Feb. 1 was a good day for Jalen Brunson. Though it was anything but a surprise given his performance this season, the New York Knicks guard was officially named as an Eastern Conference All-Star and, just moments later, Brunson took the court for the shorthanded Knicks against the Indiana Pacers at Madison Square Garden. New York trailed by as many as 15 points, including a double-digit deficit in the second half, but the Knicks overcame the absences of Julius Randle, OG Anunoby, and Quentin Grimes in what became a 109-105 victory.
The Knicks have played as well as any team in the league in recent days but, after the game was over, Brunson was emotional in a way that is not typical following a mid-season victory.
For one thing, Brunson’s day was pretty fantastic, and that extended to the court. He led the way for the Knicks, finishing with a game-high 40 points on 15-of-30 shooting. That included 11 points in the fourth quarter and 19 points after halftime, pushing his team to another impressive win.
The MSG crowd was also bonkers, and the “M-V-P” chants Brunson received during the postgame interview certainly didn’t hurt the scene. New York is now 18-5 at home this season and, beyond that, the Knicks are 15-2 since the calendar flipped to 2024. In the end, though, Brunson’s emotional reaction was a reminder of the power that sports can have, with a city backing a player, the player giving it all he has, and a wildly impressive run culminating in one incredibly fun moment.
Sol Blume 2024 is returning to Discovery Park in Sacramento this spring — and this is the biggest iteration of the festival yet. Taking place over the course of three days (May 3-5), fans can look forward to performances by some of the biggest names in R&B and hip-hop.
Taking the stage on Friday are Jojo, PinkPantheress, Omar Apollo, and Snoh Aalegra, the latter of which will serve as that day’s headliner.
Saturday’s headliner will be supergroup Kaytraminé — which is comprised of producer Kaytranada and Aminé. Also on the bill are Masego, SiR, Kelela, Wale, and Jordan Ward.
On the final day of the festival, Leon Thomas, Chxrry22, Doechii, Ari Lennox, Partynextdoor are set to perform, with SZA as the headliner.
This year marks the fifth anniversary of Sol Blume, and the first three-day iteration of the festival. As many of the headliners haven’t put out new projects in awhile, fans are excited at the prospect of potentially getting new music from Omar Apollo, Partynextdoor, and Snoh Aalegra.
Tickets for Sol Blume 2024 go on sale Monday, February 5 at 10 a.m. PT. Fans can pre-register here beginning now.
You can see the full Sol Blume 2024 line-up below.
Some of the artists mentioned here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
On Wednesday, Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports authored a piece about NBA journeyman Tony Snell’s efforts to sign a contract with a team before Friday. You probably saw it making its way around the internet, but the long and the short of it is that Snell has two sons — Karter, who is 3, and Kenzo, who is 2. Both were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, and in order for Snell to become eligible for the National Basketball Players Association’s premium medical plan that would give them health benefits, he needs to end up on a roster for the remainder of the 2023-24 season, and Friday is the deadline for that to happen.
It’s a pretty incredible story (Jake, if you’re reading this, great job, my guy), one that resonated with a whole lot of people. One of them was Charles Barkley, who took some time after the TNT NBA crew announced the 2024 All-Star reserves to call on a team to give Snell a roster spot.
Charles Barkley calls on NBA teams to sign Tony Snell after a viral article from @YahooSports this week detailed the veteran forward’s need for medical coverage for his two children with Autism pic.twitter.com/VOgk2RF73o
“The NBA’s been great to all of us sitting up here,” Barkley said. “And you guys are gonna be playing basketball forever making a gazillion dollars. I hope one of you guys signs Tony so his two autistic kids can get great medical care … I hope a team signs him for the rest of the season, because I don’t know a lot about autism, I ain’t gonna say that. But man, I know it’s gotta be expensive to have two young kids with that situation. I’m hoping the NBA, we always talk about what a family we are, let’s sign that kid for the rest of the season.”
Kenny Smith called on Adam Silver to step in and make some sort of exception for Snell, who is currently with the Maine Celtics of the G League. No matter how it happens, here’s hoping Snell is able to get a 10th year of service as soon as possible.
Fans of Lil Dicky‘s semi-autobiographical show Dave are going to have to wait a bit for season four. Today (February 1), Variety reported that Dave has been paused at FX Networks.
