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In a season where individual scoring averages are inflated, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has stood out among the rest. Gilgeous-Alexander is currently averaging 31.2 points per game on a proficient 49.8 percent shooting from the field and an even more proficient 93 percent from the charity stripe. Prior to this season, only 13 players had averaged more than 30 points per game while shooting better than 50 percent from the field for an entire season. Only two guards have ever hit these statistical markers for an entire season: Michael Jordan and Steph Curry.

Gilgeous-Alexander has supercharged his scoring prowess by reducing his game to his strengths. The 3-point shot has never been weaponized at a higher rate for lead ball handlers, but Gilgeous-Alexander has relied less and less on launching from deep. He’s shooting only 33.3 percent on just three attempts from downtown per game, his fewest since joining the Thunder.

Instead, Gilgeous-Alexander has set his navigation dial for the paint. Typically, when a guard makes a 7-point leap in their scoring averages from one year to the next, you either see a jump in volume or efficiency from behind the arc. But the scoring charts below show that Gilgeous-Alexander is absolutely punishing teams inside the arc.

Forgoing the three-point line for the paint has gone quite well for the Oklahoma City Thunder’s fifth-year guard. Gilgeous-Alexander is currently fifth in points in the paint per game while every other player in the top 10 is an enormous human, or in Ja Morant’s case, can fly. To become a volume paint scorer, you typically need a special physical advantage or consistent assistance in the form of an entry pass or a lob for dunks.

Gilgeous-Alexander has neither. He generates his volume paint touches by being the NBA’s most prolific driver at 24.4 drives per game with the second closest player sitting at just 21.6 drives per game. His handle and movement on drives is almost translucent. He’s never moving at a high speed, but his change of pace and movement are arrhythmic and unpredictable. Guarding him is like trying to eat soup with a fork.

A half step in the wrong direction is all he needs to slither into the lane and utilize his array of push shots, floaters, and finger rolls around the rim. His length creates an almost Giannis-like illusion at the rim where you’re never quite sure how Gilgeous-Alexander turned a 10-foot floater into a layup. This is where his offbeat game also provides an advantage — shot blockers are never quite sure when Gilgeous-Alexander will go up with a shot around the rim and he excels at using his long arms to get the ball to the backboard before a shot blocker can get there.

If a defender somehow wins the carnival prize that is warding him off from the rim, he will simply shoot a floater from any and every angle off of either leg. Gilgeous-Alexander dabbles in the dark arts of the floater and has learned to use the non-restricted paint area better than anyone not named Luka Doncic. A contested shot in and around the paint does not exist for him. Defenders function as caution signs more than true obstacles when he’s getting a shot off.

Defenders are not equipped to contest a shot in the paint from Gilgeous-Alexander without fouling, which is why he’s fourth in NBA in free throw attempts at a smidge over 10 per game. His increased free throw frequency, in addition to shooting over 90 percent from the line, have essentially subsidized his three-point reduction. The increased two-point shots also allow him to find a rhythm during the game from the spots he loves to shoot from in clutch situations. Gilgeous-Alexander has already hit three go-ahead shots in the last two minutes of a game this season, including a ridiculous buzzer-beater to beat the Blazers. Teams funnel great shot creators into mid-range looks in those crunch-time situations, but for Gilgeous-Alexander, that’s his comfort zone and will allow him to hit even more clutch shots for the Thunder.

Going from a star to a superstar is the hardest leap to make in the NBA, but it appears that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has done just that. He’s shown up uninvited to the All-NBA First-Team table and demanded a seat. His progression requires a new level of urgency on the never-ending Oklahoma City team building project. The Thunder have a real path to contention somewhere down the line, and it’s all thanks to how Gilgeous-Alexander’s excellence inside has propelled him into stardom.

Donald Trump is currently running for president a third time, but you wouldn’t know it. Instead of laying out his game plan, he’s hawked much-mocked NFTs. Instead of swanning about the nation, holding endless rallies, he’s barely gone anywhere. A new report from New York Magazine’s Olivia Nuzzi, which includes interviews with the big guy himself and many current and former associates, that the former most powerful man on the planet now lives a very “small” life that sounds scarily like one of his favorite movies, Sunset Boulevard.

As per the report, since announcing his presidency last month, Trump has “barely set foot outside the perimeter of Mar-a-Lago.” That’s not all: “For 28 days, in fact, he has not left the state of Florida at all.”

