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Much of the discussion in the aftermath of Game 2 of the 2022 NBA Finals has revolved around Draymond Green and whether or not he should have gotten ejected for a second technical foul. While the play in question was being reviewed, ESPN’s Steve Javie more or less said that Green was going to get away with a situation where a technical could be assessed because of how a decision that gigantic would impact the game.

Those comments and the general decision have come under criticism, which included Grant Williams expressing his desire that the standard Green got held to is applied to every player. There’s also been some big picture conversation comparing this era of the NBA to that of the 1980s and 1990s, because it is a thing that happened in the league and people, for some reason, cannot stop going back to this well at every opportunity.

Anyway, on Wednesday’s episode of Get Up!, Stephen A. Smith and Mike Greenberg spoke at length about “the softening of the game,” with the pair talking about how low the bar is for officials to assess technical fouls. The whole conversation bothered Redick — particularly the fact that we’re on day three of discussing the Green this — who especially did not like Greenberg bringing up how “the softening of the game, a lot of it comes from the constant complaining to the officials, the constant whining, the constant selling of calls.”

“This nostalgia that you have for the ’80s and ’90s, like, great era of basketball, it’s awesome,” Redick said. “But it’s at the [expense] of our generation of players, and it has been for the last 15 years, and it’s annoying.”

Smith called it “an absolutely joke,” while Greenberg said “those guys didn’t complain on literally every single play when they did or didn’t get a call.” Redick wasn’t buying this, and continued to excoriate them for how they venerate the past.

“The standard that you guys have set, this nostalgia standard that you guys have set for players in the ’80s and ’90s, and then comparing us to it all the time, like we are a substandard to that, it gets annoying,” Redick said. “And a lot of your arguments, like complaining to the officials, that’s the same thing that players did back then. And if you wanna watch Finals games that are 75-72, by all means, have your nostalgic era, please.”

A rideshare driver, who has not only become a Jeopardy! champion but also a Philadelphia hero, has ended his reign on the trivia show. Ryan Long managed to rack up $299,400 in winnings over 16-consecutive victories. It’s even more impressive once you learn that he actually forgot his glasses for a handful of episodes.

Long lost out to Eric Ahasic on Monday’s episode, bringing his winning stream to an end. The Philly native will return to the stage this fall alongside the iconic fan-favorite (and hopefully future host) Amy Schneider for the Season 38 Tournament of Champions. Despite the loss, Long posted an inspirational message to his fans and supporters, but mostly to his mom. In a series of tweets, Long said:

So many feelings…I’m going to try and keep this short, but I’ll probably fail. I want to thank everybody who watched and supported me. I want to thank all my fellow contestants who were, to a person, exemplary human beings. I want to thank my momma and everybody who put me in the position to do this. I owe them everything.

Sometimes it seems like society put you in a box, and you are classified as a certain thing with a certain destiny, even though you may feel differently inside. For the longest time, I didn’t believe that a person could really break out of that box. But I feel like this thing that just happened is proof that you can. Trust yourself, hold on to your dreams, you know who you really are. Take your shot, and don’t let anybody tell you you can’t do this or that, or you should be doing things a certain way. As my grandmom would’ve said, never let ANYBODY steal your shine. Much love to everybody. See you in the fall.

Despite the loss, Long has received a ton of support for his time on the trivia show and intends to spend his winnings on his son and family. The best part is that he will no longer have to drive all day in Philadelphia, which is the hardest job of all.

(Via TVLine)

As members of the California-based supergroup Mount Westmore, Ice Cube and Snoop Dogg have been working closely together with E-40 and Too Short on their new album, Bad MFs, which is out now via Gala Music. However, it appears they liked working together so much that they’re expanding their endeavors. With Cube’s summer basketball league, Big3, returning for its fifth season, Snoop is joining the fun as part-owner of team Bivouac, which Cube revealed to TMZ Sports. In addition, they’re offering fans the chance to buy in, too.

They’ll do so with a custom cryptocurrency called FEAT — Forever Experience Action Token — dropping on Friday, June 10. “It’s better than an NFT,” he said in the interview. “I think people who can see the future of sports wanna be closer to the action. I don’t think any other league can offer something like what we’re doing… In a lot of ways, we’re in the perfect spot.”

Of Snoop’s involvement, he said, “Snoop is always at the cutting edge. He always wanna be first. When we said we was gonna start selling teams, he hit me right away saying, ‘I need to be a part of that.’”

That’s certainly characteristic of the Doggfather, who also said he wanted to make Death Row Records “the first label in the metaverse” after acquiring it earlier this year. Meanwhile, we’ll see if he can make Bivouac, which boasts a roster including Corey Brewer, Gerald Green, and Will Bynum coached by Gary Payton, a contender this season, which starts June 18 in Chicago.

