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For the first time in franchise history, the Denver Nuggets are headed to the NBA Finals, completing a sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers in thrilling fashion on Monday night on the road.

It was a woeful first half for the Nuggets defensively, as they simply could not stop LeBron James, who set a career-high with 31 first half points, playing all 24 minutes. James finally got rolling from three (starting off with an accidental make on a lob attempt) and once he saw a few go in, he was simply unstoppable.

Denver scored the ball fine, but still found themselves down 15 as the Lakers piled up 73 first half points. However, they were not deterred and quickly erased that deficit by going on a 25-8 run to in the first 7:21 of the second half, led by a dynamic showing from Nikola Jokic. By the mid-third, Jokic had gotten himself to a triple-double, setting a new record for most triple-doubles in a single playoff, breaking a record held by Wilt Chamberlain for more than 50 years.

The Nuggets ultimately took a 5-point lead into the fourth quarter, crushing L.A. 36-16 as the Lakers simply could not manufacture offense without LeBron doing everything. While James never sat in the game, he did try to take the third quarter to be a table-setter rather than continue attacking, and no one else was able to step up in his stead to keep the Nuggets from reeling them in.

In the fourth quarter, the two teams went back-and-forth as, to L.A.’s credit, they never let the Nuggets run and put the game away. James became more assertive, they got an energy boost from Tristan Thompson of all people to start the quarter, Anthony Davis showed some signs of life, and they finally knocked down a three late (via Austin Reaves) after not making one for the first 20 minutes of the second half.

However, every time the Lakers would get the game back to tied, Denver had an answer, usually in the form of Jokic making a play. The shot of the night came on a Sombor Shuffle three over Anthony Davis as the shot clock hit zero to put Denver up six, as the two-time MVP flashed a bit of everything to carry the Nuggets home.

Los Angeles still managed to pull to within two late, as LeBron picked up a pair of charges on Jokic to get him to five fouls, which opened up space for he and Davis to attack. Davis would tie the game at 111-111 at the free throw line with just over a minute to play, but Jokic had a quick answer as he barreled his way to the rim through Davis and Dennis Schröder, finishing in traffic to push Denver back up by two.

The Lakers would have a pass knocked out of bounds with 4 seconds on the shot clock on their next possession, with LeBron hitting the side of the backboard on a desperation fadeaway on the ensuing inbounds. With just a three-second differential on the clock, L.A. opted to not foul and got bailed out by Jamal Murray going too quickly and missing a floater, giving them four seconds to find a game-winner or force overtime.

Murray made up for his lapse on the offensive end by coming up with the defensive play of the night, getting a hand on the ball as James went up, forcing him to double clutch and take a falling prayer that got blocked by Aaron Gordon, leading to a scramble as the final buzzer sounded.

It was an unbelievable effort by James, who finished with 40 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists in 48 minutes of play. Unfortunately, he didn’t get the help he needed offensively from his co-star in Davis, who started 3-of-12 from the field before making his final three shots of the game to get to 21 points and 14 rebounds, or the supporting cast who combined to go 4-of-13 from three.

For Denver, it was a remarkable second half performance from a team that very easily could’ve packed it in and decided they’d try their luck at home in Game 5. Jokic finished the night with 30 points, 14 rebounds, and 13 assists, taking over in the second half, while Jamal Murray had 25 points and Aaron Gordon has his best night with 22 points in support. Now, Denver will enjoy a week off and wait to see if the Miami Heat can likewise polish off the Celtics in a sweep, or if that series will return to Boston for a Game 5.

CNN brass thought their town hall with Donald Trump would help them. They thought they would draw in huge ratings and lure in a new demo: angry MAGA folk who tend to lean on Fox News and Newsmax. The event did okay. (It paled compared to an earlier town hall…with Joe Biden.) Worse, ever since its ratings have somehow gotten worse.

As per The Daily Beast, last week — a week after the disastrous airing — the cable news giant suffered their lowest-rated week since June 2015 (when Trump announced his 2016 campaign, fittingly enough). From last Monday to last Friday, CNN averaged a mere 429,000 total viewers. For some context, that’s down double digits compared to the same week last year.

