Category: Viral

It doesn’t seem to be the likeliest outcome, but it is possible that Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving remain teammates outside of Brooklyn.

On ESPN’s free agency special, Brian Windhorst said that it’s “been floated” that other teams think it’s possible that the Los Angeles Lakers would “potentially have a package” to acquire both. He also added that’s there’s not enough information to really know if this deal has any legs. That seemingly ended Richard Jefferson, with Jefferson saying “I will retire from this show if KD, and Kyrie, and Bron are in L.A.” When asked what he’d do if he retired from TV, he said he’d become a referee.

A Lakers trade for both Durant and Irving would have to be seismic. It would certainly have to involve Russell Westbrook, but maybe also involve Anthony Davis for salary purposes. And would the Nets even want Westbrook? Would a third team need to get involved? And, on top of that, how would the sides even decide who has to send picks one way or the other?

Jefferson’s reaction here is frankly the right one. This is so implausible that it’s a NBA 2K trade more than it is something grounded in reality. To pull it off would be so complicated and convoluted to pull off that it almost rules it out from happening. Even if it makes sense for the Lakers to maybe explore it and go all-in on a title chase while they still have LeBron James, pulling out a deal to get both is just crazy, crazy enough to maybe make Jefferson retire from his ESPN gig if it were to happen.

Bobby Portis became an immediate fan favorite in Milwaukee during the Bucks championship season, and cemented his status as a beloved figure with the franchise when he took a two-year deal worth just over $8 million to come back last summer.

That deal was a precursor to this summer when the Bucks could go over the cap to retain him using his early Bird rights, as Portis opted out of his player option for next season and quickly agreed to return to Milwaukee on a 4-year, $49 million contract when free agency opened.

This was always the expectation for the Bucks, and they’ve now accomplished their top priority on their free agency check list. Portis averaged 14.6 points and 9.1 rebounds per game last season, taking on a much larger role with Brook Lopez hurt most of the year, and maintained strong efficiency in an expanded role, with a 47.9/39.3/75.2 shooting split in the 2021-22 season. The Bucks figure to mostly run things back, with some minor shifts via minimum deals, but it’s hard to blame them given their success the past two seasons — and how close they were to beating the Celtics even without Khris Middleton.

Portis returning was the first step and now he is handsomely rewarded for his loyalty and performance the past two seasons.

There aren’t many backup point guards who provide the steadiness that Tyus Jones brings the Memphis Grizzlies. Throughout his NBA career — whether it has been as a member of the Grizzlies or the Houston Rockets — Jones has been one of the league’s best backup options, and there was a belief that he might leave the Grizzlies as a free agent this summer in search of a starting gig.

Shortly after the free agency period opened on Thursday afternoon, Memphis got some good news about the future of their backcourt and their highly-regarded bench lineups: Jones has decided to stick around. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Jones and the team have come to terms on a 2-year contract extension that will pay him $30 million.

Jones was excellent during the 2021-22 campaign last season whenever Ja Morant was not able to play, whether that was because he was resting during a game or had to sit out altogether. Now, the Grizzlies will not have to worry about figuring out what they’re going to do when Morant is off the floor going forward, because the former Duke standout is going to be in town for the next few seasons.

Jones averaged 8.7 points, 4.4 assists, and 2.4 rebounds on 45.1/39.0/81.8 shooting splits in 73 games with the Grizzlies last season.

Mo Bamba entered the 2022 offseason a restricted free agent, and was one of the more interesting guys on the market. The No. 6 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft played the best basketball of his young career during the 2021-22 campaign for the Orlando Magic, and this summer, the 24-year-old big man hit free agency.

Whether the Magic opted to keep him around or another team decided to scoop him up, Bamba looked primed to build on what he did last year and take another step towards his considerable potential. After the Magic declined to extend the qualifying offer to Bamba, there were rumblings he might have interest from other teams on the unrestricted market, but it seems that was simply the Magic clearing the way for them to make a deal with the young center as soon as free agency opened, re-signing him on a two-year, $21 million deal.

After injuries and a particularly nasty bout with COVID impacted Bamba his first three seasons, the former Texas Longhorn played more than ever during the 2021-22 campaign and saw himself put up a career year. Bamba appeared in 71 games for the Magic with 69 of them coming as a member of the starting lineup. He averaged 10.6 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks in 25.7 minutes per game while hitting 38.1 percent of his attempts from behind the three-point line.

