Month: September 2024

Each week our staff of film and television experts surveys the entertainment landscape to select the ten best new/newish shows available for you to stream at home. We put a lot of thought into our selections, and our debates on what to include and what not to include can sometimes get a little heated and feelings may get hurt, but so be it, this is an important service for you, our readers. With that said, here are our selections for this week.

15. Bad Monkey (Apple TV Plus)

Scrubs, Ted Lasso, and Shrinking creator Bill Lawrence’s comedy empire expands with Bad Monkey, a good show with a fun premise: Vince Vaughn plays a former cop who is now a health inspector in the Florida Keys. “But after stumbling upon a case that begins with a human arm fished up by tourists, he realizes that if he can prove murder, he’ll be back in. He just needs to get past a trove of Floridian oddballs and one bad monkey,” according to the plot synopsis. The show is based on author Carl Hiaasen’s novel of the same name, and has fun summer binge written all over it.

Watch it on Apple TV Plus

14. Only Murders In The Building (Hulu)

There’s been two big changes to Only Murders in the Building: the season is largely set in Los Angeles instead of New York City, and Selena Gomez is now Emmy nominee Selena Gomez. But what hasn’t changed is that the Martins, Steve and Short, are as funny as ever. Outside of that trio, the season 4 cast also includes Melissa McCarthy, Eugene Levy, Eva Longoria, Zach Galifianakis, Molly Shannon, Kumail Nanjiani, Richard Kind (!!!), Meryl Streep, Jane Lynch, Michael Cyril Creighton, and recent Oscar winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph.

Watch it on Hulu

13. English Teacher (Hulu)

You might know Brian Jordan Alvarez from his videos on TikTok and Instagram as TJ Mack, the singer of earworm “Sitting.” He’s also the star and creator of English Teacher, about a teacher who “often finds himself at the intersection of the personal, professional, and political aspects of working at a high school. Evan wants to be a principled person but often runs into trouble because of it.” His first lesson to his students: sitting is the opposite of standing.

Watch it on Hulu

12. Slow Horses (Apple TV Plus)

There’s a few things you should know about Slow Horses:

1. As we previously wrote: “Each season is six episodes long and focuses on a distinct mystery or conspiracy and is full of little twists and turns and double-crosses. Sometimes there are stolen diamonds. Sometimes the slow horses will reveal themselves to be drug addicts or gambling addicts and it’ll muck everything up for a little. Sometimes you’ll be watching someone do something and assume they’re taking a brave and bold stance for righteousness and then realize they’ve been manipulated into accidentally doing the bidding of someone smarter and more conniving than they are.”

2. There is so much farting. Like, even more than you think.

3. You should watch this really good show.

Watch it on Apple TV Plus

11. The Old Man (Hulu)

The old man is back, and now he’s even older! In season 2 of the John Wick-like FX series, former CIA agent Dan Chase (played by Jeff “The Dude” Bridges) and ex-FBI assistant director Harold Harper (John Lithgow) are tasked with finding Emily Chase (Alia Shawkat) after she is kidnapped. But “as the stakes rise and secrets are uncovered, Emily finds herself in an identity crisis with dire implications,” according to the official plot synopsis, while Zoe McDonald (Amy Brenneman) makes “surprising moves into Chase’s world.”

Watch it on Hulu

10. I Saw the TV Glow (Max)

If you have an unhealthy relationship with television shows (if you’re reading this, you probably do), have I got a movie for you! Jane Schoenbrun’s I Saw the TV Glow follows two outcasts played by Jaden Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine who bond over a shared affection for The Pink Opaque, a Buffy the Vampire Slayer-like series with a deep, very ’90s lore. It’s a wonderful film not only about nostalgia, but also gender dysphoria. There’s a killer soundtrack, too.

Watch it on Max

9. Agatha All Along (Disney Plus)

The first Marvel Cinematic Universe show with a bare butt scene is a WandaVision spin-off about Kathryn Hahn’s breakout character, Agatha Harkness. Prepare to have *that song* stuck in your head again. The “gayest show” in the MCU stable also stars Aubrey Plaza, Patti LuPone, and Joe Locke.

Watch it on Disney Plus

8. Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story (Netflix)

Following the (uncomfortable) success of Dahmer, Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s “Monster” limited series returns with Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. This time, the focus is on the Menéndez brothers (played by Nicholas Alexander and Chavez Cooper Koch) and the media sensation around their trial after they killed their parents (Javier Bardem and Chloe Sevigny). They also appeared on a basketball card. A third season has already been announced with Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam as Ed Gein.

