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Charles Barkley Talking About How ‘We’re Paying Bums Today’ In The NBA Had Stephen A. Smith Cackling

Sunday was the best day of the 2022-23 NBA regular season thus far. All four national TV games delivered, as Suns-Bucks, Lakers-Mavs, Timberwolves-Warriors, and Clippers-Nuggets all produced thrillers that went all the way down to the wire in the fourth quarter and/or overtime. We also got to see a buzzer-beater, courtesy of Trae Young to lift Atlanta over Brooklyn, and Damian Lillard put 71 points on the Rockets to match Donovan Mitchell for this season’s highest scoring output.

It was a tremendous day of hoops, and as such Stephen A. Smith and the First Take crew decided to dial in Charles Barkley to break down what we all saw as well as the overall state of the league as we enter the stretch run. As always happens, Barkley was asked about Kevin Durant and the Suns (full video above), with Chuck playing the hits and talking about how KD has to win without Steph Curry and insisting he’d never join a superteam while conveniently forgetting about his tenure in Houston.

However, he did push back when Stephen A. tried to make the issue with KD about money, as Smith tried to say Durant’s inability to lead a team to a title should hurt him at the negotiating table. That set Chuck up for a comeback that had Smith in stitches, as he explained that you can’t come at stars about money because “we’re paying bums today.”

It’s a very funny riff from Charles that has Stephen A. cackling — although, it should be said that we should generally respect folks who do genuine hard work like being janitors — but the point stands that you can’t be mad about what someone like KD gets paid with some of the contracts that get thrown around. Barkley tries to make clear that he’s not mad (although he seems a little bit jealous), but he does want players to be a bit more appreciative of their financial standing, which led to another load management diatribe about guys needing to play if they’re going to make $30-$50 million a year.

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Chris Rock’s Live Netflix Special Will Feature A Star-Studded Pre-Show And Post-Show For All Of Your Comedic Needs

Netflix has been experimenting lately by adding live content to the mix. First, the streamer hosted the SAG awards this week, which went out live on YouTube. Next up, it will host its first-ever live global streaming event for Chris Rock’s latest comedy special. Chris Rock: Selective Outrage will air live on March 4th, along with two other pre and post-show specials (they must really want this to work out). Who knows what they will dream up next? Squid Game live?! Hopefully not.

The first pre-show will be aptly titled The Show Before The Show and feature clips from the comedian’s famous friends, like Jerry Seinfeld and Amy Schumer, who is hopefully not traumatized anymore. The pre-show will be hosted by The Daily Show’s Ronny Cheing and is set to include Arsenio Hall, Deon Cole, and Leslie Jones.

Then Rock’s special will begin streaming live from Baltimore, Maryland at 10 pm ET. at What could Rock possibly talk about? There are a few things he could touch on, though we all know how dangerous it can be to give someone all that free live air time, so who knows what will happen.

After Rock’s set, David Spade and Dana Carvey will host The Show After The Show, featuring even more guests, including JB Smooth and noted pop culture scholar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Finally, if none of that seems like a way to spend your Saturday night, you can always stream that movie where Jennifer Coolidge is a psychic medium, which is also on Netflix. It’s nice to have options!

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

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SZA Turned Down James Corden’s ‘Carpool Karaoke’ Because She Was ‘Scared’

Thanks to the gargantuan success of SZA’s new album SOS, the New Jersey singer has been everywhere lately, including the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 for 10 weeks. Despite not believing that fans would enjoy the album as much as they clearly are, SZA has embraced the attention this time around — which could mean we’ll see her in new places she avoided before.

One of those new places we might be seeing SZA is on James Corden’s popular series, Carpool Karaoke. In a new interview with Alternative Press magazine, SZA explained why she turned the show down the first time around, as well as why she might take a different route if she’s asked again. She says she rejected the prior offer to appear on the show because she was “scared of being on camera, looking bad, sounding bad and being perceived.”

However, she’s since come to terms with all of the above, saying, “I really have to remind myself this is my moment in the sun, and I have to take every opportunity because this sh*t may never happen again.”

She isn’t wrong; Corden’s late-night show, The Late Late Show, will end after nearly 30 years when the host leaves this year. Meanwhile, the fifth season of Carpool Karaoke has returned to Apple+ with guests Chelsea Clinton, Duran Duran, Method Man, and Russell and Ciara Wilson.

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This Is The Most Interesting Moment Of Luka Doncic’s Career

Throughout his historic first few years in the NBA, Luka Doncic has won with all manner of coaches and teammates, culminating in a surprise appearance in the Western Conference Finals last year. Over the last two-dozen games of this season, he will need to get up to speed quickly with his most talented teammate ever, Kyrie Irving.

