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The Houston Rockets are expected to be one of the teams taking the biggest steps forward this season after a major overhaul this summer that started with hiring Ime Udoka as head coach and continued with the signings of Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks (among others) in free agency.

The youth movement in Houston is still going on, but those young players now have an infrastructure around them to provide the needed support to start winning basketball games. The “talent acquisition” phase for the Rockets should be over and, with what they hope is an environment more conducive to winning, the real evaluation of guys like Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun, Jabari Smith Jr., Amen Thompson, and Tari Eason can begin. The Rockets are almost assuredly going to win more games and be more competitive this year, but it will require a massive leap forward to go beyond that to fight for a Play-In spot in the very crowded Western Conference. If that is to happen, one major question looms and one of their young players holds the key to unlocking a higher ceiling.

Biggest Question: How Big A Leap Can They Take On Defense?

The reason Udoka was hired was to bring a defensive identity to a team that has been lacking one for two years. It’s also why VanVleet was the target over James Harden in free agency, and why they are willing to deal with Dillon Brooks’ at times frustrating antics to bring in an All-Defense caliber wing. It’d be hard not to take a step forward defensively from last year, when they were 29th in defensive rating (per Basketball-Reference), but it remains to be seen how big that step can be.

At this point, they should have enough on the perimeter and wing to be able to always have a couple good defenders on the floor at all times, which is a considerable upgrade from where they’ve been. VanVleet and Brooks are proven pests on the perimeter, while Eason and Thompson have the frames, athleticism, and profile to be very good on that end, they just need the structure around them. The real question on defense is whether they have enough rim protection, as they weren’t able to land the defensive upgrade they hoped for in free agency when Brook Lopez balked and returned to the Bucks. As such, Sengun will be back starting at the five, where he doesn’t provide much in terms of rim deterrence (0.9 blocks per game a year ago) but also was not being helped much at all by a very leaky point of attack defense.

Houston will be a really interesting test of how much improving your point of attack defense can raise your defensive level overall if you still lack elite rim protection. Sengun shouldn’t be left on islands trying to cover two guys at once as much as last year and can focus more on being in the right position, which should help him be more effective, but there’s a ceiling to his impact on that end. They have a chance to be special offensively if things click for enough of their youngsters at once, but they’ll need to climb out of the bottom third of the league on defense to have a chance at a really surprising leap into Play-In contention.

X-Factor: Alperen Sengun

As noted in the above section, Sengun holds a lot of importance to this team because they are going to need him to be at least passable on defense. It’s certainly possible he gets there with better structure around him, as he has good hands and could be disruptive in his own way without being a dominant paint defender. The reason that’s so important is because he is the one that unlocks a lot of what this team can be on the offensive end. There will, rightfully, be a lot of attention paid to Green and Smith Jr.’s development this season, as both need to take strides forward in terms of efficiency and should benefit greatly from playing next to a real veteran point guard in VanVleet.

However, I think Sengun stands to benefit more than just about anyone else from having a better facilitator on the floor with VanVleet. I’d expect those two’s minutes to be paired an awful lot, because having a point guard that can get him the ball on time and on his spots will only make him a more effective and efficient scorer, while also needing to be paired with a solid screen navigator on defense. Sengun has tremendous offensive upside both as a scorer and playmaker, and I’m fascinated to see how Udoka deploys him and tries to maximize his skillset this season. Playing on a team with a coherent identity should allow Sengun to show his full abilities on the offensive end. A year ago, Sengun was second on the Rockets with 3.9 assists per game, and I’d expect them to continue leaning on his playmaking abilities even more this season.

Part of what makes Sengun so important to this Rockets is they don’t really have anyone else capable of impacting the game the way he can on offense. Jock Landale is a very solid backup big man and will give Udoka an option for a solid rim protector off the bench, but is not anywhere close to as dynamic on offense as Sengun. While there are some overlapping talents elsewhere on the roster, they are banking heavily on Sengun at the center position right now. As such, if he stagnates this year, the Rockets will probably end up right around their win total projection of 30 or so wins and be a mid-lottery team. However, if he continues to grow and the structure around him improves to augment all the things he seemingly can do, that could unlock that higher level for Houston to allow them to start dreaming a bit earlier of a Play-In chase.