The news arrives weeks after Lil Dicky, whose real name is David Burd, released the soundtrack album for Dave, titled Penith. The album also marked his first long-form audio release in almost nine years.
“After some back and forth, there are no current plans for a fourth season of Dave right now, as Dave Burd has decided to take an extended break to focus on music and other ventures,” FX said in a statement. “That does not rule out the possibility of doing something in the future. We love the show and sincerely appreciate the creative excellence Dave, Jeff Schaffer, the cast and crew delivered with every episode. We are excited that our partnership with Dave will continue as he develops future projects for us through his overall production deal with FXP.”
The show first premiered in 2020, telling the story of a fictional version of Dicky’s struggle to be taken seriously as a rapper. The third season, which premiered last year, sees Dicky on a cross-country tour, filming a documentary in hopes to find the love of his life.
“Making Dave has been and continues to be a dream come true,” said Dicky in a statement. “But there are other creative ventures that I am dying to pursue as well,” Burd said. “For the past 5 years, I’ve poured every fiber of my being into the show, and after three amazing seasons, this feels like a good time to press pause to give myself the bandwidth to do some of the other things I have always wanted to do. I am beyond excited about what I have planned for the future and am enormously appreciative of FX for their continued partnership.”
The 2024 NBA All-Star rosters are now set, with the coaches’ selections for the 14 reserves being announced on Thursday night. As is always the case, there are a number of players that will feel they met the criteria for an All-Star berth only to get left off of the rosters.
This year felt like there was a particularly deep pool of deserving candidates, which makes for fertile ground for snub talk. The truth is, there aren’t enough roster spots for how many All-Star caliber players exist in the NBA today. Everyone on the 12-man roster for the East and West has a deserving case, as do these players that sit on the outside looking in. As always, there’s the potential for injury replacements to pull some of these names into the festivities in Indianapolis, but for now they’ll just have to try and turn it into some positive motivation going forward.
The Celtics boast the NBA’s best record and while Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown rightfully grab headlines, the addition of Kristaps Porzingis has unlocked another level for Boston on offense. Porzingis doesn’t have the gaudy stats of some of his other All-Star contenders, but watching Boston play, it’s impossible not to see how vital he is to their success. Even with a middling year as a three-point shooter, he’s having a career-year with efficiency overall, providing Boston with not just floor spacing from the center position but a much-needed cutting and rolling threat at the rim. Ultimately, his lower games played total and averages being a level below the other All-Star candidates keeps him off the roster, but given how often coaches reward the league’s best team with a third All-Star, it was a bit surprising to see him left off.
Trae Young (Hawks): 27.0 ppg, 10.9 apg, 2.9 rpg; 42.3/36.8/86.3 shooting; 42 games
Young being left off the All-Star roster (again) is equal parts shocking and not surprising. The Hawks guard is producing at an insane level this season, as the only player in the league averaging 25+ points and 10+ assists per game, and is doing so on strong efficiency. However, the Hawks have underperformed to expectations this season, at times looking like a flat out disaster (especially on defense where Young carries a reputation as a poor defender), and on top of that Young is not exactly a beloved figure within the league, as evidenced by him finishing sixth in both player and media voting. He was left off by the coaches last year with a similar stat line for an underperforming Hawks team, and unfortunately for Young, history repeated itself this year as he fell short in a brutal class of Eastern Conference guards.
Derrick White (Celtics): 15.8 ppg, 4.7 apg, 4.0 rpg; 45.8/40.0/89.5 shooting; 44 games
White’s case is entirely based on his critical importance to the Celtics being the best team in the league, as his two-way brilliance has been vital to Boston holding the NBA’s best record. Unfortunately for White, this is an incredibly deep year for East guards, and as such being a very good point guard on the best team is not enough to land an All-Star nod. White absolutely deserves the praise he’s gotten for his play this season, but this year just wasn’t one where the coaches could ignore some of the other incredible guard performances to get him a roster spot.
There was a time where I thought Barnes was actually going to make the roster with the leap he’s made, but then January happened and the Raptors took a nosedive. Barnes has been terrific this year, but his production has not been outrageous enough to earn him an All-Star nod on a team struggling the way Toronto has. The Raptors clearly believe in Barnes’ upside as a star of the future, as they’ve shifted their organizational plan to building around him long-term. If that pans out, All-Star selections will be part of his future, but for now, he’s on the outside looking in.
