Month: July 2023

The Atlanta Hawks made a big move last offseason when the team decided to pull off a trade with the San Antonio Spurs for All-Star guard Dejounte Murray. The thought was that Murray would give Trae Young the sort of backcourt running mate that he just hasn’t had during his tenure, and while there were certainly growing pains during his first year with the team, the Hawks have made the decision to keep Murray around on a new contract.

According to Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report and Shams Charania of The Athletic, Murray and the Hawks have agreed to a new 4-year deal that will pay him $120 million. Charania notes that the final year of the deal features a player option.

Doing this deal keeps Murray off of the open market last summer, as he was about to enter the final year of his deal before hitting unrestricted free agency. Adding another four years onto his stay in Atlanta means that Murray cannot hit free agency until 2027-28, unless he decides to decline his player option and enter the market a year earlier.

Murray averaged 20.5 points, 6.1 assists, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.5 steals in 36.4 minutes per game last year. Atlanta parted ways with Danilo Gallinari, three future first-round draft picks, and one pick swap in order to acquire Murray last June.

The NBA world woke up to one of the strangest headlines of the year, as word broke there had been an incident involving the Spurs team security that was with top draft pick Victor Wembanyama and pop icon Britney Spears late Wednesday night in Las Vegas.

Spears was allegedly slapped in the face by security and filed a police report into the incident, leading to Wembanyama’s first real taste of an American media scandal. On Thursday afternoon, the Spurs had their first Summer League practice in Vegas and Wembanyama addressed the incident, noting he didn’t see what happened because it happened behind him, with Spears apparently grabbing him from behind trying to get his attention, and he didn’t know it was even Spears until much later that evening.

So, what happened last night is, I saw the news obviously this morning. I woke up to a couple of phone calls, so yeah something did happen a little bit when I was walking with some security from the team to the restaurant. We were in a hall with a lot of people, with people calling me obviously. And there was one person who was calling me but we talked before with the security, don’t stop because it’s going to make a crowd, so I couldn’t stop. And that person was calling me, “sir, sir” and that person grabbed me from behind. So I didn’t see what happened cause I was walking straight and they told me don’t stop. But that person grabbed me from behind, not from my shoulders, she grabbed from behind, so security pushed her away. I don’t know with how much force though, but security pushed her away and I didn’t stop to look so I kept walking and enjoyed a nice dinner.

So actually I didn’t know for a couple hours, but when I came back to the hotel, I’d forgotten about this event – or, I didn’t forget about it but I thought it was no big deal…At first I was like, no, you’re joking, but it turns out it was Britney Spears. I didn’t know because I never saw her face, I just kept walking straight.

Wembanyama, of course, holds no fault in the incident as he was quite literally just walking and following the team’s request not to stop on his way to dinner for anyone to avoid creating a massive crowd. Unfortunately, they did not build in the scenario that Britney Spears would also be in the same hotel outside the restaurant and might want to say hi to the French sensation, and the result is one of the strangest, Mad Libs headlines of the year. Hopefully Spears is doing alright and maybe by the end of Summer League she and Wemby can get a proper introduction and mend some fences.

There was a massive jump in credit card fraud in America in 2021 due to the pandemic. According to CNET, fraud involving credit cards jumped 69% from 2020 to 2021, affecting 13 million Americans and costing $9 billion.

In a world where online transactions are part of everyday life, it’s hard to completely protect your information. But, by staying vigilant and monitoring your accounts you can report fraud before it gets out of hand.

A TikTok user by the name of Lauren (@absolutelylauren) from San Diego, California, got a notification that there was a $135 charge on her card at Olaplex’s online store that she hadn’t made. Olaplex sells products that repair excessively damaged hair. Before reporting the charge to her credit card company she asked her family members if they used her card by mistake.

“I don’t wanna shut my card down if it’s just my mom ordering some shampoo,” Lauren said in the video. “Definitely not my two younger brothers, they’ve got good hair but they don’t color it.”

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After realizing the charge was fraudulent, most people would have called their credit card company and had their card canceled. But Lauren was curious and wanted to know who stole her information and used it to buy hair care products. So she concocted a plan to get their information. She called Olaplex’s customer service line asking for the name and address of the purchaser to see if it was made by a family member.