Ever the dedicated professional, Adam Sandler stopped by Good Morning America this week to promote his new Netflix movie Hustle. However, the actor was noticeably sporting a black eye and nasty gash on his face. Was it the result of his infamous love of pick-up basketball games or maybe taking a punch for his latest film? Nope. Sandler revealed the whole embarrassing story, and as he readily admits about his injury, “There is nothing cool about this thing.”

Turns out, the black eye was the result of over-tucked sheets and an ill-placed phone as Sandler laughingly explained the “bed accident” to GMA hosts George Stephanopoulos and Michael Strahan.

Via People:

“I was in bed, in the middle of the night and, you know how they tuck in your sheets at the bottom, some people? Somebody tucked in the sheets too much and I had my phone in the middle of the bed. I kicked my feet up to untuck it, the phone went flying, hit me in the head.”

“I refused to acknowledge it,” he continued. “I felt blood. I said, ‘There’s something going on but I gotta sleep.’”

According to Sandler, the black eye made him look like a badass while walking around New York until he sheepishly admits what really happened.

“It looks so cool,” Sandler said. “And I’m on the streets of New York, I see people going, ‘Oh, okay. He likes to fight, that guy.’ I’m like, ‘It was a bed accident.’”

Hustle is available on Netflix now.

(Via People)

Conservative Barbie Tomi Lahren is at it again, and by “it” that means spreading baseless voter fraud conspiracies to rile up her right-wing base.

Her latest target was the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder, who she called out in a series of tweets claiming she’d received a mail-in ballot to vote in California’s upcoming midterms despite not living in the state. Lahren, who’s also had a grand time spreading misinformation about the 2020 Presidential Election for the last two years, used the postal error to spark fear and outrage in her followers who likely already subscribe to her belief that our current democratic process is corrupt.

“Just received my California voting code and mail-in ballot information,” Lahren tweeted. “Only problem is I haven’t lived in California in over 2 years and have been registered in Tennessee for over 2 years but it’s all good, fraud is a myth.”

Lahren is currently in-between jobs, making the move from Fox Nation over to Outkick, a conservative sports website. The site’s founder, Clay Travis, replied to Lahren’s tweet, adding fuel to the fire by suggesting the mail-in ballot was part of a larger scheme by the state to keep taxing the “gotcha” commentator.

And because her initial claim was finally getting some attention, Lahren kept on fanning the flames, employing some of her favorite catchphrases including “dirty democrats” and “illegal immigrants” to drive home the idea that our elections aren’t safe.

Unfortunately for Lahren, none of her fearmongering was based in fact, something the LA County Registrar’s Office was more than happy to point out when it responded to her tweets. Not only did the account shut down any notion that Lahren could vote in future California elections, but but it also dragged her performative outrage in the classiest way possible.

Only time will tell which Twitter tirade Lahren goes on next.

(Via RawStory)

One of the most fun parts of hip-hop music is deciphering rappers’ bars, unraveling their cryptic references and tongue-twisting wordplay to uncover hidden meanings or clever turns of phrase that tell us more about them past their boastful personas. One bar that captured fans’ imaginations came from Michigan rapper DDG on his viral hit “Elon Musk.” DDG hints that he and his costar on the song, Gunna, went on a double date, but doesn’t say with whom; fans naturally took the license to speculate on the rappers’ respective romantic partners, given who they’ve been seen hanging out with in recent months.

Now, thanks to Uproxx’s Cherise Johnson, we have confirmation: That line is about exactly who fans think it is. Sure, it wasn’t that hard to figure out, but it’s nice to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. “I think it’s self-explanatory,” DDG elaborates. “I think the world knows that me and Gunna have a mutual situation with people that are related. Gunna got a Maybach, I got a Maybach — he got the truck, I got the car. One day, he was on a date, I was on a date, we pulled up at the same time.”

For those who don’t know, both rappers had been seen in the company of the sister duo, Chloe X Halle — Gunna with Chloe Bailey, and DDG with the younger sibling, Halle. Although the two R&B stars have been coy, and even Gunna denied that things were serious, DDG’s admission puts both relationships on Front street. You can watch DDG explain his bar above.

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

When one has accomplished as much as Blondie has, it is difficult to foresee how else the bar can be set higher. The band has quelled that curiosity today as they announced the official box set Blondie: Against The Odds 1974-1982 is set to release on August 26. It will include 124 tracks, 36 of which were never released, remastered versions of the original analog tapes, a 120-page illustrated discography, and hundreds of photographs.