(Spoilers for Amazon’s Gen V will be found below.)

It would be unfair to say that Gen V is more character-driven than The Boys, but it is true that the spinoff has unfurled the roots of its characters’ agonies in a speedier fashion. Perhaps that’s because Gen Z arguably has a clearer vision of humanity’s own real-life turmoil, and that lends authenticity to this series’ characters, who are being readily embraced by viewers.

The sometimes fun-sized Emma/Little Cricket, portrayed by Lizzie Broadway, already has the audience rooting for her, and following the first handful of Gen V episodes, Deadline reported that WME agency snapped Broadway up as a client. That speaks to her rapidly rising star, but she’s not exactly new to Hollywood. Before Broadway threw herself into the wild stuntwork of this series while shrinking and growing (and purging/binging accordingly), she amassed over 20 acting credits. Where else can Broadway be seen?

Before Broadway was swapping sizes, she appeared in a long string of one-off TV appearances. Those include the customary tour of procedurals including NCIS and Chicago P.D., along with Shameless. Most recently, she appeared in the Chris Evans/Ana de Armas movie Apple TV+ Ghosted, Peacock’s Based On A True Story, oh, and a 2020 American Pie movie.

On the personal-life front, Broadway has been linked to Cobra Kai‘s Tanner Buchanan, although the couple appears to have split. And we’ll simply have to wait and see how much that Emma-Sam relationship develops on Gen V.

New episodes of Amazon’s ‘Gen V’ stream on Fridays.

Mass Appeal, the long-running media company that found new life as a record label when Nas joined a group of investors to purchase the brand in 2013, is being sued for racial discrimination. According to Vibe, Mass Appeal’s former head of development, Melissa Cooper, filed suit in Manhattan against the company and its co-founder Peter Bittenbender, alleging Bittenbender fostered a hostile work environment against her.

Cooper, who is white, says that after she was chosen to work on a project over Senior VP of Content Jenya Meggs, Meggs subjected her to “venomous and racist comments about ‘white folk’ and ‘crackers.’” The comments were supposedly made in messages from Meggs to Terry Ross, an executive producer on Hulu’s upcoming Freaknik documentary. Meggs attributed Cooper’s selection to racial bias, calling another of the doc’s producers, Alex Avant, choosing Cooper an example of “usual white folk behavior.” Meggs began refusing to work on projects with Cooper, leading to Cooper being removed from projects headed by Meggs.

Cooper says although she raised concerns with Bittenbender, there was no investigation of her claims, and she was terminated on June 30, 2023, after her primary role had been reduced so much she had no real function at the company. Nas is not named in the suit but is a partner in Mass Appeal.

Billie Eilish is the back guy.

The “Happier Than Ever” singer showed off her back tattoo on Instagram on Wednesday, as part of a photo set with the caption of the scissors emoji. The ink runs from her neck all the way down to her lower back. You can see it here:

Other photos in the post include some Halloween-ready pumpkins, someone (possibly Eilish) on a motorcycle, and the lyrics to Drake’s “Late Night” featuring Lil Yachty: “She had big tits like Billie Eilish but she couldn’t sing (drip).”

This isn’t Eilish’s first tattoo. She has at least three more, including one of her name which she shared in a bikini photo, and a dragon near her hips. Don’t expect her to get tattoo sleeves any time soon, however. Or ever.

“No, I’m not gonna be all tatted up, but I have some more ideas. Right now, I feel pretty satisfied. I feel like in a good zone with them,” she told Vanity Fair in 2021, adding, “Give me a little more time and then I’ll get another one.” The time must have been right. Eilish also recently hinted that she’s working on a new album, her first since 2021. “We’ve been filming the whole creation of the next album we’re working on,” she said on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Kevin Smith has come to Jason Momoa‘s defense after the actor was accused of dressing like Johnny Depp to antagonize co-star Amber Heard while filming Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.

In fairness to both parties, Heard only claimed that Momoa was often drunk on set and suspiciously wore outfits similar to Depp’s in her private therapy notes that were never meant to see the light of the day. Those notes were only revealed after Depp fans fought to have court documents in the couple’s defamation trial unsealed.

