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Drake’s relationship with his son, Adonis, has been well-documented at this point. As a single father, Drake shares custody of the toddler with Sophie Brussaux, although the couple aren’t together. Still, it isn’t every day we get to see Drizzy in full-on father mode, so a clip he shared of himself and Adonis horsing around on the floor on Christmas Eve is a sweet look into their dynamic. “I’m going to get up, I gotta get out of this,” Drake laughs, as Adonis and another child pin him to the floor, then climb up on his back as he tries to stand up.

“Merry Christmas From The Gang,” Drake captioned the post. Whatever else might be going on in Drake’s life, it seems like his 4-year-old son is having the time of his life giggling and playing with his dad during the holidays. Like plenty of other musicians, Drake has mostly been lying low during Covid-19 since touring is such a risky thing at the moment. He did emerge briefly to release his sixth full-length album, Certified Lover Boy this summer, and then again for a massive face off concert with Kanye earlier this month, but perhaps he’s been enjoying the chance to spend more time with his child like plenty of other parents are during the pandemic.

It’s a Christmas miracle — there’s a new Nardwuar interview! This time, the stalwart of Canadian music journalism is speaking with none other than platinum with — and with no — features, J. Cole. Cole has had a pretty incredible year with the release of The Off-Season earlier this year. Now that his latest project has gone platinum, it’s time for Cole to do some reflecting alongside the ever inquisitive Nardwuar.

This time, Nardwuar wants to know about the Dreamville label-head’s taste in other rappers — he shocks J. Cole by bringing up the fact that it was Cole who told Dr. Dre about Kendrick Lamar back in the day. Sitting silent for almost a full ten seconds after Nardwuar asks him about it, Cole finally tells the story. You can see the excerpt in the tweet above, or the whole interview up top. But a transcript of the gist of what he says is below.

“I’m not going to say I was the first to tell him… when I brought him up to Dre I was like ‘You know what you gotta do is’ — I went in there to work on Detox, you know like how Dre do, if you’re a young rapper and he rock with you, he want to bring you through and have you test the waters — so yeah I was like ‘yo you got to sign this kid from Compton, boom boom, Kendrick boom boom.’ And then [another guy] was like ‘oh yeah that’s the kid I was telling you about! boom boom boom’ So, I have no clue, you know what I mean? I’ve never heard anybody say that type of sh*t, but shout out to Dr. Dre, he made the right decision.”

Well, thanks for helping the entire world get the gift of Kendrick Lamar, Cole! And thanks to Nardwuar for always knowing the best and deepest secrets of every single artist.

The WNBA has seen two of its 12 head coaching jobs come open this offseason, with the New York Liberty and Phoenix Mercury both parting ways with their coaches in order to head in a new direction.

On Saturday, we learned what direction that may be for the Liberty, as Spurs assistant and former WNBA legend Becky Hammon is apparently a top candidate for the job and the interest between the two is mutual, per Shams Charania and Chantel Jennings of The Athletic. Maybe more interesting is that the Liberty aren’t alone in pursuing Hammon, but the other team is not the Mercury. Instead, it’s the Las Vegas Aces, who currently employ Bill Laimbeer as their head coach, raising plenty of eyebrows when the report dropped.

Apparently, the plan would be for Laimbeer to move into a different role with the Aces should Hammon accept the job.

The Liberty head coaching job is currently open after New York and Walt Hopkins parted ways in early December. The Aces job is currently filled by Bill Laimbeer, who has coached in the WNBA since 2002. If Hammon were to accept the Aces job, Laimbeer would step aside and potentially fill a different organizational role, sources said.

Hammon spent 8 seasons with each franchise as a player — when the Aces were the San Antonio Stars/Silver Stars — so the connection to both is there. Las Vegas is a team that is ready to compete immediately, with a roster of stars that is a perennial title contender but has yet to reach that full potential. The Liberty, meanwhile, are a young team on the rise, making the leap into the playoffs last year but with room to grow and, maybe, a bit more patience in doing so.

We’ll find out sooner than later if Hammon decides to make the leap to the head of the bench back in the WNBA, as the report indicates a decision would be expected by the January free agency period. Hammon has been a rumored candidate for some NBA head coaching jobs, most publicly the Portland opening this past summer, and it seems like only a matter of time before she takes a head job in either league.

The Warriors and Suns met for the third time on Christmas, this time in Phoenix for what proved to be the second terrific game of the day, following a Bucks comeback over Boston. In a game that was tied 84-84 going into the fourth quarter, it was the Warriors who managed the rare feat of out-dueling the Suns’ backcourt duo of Chris Paul and Devin Booker down the stretch, as Stephen Curry caught fire early and Otto Porter Jr. closed things out down the stretch in a 116-107 win.

Curry was scoring, but had struggled a bit with efficiency through three quarters, but as he so often does, brought some life to the Warriors to start the fourth with a couple of ridiculous three-pointers, including this stepback to take the lead.

Down the stretch, as the Suns focus unsurprisingly shifted almost totally to keeping Curry from getting loose, it was Otto Porter Jr. who picked things up, scoring 10 of Golden State’s final 12 points, including a pair of big threes to keep the Suns at arm’s length every time they came within a few of the lead.

