Category: News

Michael Che’s doing the rounds to promote HBO Max’s That Damn Michael Che, and he popped over to visit with Howard Stern, who (almost) always manages to rustle up some controversy out of his guests. The wide-ranging interview dove into Che’s thoughts about why he won’t date celebrities, but one of the more interesting nuggets that emerged (via Mediaite) involved a once-rejected sketch idea that Che swung by the SNL writers.

The sketch was deemed to go too far, apparently, given that it bounced off prevalent instances of police brutality to depict a group of superheroes who inadvertently kill a black teen who is unarmed. Che also mentioned that this type of “racially specific” joke is more likely to fly on his HBO Max show, but here’s what happened at SNL:

“For obvious reasons, there’s no way that’s going on [‘SNL’],” Che told Howard. “Something that’s like racially specific, the audience is kind of looking at ‘Saturday Night Live’ as Lorne Michaels’ show. They’re not looking at it as black writers making a nuanced observation… On my show, I can get away with it because they know it’s me.”

Che also added that, when he first arrived at SNL (as a full-time writer in 2013), there weren’t any Black writers on the show, so “If I were to write — or if a Black writer were to write — something that’s specific to Black humor, an all-white staff might not get the joke, so it’s deemed not funny, so it doesn’t go on the air.” However, he says that the writing room’s more diverse these days, and he believes that SNL is better and funnier as a result. Meanwhile, Che is definitely tackling policing and related issues on That Damn Michael Che, and he’s doing so with the help of current and former SNL stars including Cecily Strong, Heidi Gardner, Ellen Cleghorne, Colin Jost, and Colin Quinn.

(Via HowardStern.com)

Okay, you’re entering a sandcastle building contest. Teams of five, timed (let’s say 20 minutes), tournament-style, head-to-head against another team. When the buzzer sounds, it goes to the judges, whoever built the best sandcastle wins. But there’s a twist: In addition to building your own sandcastle, you can also sneak over and try to wreck the castle your opponent is building. Kick it over, tackle it, whip rocks at it from a distance, whatever you want. Mass chaos at the beach.

How do you build your team? Do you get the five best sandcastle-builders you can find and hope their skills at creation will overcome whatever the opponent brings to the table? Do you sacrifice a little building for people who are also good at guarding the perimeter?

Or perhaps you stack your team with four good builders and find one guy who is just really good at wrecking the other team’s castle. He doesn’t even try to build most of the time. He just sneaks over and reaches his long arms out and whacks their towers smack down into their moat, every time, right before the buzzer sounds, taking the pressure off of the rest of your team to build a perfect castle because your opponents’ castle is in disarray. Victory through anarchy. Triumph via havoc. Your adversaries vanquished and demoralized and covered with the sand that was, as recently as moments earlier, a load-bearing wall of their castle.

What should we take away from this exercise? Two things, mainly:

• I should never be put in charge of a sandcastle building contest
• You should consider putting Philadelphia 76ers defensive dynamo Matisse Thybulle on your sandcastle team

This is where we rattle off some stats for the people who like stats. Matisse Thybulle finished tied for third in the NBA in total steals despite playing about 500 fewer minutes than anyone else in the top-20. He finished 19th in the league in total blocks despite being a backup shooting guard. If you stretch his numbers out to starter minutes, he would average something like three steals and two blocks every game, which is crazy. He’s the only player in NBA history to accumulate 100 steals and 70 blocks in a season while playing fewer than 20 minutes per game. He did all of it in just his second season, after a shortened and disjointed rookie campaign that ended inside a bubble in Disney World. It’s all very impressive.

But the stats aren’t even the point, really. You have to watch the way he does it. It’s honestly incredible. I have never seen a player have this much of an impact on a game without scoring, like, at all. I have definitely never seen a player make defense look this exciting. Defense is usually a slog, a try-hard endeavor meant to slow down an opponent and gum-up the flow of a game. Great defense can make for an ugly basketball game.

Matisse Thybulle does not make the game ugly. Matisse Thybulle makes defense look cool as hell. Like, look at this play, in which he chases down Zach LaVine, one of the best athletes alive who is used to blowing by opposing defenders and scoring, and spikes the ball against the backboard like it’s a dang volleyball.

Or this play, where he appears out of nowhere to block Devin Booker’s three-point attempt.

Imagine being Devin Booker on that play. You run through a maze of picks and other subterfuge to get free, jet to the corner to take the highest-percentage three-point shot there is, everything going exactly to plan, and then POOF, Matisse Thybulle appears out of nowhere to swipe your shot into the expensive seats, almost as though he leaped through a portal along the baseline. Zero points. Sandcastle destroyed. Or, to quote Zach Lowe:

He might be the best perimeter defender in the world. He’s one of the best perimeter defenders I’ve ever seen. Thybulle is some sort of phantom. He doesn’t move in normal ways. He’s in one spot, and then suddenly, without warning, he’s somewhere else 15 feet away — only not enough time has passed for any human to traverse 15 feet. Thybulle doesn’t move. He apparates.

