Category: Viral

Of all the second round series in this year’s NBA Playoffs, Boston and Toronto’s showdown in the East was the most anticipated (and expected) coming into the postseason. The Celtics and Raptors mirror each other in a lot of ways, and the expectation is this will be a highly competitive series.

They are two of the top defensive teams in the league, with Boston boasting a star trio in the backcourt with Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum, and Jaylen Brown and Toronto with one to match in Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet, and Pascal Siakam. However, in Game 1 of their series, Boston took control early and never relinquished it, running away to a dominant 112-94 victory and setting the tone for the rest of the series.

It was a nightmare offensive performance from Toronto, who couldn’t buy a three-pointer in this one, hitting just 25 percent from beyond the arc, while Boston was on fire from deep, hitting threes at a 43.6 percent clip. It was quite the statement from the Celtics in Game 1, but there’s a long way to go in this series, still. Here are our takeaways from a lopsided opener.
The Raptors have a Kemba Walker problem

Jayson Tatum led the way in scoring for Boston with 21 points (tied with, of all people, Marcus Smart), as he is wont to do, and has the capability of just getting a bucket when the Celtics need one, even if the Raptors play excellent defense.

However, the bigger issue for Toronto wasn’t Tatum getting his, because he did so, mostly, against good defense and that’s something you have to live with. The problem in Game 1 was how often Kemba Walker was able to breakdown the Toronto defense to create open looks for his teammates — and, even, himself on his relocation three to end the first half.

Walker was masterful in the pick-and-roll game, attacking the rim when given a lane, pulling up from three when the Raptors dared go under, but most impressively he was able to beat the trap with great pocket passes, kickouts, and skip passes when the defense tried to collapse on him. He finished the game with 18 points and a team-high 10 assists, orchestrating a masterful offensive performance.

The Raptors are always creative with their defense and found solid success in the second quarter with a 2-3 zone, and you can expect Nick Nurse to dial up some different looks for Walker in Game 2 to keep him from going downhill the way he was in Game 1. Toronto is going to live with Tatum and Brown creating their own shots in isolation, but what they can’t have is Walker poking holes in their defense and creating so many open shots for the rest of his teammates.

Boston’s ball pressure really bothered Toronto

It was a game in which the Raptors got a taste of their own medicine and their guards did not respond well. Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet looked bothered by the Celtics ball pressure and traps and struggled to get into any sort of a rhythm. They were unable to get to the basket as they want and VanVleet, especially, found himself settling for a lot of outside shots when they weren’t falling (1-of-8 from three). One would expect that to regress some as the series progresses as he did miss some open looks, but Boston did a great job cutting off driving lanes and keeping VanVleet away from the rim and off of the foul line. They applied constant pressure to whoever was on the ball, and the result was a hefty turnover night for Lowry with five and a lot of discombobulated offense in the halfcourt from Toronto.

Lowry started to get it going a bit in the second half, but the damage was already done. The guards weren’t the only ones that struggled to find their rhythm, as Pascal Siakam had a brutal night, going 4-for-14 and scoring just 10 points. Siakam fell in love with posting up Boston’s various shorter, but exceptionally strong players and forcing up a lot of mediocre looks out of those post-ups, with the Celtics happy to let him have those and not sending much help at him to avoid giving up a much better look off of a pass.

The Raptors halfcourt offense was the big concern going into the Bubble, as they were a slightly below average group in the regular season. Those issues reared their head in Game 1, and while they certainly should hit more open shots than they did in the opener, they weren’t creating that many good looks that you feel like this was a matter of just not knocking down shots. Toronto has to figure out how to penetrate this Boston defense better, as Walker has against them, and make adjustments to their approach because the gameplan for Game 1 simply didn’t work.

Toronto has to get out in transition

This goes hand in hand with their halfcourt struggles, but the Raptors defense has to create more live-ball turnovers and has to force misses that allow them to run. They had just seven points off the break in Game 1 and they just generally need some easy baskets after such a dismal shooting performance. This is a championship team and while I’m not concerned they’ll suddenly lose confidence, they’re a team that feeds off of their defensive performance and that was simply lacking on Sunday.

