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Brooklyn Nets wing Royce O’Neale took quite the path to get to the NBA. The 29 year old is now a starter in Brooklyn, but his path to getting there involved spending his college career at Denver and Baylor before stops in Europe and the G League that he parlayed into becoming a member of the Utah Jazz. He’s seen a lot of the world, and when you travel like that, you need to find ways to keep yourself entertained and connected to the friends made along the way.

Enter Call of Duty. O’Neale has been playing video games since he was a kid — he even has the SEGA Dreamcast to prove it — but through Call of Duty, he’s found a game that lets him keep in touch with friends while providing an escape from basketball.

With the historic launch of Modern Warfare 2 earlier in the month and the release of Warzone 2.0, we sat down with O’Neale to talk to him about why it is that everyone loves Warzone, the best Call of Duty players on the Nets, and more.

What was your first Call of Duty?

Growing up, I was always a Halo fan, so my first Call of Duty that I played consistently and heavy was probably Black Ops. That was probably the one I played the most before I got into Warzone. Ever since then, my teammates played, and all my friends back home play as well. Even when I’m just meeting people, we know we have some of the same interests with Call of Duty, it’s been great.

I know you traveled internationally for a while with the start of your career, maybe connect to some of his old teammates from back then as well.

Oh yeah, for sure. I don’t see my friends as much and so we all got a group chat so we can see when each other’s getting online. And even my teammates, we all still play together when we’re out of practice or just hanging out.

How often do you play during the season?

I play, like, every day. I go to the gym, get my work in, and come home and play video games all day. I play Call of Duty, 2K, FIFA, you know, it’s like my escape outside of basketball.

Did you ever get a chance to play the original Modern Warfare 2 at all?

Yeah, I did. I played a little bit. That was kind of a time when I was bad at Call of Duty, so I didn’t really play it as much or get the hang of it. I didn’t really play a lot of multiplayer. I like to go straight to the Warzone. That’s what I kind of picked up and played a lot.

What is it about Warzone that makes it so much more attractive? I’ve talked to a handful of athletes and they all seem to gravitate to Warzone.

I don’t know. Just from myself, I would probably say the competitiveness, strategy, and teamwork. You can’t play it like it’s an individual game. I feel like multiplayer is more single-player, because you see how many kills you can get personally. I feel like in Warzone you gotta be smart, move as a team, and loot.

Do you bring a set up with you on road trips?

Yeah, [an] MSI [gaming laptop]. I have a deal with them, so I actually just got a whole new setup and everything. They got a new gaming laptop that I travel with on the road and it’s very convenient because I don’t have to carry my big Xbox or PlayStation. I can just carry that and just play right on there. I’ve been playing a ton of PC and stuff.

Who would you say is the best Call of Duty player on the Nets?

I mean myself [laughs]. Nah, probably I’d say Ben [Simmons]. He’s pretty good at it and has been playing for a while.

So you and Ben Simmons in some order.

Yeah. I’m first, and he might be tied for first, but he’s second.

What about across the entire NBA? I know you played with Donovan Mitchell back when you were both in Utah.

I haven’t played really with that many guys in Call of Duty. Mike Conley, he’s pretty good. Rudy Gobert, he plays a lot, and they say Devin Booker and Karl Anthony-Towns are pretty good. Josh Hart, he’s good, I played with him a couple of times. There are a lot of guys that actually game.

After losing Arizona’s gubernatorial race, and becoming yet another example that Donald Trump is an albatross around the Republican Party’s neck, Kari Lake is now experiencing another brand of humiliation: people finding her old tweets. Turns out, Lake was something of a Breaking Bad fan, especially when it comes to a certain character: Jesse Plemons‘ Todd.

In 2013, when Lake would’ve still been a local TV news anchor in Phoenix, she tweeted out her thoughts on the Breaking Bad finale where she lamented that series creator Vince Gilligan didn’t write less deadly ending for Todd, the deranged murderous psycho who also happened to work for a gang of neo-Nazis. Nothing telling there!

“Am I the only one who didn’t like the #Disney ending @VinceGilligan gave #BreakingBad How about letting Tod run off onto the night!? #scary” Lake tweeted.

