Category: News

As this year’s coaching carousel began, the name at the top of many wishlists is Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson — who was also a top candidate last year but opted to come back for one more season in Detroit. This year, Johnson was set to have his pick of the openings around the league, and after the Lions lost in the Divisional round on Saturday to the Washington Commanders, he made his choice on Monday.

According to Adam Schefter, Johnson is headed to Chicago to be the new head coach of the Bears, as he’ll look to unlock Caleb Williams’ full potential after the Bears had another disappointing season in 2025. Williams’ rookie season did not go as the Bears hoped, and they are hoping Johnson — who helped revive Jared Goff’s career in Detroit — will be able to create an offensive system that can maximize Williams’ talents. The big question regarding the Johnson-Williams pairing is how big a change it will be going from Goff, who is at his best in structure and working quickly through reads, to Williams, who has a tendency to hold onto the ball and has excelled largely out of structure, even going back to college.

The hope for the Bears, of course, is that Johnson can get Williams more comfortable in structure and get him to be a quicker, more decisive passer, who can then lean on his abilities as a playmaker when things break down. Part of what will determine Williams’ ability to develop in that regard (and, generally, whether the Bears can take a leap forward as a team) will be whether the Bears front office is able to build an improved offensive line in front of him. All of that is to be seen, but at the least, the Bears leveraged their situation with last year’s top pick into the most coveted coaching candidate on the market. Now the hard part begins to close the gap on the rest of the NFC North.

Travis Scott released his latest album, Utopia, in mid-2023. That was about a year-and-a-half ago now, which may as well be forever in terms of hip-hop release schedules. Well, the good news is that Scott seems to have some new music on the way, as he indicated in a new teaser video.

The 15-second teaser video starts with a shadowy shot of a college band member playing a trombone on a stadium roof. Then, four instances of a “4X4” logo are quickly displayed, followed by the logo of the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.

While Scott’s post is somewhat ambiguous about what’s happening, an X (formerly Twitter) post from ESPN is more direct: “Tune in to the CFP National Championship tonight at 7:30 PM ET as Travis Scott debuts his new song during halftime.” (Well, technically, it’s not crystal-clear: Based on the phrasing of everything that’s been said, Scott could either perform the song during the halftime show, or debut it via an ad or another format during the TV broadcast.)

Assuming the song in question is indeed “4X4,” despite ESPN’s post, Scott has actually already performed “4X4” live twice so far (per setlist.fm).

This is certainly better news than the copyright lawsuit it was recently revealed he’s facing.

Flavor Flav is hip hop’s most revered and celebrated hype man, point blank. Flav stays on everyone’s lips due to consistently staying active, forever maintaining his pop culture relevancy.

On the culinary side, Flav has an undying appetite for giving back and nourishing through food and cooking — sharing in our exclusive interview that in 1978 he received a culinary certificate in Institutional Cooking (cooking for over 400 people) and learned to cook through his family’s restaurant, the Soul Diner. Not only that, but Flav shared that his signature fried chicken recipe is a legend in itself.

We caught up with Flav recently to dish about his experiences dining abroad with his son. We got the down low on Flav’s salty-sweet creation involving potato chips and butter cookies, as well as his obsession with orange Tic Tacs. We also learned what packaged pastries made the cut when Flav goes on tour, what non-alcoholic drinks he takes from the minibar after being four years sober, and all of his other favorite top food picks.

What food and snacks are on your rider?

I have a lunch meat plate with cheese and all of that stuff. Red Bull, Gatorade, Flintstones vitamins. Usually, that’s about it. I don’t drink alcohol anymore, but I used to have Hennessy on my rider. But no more alcohol for yo boy, so I don’t get to see that anymore.

How about when you’re in the studio? What kind of food or snacks or drinks do you like to have on deck when you’re recording?

I like pizza and potato chips, Doritos, popcorn, all that great stuff.

Can you tell us a little bit about what you’re doing with Smartfood?