They weren’t a disaster defensively and you don’t expect Marcus Smart to go 5-of-9 from three-point range, but at the same time it wasn’t they crisp performance on that end you expect from them — and that they need to take down a team like Boston. On offense, they’ll need to approach Boston the way a lot of teams approach Toronto, which is to try and push the action before their halfcourt defense can get set. Forcing some cross-matches and getting Boston to scramble a bit in transition and semi-transition might be their best bet to establishing a rhythm and getting themselves into this series.

Black Panther director Ryan Coogler released a lengthy, emotional statement about the death of Chadwick Boseman on Sunday morning, exploring his relationship with the actor who died on Friday after a four-year fight with cancer. Coogler wrote touchingly about his friend and collaborator, sharing stories about his work on the Marvel film and how he impacted his life.

The Hollywood Reporter published the statement in full on Sunday, in which Coogler recounted how he first decided to direct Black Panther, the attention to detail Boseman had in his work and how tough it’s been for him to accept that he died at just 43 years old. Coogler marveled at Boseman’s commitment to work, how supportive he was of others on set and how deeply he cared for the movies he made.

He was a special person. We would often speak about heritage and what it means to be African. When preparing for the film, he would ponder every decision, every choice, not just for how it would reflect on himself, but how those choices could reverberate. “They not ready for this, what we are doing…” “This is Star Wars, this is Lord of the Rings, but for us… and bigger!” He would say this to me while we were struggling to finish a dramatic scene, stretching into double overtime. Or while he was covered in body paint, doing his own stunts. Or crashing into frigid water, and foam landing pads. I would nod and smile, but I didn’t believe him. I had no idea if the film would work. I wasn’t sure I knew what I was doing. But I look back and realize that Chad knew something we all didn’t. He was playing the long game. All while putting in the work. And work he did.

The number of tributes Boseman has seen since his death is staggering, but the most emotional have come from those that worked with him on Black Panther and other Marvel movies. Coogler wrote that even he didn’t know the extent of his struggle with cancer and that he was battling illness for far longer than he knew.

Chad deeply valued his privacy, and I wasn’t privy to the details of his illness. After his family released their statement, I realized that he was living with his illness the entire time I knew him. Because he was a caretaker, a leader, and a man of faith, dignity and pride, he shielded his collaborators from his suffering. He lived a beautiful life. And he made great art. Day after day, year after year. That was who he was. He was an epic firework display. I will tell stories about being there for some of the brilliant sparks till the end of my days. What an incredible mark he’s left for us.

One of the most heartbreaking moments of Coogler’s piece, which absolutely should be read in full, is that Coogler admitted he’s had a year to decide what to say about his death and still struggled to find the words.

I haven’t grieved a loss this acute before. I spent the last year preparing, imagining and writing words for him to say, that we weren’t destined to see. It leaves me broken knowing that I won’t be able to watch another close-up of him in the monitor again or walk up to him and ask for another take.

Coogler spoke several times about African culture and traditions and how acutely Boseman understood them. In a loving, heartbreaking tribute, the director ended with a tragic distinction: the actor who so fiercely played T’Challa in his work is now an ancestor, not a peer.

“It is with a heavy heart and a sense of deep gratitude to have ever been in his presence, that I have to reckon with the fact that Chad is an ancestor now,” Coogler wrote. “And I know that he will watch over us, until we meet again.”

Professional eSports players in the Call of Duty League are used to large prize pools for titles, but usually, those prizes only come in the form of money. Occasionally though you’ll see teams get a little something extra for winning it all. On Sunday, as the Atlanta FaZe take on the Dallas Empire for the Call of Duty League Championship, there will be more than just a title and cash on the line. There will be Jordan’s.

Call of Duty League will be rewarding their champion on Sunday a plethora of goods along with the Jordan’s including a throne, ring, and trophy. The Jordan’s however have a lot of extra value to them beyond being the reward for a championship. These are custom designed for the Call of Duty League, a 1-of-1 design only for the championship team.

If you look closely at the shoes you can see the Championship logo towards the heel of the shoe with the CDL colors of black and gold present throughout the entire shoe. It’s a very clean design and one that the winners of this title should be excited to receive.

In every sport, you get a trophy and a ring, but it’s not often you receive a throne and a pair of custom Jordan’s to remind you of your championship victory. The Call of Duty League likes to go bigger when it can and with these Jordan’s they’ve exceeded expectations.

You can catch the Call of Duty League championship on the YouTube Gaming Channel, Sunday at 4 p.m. ET.

