Category: Worldwide

Gamers have come to expect a lot of things out of the Mario franchise, but “get emotional over a bob-omb” is not on the list. It’s things like that separating Paper Mario: The Origami King from its platforming cousins in a very strange and ultimately satisfying way.

Paper Mario is a franchise that’s always tried to achieve something different from traditional Mario games. The series of role playing games have switched up combat over the years and tried something slightly tweaked in each addition, and the newest game, The Origami King, is no exception. Unlike other Paper Mario titles the combat system in The Origami King is a wheel with sliding panels you maneuver in order to attack. You spin and slide tiles into place that let Mario pick up items and hearts and coins and also position himself to attack bad guys in boss fights.

When the baddies aren’t office supplies, you scramble origami bros and boos to line them up to hammer or hop on. It’s a departure that both cleans up the combat from previous editions and also makes things weirdly complicated. I found the puzzles either incredibly simplistic or not worth the time to overthink, opting to spend coins to have the toad onlookers you’ve rescued elsewhere in the game gently guide my hand and do most of the work for me. It never really seemed to offer a scalable challenge, and the solutions were either so obvious it felt silly or frustratingly vague enough that I retroactively felt foolish once I’d figured it out.

While you might think a tepid evaluation of that combat system would impact how fun the game itself is, you’d be wrong. I didn’t really like the combat in The Origami King, a game I enjoyed the hell out of. The second part of that statement comes entirely from the game’s writing, which is hilarious and charmingly heartfelt. The game introduces new origami characters that have depth

It’s a game that contains a surprising amount of musical numbers, sure, but an equally surprising amount of heart. It’s silly and simplistic and also very funny. The first mechanic you learn is gleefully tossing colorful confetti in the air and repairing holes in the landscape made by paper mache goombas. The next is essentially pounding everything in sight with a hammer to discover crumpled up and hidden Toads.

It would be easy to call the game childish, as it has a dedicated “hints” button in combat and its puzzles and fetch quests can be fairly easy to solve. But the writing often hides that all-ages approach, or at least makes it tolerable with humor and character overreaction combined with a bit of added Mario lore. I found myself screenshotting various things to remember including here, which are fairly pointless without the game’s context. But a brief collection of Origami King absurdity includes a Wise Guy tape dispenser, a hilariously-named game show and just the right amount of horror elements in a children’s game to throw you off completely.

This Paper Mario somehow finds a way to be both a Nintendo property and still contain the humor that matches absurd headlines from The Onion about Nintendo. It also tells a very fun, if not unnecessary, story about a world ravaged by a surprisingly powerful foe. It has Wild West homages and very familiar characters given new and unexpected emotional growth. Some of the best moments come from ancillary side characters making quick comments you wouldn’t expect, offering jokes about Mario or his folded soldier foes.

The Origami King is juvenile, sure, but mostly because it takes place in a world where an existential threat to existence is taken seriously enough by all that enemies work together. Mario rescues his fabled antagonist Bowser in the game’s opening minutes, then spends the entirety of the game working to free his minions from the grasp of an origami creature gone mad with power. Bigger things are at play here, and so even rivals spending their entire lives pitted against each other need to help one another out for a bit.

Characters from all sides of the Mario universe are on the same team here against the origami foes, and so the Shogun tourist attraction is devoid of tourists because the threat of paper mache is simply too high. It’s unfair to compare every video game to real life in the age of coronavirus, but a number of titles coming out these days just happen to be about humanity-altering viruses. Origami taking over a paper universe isn’t a 1:1 match, of course, but I couldn’t help but shake how easy it felt to get everyone on the same page in the game and how helpless it feels to do the same once you put the controller down. Even Olivia, herself origami and the brother of your foe, fell in line pretty quickly.

Not every game needs the nihilism that an epic tale like the Last Of Us Part II has about people, especially in these trying times. Even funny, cheerful games can offer a jolt of emotion for characters you never expected to mourn. And somehow, in Paper Mario: The Origami King, the least realistic thing about the game isn’t that origami can come to life but that once it did everyone else realized it was a threat they simply couldn’t ignore.