I am hyping up all the flavors that they have. They got these flavors of popcorn that they want to bring out to the world. I don’t feel like no other better ambassador to do that than your boy, Flavor Flav.

What’s your favorite flavor of Smartfood Popcorn?

I’ve tried them all, and I like them all. The one that really caught my attention most was the white cheddar. Like if you eat movie theater butter popcorn, it takes me back to being a kid, going to the movies again because it’s one of the most iconic flavors. And back in the days, that was the only flavor.

Before they started cheesing it up and everything. I mean, I like sweet and salty stuff, too. So, the sweet and salty kettle corn, man, when I eat that, man, my taste buds go crazy.

I’ve always been a big fan of Doritos. So, to be able to taste Doritos flavor on popcorn is incredibly-crazy. That’s why it’s hard to single out a flavor because I love them. I love them all. I’m just being honest.

Would you say that you’re 50-50 when it comes to sweet and savory snacks, or is it more one or the other?

No, I’m 50-50. I like to take a chocolate bar with some caramel inside of it, and I take a bite of that. And then, I put some pretzels and stuff in my mouth with salt. I take bite of that bar, that chocolate bar with the caramel inside of it, take some pretzels, put it in my mouth and chew it all up together. And man, the taste buds go crazy.

How about on the healthy side of things? As you’ve matured and age, are there any healthy snacks or foods that you really like to have around?

The only healthy snack that I really, really have out there that I do eat is the salad snacks. You get these little salad snacks that have the salami and cheese in it. You break it open, throw in your ranch, mix it all up. I like to have a few of those while I’m out on the road as well.

When you get to your hotel are you hitting the mini bars?

I used to hit the mini bars hard, man. I’ve been sober now going on four years. So, anytime I do hit the mini bars, usually, for a Coke or a Sprite. The little grapefruit drinks that they have in there.

Are there any cities or places that you really look forward to because they have great food?

I just recently came from a couple of cruises. Like I was over in Barcelona, they got good food over there. We went to Spain, we went to a place called Portofino. Oh my God, the food there was so incredible, man. Greece too, very incredible food. And also, when we were over in Italy, we were up in Rome. Oh my God. Man… It was great. And not only that, but there was a place that we went to while we were all in Rome, I even had to order seconds. And usually, after I eat my first, I’m out.

Well, let’s talk about your experience at the Olympics, did you like the food in Paris? What are some of things that you ate there that you really liked?

Well, while I was over in Paris, I kept it kind of simple. I’m a real funny-style eater. I’m not too big on experimenting with foods. I ate a lot of chicken dishes, a lot of steak dishes. I had my son with me, and his favorite was steak and fries. So, I did a lot of steak and fry nights. I did some chicken Parmesan nights, because we did find some Italian food while we were over in Paris.

Some people tried to get me to taste some caviar and all of that, and I’m like, “nah, that’s all right, I’m good.” No caviar, no anchovies for your boy. I’ll leave that to all of those that like it. I ain’t tried no escargot, no snails for your boy, man.

I did get a culinary arts certificate back in 1978, so when it comes down to escargot and all of that stuff, I know how to make it. I can make it for you. I’m just not eating it.

Since you just laid out that you have a culinary certificate, what made you get into that? What are some of your favorite things to cook?

My family, we used to own a diner called the Soul Diner a long time ago. I always watched my mom’s and my sisters cook. I came up with my own recipe for fried chicken. Fried chicken is my specialty. I call it FFZ, Flav Fried Chicken.

I ain’t going to lie, but my chicken is the best chicken. And I’ve been told this by people who’ve tried my chicken, they said, “Flav, I swear to you, this is the best chicken that I’ve ever ate”. I’m like, “Wow. Amazing”. I watch my mom’s and them cook, watching my dad and them cook. Then, I finally ended up going to school for cooking, and I took up institutional cooking. What institutional cooking is is when you make pans of rice pilaf or Fettuccine Alfredo, or Crêpes suzettes for 400 people at one time.

