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Jacque Vaughn’s tenure as head coach of the Brooklyn Nets has come to an end, as the organization chose to make a coaching change for the second half of the season.

Vaughn was always in a difficult position, as he took over the Nets coaching job last year and saw his two top stars push their way out in trade demands, as Kevin Durant ended up in Phoenix and Kyrie Irving went to Dallas. That said, there was clearly a desire in Brooklyn to remain competitive, and as the All-Star break arrived, the Nets were in 11th in the East at 21-33, showing very little in the way of positive signs of late as they have gone 8-23 in their last 31 games.

Roster construction and injury issues have undoubtedly played their role, but the coach is always the first to go in these situations and Vaughn is now out of a head coaching job once again. Vaughn coached the Magic for three years from 2012 to 2015, where he was let go around the time of the All-Star break then as well, and then did well as the interim coach in Brooklyn in the 2020 bubble but was not the choice for full-time coach after.

The Nets now will be part of this summer’s coaching carousel, but whoever comes in will need the front office to build a better roster around Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, and Nic Claxton (and they’ll need to continue to assess if those two can be The Guys).

Last Week Tonight made its 2024 debut Sunday night, and the episode ended with host John Oliver trying to fix one of the biggest problems in America: Clarence Thomas remaining in the Supreme Court. The Chief Justice, arguably the most conservative on the bench, came under particular fire last year over his damning relationships with far right figures, including his own MAGA wife. Still, he’s refused to recuse himself from certain cases. But Oliver offered him a sweet deal to leave for good.

“Clarence Thomas is arguably the most consequential justice on the court right now, and he’s never really seemed to like the job. He’s said it’s not worth doing ‘for the grief.’ So what if he could keep the luxury perks that he clearly enjoys without having to endure all of that grief?” Oliver told the crowd. “We have a special offer for you tonight. We are prepared to offer you $1 million a year for the rest of your life if you simply agree to leave the Supreme Court immediately and never come back.”

Oliver then showed off a contract he had already had drawn up. “This is not a joke,” he said. “This is real. A million dollars a year until you or I die.”

Is any of this legal? Apparently, although Oliver acknowledged “it really feels like it shouldn’t be.” He added, “But as they keep pointing out, there are no rules in place to stop me from doing this. And let me be clear: HBO is not putting up the money for this. I am personally on the hook.”

Oliver noted, “I could be doing stand-up tours for your retirement for years.”

That’s not all Oliver was offering Thomas. Knowing about his yen for pricey Winnebagos he can’t afford on his Supreme Court salary, he was willing to throw in a major upgrade: a $2.4 million motorcoach with a king size bed, one-and-a-half baths, a fireplace, four TVs, a “residential-length fridge,” plus a washer and dryer.

“And if you’re thinking, what will my friends say if I take this offer? Will they judge me as they sit in the boardrooms and megayachts and Hitler shrines? Will they still treat me to luxury vacations and sing songs about me off of their phones?” said Oliver. “Well, that’s the beauty of friendships, Clarence. If they’re real friends, they’ll love you no matter what your job is.”

Oliver told Thomas he has 30 days to take the deal.

So will Thomas accept? Or will he continue to rule on cases in which he’s ethically entangled? Only time will tell.

Pop culture’s hottest power couple of the moment, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, both came up big at this weekend’s People’s Choice Awards.

The ceremony went down yesterday (February 18) and Swift ended up coming away with four awards: Female Artist Of The Year, Pop Artist Of The Year, Concert Tour Of The Year for The Eras Tour, and Social Celebrity Of The Year. Kelce, meanwhile, won his sole nomination for Athlete Of The Year.

Elsewhere, other highlights included Jung Kook picking up Male Artist Of The Year; Bad Bunny and Shakira winning Male and Female Latin Artist Of The Year, respectively; Nicki Minaj getting Hip-Hop Artist Of The Year; Beyoncé being named R&B Artist Of The Year; and Ice Spice being crowned New Artist Of The Year.