I could very easily just keep posting highlights of cool defensive stuff Thybulle has done this year. In fact, now that I think about it, I will. It’s a lot of fun. Here’s a play where he racked up a block and a steal on the same possession.

Here’s a play where he blocked a shot and then saved the ball from going out of bounds in the same series of motions, which he made look natural despite being a borderline impossible thing to make your body do. Think about what would happen to your limbs if you tried to do this. Best case scenario, you end up in the hospital tied up in a pretzel, like a cartoon character.

There was one point in a game this season where Doc Rivers tossed out a zone defense with Thybulle and Ben Simmons out front. It is my suspicion that he only did it that one time because it was too mean to the other team. Every pass was tipped or altered, every ball-handler was smothered before they could enter the paint. This highlight is not technically from that stretch of game, in which about 14 feet of wingspan and reflexes created bedlam for four minutes, but it provides the same energy and ends with a dunk. Plays that end in dunks are cool.

Sometimes he does this thing where it looks like he lets a dribbler get past him on purpose so he can sneak up from behind and block their jump shot. It’s become one of my favorite things in all of sports. It’s almost like playing regular defense is getting too easy for him, too boring, so he has to increase the difficulty just to keep things interesting. That’s what he’s doing in the image at the top of this page.

It’s a blast to watch how confused players get when this happens. They do not understand how any of it worked. Which, really, is kind of fair. It’s not supposed to happen. That shot is not supposed to get blocked. It would be like if you picked up a sandwich and started moving it to your mouth and then you bit down into thin air and your empty hand where the sandwich just was. Your whole reality is now in flux. You are allowed to be perplexed about it.

In a way, I almost like that he has such a limited game on offense. Would I enjoy it if he could score 20 points per game on 40 percent shooting from three? Well, yes, sure. I have rooted for the Sixers for my entire life and would love to see many good things happen to them. But still, it’s kind of perfect this way. It’s like the one tragic flaw a superhero has, Kryptonite to Superman, a software malfunction in Ironman’s suit, a lifetime of pain and abandonment issues after watching your parents get murdered outside the opera for Batman. It makes him relatable and more fun to root for and watch. It makes it really exciting when he dunks on someone or hits a three, in part because it’s like finding a $20 bill on the ground and in part because it triggers the part of my brain that thinks he might have just unlocked the secret to offense, which he has not. Not yet, at least. But it’s really quite thrilling to daydream about. Hope is a wonderful thing, even when it’s fleeting.

For now, though, this is enough. This might always be enough. I never thought I would say anything like this because my ideal basketball game has always been one that ends 150-149 and features dozens of alley-oops and deep threes (I am a child), but here we are. I love the energy of it all. I love the chaos he creates when he enters the game. But mostly, I just love watching Matisse Thybulle turn everyone’s beautiful sandcastles into piles of stupid rubble. Summer is here and it’s cruel as hell. I can’t get enough.

Though she’s been releasing music since a young age, Willow is fully leaning into a pop punk persona with her recent single “Transparent Soul” featuring Travis Barker. The musician showcased her track with a revved-up performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where she also mentioned how Michael Cera was an unlikely muse for her new era of music.

About her pivot to pop punk music, Willow says she had been wanting to learn how to play an instrument for some time. Apparently, she was finally inspired to do so after hearing Michael Cera’s folk-adjacent 2014 album:

“I honestly think that it was brewing in me for a while that I knew I needed to play an instrument to really call myself a musician. I think it was just during the time that I had found out Michael Cera made music. I had no idea he made music. I listened to his album and he’s playing some acoustic guitar, like folk acoustic guitar. Michael Cera, the actor. I had no idea that that was ever going to happen. I think it was kind of the breaking point. I was feeling this way for a while and then I listened to that album. Him being such a unique person to even make music, I was like, ‘Woah. This is inspiring in a really unique, weird way.’ So I just kind of took the bull by the horns.”

Elsewhere in the conversation, Willow described how nerve-wracking it was to send her music to Travis Barker. “Even before I started making this album, I already had insecurities about my voice in rock music and how I could make that work, and if that was going to be authentic to me,” she said. “So sending it to Travis was kind of like, ‘Okay. This is the moment where you get to see this amazing, talented pop punk God is going to let you know if he likes your song or not.’”

Watch Willow talk about taking inspiration from Michael Cera and perform “Transparent Soul” with Travis Barker on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon above.

After literally teasing fans last week with a brief teaser that only showed a silhouette of the cast members walking together from the back, HBO Max dropped the big guns with the official trailer for Friends: The Reunion. In the emotional two minute promo for the long overdue reunion, we finally get to see the cast of Friends together again. Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, David Schwimmer, and Matt LeBlanc, they’re all here, and clearly overwhelmed to all be in the same place at the same time after so many years.

In the montage that’s filled with both tears and laughter, the beloved cast looks back at the legacy of the show and the whirlwind experience of being young actors who were instantly catapulted to insane levels of fame. Hosted by James Corden and punctuated with special guests, Friends: The Reunion show appears to be a mix of interviews, table reads, and a nostalgic trip back to the set of the blockbuster sitcom that defined the ’90s if not a whole generation of viewers.

