In their gritty video for “Colossal,” The Alchemist, 2 Chainz, and Larry June blow up the New York City skyline, and prepare for their appearance on The Tonight Show. As usual, the too-cool-for-school trio remains characteristically calm about the carnage they cause, with the explosions only prompting more stoicism from our boys.
“Colossal” is the fifth music video from the group’s newly released album, Life Is Beautiful. The rollout has also included the videos for “Bad Choices,” “I Been,” “Munyon Canyon,” and “Generation.” You can’t say they don’t know how to promote a project.
Meanwhile, The Alchemist remains as busy as ever. The ever-productive producer also recently released a joint album with Yasiin Bey called Forensics, named after their group and building on the chemistry they established with their Christmas livestream, Money Christmas. In his frequent Q&As with fans on Twitter, Alc has remained cagey about his remaining future projects, but you can bet even odds that he’ll continue to crank out more heat for his who’s-who list of rap friends, which includes Earl Sweatshirt, Vince Staples, Freddie Gibbs, and more.
Watch The Alchemist, 2 Chainz, and Larry June’s “Colossal” video above.
Life Is Beautiful is out now via The Freemind Records/ 2 Chainz/ ALC/ EMPIRE. You can find more info here.
Welcome to SNX DLX, your weekly roundup of the best sneakers to hit the internet. The last week of February is another banger! This hasn’t just been the strongest month for sneaker releases this year, this has also been the strongest month in recent memory. We can’t think of a single month in the last two years that has been this consistent. This is great news for sneakerheads and very, very bad news for our wallets.
This week, you’re going to be hit with some pretty hard choices. Do you throw your money at the latest Union LA Jordan collab? Keep things simple with the Black and Varsity Red Jordan 12? Try your hand at some classic Adidas designs, or hit up New Balance for its latest Joe Freshgoods collab? There are frankly too many great sneaker drops this week to choose from. Even if you’re a brand loyalist.
It’s times like this that we’re glad we don’t rank this weekly list! Let’s dive into the best sneaker drops this week and where to find them.
Union and Jordan have joined forces once again to deliver us what is easily the most hyped sneaker of the week. Dubbed the “Chicago Shadow,” this sneaker features the classic red, white, and black Chicago colorway with some Noir notes on the collar. The sneaker isn’t quite as bright and loud as the OG Chicago, offering a more muted take on the famous colorway.
Rounding out the design is some exposed stitching (a Union classic) and dual branding.
The Union x Air Jordan 1 Chicago Shadow is out now for a retail price of $200. Pick up a pair at Union or aftermarket sites like GOAT and Flight Club.
If you’re looking for something a bit futuristic (by way of 99), the Air Max SNDR is dropping a new sleek Silver and Anthracite colorway that looks straight out of an Aaliyah video. The sneaker features a stretchy neoprene upper, those iconic SNDR panels, Air Max cushioning, and Nike Air tech, which adds a floaty feeling to your step.
The sneaker is releasing in a women’s exclusive size range, so if you’ve got big feet, you’re out of luck.
The Nike Women’s Air Max SNDR Silver and Anthracite is out now for a retail price of $200. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app.
If you missed out last week on Joe Freshgoods’ latest with New Balance, you have another shot this week with the New Balance general release. The 992 Aged Well features premium Made in USA construction sporting a lightweight mesh upper with pig suede overlays and reflective details throughout,
Rounding out the design is a co-branded tongue and JFG branding at the heel, and five — yes five — different pairs of laces.
The Joe Freshgoods x NB Made in USA 992 Aged Well is set to drop on February 28th at 7:00 AM PST for a retail price of $229.99. Pick up a pair at New Balance or aftermarket sites like GOAT and Flight Club.
Adidas Anthony Edwards 1 Core Black/Silver Metallic
If you’ve got big feet and are looking at the Air Max SNDR with envy, relax, Adidas has its own futuristic shoe that will scratch that cybernetic itch. Best of all, this sneaker is actually from the future, well… the present. But hey, good enough!
The AE 1 features a lightweight textile build over a BOOST midsole with Lightstrike cushioning. This week, the sneaker drops in a mix of black and Silver Metallic tones. It’s the sort of sneakers we imagine people living in space would wear.
The Adidas Anthony Edwards 1 Core Black/Silver Metallic is set to drop on February 27th at 7:00 AM PST for a retail price of $130. Pick up a pair at Adidas.
Leave it to the Canadian sportswear brand Sporty & Rich to give the Adidas Spezial the care and craft it deserves. For this collaboration, the brand took one of Adidas’ most iconic silhouettes and outfitted it with some premium construction, including a smooth leather build, textile lining, and dual branding.
The sneaker is dropping in three muted spring-ready colorways, like Dark Green, Night Indigo and Shadow Red.