As far as music people outside of the music categories, Selena Gomez’s Only Murders In The Building won Comedy Show Of The Year, Gomez won Female TV Star Of The Year for the show, The Voice won Competition Show Of The Year, Billie Eilish won TV Performance Of The Year for her role in Swarm, and The Kelly Clarkson Show won Daytime Talk Show Of The Year.

Check out the nominees of the music awards (with winners in bold) below and find the full list of winners in all categories here.

Male Artist Of The Year

Bad Bunny
Drake
Jack Harlow
Jung Kook
Luke Combs
Morgan Wallen
Post Malone
The Weeknd

Female Artist Of The Year

Beyoncé
Doja Cat
Karol G
Lainey Wilson
Miley Cyrus
Nicki Minaj
Olivia Rodrigo
Taylor Swift

Male Country Artist Of The Year

Chris Stapleton
Cody Johnson
Hardy
Jelly Roll
Kane Brown
Luke Combs
Morgan Wallen
Zach Bryan

Female Country Artist Of The Year

Ashley McBryde
Carly Pearce
Carrie Underwood
Gabby Barrett
Kelsea Ballerini
Lainey Wilson
Megan Moroney
Shania Twain

Male Latin Artist Of The Year

Bad Bunny
Bizarrap
Feid
Manuel Turizo
Maluma
Peso Pluma
Rauw Alejandro
Ozuna

Female Latin Artist Of The Year

Ángela Aguilar
Anitta
Becky G
Kali Uchis
Karol G
Rosalía
Shakira
Young Miko

Pop Artist Of The Year

Billie Eilish
Doja Cat
Dua Lipa
Jung Kook
Miley Cyrus
Olivia Rodrigo
Tate McRae
Taylor Swift

Hip-Hop Artist Of The Year

Cardi B
Drake
Future
Jack Harlow
Latto
Nicki Minaj
Post Malone
Travis Scott

R&B Artist Of The Year

Beyoncé
Brent Faiyaz
Janelle Monáe
SZA
Tems
The Weeknd
Usher
Victoria Monét

New Artist Of The Year

Coi Leray
Ice Spice
Jelly Roll
Jung Kook
Noah Kahan
Peso Pluma
PinkPantheress
Stephen Sanchez

Group/Duo Of The Year

Dan + Shay
Fuerza Regida
Grupo Frontera
Jonas Brothers
Old Dominion
Paramore
Stray Kids
TOMORROW X TOGETHER

Song Of The Year

Dua Lipa, “Dance The Night”
Luke Combs, “Fast Car”
Miley Cyrus, “Flowers”
Gunna, “F*kumean”
Tate McRae, “Greedy”
Morgan Wallen, “Last Night”
Doja Cat, “Paint The Town Red”
Olivia Rodrigo, “Vampire”

Album Of The Year

Miley Cyrus, Endless Summer Vacation
Drake, For All The Dogs
Luke Combs, Gettin’ Old
Olivia Rodrigo, Guts
Karol G, Mañana Será Bonito
Bad Bunny, Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana
Morgan Wallen, One Thing AT A Time
Nicki Minaj, Pink Friday 2

Collaboration Song Of The Year

Lil Durk Feat. J. Cole, “All My Life”
Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice with Aqua, “Barbie World”
Eslabon Armado X Peso Pluma, “Ella Baila Sola”
Drake Feat. J. Cole, “First Person Shooter”
Zach Bryan feat. Kasey Musgraves, “I Remember Everything”
Jung Kook feat. Latto, “Seven”
Karol G and Shakira, “TQG”
Grupo Frontera X Bad Bunny, “Un x100to”

Concert Tour Of The Year

Ed Sheeran, +–=÷x Tour
Coldplay, Music of the Spheres World Tour
Harry Styles, Love on Tour
Luke Combs, World Tour
Morgan Wallen, One Night at a Time World Tour
PInk, Summer Carnival Tour
Beyoncé, Renaissance World Tour
Taylor Swift, The Eras Tour

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

Few things were higher up on Adam Silver’s list of priorities in the lead-up to this NBA season than bringing back some level of competitiveness to the All-Star Game. The league (and, specifically, Silver) explicitly wanted the game to be more competitive after a few years of guys never getting out of first gear, but instead, the 2024 version of the event made a mockery of that vision, with the Eastern Conference beating the Western Conference 211-186.