CNN’s town hall enraged a lot of their target audience, and the result appears to be its primetime shows, including 360 with Anderson Cooper, fell behind the fringe-right Newsmax. On Friday, their much-hyped interview show with former Fox News guy Chris Wallace averaged a scant 224,000 viewers — also behind Newsmax.

They’re not the only once-powerful 24-hours network suffering these days. Ever since Fox News canned Tucker Carlson, they’ve been down 41 percent among the much-coveted 25-54 demographic, and 24 percent total. Primetime is where they’re suffering the most, with overall viewership down 38 percent. Where are all its regular viewers going? That’s right: Newsmax, which is one reason they’re outperforming CNN.

But Newsmax isn’t doing as hot as MSNBC, which has seen its audience shoot up a whopping 44 percent. Where are those viewers coming from? CNN. Everything is connected.

The Trump town hall hasn’t only hurt CNN. It also hurt Trump himself, who is now getting sued again by E. Jean Carroll because he defamed the day after being found guilty of defamation and sexual assault. Meanwhile, David Zaslav, head of Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns CNN, is busy getting booed and heckled by graduating students.

(Via The Daily Beast)

Grammy Award-nominated rapper Tobe Nwigwe, critically acclaimed hip-hop titan Nas, and Jacob Banks join forces on the film’s featured track, “On My Soul.” Produced by Nwigwe’s collective, The Good Stewards, the song skillfully embodies the climactic essence of the movie. With the song’s instrumental ebbs and flows, the musicians put a show lyrically as they playfully try to one-up each other.

Outside of his musical contributions to the film’s soundtrack, Nwigwe will also appear in the movie. During an appearance on Sway In The Morning, he shared how he landed the onscreen role.

“One of [the director Stephen Caple Jr.’s] best friends was a fan of [my] music. And his best friend — as they were getting ready to start shooting the movie — passed [on the role], and he had Paramount Studios reach out to me to try to play the best friend’s role in Transformers. They kind of emulated who his best friend is in real life,” he said.

Listen to the full track above.

Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts is set to hit theaters on June 9.

Season 21 of the reality music competition show American Idol has officially declared its winner. Now viewers are interested in seeing what the hosts have planned now that their schedules have opened up. For Katy Perry, a musical collaboration could be on the horizon.

During an interview with BuzzFeed, the musician was asked, “Which up-and-coming artist would you love to collab with.” Perry quickly replied, “Ice Spice!”

This wouldn’t be Perry’s first time linking up with a hip-hop act. In the past, she’s worked with rappers Snoop Dogg, Nicki Minaj, Juicy J, and the Migos.

Although Perry didn’t provide any further explanation as to why she wanted to team up with the “Princess Diana” rapper, she immediately began to rap the chorus to PinkPantheress’ song “Boy’s A Liar Pt. 2,” in which Ice Spice is featured, proving that she is indeed a fan.

As Perry talked about what a future music release plan would entail, she said, “I’m very excited for the next ‘thing’ and I’m still doing my [Las Vegas] residency for the rest of this year. And it will end on November 4, so there are only a few shows left actually. But every ending has a new beginning.”

Last November, Upworthy published a popular story about Chloe Sexton, a mother who went viral on TikTok for a video she made explaining “daddy privilege” or the idea that fathers are applauded for doing things that mothers are supposed to do.

“In my opinion, ‘daddy privilege’ is that subtle upper hand men sidestep into as parents that allows them to gain praise for simply…being a parent,” she said. “You fed the baby? What a great dad! You held the baby while mommy bathed? So considerate of you! You picked up something for dinner? What would your family do without you?! It’s all the little ways mothers do exactly what the world expects of them without a second thought and then watch fathers get praised for simply showing up.”

Sadly, the post resonated with a lot of mothers, because it’s true. Expectations for fathers are so low that men are commended for handling basic parenting tasks. But if a mother falls short of perfection, she faces harsh criticism.

Mary Catherine Starr, a mother living in Cape Cod who owns a design studio and teaches yoga, is getting a lot of love on Instagram for her cartoon series that perfectly explains daddy privilege.

