The New York Jets offense floundered once again on Monday night in a 27-6 loss to the Chargers that saw their defense once again hold its own against a top quarterback, but not get anything close to the support it needed to win the game.
Ever since Aaron Rodgers went down with an Achilles injury four plays into the season, Zach Wilson has been back under center and looked an awful lot like the same Zach Wilson that struggled his first two years in the league. That the Jets are 4-4 is a minor miracle, but the offense is just a disaster. Wilson bears the brunt of the criticism and understandably so, as he has not been good, but the offensive line has been a mess and the skill position players beyond Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson have offered little in the way of support.
Still, the focus will always be on the quarterback and the Jets’ almost odd commitment to Wilson despite the growing evidence he is not the answer. On Tuesday, Jets head coach Robert Saleh was on The Michael Kay Show and got asked about why other options weren’t considered, both in adding a better backup this offseason and in at least trying Trevor Siemian. Saleh considered his options before pleading the fifth, which is maybe a first for a coach interview.
“I don’t know. I’m gonna plead the fifth.”
If Robert Saleh can’t even defend Zach Wilson anymore, imagine what his teammates say privately. pic.twitter.com/Tyg4Q3dkJM
The full answer can be found at the 7:31 clip of this YouTube video here, and it doesn’t really make a much stronger case for Saleh’s belief in Wilson.
“No, I got you,” Saleh said. “No, it’s a — and again, fair question. And uh, you know, it’s uh, like I said, I dunno, you got me. Something to that. I’m gonna plead the fifth on all this one in terms of just uh, I’ve kind of explained it, respectfully, obviously. But these are valid questions, and I know for fans who are passionate all having the same questions, I respect it greatly. I’ve gotta look at it from a global standpoint, and just see where we are, and just look at the all-22 the best I can and make the decision as best as possible.”
You know things are going well when a coach pleads the fifth and then starts talking in corporate gibberish, saying things like “look at it from a global standpoint.” I don’t blame Saleh here, because he can’t throw Wilson under the bus, Siemian almost assuredly isn’t the answer given what we’ve seen from him in his career, and it certainly seems as if there’s some weird dynamics at play between the staff, players, ownership, and the front office that we don’t really know. He’s also right that these are all good questions, the problem is the Jets don’t have any good answers and for Saleh it’s just better for his job to not offer one of the bad ones.
(WARNING: Spoilers for the most recent The Chi episode will be found below.)
It’s been a little over a month since the last episode of The Chi aired. The show is currently in its sixth season and big things are going on amongst its beloved characters. Kevin recently moved to Los Angeles to pursue a video game career. Papa is recovering from the death of his father and Jake is preparing to move into his own apartment. There’s so much more in store for The Chi in its sixth season, but is the season over? Will there be any more episodes of The Chi in season six?
Is The Chi Season 6 Over?
Thankfully, the answer to the above question is no. Before the start of the season, it was announced that the show’s sixth season would be an “expanded season” with 16 episodes split into two halves. The most recent episode in The Chi season six was episode eight which aired on September 24, thus completing the first half of the season. There are still plans to complete the second half, but when it will premiere remains unknown.
Deadline previously reported that the first half of season six was written and filmed before the writer’s and actor’s strike began. There is a chance that the scripts for the second half are complete, but not much if anything has been filmed as production for the season stopped on May 15 in solidarity with the writer’s strike. With that being said, it may be some time before the show returns to complete The Chi.
New episodes of ‘The Chi’ will soon be available through the Paramount Plus With Showtime plan on Fridays at 3am EST/ 12 pm PST. Weekly episodes will also air Sundays on Showtime at 9pm EST/PST.
(WARNING: Spoilers for the most recent The Chi episode will be found below.)
It’s been a little over a month since the last episode of The Chi aired. The show is currently in its sixth season and big things are going on amongst its beloved characters. Kevin recently moved to Los Angeles to pursue a video game career. Papa is recovering from the death of his father and Jake is preparing to move into his own apartment. There’s so much more in store for The Chi in its sixth season, but is the season over? Will there be any more episodes of The Chi in season six?
Is The Chi Season 6 Over?
Thankfully, the answer to the above question is no. Before the start of the season, it was announced that the show’s sixth season would be an “expanded season” with 16 episodes split into two halves. The most recent episode in The Chi season six was episode eight which aired on September 24, thus completing the first half of the season. There are still plans to complete the second half, but when it will premiere remains unknown.
Deadline previously reported that the first half of season six was written and filmed before the writer’s and actor’s strike began. There is a chance that the scripts for the second half are complete, but not much if anything has been filmed as production for the season stopped on May 15 in solidarity with the writer’s strike. With that being said, it may be some time before the show returns to complete The Chi.
New episodes of ‘The Chi’ will soon be available through the Paramount Plus With Showtime plan on Fridays at 3am EST/ 12 pm PST. Weekly episodes will also air Sundays on Showtime at 9pm EST/PST.