So what does Trump do all day? Not much, as was reported last week in a different, also unflattering article. “He just goes, plays golf, comes back, and f*cks off. He has retreated to the golf course and to Mar-a-Lago,” one advisor told Nuzzi. “His world has gotten much smaller. His world is so, so small.”

Trump doesn’t handle boredom well, and that — combined with the absence of Jared and Ivanka, who used to temper his worst instincts — is how you get his infamous Kanye-Fuentes dinner.

“He doesn’t have anything else to do,” an advisor said. “What else can he do? Why did he see Kanye? He wants to be relevant and wants the limelight. He’s thirsty.”

Details of his campaign are scarce and vague. It may not even have an official headquarters yet, though when it does it will probably be in Palm Beach, near Mar-a-Lago (of course). But so far, his campaign — and his life — seem small, not the least because few of the people who helped his first two campaign are on board this time, including his children.

“There’s nobody around him who wants him to do it,” said an adviser. “Forget Jared and Ivanka — Don Jr. doesn’t want him to do it! The only person who wants him to do it is Eric’s wife, Lara, because she’s so ambitious.”

It’s a long, ambitious profile, stacked with damning quotes from others (and from Trump himself). Perhaps the most chilling sections concern his love of the aforementioned Sunset Boulevard, about Norma Desmond (played by actual former “silent” era star Gloria Swanson), a former Hollywood screen star who’s holed up in her decaying mansion people only with a few sycophants who keep up the illusion that she’s still got it. Trump watches it “all the time.” It’s one of the only things he can watch, says press secretary Stephanie Grisham, without checking his phone or flipping channels. Nuzzi ends her profile by discussing its conclusion:

Do you remember how Sunset Boulevard ends? Norma Desmond shoots and kills the writer [played by William Holden], a fraudster who has fallen under the spell of her charisma, just as he summons the courage to walk away. Her sycophantic butler flips. There are no enablers left to protect her. A final fantasy, a fake movie set, is staged in the mansion’s entryway. The lights go on, and she is lured before the cameras, where the police are waiting to haul her away.

For Gloria Swanson, Sunset Boulevard provided something of a comeback. Norma Desmond wasn’t so lucky, and Trump might not be either.

(Via NY Mag)

The Los Angeles Lakers will not have Anthony Davis for the foreseeable future. Reports from earlier this week indicated that the team wasn’t expecting to have the All-Star big man for an indefinite period of time due to a foot injury that he suffered against the Denver Nuggets, and on Friday afternoon, the Lakers put out a statement indicating that is indeed the case. According to the team, Davis suffered a stress injury in his right foot.

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN brought some positive news in the aftermath, saying that Davis isn’t feeling all that much soreness in his foot and there is optimism he won’t need to go under the knife to remedy the injury.

Not having their star big man for any period of time is a tough turn of events for Los Angeles, as Davis has looked like one of the best players in the league when he’s been able to take the floor. Prior to going down, Davis was having arguably the best season of his career, as he averaged 27.4 points, 12.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 2.1 blocks, and 1.3 steals in 33.4 minutes per game while connecting on 59.4 percent of his field goal attempts.

Los Angeles is 13-18 on the season and finds itself in 13th place in the Western Conference.

Viva the Dominican Republic! Rising Dominican star Kiko El Crazy is channeling Elvis Presley in his Las Vegas era. On Wednesday (December 21), he released the retro video for his new single “Cuca.”

Just in the time for holidays, Kiko El Crazy released his new single “Cuca.” Backed by a quirky dembow beat, he sings about getting the party started Dominican style. Kiko El Crazy adds that his aim is to get asses moving and he is sure to succeed with this playful club banger.

In the “Cuca” video, Kiko El Crazy sings the song in front of his name in lights. The throwback setup is similar to when Presley used to perform with his first name in lights while in Las Vegas. Kiko El Crazy even dons a spiffy suit like the King of Rock ‘N Roll once did.

Like Tokischa, Kiko El Crazy is helping push dembow music from the Dominican Republic into the mainstream. In March, he released his debut album Llegó El Domi. The Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am embraced dembow with Kiko El Crazy in their duet “Latina.” Kiko El Crazy teamed up with dembow icon El Alfa for “Busca Un Culo.” Reggaeton stars Arcángel and Ñengo Flow also got in on the emerging genre on Kiko El Crazy’s LP.