“It really is a treat to see how far we have come when I listen to these early attempts to capture our ideas on relatively primitive equipment. Fortunately, the essence of being in a band in the early ’70s held some of the anti-social, counter-culture energies of the groups that were the influencers of the ’60s,” Debbie Harry said about the momentous occasion. “I am excited about this special collection. When I listen to these old tracks, it puts me there like I am a time traveler. As bad as it was sometimes, it was also equally as good. No regrets. More music.”

The box set will be available in four formats: Super Deluxe Collector’s Edition, Deluxe 4LP, Deluxe 8CD, and 3CD. A special part of this comes in the form of liner notes from every member of the band, namely frontwoman Debbie Harry, guitarist Chris Stein, drummer Clem Burke, keyboardist Jimmy Destri, bassist Gary Valentine, guitarist Frank Infante and bassist Nigel Harrison. This marks the New York trailblazers’ first-ever authorized and in-depth archive of their historic 50-year career, including six studio albums and over 40 million records sold worldwide.

Blondie: Against The Odds 1974-1982 is out 08/26 via UMe and The Numero Group. Pre-order it here.

The NBA may be winding up its 75th season soon, but basketball never stops. Summer hoops are an annual tradition, with the AAU season and summer pro-am leagues and tournaments kicking off even now (come on down to LA’s Drew League, where some of the best players in the world compete in the longest-running pro-am in America). A new name is about to join that illustrious collective, and it’s one that already has a longstanding tradition of its own of combining hip-hop and hoops: J. Cole’s Dreamville.

Dreamville is partnering with Wilson Sporting Goods Co. to announce the Dreamville Chi-League, a four-week tournament running throughout the month of August at the University of Illinois Chicago. The league will be co-sponsored by Gatorade and will pit eight teams of pro players, from NBA stars to overseas standouts, and local legends against each other for summer hoops glory. There will be men’s and women’s divisions, too, giving an equal opportunity to shine to all.

Wilson will be dropping limited-edition Dreamville products throughout August while hosting youth basketball clinics alongside the YMCA. Former NBA star Antoine Walker, who coached in a springtime iteration of the tournament, said in a statement, “Last season was the best pro-am I’ve been a part of, and I couldn’t be more excited to see what’s in store for this season. The history of this league is something to be celebrated and I’m proud to see its continued success.”

It remains to be seen whether Cole himself will lace up to participate in the league after playing out his contract for the Canadian Elite Basketball League’s Scarborough Shooting Stars, but it wouldn’t be a surprise, given how much he loves to play. I guess the only way to find out is to show up! You can find more information at dreamvillechileague.com.

Face/Off, much like Con Air, is one of those movies that is impossible to turn off whenever you stumble upon it while searching for something to watch. While both movies star Nicolas Cage and contain classic Cage quotes (see: “Put the bunny back in the box”), watching Cage give one of his most unhinged performances (which is saying a lot) while John Travolta attempts to do his best Cage impersonation gives Face/Off the edge in the guilty pleasure department. So it’s hardly surprising that director Adam Wingard, who is currently working on Face/Off 2, is dying to have Cage return for the movie’s sequel.

In a new interview with Empire, Wingard shared that he and regular collaborator Simon Barrett are still finishing the script for the highly anticipated sequel. And as they tried to figure out how to best make it work, they determined that “an absolute sequel” was the way to go—meaning bringing back all the key players, including Cage, despite the fact that—SPOILER!—he died in the first movie. But when has a little thing like a character no longer breathing ever stopped a truly determined filmmaker?

“He’s just having such a moment,” Wingard told Empire of Cage’s current big-screen cachet. “Even before Pig came out, we saw this as a Nicolas Cage movie. That’s become totally the obvious way to go now. A couple of years ago, the studio maybe would have wanted a hot, young, up-and-coming actor or something. Now, Nicolas Cage is one of the hottest actors in Hollywood again.”

“Devising a belated sequel to one of the most beloved, ridiculously-plotted movies ever, starring one of Hollywood’s most eccentric and prolific leading men, isn’t an easy task,” Sophie Butcher wrote for Empire. “But Wingard is confident that he and Barrett are ‘the perfect team’ for the job.”

Wingard, who previously directed The Guest and Godzilla vs. Kong, admits that Face/Off 2 “has been probably the most challenging script we’ve ever worked on, for a lot of reasons. There’s so much pressure in wanting to make sure that it lives up to the legacy of that project. But every draft you have these things that just click in, and you’re like, ‘A-ha! That’s really what Face/Off is!’”