Here’s the official synopsis:

Our favorite friends are back on the set that started it all. Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, David Schwimmer, and special guests reunite to discuss everything from their casting process to whether or not Ross and Rachel were really on a break. Witness the unbreakable bond of the group that perfectly captured the moment in life when your friends become your family.

Friends: The Reunion streams on May 27 on HBO Max.

Lately, it seems like all the rappers I grew up with, the ones conservative commentators railed against daily (a la Cardi B now), have been remodeled into family-friendly brands. Snoop Dogg has a cooking show with Martha Stewart, T-Pain is releasing a book of drink recipes, and Ludacris is learning to cook on television and fly planes. Today’s circumstances are a far cry from the days when Bill O’Reilly called for a boycott of Pepsi over Luda’s endorsement deal. Another hip-hop figure who revamped his public image is Lil Jon, who’ll now be giving homeowners his unconventional renovation ideas for HGTV.

Lil Jon Wants To Do What? is the show’s title and it’ll co-star Mega Dens host, interior designer Anitra Mecadon. The show is currently shooting in the Atlanta area — naturally — and according to a statement, will feature “ideas ranging from removing a ceiling to expand the height of the living room to accommodate huge new windows to gutting the basement to add a fully decked-out speakeasy for entertaining, Lil Jon and Anitra push homeowners out of their comfort zones with ingenious renovations and ideas that are sure to inspire daring and dramatic transformations.”

If the show sounds like a bonkers idea, just imagine being in high school when this man was screaming “Don’t start sh*t, won’t be no sh*t” out of car sound systems. Now, they’re letting him redecorate peoples’ houses. America, amirite?

Jon’s quote from the press release gives a hint of what’s to come when the show airs this summer. “I love walking into someone’s house and turning it upside down,” he proclaims. “When people hear my name, they automatically think… fun! That same energy goes for my designs as well. I don’t love following design trends — I would rather be the trendsetter.”

Two of the best offensive teams in the NBA will square off in the first round of the 2021 Western Conference Playoffs when the Denver Nuggets face the Portland Trail Blazers. Both teams are led by top-tier players, with MVP frontrunner Nikola Jokic keying Denver’s attack and Damian Lillard manning the point for Portland. As such, points won’t be tough to come by in what should be a highly entertaining series.

With that said, there is much to discuss with this matchup, especially with Denver operating without Jamal Murray for the remainder of the season. The Nuggets are not deploying their best possible roster as a result, while the Blazers finished the regular season with an impressive flourish to snatch the No. 6 seed and avoid the play-in tournament entirely. There are some interesting subplots to follow, and we’ll take a glance at a few of them before things get going this weekend in Denver.

Matchup to watch

The playing field isn’t always level and other factors absolutely will play a part in the result, but sometimes it’s simple: The best player in the series will probably lead his team to victory.

Jokic is the frontrunner for NBA MVP honors for a reason. The talented big man is averaging 26.4 points (with a 64.7 percent true shooting mark), 10.8 rebounds ,and 8.3 assists per game. Somehow, numbers this gaudy don’t even begin to paint the whole picture. Jokic’s advanced statistical profile is off the charts, and the Nuggets are nearly nine points better when he plays (+7.7 per 100) than when he sits (-1.2 per 100).

While Lillard doesn’t quite match what Jokic has done this season, he has a playoff pedigree and an All-NBA case of his own. Lillard is putting up 28.8 points and 7.5 assists per game while maintaining a 62.3 percent true shooting mark, and he can break the drop defensive scheme regularly deployed by the Nuggets.

With Murray sidelined, Jokic has arguably been even better, and Michael Porter Jr. is also a major factor. But while Porter is playing at a star level and the Blazers have a number of players capable of making things happen, but this series still may come down to which No. 1 option performs better.

Series X-factor

The Blazers have a glaring weakness on the defensive end of the floor and, well, there is plenty to discuss on that side of the floor. Portland is absolutely going to have issues trying to defend Jokic and co., but we’ll save that for later. On the offensive end, the Blazers are brilliant and, in addition to the play of Lillard, C.J. McCollum, and others, Portland simply never turns the ball over.

Terry Stotts’ team led the NBA in turnover rate, giving the ball away on only 11.2 percent of their offensive possessions this season. That ball security, combined with high-end shooting efficiency, is a direct pathway to offensive success under the simple formula of maximizing the possession game and simply playing the math.

In the postseason, ball security is always key, especially as things slow down and every possession takes on a heightened meaning. As such, it is key to note that the Nuggets are excellent at creating turnovers. Denver is a top-10 team in the NBA, per Cleaning The Glass, in generating havoc defensively, forcing a turnover on 14.5 percent of their defensive trips. That number even rises, albeit only 0.5 percent, with Murray off the court, and he’s not walking through that door.

It is certainly possible that Denver is unable to rattle Portland’s experienced decision-makers but, in trying to get stops, the Nuggets will be reliant on creating turnovers and grabbing defensive rebounds at a reasonable clip.