“Hey, can you help me with something?” Lauren asked Tanya, the Olaplex customer service agent. “If I can give you the time and date, purchase amount and card number and whatever could you let me know who placed an order?”

Tanya had no problem helping Lauren with her request.

@absolutelylauren

olaplex customer service is top tier 😤 #creditcardscam

“At this point, I’m willingly giving Tanya enough info to steal my card as well — she could have very well taken advantage of me in that moment but she didn’t,” Lauren said. “She comes back — tell me why she gave me the little scammer their full government name and address.”

Tanya revealed that a guy named Jason in a modest suburb in Texas used her card to buy a gift for his wife. “They also did it on Black Friday so at least they got a deal I guess, it was the gift set,” Lauren continued.

Lauren then called her credit card company and shared the information she had on the fraudster. The card company is currently investigating the situation.

One commenter thought that Olaplex wasn’t supposed to share that information with Lauren. “For some reason, I don’t think olaplex was supposed to give that info,” Arae270 said.

“I definitely gave them the option, but I explained that it was an unauthorized purchase, and if the name did not match anyone that I knew that I would just tell them to cancel the order and refund me, I told the girl that they would probably save everyone, a headache!” Lauren replied.

People should use utmost caution before deciding to track down a credit card thief. But kudos to Lauren for being clever enough to track down the person who stole her card information to help the authorities with their investigation. She didn’t put herself in harm’s way and if someone follows up on the tip, maybe they can prevent the same thing from happening to someone else.

This article originally appeared on 1.11.23

One of the odd things about being human is that the sound of running water makes many of us feel like we have to go pee. Research has proven that the sound of running water can create the urge to urinate, but it hasn’t pinned down the exact reason.

The most common thought is that we are conditioned to go to the bathroom in the presence of running water, whether from a toilet or a faucet. So, much like Pavlov’s dogs salivated after hearing a bell, we are conditioned to need to use the restroom when we hear running water.

An alternative theory is that humans evolved to pee in running water because it was more hygienic than peeing on the ground. The running water carried the urine away from the communal living space, preventing the spread of diseases such as polio or norovirus. Finally, some think that the sound of running water makes us want to pee because it’s relaxing and facilitates the activity of the “parasympathetic nervous system,” which relaxes the bladder.

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Regardless of why we feel the need to pee, urogynaecologist Dr. Teresa Irwin, who specializes in pelvic health and incontinence, says that we should stop doing it in the shower.

@dr.teresa.irwin

I said what I said!  Unless you’re struggling with total bladder emptying you need to hear this #bladdertips #pft #obgyn

“You need to stop peeing in the shower,” Dr. Irwin said in a TikTok video with over 16,000 views. “You don’t want to do it all the time because what happens is kinda like Pavlov’s dog training where every time they heard a little bell ring, they’d start salivating. And your bladder, every time it hears running water, is going to want to pee. So, wherever you are washing your hands, taking a shower, washing the dishes — if there’s running water, your bladder is going to be salivating because it wants to go and pee.”

The fact that we shouldn’t be peeing in the shower is big news because a 2016 poll found that 80% of adults admit to doing it. So, for those who make a tinkle in the shower part of their morning time-saving strategy, it’s time to wake up a few minutes earlier.

Recently, Upworthy shared a similar piece of advice from Dr. Alicia Jeffrey-Thomas, a pelvic floor doctor, who says we shouldn’t go pee “just in case” for a similar reason because it conditions our bladder to go more frequently.

Dr. Jeffrey-Thomas says there are three levels of feeling the need to pee.

“The first one is just an awareness level that tells you that there’s some urine in the bladder,” she said. “The second one is the one that tells you to make a plan to use the toilet, and the third is kind of the panic button that says, ‘Get me there right now. I’m about to overflow.’”

Then she gave a visual explanation of why going when we don’t need to teaches our bodies to signal that it’s time to pee prematurely.

@thepelvicdancefloor

#stitch with @sidneyraz I know it sounds counterintuitive and goes against everything your momma taught you – just out here trying to save your bladder 🤍

The takeaway from both stories is that we are constantly training our bladders and that it’s best to go when it’s full, not because we hear running water or “just in case” before leaving the house.

A new women’s basketball league that is designed to give WNBA players a domestic option to continue playing in the offseason is on the horizon. In an interview with Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart and Minnesota Lynx standout Napheesa Collier announced that they’re behind Unrivaled, a collection of 30 players split between six teams playing 3-on-3 and 1-on-1. The league also announced its launch on Twitter in a pair of posts.

