Category: News

The 2021 regular season is over, at least in theory. The eight-team play-in extravaganza will begin on Tuesday but, because of the NBA’s decision to essentially slot those games into purgatory between the regular season and the playoffs, we can draw a line in the sand. If nothing else, the league ran through the tape in making sure that each of its 30 franchises participated in 72 sanctioned games in 2020-21. That isn’t a small feat considering the dynamics in play and, despite some moments in unevenness, there is true buzz for the 2021 playoffs.

With that in mind, it is time to weigh in with the final installment of our DIME power rankings for the 2020-21 season. As always, these rankings take recent performance into account, so they don’t simply stack up in the order of the standings. However, ties are broken based on the big picture and, well, the eye of the beholder.

Let’s go.

1. Brooklyn Nets (48-24, Last week — 5th)

It’s not a small jump to go from No. 5 to No. 1, but the Nets are terrifying. They finished the season with five straight wins and, with all signs pointing to at least relative health for Brooklyn’s trio of superstars, the sky is the limit. The Nets are also the betting favorites to win the title, which is a pretty good indication of their immense ceiling.

2. Philadelphia 76ers (49-23, Last week — 1st)

Philadelphia did lose two games in the final week, though one of those defeats came without Joel Embiid. The 76ers finished with the best record in the East and it would be difficult to ask much more of them than what they were able to put on tape in the regular season. Now the fun begins.

3. Utah Jazz (52-20, Last week — 2nd)

Utah essentially stays in place this week after finishing with wins over two non-competitive opponents. Moreover, the Jazz have the NBA’s best record and the NBA’s best net rating (+9.0), so they have to be considered quite dangerous. Donovan Mitchell’s health is of great importance but, if he’s 100 percent (or close to it), the Jazz are scary.

4. Phoenix Suns (51-21, Last week — 3rd)

The Suns finished with three consecutive wins and came within a whisker of tying the Jazz at the top of the standings. Phoenix’s vaunted bench units cooled down the stretch, but they have star power with Devin Booker and Chris Paul, with intriguing young talents in Mikal Bridges and Deandre Ayton. Matchups will be interesting in the playoffs, but the Suns earned a top-five perch here with a complete regular season performance.

5. Milwaukee Bucks (46-26, Last week — 4th)

After eight wins in nine games, Milwaukee pulled the rip cord in the finale. We won’t hold that against them. The Bucks have the chance to erase some demons when they face the Heat in the first round, and they’ll hope things are different this time with Jrue Holiday on board and a more versatile approach.

6. Los Angeles Lakers (42-30, Last week — 12th)

Everything, and I mean everything, comes down to the health of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. With that out of the way, the Lakers closed on a five-game winning streak and teams were tanking out of a potential matchup with them in the first (and/or second) round. That kind of says it all.

7. L.A. Clippers (47-25, Last week — 6th)

Short of meeting the necessary baselines to actually reach the postseason, nothing mattered in the regular season for the Clippers. That’s the reality after what happened last year against Denver, and they have the opportunity to erase that with a deep playoff run. No, it doesn’t matter that they lost their last two games to OKC and Houston since… they weren’t really trying to win.

8. Denver Nuggets (47-25, Last week — 9th)

It helps to have the MVP of the league and that is Nikola Jokic. By the end of the season, it was quite clear that Jokic was going to win the award and that he deserved to do so. The way the Nuggets navigated life without Jamal Murray drove the MVP stake even further into the ground, but they may now have to face a playoff series without Will Barton. It (still) helps to have the MVP of the league.

9. Atlanta Hawks (41-31, Last week — 11th)

The Hawks unquestionably caught some breaks along the way, but Atlanta just finished 27-11 with Nate McMillan at the helm. They are deep and talented, and the return of De’Andre Hunter unlocks some things. The question was quite favorable for Atlanta in their four-game winning streak to end the season, but you still have to win the games. They have.

10. New York Knicks (41-31, Last week — 10th)

New York very nearly made a mess of this week. They needed a miracle to come back against the Spurs. They needed overtime to beat the Hornets. They needed to hang on for dear life against the Celtics. Perhaps that is a red flag for the playoffs, but the Knicks will host a playoff game this weekend. That’s wild.

11. Portland Trail Blazers (42-30, Last week — 8th)

The Blazers looked to be in deep trouble three weeks ago. In on-brand fashion, they finished with a 10-2 flourish and avoided the play-in as a result. The defense is kept together with scotch tape, but Damian Lillard is terrifying and they can really score.

12. Golden State Warriors (39-33, Last week — 14th)

In the 24 games after he returned from injury in late March, Steph Curry was the best player in the universe. He averaged 36.9 points per game, taking 14.8 three-pointers per contest and making 43.7 percent of them. He is the biggest reason the Warriors have a fighting chance if they can reach the final playoff field, but Draymond Green is quietly alive in his own right. He looks a lot like his old self defensively, with some sneaky athleticism around the rim on offense to boot.