That’s called institutional cooking. That’s the cooking that I went and I took up. I ended up running some restaurants in my day.

Not too long ago, Julia Garner starred in Netflix’s Inventing Anna, in which she portrayed real-life con artist/fake heiress Anna Delvey in a surprisingly tense limited series that was one of several dramatizations of IRL grifters to land in the space of a year. Now, Netflix is going back to the beginning of Instagram for a scammer-informed doozy, and as with the Garner casting, they’ve knocked it out of the park with Kaitlyn Dever and Alycia Debnam-Carey.

Plot

Kaitlyn Dever (who came to TV fame in Justified and will soon surface in The Last Of Us) will now surface as she’s never been seen before. She will be rivaled by Alycia Debnam-Carey (who was the glue of Fear The Walking Dead and recently appeared in The Lost Flowers Of Alice Hart) and for solid reason.

This limited series is based upon The Woman Who Fooled the World, the 2017 book from investigative journalists Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano. Dever picks up the role of Belle Gibson, a con artist who faked multiple cancer diagnoses and puts herself in the path of Debnam-Carey’s Milla Blake, a legit cancer patient. In a trailer that throws strong Inventing Anna vibes, Belle’s increasingly wild stories (told under the guise of “wellness” influencing) lead skeptics to question her health status, and Milla sets out “to destroy her.”

Netflix’s synopsis promises a scandal-filled takedown:

Set at the birth of Instagram, Apple Cider Vinegar follows two young women who set out to cure their life-threatening illnesses through health and wellness, influencing their global online communities along the way. All of which would be incredibly inspiring if it were all true.

This is a true-ish story based on a lie, about the rise and fall of a wellness empire; the culture that built it up and the people who tore it down.

Filmed in Melbourne, Australia, this limited series directed by Jeffrey Walker (Modern Family, The Artful Dodger).

Cast

Leading duo Kaitlyn Dever and Alycia Debnam-Carey will be accompanied by Aisha Dee, Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Ashley Zukerman, Matt Nable, Phoenix Raei, Richard Davies, Essie Davis, Mark Coles Smith, Susie Porter, and Kieran Darcy-Smith.

Premiere Date

Netflix will stream the Apple Cider Vinegar, a six-episode series, on February 6.

Trailer

Since we already shared this series’ trailer, a look back at Inventing Anna couldn’t hurt to keep the mood going.

Keeping up with new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best new music this week.

This week saw Mac Miller’s posthumous comeback and Lucy Dacus’ post-Boygenius comeback. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.

For more music recommendations, check out our Listen To This section, as well as our Indie Mixtape and Pop Life newsletters.

Mac Miller — “DJ’s Chord Organ” Feat. SZA

Mac Miller’s legacy continues with the late rapper’s second posthumous album, Balloonerism. It’s primarily Mac doing his distinct thing, but he gets a couple of assists, including one from SZA on “DJ’s Chord Organ.”

Central Cee and 21 Savage — “GBP”

Central Cee has a major moment coming this year with the release of his debut album, Can’t Rush Greatness. He recruited 21 Savage (who knows a thing or two about successful LPs) to join him on “GBP,” a love letter to the UK.

Lucy Dacus — “Ankles”

What does the future hold for Boygenius? Who knows! What is certain is that its members aren’t going anywhere, and that includes Lucy Dacus, who just announced a new album with the string-laden single “Ankles.”

My Morning Jacket — “Time Waited”

Jim James and company have been rock leaders for over two decades now, and the legacy continues with the announcement of their latest album, Is. Last week, they shared lead single “Time Waited,” which is epic yet also tender and lush.

Jason Isbell — “Bury Me”

Sometimes, albums take years to get done. Then there’s Jason Isbell’s just-announced Foxes In The Snow, which he managed to record in just five days. That doesn’t mean he cut any corners on the acoustic album, though, as he shows on lead single “Bury Me.”

