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When one of the biggest music festivals in the world is named after the region where it goes down, there’s bound to be some confusion, and maybe even legal action. This has been the case this past month as Goldenvoice, which operates the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (that we all commonly know as simply “Coachella,”) filed multiple restraining orders against Live Nation and the Day One ’22 NYE concert/fest (fka “Coachella Day One 22”) that they are producing alongside the Coachella Valley-based Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians.

Goldenvoice’s first effort against Live Nation was successful, thus leading to the name change of the event which now does not include the word “Coachella.” But Rolling Stone reports that on Monday, December 27th, a judge denied a second effort from Goldenvoice (which is owned by AEG) that would have denied Live Nation the ability to sell tickets to the event no matter what the name. Day One 22′ will go down on New Year’s Eve at the Coachella Crossroads venue, which is a couple of miles away from the Empire Polo Field where the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is held. The Day One 22′ lineup features Lil Wayne, E-40, DJ Diesel (Shaq), and Getter.

As Rolling Stone further reports, Judge R. Gary Klausner rejected Goldenvoice’s latest restraining order because the naming of the event came from the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians, who are entitled to sovereign immunity from this type of legal action. The tribe isn’t named in the restraining order and this has allowed them to maintain their promotional material with the current name, and continue to sell tickets leading up to the event. The Chairman of the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians, Darrel Mike, issued a statement on the latest advancement:

“Today’s response from Judge Klausner is a win for the Tribe, the community and our ticketing partners at Live Nation. As a community and nation who reside in Coachella, California — we are equally thrilled that our outdoor venue, Coachella Crossroads will be able to continue operation under its given name. The strongarming of Goldenvoice and its parent company AEG to take reign over a name of a region and businesses who choose to identify with it is disrespectful to small and large business operations, those under their employ and the indigenous people who live within the valley.”

It’s wild to consider how Goldenvoice has essentially proven a justifiable claim on the rights to using the word “Coachella,” based on the ubiquity of their festival. It feels like a slippery slope for other festivals that rise to such notable prominence in small regions that could stake a claim to the use of the name of said region. This is definitely a win for the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians, but we should not breeze past the fact that in the end, this boils down to a Goldenvoice vs. Live Nation legal tiff.

The Utah Jazz comfortably led the NBA in net rating during the 2020-21 season, out-scoring opponents by nine points per 100 possessions. Utah also finished the campaign with the league’s record at 52-20, but the Jazz fell short of the Western Conference Finals, losing in the second round amid a collapsing defense and injury issues in the backcourt. That early playoff exit left Utah in a position in which any regular season success may be discounted, simply because the Jazz have proven to be a strong team over the marathon that is a full NBA season. As such, the Jazz haven’t received much buzz during the 2021-22 season, with much of the attention at the top of the West focused on the Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns.

Here’s the thing: The Jazz are playing even better this season than they did a year ago. Utah boasts an incredibly impressive +10 net rating through 33 games, even as the Jazz are “only” 24-9 in the standings. Beyond that overall dominance, Utah is quite easily the best offensive team in the NBA right now, putting up 116.6 points per 100 possessions. That figure is essentially identical to what the Jazz were able to produce offensively last season, but the NBA’s offensive environment is down quite a bit year-over-year, with the glaring exception of Quin Snyder’s team.

Utah leads the NBA in offensive rating by nearly four points per 100 possessions, which is a comically large gap over 30+ games. The Jazz are firmly in the top-10 of the NBA in offensive rebound rate, and Utah ranks in the top-6 in field goal percentage, two-point percentage, three-point percentage, and free throw volume. All told, the Jazz also lead the NBA in true shooting percentage, and there is nothing inherently fluky about what Utah has been able to do.

In similar fashion to last season, Donovan Mitchell serves as Utah’s engine on offense, with a perimeter-based attack revolving around Rudy Gobert’s two-way brilliance. The Jazz have strong shooters, intriguing secondary creation with Mike Conley and Jordan Clarkson, and a system that is beautifully designed by Snyder. Overall, Utah’s performance may be ignored until they progress further in the NBA Playoffs but, through 33 games, the Jazz are performing at a level that is impossible to ignore.