The Sporty & Rich x Adidas Handball Spezial is set to drop on February 27th at 7:00 AM PST for a retail price of $130. Pick up a pair at Adidas.
Beautiful. Need we say more? This Air Jordan 12 features a premium full-grain leather upper with Air Zoom Cushioning and a simple two color design that combines black and Nike’s iconic Varsity Red. It’s a no-brainer pick-up for Jordan heads and anyone who likes striking design.
The Air Jordan 12 Black and Varsity Red is set to drop on March 1st at 7:00 AM PST for a retail price of $210. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app or aftermarket sites like GOAT and Flight Club.
The Nike Total 90 in Metallic Silver and Black looks straight out of T2. This 2000’s era sneaker sports a quilted upper, asymmetrical lacing, and a rubber sole with a glittering metallic finish.
Nike has all sorts of soccer cleats that we’d love to get flat-soled versions of. Hopefully, the Total 90 is a sign of things to come.
The Nike Total 90 Metallic Silver and Black is set to drop on March 1st at 7:00 AM PST for a retail price of $110. Pick up a pair via the Nike SNKRS app.
Each week our staff of film and television experts surveys the entertainment landscape to select the ten best new/newish shows available for you to stream at home. We put a lot of thought into our selections, and our debates on what to include and what not to include can sometimes get a little heated and feelings may get hurt, but so be it, this is an important service for you, our readers. With that said, here are our selections for this week.
After a long, long break, one of the best shows on TV is back. Severance picks up where season 1 left off, with Mark (Adam Scott), Helly (Helly Riggs), Dylan (Dylan), and Irving (Irving Bailiff) trifling with the severance barrier, “leading them further down a path of woe,” according to the cryptic Apple TV Plus synopsis. There are so many mysteries left to answer: what’s the deal with Ms. Casey (Dichen Lachman)? What’s the deal with Seth Milchick (series MVP Tramell Tillman)? And seriously, what’s the deal with the freaking goats?
Mike Judge and Greg Daniels have been attached to some of the best TV comedies of the last 30 years, including Parks and Recreation, The Simpsons, and The Office for Daniels and Beavis and Butt-Head and Silicon Valley for Judge. They also co-created King of the Hill. Their latest collaboration is producing Common Side Effects, a surreal Adult Swim animated series about the “world’s greatest medicine” from creators Joseph Bennett (Scavengers Reign) and Steve Hely (30 Rock). Episodes will stream the next day on Max.
A new season of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia is coming later this year, but don’t forget about Rob McElhenney’s other excellent comedy series. Mythic Quest season 4 (also the show’s final season) brings everyone — including McElhenney’s Ian, Charlotte Nicdao’s Poppy, and Danny Pudi’s Brad — back together at Mythic Quest HQ, where they’ll confront “new challenges amongst a changing video game landscape as stars rise, egos clash, relationships bloom and everyone tries to have a little more work life balance.” I’ll miss Ian and Poppy’s Don and Peggy-like fraught yet platonic relationship the most.
Clean Slate is one of the final projects from the late Norman Lear, the creator and/or producer of All In The Family, The Jeffersons, Sanford and Son, and Maude. The comedy follows Alabama car wash owner Harry (played by George Wallace) who learns that his child, who he thought was his son, is actually a trans woman named Desiree (Laverne Cox). As per Prime Video: “Her homecoming brings together a hilarious cast of friends, coworkers, and love interests, as Desiree and Harry try to get it right the second time around.
Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy is the fourth Bridget Jones movie, but the first to feature a character being killed off-screen while doing humanitarian work in Sudan. No spoilers! Otherwise, the rom-com follows Bridget (played by Renée Zellweger) as she raises her young kids with help from her friends and former lover, Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant).
The White Lotus returns with a new location (Thailand) and a new group of talented actors playing emotionally- and spiritually-empty rich folks. The cast includes Leslie Bibb, Carrie Coon, Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Blackpink’s Lisa, Michelle Monaghan, Parker Posey, Natasha Rothwell, Patrick Schwarzenegger, and Aimee Lou Wood. “I do feel like the other seasons were a rehearsal for this one,” creator Mike White teased.
Is the Count Orlok voice the new Bane voice? Judge for yourself with Nosferatu, the latest film from The Lighthouse and The Northman director Robert Eggers. The gothic tale is creepy, sexy, and has wonderful performances from Lily-Rose Depp, Bill Skarsgård, Nicholas Hoult, and Willem Dafoe. It’s great, unless you don’t like rats. Then maybe skip it.