“When I’m on the stage, I’m making art,” Kiko El Crazy wrote in an Instagram post. “I’m not a man nor a woman. I’m just an artist.”

You don’t have to be into the Olympics or even into swimming in general to know who Michael Phelps is. His record-shattering proclivity is well known around the globe and as the most decorated swimmer, with 28 Olympic medals, he’s earned his name recognition.

Just so happens, there’s a Texas teen who is eyeing Phelps’ records and took a break from his studies to break one. Maximus Williamson, a sophomore at Keller High School near Fort Worth, Texas, has had his heart set on breaking the Olympian’s record since 2021, but came up short that year. This year, with another strong swimmer flanking him and coming up fast, he channeled his inner fish apparently because he shattered Phelps’ national age group (15-16) record in the 400-yard individual medley—one of the toughest of the swim races.

In 2002, a 16-year-old Phelps set the NAG record for 400-yard IM with a time of 3:42.08; and Williamson came in at 3:39.83, breaking the 20-year record, according to a press release from the Keller Independent School District. Williamson, who swims for the Keller High School swim team, was competing in the 2022 Winter Junior Nationals competition in Austin and swimming for the Lakeside Aquatic Club at the time. “Breaking 40 [seconds] was a goal for me. I was so close to it last year … I think that’s what pushed me the most,” said the 16-year-old phenom.

Breaking an NAG record set by Phelps is a huge accomplishment for a competitive high school swimmer, especially as the swimming legend has set a total of 39 records. A few other swimmers have broken some of Phelps’ records, but this particular one stood for 20 years before someone cracked it. Swimming isn’t an easy sport, especially when you’re doing it competitively. It’s a full body workout and you’re fighting against the resistance of the water the entire time.

But it’s something that Williamson has been working at for a while and his Keller High swim coach, Jamie Shults, is proud: “Michael Phelps is the most well-known swimmer of all time, so even people who don’t know swimming know Phelps,” said Shults. “To break a 20-year Michael Phelps record is truly an extraordinary accomplishment.”

Williamson said in the press release, “It’s hard to grasp the concept of what just happened. I’m just left speechless to be compared to the GOAT [Greatest of All Time].” It’s amazing what determination and hard work can do.

Watch him talk about his new record below:

Jay Wheeler is now a married man. On Wednesday (December 21), the rising Puerto Rican star revealed that he wed Venezuelan singer Zhamira Zambrano in a sweet TikTok post.

Wheeler rose to prominence in 2020 with his breakthrough hit “La Curiosidad.” Myke Towers featured on the original version. Two remixes were later released with star-studded features from Becky G, Rauw Alejandro, Jhayco, and Lunay. In September, he teamed up with his wife-to-be Zambrano for their duet “Dicelo.” In October, Wheeler proposed to her at the iconic El Coliseo in Puerto Rico.

On TikTok, Wheeler uploaded a video of the civil ceremony with the caption: “I got married.” In the post, Zambrano can be seen dancing in her wedding dress to their song “Dicelo.” Wheeler yells, “I got married with the best woman in the world!” He later joins Zambrano for the impromptu sing-along.

Yesterday, Wheeler uploaded intimate photos from the wedding that showed the newlyweds kissing. “mr & mrs,” he wrote in the caption. Wheeler also received well wishes from other reggaeton music stars. Both Justin Quiles and Zion from Zion y Lennox wrote “Congratulations!” in the comments.

This past year, Wheeler released two albums. El Amor Y Yo dropped right before Valentine’s Day. He then followed that up with Emociones in August.

Chicken Shop Date is a great series hosted by the ever-charming Amelia Dimoldenberg. Fueled by awkward humor and always only six minutes, the show has had guests like Matty Healy, Finneas, Roslía, and many more. The newest is Phoebe Bridgers, who fits perfectly in Dimoldenberg’s company.

Inevitably, it starts with the Punisher performer discussing the apocalypse. “When do you think the world will end?” Dimoldenberg asks. “I think it’s ending now. And there’s not gonna be fireworks and people falling into the earth’s center. I think it’s gonna be a long and painful death.” They also talked about nightmares, and Bridgers admitted: “Most of my nightmares are like, I get on stage and I forget all my songs, which is so embarrassing, actually, that that’s a deep fear.”