Bartees Strange — “Wants Needs”

Bartees has been teasing his upcoming album Horror for the past few months now, and he confronts something that’s scary to him on new single “Wants Needs“: The idea that, despite “a lot of these neurosis are of my own making,” “race is a powerful component” of his perception in the indie rock space.

MIKE — “Bear Trap”

Underground rap favorite MIKE has been putting in work, as evidenced by the fact that his upcoming album Showbix! is his tenth. On last week’s “Bear Trap,” Uproxx’s Aaron Williams notes MIKE’s “dense, mumbly flow is paired with a murky, but pretty, soul loop.”

Perfume Genius — “It’s A Mirror”

Now that Mike Hadreas is done celebrating the anniversary of Too Bright, he’s onto new Perfume Genius material: Last week, he announced the album Glory and shared the reflective single “It’s A Mirror.”

Jungle — “Keep Me Satisfied”

You’ve heard Jungle’s soulful viral hit “Back On 74,” and it turns out the UK group has more catchy bangers in them beyond their signature song. Last week, they delivered “Keep Me Satisfied,” which lives in the “Back On 74” stylistic universe, and the one-take video is worth a watch, too.

Morray — “FTA (Failure To Appear)”

Morray didn’t drop any new singles in 2024, but the J. Cole-approved artist is starting off 2025 with some freshness. He delivered “FTA (Failure To Appear)” last week, and it seems him sing-rapping about how his presence will be felt stronger than ever going forward.

Los Angeles is starting to pick up the pieces after wildfires have destroyed significant portions of the city. Part of that effort is the FireAid benefit concert, which is set for January 30 and will benefit relief efforts.

A bunch of big-time artists were previously confirmed for the lineup, and now even more have been added today (January 20): Olivia Rodrigo, Peso Pluma, Stevie Wonder, Anderson .Paak, Alanis Morisette, the Black Crowes, John Fogerty, Graham Nash, and Dawes.

They join a lineup that already included Billie Eilish and Finneas; Dave Matthews and John Mayer; Earth, Wind & Fire; Gracie Abrams; Green Day; Gwen Stefani; Jelly Roll; Joni Mitchell; Katy Perry; Lady Gaga; Lil Baby; Pink; Red Hot Chili Peppers; Rod Stewart; Sting; Stephen Stills; Stevie Nicks; and Tate McRae.

It has now been confirmed, as was previously reported, the event will take place at Inglewood’s Intuit Dome, as well as the nearby Kia Forum, although it has not been announced which artists will perform at which venues.

Tickets for the show go on sale Wednesday, January 22, at noon PT. More information is available here.

In their initial announcement of the event, Live Nation says the show is “dedicated to rebuilding communities devastated by wildfires and supporting efforts to prevent future fire disasters throughout Southern California,” and that proceeds “will go towards a 501(c)(3) created for this event that will focus on rebuilding infrastructure, supporting displaced families, and advancing fire prevention technologies and strategies to ensure LA is better prepared for fire emergencies.”

We are less than three weeks away from the NBA’s trade deadline, and so far trade season has been fairly quiet. Some of that is teams waiting for the biggest domino to fall in Jimmy Butler, but some of it is teams still trying to figure out exactly what they should be doing, calculating both their short- and long-term futures.

The Play-In has made those decisions even trickier, as it’s kept so many teams in the hunt for a playoff spot by just needing to finish 10th to conceivably have a shot at the postseason. This year, there are a handful of clear buyers and sellers, but for all those teams in the middle, we wanted to provide some help when it comes to deciding whether they should buy, sell, or stand pat over the next couple of weeks.

Atlanta Hawks: Stand pat

The Hawks are in a weird spot where they are a nice team who should, at the very least, make the Play-In Tournament with a good chance of breaking into the playoff field — they’re a franchise that values being in the dance a lot, so that’s a good thing. The players they could sell (De’Andre Hunter, Clint Capela) have been good this year, and they don’t need to speed things up all that much right now. As such, stand pat.

