Lil Wayne’s venture into sports is paying off in more than one way. While the “Presha” rapper continues to show off his commentary skills, his agency demonstrates his business acumen behi’snd-the-scenes.
According to Front Office Sports, Lil Wayne’s Young Money APAA Sports agency has signed Travis Hunter. The outlet claims Weezy bet out several other high profile companies including Rich Paul’s Klutch Sports Group.
Although the report has not been confirmed by either a rep for Young Money APAA Sports or the University of Colorado-Boulder star, their public interactions show they have a tight-knit bond.
During Hunter’s Heisman Trophy acceptance speech he gave Lil Wayne a sentimental shoutout. “Wayne, you don’t know how you came into my life, man,” he said. “My fiancée loves you. I didn’t know none of your songs until she let me know because I don’t listen to music.”
Analyst predict Hunter will be the upcoming NFL Draft’s No. 1 pick due to his impressive offensive and defensive skills. But this isn’t Lil Wayne’s Young Money APAA Sports agency first superstar athlete. At one point it represented the Philadelphia Eagles’ Jalen Hurts. Both Duke quarterback Darian Mensah and Colorado’s defensive end Jehiem Oatis are on its current collegiate roster.
All good things come to an end. But in music, many movements fizzle out before truly reaching its full potential. In the eyes of rap fans, YBN (comprised of Cordae, Almighty Jay and Nahmir) was one of those collectives.
Although YBN split over five years ago, the reasoning was never explicitly stated–until now. During a sit down with content creator Peaks100 (viewable here), Cordae opened up about what caused its dismantling.
“It was a number of reasons, bro,” he said. “Like, groups, unfortunately…name one group that stayed together. Not even the Jackson 5 and them n****s are brothers… [Wu-Tang Clan] all went and did solo sh*t, though.”
According to Cordae, the group wasn’t one the same page when it came to joint releases, behind-the-scenes dealings, and eventually that led to internal tension.
“We never recorded a song with all three of us,” he said. “The business side of it was kinda like super f*cked up, honestly. N****s got into a big argument in f*cking Europe. People say certain things that they can’t take back.”
Despite it all, Cordae claims that he doesn’t harbor any ill will towards his former group mates.
“It’s still love, but it’s still some sh*t you just can’t take [back],” he said. “You know what I’m saying? Namir, that’s still my homie, like, sh*t. Jay, I still f*ck with bruh.”
Cordae handled the split with ease releasing several projects (including his recent album The Crossroads) and multiple solo tours.
The Crossroads is out now via Atlantic Records. Find more information here.
However, Cardi B’s real estate frustration could be over now that a potential buyer has stepped forward. In a post on Instagram, fellow Rick Ross and budding real estate tycoon expressed interest in taking the multi-million dollar property off of her hands.
“Asking price,” asked Ross.
Although Cardi B hasn’t issued a public response, her original upload made it clear she is eager to offload it. “My casa …..I don’t want it nomore tho,” wrote Cardi in response to a real estate blog.
If Ross does happen to buy Cardi B and Offset’s once martial home, this would mark the second time he’s helped another musician with an unwanted estate. According to HipHopDX, in 2023 Ross bought longtime collaborator and former MMG signee, Meek Mill’s Georgia home for just over $4 million.
Real estate blog Homes Of The Rich describes Cardi B and Offset’s Georgia home as a property with 6 acres of land with 22,000 square feet of living space including 5 bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, 2-story foyer, 2-story great room, game room with wet bar, wine cellar, indoor shooting range, fireplace, fire pit, swimming pool, and spa.
Based on the details, this property is fit for certain fit for the Rick ‘The Boss’ Ross.
The YSL RICO case has come to an anticlimactic end. Fortunately, many of the parties that were tangled up in the state trial have been released including Young Thug, Gunna, Yak Gotti, and more. However, the aftermath is only just beginning.
According to AllHipHop, two of the “Dope Boy” rapper’s former defendant have filed a federal class-action lawsuit against Georgia state officials. In the supposed filing, Young Stoner Life associate Shannon Stillwell and former inmate Nkenegen Hambrick want Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat & Chief Jailer John Jackson held responsible for alleged widespread neglect and unconstitutional treatment in Fulton County Jail.
