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The NFC Championship Game between the 49ers and Eagles was supposed to be a slugfest, with two hard-hitting defenses and run-heavy offenses meeting for a trip to the Super Bowl.

However, after an injury to Brock Purdy on the second drive of the game (following a controversial Eagles TD on their opening drive), the Niners were simply overmatched and couldn’t produce anything offensively with Josh Johnson under center. Johnson eventually left in the third quarter with a head injury, and Purdy returned but couldn’t throw the ball, resulting in a painful 20-plus minutes of football where the outcome was never in doubt, but both teams had to keep playing.

Eventually, the frustrations of the situation crept in for the 49ers and some tensions that had been building erupted into a brawl. Deebo Samuel and K’Von Wallace got locked up after a third down run in the fourth quarter and when the two wouldn’t let go, despite players and refs trying to separate them, Trent Williams took matters into his own hands, absolutely slamming Wallace to the turf.

Wallace popped up and tried to throw some punches, as did some others, and the Niners bench ran onto the field, but luckily nothing further happened to escalate things any more in an already decided game. Williams and Wallace were both ejected from the game, with Wallace certainly getting the worst of the entire interaction, and it was a somewhat unsurprising end to a game where the Niners played most of the second half with little hope.

The recent death of Tyre Nichols has sparked outrage across the country. The 29-year-old died after succumbing to his injuries from being severely beaten by five Memphis police officers at a traffic stop. Several artists, including Moneybagg Yo, GloRilla, and more, have already commented on Nichols’ unjust death. The latest to show support is another Memphis native, NLE Choppa.

Choppa, whose real name is Bryson Lashun Potts, hopped on Twitter to share his thought on the devastating situation.

“Today, I felt it on my heart to turn a negative situation into a positive,” the rapper said in a video he shared. “I actually went to sleep dwelling on how I could wake up today and do that.”

The rapper encouraged his fans to join him for a peaceful march through the streets of Memphis, requesting that they bring their own kind of wheels, whether it be skateboards, roller skates, or wheelies.

“So, I came up with a hashtag, #SkateForTyre,” he said regarding Nichols, who was known as an avid skateboarder. “I came up with a location where I want everyone in Memphis that wants to be a part to meet me at for a peaceful march, a peaceful walk, and a peaceful skate through the streets.”

He continued: “I just want to skate for Tyre and respect to him and know that’s how he would’ve wanted everybody to act.”

Later, the rapper posted another video on his Twitter account, but this time it was alongside a group of protestors, walking and skating in honor of Nichols.

“No justice, no peace, we’re gonna skate for Tyree,” protesters said in the clip.

Following Nichols’ untimely death, the five officers involved have since been fired from the Memphis Police Department and are facing impending charges.

NLE Choppa is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

It took him two-and-a-half months, but Donald Trump is finally out on the road, campaigning for president, again. It’s not like he’s making up for lost time, though: Instead of huge arenas, he kicked things off on Saturday by going to a…high school auditorium. He baby stepped to a slightly larger venue, namely the Capitol in Columbia, South Carolina, at a still small event. Trump’s team scrambled to find anyone beside a few old cronies in the GOP to join him. (Yes, Lindsey Graham was there.) What he did, though, is make some claims that were bizarre even for his rotting brain.

As per Mediaite, Trump spent part of the event touting his record on keeping America out of wars, even ones that could lead to global calamity, like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “My personality kept us out of war,” he claimed, before adding that Russia’s invasion “would have never happened” had he not lost re-election.

But Trump didn’t stop there, adding, “Even now I could solve that in 24 hours.”

Trump is no stranger to outlandish boasts. Nor is he above spinning his crimes. After his tax records were finally, after years of blocking, made public, Trump claimed that not paying his fair share somehow created jobs. He repeated that claim nearly a month later.

“They said he’s very wealthy but he did not pay a lot of tax. But you know what we did? We created tremendous jobs because that incentivized us to pay and create tremendous amounts of jobs,” Trump told the crowd. “We have a country where it is all about incentives. You have to incentivize people and they are taking the incentives away.”

Oh, and remember Joe Wilson, the GOP senator who in 2009 heckled Barack Obama? He was at the event, and Trump made sure to praise him for acting like a child nearly 15 years ago.

“That voice was so beautiful as he called it out in Congress. I thought it was brilliant,” Trump said. “That was done from the heart…You took a little heat at the time. People love you for that because it showed love of your country.”

Anyway, after months of losing bigly (but winning golf tournaments by bending the rules), looks like the big guy is back and as nonsensical as ever.

(Via Mediaite)

Rap music and artistic beef go together like peanut butter and jelly. Rappers often take sublet jabs with foes with throwaway lines in their tracks to win the public over. While some hip-hop beefs are warranted, like Drake vs. Meek Mill, others, like Drake vs. Megan Thee Stallion, were completely uncalled for.