Nicolas Batum looked like injuries had sapped much of what he had left in the tank during the end of his time with the Charlotte Hornets, which parted ways with him ahead of the 2020 NBA season. Once the dust settled, Batum signed a 1-year deal with the Los Angeles Clippers, turned into a reliable piece for them, and signed another 1-year deal at the conclusion of last season.

While Batum hit free agency once again this summer, the Clippers decided to make sure he doesn’t have to go through it again in 2023. According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, the three-and-D wing who has turned into an important part of the team’s rotation will return to Los Angles on a 2-year contract that will pay him $22 million.

Batum has carved out a role in the team’s starting line, and his ability to hit catch-and-shoot threes on one end while providing stingy defense on the other has made him a snug fit alongside Paul George and, when he’s been healthy, Kawhi Leonard. For a team with championship aspirations next year, keeping Batum around was assuredly a priority.

Batum averaged 8.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game on 46.3/40.0/65.8 shooting splits last season with the Clippers.

A wild transaction cycle is in the center of the frame in the NBA world as July arrives. From Kevin Durant’s trade request to a blockbuster deal between the Spurs and Hawks to send Dejounte Murray to Atlanta and myriad other moves, basketball observers are busy with the frenzy but, on Thursday evening, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported interesting and potentially concerning injury news with regard to the Memphis Grizzlies. Wojnarowski noted that standout big man Jaren Jackson Jr. will be sidelined for at least four months after undergoing foot surgery to address a stress fracture, with the Grizzlies then releasing an official statement confirming the details.

Given the timing of the announcement, a four-to-six month timeline would place the start of the 2022-23 season very much in question for Jackson. Even a four-month recovery would cause Jackson Jr. to miss opening night, and a six-month timetable would keep him out until January. Fortunately, the Grizzlies have considerable depth on their roster and big-picture aspirations that should not be curtailed by an early-season absence for Jackson Jr., but he also has a history of injury concerns.

Jackson Jr. enjoyed his best season as a professional in 2021-22, leading the league in blocking 2.3 shots per game and averaging 16.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per contest. The 22-year-old also began to realize the considerable defensive potential that made him a top-five pick in 2018, and he is a foundational piece alongside Ja Morant in what Memphis is building after a tremendous 2021-22 campaign. In his absence, the Grizzlies can lean on the likes of Brandon Clark, Xavier Tillman, and first-round picks David Roddy and Jake Laravia, but Memphis will not be at its best until Jackson can return at 100 percent.

For nearly a half-decade, Bradley Beal has served as the face of the franchise for the Washington Wizards. Though rumblings emerged on a few occasions in the last couple of seasons, Beal elected to decline a lucrative player option for the 2022-23 season, creating flexibility but also opening up a pathway to an enormous deal to keep the former No. 3 overall pick in the nation’s capital for a long time. Now, the widespread assumption that Beal would return to Washington is backed up by reporting that he will ink a 5-year, $251 million supermax extension to stay with the Wizards.

Beal and freshly acquired big man Kristaps Porzingis will serve as Washington’s one-two punch to begin the 2022-23 campaign, and Beal is a three-time NBA All-Star. He is also a former All-NBA selection who averaged more than 30 points per game during both the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons. In 2021-22, Beal took a step back in averaging only 23.3 points per game, but he produced a career-best 6.6 assists per contest and there is little reason to believe Beal simply forgot how to shoot while posting a career-worst 30.0 percent three-point clip.

With Beal set to begin his new deal with his age-29 season, there is certainly risk on Washington’s side of a contract that looks ugly by the end. However, Beal is the team’s best player and, despite the potential to pivot into a clear rebuild direction in the last couple of seasons, all indications are that the Wizards preferred to keep Beal and attempt to build around him, rather than without him.

