Category: Worldwide

Bryson Tiller fans have been impatiently waiting for a follow-up to his 2017 album True To Self ever since that album’s release. While the deluxe version of his debut Trapsoul dropped this weekend to hold them over, it wasn’t long until the Louisville singer teased them with the real treasure: The release date of his third album, which is coming sooner than anyone expected. In fact, in a new video announcing the release date, Tiller revealed it shares the date with the five-year anniversary of Trapsoul‘s original release, October 2.

“Real fans know the countdown started months ago,” Tiller asserted on Twitter, dropping a video that proclaims “Timing is everything.” For what it’s worth, though, anyone could have guessed that the new album was on the way, as he released the moody “Inhale” video and “Always Forever” within the last few weeks after a string of successful features for Kyle (“The Sun“), Wale (“Love… (Her Fault)“), and Summer Walker (“Playing Games“).

Tillyer also released the video for fan favorite “Right My Wrongs” alongside the deluxe version of his debut album, all suggesting he was promoting a new project and ensuring there’d be plenty of buzz surrounding his name in the meantime. He even admitted to Billboard that True To Self wasn’t his best effort as a mea culpa to fans disappointed he didn’t live up to the hype. This time around, though, it seems like he not only wants to do so, but he’s also encouraging as much hype as possible.

Watch Bryson Tiller’s album release date announcement above.

Ah yes, the age old question, if two gigantic men wrestle each other into a resort pool and no one is there to tell you about it several days later, did it really happen? As mentioned in last week’s Watch, things are naturally slowing down at Disney. This kind of territory is for people who wake up at 2 a.m. and work out until 6 a.m., labor over making an impeccable coffee, and then call their friend Mark Wahlberg to chat as the birds and slovenly people of the world finally wake up — so, for Jimmy Butler.

Still, there are a few morsels to sustain us as we round out what might be the culmination week for the Eastern Conference. This won’t take very long so please, join me. I swear you’ll be out of here in under five minutes.

LeBron James

James wailed thoughtfully on the old tin sandwich for a while this week, just sort of moseying his mouth to get a feel for the wheezing range of tonality the instrument provides.

Given that one of the laws of the natural world is LeBron James will excel at anything he put his mind to, here are the songs I think we’ll be seeing recorded and released by him before his time in the Bubble is through on a covers album called, “Blues MVP”:

“The River” by Bruce Springsteen
“Piano Man” by Billy Joel
“He Ain’t Heavy He’s My Brother” by The Hollies (dedicated to J.R. Smith)
“The Wizard” by Black Sabbath

Rating: Honestly NO Blues Traveler. It seems too obvious and James would never admit to traveling, even by proxy.

Marcus Smart and Enes Kanter

There’s been much adieu about the Celtics down this last stretch. Last week this hard-hitting column dedicated some reserves to figuring out what those mysterious CLANKS in Boston’s locker room after Game 2 were but this week, well this week the team decided to bury the hatchet in shallow, very chlorinated water. Marcus Smart and Enes Kanter did a bunch of poolside wrestling to get their frustration out while a young Deuce paddling around with his dad Jayson Tatum in the background just tried to get his laps in.

Rating: The whole team might have to take to the waterslide soon and go down in one long trust train, just given what is going on out there on the court.

Enes Kanter and Tacko Fall

Here we have Kanter and Fall getting down and depressed in the player’s lounge on a Saturday afternoon in September, giving us their somewhat tentative rendition of “Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers. Maybe they were just warming up? Maybe this was practice for a talent show going down later tonight? Either way, perhaps not the most auspicious song choice considering where the Celtics are currently at but who knows, they could be getting ready to sing this to the Miami bus in the event that it departs before they do.

Rating: Here’s hoping they get the words down, there are really only about a dozen of them in total.

Goran Dragic

Remember last week’s saga when Dragic had to search high and low for a cup of Big Face Coffee, and ultimately turned to its competitor, Little Face Coffee? And then, because he is a phenomenal brand ambassador for himself, Jimmy Butler gave Dragic a complimentary cup and we speculated the value of that beverage essentially being priceless? Well guess what, either Jimmy Beans came to collect or Dragic ponied up, or, Butler saw another branding opportunity and expanded his merch offerings with this hat Dragic put on to prove he’d paid the ultimate price.

