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Much has been said about how actress Lily James was made to look near exactly like Pamela Anderson to play the former Baywatch star in Hulu’s new limited series Pam & Tommy. And that makes sense — it’s a stunning transformation that helps to blur the line between dramatization and assumed reality when watching the show. But it’s merely one element of an amazing performance that seeks to do more than hit the notes about Anderson’s life that linger in the culture-sphere years after seemingly every move she made became tabloid fodder. James isn’t trying to do a caricature or an impression — that’s abundantly clear when you watch the series or listen to her talk about her level of commitment to the part. She’s aiming to pull off something deeper.

In addition to introducing this story to anyone 25 and under who wasn’t glued to E! or the primordial internet in the mid-90s, James and her on-screen Tommy Lee, Sebastian Stan, go all in while playing out moments mined from Pam and Tommy’s impulsive and electric beginnings as a couple. Moments that none of us were privy to. The emotional nakedness when Pam suffers a miscarriage or endures a deposition/legal stoning, the erosion of control, and eventually the loss of a kind of innocence — all of it put onto a screen for us to see, itself an act of voyeurism when you think about it and the lack of an official Anderson co-sign. But perhaps that’s the point or, at least, the purpose?

Uproxx recently spoke with James about celebrity culture then vs now, fading privacy, the pressures of people-pleasing, finding the character that is Pamela Anderson, and the impact an Anderson read on her performance would have on her own assessment of it.

At the start of this, did you have a sense of how intense this was going to be in terms of not just the preparation, but just people’s interest? Because so many people reacted so passionately when the first pictures dropped. Were you anticipating that or did that all kind of take you by surprise?

Lily James: I think it sort of did take me by surprise. Often it does because when you’re working towards something you’re quite blinkered and I get very focused. So you sometimes are blissfully unaware of the reaction. But with this, it did feel extreme. I mean, obviously, Pamela Anderson is so iconic and Tommy and Pamela’s relationship was hugely in view and public. Because of what happened to them, I suppose. Definitely, there was something that came together in this project that was… It felt big, bigger than anything I’d done before.

You mentioned how she’s an icon, their relationship. What’s the most compelling thing about her and this project?

I thought… this was a huge challenge for me as an actor. I really admire Pamela Anderson. I also felt when I read the scripts, I think our writers D.V. DeVincentis and Rob Siegel did an incredible job of exploring what happened to them, but also thinking of it in a wider context. And the show provokes… I think [it] asks questions of us and our own culpability as a society, as an audience… look at how this moment in time has impacted, with the birth of the internet, how we are now behaving as a culture. And it feels pretty big in scale and essential and timely. So I felt there was a lot more than meets the eye when it came to this project.

How did your opinion, your assessment of Pamela Anderson and her place in media culture over the last 25 years change as you went along with this?

A lot. Obviously when you’re playing any role your job is to sort of investigate completely and fully and go as deep as you possibly can into the character or the person or the time that you are exploring. And so this was no different than any other job. And what happened to them was such an unprecedented situation, and the first of its kind, in that this is the first viral video. So seeing what the internet facilitated and how it spread and the reach, it was sort of this beast that was unleashed. So there were no protections in place. It felt like such uncharted territory. So it was kind of shocking to see that, and then also to see within the media the double standards and the way that women are treated versus men. There was so much to explore and analyze… the ways in which we’ve changed and haven’t changed today in the way that we treat people.

Yeah, exactly. The how we haven’t changed was the thing that I kept thinking about. I think people are going to walk away from this thinking that “wow, things used to be terrible” and it really does a good job of, I think, speaking to culture now.

I think so. Sebastian and I have just been doing interviews together and we were talking about how desensitized we are now, even more so than perhaps we were then. And with the amount of ease in which it is to write something negative or tear someone down, or invade people’s privacy on a very normal level, not even in a celebrity culture, there’s such exploitation everywhere you look and that’s really frightening. And I think we have to think of how we behave towards people and our own culpability and perpetuating that. It’s a great reckoning in a way. And often looking back at those stories from the past or our recent history are very useful in unlocking that.