13. Dallas Mavericks (42-30, Last week — 7th)

Dallas remains an incredibly weird team. They lost to the Kings three times in the last month, with a loss to the Wolves in the finale as well. Otherwise, they’ve been pretty spectacular in earning the 5-seed out West. There are caveats involved across the board there, but Dallas also draws a tough matchup against the Clippers in the first round. That’s suboptimal, but sets the stage for a fascinating rematch.

14. Miami Heat (40-32, Last week — 13th)

This might be low for Miami with the way they finished the regular season. The Heat are 12-4 in the last 16 and, while there is a hint of skepticism in taking their 2020 run as gospel through a 2021 lens, they are well-coached, talented and dangerous. Look out, Milwaukee.

15. Memphis Grizzlies (38-34, Last week — 15th)

It is fitting that Memphis is 15th, simply because they’ve felt like a league-average team all year. In some ways, that is to their credit, as Jaren Jackson Jr. was gone most of the way, but the Grizzlies did also finish strong at 6-2 in the last eight games. Their prize is needing to beat the Spurs and either the Lakers or Warriors to reach the playoffs. Godspeed.

16. Washington Wizards (34-38, Last week — 16th)

Russell Westbrook is completely and utterly out of his mind. It’s a good thing, too, because Bradley Beal didn’t look quite like himself in the finale as he comes back from a hamstring issue. Washington will have two chances to sneak into the playoffs, and they resurrected what was once a totally lost season.

17. Boston Celtics (36-36, Last week — 17th)

Nobody seems thrilled in Boston right now. Their ceiling is capped by the injury to Jaylen Brown and, because of the way the seeding broke down, the Celtics had nothing to play for down the stretch. The results were unsightly, but they might have it in them to ramp it back up on Tuesday to earn a date with Brooklyn.

18. San Antonio Spurs (33-39, Last week — 18th)

The schedule was an atrocity for the Spurs down the stretch. That matters because San Antonio went 2-10 in the last 12 games. Should they have been better than that? Yes, but the context is important. They’ll have a chance to play their way into the Western Conference field beginning on Wednesday.

19. Indiana Pacers (34-38, Last week — 22nd)

Without Myles Turner, the Pacers are a very flawed defensive team. They also played hard at times down the stretch to avoid complete disaster, and they’re going to be favored to win at least one play-in game. It hasn’t gone well but they didn’t totally flame out when they could have.

20. Charlotte Hornets (33-39, Last week — 19th)

It would’ve been nice if the Hornets ever had their full roster down the stretch. Five straight losses to end the season doesn’t inspire a ton of confidence, but they do have a very winnable play-in matchup against Indiana. From there, all bets are off.

21. Chicago Bulls (31-41, Last week — 21st)

It is safe to assume the Bulls didn’t think they’d be 15-23 after the All-Star break. If they did, they almost certainly would not have made a move to grab Nikola Vucevic from Orlando, but Chicago does have valid excuses with injuries and COVID-related absences in the second half. Still, the reality is that the Bulls underachieved and they can’t be thrilled.

22. New Orleans Pelicans (31-41, Last week — 20th)

Zion Williamson last appeared on May 4 and the Pelicans were 1-5 down the stretch without him. That isn’t necessarily indicative of the team’s overall quality, but New Orleans still endured a grueling season overall. There is a bright future with Williamson coming into his own as a lead option this season, but the roster has plenty of peripheral questions that must be answered in the coming months.

23. Minnesota Timberwolves (23-49, Last week — 25th)

The Wolves were pretty good for the final month of the season. No, really, they were. Minnesota finished 9-7 with a +2.6 net rating in the last 16 games, using a top-10 offense to buoy their overall effort. Anthony Edwards is exploding, Karl-Anthony Towns is back, and things feel a lot better for the Wolves than they did just a few weeks/months ago. Now, they have to hold their breath until the lottery to see the fate of their 2021 first round pick.

24. Sacramento Kings (31-41, Last week — 23rd)

Even after an improved finish on that end of the floor, the Kings posted the league’s worst defensive rating (116.5) by more than a full point. There was really no reason for things to be that bad defensively given the roster, and it plagued them all year. On the more optimistic side, the backcourt of De’Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton should work for a long time and the Kings produced a top-12 offense.

25. Toronto Raptors (27-45, Last week — 24th)

The season from hell ended with seven straight losses for the Raptors. At full strength, Toronto was much better than this but, even then, they were snake-bitten. It is borderline impossible to finish with a 27-45 record and a -0.4 net rating, but that pretty much encapsulates this season in Tampa.