Some time in the past 24 hours, Lake’s tweet resurfaced and the failed candidate is being ruthlessly dragged for being an unabashed Todd stan. We’re talking she probably keeps packs of Stevia in the house and leaves a trail of them leading to her bedroom. But jokes aside, who the heck was Todd fan when the show was airing? The guy’s whole purpose was to be creepy as hell and dead-eyed murdered. He was not what you’d call a sympathetic character or a sane love interest, but apparently not in ultra MAGA candidate Kari Lake’s book.

You can see some of the reactions to Lake’s Breaking Bad tweet below:

(Via Kari Lake on Twitter)

In recent times, Mariah Carey has been trying to capitalize on her status as pop’s most Christmas-associated artist by attempting to trademark the phrase “Queen Of Christmas.” However, she has faced opposition from a couple of other Christmas-loving singers, Elizabeth Chan and Darlene Love. Now, the United States Trademark Trial And Appeal Board isn’t on Carey’s side either: They denied Carey’s application for exclusive rights to the phrases “Queen Of Christmas,” “Princess Christmas,” and “QOC” (as USA Today reports).

Chan’s attorney Louis Tompros said in a statement, “This was a classic case of trademark bullying. We are pleased with the victory, and delighted that we were able to help Elizabeth fight back against Carey’s overreaching trademark registrations.” Chan herself added, “Christmas is a season of giving, not the season of taking, and it is wrong for an individual to attempt to own and monopolize a nickname like Queen Of Christmas for the purposes of abject materialism.”

Chan also said, “As an independent artist and small business owner, my life’s work is to bring people together for the holiday season, which is how I came to be called the Queen Of Christmas. I wear that title as a badge of honor and with full knowledge that it will be — and should be — bestowed on others in the future. My goal in taking on this fight was to stand up to trademark bullying not just to protect myself, but also to protect future Queens Of Christmas.”

Regardless of Carey’s trademark status, she still has plenty of holiday endeavors in the works. She recently announced a Merry Christmas To All holiday special set to air on CBS, and she has some Christmas concerts set for December.

Amazon Music will be live streaming ComplexCon this weekend. The music and fashion festival is being held in Long Beach, CA. Airing on the brand’s Twitch channel and Prime Video on November 20 at 6 pm PST, fans can tune in to see performances from Pusha T, Lil Uzi Vert, Nigo, Kodak Black, Ski Mask The Slump God, Teriyaki Boyz, and more.

“ComplexCon has spent the last six years proving why Complex Networks is the most trusted media brand for youth culture. By working with Amazon Music, we can now offer our global audience access to some of the exclusive highlights that make ComplexCon the preeminent experience for convergence culture.” Justin Killion, president of Complex Network, shared in a statement. “With Complex Networks celebrating its 20th birthday this year, we’re excited to elevate ComplexCon on a global stage via Amazon Music, allowing us to showcase what two decades of being at the forefront of culture looks like.”

Along with the livestream on Twitch, Amazon Music has sponsored ComplexCon’s in-person gift shop. Festival guests can purchase everything from “official merchandise” to “rare collaborative pieces” by Verdy, Girls Don’t Cry, Wasted Youth, and many other artists/fashion brands. For those who are at home, there will also be opportunities to shop here.

Return to view the ComplexCon livestream this weekend here.

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

The 2023 Grammy Awards nominations were announced yesterday (November 15) and many artists are celebrating. Colombian superstar Maluma, Sebastián Yatra, and first-time nominee Chiquis shared their reactions to the news.

Maluma is nominated for Best Música Urbana Album for his latest LP The Love & Sex Tape. This marks his second overall Grammy nomination. Maluma scored a massive hit from the album this year when he teamed up with Feid for their reggaeton romp “Mojando Asientos.” In the category, he is up against Bad Bunny, Daddy Yankee, Rauw Alejandro, and Farruko.

“Right when I thought everything was perfect, God and the universe sent me another blessing,” Maluma said in a statement. “I am in shock! We are nominated for the American GRAMMYs for the Best Música Urbana Album and nominated in the same category along with top artists such as Daddy Yankee, Farruko, Bad Bunny, and many more. Something that started as a mixtape ended up being considered and nominated for the GRAMMYs. I want to thank everyone that was a part of this album, the songwriters, producers, musicians, and engineers. Thank you to the Academy. This is a dream come true.”