It was an encouraging win for the Warriors because one of the great questions facing them is whether their offense can hold up in pressure spots without having to lean entirely on Curry to make things happen. Even without Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins, they found that lift from Porter and even rookie Jonathan Kuminga, who gave them some big two-way minutes late as he showed his tremendous potential in a big time spot.

For Phoenix, it was a rare fourth quarter where their two stars simply couldn’t get things going, as Chris Paul and Devin Booker found it tough sledding against the length and speed of the Warriors defense, unable to slow the game down to their pace and pick them apart in the pick-and-roll game. Booker and Paul were a combined 2-for-7 in the fourth quarter, and without those two Phoenix couldn’t find an alternative to pick up the slack and stay attached as Golden State pulled away late.

The Los Angeles Clippers have mostly tread water this season, arriving at Christmas with a 17-15 record, good for fifth in the West despite the absence of Kawhi Leonard (who could miss the entire season with a torn ACL). With Leonard out, the unquestionable leader of the Clippers is Paul George, who is averaging 24.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 5.5 assists on the season.

Unfortunately for the Clippers, George is set to miss a month or more with a torn ligament in his right elbow, which will cause him to sit out for 3-4 weeks before being re-evaluated.

That last part is particularly important, as it’s not a return date in 3-4 weeks, but when he’ll be checked in on again and a further plan of action will be determined. That could mean an extended absence for George, which would be a massive loss for the Clippers. L.A. has managed George-less games pretty well so far, going 3-3 without him in the lineup this season, but that’s a tall order to keep in the top-6 West playoff spots without him.

For George, it’s another arm injury as he took a couple years to get all the way back to full strength after shoulder issues in both the right and left shoulders, and now will have to deal with an elbow injury in his shooting arm.

The Cleveland Browns are a wildly frustrating football team, as they clearly have the talent to be a contender in the AFC, but are maddeningly inconsistent — which has been exasperated by injury and COVID absences. No one fits this description more than quarterback Baker Mayfield, who will at times look like the franchise centerpiece but also can look like someone who shouldn’t be starting in the NFL (sometimes oscillating between these two forms from one drive to another).

On Saturday, the Browns were in Green Bay for a must-win Christmas Day tilt with the Packers if they were to keep playoff hopes alive at 7-7, and after an opening touchdown drive, the bad version of Baker arrived with two first quarter interceptions that helped Green Bay open up a 14-6 lead. The first pick was an arm punt into double coverage, but at least had the cover of an apparent missed hold in the secondary he was trying to draw with the throw. The second was, well, just watch.

On 3rd and forever, rather than trying to set up the Browns new kicker (who had already missed an extra point) with an easier kick, Mayfield overthrew a hitch route with some poor footwork and kept Cleveland from any chance of getting points. This led to a lot of frustrated tweets from Browns fans, as well as safety John Johnson III, who was inactive for the game and at his house, likewise growing frustrated watching Mayfield take the chance for points off the board. His message was simple: RUN THE DAMN BALL.

It’s a common refrain from Browns fans (and, really, any other team with a struggling QB), who would prefer to see Nick Chubb get more touches as that is a far safer plan that Mayfield slinging it. However, it’s for the best at least early that Kevin Stefanski didn’t heed his safety’s advice in total, as on the next drive Mayfield led the Browns to another touchdown to pull to 14-12.

It’s always fascinating when players are injured or out with illness and are live-tweet games from home, because every once in awhile they fire something off like this that is exactly in lockstep with the fans. The Browns defense has seen plenty of this from the sidelines this season — Myles Garrett said their answer has to be trying to score points off turnovers themselves as a defense to help out — they just can’t tweet from there, so Johnson gave us a unique glimpse into that frustration on Christmas.

UPDATE: He threw a third, arguably even worse pick on the very next drive.

It’s been a few games since Giannis Antetokounmpo played in a basketball game. The reigning NBA Finals MVP missed the Milwaukee Bucks‘ last five games because of the NBA’s health and safety protocols, and while there were questions about whether or not he’d be able to take the floor on Christmas Day, Antetokounmpo got cleared in time to suit up against the Boston Celtics.

As a result, Christmas was a pretty good day for the fine folks in the Cream City. Despite going into the locker room at halftime down by 15 points, Milwaukee was able to pick up a 117-113 win, thanks in large part to an MVP-caliber performance by the big fella. Antetokounmpo went for 36 points in 30 minutes of work on 13-for-23 shooting. Never one to leave other columns in the box score empty, Antetokounmpo pitched in 12 rebounds, five assists, and two blocks for good measure.

Perhaps his best moment came in the game’s waning moments, when it looked like Antetokounmpo was going to meet Jayson Tatum at the summit and block an attempted dunk. Tatum, realizing there was a very tall person standing right next to him, decided to dump the ball off to Robert Williams, who had a clear path to the basket to cut the Bucks’ lead to one.

Instead, Antetokounmpo reacted quickly, jumped with Williams, and blocked him. The ball ended up bouncing off of Tatum’s hand and led to the Bucks picking up a win.

