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‘World Of Warcraft’ Is The MMO That Will Never Die

Back in 2004, an MMO was made as a follow-up in the popular Warcraft series. Done with real-time strategy, Blizzard decided to expand the world they had created with World of Warcraft. It has been 17 years since then and to say that they found a gem would be an understatement.

World of Warcraft has survived multiple console generations, massive changes in technology and multiple attempts by others to replicate their formula. But nobody has been able to replicate the longevity of WoW. With Shadowlands Chains of Domination (also known as patch 9.1) releasing to the world at large on June 29, it is another part of one of the most impressive feats in gaming. A game that is still interesting after all this time and in a lot of ways feels fresh and new.

“Being in touch with the game, playing the game ourselves and listening closely to our community [are the keys to longevity],” Ion Hazzikostas, Game Director of World of Warcraft, said to UPROXX. “One of the challenges of continuing to evolve and update World of Warcraft is striking a balance between sort of catering to the desires for people who have been playing the game for 15 years in some cases and are still looking for something that is this mix of, you know, not too drastically different from what they’ve grown accustomed to, but fresh and new. And not just a retread of the same old, same old while still keeping the game accessible and bringing in new audiences where we can.”

This is a problem that more developers are going to come across as major games move in a more service-based direction. Focus too much on keeping the original adopters happy and it will eventually become too inclusive for new players, but those players are also your biggest fans. Ignore them for new players and they will eventually leave. The average lifespan of even the most popular games, however, is usually about the length of a console generation. WoW is a PC game that has been walking that line for four of them.

“I think one of the ways we’ve done that is to have our expansions and all of our updates to the game be a mix of sort of the evergreen, bread-and-butter foundations of World of Warcraft.” said Hazzikostas “Like our outdoor world, questing storytelling five-player cooperative is 10 to 30 player cooperative raids and player-versus-player content. But also have brand new features that are focused and restricted to a specific expansion such as the roguelike tour, or Tower of the Damned. That’s one of the centerpieces of Shadowlands.”

Shadowlands, and patch 9.1, has been one of the biggest updates WoW has ever seen. It took a 17-year-old game and made it more streamlined. It used to be that when a player entered into WoW they started in the exact same tutorial areas that players had been using since launch. They then had to play through essentially every expansion to try and reach endgame content and play with their friends. If they managed to get through all of that, then they could start playing the game the way it was intended to be. That became something developers saw as too inclusive, so they added level squishing: A way to help players level up faster and reach late-game content sooner. Basically, players can now experience more of WoW faster. It even featured a new tutorial area for players so they can get a better idea of what modern-day WoW is like.

“I think we realized that over time as we add new content to the game and new contents of the game at successive updates, that the pacing was starting to breakdown,” said Hazzikostas “We were having to rush players through all that content so they could get to their friends, so they could get to the current endgame in a way that made it feel really disjointed, and so the level squish wasn’t just about reducing the number of levels or making it faster, but allowing players to pick one of multiple expansion storylines to play through so that they could have a single cohesive storyline and a well-paced experience that would segue them into the current expansion.”

A game as massive as WoW needed something to bring in new players because there are always going to be people that want to try it after years of hearing good things. Even if it’s just to see what it’s like. A new tutorial area is a good place to start, but a lot of these changes also offered replay value for longtime players. Creating a new character in the past meant going through a decade-plus of expansions just to reach the same point as their current character. Now it’s way more feasible to make repeat playthroughs fun.

Of course, how veteran players choose to tackle WoW is another challenge that developers have to consider. This is not the same game that launched in 2004 where everyone got to the end, did some raids, and completed quests. Players have been mid-maxing their characters to their preferred way to play the game for over a decade now. Raids, PVP, Mythic+, collecting every kind of item, this is an MMO and at the end of the day the true fun in an MMO is what the player makes of it. Catering to so many different playstyles is a challenge that has to be considered in every update. Including patch 9.1.

