GoneTrending

Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks walked into TD Garden to take on the Boston Celtics on Sunday afternoon in the first game of their Eastern Conference Semifinals matchup. As he’s wont to do, Antetokounmpo put on a show on both ends of the floor, with his most impressive moment coming when he went off the backboard to himself.

Antetokounmpo tried to bulldoze Grant Williams as the shot clock was winding down, but realized the Celtics’ big man was a bit too much of an impediment. So instead of continuing to go that route, he opted for a turnaround jumper, which Williams also sniffed out.

So, with those avenues exhausted, Antetokounmpo said screw it and decided to just lob the ball off the backboard and go get it. Jayson Tatum couldn’t quite get there fast enough, and as a result, Antetokounmpo grabbed it with two hands and threw it down.

The fine folks up in Milwaukee, as you might guess, were big fans of the whole thing.

A little earlier in the game, Antetokounmpo found himself on the other end of a huge dunk, as Jaylen Brown skied high to clean up a miss and throw down with one hand. This is certainly not a bad way for him to get the Celtics back.

This week sees the release of the film that brought Sam Raimi to the subgenre whose modern incarnation he helped create: the comic book movie. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was helmed by the director of the Tobey Maguire-era Spider-Man trilogy, which came at a time when superhero movies were far from the only game in town, paving the way for Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies and, a handful of years later, the beginnings of the MCU. Raimi’s been doing press for his new sequel, and he was inevitably asked why he only made three Spidey films.

In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Raimi said they tried to make a fourth Maguire Spider-Man, but there were issues with the script, which he felt wasn’t living up to the previous three. On top of that, Spider-Man 3, released in 2007, made a bucketload of money but received mixed reviews, especially compared to its widely-acclaimed predecessor.

“It was a very painful experience for me,” Raimi said. “I wanted to make a Spider-Man movie to redeem myself for that. [The aborted] Spider-Man 4 — that was really what that was about. I wanted to go out on a high note. I didn’t want to just make another one that pretty much worked. I had a really high standard in my mind. And I didn’t think I could get that script to the level that I was hoping for by that start date.”

Raimi also discussed some of the ideas he had for the aborted Spider-Man 4. He thought about giving his longtime pal Bruce Campbell, who had cameos in the three films, the villainous role of Mysterio. There was even talk of bringing in Kraven the Hunter, a character getting his own movie starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Instead, Sony wound up waiting a few years and rebooting it with Andrew Garfield.

But that doesn’t mean Raimi’s done with Spidey forever. He floated the idea of reuniting with Maguire for a new franchise, though that might be tricky to pull off.

“My love for the characters hasn’t diminished one iota,” Raimi said. “It would be the same things that would stop me now that stopped me then: ‘Does Tobey want to do it? Is there an emotional arc for him? Is there a great conflict for this character? And is there a worthy villain that fits into the theme of the piece?’ There’s a lot of questions that would have to be answered. If those could be answered, then I’d love to.”

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will be released to theaters on May 6.

(Via Rolling Stone)

While collaborations with Beyonce and other artists are far and few nowadays, one way that Queen Bey interacts with her peers is by celebrating their birthdays with brief messages on her website. It’s something that fans and celebrities alike look forward to when someone’s birthday comes around. The latest example of that came with Lizzo who turned 34 last week. Beyonce showed love to the singer through a message on her website, but it’s the baby picture she used that took Lizzo by surprise.

Lizzo caught wind of Beyonce’s birthday message thanks to a screenshot of it on Twitter from the Beyonce fan account @BeyLegion. “Beyoncé?!” Lizzo replied. “Where u get this pic?? I ain’t seen this since I was born [crying emoji].” With this message, it seems like Beyonce has some Nardwaur-type team equipped to get their hands on baby pictures that have yet to leave the plastic-wrapped pockets of family albums.

The funny interaction comes after Lizzo announced that her third album Special would arrive on July 15. So far, the project is led by “Rumors” with Cardi B and “About Damn Time.” She also stopped by SNL to perform “Special” and “About Damn Time.”

You can view Beyonce’s birthday message and Lizzo’s reaction in the post above.

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

Perhaps the most highly-anticipated second round series in the 2022 NBA playoffs is the 2-3 matchup in the Eastern Conference between the Boston Celtics and the Milwaukee Bucks. No one would be surprised if either team lifted the Larry O’Brien trophy, but first, they have to get through one another and prevent the other team from making it to the conference finals.