Shockingly, Zero Day is Robert De Niro’s first starring role in a TV show. OK, maybe that wouldn’t be shocking 30 years ago, when movie stars didn’t “do” TV, especially streaming shows (also, they didn’t have streaming shows 30 years ago). But it’s still surprising it took this long. Zero Day is a six-episode political thriller starring the two-time Oscar winner as a former U.S. president who is tasked with investigating a deadly cyberattack. Is there nothing Bobby D can’t do?!?
There’s a Peaky Blinders movie coming out soon, but before then, creator Steven Knight has a new show on Hulu. A Thousand Blows is about the world of underground boxing in 1880s Victorian London, as well as the all-female crime syndicate Forty Elephants. The cast includes Malachi Kirby, Erin Doherty, Francis Lovehall, and Stephen Graham, giving the show a Peaky connection.
You know what time is it? It’s Reacher o’clock. In season 3, the big guy meets an even bigger guy. He also “hurtles into the dark heart of a vast criminal enterprise when trying to rescue an undercover DEA informant whose time is running out,” according to the Prime Video synopsis. “There, he finds a world of secrecy and violence and confronts some unfinished business from his own past.” Every episode is basically the same, which is to say, they’re all a lot of fun.
5. The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (Max)
Warner Bros. Pictures
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, a.k.a. the Lord of the Rings anime, is set approximately 200 years before Bilbo Babbins discovers the One Ring. The plot of the animated film tells the story of Rohan king Helm Hammerhand and his daughter, Héra, who must summon the will to lead the resistance against an enemy intent on total destruction. The War of the Rohirrim received mixed reviews from critics, except for the stunning animation, which was universally lauded.
The Venom trilogy (an objectively funny collection of words) comes to an end with Venom: The Last Dance. There’s sadly no Michelle “I’m Sorry About Venom” Williams, but Tom Hardy is back as Eddie Brock / the Looney Tunes-inspired voice of Venom. This time, they’re on the run and forced into a “devastating decision.” Is it not giving horse and frog Venom their own spin-off movie? Because they deserved one.
3. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (Netflix)
Paramount
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is one of the most purely enjoyable big-budget movies of the 2020s. So I will never understand why it underperformed at the box office. The people weren’t ready for Chris Pine’s melting face, I guess. But hopefully enough people watch Honor Among Thieves on Netflix that a sequel gets the greenlight. Do it for Jarnathan.
Mindy Kaling’s comedy empire expands with Running Point. The series stars Kate Hudson as Isla Gordon, a high-powered executive who is unexpectedly put in charge of her family’s pro basketball team, the Los Angeles Waves. The cast also includes Scott MacArthur, Drew Tarver, Max Greenfield, and the suddenly-everywhere (which, to be clear, is a very good thing) Brenda Song.
Assuming you’re not too heartbroken from Challengers getting snubbed, the 2025 Oscars are this Sunday. Will frontrunner Anora win Best Picture? Could Timothee Chalamet upset Adrien Brody for Best Actor? And can Flow please, please, please win Best Animated Feature? There’s one question we can already answer, however: where can I watch the Oscars? For the first time, the ceremony, hosted by Conan O’Brien, is streaming on Hulu.
Iceland is only about a five-hour flight from the East Coast of the United States, making the island nation a getaway that’s not too far from home. The Iceland Airwaves festival routinely provides a good reason to check out Reykjavík, and now the gears on the 2025 edition are starting to turn.
This year’s festival goes down from November 6 to 8, and the first wave of the lineup was unveiled today (February 27), highlighted by Kenya Grace, Fat Dog, and Jasmine.4.t. Tickets and travel packages are on sale now via the festival’s website.
Uproxx’s review of the festival’s 2023 edition reads in part, “Iceland Airwaves is the perfect festival for adventurous travelers who want to discover new music and culture in a unique way. It pulls back the curtain on how a country is able to foster such a wide variety of music and the arts and offers a chance to witness performances you’d never be able to see stateside.”
Check out the 2025 lineup so far below.
Iceland Airwaves 2025 Lineup
Antony Szmierek (UK)
Babymorocco (UK)
Colt (FR)
Daniil (IS)
DEADLETTER (UK)
Elín Hall (IS)
Emma (IS)
Fat Dog (UK)
Flóni (IS)
gugusar (IS)
Hasar (IS)
ian (US)
Izleifur (IS)
Jasmine.4.t (UK)
Jelena Ciric (IS)
Kári Egils (IS)
Kenya Grace (UK)
KUSK + Óviti (IS)
lúpína (IS)
Magnús Jóhann (IS)
Mermaid Chunky (UK)
Milkywhale (IS)
Night Tapes (UK)
ratbag (NZ)
Saint Pete (IS)
Snorri Helgason (IS)
So Good (UK)
Sunna Margrét (IS)
Superkoloritas (LT)
superserious (IS)
The Orchestra (For Now) (UK)
The Scratch (IE)
Tófa (IS)
Valdimar (IS)
Vtoroi Ka (KG)
Joe Keery has managed to really excel in two distinct wings of show business: He came to prominence in the acting world thanks to Stranger Things, and while making music as Djo, he had a viral hit last year with “End Of Beginning.”
