Category: Worldwide

At 11 p.m. ET, the biggest story of the night involving the Los Angeles Lakers was a big win over the New York Knicks in a national showcase game on ABC. LeBron James had a spectacular showing with 33 points, 12 assists, and 11 rebounds, while the Lakers put forth one of their most inspiring defensive efforts of the seasons despite the absence of Anthony Davis.

After the game, there was optimism about what this Lakers group could look like once Davis is back healthy if they can find that kind of level on both ends of the floor. An hour later, Davis was shipped to Dallas in the most shocking trade arguably in NBA history, with Luka Doncic now suddenly a Laker. The immediate question from everyone was: Why would Dallas do this? After early speculation of a stealth trade request was shut down, we learned the Mavs had simply decided they didn’t want to pay Doncic when he becomes extension eligible this summer for a record-setting supermax deal due to “constant conditioning issues.”

There was less confusion about why the Lakers would do this, as you’d be hard pressed to find many teams that would’ve said no to a similar trade offer that would bring back Doncic. Still, trading Davis is a big deal and the Lakers already thin frontcourt is now even thinner and even if they go find reinforcements by Thursday, they won’t bring back an All-Star and DPOY candidate like Davis. That led to some to posit Davis and James were no longer as close as they once were, with CBS Sports’ Bill Reiter suggesting James had “grown frustrated” with his co-star.

LeBron, who had not said anything about the trade prior, took to Twitter to swiftly shut that down in what is, to this point, the only public statement he’s made about anything regarding the trade.

According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, LeBron learned about the trade at the same time everyone else did, which is wild if true, but also might have to be the case given there wasn’t even a peep about this being a possibility before it broke. It is going to be fascinating to see what LeBron’s eventual statement on the actual trade is, as this was both a no-brainer move from the Lakers for their long-term outlook and also a deal that creates even more roster imbalance for this current season. For now, LeBron wanted to shut down any talk that he played a role in the Lakers looking to move Davis. We’ll find out by late Thursday what the Lakers roster will look like for the stretch run and what other moves they have up their sleeve, but there’s no shortage of drama in L.A. and the NBA this week.

It’s not often that a trade happens in the NBA that takes everyone by surprise — and has everyone in the league talking — but that’s what happened on Saturday night when the Mavericks traded Luka Doncic to the Lakers for Anthony Davis in a three-team blockbuster.

The deal came out of seemingly nowhere, with all of the players involved apparently having no heads up about the trade, as Dallas decided to pull the ripcord on their All-NBA star over concerns about his “constant conditioning issues.” Mavs fans (including Patrick Mahomes) were sick upon finding out they had just traded their 25-year-old superstar, and everyone else around the league was left scratching their heads at how and why this trade came about. That included the teams actively playing when the trade broke, as the Portland Trail Blazers continued their strong play of late with a blowout win over the Suns.

However, as the fourth quarter wound to a close, the talk of the Blazers bench was not their performance against a Phoenix team desperate to make a big move, but instead was about the Doncic-Davis trade that they were all learning about.

Matisse Thybulle’s face is incredible and was pretty much the same facial expression most NBA fans made when they saw the news was real. I do love that the Blazers TV broadcast was keeping the players in the loop on the craziest NBA trade maybe ever, and the bench was doing what every NBA fan group chat was doing, just in real life.

On the other sideline, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Royce O’Neale, and the rest of the Suns were having a similar conversation, with Durant scrolling his phone as the clock wound down late in disbelief (video here).

Patrick Mahomes is looking to make history next week in New Orleans as he tries to lead the Kansas City Chiefs to the first three-peat in the Super Bowl era. However, while Mahomes is trying to focus on the Philadelphia Eagles for work, his favorite NBA team went out and made the most shocking trade of the last decade (and maybe ever).

Mahomes is a diehard Dallas Mavericks fan and, like most every Mavs fan on Saturday night/early Sunday morning, found himself in the midst of an existential crisis when he learned the team was trading its franchise player, Luka Doncic (and others), to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis (and a bit more). Mahomes is a huge Luka guy, as pretty much everyone who roots for the Mavs is, and the news of the stunning trade had him feeling ill.