Rating: As far as ultimate prices go, $20 really isn’t all that bad.

The Friendship of Jimmy Butler and Mark Wahlberg

As you may or may be lucky to not know, Mark Wahlberg (Ted, Wahlburgers, Ted 2) and Jimmy Butler are great friends. My sick psyche started to wonder this week whether or not the two were in communication right now, given Wahlberg’s devotion to the municipality of Boston and its representation in the Celtics, and Jimmy Butler’s vocation. Had the friendship gone on hold? Had they discussed this possible eventuality in advance? Fear not, anyone other freak kept awake at night by this question, they’re still talking.

Rating: Wahlberg loves when his number one guy supports his other guys.

It’s the week of Nigerian Independence Day and to celebrate, Spotify is teaming up with one of the country’s biggest stars. Burna Boy, fresh off the release of his album Twice As Tall, is taking over Spotify’s Black History Is Now hub, curating a personal collection of playlists and podcasts to amplify Black voices in music and more.

Among those playlists are Black Superheroes, made up of Burna’s inspirations and idols, Black To The Future, with which the African star predicts the next generation of superstars on the rise, and Queen, co-curated by Burna’s mom and celebrating the women who helped shape his career. Elsewhere on the Black History Is Now hub, listeners can learn about Fela Kuti, Angelique Kidjo, Supercat, and Bob Marley as part of The Elite 5 along with Diddy; all are artists Burna classifies as legendary.

Spotify also created limited-edition comic book Burna Boy cards with different characters inspired by Twice As Tall’s themes. You can check them out below.

Twice As Tall was released in August and featured appearances from Chris Martin, Naughty by Nature, and Stormzy, with production from DJDS, Telz, and Timbaland. It peaked at No. 54 on US Billboard 200.

Burna Boy is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

In yet another example of their unorthodox relationship, Donald Trump reportedly tried to make Ivanka Trump his vice presidential candidate during the 2016 election. According to a new book from Rick Gates (via the Washington Post, the president’s former deputy campaign chair, Trump was adamant about selecting Ivanka to the point where he was non-receptive to other candidates, including Mike Pence.

“She’s bright, she’s smart, she’s beautiful, and the people would love her!” Trump reportedly told his team. The idea of putting Ivanka on the ticket advanced so far that the campaign even did polling until the president’s daughter stepped in and convinced her father to go another direction. Via CNN:

The presidential candidate was so keen to the idea of Ivanka as a vice presidential pick and “cool to other options, including his eventual selection of then-Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, that his team polled the idea twice,” The Washington Post reported. Ivanka told her father it was not a good idea and Trump chose Pence after the then-governor gave a “vicious and extended monologue” about former President Bill Clinton and Trump’s 2016 rival Hillary Clinton at a breakfast event.

The news of Trump allegedly trying to make Ivanka his running mate arrives at an inopportune time for the father-daughter team as the president’s finances face intense scrutiny. On Sunday, The New York Times published a damaging report on Trump’s tax records, which appear to show the president paying Ivanka “consulting fees” that he deducted as a business expense. What makes this unusual is that Ivanka worked for the Trump Organization, and yet she was paid a consultant fee for projects that were already her responsibility. “She appears to have been treated as a consultant on the same hotel deals that she helped manage as part of her job at her father’s business,” Times wrote. Not good!

(Via The Washington Post)

Since the dawn of Billie Eilish’s career, her brother Finneas has been her creative partner. The pair got off to a hot start with Eilish’s breakout 2015 single “Ocean Eyes,” which immediately made the young singer somebody to keep an eye on. The single broke out online immediately, but it wasn’t as much of an instant hit in Eilish’s home. In a new NPR interview, Eilish and Finneas admit that their parents weren’t blown away by the song after hearing it for the first time.

Eilish described Finneas asking her to sing on the song, which he initially wrote for his own band. Speaking about the version of the track with her vocals, she continued, “Right away we just fell in love with that version and I remember we went into the living room and our parents were like having an argument about, like, taxes and we were like, ‘Guys, shut up! Listen to this song!’ [Laughs.] And we sang them the song and then we recorded and put it out right away.”