Boston Celtics: Stand pat

Are they going through a bit of a rough patch right now? Yes. Do I care? No. Brad Stevens loves tinkering and is pretty good at it, so maybe he can find something on the fringes to do between now and the deadline, but for the most part, this is their team.

Brooklyn Nets: Sellers

Easy call. The Nets are in full-blown ping pong ball mode, especially after trading Dorian Finney-Smith to the Lakers. They should be taking calls on a bunch of dudes — Cam Johnson can get them a haul in return, Ben Simmons is a gigantic expiring contract, Bojan Bogdanovic (who has not played this year) is another expiring deal — just to see if they can acquire stuff and make their team worse over the next few months.

Charlotte Hornets: Sellers

Sending Nick Richards to the Suns should be an indication of how the Hornets plan on handling the next few weeks. They have a defined core (LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller) and a few players who could be part of that going forward (Miles Bridges, Mark Williams, Tre Mann, Tidjane Salaun, maybe Nick Smith). They should take zero calls about those first two guys, should be willing to listen to calls on the next group while having a high bar to move them, and then, everyone else should be available.

Chicago Bulls: Sellers

They may not be, because they are the Chicago Bulls, but their 2025 first-round pick is top-10 protected, or else it goes to the Spurs from the trade that got them DeMar DeRozan, who is not on the team anymore. They should be doing everything they can to make sure that does not convey, and even if that doesn’t mean finding a new team for Zach LaVine, they should be doing everything in their power to get stuff back for the guys who are not part of their vision for whatever the next, like, 3-5 years look like.

Cleveland Cavaliers: Buyers

The Cavs are in a bit of a tricky spot, because breaking up any bit of the core that has gotten them to a point where they have a real shot at the title would be tough to justify. But they don’t really have anyone who can guard the opposing team’s best perimeter player and be reliable on offense on a night-to-night basis, plus they have a single first-round pick they can trade in 2031. If they can find a difference-maker for that and some combination of players who do not make up their core four guys, there’s no better time than right not to go all in.

Dallas Mavericks: Stand pat

The Mavs made their big moves this offseason, and have dealt with absences by Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic this year. Dereck Lively, who has been banged up on a few occasions this year, is now dealing with a sprained ankle. There’s no reason to try and go all-in at this point, and there’s no reason to get in asset hoarding mode. Just stay afloat until Luka goes back and then trust him to handle the rest.

Denver Nuggets: Stand pat

I continue to really like the idea of making a move for Zach LaVine, which was floated earlier this season. But things are going pretty well, Nikola Jokic is Nikola Jokic, Russell Westbrook has been better than anyone could have anticipated, and even if they get LaVine, the team’s ceiling will ultimately be defined by how good Jamal Murray is once the playoffs roll around. As such, they should probably ride the Jokic-Murray-Aaron Gordon-Michael Porter Jr. quarter for one more year and reevaluate when the summer rolls around.

Detroit Pistons: Stand pat

How about the Pistons!? A longtime punching bag in the Eastern Conference is punching back in a big way this year, as they’re the feel good story in the conference and very well could make the playoffs without needing the Play-In. That makes them interesting, because they have a bunch of veteran guys (Malik Beasley, Tim Hardaway Jr., Tobias Harris) who they clearly got this offseason with the hopes of moving them at the deadline (or, in the case of Harris, at some point over the life of his 2-year deal), but they’ve all been pretty good for them. Maybe they end up sticking to that plan, but with their surprise success this year, why mess with a good thing when Detroit hasn’t had a good NBA thing in such a long time?

Golden State Warriors: Stand pat

Personally, I think they should be doing everything they can to try and compete for a title at some point in the next 18 months, because we do not know how much longer they can ride Steph Curry and Draymond Green before Father Time secures wins over both of them. But Curry is adamant that they need to ride this out, so I’ll defer to him and say stand pat.