I can’t blame Mahomes. There’s really no justifying this move from the Mavs perspective in the immediate, as Doncic has been a top-5 player in the NBA and, while Anthony Davis is fantastic, moving your home-grown, still-not-yet-in-his-prime superstar for a guy six years his elder is a really hard sell. The Mavs’ reported reasoning is concern with paying Doncic his next extension given the “constant conditioning issues” he’s had — with his current absence with a calf injury potentially being the final straw. The problem with getting fans to buy in on that line of thinking is the man has career averages of 28.6 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 8.3 assists per game and just led the team to the Finals while, yes, looking a little chunky.

The Chiefs will hope Mahomes can shake off his Mavs-inflicted heartache, and I guess the good thing for Kansas City is it happened on their off-week before the Super Bowl and not the night before, giving him some time to process.

Luka Doncic is a Los Angeles Laker. That is real, factual sentence somehow after the Dallas Mavericks initiated the craziest trade in, perhaps, NBA history late Saturday night when they shipped Doncic to L.A. in a three-team deal for a package boasting Anthony Davis and the Lakers 2029 first round pick.

Making a shocking trade even more stunning was the reporting that the Mavs were the team that initiated conversations with the Lakers and did so because they decided they wanted out of the Luka Doncic business. Apparently, the reasoning was Doncic would be up for a supermax extension soon (his current deal runs out after 2026 with a player option for ’26-’27) and the Mavs had long-term concerns about Doncic’s conditioning, as reported by ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.

The Mavs had major concerns about moving forward with Luka Doncic due to his constant conditioning issues and the looming commitment of another supermax contract extension this summer, sources told ESPN.

I don’t know how bad things had gotten behind the scenes, but even with the frustrations that Doncic came into this season not in great shape coming off of the Finals run and the Olympics, it’s really hard to imagine it was bad enough to want to trade a top-5 player in the NBA. However, it is very clear the Mavs have not felt Doncic has done everything he needs to in order to be the best he can be — is fairly terrifying given he’s averaged 28.6 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 8.3 assists for his career over seven seasons — and available enough amid his latest absence with a calf injury.

The Lakers will bank on the fact that Doncic is only 25 (turning 26 this month) and still has time to mature some off the floor while continuing to dominate on it. The Mavs, meanwhile, trade for one of the NBA’s best bigs and should remain a threat in the West in the immediate, but it does raise some eyebrows that they’d point to a lack of reliability from Doncic when targeting a player in Davis who has a checkered injury history of his own. Perhaps the Mavs will end up being prescient in moving off of Doncic now, but you won’t find too many around the NBA who would expect them to look good long-term from this trade. Perhaps the “Michael Finley takes away Luka Doncic’s beer” video from last years Western Conference Finals celebration was a harbinger of things to come.

The biggest trade in recent NBA history went down in the middle of the night on Saturday (at least on the East Coast) when Shams Charania reported the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks had agreed to a league-shaking deal that would send Anthony Davis to Dallas and Luka Doncic to Los Angeles in a blockbuster three-team trade..

The full details of the trade are:

Lakers get: Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber, Markieff Morris
Mavericks get: Anthony Davis, Max Christie, 2029 LAL 1st
Jazz get: Jalen Hood-Schifino, 2025 Clippers 2nd, 2025 Mavericks 2nd

The trade was so stunning everyone thought Shams had been hacked, but Chris Haynes and Dan Woike quickly confirmed the news that two of the league’s top stars were changing teams. The trade took place mere hours after the Lakers polished off an impressive victory over the Knicks in New York, and will send shockwaves across the league as the trade deadline approaches on Thursday. There was no indication either Davis or Doncic were even on the table, but the Lakers and Mavs somehow ended up in a conversation that resulted in two of the league’s best players changing teams.

Doncic was the centerpiece of everything the Mavs have been building and led them to the Finals last year. While the Mavs have sputtered some of late (largely with Doncic out with injury), no one ever expected them to move on from the perennial MVP candidate. He now joins LeBron James in L.A. to play for his former teammate, JJ Redick, as the Lakers finally make the all-in move fans have been hoping for — just one even the biggest Laker believer wouldn’t have imagined.