Media culture and privacy — what were your levels of concern before this, specifically with your own career and paparazzi? How present are those things in your life?

Well, there are several different parts of that question, as I see it. I mean, I think you’d be very hard pushed to find any woman, but men and women, particularly women in the public eye that haven’t felt that their privacy has been invaded or haven’t felt that they’ve had that kind of exploitation in that way where your private life becomes sensationalized or whatever. That was something that was interesting to look at. And also with regards to the internet and social media and giving away your privacy or privacy becoming a commodity or something that we use… sort of “look at my life” and “look at me doing my shopping” and da, da, da. And I have younger girls in my friendship group or family, and I really worry about girls in their teens and the impact on their self-esteem and where they’re getting their validation from and how we treat other people, and what sort of sells, as it were. It feels really dangerous to me.

So many moments really stand out, the deposition scene is so off-putting and powerful and just such a brilliant performance there.

Thank you.

There’s another moment though when your character talks about people-pleasing and always feeling that that’s basically what she does constantly. Is that something you can relate to as an actress, even again now, 25 years later?

No, never! I never try to please anyone. [Laughs] No, I’m a massive people pleaser. And I think also in a way girls are taught to be nice and to appease and to behave well. And that’s something that’s very ingrained. And so I think maybe that’s part of growing up, but maybe we just need to change the ways in which we look at femininity or gender or whatever it is. It feels like there’s a power balance, obviously, that needs to shift. And that was definitely not something that was hard for me to unlock in myself, the need for approval, which we all have. I think if we’re honest.

Of course. With regard to the script and how this all came together, I know I’ve read where you said you became very protective of the character. Were there moments where you had to step in and make any kind of course correction or push back on anything that was in the script initially?

Well, I have to say, first of all, the scripts were brilliantly written by D.V. and Rob and all the other writers that were involved. It felt to me they’d really done their due diligence. They’d really worked hard and were exploring this bigger story that we’ve talked about, about privacy and exploitation. And it felt like everyone was on the same page about why we were doing this story now and why it deserved to be looked at and exploring the untold story. But having said that, there was also a great collaboration, which was a huge relief to me and hugely important with this particular story to feel like my voice was heard. Both Sebastian and I felt like real custodians of our characters and wanted to, as best as we could be respectful. And so things did really shift and change as we went on.

I know you had reached out multiple times to try and make contact with Pamela Anderson to talk through the role with her, and unfortunately, you weren’t able to connect with her. When you weren’t able to connect, did you think about whether you still wanted to do this? Were there ever any thoughts to walk away from it without that note of approval?

Well, I’d been in involved with the project for quite a long time and trying to make contact was something that was an ongoing process. And in the end, we had to respect the decision… that of her decision not to be involved. And then it was about really trusting the creative team involved, the directors, the producers, the writers. There was this incredible team of people. And I put my faith in them as an actor and believed in this story and what we were trying to do and tried to play Pam as authentically as I possibly could. And I really admire her, I wanted to try to do her justice.

She hasn’t directly spoken about the project, but there have been rumors and secondhand quotes that have indicated that it may have been a hurtful experience. Again, it’s not a direct quote. Her opinion of this, if she ever does speak out about it, how important is that to you, even in hindsight?

Have to separate, what do you mean?

Your read of what you guys did versus if she comes out and isn’t pleased with it or something like that, do you have to separate that, or is it very important to you that she feels good about this project?

Well, no, of course… I think that Sebastian, I both feel that we really, as I said, we wanted to be hugely respectful and honest. I wanted to take care of this story. And I really felt the people involved were there with great heart and great respect. That was our intention: to look after this story. And I gave my all to this. It was constant conversations to make sure we were all on the same page and doing right by the story. And also, later in the show, there were amazing directors that we had Lake Bell (In A World), Hannah Fidell (A Teacher), different women that came on to direct it. And it really felt there was a great intention from us all.