Warner Bros. has already denied the Depp-dressing allegations, and now, Smith is chiming in. While the filmmaker does defend Momoa, he also acknowledges that the Aquaman actor and Depp do have similar styles.

“I don’t think he just dressed as Johnny Depp. I think he just kind of dresses like Johnny Depp, layers and s–t like that,” Smith said on the recent episode of his Fatman Beyond podcast, according to Comic Book. The lifelong comic book fan also offered his concerns about the Aquaman sequel that has reportedly struggled with test audiences. ” It sounds like they’ve been changing this movie so much. Dude, they’ve had, minimum, two Batmans in this movie. They had Michael Keaton Batman and they also had Ben Affleck Batman.”

Like a lot of DC Comics fans, Smith is ready to move past the DCEU and see what James Gunn is cooking up. That includes increased reports that Momoa could survive the transition by taking on a new role: The raucous anti-hero Lobo.

“That honestly makes absolute sense,” Smith opined. “He looks like Lobo.”

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom splashes into theaters on December 20.

(Via Comic Book)

Taylor Swift’s latest re-recorded album, 1989 (Taylor’s Version), is on the way, as it’s set for release on October 27. Swift is obviously the main attraction here, but what other artists can fan’s expect to hear on the album?

Are there any featured artists on Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version)?

Surprisingly, no.

“Surprisingly” because the three previous Taylor’s Version albums — Fearless in 2021, Red in 2021, and Speak Now in 2023 — all had features: Colbie Caillat, Maren Morris, and Keith Urban on Fearless; Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody, Ed Sheeran, Phoebe Bridgers, and Chris Stapleton on Red; and Fall Out Boy and Hayley Williams on Speak Now.

As the 1989 (Taylor’s Version) tracklist stands right now, though, there are currently no featured artists credited. Swift didn’t make the album alone, of course: Credited as writers on the album are Ryan Tedder, Max Martin, Shellback, Ali Payami, Jack Antonoff, and Imogen Heap.

Worth noting is that there were rumors that Nicki Minaj would be making an appearance on the album. Some also suspected that The 1975 or just the band’s Matty Healy would be on the album, but a Swift spokesperson debunked that one directly, saying, that “neither Matty Healy nor [The] 1975 are on this album.”

1989 (Taylor’s Version) is out 10/27 via Republic Records. Find more information here.

Detroit rapper 42 Dugg has reportedly been released from prison after being sentenced to a year for failing to report to prison after violating his probation from a previous illegal weapons possession conviction. According to Complex and The Fader, the 28-year-old rapper, best known for his songs with Lil Baby, “Grace” and “We Paid,” could be seen in a photo shared by his publicist being embraced by CMG label founder Yo Gotti as they celebrated his release. Yo Gotti also posted a video on Instagram of their reunion.

42 Dugg was apparently able to avoid a much stiffer penalty after pleading guilty to failing to surrender himself for his prior sentence in March. He had been sentenced to six months in camp for violating his probation from a 2010 conviction for carjacking and felony firearms possession. In 2019, he was seen hanging out at an Atlanta shooting range, loading and firing guns, and was arrested in March 2020. Initially, he was only to serve three years of probation and pay a $90,000 fine but was arrested in Las Vegas for obstructing law enforcement and testing positive for opiates.

He was supposed to show up at prison camp in Virginia in April 2022 but failed to report, allegedly avoiding police for a month. Prosecutors said he had tried to claim he was a sovereign citizen exempt from federal laws, while according to his lawyers, it was an honest mistake, as he was seeking an appeal for the 2021 conviction and said he did not know he still had to surrender himself.

A new wax statue of Hollywood and WWE superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was unveiled this week at the famed Musée Grévin in Paris, but fans are not exactly loving the final product. While the sculpture mostly captures the Black Adam star’s famously muscular physique, things go pretty sideways when it comes to the statue’s skin color.

The Rock is a proud Samoan, who has made a point to celebrate his Hawaiian heritage in his films. The statue, however, looks like some white dude named Craig. It’s jarringly lacking The Rock’s darker skin tone, which makes for an unsettling sight.

Over on the official Musée Grévin Instagram post revealing the statue, fans of the Fast and Furious star did not hold back their thoughts on the sight of a freakishly pale Rock. You can some of the reactions below:

“Erm they didn’t mix them colours right! Doesn’t seem to look like him so much.”

