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Last week, actor Sean Bean very casually admitted that he did not like using intimacy coordinators during intimate scenes with his co-stars, and it may not have gone over well with other actors who are very thankful for intimacy coordinators. One of the stars that is defending the use of intimacy coordinators is Dame Emma Thompson, who thinks that they are great! And also doesn’t seem to know who Sean Bean is.

While promoting her new film Good Luck To You Leo Grande, in which she embarks on a sexual relationship with a much younger man, the interviewers of the Australian radio show “Fitzy& Wippa” (the most Australian-sounding name ever) mentioned Bean’s comments. “Sean Bean, who was Ned Stark in Game of Thrones said he didn’t really appreciate the work of the intimacy coordinator because he said that it spoilt the spontaneity. So is that how you found it? Did you guys have an intimacy coordinator there on set advising you what to do in these scenes?” Of course, Thompson had a very eloquent response.

“Intimacy coordinators are fantastically important and I don’t know you were speaking to somebody who found it distracting but another conversation you might find people go, ‘It made me comfortable, it made me feel safe, it made me feel as though I was able to do this work,’” Thompson told the host, via Variety.

Thompson added, “So intimacy coordinators are the most fantastic introduction in our work. And no, you can’t just ‘let it flow.’ There’s a camera there and a crew. You’re not on your own in a hotel room, you’re surrounded by a bunch of blokes, mostly. So it’s not a comfortable situation full stop.”

It seems like Thompson either 1) did not understand the interviewer or 2) just simply does not know who Sean Bean is, because she added: “So I don’t know who the actor was but maybe he had an intimacy coordinator accidentally at home.” Well then!

Thompson is known for her roles in Harry Potter, Sense and Sensibility, Pride & Prejudice, and a number of other well-known British films. Sean Bean was in Game Of Thrones, so maybe their paths just haven’t crossed!

(Via Variety)

Last winter, scuffling along at 20-35, 12th in the Western Conference and two games back of a Play-In spot, the Sacramento Kings radically reoriented the vision of their team in an effort to snap their lengthy playoff drought.

Just two days shy of the 2021-22 trade deadline, Sacramento dealt Buddy Hield, Tristan Thompson, and blooming star Tyrese Haliburton to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for Jeremy Lamb, Justin Holiday, and All-Star big man Domantas Sabonis.

Despite starting the Sabonis Era 2-0, Sacramento ultimately went 5-10 when he suited up. The 26-year-old didn’t play past late March and the Kings finished the season 30-52, six games behind the New Orleans Pelicans for the 10 seed. The dreams of Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox immediately shepherding a two-month run to the playoffs were swiftly extinguished, but there’s still reason for optimism given how the duo performed, even as the team as a whole faltered. The Lithuanian lefty averaged 19-12-6-1 on 60 percent true shooting and the Southwestern speedster slapped down a nightly 29-7-4-1 on 58 percent true shooting in their 15 post-trade games.

Heading into 2022-23, the Kings are equipped with a new head coach in Mike Brown and a revamped roster. Much of the club’s struggles were not at the hands of Sabonis and Fox. Although I’m skeptical they actualize the franchise’s playoff objective in a deep Western Conference, this team should be primed to play its most consistent and high-level basketball of the past 15 years next season, led by the dynamite offensive tandem of Sabonis and Fox.

So, how can their 14 games together inform our expectation of this partnership? What sort of style, actions, and schemes might be ideal for optimization and help fashion a prolific offense around them?

Brown, a defensive-minded coach, will bring a distinct philosophy from his predecessor, Alvin Gentry, an offensively inclined head man. But there should be some overlap between their approaches to extract the most from Fox and Sabonis’ talents.

The grandest hallmark of the Sabonis-Fox Kings was how outrageously fast they operated offensively. Prior to acquiring Sabonis, per InPredict, they ranked fifth in time of possession (14.1 seconds) and second in time of possession following a made shot (16.5). In the 16 games between Feb. 9 and March 16 — the stretch post-trade and before Fox was sidelined the rest of the year — they ranked third in general time of possession (13.6 seconds) and first after a made shot (15.5 seconds).

They wasted absolutely no time flowing into offense, often generating a paint touch or field goal attempt by the time the shot clock read 20. Sometimes, camera crews even struggled to properly toggle among broadcasting the basket, the inbounds pass and whatever Sacramento promptly cooked up offensively. From dribble handoffs to improvisational drives to wide-ranging ball-screen formulas, the Kings were in a jiffy to hoist up looks whenever possible.