In “An Illustrated Guide to the Double Standards of Parenting,” Starr shares this concept by showing that when a man comes home with fast food for his kids he’s the “fun dad.” But if a mom comes back with a bag from McDonald’s she is seen as a “lazy mom.”

In the comics, the same double standards apply whether it’s how they handle technology or parent at the park.

(Note: Click the arrow on the right-hand side of the image to see the slideshow.)

See on Instagram

Starr was quick to point out in the comments that the target of her comics isn’t fathers, but society at large. “This is not a dig at dads, it’s a dig at our society—a society that applauds dads for handling the most basic of parenting duties + expects nothing short of perfection from mothers (or even worse, shames them for every decision and/or move they make!),” she wrote.

The comics resonated with a lot of women.

“This hit a nerve with so many women! I was a single mom living in an apartment,” an Instagram user named Saturdayfarm wrote in the comments. “Next door – a single dad. Neighbors felt so bad for him that they helped him with his laundry, brought over food, and babysat. For nothing. I just shakily carried on somehow. And I had so much less money and opportunities.”

“This is exactly part of the why I feel like being ‘just’ a mom isn’t as valuable. Being so run of the mill. But if my husband has the baby in a sling, the toddler in the pram and is out walking the dog, he’s superman for letting me have one hour for zoom work,” rebecca_lee-close_yoga wrote.

A father who understands his privilege completely supports Starr’s message.

“It actually annoys me when I get those types of comments / ‘compliments’ knowing it’s totally a double standard,” JonaJooey wrote.

Starr’s comics and Sexton’s TikTok videos won’t stop the double standards when it comes to parenting, but they do a great job at holding a mirror up to the problem. Where do we go from here? We can start by having greater expectations for fathers and holding them up to a higher standard. Then, we should take the energy we put into praising dads for doing the bare minimum and heap it on mothers who thanklessly go about the most important job in the world.

This story originally appeared on 02.01.22

ASAP Rocky’s forthcoming album is nearly complete and he decided to preview it for fans. However, some in attendance at his recent private event became too much for the musician and his partner, Rihanna, to handle.

During the event, the crowd grew a little too rowdy for his liking. So, to protect his very pregnant girlfriend’s energy, Rocky shared a few stern words with the audience.

In a video reposted by The Shade Room, the “Same Problems” rapper is heard reprimanding the unruly audience saying, “Y’all n****** act like gentlemen right now, you heard? I got my lady here! Y’all n***** calm that sh*t down man. Don’t be in this section doing all that. Calm that sh*t the f*ck down. Y’all act like gentlemen when y’all are in her presence.”

Rocky has publicly gushed about the Fenty boss, and now with baby number two on the way he’s grown even more protective of her. Just before walking the 2023 Met Gala’s red carpet, in a viral video Rocky can be seen in a brief verbal exchange with a fan as he fought through the crowd to enter the hotel. He later apologized to the person on social media, which they quickly accepted.

There sure are a lot of people in Fast X. Not only has the family been growing larger with every film, the end credits feature the surprise return of not one but two alumni. It also has Alan Ritchson, the former CW Aquaman who’s now Amazon’s Jack Reacher. But Ritchson wasn’t the first person cast in his Fast and Furious role. That was Keanu Reeves.

The casting sounds like it was last minute. “It was just a little stroke of luck and good timing,” Ritchson told Entertainment Weekly. “I was working on a movie with Hilary Swank up in Winnipeg in the freezing cold, and I got a call that things had shifted in the plans with Keanu Reeves, which is I think who was originally intended to play my part. Tough act to follow.”

Had Reeves been able to keep his original commitment to Fast X, he would have played Aimes, the fed who goes rogue to work with Jason Momoa’s villain. As it happened, Reeves was also nearly the villain in Hobbs & Shaw before the gig went to Idris Elba. Maybe third time’s the charm in one of the multiple spinoffs planned for the series.

After Ritchson took over the role, he briefly thought he’d lost it. He got a call from one of the producers, who told him, “You’re not going to be working with [director] Justin [Lin] on this.” To him that sounded like he was being let go. The producer then said what he meant was that Lin and the production were parting ways, with him being replaced by Louis Leterrier. Whoops!