The pair was then asked how that listening session went, and Eilish and O’Connell actually didn’t get quite the reception they were hoping for. The two spoke over each other telling the story, saying:

O’Connell: “They under-reacted. They were like, ‘Cool.’”

Eilish: “We got to give them credit, they’ve always supported us and been so supportive, but that was one of those ones where they were like, ‘Yeah, cool.’”

O’Connell: “No, they’ve always supported and been present. But, you know, when you’re a kid and you try your first bite of something and you’re like, ‘I don’t know.’ And you’ve had that meal like twice more and you’re like, ‘This is actually my favorite food.’”

Eilish: “The best food in the whole world.”

O’Connell: “Our parents are like that with a lot of our songs. Like, ‘We’ve written this song, we love it, check it out!’ And our parents sit there and they’re like, ‘Hm.’ And we’re like, ‘Love it! You guys have to love it!’ And they’re like, ‘Yeah, it’s really good.’ And then like, two weeks later…”

Eilish: “But they never ever ever… They literally have never insulted anything we’ve done.”

O’Connell: “No, but their first impression is like…”

Eilish: “…so Finneas is just butt-hurt that they didn’t give him more of a reaction.”

Check out the full interview here.

Just like a lot of other Americans this week, Joe Scarborough is officially worried about Donald Trump’s tax returns. The MSNBC host and former Republican representative ripped Trump on Monday, calling into question his appeal to “working class voters” after the New York Times reported on Sunday about Donald Trump’s extensive business losses and years where he paid as little as $750 in income taxes.

Speaking on Monday’s Morning Joe, Scarborough noted how working class people in a potential swing state like Pennsylvania might worry about an apparently successful businessperson paying less in taxes than they would at their more ordinary jobs.

“If you are a construction worker in Philly, if you are a waitress in Lancaster County. If you’re a schoolteacher in Scranton and you’re looking up at the news today and you’re finding out that you paid more in federal income taxes than a guy that’s lived in a gold-plated, what, 90-story building and flown around in private jets and flown around the world and illegally, probably illegally, deducted taxes,” Scarborough said. “Not a really great message for the final month or so of the campaign. That is something that voters can understand. A guy working at Walmart goes ‘Wait a minute, I paid more than $750 in taxes this past year.’ And look at all those years where people like Trump and Amazon pay zero in income taxes. It’s just not right.”

According to Mediate, that’s not the only thing he had to say about Trump, either, calling him the “least successful business person of all time,” while co-host Mika Brzezinski called him “the biggest loser,” among other things:

“Think of all the money he lost over the years,” Brzezinski said. “I mean, talk about the biggest loser. Never seen a worse businessman in my life.”

Scarborough interjected to note that some might find it hyperbole to call Trump the “biggest loser.” But the MSNBC host argued that the numbers prove it out.

“He lost more money than any other American citizen,” Scarborough said. “And the amazing thing is his daddy gave him the equivalent of $400 million, and he lost all of that. Bankruptcies right and left. Then, as he was struggling, he finally got to The Apprentice and struck oil there. Made another $400 million there. Lost all of that money. I don’t know, you would think if you lost $400 million that your daddy gave you the first time, you would say, ‘Hey, the next time I make some money, I’m not going to be really stupid with it.’”

He later called Trump the “least successful business person of all time” and said New Yorkers have long laughed at the prospect of his business acumen as it was projected to the rest of the country:

“I think it’s safe to say, if you just look at the federal records, Mika, he is the least successful business person of all time,” Scarborough said. “And the incredible thing is, he has painted himself as this great businessman — which, by the way, we all know that in New York, real business people would die laughing at the prospect when Donald Trump was doing The Apprentice.”

It’s pretty serious blowback in the mainstream media from a report that the Times promised would be the first of several about Trump’s tax returns and the complicated way he avoided paying taxes, not to mention the millions of dollars in losses his businesses have seen over the years. It’s clearly a hot topic in what’s been an unprecedented election season, and will certainly be a topic in Tuesday night’s debate.

