Category: Worldwide

Victor Wembanyama played in his 79th career NBA game on Thursday night in Utah, as the Spurs came back from an early 11-point deficit to blowout the Jazz, 106-88. Last year’s Rookie of the Year led the way on both ends of the floor for San Antonio as he often does, and he made a bit of NBA history along the way.

For the second time in his young career, the 20-year-old Frenchman posted a 5×5 performance, with 29 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, five steals, and five blocks, and in doing so, he became just the third player in NBA history to record multiple 5×5 games in his career, alongside Hakeem Olajuwon (6) and Andrei Kirilenko (3).

To be third all-time in anything in the NBA at 20 years old is insane, and he certainly has set a pace where he figures to obliterate Olajuwon’s record of 5×5 performances. Given that Olajuwon is one of the all-time great two-way players, that’s pretty terrific company for Wemby — and Kirilenko is one of those guys that was perhaps a bit ahead of his time as a do-it-all wing. What’s still terrifying is that Wembanyama is still figuring a lot of things out at the NBA level, particularly how to consistently reach his ceiling offensively given he’s already one of the league’s best defensively. Once he gets comfortable with where his spots are on the court and starts to trim the fat, so to speak, with his shot diet and pick up the efficiency on that end, there’s just not going to be anything you can really do with him.

For all the questions that surround the New York Jets right now, one thing that is pretty clear is that the team’s top receivers are capable of doing some incredible things. Davante Adams has been a monster throughout his NFL career, while Garrett Wilson is one of the brightest young stars at the position in the league. And on Thursday night when the Jets desperately needed one of their two standouts on the outside to make a player, he answered with a catch that drew immediate comparisons to Odell Beckham Jr.’s famous catch against the Dallas Cowboys in 2014.

On third-and-19 from deep in Houston Texans territory, Aaron Rodgers looked Wilson’s way and fired towards the back of the end zone. Wilson went up against Kamari Lassiter, created a little separation, and plucked the ball out of the air with one hand. Unfortunately for him, it looked like he only got one foot down, but then, replay stepped in.

When this was slowed down, it was determined that Wilson’s left shin landed inbounds before his knee landed out of bounds, which meant that he was considered in and scored a touchdown. The Jets really needed this, as it put them ahead of the Texans in a game they absolutely have to win if they want to keep their playoff hopes alive, but more importantly, everyone who saw it got to say that they witnessed one of the greatest one-handed snags in NFL history on a night when the Jets also did this.

Halloween isn’t usually known for being a fruitful release date for new music, but there are always one or two artists who forego the spooky festivities to drop their latest work. This year, count Gary, Indiana native Freddie Gibbs among their number, as he surprise-releases his new album You Only Die 1nce. It’s the first album from the Uproxx cover star since 2022’s Soul Sold Separately, and the time has served him well — as heard on the introspective first single, “On The Set.”

In the song, Gibbs mulls deaths in hip-hop, both recent and past, including Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G’s deaths in the ’90s, and the late Nipsey Hussle, Rich Homie Quan, and Young Dolph’s deaths in the past five years. He also makes reference to Diddy’s recent legal drama, while pondering whether the old rumors that Combs was involved in the death of Tupac Shakur are true. The video follows Gibbs as he works on a film set, going from playing a recently deceased corpse to changing in his trailer and reading lines for another sign next to a green screen.

Whether You Only Die 1nce is one of the four albums Freddie said he was working on at once remains to be seen. For now, you can check out the “On The Set” video above and You Only Die 1nce at midnight ET/9 PM PT. You can find more information here.

Paolo Banchero has been spectacular to start the 2024-25 NBA season. The former No. 1 overall pick has looked like the face of the franchise the Orlando Magic have sought for years, which included a 50-point outing in a win over the Indiana Pacers earlier this week.

Unfortunately for the Magic, they’ll have to navigate at least the next month without their star forward. In a bit of news announced by Shams Charania of ESPN that the team confirmed not long after, Banchero suffered a torn oblique late in the team’s 102-99 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday evening, which will sideline him indefinitely, and he will not be evaluated again for 4-6 weeks.