Watch it on Netflix

7. His Three Daughters (Netflix)

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: more movies should star Carrie Coon, Natasha Lyonne and Elizabeth Olsen. So thank god for His Three Daughters, which follows three estranged sisters (bet you can guess who they’re played by!) as they reunite to care for their ailing father. The single-setting drama is one of the best movies of the year, which, again, is what happens when you put Carrie Coon, Natasha Lyonne, and Elizabeth Olsen in the same cast.

Watch it on Netflix

6. The Penguin (Max)

Colin Farrell’s scene-stealing performance in The Batman resulted in him being turned into a meme and, probably more impressively, getting a spin-off on Max. The Penguin explores Oswald Cobblepot’s (or as he’s called in the show, Oz Cobb’s) rise in the seedy Gotham underworld. The series, which also stars Cristin Milioti, Clancy Brown, and Theo Rossi, is getting comparisons to another crime drama in the HBO / Max family: The Sopranos. Not too shabby.

Watch it on Max

5. Inside Out 2 (Disney Plus)

There’s a good chance you’ve already seen Inside Out 2. It is the highest-grossing movie of 2024 after all. But now you can watch it again and again (especially if you have kids) on Disney Plus. The Pixar film brings back Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust, and Anger from the original, and adds new emotions, including Maya Hawke as Anxiety and Ayo Edebiri as Envy. For more on the making of Inside Out 2, read our interview with director Kelsey Mann.

Watch it on Disney Plus

4. Uzumaki (Max)

Based on Junji Ito’s supernatural and frequently disturbing manga of the same anime, Uzumaki is about the peculiar occurrences, many of which involve spirals, happening to the residents of the small Japanese town of Kurouzo-chu. Or as the official plot description reads: “Everything from a strange whirlwind, billowing smoke from the crematorium, and the residents is turning into spirals. People’s eyes spin in whirls, a tongue spirals, and the bodies twist unnaturally. In an attempt to escape the curse of the spirals, Kirie decides to flee from Kurouzu-cho, but can she get away from this turmoil?” The first of four episodes premieres on September 28 at 12:30 a.m. during Adult Swim’s Toonami block, and is available the next day on Max.

Watch it on Max

3. Apartment 7A (Paramount Plus)

Yeah yeah yeah, it’s another prequel based on a famous horror movie, but hear me out: Julia Garner. The actress, so good in The Americans, Ozark, and The Assistant, plays dancer Terry Gionoffrio, who is taken in by a rich couple (Dianne Wiest and Kevin McNally) following an accident. Soon after, weird stuff begins to occur, as you might imagine from a Rosemary’s Baby prequel. If nothing else, you can count on Garner giving an excellent performance.

Watch it on Paramount Plus

2. Will & Harper (Netflix)

After former SNL head writer Harper Steele came out as a trans woman, she and Will Ferrell went on a two-week road trip across America. Will & Harper follows their journey. “What if we went on a road trip together, giving her a chance to go into a cowboy bar or whatever places she misses, and I can be by her side and lend support as a friend?” Ferrell said about the origin of the documentary. “At the same time, it would give us a chance to reconnect and figure out what this transition means to our relationship.” If only all SNL cast members from the ‘90s were so open minded…

Watch it on Netflix

1. Wolfs (Apple TV Plus)

It’s crazy that we live in a time where a new movie starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt is somehow flying under the radar. But don’t miss Wolfs, which reunites the Ocean’s Eleven hunks for an action comedy in which they play professional fixers who are begrudgingly forced to work together. The film is directed by Jon Watts, who made the MCU’s Spider-Man trilogy. Coincidentally, Clooney is one of the few MCU mega-star holdouts (unlike Pitt in Deadpool 2, which kind of counts?).

Watch it on Apple TV Plus

HBCU institutions have a rich music culture. Over the last few decades, its various schools across the country have helped boost the careers of numerous artists by providing a space for their music to thrive. The shortlist of artists who have seen this effect include Jeezy, Lil Boosie, Rich Homie Quan, Migos, Young Thug, Young Dolph, and more. Additionally, the importance of music can be seen through HBCU bands that are extremely important to the fabric of school life. It comes to life through big displays like the annual Battle Of The Bands competitions and smaller instances like the infamous Grambling vs. Southern rivalry football games.

With all this being said, it’s no surprise that HBCUs have also produced some of the music’s most famous artists. From legends like Lionel Richie and Common and present day stars like Megan Thee Stallion, SZA, and Metro Boomin, the spirit of HBCUs runs through a number of artists — even if their tenure at the institution was short.