The problem was playing fast didn’t necessarily correlate with efficient offense. During this span, they ranked 20th in points per possession following a make (1.09) and 21st in offensive rating (112.1).

These developments were largely independent of whatever Sabonis and Fox brought to the table, however. When possessions slowed, Sacramento’s floor-spacing and off-ball positioning were flawed and cramped. Teammates knew Sabonis thrives in slinging feeds to cutters, but would overindulge on half-hearted ventures inside or float around the dunker spot to frequently clog actions.

To counter this stagnation, the Kings sought shots before the defense was organized and the spacing provided greater room inside the key. That priority led to quite a few ill-advised and hurried decisions. This season’s roster seems better arranged to amplify the duo, especially with the luxury of time and personnel to adapt to a Sabonis-Fox-led brigade, which did not really exist in the five weeks post-trade last year.

A projected rotation could look something like Fox-Kevin Huerter-Harrison Barnes-Keegan Murray-Sabonis as the starting unit, with Davion Mitchell-Malik Monk-Jeremy Lamb-Trey Lyles-Richaun Holmes off the bench. Maybe, Chimezie Metu and/or Terence Davis see some burn, too, though I’d opt for a nine-person rotation excising Lyles to let Murray and Barnes garner all the minutes at power forward.

Regardless, there’s a whole lot of off-ball shooting, closeout-attacking, and DHO threats in that group to complement Sabonis and Fox, whose offensive ethos will always be built within the paint. Hammering home the understanding of rules and duties around actions involving Sabonis and Fox is vital. This pairing showcased enticing versatility and optionality during their brief run last season, even if the results didn’t always mirror the intrigue.

We saw lots of snug pick-and-rolls in which Sabonis’ screening opened runways for Fox’s afterburners and midrange comfort. Empty corner alignments were often fruitful on this action. Given the added shooting around them, the intention should be to increase empty corner, snug pick-and-rolls to stretch the defense thin.

We saw double drag and this could emerge as a reliable early offense staple to benefit from all the newfound shooting (Huerter, Monk, Murray) next season. Imagine lineups where one of Barnes or Murray is the stretch 4 popping on this play and Sabonis or Holmes is diving inside, while some configuration of Monk, Huerter, Barnes and Murray spaces around the perimeter.

We saw pick-and-rolls featuring early motion to shift the defense before Fox and Sabonis linked up. They’re such contrasting offensive presences, with Fox winning via his speed, flexibility, and handles, and Sabonis winning via his footwork and bruising strength. As such, defenses are timid to switch the play if they trail behind after a brush screen, ram screen, etc. and this tag-team can exploit that hesitancy.

The Kings should call for more of this, as Huerter, Monk, and Mitchell are viable complementary ball-handlers who can let the captains of the offense initiate plays on the move. Last season, after the trade, Mitchell was the only one who capably fit this mold, despite Donte DiVincenzo’s admirable efforts. In Year 2, Mitchell should be even better prepared to supplement his track star backcourt mate.

We saw inverted pick-and-rolls, typically before the defense was set, to highlight Sabonis’ handling chops and knack for attacking from the top of the key. The possibilities of these two collaboratively wielding their distinct games against opponents were displayed in spurts last season. Brown will add his own wrinkles and some of these actions will probably be excluded, but the potential variance at their disposal is encouraging.

Sabonis’ offensive arsenal helped unlock space for Fox’s driving nature. He chiseled open lanes to the rim, lured defensive anchors away from the hoop as a playmaking hub and found him on dimes inside. According to Cleaning The Glass, Fox shot 64 percent at the rim pre-trade and 24 percent of those makes came from assists. After Sabonis’ arrival, he shot 69 percent at the rim and 33 percent of those makes were assisted. His passing, screening, and advantage creation simplified Fox’s responsibilities.

There’s allure in this pick-and-roll flexibility, yet I find myself drawn to the dribble-handoff playbook, where Sabonis usually shines brightest. Chicago action, traditional DHOs, and Blind Pig could all be part of the regimen; the Memphis Grizzlies ran a decent amount of Blind Pig for Ja Morant last year, utilizing Steven Adams’ screening prowess and their stockpile of secondary ball-handlers. Sacramento fields similar personnel, with Fox, Sabonis, and complementary creation. I’d also like for it to explore Huerter and Monk as options in staggered DHO assortments to leverage their marriage of shooting and ball-handling.