(Via EW)

It seems like only yesterday a millennial was a college kid that baby boomers chided for being entitled and Gen Xers thought were way too sincere and needed to learn how to take a joke. Today, the oldest millennials, those born around 1980, have hit their 40s and have lived long enough to have some serious regrets.

They also have enough experience to take some pride in decisions that, in hindsight, were the right moves.

The good news is that at 40 there is still plenty of time to learn from our successes and failures to set ourselves up for a great second half of life. These lessons are also valuable to the Gen Zers coming up who can avoid the pitfalls of the older generation.

A Reddit user who has since deleted their profile asked millennials nearing 40 “what were your biggest mistakes at this point in life?” and they received more than 2,200 responses. The biggest regrets these millennials have are being flippant about their health and not saving enough money when they were younger.

They also realized that the carefree days of youth are fleeting and impossible to get back. So they should have spent less time working and more time enjoying themselves. Many also lamented that they should have taken their education more seriously in their 20s so they have more opportunities now.

The responses to this thread are bittersweet. It’s tough hearing people come to grips with their regrets but the realizations are also opportunities to grow. Hopefully, some younger people will read this thread and take the advice to heart.

Here are 21 of the most powerful responses to the question: “Millennials of Reddit now nearing your 40s, what were your biggest mistakes at this point in life?”

1.

“Not taking care of my hearing, not even 35 and going deaf.” — Kusanagi8811

2.

“Not getting healthy earlier.” — zombiearchivist

3.

“Staying too long at a job in my 20s, just because it was safe and easy. When I finally got the motivation to leave, ended up with an almost 50% pay boost.” — Hrekires

4. 

“Thinking that I could and should put myself on the back burner for anything and anyone else.” — lenalilly227

5.

“Smoking and not dealing with my shit the right way.” — Allenrw3

6.

“Pining after the wrong person.” — runikepisteme

7.

“I turned 40 this year and just started liking who I am. Why the fuck did it take 40 years for self acceptance?” — guscallee

8.

“Take care of your fucking back. Lift with your knees. Sure it’s rad when you grab a fridge by yourself and lift it in the back of a moving truck unaided, but one day that shit is going to have consequences that won’t just magically go away by resting and “taking it easy” for a week.” — GuyTallman

9.

“I wish I spent more time with my dad while I had the chance.” — CharlieChooper

10.

“I’m 37. I absolutely could have taken better care of my body, but I’m in relatively good health. I’m starting to realize how important it is to maintain my health. I do also think I drank far too much in my 20 and early 30’s. I’m trying to rectify that now, but it’s hard. So that I guess.” — dartastic

11.

“I’m not sure if people have experienced the same but when I entered my 30s I became convinced I was rapidly running out of time. Rather than using that as motivation I let it paralyze me with indecision because I “couldn’t afford to make the wrong choice.” Consequently, I’m now 39 and, though I’ve had great things happen in my 30s, I regret spending so much time worrying and so little time committing to a course of action.” — tomwaste

12.

“Work to live, don’t live to work. You have half your working life after you turn 40 but only 20-25 years to really live it up before the responsibilities become heavy and your joints start to ache. Live life. Really LIVE it. Experience as much you can. Every sensation, sight, sound, touch. Be open. Be brave. Live your first few decades in the fast lane. You have the rest of your life to take it easy, when you have no choice.” — MrDundee666

13.

“I should have paid more attention to my parents telling me to save money and less attention when they were teaching me about purity culture.” — Arkie_MTB

14.

“If I could tell my 18 year old self one thing, it would be to save 10% of every paycheck I ever got.” — PutAForkInHim

15.

“Thinking that I have time to do everything I want only to find myself loosing time, and the endless energy I used to have in order to purse them.” — ezZiioFTW

16.

“Not wearing sunscreen.” — blueboxreddress

17.

“Not recognizing the importance of work/life balance earlier in life. My late teens, all 20’s, and early 30’s were spent pulling 60-100+hr weeks because I thought it was what was required to succeed. How wrong I was. Others stabbed me in the back and reaped the reward.

1.) Putting work first for too long. Work is my #1 priority during work hours now. After quitting time, I don’t think about it (much) anymore. I don’t vent to my wife or friends about it anymore either.