26. Detroit Pistons (20-52, Last week — 26th)

It would be fair to say the Pistons were better than their record. Detroit wasn’t good by any stretch, but their net rating (-4.5) didn’t really mirror their win-loss performance. From there, Jerami Grant took a step forward and they found rookie gems in Isaiah Stewart and Saddiq Bey. It certainly could’ve been worse in Detroit.

27. Cleveland Cavaliers (22-50, Last week — 29th)

There were times when the Cavs were downright intriguing when healthy. Cleveland has some interesting pieces for the future and it wasn’t a total disaster. They did lose 13 of the last 14 games, though, and that takes you to No. 27 overall.

28. Orlando Magic (21-51, Last week — 27th)

Following a somewhat promising 13-18 start, things unraveled in Orlando. Part of that was a well-timed decision to pivot to the future. Part of that was injuries. However you slice it, though, the Magic were 8-33 in their last 41 games with a -12.3 net rating, and it got pretty grim down the stretch.

29. Houston Rockets (17-55, Last week — 28th)

Houston finished with the worst record in the league by multiple games, and they really “deserve” the basement. See below to see why that didn’t happen, but the Rockets were 6-45 in the last 51 games. That pretty much tells you how bleak it was, and a 29-point loss to a Hawks team that wasn’t trying particularly hard on Sunday was an appropriate end to a disastrous campaign.

30. Oklahoma City Thunder (22-50, Last week — 30th)

The Thunder technically won their last game of the season. That did happen. However, it was an all-time tankathon performance on both sides, and the numbers are jarringly bad for OKC in the back half of the season. The Thunder were 2-23 with an insane -18.8 net rating in April and May. I mean, come on.

9-1-1 (Fox, 8:00pm) — Finally, the 118 must descend upon a disastrous wedding to save a bridezilla, and elsewhere, a mom’s trapped on a balcony, and another character plays medical detective.

9-1-1: Lone Star (Fox, 9:00pm) — Rob Lowe’s Owen helps out another character through a personal emergency, which doesn’t involve being handsome, but I sure wish that issue had everything to do with this episode.

Running Wild With Bear Grylls (Nat Geo, 9:00pm) — Comedic actor and former United States Marine Officer Rob Riggle joins Bear to do the daredevil-in-nature thing… in Iceland.

Debris (NBC, 10:00pm) — George’s zeroing in on his search while Debris collected by Orbital starts to do mysterious things.

Breeders (FX, 10:00pm) — Martin Freeman’s starring turn in this comedy enters the sophomore season with new parenting challenges. This week, Paul’s facing a tough decision on the day of Leah and Alex’s nuptials.

The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon — P!nk, Eric Bana, Natti Natasha, Becky G

Late Night With Seth Meyers — Julianna Margulies, Josh Duhamel, Alaina Castillo, Brian Frasier-Moore

In case you missed these streaming picks:

Hacks (HBO Max series premiere) — Jean Smart’s not-so-quiet domination of recent prestige TV shows (Fargo, Watchmen, Mare of Easttown, Legion) has finally culminated with this leading-lady turn in a role she was arguably meant to play. Hacks hails from executive producer Michael Schur and has three Broad City alums in the writers’ room, so get ready for a (Las Vegas) buffet of complex female characters. Smart portrays a legendary Vegas-rooted comedian who forges a “dark mentorship” to a 20-something newcomer in town. Among other highlights of this trailer, we see Smart shouting, “Eat your heart out Celine!” Don’t even think about missing this one.

The Underground Railroad (Amazon Prime limited series) — Awe-inspiring cinematography aside in this trailer, one of the biggest attractions to this project is Oscar winner Barry Jenkins in the director’s seat while helming a 10-part adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Also, Brad Pitt’s executive producing here through his Plan B production company. The story chronicles the desperate bid for freedom by slave Cora Randall (newcomer Thuso Mbedu), and the ensemble cast includes William Jackson Harper (as Royal, who was born free and helps guide Cora along part of her journey), Lily Rabe, and Damon “Dewey Crowe” Herriman.

While sporting a very visible black eye and several bruises on his face, Fox News contributor and Washington Times opinion editor Charlie Hurt offered a strange explanation for why he showed up to work on Monday morning looking like he just went a round with Rocky Balboa: a horse did it.

Here’s the exchange that went down between Hurt and Fox News anchor Dana Perino, who not only bought Hurt’s odd excuse that he got into a headbutting contest with a horse, but she actually called him a “real cowboy”:

PERINO: Before you beat up on the White House or the CDC, what happened over the weekend to you?

HURT: You know, it’s probably unwise to get into a headbutting contest with a horse, but I stayed on.