For a few different reasons, the Kings didn’t run a ton of Fox-Sabonis spread pick-and-rolls last season. With heightened chemistry and floor-spacing, that should be remedied moving forward, though maximizing them here necessitates some growth from Fox specifically. He’s prone to being one-dimensional in ball-screens, lasering in on his preferred midrange pull-up and missing pocket passes or windows to shooters on the perimeter, particularly the latter. His cadence to keep all openings available could improve as well.

With their contrasting, immense interior gravity, Fox and Sabonis should routinely bend defenses in spread pick-and-rolls. In these scenarios can Fox diversify his processing to properly capitalize on the shooting, scoring and playmaking flanking him? Sabonis is adept at pacing his dives to the rim to maintain passing angles for ball-handlers. Mitchell quickly recognized this trait and complemented the big fella well. Fox showcased kernels of adaptation, but further growth remains ahead.

After being pigeonholed under Rick Carlisle for half a season in Indiana, Sabonis vaulted to northern California and was afforded the luxury of freedom. He piloted fast breaks as a funky, stampeding creator. The ball spun between his paws as a wily DHO conductor. Clear-outs in the post were directed to him. Pick-and-rolls of all shapes and sizes demanded his services.

Whether any of this continues under Brown’s rein is difficult to foresee exactly. A new offensive ideology could dictate how Sabonis and Fox function, both individually and collectively. Even so, the chances for the retooled Kings to be one of the NBA’s more potent, distinctive and joyful offenses this year is rather plausible.

Pairing these two dudes was a prudent move six months ago, but the surrounding roster and situation wasn’t conducive to imminently prosperous outcomes. An entire summer to streamline things and upgrade the ancillary talent should have the Kings doing some effective and rad stuff this fall. I’m excited to watch them experiment and learn, regardless of how it reflects upon their win-loss record.

The 2022 American Whiskey Masters Award bourbon and rye winners are here. What makes these awards so unique is that they’re tied to a publication based in the U.K., giving us a bit of an outsider’s perspective on American whiskey from a world dominated by Scotch. To add an extra layer to that, I decided to call out the top of the top and provide my own tasting notes for each bottle.

The American Whiskey Masters Awards are part of The Spirits Business (the aforementioned U.K. publication), which is where industry insiders get all their spirits business news pretty much daily. The Spirits Business (SB) runs a vast awards program that covers whisk(e)ys by region — we’ll get to the Scotch whisky winners next. The whole competition is run by SB Editor, Melita Kiely, who assembles a team of industry pros to judge whiskeys from their London base.

So far, this is a pretty straightforward spirits competition. The biggest difference is the award structure. Instead of the standard bronze, silver, gold, double gold, best in show (or some variation of that), it goes silver, gold, master, and taste master (with an emphasis on “master” as the higher award and the “taste master” as the best in class). All of that aside, we’re looking at another spirits competition that has a unique POV worth paying attention to. So let’s just dive in and see which bourbons and ryes they picked.

Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months

• We Blind Tasted A Whole Bunch Of $30-60 Bourbons To See If Any Could Beat Weller
• We Blind Tasted Classic Bourbons And Were Shocked By The Winner
• The Best Ten-Year-Old Bourbon Whiskeys, Tasted Blind And Ranked
• We Tasted Bourbon Whiskeys ‘Double-Blind’ And Tried To Guess Each Bottle
• All The Double Gold-Winning Straight Bourbons From This Year’s San Francisco World Spirits Competition

Masters Winners

Rye Ultra Premium ($52+) — 291 Colorado Whiskey Finished with Aspen Wood Staves, Barrel Proof Single Barrel

ABV: 64.3%

Average Price: $108

The Whiskey:

291 uses a quick aging process. For this single barrel expression of rye whiskey, they added Aspen wood staves into the barrels to accelerate the aging process while adding depth to the spirit. Once those barrels hit just the right flavor profile, they were bottled as a single barrel expression with no fussing, filtering, or cutting.

Tasting Notes:

The whiskey opens with a bold sense of wet pine with a pitchy vibe next to maple syrup over sourdough pancakes with a hint of sour apple and toffee in the background. The palate has a grassy nature that’s supported by an echo of vanilla, more resin, and woody/warm winter spices with a hint of cherry lurking somewhere in there. The end leans into sharp and warm spices with a focus on Red Hots and maybe even some nasturtium with a wet oak sweetness and a twinge of bitter espresso bean.