“After undergoing further testing today in Cleveland, Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero has been diagnosed with a torn right oblique, President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman announced today,” the team said in a statement. “Banchero will be out indefinitely and his return to play will depend on how he responds to treatment. He will be re-evaluated in four-to-six weeks. Banchero suffered the injury during the fourth quarter of Orlando’s game at Chicago on Oct. 30.”

It’s hard to put into words just how big of a loss this is for Orlando, which had aspirations of building on last year’s fifth-place finish in the East. While it’ll be impossible to completely replace Banchero — who has averaged 29 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 5.6 assists in 36.4 minutes per game this year — much will presumably be asked of Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs to carry the team in his absence.

With the fast-paced rush of new music releases these days, it’s no wonder fans so often get impatient to hear from their faves, pushing them online to “drop the album.” However, as the saying goes, you can’t rush greatness — and rising UK rapper Central Cee clearly fully believes that old adage, slowly building his groundswell of support stateside over the past few years.

Now, he’s finally ready to drop his debut album, and as a testament to his commitment to the profits of patience, he’s dubbed the premiere project Can’t Rush Greatness. Set for release on January 24th via Columbia Records. The announcement was preceded by the release of the single “Moi” featuring Raye, the Lil Baby collaboration “Band4Band,” and “I Will.”

He also debuted his new single, “One By One,” on COLORS, the popular YouTube performance show that has been instrumental in the rises of superstars such as Billie Eilish, Jorja Smith, and Doja Cat. According to the press release, the song won’t appear on “One By One,” but acknowledges its ethos, even quoting the title in the lyrics: “Can’t rush greatness, you gotta take your time, maintain it slowly.”

Can’t Rush Greatness is due on 1/24 via Columbia Records. You can find more information here.

Korean star G-Dragon has returned with a new single, “Power,” after departing his deal with YG Entertainment. The song is an upbeat anthem in which he vows to “prove ’em all wrong” and “shush all the comments,” while touting his philanthropy and quoting rap pioneer Nas, telling listeners, “The world is yours.” The video is an elaborate “oner” — a single, unbroken shot — following G-Dragon as he roams a television station, invading a colorful array of sets from a construction site to a newsroom to a subway train to spread his message. “Power” is the K-pop rapper’s first solo single since 2017. Along with the new song came the announcement of G-Dragon’s new US label partnership, which pairs Galaxy Corporation with independent label Empire.

For those unfamiliar with G-Dragon, the rapper-singer got his start as a member of K-pop band BIGBANG before breaking off to go solo in 2009 with Heartbreaker. He followed up in 2013 with Coup d’Etat, which made him the first K-pop act with multiple placements on the Billboard 200 chart. His career was put on hold in 2018 as a result of his mandatory military service, from which he was discharged in 2019, and in 2022, he reunited with his band for their first song in four years, “Still Life.” Since then, he’s said he’s been working on a new album, and with his new deal in place through Empire, he should be releasing it sometime in the near future.

You can watch G-Dragon’s “Power” video above.

The New York Jets keep holding on to any little bit of hope that they can turn their season around and reach the heights they aspired towards when the year began, and on Thursday Night Football this week, they had a chance to pick up a win against the Houston Texans, which are considered one of the up-and-coming teams in the AFC. Their defense had a good opening quarter, and after some difficult drives for the offense, it looked like they were able to finally get on the board when Malachi Corley took an end around in for a touchdown.

The problem: Even live, it looked like Corley might have pulled a DeSean Jackson and dropped the ball before he crossed the goal line. The bad news was that, yes, he did that. The considerably worse news was that because the ball rolled out of the back of the end zone, this became a touchback, and possession went to Houston.

All New York needed was for this to not roll out of the end zone and they would have gotten the ball at the spot where Corley dropped it, which was about two inches out of the end zone. But few things sum up this Jets season better than this, so in a way, this was the only possible outcome.

All those folks who spent the past couple of years calling Gunna a snitch and saying he sold out Young Thug will need to clean some egg off their faces. As part of his plea deal to secure his release, Thugger specifically asked Judge Paige Reece Whitaker to make an exception to his probation stipulation barring contact with his racketeering co-defendants: Gunna. While noting that Gunna is signed to Thug’s label, YSL Records, Thug’s attorney, Brian Steel, also reminded the court that the two frequently perform together. Thug also requested an exception for his brother Quantavious Grier, also known as Unfoonk, who is serving a nine-year sentence after accepting a plea deal of his own.

