Category: News

The New York Knicks spent their offseason aiming to rectify the playoff pitfalls that buried their joyful 2020-21 campaign on a sour note. Outside of All-NBA forward Julius Randle, New York’s options for creation were severely limited last year. In the first round, the Atlanta Hawks were fully cognizant of that, so they swarmed his airspace on every touch and coaxed other guys to beat them. Randle forced some shots, struggled with his jumper and everyone else couldn’t pick up the slack when presented the chance. The result was a 4-1 defeat in which none of the final three games were particularly close.

Alongside anticipated growth from RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley, a pair of former Boston Celtics, Evan Fournier and Kemba Walker, have come to the Big Apple in hopes of New York now having the requisite offensive firepower to supplement its stifling defense. Fournier begins his Knicks tenure on a four-year, $73 million as one of the higher-profile free agents of last summer. New York wanted him and invested heavily in his services.

Walker, meanwhile, begins his Knicks tenure following an injury riddled 2020-21, brief excursion as a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder and a buyout that saw an early termination of the max contract he signed back in 2019 and led to him inking a two-year, $17.8 million deal with New York.

Despite the gulf in salaries and divergent paths from Boston to New York, both Fournier and Walker will be central to the Knicks’ intentions of building upon last season’s resurgence. Fournier, though, feels a little more solidified in what he will bring. He’s 28, doesn’t have Walker’s recent string of unfortunate health concerns, will offer valuable floor-spacing, and touts some on- and off-ball scoring chops. Walker is a good player, but his contributions are in flux.

He was good last year, but was clearly diminished from his pre-injury self. Did the offseason revitalize him or will he continue to decline as he approaches his 32nd birthday? He also only played 43 games last season. How much can New York expect of him? His pull-up shooting, playmaking and off-ball versatility will invigorate the offense and provide traits this team either lacked or needed more of to avoid its demise last season.

But how much can the Knicks rely on him without overextending him and jeopardizing his health? Finding that balance is a pressing factor. He makes life easier offensively for Randle, Barrett and other foundational players, yet that’s only if he’s available to suit up. This isn’t to say he won’t be, but the last year and a half paint a dubious outlook for a small guard on the wrong side of 30 who backpacked a huge offensive workload for nearly a decade.

The spectrum of outcomes for Walker’s health and performance this season is wide and where exactly he lands on that spectrum has massive implications for determining where New York settles among the crowded middle class of the Eastern Conference.

Ben Simmons is back in Philadelphia, but his trade demand saga is far from over. The three-time All-Star is only back with the team because he has to be, and he has made it clear in his first couple days of practice that he is not very invested in being with the Sixers right now.

That led to Simmons getting kicked out of practice on Tuesday for not being engaged, as Doc Rivers said he felt he was “a distraction,” and the team suspended him for the opener in New Orleans for conduct detrimental to the team shortly after practice. It’s clear this is a situation that’s only going to get uglier, and adding fuel to the fire is Hall of Fame instigator Joel Embiid. The Sixers All-NBA big man has apparently had enough of taking a diplomatic approach to the Simmons situation and let his true feelings be known on Tuesday after the practice Simmons got booted from.

Embiid told reporters “I don’t care about that man,” expressing his frustration with what he clearly feels is selfish behavior from Simmons.

He continued to bury Simmons by saying its not his job or the rest of the team’s job to “babysit” Simmons, and as such he’s focused on the guys who are invested and want to win games.

So, yeah, everything’s great in Philly! If there is a good thing for the Sixers in all of this, it’s that Embiid might, through sheer force of will, keep this train on the tracks because for however disruptive Simmons wants to be, no one thrives in the chaos quite like Joel.

In another boon for paradise-seeking travelers, Fiji just announced that their nearly two years of isolation from tourism are about to end. While this is great news for Fiji’s travel industry, it only applies to a handful of countries and, of course, comes with a few caveats.

Before we get into what you’ll need to do to visit paradise, let’s look at what Fiji has done to reopen. Back in July, the island’s government implemented the “no jab, no job” initiative. That’s pretty clear messaging and, now, 96.6 percent of those over 18 have had their first dose of the vaccine (over 80 percent are double dosed). The government feels that this measure — along with refitted hotels, an updated airport, app tracking, and a short quarantine period — will be enough to ensure the safety of the island’s largely Indigenous population.

When it comes to you traveling to Fiji, there are a few things you need besides getting two doses of a covid vaccine. You’ll be required to present a negative PCR test before travel that’s less than three days old. You’ll also receive a rapid antigen test upon arrival at Nadi International Airport. Tourists will have to undergo a ” two or three-day hotel confinement,” according to reporting in The Guardian, which seems pretty standard since resort stays are why most tourists are there.