Bottom Line:

This is a pretty solid (albeit fleeting) whiskey. I tend to pour this over a rock to calm it down a little and let this nice creamy honey vibe loose.

Rye Aged up to 7 years — Russell’s Reserve Rye 6 Years Old

ABV: 45%

Average Price: $51

The Whiskey:

Russell’s Reserve is where we really dive into the “good stuff.” This expression is a collaboration between Jimmy and Eddie Russell, who search through the center cut of barrels in their rickhouses for the exact right minimum-six-year-old ryes to create this expression. The end results are a window into the Russells’ shared palate for whiskey.

Tasting Notes:

This is subtle rye with hints of crusty rye bread soaked in apple honey paired with a hint of vanilla. The rye spiciness isn’t overdone, allowing more of a sweet Christmas cake full of dried fruit, nuts, and spicy rum to shine through than, say, black pepper. The oakiness shines late as the spice, sweetness, and vanilla fade away, leaving you with a sense of sour cherry tobacco, mulled wine spices, and lush vanilla cream with an echo of old wicker.

Bottom Line:

This is a great everyday pour. That said, this really feels more like a great cocktail base than a sipper.

Rye Single Barrel — Russell’s Reserve Single Barrel Rye

ABV: 52%

Average Price: $71

The Whiskey:

This hand-selected single barrel expression hits on some pretty big classic rye notes (“classic” is becoming a theme here, as anticipated). The juice is selected from the center cuts of the third through fifth floors of the Wild Turkey rickhouses. There’s no chill filtering and the expression is only slightly touched by water for proofing.

Tasting Notes:

White peppery spice greets you with a sense of an old barrel, worn leather, and soft vanilla, with a light touch of sweetness from orchard fruit. The mouthfeel is svelte with fresh tobacco leaves accenting that hot chili pepper and cinnamon with a minor note of lush vanilla and toffee mellowing everything out. There’s a musty barrel edge that leads towards a cedar box full of cigars, vanilla beans, and toffee on the long fade.

Bottom Line:

The ABVs are low enough to drink this neat all day long, but it does benefit from a drop or two of water (or a rock) to get the creamier flavors. Either way, this is a great sipper to have around.

Bourbon No Age Statement — WL Weller C.Y.P.B. (Craft Your Perfect Bourbon)

ABV: 47.5%

Average Price: $899

The Whiskey:

This is the most interesting expression from Weller. A few years back, Buffalo Trace asked hardcore Weller fans to “Craft Your Perfect Bourbon.” C.Y.P.B. was born according to those fans choosing their favorite bourbon recipe, proof, warehouse location, and age. A consensus shook out that pinned the ideal whiskey to a wheated bourbon aged on the highest warehouse floors for eight years that’s then bottled at 95 proof. Today, that manifests yearly as a very limited release that’s part fan service and part special limited edition bourbon for all of us to enjoy.

Tasting Notes:

The nose opens with dried orange peels that have been loaded into an old cedar box and left in the back of a cupboard for years. Then this creaminess arrives that’s kind of like the halfway point between a vanilla flan with caramel sauce and spicy sasparilla on the nose. As the taste rolls towards the back of your mouth and settles in, you get this warming sense of eggnog spice next to soft tobacco leaves and dark chocolate-covered marzipan. The end marries that soft tobacco with spiced orange dark chocolate with a hint of espresso and vanilla.

Bottom Line:

This is a brilliant pour of whiskey. It does need a little water to help it bloom, but that’s about all it needs.

Bourbon Ultra Premium ($52+) — Remus Repeal Reserve Straight Bourbon Whiskey

ABV: 50%

Average Price: $94

The Whiskey:

This year’s Remus Repeal Reserve V is a hell of a whiskey. The MGP of Indiana signature bourbon is comprised of 9% 2005 bourbon with a 21% high-rye mash, 5% 2006 bourbon with a very high-rye mash of 36% of the sticky grain, 19% 2006 bourbon with the same 21% high-rye mash, 13% 2008 bourbon with that 21% rye mash, and 54% 2008 bourbon with the 36% high-rye mash.

Tasting Notes:

The nose on this is brilliantly fruity with touches of fresh raspberries, strawberries resting in dry straw, candied cherries, freshly peeled tangerines, apple cores and stems, and a touch of caramel malts. That caramel sweetness merges into a fresh honeycomb next to Dr. Brown’s Cream Soda vanilla and pep while the fruit dries out, leaving you with meaty dried figs, dates, and prunes driving the midpalate toward the finish. A touch of candied ginger spices things up as a fruity but dry tobacco leaf rounds out the end with the faintest touch of walnut shells.