YOUNG THUG SPECIFICALLY ASKS TO BE ALLOWED TO CONTINUE TO MAKE MUSIC WITH GUNNA pic.twitter.com/RFRl6M4TfQ

— THUGGERDAILY ひ (@ThuggerDaily) October 31, 2024

It was the plea deal accepted by Gunna that prompted suspicions that the younger rapper had “turned rat” on his mentor, with former collaborators like Lil Baby and Lil Durk deeming Gunna a snitch. Gunna addressed such accusations on his 2023 album A Gift & A Curse, while Young Thug’s father stood up for his son’s protégé, asserting that nothing he could say would harm Thug’s defense anyway. Thug’s request suggests that the two rappers are still on good terms — meaning that a follow-up to “Surf,” “Ski,” and “Pushin P” could be on the way soon.

Young Thug is soon to be a free man after more than two years in jail. The Atlanta trap mainstay has accepted a plea deal that will ensure his release, pleading no contest to charges of racketeering and other crimes. He has been sentenced to 15 years of probation.

R&B singer Mariah The Scientist, Thug’s girlfriend, reacted to the news in a text to WSBTV’s Michael Seiden, who contacted her for comment. She replied:

“Thank you God, thank you God. This is more than what we prayed for. We are so grateful, this is the greatest opportunity we’ve ever been presented with and we are so grateful. Thank you Judge Paige Whitaker for giving us the opportunity to move forward with our life! Thank you God. Thank you Brian Steel and Keith Adams and every attorney working on this case, tireless. THANK YOU! I cannot say it enough, I cannot repay you for this. You have changed our lives, Jeffery’s life and mine. Thank you to everyone who has been there for us, every fan, who believed in us and prayed for us.”

I just reached out to Young Thug’s girlfriend, Mariah the Scientist, and she texted me the following statement regarding what happened today in court:⬇️ pic.twitter.com/zGIrD2LRNn

— Michael Seiden (@SeidenWSBTV) October 31, 2024

Thug’s trial was the longest in Georgia history — and possibly, its most dramatic. Over the course of the past year, the case went through three judges, a criminal contempt charge for Thug’s lawyer Brian Steel, and a slew of delays. It also met enormous backlash for using lyrics as evidence in what some observers called a racist application of Georgia’s racketeering law.

Young Thug will at last be released from custody after accepting a plea deal in his racketeering case. According to Billboard, Thug agreed to plead “no contest” to racketeering and pled guilty to possession of drugs and firearms, and was sentenced to 15 years probation. He will serve no prison time; he was jailed for over two years as his trial dragged on, becoming the longest in Georgia state history.

Thug opted for a non-negotiated guilty plea after several days of closed-door negotiations with prosecutors. This allowed Judge Paige Reese Whitaker to determine the sentence herself after she found herself losing patience with the prosecutions’ antics. The trial, which didn’t even start in earnest until earlier this year, would have called nearly a hundred witnesses, and with just the first handful necessitating days of delays, stalled testimonies, secret ex parte meetings, a criminal contempt charge against the defense (since rescinded), and not just one, but two judges’ recusals, it’s probably fair to say that all parties involved were ready to get this thing over with.

The trial had already drawn heavy backlash for its application of Georgia’s state Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and use of lyrics as evidence, which some observers criticized for racist motivations. Meanwhile, prosecutors wanted Thug sentenced to 25 years in prison, with another 20 on probation, accusing him of leading a criminal organization responsible for a wave of violent crime in the Atlanta area. The District Attorney’s office alleged that Thug’s record label, Young Stoner Life (YSL), was secretly a front for a street gang, Young Slime Life, with a list of violations including murder, attempted murder, robbery, assault, and distribution of drugs.

Several other co-defendants, including YSL rapper Yak Gotti, declined the plea deal, however; they will continue to stand trial for crimes including the alleged 2015 murder of a supposed rival gang leader, Donovan Thomas.