Chance The Rapper questions whether or not he is the center of a brewing conflict. As budding Bronx rapper Ice Spice continues to promote her new single, “In Ha Mood,” Chance is unsure if one of the bars in the song is a shot at him. The line in question reads, “In the mirror, I’m doin’ my dance / And he packin’, I know by his pants / He a rapper, but don’t got a chance / Stuck in my ways so I’m lovin’ my bands.”

The Chicago native took to his Instagram stories, sharing the video clip with the caption, “Is this a diss or a shoutout,” then tagging Ice Spice before placing a poll for viewers to give their opinion.

Before the poll could expire, Ice Spice shut down the beef option, writing in her Instagram stories, “never.” Chance The Rapper then replied, “just double checking.”

As the newbie on the rap block Ice Spice has shared, she’s here to have fun, not issues, even brushing off rumors of a falling out with Drake.

Ice Spice’s EP Like…? is out now via Capitol and 10K Projects. Stream it here.

Crown Royal has tapped Foo Fighters‘ frontman Dave Grohl to star in its upcoming commercial for Super Bowl LVII. In a pair of teaser trailers released on the Candian Whiskey company’s official YouTube account, Grohl can be seen in his element, in the studio, singing (well, sort of) the highest praises of the top-shelf liquor brand.

The “Crawl” singer softly approaches the mic after some essential (and hilarious) vocal exercises and, with varying inflections, utters two simple words: “Thank You.”

The singer’s comedic chops flow naturally throughout the short clip, which is sure to garner laughs. The ad will supposedly add “a whole lot of meaning” and be a “thank-you of epic, Grohl-sized proportions.”

In the second ad, Grohl is seen again in the studio, but he’s not behind the mic this time. Throughout the clip, the former Nirvana drummer reads a list of random words, from peanut butter and paint rollers to batteries and trash bags. Fans will have to tune into the big game to find out what it all means.

“Dave just found out what these objects have in common. Tune in to the big game on 02.12.23 to find out too….” the video’s caption read.

The Diageo brand liquor is one of the spirits brands across the country. The 60-second ad, which was initially 30 seconds, will be the liquor giant’s debut.

The NFC Championship Game in Philadelphia did not take long to produce its first bit of controversy, as a 4th and 3 conversion from the Eagles that saw DeVonta Smith haul in a one-handed grab from Jalen Hurts helped set up the first score of the game.

While Smith was clearly inbounds, he did pop up and signal to the Eagles to go quickly so the Niners wouldn’t get too many angles to decide to potentially review it. The initial shots we got didn’t show anything clearly wrong with the catch, and Kyle Shanahan decided not to burn one of his two challenges as the Eagles rushed to the line and hurriedly got off a play.

The Eagles would go on to score a touchdown on a Miles Sanders run up the middle, taking a 7-0 lead, but it never should’ve been possible for Philadelphia because, eventually, we got the field side replay that clearly showed the ball get punched loose from Smith as he went to the ground.

That replay didn’t arrive until after the touchdown on the TV broadcast, but with how quickly Smith popped up and the Eagles rushed to the line, it was clear even they weren’t sure, which might should’ve suggested to the Niners sideline they should challenge it even without clear evidence. What made that even more painful for Niners fans was on the first series for San Francisco, the Eagles correctly challenged a missed call, where a Brock Purdy incompletion was clearly a fumble that got punched forward by the rookie QB, resulting in Philly getting the ball back near midfield.

In a game that’s expected to be as tight as this one (with the Eagles as 2.5-point favorites), those two coaching decisions in the first quarter of the game could very well play a massive role in the outcome — even if Philly went 3-and-out after the fumble. Making matters worse was Purdy was injured on the play, and Josh Johnson had to enter the game on the next drive.

Lady Gaga has transcended professional boundaries, but her love of music remained the center of it all. Despite losing out on Best Original Score for her song “Hold My Hand” (featured in the film Top Gun: Maverick) at this year’s Golden Globe Awards, that hasn’t stopped the pop star’s music from setting records.

Firstly, thanks to the popularity surrounding the Netflix series Wednesday, her 2011 song “Bloody Mary” landed on Billboard’s Hot 100 Chart. Now, another hit from the songwriter’s past has reached another industry milestone. Originally released in 2018, her song “Shallow” featuring actor Bradley Cooper has crossed the two billion streams mark.

According to Pop Crave, this accomplishment makes it “the sixth most-streamed song by a lead female act on the platform.”