One stat to know

The Blazers won 42 games while ranking 29th in the NBA in defense. That is pretty difficult to do, and it means that Portland is: A) elite offensively and, B) able to navigate close games effectively. Still, the Blazers will have a hard time winning this series if they can’t defend at a passable level, and that is where Jusuf Nurkic comes in.

Nurkic is, by far, Portland’s best interior defender. In 880 minutes with Nurkic on the floor, the Blazers have been downright frisky in limiting opponents to just 108.2 points per 100 possessions. When he is off the floor, Portland’s defense is a disaster. In the 2,581 minutes with Nurkic on the bench or sidelined due to injury, the Blazers are allowing 116.6 points per 100 possessions.

Part of the issue is that Nurkic is backed up by Enes Kanter. Part of the issue is that Portland’s perimeter defense is far from elite. Regardless, the Blazers both need Nurkic to stay on the floor and they need to be better when he sits. Otherwise, Jokic and the Nuggets will likely be moving on to round two.

Milwaukee Bucks guard Jrue Holiday is champing at the bit for the NBA playoffs. Holiday, who spoke to Dime before the end of the regular season, compared the 2020-21 season to the lockout-shortened campaign, calling the last year “exhausting.” His hope is that the playoffs, while more intense on-court, will offer some kind of reprieve.

“I think navigating the schedule is the biggest, not traveling as much,” Holiday says. “Which, again, it seemed like we were never home this year, which, I’m pretty sure everyone has felt that way. But just the games and the back-to-backs and just how the schedule went, it was like, ‘Man, I don’t who hated us, but our schedule was terrible.’ Mentally, I think for the playoffs you get kind of locked in and everything. But there’s just this extra energy that the playoffs bring, so I’m just kind of looking forward to that.”

Holiday spoke to Dime on behalf of Ripple Foods to talk his partnership with the company, their plant-based protein shakes, his approach to nutrition, possible NBA rule changes, and more.

How has nutrition evolved over time for you as you’ve been in the league longer and learned more about health and fitness?

It’s been huge. I came in at 18 or 19, and when you’re a young kid like that, for one, you bounce back quick, and you don’t really watch what you eat. You feel the same every single day. Whether you play or not, you can go out and eat McDonald’s. I’ve eaten a whole pack of Honey Buns in one sitting and been fine at 19, 20 years old. But as the years went on, and I’m in year 12 now, I would say in year six or year seven I started having injuries and I had surgeries and I had to really start thinking about my nutrition and my body and what I was putting into my body. That’s where it started, it started just with being injured and knowing more about my body when it came to fitness and nutrition.

Now, I’m not plant based, but I do my best to be able to put the best things in my body. We’re like cars, right? We are Ferrari’s and you always put the best thing in these types of cars, and that’s how I treat my body and how I do it with my family, too, just to make it easier for all us to be on the same page.

How does it work in a pandemic? Is it even more challenging, because this season is such a grind?

No, it’s easier. I think once you find great products — like this Ripple product, who has a plant-based alternative focus — it makes it easy. Sometimes, when I’d have dairy, I’d get really mucus-y. Now that I use a product like this, I feel like I have more energy, I sleep better, I feel like the way I recover is way better. And again, it makes it easier because my whole family does it. It’s not just me. I have accountability. I think the best part is probably being able to fill the [benefits] of it and feel better. I feel like for an athlete, that’s huge. Again, I’ve been injured plenty of times, but to be able to recover as fast as I do in my 12th year is huge, especially in a season like this.

Walk me through a game day. What does your pre-game, your post-game, and everything else look like in terms of what you’re eating and working out, aside from playing the game itself.

When I wake up, what I have for breakfast is oatmeal. I’m pretty true to that. For shootaround, before shootaround, I get in there, get treatment. I end up doing a lift and then after the lift, I have one of these Ripple protein shakes. Vanilla is my favorite one. After that, we go through walkthrough, we go through the other team’s stuff, get our shots up and then I go back and take a nap. And then before the game, I usually eat a penne pasta with some pesto sauce and get my protein in there, too. I play the game. And then after the game, I have another Ripple shake to put proteins and minerals and vitamins back in my body so I can recover as quickly as possible.

When you’re on the road, is there someone on the Bucks staff that is responsible for having your Ripple shakes on the plane so that when you to Cleveland or New York or wherever you’re going, you can stick to this routine?

Ya. You make me sound bougie or high maintenance. [laughs]

I would be doing the same thing, 100 percent. You have enough to worry about. You have defensive assignments to worry about and schemes. Just have someone else get the shakes.

Ya. So it’s usually right after the game and they have it right there and it’s chilled and ready to go. Right after the game as I’m icing down and just cooling down after the game. Our training staff does a great job of that. Different people have different things, but mine is carrying the Ripple shakes with them. I get it after the game and for an away game, hoping on the plane, I feel like I feel the [benefits] right away. Like you said, a lot of times I’m defending somebody hard and it’s a tough game and then just to be able to have those aches and pains decreased because of something like this and what you put in your body is huge.

What is in your morning oatmeal?

Oats, blackberries, and a nut medley.