In the past two weeks, the marketing for The Marvels made a surprising pivot by teasing the film’s connection to the X-Men.
The hype began with a seemingly random promo spot that noticeably emphasized the letter “X.” However, the fan theories really kicked into overdrive with The Marvels final trailer, which featured the X-Men’s logo in a quick shot. That undeniable moment sparked a flurry of speculation that the mutants could appear in the film as well as Binary, a version of Captain Marvel with a comic book connection to the X-Men.
Now, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige is fielding questions about when the famous mutants will show up in the MCU, and he gave a noticeably coy response in light of The Marvels marketing. But first, Feige made sure to tee up the highly anticipated X-Men ’97, a follow-up to the classic X-Men animated series from the ’90s.
“The X-Men are as solid and as rich and as a great a concept in characters as exist,” Feige told ET via Entertainment Weekly. “There’s the return of the animated series next year, which we’re very excited about. I saw some new final episodes today, which really bring you back to that core of who the X-Men are and that soap opera that those characters represent.”
The MCU maestro then dropped a big tease. “And then in live-action, people will see,” he said. “Perhaps soon.”
Does “soon” mean this weekend when The Marvels blast into theaters? Guess we’ll find out.
Owen Wilson was in Around the World in 80 Days, but Sonja Morgan will settle for multiple nights with the “Butterscotch Stallion.”
During a panel at BravoCon 2023 over the weekend, Watch What Happens Live “bone-hard” host Andy Cohen played a game of “Showgirl Us Your Cards” with several Real Housewives. The panelists each submitted a card with a fun fact on it, and the other contestants had to guess who it was about. According to Page Six, one card read, “She once had a very flirtatious moment with Owen Wilson.”
The Bravolebrities (which is the “Swiftie”-like term for Bravo stars) quickly agreed that the card was referring to Morgan. The Real Housewives of New York City star, who needs to get on a podcast with Rachel Bilson, clarified, “But it wasn’t flirtatious. He is the Butterscotch Stallion and he loves doggy style.”
The audience broke out into cheers and laughter as her fellow Housewives dropped their jaws at the confession.
“Sonja, was it you that submitted that fact?” Cohen asked, to which she replied, “No, it’s just in the news.”
Cohen dug in, asking if she had flirted with the Zoolander actor, which is when Morgan came in with even more NSFW commentary. “I f*cked him several times. I love him,” she admitted.
If you want to believe that the original Mean Girls is the story of one outsider’s odyssey through high school and the hard moral lessons that she learns about being an awful person in the name of maintaining a tight grip on popularity, then so be it. But while Regina George (Rachel McAdams) is meant to be the villain of the film due to her cruel barbs and iron rule, I disagree firmly with the idea that she is without value.
Regina may not be perfect, she may even be a (really) mean girl, but let us never forget that it was her delicate eco-system that was thrown out of whack by the incursion of Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) and her pranks, and that some of what Regina said in the film might even make her seem less like a total villain when re-framed slightly.
So, in the name of proving that to you and in celebration of the recent micro reunion and the trailer drop for the remake, we’re asking you to look at some of these Regina moments from the original and tell us that she doesn’t seem a little less evil and a little more relatable. Because, and I don’t want to freak you out, there is a little bit of Regina in us all and the true villain of Mean Girls was high school, itself.
When Regina Taught Cady About Pop Culture
Regina: Cady, do you even know who sings this?
Cady: Um, the Spice Girls?
Regina: I love her. She’s like a Martian!
The internet allows us all to move within our own interest herds, snuggling up with the pop culture creations that please us on the regular. Because of this, our legs give out and our vision tunnels when someone expresses complete obliviousness to those things. With the above moment, Regina was simply vocalizing the thing you say with your eyes to Xander from work when he’s all, “What is Game of Thrones?”
Also, I want to live in a world where I think all pop songs come from the Spice Girls. Or more accurately, I want to live in a world where all pop songs do come from them.
Regina Uplifts A Classmate
Regina: Oh my God, I love your skirt! Where did you get it?
Lea: It was my mom’s in the ’80s.
Regina: Vintage! So adorable.
Lea: Thanks.
Regina: [after girl walks away] That is the ugliest effing skirt I’ve ever seen.
Yes, on the surface, this is bad, but if you switch the perspective, that girl is going to have a dynamite day lost in the breezy summer fantasy that is a fashion compliment from the most popular girl in school. And as for Regina, say what you will, but she knows how to maintain her spot atop the high school food chain. Lea’s an ally in that moment and Regina is a hell of a politician.
Regina’s Doctor Frankenstein Moment
“She thinks she’s gonna have a party and not invite me? Who does she think she is? […] I, like, invented her, you know what I mean?” – Regina
If metaphors are your thing, this is a bit Dr. Frankenstein realizing that his monster has run amok, but it’s actually worse because the monster (Cady) was given life (which in high school, means popularity) by Regina and now she’s trying to replace her in the social hierarchy. Actually, it’s like, if you were on a space ship and you gave someone oxygen and then they bounced up and were like, “Peace!” and then locked you out of your own slumber pod. Yeah, exactly like that. Metaphors are your thing, right?