“Over time our community figured out how they enjoyed spending their time in the game.” said Hazzikostas “Some of them were collectors. Some of them were completionists. Some of them wanted World PVP, some of them wanted more structured PVP. And I think we have over time continued to broaden the game to create this sort of metaverse of sorts where a ton of different people can come together and congregate.

“A lot of the time when we get feedback from our community they’re often frustrated that we’re not just paying attention to their preferred playstyle. If you’re all about PVP you wish we would spend all of our development resources on content for PVP and new Arena Maps and class improvements,” he continued. “But if we did that, that would come at the expense of the broader portion of the game and the same is true for raids, for dungeons and for everything else. But I think by trying to maintain and nurture a broad and diverse world, we’ve created an enduring community that kind of interconnect and have stood the test of time.”

The last major expansion to the game was when Shadowlands launched in November of 2020, and besides few smaller patches that was what most players had to work with for quite some time. For a game that is famous for consistent updates it, in a lot of ways, felt like a content gap. And while the wait was longer than players may be used to, devs are still excited for this new update.

“I think really the team as a whole has knocked it out of the park on this one.” said Hazzikostas “I am really excited about our mega-dungeon Tazavesh. It’s loosely inspired by something like the Gringotts Heist from Harry Potter. It’s a bit of a light-hearted diversion where we’re delving into this extra planar market, run by mysterious group known as the brokers, who are sort of, interdimensional collectors of curios and artifacts. And they have a couple of powerful things that we need to get ahold of, but it’s a range from awesome high fantasy to whimsy and the team had a ton of fun making it. I can’t wait to see players jump in there”

Shadowlands Chain of Domination launches on June 29.

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French Duo Justice Says Justin Bieber’s ‘Justice’ Album Artwork Was A ‘Very Conscious Rip-Off’ Of Their Logo

The battle between Justin Bieber and French dance duo Justice continues. The latter sent a cease-and-desist letter to the singer earlier this year claiming that the logo on Bieber’s album was a copied version of the duo’s own logo. Three months after the letter was sent to Bieber, Justice’s Gaspard Augé spoke about the issue in a interview with The Guardian.

“Though Bieber is from Canada, his actions fit this mindset of American hegemony: ‘Oh well, it’s just a small band from France, I’m sure we can take their name, nobody will care…’” Augé said during the interview. “Obviously, we don’t own the word ‘Justice’ and we don’t own the cross. But [Bieber’s] management got in touch first to ask where our logo came from, so it’s not some unhappy coincidence. To me, it’s a very conscious rip-off. And that’s where the problem is.”

It was first revealed that Bieber reached out to the French duo after Justice’s co-manager made the reveal at the time of the cease-and-desist letter. “Through your illegal co-opting of the Mark, you are now subject to immediate legal action and damages including, but not limited to, punitive and injustice relief,” the letter read. “Not only was Bieber’s team actually aware of Justice’s use of the Mark, they sought to use the same artist to essentially duplicate it for the Album. This is textbook bad faith and willful infringement.”

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A Fan Caused A Massive Wreck At The Tour De France With A Big Cardboard Sign

The Tour de France is back to having spectators along the race course, and it seems like those fans are out of practice when it comes to not wrecking a ton of riders.

The first stage of the legendary cycling event started Saturday, and with it came the event’s first major crash. But this time it wasn’t anyone in the field to blame, but a fan who had a sign that read “allez opi omi” on it and got right in the way of riders. A bike collided with the sign, went down and the result was, uh, a disaster.

You can see the video here of a fan on the left side sticking a cardboard sign out too far, as a rider slams into it and tumbles over, starting a massive pile-up.

The “oh no” from the announcer really says it all here. And the result was utter chaos for the peloton group up front.

There was, uh, a lot of damage done to some of the bikes. And some had to be pulled out of ditches and off into fields in the mayhem.