While six weeks is hardly a comfortable adjustment period for Doncic and Irving, the trade continued a chaotic start to Doncic’s career. This spring in Dallas should provide some answers about what Doncic can be as a basketball player, as the Mavs have finally landed a legitimate co-star for Doncic after years of trial and error with various trades.

In theory, Irving is a perfect costar for Doncic. Everywhere Doncic has won, whether it be Spain, Slovenia, or Texas, he has done so with high-level secondary ball-handlers. Irving may be the very best one in the NBA, and has a history of thriving alongside legendary wing creators. Provided Irving can (finally) stay focused and that Dallas pays him what he wants this summer — two very big ifs — a committed version of Irving will be an incredible perimeter number two in the mold of past winning partners for Doncic like Goran Dragic and Jalen Brunson.

Still, the Mavs roster was unbalanced before the trade, and feels incomplete now. The team is small, and is likely to be even smaller come playoff time when switchable big man Maxi Kleber is back and closing games again. Wing defense, a huge strength last season, took a hit with Dorian Finney-Smith going to Brooklyn for Irving. This offseasn’s dice rolls on JaVale McGee and Christian Wood haven’t worked — head coach Jason Kidd plays both centers sparingly — and Dwight Powell simply isn’t big enough to handle the West’s best centers. The breakout of third-year star Josh Green should help round out lineups and benefit the two star guards, but even his recent stellar play won’t be enough to make the Mavs fully comfortable chasing a title with the current roster.

Incomplete, uncomfortable, and under pressure, the Mavs aren’t going to be among the favorites in the West. Whether that is a problem or not depends on how you see Doncic and how you see basketball players development curves. Doncic was excellent right away, coming off a Eurobasket and Euroleague title by the time he got drafted by Dallas in 2018, and has steadily built his game in the comfort of a team that has fully given him the keys.

Is Doncic ready to win a championship in 2023? Does he have to be? His absurd IQ, impossible shot-making, and control over the pace of the game would indicate the answer is yes. He has been an MVP candidate since his second season at age 20. But like all young stars, there are still limitations to his game he must find ways to strengthen and polish. He puts up little resistance defensively in all but the most important possessions. In 12 of his 31 career playoff games, Doncic has five or more turnovers. And whether to save his energy or because he tires quickly, Kidd rarely upped his minutes into the 40s in last year’s playoffs, a range most stars frequent in the postseason.

Beyond that, Doncic currently plays a style that does not have a winning precedent in the NBA for even Hall of Fame-caliber players. From Michael Jordan to Kobe Bryant to Kevin Durant, no recent great has reached the 40.4% usage rate Doncic has posted the past two postseasons. Even James Harden maxed out at 37.1%. Against Utah in last season’s first round, Doncic missed the first three games, and Brunson had at least a 34% usage rate in each one. In Game 4 with Doncic back, Brunson’s usage dipped below 30%, and it fell even further in the following two rounds. In a conference finals loss to the Warriors, Doncic struggled against the eventual champs, shooting 41.5% from the field as the Mavs’ offensive sputtered as its star did.

That was his third taste of the playoffs, and also the third time you could reasonably claim he ran into a superior team. Each year, he has come back better — and with a larger workload.

Doncic exists today in something of a limbo. Because he was elite from an early age and got tagged as an unguardable future MVP before he even hit his prime, Doncic surged past the normal young star trajectory. But with Irving in tow and Doncic on his second contract, there’s more than just banners on the line in Dallas. This postseason should explain a lot about where Doncic is in his career and how to build the best team around him.

If Irving can slot in, an offense built around those two and shooters should take the Mavs plenty far. From there, it’s about finding wing and interior defense. If the partnership with Irving fails or Doncic takes a step back in some way, it won’t quite be back to the drawing board, but it will once again leave Dallas with uncertainty heading into the offseason — the one constant if there has been one during Doncic’s career.

We don’t know whether the Mavs’ impatience has been driven by Doncic, Cuban, or the front office (or a combination of all three), but they have clearly operated with urgency. A move to give up Dorian Finney-Smith (on a great contract) and a 2029 first-round pick for Irving shows how hard the Mavs want to push to build a winner next to their stud. It also raised the risk in the move tremendously, particularly given how hard it is to know what Irving will want to do this summer when he hits free agency.

Making this partnership work and showing Irving, as much as anybody else, that there’s at least a potential pathway to a title (assuming this is what he wants, which is not a guarantee) if the rest of the roster gets built out, is vital to avoid a major step back should Irving leave with the Mavs having spent key players and assets to get him.

That type of urgency also complicates the matter of Doncic’s own development. It’s easy to look at Dallas’ trade and their conference finals berth last year and place expectations on them to do even more this postseason. But the West is deep and there will be potential pitfalls in all three rounds, and Doncic is just 24 and still an incomplete player despite his greatness.

Young stars learning through playoff failure is a story fundamental to the NBA. The gold standards are Michael Jordan and LeBron James, who lost again and again before they tweaked how they played, how they approached defenses, and finally broke through. For Doncic, one clear evaluation will be whether his huge workload can sustain and win in the playoffs — or if he can find ways to have a similar impact playing a bit more in tandem with Irving. On a Mavs team bereft of defensive depth, it will likely fall on him to guard better opposing players more consistently, further complicating the issue of stamina to carry so much of the offensive load.

We easily forget that even the greatest players must at times change and adapt. Doncic has had the fortune of not having to much of his young NBA career, but the close to this season could be the first time we see it. How he and the Mavs handle this stretch could have significant ramifications for their long-term build.

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‘Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston Believes That It’s Long Past Time To Call The MAGA Slogan ‘Racist’

Bryan Cranston didn’t mince words when given an opportunity to call out Donald Trump for his infamous “Make America Great Again” slogan. During an interview with CNN’s Chris Wallace, the Breaking Bad star pointed out the obvious “racist” implications of the catchphrase now known as “MAGA”

“Most people, a lot of people go, ‘How could that be racist — Make America Great Again?’” Cranston said. “Just ask yourself, from an African American experience, when was it ever great in America for the African American? When was it great? So if you’re making it great again, it’s not including them.”

Not content with highlighting just Trump’s racism, the Walter White actor also reiterated his belief that critical race theory should be taught in schools after previously defending the educational theory on Bill Maher’s podcast.

Via The Hill:

“You present it and say, well, 400 years of slavery, yeah, but we’re moving on. And it’s like, no, let’s really discuss it,” Cranston told Wallace. “How did that happen? How did we get to a point where we treated other human beings as slaves?” Cranston asked, according to a transcript of the program.

As far as the “Make America Great Again” motto, Cranston said critical race theory could “teach us in the woke world to open up and accept the possibilities that our privilege has created blind spots for us.”

Cranston pointed to Germany as an example of a country that grappled with its actions during both World Wars and acknowledged, “This is how it went wrong.”

“I think [Germany has] done a very commendable job in doing so,” Cranston said. “But the United States really hasn’t.”

(Via The Hill)

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Kid Cudi Laid Out His Musical Plans For The Rest Of 2023 And He’s Going To Be Busy

Lately, Kid Cudi’s music future has felt a little up in the air. Towards the end of last year, he hinted he was considering the end of making music as Kid Cudi, but he later noted he has another album in him. Later, he said he recorded 11 tracks in the span of just a week. Now, the pendulum continues to swing towards productivity, as Cudi is now laying out plans for a new album cycle to start later this year.

Today (February 27), Cudi tweeted, “Album this Fall. First singles this summer. The new chapter has begun… Ur not prepared man. We’ve reached a new level.” In response to a fan asking for a tour, he added, “World tour next year. Count on it [winking emoji].”

Earlier this month, Cudi tweeted simply, “June,” perhaps an indication of specifically the new singles are going to start rolling out.

Towards the end of 2022, he also noted some of what he was looking forward to doing in 2023, answering a fan who asked what he was looking forward to, “Man, so much. My clothing line, directing my first movie that im starring in from a script I wrote, couple movies coming out, a lil tv, Im seriously the most hyped about it all.”

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Miley Cyrus’ Countdown Clock Struck Zero And We Got Her ‘Endless Summer Vacation’ Tracklist And Features

Miley Cyrus has cornered the market on countdown clocks. Her first one led to the release of “Flowers,” her No. 1 single leading the way for Endless Summer Vacation, her first LP since 2020’s Plastic Hearts.

Cyrus reset the countdown clock on her website last week, and when it hit zero this morning (February 27), we got the full Endless Summer Vacation tracklist ahead of its release next week. The tracklist teaser video — on theme with Cyrus’ initial album teaser trailer from last month — reveals guest appearances from Brandi Carlile (on “Thousand Miles”) and Sia (on “Muddy Feet”).

Carlile performed “The Story” and “The Climb” with Cyrus on the first-ever Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party on December 31, 2021, while Sia appeared on the latest edition of the NBC special.

The Endless Summer Vacation rollout has brought endless success so far. “Flowers” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 after shattering a Spotify streaming record, and it’s enjoying its fifth week in the top spot on the new chart dated February 25 — extending its reign as the longest-running No. 1 single of Cyrus’ career.

When Endless Summer Vacation was announced on January 5, a press release described Cyrus’ forthcoming eighth studio album as “her love letter to LA,” which she recorded in Los Angeles. The record was produced alongside Kid Harpoon, Greg Kurstin, Mike Will Made-It, and Tyler Johnson.

Find the Endless Summer Vacation tracklist below.

1. “Flowers”
2. “Jaded”
3. “Rose Colored Lenses”
4. “Thousand Miles” Feat. Brandi Carlile
5. “You”
6. “Handstand”
7. “River”
8. “Violet Chemistry”
9. “Muddy Feet” Feat. Sia
10. “Wildcard”
11. “Island”
12. “Wonder Woman”

Endless Summer Vacation is out 3/10 via Columbia. Pre-order it here.

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Lil Baby Recounts A Toxic Relationship In His ‘Forever’ Video With Fridayy

Lil Baby is going harder than ever in the wake of his undisputed star run over the past couple of years. Picking up where he left off last year with his third studio album It’s Only Me, the Atlanta native dropped the video for the album’s standout track “Forever” with Fridayy today.

The video, shot on location in the tropics, finds Baby recounting a toxic relationship with a woman he only manages to see sporadically thanks to his jet-setting lifestyle. “You be on some toxic shit but I cannot get off this bitch,” he worries. While he wonders if the couple should keep going or call it quits, Fridayy’s crooned chorus illustrates the issue in plain terms: “I know you miss me,” he sings. “Who it’s gon’ be if it ain’t me, lil’ baby?”

Upon its release in October, It’s Only Me became Lil Baby’s third No. 1 album, receiving favorable reviews for Baby’s polished technique, although some reviews were critical of its formulaic nature. Baby performed “Forever” on Saturday Night Live earlier this year, continuing his momentum and showing that he intends to continue supporting his latest album, even four months later.

Watch Lil Baby’s “Forever” video with Fridayy above.

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You’ve Heard Of ‘Cocaine Bear,’ Now Get Ready For ‘Attack Of The Meth Gator’

In the battle of the animal movies, the drug-addicted bear crushed the half-man, half-ant. Cinema is back.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania dropped 69 percent in its second weekend at the box office, from $105 million to $32 million. That’s not great! In fact, it’s the biggest weekend-to-weekend decrease in the 15-year history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Meanwhile, Cocaine Bear — which had a much smaller budget than Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania — outperformed expectations: the Elizabeth Banks-directed film about a bear… that does cocaine made $23.1 million at the domestic box office (it was tracking to open in the $15 million to $17 million range).

Sensing an opportunity, the Asylum — the studio behind The Fast and the Fierce, 18-Year-Old Virgin, and Titanic II — has found its next low-budget ripoff. Replace a bear with an alligator and cocaine with meth, and you’ve got Attack of the Meth Gator. “Hold our bear… I mean, beer. Coming for your life this summer,” the Asylum tweeted. It’s not a bit: “This is real! We’re pumping the meth into Floridas fresh water reserves as we speak!”

Like Cocaine Bear, Meth Gator is very loosely based on a true story.

The Lorretto Police Department has a reasonable request: please don’t flush your meth down the toilet. “On a more or less serious note: Folks please don’t flush your drugs m’kay,” LPD wrote on Facebook. “Now our sewer guys take great pride in releasing water that is cleaner than what is in the creek, but they are not really prepared for meth.”

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Storm Reid Blasts Homophobic Critics Of ‘The Last Of Us’: ‘If You Don’t Like It, Don’t Watch’

The Last of Us star Storm Reid has some choice words for any trolls who might be thinking about review-bombing the latest episode of the HBO drama: Get over it.

Episode seven’s “Left Behind” gave fans some much-needed backstory on Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and her childhood in the Boston QZ. Not only did we see flashbacks of her growing up as a ward of FEDRA, but we also got to meet her best friend Riley (played by Reid), who ran away from the military detention center where they were living and enticed Ellie to join her. The girls enjoyed a night out at an abandoned mall that eventually ended in tragedy but not before they shared a kiss and confessed their feelings for each other. It was all very sweet and romantic and, of course, it triggered some people who seem to enjoy broadcasting bigotry with review ratings on sites like IMDb.

Already some viewers are complaining about the show’s decision to highlight the romance between the two girls — which was a feature of the game as well — and Reid for one is just not having it.

“I think Bella put it perfectly a couple of weeks ago: ‘If you don’t like it, don’t watch,’” the actress told Variety when asked about the potential homophobic backlash to the episode. “There’s so many other things to worry about in the world. I think being concerned about who people love is just absurd to me. I just don’t — I will never understand it. I don’t get it.”

This isn’t the first time trolls have come for the show over a Queer romance subplot. In episode three’s “Long Long Time,” guest stars Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett played a gay couple fighting for their happily ever after amid the fungal apocalypse to rave reviews from critics and more than a few zero-star ratings from the prejudiced crowd. Ramsey has addressed the controversy before, advising fans to “get used to” Queer characters appearing in the series — especially since they feature so heavily in the game — but Reid backed up that sentiment by encouraging audiences to focus on the positive when it comes to Ellie and Riley’s love story.

“I think despite what people are going to say, if they don’t like it, I think there are going to be a lot more people that appreciate it,” Reid continued. “A lot more people that feel represented and seen and heard. So that’s what matters.”

(Via Variety)