PERINO: Well, you know what, I gotta say you’re a real cowboy and we are glad that you are here, black eye and all.

During the strange segment, Perino asked Hurt to tweet a photo of the horse so they could all get a look at it, and Hurt obliged as if this offers any sort of proof that he got into a headbutting contest with the animal while riding it. How does that even work?

It was yet another strange moment for Fox News after it recently invited Liz Cheney on to Special Report, where she proceeded to blast the network for pushing Donald Trump’s “Big Lie” that the 2020 presidential election was somehow “stolen” from him. “We all have an obligation, and I would say Fox News especially, especially Fox News, has a particular obligation to make sure people know the election wasn’t stolen,” Cheney said directly to Bret Baier’s face.

(Via Mediaite)

Rapper turned podcast personality Joe Budden has been at the center of a number of controversies involving his treatment of the employees and fellow hosts of his podcast network, and today, one of those hosts added fuel to the fire by revealing her reasons for resigning included sexual harassment on the part of Budden himself. Posting a 26-minute video to Instagram, Olivia Dope explained why she departed the See The Thing Is… podcast hosted by herself, Bridget Kelly, and Mandii B just a few months after the show launched in October of 2020.

Following the departure of Joe Budden Podcast co-hosts Rory and Mal after they disagreed with Budden’s profit-sharing practices, Olivia Dope shared her reasons for quitting her own show after less than four months online. “On January 18, 2021, Joe Budden sat in on a recording of the female-led podcast I was a part of and continuously made sexual, suggestive remarks to me that made me extremely uncomfortable as well as fearful of dampening the mood if I didn’t laugh along while he made those sexual remarks to me,” she explained. “Those moments not only live on the internet forever, it also forced me into the decision of quitting the podcast.”

Elaborating on the last effects of the encounter, she continued, “It was traumatizing, embarrassing and I’ve decided that I have to actually speak up because not only was it important for me to walk away from it, it also is important for me to speak up to let others know this probably wouldn’t be the best situation for you to enter into, working with this person.” She also recounted some of the comments Budden made, which were subsequently edited from the episode before it premiered, including Joe admitting he “been wanted to f*ck me since we’ve met.” There are also numerous hostile comments as well as more comments making sexual passes at her.

Budden, who’s been accused of domestic abuse by multiple former girlfriends, was able to turn his rap career into fodder for the successful podcast, which has bounced from Diddy’s Revolt to Spotify, and where he happily trolls his fellow rappers like Jay Electronica and Logic. Since the exits of his co-hosts, however, he’s said that the Joe Budden Podcast is “100,000% over.”

You can watch Olivia Dope’s full video above.

Henry Cavill knows what it’s like to live in the public eye, which is something that simply happens after taking on the Superman role and popping into the Mission: Impossible franchise. Yet there are certain tradeoffs, like, for example, falling prey to bad mustache-removal CGI, which Henry couldn’t avoid, and hopefully, he’s recovered from those jokes. Something far more serious, however, would be the loss of privacy, especially when fans go too far. This has happened, and Cavill felt the need to shut down the “animosity” on Instagram.

To that end, Cavill, who doesn’t showing off his gaming-computer skills to please The Witcher fans, is putting his foot down when it comes to his love life. This move has followed a lot of negative social media comments after Henry went public with his girlfriend, Natalie Viscuso. On Instagram, Cavill has addressed the rudeness that he’s witnessing and told fans that it’s time to stop with the hurtful shenanigans.

“I wanted to make a wee community announcement,” Cavill wrote. “I couldn’t help but notice that there has been some social animosity of late. It’s becoming increasingly prevalent on my feed. There has been lots of, let’s call it speculation for now, about my private life and professional partnerships. Now, while I do appreciate the passion and support by those very people who are ‘speculating’, It has come to such a point that I needed to say something, which in itself, is a bad thing.”

Cavill added that he’s aware of the temptation that people feel while indulging in gossip. However, he warns, “[Y]our ‘passion’ is misplaced, and it causes harm to the people I care about most.” He’s asking everyone to look at their behavior and accept that “I am very happy in love, and in life. I’d be enormously grateful if you were happy with me.” He concluded, “If you can’t bring yourself to be happy with me, then at the very least try to do yourself proud and be the best version of yourself.” Well said, and you can read Henry’s full statement below.

Last year, Green Day, Weezer, and Fall Out Boy were supposed to team up for the Hella Mega Tour in 2020, but naturally, that didn’t go as planned due to the pandemic. It was a small consolation when Weezer and Fall Out Boy faced off against each other on Family Feud in September 2020, but that was no replacement for live shows (with all due respect to the constantly bemused Steve Harvey).