On the Djo front, he has a new album, The Crux, set to drop in April. We’ve heard a few songs from it so far, and today (February 27), he has shared “Delete Ya.” It sees Keery wishing he could forget somebody who has set an impossible standard.
A press release indicates the new album differs from Keery’s previous “bedroom recordings centered around synths” and now “spotlights lush guitars and instrumentation reminiscent of late 60’s and 70’s pop.” Thematically, the release notes, “What begins as a meditation on the dissolution of a relationship winds its way back to self-resilience, and a celebration and recognition of the importance of nurturing community. These themes are reflected in both his lyrics and in the collaborative spirit of the music, with contributions from his family and lifelong friends lending the album a warm energy mirroring the bonds at the record’s core.”
Listen to “Delete Ya” above.
The Crux is out 4/4 via AWAL. Find more information here.
In middle school, I was warned to stay away from Jay, Florida. Located within the panhandle, the legacy of Jay is synonymous with its history of being a “sundown town” known for its mass exodus of Black residents in the 1920s. Although I was unaware of what this meant as a teenager, the close proximity between Jay and my hometown flooded my body with terror every time I entered Santa Rosa County, in fear that I would see remnants of a sign that says “N*****, don’t let the sun set on you in Jay.”
In 2019, I moved from Pensacola to attend Florida A&M University, a public historically Black university in the state’s capital. In less than one semester, I quickly learned more about North Florida’s appalling history of segregation and racial discrimination, thanks to books like The Pain And The Promise: The Struggle For Civil Rights In Tallahassee, Florida that documented Tallahassee’s almost eight-month bus boycott.
North Florida’s history of violent race relations stretches nearly 150 miles away to a historical marker that stands to honor the victims of the Rosewood massacre that occurred in 1923. Less than an hour away, a similar plaque commemorates The Newberry Six that were killed in 1916, in addition to three other Black victims of lynching in Newberry. Even though these two tragedies happened in the early 1900s, the horrors at the Dozier School For Boys continued well into the 20th century, and the reform school didn’t close its doors until 2011.
Researchers from the University Of South Florida led the investigation on the school grounds and found numerous unmarked graves for unrecorded deaths, in addition to documentation that revealed emotional abuse and torture. Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer-Prize winning novel The Nickel Boys is fictionalized based on the Dozier School.
Directed by RaMell Ross, Nickel Boys is an adaptation of Whitehead’s novel and opens in a Jim Crow-era Tallahassee as it follows Elwood (played by Ethan Herisse). After being falsely accused as an accomplice to car theft, he is sent to the Nickel Academy. There, Curtis befriends Turner (played by Brandon Wilson) and shyly introduces himself as a native of Frenchtown.
The brief mention of Frenchtown, Tallahassee’s historically-Black neighborhood, and Elwood’s aspiration to attend a colored college left me with an uneasy, indescribable feeling that echoed in my head for the remainder of the movie. This vicinity of Florida that I hold close to my heart has such a hidden history of racial violence, and Nickel Boys left me wondering what hasn’t been explicitly shared in Florida’s classrooms or textbooks.
Toward the beginning of my conversation with Ross, I mention my Southern upbringing and short-tempered defense for Florida, to which he self-identifies in solidarity as a fellow “defender of the South.” Ross’ father was born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Ross himself lives in Alabama, which influenced his portrayal of Alabama’s Black Belt in his Oscar-nominated documentary Hale County, This Morning, This Evening.
He then references an excerpt from James Baldwin’s Nobody Knows My Name, in which Baldwin expands upon the complicated insider/outsider relationship that Black Americans have with the South. Ross’ vision of the South as a “cul-de-sac for Black American identity” is transparent to all that have watched the documentary, and it is continued with each second of Nickel Boys.
From the scene of the Black schoolteacher recalling his encounters with white supremacists to the unconditional love from Elwood’s grandmother (played by Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor), Nickel Boys approaches a fundamental lens of Florida’s Black community. As if these moments aren’t already tear-inducing, cinematographer Jomo Fray does an excellent job to visualize the first-person point of view for both protagonists.
In addition to these gut-wrenching moments, clips from Sidney Poitier’s The Defiant Ones and archival footage sourced from the Florida Memory Project are woven throughout the film to truly encapsulate the devastating forensic findings at the Dozier School For Boys. Upon my first watch of Nickel Boys, one of the chilling moments that caught my attention was an alligator.