Are the Jazz better than the Warriors or Suns? Maybe not, but Utah has to be grouped firmly in that tier right now, and the hope would be that the Jazz can figure out enough answers on defense to make this legitimately elite offense sing.

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

1. Golden State Warriors (27-7, Last week — 1st)

Golden State’s road win over Phoenix on Christmas outweighs a home loss to Denver on Tuesday. That is the basically the calculus for keeping the Warriors in the top spot, particularly since Draymond Green missed the loss to the Nuggets. This is a close call, though, as the No. 2 team has a real case.

2. Utah Jazz (24-9, Last week — 3rd)

The Jazz host the Warriors on New Year’s Day. That’ll be fun.

3. Phoenix Suns (26-7, Last week — 2nd)

It’s not as if the Suns are struggling right now. After all, the Suns went from Oct. 27 to Christmas without losing a single game with Devin Booker on the floor. Phoenix did just lose two in a row, though, and a home loss to Memphis keeps them out of the top-2. Don’t fear, though, as the Suns are clearly as good as anyone when taking the full season into account.

4. Brooklyn Nets (23-9, Last week — 5th)

After three postponements, the Nets just won back-to-back games in Los Angeles against the Lakers and Clippers. That isn’t the type of gauntlet this season that it’s been in previous years, but Brooklyn has just one loss since Dec. 8, and they held serve this week.

5. Chicago Bulls (21-10, Last week — 6th)

Chicago’s roster situation was a mess in the last few weeks but, as the Bulls get healthier, the results are great. The Bulls are on a four-game winning streak with top-10 units on both offense and defense. They aren’t the same defensive team without both Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso, but those guys should return in the relatively near future and the full cast is strong.

6. Milwaukee Bucks (23-13, Last week — 7th)

The Bucks are 19-9 with Giannis Antetokounmpo in the lineup, headlined by a wild comeback win on Christmas. Milwaukee has won four in a row, and the Bucks really feel too low on this list. They just couldn’t climb this week because the Nets and Bulls didn’t lose.

7. Miami Heat (22-13, Last week — 8th)

Miami is just cruising along. The Heat have battled injury issues, with Jimmy Butler missing extended time and Bam Adebayo still out, and they’ve weathered those hiccups. Miami is in the top-5 in net rating (+4.1) after six wins in seven games, and there is a lot to like.

8. Memphis Grizzlies (21-14, Last week — 9th)

The Grizzlies were ready to slip in this space after three straight losses. Then, Memphis beat Phoenix on the road on the second night of a back-to-back. That is a huge win, and the Grizzlies are comfortably ahead of the pack for the No. 4 seed in the West at the moment.

9. Cleveland Cavaliers (20-14, Last week — 4th)

The protocols have sidelined key pieces, and the Cavs haven’t cratered. However, Cleveland has dropped two of three and Ricky Rubio went down with an apparent knee injury on Tuesday. If that is a long-term issue, the Cavs will have challenges with only Darius Garland to handle ball-handling duties, and the team’s depth will be tested once again.

10. Philadelphia 76ers (18-16, Last week — 11th)

There is a real drop to No. 10 in our power rankings in terms of full-season pedigree. Philadelphia gets the nod here because of three wins in the last four games, and the Sixers also have the 10th-best winning percentage in the league. This is a top-10 team whenever Joel Embiid is playing, and he’s been playing more often than not.

11. Denver Nuggets (17-16, Last week — 10th)

Denver started last week’s slate with two disappointing losses. On cue, the Nuggets rebounded with two strong wins, capped by a road victory in San Francisco on Tuesday. Nikola Jokic remains preposterous and, while Denver’s overall profile isn’t outstanding, that groups them with a bevy of teams in this range.

12. San Antonio Spurs (14-19, Last week — 15th)

Even with all of the plaudits for San Antonio last week, this feels high, but is it? The Spurs are 10-6 in the last 16 games, and San Antonio is now in the top-10 in net rating. Does that mean it’ll hold up? Maybe not, but it’s tough to argue for many teams against them.