Now, though, the three groups have announced new rescheduled dates. The new run of North American shows begins in Julybefore wrapping up in early September. Pre-sales begin on May 20 at 10 p.m. local time and more information can be found at the tour website.

Check out the full list of tour dates below.

07/24 — Dallas, TX @ Globe Life Field
07/27 — Atlanta, GA @ Truist Park
07/29 — Houston, TX @ Minute Maid Park
07/31 — Jacksonville, FL @ TIAA Bank Field
08/01 — Miami, FL @ Hard Rock Stadium
08/04 — Flushing, NY @ Citi Field
08/05 — Boston, MA @ Fenway Park
08/08 — Washington, DC @ Nationals Park
08/10 — Detroit, MI @ Comerica Park
08/13 — Hershey, PA @ Hersheypark Stadium
08/15 — Chicago, IL @ Wrigley Field
08/17 — Columbus, OH @ Historic Crew Stadium
08/19 — Pittsburgh, PA @ PNC Park
08/20 — Philadelphia, PA @ Citizen’s Bank Park
08/23 — Minneapolis, MN @ Target Field
08/25 — Denver, CO @ Dick’s Sporting Goods Park
08/27 — San Francisco, CA @ Oracle park
08/29 — San Diego, CA @ PetCo Park
09/01 — Milwaukee, WI @ Summerfest
09/03 — Los Angeles, CA @ Dodger Stadium
09/06 — Seattle, WA @ T Mobile Park

Green Day is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

When Nike sneaker designer Tinker Hatfield set out to design the Air Jordan IV he had something he didn’t have when designing the III — the luxury of time. It made all the difference. Don’t get us wrong, we love the Jordan III and true Jordan heads could make the case for it being the best Air Jordan of all time, but the III was made in a mad dash. The shoe combined ideas that Jordan I and II designer Peter Moore had already been toying with and featured remnants of the II (faux animal skin, a cushioned midsole, the leather), slapped together quickly in an effort to charm Michael Jordan into staying with Nike and not fleeing to Moore’s fledgling sneaker brand, Van Grack.

The move worked. Mostly thanks to Hatfield’s masterstroke of putting the Jumpman logo on the tongue of the III, where the Swoosh had traditionally been. From that point forward, Hatfield and Jordan collaborated (yes, Jordan’s opinions were taken into account by Hatfield, unheard of at the time) on some of the greatest sneakers of all time. But unlike the III, the IV was wholly Hatfield’s design and it looks more assured than the III.

The general shape introduced with the III was retained, but the IV cut off a considerable amount of bulk, swapping out some of the leather for a breathable mesh material on the upper with plastic netting, giving it a lighter feel to speed up Jordan’s game as well as a new semi-customizable lacing system to give the wearer the perfect fit. Nike must’ve recognized the appeal of the new design because it was the first pair of Jordan’s to launch to a global market, landing in 1989 in a worldwide release.

If the design wasn’t enough, the Jordan IV was also introduced with yet another Spike Lee-directed ad campaign, appeared in the famous sneaker scuffing scene in Lee’s Do The Right Thing, and was the pair of shoes Jordan was rocking when he made “The Shot” — a buzzer-beating play that gave the Bulls a last-second win against the Cleveland Cavaliers, which has gone down as one of basketball’s greatest moments. Within a year of their launch, the IVs were unimpeachable.

In honor of one of the greatest Jordan silhouettes of all time, we’re running through the greatest Jordan IV’s ever released in the sneaker’s 32-year history.

Air Jordan IV (Black Cement) BRED, 1989

One of the Air Jordan IV’s debut colorways, the legendary BRED was on Jordan’s feet when he scored “The Shot” at the 1989 playoffs. The design features a nubuck black upper atop a white midsole with an exposed air unit, grey accents, and a red sole.

It’s a straight-up classic but let’s be real, it’s kind of a tired colorway and it looks weaker on the IV than any of the other single-digit Jordans. It’s certainly not our favorite Air Jordan IV but to not include it would be blasphemous — we recognize it’s one of the greats.

Still, when it comes to the four debut colorways, it’s easily our least favorite, “The Shot” aside.

Air Jordan IV White Cement, 1989

Like the Air Jordan III, the IV dropped in a White or Black Cement color and while those two colorways are generally interchangeable in the world of Jordans, the White Cement really takes things to the next level thanks to its black speckled detailing over a Tech Grey wing flap.

This design is sleeker than the BRED, featuring a pure white upper with black accents and a University Red Jumpman logo at the tongue, with black detailing throughout.

Air Jordan IV Fire Red, 1989

What else needs to be said? Just about every Jordan looks good dressed in white and red. Unlike the Cement colorways, the Fire Red features a white cage net over a contrasting black mesh, which adds a lot of depth to the design and helps it pop against its white leather upper, Fire Red accents, and a black wing flap.

