For the second year in a row, Lonnie Walker IV is on the unrestricted free agent market. Walker somewhat surprisingly was able to choose any team he wanted last offseason due to the San Antonio Spurs rescinding the qualifying offer, which led to the former first-round pick coming to terms on a 1-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Walker had an up-and-down year in Los Angeles, one which saw him provide a scoring punch in the starting lineup, miss an extended period of time due to a knee issue, and struggle to consistently make his way back into the rotation after the team’s high-profile midseason overhaul. It did end on a bit of a high note, though, as he 13 of the team’s 16 games in the playoffs, which included a 15-point performance against the Golden State Warriors in the second round that helped put the Lakers in the driver’s seat of the series.
Now, Walker is once again free to choose where he’s going to play his basketball, and on Sunday he agreed to a one-year deal to join the Brooklyn Nets as they have shuffled their roster and look to make another playoff run this season.
Free agent Lonnie Walker has agreed to a one year deal with the Brooklyn Nets, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul and agent Lucas Newton tell ESPN.
Walker appeared in 56 games for the Lakers with 32 of them coming in the starting lineup during the 2022-23 campaign. He averaged 11.7 points in 23.2 minutes per game while shooting 44.8 percent from the field and 36.5 percent from three. Walker’s hope this free agency was to find a team he could join that would be a playoff contender, and he’ll join a Nets team looking to remain just that after re-signing Cam Johnson and making some trades to shed veteran salaries — opening up minutes at the two-guard spot they’ll hope Walker can help fill.
50 Cent has racked up significant wins in music, film, and business throughout his career. Unfortunately, his winning streak hasn’t always translated in the courtroom. According to Reuters, 50 Cent’s $32 million malpractice lawsuit against his former lawyers was thrown out by a federal judge.
On Friday (June 30), the “I Get Money” rapper, real name Curtis Jackson, received the news of the case’s dismissal after U.S. District Judge Vanessa Bryant made her final ruling. In a statement about the case, Judge Bryant said, “Without more, the court cannot conclude the conflict of interest impacted counsel’s discovery strategy, or that the conflict caused Jackson to lose at trial.”
Jackson attempted to sue his former legal team at Reed Smith for $7 million in damages and $25 million in punitive damages. The suit stemmed from his 2015 bankruptcy filing after his longtime foe Rick Ross’ ex-girlfriend and the mother of his child, Lastonia Leviston, took Jackson to court for posting a sex tape of her without her permission. In that case, Leviston won a $7 million judgment which Jackson is looking to redeem from his former counsel due to their “uninformed” legal strategy.
The complaint alleged that the agency had an apparent conflict of interest due to their past dealing with Rick Ross, which was “neglectful, negligent, and unethical.” At one point, Ross was called to be a key material witness by the firm.
The mogul’s paperwork also rattled off other grips, commenting, “Reed Smith and Raymond did not follow established legal standards in representing Jackson in the Leviston Case by failing to provide effective representation and conduct proper pre-trial and trial preparation prior to the Leviston trial. In addition, their lack of effective representation and inadequate pre-trial preparation and preparation for trial caused Jackson to retain new counsel on the eve of trial.”
At this time, it is not clear whether or not Jackson will refile with additional proof substantiating his initial claims.
After shopping Gordon to no avail, the Clippers waiving him meant Gordon was free to sign with any team of his choice. While he figured to have interest from plenty of contenders, Gordon chose to go to the team with the most intrigue — but also the most questions — coming into the 2023-24 season: the Phoenix Suns.
Free agent Eric Gordon has agreed to a deal with the Phoenix Suns, sources tell @TheAthletic@Stadium. Massive get for the Suns.
Gordon will sign a 1-year deal with the Suns on the minimum to try and help Phoenix win its first championship, as he joins a team he’s been connected with in the past but never made it to. He figures to play a fairly significant role for the Suns, given they have a lot of minutes available behind their star quartet of Devin Booker, Bradley Beal, Kevin Durant, and Deandre Ayton. Phoenix will hope Gordon can bring them some shooting pop to their backcourt rotation and another ball-handling option as they cobble together a brand new rotation.