13. Boston Celtics (16-18, Last week — 12th)

Boston played well on Christmas before ceding the game to the Bucks in the final minutes. That is something of a microcosm of a pretty frustrating season for the Celtics, but Boston is still tied for 11th in net rating and just hanging around the middle.

14. Dallas Mavericks (16-17, Last week — 16th)

Luka Doncic hasn’t played in almost three weeks and the Mavs haven’t cratered. Dallas is 4-4 in the last eight games, and that is enough to stay in the top half of the league. It’s a low bar to clear right now.

15. Los Angeles Lakers (17-18, Last week — 13th)

If this wasn’t the Lakers with LeBron James and high-end pedigree, they’d be lower than this. Los Angeles narrowly avoided a sixth straight loss by outlasting the Rockets on Tuesday, which meant they avoided a true free fall in these rankings. LeBron has been outrageously good lately in the absence of Anthony Davis, but he isn’t getting much help.

16. New York Knicks (16-18, Last week — 20th)

New York’s last two wins came against protocol-riddled opponents, but they count in the standings just the same. The Knicks also had their own issues and managed to weather them, hanging around the playoff chase as a result.

17. Minnesota Timberwolves (16-18, Last week — 17th)

Minnesota is among the teams battling incredibly difficult roster situations, and they weren’t very impressive in a loss to the Knicks on Tuesday. In zooming out, though, the Wolves are 5-3 in the last eight games with solid metrics on both sides of the floor.

18. L.A. Clippers (17-17, Last week — 14th)

Paul George’s elbow injury is a tough blow to a Clippers team already operating without Kawhi Leonard. It is hard to imagine L.A. can keep up its .500 level without George for an extended period of time, and the Clippers are just 1-5 in the last six overall.

19. Charlotte Hornets (18-17, Last week — 21st)

The Hornets are 20th in net rating but 12th in win-loss record. I’m trusting the metrics a bit more right now, particularly with only a 5-9 record over the last 14 games. On the positive side, Charlotte did have a very nice road win in Denver this week.

20. Toronto Raptors (14-17, Last week — 18th)

Due to postponements, the Raptors have played only three times in more than two weeks. One of those losses was a 45-point annihilation at the hands of the Cavs in which Toronto fielded a roster that was barely NBA quality. There isn’t much to glean here.

21. New Orleans Pelicans (13-22, Last week — 23rd)

If only the season started in December. The Pelicans are 7-5 with approximately a net-neutral point differential this month. Of course, New Orleans dug a gigantic hole at the start of the season but, in taking the team’s recent play at face value, they shouldn’t be in the bottom five anymore.

22. Washington Wizards (17-17, Last week — 22nd)

Washington is 14-2 in what NBA.com classifies as “clutch” situations this season. That is remarkable, and kudos to the Wizards for pulling off that kind of high-wire act. However, the Wizards are just 4-10 in the last 14 games, and the team’s win-loss record doesn’t match its statistical profile.

23. Indiana Pacers (14-20, Last week — 26th)

The Pacers went 5-6 in the first 11 games of December, and they did it without a single bad loss. That represents progress, and Indiana is still a team that is confounding with a 14-20 record and a positive point differential.

24. Atlanta Hawks (15-18, Last week — 19th)

No team has been hit harder by the NBA’s health and safety protocols this week than the Hawks. Atlanta’s roster has ballooned to a reported 25 (!) players and it is tough to make too much of the results as such. Still, the Hawks have lost eight straight at home and they are 4-9 in the last 13 overall.

25. Sacramento Kings (14-21, Last week — 27th)

On the heels of three consecutive double-digit losses, the Kings rallied to beat the Thunder on Tuesday. That doesn’t move the needle very much, but Tyrese Haliburton was excellent in that game, and he is averaging 16.2 points and 8.5 assists per game in December.

26. Oklahoma City Thunder (12-21, Last week — 28th)

Oklahoma City is 12-17 when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander plays this season. The Thunder are a spot or two lower than they probably should be due to Tuesday’s head-to-head loss to Sacramento, but they have been soundly better than the teams below them here, which is wild.

27. Portland Trail Blazers (13-20, Last week — 24th)

Only the Pistons have an uglier point differential than the Blazers (-9.8 points per 100 possessions) since Nov. 24. That is really gross, and Portland is just 3-12 over the last 15 games. It is virtually impossible to win consistently with a defense as bad as the Blazers’ group right now.