Bottom Line:

This is another killer whiskey. If you can find it, buy two.

Bourbon Aged over 8 years — WL Weller 12 Year Old (Taste Master)

ABV: 45%

Average Price: $298

The Whiskey:

This expression of Weller rests in the warehouse for 12 long years. A fair amount of juice is lost to the angels during that stretch. In the end, the whiskey is vatted from the barrels that survived and then proofed down to a soft 90 proof.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a deep, creamy sweet corn note on the nose that gives way to old wool sweaters and vanilla pancakes rolled around in soft marzipan. The palate has a warm biscuit vibe with hints of buttery toffee syrup and old cutting boards that still smell of dark spices and dried fruit. The end takes its time and touches back on the cakey vanilla, buttery syrups, soft marzipan, and old, fruit-stained wood as it gently fades away.

Bottom Line:

This won “Taste Master” which is the best-in-show American whiskey for this category of awards. And that feels right. This is a wonderful whiskey that lives up to the hype (but maybe not the aftermarket price).

In case you’re looking for more great whiskeys, I’ve listed all the Gold Medal winners from each American whiskey bourbon and rye categories below.

Gold Medals

Bourbon Premium (0 to $30) — Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon
Bourbon Premium (0 to $30) — Four Roses Straight Bourbon
Bourbon Super Premium ($31‐$51) — High West American Prairie Bourbon
Bourbon Super Premium ($31‐$51) — Four Roses Single Barrel Bourbon
Bourbon Super Premium ($31‐$51) — Four Roses Small Batch Select Bourbon
Bourbon Super Premium ($31‐$51) — Angel’s Envy Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Port Wine Barrels
Bourbon Ultra Premium ($52+) — Eagle Rare 17 Year Old
Bourbon Ultra Premium ($52+) — Wild Turkey Rare Breed Bourbon
Bourbon No Age Statement — Stagg Jr.
Bourbon No Age Statement — WL Weller Antique
Bourbon No Age Statement — Elmer T Lee Single Barrel
Bourbon No Age Statement — Colonel EH Taylor Jr Small Batch
Bourbon No Age Statement — WL Weller Single Barrel
Bourbon No Age Statement — WL Weller Full Proof
Bourbon No Age Statement — Colonel EH Taylor Jr Single Barrel
Bourbon No Age Statement — Early Times Bottled in Bond
Bourbon No Age Statement — 291 Colorado Bourbon Whiskey Finished with Aspen Wood Staves, Small Batch
Bourbon Aged up to 7 years — George Remus Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Bourbon Aged up to 7 years — Bently Heritage Estate Distillery Bourbon Whiskey
Bourbon Aged up to 7 years — Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon
Bourbon Aged over 8 years — Eagle Rare 10 Years Old
Bourbon Aged over 8 years — Russell’s Reserve Rye 10 Years Old
Bourbon Single Barrel — Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit
Bourbon Single Barrel — Russell’s Reserve Single Barrel Bourbon
Bourbon Single Barrel — Russell’s Reserve Rye 13 Year Old
Bourbon Cask Strength — A Smith Bowman Cask Strength
Tennessee Super Premium ($31‐$51) — Uncle Nearest 1884 Premium Small Batch Whiskey
Tennessee Super Premium ($31‐$51) — Uncle Nearest 1856 Premium Aged Whiskey
Tennessee Super Premium ($31‐$51) — Daddy Rack
Tennessee Ultra Premium ($52+) — Uncle Nearest Master Blend Edition Batch No.001
Rye Super Premium ($31‐$51) — High West Double Rye
Rye Super Premium ($31‐$51) — Wild Turkey Rare Breed Rye
Rye Ultra Premium ($52+) — High West Rendezvous Rye
Rye Aged up to 7 years — Wild Turkey 101 Rye
Rye Aged up to 7 years — Rossville Union Master Crafted Straight Rye Whiskey
Rye Aged up to 7 years — Rossville Union Master Crafted Straight Rye Whiskey Barrel Strength
Rye Aged up to 7 years — Bently Heritage Estate Distillery Rye Whiskey
Rye No Age Statement — Yellow Rose Rye
Rye No Age Statement — Whistlepig Piggyback Rye
Rye No Age Statement — Colonel EH Taylor Jr Straight Rye

Despite the fact that Donald Trump is currently under investigation for inciting the Capitol riots of January 6, 2021 — which was a violent attack on the Capitol police as much as it was on democracy as we know it — he has a habit of painting himself as an unwavering supporter of law enforcement officials and a “champion of law and order.” But Anderson Cooper is calling bullsh*t.