Game 5 of the Thunder-Rockets series was all Houston, as the Rockets ran away with a 114-80 win to take a 3-2 series lead on OKC after having dropped back-to-back games.

While it was a blowout that was never really close in the second half, it wasn’t without a moment of controversy. P.J. Tucker and Dennis Schröder were both tossed from the game in the third quarter after an incident that saw Schröder run into a Tucker screen and hit him with a low blow that infuriated Tucker and led the forward to headbutt Schröder from behind in frustration. Schröder was assessed a Flagrant 2 and tossed, while Tucker earned his second technical and likewise was sent to the showers early.

On Sunday, Schröder addressed the incident, calling it “unfortunate” and insisting it wasn’t intentional, while admitting he understood why it looked bad.

The way Schröder reacted in shock to Tucker’s response indicates he is either an exceptionally good actor or that he is telling the truth, because he was stunned when Tucker approached him from behind in anger. At the same time, the Thunder don’t get much of anything in the way of benefit of the doubt for such antics, given the Rockets were already mad about the lack of investigation by the league into a Chris Paul low blow from Game 3. As such, Schröder was tossed and a testy series between two very familiar rivals only gets more tense going into a potentially decisive Game 6.

MLS commissioner Don Gerber revealed Sunday that mounting criticism of Real Salt Lake owner Dell Loy Hansen’s statements about his players protesting the police shooting of a Black man will see him sell his control of the team. Real Salt Lake was one of several MLS teams to refuse play last week after the Milwaukee Bucks sparked direct action among major sports in North America when they protested play following the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Washington.

According to The Athletic, Hansen then appeared on a radio program and criticized his players and their decision to protest, drawing immediate fire from fans across MLS and the players themselves.

Speaking to Salt Lake City radio station X96, one of several Utah radio stations that Hansen owns, the real estate magnate described the players’ decision not to play as feeling “like somebody stabbed you and you’re trying to figure out a way to pull the knife out and move forward. … The disrespect is profound to me personally.”

“We’re all sitting here at an organization trying to build support and love around a team that supports the city. All I can say is they supported other issues nationally,” said Hansen. “They clearly did not support our city or organization. That’s fairly clear.”

Outrage quickly followed the comments, which were deleted from the station’s YouTube page but quickly spread among soccer fans. The team’s account on social media continued to show support to players and issued statements of diversity and inclusion despite its owners comments.

Real Salt Lake issued a statement about the MLS investigation, and Hansen took a leave of absence from the team as more reports of his past racist statements and behavior were reported out.

On Sunday, Gerber told reporters that Hansen would sell Real Salt Lake, with the MLS issuing a statement shortly thereafter.

Hansen was one of the rare owners who spoke publicly to criticize players as they took direct action last week. Most other teams, at least publicly, have shown support for players who have taken action in an unprecedented way across pro sports. It seems clear that Hansen’s dissent cost him control of his team, but judging how swift players were to criticize him in the wake of his own comments, perhaps it’s best for everyone that he move on to other ventures.

Actress Bella Thorne issued an apology with a Twitter thread on Saturday after her OnlyFans success sparked controversy, subscriber backlash and some changes to the website’s policies that many in the sex industry have criticized as harmful to sex workers.

The move to join the site earlier this month was the latest instance of a celebrity joining the site used by sex workers to monetize their photos and videos. In Thorne’s case, she claimed joining was in part research for a project with Sean Barker.

As controversy grew over her wild success on the site — generating more than $1 million in 24 hours — Barker disavowed the project altogether, saying they had little more than a meeting around the concept before Thorne joined the site to much fanfare. As many prominent voices in the sex worker community laid out their issues with Thorne joining the platform and making such a big splash — to the tune of allegations of asking $200 for a photo — Thorne pointed out on Twitter that she wouldn’t appear nude on the site.

Though the severity of those price points hasn’t been verified, the payday has: Thorne has reportedly pulled in more than $2 million on OnlyFans and further sparked outrage as the days go by. On Saturday night, Thorne issued a series of tweets explaining why she joined OnlyFans, directly speaking to sex workers and admitting that “I hurt you.”

Thorne said she was “truly sorry” and acknowledged her attempt to normalize sex work online further marginalized those who rely on the site full-time.