Michael Imperioli has been in some of the most beloved films and shows in history. But if you loved shows like The Sopranos and The White Lotus and films like Goodfellas, which all feature him, and you love the recent Supreme Court ruling that okayed a Christian website business to deny service to the LGBTQIA+ community, then you’re out of luck (on top of being okay with denying service to a large group of people).
The day after the highest bench in the land offered a ruling on 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, Imperioli left a scorched earth message on Instagram.
“i’ve decided to forbid bigots and homophobes from watching The Sopranos, The White Lotus, Goodfellas or any movie or tv show I’ve been in,” the actor and filmmaker wrote. “Thank you Supreme Court for allowing me to discriminate and exclude those who I don’t agree with and am opposed to. USA ! USA!”
He later added, “hate and ignorance is not a legitimate point of view.”
Sanctioning prejudice isn’t all the right-leaning Supreme Court did on Friday. They also nixed President Joe Biden’s plan to forgive a fraction of the massive student debt that has long kept a generation from contributing meaningfully to the economy. Biden has vowed to enact a Plan B. Until then, “bigots and homophobes” will have to know that the erstwhile Christopher Moltisani thinks they’re sacks of crap.
The Hornets extended the $7.9 million qualifying offer to keep him as a restricted free agent and as the first weekend of free agency progressed, Bridges was not able to gain any traction in long-term contract negotiations around the league. As such, on Sunday he chose to sign the qualifying offer to play out next season in Charlotte and then become an unrestricted free agent in 2024.
ESPN Sources: Charlotte Hornets restricted free agent F Miles Bridges is preparing to sign a $7.9 million qualifying offer for the 2023-2024 season, clearing the way for him to become unrestricted next summer. Hornets and Bridges are far apart in extension talks. Story soon. pic.twitter.com/1uf2uh3uxQ
Bridges was the Hornets second-best player in the 2021-22 season, averaging 20.2 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game alongside LaMelo Ball, and without him last year Charlotte struggled to replace that production. However, Bridges will have to answer a lot of questions from teams about changes he’s making off the court if he is going to get a contract in line with the productivity he’s shown on it, as his play is a secondary concern when teams are looking to make a long-term investment in him as a part of their franchise.
Afroman’s entire career is centered around his laid-back personality. However, he isn’t always afraid to get rowdy when the right occasion arises. Neither is his team. In video footage obtained by TMZ, members of Afroman’s team were involved in a huge fight with rapper Young Buck’s entourage. Just as with any other scenario surrounding Afroman’s life (police raid included), he took to social media to address the matter.
In a video posted on his personal page, Afroman implied that the altercation went down all because someone got high. The clip of Young Buck was overlayed with text that read, “Coke cane (cocaine) is a hellava (hell of a) drug.”
Afroman detailed what took place saying, “Went to do a show, the venue told me to be there at 9:20 pm when I got there, I had to wait because somebody was still on the stage. The venue had to close at 11 pm I was waiting with my social media photographer, my bodyguard, and my artist Lil Sodi when Young Bucc entered the room. I am anti-N-Word Young Bucc yells out f*cc all n-words who don’t do drugs. He was behaving hostile and aggressive.”
He went on to describe the incident, writing, “We were on the right side of the VIP section. He entered the room, going to the left side of the VIP section yelling all kind of insults. He changed his direction and walked bacc over 70 feet. He walked over to my social media photographer and, with a bacc hand struck him in the side of his stomach. Then he moved on over to Lil Sodi, calling him n words and telling him to do drugs as he was calling him the N-word. Young Bucc bacc handed Lil Sodi in the stomach. Lil Sodi thought he was really drunk, and he tried to checc him verbally with a shove. Young Bucc would not go away, and he kept advancing. So the altercation occurred.”
The first weekend of free agency is coming to a close, and with the league year finally officially open for business, every team in the league has made roster moves to try and better position themselves for this coming fall — whatever their goals are for the season.
There are still some very big dominoes left to fall, most notably trade requests issued by James Harden in Philadelphia and Damian Lillard in Portland, and once those situations are resolved, another flurry of activity is likely to follow. That said, even with two superstars in the wind the first weekend was not held up in terms of deals getting done and players finding new homes, as well over 50 players have inked new deals and a number of trades have seen players, picks, and cash exchanged between teams.
Here we have compiled the action from this weekend (and trades from the last two weeks) for each team, showing who has been the most active and what teams have been patient to get the new league year started.