Ahead of homecoming season, we decided to spotlight ten artists who have connections to an HBCU. Scroll down for the list of artists and the institutions they attended.

Megan The Stallion (Texas Southern University)

In 2021, the same year that she went No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts for her “Savage” remix with Beyoncé, Megan Thee Stallion graduated from Texas Southern University with a Bachelor’s degree in Health Administration. During an interview with Rolling Stone in 2021, Megan spoke about being in school “for so long” and how she balanced her rap career after deciding to ramp up her semester load to finish sooner. “Every time I had an assignment or something due, one of my managers would just pull me to the side and be like, ‘Hey Megan, you know you got to do this presentation today.’ Or ‘Hey Megan, you know you got to turn this assignment in today,’” she said. “I would have not been successful this semester without my team.”

SZA (Delaware State University)

SZA attended Delaware Statue University after graduating from high school in 2008. The singer majored in marine biology and earned straight As for her first two semesters before losing interest. In a 2023 interview with Elle, SZA opened up about her experience in college. “I’m like, ‘I told you I was smart and I proved my point. I have to leave now,’” SZA said, recalling a conversation with her mother. A few years later, the singer met TDE president Terrence “Punch” Henderson Jr., signed to the label, and the rest is history.

Metro Boomin (Morehouse College)

Multi-platinum producer Metro Boomin spent just one semester at Atlanta’s Morehouse College before dropping out to pursue music. He spoke about the decisions that led to him leaving the school during a 2017 interview with GQ. “As grateful as I was to be there, I didn’t want to be there,” he said. “It was bittersweet, because I knew for a fact that I need to put all of my time into music. School is the same as producing: If you want to make it far, there are a million, trillion people trying to do the same thing. If you’re not in over-grind mode, it’s probably not going to work the way that you want it to.”

Rick Ross (Albany State University)

Grammy-nominated rapper Rick Ross attended Albany State University on a football scholarship, but dropped out of school soon after. Ross’ pursuit of a music career kicked into gear at the turn of the century, and in the decades after, Ross’ ties to Albany State University have remained strong. In 2022, he spoke to students at the school for the homecoming convocation ceremony, where he told students that “the greatest job you will ever have is being CEO of your life.”

2 Chainz (Alabama State University)

Just like Rick Ross, 2 Chainz also attended an HBCU off an athletic scholarship. His, however, was a basketball scholarship to Alabama State University. In a 2017 interview with The Daily Beast, 2 Chainz said that he left ASU after his freshman year after he “got into some trouble.” He later returned to the school to complete his degree. In another conversation, this time with Rolling Stone, 2 Chainz addressed rumors that he graduated with a 4.0 GPA. “Don’t believe anything on Wack-ipedia,” he said. “There’s a lot of false stuff on there, to the point that every time I try to fix one thing, something else comes out.”

Wale (Virginia State University & Bowie State University)

Our collection of HBCU scholarship athletes continues with Wale. The DMV rapper initially attended Robert Morris University on a football scholarship before transferring to Virginia State University. His football career would come to an end when he transferred to another HBCU, Bowie State University, but Wale would later drop out to pursue a music career. It was at VSU that Wale discovered his musical talents. In a 2021 conversation with The Ringer, Wale recalled spitting freestyles art the school’s Foster Hall. “The guy that was across the hall from me in my dorm was like, ‘Keep going, keep going. You tight,’” he said. “People really started f*cking with me at Virginia State.”

Killer Mike (Morehouse College)

Earlier this year, Killer Mike won his first Grammys as a lead artist for Best Rap Album with Michael and Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song with “Scientists.” Those awards came more than 20 years after Mike won his first Grammy thanks to a feature on Outkast’s “The Whole World.” That song was the result of Mike and Big Boi’s friendship which came about through Mike’s attendance of Morehouse College in the 1990s. “The deciding factor for me getting into Morehouse was probably my homeroom teacher,” Killer Mike told the Seattle Times. “He was a Morehouse man. His name was Mister Lee-Roy Arnold.”

He added, “I think [Mr. Arnold] saw something in me, because he pushed me and messed with me for five years, to the point where he bet me all my book money for the first year that I would not get into Morehouse.”