Stewart mentioned that the league, which would play its games in Miami, is in part a way to address the WNBA’s prioritization rules, which require that players come back from their overseas teams in time to participate in training camp. Players frequently go overseas in the offseason as a way to continue making money while playing basketball, but the W’s 2020 collective bargaining agreement made that trickier, with Stewart telling ESPN that “It is a rule that takes away our choices, which should never be a thing, especially as women, but it is still a rule.” The full prioritization rules go into effect this offseason.

Stewart explained that she discussed the idea with Collier and Collier’s husband, Alex Bazzell, with Bazzell having the idea for a “3-on-3, one-on-one, queen-of-the-court type thing where you hold bragging rights, but also make a salary that’s kind of set in stone but also can always grow bigger.” Collier went on to lay out the idea behind the league in a thread on her Twitter account, where she announced that Las Vegas Aces guard Chelsea Gray will be part of things — Gray, additionally, spoke to Shelburne about joining.

Among the things Collier laid out in her thread were an ownership structure where initial players have a stake in the league with salaries that are “competitive to the WNBA” and a plan to eventually hold events in cities other than Miami. According to Shelburne’s story, the plan is to launch the league next January.

(You gotta realize that Mayans M.C. spoilers will be found below.)

Elgin James has been riding solo in the Mayans M.C. showrunner seat for years, and Kurt Sutter hasn’t been involved with the day-to-day operations of the Sons Of Anarchy spinoff since he (in his words) “ruffled a few mouse ears.” Still, one can expect any final season in this universe to go down with several gut-wrenching, ultra-jarring deaths.

Fans already lost Coco (in a scene that people compared to the death of Opie) last season, but man, this season has been merciless. In the past few episodes alone, fans have bid farewell to not only Creeper but also Luisa, a.k.a., “Adelita,” and that second death was particularly upsetting because she was killed by her mentee, Mini, immediately after Luisa had passed the Adelita mantle. And this week, we lost Hope.

By that, I mean that the character Hope met her demise, but “hope” also pretty much vanished from this show, too. Hope (Vanessa Giselle) decided to take herself out in order to set Letty (Emily Tosta) free, since they would always be chased together, no matter where they ran. This was endlessly heartbreaking because Letty had saved Hope from falling back into addiction after Coco’s death, and their newfound sisterhood was one of the sweetest bonds of the series. And in taking herself out, Hope kind-of pulled a Jax Teller by stepping in front of a truck.

I mean, hell. They could have had El Padrino take out power-hungry EZ (and I suppose this is still possible), but nope, they did this instead. Oh no.

In the harsh light of day, Vanessa Giselle apparently woke up with her sense of humor intact. “For some reason, I woke up feeling like I got hit by a truck last night,” she tweeted. “Hope you’re all having a good day though!”

In response to a “too soon” from a viewer, Vanessa added, “I literally did wake up sick today! In bed rn. So it’s trueeeee.”

Fair enough. RIP, Hope.

Only two episodes remain until Mayans M.C. rides into the sunset.

Threads has barely been online for 24 hours, and already, the new social media platform from Meta that aims to compete with Twitter is allegedly flagging Donald Trump Jr. as a source of misinformation. According to screencaps shared by the former president’s son, Threads users are warned not to follow Don Jr. on Mark Zuckerberg’s fledgling micro-blogging app.

“Are you sure you want to follow donaldtrumpjr?” the alleged warning reads. “This account has repeatedly posted false information that was reviewed by independent fact-checkers or went against our Community Guidelines.”

Naturally, Don Jr. slammed the alleged content warning, but not before making a strange reference to skimpy bikinis. Good luck trying to follow what Junior is saying, which is particularly ironic given that he also touts his superior sentence-making skills.

“Threads not exactly off to a great start,” Junior tweeted. “Hey Instagram, threads is verbal, so the whole skimpy bikini thing is not going to work so well if your influencers can’t actually formulate a sentence… IMHO you may want to rethink cutting off those who can.”

Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was recently booted from the House Freedom Caucus for calling Lauren Boebert a “little b*tch,” also rushed to Junior’s defense and vowed to stick with Twitter.

