Month: June 2023

The Lakers had a pair of roster decisions to make on Thursday before they could fully settle in on the new league year starting on Friday evening.

Mo Bamba’s guarantee date was looming for next year, and while there was speculation the Lakers might retain the former lottery pick, they decided to release him (and Shaquille Harrison) to free up a roster spot — with the chance to bring him back on a minimum if they don’t find a suitable replacement.

Along with the decision not to keep Bamba, the Lakers have also decided to decline the team option on Malik Beasley, who was acquired as part of the three-team Russell Westbrook trade from Minnesota.

The Lakers will still hold Beasley’s Bird rights, which allows them to go over the cap to sign him, but almost assuredly at a much lower number than the $16.5 million he was owed on his current deal. Beasley was not a real factor in the Lakers postseason rotation but given L.A.’s stated goal is to keep much more continuity than last year, it’s possible they still look to bring him back.

That said, this also raises the likelihood the Lakers use their full mid-level, and the roster moves come amid rumblings their top target in free agency will be Bruce Brown. They will not be alone, as Brown will be high on just about every team looking to use the mid-level’s list of targets, as well as the Nuggets who can’t pay him as much this season, but could sign him to another one year deal and give him a larger, long-term deal next summer.

James Harden’s time in Philadelphia appears to be done, but he won’t be leaving the team as a free agent to return to the Houston Rockets, as was considered a serious possibility a month ago.

Instead, Harden has picked up his $35.6 million player option to allow the Sixers to find a trade for the star guard. The team most known to have interest in Harden is the Los Angeles Clippers, with numerous reports tying L.A. to trade talks with Philly recently, while the Knicks are also apparently pursuing Harden to pair with Jalen Brunson in their backcourt.

Both teams make sense given New York struggled mightily with shot creation during the playoffs when Brunson wasn’t on a heater, and Brunson certainly has experience playing next to a Harden-type player during his time in Dallas playing off of Luka Doncic. On the other side, the Clippers have a lot of wings they are trying to unload (having already waived Eric Gordon) and can easily match Harden’s salary and send Philadelphia some wing depth, which they lack — with Jake Fischer reporting a combination of Norman Powell and Marcus Morris Sr. have been the main topic of a framework of a deal.

Whatever Philadelphia gets back is not going to make up for the loss of Harden in terms of productivity, but the Sixers can look to add some depth and try to salvage at least getting something in return for him as they’ll once again look to find a secondary star to pair with Joel Embiid in a different way. That is to say, they are almost assuredly not getting Paul George back from L.A. in this transaction.

A Clippers offer of Morris and Powell would give Philly another secondary creator and solid shooter in Powell, while Morris would return home for the last year of his contract and, potentially, provide a bit of bench shooting. The real benefit to that deal would be shedding $17 million in salary next year when Morris becomes a free agent, which would set them up to potentially have a lot of cap space to make a splashy move. They also could look to swap Morris out for Robert Covington and Amir Coffey, which would bring Covington back to where his career began as a Process Sixer, while cutting back a touch of the money they spend this year.

For the Knicks, a deal likely involves Evan Fournier’s $18.8 million deal (with a team option next year that, effectively, makes it an expiring) going back to make the money work and then it depends on what New York is willing to give up. Philadelphia could push for Immanuel Quickley and try to reconnect him with Tyrese Maxey, along with Obi Toppin to add a young, bouncy forward to the frontcourt. That would certainly be the move to get younger, if that’s the goal for Philly, but it remains to be seen if New York would part with those youngsters. Josh Hart picking up his player option also means he is eligible to be dealt, and Fournier and Hart would make things work financially.

As always, everything comes down to what the Sixers value the most in this deal — young players, future flexibility, or veteran talent — and what the other teams are willing to part with for James Harden on an expiring.

Josh Hart was among the top midseason additions in the NBA this season, as he got moved from Portland to New York and became a key piece of the Knicks as they reached the second round of the playoffs.