The first 3 episodes of ‘Pam & Tommy’ are now streaming on Hulu with additional episodes to release weekly

There are 11 X-Men movies to date, 13 if you count Deadpool and its sequel. That’s a lot of X-Men movies (Jennifer Lawrence would argue too many), and yet, Twentieth Century Fox couldn’t find room for the only X-Men movie that matters: Channing Tatum’s Gambit.

The solo film about the card-throwing mutant was stuck in development hell for years — Rupert Wyatt, Doug Liman, and Gore Verbinski were all attached to direct at some point — before the project was killed for good by Disney in 2019.

The Magic Mike XXL star still hasn’t emotionally recovered.

“The studio really didn’t want [himself and producer partner Reid Carolin] to direct it,” Tatum told Variety. “They wanted anybody but us, essentially, because we had never directed anything.” Carolin added, “We wanted to make a romantic comedy superhero movie. The thesis was the only thing harder than saving the world is making a relationship work.” They were “right on the one-yard line” when Gambit went… poof.

Tatum admits that he was “traumatized” when his passion project was scrapped. “I shut off my Marvel machine. I haven’t been able to see any of the movies. I loved that character. It was just too sad. It was like losing a friend because I was so ready to play him,” he said. The actor is still ready to play Gambit, but “I don’t think we should direct it. I think that was hubris on our part.”

Tatum will, however, make his directorial debut with Dog.

(Via Variety)

In a sign that the Joe Rogan controversy is only getting bigger, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has offered the White House’s view on Spotify’s recent move to put a disclaimer on any podcast that addresses COVID-19. During Tuesday’s daily brief presser, Psaki was asked about the “content advisory” and whether it will help curb the rampant spread of misinformation about vaccines and the pandemic in general that is routinely shared by Rogan and others. While Psaki praised the content warning, she made it clear that there is a lot more work to be done.

Via The Hollywood Reporter:

“This disclaimer, it’s a positive step, but we want every platform to be doing more to be calling out mis- and dis-information, while also uplifting accurate information,” Psaki said. “Ultimately, our view is that it is a positive step, but there is more that can be done.”

“Our hope is that all major tech platforms, and all major news sources for that matter, be responsible and be vigilant to ensure the American people have access to accurate information on something as significant as COVID-19,” Psaki added. “That certainly includes Spotify.”

As for Rogan, he’s since apologized for not having more experts with “differing opinions” on his podcast and admitted that he often “gets things wrong.” He also fully supports the content warning. However, hours after issuing his apology and promising to do better, he reportedly tweeted (then deleted) an article on ivermectin that had already been debunked by Reuters earlier that same day. Not a great start for the new and improved Joe Rogan.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

Back in June of 2020, Platinum-selling country trio Lady Antebellum changed their name to Lady A. They apologized for not taking “into account the associations that weigh down” the word, including those with slavery. The name change happened during the Black Lives Matter protest movements sweeping the country. It seemed like it was a way for the white musicians to reckon with their privilege, but there was one glaring issue that arose: Lady A was already the name of a Black blues singer from Seattle.

Lady A (the band) reached out to Lady A (the blues singer, whose real name is Anita White) for “transparent, honest, and authentic conversations” to try to turn the hurt “into hope.” But instead of coming to an agreement, the band slammed White with a lawsuit. White ended up counter suing Lady A, saying the band’s name change led to “lost sales, diminished brand identity, and diminution in the value of and goodwill associated with the mark.” But now, nearly two years later, it looks like Lady A and White have settled their respective lawsuits.

According to a report from Rolling Stone, White and Lady A Entertainment LLC filed a joint request to dismiss both lawsuits earlier this week. The details of the settlement haven’t been made publicly available, but it would seem they were able to settle the dispute outside of court. Per the motion, “all claims against all parties” have been dismissed and each party has agreed to bear the cost of attorney and legal fees.

It’s not every day a recording artist gets dropped from a label for lewd behavior — in fact, it’s (mostly) encouraged, with many artists using sex appeal to sell records (with some exceptions). However, when the artist in question is a Christian rapper signed to a label whose stated goals are more in line with “saving souls” than “making money,” it’s unsurprising that swift action was taken when the rapper’s scandalous actions were… ahem.. exposed.