Houston Rockets: Stand pat

The Rockets were expected to take a step forward this year, and they still do need the one guy they can give the ball to in crunch time and go shot-for-shot with the Lukas and Shais of the world unless this recent Jalen Green hot streak is him making an honest to god leap. But frankly, that can wait, as this core deserves a chance to see out the rest of this season together. They’re ahead of schedule, and any big moves can probably wait until this summer at the earliest — plus there’s no real reason to make a move on the margins unless they desperately want to get something back for Steven Adams, Jeff Green, or Jae’Sean Tate before they hit free agency.

Indiana Pacers: Stand pat

Indiana has stabilized things nicely after a rough start to the year, but their big thing is they’re still only into year one of five on the Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam duo. After a surprising run to the Eastern Conference Finals last year, they decided to essentially run it all back, so it would be a bit weird to see them suddenly do a hard pivot. We’ll put them down as a team to watch this summer, but for now, they should stay the course.

Los Angeles Clippers: Stand pat

There is definitely something to being the team in the Pacific Division that is willing to bottom out, and you can make the case that the Clippers should try to get a jump start on that by moving guys like Ivica Zubac and Norman Powell. But they’re in a playoff spot in their first year in a fancy new building and Kawhi Leonard just got back. Their future pick situation is a bit of a mess, so they should ride this out for at least the rest of this season.

Los Angeles Lakers: Whichever one makes it so they are not wasting the final years of LeBron James

I, frankly, have no clue what the Lakers should do, only that they might only have another 16 or so months of employing LeBron James, and they better make sure his career does not go out with a whimper. Trading for Dorian Finney-Smith leads me to believe the answer is either buyers or stand pat, especially since they are in decent shape to get a playoff spot.

Memphis Grizzlies: Buyers

The Grizzlies are third in the West and are fifth in the NBA in both offensive and defensive rating (per Basketball-Reference), which puts them firmly in the contender tier. They could certainly stand pat, but they are a team built on depth that could certainly take a swing on consolidating some of that for higher-end talent for the postseason when rotations shrink. They were floated as a Jimmy Butler destination (before being told not to trade for him) but someone like the Nets’ Cam Johnson seems like the kind of fit as a high-end shooter, secondary creator, and solid defender that Memphis could use to bolster their roster for the playoffs. This isn’t a team that has to make a move, but they should be perusing the market.

Miami Heat: Sellers

This is kind of by definition, since their No. 1 job at the deadline is to trade Jimmy Butler. They shouldn’t, like, move Bam Adebayo or Tyler Herro or anything like that, but seeing as how they’re the team most likely to trade an All-Star, they’re sellers.

Milwaukee Bucks: Stand pat

Part of this is because doing anything is enormously difficult for the Bucks, which are a second apron team that lacks draft capital. But they’re also good enough to compete for a top-4 spot in the Eastern Conference, and if Giannis and Dame are healthy come playoff time, they are going to be tough to deal with. So, stand pat.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Buyers and Sellers, simultaneously

This one is tricky, because they should be trying to both add reinforcements to their roster around Anthony Edwards and get something back for Julius Randle, who has a player option for next year and it is unclear what the future holds for him. I’d really like to see them get some backcourt reinforcements that can take some of the stress on a night-to-night basis off of Edwards, personally, and because they are a second apron team, they can’t aggregate contracts in a deal and can’t take back a single cent. Randle makes about $33 million this year, so perhaps they can find some help in that price range if they’re ambitious enough.

New Orleans Pelicans: Sellers

The Pelicans are terrible and should absolutely be trying to get rid of anyone (with some exceptions in guys like Trey Murphy, Herbert Jones, and Yves Missi) as long as the price is right. They’re expensive, bad, and at the very least, could stand to pile up second-round picks, as they quite literally only have one between now and 2031. Now, whether they can get anything even close to fair value for Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, CJ McCollum, Dejounte Murray, or anyone else on their roster is a completely different story, but David Griffin should be spending a lot of time on the phone these next few weeks.