“Now I’m definitely sure Threads will be the same Marxist style social media experience that Zuckerberg usually offers,” Greene tweeted. “All social experimentation serving Big Pharma, the Intelligence Community, and DEI Initiatives to strengthen corporate stocks supporting garbage DEI issues and steal elections. No thank you!”

(Via Donald Trump Jr. on Twitter)

Draymond Green, very famously, can name every player that was drafted before him in the 2012 NBA Draft — all 34 of them. He has used that as fuel for the last decade-plus, morphing into a Hall of Famer with the Warriors who has been the defensive anchor for their four championship teams.

This week, he joined Paul George for an episode of Podcast P, and George offered up a question many have wanted to know: which of those 34 players picked in front of him does Draymond think is “the most ridiculous one.” That led to Draymond Green insisting he didn’t want to throw salt on anyone before burying Andrew Nicholson for a full minute in an incredible clip.

“The most ridiculous? Which one? I mean shit. Listen not to throw salt at anybody but Andrew Nicholson was drafted over me at No. 19. Like you don’t even know how to pronounce his school [St. Bonaventure]. At the time you all are comparing us as big men who can play back to the basket and face up. And I’m like, No. 1, he don’t even look like a basketball player. I always tell people when it comes to winning, half the battle is looking like a basketball player. When you’re on a team and you look at the other side of the floor and you see guys that don’t look like basketball players you automatically lose respect for those guys. So I’m like this guy doesn’t even really look like a basketball player. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t really have the body of Adonis but I just don’t see that. That was one that really, really, really, really pissed me off! There are several others that went before me but that was the one.”

Andrew Nicholson is probably wondering why this is happening to him 11 years after he was drafted 19th overall by the Orlando Magic. Nicholson only lasted five seasons in the NBA, playing for Orlando, Washington, and Brooklyn before going overseas where he still plays for the Bay Area Dragons in Hong Kong. Green starting with “not to throw salt at anybody” but then destroying Nicholson, including doing a weird voice, is incredible stuff, with George even trying to stop him at one point but being unable to because he was laughing.

[via Podcast P from Wave Sports & Entertainment]

The first night of Drake’s It’s All A Blur Tour with 21 Savage turned out to be every bit as eventful as we’ve all come to expect from the pop culture lightning rod. In addition to stoking a (possibly tongue-in-cheek) feud with Childish Gambino over “This Is America,” Drake also joined the growing list of artists to have stuff thrown at him while performing, and rapped alongside what appeared to be a hologram of his younger self.

Meanwhile, his set dressing also got plenty of attention, from a statue of the late Virgil Abloh to a giant, flying sperm cell overhead. Yes, you read that right: Drake’s tour includes an extended sequence involving a flying swimmer (and a bunch more projected on the stage around him), which I can only presume gives him an excuse to talk at length about all the draconian abortion laws going into place around the nation — although it does work to set up some admittedly good “Drake’s tour design is nuts” jokes, too.

While there’s certain to be an out-there explanation for this, at its core, it’s doing one thing extremely well — just like all of Drake’s off-the-wall stunts, it’s got people talking, which is just doing free promo for the rest of the tour. You can see the remaining tour dates here and the massive, career-spanning setlist here.

After making a twerking robot doll the biggest viral sensation of 2022, someone must have bet Akela Cooper that she couldn’t make magazines scary. The result? She made magazines scary.

Directed by Michael Chaves (The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It) from Ian Goldberg & Richard Naing and Cooper’s screenplay, The Nun II looks like a solid blend of atmospheric tension and jump-scare freakouts. Taissa Farmiga returns as Sister Irene, drawn back into battle against Valak (Bonnie Aarons) after the murder of a priest in 1956 France. Luckily, this time she’s at a school with a bunch of young girls being harassed by the demon nun.

Thus, The Conjuringverse continues to expand, leaping forward into the dark to increase over a billion dollars in revenue secured by making people wet themselves in public spaces (you can also pee yourself at home). Who knew that a ghost story would one day become a plucky franchise featuring haunted dolls and a devil in a horrifying habit.

The Nun II also features Jonas Bloquet reprising his role as Frenchie, Storm Reid (The Last of Us), and Anna Popplewell (The Chronicles of Narnia trilogy). Of course, Aarons is the one that really makes it work, looking like Art The Clown in a penguin costume with all the fierceness of a demon scorned.

The movie hits theaters September 8th.