It’s probably the most balanced the Fire Red colorway has ever looked, the black triangle piece looks great attached to the Fire Red lace cage, and as a backdrop for the branding at the heel.

Air Jordan IV Military Blue, 1989

We’ve saved our favorite Jordan IV debut colorway for last, 1989’s Military Blue. This design features a slightly altered off-white leather upper with Military Blue accents at the heel, midsole, and lace cage, with some blue peeking out behind the cage net, tied together with some cool grey accents.

It’s not the most iconic pair, but it’s one of the best.

Air Jordan IV Oreo, 1999

It took Nike a minute to start playing with the construction of the Jordan IV and 1999’s Oreo colorway is a good display of some of the minor changes that sneaker would go through in the future. For the Oreo, we have a tumbled black leather upper with perforated quarter panels taking the place of the plastic netting and mesh construction.

It gives the sneaker a more chunky design, and that speckled Cool Grey midsole really helps recall the cookie the colorway is named after.

Eminem Air Jordan IV Encore, 2004

We were really torn about including this one. On one hand, there were only 25 pairs made, on the other hand, look at them! This is probably the most iconic Jordan IV colorway to ever release. So… we’re including it, despite its insane rarity.

Made in celebration of Eminem’s fourth studio album Encore, this colorway sports a dark navy upper with a red Jumpman logo, and charcoal grey and black accents. It’s probably about 50 times better than the album it was released alongside (sorry Em), but low point in Eminem’s career aside, that doesn’t take away from how truly great this pair is.

Air Jordan IV Cool Grey, 2004

The Cool Grey is one of those legendary Jordan colorways that has graced multiple pairs — achieving iconic colorway status again and again — because it’s pretty much impossible to hate this smokey design, which looks sleek on every pair.

The Cool Grey features a nubuck leather upper with a white midsole and a Varsity Maize tongue patch that brings just a little bit of brightness to contrast this moody design.

UNDEFEATED Air Jordan IV, 2005

Back before retailer sneaker collaborations became a weekly thing in the sneaker space, it was an incredibly rare occurrence. That all changed after Los Angeles-based retailer and label UNDEFEATED teamed up with Nike for this MA-1 flight jacket-inspired colorway.

Featuring an olive nubuck upper with festive black and orange accents on the tongue and Jumpman logo on a Velcro-patched tongue, the original release was limited to under 100 pairs, which sold out via in-store raffle in a full-size run.

Air Jordan IV Laser, 2006

One of the weirder Air Jordan IVs out there, the Laser featured a laser-cut motif on a white leather upper, with a Fire Red-resembling colorway featuring padded black triangles, red lace cages, and a Fire Red lining.

The laser-etchings depict several other Air Jordan models, together with its reiteration of a classic colorway, it’s very much a celebration of the whole Air Jordan lineage.

Air Jordan IV Black Cat, 2006

Named after one of Jordan’s more fear-inducing on-court nicknames, the Black Cat features a completely monochromatic black suede upper that sits atop a matching midsole with graphite lace cages and a matching Jumpman logo on a woven tongue tag. We’re going to go ahead and call it, this is the best triple black Jordan of all time.

It’s incredibly sleek, with a luxurious presentation, and was most recently retroed in 2020, with a release that sold out nearly instantly. The retro release dropped right before the pandemic hit, so we’ve yet to see these out in the wild. They’re out there though.

Isiah Scott Doernbecher Nike Air Jordan IV Superman, 2011

Nike has a long-running history of teaming up with OHSU’s Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, and the collaborative designs that come from the children are consistently great. This Jordan IV design was designed with help from Isaiah Scott (of Alex’s Lemonade Stand) and features a black nubuck upper with comic book-inspired blue and green accents, an arrow motif, and a Superman “S” on the tongue.

To round out the design, a silhouette of young Isaiah’s face graces the inside heel.

Air Jordan IV Fear, 2013

A sort of cross between the Black Cat and Oreo colorway, the Jordan IV Fear features an upper of Pure Platinum, Cool Grey, and black atop a black speckled midsole that resembles a starry sky.

The Jordan IV Fear dropped as part of the Fear pack, alongside similar iterations of the III and V all featuring this black on grey colorway, but the IV’s are distinct due to the prominent use of white and stand as the only sneaker from the pack to get the speckled midsole treatment.

That makes them the most iconic of the three, though the entire Fear pack is worthy of GOAT status.

Air Jordan IV Toro Bravo, 2013

It’s hard to improve upon the Fire Red colorway, but Nike managed to pull it off with this Toro Bravo colorway that looked to 2009’s Jordan V Raging Bull Red Suede for inspiration.