Gobert’s always a weird case in these sorts of things. His game isn’t exactly fun to watch, he’ll never create baskets for himself or others, and let’s be frank, his game doesn’t translate to an All-Star game. But at the same time, when it comes to impacting winning, Gobert is up there with anyone else in the league, as he’s the lynchpin of what has been the best defense in the league for more than half of the season. He looks as good as ever on that end of the floor and trying to score at the rim against him continues to seem like a miserable experience. Ultimately, the Wolves were going to get two All-Stars, one being Anthony Edwards, and the coaches went with Towns over Gobert for the other spot.
De’Aaron Fox (Kings): 27.2 ppg, 5.5 apg, 4.1 rpg; 46.7/38.0/72.4 shooting; 40 games
The Kings getting double snubbed is particularly brutal, and one wonders if their two stars split votes among coaches. Fox just keeps finding ways to get better. This year, he’s managed to become a reliable shooter from behind the three-point line, which has long been considered his biggest achilles heel on that end of the floor. On the other side of things, he continues to be one of the best perimeter players in the league at interrupting the flow of an opposing offense, as his steal and deflection numbers are among the best of his career. He just makes good things happen for a Sacramento team that has continued to stay above the Play-In line in the Western Conference.
One of the most unique players in the NBA, Sabonis’ touch around the rim, playmaking, and rebounding are invaluable for the Kings. While De’Aaron Fox shoulders the largest scoring load on the team, Sabonis generally takes care of the rest. Only Nikola Jokic executes more passes per game than the Lithuanian big man, who is a killer when he’s able to direct the Sacramento attack from the nail. A special bonus snub shout out goes to Alperen Sengun of the Houston Rockets, who is brilliant in a similar role on a team that isn’t quite as good as Sacramento.
The 2024 NBA All-Star rosters are now set, with the coaches’ selections for the 14 reserves being announced on Thursday night. As is always the case, there are a number of players that will feel they met the criteria for an All-Star berth only to get left off of the rosters.
This year felt like there was a particularly deep pool of deserving candidates, which makes for fertile ground for snub talk. The truth is, there aren’t enough roster spots for how many All-Star caliber players exist in the NBA today. Everyone on the 12-man roster for the East and West has a deserving case, as do these players that sit on the outside looking in. As always, there’s the potential for injury replacements to pull some of these names into the festivities in Indianapolis, but for now they’ll just have to try and turn it into some positive motivation going forward.
The Celtics boast the NBA’s best record and while Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown rightfully grab headlines, the addition of Kristaps Porzingis has unlocked another level for Boston on offense. Porzingis doesn’t have the gaudy stats of some of his other All-Star contenders, but watching Boston play, it’s impossible not to see how vital he is to their success. Even with a middling year as a three-point shooter, he’s having a career-year with efficiency overall, providing Boston with not just floor spacing from the center position but a much-needed cutting and rolling threat at the rim. Ultimately, his lower games played total and averages being a level below the other All-Star candidates keeps him off the roster, but given how often coaches reward the league’s best team with a third All-Star, it was a bit surprising to see him left off.
Trae Young (Hawks): 27.0 ppg, 10.9 apg, 2.9 rpg; 42.3/36.8/86.3 shooting; 42 games
Young being left off the All-Star roster (again) is equal parts shocking and not surprising. The Hawks guard is producing at an insane level this season, as the only player in the league averaging 25+ points and 10+ assists per game, and is doing so on strong efficiency. However, the Hawks have underperformed to expectations this season, at times looking like a flat out disaster (especially on defense where Young carries a reputation as a poor defender), and on top of that Young is not exactly a beloved figure within the league, as evidenced by him finishing sixth in both player and media voting. He was left off by the coaches last year with a similar stat line for an underperforming Hawks team, and unfortunately for Young, history repeated itself this year as he fell short in a brutal class of Eastern Conference guards.
Derrick White (Celtics): 15.8 ppg, 4.7 apg, 4.0 rpg; 45.8/40.0/89.5 shooting; 44 games
White’s case is entirely based on his critical importance to the Celtics being the best team in the league, as his two-way brilliance has been vital to Boston holding the NBA’s best record. Unfortunately for White, this is an incredibly deep year for East guards, and as such being a very good point guard on the best team is not enough to land an All-Star nod. White absolutely deserves the praise he’s gotten for his play this season, but this year just wasn’t one where the coaches could ignore some of the other incredible guard performances to get him a roster spot.