Cage has not officially signed on for the sequel, as the script is not yet ready. But Wingard says it will be in the Oscar winner’s hot little hands before long. “We’re really honing in on it,” Wingard said. “We’re not going to share it until everybody’s like, ‘This is the one.’”

(Via Empire)

Reasonable arguments can be made by reasonable people that my two favorite things in the entire universe are the game of basketball and the collected films of the Fast & Furious franchise. This might seem odd to you. It might seem unhealthy. I can understand that. I can even accept it. But, like, Ludacris and Tyrese went to outer space in a NoS-powered Pontiac, you know? I’m helpless in the face of that kind of cinematic spectacle. I feel okay about it.

And so, what I am going to do here, for a number of very good reasons that I don’t have to explain to any of you, is rank most of the major characters in the franchise based on how good at basketball I think they are or might be. That’s all. There’s nothing else happening here. Please read this paragraph again to be sure you know what you’re getting into.

A few preliminary notes:

• I am kind of an idiot
• This is my list
• Make your own stupid list if you’re so great

Away we go.

26. Queenie Shaw

I think it’s really cool that these silly car-racing movies just up and added freaking Dame Helen Mirren something like 15-20 years after the first one debuted and I think it is extremely cool that they let her drive a car in F9 after she basically shamed them into it in the press while promoting Fate of the Furious.

But sadly for Mirren, Fast 8 won’t feature her behind the steering wheel. “I wanted to be driving, but unfortunately, I’m not,” she says, shrugging. “Maybe that will come in the future, in Fast and Furious 12.” She pauses. “I’m probably one of the few people on the set who know how to drive a gear shift car. I doubt the Rock knows,” she jokes. “But I do. I know how to double declutch.”

That said, I cannot see any situation where a character played by Helen Mirren is good at basketball. I say this with nothing but admiration and respect. Also, I kind of wanted to write about her first. So, there we are.

25. Mia Toretto

Hmm. Nope. Can’t see it.

24. Owen Shaw
23. Deckard Shaw

This might be unfair. The Shaw brothers are criminal masterminds and appear to be reasonably athletic. At the very least, one could assume they would know how to cheat their way to success on a basketball court. But my ranking of them reflects three important factors:

• I feel like they would have grown up playing soccer
• I cannot for the life of me picture Jason Statham shooting a basketball
• It’s pretty funny to me to put them below, like, Roman

So that’s settled.

22. Tego
21. Rico

These are the guys played by Tego Calderon and Don Omar who show up and bicker and fight like children. I love them very much. Part of me wants them to get their own spinoff television series. Maybe an animated one. I would watch it while eating cereal.

They are not good at basketball.

20. Sean Boswell
19. Elena Neves

Sean (the main character of Tokyo Drift who was looped into the main cast for F9) and Elena (the cop from Fast Five who popped up here and there, sometimes with blonder hair) both strike me as limited players. Like, I suspect Sean can shoot but has no lateral quickness and can’t play defense. Elena, on the other hand, strikes me as a scrappy on-ball defender with a limited game on offense.

If you could combine them, you would have a solid player. Which is a fair note to make because we absolutely cannot rule out these movies introducing some sort of science machine that mashes characters together to create superpowered eight-limbed crime fighters. You know I’m right.

18. Roman Pearce

Picture this…

A pickup basketball game on an outdoor court. Roman is talking trash. So much trash. He made one jump shot 20 minutes ago and is still reminding people about it. But then someone makes a move and comes flying down the lane. And Roman doesn’t see him. And just as Roman turns around BLAMMO he gets dunked on something vicious. Then he whines a lot. And goes home.

This happens every time.

17. Giselle Yashar

Ranked ahead of Roman for three important reasons:

• I believe in Gal Gadot
• I could see her as a kind of stretch-four who makes threes and blocks shots
• I believe, based on nothing but vibes, that she could execute a decent Eurostep

Moving on.

16. Dominic Toretto
15. Luke Hobbs

Am I putting these two together just to use that picture? Maybe. Do I think it’s extremely funny to slot The Rock in one spot ahead of Vin Diesel? I do. Would I pay something like $100 for a video of the two of them playing a game of one-on-one in an otherwise empty gymnasium? Yes. I’ll go higher if I have to.

Dominic Toretto was the toughest ranking on the board for me. By far. On one hand, I do not believe Vin Diesel can play basketball, not at all, not even a little. On the other hand, I know for certain that if a basketball scene gets written into one of these movies, he will, in defiance of all logic and good sense, rain threes on his opponents and maybe catch an alley-oop and dunk it with such force that it shatters the backboard. Even if the backboard is metal.