Davis, meanwhile, had been pushing for the Lakers to bring in reinforcements, making clear he wanted another center to play with, and instead got shipped to Dallas where he’ll join Kyrie Irving and a very talented center rotation. Doncic didn’t issue any kind of stealthy trade request, but instead the Mavs wanted to move him before having to pay him a supermax due to “conditioning concerns”, per ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. Now they are taking a big swing on making Kyrie Irving the leading man in the backcourt and hoping to create one of the most dominant frontcourts in the league with Davis, Daniel Gafford, and Derek Lively III (who is out for a few months with an injury).

It is, legitimately, the most stunning NBA roster move in nearly a decade. I don’t think the league has been this stunned by a player changing teams since Kevin Durant left the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Golden State Warriors in the summer of 2016 as a free agent — and even that had some smoke to it. This came out of nowhere, with Charania reporting it was Dallas, somehow, that initiated the conversations and offered Doncic in a trade proposal.

Jey Uso eliminated John Cena to win the 2025 WWE Men’s Royal Rumble and earn a title shot at WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas.

Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins got tied up in the ropes allowing CM Punk to eliminate them both. Logan Paul followed that up by tossing Punk over the top rope, leaving him, John Cena, and Jey Uso as the final three. After being eliminated, Rollins attacked Punk and Reigns, curb stomping Reigns on the floor and then again on the steel stairs.

In the ring, Cena attacked both Paul and Uso in the corner, then eliminated Paul to stand alone against Uso. The two both went over the top rope and dueled on the apron, with Cena picking Uso up for an Attitude Adjustment that figured to get him the win, before Uso slipped out and pushed Cena to the floor for a stunning clean victory.

In the surprises department, after Akira Tozawa was attacked on his way to the ring, popular streamer Speed took his place and made quick work of Otis. Speed was cut in half from a spear at the hands of Bron Breakker and promptly tossed over the top rope.

Entrance Order

1. Rey Mysterio eliminated by Jacob Fatu
2. Penta eliminated by Finn Balor
3. Chad Gable eliminated by Jacob Fatu
4. Carmelo Hayes eliminated by Bron Breakker
5. Santos Escobar eliminated by Bron Breakker
6. Otis eliminated by Speed
7. Bron Breakker eliminated by Roman Reigns
8. Akira Tozawa, attacked by Carmelo Hayes and replaced by Speed, then eliminated by Bron Breakker
9. Sheamus eliminated by Roman Reigns
10. Jimmy Uso eliminated by Jacob Fatu
11. Andrade eliminated by Jacob Fatu
12. Jacob Fatu eliminated by Braun Strowman
13. Ludwig Kaiser eliminated by Penta
14. The Miz eliminated by Roman Reigns
15. Joe Hendry eliminated by Roman Reigns
16. Roman Reigns eliminated by CM Punk
17. Drew McIntyre eliminated by Damian Priest
18. Finn Balor eliminated by John Cena
19. Shinsuke Nakamura eliminated by Jey Uso
20. Jey Uso
21. AJ Styles eliminated by Logan Paul
22. Braun Strowman eliminated by John Cena
23. John Cena eliminated by Jey Uso
24. CM Punk eliminated by Logan Paul
25. Seth Rollins eliminated by CM Punk
26. Dom Mysterio eliminated by Damian Priest
27. Sami Zayn eliminated by Jey Uso
28. Damian Priest eliminated by LA Knight
29. LA Knight eliminated by AJ Styles
30. Logan Paul eliminated by John Cena

Charlotte Flair eliminated Roxanne Perez to win the 2025 WWE Women’s Royal Rumble to earn a guaranteed title shot at WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas.

Flair and Nia Jax entered late in the Royal Rumble, with a chunk of the roster still in the ring. Jax cleared out the ring, eliminating many of the favorites en route to the final three, joining Flair and Perez. After Flair eliminated Jax, she booted Perez to punch her ticket to WrestleMania 41.

Jordynne Grace made her surprise return to the Royal Rumble after joining as part of the TNA roster last year. Alexa Bliss, Trish Stratus, and Nikki Bella all made unexpected returns as well. For Stratus, we’ll have to see if her return to the Rumble is a one-off or if it sets up for a farewell tour of her own.