All of this is set to begin on November 11th (though the first international flight doesn’t arrive until December 1st) for fully vaccinated citizens from 14 countries — including the U.S. — and most of the Pacific Island nations. You’ll also need to prebook a hotel stay (which you’d do anyway) at a “Care Fiji Commitment” resort that has been fitted out to deal with you in case you do get sick (remember, incubation for COVID-19 is 5-6 days). Lastly, you’ll need to download the careFIJI contact tracing app and keep it activated and connected to Bluetooth the whole time you’re traveling around the island(s).

Hopefully, these tactics will help ensure that Fiji can remain open to tourism and get its economy back up and running. Until then, enjoy these Instagram images from the island!

While the lyrics on “Ex For A Reason” are vindictive, the beat for the new single is upbeat and fun, so naturally, Summer Walker’s video for the Still Over It single splits the difference between these two moods. Ultimately, though, it settles on a carefree note as the Atlanta singer hangs out with her girl JT preparing for a wild house party complete with a stripper pole, a strong sisterhood vibe, and a slightly incompetent DJ who barely manages not to ruin the festivities.

Summer’s been rolling out Still Over It, the aptly titled follow-up to her 2019 debut Over It, over the past month, announcing its imminent release after skipping the BET Hip-Hop Awards, then sharing a trailer and a tracklist teasing a narrative structure for the album and its songs that reflects on the past two years and shares Summer’s triumphs and troubles with love, relationships, and learning to value herself over her bond with a man.

Walker certainly has enough material to tell a compelling, soapy story full of twists and turns. From having her first child to starting her own label — not to mention, the various drama she’s had with ex London On Da Track — Summer’s seen her share of life changes over the last two years. Fans will finally get a window into those changes on November 5.

Watch the “Ex For A Reason” video above.

Megan Thee Stallion may be in a committed relationship, but that doesn’t mean the “Thot Sh*t” rapper couldn’t enjoy Hot Girl Summer. Though Megan went public with her relationship with fellow rapper Pardison Fontaine in February, she and her boo celebrated their one-year anniversary on Monday. They took to social media to commemorate the special date, which they posted about in two very different ways.

Megan marked the date with some cheeky (pun intended) photos of her and Pardi having fun in the sun. Some of the pictures were adorably playful, like them jumping on a trampoline or getting off a private airplane, while others were a little more NSFW.

On the other hand, Pardi opted to show Megan some love on their anniversary in a more romantic way. He edited an adorable video that stitched together various photos and videos of them spending time together. The video featured a spoken word poem about being in love along with John Legend’s tear jerking track “All Of Me.” The tribute included Instagram Live sessions between them, press clippings about their relationship, and some never-before-seen footage of even more adorable moments.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

After taking a week off from his Sirius XM radio show, Howard Stern returned in full force as the shock jock proceeded to unload on NBA star Kyrie Irving, who has become a “hero” to the anti-vaccination crowd (including Marjorie Taylor Greene) in recent weeks. The Brooklyn Nets player has refused to get the COVID vaccine, which has put him in violation of a New York state mandate, eseentially forcing his team to bench him. It’s a decision that Stern didn’t hesitate to label as “stupidity” as he blasted Irving for giving up millions to protest a life-saving vaccine. Via Mediaite:

“He’s my favorite dude who’s putting his money where his mouths is,” Stern added of Irving. “In terms of idiots, he’s gotta be the top idiot in the country right now. Guys got a chance as a young man to make millions of dollars, all he’s gotta do is get vaccinated.”

What baffled Stern and co-host Robin Quivers even more is that Irving hasn’t personally explained (even though he’s vaguely addressed the matter) why he refuses to get the vaccine. However, reports have indicated that he’s allegedly bought into several online conspiracy theories, which would not be a new experience for Irving.

“This guy’s got a history of being stupid,” Stern said. “He’s one of those guys who is a flat-earther too. And he doesn’t know anything, his mind works in a very strange way. He says, ‘I can’t figure out gravity, so it doesn’t exist.’”

Stern went on to praise the Nets for benching Irving, and he wishes whoever runs the team was running the whole country so it could put more “douchebags” in their place for not getting the vaccine.

(Via Mediaite)

Ben Simmons is back in Philadelphia after he reported to camp late once it became clear that his efforts at a holdout weren’t going to get him traded before the season started and he found himself missing out on a lot of money.