New York Knicks: Stand pat

I do think the Knicks would be very wise to move for a center, if only because I don’t know if they should trust in Mitchell Robinson to stay healthy — we suggested they try to move to Jakob Poeltl, for instance. But ultimately, they should probably just wait for Robinson to get back and ride it out with the longest-tenured Knick as their center, which means New York should stand pat, as they’ve already made their big trades this year with their acquisitions of Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns.

Oklahoma City Thunder: Stand pat

Sam Presti isn’t afraid to tinker, but for the most part, Oklahoma City clearly loves its core and has only gotten 10 games out of Chet Holmgren this year due to injury. They have the picks and young players to swing for the fences, but Presti has preached patience with this group, and it’d be strange to do anything other than potentially something small on the margins after doing all that.

Orlando Magic: Buyers/stand pat

The Magic are one of the best teams in the East, but there’s a pretty clear gap between themselves and the teams that are considered full-blown title contenders in the league, even when they’re healthy. The question they have to answer: Is there a trade out there that would propel them to that top tier of contenders? If there is, they should very strongly consider beyond buyers. If not, standing pat is fine for now, but at some point, I’d love to see Orlando package some of their young talent, copious amount of draft picks, and a big enough contract or two and take a swing.

Philadelphia 76ers: Sellers

What a disaster. Philly should be one of the best teams in the East, but injuries and poor performance have just totally destroyed any chances they had of being a team worth taking seriously. With their first-round pick this year having a top-6 protection on it (OKC gets it if it conveys), they should be open to the idea of hitting the eject button on this season, as they currently have the eighth-best lottery odds. Now, what the Sixers being sellers looks like is a fair thing to question — Caleb Martin? KJ Martin? Guerschon Yabusele? — but unless they really think they can get Embiid back, healthy, and on the floor for a long enough period of time that things can coalesce ahead of the playoffs and they can reach their potential, well, Daryl Morey has never been afraid of getting creative.

Phoenix Suns: ¯_(ツ)_/¯

On one hand, I truly have no idea what the Suns being sellers looks like, even though their goose very well might be cooked and they should absolutely try to get stuff back for basically anyone and everyone on their roster. But also, there is no chance they do that, as they are all-in and are acting like a team that is trying to win a title, despite every bit of information we have about whether they can do that (both in terms of on-court results and whether they can trade stuff as a second apron team that is essentially out of picks). So they get a shrug, they’re probably gonna try to be buyers and then hope for the best.

Portland Trail Blazers: Sellers

Portland is a team playing for ping pong balls, and while it’s unclear if they can turn some of their guys on big-ish salaries (Deandre Ayton, Jerami Grant, Anfernee Simons) or veterans on smaller deals (Robert Williams, Matisse Thybulle?) into something else, they have a lot of directions they can go in. The important thing is they continue to build around their core, and anything that helps them do that — with the added bonus of maximizing the likelihood that they draft a difference maker in June — makes sense.

Sacramento Kings: Stand pat

A few weeks ago, this would be sellers, in part because it sure seemed like De’Aaron Fox was going to want a change in scenery. And then, the team fired Mike Brown, promoted Doug Christie, and got scorching hot. As such, they should not do anything and ride this wave of good vibes for as long as they can — but if the wheels start to come off closer to the deadline, then they have some decisions to make.

San Antonio Spurs: Buyers

The Spurs are in an interesting spot, because they have so many future draft picks they can trade that they can be buyers now and still be buyers down the road. Victor Wembanyama is already one of the best players in the world at impacting things on both ends of the floor, so if there’s a way to add talent to the roster that can help them now and in the future, there’s no harm in taking a swing. And if they end up standing pat? Totally cool, they still have Victor Wembanyama.