Common (Florida A&M University)

Before Common achieved his dreams of being a successful rapper, the Chicago native was enrolled at Florida A&M University under an academic scholarship as a business administration major. Common would only stay at the school for two years before dropping out to pursue rap. In 2019, nearly 30 years after he attended, Common would be honored with a doctorate degree in fine arts and invited him to speak at that year’s commencement ceremony. In his speech, Common said that his activism, which went on to be ever-present in his music, began right at FAMU where he says his experience was unlike anything he went through in hometown of Chicago.

Erykah Badu (Grambling State University)

Erykah Badu nearly graduated from Grambling State University with a major in theater, but she left the school in 1993 to focus on her music career. Four years later, she delivered her debut album Baduizm, a masterclass in neo-soul that’s still heralded as a classic today. In an interview with the school’s newspaper The Gramblinite, Badu recalled her time at the university. “I auditioned for several plays while at GSU at the Floyd L. Sandle Theatre,” she said. “I danced with the Orchesis and was involved in a rap group called ‘CP Posse,’ which stands for Cultural Production.”

Lionel Richie (Tuskegee Institute)

While all the artists on this list did not experience the HBCU life until their adult years, Lionel Richie’s time at an HBCU dates back to his childhood. The legendary singer grew up on Tuskegee Institute’s campus before attending the school and earning a Bachelor’s degree in economics with a minor in accounting. “In my world growing up on campus, we were surrounded by gospel music because of the choir,” Richie said of his experience to The Austin Chronicle. “R&B music was the music they played on the college campus.”

(Spoilers will be found below.)

Industry‘s third season is coming down to the wire with Eric’s (Ken Leung) head growing closer to exploding with each passing moment. As well, the audience is still likely recovering from that blowout between Harper (Myha’la) and Yasmin (Marisa Abela), and there’s a sense that the damage isn’t done yet, but at least we know that Harry Lawtey is taking care of Rob’s pure heart.

HBO has revealed that a fourth season is in the works, and the acclaimed and increasingly popular series is gearing up to release the third season finale, so when will that happen? This isn’t simply a question for the busiest TV watchers out there because the series recently swapped out time slots:

When Will The Industry Season 3 Finale Come Out?

Blame it on that Gotham stinker, The Penguin, for needing to adapt to a different time if you’re watching on HBO linear format. In that case, Industry‘s season finale, which arrives on Sunday, Sept. 29, is shifting back to 10:00pm EST for you.

However, if you are streaming on Max, you can still catch any followup of Henry Muck’s fetish at 9:00pm EST. There’s a chance that you might need to rewatch the finale, though, so thank goodness for dueling time slots and the power of on-demand episodes via streaming services.

The American Music Awards 50th Anniversary Special is set to air on October 6, at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) on CBS and streaming on Paramount+. As for what the two-hour show will entail, performers were just announced.

As Billboard notes, participating are Brad Paisley, Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight, Green Day, Jennifer Hudson, Kane Brown, Mariah Carey, Raye, and Stray Kids. Also expected to appear are Carrie Underwood, Gloria Estefan, Jennifer Lopez, and Jimmy Kimmel.

Carey is performing a medley of songs from her 2005 album The Emancipation Of Mimi to start the 20th-anniversary celebration of the beloved project. Stray Kids, meanwhile, will give a performance honoring the history of boy bands. Jennifer Hudson will honor Whitney Houston with a tribute performance while Brad Paisley will honor the late Charley Pride. Raye will cover James Brown’s 1966 song “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World,” and Green Day will play the recent single “Dilemma.”

All in all, the broadcast is set to feature “new performances, artist interviews, special guests, and never-before-seen footage from [Dick Clark Productions]’s extensive archives,” and “themed highlights from AMAs’ show archives, each culminating with an original performance or artist interview.”

As for the regular AMAs, this year’s edition will take place on May 2025, and it’ll be the first yearly show since the edition that aired on November 20, 2022.

It wasn’t the most-watched sketch of SNL season 49, but “Hooters Waitress” might have been the most discussed.

In it, that week’s host Sydney Sweeney plays a waitress at the wings-and-beer-and-cleavage chain who is getting better tips than her co-workers for… reasons. The sketch, and the entire episode, was criticized for too many jokes about the Euphoria star’s body, but on a recent episode of Dana Carvey and David Spade’s Fly on the Wall podcast, cast member Bowen Yang explained that she was a good sport about the whole thing. In fact, she encouraged it.

Sweeney is “an example of a host who came in and understood how she was being consumed and perceived already,” Yang said, according to The Daily Beast. “She came in and was like, ‘Please, everyone, make jokes about my boobs.’ She was practically begging everybody.” Sweeney is on the joke; otherwise, she wouldn’t wear a “sorry for having great tits” sweatshirt.