28. Houston Rockets (10-25, Last week — 25th)

Houston was highly competitive against the Lakers on Tuesday, nearly pulling off the home upset. The Rockets are still on a five-game losing streak with seven losses in the last eight games, though, and the four previous losses came by double figures. Houston had a heck of a stretch a couple of weeks ago, but the overall product isn’t fantastic.

29. Orlando Magic (7-28, Last week — 29th)

It’s not all bad for Orlando. Cole Anthony has been a positive story in the absence of Jalen Suggs, and Franz Wagner looks tremendous. The rookie forward erupted for 38 points in a loss to the Bucks on Tuesday, and considering Wagner’s impressive slate of supporting traits, that kind of offensive outburst is even more encouraging.

30. Detroit Pistons (5-27, Last week — 30th)

Detroit can’t score, which has been a theme throughout the season. The Pistons also just allowed 144 points to the Spurs in a regulation game, which is jarring to even type. Detroit is 1-17 in the last 18 games and, even with contention from other organizations, the Pistons own this spot right now.

Branching off from the events of The Mandalorian‘s second season, the new spinoff series, The Book of Boba Fett, made its Disney+ debut on Wednesday and along for the ride was a surprising cast member: What We Do in the Shadows star Matt Berry. Eagle-eared fans may have caught his distinctive voice during a brief appearance in the season premiere, but if you didn’t, Berry played the droid who introduced Tattooine dignitaries to Boba Fett, who now sits on Jabba the Hutt’s vacant throne This guy…

Via Decider:

He was cast as the voice behind UK2-B, a smelter droid of the same model as 8D8. And 8D8 was one of the most memorable droids from the original sequence in Jabba’s palace from 1983’s Return of the Jedi. He was the droid that was in charge of all that droid torture, proving that not only can droids feel pain, they can also derive pleasure from inflicting pain.

Berry’s character definitely loves torture alright. When Boba Fett decides to spare two Gamorrean guards, UK2-B protests that torturing is a show of power, which Fett is not concerned with. For now. As for whether Berry will be a continued presence on the Disney+ series is unknown, but if he is, hopefully, he’ll get to cut loose a little bit. Berry is one of those actors who can make reading the phone book sound hilarious.

(Via Decider)

Chris Tucker’s breakout film role was in 1995’s Friday, a top-10 movie with a day of the week in the title. (Other good day-of-the-week movies: Freaky Friday, Friday the 13th, His Girl Friday, The Long Good Friday, and some non-Friday movies, probably.) The comedy was a hit, making over $27 million on a small budget and millions more on home video, but Tucker declined to appear in the aptly-titled sequel, Next Friday. In response to a tweet claiming that he quit over money, Ice Cube shared what actually happened.

“We were ready to pay Chris Tucker $10-12m to do Next Friday but he turned us down for religious reasons. He didn’t want to cuss or smoke weed on camera anymore,” he tweeted. This checks out with an interview Tucker gave in November, when he told All Urban Central, “Back then, I gotta tell you, one of the reasons why I didn’t do the second one was because of the weed.” Tucker continued:

“That movie became a phenomenon. I don’t want everybody smoking weed and I never really told people this because I kind of forgot about it, but it was one of the reasons why I didn’t do it. Because I said, ‘I don’t wanna represent everybody smoking weed.’ And that’s one of the reasons why I said ‘Nah.’ I didn’t wanna keep doing that character. It probably was good for me because it kept me moving to the next phase and next movies.”

Next Friday came out in 2000. By then, Tucker had already starred in The Fifth Element, Jackie Brown, and Rush Hour, and he would soon appear in Rush Hour 2 and Rush Hour 3. He was doing fine without the “$10-12m” from Next Friday. That being said, although Tucker’s filmography since 2010 consists of only two movies — Silver Linings Playbook and Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk — he would “definitely consider” returning for a fourth Friday movie. As long as Ice Cube doesn’t ask to borrow his sh*t.