Perhaps coincidently, the Tour’s official Twitter account soon put out a warning for fans not to “risk everything to get a photo.”

The race was able to continue, fortunately, and the stage did eventually come to an end.

But the story of the day was the big wreck, and the cardboard that started all the chaos.

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Non-Alcoholic Beers That Actually Don’t Suck, Just In Time For Summer

Believe it or not, there are some non-alcoholic beers out there that don’t suck. Trust us, we find that statement as hard to believe as you do. Non-alcoholic beers have long been reviled for being flavorless or, worse, tasting really bad to the point of being undrinkable. But times have changed and breweries have begun taking their non-alcoholic offerings much more seriously than in years past — recognizing that there are plenty of people who like the “beer experience” without the beer buzz.

Before we dive in, it’s worth noting that almost all “non-alcoholic” beers are not “alcohol-free.” Most non-alcoholic beers have 0.5 percent or below ABV. We could get into how alcohol is stripped from beer and the science behind it… if we had a day or two to chat. For now, just know that a true 0.00 percent non-alcoholic beer is very rare.

Let’s dive into ten non-alcoholic beers that are pretty damn palatable and deliver on the beer vibes without sacrificing flavor or satisfaction. If you want to give any of these a try yourself, just click on the price links.

Erdinger Weissbier Non-Alcoholic

Privatbrauerei Erdinger Weißbräu Werner Brombach GmbH

ABV: <0.5%

Average Price: $10.99 (six-pack)

The Beer:

This is a classic German wheat beer made with malted barley, malted wheat, hops, yeast, and water with a touch of added carbonation. The beer is also designed to be a post-workout sip (seriously). The beer is built with vitamin B9 and a touch of sodium that makes it fairly isotonic.

Tasting Notes:

You’re greeted with a clear sense of creamy wheat and light fruit, florals, and bottled honey. There’s a light green grass note with a hint of savory herbs next to a touch of rye bread and bright citrus. The overall texture is still very robust with a slight thinness thanks to the green grass, florals, and herbal notes.

Bottom Line:

This is probably the most crushable beer on the list, especially on a hot day. This is also my personal go-to non-alcoholic beer. You only really notice that it’s non-alcoholic beer after the second half-liter when no buzz arrives.

Lagunitas IPNA

Heineken International

ABV: <0.5%

Average Price: $10.69 (six-pack)

The Beer:

This crafty non-alcoholic IPA is all about amping up the hops to bring the big flavor notes to the forefront. The beer is made with a classic ale mash of barley, yeast, and water. It’s then dry-hopped with a medley of Yakima Valley hops including Citra, Mosaic, Columbus, Tomahawk, and Zeus hops.

Tasting Notes:

Like Lagunitas IPA, this balances the caramel malted base well with a dank and slightly fruity/floral hop brightness. There’s a clear bitter dankness with orchard flowers next to a dry straw that’s all countered by a rich caramel malty body.

Bottom Line:

The sip is much thinner than the classic Lagunitas IPA but still packs a nice, flavorful punch.

Beck’s Non-Alcoholic

Anheuser-Busch InBev

ABV: 0.3%

Average Price: $8.99 (six-pack)

The Beer:

Beck’s German pils is a pretty classic, albeit very standard German lager. Their non-alcoholic version holds onto the traditional German pilsner traditions while stripping the alcohol away.

Tasting Notes:

This has a nice straw nature that draws you in. There’s an easy dose of bitter yet floral hops that just touch on a piney dankness. The malts are more prominent and lean towards a bready note with a hint of sweetness.

Bottom Line:

Ah, good ol’ Beck’s Blue. It feels more like Beck’s Light than a non-alcoholic beer. This is super refreshing and very easy to drink on a hot day while still feeling like a light lager. What more could you want?

Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier Alkoholfrei

Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan

ABV: <0.5%

Average Price: $12.99 (six-pack)

The Beer:

This is a classic German wheat beer made with simple ingredients. The beer is also very enticing when looking at the calories, clocking in at 74 calories in a half-liter bottle. The exact same wheat beer from Weihenstephaner with 5.4 percent ABV has 215 calories for the same size bottle.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a bright citrus note with plenty of grassy florals from the nose onward. A hint of banana and clove lurk in the background while a touch of salted seltzer water cuts through the creamy, wheated maltiness.

Bottom Line:

The Germans really know how to hit it out of the park with their non-alcoholic wheat beers. This list could have just been Germany’s non-alcoholic wheat beers if you could get them all in the U.S. Anyway, this is another one of those beers that you probably won’t even notice is alcohol-free, especially while quaffing it on a hot summer day. (Unless, of course, you’re chasing a buzz.)

Clausthaler Dry Hopped Non-Alcoholic

Dr. Oetker

ABV: 0.45%

Average Price: $8.99 (six-pack)

The Beer:

Clausthaler is an old-school non-alcoholic beer that still delivers. The German brew sort of changed the game back in the day by dry-hopping their alcohol-free brew with Cascade hops to really amp up the body of the beer.

Tasting Notes:

You’re greeted with a mix of dry and dank hops, caramel malts, and a touch of lemon oils. The malts are really the highlight as they add a rye breadiness next to the caramel sweetness as the hops take a backseat and fade towards a mild bitterness.

Bottom Line:

This is still perfectly fine for what it is. It’s also east to find, which is a nice perk.

Brooklyn Special Effects Hoppy Amber Non-Alcoholic

Brooklyn Brewery

ABV: 0.4%

Average Price: $10.99 (six-pack)

The Beer:

This crafty non-alcoholic beer is all about the taste. Instead of stripping out alcohol after the beer is brewed, Brooklyn uses a special fermentation that draws out the flavors without converting all the sugars into alcohol. The brew is then dry-hopped with Citra and Amarillo hops to really amp up those beer notes.

Tasting Notes:

The beer opens with a light pale ale vibe. There’s a balance between the floral and mildly lemony hops and caramelized malts. The beer has a light touch that’s slightly dry and effervescent. The best descriptor for this is that it’s “clean.” It has this clean taste of malts, hops, and fizz that work well together.

Bottom Line:

This is pretty light but still feels like a crushable beer. There’s real body there and you know you’re drinking beer.

Heineken 0.0

Heineken International

ABV: 0%

Average Price: $10.49 (six-pack)

The Beer:

This is the only true “alcohol-free” beer on the list and one of the only mass-produced 0.0s in the world. The beer is double brewed with Heineken’s typical mix of barley, yeast, water, and hops. Then they use a vacuum distillation process to remove all the alcohol while leaving the sudsy beer behind.

Tasting Notes:

This doesn’t really taste like classic Heineken at all. There’s a slightly floral note that leads towards an almost hard seltzer vibe that’s been touched by malts and hops. The malts have a cereal graininess (dried corn maybe) that lead towards a bitter hop note — enough to remind you this is still, indeed, a beer.

Bottom Line:

This is much more like a beer-flavored hard seltzer than a beer. That being said, it’s very drinkable and a truly alcohol-free beer.

Athletic Brewing Run Wild IPA

Athletic Brewing

ABV: 0.5%

Average Price: $10.99 (six-pack)

The Beer:

Athletic Brewing focuses on brewing up quality non-alcoholic beers. Their IPA is made with malts and oats from the U.S. and Germany. The brew is then spiked with Pacific Northwest hops, adding a classic West Coast IPA vibe to the sip.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a nice matrix of citrus punch with grapefruit, orange, and lime mingling together. The taste has a caramelized malty base that serves as a foundation for citrusy and slightly dank hop bitterness. The beer has a heft to the body that’s rare for non-alcoholic brews.

Bottom Line:

This is one of those beers you could blindly serve a beer drinker and they’d never guess it was the non-alcoholic pick. It’s pretty damn close to the alcohol-filled real deal and serves as a solid, yet standard IPA.