The pair claim the jail’s overcrowding as well as its decaying infrastructure and unsanitary conditions are “inhumane and life-threatening” to detainees. Later in the document, they alleged higher ups in the jail leave violence unchecked.
During their time within the Fulton County Jail walls, Stillwell and Hambrick were stabbed multiple times. Stillwell says his two incidents were the result of “broken cell doors and an absence of security officers.” Hambrick echoed the same sentiments while claiming that “facility’s unhygienic conditions led to untreated infections” after he sustained 20 stab wounds.
In a statement to AHH, their attorney Michael Harper begged for U.S. Department of Justice to step in. “The Fulton County Jail’s management has not taken adequate steps to prevent violence, leaving detainees at constant risk of harm,” he said. “We are seeking immediate reforms to ensure no more lives are endangered within these walls.”
Representatives for Fulton County Jail have not yet responded to the lawsuit.
Santa always has a lot of celebrity helpers. It may come as a surprise that one of the biggest philanthropic events of this holiday season was actually thrown by Metallica. On Dec 13th, the undisputed kings of heavy metal threw their fourth ‘Helping Hands’ gala and concert event for their foundation, All Within My Hands. The evening was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and featured a star-studded lineup of special guest acts and presenters. We were lucky enough to score a pair of seats. Here’s how it all went down.
Uproxx
The Helping Hands benefit was held at the YouTube theater in Los Angeles. The venue seats 6,000 which is a staggeringly intimate number when compared to Metallica‘s status quo of selling out the largest stadiums and arenas around the world. Just a year prior, band sold out two nights at Sofi Stadium, which is literally across a courtyard from the YouTube theater, to a tune of nearly 80,000 attendees each night. The SoFi shows were part of their M72 world tour, which is still underway and will be the bands longest tour to date- spanning from April 2023 and wrapping up in November 2025. Somehow, in the midst of it all, they made time to get holiday cozy.
Metallica
After the obligatory stroll down the black carpet, the night kicked off with an opening guest set from Sista Strings. Actual sisters Chauntee and Monique Ross were a delight to the senses, and about as far as you can get from what you’d expect to open a Metallica concert. The classically trained duo play violin and cello and with a serious serving of soul. Though they are no strangers to touring with some of today’s biggest acts, it’s clear that a metal show was new territory.
Still, the sisters held their own in every way and made for a very graceful start to the evening.
All Within My Hands
Having whet our musical palates, the guests and the giving got underway. Longtime friend of the band, Tom Morello gave a moving speech about the importance of community, and non-digital interaction especially for children as he introduced Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament. Ament’s foundation, the Montana Pool Service has been hard at work for the last many years building professional level skate parks, many specifically for Indigenous youth in Montana and the Dakotas. In Ament’s own words, “Having a thing that makes you feel alive, saves lives.”
AWMH honored the work that Ament had undertaken and cut a hefty check to help fund the construction of six new park projects in 2025.
For a moment, the evening felt almost too tame. Here were all these rock legends speaking softly and on their best behavior. Then came Sammy Hagar. Sauntering out with a bottle of tequila and feeling doubly emboldened with the Silver Surfer himself, Joe Satriani by his side, Sammy began to shake us all out of our lull. Along with original Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony and legendary drummer Aronoff, they went through classics from VH, Hagar’s own catalog and of course, a few of their own as a group, Chicken Foot. It as a surprise treat that few were expecting but we all thoroughly enjoyed.
All Within My Hands
In a 180-degree contrast to Ament’s rural focus and Hagar’s brazen bottle rock, the next special guest presenter was Wu-Tang mastermind RZA who spoke to the value of rehabilitation and second chances. RZA highlighted the work of Homeboy Industries, a LA-based nonprofit that provides training and support to formerly gang-involved and previously incarcerated people, allowing them to redirect their lives and become contributing members of the community. Homeboy COO Steve Delgado spoke briefly and once again, the AWMH foundation pledged it support with a long string of zeros.