Hart quickly endeared himself to the New York fans and head coach Tom Thibodeau with his two-way effort, showing his skills as a defender, cutter, and rebounder, particularly in the Knicks’ series win against the Cavaliers. That performance all but assured that he would opt-out of his deal and test free agency, with Hart confirming that was his plan earlier in June in an interview with Taylor Rooks. But as it turns out, he had a change of heart, as the former Villanova Wildcat decided to pick up the $12.9 million option in his contract and return to the Knicks.

Hart did say he would like to return to the Knicks, but it is a bit of a surprise that he decided against hitting the open market. It stands to reason, then, that this would clear the way for Hart and New York’s front office to sit down and hammer out the details in a month, with Ian Begley of SNY noting that Hart is eligible for an extension worth more than $80 million in August.

The first thought upon watching this delightful trailer for Scrapper might be: that’s the same dude from Triangle of Sadness? Indeed it is! Shape-shifting completely, Harris Dickinson has morphed from the peacocking model in the Palmde d’Or winner to a nervous, empathetic mess of an absentee father in this Sundance winner.

That’s a solid track record for indie love.

Plus, Charlotte Regan’s film looks like a warm cup of soup on a chilly day.

Here’s the official synopsis:

“This vibrant and inventive father-daughter comedy follows Georgie (Lola Campbell), a resourceful 12-year-old girl who secretly lives alone in her flat in a working class suburb of London following the death of her mother. She makes money stealing bikes with her best friend Ali (Alin Uzun) and keeps the social workers off her back by pretending to live with an uncle. Out of nowhere, her estranged father Jason (Harris Dickinson; Triangle of Sadness, Beach Rats) arrives and forces her to confront reality. Uninterested in this sudden new parental figure, Georgie is stubbornly resistant to his efforts. As they adjust to their new circumstances, Georgie and Jason find that they both still have a lot of growing up to do. Winner of a Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, Scrapper is full of spirit, humor, and formal inventiveness that sets it apart from much of British working-class cinema. Dickinson and remarkable newcomer Campbell imbue irresistible charm into this moving and frequently hilarious story of two emotionally tangled people: a grieving kid thrust into adulthood and a father in over his head.”

Looks like we can add them to the historic list of cinematic Bicycle Thieves.

Scrapper hits limited theaters August 25th.

There’s something beautiful about seeing the look of shock and disbelief on someone’s face when they are being proposed to unexpectedly. It’s even better when they say yes without hesitation because they have zero reservations about getting hitched. A viral video on TikTok that has received over 3.6 million views shows a couple that must genuinely be in love because the woman says yes in a rather uncomfortable situation.

The video was posted by a TikTokker with the username Mzzgina13, who captured the magical moment on a flight to Cancun, Mexico.

In the video, we can see an entire plane full of excited people with their phones up, focused on the lavatory door on the flight. For about 30 seconds, the crowd waits silently for the woman to exit the restroom. Once she does, she’s greeted by her future husband, sitting on one knee, holding out a ring.

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Interestingly, he doesn’t even bother to ask, “Will you marry me?” But maybe with all the stress of doing it in front of so many people, he couldn’t muster a word.

‘Love is literally in the Air ❤️❤️

@mzzgina13

‘Love is literally in the Air ❤️❤️

The great thing is that the woman doesn’t flinch. She’s stunned, says, “Yes,” and hugs him. Then, the whole cabin, full of excited passengers, burst into applause. “Love is literally in the air,” [name] captioned the video.

It’s good she said yes, or it would have been a long flight to Mexico.

The couple must be in love because most people would be a little embarrassed if dozens of people were waiting for them to exit the restroom. It’s embarrassing enough to have to use a public bathroom, let alone a tiny one on a plane.

The video received many funny comments ranging from excited to disgusted.

via GIPHY

Many women had a problem with the man putting her on the spot. “She had no choice but to say yes. Imagine her refusing a marriage proposal in the air,” Nadege J wrote. “Don’t anyone ever do this to me … my bowels be acting UP,” butta090 added.