The apology comes amid reports of changes limiting content creators as well as that OnlyFans saw a rise in requests for refunds from some in the huge number of people who subscribed to Thorne’s page not realizing she would not appear nude. According to EJ Dickson’s report for Rolling Stone, sex workers noticed the changes to the platform, which placed limits on the amount of money people can earn for certain activities.

According to multiple content creators who spoke to Rolling Stone, OnlyFans quietly issued a $50 cap on pay-per-view messages (essentially, exclusive content sent to paying subscribers), and a $100 cap on tips, without warning or announcing any policy changes. “There was no notification,” says Savannah Solo, a sex worker and content creator who was one of the many to tweet about their outrage over the change. “We are now just suddenly unable to [receive a] tip over $100 and price a PPV over $50.” OnlyFans also reportedly extended the timeline for payouts from seven days to 30 days, though it later clarified this change would only affect creators in specific countries.

OnlyFans admitted it is changing its policies but didn’t directly tie it to Thorne’s massive influx of subscribers and the backlash to her presence on the platform.

Thorne added on Saturday that she was in talks with OnlyFans about these changes and hopes to advocate for the concerns of those on the platform, offering to amplify their presence in the future rather than promote her own.

It doesn’t appear a movie will come of Thorne’s turn on OnlyFans, and the consequences of her huge splash may only really hamper those who use the platform full-time.

The box office is not roaring back to life this weekend so much as it has gone from a limp to a hobble in the midst of a pandemic. Theaters continue to reopen around the country, but they are far from back to full steam. Less than 50 percent of AMC theaters are open around the country, while only 55 percent of Regal theaters are back in business, and even in the theaters where the doors have been unlocked, capacity is only around 30 percent. Moreover, theaters have not reopened in the two biggest markets, Los Angeles and New York City.

With all that said, it appears that Disney’s New Mutants will earn around $7 million this weekend. It’s hard to put that into perspective because we don’t have much to which to compare (because we’ve never before dealt with a pandemic at the box office). Moreover, New Mutants, which comes from director Josh Boone (Fault in Our Stars), has been delayed several times, and Disney all but dumped it after inheriting it in the acquisition of 20th Century Fox (thereby reverting the characters back to Marvel). Because streaming rights had already been licensed away, and because they were contractually required to give it a theatrical release, Disney couldn’t even release it on Disney+ or Hulu, so the studio basically dumped it in the middle of a pandemic and hoped for the best.

Honestly, I’m not sure that New Mutants would have made that much more in normal times against heavier competition. Reviews have not been great (29 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), and audiences who braved a pandemic haven’t been particularly impressed, either (it has a 52 percent RT audience score). Maybe $7 million is as good as one might expect from a $67 million film with poor reviews that was delayed over two years and given a half-hearted release by a studio that didn’t produce it. It’s hard to say how much the film will ultimately make in the end. Will it be cast out of theaters to make way for Tenet, or with nothing else out, will it continue to hang on to screens and scrape together several more million dollars?

It’s almost impossible to predict.

That goes for the rest of the box office, too. Russell Crowe’s Unhinged, for instance, continues to do OK during a pandemic with $2.6 million for a total of $8.8million, although it appears that most of its grosses are coming from drive-in theaters. That makes perfect sense for a film about road rage.

Bill & Ted Face the Music, meanwhile, strolls in with $1 million, and while that doesn’t sound particularly impressive — even in a pandemic — it was also released on PVOD, and we honestly have no idea how much it has earned in that format. It’s the top film on iTunes, and it is doing very well with both critics (81 percent on RT) and audiences (82 percent on RT), so hopefully the long-awaited sequel will translate into a tidy profit for Orion Pictures.

One pic we know for sure did poorly is Armando Iannucci’s The Personal History of David Copperfield . The Fox Searchlight period comedy only earned $170,000 in 1,360 cinemas. The film has gotten spectacular reviews (93 percent on RT), but the audience for this is probably one of the least likely of the demographics to attend theaters in person. I’m not sure why Fox Searchlight did not release it simultaneously on PVOD, but hopefully, that will follow soon behind, because there’s a lot of folks who would love to see the Dev Patel film but are not keen to do so in a theater.