Paulaner Weizen-Radler

Schörghuber Unternehmensgruppe

ABV: <0.3%

Average Price: $10.99 (six-pack)

The Beer:

This beer is rendered with a classic German wheat beer base of malted wheat and barley, yeast, water, and Herkules hops. That beer is then cut with a lemon-lime-orange soda to make it a radler. This does add a little sugar to the mix but also cuts the ABVs down even further.

Tasting Notes:

This is pure lemon soda with a wheat beer edge. The hops are an afterthought as the sweet and bready malts lean towards a hint of clove and banana while the soda pop creates a sweet and ultra-refreshing presence through the whole sip.

Bottom Line:

This is a refreshing, fizzy lemonade with a touch of beer maltiness. It’s a summer crusher through and through.

Grüvi Stout

Grüvi

ABV: <0.5%

Average Price: $9.99 (four-pack)

The Beer:

This Irish dry stout was formulated to bring deep and bold flavors into a non-alcoholic beer experience. The brew is made with deeply roasted barley and chocolate malts and is then hopped to add that old-school Irish stout-iness.

Tasting Notes:

You’re met with notes of dried almond, rich honey, and espresso bean bitterness. The body of this beer is much closer to a fizzy and light Guinness Export than the nitro-infused creamy stouts that most people drink. There’s a clear sense of bitter dark chocolate, honey-roasted nuts, and slightly dried tobacco leaves.

Bottom Line:

Not all non-alcoholic beers need to be light lagers or pale ales. This stout is the only one I’ve sampled that even comes close to the real thing. It’s definitely lighter than most craft stouts, which makes it a viable summer pick, but still packs a pretty big flavor punch.


As a Drizly affiliate, Uproxx may receive a commission pursuant to certain items on this list.

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Kid Cudi Was Comfortable Wearing A Dress On ‘SNL’ Despite Knowing ‘It Would Piss Some People Off’

Months after sharing his most recent album, Man On The Moon III: The Chosen, Kid Cudi brought his talents to Saturday Night Live for a pair of performances. During the show, he performed “Sad People” and “Tequila Shots”, and while fans were happy to catch a live set from the rapper, Cudi’s decision to wear a dress while he rapped “Sad People” caught a lot of attention. It was designed by Virgil Abloh and made to resemble the dress Kurt Cobain famously once wore on the show. During a recent episode of LeBron James’ HBO show, The Shop: Uninterrupted, the rapper explained why he wore it and how it all came together.

SNL comes my way, so I immediately thought like, oh this would be the perfect opportunity to wear a dress,” he revealed on the show. “But, do I go to a store and just buy something off the rack, or do I go get somebody to make me some sh*t?”

After looking around for the perfect dress, he decided that having one customized for him would be the better move.

“I was at this point where I was looking on my phone, kind of looking at all these different stores and looking at dresses,” he added. “I was just like, this is cute, this is cute. And then I finally realized, yo, I’m gonna get Virgil to do this. I’m gonna see if he has time, ‘cause he’s crazy [busy], he’s got a lot of things he’s doing.” He continued, “And he hit me right back and was like, ‘Yes, let’s go. I got prints, what you want?’ I was like, alright, I want something floral, like a sundress. He’s like, ‘Perfect.’ He sent me prints like two seconds later. He had them sh*ts on deck.

Cudi was also asked if he was worried about the possible backlash in response to him wearing the dress, but the rapper made it clear that he was not.

I’ve never been someone who’s like thinking about the backlash. I don’t give a f*ck about what anyone thinks. You can’t when you’re doing this sh*t. I knew it would piss some people off, but I love that. Because hip-hop is so weird about sh*t. I’ve already seen people making YouTube videos where they’re just strictly talking about me and this dress. Like grown men angry, grown Black men angry. ‘He’s doing something against men and masculinity, it’s a big thing going on…’ And I just be like, yo, this is so funny, this is crazy that I’ve stirred it up like this.