Like actual nuts and not a nut butter? I ask because I’m a big nut butter guy, maybe with some berries or zucchini.

Ya, actual nuts, ya.

As far as dairy-free goes, and I know you’re not dairy-free fully — why does it resonate with you and why is it something you’ve embraced?

For me, it started off with my daughter having ear infections and we went somewhere and they thought it was the dairy and milk. We needed an alternative. Ripple has Ripple Kids where it’s dairy free and done the right way. And when it’s done the right way, you don’t taste the difference, you don’t lose anything. You get the 20 grams of plant-based protein in every bottle and it’s not chalky or gritty at all, which is super important for someone who is trying to find an alternative. You want something that you like.

For me, this is the right product. It’s allergen and GMO-free. I have a niece who has a nut allergy and for her to be able to drink this kind of milk, it’s super huge. That’s kind of where it started and, from there, even just diving deeper into my nutrition and everything like that, this has because a constant in my diet.

You’ve mentioned your family a few times and your wife, Lauren, was obviously a high level athlete. How helpful is it for you to be doing this with your family as a unit vs. you on your own?

It’s a lot easier. Again, my wife is THE athlete of my family. Even before I knew her, she was really into nutrition and what she put in her body, so that made it easier for me. Now that she cooks and does all that kind of stuff, she makes quite a bit of the decisions on what we eat. So for us to keep each other accountable and for me and my wife to do the things we want to do athletically, it’s needed.

My wife is going to run a marathon. For us to hold each other accountable, I feel like it’s a huge. Not only that, but we’ve passed it down to my daughter and will to my son once he’s old enough to drink or have different kinds of products. Right now, he’s still on breast milk. We pass it through to the family and it’s just a lot easier to do it all at once. And also, it takes the temptation out of it. When you go to the store and we say, “Nah, we’re not going to get that one, we’re going to get this one,” that’s our lifestyle.

As a quick follow-up: do you think you’ll ever run a marathon?

No. [Laughs] That’s an easy no. Being a soccer player and her running and doing all that, she enjoys running. She enjoys it and is good at it. I also run a lot, but I run with a basketball. I don’t really see a point of me running if I don’t have a ball. [Laughs]

Ya, like you’re sprinting more vs. a soccer game where you’re maybe jogging a little bit more. It feels almost like the way your body reacts to soccer is more akin to running. That’s not scientific or anything, it just makes sense in my brain.

For sure. Definitely different sports. When my wife tries to get me to run in the offseason, like a jog around the neighborhood or something, I definitely give her a hard time. I end up doing it, but I give her a hard time. Then after I’m like, “I don’t know why you enjoy doing this.” Sometimes it’s nice and it’s nice outside and nice weather and everything. But for the most part, I’m like, “I’m just trying to get this over with.” [Laughs]

Are there any other Bucks, any of your teammates, that are into dairy-free or some kind of clean diet?

Quite a few. One of the biggest ones is Khris Middleton, who completely changed his diet. I don’t think he’s plant based completely, either. But he’s dang near close to it. I feel like we average about the same amount of minutes and we’re playing most of the game. Hopefully this year, we’re going deep into the playoffs and we have to keep our bodies up and right for that. Khris Middleton is definitely one who watches his diet probably the most out of anyone I can think of.

Is nutrition and general well-being that is more broadly discussed now in the Bucks locker room or with other guys in the league now more than even like five years ago?

For sure. Especially when you have products that are good substitutes for beef, chicken, things like that. We all definitely do talk about it because for one, we do want to be able to perform. That’s why I’m with Ripple and we partnered. But when it comes to longevity, these are the conversations that we have. To be able to look back and know that, at this time, I changed my diet and started drinking Ripple or started using this product and even feeling better the next day after a game and being able to recover, it’s huge because you want to be able to play basketball as long as you can.

And you want to be healthy and strong as long as you can. Even five years ago, being able to lift was a big deal. At first, I thought people were thinking that it doesn’t work because you’re not going to be strong enough, not get enough protein in. And at that point, it’s not true anymore. This Ripple product gives you the same amount of protein as regular milk does. So I think to have this substitute is awesome. But at the same time, it’s about longevity and maximizing how much money you can make, and really, it’s about your legacy. Being able to go as long as you can and just showing the world you can do.

I know you recently talked to Chris Haynes about Defensive Player of the Year. Do you feel like with guys like you who play on the perimeter, and are extremely versatile, and switch so much, maybe people with votes or the “media” are missing something in identifying Turner or Gobert or Embiid or Capela as candidates vs. perimeter guys?

I mean personally, I think so. It’s nothing against the big guys or the shot blockers. I think to be able to have to pick somebody up 94 feet is a lot. A lot of the best players in the world are perimeters. And even the best bigs step out to the perimeter now.

But a lot of the best players in the world are perimeters where you have to guard them 94 feet, you have to fight over screens. You have to be able to guard them one-on-one from 35, 40 feet out. And then a lot of them post up to and you have to guard them in the post.