Mexican-American singer Chiquis received her first-ever Grammy nomination. She has followed in her late mom Jenni Rivera’s footsteps to become a star in the Mexican banda genre. Chiquis is nominated for Best Regional Mexican Music Album for her LP Abeja Reina. On the album, she covered “De Contrabando,” one of the most popular songs in her mom’s discography.

“I feel very blessed with this amazing news,” Chiquis said in a statement. “Thank you so much to the Academy, all of the industry colleagues that voted, and my production and work team for making this possible. ‘Abeja Reina’ is the culmination of two years of dedication and passion. This nomination is confirmation that all of the hard work and every step I have taken in my career to continue to record quality music, has been worth it.”

Yatra is nominated for Best Latin Pop Album for his LP Dharma. This marks the Colombian singer’s second overall Grammy nomination. The album features the hits “Tacones Rojos” and “Pareja Del Año” featuring Myke Towers. The Jonas Brothers joined Yatra, Daddy Yankee, and Natti Natasha on the song “Runaway.” Yatra posted his thank message in a video in Las Vegas where he is preparing to perform at the Latin Grammy Awards tomorrow night.

The 65th Annual Grammy Awards will take place on February 5, 2023. For a full list of nominations, click here.

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

There seems to be a disconnect when it comes to miniseries vs limited series vs just a plain old television show. There aren’t many hard and fast rules and it seems like any “limited” series can turn into a regular series if the demand is there. We’ve seen it with The White Lotus, which became an anthology series with season two. The HBO show was originally supposed to just have one season, and instead, there are now two Jennifer Coolidge-led seasons for fans. This isn’t the first time this has happened, and it probably won’t be the last. But when does it become too much?

HBO’s 2017 drama series Big Litle Lies had a similar story: the first season, based on the novel of the same name, was meant to be standalone, with a concrete storyline that ended in the finale. The all-star cast consisted of Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern, Zoe Kravtiz, and Adam Scott, and soon became a fan favorite. The show was such a huge hit that HBO thought it would be crazy to not make some more episodes, so a second season was ordered with Meryl Streep (!!) joining the cast.

There were some unfinished plotlines in season two: did the group ever confess? What happened to the ice cream that was chucked at Meryl Streep?! So much was left unanswered that it seemed like maybe, one day, we would get a third season, though that might not be happening anytime soon.

Kravtiz told GQ that a third season might not be in the cards. “I don’t think it is [returning],” Kravitz said in TikTok from GQ. “We talked about doing a season three a lot and, unfortunately, Jean-Marc Valle, our incredible director, passed away this last year and I just can’t imagine going on without him.” Valle passed away last December after a heart attack. “He really was the visionary for that show. So, unfortunately, it’s done,” Kravtiz concluded.

Even though there are no plans for a third season, the show was never officially canceled per se, so maybe we will get to see what those Monterey women get up to…in another decade or so. Maybe.

(Via ET)

No one was more excited to announce that Donald Trump is running for president (again) in 2024 than Donald Trump. For months, the twice-impeached former POTUS — who famously lost the 2020 presidential election (though try getting him to admit that) — has been teasing the whole “will he or won’t he run?” thing, despite the fact that fewer and fewer people seem to care.

While, predictably, Lindsey Graham managed to stop panic-crying about Herschel Walker long enough to pledge a blood oath to the disastrous former president, only one other “current” member of Congress seemed to have shown up for Trump’s big night: fellow disgraced Republican Madison Cawthorn.

While Cawthorn is still officially a North Carolina congressman, he hasn’t been doing a whole lot of Congress-ing since losing his reelection bid. In fact, the last we really heard from him were his cryptic threats about a “dark MAGA” takeover following his humiliating defeat, which might explain why he was pretty much the only politician who actually RSVP’ed yes to Trump’s invite. Unless he’s buddying up to the former president to make Trump-Cawthorn 2024 the end result of his “dark MAGA” threat?

It should be noted that Matt Gaetz was also expected to be in attendance, but inclement weather supposedly interrupted his travel plans. With or without the Florida congressman, who has been under investigation for sex trafficking (and even dared to seek a preemptive pardon for the charges), onlookers rightly described the scene at Mar-a-Lago as “just a room full of losers.”

And while most Republicans — and, really, all of America — have practically already forgotten about Cawthorn altogether, the hard-partying politician who spent his campaign funds on who knows what has already begun writing his next chapter: Florida Man. The supposedly broke congressman has reportedly just spent $1.1 million on a home in Cape Coral, Florida. It’s only a matter of time before he makes headlines — or a story on the official Florida Man Twitter account.