Toronto Raptors: Sellers
Utah Jazz: Sellers
Washington Wizards: Sellers

I will not waste your time with unique sections for each of these teams, but all of them are in the hunt for the No. 1 seed, they are not good enough to do much of anything, and they should be kicking the tires on moves for any and all guys who can get them into asset accumulation mode. The race to the bottom is going to be pretty wild ahead of the loaded 2025 NBA Draft, so unless these teams determine that individual guys are part of their long-term future, they should take and make some calls.

When it comes to the most famous use of a cowbell as a musical instrument, ever since the iconic “More Cowbell” sketch on Saturday Night Live, there’s really only one answer: Blue Öyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear The Reaper.”

That said, there might not actually be any cowbell on the song at all.

An episode of the new documentary series SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night gets into the making of the iconic sketch. In it, there’s some debate from people involved in the track, and David Lucas, one of the song’s producers, says (via Entertainment Weekly), “I knew it needed something. It needed momentum. And the fact of the matter was this was a song about death. Oncoming death. It needed a heartbeat: cowbell. I go get the cowbell, I come back. Nobody said anything for 20 years. But suddenly, after Will’s sketch, everybody remembered doing it! I did it. I played it on the record.”

That said, Murray Krugman, another one of the song’s producers, dropped a bombshell, saying:

“I don’t even remember whether Lucas or [former Blue Öyster Cult drummer Albert Bouchard] played it, but the irony here, the headline here: I don’t think it’s a cowbell. It had that hollow sound of a woodblock, whereas a cowbell has a really shrill metal top-end sound.”

Meanwhile, Bouchard admits that the SNL sketch really isn’t all that far off from how the making of the song actually happened, saying, “When I saw the skit, I thought, ‘How did they even hear the cowbell? How did they even know it was there?’ And then to come up with this thing about, ‘Should it be in there or should it not be in there’ — that’s exactly what happened! We actually had that debate at the time.”

2024 was a breakout year for Chappell Roan, and aside from her beloved music, a significant part of that was her willingness to speak her mind in situations when many other artists in her position wouldn’t. That said, Roan thinks there are times when her outspokenness might actually hurt her.

In a new interview with BBC, she explained:

“I think, actually, I’d be more successful if I was OK wearing a muzzle [laughs]. If I were to override more of my basic instincts, where my heart is going, ‘Stop, stop, stop, you’re not OK,’ I would be bigger. I would be way bigger… And I would still be on tour right now.”

Roan turned down the idea of extending her 2024 tour for physical and mental health reasons, crediting that sense of her resolve to her late grandfather, saying, “There’s something he said that I think about in every move I make with my career. There are always options. So when someone says, ‘Do this concert because you’ll never get offered that much money ever again’, it’s like, who cares? If I don’t feel like doing this right now, there are always options. There is not a scarcity of opportunity. I think about that all the time.”

Read the full interview here.

TikTok was just banned in the US, then, about half a day later, it was back. While access was still down, though, one troll called Cardi B a “TikTok female rapper,” but Cardi came through with receipts to show she’s anything but that.

The X (formerly Twitter) user wrote, “now all the tik tok female rappers gotta find real jobs [crying laughing emojis] you first! @iamcardib.” To that, in a now-deleted tweet (archived by 2Cool2Blog), Cardi responded, “Babe I’m getting 7million dollar offers to do my own vitamins I can retire you from your flipping burger job by tomorrow.Thank me tho I been helping you get your 8.99$ twitter checks [kissing emoji].”

She also shared a screenshot of a text conversation discussing the multi-million offer.

Meanwhile, also while TikTok was down, Cardi enjoyed how content was going on X at the time, tweeting, “Today gotta be the funniest day on twitter y’all are literally killin me… when did y’all get this hilarious???”

When the app came back online for US users, Sexyy Red posted a widely shared reaction to the short-lived TikTok ban, comparing it to the scene from SpongeBob SquarePants where SpongeBob and Patrick are locked in a jail cell for just a few seconds.