Regina Doles Out Some Tough Love
“Gretchen, stop trying to make fetch happen!” – Regina
I applauded Regina for sparing Lea from the truth about her Mom’s ugly vintage skirt (so ugly, Lea), but Lea is just another student while Gretchen is Regina’s friend. You don’t spare friends the hard truths. Fetch, which Gretchen keeps trying to turn into a thing, wasn’t birthed to be something that lives among the slang stars, it was meant to die in the gutter, and Regina makes that happen.
Think of how great this world would be if there was a Regina George present at the start of every word-trend. Think of how she would have put the term “totes amazeballs” into a sack and beat it with a rusty hammer, sparing us all.
That Time Regina Let Her Friend Know She Needed More From Her
“I can’t go to Taco Bell. I’m on an all-carb diet. God, Karen. You’re so stupid!” – Regina
If Karen (Amanda Seyfried) wants to lend strategic support to Regina and provide more than timely weather reports, she needs to be aware of her friend’s nutritional needs. Though, in fairness, burritos totally have carbs, so Regina could have gone with for a run toward the border.
Regina George Is A Disruptor
Gretchen: Regina, you’re wearing sweatpants. It’s Monday.
Regina: So…?
Karen: So, that’s against the rules, and you can’t sit with us.
Regina: Whatever. Those rules aren’t real.
We’re a highly social culture at this point and we all live til we’re like 85 or something, so we’re saying and tweeting more words than ever before. Naturally, some of them are going to crash into each other creating conflict and potential embarrassment, but hypocrisy is only a thing if we choose to make it one. Regina’s friends could have let it slide when she had outgrown her clothes, but they chose to give her a taste of her own medicine, even though it was they who were sick with jealousy over her reign of power.
Regina Sets Boundaries And Focuses On Her Recovery
“Stop making this about you. I’m the one that got hit by the bus.” – Regina
Having sympathy for others who are having a down day (or a realization that they went too far, as Cady acknowledges to Regina at the dance) in the midst of one’s own dark moment is admirable, but let’s get real: Sometimes the world needs to recognize that you are going through some serious stuff and everyone else needs to step off. I don’t know how we accomplish that on social media — “I totally get what you’re going through. One time I…” up bup buh! — but in real life, maybe it’s as simple as creating some kind of blinky forcefield that lets people know that your pain is the star. Maybe it could look like a spinal halo collar similar to the kind one would wear after getting thrown (I choose to believe that version of events) in front of a bus. As a for instance.
This article has been lightly updated from the original, which ran in 2015.
Yellowstone Season 5’s final episodes still dejectedly sit far away on the horizon, but Taylor Sheridan fans can currently enjoy the recently launched Lawmen: Bass Reeves, which stars David Oyelowo, Donald Sutherland, Lauren E. Banks, Mo Brings Plenty, and Dennis Quaid. This is only the latest of Sheridan’s seemingly endless fount of TV shows that viewers can currently find on streaming services. As well, Sheridan has several series in development, and that happens to include multiple Yellowstone offshoots, including 2024 and the slightly foreboding-sounding 6666.
Never fear, this is not some kind of Sheridan-Halloween series, although I suspect that would draw some crowds, too. What do we know about 6666 — which follows on the heels 1883 and 1923 — so far?
Plot
6666 takes its title from the real-life 6666 Ranch that Sheridan recently purchased (with the help of investors who must also have the Yellowstone fever) near Guthrie, Texas. Also called the “Four Sixes,” the ranch covers an area the size of two Chicagos, which means a whole lot of filming can and will go down there.
Already, 1883 has filmed scenes at the Four Sixes, and Sheridan also likely hosts some of his lucrative cowboy camps there, too. He’s living and breathing the life there and writing nearly all Yellowstone-related scripts these days, so he will surely be pouring his own on-site inspirations and experiences into what materializes onscreen.
The series is expected to follow the lives of the residing fictional cowboys, and as with the flagship series, viewers can hope for plenty of soap operatics. As well, the 6666 Ranch received a prominent showcase on a Yellowstone Season 5 episode, in which Beth Dutton felt inspired “to start selling Yellowstone-branded beef” because of that 6666 magic.
Does 6666 have a synopsis yet? Oh yes:
Founded when Comanches still ruled West Texas, no ranch in America is more steeped in the history of the West than the 6666. Still operating as it did two centuries before, and encompassing an entire county, the 6666 has inspired a new scripted series where the rule of law and the laws of nature merge in a place where the most dangerous thing one does is the next thing. The 6666 is synonymous with the merciless endeavor to raise the finest horses and livestock in the world, and ultimately where world-class cowboys are born and made.
