Category: Trending

The Los Angeles Lakers front office was very busy this offseason, working to beef up the roster that won a title this past season in trades and free agency, but also in locking up some of the key pieces already on the roster. The biggest of those were inking Anthony Davis to a 5-year max deal and also extending LeBron James for two more seasons to keep their superstar pairing together for years to come.

They also brought back Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in free agency and, on Sunday, got another extension deal done with another of their key contributors from last season, Kyle Kuzma. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Lakers and Kuzma agreed to a 3-year, $40 million extension that includes a player option on the third year to let him hit free agency should he so choose in 2023.

It seems like a solid deal for both sides, as the Lakers keep a contributor on the roster when it’s very difficult to make outside additions to the team with two max players locked up. Kuzma gets paid and gathers some financial security while also having the opportunity to seek a new deal in three seasons when he’s 28 should he show growth and find there’s a more robust market out there for him.

The Lakers have made clear their intentions this offseason, which is to keep this core intact for as long as possible while upgrading on the periphery where able. We’ll find out if it can lead to back-to-back titles eventually, but they’ll certainly be in contention for some time.

The Houston Texans have been painful to watch this season, particularly for their fans, as they’ve been dreadful despite the presence of star quarterback Deshaun Watson trying his best to make them competent. They fired coach and GM Bill O’Brien earlier in the season, but the roster mess he left behind remains and, without DeAndre Hopkins out wide, Watson simply doesn’t have the weapons around him to make up for the Texans other deficiencies.

Those issues were on display on Sunday as the Texans took on the Colts in a divisional game that saw them go down two scores, rally to tie the game at 20, fall behind 27-20, and then again march down the field in hopes of forcing overtime. Their last gasp effort to tie the game ended in disaster after Watson hit Keke Coutee on 4th and 5 on a slant over the middle. Coutee fought through a hit and found his way near the goal line, but had the ball punched out as he tried to stretch for the end zone where it was recovered by the Colts to seal another Indy win and yet another brutal Houston loss.

The Colts would take knees to end it and Watson’s face at the end said it all from his perspective.

The Texans fall to 4-10 with the loss, two games away from the merciful end to the season and in need of some serious changes if they are to get back to playoff contention soon. The good news is they have the quarterback situation figured out, which is usually the biggest hurdle. The bad news is, well, everything else.

In addition to yet another No. 1 album, 2020 has now brought Ariana Grande another highlight moment to relish. The singer announced on Sunday she is engaged to her boyfriend Dalton Gomez and shared a collection of pictures on Instagram to celebrate.

The photos were posted with a caption that read, “forever n then some.” Three of the photos showed the singer cuddled up with Gomez while another gave fans a close-up look of the diamond ring that also boasts what looks like a pearl to the left of it.

Ariana was first reported to be dating Gomez, a 27-year-old real estate agent from California, earlier this year when TMZ shared that the two were spotted together on Valentine’s Day. Their relationship was later confirmed at the two began quarantining together, something that fans got a quick glimpse of in a clip that was included in Grande and Justin Bieber’s “Stuck With U” video.

The singer’s announcement comes hours before her Excuse Me, I Love You film arrives on Netflix. It poses as both a concert film and a tour documentary that will take fans back to Grande’s 2018 Sweetener World Tour. Fans who tune in to watch will also see a small portion of her personal life as clips of Grande spending time with her mother and having emotional moments with her tour crew are shown. After announcing the film, the singer shared a message with fans about it.

“I know this project only captures some of one tour (out of all the other hundreds of shows and moments we have shared over the past six or seven years… jesus lol),” Grande said. “But i just wanted to thank u all for showing me more in this lifetime already than i ever dreamed of,” she said in an Instagram post.”

You can check out Grande’s engagement post above.

For years, Tiger Woods was known for his stoic nature on the golf course, prowling around with the killer instinct that made him one of the fiercest competitors in all of sports, not just in golf.

In recent years, though, we’ve seen a different side of Tiger, a man who’s come back from personal and physical pains to get back to the top of the sport, winning last year’s Masters in sensational style. Woods isn’t quite what he once was, particularly on a weekly basis, but he also seems to be more appreciative of it all — the fans, the golf, and the chance for his kids to see him play. That was evident in the big hugs he shared with his kids, Charlie and Sam, after his Masters win, and also in the big smile he wore all week at the PNC Championship as he played in the family event with 11-year-old Charlie — with both wearing matching outfits all week.

On Saturday, the two combined to shoot a 10-under 62 to climb the leaderboard, with Charlie stealing the show with some ridiculous shots that were very reminiscent of his dad.

The younger Woods has developed quite the reputation for being an awful lot like his father, both in his sweet swing and his penchant for trash-talking on the course — particularly with Justin Thomas who the younger Woods has become friends with.