UPROXX
Finally, the moment we’d all been waiting for arrived, or so we thought. Kimmel popped out once again to introduce the fearsome foursome and Metallica took the stage. To everybody’s surprise, they had acoustic guitars in hand. No big amps on the stage. Frontman James Hetfield sat down on a stool, leaned into the microphone, and simply said “Alright, shhhhh. Acoustic.” The group played several songs in their most stripped-down possible form. Opening act Sister Strings came and join them for a few tunes which was actually quite special to see and gave a taste of the band’s 1999 S&M album recorded with the San Francisco Symphony. Finally, after their most well-known ballad, ‘Nothing Else Matters’, they took a bow and Hetfield coyly whispered “Thank you. We’ll be back with louder guitars”.
As the band took their time to switch into the thunderous electric titans that everyone has come to expect, Kimmel honored one more organization. Maggie Baird and her foundation Support + Feed were introduced via video messages from her two kids, Fineas and Billie Eilish. The Support + Feed Foundation focuses on nutritional education providing access to plant-based meals to those in need. To date they have served over one million meals. This organization was a perfect final honoree for the night as the fight against hunger is the cornerstone to the All Within My Hands mission. Metallica actually donates a percentage of proceeds from every show to local organizations in the host city. Feeding the people is a part of their ethos and with one final donation to Support + Feed, it was time for our main course.
All Within My Hands
To kick off the full-throttle set we’d all come to see, actor and activist Jason Momoa took the stage to re-introduce the band. A self-proclaimed lifelong fanboy, Mamoa seemed to speak for everyone in the building as he praised the place that Metallica held in his life and the lives of so many others. With a roar like only he could utter, Mamoa screamed their name and the four horsemen came thundering forth.
Metallica
If there was even a sliver of a question about their level of gusto after the slow acoustic start, it was blown away in just a few notes. Metallica ripped through eight songs ranging from their first studio album ‘Kill Em All’ through their 11th and latest ‘72 Seasons’ for which their current tour is named. Honoree and bassist Jeff Ament joined the group for one song. Tom Morello never picked up an axe and respectfully left the shred to Hammett and Hetfield. They notably skipped their most commercially successful song of all time ‘Enter Sandman’ and closed their set with ‘Master of Muppets,’ arguably the true fan favorite and certainly one of their all-time greatest hits.
Metallica
For a band that’s been rocking as hard as they have for over 42 years, Metallica showed no signs of losing steam. Just as impressive as their decades-long run and enduring dynamic performances was the context of the whole evening. The black-clad giants of sonic aggression turned down the decibels and spoke deeply from their hearts about what it means to give back and why it matters so much. In a world where far too many celebrities are only doing good for the gram and the tax write-offs, Metallica are as genuine and committed to making the world a better place as they come.
Go take a look for yourself and see just how much good the All Within My Hands Foundation is doing via their website here. Also, the silent auction for this most recent Helping Hands benefit is still open through Jan 7th. With items ranging from signed guitars and merch to future concert packages, it’s not too late to get in on the giving action yourself. No matter how you choose to do it, take a page from the masters of metal and go make a difference for the greater good.
Crumbl fans, get ready because we’re getting another shortened week at our favorite specialty cookie shop. This week Crumbl will be closing its doors at 6 PM on New Year’s Eve, and will be completely closed New Year’s Day. That’s great news for Crumbl employees, and bad news for us cookie-obsessed individuals. It means you have one less day to get this week’s run of limited-time cookies, which is why it’s vital that we break down the best of the best on the menu this week.
After all, some of us still have holiday Crumbl gift cards we are itching to spend.
This week at Crumbl we’re getting a lot of repeats from the last couple of months, which is to be expected with Crumbl’s new eight cookie lineup. Luckily what’s coming back still has us excited. So without further ado, here is every cookie dropping at Crumbl this week ranked from least to most essential.
8. Monster Ft. M&M’s Candies
Dane Rivera
Thoughts & Tasting Notes:
We know what you’re thinking: you’re looking at the name of this cookie, looking at the name, and wondering where the hell are the M&M’s? Same. They are there, embedded within the cookie, but clearly the execution of this cookie needs some work,
The Monster features a toasty peanut butter base with M&Ms, peanut butter chips, and semi-sweet chocolate chips. Considering how much chocolate is here, it’s amazing how the dominating note of this cookie is peanut butter. Crumbl drops a peanut butter cookie almost every week, and most of the time, they taste the same. This one is no different. For us, its a skip.