Cast
Sheridan had no problem recruiting some impressive A-listers for his other Yellowstone spinoffs. That includes 1883 starring Sam Elliott, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, and Billy Bob Thornton, along with 1923, starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren. Ideally, he will bring that kind of casting game to 6666, although word on the frontier is that Matthew McConaughey could be a 2024 guy.
That doesn’t preclude McConaughey appearing on 6666 as well, but as far as official stars go, there’s been no confirmation on rumors that Yellowstone‘s Ryan Bingham and Jefferson White will be picking up their Yellowstone ranch hand roles for this series, too.
Sheridan and Paramount haven’t yet revealed a concrete 6666 release date, although the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes slowed down a lot of productions. Sheridan did acknowledge (via TV Guide) that a pause began this summer as the SAG-AFTRA negotiators continue to hammer a deal out with studios.
6666 will stream on Paramount+ when it arrives.
Trailer
No trailer has surfaced yet, but as a placeholder, here’s Sheridan discussing authenticity and how he parents his ranch. He means business.
The Oklahoma City Thunder took a big step forward in their rebuilding process a year ago, going from an early lottery team to the Play-In. A big part of that leap was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander becoming a full-on superstar, but he also had plenty of help from his young teammates.
One of the most impressive of those teammates was Jalen Williams, who had a terrific rookie season, establishing himself as a strong two-way force on the wing. To start the 2023-24 campaign, Williams has taken on an even larger role, averaging 17.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game for the 4-3 Thunder as they are looking to take another step into playoff contention in the West.
On Tuesday, we got a chance to sit down with Williams over Zoom on behalf of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III ahead of the November 10 release of the game, as the 22-year-old has been waiting not so patiently since Summer League to get his hands on the full game. We talked about the Thunder learning to win, what makes them the rare young team to be a good defensive group, how Chet Holmgren’s elevated their play on both ends, and what Williams has done to raise his level coming into his second year. But we started with some CoD talk, about the hyper-competitive games the Thunder play, who has the best skills on the sticks, and he makes me feel bad by calling his teammates in their late 20s “oldheads.”
What’s going on, Jalen?
I’m good man. I just finished practice, chillin.
Awesome. I watched some of your appearance on JJ Redick’s pod and you were talking about how competitive practices get. I want to start with a little Call of Duty talk because I know y’all have a bunch of guys on the team that play it. How much does that competitiveness transfer from the court to when you hop on the sticks?
The sticks is definitely more competitive than on the court [laughs]. I don’t know it’s just like something about like, video games in general too, it’s just like a different level of competitiveness. Yeah. Yeah, online for us, usually we’re pretty teamed up but I mean, like you go to somebody’s crib and the game is on is definitely different. You know, there’s money on the line usually, so I feel like that’s a big incentive to be a little more competitive with it.
Y’all are younger team, is it more video games than like cards and stuff? I know veteran teams, it’s a lot of card games, that sort of thing. Is it more more video games for y’all or is it both?
I’d probably say — I’ll honestly say, yeah. Especially in the offseason. Because, you know, there are dog days where it’s really, like, boring and we’re in Oklahoma. So a lot of it, I wouldn’t even say is a younger team, it’s just only so much you do out here. So, with how close we are, too, like we just play. That’s just one of the things we kind of resort to, is like just playing.
Can I get the scouting report of the best and worst Call of Duty players on the Thunder?
Okay, J-Will’s [Jaylin Williams] probably up there. He’s probably the best on the team to keep it a stack. I feel like I’m in that like 3-4 range. Trying to think who else would be. I don’t know, Shai gettin’ older so I feel like he out of touch with a lot of stuff. J-Will’s definitely first, I feel like I’m like fourth in there. I know Tre Mann be playing a lot. Oh, Chet. Chet plays a lot. So Chet’s probably in that 1-2 range as well. I’ll probably put myself at three honestly. And then Tre, Wiggs [Aaron Wiggins] is probably in there. Then we got a couple oldheads that don’t play video games anymore. Like K-Rich [Kenrich Williams], which is what you’re just talking about, you know, like there’s some dudes that haven’t hopped on the sticks since they were early in the league.
That would be me. But yeah, I was gonna ask who do you not want to be teamed up with like, if y’all were squadding up?
Oh, K-Rich for sure. There’s a bunch of people I wouldn’t want to be teamed up with. Pokusevski, Davis Bertans. Yeah, there’s some oldheads on the team where I’m like, I’m good. I don’t even know if you know how to like, turn the system on.
I gotta be honest, it’s a little upsetting for you to highlight a bunch of guys who are like 27 and say that they’re the oldheads. I just want to say as a 32 year old like, that hurts.
Our team is young so it’s like it’s different. They’re like the closest thing to oldheads on our team. Our team is young. Oh, Vasilije [Micic]. There’s just no way he plays video games. There’s absolutely no way, so I wouldn’t want him on my team either.
Have you gotten the chance to play the new beta for Modern Warfare III?
Yeah, I did a little bit and then we ended up going to Cleveland and had to travel a little bit but I still like always able to find time. Today will probably be one of those days, we’ve kind of got the rest of the day off.