When asked what the worst thing she ever tasted was, Bridgers said it was “cigarette ash and chew-tobacco spit in a water bottle,” which her dad left in the cupholder without her realizing when she went to chug it. Fittingly, the scene then cut to Dimoldenberg deadpanning the question: “Do you still want to kill your dad?” It’s in reference to the line in “Kyoto,” and Dimoldenberg’s awkward straightforwardness is irresistibly laughable. Bridgers pauses to think and chew before answering, “No.”

Watch their full conversation above.

Budding hip-hop talent, Coi Leray, stands by her declaration, “girls are players too,” but in her new single, “Wasted,” she shows that love isn’t always fun and games.

Co-produced by Taylor Hill and Tommy “Tbhits” Brown, the track is a sonic departure from Leray’s signature high-energy club kid aesthetic as heard on “Blick Blick” featuring Nicki Minaj and “Fly Sh!t.” Instead, Leray leans into the vulnerable nature heard in her previously released single, “Anxiety.”

This go-around, the rapper explores the gut-wrenching reality that the person you love and care for deeply isn’t the one for you — a reality the recording artist knows all too well following her breakup with Toronto rapper Pressa.

Co-written by Alexander “Big A” Prado and Leonard “Skeez” Lowman, the song Leray trades in her spunky rap delivery for a melodic vocal approach as the R&B calls for a much more delicate approach. It is clear Leray chose this as her newest single to showcase her range and she knocks it out of the park.

As she sings, “I gave you one chance, then you f*cked it up, then you f*cked it up again / A mistake ain’t a mistake when you make the same one again / You told me that I’m the one, but I ain’t one of them / Communication gettin’ frustrated, can we make it make sense? / You make more time for your homies, you hit me when you feelin’ lonely,” it is hard not to be pulled into Leray’s pain.

Leray took to Twitter to share the inspiration behind the track, writing, “This song is for my bitches who wasted time, energy, and so much more dealing with you f*ck n****s! Ladies, let this song heal you and understand you are not alone!”

In addition to the song’s release across music streaming platforms, Leray teamed up with production companies Valley Visions and Unique Visions to direct the official video. The visual stars model Justus Pickett as Leray’s love interest and viewers are guided through the ups and downs of this love affair gone awry.

Watch the full video above.

Myles Turner, whose name frequently pops up in trade rumors and has been linked to the Los Angeles Lakers in a potential Russell Westbrook trade for months, may not leave the Indiana Pacers after all. According to a new report by Shams Charania of The Athletic, Turner and the Pacers have opened up talks on a potential contract extension that will keep him from hitting unrestricted free agency at the conclusion of this season.

Currently, Turner is in the final year of a 4-year, $80 million extension he signed with the team and makes $18 million a year. The Athletic notes that the Pacers can offer him an additional $19.1 million and that the two sides have until March 1 to get an extension done.

Via The Athletic:

It’s believed that extension conversations are still at an initial phase, with a March 1 deadline for the sides to reach a deal. Due to contract stipulations, no extension can be agreed upon between March 1 and June 30. Turner will have several factors to debate when deciding on a potential extension, including his personal development on this roster as well as stability given he’s played for four coaches in eight years and has fluctuating minutes and shot attempts at times. If an extension does not occur, Turner will enter unrestricted free agency in July.

The Pacers have been one of the surprise stories in the Eastern Conference this season. While they entered the year expected to be firmly in the mix for the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, Indiana sits at 16-16, good for eighth place in the East. Turner is a major reason why, as he’s averaging 16.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks in 29.5 minutes per game while connecting on 41.7 percent of his attempts from three.

With Rolling Loud’s return to Los Angeles right around the calendar corner, the festival recently revealed its lineup featuring headliners Future, Playboi Carti, and Travis Scott. This week, though, the fest’s organizers added someone to the list of people who can’t go to the 2023 event: Nusret Gökçe, aka viral chef Salt Bae. Jumping on the recent announcement that FIFA would be blocking his attendance from future events after his antics at the recently concluded World Cup in Qatar, the Rolling Loud Twitter account wrote, “We have also banned Salt Bae from Rolling Loud LA 2023 in March.”

Of course, it’s pretty obvious that the statement is more of a joke than anything else. The Rolling Loud social media manager has proven to have a pretty wicked sense of humor — even razzing a rapper whose stage was only attended by 13 people — so it’s probably just a reference to all the other events showing Gökçe the proverbial red card for wandering onto the pitch after Argentina’s World Cup final victory over France to kiss the trophy last Sunday. FIFA issued the salty chef with a ban from the 2023 US Open Cup final as it considers what other actions it will take against him.