There was a time where I thought Barnes was actually going to make the roster with the leap he’s made, but then January happened and the Raptors took a nosedive. Barnes has been terrific this year, but his production has not been outrageous enough to earn him an All-Star nod on a team struggling the way Toronto has. The Raptors clearly believe in Barnes’ upside as a star of the future, as they’ve shifted their organizational plan to building around him long-term. If that pans out, All-Star selections will be part of his future, but for now, he’s on the outside looking in.
Gobert’s always a weird case in these sorts of things. His game isn’t exactly fun to watch, he’ll never create baskets for himself or others, and let’s be frank, his game doesn’t translate to an All-Star game. But at the same time, when it comes to impacting winning, Gobert is up there with anyone else in the league, as he’s the lynchpin of what has been the best defense in the league for more than half of the season. He looks as good as ever on that end of the floor and trying to score at the rim against him continues to seem like a miserable experience. Ultimately, the Wolves were going to get two All-Stars, one being Anthony Edwards, and the coaches went with Towns over Gobert for the other spot.
De’Aaron Fox (Kings): 27.2 ppg, 5.5 apg, 4.1 rpg; 46.7/38.0/72.4 shooting; 40 games
The Kings getting double snubbed is particularly brutal, and one wonders if their two stars split votes among coaches. Fox just keeps finding ways to get better. This year, he’s managed to become a reliable shooter from behind the three-point line, which has long been considered his biggest achilles heel on that end of the floor. On the other side of things, he continues to be one of the best perimeter players in the league at interrupting the flow of an opposing offense, as his steal and deflection numbers are among the best of his career. He just makes good things happen for a Sacramento team that has continued to stay above the Play-In line in the Western Conference.
One of the most unique players in the NBA, Sabonis’ touch around the rim, playmaking, and rebounding are invaluable for the Kings. While De’Aaron Fox shoulders the largest scoring load on the team, Sabonis generally takes care of the rest. Only Nikola Jokic executes more passes per game than the Lithuanian big man, who is a killer when he’s able to direct the Sacramento attack from the nail. A special bonus snub shout out goes to Alperen Sengun of the Houston Rockets, who is brilliant in a similar role on a team that isn’t quite as good as Sacramento.
Pizza has a side dish problem. This is a universal issue for all pizza places, whether you’re a fan of the big delivery chains, or have a favorite pizzeria in your neighborhood. This is because most pizza sides are bread-based. Considering pizza is bread with sauce, cheese, and toppings on it, coupling that dish with more bread can be pretty boring. Also redundant.
Don’t get me wrong, I love garlic bread and cheese bread as much as anyone else, but you only have so much room for bread, and at the end of the day I find myself choosing the pizza over these delicious bread sides because, well, pizza tastes better. This problem has kind of been remedied by pizza chains and restaurants adding wings to the menu. But wings are a meal themselves, so paired with a pizza you’re forced to make this choice: do you go HAM on the wings, or eat one or two wings and focus on the pizza?
This is an important question to ask yourself especially as we approach Super Bowl weekend. But I think Papa John may have solved the conundrum with its new Calzone Papa Bites.
Launched at the tail end of January, the Calzone Papa Bites are available for a limited time and are essentially bite-sized little pizzas. The Bites are hand-stuffed with mozzarella, garlic herb ricotta, green peppers, pepperoni, and Italian sausage served with a side of pizza sauce for dipping. It takes pizza and turns it into a side dish!
Here is everything we love about the new offering:
Calzone Papa Bites
Dane Rivera
Tasting Notes & Thoughts
What struck me first about the Calzone Papa Bites was how much flavor was packed into a single bite. The ratio of bread to toppings here is perfect, each bite provides a blast of garlic-heavy flavor with a mix of Italian herbs, nutty/ creamy cheese, vegetal peppery notes, and savory meaty characteristics, all elevated by a bright sauce that adds some umami sumptuousness to the whole thing.
My only real gripe is the same gripe I have with calzones in general — the meat never really gets a chance to crisp up in the way that it would if it was topping a pizza and thrown in an oven. But that’s a minor gripe ultimately, I’ll gladly accept that shortcoming given the price ($4.99 for an order of 8) and form factor. These Calzone Papa Bites are a true joy to eat and in my opinion, the best side dish to ever come to a big chain pizza place.