So, ya, I just feel like a lot of bigs who are great at blocking shots and protecting the rim and the basket don’t necessary have to go through the same thing that a guard or perimeter player has to go through because they don’t have to fight over screens. Maybe Joel Embiid or someone like would shoot for 40 feet, but he doesn’t really do that. Steph is doing that at a very high rate. Dame is doing that at a very high rate. I think it’s different and maybe it’s a little more difficult to be a guard than a big.

As I told you, I primarily cover the Cavs and I watch Isaac Okoro defend guys like you, Harden, KD, Kyrie night after night. He’s doing what he’s supposed to do — fight over screens, get his hands up — and it doesn’t matter because the skill level is so high. Is perimeter defense as it seems to me on the outside covering the game?

Yes, it is. It’s a lot of studying. It’s a lot of being able to know tendencies. And it’s a lot of effort. Most of the time, someone like myself is not just playing defense. I’m also on offense and I have to score as well. I have to run the team, I have to get in some sets. I have to make sure people are getting their shots. I feel like that also helps the argument of defenses is just really, really hard.

And again, a lot of the guys you just named are perimeter players. Let’s talk about the Nets going from Kevin Durant to James to Kyrie all in one game. It’s very, very difficult to deal with and then you still have to go down to the other end and score. It’s about effort. It’s about pride and wanting to do your best to slow somebody done because in the game today, you’re not stopping anybody from scoring.

Woj reported that the NBA is planning to address the “unnatural shooting motions” of guys like Harden and Trae Young, Kevin Love does this as well. A) How much easier would your life be if that’s phased out and, B) how frustrating is that for your when that call happens in the game?

A, my life would be a lot easier. [Laughs] B, I think that’s it a really tough call because sometimes, as a defender, you might be leaning into the guy. I feel like it’s a really hard call to make. So it should just be consistent and just be one way, because there are times when the guy is straight up and the offensive player makes the contact and then I get penalized for that. That’s not fair, in my opinion. But other times, it’s a smart play because you’ve outwitted the defender. To take it way, I’m not really sure they’ll ever take it away. I do feel like the things the NBA does now is to speed up the game and that’s something that slows the game down. So maybe they will change it.

Parks And Recreation aired its final episode in 2015, but the beloved TV hit is remembered fondly and remains a favorite today. The show offered fun for music fans as well, most notably via the fictional band Mouse Rat, led by Chris Pratt’s eternally lovable Andy Dwyer. Now, Mouse Rat isn’t quite so fictional anymore: The band is actually releasing a real album, The Awesome Album, on August 27 via Dualtone and Entertainment 720 (the latter of course being the fictional company in the show that’s run by Aziz Ansari’s Tom Haverford).

The news is also accompanied by a new video for the band’s biggest hit, “5,000 Candles In The Wind (Bye Bye Li’l Sebastian).” There’s significance to the song being shared today, as today is the tenth anniversary of the track’s debut performance at Li’l Sebastian’s funeral.

They also got Pawnee news anchor Perd Hapley to announce the release:

Aside from Mouse Rat, the album also features contributions from Duke Silver (the jazz-playing alter-ego of Nick Offerman’s character Ron Swanson), Scott Tanner (a popular Pawnee musician portrayed by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy), and Tanner’s band Land Ho! (which famously reunited at the Pawnee-Eagleton Unity Concert).

The press release announcing the album is full of gems for fans of the show to appreciate. For example, it lists all of Dwyer’s former bands: “A.D And The D Bags, The Andy Andy Andies, Andy Dwyer Experience, Angelsnack, Crackfinger, Death Of A Scam Artist, Department Of Homeland Obscurity, Everything Rhymes With Orange, Fiveskin, Flames For Flames, Fleetwood Mac Sexpants, Fourskin, God Hates Figs, Handrail Suicide, Jet Black Pope, Just The Tip, Malice In Chains, Muscle Confusion, Ninjadick, Nothing Rhymes With Blorange, Nothing Rhymes With Orange, Penis Pendulum, Possum Pendulum, Punch Face Champions, Puppy Pendulum, Radwagon, Razordick, Scrotation Marks, Tackleshaft, Teddy Bear Suicide, Threeskin, Two Doors Down, and Scarecrow Boat.”

It also includes a quote from Dualtone president Paul Roper about working with Entertainment 720 and Haverford to release the album:

“Any creative business coming out of Pawnee is tied to Haverford. From Rent-a-Swag to Tommy Fresh cologne and Tom’s Bistro, not to mention his business ideas not yet formed like the scented phone, talking tissues, contact lenses that display text messages and the glitter-infused laundry detergent Sparkle Suds, partnering with Entertainment 720’s hype machine was essential. The man is an idea factory.

This is about the team as much as it is the music. Andy’s wife and manager April Ludgate Dwyer is a marketing genius. Selling CDs at the Parks and Recreation shoeshine stand for $18 each, $40 for the set?? I don’t know anyone else who could pull that off.”

Watch the “5,000 Candles In The Wind (Bye Bye Li’l Sebastian)” video above. Below, find the The Awesome Album art and tracklist.