You can watch a clip of Cudi talking about the dress in the video above.

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Bill Maher Tried To Convince Quentin Tarantino Not To Retire From Filmmaking On ‘Real Time’

Count Bill Maher among the many who hope Quentin Tarantino’s movie career doesn’t end after his next film. The host of Real Time did his best to convince the director that things don’t have to end for him in Hollywood once his next movie,

Tarantino was on the show to promote his new Once Upon A Time In Hollywood book, which is based on the movie he made in 2019. But Maher essentially used it as a prop to illustrate not only how much he loved the film, but as proof that Tarantino’s career should be far from over.

“To me, your latest one is your peak. This is my favorite of all-time.” Maher said. “So what is this nonsense that you’re only going to make one more movie?”

Tarantino hesitated, trying to figure out exactly what to say while Maher flat-out said it’s a “bad idea.”

“You’re too young to quit, and you’re at the top of your game,” Maher said. To which Tarantino said “that’s why I want to quit.”

The host asked Tarantino how he knew it was time while the audience cheered for Maher.

“Because I know film history, and here on in directors do not get better,” he said. Maher called that “a terrible idea” and scolded him for comparing himself to others rather than evaluating his own work.

“I don’t have a reason that I want to say out loud that’s going to win any argument in the court of public opinion or the Supreme Court or anything like that,” Tarantino countered. “But it is, you know, at the same time, working for 30 years, doing as many movies as I’ve done — which is not as many as other people — that’s a long career.

“And I’ve given it everything I have,” he continued. “I’ve given it every single, solitary thing I have.”

Maher said that he’ll be “bored” in retirement, and tried his best to relate to the director’s sense of history and that you “acquire skills” as you get more experience to make movies better. Interestingly, Tarantino admits that he briefly thought about remaking Reservoir Dogs as his final movie, adding that “I won’t do it, Internet” before people get too excited about the possibility.

The rest of the conversation is equally fascinating but Maher’s discussion about his career, and his desire for it not to end, will certainly resonate with many of the filmmaker’s biggest fans.

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The Trail Blazers Have Reportedly Hired Chauncey Billups As Their Next Head Coach

The NBA’s coaching carousel has begun moving quickly, with Boston (Ime Udoka), Indiana (Rick Carlisle), and Dallas (Jason Kidd) all filling their vacancies this week. That left Portland, New Orleans, Washington, and Orlando as the four remaining open jobs, and on Friday night, the Trail Blazers made their move in hiring Chauncey Billups from the Clippers staff.

It had been reported earlier in the evening that Billups had emerged as the frontrunner — which wasn’t a surprise given the initial reporting indicated Damian Lillard’s preference was either Jason Kidd or Billups — and the two sides moved quickly to finalize a deal. Billups has been on the short list for a number of jobs in the past and it was considered a matter of when, not if, he would get a head coaching job — it also wasn’t long ago he was considered a candidate for top front office positions as well.

The 2004 NBA champion with the Detroit Pistons is a well-regarded basketball mind and given his experience as a championship point guard, it’s not a surprise that the Blazers would look to him to help guide their team led by a superstar point guard. Now the Blazers can move ahead on the rest of their offseason, which could see a rather significant shakeup to the roster we saw exit the first round a month ago. With Billups on board, they can begin focusing on those efforts, although Billups has more pressing matters at hand with the Clippers down 2-1 in the Western Conference Finals. Once he’s in Portland, however, it will be all hands on deck to evaluate the needs of the roster and where they can go on draft night and beyond to try and finally build a title contender around Lillard.

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The Bucks Demolished The Hawks To Even The Eastern Conference Finals At 1-1

Milwaukee rolled over the Hawks in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals, 125-91, responding in impressive fashion to even the series at 1-1. As he has for much of the playoffs, Giannis Antetokounmpo rose to the occasion to open the night. After the Hawks stole one on the road to open the series, and Giannis came out hyper-aggressive in response, putting up a 17-7-5 line in the first half alone.