The Toro Bravo colorway works better on the IV than it does on the V, that red netting over black mesh really breaks up the design visually, offering a nice bit of contrast. The design flips the Fire Red color scheme of the OG by replacing the white leather with a red suede upper with contrasting Cement grey and black accent work along with a white Jumpman logo.

Air Jordan IV Ginger Wheat, 2016

Every Jordan at some point receives a colorway that removes the design completely from its basketball roots and gives us something more luxury-focused. For the IV, its 2016s Ginger Wheat.

Featuring a premium leather upper with matching laces, perforated midfoot panels, and a gum outsole, the Ginger Wheat looks like a rich person’s sneaker, like something DJ Khaled would rock as he walks from his expensive house to his expensive car.

Luckily since these babies are from 2016, they’re not a rich person’s shoes, hovering between $200 and $400 on the aftermarket.

KAWS x Air Jordan IV, 2017

Made in collaboration between Jordan Brand and Brian Donnelly, better known as the Brooklyn street artist KAWS, this Jordan IV takes the Cool Grey colorway and spreads it across every panel and detail of the silhouette and dresses the whole thing in premium suede.

Dropped as part of a raffle along with a capsule collection that included a coaches jacket and other streetwear essentials at the London-based store Patta, the KAWS Air Jordan IVs inspired such an insane level of hype, police were required at the scene to keep sneakerheads cool.

We think this is dope — though maybe not riot-inspiring. Still, four years out it endures as a must cop.

Travis Scott Nike Air Jordan IV Cactus Jack, 2018

Not only is this Travis Scott’s best Nike collaboration (yes best, take that Jordan I) it’s probably one of the best colorways of the Air Jordan IV to ever drop. Inspired by Scott’s hometown heroes the Houston Oilers, this Durabuck leather Jordan features a powdery blue upper with red, white and black accent work, with Cactus Jack branding on the left heel.

Our favorite detail is easily the black triangle and lace cage, which are adorned with a blue speckled panel, which is criminally underused by Jordan Brand. Use more blue speckles Nike!

Air Jordan IV Raptors Drake OVO, 2019

Remember when Drake kept showing up courtside at Raptors games and trolling the cameras by being way too into the game? It got so bad the NBA had to tell him to chill. But if we didn’t have Drake’s insane passion for the game, we would’ve never got these Air Jordan’s from Drake’s October’s Very Own label in the Toronto Raptors’ colors.

Based on an early ‘90s colorway of the same name used on the Jordan VII, the Raptors IV features a nubuck upper with black, red, and purple accents, and a speckled midsole. The original VII had some grey paneling which was ditched for Drake’s release as the original was never named after the Toronto team. The Toronto Raptors didn’t exist in 1992.

Off-White Nike Air Jordan IV Sail, 2020

We’ve already spilled a lot of ink about these shoes — originally limited to a WMNS-only size run, sneakerhead dudes made such a stink about this release that Off-White had to go back and deliver an expanded size run to satiate all the whining babies out there.

It’s a great reinterpretation of the IV, featuring Virgil Abloh’s signature deconstructed elements with a full-grain leather upper, mesh, and semi-translucent TPU detailing. Because Abloh’s gotta be Abloh, it also says “Air” on the heel, which in 2020 was already starting to feel pretty tired.

UNION LA Air Jordan IV Off-Noir, 2020

In 2018 streetwear retailer and label UNION LA linked up with Nike and delivered one of the most beloved Air Jordan Is ever, and in 2020 the two forces linked up for another collaboration which included this Off-Noir colorway of the Air Jordan IV.

Featuring a black suede upper with black and blue mesh detailing, a semi-translucent closed-triangle piece, contrasting molded red eyelets, and a padded tongue. UNION LA used Tinker Hatfield’s original concept sketches for this iteration, which is what led to the closed triangle piece, and folded tag tongue.

Our only gripe is that artificially aged yellowed midsole. Artificial gaining never looks quite right, an off-white midsole would’ve made this sneaker perfect. The UNION LA Nike collaboration also led to a pink-toned colorway with the same detailing called Guava Ice. Somedays, we prefer that to the Off-Noir, but today we’re filling this darker take.

Do The Right Thing Nike Air Jordan IV White, 2020

Spike Lee’s masterpiece film Do The Right Thing was many people’s introduction to this classic silhouette, so it’s only fitting that we close out this list with a sneaker inspired by the film.

The Air Jordan Do the Right Thing pack featured a black and white iteration (we like the white) of the Jordan IV with Gorge Green and Varsity Red details inspired by the Sal’s Pizzeria boxes Mookie delivers in the film. The pack proved popular and a WMNS-exclusive release followed which featured a heavier dose of Rasta-inspired color.

Scuff a pair of these and you’ll have the whole neighborhood chastising you.