1. “5,000 Candles in the Wind (Bye, Bye Li’l Sebastian)”
2. “The Pit”
3. “Sex Hair”
4. “Catch Your Dream” Feat. Duke Silver
5. “Two Birds Holding Hands”
6. “Ann Song”
7. “The Way You Look Tonight”
8. “Menace Ball”
9. “Remember”
10. “I Get A Kick Out Of You”
11. “Lovely Tonight”
12. “I’ve Got You Under My Skin ”
13. “I Only Have Eyes For You”
14. “Pickled Ginger” (performed by Land Ho!)
15. “Cold Water” (Scott Tanner Feat. Duke Silver)

The Awesome Album is out 8/27 via Dualtone/Entertainment 720. Pre-order it here.

Jackson Browne has released a video to his breezy tune “My Cleveland Heart” and it features a recognizable face: The singer tapped none other than Phoebe Bridgers to play a cannibal nurse in his eerie visual.

The “My Cleveland Heart” video was directed by Alissa Torvinen, who handled Bridgers’ “I Know The End” visual. It opens with Browne being wheeled into surgery at a hospital. The doctors, who are played by Browne’s bandmates, remove the singer’s heart to replace it with a high-tech artificial organ. Browne’s real heart is then handed to Bridgers who, dressed up as a nurse, begins to devour it in the corner of the room.

In a statement about the visual given to Rolling Stone, Browne said Bridgers (with whom he has previously collaborated on multiple occasions) was the obvious casting choice. “It was the most fun I’ve ever had making a video,” he said. “I’m a big fan of Phoebe, so I picked Alissa. And then it was really sort of in the last days of planning that someone said, ‘Phoebe could be one of these nurses.’ From there, it was pretty much improvised. I thought it was really appropriate to take out my worn-out, useless heart and hand it to Phoebe. Who better to hand [it] to than somebody young, strong, and possibly as cynical as me?”

Watch Bridgers’ cameo in Browne’s “My Cleveland Heart” video above.

Jackson Browne is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Netflix is cruising into summer with more than the traditional action fare that we typically see in theaters. Of course, this year is anything but typical, and the streaming service is determined to give us more content than we could possibly dream of consuming. It’s a wonderful dilemma to have, and there’s a ton of variety coming this month, including a few Sailor Moon movies and four other projects that we’ve highlighted below, along with including the entire list of massive offerings from Netflix.

The most bingeworthy selections here include a return of the French gentleman thief that captivated audiences earlier this year. We’ll also see the launch of a Robert Downey Jr.-produced fantasy-adventure, comic-book adaptation series, and Kevin Hart gets down in a project that’s very unlike what you’ve seen him do before now. A sleeper zombie-apocalypse show also returns for more scrambling-scavenger madness, and in short, you will probably not regret investing time on any of these four top picks.

Here’s everything coming to (and leaving) Netflix in June.

Lupin: Part 2 (Netflix series streaming 6/11)

This (the fancy French heist show starring Omar Sy) turned out to be a smash hit for Netflix in January. The overwhelming reaction even led the streamer to hustle fast to release Part 2, so that everyone could see how the beloved gentleman burglar would take revenge (against Hubert Pelligrini) for the abduction of his son, and by the way, we could probably use a lot more heisting as well? Give it to us. Of course, after that train-station switcheroo in last season’s finale, we can expect police to redouble their efforts. So, Assane reenters as the most wanted man in France, and of course, he’ll tempt fate while executing a new plan that puts himself at risk. Along the way, black tie events, high-speed car chases, speeding motorboats, thrown punches, and a trip to the catacombs are in the cards. Everyone will eventually learn that they should never underestimate our protagonist because, my god, he never runs out of energy or ingenuity. “Nothing but magic,” as we hear Omar Sy say at the end of the trailer.

Sweet Tooth (Netflix series streaming 6/4)

Team Downey (Robert Jr. and Susan) brings us this awe-inspiring story based upon a comic-book (that ran under DC’s Vertigo imprint) by creator Jeff Lemire, who whipped up a post-apocalyptic fairytale about what happens when a great sickness (which is poorly dealt with by humans) ends with a miracle. In this case, this would be the appearance of “hybrids,” babies who are born half-human and half-animal, and we’ll meet a young deer-boy, Gus, (Christian Convery), who teams up with a reluctant protector, Tommy Jepperd (Nonso Anozie), for a cross-country quest. The comic has been described as “Mad Max Meets Bambi,” and Will Forte also plays a small role. You’re in for a real (sweet) treat if you surrender to this adventure.

Black Summer: Season 2 (Netflix series streaming 6/17)

Netflix hasn’t yet released the trailer for this zombie series’ sophomore season, so please enjoy revisiting the trailer for the show’s debut, which ended up being the show that Fear The Walking Dead fans would have preferred before the AMC spinoff series improved dramatically this year. With that said, this is a quick-and-dirty crowd pleaser of a series, which includes the obligatory “guy who tries to hide his zombie bite” moment while attempting to flee to safety within a crowd of survivors. How that’s handled is necessarily brutal, as is the rest of the series, and expect a new batch of episodes full of cold-blooded fresh challenges while violent militias get down with their bad selves.