Others thought he could have been a little classier. “If you do this we have to be in first class…not row 38B,” Paiges1992 wrote._s.doll agreed saying, “If you knew you was going to propose on the plane, you should of saved for first class. Sorry.”

Some critiqued him for the silent proposal. “So wait, he just presented the ring and didn’t say anything? Or am I too old school?” Ti$ha asked. “Bro didn’t even ask her …. He just looked at her like ‘wanna’?” another added.

The video threw a lot of folks in the comments because they didn’t notice the man on one knee with the ring and thought there would be two people exiting the bathroom. which would be an entirely different situation. Many also hoped that with everyone being so silent on the plane, no one had to hear her using the toilet.

Now that the “big question” is out of the way, one wonders if the couple is considering inviting everyone on the plane to the wedding.

The world would be a much better place if humans weren’t so … human. We all fall short of perfection. Common sense is, sadly, not too common. And there’s one guy out there who always manages to screw things up when things start getting good.

Call it Murphy’s law. Call it the great “reason we can’t have nice things.” Call it entropy. It feels like a whole lot of pain could be avoided if we all had just a little bit more sense.

But what if there was one rule that we all agreed to follow to make everyone’s life better? What would this magical rule be?

A Reddit user who goes by the name P4insplatter came to this realization and asked the AskReddit subforum, “What simple rule would fix the world if everyone actually followed it?” They received dozens of simple rules that if everyone got behind would make the world drastically better.

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It’s no shock that most of them felt like a variation of the Golden Rule. It’s funny that a lot of folks believe the world would seriously improve if we could just abide by a simple saying that we all learned in kindergarten.

Also known as the “ethics of reciprocity,” the Golden Rule is so innate to humans that versions of it have been found in religions and cultures throughout the world.

Here are 17 of the best responses to P4insplatter’s simple, but world-altering question.

1. Let go

“Let go or be dragged” an old zen proverb I heard at a meditation class. Really changed the way I let myself worry about things.” — civagigi

2. Simple, but true

“Don’t be a dick.” — WuTangLAN93

3. The Golden Rule

“Treat others how you want to be treated.” — AlbanyGuy1973

4. It starts with you

“I read somewhere that if you want to change the world, you have to change the community, to change the community change your relationships, and to change your relationships change yourself.” — cagibaxii

5. Simple Earth math

“Don’t use more resources than what the Earth is capable of renewing.” — DaethSpiral321

6. Bill and Ted’s rule

“Be excellent to each other.” — pnotar

7. The law of Lebowski

“Fuck it, Dude. Let’s go bowling.” — Bonhomme7h

8. Signal

“Use your turn signal(s) properly.” — futilelord

9. The principle of non-agression

“Simple, the non-aggression principle. You don’t do, initiate or threat any harm unto others, unless acting in true self defense.” — ufrag

10. It works for everything

“Leave it better than you found it.” — Narcoid

11. Generosity and humility

“Be generous and humble. Being generous and kind encourages us to perceive others in a more positive light and fosters a sense of community. Humility teaches you to improve and make a positive impact on the world.” — SuvenPan

12. STFU

“If you are not educated on the subject, sit down and stfu. Let the experts with years of education and experience talk.” — Ch3m1cal420

13. Fairness first

“Everyone gets a chance at one [thing] before anyone gets seconds.” — ehsteve23

14. Permanent daylight

“Obviously making daylight savings permanent.” — ObviousINstruction18

15. Two ears, one mouth

“Listen more, talk less.” — TryToHelpPeople

16. Turn off the lights

“All empty buildings should not have any lights/ac/heating on at night or after business hours depending on the nature of the work. their ac/heating and lights if necessary should only be turned on before the start of the day. This will not only help with energy costs but also with light pollution.” — hadrainsgate

17. Don’t tread on anyone

“You cannot do ANYTHING without consent.” — DeepCompote

This article originally appeared on 03.17.22

When Jimmy Kimmel takes to the street, you know you’re in for a good laugh at just how little we actually know about, well, seemingly anything. That goes for anatomy too. In this case, female anatomy.