James Gunn has worked with a number of talented folks over the years, from his Scooby-Doo days (Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matthew Lillard, Linda Cardellini) to when he joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, Benicio del Toro, Kurt Russell). But none of them, not even pop star Vin Diesel, is the “best actor” he’s ever had the pleasure of making a movie with.

In response to an Instagram follower accusing Warner Bros. of “forcing” Harley Quinn into The Suicide Squad and how Gunn must be “a little pissed” about that, the Guardians of the Galaxy filmmaker replied, “GTFO, she’s probably my favorite DC character, and Margot Robbie is probably the best actor I’ve ever worked with, bar none.” As the Margot Robbie scholar on staff (my credentials: I paid to see both Peter Rabbit and Terminal — paid with actual money!), you’ll find no argument with Gunn’s assessment here.

Gunn also shared fan art of Harley riding on King Shark’s shoulders on Instagram, with the caption, “Awesome #TheSuicideSquad #fanart by @mowaywayway that I think captures our vibe quite well. BTW, thanks to so many of you for your awesome fan art. I try to like or share in my stories as much as possible, so keep it coming!” If someone doesn’t draw Weasel and Rocket Raccoon (both portrayed by Sean Gunn!) playing the giant piano from Big by the end of the day, I’m going to be very disappointed.

MyCover is the reinvention of the historic Dime Cover, where players are given the power to creative direct and help make the Cover that matters to them. First up is Cavaliers guard Collin Sexton, who is living proof that family truly does matter.

Every NBA player has an origin story. It’s that event where the dream crystalizes, takes hold, and never lets up. It’s that last crank, clank, and click on their ascent before the roller coaster crests and one is no longer in control. The rest is up to fate, faith, or any other number of phrases we ascribe to the endless dice roll of life to make sense of past, present, and future at the same time.

For Collin Sexton, that moment was born out of a parka, a backyard, and a garage.

Winters in Georgia aren’t known for heaps of snowfall, but cold is cold, and it can get pretty dang cold in the South, too. So a family built around basketball – dad coached, and the three kids were more likely to spend birthdays in a gym than at a bowling alley or a pizza place – needed a hoop, and the one they had in their backyard wasn’t going to do anybody any good if they were bundled up in coats and gloves.

Gia Sexton devised a simple solution, one that would alter the trajectory of her youngest son’s life – and, as a result, the family around him – for the future. She would just have 11-year-old Jordan and Collin (then seven) help her drag the hoop into the garage.

“I had 10-foot ceilings in the garage,” Darnell Sexton, Collin’s father, says. “Very high garage. So considering how old he was, his whole thing was, ‘I want to play, I want to work.’ So what my wife did — I was actually at work on that day — she moved the vehicles out of the garage and the three of them drug the goal inside the garage and secured it with some sandbags. I think they went to Home Depot and got some sandbags and secured the goal, and at that point in the juncture, that goal stayed in that garage. And that was their thing. Regardless of the weather, regardless of the conditions outside, we were always able to do it inside.”

From then on, they were the only kids in the neighborhood with a goal inside. Collin and Jordan would play until they weren’t allowed anymore, eventually until one or two in the morning, with Jordan often winning and Collin refusing to take the loss as finality.

This only served to showcase Collin’s fierce determination, a trait that would follow him as he rose in AAU and the recruiting rankings. It eventually led him to a Top 10 pick, the lone major holdover of the Kyrie Irving trade between Cleveland and Boston, and a major part of the rebuild after LeBron left for Los Angeles. His family has been right there every step of the way, pushing him the same way Jordan did in endless games on that hoop.

***

There are three things you should know about Collin Sexton.

No. 1: He’s fiercely loyal, especially to his family. He keeps his circle tight, and some can take that as him being aloof or dismissive.

“Collin is very into everything has to be structured in his life,” Giauna, his sister, says. “And he likes structure. He likes organization. That’s just how he is. It takes a lot to get to know him, because he’s also very shy, until you get to know him. Then he’ll open up to you. Once you come around and he sees that you’re a good person and don’t have any ill will, then he’ll definitely open up to you or anyone else. It’s just he’s very guarded. You don’t want to come off cold, but you also don’t want to give yourself too quickly to people that maybe didn’t earn it.”