There were plenty of fun moments during the game, although basically all of them centered around how guys just were not taking it seriously. While speaking to the media after the game, Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis identified his favorite thing that happened on Sunday night in Indianapolis, and he picked, well, let’s say something a little unorthodox.

“I think the best [moment], we were talking about it, was the Bulls and the Pacers dunkers,” Davis said, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “With the trampoline? They were very, very impressive.”

I will now apologize for embedding a video of my own tweet, but in fairness to AD, the timeout segment involving these trampoline dunkers was spectacular, and you could see that players on the Western Conference’s bench were having a blast watching them.

Having said that, with how important it was to the NBA that the game was taken seriously, we cannot imagine that Davis saying the best part of the All-Star Game was an act that happened during a timeout will be especially popular with some folks in the league office.

Taylor Swift has fans once again wondering about her past relationship with ex Joe Alwyn after she made a speech before her performance of “Betty” at a recent Melbourne concert. The track featured on her 2020 album, Folklore, was written in quarantine, and Alwyn had writing credits on various other songs.

However, despite seemingly spending time songwriting together, Swift still described herself as a “lonely millennial woman covered in cat hair, drinking my weight in white wine” during that period.

Swift reflected on their relationship during her Time Magazine interview as well, where she felt regret for all the time she spent shutting herself off from going out in public and having fun.

Since Swift’s recent announcement of her upcoming new album, The Tortured Poets Department, it has put a lot of Alwyn’s behavior under close inspection from fans online. Many believe the title was inspired by a group chat that Alwyn previously said he had with actors Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott, which was titled the “Tortured Man Club.”

Then, there’s the question of the album’s cover. Over the weekend, fans had wondered if Alwyn had cheated on Swift after finding an old Instagram story from the actress Emma Baird it was allegedly with. Last year, Baird posted photos of Alwyn shortly after the news of the breakup had happened, which fueled the rumors at the time. In typical Swiftie fashion, it’s also been suspected that Swift’s release date of April 19 is possibly tied to being just one day after Baird’s post was made.

Some of Swift’s recent Melbourne surprise songs had a common theme of cheating as well.

Continue scrolling for some more fan rumors about Swift and Alwyn’s split.

Usher was a major force in helping get Justin Bieber’s pop star journey off the ground, as he and Scooter Braun created the label Raymond Braun Media Group (RBMG) to sign Bieber and manage his career. Justin Timberlake was also pursuing Bieber at the time, and Usher looked back on this “bidding war” in a new People interview.

He explained:

“When you are at the top of your game, some of the greatest things will be presented to you, and it was, I think, right after [my album] Confessions that I was introduced to Justin Bieber and Scooter Braun. I presented Scooter an offer that I felt like he couldn’t resist. […] We built a friendship, but this would obviously create a partnership that would span us forever, and it was a bit of a bidding war between me and Justin Timberlake. […] I was like, ‘I’m not certain that I could understand each and every producer that this artist could benefit from, but what I can tell you is I’m going to give you my passion, and I’m going to give you every bit of what I have to offer.’”

For the record, there seem to be no hard feelings toward Timberlake from Usher, as he said, “I’ve always wanted to do a record with Justin, and I have reached out many times, but we’ve never managed to make it happen.”

Read more from the interview here.

Since the start of The Eras Tour, Taylor Swift has devoted a small, two-song chunk of her set to a pair of songs that she’d perform acoustically. These songs would change nightly, and Swift would shy away from playing the same song more than once at any point on the tour. Now, though, Swift has revised her self-imposed rule.