Christian rapper Gawvi, formerly known as G-Styles, and signed to Reach Records in 2016, was accused by multiple women including his ex-wife of sending unsolicited photos of his genitals. A graphic artist on Twitter first opened the floodgates, writing, “Years ago I made album artwork for
@gawvi. For my next project I’m going to make a collage of all the unasked for dick pics he sent to women while he was still married.” It wasn’t long until others chimed in, stating they’d also received such photos.

According to Rapzilla, the rapper’s ex-wife — with whom he separated in 2020 — also made comments referencing his infidelity on TikTok, although the account is private. Meanwhile, a Christian rap subreddit also picked up the story, with the graphic artist explaining more about why she posted her initial tweet. “It wasn’t a knee-jerk thoughtless reaction,” she wrote. “I have known about his actions for at least a year, maybe more… I want to defend all my friends because I KNOW they tried and tried. When someone refuses accountability and is a textbook narcissist, there is no ‘addressing it privately.’”

Shortly thereafter, Reach Records posted that it had parted ways with Gawvi on Instagram. “Due to behavior that is inconsistent with our core values, we have ended our professional relationship with GAWVI,” the statement reads. “This was a tough decision for us because of the level of complexity and because we invest in our artists not just for their talent, but also as brothers and sisters in Christ. This is something we have been processing for over a year and have wrestled with what would be the right way forward. New details that were provided made us realize today’s decision was necessary.”

Netflix has been churning out true crime content for years, but their latest investigation is a two hour deep-dive into the man known as The Tinder Swindler. You know, someone who swindles others on Tinder, which is more common than one would think.

Born Shimon Hayut, the Swindler changed his name to Simon Leviev, which is coincidentally the same last name as a very wealthy Israeli diamond tycoon, though they have no true relation. Leviev had many run-ins with the law for fraud-related crimes, and even spent two years in jail for swindling three women out of thousands of dollars. He was released, and you’ll never guess what happened: he went and did it again!

Here was his schtick: he would meet women on Tinder who were just looking to meet nice, honest men, and proceed to convince them he was working in the diamond industry, jet-setting around the world and living a lavish, fast-paced life.

After a few months of back and forth, Simon would suddenly explain how he was in danger, and needed money (like, a lot of money) or else he would be hurt. Since he gained the trust of innocent women like Cecilie Fjellhøy, one of the documentary’s main subjects, they would send their credit cards, loans, even a suitcase full of cash to the aid of their desperate diamond prince. Suddenly, the police were knocking on her door. “The man I love was never real. Everything’s a lie. Who is this guy I have been sharing the same bed with?”

Leviev would “pay them back” in the form of bouncing checks and fake designer clothes, then move on to the next victim, making millions off of the broken-hearted women. According to The Times of Israel, he allegedly racked up nearly $10 million dollars from his Tinder victims across the continent between 2017-2019 alone.

Eventually, his scheme got too large for him to handle, and the story began to unravel. One of Leviev’s subjects contacted the authorities after growing suspicious of his antics. He was sentenced to 15 months in prison for previous charges, but only served five.

Leviev is still a free man, who has a private Instagram with nearly 100k followers, featuring a profile photo of him sitting in a private jet. Oh, to make things worse, in 2020 he was caught impersonating a frontline health worker in order to get early access to a COVID vaccine.

You can hear the victim’s side’s of the story on The Tinder Swindler, which is now streaming on Netflix.

The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke recently revealed that part of the animated Diabolical spinoff (which he is executive producing) would be canon, and I sure hope that includes the moments in this Vought-A-Burger themed teaser where three Homelanders show up, all excited about their hamburgers, and then they make out with each other. After all, the show rolled out of Season 2 with a super raunchy Homelander scene for the ages.