The Bottom Line:
A low-effort peanut butter cookie. Definitely not Crumbl’s best version of the flavor.
7. Cookie Dough
Dane Rivera
Thoughts & Tasting Notes:
I like raw cookie dough as much as the next person, but in our opinion cookie dough is a nice little treat. You know what’s better? A cookie. Crumbl’s Cookie Dough cookie comes across as unfinished. The flavors never satisfy in the way something like the chocolate chip does.
This cookie is built on an earthy brown sugar base topped with cookie-dough flavored buttercream, cookie dough pieces, and sweet chocolate chips. It has all the makings of a good cookie, but the flavors never come together.
The Bottom Line:
An overrated flavor that is good in theory but doesn’t satisfy in its execution.
6. The Original Pink Sugar
Dane Rivera
Thoughts & Tasting Notes:
For some Crumbl fans, this is the best cookie. I know people who buy a whole box of these and freeze them so they can have one every week. If you’ve never had the Pink Sugar cookie, it’s definitely worth checking out.
The cookie features a thick smear of almond frosting over an almond cookie base. That double almond flavor makes it more elevated — and better tasting — than any sugar cookie you’ve ever had.
The Bottom Line:
An almond-based sugar cookie that is definitely worth trying if you’ve never had it. If you have and its already not your favorite, this is an easy skip that you can be sure will hit the menu again soon.
5. Milk Chocolate Chip
Dane Rivera
Thoughts & Tasting Notes:
You know the drill here, this is a near-perfect chocolate chip cookie, bested only by Crumbl’s semi-sweet variation. If you like that classic brown sugar, butter, and milk chocolate blend that is a chocolate chip cookie, you won’t be disappointed here.
The Bottom Line:
Great as always, but if you’ve had this one recently, feel free to skip it, you know its coming back in two weeks.
4. Churro
Dane Rivera
Thoughts & Tasting Notes:
I desperately want to love the Churro cookie but I’ve had it two times now, and both times it has failed to wow me. I love churros, and I think that’s the problem. Despite its name, this doesn’t quite capture the magic of a real churro, but if you like a mix of cinnamon and white sugar, this cookie definitely delivers.
The flavor is dark, rich, and sweet, with gentle spicy cinnamon notes, a dusty crumbly texture, and a sweet, slight tang, courtesy of the buttercream swirl.
The Bottom Line:
A tasty cinnamon-forward cookie, but not nearly as good as a real churro.
3. French Toast
Dane Rivera
Thoughts & Tasting Notes:
My issue with the French Toast is similar to my issue with the Churro. It uses the name and flavors of a superior snack! Crumbl’s French Toast cookie (if you want to call it that) doesn’t taste nearly as good as a slice of good French toast. It doesn’t have that gooey decadence that makes this treat one of the greatest breakfast dishes of all time, and while it is best served warm, it’s never truly as warm as a slice from your favorite breakfast restaurant.
Despite how it doesn’t live up to the promise of its name, I can’t deny that the French Toast cookie is pretty damn tasty. The texture is bready, a bit fluffy, and it’s packed with a spicy mix of cinnamon, clove, and white sugar flavors. The butter cream is sweet and tangy, and the hint of syrup adds a pleasing kiss of maple to the aftertaste.
The Bottom Line:
It looks like a piece of French Toast, but it’s not quite as good. If you go in there knowing that and don’t compare it to the real thing, then this snack becomes incredibly delicious.
2. Cookies & Cream Tres Leches Cake
Dane Rivera
Thoughts & Tasting Notes:
If you like the moist texture and the delicate flavor of Tres Leches, but feel it’s a little too creamy, and wish it was a bit more decadent — the Cookies & Cream Tres Leches Cake delivers the decadence.
This cake features a dark chocolate base in creamy tres leches, a whipped cream topping, and bits of cookies and cream streusel. It’s moist, rich, creamy, and super chocolatey. The chocolate cake soaks up the tres leches perfectly, making sure every forkful is an explosion of intense flavors.
The Bottom Line:
One of Crumbl’s better tres leches cakes. It’s equal parts moist and decadent.
1. Vanilla Crumb Cake ft. Golden Oreo
Dane Rivera
Thoughts & Tasting Notes:
I’ve never given one of Crumbl’s Oreo cookies the top spot, so I’m surprised by this pick! Especially because we think the Golden Oreo isn’t even half as good as the OG chocolate flavor. This cookie was just too damn good to deny. We wish we had another one!
The cookie features a vanilla cookie base that has bits of Golden Oreos inside of it topped with Crumbl’s addictive vanilla cream cheese frosting, and a dusting of Golden Oreo dust. If you like vanilla, this cookie delivers a whole lot of that. It’s delicate and sweet yet earthy and floral.
The Bottom Line:
Quite possibly Crumbl’s best Oreo-based cookie and easily our pick for the best of the week.
Earlier this year, Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight was revealed to be working on a movie about the Shelby fam and the gang in WWII. That project has already finished filming and should surface in 2025, and BBC/Netflix haven’t revealed whether the project will go theatrical or head straight to streaming, but the expansive cast does include several original members led by (of course) Tommy Shelby himself, Cillian Murphy.
Netflix, BBC, and friends have kept the plot’s details fairly secretive, although Knight did specify, “The country is at war, and so, of course, are our Peaky Blinders.” And what of the title and its revelations?
As rumored and then presumably confirmed by a crew member’s Instagram post, the film’s title is The Immortal Man. At this point, we can only guess that this refers to how Tommy has cheated death several times, including his WWI tour, an open-grave “gotcha” message from Winston Churchill, a crushed skull at the behest of Father Hughes, and a fake brain tumor diagnosis at the direction of Oswald Mosley. That doesn’t even account for how Tommy’s gypsy wagon was set aflame, along with his keepsake memories, or how long it took for remaining Shelby family members to learn that he remained alive.
Evading death in that many ways certainly qualifies for figurative “immortal” status, and if Tommy uses this leg of the Peaky Blinders story to pass his empire onto his sons, then his legacy should live forever.
To add a further wrinkle: It’s been heavily speculated (with apparent evidence to support that theory) that Barry Keoghan’s role is that of Duke Shelby, Tommy’s illegitimate son who was set to take over Shelby Company Limited’s illicit dealings. Knight has further suggested to Screenrant that the future holds a spin off about “the new generation in a series that will take place after the Second World War.” Will Tommy still be “immortal” when he finally passes the torch? Nobody is talking yet, but we should find out sometime next year.
Let’s be real. Most of the gifts you got suck (except the ones we recommended). Some legitimately suck, as in: “Are not well made and only contribute to a culture of consumerism without adding anything of significance to your life.” And others suck simply because they don’t fulfill a need you have, leaving them destined for the drawer next to the stove or a box in the attic, only to be Marie Kondo’d to Goodwill in a few years.
So we recommend you skip a few steps right now and — Return. That. Shit.
Keep the cash. Or get stuff that genuinely matters to you. Items that help you feel more fully yourself, more confident as you navigate our big-messy-complicated world, and more soothed in an era of hysteria. Self-care stuff.
Of course, “self-care” is a pretty wide net. I might call eating ten tacos self-care on the right day. So find what works for you and skip what doesn’t. 2025 is upon us and it’s time to follow your own compass.
EDITOR’S PICK: Lumix — S9 Full Frame Mirrorless Camera
But that means having tools that don’t create more work than they’re worth. If it’s complicated… you just won’t use it.
This camera has big “dope camera for dummies” energy. More specifically, it’s made for social-media content creators and the premise is that you can create custom looks — essentially pre-sets — in your camera and export them quickly.
I absolutely love it. You’re able to make presets based on your aesthetic tastes and then apply them to your photos — which means you don’t necessarily need an editing app on your phone. You can pretty easily go from the camera straight to Instagram’s tools and have everything you need.
Another great aspect of this camera is that it’s a dang bruiser. It’s built well and mirrorless — which makes it super robust for anyone tossing it in a backpack without a ton of excess padding (not recommended, but still.)
If you’re looking to get into photography beyond the iPhone and want something that can be your all-arounder, I can’t recommend any camera higher!
I have featured wireless headphones every year that we’ve been running gift guides. This pair, from Bowers & Wilkins and McLaren is most certainly the most elevated pair we’ve touched, with the best sound quality. The styling is impeccable — important if you wear headphones as much as I do — but, more to the point, the sound quality is impeccable.
Also, as a guy who has ruined about 12 pairs of Beats over the years and had Apple tell me, “Sucks to be you,” I’d also like to note that these are much more durable. I keep them in the case — they are $800 headphones, after all — but they can handle getting banged around a lot more than flimsy over-ear Beats.
One more note: I like the external sound dampening on these more than on any other pair I’ve owned. The “external awareness” setting is more natural and less distracting than other brands and the “silent focus” setting is impeccable. The battery power is next level and a half-charge has carried me through many a cross country plane ride this year.
To me, travel is the epitome of self-care. And for bigger trips, I held out with backpacks until this year. If I was checking a bag, it was a backpack, right up until the end of 2024 — when I found this suitcase.
This case just makes checking a bag so easy. It locks. It’s bold and stylish without being overstated. And it’s sturdy as f*ck. That quality is vital for me and something I can attest to personally because the bag rolled off my porch and down 10 steps the first time I ever traveled with it. Barely a scuff on the thing!
Between the omnidirectional wheels and the huge volume, this is everything you want out of a suitcase and has me fully converted from a life of backpacks.
The whole mushroom movement has fully arrived. I can’t go to Instagram without another influencer telling me about the transformational effects of psilocybin and why I should be microdosing.
And I’m fully in. 110%. Thanks, in a large part, to these gummies.
In work life, that means that it’s been easier to see the POV of others, admit mistakes, and have ideas rejected without taking it personally — all vital skills for people in creative fields. In my personal life, I’ve completely shifted my habits and routines.
If all of that sounds interesting to you, I recommend I AM’s “Delight” formulation for a lighter experience and their “Insight” expression for a deeper investigation into the self. Because I’m someone who loves to party and rarely drinks, I’ll also often take 5-7 Delight gummies for a party night. And I AM makes a “hero dose” tea for those ready for a true deep dive.
Check the brand out if you’ve been curious about the whole “mushroom thing” buzzing through culture and want a brand that is organic, vegan, supports their customers with information, and is values-driven. It’s no coincidence that many of the aforementioned IG health and lifestyle influencers are fans of the brand. Also… these little gems taste absolutely delicious.
Face stuff is tricky. You never know if it’s working because it’s part of a bigger routine and needs to be part of your life over a long segment of time to see results. With that said, I’ve read some of the red light therapy studies for myself and they seem legit. I sit this little toy right next to my desk and run it up and down my cheeks between calls.
Am I more vital? Is my skin younger? Yes, I think I notice some added fullness. Especially on some scars I have. And the back side of the device has a face-scrubber/ massager that I love using before bed. So while you never can be completely sure about face stuff, this one passes my muster.
Cooking might actually be my highest form of self-care and Le Creuset is the highest form cookware. What else is there to say? You need one of these all-rounder dutch ovens desperately for soups, stews, etc. The number of single pot meals you can make with a Le Cruset is endless and, obviously, it’s nice that folks will be impressed by your style.
Listen, I like to have bright teeth, okay? That gives me confidence. I get them whitened professionally and I do it at home. I’m basically Clooney in Intolerable Cruelty:
And this is the best set I’ve found to combine whitening approaches without being hard on your enamel. I vouch for it. Check my smile for the co-sign.
This isn’t a whitening product. It’s a “cheat at flossing” product. Or, to be more specific, it’s a “supplement your flossing and brushing” product. It’s basically a water pick that fits your whole mouth at once.
I use this twice in the morning and twice at night. It leaves my mouth feeling clean and my confidence about my breath high. I feel more confident being right in someone’s face. I have that “straight from the dentist” feel that we all wish could last.
Now to the nitty gritty: What does a pro say?
After six months, I told my dentist about it and he said very clearly: “This does not replace flossing.” BUT he also said that my flossing looked better and this was the only change I had made, so… kind of a mixed bag there.
Here’s the bottom line: If you put a high-priority on oral hygiene, you’re gonna love this. I know I do.
I’ll tell you, I have multiple shock-based products at my house. All for areas where I have a little excess flesh. I have one of those ab-stimulators for my belly at my desk and this for my face.
I will say: It’s a little odd to get your face shocked all day. But also, I am a tooth clencher and I certainly notice both a release of my jaw muscles and a slimming of my face. (For what it’s worth, I vouch for the ab-stimulator too.)
Get this for yourself if you want to feel like you’re working on your appearance while working at home.
If you live in SoCal or anywhere else where the water stinks and is full of minerals, you need a filtered showerhead and you notice it instantly. Your nails, your hair… everything is better.
I specifically find my hair to feel softer and grow faster when I have a nice filtered showerhead and this is the best of the bunch that I’ve tried!
The Sacramento Kings fired Mike Brown on Friday after a 13-18 start to the 2024-25 season, falling to 12th in the West and three games back of the final Play-In spot already. They have been one of the league’s most disappointing teams given where expectations were coming into the year, and seem miles away from the team that won the 3-seed just two seasons ago.
While you can argue the decision to fire Brown is an example of this, how they got to this point isn’t a tale of organizational malpractice, but a reminder of how thin the margins are for building a contender in today’s NBA, especially as one of the league’s non-destination teams. There are a number of factors that have brought the Kings to this point, where they’ve fired their coach and are staring down an ever-shrinking window to appease De’Aaron Fox’s desire to compete for titles. For one, they are the latest in a long line of teams that you can argue are the victims of their own sudden success. That 2023 playoff appearance saw them earn the 3-seed, but that was as a 48-win team taking advantage of a down year in the West. While they failed to build on that the following year, Sacramento still won 46 games and finished in ninth — the same spot they would’ve been as a 48-win team, too.
Sacramento tried to do all the right things in building this team, and in a vacuum, each of their decisions makes sense. They paired Fox with Domantas Sabonis, creating a star duo that complements each other beautifully on the offensive end of the floor. They drafted a wing in Keegan Murray who, if all went well, would be an ideal fit between them on the wing. They made free agency and trade additions that, initially, looked like steals in Malik Monk and Kevin Huerter, and rewarded both with extensions after they proved they could help the team. After plateauing last season, they swapped out Harrison Barnes for DeMar DeRozan to alleviate some of the scoring burden on their stars and shift Murray back into a more comfortable role.
Unfortunately, even the best laid plans can go awry. They’ve seen their depth get thinner as they’ve handed out contract extensions (most notably a max for Sabonis) and the players they’ve placed bets on to pick up the slack in larger roles have regressed. Monk has been a league-average shooter since his arrival and remains one, but his microwave tendencies are much more impactful when he’s buoying a bench unit in bursts rather than needing to provide a constant lift. The reason they’ve needed more from Monk is because Huerter and Murray have never been able to regain the form of two years ago, with both falling off a cliff in terms of three-point efficiency (Murray: 44.1 percent to 29.5 percent; Huerter: 40.2 percent to 31.2 percent). That has been a gigantic reason for the Kings falling down to the 24th-best three-point shooting team in the league, which is how a team that was once an offensive juggernaut becomes a slightly above-average unit.
When you go back through the last two years of Kings roster decisions, there aren’t any that jump out as disastrous when they happened. The Huerter extension was thought to be a value deal for Sacramento at the time, but his regression has been rather staggering. Extending Monk was, likewise, a no-brainer at the time, and he’s at least maintained his level, even if they hoped in an ideal world for a leap of some kind. And then there’s the Sabonis extension. They had no real choice but to give him after how well he played that first season after he was acquired in a trade for Tyrese Haliburton (a thorny subject, but again, it made sense if you decided Fox was The Guy), because when you have an All-Star talent in today’s NBA, you basically have to give them a max.
The Kings especially aren’t a team that can play hardball with All-Star caliber players, because few are going to have Sacramento high on their list of preferred destinations. That is not necessarily unique to the Kings, as I’d venture a guess that this sentiment goes for a majority of teams in the NBA, but Sacramento not only lacks the location to attract stars, they also have had plenty of organizational dysfunction working against them as well.