No. 2: He’s a neat freak. We’re talking color-coded closet. Short sleeves to long sleeves. Blue jeans from light to dark. And shoes organized meticulously to a level where he knew right away after going on a trip for AAU that Jordan had borrowed a pair of his Air Jordans even though Jordan thought he put them back. Collin’s bed is made, his clothes are always put away, whether it’s at home or on the road. Maybe it’s tied to his lifelong appreciation for math; numbers make sense, numbers are organized, numbers have meaning.

No. 3: He’s as competitive as anyone. Nick Stapleton, a former standout at Austin Peay, had returned from playing overseas and was transitioning into training. He heard about a kid who was going into his ninth-grade year who kept being compared to him.

“I’m from Flint so I think he has like a Flint mentality,” Stapleton says. “Like against all odds, everybody is against us and I’m going to prove everybody wrong. I got a chip on my shoulder. Even if nothing is wrong I’m going to put something on my shoulder to get me motivated. When I seen that I was drawn to that, I got drew to that. I was like, ‘Man, this is how I would be if I was 15, 16, or 17.’”

Stapleton challenged Sexton during their first session, and told him if he wanted to get where he was going, he’d have to work harder. For Sexton, who already thought he was working pretty hard, it came as a bit of a shock. But instead of retreating, Collin stepped forward.

Nick asked what Collin’s end goal was. Sexton responded by saying the thing he’s dreamt of his entire life since telling his grandmother when he was three years old: to play professionally.

“Okay, so you got to do different shit,” Stapleton countered. “Like you can’t do what everybody else does. You have to sacrifice. And he’s all about that. But I’m like, you can’t have both. I don’t want to take away your childhood but I guarantee you will thank me later if you get to where you want to go. These little parties and this little shindigs, let’s go to the gym instead. Let’s go watch film instead. And he was all aboard. He was locked in. Three workouts a day. We was working, we was lifting, we was communicating, and we was learning every day. Every day we got better.”

The Young Bull earned that nickname for a reason. Anyone who has seen him on a high school YouTube clip, a college highlight, or on League Pass with the Cavs can see that competitive spirit with all the subtlety of an air raid siren.

It was there when Collin battled Jordan in the garage, often leading to mom having to calm things down. It was there when Darnell would sign Collin up for camps with a different name, or change his hair, or swap numbers with another camper to make sure Collin got the work in but was never given a written evaluation he could get frustrated by or attention he didn’t yet deserve. It was there after losses when he’d ride home with mom because he dreaded those conversations where dad is still a little too much in coach mode and hasn’t shifted back into dad mode.

“Growing up, my dad, he had different AAU teams and they were a lot older than I was, way older” Collin says. ”And I always looked up to them and always wanted to be like them. I was always running around in the gym, being the one shooting during halftime, me and my brother shooting during timeouts and just being in the gym made me really fall in love with the game of basketball. I’ve seen how hard my dad pushed those guys and how he wanted what’s best for them. And when it was our turn he definitely pushed us and I loved it. I definitely loved being coached. I definitely love my dad just always being hard on us because at the end of the day it definitely paid off. It definitely did.”

***

That eighth grade into ninth grade year was when Collin turned a corner athletically, finding a way to match the competitive streak with the it factor that led to him eventually making the NBA. Jordan had gone off to school at Hiwassee in Tennessee, and Collin and Darnell surprised him for his first game.

On the court after the game, Collin was shooting around like always, and he told Jordan to watch. Sexton threw the ball off the backboard and cocked back a one-handed slam, the first time Jordan had ever seen Collin dunk. Jordan knew the will to win was there. He’d seen it in the eighth-grade championship between Hillgrove and Wheeler as Sexton took over despite a nine-point deficit heading into the fourth, and eventually took the lead with 2:09 to play, before Wheeler sent the game to OT at the buzzer. Sexton missed a leaning three that would’ve sent the game to double OT and immediately doubled over. It was a loss he took hard, but even Jordan couldn’t have predicted how Collin would commit that summer, when most kids in their summer before high school are focused on friends and soaking up as much fun as they can before the real work starts.