In addition, we previously saw Homelander attempt to seduce himself (it was actually Doppleganger) in a wild scene where you could see Homelander’s faint recognition that he was, indeed, attracted to himself but resisted, tearing off his own head. It’s good to see that (at least in Diabolical, and Homelander actor Antony Starr is part of the voice cast) he’s finally surrendered to his own narcissism, which every other member of The Seven already knew about in spades.

The Boys diabolical will be highly bingeable, given that it drops the entire season of 8 mini-episodes at once. Here’s info from an Amazon press release on the voice cast:

The Vought-A-Burger themed teaser introduces some of the characters featured in the anthology series. Among the voice cast revealed are Awkwafina, Michael Cera, Don Cheadle, Chace Crawford, Kieran Culkin, Giancarlo Esposito, Eliot Glazer, Jason Isaacs, Kumail Nanjiani, Justin Roiland, Seth Rogen, Andy Samberg, Ben Schwartz, Elisabeth Shue, Christian Slater, Kevin Smith, Antony Starr, Nasim Pedrad, Simon Pegg, Kenan Thompson, Aisha Tyler, and Oscar-winner Youn Yuh Jung. Additional names will be revealed at a later date.

Diabolical will at least partially tide people over until the June 3 premiere of The Boys Season 3. One should expect this animated series to be at least as graphic as the live-action O.G. version that positioned for an Emmy nod with this whale of a clip.

The Boys: Diabolical will debut on March 4.

Nicki Minaj has come a long way since I wrote about her need to collaborate with the generation of young female rappers she helped inspire. Although she had her issues with the then-emerging Cardi B and recently complained that younger female rappers “can’t take criticism,” spurring some fans to remind her to check her mirror once in a while, she did collaborate with rising star Doja Cat on the latter’s hit single “Say So,” leading to Nicki’s first-ever No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

However, Nicki still has high expectations from the younger generation and drew a line in the sand on potentially collaborating with one up-and-coming group specifically in a recent interview. Appearing on The Morning Hustle, a syndicated, urban news-and-talk radio show this week, Nicki shot down the possibility of any future collaborations with Miami scam rap duo City Girls. Using the example of a dinner invite, she says that after some shady comments by City Girls, she wouldn’t sit down to dinner with someone who didn’t like her. “It’s let go,” she asserted, “But why would I work with someone who doesn’t like me?”

A few fans confused by Nicki’s assertion wondered about what City Girls could have said to give her that impression, but screenshots are forever, and judging from the saved tweets that appeared in the replies on the above video, it doesn’t look like JT minced words one bit. “I just don’t like Nicki,” she tweeted back in 2017. “She feel she really run sh*t. Hoe, please, I want Cardi to take completely over. Push that bitch to the back.” For what it’s worth, that’s more or less what happened; since that tweet, Cardi did go on to become the first female rapper with multiple No. 1 records to her name. While Nicki has sort of caught up, these days, she makes more headlines for her scandals than her music. Hopefully, that changes Friday with the release of her new single featuring Lil Baby. And hey, there’s always the potential for her to do that Verzuz battle and remind people of her legacy.

The Sacramento Kings have the NBA’s longest playoff drought. Sacramento hasn’t made the playoffs since the 2005-06 season and, while some seasons have been better than others, the Kings haven’t posted even a .500 record in any regular season over a 15-year period. There is a separate debate on whether simple inclusion in the NBA’s play-in tournament would “break the drought” for the Kings but, at times this season, Sacramento was in a reasonable position to finish in the top-10 of the weakened Western Conference.

However, the Kings currently have the NBA’s longest losing streak, falling in the last seven games. That drops Sacramento to an unsightly 18-34 for the season and, in the last seven games, the Kings have a -15.7 net rating with a hideous 122.8 defensive rating to boot. Taking it back a step further, the Kings are just 2-12 in the last 14 games. Injuries and absences can explain some of that downturn, but each key piece — De’Aaron Fox, Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield, Harrison Barnes — has played in at least half of the 14 games.