In Florida, one of the first things you’re taught as a child is how to zig-zag out of harm’s way if you encounter an alligator. Regardless of how you feel about the reptile, it’s difficult to not recall the depiction of Black children that originated with the term “alligator bait.”
Ross intended for the imagery of the alligator to move past symbolism, and instead, resemble another type of systematic violence. “It becomes this lurking metaphor for the powers that be, and the sort of reptilian blindness with which systems deal with folks that are similar to us,” he said.
Beyond the silver screen, alligators received their big moment in 2024. Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter featured “Alliigator Tears,” which was less about the animal and more about the idiom of faux sympathy tears. In the fall, Lana Del Rey quietly married Jeffrey Dufrene, a Louisiana alligator tour guide. And the full-circle moment to emphasize the relationship between Floridians and alligators occurred when Tampa-born rapper Doechii posed with Coconut, an albino alligator, for the cover of her third mixtape, Alligator Bites Never Heal.
“I think it’s beautiful the way that Doechii is ‘reclaiming’ these things, because coming from the ‘swamp’ or coming from the country are levied on us as a pejorative,” Ross said, in praise of the Florida rapper. “When, in fact, there are so many beautiful things that emerge from those cultures and experiences that allow one to navigate the world in ways that give one an edge, or help one know themselves in ways that other people don’t know themselves.”
Although Doechii hasn’t blatantly saved the alligator from its status as an intimidating creature, the public may have developed a sweet spot for the reptile as Doechii’s glamorous gator merchandise covers her fans, also known as the Swamp.
In 2023, she told Tampa Bay Times reporter Gabrielle Calise that she’s “making [the swamp] a thing by branding it as this magical land. I’m feeding into my fantasy of whatever I want people to think Florida is about.” She continues to share that the alligator is her favorite animal, applauding their intelligence and survival tactics.
From a North Florida girl to a South Florida girl, I agree with Doechii that alligators are misunderstood, and perhaps, it’s an “if you know you know” thing. And as the Swamp Princess, Doechii’s endless love letter to rep her Florida roots arrives at a time when the Sunshine State desperately needs it.
Ironically, the timing between the Doechii’s Grammy win and the critical acclaim of Nickel Boys comes when Florida is in the news for all the wrong reasons: Governor Ron DeSantis targeting DEI programs, the removal of critical race theory, and climate disaster. These unapologetically Black projects offer a hope to a bolder, brighter representation of Florida. And this time, it centers Black Floridians.
“I think she’s a phenom,” Ross says about Doechii. “I just love how unapologetic and how singular her voice is and how conceptually she approaches her art and her platform.”
Describing the Nickel Boys press tour as a nonstop blur since September, Ross says that it’s an “unbelievable kind of relief” to receive the Academy Award nomination for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.
“There are so many people that go into making a film, and it starts with the creatives, but it also needs money, and it needs producers and to like this film as seen is written that way. To have it nominated and to have the story elevated to that space where everyone will come across the Dozier School For Boys story like they will come across Colson Whitehead to nickel boys. Yeah, just so appreciative and relieved that everyone who kind of trusted in what we could accomplish, it came through.”
Streaming viewers’ appetites for crime dramas couldn’t be more evident than on Netflix, where dramatized versions of true crime stories trend for months on end. So it’s only natural that fictionalized stories (in feature film form) could capture the same audience and take on new life by landing on Netflix.
Such is the case for To Catch A Killer, a 2023 theatrical release that was originally titled Misanthr0pe and now sounds like a primetime true-crime series and could also be mistaken for the Sheryl Scarborough novel. Yet in actuality, the story follows a screenplay by director Damián Szifron and Jonathan Wakeman while starring Shailene Woodley (as a Baltimore cop), along with Ben Mendelsohn and Jovan Adepo (as FBI agents). Together, they race against time to apprehend a sniper.
The Vertical film has been sitting in Netflix’s Weekly Top 10 movies list after nabbing 6.7 million “views” and 13.3 million “hours watched” in one week. That’s a respectable take for a film with a $3.1 million budget that coincidentally also sold $3.1 million in tickets at the box office. As a now-streaming film, viewers have gobbled up the tale about Shailene’s “troubled” officer, although this movie does land in a relatively unexpected place. Will there be a sequel?
At present, no plans have been announced for a second film, but you never know what could happen if a streaming service decides to take more interest. That would probably take several more weeks of trending status to achieve, so this might be in the hands of bingewatchers.
Halsey‘s latest music video begins with a person in a gimp suit on all fours and a close-up shot of the singer’s butt, and it only gets wilder from there. The Riot grrrl-sounding “Safeword,” their first new song since releasing The Great Impersonator last fall, also features lots of bondage, tight leather, spikes, spanking, and consensual domination.