Entrance Order

1. Iyo Sky eliminated by Nia Jax
2. Liv Morgan eliminated by Nia Jax
3. Roxanne Perez eliminated by Charlotte Flair
4. Lyra Valkyra eliminated by Ivy Nile
5. Chelsea Green eliminated by Piper Niven
6. B-Fab eliminated by Chelsea Green
7. Ivy Nile eliminated by Maxxine Dupri
8. Zoey Stark eliminated by Naomi and Bianca Belair
9. Lash Legend eliminated by Chelsea Green
10. Bianca Belair eliminated by Nia Jax
11. Shayna Baszler eliminated by Bayley
12. Bayley eliminated by Nikki Bella
13. Sonya Deville eliminated by Iyo Sky
14. Maxxine Dupri eliminated Sonya Deville, Shayna Baszler, and Zoey Stark
15. Naomi eliminated by Nia Jax
16. Jaida Parker eliminated by Jordynne Grace
17. Piper Niven eliminated by Charlotte Flair
18. Natalya eliminated by Liv Morgan
19. Jordynne Grace eliminated by Giulia
20. Michin eliminated by Charlotte Flair
21. Alexa Bliss eliminated by Liv Morgan
22. Zelina Vega eliminated by Nia Jax
23. Candice LeRae eliminated by Trish Stratus
24. Stephanie Vaquer eliminated by Nia Jax
25. Trish Stratus eliminated by Nia Jax
26. Raquel Rodriguez eliminated by Nia Jax
27. Charlotte Flair
28. Giulia eliminated by Roxanne Perez
29. Nia Jax eliminated by Charlotte Flair
30. Nikki Bella eliminated by Nia Jax

Drake is wasting any time in getting back on the stage. Yesterday (January 31), the “God’s Plan” rapper found a way to mix business with pleasure.

With Drake’s Anita Win Max Tour set to kick off on February 4, he decided to send the day out exploring all of what Australia has to offer. On the list of tourist activities for Drake to partake in, he dropped by a local staple for karaoke.

In a viral clip (viewable here), Drake treated some lucky Aussie supporters to an impromptu concert. During the surprise set, Drake performed several standouts from his past albums, including 2016’s Views,2019’s Care Package, 2021’s Certified Lover Boy, and 2023’s For All The Dogs.

Drake’s lighthearted set consisted of his songs “Pipe Down,” “Faithful,” “Rich Baby Daddy,” and “Trust Issues.” Anita Win Max Tour ticket holders can expect to hear these tracks and more when he takes each arena stage as outlined in his supposedly leaked setlist.

Continue below to view Drake’s Anita Win Max Tour dates.

Drake’s 2025 Tour Dates: The Anita Max Win Tour

02/04 – Perth, AU @ RAC Arena
02/09 – Melbourne, AU @ Rod Laver Arena
02/10 – Melbourne, AU @ Rod Laver Arena
02/12 – Melbourne, AU @ Rod Laver Arena
02/13 – Melbourne, AU @ Rod Laver Arena – NEW DATE
02/16 – Sydney, AU @ Qudos Bank Arena
02/17 – Sydney, AU @ Qudos Bank Arena
02/19 – Sydney, AU @ Qudos Bank Arena
02/20 – Sydney, AU @ Qudos Bank Arena
02/24 – Brisbane, AU @ Brisbane Entertainment Centre
02/25 – Brisbane, AU @ Brisbane Entertainment Centre
02/28 – Auckland, NZ @ Spark Arena
03/01 – Auckland, NZ @ Spark Arena

Japanese Breakfast (real name Michelle Zauner) is filled with creative energy that she can’t wait to share with fans. Next month, the “Orlando In Love” singer will release her highly anticipated album, For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women). But with a new project and supporting tour on the way, the musician has had to shelves her other ventures, and that includes her previously teased movie.

During an interview with Ssense, Zauner revealed that the film adaption of her Crying In H Mart memoir has been halted.

When asked about the status of production, Zauner sadly replied: “Well, it’s on pause.”

She then went on to outline several hiccups the forthcoming feature faced behind-the-scenes. “There were issues with the Hollywood strikes, and the director stepped away from the project,” she said. “I spent a year working on the screenplay, which was a tough but rewarding process. I still have faith it will get made someday, but it’s not happening anytime soon. Right now, I’m focusing on other creative projects, so the film will have to wait.”