Fatherhood (Netflix film streaming 6/18)

Kevin Hart puts away the funnyman vibes (well, at least partially) for this rather serious take on fatherhood. The laughs that do occur will be both bittersweet and heartwarming, given that Hart plays a widower who must learn to raise his daughter all by himself. The trailer reveals that he’s taking a swing at honest-to-god acting, and this film is part of Netflix’s promise to release at least one original film per week for the whole of 2021. That’s quite a feat, and this movie will be a nice break from the non-stop action movies that traditionally fill the summer schedule.

Here’s the full list of titles coming to Netflix in June:

Avail. TBA
Ali & Ratu Ratu Queens
Jiva!
Ray
Record of Ragnarok
So Not Worth It

Avail. 6/1
Super Monsters: Once Upon a Rhyme
Abduction
American Outlaws
Bad Teacher
Black Holes | The Edge of All We Know
CoComelon: A Sunny Day for Play
Cradle 2 the Grave
Flipped
Fools Rush In
Happy Endings: Season 1
Happy Endings: Season 2
Happy Endings: Season 3
I Am Sam
Love Jones
Million Dollar Baby
Ninja Assassin
Seven Souls in the Skull Castle: Season Moon Jogen
Seven Souls in the Skull Castle: Season Moon Kagen
Stand by Me
Starsky & Hutch
Streets of Fire
Swordfish
The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog: Season 1
The Best Man
The Big Lebowski
The Wedding Guest
The Wind
What Women Want

Avail. 6/2
2 Hearts
Alone: Season 7
Carnaval
Kim’s Convenience: Season 5

Avail. 6/3
Alan Saldaña: Locked Up.
Creator’s File: GOLD
Dancing Queens
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie: Part 1 / Part 2
Summertime: Season 2

Avail. 6/4
Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet
Feel Good: Season 2
Sweet Tooth
Trippin’ with the Kandasamys
Xtreme

Avail. 6/5
Kitty Love: An Homage to Cats

Avail. 6/7
Vampire Academy

Avail. 6/9
Awake
Fresh, Fried & Crispy
L.A.’s Finest: LA’s Finest: Season 2
Tragic Jungle

Avail. 6/10
A Haunted House 2
Camellia Sisters
Locombianos

Avail. 6/11
Love (ft. Marriage and Divorce): Season 2
Lupin: Part 2
Skater Girl
Trese
Wish Dragon

Avail. 6/13
The Devil Below
Picture a Scientist

Avail. 6/14
Elite Short Stories

Avail. 6/15
FTA
Let’s Eat
Life of Crime
Power Rangers Dino Fury: Season 1
Rhyme Time Town: Season 2
Sir! No Sir!
Unwind Your Mind
Workin’ Moms: Season 5

Avail. 6/16
Lowriders
Penguin Town
Silver Skates

Avail. 6/17
Black Summer: Season 2
The Gift: Season 3
Hospital Playlist: Season 2
Katla
Silver Linings Playbook

Avail. 6/18
A Family
Elite: Season 4
Fatherhood
Jagame Thandhiram
The Rational Life
The World’s Most Amazing Vacation Rentals

Avail. 6/19
Nevertheless

Avail. 6/22
This Is Pop

Avail. 6/23
Good on Paper
The House of Flowers: The Movie
Murder by the Coast
Too Hot to Handle: Season 2

Avail. 6/24
Godzilla Singular Point
The Naked Director: Season 2
The Seventh Day
Sisters on Track

Avail. 6/25
The A List: Season 2
The Ice Road
Sex/Life

Avail. 6/26
Wonder Boy

Avail. 6/28
Killing Them Softly
The Seven Deadly Sins: Dragon’s Judgement

Avail. 6/29
StarBeam: Season 4

Avail. 6/30
America: The Motion Picture
Lying and Stealing
Sophie: A Murder in West Cork

Here’s the full list of titles leaving Netflix in June:

Leaving 6/1
Alone: Season 6
Mother Goose Club: Seasons 1-2

Leaving 6/4
Hannibal: Seasons 1-3

Leaving 6/6
Searching for Bobby Fischer

Leaving 6/9
Portlandia: Seasons 1-8

Leaving 6/17
Bob Lazar: Area 51 & Flying Saucers

Leaving 6/21
Dark Skies

Leaving 6/26
The Secret Life of Pets 2

Leaving 6/27
20th Century Women
Tales of the City (1993): Season 1

Leaving 6/28
Bratz: The Movie

Leaving 6/30
30 Minutes or Less
A Bridge Too Far
Acts of Violence
Back to the Future
Back to the Future Part II
Back to the Future Part III
Bonnie and Clyde
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Crazy, Stupid, Love
Enter the Dragon
Fiddler on the Roof
From Paris with Love
Gothika
Immortals
Invictus
Jason X
Leprechaun
Scarface
Tayo the Little Bus: Seasons 2-3
The Accountant of Auschwitz
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Land Before Time
The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure
The Roommate
The Twilight Zone (Original Series): Seasons 1-5
Training Day
Twin Peaks: Seasons 1-2
Two Weeks Notice