Watching some of the best Jeopardy! contestants in recent memory square off in a best-of-three finale in the Tournament of Champions is a real treat for longtime fans of the show. But as anyone who has watched even a little bit of Jeopardy! can attest, sometimes even the best players struggle with sports questions.

Unless you’re a professional sports bettor, of course. But not everyone can be James Holzhauer, which is why it wasn’t a huge surprise when all three contestants whiffed on a question about a retired NFL quarterback. The moment came with the first answer in the Double Jeopardy round. Finalist Sam Buttrey picked the First-Time Responses category, and a video and photo of former Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler showed up.

“The occupation at work seen on the left,” host Ken Jennings said while a knife is sharpened on screen. “Or the pro football retiree on the right”

That’s Jay Cutler, who played for 12 seasons in the NFL before retiring in 2017. He has also appeared quite a bit on TV as the former husband of reality star Kristin Cavallari. So it’s not like he’s a particularly obscure quarterback. Which is why it was very funny that the only guess at this $200 answer in Double Jeopardy was arguably a much more obscure quarterback.

“Tim Tebow?” incorrectly guessed Andrew He, who lead going into Final Jeopardy despite this answer. No one else decided to guess Cutler, which is a shame. But the rest of the game was a classic, with Amy Schneider capping off a major comeback to win with a clever low wager on a tough Final Jeopardy question.

You can watch the recap of Game 2 below.

Afrobeats pioneer Wizkid has made quite a splash with his fifth album, More Love, Less Ego, which was released last Friday (November 11) to general acclaim from genre fans after a glowing rollout including the singles “Bad For Me,” “Money & Love,” and “2 Sugar.” Now, he’s taking the album, which features appearances from Don Toliver, Shenseea, Skepta, and Skillibeng, on the road in 2023, dropping the release dates on social media.

The More Love, Less Ego Tour is due to begin on March 3 in Houston and run through April 7, when it will conclude in Los Angeles. You can see the full tour dates below and get more information at WizkidOfficial.com.

03/03 –- Houston, TX @ Toyota Center
03/04 –- Dallas, TX @ The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
03/06 –- Orlando, FL @ Addition Financial Arena
03/07 –- Miami, FL @ FPL Solar Amphitheater at Bayfront Park
03/09 –- Atlanta, GA @ State Farm Arena
03/11 –- Philadelphia, PA @ The Met
03/12 –- Washington, D.C. @ Capital One Arena
03/14 –- Brooklyn, NY @ Barclays Center
03/15 –- Boston, MA @ MGM Music Hall at Fenway
03/18 –- Montreal, QE @ Bell Centre
03/19 –- Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena
03/22 –- Detroit, MI @ Fox Theatre
03/24 –- Chicago, IL @ United Center
03/25 –- Minneapolis, MN @ The Armory
03/28 –- Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium
03/31 –- Seattle, WA @ accesso ShoWare Center
04/01 –- Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena
04/04 –- San Francisco, CA @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
04/06 -– Phoenix, AZ @ Arizona Financial Theatre
04/07 -– Los Angeles, CA @ The Kia Forum

Candace Parker is months removed from a masterful 15th WNBA season. She made her seventh All-Star appearance, was named to the All-WNBA First Team and helped lead the Chicago Sky to the league’s second-best record en route to a five-game, semifinals loss against the Connecticut Sun. Many considered her to also author an All-Defensive Team-caliber campaign.

Parker is a free agent, but should she elect to return for a 16th season, she will certainly have suitors, given how her last year went. Speaking with The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch on the Sports Media Podcast, Parker said the current plan is to play another season. However, she noted it’s far too earlier in the offseason to make any definitive claims.

“Right now, yeah, I’m game. Let’s see if my body, you know, is this way in January and February. But I plan to, you know, I plan to play, I plan to come back,” Parker said. “But at the same time last year, it was the reverse. I couldn’t imagine lacing up shoes. I couldn’t imagine going through game 27 on the schedule. And then, a flip switched in February and I was ready to go. So, you know, I like to take the offseason to take my time. But, you know, right now, I don’t know if I’ve dribbled my last ball.”

Parker averaged 13.2 points, 8.6 rebounds, 4.5 assists, one steal and one block per game in 2022.