(Via People)

Spider-Man: No Way Home is out now in theaters and racking up records as one of the most popular movies not just in the series but of the last several years. It’s already crossed the billion-dollar threshold and is being credited with helping save movie theaters after a rough couple of years, and now that it’s been out for a little over a week, fans are sharing their reactions and debating some of the film’s plot points. Those fans include Long Beach rapper Vince Staples, who has — as usual — some uniquely funny takes on some of the film’s action.

Here’s why I give you a chance to click the little “X” in the corner or hit [command+w] or close your laptop or — come on guys, there are hundreds of ways to avoid spoilers. If this “ruins” the movie for you, blame yourself.

Vince was less than enthused about the death of one character in particular, demanding a role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the sole purpose of revenge. “Oh it’s up,” he wrote. “They just flipped Aunt May in the lobby!” This development led to more of Staples’ signature snark as he promised, “They need me in the MCU if they tryna have some real get bacc. Where is the vengeance?” He then made his bid for a role in a potential future film and gave a pretty solid reason: “Put me in X-Men I’m marking everything out,” he vowed. “[On the] Dead homies.”

While there aren’t many characters in the X-Men comics that match Vince’s physique, that shouldn’t be a bar from giving him a role; after all, half of the Eternals were recast as people of color, and cape films have shuffled characters’ appearances before. Just imagine Vince Staples as Wolverine. Now, that I’d gladly pay to watch.

Alex Jones is in the midst of a serious relationship crisis. And no, we’re not talking about his marriage to Erika Wulff Jones—his wife of four years, who was arrested on Christmas Eve for violently attacking the InfoWars founder after she allegedly accused him of cheating on her. We’re talking about his much more public (and, to be clear, platonic) love affair with former president Donald Trump. On Tuesday, as Raw Story reports, Jones posted a video in which he admitted that he is taking Trump’s newly pro-vaccination stance as a very personal affront.

After rattling off a laundry list of all the “evil” people who have promoted COVID vaccines like he was Bubba from Forrest Gump, it clearly pained Jones to include Trump—a man he spent many years championing—among those names.

“The fact that I was persecuted for supporting Trump makes it ten times worse! I know Podesta’s evil, I know Hillary’s evil, I know Obama’s evil, and I know Fauci’s evil, I know Bill Gates is evil, and I know they’re all evil! But Trump did a lot of good, and I believed in him! So, the fact that he’s done this makes it personal. It makes it hurt!”

Still, Jones—conspiracy theorist that he is—doesn’t seem totally convinced that there’s not some other factor at play in the former president’s vaccine U-turn (the same vaccine Trump has begging to get some credit for pushing through so quickly, and seemed shocked/touched when Joe Biden did in fact give him just that).

As Raw Story noted last week, Jones issued an “emergency Christmas Day warning” to Trump in which he declared that, “You are either completely ignorant… or you are one of the most evil men who ever lived.” (Though he also allowed that blackmail could be behind the change of heart.)

(Via Raw Story)

Grimes is active on social media and she frequently shares some headline-worthy dispatches, like when she commented on Elon Musk’s Time Person Of The Year cover or when she noted she is “def changing [her] main day job” from music. Now, she has taken a moment to address her gender identity.

Responding to a tweet asking users to “comment your gender and also a scene from a movie you found particularly, unexpectedly hot,” Grimes replied today, “Female ish – Caitlyn and vi in the brothel in arcane.”

Grimes has talked about her gender here and there over the years, like in a 2018 tweet when she wrote that she is “personally put off by the word ‘woman’ at least as far as my self id.” Dazed notes that in a now-deleted 2015 tweet, Grimes wrote, “I vibe in a gender neutral space so I’m kinda impartial to pronouns for myself. Don’t have a preferred so much but I wish I didn’t have to be categorized as female constantly. Everything I ever hear about Grimes is super gendered and it’s always really made me uncomfortable.”

On a related note, in a September Vogue video, Grimes noted, “Being a ‘mother’ feels weird to say for some reason; I don’t identify with that word. Which is also really weird because X, he says ‘Claire,’ but he doesn’t say ‘mama.’ Maybe he can sense my distaste for the word ‘mother,’ which I don’t even know why I have a distaste for it. I respect… I just… I can’t identify with it, really.”