Early impressions of the new game? How excited are you to get a little more a little more time on that?
I’m super excited, and I think too it’s like when you get like the campaign, too, because that’s all that we can play right now. It like makes you want to play the rest of the game really bad just cause it’s like you know, you wait a whole year for the new one. So I’m excited for that and then I feel like getting a sneak peek at Summer League made it even worse, because it’s like, what are we supposed to do in the meantime? So, I went back and play the some of the old ones.
A KG in Uncut Gems, “Why would you show it to me if I can’t have it?” type moment.
Yeah, like, you know what I mean? Yeah. So just kind of playing that. Try not to beat the campaign too fast. Kind of just chillin, waiting for everybody else to kind of be able to play the game. Yeah.
I do want to talk a little basketball because you’re off to a nice start to the season, got a nice win last night against Atlanta. What would you say is the biggest difference between how you guys came into last year and how you guys came into this year now with some some more expectations coming off the Play-In appearance and just generally teams not being necessarily surprised when y’all come in the building and are as competitive as you are?
Yeah, I mean, you hit on the head. A lot of it has to do expectations and I mean — even for ourselves last year, you know, from Chet getting hurt early, not really knowing what we were gonna do with the season. I think we did a good job as a collective wanting to win as many games as possible and kind of buying into our team. I think we have a lot of dudes that are young and hungry and want to win and compete that play hard every night, which is kind of lost in the NBA, you know. And it obviously makes sense, you play so many games, it’s easy to kind of let one slip and stuff like that. So I think we’ve done a really good job of that, and, I don’t know, we just have to like, obviously everybody feels that way, but I think we just have a really competitive group. So we kind of are always able to push each other and we’re comfortable going at each other and find the time to do that. So I think we’re solid. But as far as expectations, I don’t think we really have any. I think that’s kind of the beauty in our team. Nobody’s really worried about three weeks from now, two months from now. You know, just kind of focus on next practice and then take it day by day from there — next game — and kind of doing that. I think we’ve done a good job of that so far this year.
You talk about how you’re such a young team and something that doesn’t usually happen with young teams is being as good defensively as a team as you guys have been. What is it about this group, about what Coach Daigneault asks you guys to do on that end, that allows you guys to not only show like flashes, but to have a solid team defense where it doesn’t seem like people are on different pages or anything like that? Like y’all seem really cohesive despite not having a ton of time together.
I think just everybody on the court is versatile, and I think everybody wants to cover up for one another. I think what kind of gets lost from the outside world is just like people don’t really understand like, how much rotation is involved in playing the game, and I think we have a lot of guys that are willing to do that. I think are obviously the elephant in the room is Chet being back in the rotation which cleans up a lot at the rim for us. And I think just how well he does in rotations as well. You know, he’s kind of willing to step out on the perimeter and guard, so that that makes our defense unique as well. And then you know, players like me, Lu [Dort], Cason [Wallace], when K- Rich gets back, Shai, we have a lot of guys that want to defend and kind of guard multiple positions. I think that makes it easier for us to rotate, and like I said, I think guys are just competing at the end of the day, which is probably the biggest part to any defense.
What are things you’re able to learn from guys like Lu, Kenrich, and the veteran wing defenders you guys have on the roster about the approach that you need to take and learning how to pick the scouting report — kind of who to attack, who that kind of let come to you — and what are the things you’ve been able to pick up from them to be a really good defender in the NBA?
I mean, it helps because our coaching staff puts me on usually the first or second scorer on the other team so it’s always something to where you’re kind of on edge. So I feel like that’s really helped me out just the past year, and then going into now I feel like you’re just able to learn so much more when your guarding like you know, for example, I was guarding Trae Young and Dejounte Murray last night. Like when you’re constantly seeing guys like that, I think it helps. Lu’s been a big part of that just kind of going over guys tendencies with me and same thing with K-Rich. Just trying to figure out what guys like to do. Obviously there’s a lot of guys that have different things they like to do and different things that they’d like to get to and different actions. But I think overall we can kind of group them into different categories and kind of pick it apart from there. So they both been really big on that side of development for defense for me and then, I think yeah, just from there on it’s just kind of a lot of my instincts. And like I said, I’m learning on the fly as well. I haven’t been able to guard everybody yet, but just getting a lot of the experiences in now helps me later down the road for sure.
Offensively, what do you feel have been, from when you came in the league to now, the things that you feel like you’ve developed or grown more comfortable in to be able to show on the floor and have the impact you have on that end as well?
Just picking our spots. Having Chet back actually makes it a lot easier just because he’s able to stretch the floor so we have more space. Obviously with more space you get to do a lot more stuff. But I think just figuring out where I’m really comfortable from on the court and just kind of moving from there. I think a lot of this summer was just kind of predicated on me figuring that part out. And a big part of my game last year was cutting, you know, kind of trying to stay out the way. So incorporating that into coming off ball screens and just figuring out where I want to be on the court and how I can get to those spots efficiently and kind of generate their best looks for our team. So I think I’ve done a good job of that so far.
