Nearly three months ago, Pop Smoke was shot and killed in a home invasion. He was only 20 year old. Just like that, a career with a great deal of promise was snatched away from the hip-hop community at its peak. Last week, his manager, Steven Victor, announced that the rapper’s debut album would arrive next month, but the question of who killed him still remains a mystery. It may stay that way for a while: According to TMZ, the LAPD has reportedly hit a few roadblocks in solving the case.

One hurdle: The LAPD has naturally been using most of its resources to fight against the virus. A source tells TMZ that battling the pandemic has been their top priority for the last two months, leaving few resources to crack the case. The source also said that when they have time they do go out and safely conduct face-to-face interviews. Days after the rapper’s death, it was reported that the break-in and the eventually shooting of Pop Smoke was not a robbery gone wrong but rather a targeted hit.

Meanwhile, Lil Tjay and Fivio Foreign released a new video for their song “Zoo York,” which featured an appearance from Pop Smoke.

Read our tribute to the late rapper and his legacy here.

Video game football is not like the real deal played in the NFL in fall. In Madden, for example, you’ll see players go for two much more often than you would in the NFL, and games are often see more points than you would in a typical NFL matchup. Saturday’s Madden Bowl, however, saw one of the most fascinating departures from real football we’ve ever had.

Namely, that the best Madden player in the world didn’t throw a single pass in route to winning the tournament. Saturday saw Raidel “Joke” Brito win $65,000 and a Madden belt for his efforts in the annual tournament where he executed a run-only strategy and had Washington punter Tress Way serve as his quarterback, handing the ball off every offensive play en route to a 17-0 win in the final.

As ESPN’s Arda Ocal layed out in detail, the Madden Bowl has a different setup than most of the games you might play against friends. Teams are assembled fantasy football-style, with a salary cap limiting players from getting too stacked a team. But if you don’t value the pass and don’t pick a top quarterback, you can use those assets to build a solid team everywhere else.

Joke did not throw a single pass in the entire tournament, taking advantage of the run-focused meta of the game and his skill to create a championship-winning formula. In the tournament, players crafted their rosters in a salary-cap system, with current and former NFL players available. Joke used this to his advantage, opting not to field a true quarterback in his lineup; Washington Redskins punter Tress Way was under center.

This freed up funds for Joke to go after strong offensive and defensive players with special abilities, such as Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Frank Clark, a power specialist, and former NFL safety Taylor Mays, a secure tackler. Joke chose the run-dominant Raiders offensive playbook and the widely popular Miami Dolphins defensive playbook to put it all together.

It’s an extremely risky strategy, of course, but Brito is a talented Madden player who clearly made it work. He’d finished at the top of various tournaments all season, and put it all together this weekend to take belt. It was a particularly emotional tournament for Brito, who dedicated the win to Taylor “SpotMe” Robertson, a Madden player and friend who was killed in a tragic shooting at a Madden event in Florida. This year, due to COVID-19, the tournament took place entirely online.

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Ten days removed from his third studio album, Nav has another accolade to add to his list. Landing another No. 1 album, Good Intentions finds itself atop the Billboard album charts. The achievement comes nearly a week after Nav shared the deluxe version of the album, titled Brown Boy 2.

In its opening week, Good Intentions tallied a first-week total of 135,000 equivalent album units. Of that number, 73,000 units were pure album sales, which can be credited to the merchandise and album bundles sold on his website, while 62,000 units came from streaming numbers. The album also serves as XO Records’ second No. 1 album following The Weeknd’s After Hours.

Looking at the rest of the chart, Kehlani earned her highest-charting ever with It Was Good Until It Wasn’t coming in at No. 2 with 83,000 equivalent album units. Her previous high came with her 2017 album, SweetSexySavage which debuted at No. 3 at the time of its release. Slipping down a spot, Drake’s Dark Lane Demo Tapes can be found at No. 3 after a second-week total of 79,000 units. Receiving a boost from his recently released deluxe version for the album, Lil Baby also spends another week in the top-five with My Turn coming in at No. 4 with 72,000 units. Lastly, Lil Durk earns his second top-five album with Just Cause Y’all Waited 2 coming in at No. 5 with 57,000 units.

Other notable albums in the top ten include Bad Bunny’s surprise album Las Que No Iban a Salir at No. 7, Lil Uzi Vert’s Eternal Atake at No. 8, and The Weeknd’s After Hours at No. 9.