All of that was on display on Sunday in the final round, as he continued to show off his sensational swing for an 11-year-old, pumping drivers down the fairway and sticking approach shots closer than even his dad.

He even has his dad’s flair for the dramatic and showmanship, offering vintage Tiger fist pumps, club twirls, and walking in putts.

After their round ended, with Charlie sinking a short birdie putt on the 18th, he and Tiger shared a hug as they capped off quite the weekend together in Charlie’s first competitive rounds, where he flaunted a swing that make it hard to think he’ll be anywhere but on the tour in a decade or so.

For Tiger, we once again got to see a side that used to rarely get shown publicly, as he thoroughly enjoyed ceding the spotlight to Charlie and reveled in watching his son hit great shots and make big putts.

Canelo Alvarez hadn’t fought in over a year prior to Saturday night, as the former pound-for-pound king dealt with promoter issues, ultimately splitting with longtime promoter Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy to go out on his own.

Alvarez has long promised to fight the biggest and best in the sport, taking on challengers at a variety of weight classes, and after knocking out former light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev, he turned his attention to the super middleweight champion Callum Smith for his bout on Saturday night in San Antonio. Canelo picked apart the much taller Smith, feeling his way around in the opening rounds before closing the distance and stalking Smith back into the ropes over and over, unloading on the champ with flurries, most notably some vicious uppercuts that caught Smith clean.

By the end of the night, Canelo emerged with an easy decision victory, and while Smith never touched the canvas, his face told the story of just getting absolutely dominated by Alvarez. After the fight, Alvarez strolled by Eddie Hearn after dispatching of a third Matchroom fighter in his career and trolled Britain’s biggest promoter by asking “who’s next” referencing the trail of destruction he’d left in Hearn’s stable of fighters.

What’s fascinating about Alvarez’s future is that without a tie to a network or promoter (pending a lawsuit with Golden Boy and DAZN to get out of his DAZN deal), he can truly go around and negotiate for fights with anyone. Errol Spence Jr., the welterweight champ and a PBC fighter, has shown interest in a middleweight fight with Alvarez that would be the biggest fight of the year if they could get that done. There’s also the potential for a trilogy fight with GGG, who is now with Hearn, and plenty of other intriguing possibilities for boxing’s top draw. What other promoters and managers will have to determine is whether a fight with Canelo is worth the money, because of the very real chance that he puts your top fighter through the ringer, making them look rather silly for 12 rounds or less.

It’s been a long time since we saw Dez Bryant throw up the X in an NFL game. The current Ravens wide receiver was once considered one of the NFL’s best wideouts during his prime years with the Cowboys, but hadn’t played football since 2017. Some wondered if we’d seen the last of Bryant after his time away from the game, a career ending suddenly in a sport that isn’t often kind in terms of longevity.

Enter 2020. Bryant found a spot on the Ravens practice squad and eventually worked his way up to the Ravens main roster, but hadn’t been a major factor yet and had also yet to find the end zone. That is until Sunday’s contest against the Jaguars when Lamar Jackson, escaping pressure from the pocket, found a diving Bryant for a touchdown. He threw up the X and it was like we traveled three years into the past.

This was a great moment for Bryant. Especially considering that he was threatening retirement after he was suddenly pulled from warmups ahead of the Ravens game against the Cowboys earlier this season due to what turned out to be a false positive COVID-19 test.

For some guys that really would be enough to retire. Getting yourself into game shape requires daily work and is a major strain on the body. A lot of times when players retire it’s not because they can’t perform, but because the work needed to be at that elite level is too much. It’s great that Bryant didn’t retire though, because we got to see him return to what he does best, catching touchdowns on Sunday. Where he goes from here? Who knows, but hopefully he gets to go out on his terms and if he wants to stick around awhile longer, he can continue showing he has value for teams.

The wait for Playboi Carti’s Whole Lotta Red album continues, and while a plethora of rumors have been unearthed about the highly-desired album, little has been confirmed prior to Saturday night. The Die Lit rapper jumped on Twitter to enthusiastically thank Travis Scott for submitting a great verse for an upcoming collaboration the two have together.

“@trvisXX . w0w aMaZinG . L0ve THis V3RSE . rEd rEd rEd !” Carti said in his tweet. Die-hard supporters of both rappers quickly concluded that the collaboration Carti referred to in the tweet is entitled, “Houdini.”

As a result, their fans rushed to Twitter to show their excitement for the track and call for its immediate release.

A Twitter user showed their excitement for the track with a crying-tears-of-joy meme with a caption that simply read, “Travis on wlr.” Another one said, “it’s boutta be so hard i ain’t ready” with the crying face emoji. Other fans shared responses like “HOLY SH*T LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO,” “Stop playing with us bro, I can’t keep waiting,” and “this really finna be album of the year.”