Simmons was back with the team starting on Sunday, with practice footage of him going through the motions with the team emerging on Monday when reporters were allowed in. The All-Star has yet to speak with the media since arriving in Philadelphia (which happened suddenly last week and even caught the Sixers by surprise) but was scheduled to do so on Tuesday after practice. That is, until a release got sent out by the team that Simmons had been suspended for the season opener due to “conduct detrimental to the team.”

Per numerous reports, Simmons refusal to be engaged in practice led to Doc Rivers kicking him out at the end of practice and, ultimately, the one-game suspension.

Rivers confirmed that he felt Simmons became “a distraction” in practice when he met with the media shortly after the suspension was announced.

It’s not a major surprise that this is happening, given Simmons has made clear he doesn’t want to play in Philly anymore but the team won’t trade him for pennies on the dollar, which has led to a stalemate. It figures to only get uglier from here, as it seems unlikely that Simmons or the Sixers suddenly change course until things get considerably worse. Who breaks first will be interesting to watch from afar, as Simmons getting suspended constantly and losing out on checks will test his resolve, while having a star disrupting practice will likewise test how uncomfortable the Sixers are willing to get while remaining adamant about their asking price.

Part of the NBA’s 75th anniversary celebration includes a quintet of the greatest players in league history being named ambassadors. Clyde Drexler, Magic Johnson, Dirk Nowitzki, Bob Pettit, and Oscar Robertson will represent the NBA throughout the various festivities that happen this year, with the group coming together during All-Star Weekend in Cleveland next February.

Ahead of the start of the 2021-22 season on Tuesday evening, Dime sat down with Pettit to discuss the various things he’ll do in this role, the people who were instrumental in getting the league to this milestone, why he thinks Bill Russell is the greatest basketball player of all time, and more.

I’d love to start by just getting, you know, your broad general thoughts on the NBA reaching its 75th anniversary milestone.

Well, I’m very excited to be one of the five ambassadors that have been selected to be a part of this, representing the NBA. And it’s going to be an exciting time. I’m looking forward to it in February in Cleveland, there are five of us that are going to be doing this. And I know, some of the others, certainly know of all of them. And I know that starting Tuesday, they’ll start to unveil the 75 players, that should be an exciting announcement to make. I think a lot of people and players and things are watching to see who’s going to be included.

It’s a special time in the history of the NBA, it’s amazing. I came into the NBA in 1954, which was about eight years that the league was founded, is when I came in. And then today is going to be the 75th. So, I’ve chosen to live long enough to see that. I’ve been very fortunate with my health and what have you to be able to be around and be a part of this 75th. So I’m excited and looking forward to it.

And what is it about the NBA that you think has kept people captivated for 75 years?

Well, I think the NBA has done an excellent job of continuing to expand and grow, including other areas and other countries. I’ve said this before, I get a lot of letters from kids asking me to sign something. And quite a few of them are from Germany or France, I get some from Japan and Taiwan, and some from Korea, some from China. The NBA has done a great job of marketing itself. They’ve continued to expand and grow and, and have done a lot in communities. We never did that when I was playing. So, the growth of the NBA has been fueled, I think, by the management and the way that they have continued to include new groups of fans, and new ways of looking at the game and watching it, being a part of it. I think the NBA has done an excellent job as far as continuing to grow, and continuing to expand, and finding ways to keep people interested.

Yeah, and I’ve always believed, at the end of the day, if you just show someone the highest quality of basketball, it’s going to be very hard for them to not love it.

Yes, and the thing of it is, today, there’s so many teams and so many great players, I mean, wonderful players, that each team has them, and any game you go and watch, you’re going to see outstanding players and a great game of basketball. There’s not any teams that you wouldn’t want to see.

And you mentioned it a little bit, but what will you be doing in your role as an ambassador?

Today is my first day meeting with the media about the games, but my role is going to continue to expand, I think, and as we go into this, I feel like I’m feeling my way along, and want to continue to grow and improve and be real be a real part of the 75th anniversary. And so, my role will be to represent the NBA in certain things like with the media, and on television, and what have you as we get closer to the 75th anniversary. I’m one of five, the others are Magic Johnson, Oscar Robertson, Clyde Drexler, and Dirk Nowitzki. I haven’t met with them yet, but I think as we go closer, that will happen, and we’ll have an opportunity to discuss and develop and expand our role, and I’m certainly willing to do that. I’m excited to be a part of it. I’ve been involved in NBA for, I’m gonna say, 68 of the 75 years. So I’ve got a history with it.

And you mentioned those other ambassadors — I think if we put you Magic, Dirk, Clyde and Oscar out there, I don’t know if there are many starting fives in history that can match it up with y’all.

That be that would be a pretty good starting five. I’d have to get my crutch out [laughs]. My tiptoes is about as high as I can jump, on my tiptoes. But yes, if you’ve got them in their prime, that would be a really nice team, I’d think.

When you look back on 75 years of the NBA, who were the people who were the most important and the most prominent, in your eyes, in turning into what it is today and why?

Obviously, I think the main thing to make it what it is was David Stern, who was commissioner for I don’t know how many years, but he watched the NBA come from its infancy and take it to where it continues to grow and develop today. So, I think he would be the most influential person in the history in the growth of the NBA.

You could go back and you start naming names, and you could come out with, I mean, I can’t tell you the number of names and some of the pioneers and owners. I played for a man named Ben Kerner. That was his whole life, was basketball, the Milwaukee Hawks and the St. Louis Hawks. He had nothing, no other interest. And, you know, you had Les Harrison in Rochester, and you had Eddie Gottlieb in Philadelphia, these guys, that was their whole existence. It’s different today. The company’s own, I guess, by corporations and very, very, very wealthy individuals. And it is expanded a role in that way.

Those those early pioneers — as I said, the Eddie Gottliebs and Les Harrisons and Ben Kerners — are very important to keeping the league going in the very difficult days. I mean, in our team in St. Louis, we’d be down to eight players during the season. Why? Because two players, he could get rid of, he didn’t have to pay the salaries. And money was that tight for some of these owners, difficult. They were, I think, very instrumental in keeping the NBA going to work and it can expand.

So, I could keep naming names, but that would be two groups I’d mention, early owners and David Stern.

Are there any moments, whether they are on the court or off the court, that you think helped push basketball into the big cultural phenomenon that it is today?

Well, I’d have to think about that a while. I don’t know that I’d be able to sit down and come up with any one or two things. But I think maybe one of the things would be the three point shot, and a lot of people love it and watch it, and a lot of people don’t like it. But it’s been very instrumental in changing the game of basketball to where the fans can really get involved. And I guess that, to me, in my humble opinion, that would probably be as important as any others.

Who are the teams and who were the players that you enjoy watching the most right now?

I enjoy watching Kevin Durant. That would be the one person that I enjoy watching, because I fancied myself forward and I love to watch him move and shoot — he’s a great shooter. And I enjoy watching, in San Francisco, Steph Curry, I love watching him shoot when he shoots from way out. It doesn’t even look like he’s looking, and he turns and fires, and it’s more likely that not that it goes in.

I know that you were a guy who was able to shoot a jumper and play a little bit farther away from the hoop, and you are a bigger guy. Is that why you like watching a guy like Kevin Durant?

I like watching him play because he’s so good. And he plays forward, and I enjoy watching what he does, the way he plays. But yes, I was, I would think, one of the bigger guys that stepped away from the basket. In fact, when I first reported to the Hawks training camp, they were the Milwaukee Hawks, and our coach was Red Holzman. And Red took one look at me and he says, “You’re a forward, get outside,” and that was my instructions. And we had a center, Charlie Share, who was a big, strong guy, and he played, and I had to learn to play forward. I never played that ,had no instructions, no anything, just get out and play by trial and error and learn. So, I was fortunate enough to learn to hang on. But maybe that’s one of the reasons that I enjoy watching him play.

What are your thoughts on this upcoming season, whether it is related to the anniversary or just a general basketball watching thing? What are you excited about, what are you curious about?

Well living in New Orleans, I’m a Pelicans fan, and I have season tickets, so I go down and watch them play when I can. I don’t see every game, but I try to. But I watch the Pelicans and pull for them, and hopefully they continue to grow, to continue to improve, they’ve got two great players and they need to find another one or two somewhere.

It continues to be enjoyable. You’re watching some of the players that were the great players in the past, and starting maybe to lose a few of their skills. And there’s a number of young ones coming on. The problem I have, in my day, you played if you could walk. I broke my arm in one game, and three nights later, I’m playing with a broken arm. We didn’t have anybody else, so I’d go in for brief times on jump balls or what have you. And then eventually, when the pain went out of my left arm where I broke it, then I was able to play with a cast on it very effectively. It didn’t bother me.

Today, I see these players, so many of them got a month off because they have a sprained ankle. I played the next night with a sprained ankle so bad I couldn’t walk on it. It’s different in that way, I think, we had no way to set out a game or two unless you had a serious injury. But they live with that, it’s part of the game today. And I think some of that is they don’t want to ever be thought pushing an injured player into playing.

That’s one my things about the game today, but the game today, other than that one little little area, is exciting. I enjoy watching it. I think the NBA is doing a great job, they built the league to where it’s expanded worldwide now. It doesn’t have teams yet in London or Paris or wherever, but they got fans there. And I’m sure that’s going to be in the future somewhere. So, this is an exciting time for basketball.

I need to ask, what are your thoughts on getting to watch Zion Williamson every night?

I love to watch him. You know, he’s a 6’6 point guard so many times. He’s out front handling the ball. He’s a wonderful player to watch and I thoroughly enjoy it. He’s got a future ahead of him that’s very, very bright. There’s no telling how good a player he can be.

And my last question, I’m not going to ask you, “who do you think the greatest basketball player of all time is,” because everyone…

Bill Russell. I’m gonna answer that. I think Bill Russell is the greatest player that ever played.

Well, then let me ask you this. As someone who has seen so much basketball over the years, what qualities or attributes or accomplishments define the term “greatest” to the point that you can name Bill Russell is the greatest?

People say the name of the game is to win. You go out there to win. When you compete, you want to win, and he was the greatest winner that ever played. He won 11 championships in Boston, and without him, they were very good. They were good team. But they weren’t a championship team until Bill Russell joined them. His defense was incredible. Shot blocking, he played hard every minute that he played that I saw, and he was a team player. He didn’t worry about how many points he scored, he wanted to win and he wanted to rebound and block shots. And it was sensational.

The Chicago Sky won the first championship in franchise history on Sunday, storming back from 14 down in the second half to beat the Phoenix Mercury in Game 4, winning the WNBA Finals by a 3-1 margin.

It was a thrilling end to an entertaining series in which Chicago looked the part of the better team. Finals MVP Kahleah Copper got a chance to shine on the biggest stage, while veterans like Courtney Vandersloot, Allie Quigley, and Candace Parker all showed they are still championship caliber stars. After Game 4, the Mercury were left to wonder what if after blowing a big lead late and losing out on the opportunity to force a decisive Game 5 back in Phoenix. That frustration led to Diana Taurasi taking some anger out on the locker room door in the Wintrust Arena, breaking it in the process.

On Tuesday, the Sky held their championship parade, a chance to celebrate their accomplishments with their fans, sure, but also a chance to be a little bit petty about taking out the GOAT and Phoenix in the process. All of the expected parties were at the parade, from players to coaches to staffers, but a surprise guest made an appearance, as the broken door got a spot on stage.

It really is some all-world petty behavior and Sky fans absolutely loved it. Some of the most memorable championship parade moments are teams taking cracks at the opponents they beat along the way, and this absolutely falls right in line with the best. I just hope the door gets a spot on one of the buses and gets the full parade route treatment.

There ain’t no royal drama like The Great does royal drama. Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult are back in costumed action in this Season 2 trailer from Hulu, and yes, they hate the hell out of each other. That hasn’t changed, and Hoult’s depraved Peter III is a pain-in-the-ass as always, and kind-of how you’d imagine Kim Jong-un as a sexy, hard-partying Russian. The comedy stays bitingly dark, too, with Fanning’s Catherine the Great wondering about her likelihood of staying alive, and of course, there’s a beheading joke in there as well as some newfound Gillian Anderson.

This brings me to the subject of history, and accuracy. Catherine overthrew her husband, whom she did in fact detest, six months into their marriage. Whether or not this show will stick to any semblance of accuracy in the aftermath, well, that remains to be seen. HBO’s relatively recent Catherine The Great dealt a serious treatment of the subject, but Hulu’s take is very much of a different vibe. We’re seeing the darkest of humor, and if the powers that be decide to simply take everyone’s heads off, it actually wouldn’t be too terribly out-of-character with the show’s vibe. I’d be alright with it, as opposed to that horrible horse myth of the time about Catherine and the mystery surrounding Peter’s death. From the synopsis:

In season two of “The Great,” Catherine finally takes the Russian throne for her own — but if she thought coup-ing her husband was difficult, it’s nothing compared to the realities of ‘liberating’ a country that doesn’t want to be. She’ll battle her court, her team, even her own mother in a bid to bring the enlightenment to Russia. Meanwhile she’ll also battle her heart as Peter slowly transitions from much-hated husband, to prisoner? Ally? Lover? Ultimately Catherine will learn that to change a country, you must let it change you, that there is a fine line between idealism and delusion, and that becoming ‘Great’, will ask more of her than she could have imagined.

The Great returns to Hulu on November 19.