The Bucks were dominant on both ends, keeping the Hawks to just 42 percent shooting and turning defense and missed shots into points on the other end. Aside from a huge Giannis half, the other big difference for Milwaukee was the emergence of Bobby Portis, as he rewarded the Bucks’ coaching staff’s trust with seven points in his first 10 minutes.

But for the most part, Milwaukee just played an extremely high-level of its usual style, with Brook Lopez defending the rim much better than he did in Game 1 while also making threes and rebounding, and Khris Middleton playing well enough on both ends to keep the Hawks honest.

After a 26-5 run (including a 20-0 stretch), the Bucks went into halftime with a 77-45 lead.

On the Hawks’ side, Trae Young started the game 1-for-7, clearly frustrated by Jrue Holiday’s tight defense and Milwaukee’s overall fight. Young also had eight turnovers in the first half. We also saw Bogdan Bogdanovic back in the starting lineup after he missed Game 1, and the return of Cam Reddish, who appeared for the first time since Feb. 21.

To open the third quarter, the Bucks kept their foot on the gas, with Giannis scoring eight quick points and their defense continuing to squelch out any Atlanta momentum. Early in the period, Young also tied his career high with nine turnovers, a signal of how much Milwaukee stymied Atlanta’s offense.

The only question left to be answered by the time the fourth rolled around was whether Giannis, Middleton and Holiday would play at all, and the answer turned out to be no. But to keep the silliness going, we did get a highlight that didn’t count, from Thanasis Antetokounmpo.

The series heads to Atlanta on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. EST.

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Chauncey Billups Is Reportedly The Frontrunner To Be The Next Head Coach In Portland

Soon after Dallas moved to hire the candidate that Portland star Damian Lillard went out on a limb to talk up in the media, the Trail Blazers seem to have responded by becoming more aggressive in their courtship of Clippers assistant Chauncey Billups.

Initially after Portland decided to part ways with Terry Stotts shortly after their first-round loss to the Nuggets, Lillard made it known that he wanted Kidd to replace Stotts. However, Kidd would soon drop out of the running, leaving the Trail Blazers without a clear frontrunner, though Lillard had also named Billups as someone he’d like. According to a new report from Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, along with Sam Amick and Shams Charania of The Athletic, all that changed late Friday when Billups became the lead candidate for the job.

Billups brings little coaching experience but enormous pedigree as the 2004 NBA Finals MVP. He was previously a serious candidate to run the Cavaliers’ front office as well as for a head coaching job in Indiana before taking a gig as an assistant on Tyronn Lue’s Clippers staff, where he is currently a key voice on a stacked staff for a conference finalist team.

Much is still expected to be explored in Portland, including the viability of the Lillard-CJ McCollum backcourt and looming free agency decisions on Zach Collins and Norman Powell.

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This Week’s Best Streetwear, Featuring New Teddy Fresh, KITH, And Supreme’s Summer 2021 T-Shirt Lineup

Welcome to our roundup of the best streetwear drops of the week! We’re back from a brief break after things got a bit sluggish in the apparel game, but now that we’re comfortably in the summer season it’s looking like our favorite apparel brands are operating at full force once again. This week we’ve got new fits from Teddy Fresh, Supreme, KITH, Cactus Plant Flea Market, and Seoul-based brand Alice Lawrance, bringing you summertime staples that’ll keep you geared up until the weather start to cool down again and we’re back in the fall season.

Once you’ve hit this week’s list, be sure to find a pair of sneakers to complete your look by hitting up our weekly sneaker roundup. Let’s dive into this week’s best apparel!