[via Billboard]

The Last Dance comes to a close on Sunday night with the ninth and tenth episodes of ESPN’s 10-hour documentary on Michael Jordan and the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls. It has been a highly entertaining watch and a welcome escape for sports fans each week, even with the warranted questions about Jordan’s involvement in the production and the impact that’s had on what has (and has not) been presented in the documentary.

As we come to the end of The Last Dance, we wanted to explore some followups we’d want to see from all the footage that didn’t make it into this cut of the doc, as we know there are hundreds more hours of footage and interviews that got left on the cutting room floor. Given that they went with the route of not just looking at the 97-98 season and instead dove into the history of Jordan and the Bulls, there’s a ton that didn’t make it in. Here are five followups we want to see to The Last Dance, starting with one I think everyone hoped would be more prevalent in the documentary.

1. “The Practice Tapes”

I would love for them to cut together hours of Bulls practice footage, because the few snippets they’ve given us have been some of the most interesting — and really the only new information — parts of the whole documentary. I want more Jordan trash talking Scott Burrell and other teammates. I want more Phil Jackson leading yoga and teaching the triangle. Just generally, I want to see more of these practices that have so long been discussed as legendary, when we only got a few minutes of that footage in the documentary.

2. “Jordan’s Wide World Of Golf”

I want all the Michael Jordan golf footage. They teased us with that round in Florida (that was for some reason cut after a practice in Indiana, but whatever). Whether it’s just playing that whole round in its entirety or if they have more Jordan golfing footage we can watch, I’d very much appreciate that. Jordan is a good golfer but not a great one, and there’s something comforting about seeing one of the greatest athletes ever dealing with the same frustrations the rest of us do in trying to master a different sport. Also, I really would like to see more Jordan betting on the golf course, because I’d wager that can escalate things quickly.

3. “Jordan Watches Interviews”

Maybe the most entertaining part of the entire series has been every time they hand Michael Jordan a tablet and have him watch someone else they’ve interviewed talking about him. It’s given us a look at the pure disdain and hate he still has for Isiah Thomas, an extremely condescending “The Glove!” after Gary Payton insists he gave Mike trouble in the 96 Finals, and a rather adorable moment as he watched his mom read a letter he wrote her in college. It’s all been gold and I demand they give us more. They did 106 interviews for this documentary and there’s no reason they can’t just film Jordan working a cigar and glass of tequila, reacting to whatever they have to say about him.

4. “Storytime With Ahmad Rashad”

First, I want a separate documentary about Ahmad Rashad, because his life is absolutely fascinating. Second, I would really just enjoy watching Ahmad Rashad tell stories about Michael Jordan, as there’s probably not many people that know Jordan better or were around him more often than Rashad — I mean, he’s literally riding in Jordan’s car to a playoff game at one point. I highly doubt Rashad would be willing to dive too deep into untold stories, but a fella can dream and if he wanted, Ahmad could definitely give the world some gold.

5. “The World Series Of Poker: Bulls Plane Edition”

Show us the card games, cowards. I know you have the goods, and I want it. Really, I’ll take all the ridiculous Jordan gambling footage you’ve got — plane card games, pitching quarters, and whatever else he would put $1-$100,000 on.

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Saturday brought news that comedic actor Fred Willard had died at age 86, but another Hollywood death was equally shocking. News spread Saturday that director Lynn Shelton had died suddenly as a result of a blood illness. The Hollywood Reporter noted that the director, 54, played a big role in the independent film circuit and was involved in a number of beloved films. She also served as a director for television, helming episodes of Glee, Mad Men and more recently, The Morning Show.

Much like Willard’s passing, news of Shelton’s death sparked an outpouring of support and grief from those that knew and worked with her. Shelton’s partner, Marc Maron, also released a statement about her death on Saturday.

In a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, Shelton’s partner, comedian Marc Maron, indicated that the director collapsed after having been ill for a week. “I loved her very much as I know many of you did as well,” he wrote. “It’s devastating. I am leveled, heartbroken and in complete shock and don’t really know how to move forward in this moment.”

He called her a “beautiful, kind, loving, charismatic artist,” adding, “her spirit was pure joy.” He went on to say, “She made me happy. I made her happy. We were happy. I made her laugh all the time. We laughed a lot. We were starting a life together. I really can’t believe what is happening. This is a horrendous sad loss.”

Others in film and TV soon joined in mourning her loss, including Ava DuVernay, who shared a touching story about Shelton’s influence on her career.

The showrunner for Apple TV+’s Dickenson shared memories of Shelton, who directed two episodes in 2019.

Others involved in Dickenson also shared memories of Shelton.

It was a sentiment that rang true throughout Hollywood on what’s been a sad weekend of news.

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