Between FKA Twigs’ The Weeknd collab “Tears In The Club” and talk of a new mixtape, it appears fans can look forward to more new music from her in the near future. While there is some apparently leaked info floating around about Twigs’ next project, she has now addressed it herself.

A Twitter user posted a screenshot of a Genius page for a supposed Twigs project called Capri Sun, which has been rumored to be the title, that’s set for release on January 14, 2022. The partial tracklist includes “Tears In The Club,” as well as tunes called “Maji Claire,” “Darjeeling,” “Don’t Do It Again,” and “Vice.”

Another user shared that tweet and wrote, “.@FKAtwigs im starting to get pissed off, can you announce it please????” Twigs responded, “this is bare wrong lol, nice try doe.”

Regardless, Twigs did previously suggest that a new album would be arriving at around this point in time. In September, she told fans on Discord that when it comes to her next project (which will be a mixtape), she was “thinking about a capri season take over,” presumably meaning Capricorn season, so between or around December 22, 2021 and January 19, 2022.

She also noted of the project, “It’s really deep emotional and honest but hopefully more golden tears than blue i channelled my melancholy differently this time and it was so amazing. […] i made my next project thinking about all of u and my friends it’s for getting ready and going out to and being with people who make u feel good, turnt litty bronzer in the sink shimmer on the bathroom floor.”

The NBA is scrambling, along with much of the world, to get a handle on the latest COVID-19 variant that is spreading like wildfire. Teams across the league are dealing with breakouts, and players, coaches, and executives have expressed frustration in navigating the treacherous scenarios in front of them. Earlier this season, LeBron James was placed in the league’s health and safety protocols and, while he only missed one game, James used the words “confused, frustrated, angry” to describe his feelings. Fast-forward a few weeks, and James made headlines with an Instagram post that seemingly compared COVID to the cold and flu.

From there, NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar used his considerable public platform to criticize James for promoting vaccine hesitancy, among other issues. On Tuesday, James was asked about Abdul-Jabbar’s sentiments, and he essentially declined to share a direct response.

However, James did say quite a few words in an attempt to explain his intended desire.

“No, I don’t have a response to Kareem at all,” James said, via Harrison Faigen of SB Nation’s Silver Screen and Roll. “And if you saw the post and you read the tag, you know that I’m literally, honestly asking, ‘help me out.’ Help me kind of figure it all out, like we’re all trying to figure this pandemic out. We’re all trying to figure out COVID and the new strain. And the flu, I think people forgot about the flu. People like literally forgot about the flu during these times, like that’s still going around. It’s flu season, so people have forgot about the flu. People have forgot about common colds. That happens, especially with a lot of our kids that’s in school. My daughter is in first grade, so a lot of these kids are getting like common colds and getting the flu. But no, I don’t have any response to Kareem. No. At all.”

While it is true that the flu and the common cold are not good, the issue many have with James is the apparent conflation of the three ailments as similar, not whether the flu and the common cold are still prevalent in a world that includes COVID. It will be interesting to see if there are additional public comments from James on this issue, or even Abdul-Jabbar may respond to this non-response.

Daniel Faalele is going to play professional football for quite a while once he makes the jump to the NFL. The 6’9, 380 pound tackle for the Minnesota Golden Gophers is one of the most interesting offensive line prospects in the 2022 NFL Draft, and because he is a senior, Tuesday night’s bowl game is the last time he will suit up at this level.

The game itself is not exactly one of the tentpoles of college football’s bowl season, as Minnesota is playing West Virginia in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl. Having said that, the big fella gave us one of the best moments in this year’s bowl calendar during the second quarter, when the Golden Gophers faced a first-and-goal from WVU’s 2.

Instead of lining him up on the line, Minnesota thought it’d be cool to put Faalele at fullback. You can guess what happened next: Faalele received a handoff, trudged forward, was not taken down by a single Mountaineer, and broke the scoreless tie.

Faalele was an All-Big Ten offensive lineman this year, so we assume that any NFL team that drafts him is going to, you know, take him because he is huge and hope they can mold him into a bookend on the line for the next decade-plus. But please, whichever team takes him, let Faalele play some fullback.