Back in March 2023, Zauner announced The White Lotus Will Sharpe signed on as the project’s director. She followed that with an open casting call. However, shortly after that updates about the movie quickly fizzled out. With music as her current priority, fans aren’t too upset by the news. In fact, many are encouraging Zauner to not rush the process to ensure a body that performs at the box office in the same why the book did on the bestsellers list.

For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women) is out 3/21 via Dead Ocean Records. Find more information here.

The espionage-fueled streaming rush will not stop, and Apple TV+’s Slow Horses is easily Top Three material if we’re measuring by audience devotion. Can we even plop the Gary Oldman-starring show into the top spot? Sure, why not. The Diplomat and The Night Agent rule over at Netflix, but Slow Horses has managed to be more prolific than these competitors and streaming shows in general in only a few short years. The show debuted in 2022, and the fifth season’s filming is done and dusted.

So, Apple TV+ might be winning the streaming sci-fi game at present, but their participation in the spy game is well-aimed and impeccably executed. Likewise, there’s no disputing that Gary Oldman — who has portrayed every manner of unsettling villain in a stunningly lengthy Hollywood career — has achieved his finest role with a British series that cloaks his spymaster prowess in a cloud of farts. It’s lethal in more ways than one, man, so let’s get down to gassy business on what the fifth season will bring.

Plot

With over a dozen Slough House books and novellas from Mick Herron in existence, this series will not run short on inspiration for many years. Before we get to the serious-ish stuff, showrunner Will Smith revealed an impending matter of importance for Jackson Lamb (Oldman) that will involve him having a cake overdose. Really. According to Smith (speaking with Collider), he will experience “a sugar rush” after “too much cake” (is that possible?), and this could lead him to take up vegetables in a future season.

The horror.

And because it’s fun to watch Oldman discuss his love of this role, it’s worth watching the below Extra video (from the Globes red carpet) that reveals the leading man basking in happiness with Jack Lowden and fourth-season director Adam Randall. In this clip, Oldman reveals that the sixth season was headed into filming within days, and never fear, Jackson Lamb is not changing his ways, including in the upcoming firth season: “Well, he’s in a way your mainstay, but… the dye is set with the lad… I’m not gonna open the script and read some crazy character arc… he’s a constant.”

Additionally, Oldman suggested some “slight” reveals about Lamb’s past. Fingers crossed that these will include Cold War revelations:

For plot details, the fifth season will bumble into Mick Herron’s London Rules novel. This will follow a fourth season finale, which has apparently led River Cartwright’s (Jack Lowden) allegiance to become clear. He had received a mercenary job offer from his father, Frank Harkness (Hugo Weaving), but River seems to be sticking with the Slough Horses, from the looks of him at the pub with Jackson. In the London Rules book, River will be busy protecting a politician amid more terror attacks, and Penguin Random House’s London Rules description points towards more Slough House chaos ahead:

At MI5 headquarters Regent’s Park, First Desk Claude Whelan is learning the ropes the hard way…. Meanwhile, the country’s being rocked by an apparently random string of terror attacks.

Over at Slough House, the MI5 satellite office for outcast and demoted spies, the agents are struggling with personal problems: repressed grief, various addictions, retail paralysis, and the nagging suspicion that their newest colleague is a psychopath. Plus someone is trying to kill Roddy Ho. But collectively, they’re about to rediscover their greatest strength—that of making a bad situation much, much worse.

As noted already, the sixth season is already rolling cameras and adapting both the Joe Country and Slough House books by Herron.

Release Date

Although Apple TV+ hasn’t publicized a release date, 2025 is guaranteed. Additionally, it’s worth noting that this show has always returned in less than a year (in April 2022, December 2022, November 2023, and September 2024 for the first four seasons), so by this pattern, we can expect the fifth season no later than August 2025.

Cast

Gary Oldman is having the time of his career as Jackson Lamb and will stay in the role (via Indiewire) as long as “Apple keeps us on the air.” Jack Lowden is also going nowhere as River Cartwright, and the next season will bring more of Kristin Scott Thomas as Diana Taverner, Christopher Chung as Roddy Ho, Rosalind Eleazar as Louisa Guy, and James Callis as Claude Whelan.

Trailer

Apple TV+ hasn’t released a trailer, but it’s worth reliving this warning of what happens upon mentioning the word “shower” to Jackson Lamb.