Especially because now you don’t have to choose between wings and pizza, you can indulge in both and come away completely satisfied. Papa Johns’s just ensured its presence on my upcoming Super Bowl food spread.
Dane Rivera
The Bottom Line:
The ultimate pizza-centric side dish. Order these and a side of wings and you have the perfect combination of the best flavors a big national pizza chain has to offer.
The complete list of All-Star reserves for the 2024 edition of the game has been revealed. On Thursday night, the Inside the NBA crew revealed which players will round out the rosters in Indianapolis later this month, with each conference getting two guards, three frontcourt players, and a pair of wild cards in addition to the already announced starting lineups.
Unsurprisingly, there are a number of big names who just missed out on starting nods coming off the bench, like Steph Curry and Kawhi Leonard in the Western Conference and Donovan Mitchell and Jaylen Brown in the Eastern Conference. Here are the complete rosters for each conference now that reserves have been announced:
Eastern Conference
Reserves
Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics
Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers
Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks
Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat
Julius Randle, New York Knicks
Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia 76ers
Paolo Banchero, Orlando Magic
Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns
Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves
Kawhi Leonard, Los Angeles Clippers
Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers
Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota Timberwolves
Steph Curry, Golden State Warriors
Paul George, Los Angeles Clippers
Starters
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Luka Doncic
LeBron James (captain)
Kevin Durant
Nikola Jokic
With just 12 roster spots for each conference, there are a handful of players that missed out in the East and West that have legitimate gripes as snubs, but it’s hard to argue the players selected by the coaches didn’t also have All-Star worthy campaigns through the first half of the season. There is the potential for the rosters to change, as Joel Embiid’s status going forward is unclear after suffering a knee injury earlier this week.
Joel Embiid never looked fully healthy during a loss to the Warriors on Tuesday night, coming off of back-to-back missed games with knee soreness, and things got considerably worse when the star had to leave the game in serious pain after Jonathan Kuminga landed on his outstretched knee going for a loose ball.
The way Embiid’s knee bent back looked bad in the moment and the reigning MVP was in considerable pain on the floor, but was able to limp off to the locker room. After testing the last two days, the Sixers and Embiid have been working with doctors to determine the next steps, and on Thursday night the team announced he had suffered a left lateral meniscus injury and would be out through the weekend, at least, while working out a treatment plan.
Per Sixers:
An MRI following Wednesday’s game and further evaluation revealed an injury to the lateral meniscus in Embiid’s left knee. Embiid, in consultation with the 76ers medical staff and several leading specialists, is OUT through weekend while treatment plan is finalized
There was a bit of confusion about what exactly Embiid was dealing with, as Shams Charania had initially posted that Embiid suffered a torn meniscus, but the team’s statement said nothing about a tear and the timetable given certainly doesn’t line up with a full tear. It’s possible there’s a partial tear that may not require surgery, but at this point we do not know the entire diagnosis nor do we know a full timetable for his return. All we know is the Sixers will have to navigate at least a few more games without their star center before we get a complete picture after this weekend.
Joel Embiid never looked fully healthy during a loss to the Warriors on Tuesday night, coming off of back-to-back missed games with knee soreness, and things got considerably worse when the star had to leave the game in serious pain after Jonathan Kuminga landed on his outstretched knee going for a loose ball.
The way Embiid’s knee bent back looked bad in the moment and the reigning MVP was in considerable pain on the floor, but was able to limp off to the locker room. After testing the last two days, the Sixers and Embiid have been working with doctors to determine the next steps, and on Thursday night the team announced he had suffered a left lateral meniscus injury and would be out through the weekend, at least, while working out a treatment plan.
Per Sixers:
An MRI following Wednesday’s game and further evaluation revealed an injury to the lateral meniscus in Embiid’s left knee. Embiid, in consultation with the 76ers medical staff and several leading specialists, is OUT through weekend while treatment plan is finalized
There was a bit of confusion about what exactly Embiid was dealing with, as Shams Charania had initially posted that Embiid suffered a torn meniscus, but the team’s statement said nothing about a tear and the timetable given certainly doesn’t line up with a full tear. It’s possible there’s a partial tear that may not require surgery, but at this point we do not know the entire diagnosis nor do we know a full timetable for his return. All we know is the Sixers will have to navigate at least a few more games without their star center before we get a complete picture after this weekend.
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