If there was a concern with the Kings coming into the season, it was the defensive end after Sacramento finished dead-last in the NBA in defensive rating a season ago. Things have been slightly better on that end, with the Kings giving up 114.2 points per 100 possessions in 2021-22, but the offense has taken a severe dip to 108.8 points per 100 possessions. The offensive downturn is arguably a more glaring concern given the roster construction in Sacramento, but the two-way mess is undeniable at this stage.

All hope isn’t lost for the Kings, largely because the play-in exists. Sacramento is only 3.5 games out of the No. 10 spot, even when acknowledging the Kings are No. 13 in the Western Conference right now. Interim head coach Alvin Gentry clearly isn’t having any fun, but the Kings are also a potential player on the trade market, even after word broke that they are “out” of any Ben Simmons pursuit. The roster may not look the same in a couple of weeks but, at present, it is easy to understanding overwhelming frustration from Kings fans, as a once-promising campaign has been derailed into a familiar abyss.

Where do the Kings rank in this week’s DIME power rankings? Let’s take a glance.

1. Phoenix Suns (41-9, Last week — 1st)

Phoenix hasn’t lost since Jan. 8, winning 11 straight games, and the Suns have exactly one loss in 2022. That seems pretty clear-cut in terms of earning the No. 1 spot, especially considering Deandre Ayton has missed 13 of the last 18 games.

2. Golden State Warriors (39-13, Last week — 2nd)

The Warriors are on a seven-game winning streak, even with Draymond Green out for the entire run. Golden State even won without Stephen Curry on Tuesday, executing a comeback victory in San Antonio. Keeping the Warriors at No. 2 is a no-brainer.

3. Philadelphia 76ers (31-19, Last week — 9th)

Philadelphia has the longest winning streak in the East, picking up five victories in a row. Four of the wins came at home, perhaps taking away some luster, but the Sixers topped the Grizzlies on Monday without Joel Embiid to earn the nod here. The jury is still out on just how good Philadelphia is with the Ben Simmons-sized hole on the roster, but as of today, the Sixers are No. 3 in the East standings and top ten in the NBA in net rating.

4. Memphis Grizzlies (35-18, Last week — 3rd)

It’s not as if the loss to the Embiid-less Sixers was great, but it shouldn’t concern anyone. Memphis is 16-4 in the last 20 games, rattling off a +6.1 net rating since Christmas. Ja Morant and company also have a nationally televised game at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday to help spread the word about this highly entertaining and effective squad.

5. Cleveland Cavaliers (31-20, Last week — 5th)

Cleveland is 9-2 in the last 11 games, including a win without Darius Garland on Monday. The Cavs did lose the Pistons this weekend, which isn’t great, but Cleveland has the best recent profile of any East team other than Philadelphia.

6. Chicago Bulls (32-18, Last week — 12th)

Following a pretty ugly period that was facilitated by a shorthanded roster, the Bulls are back on their feet. Chicago is 4-1 in the last five games and, even if the schedule was pretty favorable, the Bulls sit atop the East through the first 50 contests.

7. Denver Nuggets (28-22, Last week — 13th)

If not for a pretty shaky loss on Tuesday, the Nuggets might’ve cracked the top five this week. Denver won five in a row before falling flat against Minnesota, and that included road wins against Brooklyn and Milwaukee. In fact, the Nuggets absolutely hammered the Bucks on Sunday, and Nikola Jokic continues to put together a heck of an MVP defense.

8. Milwaukee Bucks (32-21, Last week — 7th)

Milwaukee has to be behind Denver this week, largely because of the thrashing that happened on Sunday. The Bucks are still in solid shape, though, and Giannis Antetokounmpo is out of his mind, headlined by a 33-point, 15-rebound, 11-assists eruption on Tuesday. Milwaukee still isn’t the same team without Brook Lopez but, when the other key pieces take the floor, the Bucks are tough.

9. Miami Heat (32-20, Last week — 6th)

It’s always a good idea to see who played for Miami on any given night. It’s been that kind of season, and Miami has done an admirable job despite roster challenges. Kyle Lowry is out of the lineup right now, as an example, but the Heat did just lose three in a row to Toronto and Boston.