You mentioned Chet what he kind of brings on both ends. What’s impressed you the most about the way he’s kind of hit the ground running? He had, you know, a year to kind of watch but it’s a different thing when you get thrown in the fire and he’s been asked to play the five immediately and he’s been asked to kind of do a lot for you guys. What’s impressed you about the way that he’s been able to come out and have the start he has?
I think just waiting a whole year to play has been the most impressive thing. That’s really hard to do. Especially when you’re probably as competitive as he is, it’s just hard to watch. But I think he really took advantage of the year of just understanding the role and being able to see what he can bring to the team and kind of where he can plug in. I think he’s done a really good job of figuring that out and doing that. You can kind of see that he’s really efficient. He doesn’t really force anything. He’s kind of playing inside the offense, willing to make the one mores and the extras for us and defend so you know, salute to him. I don’t think there’s a lot of guys in the league that can sit out a year and just come straight into being able to plug in with the team and kind of understand what’s asked of them. So he’s done a great job of that.
We hear a lot about young teams learning to win and that sort of thing from coaches. What was last year like in that regard, and what would you say are the lessons as a young team you learned about handling those fourth quarter situations when you’re in a close game and in that environment that you’ve been able to kind of carry over to this year? It seems like you guys are comfortable in that situation when you have a lead and holding a lead or coming back, and what are the things that you see from on the floor that are the building blocks for that?
We’re still young, but I think even last year, we had a good maturity and a sense about the team handling those situations, not panicking. You know, like the average point differential and point swing in the NBA is 12 points. So you’re never in or out of a game. I think understanding that has been really big for us. And then, yeah, I think we’ve just been in so many tight games over the past year and then, even you look at now, we’ve had all our games are decided by a couple points kind of towards the end. The Warriors game is you know, a tip in away from going to OT. The Cleveland game, we’re down 10 with a minute left. So I think being in those positions early on through the season helped us last year and it’s something that we’re kind of finding out this year as well that I think will kind of push us towards that later on in the season. And, you know, being in those positions, I think we’re just kind of learning from them. You don’t want to be a team that gets stagnant through the experiences and that’s a big thing for us. So I think we’ve been able to kind of improve on every experience whether it’s a win or loss.
The Oklahoma City Thunder took a big step forward in their rebuilding process a year ago, going from an early lottery team to the Play-In. A big part of that leap was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander becoming a full-on superstar, but he also had plenty of help from his young teammates.
One of the most impressive of those teammates was Jalen Williams, who had a terrific rookie season, establishing himself as a strong two-way force on the wing. To start the 2023-24 campaign, Williams has taken on an even larger role, averaging 17.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game for the 4-3 Thunder as they are looking to take another step into playoff contention in the West.
On Tuesday, we got a chance to sit down with Williams over Zoom on behalf of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III ahead of the November 10 release of the game, as the 22-year-old has been waiting not so patiently since Summer League to get his hands on the full game. We talked about the Thunder learning to win, what makes them the rare young team to be a good defensive group, how Chet Holmgren’s elevated their play on both ends, and what Williams has done to raise his level coming into his second year. But we started with some CoD talk, about the hyper-competitive games the Thunder play, who has the best skills on the sticks, and he makes me feel bad by calling his teammates in their late 20s “oldheads.”
What’s going on, Jalen?
I’m good man. I just finished practice, chillin.
Awesome. I watched some of your appearance on JJ Redick’s pod and you were talking about how competitive practices get. I want to start with a little Call of Duty talk because I know y’all have a bunch of guys on the team that play it. How much does that competitiveness transfer from the court to when you hop on the sticks?
The sticks is definitely more competitive than on the court [laughs]. I don’t know it’s just like something about like, video games in general too, it’s just like a different level of competitiveness. Yeah. Yeah, online for us, usually we’re pretty teamed up but I mean, like you go to somebody’s crib and the game is on is definitely different. You know, there’s money on the line usually, so I feel like that’s a big incentive to be a little more competitive with it.
Y’all are younger team, is it more video games than like cards and stuff? I know veteran teams, it’s a lot of card games, that sort of thing. Is it more more video games for y’all or is it both?
I’d probably say — I’ll honestly say, yeah. Especially in the offseason. Because, you know, there are dog days where it’s really, like, boring and we’re in Oklahoma. So a lot of it, I wouldn’t even say is a younger team, it’s just only so much you do out here. So, with how close we are, too, like we just play. That’s just one of the things we kind of resort to, is like just playing.
Can I get the scouting report of the best and worst Call of Duty players on the Thunder?