“I went away to school and when I came back, I just seen a different side of him,” Jordan says. “I always told people, everybody at my college, I would say, ‘Hey, y’all don’t know his name, but in a couple of years, Collin Sexton going to be a household name.’”

That’s about when the relationship with Jordan started to change. Collin started being able to take him in one-on-one, and the fighting and scrapping in the garage when Jordan was back from school turned to training. Jordan is still there with him, watching and working, except now he’s the one throwing him passes rather than squaring up to try and beat the Young Bull.

“He’s the one that pushed me, when we’d play one on one,” Collin says. “He’s the one that got me as tough as I am. Always fighting, always being there for me, whether it’s a good game, bad game. He was always there, always the one cheering me up. Always the one to be hard on me. And I always appreciate him for that.“

Sexton’s rise led to accolades at Pebblebrook High, including winning the Dunk Contest at the McDonald’s All-America Game, and placed him squarely among the top recruits in the country, including the top guard on 247. Despite strong interest from Kansas, NC State, Villanova, and others, Sexton joined Avery Johnson at Alabama, hoping to carve out a name for himself at a school known for football.

It didn’t take long for Collin to find his way into college basketball lore. On Nov. 25, 2017, Alabama’s entire bench was ejected, another player was injured, and a member of the Tide fouled out. Down 10 with 10 minutes remaining against the 14th-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers, the Tide was forced into playing 3-on-5. Sexton, in a 40-point effort, managed to get the lead down to 83-80 and had a chance to push it even closer but missed a shot with 1:18 left.

Collin points to it as an example of his determination, but mentions the missed shot in the same breath. Losses still get to him, although he’s learning how to channel that energy thanks to mentors like Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul (who coached Collin at The 8 Invitational in Las Vegas), and Kevin Love, the latter of whom has helped him manage the ups and downs of an NBA season, especially during rebuilding years.

“When I talk to Chris, he’s been on winning teams,” Collin says. “When I talk to Dwyane, I asked him, what’s the difference between a losing team that has a bad record and a championship team? And he gives me those answers. On the outside looking in, what do they see that we need to improve on? Different things. It’s kind of different types of scenarios and just picking their brain a little bit, which is definitely good and has definitely helped me.”

***

There’s always a dichotomy of teams in the lottery when it comes to fit. Certain players would excel anywhere. Certain teams can make almost any talented player excel. But for rebuilding teams, not every player can handle the losing and stay focused on the work it takes to turn things around. Sexton has recommitted to breaking down film and looking for little victories in-season to carry him (another tip from Love), whether that’s snagging a win against a team on a back to back, or getting a tough road win against a potential playoff team.

The work is there, and there’s tangible improvement in his two NBA seasons, with him making marked jumps around January of both years. It goes back to the motto the family has adopted: move with a purpose. It’s allowed him to stay focused in a war of attrition as Collin has dealt with the revolving door of coaches in Cleveland, but he’s managed to take something away from every coach as he tries to keep building. There’s lessons to be learned from whomever is at the helm, be it Tyronn Lue or J.B. Bickerstaff.

“My approach is to feel them out honestly,” Collin says. “I have a good discernment of people and understanding like who’s real and who’s really not. So I’m just talking to them and you can get to understand like he’s genuine about it. He’s not trying to show me up. He’s not trying to just embarrass me. And you understand those people who are like that, and those who aren’t. It’s not hard to pick out where the information is coming from. It’s just, who it’s coming from. And I feel like you have to always find out what the people’s intentions are.”

This stems from Sexton’s guarded personality. He’s a show-me guy; once you prove yourself to him, you’re in. It’s clear he wants stability, and he might have that in Bickerstaff, who he took to immediately in Cleveland when he was an assistant.

But as Stapleton notes, it’s not an excuse, and Collin isn’t in the business of being an excuse maker anyway, whether he’s playing his older brother in the garage or playing 3-on-5 in the most unusual of college basketball games.