“Yes, sir, no, sir, on all fours / Are you ready to get what you’ve been waiting for?” Halsey, posing as a dominatrix, sings. “I’m not a criminal, I’m just a wild child / I’m not a bad girl, I just like it wild style / I’m tough, I’m mean, I’m rough / Just say the safe word when you’ve had enough.”
Beginning in May, Halsey will embark on the Halsey: For My Last Trick tour. “I really like putting on a big show,” they said on a recent episode of The Tonight Show. “I think people are usually pretty surprised when they come to see me in concert, especially if they only know me for the songs on the radio. The show can be quite, like, aggressive. Like, I’m like a little demon. I get out there and have to exorcise some stuff.”
You can watch the “Safeword” video, directed by Lana Jay Lackey, above.
It’s easy to forget Timothée Chalamet is 29 years old. He has the youthful energy of someone in their early 20s, but the filmography of an established middle-aged actor. He’s already starred in seven Best Picture nominees — and one more that should have been — and his films have grossed over $3 billion at the worldwide box office. But, if forced to pick between critical acclaim or commercial success, I get the sense that Timmy cares more about the former.
Over the weekend, Chalamet won Outstanding Lead Actor In A Motion Picture at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the youngest actor ever to do so. It was his first major award for playing Bob Dylan in the biopic A Complete Unknown, and his viral acceptance speech served as a warm-up for a potential Oscar victory this Sunday — and a telling glimpse at his future goals.
Here’s the crucial part:
“I can’t downplay the significance of this award, because it means the most to me. And I know we’re in a subjective business, but the truth is, I’m really in pursuit of greatness. I know people don’t usually talk like that, but I want to be one of the greats. I’m inspired by the greats. I’m inspired by the greats here tonight. I’m as inspired by Daniel Day-Lewis, Marlon Brando, and Viola Davis as I am by Michael Jordan, Michael Phelps, and I want to be up there. So, I’m deeply grateful to that. This doesn’t signify that, but it’s a little more fuel. It’s a little more ammo to keep going. Thank you so much.”
Actors don’t typically give award show speeches like this one. They’re supposed to be humble and read from a PR-approved script. Chalamet does genuinely appreciate the hard work of his A Complete Unknown co-stars (“It’s an honor I share with Monica [Barbaro], Elle [Fanning], Edward [Norton], the entire cast, who, in a genre doing a biopic that could be perhaps tired, everyone gave it their all,” he said earlier in the speech), but the sports-loving New York Knicks fan in him came out, too.
Chalamet is in a competition with his fellow nominees, but more importantly, he’s in a competition with himself to be, as he put it, “one of the greats.”
Whether they like to admit it or not, actors crave recognition; otherwise, they’re pretending to be someone they’re not in a pitch-black room to no one. (If an actor goes method and no one is around to applaud their dedication, do they make a sound?) Chalamet laid bare this hushed truth at the SAG Awards. Is that such a bad thing? If you go to a fancy restaurant, don’t you want the chef to make a meal they consider to be great, not a half-assed effort? Chalamet put in the work, not only in A Complete Unknown but also Dune: Part Two, and he’s stoked to be recognized by his peers. It was a rare (and weirdly controversial) moment of honesty in an exhausting awards season.
Let’s say Chalamet wins Best Actor at the Oscars. He probably won’t (The Brutalist‘s Adrien Brody is the frontrunner), but crazier things have happened — like the annoying jerk from Homeland becoming one of the finest actors of his generation. In this timeline, Chalamet gives his speech, he takes a million selfies, he goes home with Kylie Jenner, and he focuses on his next role. If he doesn’t win, he graciously applauds for Brody or Colman Domingo or Ralph Fiennes or Sebastian Stan (good group!), he takes a million selfies, he goes home with Kylie Jenner, and he focuses on his next role.
Chalamet wants the Oscar, more than most actors are willing to acknowledge, but he also knows that a win doesn’t mean he’s reached the peak. There’s more work to be done. Daniel Day-Lewis got his first Oscar for 1989’s My Left Foot — and his third for 2012’s Lincoln. Michael Jordan won his first NBA championship in 1991 — and his sixth in 1998. In the years between, they kept trying to improve on their greatness (Day-Lewis’ finest performance is arguably his final one to date, in Phantom Thread). This isn’t a grind mindset. It’s Chalamet caring about his legacy. He wants to someday be thought of in the same class of world-class actors as Viola Davis and Marlon Brando.