The stated mission of NBA players coming into the Bubble in Orlando was to continue keeping the issues of systemic racism facing the Black community, from police brutality to voter suppression, at the forefront of conversation even as the season restarted. It was a concern that led to discussion about whether restarting the season at all was the right move, but once they moved forward with the Bubble, players have done as promised and continue to use pre- and postgame press conferences to speak out on injustices happening around the country.

For LeBron James, he’s taken up the issue of voting rights and Black voter suppression in recent months, launching the More Than A Vote coalition that has brought in some of the top athletes from around the world of sports to shine light on the obstacles and suppression tactics used against Black voters. On Monday, More Than A Vote ran an open letter on The Undefeated issuing a call to action for fans that are getting ready to settle in for the NBA Playoffs, offering things they can do to fight voter suppression and pull down the barriers to voting in the Black community.

The letter highlights how the COVID-19 pandemic will be used as a suppression tactic, with polling locations likely to be shut down, creating longer lines and wait times in areas that are heavily Black that already battle these issues. It’s why the coalition has worked with stadiums and arenas to make them official polling locations, offering resources and a guide for how more stadiums can go through the process to become a voting location.

For us, though, the letter outlines a number of things we can do to try and alleviate some of the voter suppression that figures to run rampant come November. The first, of course, is to vote and ensure we are registered to vote, but they go much further than just suggesting voting as the solution.

For those who are young and healthy, volunteer to work the polls on Election Day. The average poll worker is 60 years old. Most cannot risk COVID-19 to ensure we can vote. Our grandparents, parents, aunties and uncles are being asked to risk their lives to open a polling location? No way. And don’t just volunteer to work polls, but volunteer to work in the most vulnerable communities where you are needed.

Second, volunteer your time and money to an organization mobilizing for this fight. More Than A Vote is partnering with NAACP Legal Defense Fund, When We All Vote, Fair Fight and the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition. These groups and others like them are in our community fighting for our people and they need all the help they can get.

Third, share information that will educate, energize and protect Black voters. Use your influence to create change. Use your social media to share accurate information about how to vote and where to vote safely. Follow the groups we listed above, as well as More Than A Vote. We are all sharing critical and accurate information. Do not recklessly post B.S. from unknown places. Take this election seriously. Become trusted community leaders and activists who help keep our people informed and empowered.

The first suggestion is one that will be vital, as getting more young people signed up to serve as polling workers would be a huge step towards keeping polling locations open. It’s something I don’t think is thought of very often as an option for people to do, but it is critical to the success of elections to simply staff these polling places.

Beyond that, the other two suggestions are far more easily worked into your daily life. Giving to the right organizations to help disenfranchised voters is something anyone with the financial means can do, and everyone can get better at thinking critically and avoiding blindly sharing information without checking into it first. Misinformation is one of the greatest threats to this election and sharing accurate information online — and flagging things that are not true — is very important.

People said it couldn’t be done. “Brian,” they’d say with weariness in their eyes, “I’m sorry, but there’s just no way, ever, that there will be a set of circumstances that allows you to compare the NBA Playoffs to Bio-Dome, the 1996 film in which slackers played by Pauly Shore and Stephen Baldwin find themselves — through a series of circumstances and hijinks that include, among other things, urine and firecrackers — trapped inside a bubbled-off experiment, quarantined off from society to prevent a contamination that threatens the entire project, working together with teams of scientists and doctors under strange conditions for an extended period of time to achieve a common goal in the end.”

And yet, here we are, on the verge of the 2020 NBA Playoffs, with the teams in a metaphorical if not literal bubble, quarantined off from society to prevent a contamination that would endanger the whole project, working together with teams of scientists and doctors under strange conditions for an extended period of time to achieve a common goal in the end.

Joke’s on you naysayers. Here are six lessons — real, legitimate, actual lessons, kind of — that NBA playoff teams in the bubble can learn from Bio-Dome.

LESSON NUMBER ONE — MAKE THE BEST OF A WEIRD SITUATION

Context: After almost ruining the entire Bio-Dome experiment by sneaking in hundreds of people and a full punk band for a luau-themed party, Pauly Shore and Stephen Baldwin’s characters, Bud and Doyle, realize the error of their ways and attempt to encourage the scientists to see the project through anyway, with a few adaptations, to make it work even if it’s not exactly how they envisioned.