On Wednesday night, as Mediaite reports, the CNN host opened his show by laying into Trump and Republicans like Lindsey Graham, who have allowed the former president to pick and choose when to praise law enforcement and intelligence officials (a.k.a. when it benefits Trump) and when to criticize and question their integrity (a.k.a. again, when it benefits Trump).

Cooper played a clip of Trump’s speech from January 6th, in which he lamented that “We’re living in such a different country for one primary reason: there is no longer respect for the law, and there certainly is no order. These are great people. Border patrol, ICE, and our police, of course, our police, all of our law enforcement.”

But, based on Trump’s own statement regarding the FBI raid on his home, Cooper added a caveat to that “great people” sentiment:

Except for FBI agents, who applied for the search warrant whom he’s now heaping scorn upon, and whom his followers in Congress are now threatening to defund and dismantle or drag before committees if they win control in November. Great people except for the federal magistrate judge who is thought to be the person who approved the Mar-a-Lago search warrant, whose identity is now being concealed because of threats on his life. Great people in fact.

Trump’s official statement on Monday echoed the wording of his January 6th speech, but with one marked difference: law enforcement are now the bad guys.

“These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents,” Trump wrote. “Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before. After working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate.”

As Cooper noted, Trump even went so far as to suggest “without anything at all to back it up, that federal agents planted evidence when they searched Mar-a-Lago on Monday, which then quickly became a Republican talking point.” (With Fox News’ Jesse Watters seemingly trying to lead the pack of getting Trump’s version of the story out there.)

You can watch the full clip above.

(Via Mediaite)

Finally, after unveiling songs like “Plan B” and “Pressurelicious,” Megan Thee Stallion has announced her new album Traumazine, which she has been teasing for months. It arrives tomorrow, August 12, and features artists like Latto, Key Glock, Pooh Shiesty, and more.

The record was rumored to be named Traumazine after she posted the definition of the word “traumazine,” reading “the chemical released in the brain when it is forced to deal with painful emotions caused by traumatic events and experiences.” She announced that the LP was finished at the end of last month by sharing an Instagram story with the text: “So happy abt my album. It’s finished. It’s for the hotties. It’s honest. It’s me. It’s real.”

Check out the album art and tracklist below.

1. “NDA”
2. “Ungrateful” feat. Key Glock
3. “Not Nice”
4. “Budget” feat. Latto
5. “Her”
6. “Gift & A Curse”
7. “Ms. Nasty”
8. “Who Me” feat. Pooh Shiesty
9. “Red Wine”
10. “Scary” feat. Rico Nasty
11. “Anxiety”
12. “Flip Flop”
13. “Consistency” feat. Jhene Aiko
14. “Star” feat. Lucky Daye
15. “Pressurelicious” feat. Future
16. “Plan B”
17. “Southside Royalty Freestyle” feat. Sauce Walka, Big Pokey & Lil Keke
18. “Sweetest Pie” feat. Dua Lipa

Traumazine arrives 8/12. Pre-order it here.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Bad news for European Rage Against The Machine fans looking forward to seeing the band when they crossed the pond later this month: The European leg of their world tour has officially been canceled due to Zack de la Rocha’s leg injury. After kicking off the COVID-delayed tour in East Troy, Wisconsin in July — their first show in eleven years — Zack injured his leg during just the second show of the tour in Chicago. While he finished that show sitting on a monitor and continued to perform while seated through the remaining US dates, apparently, this isn’t medically advisable for the UK and European dates.

In a statement on the band’s Instagram, the band wrote:

Per medical guidance, Zack de la Rocha has been advised that the August and September 2022 UK and European leg of the Rage Against The Machine tour cannot proceed. It is with great disappointment that we announce this cancellation.
Rage Against The Machine will be finishing their run at Madison Square Garden on August 11, 12 & 14 and then Zack must return home for rest and rehabilitation. The flights, travel time, and rigorous schedule in the UK and Europe are simply too much of a risk for a complete recovery.
We are so sorry to all of our fans who have waited years to see us and hope to Rage again soon.
Please contact your point of purchase for refunds to any headline shows.
Brad, Tim, Tom & Zack

It’s tough that it went this way after the tour was already postponed due to the pandemic, but hopefully, with enough rest and recovery, Zack and the band will be back on stage across the Atlantic, raging it up soon enough.