When initially released, the track was immediately met with praise. The song earned Gaga her first Oscar Award for Best Original Song. Written by Gaga, Andrew Wyatt, Anthony Rossomando, and Mark Ronson, “Shallow” blended elements of rock, country, and folk-pop, which was, before its release, considered to be a deviation from Gaga’s signature dance-pop sound.

As for Gaga’s song “Hold My Hand,” she still has a chance to win big at this year’s Oscars ceremony as she goes head-to-head with Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up.”

The War On Drugs are nearly twenty years into their musical career, and they still approach their art as if they are just getting started. After making their return to music after taking a brief hiatus, the band returned with rock vengeance.

Still riding the high from their 2021 album, I Don’t Live Here Anymore, musicians Adam Granduciel, David Hartley, Robbie Bennett, Charlie Hall, Jon Natchez, Anthony LaMarca, and Eliza Hardy Jones returned to Austin City Limits to perform songs off of the project. Known for their stellar live shows, the group held nothing back as they performed the song “Harmonia’s Dream.”

Co-produced by Shawn Everett and co-written by frontman Adam and keyboardist Robbie, the track is a gentle guide through emotional yearning. As Adam delicately sings, “I was lost in the light that can’t be seen / Don’t move around in front of me / I’m on a scene, I’m overdrive / You lay awake, you know the way / You know the path I’m walkin’ on / Are we the cast you’re leanin’ on,” the audience becomes tethered to the rocker’s heartstrings.

In the stanza, “Well, I’m gone like a light that can’t be seen / Don’t look away, it’s just a dream / I’m out of touch, so out of reach / It’s comin’ back, and I’m movin’ fast / Just one more day, and I’m home at last,” the audience is prepared to enter into this emotional battle on behalf of the band.

Based on their on-stage chemistry and certainty in the delivery while performing the song, it’s hard to tell that the group considered the project to be an unrefined pile of creative ideas at one point as Adam told SPIN.

Watch the full performance of “Harmonia’s Dream” above. Click here to watch The War On Drug’s full Austin City Limits set.

Hollywood is often written off as a bastion of unfettered liberalism, but it’s more diverse than one would think. In the comic book movie world alone there’s room for not one but two vaccine skeptics. Now it appears there might be a third: Shazam! star Zachary Levi.

Late Saturday night, Levi quote-tweeted someone who asked if Phizer, one of the companies responsible for COVID-19 vaccines, is a “real danger to the world.” Levi responded, “Hardcore agree.”

The tweet sparked a huge backlash, with people expressing horror that the guy from Chuck, who has a big, pricey comic book movie due in a month-and-a-half, could be a vaccine skeptic. It’s not clear he is, even after he followed that up hours later with a slight clarification: a post directing to a 2009 Justice Department settlement, in which the pharmaceutical company had to pay $2.3 billion for misbranding and defrauding Medicare with its arthritis medicine Bextra.

“Just one example of what I’m referring to…,” Levi wrote. As of this writing he hasn’t clarified any further.

Amidst the backlash, some shared Levi’s recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, in which he praised weepy “intellectual” Jordan Peterson and didn’t push back when Rogan deadnamed and misgendered Elliot Page.

And of course there were lots of jokes, some about what this means for the ongoing DCEU makeover.

Levy’s post comes mere days after Shazam! Fury of the Gods dropped its latest trailer, which boasts a Game of Thrones reference and Lucy Liu and Dame Helen Mirren as evil sisters. Even if it winds up being true that Levy is among Hollywood’s elite anti-vaxxers, it might not matter at the box office, at least. Letitia Wright’s antics didn’t torpedo Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Ant-Man 3 will probably do fine despite Evangeline Lily getting called out by her own colleagues.

(Via The Daily Beast)

Pascal Siakam has followed a career trajectory lots of his peers would trade for in a heartbeat: winning a championship in year three, All-Star appearance the next season, and two All-NBA nods before age 29. Siakam may not be among the rarefied few NBA players who can put a championship team on their back, but he is an obvious answer for the many teams searching for a costar. As the Raptors look to their next chapter, it may be worth considering Siakam’s future, and at least a half-dozen playoff teams could improve their fortunes by bringing Siakam in for the remainder of his prime.

Siakam has turned into a bona fide point center, and this is by far the best offensive season of Siakam’s career. He’s posting career bests in points and assists per game on a career-high usage rate while also slicing his turnovers to a career low. Despite handling the ball and shooting more, Siakam’s scoring efficiency is in line with career norms, and the Raptors’ offense is 6.4 points better per 100 possessions with him on the floor.

This puts him in elite company: His per-game counting stats this season are matched only by Luka Doncic, Steph Curry, LeBron James, and Nikola Jokic. He has started to play more like them, too. After years of playing off of creators like Kawhi Leonard, Kyle Lowry, and Fred VanVleet, Siakam gets the seventh-most touches per game in the league, his first season in the top 10. Siakam’s 28.1 percent usage rate is also the highest of his career and places him near the top 20.