The tone was set early in Game 1, as both teams played a cagey first quarter that saw each go on substantial runs en route to a 27-24 Bucks lead after one. But the best moment of the period came via Jaylen Brown, who cleaned up a Grant Williams missed three by detonating on Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The reigning NBA Finals MVP went up for a rebound on the miss and had no idea that Brown ran in from the opposite corner. It gave Brown a chance to pick up a head of steam and effortlessly jump over Antetokounmpo for one of the best dunks we have seen all postseason.

It’s not often you see someone go up and over Antetokunmpo like this. Brown, funny enough, has a bit of a history of dunking on perhaps the best player in the world, and this is one heck of an addition to his highlight real.

In a new, explosive, three-part report, The New York Times meticulously dissects how Tucker Carlson, in their words, “became Trump’s heir.” That is to say, the Fox News host was able to position himself to become a kind of de facto leader of the Republican party when the former president left office in disgrace and banned from most of social media. It’s an exhaustive study, reporting on about five years of his weekly nighttime show.

But there are also some juicy stories from anonymous Fox News sources. For instance, Carlson — who has occasionally criticized Trump but is more often there to do his bidding and even recommend he support certain politicians — reportedly acted differently when not on air.

“In private, Mr. Carlson mocked the president’s habit of calling to head off his on-air attacks,” a source told NYT, referring to how Trump would sometimes phone into his show to pre-emptively defend a sure-to-be-disparaged policy move.

But that’s not all Carlson did. At one point, he simply declined to take the then-president’s call.

Will this enrage Trump? Or will the partially exiled ex-president do what he did with House minority leader Kevin McCarthy and forgive him his trespasses, perhaps because he realizes even he can’t alienate big honchos in his party? In the meantime, the three-part report on Carlson details how the host has spent years poisoning the minds of his viewers, making them think they’re victims under attack and pitching them white supremacist conspiracy theories, all while downplaying things like the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

(Via NYT and Insider)

The Philadelphia 76ers are heading into their Eastern Conference Semifinals bout with the Miami Heat shorthanded due to Joel Embiid’s orbital fracture and concussion. As it turns out, Miami will likewise be down a starter when things tip off on Monday evening.

The team announced its injury availabilities for Game 1 and revealed that Kyle Lowry, who did not play in Game 4 or 5 of the Heat’s first round win over the Atlanta Hawks due to a hamstring injury, will not be able to take the floor in their first postseason matchup against the Sixers.

Lowry suffered the injury late in Game 3 against Atlanta — which was the only game of the series Miami did not win — and in the lead-up to Game 4, Erik Spoelstra preached patience when dealing with the ailment.

“You have to be smart about it,” Spoelstra said, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “The training staff determined that he wasn’t going to play tonight and we have everybody else available and that’s what we’re focused on right now.”

Miami turned to Gabe Vincent in Lowry’s absence. One of the breakout players for the Heat this season, Vincent averaged 10 points and four assists in the two games he started against the Hawks. It is unclear if he will be given the starting job for Game 1 against Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia 76ers are heading into their Eastern Conference Semifinal series against the Miami Heat without the services of their best player. In the waning moments of the team’s blowout Game 6 win against the Toronto Raptors in the first round that clinched a matchup with Miami, Joel Embiid got caught by an elbow from Pascal Siakam, which led to him holding his face and coming out of the game.

One day later and it was announced that Embiid suffered an orbital fracture and a concussion as a result of the elbow, which put his availability for the series against the Heat in question. But according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, while Embiid won’t make his way down to Miami for the first two games of the series, the door is open for him to take the floor once the series shifts back to Philadelphia for Game 3 and 4.

It has been reported by Kyle Neubeck of Philly Voice that Embiid will not need to immediately undergo surgery on the orbital fracture, which is a major difference between this injury and the fracture that Embiid suffered back in 2018 and caused him to play with a mask.

Game 1 between the Sixers and the Heat will take place on Monday night at 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT.