Trades
Acquired Josh Christopher and trade exception from the Rockets in sign-and-trade for Dillon Brooks
Acquired Marcus Smart from the Celtics for Tyus Jones and two first round picks
Trades
Acquired Chris Paul, Landry Shamet, six second round picks, and pick swaps from the Suns for Bradley Beal
Acquired Jordan Poole, a first round pick, and a second round pick from the Warriors for Chris Paul
Acquired Tyus Jones from the Grizzlies and Danilo Gallinari, Mike Muscala, and a second round pick from the Celtics for Kristaps Porzingis
Acquired a second round pick from the Pistons for Monte Morris
A nice pair of boots are made for walking, according to Nancy Sinatra’s hit 1966 song. But on Saturday, July 1, Shania Twain learned that some aren’t recommended for dancing. During the “That Don’t Impress Me Much” singer’s concert in Chicago, she took a nasty fall disproving the long-standing musical myth.
In the video obtained by TMZ, the Grammy Award-winner is seen shifting from one part of the venue’s stage to another. Somehow during the transition, Twain loses her footing, roughly landing on her butt. As the clip continued, she sang without interruption. Twain didn’t remain grounded for too long. After sbe stood up, she subtly acknowledged that the stage was slippery by rubbing the bottom of her boots where she slipped.
Twain’s latest fashion looks, including her Grammy 2023 assemble, have drawn much criticism. However, after clapping back at critics on social media after the CMT Awards, she clearly isn’t going to let a small tumble force her to tuck her bedazzled boot back into the closet.
The country-pop music legend’s Queen Of Me Tour has been one hell of a rodeo, bringing out celebrities Tom Hanks, Kristen Bell, and Dax Shepard. Bethel, New York, and Ottawa, Canada, are next on the list of tour stops.
Rick Froberg, known for his influential contributions to post-hardcore music in the bands Drive Like Jehu and Hot Snakes, has reportedly died at the age of 55. According to the late musician’s friend and longtime collaborator John Reis, Froberg passed away the night of Friday, June 30.
Reis took to Instagram to share the sad news with fans of Hot Snakes in a post, writing, “Rick passed away suddenly last night from natural causes. His art made life better. The only thing he loved more than art and rock n roll was his friends. He will forever be remembered for his creativity, vision, and his ability to bring beauty into this world. I love you, Rick. I will miss you for the rest of my life.”
In one of Froberg’s last uploads to Instagram, he revealed that Hot Snakes would be reuniting soon. “Nathan Martin posted these Hot Snakes photos, and I thought they were flattering (tried to post in stories, but it came out just me ),” he wrote. “Hot Snakes, by the way, is working on a new record – very near done – so look out. Thanks, Nathan!”
Since the announcement of his death, fans have flooded the late entertainer’s comment section to post kind messages for Rick Froberg’s family and loved ones.
Remember there was an Independence Day sequel? Unlike a lot of belated follow-ups in our franchise era, Resurgence failed to live up to its original, both critically and at the box office. You might even forget it exists. It did manage to bring back most of the original cast — even Judd Hirsch! — but it was missing arguably its biggest star. And that, one of the film’s actresses, admits that may be a big reason it failed to catch on.
“I really feel we missed out by not bringing Will Smith back,” Vivica A. Fox told The AV Club (as caught by Entertainment Weekly). “We had most of the original cast, but I think the one true link that was missing to the success of Independence Day 2 was that Will Smith wasn’t there.”
Fox, who played Jasmine, Smith’s character’s girlfriend, remembers her mindset at Resurgence’s premiere. “I was like, ‘Mmm, let’s see how the fans are going to feel about this.’ And sure enough, on Twitter they blew me up.”
The first Independence Day, from 1996, helped take Smith from a popular star to a mega-popular one. By the time the sequel finally got rolling, he was deemed too pricey to cast. So they killed off his character, which Smith thought was “terrible.”
“I was working on Suicide Squad during that time,” Smith told Yahoo! in 2015. “Roland [Emmerich, director] and I had talked about it. The trailer looks really cool. I’m going to be sitting around with tears in my eyes when that one comes out.”
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),” he wrote. “Hot Snakes, by the way, is working on a new record – very near done – so look out. Thanks, Nathan!”