In Melbourne, Australia yesterday (February 18), Swift explained, “I’ve just been kind of re-thinking, I’ve been thinking, I want to be as creative as possible with the acoustic set moving forward. And I don’t wanna limit anything and I don’t wanna just say, ‘Oh, if I’ve played a song before I can’t play it again.’ So from now on, I’m just gonna… I don’t wanna take any paint colors out of the paint box of colors. I don’t want to take any tools out of the toolbox… what’s the metaphor I’m looking for? I want to be able to play songs more than once if I feel like it, and I wanna be able to make changes to songs.”

Back on March 17, 2023, Swift explained of her initial approach, “The plan, the goal, would be to play different songs every single night and never repeat one. Right? So that when you heard one on this tour, you would know it’s the only time that I was going to play it in the acoustic set, unless — caveat — unless I mess it up so badly that I have to do it over again in some other city.”

Things are different now, though, since all songs are back in the mix when it comes to the surprise portion of the Eras Tour set.

Subtle, condescending sexist remarks such as “When are you going to have children?” and “You’d be so pretty, if you tried” are heard by women on a daily basis. Like water torture, what’s subtle and persistent can become debilitating over a lifetime.

Making things more difficult is the contradicting nature of many sexist clichés that women are subjected to starting in childhood, such as “Is that all you’re going to eat?” and “You eat a lot for a girl.” Then there are the big-time, nuclear bomb sexist remarks such as “Don’t be a slut” and “What were you wearing that night?” that are still shockingly common as well.

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It’s hard for men to truly grasp this never-ending barrage of sexism because it’s not in their faces. That’s why The Huffington Post created the video “48 Things That Women Hear in a Lifetime* (*That Men Just Don’t),” in which women of all ages share the most common sexist comments they hear—but which men never do.

This article originally appeared on 8.8.21

Giannis Antetokounmpo has drawn plenty of criticism for how long it takes him to shoot free throws. For years, Antetokounmpo has pushed the limit of the 10-second count that comes with every free throw attempt, which has led to plenty of crowds (and, on occasion, opposing players) counting along in an effort to get the refs to call an infraction.

With the 2024 All-Star Game happening in Indianapolis — a city whose fans don’t have a ton of love for the former NBA MVP — it probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that Antetokounmpo faced this treatment once again. But in a fun twist, Antetokounmpo decided to lean into the bit. Antetokounmpo got a big smile on his face as fans counted during his first attempt at the charity stripe in the third quarter, and during his second free throw, he stood there and nodded his head as everyone counted to ten.

The whole thing was hilarious, as evidenced by the fact that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jayson Tatum, and Nikola Jokic were cracking up over the whole thing. But things also worked out pretty well for Giannis, because after he missed, he grabbed his own rebound and managed to get a layup out of the whole thing.

Luka Doncic is one of the best players in the NBA, but he has never been good in the All-Star Game because he cannot bring himself to care much about the midseason exhibition.

Doncic is apathetic towards the game is to a comical degree, even compared to the rest of the All-Stars that are just enjoying themselves out there and trying not to get injured. This year, Doncic took it to another level as late in the second quarter he took the inbound pass and proceeded to toss up a three-quarter court shot with more than 30 seconds left on the clock.

It was rather incredible to witness, but making it even funnier is that Doncic decided to hop on his phone at halftime while in the West locker room and respond to a tweet about it, explaining that he was just making the right analytics play to get the West a 2-for-1 opportunity.

It’s a very good tweet from Luka, and honestly they should let the guys have their phones on the benches to post throughout the game as an added element if they want.

Amazingly, the three-quarter court shot and tweet might not even have been the funniest Luka moment of the night. During a timeout in the first half, he stood on the floor and intently watched the on-court entertainment of a lady doing hula-hoop tricks on a giant exercise ball.

We also might’ve learned in the third quarter why Doncic doesn’t try to join in on the All-Star fun the rest of the guys have, as he tried an off-backboard alley-oop to himself on a fastbreak and hilariously bricked it.

Doncic might not be the most locked in guy in the All-Star Game, but he is highly entertaining.