Chalamet has resisted the easy temptation of joining an existing franchise. Instead, he’s been at the beginnings of new ones with Dune and Wonka (I was as skeptical as everyone else about the Willy Wonka prequel — even typing those words sent a chill down my spine — but he won me over through sheer charisma). He’s taken his Don’t Look Up co-star Leonardo DiCaprio’s advice: “No hard drugs and no superhero movies.” Chalamet is part of a still rare, but refreshingly expanding group of young actors (Glen Powell, Margaret Qualley, etc.) who would rather balance character-first indies and ambitious blockbusters than be locked into the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a decade. Chalamet can’t be great unless he challenges himself, so he’ll star in both cannibal romances and big-budget sandworm epics. He’ll also use his talent, determination, and celebrity status for good: A Complete Unknown, the type of mid-budget film for adults that might have been sent to streaming without his involvement, made over $100 million at the box office.
Timothée Chalamet wants to be great. That makes him a winner in my book, with or without an Oscar.
One of the great things about the NBA is how some players are really, really big, while others are, uh, not that. The gap between the shortest and the tallest players in NBA history is two feet and four inches, and we’ve seen a ton of players in that range of heights dominate over the 78 years that the NBA has been a thing.
After discussing this a bit among ourselves, we decided to do what any good content person would do and turn our conversation into a post. To do that, we looked at every height in NBA history — from Muggsy Bogues all the way up to Manute Bol — to determine the best player at each height that we’ve seen. Some of these were simple, others were extremely difficult, but with one exception, the league has had at least one player at every height between 5’3 and 7’7. Let’s dive in.
5’3: Muggsy Bogues
It’s pretty wild that Muggsy Bogues’ NBA career happened. His ability to control games at his height — he’s the shortest player in NBA history — was pretty remarkable, and it’s probably safe to say we’re never getting another guy like him again.
5’4: No one
Welp! Let’s move on.
5’5: Earl Boykins
His best years came as a reliable bench option for the Denver Nuggets, but Boykins had a respectable, 13-year career with 10 different teams. He was also an incredible scorer in college, as he could flat out get buckets for Eastern Michigan.
5’6: Spud Webb
A high-flyer, yes, but also, a pretty good point guard in his own right who could fill it up and set up his teammates. And yet, he’s known for winning the Dunk Contest in 1986 by being able to dunk at 5’6, which still does not seem possible.
5’7: Keith Jennings
Shockingly, there were not a ton of 5’7 guys in league history. Jennings spent three years with the Warriors, averaging 6.6 points and 3.7 assists per game before taking his career abroad.
5’8: Charlie Criss
An EBA standout who spent time with the Washington Generals, Criss spent eight years in the NBA, most of which came as a member of the Atlanta Hawks.
5’9: Calvin Murphy
Almost inarguably the best player under six feet tall in NBA history. Murphy is a Hall of Fame inductee — the shortest player to ever receive that honor — and could absolutely fill it up, as he averaged 17.9 points per game for his career and 25.6 a night back in 1977-78. The list of guys with more points than him in Rockets history: 1. Hakeem Olajuwon, 2. James Harden. Not bad!
5’10: Damon Stoudamire
Stoudamire burst onto the scene in Toronto, winning the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award in 1995-96, before becoming the starting point guard on some incredible Blazers teams, including the one that lost a controversial Game 7 in the Western Conference Finals to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2000.
5’11: Terrell Brandon
Brandon could flat-out play, as the two-time All-Star selection’s peak (which included stops in Cleveland, Milwaukee, and Minnesota) saw him consistently put up some pretty big numbers. For his career, he averaged 13.8 points, 6.1 assists, and 1.6 steals per game.
6’0: Chris Paul
It has to be the Point God, one of the all-time greats at getting his environment to bend to his will. Paul has consistently made teams better throughout his career, and few guys have ever understood how to make things tick as well as he has. Hopefully before his career ends, he’s able to get the ring that has long eluded him.
6’1: John Stockton
You can go with Thomas or John Stockton here, and despite Thomas having a 2-0 edge in rings, we went with the longevity and consistency of Stockton, the NBA’s all-time assists leader. He’s on a very short list of guys who have a real claim for being the best floor general in league history.
6’2: Stephen Curry
Plenty of guys have revolutionized basketball, and no one is more important in the league’s embrace of the three-point line as a high-volume weapon than Curry. The greatest shooter to ever live, Curry has captivated basketball fans since his college days with his shooting, scoring, and handles, all of which have been crucial in the Warriors winning four rings during his time in the Bay.
6’3: Jerry West
The Logo had to be on this list. West had arguably the greatest career in the NBA when you count a guy’s playing career and post-playing days, as he was an unbelievable player and executive. But this is about what he did as a player, as West averaged 27 points, 6.7 assists, and 5.8 rebounds for his entire career, and made the All-Star Game in each of his 14 seasons.
6’4: Dwyane Wade
A dynamic scorer and dogged defender who won three rings. His first was a statement that the Miami Heat were his franchise, while his second and third were pretty remarkable, as he sacrificed that so LeBron James could lead the Heat to back-to-back titles.