10. Dallas Mavericks (29-22, Last week — 4th)

Dallas finally cooled off a bit after a very hot stretch. The Mavs lost to the Orlando Magic on Sunday, prompting the drop in the rankings, and Dallas was blasted by Golden State on national television last week. This is still a top-five defensive team in the NBA right now, but the offense has work to do.

11. Brooklyn Nets (29-21, Last week — 11th)

The Nets are 2-7 in the last nine games without Kevin Durant in the lineup, and that includes an active five-game losing streak. Losing to Golden State and Phoenix on the road isn’t a disaster, but with James Harden also banged up recently and Kyrie Irving playing part time, the Nets are regularly vulnerable.

12. Boston Celtics (27-25, Last week — 15th)

January was an objectively positive month for the Celtics, with Boston posting a 10-6 record. Amusingly, though, the Celtics ended up leading the East in net rating (+9.2) during the month, based heavily on three blowout wins. Those victories may not be predictive, but they count all the same.

13. Toronto Raptors (26-23, Last week — 17th)

The Raptors are 12-6 in the last 18 games, including three very intriguing wins this week. Toronto just beat the Heat, Hawks, and Heat (again) in succession, with Gary Trent Jr. exceeding 30 points in five straight games. The Raptors still have a very odd statistical profile, but it’s working.

14. Utah Jazz (30-21, Last week — 8th)

It is almost unthinkable that this Jazz team could be 2-11 over a 13-game sample, but it just happened. Injury absences are major factors, and that is clear, but Utah can’t stop anyone when Rudy Gobert is off the floor and they lost Joe Ingles to a season-ending injury this week on top of everything else.

15. Atlanta Hawks (24-26, Last week — 16th)

Atlanta’s winning streak came to an end on Monday, but not in a way that should remove any shine from the suddenly intriguing Hawks. The Hawks were competitive in a loss to Toronto on the second night of a back-to-back, and Trae Young missed that game with a shoulder issue. Provided he returns in the near future, the Hawks are in a favorable position ahead of a nationally televised showdown with Phoenix on Thursday.

16. Minnesota Timberwolves (26-25, Last week — 14th)

It was “only” a 2-2 week for Minnesota, but context is king in providing a positive takeaway. Minnesota lost road games to Phoenix and Golden State, which isn’t exactly shameful. From there, the Wolves just beat the Jazz and Nuggets at home by 35 combined points. That’s pretty solid.

17. L.A. Clippers (26-27, Last week — 20th)

The Clippers finished 4-4 on a marathon eight-game road trip. The end result of a loss to Indiana in lopsided fashion wasn’t great, but that wasn’t a shock on the second night of a back-to-back with travel. L.A. is hanging around despite an available roster that isn’t blowing anyone away.

18. Charlotte Hornets (28-23, Last week — 10th)

Charlotte is still No. 7 in the East and in solid shape. The Hornets lost three games over the course of eight days, though, and that was punctuated by a 25-point home loss to the Clippers on Sunday. Wednesday’s road tilt against Boston should be quite interesting.

19. New York Knicks (24-27, Last week — 21st)

The Knicks are a half-game out of the play-in, and it is possible the next six games could determine New York’s fate. After a nationally televised home game against Memphis on Wednesday, the Knicks have a five-game road trip with matchups against the Lakers, Jazz, Nuggets, Warriors, and Blazers. That is a big test.

20. Los Angeles Lakers (24-27, Last week — 18th)

The Lakers closed a road trip with three straight losses, but the worst part was LeBron James being forced to return to Los Angeles early with a knee issue. It goes without saying that the Lakers can’t approach their goals unless LeBron is right, but his absence adds to an ongoing morass in Los Angeles.

21. San Antonio Spurs (19-33, Last week — 24th)

At this point in the rankings, a team can move up when going 1-3 in a week. The Spurs just did that, but all three losses came by single digits to the Grizzlies, Suns and Warriors.