Yet Siakam only has the one All-Star bid to his name (though another is surely coming here in 2023) in his seventh season, and is rarely talked about among the best players in the league. Surely NBA decision-makers know how good Siakam has become, but his name is rarely the first one to come up when executives opine to NBA reporters about teams’ pursuits of another star.

Part of what makes Siakam so special is that he has excelled and improved despite poor floor spacing and a young Toronto roster. Siakam’s defensive impact has graded out worse in recent years as he has taken on a larger offensive role, but the league knows he can be a great two-way player as part of a winning cast because he did it for the Raptors’ 2019 championship squad, finishing second in minutes in that six-game Finals series.

It would be incredibly easy to see Siakam as an elbow playmaker and switchable defender in a place like Phoenix, Golden State, or Miami. He could be a great partner in the two-man game for Luka Doncic in Dallas or Tyrese Haliburton in Indiana. Siakam, however, is not nearly the hot commodity that his strengths on the court would indicate. Part of the reason is that Toronto’s asking price — Matt Moore of The Action Network said other teams’ executives described Toronto’s asking price as “insane” for Siakam. Another straw poll described the price as being “a three-for-one plus picks.”

Siakam’s contract pays him $35.4 million this season and $37.9 million next season, so any team going big to trade for him would have to anticipate re-signing him on a raise in 18 months. Assuming he makes it in this season, Siakam will be locked into supermax criteria by making All-NBA in the two years preceding his contract year. A supermax extension, which he only qualifies for if he stays in Toronto, would pay Siakam $205 million from 2025-2030 (when he turns 36).

Though they can’t match the supermax salary, a team like the Mavericks or Suns could see that as a worthy investment if it means giving Donic or Devin Booker a championship-caliber number two for their upcoming prime years. It could also turn out that the NBA doesn’t see Siakam as worth quite that much and he gets a smaller extension or hits unrestricted free agency in 2024. If Siakam is dead set on that contract, it makes sense that he’s staying quiet and riding out his time in Toronto, where he’s played his entire career. It is also worth mentioning that he reportedly would be happy to stay north of the border alongside Scottie Barnes.

This potential ballooning of Siakam’s market has to impact how Toronto operates now, too. If it’s unclear whether teams in title contention would pay up for him, it would be an even bigger surprise to see the Raptors do it.

Toronto has admirably kept and developed its draft picks through their primes and continued to make the postseason long after the Lowry-DeMar DeRozan era. The reason Siakam, VanVleet, and OG Anunoby have as much value now as they do has a lot to do with the Raptors’ structure and pipeline. However, their hopes for a quick reset and reload after bottoming out in 2021 and bouncing back in 2022, seems to have hit a snag, and paying an elite secondary star top dollar usually requires having a primary star in place, which Toronto does not.

Even with an optimistic view of Barnes, the 2021 No. 4 pick who is averaging 18-7-6 on 51 percent shooting in January and has elite defensive tools, you find a player who at his best is going to occupy the same spaces and do many of the same things on the court as Siakam. Maybe from a talent perspective, a team built around Barnes and Siakam (not to mention Anunoby) would have enough to compete deep into the playoffs. But for two years running, the Raptors have been better with Siakam on the court and Barnes off than with just Barnes on or both on. Both Siakam and Toronto could benefit from a trade, especially because their supporting cast figures to take a hit soon, with VanVleet and Gary Trent Jr. both becoming free agents this summer.

Last summer, apart from the bizarre Rudy Gobert trade, the two biggest moves were upstart teams in Atlanta and Cleveland going after young All-Star guards. There might not be players like that available this summer, but it’s clear Siakam is somewhere in the middle. The Raptors might just be victims of their own patience, waiting too long, until Siakam got older and far more expensive before seriously considering trading him.

Still, teams should be willing to spend money and assets on great players. Paying Siakam (who has never missed more than 16 games in a season) nearly $40 million has to be seen as a reasonable investment for a team like Dallas, compared with giving that same money to Tim Hardaway Jr., Davis Bertans, and JaVale McGee, as they are now. The same could be said of the Suns paying Deandre Ayton and Landry Shamet a combined $40-plus million, or Golden State eyeing down a potential raise on Draymond Green’s $25.8 million salary alongside $10ish million for James Wiseman. And salaries, especially for All-NBA-caliber players, are expected to keep shooting up as the business of the NBA grows in the coming years.

For now, Siakam remains in a less than ideal spot as he embarks on his prime. A star capable of so much on a roster not built to maximize his talents, with a team full of redundancies, and a trade market that seems unwilling to make him a priority.