The news about the Travis Scott feature comes after Carti confirmed Kid Cudi would appear on Whole Lotta Red as well. “i fL3w 2 bro ! toLD hiM hiS mUSic iS WORLd nEEdED . V3ry good GUY bEAUtiFUL sPirit,” Carti said in an Instagram post. “HE wILL bE oN THis ALBuM . L0v3 hiM . W3 ALL do.” The album has been rumored for a Christmas Day release so fans may have to wait less than a week to see if Whole Lotta Red is finally released.

Check out more tweets from Carti’s fans below.

If you haven’t watched the Season 2 finale of The Mandalorian at this point in the weekend, it’s probably been extremely tough to avoid spoilers about a certain someone popping up to save the day in Disney+ show. You should probably close this tab and not read any further if you’d like to keep that improbable streak alive until you’ve finished Season 2.

Anyway (spoilers incoming) the arrival of Luke Skywalker to the Disney+ universe in the final episode of The Mandalorian caused a lot of consequences for the show and reaction among fans. But one reaction that was missing was from, well, Hamill himself (sorry). The Luke Skywalker actor was obviously aided by plenty of CGI to help play his younger self, but he was clearly involved with the filming of some of the final scenes of the season.

Hamill initially kept very quiet about his own appearance in “The Rescue,” but he did hint heavily that there was something interesting streaming on Friday with a subtle tweet.

On Saturday, however, he addressed the green lightsaber-toting elephant in the airlock and calling it a “real triumph” that everyone involved had kept the secret that a Skywalker would show up on The Mandalorian for more than a year.

It’s a feat the show had replicated before, as the reveal of Baby Yoda as a character on the show was something that no one seemed to know was coming when the show premiered in 2019. That character’s name, Grogu, was a reveal that had been largely kept quiet in 2020 as well, and in a spoiler-heavy age where it’s hard to keep anything in production from leaking, it certainly is a feat to be proud of for Hamill and those involved with making The Mandalorian.

While it’s been almost two years since Toro Y Moi delivered his last album with 2019’s Outer Peace, the South Carolina native has delivered a decent amount of guest appearances and remixes for his fans. Back with another one, Toro Y Moi brings his talents to Haim’s “3am” track with a new take. The Women In Music Pt. III song by the siblings was originally an airy effort backed by synths and a drowned-out bass. With Toro Y Moi’s remix, “3am” is now a lush effort filled with a heavy dose of life.

Toro Y Moi’s take of “3am” is his second remix of the month after he brought his talents to Deftones frontperson Chino Moreno for a remake of Caroline Polachek’s “Hit Me Where It Hurts.” Prior to that, him and The Mattson 2 connected for their groovy cover of Afro-Filipino artist Joe Bataan’s 1972 track “Ordinary Guy.”

As for Haim, the new remix comes after the siblings joined Taylor Swift on her Evermore album for their “No Body, No Crime” track. The collaboration capped off a year that saw the trio receive two Grammy nominations, one for Album of the Year and another for Best Rock Performance with their track, “The Steps.”

On a lighter note, the band recently got into the Christmas spirit with their holiday parody single, “Christmas Wrapping 2020.” You can listen to the “3am” cover in the video above.

It has been over two years now since Andrew Lincoln exited The Walking Dead TV series, and AMC announced that he would star in his own movie (or series of movies).

In the intervening 25 months, we’ve learned more about what to expect from the Rick Grimes movie. For instance, the second spin-off series, The World Beyond, has been exploring the CRM, the military organization that both abducted and rescued Rick Grimes on The Walking Dead. It also appears that Danai Gurira’s Michonne — who left The Walking Dead earlier in the 10th season — may also appear in the movie. Meanwhile, we’ve also learned that The Walking Dead will end its run after the 11th season in late 2022, and it seems very likely that the Rick Grimes movie will provide a cap to the series.

We have not heard much lately about the Rick Grimes movie since the onset of the pandemic, which obviously delayed production on the film. In an interview with the Associated Press, however, Andrew Lincoln revealed that (if all goes well) shooting should begin in the Spring of 2021.

“It does feel like there is a certain sense of positivity and the cavalry’s coming with the vaccines,” he told the AP. “And there’s a real sort of sense of a renewal, hopefully.”

If shooting begins when Lincoln expects it to start, the timing works such that it should be released around the end of 2022, which is precisely when The Walking Dead series will end. It’s also about four years since Lincoln left The Walking Dead. Moreover, through the partnership with Universal, fans will also get the opportunity to see the Rick Grimes film on the big screen. Presumably, if this is successful, Andrew Lincoln will make the other two planned movies and extend The Walking Dead on the big-screen even as the series winds down and spins-off into the Daryl and Carol series.

(Via Associated Press)