“With him, he hasn’t had that [stability] yet,” Stapleton says. “I mean, it’s also the NBA so we get it. What, are you going to cry about it? Nobody is going to feel sorry that you got another coach. Nobody is going to care about that. But what you can do, figure it out, ask a question, talk to the coach, get a relationship with the coach, and let’s make this work. Simple as that.

Having all these coaches right now, that’s tough, but you’re not the only player that’s been in these shoes. There’s been a lot of players that have multiple coaches.”

Darnell agrees, and stresses to Collin that even if those coaches aren’t fits in Cleveland, or have short tenures, they all had success to this point, and all have earned their stripes at one time or another. There’s something to be gained from their knowledge base, and it’s on Collin (young or not) to filter that information and decide what to hold onto, and what to build off of until there’s some semblance of consistency with the Cavs.

“He understood there’s still some good in all these guys, but I’ve got to actually find what’s going to help me to help my team,” Darnell says. “I think over this time that we’ve been through coaching changes, it’s been good because he’s been able to take something from each one of these guys that has made them a great coach. So it’s helped in his maturation process or getting to the league. Being able to understand shot selections, bad shot selections, learning the difference in playing help-side in college and learning how to play help-side in the pros is different. If you’re late, you’re really late. So understanding what each one of these coaches is teaching is a major thing for him.”

It goes back to Sexton’s childhood love of math. He breaks down film the same way he studied flashcards, with the same ferocious intensity he brings to family games of Uno, and there are endless anecdotes about his memory, even at a young age.

Once his decision making starts to mirror that repetition and the if/then equation of what he’s seeing on film, things should inevitably click. Pair that with the work ethic and his athleticism, and it’s not hard to see why he can take over games even at the NBA level, even on a sub-30 win team.

Giving the trust that he can be so hesitant to give to the team’s vets, like Love and Larry Nance Jr., will be huge in getting him to where he wants to go.

“Sometimes the guard needs to see like, ‘Oh, it’s not about being a shooting show,’” Nance says. “It’s not about pounding the ball into the ground. It’s about literally angles. It just takes a second to learn. You just got to be around it. And sometimes if you have somebody that’s can just kind of grab them by the hand, ‘Hey, check this out.’ And then they start to see it. [Sexton and Darius Garland] are so ridiculously talented. You can see it at practice every day. But it takes awhile to learn.”

Sexton’s had nothing but time in the COVID-shortened season. The Cavs had built up a bit of momentum heading into March, but the abrupt stop ran the risk of erasing all those gains. At home in Georgia, Collin focused on getting better, watching more film than ever, and using his time with his family as an unexpected blessing. He hasn’t had this much time directly with his parents, Jordan, Giauna, and Giauna’s daughter Gabby since before Jordan went off to college. Those valuable moments have brought him perspective and informed how he’ll operate once he’s back in the NBA grind.

“That’s one takeaway that I have had is when all this is all said and done is just continue to check in on them and make sure everyone is doing good,” Collin says. “Because once you get busy and stuff, you don’t forget about them, but you don’t communicate as much as you should with them. It’s a simple thing but I didn’t notice it until this happened. So then I was like, alright, now I notice it. So now I going to make sure that I do something about it and not just say I’m going to do something about it. You feel me?”

The Sextons brought back family dinners and game nights (with, of course, Uno), have spent time on the bike trail near their house, and – of course – have talked plenty of hoops. Stapleton wishes Collin had the time in the Bubble other young players have had, and references how good it’s been for guys like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but he’s confident the extra work Collin has put in will pay dividends as he enters Year 3.

If there’s anything Collin loves as much as basketball, it’s his niece. He took to her instantaneously, and any time Giauna brings Gabby over, it’s hard for him not to monopolize the time with her. They’ll watch Peppa Pig and he loves teaching her math flashcards. She’s even started to show the same stubbornness and mean-mugging facial expressions that Collin is known for.

“They make the same faces,” Giauna says. “I have plenty of pictures. I send my family pictures of him when he was little and pictures of her, and they’re identical. And it’s crazy because everyone always talks about how she acts just like him. If she’s mad about something, she makes his face or she’s very competitive, like him. So if she can’t figure it out, she gets so upset, just like him. Literally, it’s like I birthed another Collin. And I was like, I don’t even know how they got it.”