In April, ASAP Rocky was arrested at LAX in connection with a November 2021 shooting and was subsequently released from jail after posting bail for $550,000. The following week, LAPD confiscated several guns from the home of ASAP Rocky.

Now, ASAP Relli — a talent manager, producer, and a member of the hip-hop collective ASAP Mob — has stepped forward as a victim of the shooting. Real name is Terell Ephron, he will be filing a civil lawsuit against Rocky, according to Rolling Stone. Attorneys Jamal Tooson and Brian Hurwitz claimed that Rocky lured Relli to central Hollywood and showed up with semi-automatic handgun. “After arriving at the location, a conversation ensued whereby without provocation, warning, or any justification, ASAP Rocky produced the handgun and intentionally fired multiple shots at Mr. Ephron,” they told Rolling Stone.

They also said that Relli has received “multiple death threats and irreparable harm to his career in the entertainment industry as a result of this incident.”

ASAP Rocky has an extensive history of legal issues in his native New York, where he spent time on Riker’s Island for selling drugs and has been involved in several fights that ended with him being charged with assault, but nothing involving guns.

What a difference less than three years makes. Here ^^ is a look back to December 2019, when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin were in the same room (with French President Emmanuel Macron in a very awkward sandwich) during a meeting to discuss Ukraine with a further buffer of then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel at Paris’ Elysee Palace. Fast forward to now, and the world has not only endured an ongoing pandemic, but Russia invaded Ukraine for an ongoing, disastrous conflict that’s led to untold loss of life including many top Russian generals, all while Putin’s shipping Steven Seagal to spread horrific propaganda as a Kremlin spokesperson.

It’s not going well for anyone, but hopefully, those Ukranian grandmothers can keep wielding molotov cocktails upon those “Russian sh*ts.” In the meantime, some Russians are still down to go on vacation despite the obvious reasons not to do so, and they’ve been choosing Crimea. That’d be the Crimean peninsula of Ukraine, which Putin has taken under Russian control and aims to annex by September.

For the moment, though, the area remains under Ukraine control, and the besieged country’s defense ministry is asking tourists to get the hell out in the most unsubtle way: with a video set to Bananarama’s “Cruel Summer.” Cue the footage of tourists running while explosions disrupt their bikini time. “Unless they want an unpleasantly hot summer break,” the defense ministry wrote on Twitter alongside the video. “[W]e advise our valued russian guests not to visit Ukrainian Crimea.”

As Al Jazeera reports, several Russian fighter jets recently met their demise due to explosions at the Saki airbase. It’s a development not officially claimed by Ukraine but has been credited (as pointed out by the Daily Beast) to be undoubtedly the work of Ukrainian special forces. One can only expect the violence to worsen before this conflict ends. In other words, why the hell is anyone vacationing in Crimea right now?

Glance at the Washington Mystics’ place in the WNBA standings (5th, 20-14) and you may scoff when I call them a legit title contender, but don’t be fooled by their mid-seed position, this is a team no one will want to see in the playoffs.

The Mystics play a slow methodical offensive game, tied for 12th in pace and with an average offense according to Her Hoop Stats. However, Washington is built on the back of a the league’s best defense, and one of the better units in recent league history, sporting a Top 25 ranking in opponent points per 100 possessions since 2010. They grind teams down to a pulp, smothering ball screens, erasing drives, and creating a no fly zone of sorts in the passing lanes and around the rim.

The biggest thing to understand when assessing the Mystics’ title odds is their 4-7 record of Washington when star forward Elena Delle Donne rests. Delle Donne’s health is routinely a question and understandably so as she deals with the complications brought on by Lyme Disease, but if she’s able to play the full postseason schedule, Washington will have a great chance. The former MVP is still one of the best players in the league (top 10 or higher, in my opinion) when healthy and on the court — I’m still miffed that she wasn’t voted to the All-Star team this year.

Washington’s halfcourt offense can get bogged down, but with Delle Donne in, the offense has much more fluidity and purpose. That makes a great deal of sense when considering the roster is built around her scoring versatility. Barring health constraints in the playoffs, I’d argue their style of play can fit much better in a series where matchups matter more than in regular season games.