“That’s not The Rock that’s The Pebble.”

“This is some BS… That’s a whole white man.”

“That’s Vin ‘The Rock’ Diesel.”

“The Rock without melanin is not the Samoan diety we have all [grown] to know and [love].”

“This is whiter than me, and I’m Scottish”

“That’s not Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, that’s Wayne ‘The Opal’ Johnson.”

(Via Musée Grévin on Instagram)

Ridley Scott fans know that anytime the filmmaker helms a new project, two movies inevitably get made: the theatrical version and then the famed director’s cut. His historical epic for Apple TV+, Napoleon, will be no different.

Scott has already admitted to having hours’ worth of footage he hopes to add to an alternate version of the film, one that likely won’t hit the big screen but may still be discoverable on the streaming platform. While the theatrical release clocks in at 158 minutes, Scott told Empire in August that he had a “fantastic” cut waiting in the wings that would run 270 minutes (or four-and-a-half hours). But, thanks to a recent interview with Total Film magazine, we know that runtime isn’t set in stone.

According to Scott, the film’s length is still in flux and where fans might be able to watch his director’s cut is an even bigger question mark at the moment.

“I’m working on it. It was four [hours] 10 [minutes] this morning,” Scott said. “And so what will happen is, we’ll screen [the theatrical cut] first with Sony, and then it has its run, and then the perfect thing is that [the director’s cut] goes to streaming, and we have four hours 10 minutes.”

In earlier interviews, Scott revealed that much of the extra footage focused on Vanessa Kirby’s character, Joséphine, who was the wife of the military mastermind-turned-exiled-tyrant played by Joaquin Phoenix. Those scenes would likely chronicle her life before meeting Napolean, although there’s the possibility that longer battle scenes and more political drama could worm their way into a longer version of Scott’s prestige biopic. Whether both the theatrical and the director’s cut, or just one variant of the story shows up on Apple TV+ hasn’t been decided as of yet, but the film’s November 22nd release, a guaranteed theatrical run means the streaming powers that be have a bit more time to decide.

(via Total Film)

Joel Embiid is entering this season fresh off an MVP campaign, and after years with Under Armour, he’s set to make a considerable change in footwear. On Wednesday, the Athletic’s Shams Charania and Mike Vorkunov reported Embiid is expected to headline Skechers’ foray into the basketball space, with Julius Randle and Terance Mann likewise set to get on board, as they continue their move into the performance sports shoe space.

Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid, the NBA’s reigning MVP, is nearing a deal to become Skechers’ star pitchman, industry sources briefed on the talks told The Athletic. A deal has not been signed yet, but Embiid wore a Skechers shoe for the first time during 76ers practice Wednesday with the brand’s performance staff on site as he begins to test out the sneaker, sources said. Embiid will begin wearing the new Skechers shoe in games once the deal is fully complete, according to a source.

Embiid’s time with Under Armour featured a poorly timed signature sneaker launch — it was announced a month before the world shut down — and never really picked up momentum despite Embiid continuing to grow in popularity. There has always been a gap between big men and the general public in the shoe-selling world, with Shaq as one of the very few to ever bridge that divide. Embiid’s pitch for his Under Armour was even to make clear it was not just a shoe for bigs, but for versatile players like himself who played all over the floor. Even so, it did not take off and now Skechers will try and launch its basketball brand by taking a rather sizable risk with Embiid.

Not only is Skechers building a brand around a big man, which has never gone particularly well in terms of moving signature sneakers, but they’re also going to be under immense pressure with the design of their first shoe if they’re putting Embiid in it. Given Embiid’s history of lower body injuries, any foot, ankle, or knee injury suffered will draw immediate scrutiny to whether it was caused by wearing an unproven shoe — even if that has nothing to do with it.

There is of course upside for Skechers, as you don’t often get the chance to launch a basketball sneaker line with the reigning league MVP and the bar is pretty low in terms of promoting Embiid compared to his previous sneaker deal. That said, this might be the highest risk-reward sneaker signing in years, and there will be plenty of attention paid to how Skechers’ shoes hold up under Embiid this season.