Yang also discussed the “terrible” SNL host who made multiple cast members cry, although he still didn’t reveal who it was. “Imagine you stay up until 4 a.m. writing a sketch and then the host is like, ‘I f*cking hate this.’ Your nerves are frayed, you’re going to have some weird, bizarre emotional response,” he said. At least we know it wasn’t Sydney Sweeney.

You can listen to the podcast below.

(Via The Daily Beast)

After years of the idea seeming impossible, it’s happening: Oasis is going on a reunion tour. The band announced the run last month, confirming a few dates in the UK and Europe while noting, “Plans are underway for Oasis Live ’25 to go to other continents outside of Europe later next year.”

Now it looks like shows in the US are in the cards and ready to be announced soon.

Citing “sources close to the tour,” NME reports the tour will supposedly hit North America, visiting Toronto; Chicago; East Rutherford, New Jersey; Boston; Los Angeles; and Mexico City. Beyond that, other international locations include Seoul, South Korea; Tokyo, Japan; Melbourne, Australia; Sydney, Australia; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Santiago, Chile; and Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The official dates and locations are expected to be announced “in the coming week or so.”

There was speculation the band would perform at Glastonbury in 2025, but the group shut that down with a statement: “Despite media speculation, Oasis will not be playing Glastonbury 2025 or any other festivals next year. The only way to see the band perform will be on their Oasis Live ’25 World Tour.”

Meanwhile, Liam Gallagher seemed to confirm months ago that Oasis was starting to work on a comeback album. Earlier this month, Gallagher took it a step further by declaring that the band’s new album is “already finished” and “in the bag.”

The Connecticut Sun ended the Indiana Fever’s season on Wednesday night in a thrilling 87-81 win in Game 2 of their first round series. Alyssa Thomas led the way with 19 points and 13 assists, as the Sun withstood every run from Caitlin Clark and the Fever to respond with a counterpunch of their own.

The win set up a second round series between the Sun and Lynx that figures to be fantastic, while putting an end to the biggest story in the WNBA this season. Clark’s rookie year was nothing short of spectacular, as the No. 1 pick in this year’s Draft set rookie records and led Indiana to its first playoff berth since 2016 in her first season. Her popularity led the Fever to smash attendance records, both at home and on the road, as well as TV ratings records on every network that carries WNBA games nationally.

Clark has expanded the WNBA’s reach, but not everyone that claims themselves as a Clark fan has come into the league in good faith. Clark has been used as a proxy in culture war arguments, and some fans have crossed the line with racist comments towards other players. Clark has called it “unacceptable” for so-called fans to use her name to push negative agendas, but the issues persist. Most recently, Sun guard DiJonai Carrington has gotten racist attacks online after an accidental eye-poke in Game 1, which got spun by some as being an intentional act despite Clark laughing off the idea it was anything purposeful.

After Game 2, Thomas spoke out on the verbal abuse Carrington and the Sun as a whole have dealt with from Fever fans, calling it unacceptable and noting there’s no place for that kind of behavior in the game.

While there are no easy answers for how to stop this kind of behavior, Thomas did hope the Fever would “check their fans” and make it clear that there’s a difference between supporting the team and being derogatory towards opposing players. There is a tendency to be wary of the blowback from making statements towards your own fans, but anyone that would stop supporting you for asking them not to make racist or hateful comments isn’t someone you should want to welcome into your fan base anyways.

At Game 2, there were multiple fans heckling Carrington and the Sun. It also is not just an issue for the Fever to address, as Clark had to ask for a fan to be removed from near courtside for saying something that crossed the line to her. All of that prompted the WNBA to release a statement after the game that they would be monitoring racist, derogatory, and threatening comments made towards players.

As many pointed out, the statement felt like it came a bit late, as this has been an on-going issue. Angel Reese spoke earlier this year about how she’s dealt with racism, death threats, and people coming to her address. While there is, unfortunately, no way to stop people from saying terrible things online, the league certainly could be more proactive with fans in the arena and hopefully that will be a greater point of emphasis next season.

The surge in popularity this past season was great for the WNBA’s bottom line, but for a league that champions diversity and inclusion, they have some serious work ahead of them for how to continue fostering that environment. Clark’s presence has accelerated a lot of things for the WNBA, and the challenge for the league is to keep up with changing demands, both positive and negative, with protecting players as best they can being chief among them.