Next weekend we’ll get a much better idea about whether it’s financially worth it to keep theaters open through the fall, as Christopher Nolan’s Tenet finally opens in the United States. It’s doing very well overseas, so far, as it’s done approximately $40 million in business this weekend in the countries in which it has opened. Given the state of the world, that’s a pretty solid number. We’ll see if it can duplicate it stateside.

Source: Deadline, Exhibitor Relations

The entertainment world is still reeling from the death of Chadwick Boseman. Many spent Saturday night watching Black Panther or some of the actor’s other works after his death and struggle with cancer was revealed to the world on Friday night. But those that didn’t take the opportunity to watch Boseman’s historic turn as T’Challa will get the chance to watch it on network television on Sunday night.

On Sunday morning ABC announced a celebration of Boseman’s life during its Sunday night broadcast, airing the film from the Marvel Cinematic Universe commercial-free and then show a retrospective tribute about Boseman after the movie’s completion. The special is meant to remember the “life and strength” of Boseman with one of his most famous roles and an

Black Panther will air from 8 p.m. to 10:20 p.m. EST on ABC, the first time the movie has played on the network. The program will then change to “Chadwick Boseman – A Tribute for a King,” a 40-minute retrospective on the actor’s life that was executive produced by Steven Baker. According to ABC, the program will celebrate Boseman’s life and his impact on the Black community and feature tributes from celebrities, political figures and fans around the world. The release previewing the event also hints at revealing more about his private battle with cancer and the difficulties he had in working through his diagnosis.

Ardbeg is no stranger to awards. The Islay peaty whisky is a classic bottle that has come to define the smoky whisky side of Scotland’s single malts. So, when the New York International Spirits Competition — an awards group judged by industry traders — dropped their medals this week, it was no surprise to see Ardbeg Uigeadail in the Double Gold category.

Ardbeg is basically synonymous with smoky scotch these days. The distillery is perched right on the craggy beach on the southern shores of Islay island off the southwestern coast of Scotland. The distillery draws its peated malt and water locally. In fact, Ardbeg Uigeadail (pronounced “Oog-A-Dal”) is named after the inky lake where the distillery pulls its water to distill with. The name is Scottish Gaelic, meaning “dark and mysterious.” And that is a good way to describe this wonderfully smoky expression.

Luckily, we were able to taste Ardbeg Uigeadail recently for an Expression Session on UPROXX Life’s IGTV. The dram ended up being our favorite from the five Ardbeg’s we tasted that day. So, let’s dive back into what makes this one so special.

Ardbeg Uigeadail

ABV: 54.2%
Distillery: Ardbeg Distillery, Ardbeg, Islay, UK
Average Price: $80

The Whisky:

The mix of peated malts, yeast, and that inky lake water create a spirit that’s already full of flavors. That hot juice is then aged in both ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks. When the whisky in the barrels are just right, they’re blending into this single malt expression and bottled.

Tasting Notes:

Smoky plums in a Christmas cake mingle with a very distinct sense of dried flowers and a sugary banana. The star of this show is the balance between the sweet fruits and smoky malts as the spices fade in to accentuate, not overpower. The sip slows down when you add a few drops of water and really lets the smoke, spice, and fruit work together. The end is soft with a sense of urgency, driving you towards your next sip.

Bottom Line:

This is a classic sipping dram that really shines with a single rock, or at least that’s how I polished this bottle off.

Check out our full tasting below!

The Lakers put the finishing touches on a series win over the Blazers on Saturday night, rattling off their fourth straight win over Portland after dropping the opener of the series to advance to the second round.

After the game, the Inside the NBA crew continued to poke fun at Charles Barkley’s proclamation that the Blazers would sweep L.A. from the beginning of the series. Last week, after the Lakers picked up a win, Shaq snapped a broom in half over his knee, leading to accusations from his colleagues of breaking a “tampered with” broom. The result on Saturday night was Shaq breaking multiple brooms to prove it’s just a thing he can do — including one over his head — and even goading Barkley into breaking a broom.

By the end of the night, Shaq had enough of broom breaking and wanted a bigger challenge, so they found a 2×4 somewhere in the studio and set it up for him to karate kick (well, really stomp) in half.

I hope this continues as an every night thing, where Shaq just takes on increasingly greater challenges to break stuff, but it also begs the question of why are there so many brooms in the TNT studio. They broke three brooms on Saturday, after breaking one last week as well. Some poor custodian is going to come into work in the morning and be absolutely furious.