Milwaukee’s season, up to this point, has been defined by the team’s inability to keep their core players on the floor together for extended periods of time, as bouts with COVID and injuries have not been kind to the defending champions. But if they’re healthy and have Antetokounmpo doing what he does best, they’re going to have something to say in the race to win the Eastern Conference. Perhaps this will include doing the Cha-Cha Slide a few times along the way.

The Milwaukee Bucks have become a staple of the NBA Christmas Day slate thanks to Giannis Antetokounmpo and their steady presence atop the East standings year after year, and as the reigning champs they got to host a Christmas game against the Celtics that turned out to be a thriller.

Boston led by 13 with under six minutes to play when the Bucks put Giannis, fresh off the COVID list, back in for one last burst, and the Finals MVP put forth an incredible effort to steadily reel in Boston and, ultimately, give Milwaukee a 117-113 win. Up three with under 10 seconds to play, Giannis put a bow on the win with an outrageous block of Robert Williams on a dunk attempt and the ball ultimately bounced out of bounds off of Williams.

While the referees reviewed the call on the floor, the Bucks began their celebration with game ops playing the Cha-Cha Slide, which got DeMarcus Cousins and the rest of the Bucks bench up and moving, as they slid to the right, slid to the left, and criss-crossed in delightful choreography.

The best part of the video was Jrue Holiday sliding in perfect lockstep with Boogie from outside the frame, and a year after carrying some of the league’s best locker room vibes through the playoffs to a championship, it certainly seems like this is a team that is once again having plenty of fun on the court and off of it.

On Christmas Eve, BTS member Suga tested positive for Covid-19 after the group’s recent string of LA performances. He tested positive with no symptoms after already self-isolating in quarantine in Korea, so everyone was hopeful that none of the other members would be infected. However, their management company BigHit Music has now reported that two other members, RM and Jin, have both tested positive as of Saturday.

RM returned to Korea last week, December 17, and has been quarantining since but tested positive today with no symptoms. As for Jin, he returned to Korea on Monday, December 6, and developed “mild flu-like symptoms” on Saturday, after which he tested positive. As for Suga, he returned to Korea on December 23 and tested positive on Christmas Eve, though he was also asymptomatic. Here’s hoping all of the members have a relatively easy time with their respective quarantines and get better very soon. No word yet on whether any other members have developed symptoms or will receive a negative test.

Of course, stadium concerts are always a risky event in the time of Covid-19, but even more so for the performers, who, in this case, were exposed to four nights of crowds of thousands of people. Also important to note: all members of BTS were fully vaccinated at the end of August, which has probably contributed to the light cases and mild symptoms.

Read the full statement from BigHit Music below.

Hello.

This is BigHit Music. BTS members RM and Jin were diagnosed with Covid-19 on the evening of Saturday, December 25.

After returning on Friday the 17th from the United States following his personal schedule as part of his official vacation period, RM immediately underwent PCR testing, was found negative and entered into self-quarantine in his home as mandated bye Covid-19 control procedures. However, he underwent PCR testing today before his scheduled release from quarantine and was found to be positive for Covid-19; his currently exhibiting no particular symptoms.

Jin returned to Korea on Monday, December 6 and underwent PCR testing immediately after his return and again before his release from self-quarantine, and was found negative on both occasions. However, feeling flu-like symptoms this afternoon he underwent PCR testing and was found positive for Covid-19 late this evening. He is exhibiting mild symptoms including light fever, and is undergoing self-treatment at home.

RM and Jin both completed their second round of Covid-19 vaccinations in late August, and are currently undergoing self-treatment at home as per health authority guidelines. Neither member had any contact with other members after their return to Korea.

Our company will continue to provide support for the rapid recovery of RM and Jin, placing our highest priority on the health and safety of our artists. We will continue to cooperate fully with requests and guidelines of healthcare authorities.

Kemba Walker has been in the midst of quite the resurgence since making his way back into the New York Knicks’ starting lineup. After being dropped from the team’s rotation altogether at the end of November and sitting on the bench for 10 consecutive games, Walker has become indispensable in recent days as injuries and COVID absences have led to him getting more run.

His most recent big game came on Christmas Day, as the Knicks hosted the Atlanta Hawks at Madison Square Garden and picked up a 101-87 win over the team that eliminated them from the postseason last year. While Walker didn’t put forth the kind of gaudy scoring output that we’ve seen since he was reinserted into the starting lineup, he finished the game with 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists, giving him his first triple-double since April 4, 2014, when he was a member of the Charlotte Hornets.

Unsurprisingly, the 6-foot Walker hit the scoring and assist marks before he was able to haul in 10 rebounds. It led to some funny moments in MSG, as every single person in the arena knew Walker needed one more board to get there, only his teammates weren’t always able to help him clear the hurdle.

But ultimately, Walker was able to get there, much to the delight of the adoring fans in Manhattan.

The rebound made a little bit of franchise history. Not only was this the NBA’s seventh Christmas Day triple-double and the first since 2017, but it was the first time a Knicks player did this on Dec. 25.

It seems safe to assume Kemba Walker will not be removed from the Knicks’ rotation again any time soon.