This one goes out to the teams that had legitimate championship ambitions entering the season, and to the handful that developed them as the season progressed. The Lakers, the Clippers, the Bucks, maybe even the Nuggets and Raptors. The teams that were cruising into March with plans of rest and focus before the playoffs, the teams that had designs on maybe even closing out the season on their home floor in front of tens of thousands of screaming fans, with confetti falling from the heavens and a mess of champagne-soaked humanity in the locker room afterward, and a parade through the streets with hundreds of thousands of people packed together whooping and yelling and hugging. All the things you see in your brain when you have those title dreams.

All the things that, now, will not be happening, as they’ve been replaced with empty gymnasiums and restrictive health protocols and social distance guidelines that frown on embracing strangers and bathing in a dirty pool of sparkling wine. It’s going to be very weird. It’s not what anyone pictured when the season started in the fall. But it’s where everyone is now, and it’s better than nothing, and there’s no point in not giving it a go. A bonkers bubble title is better than no title at all.

This lesson applies in another way, too, to some of the teams who snuck in late or who are wildly undermanned for one reason or another. More screencaps will help.

Do I think the Blazers can win the title this year? No. I do not. They’re too thin and chaotic and they’ll have to outscore everyone 145-144 to survive. But do I very much want to see Dame Lillard attempt to continue his supernova bubble performance and give the Lakers fits in the first round? Yes. Yes, I do. And do I want to see a Zombie Nets team without Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving scrap their little hearts out against the Raptors? Yes, I’d like to see that, too. The whole thing is already chaos. Let’s lean all the way into it.

LESSON NUMBER TWO — HOLD EACH OTHER ACCOUNTABLE

Context: Stephen Baldwin’s character, Doyle, swallows the emergency key to prevent anyone from leaving, ensuring that everyone will be stuck inside to see the challenge through until the end, challenges be damned.

This is probably a bit drastic for playoff teams in the bubble. I cannot in good faith suggest that teammates basically imprison each other inside the hotel to prevent them from breaking quarantine. The general theme applies, though. Everyone is in it for the long haul. It’s time to band together. It’s time to check on that teammate who was watching the Buffalo Wild Wings commercial with a burning desire in their eyes, the kind of desire that can lead to irresponsible behavior, the kind of desire that can send you on a mission for lemon pepper wings that results in a 14-day isolation in a playoff situation where 14 days can cover an entire round of action.

So yes, check on each other. Be each other’s support system. Make sure everyone is following the rules, even the other teams, to whatever degree you can. There’s a delicate ecosystem in play inside the bubble. One positive test can quickly spin into dozens, and that can shut down this whole operation.

And maybe stay out of the pool, too.

Can’t be too careful. That’s all I’m saying.

LESSON NUMBER THREE — ROLL WITH THE PUNCHES

Context: With the plant life dying and the whole experiment on the brink of collapse, our two idiot heroes work with the scientists to develop a plan. They use the leftover beer and soda cans from the ill-advised party to form a reflective screen that, with the addition of filtered air, will help harness the rays of the sun and breathe life into the wheezing ecosystem.

Things could go sideways at any point in any number of ways over the next few months. This is unprecedented territory. A team might lose an important player to a positive test, or even a false positive. A starter might have to sit in a Game 7 because he woke up with mild symptoms and the doctors want to err on the side of caution. The key is to adapt, to take what you have and make the best of it, to duct tape a solution together, and fight through toward a common goal. Just like they do in Bio-Dome. I can’t believe I’m writing any of this either.

LESSON NUMBER FOUR — CARROTS ARE MIRACLES

Context: I don’t know, just work with me here.

This one admittedly has nothing to do with anything, unless you’re willing to let me stretch it into a general piece of advice to eat healthy to maintain peak physical condition. It’s fine if you’re not, though. I’m really just including it to remind you that Australian pop sensation Kylie Minogue plays one of the Bio-Dome scientists.

Poor Kylie Minogue. Her character is a thinly-drawn mess, which is really saying something in a movie whose entire premise hinges on two doofuses using firecrackers to sneak into a $100 million science bubble because they had to pee and thought it was a shopping mall. She flips between being concerned for the project given the intrusion (justifiable) and being extremely horny for Pauly Shore (less justifiable, especially given that first thing). She tries to seduce him with this carrot at one point. Later, she — Kylie Minogue, multigenerational Australian music icon — throws herself at him and gets turned away. It’s not right. Kylie Minogue deserved — still deserves — much better than this.

But do get your fruits and vegetables. Fiber is a vital part of the diet. This applies to everyone, I guess, not just NBA players in the bubble. Good tip, Kylie Minogue.

LESSON NUMBER FIVE — FIND ACTIVITIES THAT PROMOTE MENTAL HEALTH

Context: As part of the process of healing the Bio-Dome post-luau, Bud plants what appears to be a tremendous amount of marijuana. The benefits of this were laid out in a board meeting earlier (plant life creates oxygen, hemp can be used for rope, etc.), but mostly, well, it’s for the reasons you think.

Two things are important to note here:

• It is hilarious that the plot hole in Bio-Dome that was a bridge too far for me, the one that I could not abide, was the idea that Pauly Shore’s character just happened to be carrying around a few dozen seeds for a potent strain of marijuana as he was driving around before they got stuck in the Bio-Dome, as though all stoners are ready to plant weed at any given moment, or are capable of this level of planning
• I am not suggesting NBA players plant and grow marijuana on the grounds of Disney World

All I’m saying is that the situation is not ideal for tip-top mental health, between being trapped together in one location and not being able to leave and not being able to see your family and friends. Players will need to be aware of this and figure out ways to maintain a balance. Otherwise, they could suffer the same fate as the head Bio-Dome scientist, who went fully unhinged about halfway through the movie and started growing a crazy man beard and making bombs out of coconuts.

He later ate that parrot. I have given a lot of thought as to which player or coach is most likely to suffer this fate before the bubble ends and the best answer I’ve come up with so far is Jimmy Butler. I could see him eating a parrot. He’s a very intense man.

LESSON NUMBER SIX — DO NOT INJURE YOUR BLADDER ROLLERBLADING

Context: Taylor Negron’s character, Russell, a creepy deadbeat loser who is dating Bud’s girlfriend’s mom and hitting on Bud’s girlfriend and later gets a job delivering pizza, starts the movie on the couch wearing an adult diaper because he suffered a very tragic and very 1990s injury to his bladder.

This advice seems very specific, and it is, although you could certainly broaden it out to something like “You’ll probably get bored in the bubble after a number of weeks and begin to seek out leisure activities to pass the time but please do not attempt anything so reckless that it could result in the type of injury that leaves you couchbound wearing a Depends like Russell in Bio-Dome” if you really wanted to stretch the meaning to its limits. I’m just including it because this seems like the kind of thing that would happen to someone on the Sixers before the whole experiment ends.

Within seconds of Joe Biden naming Kamala Harris as his vice president came the Maya Rudolph jokes. “Maya Rudolph up your fee.” “Maya Rudolph bout to eat eat.” “I, for one, am also thrilled about 4 years of Maya Rudolph SNL appearances.” SNL‘s season premiere isn’t usually until late September or early October — whether it will be in-studio or virtual has yet to be determined — so there’s still time for any official decisions to be made, but having Rudolph playing Harris in season 46 (!) is on Lorne Michaels’ mind.

When asked by the Hollywood Reporter whether she’s heard from the SNL head honcho, Rudolph answered, “He sent me a GIF of myself, as Kamala, in sunglasses, sipping a cocktail and saying, ‘Oh no.’ That really made me laugh.” The Big Mouth star (one of her three Emmy-nominated roles this year) also said that after the announcement, her phone “blew up… I think there’s a collective excitement about this. It’s a spot of positivity and hope and some good news, so it feels nice to be associated with that. But I also feel like such a lazy cheater, because I didn’t do anything. I’m not running. I don’t have to do anything but be the same fool I was. She’s doing all the hard work.”

The most surprising thing about all this isn’t people being excited for Rudolph over Harris’ historic selection — it’s Lorne Michaels owning a smartphone. And that he sends people GIFs. That man has strong “rotary phone only” energy. I am, to quote a GIF that Michaels probably sent to Kristen Wiig once, shooketh.

(Via Hollywood Reporter)

Drake and Lil Wayne have enjoyed a fruitful working relationship over the past decade-plus, and now Drake has taken a minute to thank the legendary rapper for all he has done for him.

Tidal’s Elliott Wilson shared a video of Wayne speaking highly of Drake in an interview, and Drake returned the favor in the comments, writing, “This man believed in me after so many never called again or just didn’t see it to begin with…most selfless artist ever never held any of us back always pushed us forward every single night in people faces 20k packed into an arena and he had a whole set of his show dedicated to introducing us FOR YEARS…all praise and credit due to the [GOAT].”

Indeed, Wayne was an early supporter of Drake. He featured on two songs from Drake’s 2009 debut EP So Far Gone, and the two continued to collaborate on a number of occasions in subsequent years. Drake was also part of Wayne’s “America’s Most Wanted’ tour in 2009.

Meanwhile, Drake recently announced that he has a new album, Certified Lover Boy, on the way (although he was apparently unable to trademark the title). He introduced the project with “Laugh Now Cry Later,” featuring Lil Durk.

Not two full weeks after YBN Nahmir tweeted, “They left this YBN sh*t in the gutter,” YBN Cordae seemingly confirms the breakup of the crew with a symbolic name change on streaming services. It appears that his new stage name going forward will simply be “Cordae.” While his handle on Instagram has been updated accordingly, due to Twitter’s verification rules, it looks like he’ll be stuck with @Ybncordae for the time being.

It’s a significant change for the 21-year-old artist, as he first came to public prominence as a member of the YBN crew alongside Nahmir and YBN Almighty Jay. YBN (short for Young Boss N****s) first met while gaming online, coming together despite members being scattered across the US. Cordae is from Maryland, while Nahmir is from Alabama. Jay is from Texas. After Nahmir’s single “Rubbin Off the Paint” became a viral success, the crew signed their major deals both as a collective and as individual artists.

Their group debut, YBN: The Mixtape, soon followed, introducing the world to the three primary rappers of the crew, but it was YBN Cordae’s remixes of Eminem’s “My Name Is” and J. Cole’s “1985” (as “Old N****s) that made him the standout and launched his solo career. He followed up with the Grammy nominated debut The Lost Boy and has since been working on his sophomore album. Meanwhile, Nahmir and Jay have yet to follow up with their own projects, although Nahmir has appeared on posse cuts such as “Thot Box” and “I Might,” releasing the single “2 Seater” with G-Eazy and Offset earlier this year.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Rihanna hasn’t released a new album since 2016’s Anti, and basically ever since then, fans have been relentlessly asking her about when her next project is coming. As the wait between records grows longer, the pestering has grown more intense. Thankfully, though, Rihanna has a good sense of humor about it.

She cracked another joke about the wait over the weekend when she came across a Shade Room Instagram post about a Rihanna lookalike. The post re-shares a TikTok video from a user who really does bear a remarkable resemblance to the musician, and Rihanna took to the comments with a joke. She played the role of one of her fans in a comment, in which she wrote, “where the album sis? #R9.”

Rihanna has spoken about making music from time to time over the past few years, and in an interview from last month, she offered another update, saying, “I am always working on music. I am always working on music and when I’m ready to put it out in the way that I feel fit, it’s gonna come out. And you’re not going to be disappointed when it happens. It’s going to be worth it. I’m not just gonna put it out just because people are waiting. It’s taken this long, I’m gonna make it worth it.”

Every few years, we’re told about some new “greatest whiskey in the world.” This was the case back in 2015, when a lesser-known Taiwanese whisky, Kavalan Vinho Barrique, was named the best single malt on earth — beating out all of the well-known Scottish and Japanese brands at the World Whiskies Awards. That same year, a bargain $30 bottle of Crown Royal North Harvest Rye was named the best whisky in the world, too, after earning 97.5 out of 100 in Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible.

Flash forward to last year, when Henry McKenna 10-year-old Bottled-in-Bond, another $30 bottle, won the award for best bourbon at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Or just a few weeks ago, when Stagg Jr. scored a 98 at the Ultimate Spirits Challenge. Another day, another competition, another “best bottle” — this is part of the hype machine that powers the whiskey world.

Today brings us newly minted “king of all whiskeys”: Colonel E.H. Taylor Single Barrel Bottled-in-Bond (Straight Kentucky Bourbon). This bottle has been winning awards and finding itself in liquor cabinets all over the country for years. It’s maintained a strong following and is part of a much-lauded line of whiskeys. It’s also (theoretically) affordable — retailing for around $70. But good luck finding it for anywhere even close to that price now that it’s been award a 99 out of 100 by the judges at the International Wine and Spirits Competition (IWSC).

Like the Ultimate Spirits Challenge, the IWSC uses a double-blind method, ensuring that judges never see a bottle. However, the IWSC relies more on synchronized tastings and discussion amongst panelists — many of whom are distillers themselves. In short, these are trusted voices in the industry. But we figured the E.H. Taylor Single Barrel Bottled-In-Bond needed one more cosign… ours.

Check our tasting notes on this expression below.

Colonel E.H. Taylor Single Barrel Bottled-in-Bond

ABV: 50%

Distillery Name: Buffalo Trace

Average Price: $129.99

The Story:

Like all the bottles in the E.H. Taylor, Jr. Collection, Single Barrel was named for Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. The descendant of not one but two different presidents (James Madison and Zachary Taylor). It seems like Taylor was destined for success by name alone, but he didn’t sit idly and just enjoy the fruits of his surname. He was one of the main voices in the passing of the Bottle-in-Bond Act of 1897, which declared that bottled-in-bond whiskey must be produced by one distillery in one season, age for eat least four years in a federally bonded warehouse, and be bottled at 100 proof.

If not for that singular act of legislation alone, we wouldn’t be sitting here writing about Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. Single Barrel Bottled-in-Bond. It might not even exist.

The most exciting thing about this bourbon is the fact that many of the barrels used to make it were actually aged in Warehouse C at Buffalo Trace, a warehouse constructed by E.H. Taylor way back in 1881. On top of that, the barrels used to make this expression were hand-selected by master distiller Harlan Wheatley.

Tasting Notes (UPROXX):

A bourbon of this caliber shouldn’t be gulped down without giving it the respect it deserves. This isn’t Old Grand-Dad (although we sip that too). This deserves a long nosing to literally breathe in all the various complexities.

Right away, there’s an obvious charred oak aroma that comes with well-aged whiskeys. This is followed by creamy caramel and sweet vanilla bean. Once you’ve savored the scents and prepared yourself for the first sip, dive right in, you’ll be met with dried fruits, rich leather, toffee, subtle tobacco, and more rich vanilla. The finish is smooth, creamy, luxurious, and ends with a pleasing hint of pepper.

All in all, a whisky worthy of its praises and one that you’ll be really bummed to finish off. If you can ever get ahold of it in the first place.

Tasting Notes (IWSC):

“A broodingly dark, intense nose of bitter chocolate, subtle rye and balanced fresh fruit. Buttery smooth with elegant peach and touches of pepper, a nutty back palate and refined spicy oak. Classical scotch typicity with an engagingly fruity finish.”

The first playoff series we’ll get in the Bubble is the 3-6 tilt in the Western Conference between the Denver Nuggets and the Utah Jazz. The two Northwest Division foes will tip things off at 1:30 p.m. on ESPN on Monday afternoon, with the series’ winner advancing to take on either the Los Angeles Clippers or the Dallas Mavericks in the conference semifinals.

Both teams are quite familiar with one another, having played three times this season with the team from the Mile High City taking all three. Having said that, the playoffs are a different animal, and each team will look for that one extra bit of something with the hopes of pushing them over the hump against a team with which they’re so familiar.

We know who the stars are in this series, as much attention will be paid to Nikola Jokic vs. Rudy Gobert and Jamal Murray vs. Donovan Mitchell. However, the playoffs are so often about who else steps forward for a team, and as such, we’ve decided to identify an X-factor for both teams in hte series. While these will not necessarily lead to one side getting the clear-cut advantage over the other, every little bit counts, and the following two things could end up tilting the series one way or another if all goes right.

Denver Nuggets: Michael Porter Jr.

Well, as it turns out, this guy is quite good at basketball. While talent has never been the question with Porter, his back issues were a legitimately gigantic concern coming out of the draft two years ago. He seems healthy now, and after going through some of the growing pains you’d expect out of a rookie, the Nuggets young star has exploded in the Bubble, earning a second-team selection when the league announced its seeding games teams.

That aforementioned talent, particularly when it comes to scoring the basketball, has come through in a big, big way. In seven games in the Bubble, Porter has averaged 22 points and 8.6 rebounds for the Nuggets, giving them a consistent perimeter scoring presence that they’ve lacked for much of the year outside of Jamal Murray. He’s also been lights out from deep, connecting on 42.2 percent of his triples in Orlando.

Porter’s size and offensive versatility make him a nightmare when he’s on his game, something that hasn’t always been the case during his this campaign but has come through in a big way over his last few games. When he his cooking, he’s capable of bullying smaller defenders, busting out his bag of tricks to flummox bigger ones, or pull up over just about anyone. He is a young player putting it all together, and now, he’ll get to show what he can do on this stage.

Denver’s a very good team with a very good player at the center of everything in Nikola Jokic and a fun young guard in Murray, but if they lack anything, it’s the kind of guy who can consistently get a bucket in 1-on-1 situations. Their wager was that Porter could be that guy. He has been in the Bubble, and if he can continue to do that against the Jazz, this series might be over pretty quickly.

Utah Jazz: Someone stepping up and playing point guard

I wrote a good 300-400 words in the early hours of Sunday morning about how Utah needed Mike Conley to look like the player that was so good for so long in Memphis, something that seemed to be the case during the Bubble’s seeding games. Then, news dropped that Conley left the Bubble to be with his family as his wife, Mary, gave birth to baby boy in Ohio.

Not having Conley presents quite the dilemma for the Jazz, although he does plan to return to the team at some point. Utah doesn’t really have a second point guard — Donovan Mitchell has the ball in his hands a ton, but playmaking for others isn’t his strong suit. Joe Ingles can initiate the offense, and he does have quite the feel for the game, but he’s best as a secondary playmaker and a lethal catch-and-shoot player. Jordan Clarkson, meanwhile, is a pure scorer.

Emmanuel Mudiay, who was inactive for two of the Jazz’s final three seeding games due to knee soreness, may need to step up in this capacity. Lineups with Mudiay and Mitchell in the backcourt have not been particularly kind to Utah, per Cleaning the Glass, which presents some conundrums for Quin Snyder to sort out. The good news, insofar as there is any when a starter is out, is that Utah played some of its best basketball earlier this year when Conley was out with a hamstring injury, winning 15 of the 19 games they played with him on the sideline, including 10 in a row. The bad news to that is that an integral part of that stretch, Bojan Bogdanovic, is out for the entirety of the Bubble due to wrist surgery.

Mitchell’s going to have the ball in his hands a lot, particularly in big moments, but it’ll be incumbent on the Jazz to figure out who is running the offense in those minutes when they just need a steady hand at the 1. If they can do that, there’s a path to them taking down the Nuggets.

Logic is retiring from the rap game, so that means he’s putting extra effort into promoting his final album, No Pressure, which released a few weeks ago. During his final press tour, he sparked a passive-aggressive beef with Joe Budden, revealed the reasons why he’s leaving the rap game behind, and detailed the next phase of his career. In a new interview with Hard Knock TV, he goes back to one of his earliest inspirations in the hopes of pushing fans to give his new album a chance.

In a surprise to anyone who’s heard his first album, Under Pressure, Logic reveals during the interview that he hated the album Under Pressure most closely resembles: Kendrick Lamar’s debut Good Kid, MAAD City. “”When I listen to an album, I listen to it for weeks,” he explained. “I have my initial feeling, but when MAAD city came out, I f*cking hated that album. 100 percent.”

His reasoning: He didn’t like the mixing by Ali, which found Kendrick’s voice being distorted and manipulated — whenever Kendrick himself wasn’t doing the same. “”I didn’t like it because I wasn’t into Kendrick Lamar doing all his weird voices,” Logic reasons. “I liked J. Cole… Straight up, that’s what I liked. I didn’t like all these skits. I didn’t like having to sit through nine minutes of a song.” However, he says, after he “sat with it,” he wound up loving it — which is likely apparent from the way he then duplicated the approach on Under Pressure.

He shares the story in the hope that even those who don’t like his new album, No Pressure, will give it a similar treatment. “Anybody who gives an opinion in two seconds, even if they praise it, it’s bullsh*t,” he says. “You have to sit and live with something and I hope people sit with [No Pressure] for the rest of my career.”

Watch Logic’s full interview with Hard Knock TV above.

Under Pressure is out now via Def Jam.