DDG fought the law and he won. The platinum-selling rapper was cleared today (June 30) of his charges for illegal gun possession, TMZ reports. His manager, Dimitri Hurt, stated that California’s new gun laws permitting concealed firearms were pivotal in the District Attorney ultimately deciding to throw the case out and not pursue further litigation. Needless to say, the 24-year-old was thrilled about this news and took to Instagram to express his excitement. He even cracked a joke about how vlogger Charleston White is his lawyer when, in fact, it is Hurt who doubles as his manager and lawyer.

https://www.instagram.com/akademiks/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=d6801d7f-273f-4dd7-8609-447d347b3e10

DDG was pulled over on June 7 after being caught speeding in his Lamborghini on the way to a video shoot, upon which he admitted to having a loaded gun in the vehicle. Now that the charges are dropped, the Pontiac, Michigan artist can look ahead to his upcoming tour taking him overseas to the U.K.’s 2022 Wireless Fest, Rolling Loud Portugal, and shows in Amsterdam, Denmark, Germany, and Poland before returning stateside. With the 2022 records “Stay In My Circle,” “Storyteller,” “Meat This” with Blueface, and the Gunna-assisted “Elon Musk,” the Die 4 Respect artist has a lot of momentum heading into his summer tour.

Check out the video of DDG celebrating his charges being dropped above.

When PJ Tucker declined to pick up his player option for next season, the initial expectation was that he’d simply renegotiate a deal with the Miami Heat, but it quickly became clear that the Philadelphia 76ers were the frontrunners for Tucker’s services, reuniting him with his old friends from Houston, James Harden and Daryl Morey.

For more than a week it’s been reported that Philadelphia would be finding a way to clear enough salary to offer Tucker a 3-year, $30 million deal to bring some much-needed toughness to their team. Right as free agency opened up on Thursday, we learned that to be the case, with Tucker getting a fully guaranteed deal for a little bit more money in the City of Brotherly Love.

Given how much Joel Embiid and others on the Sixers lamented their lack of competitors in their second round series loss to Tucker and the Heat, it’s not a surprise that they’d turn to the 37-year-old that already has the respect of their stars and entire team. Last year, Tucker averaged 7.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.1 assists on 48.4/41.5/73.8 shooting splits in 71 games for Miami.

The question, of course, is whether giving Tucker such a substantial deal that takes him into his Year 40 season is going to produce diminishing returns sooner rather than later. But for as long as Tucker can continue to be an elite defensive pest and knock down corner threes as he has ever since his Rockets days, he figures to help this Philly team.

You can watch the full video below:

Making an assumption that the current birth rate would stay the same (unlikely, but for the sake of discussion), that would mean the global population would increase by 125 million people each year. Combine that with the fact that the average collective life span of most mammal species before extinction is somewhere around 1-10 million years, and we can conservatively estimate that there is still a whopping 800,000 more years before a real apocalypse is upon us.

Yes, even under a cynical lens, we might be looking at a future of 1.2 quadrillion people yet to be born.

Of course, galactic catastrophes can happen. A supernova, gamma ray bursts … the things sci-fi movies like to scare us with. But even those must fall under very specific parameters in order to pose a real threat. And if they did happen, humanity is still “relatively safe from extinction, maybe even for billions of years.”

Things get even more complex if we consider we might eventually leave Earth.

“If future people can colonize, say, 100 billion stars and live there for 10 billion years, while each generating 100 million births per year, then we can expect something like a hundred octillion lives to be lived in the future. This is a 1 with 29 zeros, a hundred thousand trillion, trillion,” the video states.

The potential for added zeros grows and grows from there. In this futuristic scenario, we could see a blending of colonized galaxies. Yes, galaxies. Plural. Which, the video concludes, could give us a potential for a tredecillion lives. Never heard of a tredecillion? It means a million, trillion, trillion, trillion potential people.

“Every generation assumes they’re important enough to witness the apocalypse and then life just goes on,” which the video explains is a phenomenon called societal pessimism. However, because the potential size of the future could in fact be vastly greater than our present comprehension, it might behoove us all to think of civilization as being at the beginning of its story, rather than the end.

With this in mind, there might be an even more powerful moral imperative attached to our actions today, something explored in a school of thought referred to as longtermism. Longtermism doesn’t argue that human life most certainly will go on, but focuses on the possibility that it could. And because of that, we might want to examine what the long-term consequences of our choices could be for those future generations, ethically speaking.

After all, if there’s even a chance that billions of people could still be born despite our seemingly bleak current circumstances, then maybe we owe it to ourselves as a species to not throw the tredecillion babies out with the bathwater.

It’s a fascinating thought experiment, not to mention a pretty cool argument in the name of rational optimism. Plus, it’s made all the more palatable with fun graphics. Thank you, In a Nutshell!