In a segment called “What Do You Know About The Female Body?” men try—and hilariously fail—to answer even the most basic questions, like “does a female have one uterus, or two?” much to the amazement of some of their female partners.

Here are some of the very best bits of nonwisdom:

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Woman have LOTS of fallopian tubes and ovaries, apparently.

When asked, “how many fallopian tubes does the average lady have?” one man prefaced with “I know I’m gonna be way off,” before answering “four.”

He was right about being way off, indeed. Women usually have one fallopian tube on either side of the uterus, making that two fallopian tubes.

Another guy guessed that a woman has not one, not two, but six ovaries. Which, in case you didn’t know, is three times more than the correct answer (two ovaries, one on either side of the uterus). Where would a woman keep four extra ovaries? Her purse?

A mammogram examines the stomach.

The interviewer also asked: “What part of the body does the mammogram examine?”

“The lower half…” replied one man. Yikes.

And when asked to demonstrate where exactly the “lower half” is, he gestured toward the uppermost part of his belly, seemingly avoiding the actual area a mammogram covers entirely.

PMS is all in the mind, but only annually.

The next question up was “What does PMS stand for?”

One man shyly answered, “Post…mental…syndrome?”

One outta three ain’t bad. But the correct answer is premenstrual syndrome.

And it definitely happens more than “once a year.”

An IUD is a “mammogram device.”

Oh, and a NuvaRing is a “pap schmear,” and a speculum is the actual “IUD.” Holy moly, if you thought IUDs were uncomfortable before…

Things really took a turn once the graphics came out.

And men were asked to point to where the cervix is. Plenty of things were pointed at—like the uterus. But sadly, no cervix findings.

Changing gears, the interview instructed the men to “point at something you know.”

To which one man replied (inaccurately) “uh…that’s a baby?”

Unless the woman is giving birth to a colon, that was incorrect.

Later in the video, a man is asked “where does the baby go?”

“In there,” the man answers after pointing to the ovaries. (Spoiler alert: It doesn’t go there. A fetus grows in the uterus, which this man thought was the cervix.)

His wife, a gynecologist no less, chuckled “I’m mortified…I’m apparently not a very good educator at home for my husband.”

Though this is just for pure fun, it is food for thought.

A woman’s autonomy over her own body has been the subject of much controversial discussion lately. And I can’t help but wonder how certain politicians/leaders would fare if given the same questions. Perhaps it is unwise to try to govern that which is not fully understood, just saying.

You can catch the full segment here:

This article originally appeared on 01.14.22

Would you be considered human if you haven’t locked yourself out of your house at least once? One mom on TikTok found herself in quite the predicament with only her toddler to “mission impossible” his way to unlocking the house door to let his mom, @gesikaaaaaa, inside. The video starts with the camera pointed at a rosy-cheeked toddler on a snow-covered porch.

The boy looks to be no older than 2 or 3 but he’s an expert at following directions … sort of. It’s all still pretty new to him and, as anyone who’s ever interacted with a toddler knows, multistep directions are not the way to go. They tend to hear one thing only and even then are apt to be distracted by a stray piece of lint and not be able to finish the task.

Everything is new to a toddler and it doesn’t take much to distract them. And just about anything can be a toy. So when this mom helped her son through an open window in an effort to guide him through the process of unlocking the door, classic toddler cuteness ensued.

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The desperate mom explains in the video that she left one window unlocked and you can see immediately that there’s no way an adult could fit through the small space without injury. So instead she uses her toddler to do it and once he’s inside the house his instructions are to get a chair … he finds a bowl. His mom tells him, “Focus. Focus. Grab the chair and take it to the door.”

What do you know? That sweet boy did just as he was told. Until he found a rock. Mom quickly refocuses the boy and the chair is back on the move, then he finds the fireplace tongs and takes a break to play with the fireside tools stand. Eventually the little guy succeeds in his mission but the journey there was the cutest maze of side quests you’ll ever see.