Vin Diesel is a fascinating man.

14. Ramsey
13. Monica Fuentes
12. Twinkie

Let’s knock these out quick:

• Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) is a nerdy hacker who has probably never played basketball but I’m ranking her this high because I feel like she could pick it up fast
• Monica (Eva Mendes) definitely played point guard in high school and led her team into the second round of state playoffs
• Twinkie (Bow Wow) should not be ranked this high, probably, but I’ve seen Like Mike and that’s clouding my judgment so here we are

I somehow stand by all of this and none of it.

11. Letty Ortiz

Huge Draymond Green vibes from Letty. Like, she puts up horrible stats. Averages of like 7 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists every game, but her +/- is somehow a +34. Strong defense. Takes no crap from anyone. Might cheat a little when the ref isn’t looking. Makes everyone else on the court better by a factor of three.

Just a winner.

10. Johnny Tran

Johnny Tran, the villain in the first movie something like 20 years ago now, absolutely grew up watching bootleg copies of the And 1 Mixtape VHS tapes and spent hours practicing Hot Sauce’s moves in his driveway.

You will never convince me otherwise.

9. Hattie Shaw
8. Brixton Lore

Two characters from Hobbs and Shaw. Both British. Both ranked higher than you’d expect them to be given my rankings of the other members of the Shaw family and my stance that they probably grew up watching soccer instead of basketball. All that said, I have them in my top ten for two reasons:

• Brixton (Idris Elba) was literally fueled with some sort of glowing cyber things that made him a little superhuman, and I bet he could do a lot of sick dunks
• I think it would be funny if Hattie (Vanessa Kirby) could just destroy both of her brothers at basketball

Not up for debate.

7. Han Lue

Han, dribbling at the top of the key with one hand while holding a bag of Flamin Hot Cheetos in the other, does a casual little left-right faint with his upper body to get his defender off-balance, dribbles twice to his right, and then pulls up off his left leg for a running right-handed floater that slips through the basket so smoothly that it barely moves the net.

He admires it briefly and then pops another Cheeto into his mouth.

6. Jakob Toretto
5. D.K.

Jakob Toretto is played by John Cena and is Dominic Toretto’s evil secret brother, which is something that’s a lot of fun to type and say to people. I know because I do it a lot. I like to picture him playing basketball alone in his driveway as a teen in the late-’90s, listening to Eminem and wearing nylon shorts that are so huge he can’t dribble between his legs without getting the ball stuck in the fabric.

D.K., the villain from Tokyo Drift, can dunk, and nothing you can possibly say will change my stance on this.

4. Mr. Nobody

Mr. Nobody is played by Kurt Russell and is older than everyone on this list other than Helen Mirren’s character, who I ranked in last place. Still. We know so little about him. He’s mysterious and appears to be good at a lot of things and I would not be entirely surprised if he called everyone in one day and was just casually shooting hoops while explaining a situation to them and made like 46 straight free throws during his speech.

Kind of the opposite of this scene from Bad Boys.

Hmm. It’s almost like I did all of this just so I could post that scene in here. Again. Almost like it’s my favorite scene in any movie ever. Almost like I occasionally mumble “ You’re him, I don’t wanna hear it, you’re him. And you, you’re you, you be you, but not in front of her. You’re him, you’re you” to no one while heating up leftovers in the microwave.

Almost.

3. Cipher

I would not be surprised even a little if the next movie in this deranged franchise opens with her spinning a basketball on her finger while laying out a new plan for world domination. Possibly doing that thing where you move the spinning ball from finger to finger without interrupting its rotation. Maybe with a giant fish tank full of sharks behind her.

I hope she has a Mohawk this time.

2. Tej Parker

What I believe:

• Tej (Ludacris) can do lots of sick dribbling tricks
• Tej can bomb threes like a madman
• Tej is basically Steph Curry

Do not take this from me.

1. Brian O’Conner

Brian O’Conner scored 2,000 points as a high school basketball player. Brian O’Conner was offered a number of Division I basketball scholarships. Brian O’Conner was set to accept one of them (I’m going to guess it was UCLA), but then he blew out his knee playing pickup basketball the night of high school graduation. Brian O’Conner was never quite the same athletically after that, at least not consistently. Brian O’Conner gave up on his basketball dreams eventually and signed up for the police academy and one thing led to another and now we’re here.

But still, even today, many years later, if the weather is nice and the air pressure isn’t making his knee feel a little clicky and tight, Brian O’Conner could drop 40 points in a rec league game without breaking a sweat.

I am as sure about every statement in this section as I am that Ludacris and Tyrese went to outer space in a NoS-powered Pontiac.