2.) Investing more into fast cars than solid long-term investments. Sure, it was fun, but I could have made bookoos more had I put that towards less-fun investments.

3.) Not using PTO and just waiting for the payout. All those years, missed. I’m in my mid 30’s and I didn’t actually have a real vacation until 3 years ago.

4.) Not realizing that “the good guy” often loses. Just because you’re morally justified doesn’t mean you’re going to win. Just because there’s a number to call doesn’t mean anyone will actually help you. Just because “law” exists, doesn’t mean people follow it, enforce it, or create justice. The world is dog eat dog and cynicism can be healthy in moderate doses.” — [Deleted]

18.

“When you get out of college, keep your friends. No matter how hard it is. Hold on to them.” — mpssss22

19.

“I imagine these are kinda universal:

• Not getting fit and healthy
• Assuming I’d be offered proper guidance on how to achieve my goals
• Assuming higher education would help me achieve my goals
• Spending far too long caring what people think
• Not taking risks that might better my life when I was younger and had nothing to lose
• Staying in relationships too long after they were clearly done.” — katapultperson

20.

“Always ask for more pay. Starting, yearly, before leaving, whatever. Get that money.” — SensibleReply

21.

“Spending too much time in front of a screen and not enough enjoying life.” — BellaPadella

This article originally appeared on 4.20.22

Editor’s Note: Upworthy earns a fee for purchases made from items listed in this article.

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More than 13 million people have watched Corinne Savage (aka @corook) and their partner Olivia Barton perform their punchy, wholesome, serotonin-filled acoustic tune titled “If I were a fish.”

The lyrics, so simple and so sweet, go a little something like this:

“If I were a fish, and you caught me, you’d say ‘Look at that fish,’ shimmering in the sun, such a rare one, can’t believe that you caught one…”

Then comes the chorus that’s completely bursting with radical acceptance and joy, despite everybody on the internet being “so mean.”

Really, no song has the right to be this catchy, powerful, absurd and clever all at once. Be it is, nonetheless.

Listen:

@hicorook

I was having a very emotional day, feeling insecure and out of place. So I cried to Olivia and after feeling through it, we wrote this song in 10 minutes to remember the joy in being different 🐸 happy Tuesday

♬ original sound – corook

A bit of a masterpiece, right? And to think—all it took to make it happen was a bad day, and 10 minutes.

Savage, who is nonbinary, shared with The Boston Globe that inspiration for the song came after a challenging day of receiving nasty comments to another song they had posted online.

Understandably, being on the receiving end of such harshness exacerbated the insecurity and loneliness Savage had already been harboring.

“It’s not that the hate comments affected me, it was more that the hate comments were shining a light on something I was really thinking about in my life, which is I feel like I don’t have a place,” Savage told The Boston Globe.

In an effort to lift her partner’s spirits, Barton suggested that they “do something silly” together to make themselves feel better. And thus, “If I were a Fish” became an impromptu celebration of uniqueness and moment of healing.

What’s more, it’s become a beloved self-love anthem for anyone who feels a bit like a fish out of water. Children sing it in school choirs. A crowd of over 100 people gathered in Washington Spare Park for a heartwarming singalong. Seemingly overnight, the song has surpassed viral sensation status and is now a full blown movement.

@hicorook

all of my fishy New Yorkers 🥹🐠🐸 I can’t friggin believe it. Thank you for singing along with me yesterday

♬ if i were a fish (feat. Olivia Barton) – corook

The way it has resonated with so many people makes it pretty evident that Savage was not the only one who needed these words put to music.

“I think there’s a mass amount of people on the Internet screaming into the void, and none of us are sure if we’re hearing each other,” Savage told The Boston Globe. “I think that for some reason, this song, everybody feels heard by.”

It takes courage to not fit into an acceptable box, and love yourself anyway. It takes strength to cultivate joy within yourself when the world seems bleak. It’s not easy, but luckily art helps. And what’s more, the art that heals us can heal others. The ability art has to inspire community among strangers in an instant really has to be the biggest perk of humanity. And god bless folks like Corook who create such lovely examples of it.

By the way, Savage and Barton have turned “If I were a fish” into a full two-minute song, which you can check out below: