NBA teams are making preparations for 22 squads to make their way to Orlando in an attempt to finish the 2019-20 season. Squads will begin reporting over the coming weeks, with the current plan indicating that games will tip off on July 31 in a mad dash to name a champion for this campaign.
As part of the bubble league, teams will reportedly be allowed to carry 17-player rosters, as fears about injuries after such a long layoff and the potential that a player could get COVID-19 both exist. We learned on Saturday that these expanded rosters will be put together in a one-week period next week, as Shams Charania of The Athletic reports that teams will have from June 23-30 to conduct business in a transaction window.
The NBA has set the transaction window for its 30 teams: June 23 (12 pm ET) to June 30 (11:59 pm ET), sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 20, 2020
This transaction window won’t put every potential transaction on the table — apologies to those who were hoping that trades would be allowed for a week — but teams will have a few courses of action for how they can expand their rosters.
Teams can conduct rest of season contracts, substitute players ($183,115 minimum for two years of service), two-way contracts, and waivers during the window. https://t.co/bA9q7J4Axc
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 20, 2020
This is not the only news we received on Saturday about how the next few months will look. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the league plans to hold its draft on Oct. 16 — three days after a potential Game 7 should the NBA Finals require one — and have free agency open up on Oct. 18.
Although much of the entertainment industry remains under quarantine, some pockets have gone back to work, albeit while social distancing, keeping clean and safe, etc. One soap opera resumed production last week, with the actors actually performing their requisite love scenes with blow-up dolls. Meanwhile, Dave Chappelle surprise released a new stand-up set last week, complete with a scattered audience. D.L. Hughley also returned to the stage. Alas, a set he did in Nashville Friday ended suddenly with him passing out and having to be taken to the hospital.
Good news first: His rep told Entertainment Weekly that, after remaining there overnight, is feeling better. It’s said that he was “suffering from exhaustion after all the week’s work and travel,” and that he’s already feeling better and “wishes to thank everyone for the very kind prayer and thoughts.”
The incident occurred Zanies Nashville Comedy Club. A patron caught it on camera and posted it online, and it shows the comic seeming to pass out, only to be caught by someone off-stage, who prevented him from falling to the floor. Uproxx spoke to him two years back in advance of his Netflix comedy special Contrarian, in which he said he’d “never seen a time that was more right for comedy.” That sentiment probably goes double or triple nowadays.
(Via EW)
Artists from many genres have stepped forward to offer their words and support for those affected by systemic racism. Following a frustrating and anger-filled few weeks sparked by the death of George Floyd — and amplified by the unsolved murder of Breonna Taylor, as well as the death of Rayshard Brooks — people across America placed a much-needed emphasis on the Juneteenth holiday. Some artists used to the day to deliver new music, one of them being Reason.
In the midst of working on his upcoming album, Reason reached into his vaults to release “Field N****,” a song he recorded two years ago. “When sitting around feeling as though I haven’t done enough I added the last part of this song and shot this video 2 days ago,” he said in an Instagram post for the song. “Love my label for allowing me to give this to you all and I hope it resonates with you the way it did for me when creating it”
The song came with a video, which features a number of black-and-white images that represent the pain and struggle throughout Black history, from Rosa Park on a Birmingham bus to Sandra Bland struggling in the back of a police cruiser.
You can listen to “Field N****” above.