real danger at the bottom of the play-in race. Having Myles Turner secured on an extension is a nice bit of business, and it stands to reason that Indiana may want to pick up the activity on the trade market, even when acknowledging the Pacers are (much) better than this ranking when Tyrese Haliburton is actually playing.

27. Detroit Pistons (14-41, Last week — 29th)

Are the Pistons going to trade Bojan Bogdanovic by Thursday afternoon? Maybe. And, if they do, Detroit’s offense might crater even further than the current bottom-five mark it occupies. At least the Pistons have some interesting young guys in the mix and Cade Cunningham waiting in the wings.

28. Charlotte Hornets (15-40, Last week — 27th)

Small periods of encouragement lifted the Hornets out of the bottom three a week ago, but Charlotte just lost four straight again. Losses to Detroit and Orlando to end that run ensured the drop, and it is actually remarkable that the Hornets remain dead-last in offensive rating after finishing at No. 8 in the same category a year ago.

29. Houston Rockets (13-41, Last week — 28th)

I was ready to say some nicer things about the Rockets after a nice win over the Thunder on Wednesday. Houston decided to follow that up with three straight losses, and the Rockets allowed 293 (!!!) points in the last two games while losing by 52 combined points. If you’re scoring at home, the Rockets have a 145.8 defensive rating in the last 96 minutes, and DIME’s Robby Kalland notes that Houston is on pace to be the first team in more than 50 years to finish with the NBA’s worst record in three straight seasons.

30. San Antonio Spurs (14-40, Last week — 30th)

The Spurs still don’t have the worst record in the league, which says more about the Rockets than anything else. San Antonio has been absolutely brutal, though, and the Spurs are 1-14 in the last 15 games with the only win coming over a shorthanded Nets team at home. The Spurs are also on track for the worst defense in the history of the NBA (by the numbers), which probably isn’t great.

Ahead of Tuesday’s night State of the Union address, Marjorie Taylor Greene attempted to troll President Joe Biden over the Chinese spy balloon incident. Despite the fact that Biden ordered the balloon shot down and reports that at least three balloons passed over the U.S. during Donald Trump’s presidency, Greene thought it would be hilarious to mock Biden by threatening to bring a white balloon to the address.

“It’s just an innocent balloon,” Greene tweeted along with a video of her carrying the balloon.

The Georgia congresswoman took things even further in another video shared by RSBN. Via CBS News:

“President Biden isn’t afraid of balloons, he allowed China to traverse the United States with a Chinese spy balloon, gather intel from all of our military bases, our food factories, our cities, our critical infrastructure, send it back to China, before shooting it down on February 4,” she said.

“The president owes the American people an apology, he owes an explanation, and he owes the American people a very serious plan on how he’s going to address China in the future,” she told RSBN.

Greene ultimately never made good on her promise, and she arrived at the State of the Union address without the balloon in tow. However, that didn’t stop the jokes from flying on Twitter where people made several references to Pennywise the Clown from Stephen King’s It. Greene couldn’t have teed them up any better if she tried.

While Greene didn’t bring the balloon, she seemingly tried to dress like that while attending the State of the Union address. That outfit choice fired up a round of Cruella jokes, which you can see below:

(Via CBS News)