For the first time in 16 years, The Cure have released a new song. Not only that, the British group — made up of singer/South Park hero Robert Smith, bassist Simon Gallup, drummer Jason Cooper, keyboardist Roger O’Donnell, and guitarist Reeves Gabrels — are also releasing a new album.

“Alone” is the atmospheric first single from Songs Of A Lost World, which comes out on November 1. You can listen to it above. The rest of the album’s tracklist will be revealed over the course of the next few weeks on the band’s social media channels.

“It’s the track that unlocked the record; as soon as we had that piece of music recorded I knew it was the opening song, and I felt the whole album come into focus,” Smith said about the single. “I had been struggling to find the right opening line for the right opening song for a while, working with the simple idea of ‘being alone,’ always in the back of my mind this nagging feeling that I already knew what the opening line should be… as soon as we finished recording I remembered the poem ‘Dregs’ by the English poet Ernest Dowson… and that was the moment when I knew the song — and the album — were real.”

Songs Of A Lost World is out 11/1 via Fiction Records. Find more information here.

Cardi B and Offset had an eye-opening night online yesterday (September 25).

As HotNewHipHop notes, Cardi took to Instagram Live to vent about Offset, who she called “lame.” She accused Offset of trying to hurt her feelings by calling on FaceTime to show her women he’s been “f*cking or talking to.”

Offset caught wind of this and he wrote in a comment on the broadcast, “U f*cked with a baby inside tell the truth !!”

Cardi also said, “I find it funny that n****s think that they can f*ck on anything. But when I start talking to n****s, you wanna threaten me with taking sh*t that I f*cking worked my ass off for.”

Offset later commented, “Everybody can see I don’t want you ! It’s ok I’m not talking bout this Nomo all love u will be calling me after couple months u my bm I won [crying-laughing emoji].”

Then, Cardi decided to share some alleged texts between her and Offset. The band-and-forth goes like this, with Offset going first: “U don’t want me?” “Not really.” “Ok. U want somebody else?” “Offset and please.” “Ok I’ll leave you alone.” “Please have a goodnight.” “I just wanted to know.” In an additional message from later on, Offset asked, “Can I jack off with you on the phone?”

This all comes shortly after Cardi gave birth to her third child, and Offset was there getting some skin-to-skin time with the baby.

Derrick Rose has officially retired from the NBA. The former No. 1 overall pick took the league by storm as a young player, winning rookie of the year in 2008-09 and then the NBA MVP award in 2010-11 with the Chicago Bulls. Rose made three All-Star teams in his first four seasons, and looked like he was on his way to being one of the great point guards of his era, bringing a unique .

Unfortunately, a torn ACL suffered in 2012 became a harbinger of things to come. Rose struggled with knee issues and injury setbacks throughout his career, only playing more than 60 games in a season twice in the final 13 years of his career. Rose won his MVP averaging 25 points and 7.7 assists and producing some of the most breathtakingly athletic feats ever seen by a point guard, but that explosiveness and power was only able to be seen in flashes after his 2012 knee injury. Rose would play just eight years in Chicago before bouncing around the league with the Knicks, Cavaliers, Timberwolves, Pistons, Knicks (again), and Grizzlies — twice reuniting with former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau in Minnesota and New York.

This offseason, Rose was released by Memphis and on Wednesday night, he posted a rather cryptic video on Instagram that seemed to indicate he was calling it a career.

On Thursday morning, Rose confirmed that was indeed a tease of his retirement, taking out a full page ad in numerous newspapers thanking fans and issuing a statement to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.

“The next chapter is about chasing my dreams and sharing my growth. I believe true success comes from becoming who you were created to be, and I want to show the world who I am beyond basketball. Whether good or bad, everyone has a ‘what if’ story in their life. Even if I could, I wouldn’t change anything in mine, because it’s what helped me find real joy.”

In his statement, Rose talks about “what if” stories, and the most obvious one is his health — fans love to talk about what could’ve been in Chicago if Rose never tore up his knee. The other major “what if” for Rose happened off the court in 2015-16 when he was sued by an ex-girlfriend who claimed he and friends raped her. Rose was found not liable in the case by a Los Angeles jury, but testimony from the trial made Rose a divisive and controversial figure.

Rose says he wouldn’t change anything that’s happened as it’s led him to this place where he says he’s happy and content. Rose retires having averaged 17.4 points and 5.2 assists per game over 723 games played, which undersells his magnetism and dominance early in his career, but also highlights how successful he was transitioning into a 6th man role later in his career when he was able to be on the court.