Teddy Fresh June 2021 Collection

This week Teddy Fresh delivers its best set yet in its June 2021 collection. The brand seems to be firing on all cylinders since last year, with each drop improving on the last, but this collection sees Teddy Fresh making a giant leap ahead of everything that has come before. The full June set includes hoodies and matching sweatpants, button-ups, shorts, hats, shirts, and tank tops, offering a moodier more subdued take on the brand’s usual colorful aesthetic.

That’s not to say the new collection isn’t playful, we’re loving the floral print hoodies, matching sweatpants, and tank-top and shorts set with the obvious highlight being the dope (and sold out, sorry) Heaven Camp Shirt. Teddy Fresh has been killing it since last year, but the new set is so good the brand is bound to land on more people’s radar going forward.

The Teddy Fresh June 2021 Collection is out now at the Teddy Fresh webstore.

KITH WMNS Summer 2021 Collection

KITH

We’ve hit the summer season, so it’s time to ditch jackets and layer-able clothing for all things light and breezy. To kick off the season, KITH’s Women has dropped a new 87-piece collection, offering seasonal staples dressed in KITH’s iconic dusty color palette. The collection includes swimwear, lightweight mini-dresses, t-shirts, camp shirts, shorts, and sunglasses.

Rounding out the collection are a few Kith branded hats six-panel hats, floppy sunhats, visors, and of course, it wouldn’t be a summer collection without a bucket hat!

The KITH WMNS Summer 2021 collection is set to drop today online and at KITH physical stores.

KITH
KITH

Stüssy x Cactus Plant Flea Market Summer Collection

For the summer season, streetwear icon Stüssy and relative newcomers Cactus Plant Flea Market have teamed up for their third graphic-heavy collaboration. The collection sees some classic Stüssy designs infused with CPFM label head Cynthia Lu’s modern aesthetic. Highlights include the dual-branded “Cactus Stüssy” jean jacket, which features matching jeans dressed in dusty neon green and orange, and the heart logo button-up, which features an all-over colorful print that mixes sky blue, and deep red hearts that read “üs.”

Rounding out the collection are graphic t-shirts, shorts, and crewnecks, and hoodies. It’s a small collection, but further proof that Stüssy and CPFM are natural collaborators.

The Stüssy x Cactus Plant Flea Market Summer Collection drops today at the Stüssy webstore and Dover Street Market.

Alice Lawrance Spring Summer 2021 Seoul 2015 Collection

Alice Lawrence

Seoul-based cafe-turned-streetwear brand Alice Lawrance is dropping a new summer collection that pays tribute to the brand’s humble beginnings. Dubbed the “Seoul 2015 Collection,” Alice Lawrance’s latest consists of a unisex collection of simple t-shirts, pants, and t-shirts featuring the sort of minimal but playful graphics that the label made its name from.

The full collection leans on the loungey athleisure side of streetwear, with loose-fitting relaxed silhouettes, pajama-inspired pants, and simple graphic t-shirts. Rounding out the collection are a few accessories, including four different ceramic mugs, headbands, and hats, with graphics that pay homage to Wong Kat Wai’s Fallen Angels.

The Alice Lawrence Seoul 2015 Collection is out now. Shop the looks at the Alice Lawrance webstore.

Alice Lawrence
Alice Lawrence

Supreme Summer 2021 T-Shirt Collection

Supreme

Supreme has been steadily dropping collections for the last few weeks, but to be honest, most of them have been forgettable. It’s just not the brand’s year, but anytime Supreme readies a t-shirt collection, it’s greeted with considerable hype. The brand simply makes some of the best graphic t-shirts in all of streetwear and this year is no different.

This tight seven shirt collection includes much more than your typical Supreme box logo — though they’ve got that too — with highlights including the Born To Dub You tribute shirt, an anime-inspired piece, and a simple Supreme Milano shirt in bright ass yellow or hot pink.

The Supreme Summer 2021 t-shirt collection is out now. Pick up the shirts at the Supreme webstore.

Supreme
Supreme
Supreme