Collin lights up whenever Gabby is around, and if, as Tyronn Lue said prior to the 2018 season, it’s really about wins and lessons, there are plenty of lessons to be learned from these past few months of the pandemic. Sexton has embraced this time, a time to be around family and a time to keep getting better, even as so much is out of his control.

If anything, the pandemic (and the extra time with his family, especially Gabby) has helped him see how important he is to the younger generation, as someone still close enough in age to relate, but who represents the dream any young kid playing on a hoop – in the backyard, at the park, at the Boys and Girls Club, or yes, even in the garage – shares.

“Time is definitely more valuable and just spending time with them,” Collin says. “They can actually take that away. That’s something they’re going to remember forever. Those moments that you’re talking to them, just mentoring. And you can give money just to go the easy way, but if you’re actually taking your time in showing that you care and showing that you actually understand them, those are things that’s going to live forever with them.”

Dime is excited to announce a revamp of its storied Cover with a new initiative dubbed ‘MyCover.’ The MyCover launch allows players to take control of their Cover opportunity by being fully vested in the process itself, through ideation, design, and execution. Along with social initiatives and a true magazine cover story, MyCover honors Dime’s past while taking the experience into the future.

The inaugural MyCover athlete is Cavaliers guard Collin Sexton. Sexton is entering Year 3 after being drafted eighth overall to Cleveland in the 2018 NBA Draft. The spiritual leader of the Cavs, Sexton is learning under vets like Tristan Thompson, Larry Nance Jr., and Kevin Love as Cleveland seeks to further its rebuild after LeBron James left for Los Angeles. Sexton’s tireless work ethic and commitment to getting better is only rivaled by his love for his family, who has shaped him as a player and a human being.

For his Cover, Sexton made it clear he wanted his parents right there with him, shooting at a court near his family home in Georgia.

“It felt good to be able to have complete control on what I can include on the cover as well as inside the magazine,” Sexton told Dime. “I am always expressing how much I love my family and how important my family is to me. We came from humble beginnings, therefore we will not take any of this for granted. Family matters.”

Through interviews with those closest to him, and a collaborative experience with Sexton and his family, the Cover and its corresponding story took shape over these past few weeks while Sexton was still quarantining and doing individual workouts. He has since joined the Cavaliers in Cleveland for their camp, as the remaining eight teams left out of the bubble ramp up their offseason.

Through detail-oriented sessions, it was clear Sexton had a lot to show the world about who he is as a person — while still operating under a show, don’t tell mindset for himself as a player.

“The process went well,” Sexton says. “I am very fortunate that my family and I are able to share a glimpse about us with the world. It was also fun to hear things about me from my family that I didn’t even remember. It was very informal, relaxed, and stress-free.”

There aren’t a lot of things from Michael Jordan’s career that are unknown to the majority of his fans, particularly after so many books have been written on the legendary figure — and, most recently, The Last Dance recounted a number of those stories to millions of viewers.

However, the internet is full of surprises and occasionally unearths something that people have never seen, and late Sunday night a Twitter user stumbled across something truly ridiculous: a 1988 charity basketball game between Michael Jordan and…Elliott Gould.

There are, best as I can tell, two YouTube videos that have this “very rare” footage, neither of which show Elliott Gould taking a shot which is a real crime against humanity, but you can see him egging Jordan on as Mike hits ridiculous shots while they play HORSE and Around The World. They also feature Jordan lying to Dick Van Patten and the entire world by saying he only plays golf in the offseason when we just saw video of him playing golf with Danny Ainge in the middle of the playoffs two years prior to this.

I beg of the internet to find full video of this so we can see Gould hoisting shots, because according to Gould — who recounted this afternoon to Rich Eisen a few years ago — he actually beat Jordan in the Around The World portion and gave him a letter to start HORSE.

I don’t know if this is a LeBron-Jordan Crawford situation where Nike took and burned the tapes, but I demand the Elliott Gould Cut be released ASAP, because I need to see this man hitting two-handed set shots against Michael Jordan like I need air to breathe.