And so, the Kings bet on that 2023 season being just the beginning of a great run, hoping they had finally put the right pieces together and could try out stability for a change. Instead, it appears that season was a mirage. Sabonis and Fox have continued to be excellent and maintained that level, but they occupy the tier below the ultra-elite that make a team a title contender by their mere presence. When you have that caliber of star, you can’t miss with your supporting cast. Unfortunately for Sacramento, rather than internal development, they’ve seen regression around their stars, and their attempt this offseason to salvage things by signing DeRozan has not brought about the turnaround they hoped for. Now, the Kings are rapidly approaching a crossroads.
Fox’s future looms over everything in Sacramento. They tried to build a contender around him and thought they were doing it the right way. Instead, they’re stuck with two options to try and salvage the Fox era or see him become the latest young star to push his way to greener pastures. One is to ask for patience. That tends to be in short supply for young NBA stars who don’t see a clear vision, but the Kings can try and sell Fox on this group just needing more time to coalesce and that they’re not that far off from a run if they can get Murray out of his slump. However, given they just fired their otherwise successful coach after a slow start (which, it should be said, is the first sign of possibly reverting back to the Kangz of old), I have a hard time imagining this is a real option.
The second option is to make one last desperation swing ahead of the trade deadline. Zach LaVine and Brandon Ingram remain out there and very available, and if the Kings were to include Murray, they could certainly make an intriguing offer to either the Bulls or Pelicans (or a push for a different star not currently on the radar). The concern, of course, is that won’t be enough, and they’ll give up their best assets for, potentially, a short-term rental only to see Fox ask to leave, anyway.
If they’re unsuccessful with either option, they’ll have to spend this summer fielding trade offers for Fox and figure out how to move forward as a franchise. It’s the unfortunate reality of life as a non-destination organization. They did so much good work to identify and acquire talent to build a promising young team, but you can’t afford any missteps along the way. They’re not the first team to get fooled by a playoff mirage and won’t be the last, but there’s a difference in how teams get punished for it.
Two of the best recent examples are in Miami and Portland, who both got caught in this position over the past decade. Portland could never fully recover from a string of failed wing investments around Damian Lillard (Allen Crabbe, Evan Turner, Moe Harkless), and while it took quite a while, eventually the star guard asked out. Now, they’re trying to start back over almost from scratch, hoping to find the next young star to build around. The Heat made some similarly poor bets (Tyler Johnson, Hassan Whiteside), but by virtue of being a destination city and franchise, they were able to quickly retool and moved back into the contender sphere in the East within a few years.
Unfortunately for the Kings, they fall into the Portland category and if Fox does indeed end up asking out, they’ll need to be savvy with how they proceed. Having Sabonis around should give them an avenue Portland didn’t have in terms of star talent remaining, but they’ll still have to thread the needle between adding draft assets and finding some current talent to bring back. The challenge for a team like the Kings is, while perhaps you need to be more cold in your self-evaluation as an organization after a big year, at the same time, your best bet for building a real contender is to identify talent early and lock those players in long-term.
There are no clear blueprints to follow. Instead, you just have to get it right when you aren’t a place that pops up on every star’s wishlist. This time around, the Kings didn’t, as has been the case with every iteration of team-building the franchise has tried over the last two decades. Now we wait to see what the full fallout will be from this well-intentioned build gone awry.
Karol G has worked and worked to the point that she’s now one of Latin music’s biggest stars. She’s been on a journey, and now that story is set to be recounted in an upcoming Netflix documentary.
Karol shared a social media post confirming the documentary is coming in 2025. The post includes a note written on a piece of paper that reads, “A story born from dreams that seemed impossible, fueled by unwavering faith. A relentless journey that defied all odds. My life. My work. My truth. And the powerful connection I share with you all. My dream came true.”
A statement from Netflix describes the project as “an intimate portrait of a global music icon — the woman behind the artist,” as Billboard notes.
The documentary does not yet have an announced title or release date. What we do know is that it’s led by Emmy Award-winning director and producer Cristina Costantini, and produced by Sony Pictures Television’s This Machine, in association with Bichota Films and Interscope Films.
This comes after a monster year from Karol that saw her release her latest album, Mañana Será Bonito, which became her first release to hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. It also follows her and Shakira’s top-10 2023 single “TQG.”
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…..I don’t want it nomore tho,” 