22. Portland Trail Blazers (21-30, Last week — 19th)

Damian Lillard didn’t play a single game in January and the Blazers went 8-8. Honestly, that is impressive on the whole, but Portland closed the month with a 1-4 slide. The Blazers do have five home games in a row beginning Friday, and they’ll need to make a run.

23. New Orleans Pelicans (19-32, Last week — 23rd)

Before winning a road game in Detroit on Tuesday, the Pelicans lost four in a row. To be fair, those defeats came against playoff-caliber teams, but New Orleans gave some of its progress back in the standings. They’re still only two games out of the play-in, which is wild after the slow start.

24. Indiana Pacers (19-33, Last week — 25th)

Indiana gave up 158 (!) points in regulation this week, losing by a million to the Hornets. To the Pacers’ credit, they bounced back with two wins in the next three games, but those victories were sandwiched around a 27-point loss in Dallas.

25. Washington Wizards (23-27, Last week — 22nd)

Bradley Beal is going to miss some time with a wrist issue, and things are spiraling for the Wizards. Washington is on a six-game losing streak and, even if road losses to Milwaukee and Memphis are largely expected, the Wizards dropped four in a row at home before that. The Wizards will wake up on Wednesday as the No. 12 team in the East, and that is quite a drop.

26. Orlando Magic (11-41, Last week — 30th)

The Magic just had their best five-game stretch of the season. Orlando is 3-2 in the last five, including wins over Dallas and Chicago, and the Magic were competitive on the road against the Bulls on Tuesday. It’s been encouraging to see the Magic in a form closer to what was originally intended.

27. Sacramento Kings (18-34, Last week — 26th)

As covered above, the Kings are in a tailspin. The schedule lets up a bit later this week, but not before a back-to-back against Brooklyn and Golden State on Wednesday and Thursday. Yikes.

28. Detroit Pistons (12-38, Last week — 28th)

The Pistons picked up a nice win over Cleveland on Sunday and threatened the Pelicans, at least for a while, on Tuesday. Cade Cunningham posted his second career triple-double in the win over the Cavaliers and, while Detroit’s lows are pretty low, there is reason for future-facing optimism.

29. Oklahoma City Thunder (15-34, Last week — 29th)

A win over the Blazers on Monday keeps the Thunder out of the basement. Oklahoma City lost 12 of the previous 13 games, and the Thunder have the worst record in the NBA since the calendar flipped to 2022.

30. Houston Rockets (14-36, Last week — 27th)

The last 20 games paint a rather ugly picture for the Rockets. Houston has some talent, including a very intriguing trade chip in Eric Gordon, but the Rockets are 4-16 in the last 20 games. That includes the league’s worst net rating (-11.8) and defensive rating (120.9) over that sample, and the Rockets have lost four in a row at the time of this post.

WARNING: Spoilers for The Book of Boba Fett below.

When last week’s Chapter 5 of The Book of Boba Fett ended, Mando (Pedro Pascal) told Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) he’d return to help Boba Fett in his war against the Pyke Syndicate after he goes to check on Grogu, who was last seen leaving with Luke Skywalker (an unholy CGI creation) in The Mandalorian Season 2 finale. Most fans just assumed that Mando’s reunion with Grogu would get punted until The Mandalorian officially returns, so imagine their surprise when this week’s Chapter 6 kept the story delivered the little green guy.

Picking up where Chapter 5 left off, Mando flies his new ship to the planet where Grogu is training with Luke, who’s also hard at work building a new Jedi Temple. However, while Grogu is seen adorably training to be a Jedi, he does not reunite with Mando. After being advised by Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) that seeing Grogu would make his training even harder, Mando leaves behind the Mandalorian armor he hoped to personally deliver and heads back to help Boba Fett on Tatooine.

Despite getting all the feels from Mando being so close to Grogu, but never getting to hold him, Star Wars fans still lost their mind over seeing the tiny show-stealer again.

Here are only some of the reactions pouring in:

The Book of Boba Fett is currently streaming on Disney+.