In December 2020, Ariana Grande made the reveal that she and her then-boyfriend Dalton Gomez got engaged. Now, it looks like the couple has taken the next natural step, as it appears the musician and real estate agent got married this weekend.

Citing “sources with direct knowledge” about the situation, TMZ reports the wedding took place this past weekend at Grande’s home in Montecito, California (which she bought from Ellen DeGeneres in June 2020). The publication also notes “there was no real ceremony and few guests” and that it’s unclear how far in advance the ceremony was planned. Neither Grande nor Gomez have yet to provide any official confirmation about their supposed marriage.

It seems Grande’s fans vehemently approve of Gomez: The Instagram post announcing their engagement became one of 2020’s most-liked posts despite only being uploaded on December 20. Grande has shared other galleries of herself and Gomez since then, both of which have racked up over 10 million likes. She captioned the most recent of those (from April 3), “!!! my heart my person !!! thank u so much for being u.”

Of course, Grande’s engagement and apparent marriage to Gomez follows her high-profile relationship with Pete Davidson, to whom she was engaged before the pair parted ways in 2018.

The NBA’s inaugural play-in tournament will start on Tuesday night as the Eastern Conference takes center stage as the Celtics, Wizards, Pacers, and Hornets will do battle for the final two playoff spots. The West will follow on Wednesday with the Lakers, Warriors, Grizzlies, and Spurs in action, and by the end of the week, the playoffs will finally be set in stone.

Given that this is the first year of this format, we wanted to offer a bit of a refresher on how it’s all going to work, because it’s been a long time since this was announced, it works differently than last year’s tournament in the Bubble, and many fans (rightfully) aren’t reading through every NBA press release. So, here is how the play-in tournament will work, as well as the full TV schedule for the games that will be played this week.

FORMAT

There will be three games played in each conference. The first two will be played on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the 7 vs. 8 and 9 vs. 10. The winner of the 7 vs. 8 games (Wizards-Celtics and Warriors-Lakers) will earn the 7-seed and face the 2-seed in the playoffs (the Nets or Suns). The loser of that game will have one more shot at getting into the playoffs as the 8-seed, playing the winner of the 9 vs. 10 matchup. The loser of the 9 vs. 10 is done and out of contention. The winner of that second game earns the 8-seed and plays the 1-seed in the playoffs (the Sixers or Jazz). Here is an example of how the West will look should the higher seed win each time:

7. Lakers beat 8. Warriors
9. Grizzlies beat 10. Spurs
8. Warriors beat 9. Grizzlies

The West’s first round matchups would then be:

1. Jazz vs. 8. Warriors
2. Suns vs. 7. Lakers
3. Nuggets vs. 6. Blazers
4. Clippers vs. 5. Mavericks

Basically, it is a double-elimination for the 7-8 teams and a single elimination for the 9-10 teams. All of which will take place over the course of this week, with the following schedule.

PLAY-IN SCHEDULE

Tuesday, May 18
6:30 p.m. ET: Hornets at Pacers (TNT)
9:00 p.m. ET: Wizards at Celtics (TNT)

Wednesday, May 19
7:30 p.m. ET: Spurs at Grizzlies (ESPN)
10:00 p.m. ET: Warriors at Lakers (ESPN)

Thursday, May 20
8:00 p.m. ET: Winner CHA/IND at Loser WAS/BOS (TNT)

Friday, May 21
TBD: Winner SAS/MEM at Loser GSW/LAL (ESPN)

Nicki Minaj’s music has been heard billions of times at this point and is widely beloved, but at least a small faction of people faces a dilemma: They like how her music sounds, but the explicit lyrical content makes them hesitate to hit play on it. That’s true of a pair of Minaj’s older fans, who wish they could hear a clean version of “Seeing Green,” Minaj’s new Drake and Lil Wayne collaboration from her newly reissued Beam Me Up Scotty mixtape. Now, Minaj is determined to quickly accommodate with some censored music.

Today, a fan tweeted at Minaj, “hey sister i have really religious grandparents who LOVE your music but don’t like explicit music so can we get the clean version of seeing green?” Minaj responded by declaring that she will drop some clean versions of songs tomorrow, writing, “The fact that I didn’t realize no clean versions were uploaded. Smh. The cleans will b out tmrw guys. My bad on that. Give ur grandparents a hug for me babe.” She also tagged her label, Republic Records, in the tweet, presumably to prompt them to get the ball rolling on adding the clean songs to streaming services.

Based on Minaj’s tweet, it’s not clear if just the new songs from the Beam Me Up Scotty reissue will be getting clean versions, or if Minaj’s promise will apply to other songs from her catalog as well. Either way, tomorrow should be a good day for Minaj fans who prefer their music curse-free.