Part of what makes this Mystics team such a joy to watch and a steady competitor is an incredibly versatile and modern roster. There’s length in abundance and numerous players capable of handling, shooting, and playmaking at various levels. No player embodies that versatility more that Shatori Walker-Kimbrough. Walker-Kimbrough’s stat line doesn’t often stand out, but it doesn’t need to on a team with Ariel Atkins, Delle Donne, and Natasha Cloud. Her connective abilities amplify the skills of the team’s on-ball players while adding cohesive threads to the fabric of the Mystics.

Walker-Kimbrough extracts the most out of her scoring gravity. Even as a relatively average shooter, she’s incredibly willing to fire away, essential in actually drawing the defense into rotation. While she doesn’t draw the hardest closeouts or more intense coverages, she parlays that off-ball threat into secondary on-ball reps. Her passing and playmaking ability shines remarkably attacking off of the weak side, adding a second crack to an already scrambling defense.

Her pacing and tempo as a handler are really fun and effective. She throws in a great deal of stutters in her footwork and hesitations with her handle to momentarily freeze defenders. She doesn’t possess the quickest first step, but she has wonderful shift moving East-West, one of my favorite parts of her game. She’s adept at forcing small rotations, tricking help defenders into stepping over, and throwing darts out to the nail or the corner. She knows she’s not getting to the rim, but she sells the attack with an extra step or two to antagonize defensive shift, and I can’t iterate enough how awesome that is.

She’s rarely sped up with the ball in her hands and has a wide array of ways to get the ball off: cross-body throws, one-handed fastballs, overhead tosses, and some wonderful usage of jump passes to craft new angles. Again, that extra 10 percent of movement she applies makes such a significant difference in extrapolating the margins of an offensive possession. Her connective passing is crisp and lightning quick, making decisions before the ball even gets to her.

Walker-Kimbrough draws fouls at an above-average rate, using her craft and guile to draw contact in the paint. She excels working out of hand-offs and out of the slots, and her two-player game chemistry with both Myisha Hines-Allen and Elizabeth Williams has been a staple of Washington’s offensive flow.

On the defensive end, she has quick hands and is active with her length, ranking 15th in the league in steal rate. The Mystics play a slow place as mentioned earlier, but Walker-Kimbrough has a keen ability to create easy offense, translating offense to defense. She’s incredibly effective playing up at the nail or rotating low, and times close-outs well. She’s solid on the ball, but is at her best working in tandem with one of Washington’s bigs. She navigates screens well, but she’s makes her defensive imprint using her awareness and knowledge of personnel to attack ball screens with another player and shut them down, as her communication and preparation prior to screening actions setting up repeatedly stands out.

Routinely, you can watch a defensive possession and witness Walker-Kimbrough pointing and calling out assignments and coverages as soon as a screen is placed. Much like we hit on with her playmaking and taking the extra steps to buy time, Walker-Kimbrough adds steps defensively to take away the margins from opposing ball-handlers.

Part of what makes her so versatile is that she can play up on wings, and particularly get away with it due to her capabilities as an off-ball defender.

Shatori Walker-Kimbrough doesn’t bring the scoring weight of some of her star-studded teammates, or the same All-Defense level play of Atkins or Cloud, but this team is better because of her. Her play is often far louder and more noticeable when she’s not on the court, buffering offensive possessions and smoothing them out, or chasing an opposing team’s two-guard off a bevy of screens. What she does expands the margins for the Mystics, and those margins matter that much more in the playoffs.

When Run The Jewels dropped their fourth album in June 2020, they closed the album with the rambunctious “A Few Words For The Firing Squad.” It was a bold and fitting choice; the album was released at the height of several uprisings against police brutality, particularly against the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. The punishing track stressed their distrust of the system and commitment to fighting back by any means necessary.

It has been a couple of years and a whole heap of new problems has appeared to burden the average American citizen with worries about pox viruses, inflation, and the loss of bodily autonomy, but “A Few Words For The Firing Squad” remains as poignant and timely as ever. El-P and Killer Mike stopped by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to remind viewers that there’s still a fight for justice going on even amidst the slog of daily life during a pandemic.

With a stripped-down that highlighted the lyrics and message in lieu of an elaborate light show, Mike and P rap their verses without a drum track. Only a lone saxophonist accompanies them, growing more urgent and frantic as their rhymes do. You can catch the boys performing the song — and others — on their tour with Rage Against The Machine.

Watch Run The Jewels perform “A Few Words For The Firing Squad” from their fourth album on The Late Show above.