Pooh Shiesty, born Lontrell Donell Williams Jr., dodged a career-shattering bullet when a judge only sentence him to five years in prison earlier this month for firearms conspiracy. The sentence was handed down in connection to an October 2020 incident where Williams allegedly shot a man in the buttocks during an exchange for marijuana and sneakers. Williams was initially indicted on four firearms charges, but after he accepted a plea deal from prosecutors, his charges were reduced to a single count of conspiracy to possess a firearm in furtherance of violent and drug-trafficking crimes. That reduced his possible life sentence to just a maximum of 97 months in prison, but a judge felt that 63 months was adequate for Williams.

However, Williams won’t be a completely free man once he walks out of prison in five years. According to TMZ, Williams will reportedly be on supervised release for three years once his prison term is complete and the supervision comes with a few rules. For those three years, Williams is not allowed to associate with any of his co-defendants or alleged gang members. Additionally, the rapper’s parole officer has permission to search his home from time to time. Lastly, Williams will have to enter a treatment program for drugs and alcohol.

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

A pair of AL East rivals squared off on Saturday night as the Boston Red Sox traveled to Baltimore to take on the Orioles. Despite the Sox getting a sterling start from Nathan Eovaldi, they were unable to beat the worst team in the divison, and Baltimore was able to come out on top, 2-1, in extra innings.

Hirokazu Sawamura was on the bump for Boston in the bottom of the 10th inning, while the Orioles put Jorge Mateo in the game as the team’s ghost runner on second. After an intentional walk to Ryan McKenna, veteran catcher Robinson Chirinos stepped to the plate and planned to bunt to advance the runners.

While he put the ball in play, Sawamura was able to pounce on it and throw over to third base. The issue was he airmailed Rafael Devers, sending the ball into left field and letting Mateo jog towards home.

The win marked Baltimore’s first against an AL East rival that wasn’t the Yankees this season, and meant that Sunday afternoon’s game between themselves and the Red Sox will be a rubber match to determine who wins this three-game series. Our hunch is it won’t end on a walk-off bunt with an error, but hey, you can’t predict baseball.

Trevor Noah was the first comedian to attend the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner in four years. The last one was Michelle Wolf, whose set was so infamous — at least amongst Republicans, her chief target — that the next year they brought in a historian. (Donald Trump, one of the thinnest-skinned people on the planet, never attended the ceremony, at least during his lone term.) Noah, of course, roasted everyone. But he used the climax of his set to get a little serious.

“The media is in a tough position,” Noah said. “Informing the public is harder than ever before. You’re battling conspiracy theories: that the election was stolen by George Soros, that JFK Jr. is still alive, that everyone in this room is a secret pedophile. And that’s just what Clarence Thomas’ wife believes.”

Noah called what we’re living through right now “the golden age of conspiracy theories, whether it’s the right wing believing Trump can still win the 2020 election, or the left believing Biden can still win the 2024 election.” (Biden gave a laugh-and-clap to that one.)

Noah then turned serious. “Now as we sit in this room, people, I hope you all remember what the real purpose of this evening is,” he said. “Yes, it’s fun. Yes, we dress nice. Yes, the people eat, we drink, we have fun. But the reason we’re here is to honor and celebrate the fourth estate, and what you stand for. What you stand for: an additional check and balance that holds power to account and gives voice to those who otherwise wouldn’t have one.”

He continued:

“Every single one of your is a bastion of democracy. And if you ever begin to doubt your responsibilities, if you ever begin to doubt how meaningful it is, look no further than what’s happening in Ukraine. Look at what’s happening there. Journalists are risking and even losing their lives to show the world what is happening. You realize how amazing it is? In America, you have the right to seek the truth and speak the truth, even if it makes people in power uncomfortable. Even if it makes viewers or readers uncomfortable. You understand how amazing that is?”

He then pointed out that not even Biden escaped his roasting. “I stood here tonight and I made fun of the president of the United States, and I’m going to be fine.” He then addressed Biden directly: “I am going be fine, right?”

Noah called the freedom of the press a “blessing,” saying, “Ask yourself this question: If Russian journalists, who are losing their livelihood and their freedom for reporting on what their own government is doing, if they had the freedom to write any words, to show any stories, or to ask any question, if they had basically what you have, would they be using it in the same way that you do? Ask yourself that question every day. Because you have one of the most important roles in the world.”

You can watch Noah’s entire set in the video above. His closing remarks come around the 22:30 mark.