Okay, J-Will’s [Jaylin Williams] probably up there. He’s probably the best on the team to keep it a stack. I feel like I’m in that like 3-4 range. Trying to think who else would be. I don’t know, Shai gettin’ older so I feel like he out of touch with a lot of stuff. J-Will’s definitely first, I feel like I’m like fourth in there. I know Tre Mann be playing a lot. Oh, Chet. Chet plays a lot. So Chet’s probably in that 1-2 range as well. I’ll probably put myself at three honestly. And then Tre, Wiggs [Aaron Wiggins] is probably in there. Then we got a couple oldheads that don’t play video games anymore. Like K-Rich [Kenrich Williams], which is what you’re just talking about, you know, like there’s some dudes that haven’t hopped on the sticks since they were early in the league.
That would be me. But yeah, I was gonna ask who do you not want to be teamed up with like, if y’all were squadding up?
Oh, K-Rich for sure. There’s a bunch of people I wouldn’t want to be teamed up with. Pokusevski, Davis Bertans. Yeah, there’s some oldheads on the team where I’m like, I’m good. I don’t even know if you know how to like, turn the system on.
I gotta be honest, it’s a little upsetting for you to highlight a bunch of guys who are like 27 and say that they’re the oldheads. I just want to say as a 32 year old like, that hurts.
Our team is young so it’s like it’s different. They’re like the closest thing to oldheads on our team. Our team is young. Oh, Vasilije [Micic]. There’s just no way he plays video games. There’s absolutely no way, so I wouldn’t want him on my team either.
Have you gotten the chance to play the new beta for Modern Warfare III?
Yeah, I did a little bit and then we ended up going to Cleveland and had to travel a little bit but I still like always able to find time. Today will probably be one of those days, we’ve kind of got the rest of the day off.
Early impressions of the new game? How excited are you to get a little more a little more time on that?
I’m super excited, and I think too it’s like when you get like the campaign, too, because that’s all that we can play right now. It like makes you want to play the rest of the game really bad just cause it’s like you know, you wait a whole year for the new one. So I’m excited for that and then I feel like getting a sneak peek at Summer League made it even worse, because it’s like, what are we supposed to do in the meantime? So, I went back and play the some of the old ones.
A KG in Uncut Gems, “Why would you show it to me if I can’t have it?” type moment.
Yeah, like, you know what I mean? Yeah. So just kind of playing that. Try not to beat the campaign too fast. Kind of just chillin, waiting for everybody else to kind of be able to play the game. Yeah.
I do want to talk a little basketball because you’re off to a nice start to the season, got a nice win last night against Atlanta. What would you say is the biggest difference between how you guys came into last year and how you guys came into this year now with some some more expectations coming off the Play-In appearance and just generally teams not being necessarily surprised when y’all come in the building and are as competitive as you are?
Yeah, I mean, you hit on the head. A lot of it has to do expectations and I mean — even for ourselves last year, you know, from Chet getting hurt early, not really knowing what we were gonna do with the season. I think we did a good job as a collective wanting to win as many games as possible and kind of buying into our team. I think we have a lot of dudes that are young and hungry and want to win and compete that play hard every night, which is kind of lost in the NBA, you know. And it obviously makes sense, you play so many games, it’s easy to kind of let one slip and stuff like that. So I think we’ve done a really good job of that, and, I don’t know, we just have to like, obviously everybody feels that way, but I think we just have a really competitive group. So we kind of are always able to push each other and we’re comfortable going at each other and find the time to do that. So I think we’re solid. But as far as expectations, I don’t think we really have any. I think that’s kind of the beauty in our team. Nobody’s really worried about three weeks from now, two months from now. You know, just kind of focus on next practice and then take it day by day from there — next game — and kind of doing that. I think we’ve done a good job of that so far this year.
You talk about how you’re such a young team and something that doesn’t usually happen with young teams is being as good defensively as a team as you guys have been. What is it about this group, about what Coach Daigneault asks you guys to do on that end, that allows you guys to not only show like flashes, but to have a solid team defense where it doesn’t seem like people are on different pages or anything like that? Like y’all seem really cohesive despite not having a ton of time together.
I think just everybody on the court is versatile, and I think everybody wants to cover up for one another. I think what kind of gets lost from the outside world is just like people don’t really understand like, how much rotation is involved in playing the game, and I think we have a lot of guys that are willing to do that. I think are obviously the elephant in the room is Chet being back in the rotation which cleans up a lot at the rim for us. And I think just how well he does in rotations as well. You know, he’s kind of willing to step out on the perimeter and guard, so that that makes our defense unique as well. And then you know, players like me, Lu [Dort], Cason [Wallace], when K- Rich gets back, Shai, we have a lot of guys that want to defend and kind of guard multiple positions. I think that makes it easier for us to rotate, and like I said, I think guys are just competing at the end of the day, which is probably the biggest part to any defense.
What are things you’re able to learn from guys like Lu, Kenrich, and the veteran wing defenders you guys have on the roster about the approach that you need to take and learning how to pick the scouting report — kind of who to attack, who that kind of let come to you — and what are the things you’ve been able to pick up from them to be a really good defender in the NBA?