6’5: Oscar Robertson
As great of a stat sheet stuffer as we’ve ever seen, Robertson was incredible at doing everything that his team needed to win games — and that’s despite the fact that steals were not an official stat until his final season. He was the first guy in league history to average a triple-double, as he went for 30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 11.4 assists during the 1961-62 campaign.
6’6: Michael Jordan
There are two guys who have an argument for being the greatest of all time. One is 6’6, the other is 6’8. Unsurprisingly, the 6’6 guy goes in here. Unless you’re one of those people who really loved Kobe Bryant, Jordan is as easy of an addition to this list as Muggsy Bogues, with the obvious caveat that the NBA has seen a lot more 6’6 guys.
6’7: Julius Erving
While his best years came in the ABA, come on, Dr. J is one of the coolest athletes to ever live and someone who kind of defined what it means to be a superstar. He was an All-Star every year of his 16-year career and split four MVPs between the ABA and NBA.
6’8: LeBron James
The other guy who has a case for being the greatest player of all time, another simple addition to this list. James came into the league with expectations of being a once-in-a-lifetime talent and has somehow managed to exceed them. That he is still playing at a crazy high level into his 40s is nothing short of a miracle.
6’9: Magic Johnson
Funny enough, the other guy who deserves a shout here is Larry Bird, because these two are going to be connected at the hip forever. But we’ll give the slight nod to Magic, one of the most magnetic personalities to ever come into the league who backed it up by being nothing short of brilliant on the floor. He won five rings, three MVPs, and is in the Hall of Fame.
6’10: Bill Russell
A 5-time NBA MVP and an 11-time champion, Russell is the greatest winner in the history of the league. He’s the most impactful defensive player to ever step on the court, and is the only player whose number is retired league-wide. It’s unfortunate that the NBA did not start counting blocks as an official statistic until after his career, because that would have made an already remarkable career even more jaw-dropping.
6’11: Tim Duncan
The poster child of consistency. The Spurs built their reputation of being the most well-run franchise in the NBA around having Duncan, who always answered the bell when San Antonio needed him to over his 19 years with the franchise. You could set your watch to him giving San Antonio 20 and 10 with a few blocks every night, while few (if any) players in league history did a better job leading by example.
7’0: Hakeem Olajuwon
One of the greatest players ever at doing a little bit of everything to help his team win. His footwork was so good that NBA players made it a point to work with him and learn from him after he retired. The Dream is an MVP, a two-time NBA Finals MVP, a two-time champion, and the guy Michael Jordan picked as the center for his all-time best team.
7’1: Wilt Chamberlain
If you have not gone onto Wilt’s basketball-reference page in a while, I’d like it if you took a minute or two to do that. I will even link to it for you, right here.
[twiddles thumbs]
Anyway, yeah, he’s on this list for good reason. It comes at the expense of guys like Shaquille O’Neal and David Robinson, but no one is ever putting up numbers like Wilt again.
7’2: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
As easy of a choice as there is on this list. Abdul-Jabbar had as remarkable of a life in basketball as you’ll see, as he’s one of the greatest players in high school, college, and NBA history. He was one of the first names we jotted down on this list, and it’ll take a miracle for anyone to ever be a better 7’2 basketball player than him.
7’3: Zydrunas Ilgauskas
A legitimately fun one, because Victor Wembanyama is going to take this crown, while Arvydas Sabonis would’ve had it if he was able to come to the NBA much earlier in his career. As such, we’ll go with the man affectionately known as Big Z, who overcame foot problems early in his career to become a reliable and effective center for a long time in Cleveland.
7’4: Ralph Sampson
Few players entered the NBA with as much hype as Sampson. While injuries took their toll on him in his Hall of Fame career, he entered the league and immediately made it to four All-Star games, along with an All-NBA Second Team nod in 1984-85.
7’5: Chuck Nevitt
While he didn’t exactly fill it up — he appeared in 155 games over nine years — Nevitt does have the distinction of being the tallest champion in NBA history, as he won a ring with the 1984-85 Lakers.
7’6: Yao Ming
It had to be Yao, a cultural phenomenon and a truly dominant player who also felt like he came into the league a little too soon — he had a gorgeous jumper, and while he only went 2-for-10 from three in his career, we think he could’ve been a threat from deep if he entered the NBA a decade later. Still, the dude could play when health did not get in the way, as he averaged 19 points and 9.2 rebounds over an 8-year career.
7’7: Manute Bol
This comes down to Bol or Gheorghe Muresan, but ultimately, we went with Bol due to his longevity — he spent a decade in the NBA and is one of the most feared shot blockers in league history. His five blocks per game in 1985-86 is the second-highest single-season mark in league history.
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