Watch him rescue his mom below:

@gesikaaaaaa

Thank god for tiny humans #bne #lockedout #tinyhuman #mamashelper #breakingin #DoTheSmartThings #toddlercomedy #kidtok

This article originally appeared on 1.4.23

According to Variety, the third season of Reservation Dogs will be its last. Obviously it’s bad news, but, based on the statement from co-creator Sterlin Harjo, it has at least one silver lining.

“Aho young and old warriors!” he posted on Instagram. “Here it is: the coming third season of Reservation Dogs will be the final season. That’s a difficult line to write and a more difficult decision to make. However, it’s the correct decision creatively for the show. I always knew what the end of this story would be, I just didn’t know when it would arrive. As we continued to break stories and write scripts this season, it became clear to the producers, Taika and me that the season three finale is the perfect series finale. When we came up with the idea for Reservation Dogs, I didn’t think the show would ever get made, but thankfully it did.”

Jibing with it being a creative decision to end the series, FX’s statement trumpeted the show’s importance in the context of native representation on TV:

“People throw around the words historic and groundbreaking far too often and without merit: Reservation Dogs is worthy of those superlatives. Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi created one of the most important TV shows ever made. They gave the world a wholly unique, original, and honest portrayal of Native people—one that has never before been seen in television or film. It’s difficult to say goodbye to these indelible characters and to an award-winning series that The Hollywood Reporter, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Variety and Vulture named The Best Show of 2022. That said, we support Sterlin and Taika’s decision to end the series in a way that will cement its legacy.”

The third and final season of Reservation Dogs lands on Hulu starting August 2nd. Prepare your heart.

(via Variety)

Within the next few years, a few DC superhero movies are coming to theaters. Blue Beetle, Aquaman & The Lost Kingdom, Joker: Folie a Deux, Superman: Legacy, The Batman Part II, The Authority, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, and, presumably, Swamp Thing. That’s not counting about a dozen television projects and a dozen other movies that are in development. Not all of those projects will fit neatly into the singular DCEU being revamped by James Gunn and Peter Safran, but many of them will, with aspirations to build a new superpowered empire.

When Superman: Legacy comes out, it will be during the 87th anniversary of the iconic character’s first appearance. It’s that long history (and potential future) that creators like Gunn and Patty Jenkins are celebrating in Superpowered: The DC Story.”

The trailer offers a glossy look at the complicated history of comic books, from their immense popularity, their effects on pushing progressive social issues, and to the backlash they’ve received both as the devil’s literature or simply as “lowbrow” art.

Here’s the official synopsis:

“Narrated by Rosario Dawson, Superpowered: The DC Story takes an unprecedented look at the enduring and influential legacy of DC, allowing fans to rediscover the universe of characters, as well as the iconic comic book company’s origins, its evolution and its nearly nine-decade cultural impact across every artistic medium. Featuring a wealth of interviews with the industry’s most prolific creators and the actors who bring their iconic characters from the page to the screen, Superpowered: The DC Story reminds us that at the heart of DC are the comics – the four-color fantasies that forever spark the imagination and instill hope.”

It’s also a nice bit of marketing for DC properties, told in the gauziest way possible by the very people who make the film versions happen. The talking heads include Melissa Benoist, Greg Berlanti, Tim Burton, Mike Carlin, Lynda Carter, Henry Cavill, Kaley Cuoco, Gal Gadot, James Gunn, Patty Jenkins, Dwayne Johnson, Michael Keaton, Regina King, Zoë Kravitz, Jim Lee, Zachary Levi, Damon Lindelof, Tom Mankiewicz, Jason Momoa, Christopher Nolan, Robert Pattinson, Christopher Reeve, John Ridley, Margot Robbie, Bruce Timm, Michael E. Uslan and Mark Waid.

As much as it’s meant to be about comic book history, filmmakers and actors are the headliners here, so it’ll be interesting to see the full range of comic book figures involved in the doc. Directed by Leslie Iwerks (The Imagineering Story) and Mark A. Catalena (Inventing L.A.), the 3-part docuseries hits Max on July 20th.