I mean, it helps because our coaching staff puts me on usually the first or second scorer on the other team so it’s always something to where you’re kind of on edge. So I feel like that’s really helped me out just the past year, and then going into now I feel like you’re just able to learn so much more when your guarding like you know, for example, I was guarding Trae Young and Dejounte Murray last night. Like when you’re constantly seeing guys like that, I think it helps. Lu’s been a big part of that just kind of going over guys tendencies with me and same thing with K-Rich. Just trying to figure out what guys like to do. Obviously there’s a lot of guys that have different things they like to do and different things that they’d like to get to and different actions. But I think overall we can kind of group them into different categories and kind of pick it apart from there. So they both been really big on that side of development for defense for me and then, I think yeah, just from there on it’s just kind of a lot of my instincts. And like I said, I’m learning on the fly as well. I haven’t been able to guard everybody yet, but just getting a lot of the experiences in now helps me later down the road for sure.
Offensively, what do you feel have been, from when you came in the league to now, the things that you feel like you’ve developed or grown more comfortable in to be able to show on the floor and have the impact you have on that end as well?
Just picking our spots. Having Chet back actually makes it a lot easier just because he’s able to stretch the floor so we have more space. Obviously with more space you get to do a lot more stuff. But I think just figuring out where I’m really comfortable from on the court and just kind of moving from there. I think a lot of this summer was just kind of predicated on me figuring that part out. And a big part of my game last year was cutting, you know, kind of trying to stay out the way. So incorporating that into coming off ball screens and just figuring out where I want to be on the court and how I can get to those spots efficiently and kind of generate their best looks for our team. So I think I’ve done a good job of that so far.
You mentioned Chet what he kind of brings on both ends. What’s impressed you the most about the way he’s kind of hit the ground running? He had, you know, a year to kind of watch but it’s a different thing when you get thrown in the fire and he’s been asked to play the five immediately and he’s been asked to kind of do a lot for you guys. What’s impressed you about the way that he’s been able to come out and have the start he has?
I think just waiting a whole year to play has been the most impressive thing. That’s really hard to do. Especially when you’re probably as competitive as he is, it’s just hard to watch. But I think he really took advantage of the year of just understanding the role and being able to see what he can bring to the team and kind of where he can plug in. I think he’s done a really good job of figuring that out and doing that. You can kind of see that he’s really efficient. He doesn’t really force anything. He’s kind of playing inside the offense, willing to make the one mores and the extras for us and defend so you know, salute to him. I don’t think there’s a lot of guys in the league that can sit out a year and just come straight into being able to plug in with the team and kind of understand what’s asked of them. So he’s done a great job of that.
We hear a lot about young teams learning to win and that sort of thing from coaches. What was last year like in that regard, and what would you say are the lessons as a young team you learned about handling those fourth quarter situations when you’re in a close game and in that environment that you’ve been able to kind of carry over to this year? It seems like you guys are comfortable in that situation when you have a lead and holding a lead or coming back, and what are the things that you see from on the floor that are the building blocks for that?
We’re still young, but I think even last year, we had a good maturity and a sense about the team handling those situations, not panicking. You know, like the average point differential and point swing in the NBA is 12 points. So you’re never in or out of a game. I think understanding that has been really big for us. And then, yeah, I think we’ve just been in so many tight games over the past year and then, even you look at now, we’ve had all our games are decided by a couple points kind of towards the end. The Warriors game is you know, a tip in away from going to OT. The Cleveland game, we’re down 10 with a minute left. So I think being in those positions early on through the season helped us last year and it’s something that we’re kind of finding out this year as well that I think will kind of push us towards that later on in the season. And, you know, being in those positions, I think we’re just kind of learning from them. You don’t want to be a team that gets stagnant through the experiences and that’s a big thing for us. So I think we’ve been able to kind of improve on every experience whether it’s a win or loss.
“She is 18 years old now and living with her mother,” Sheen said last year, referring to his ex-wife Denise Richards. “I do not condone this, but since I’m unable to prevent it, I urged her to keep it classy, creative, and not sacrifice her integrity.” But now, according to Richards, he’s “changed his tune.”
“When she first did OnlyFans he was not happy and I think was public about it, which she didn’t appreciate and he’s changed his tune,” she said on Bethenny Frankel’s Just B podcast, according to BuzzFeed. “He changed his tune when she bought a Mercedes and moved into a house so maybe he was like, maybe this ain’t so bad after all!” It’s unclear how much Sheen makes from her OnlyFans account, but some creators are earning millions every month.
Sami isn’t the only member of the Sheen/Richards family on OnlyFans: her mother joined the platform last year. “When Wild Things came out, it was a very positive movie for my career, but I’m sure a lot of people had a personal opinion, too. Then after that, you’re perceived as a sex symbol, and the things you do are perceived [as] sexual,” the former Bond Girl told Bustle. “So that’s why I wanted to join OnlyFans, because I was like, who cares?”
It sounds like Richard, not Sheen, is the one who is #winning (this joke brought to you by the year 2011).
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