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A new piece by Matt Sullivan of Rolling Stone takes a deep dive into some of the issues that the NBA is having getting its final 10 percent or so of players vaccinated against COVID-19. While there are a whole heck of a lot of individuals who do not come out looking good, one person who takes a hardline stance based in the science behind the vaccine is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

In the eyes of the Hall of Fame center, the NBA should be proactive in how it handles those who will not get vaccinated. As Abdul-Jabbar argues, “there is no room for players” who opt to pass on the vaccine.

“The NBA should insist that all players and staff are vaccinated or remove them from the team,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “There is no room for players who are willing to risk the health and lives of their teammates, the staff and the fans simply because they are unable to grasp the seriousness of the situation or do the necessary research. What I find especially disingenuous about the vaccine deniers is their arrogance at disbelieving immunology and other medical experts. Yet, if their child was sick or they themselves needed emergency medical treatment, how quickly would they do exactly what those same experts told them to do?”

Abdul-Jabbar went on to say that while he is not demanding these athletes act as “spokespersons for the government,” he believes there is a moral obligation that comes with having a platform that can save lives, and opting to not use it is “contributing to these deaths” that occur due to the ongoing pandemic.

“They are failing to live up to the responsibilities that come with celebrity. Athletes are under no obligation to be spokespersons for the government, but this is a matter of public health,” the Hall-of-Famer writes Rolling Stone in an e-mail. Abdul-Jabbar is especially disappointed in athletes of color: “By not encouraging their people to get the vaccine, they’re contributing to these deaths. I’m also concerned about how this perpetuates the stereotype of dumb jocks who are unable to look at verified scientific evidence and reach a rational conclusion.”

Abdul-Jabbar has, for the entirety of his basketball career, spoken with a level of forwardness and moral clarity that is oftentimes unmatched. That, once again, is the case here.

The Netflix live action edition of Cowboy Bebop has certainly looked the part so far, more or less. While Jurassic Park star Daniella Pineda has already fired back at critics of her look as Faye Valentine, for the most part fans of the legendary animated series have responded well to casting and the actual humans playing the parts.

So much of the show’s look and feel is iconic, including the original “Tank!” title sequence that features one of the more memorable scores in animation.

And now it’s clear just how serious Netflix is about hitting the same tone and look of the original. On Saturday, the streaming platform debuted the title credits for its live-action Cowboy Bebop that are essentially a shot-for-shot remake of the animated title sequence beloved by fans.

The music alone is a strong wave of nostalgia for fans of the original, which led to mostly relief from some eager to see how the show turns out. And while the live action title sequence is bound to disappoint some of the show’s biggest and most critical fans, it seems like the attention to detail is certainly here from Netflix. If you really need it, IGN put together a side-by-side comparison of the two so you can see just how close they are for yourself.

Those involved in the show, however, certainly think they’re on the right track. As Pineda said on Instagram on Saturday, “we came correct.”

The Ohio State Buckeyes fell behind early against the Akron Zips on Saturday night in Columbus, but then, things went more or less how you’d expect. Ohio State, despite playing without starting quarterback C.J. Stroud, started pouring it on, taking a 38-7 lead into a locker room at the half against their foes from the MAC.

There was, however, one pretty big way in which this game was unusual. According to reports from the stadium, senior Buckeyes linebacker K’Vaughn Pope appeared to end his tenure with the program in the middle of the game.

Apparently, Pope was unhappy with a decision made by Ohio State’s coaching staff, which led to him getting into it with people on the sideline and, eventually, being escorted to the locker room.

Perhaps this was simply a player wanting to cool off after a fracas on the sideline, but apparently, Pope went to the locker room, grabbed his phone, and started tweeting. In one post, he wished the rest of his teammates luck, and in a tweet that has since been deleted, he had a pretty stern message for his school.

Pope was a four-star recruit in the class of 2018, and had recored 19 tackles during his career as a Buckeye.

We already know when we’ll see the second season of The Witcher at this point, as the Netflix series based on a video game and book series officially returns in December. The official trailer arrived at WitcherCon earlier in the year, too, and fans of the series know a lot is on the horizon in Season 2.

The latest trailer came Saturday, served up as a “road” to Season 2 that features a quick recap of the first season’s events as well as some considerable training montage moments for Ciri. But Netflix also gave fans another taste on Saturday as part of its Tudum event — you know, the sound the app makes when you first log in — with a slew of announcements and another sneak peek of what we’ll see from Geralt and Ciri in a few months.

The clip is extremely brief, but shows Geralt waking a sleeping Ciri to tell her to prepare for trouble. She seems startled to say the least, as Geralt drinks in preparation for attackers while the young girl leaves him for whatever fight is ahead. The rest of the clip is mostly silent, with Geralt creeping slowly around a castle prepared for a fight.

While we didn’t learn much from it, the clip is certainly a tease of some big action. Another scene shared on Saturday offered a look at some of the big tensions that Geralt will have to navigate in Season 2 as he tries to protect Ciri from danger, as is his oath.

All that news also came alongside some revelations about other Witcher spinoff shows. Not only was The Witcher already given a third season by Netflix, that news came with a behind-the-scenes video that the streaming service dropped on Saturday of The Witcher: Blood Origin.

It’s a lot of small morsels of Witcher content on a day where Netflix went all-out with announcements, but we’re still a few months away from figuring out exactly what’s waiting for Geralt in those darkened hallways when Season 2 drops on December 17.

A picture City Girls rapper JT posted earlier this month led to fans believe that she was pregnant but she strongly pushed back on that assumption on Saturday. The rumors started when some of her supporters matched a bracelet she wore in the picture to one that pregnant women wear to combat morning sickness.

As a result, many jumped to the conclusion that JT and her boyfriend Lil Uzi Vert have a baby on the way, with some building excitement toward a potential “Lil Lil Uzi.” Furthermore, Lil Uzi recently posted a picture of JT with her belly covered with a heart-eyes emoji. Despite all of this, JT adamantly denies that she’s pregnant.

“It’s getting weird!!!!” JT wrote in a comment on Instagram. “I told [Uzi] put an emoji there because my pants were dirty but I still liked the video I shouldn’t even have to constantly tell a bunch of strangers I’m not hiding shit!!!! I’m not pregnant now leave me the hell alone!”

She also spoke about the rumors in a pair of now-deleted tweets.

“B*tch can’t even use emojis no more!” JT wrote in the first tweet. “I let y’all rock cause on some serious sh*t if I was pregnant what y’all gone do? Nothing! As a women half y’all h*es need to go educate y’all self nausea not only caused by pregnancy! & the way I control my nausea shouldn’t be y’all business.”

In the second tweet, she continued, “Females & n****s who don’t have a p*ssy really lost they marbles I was like okay once they see no stomach they’ll stop but now y’all just getting weirder! & weirder! y’all blogs & y’all b*tches LEAVE ME ALONE.”

You can view the posts from JT above.

Lil Uzi Vert is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Britney Spears’ new fiancee Sam Asghari has been an advocate for her freedom for a very long time. Asghari, who has dated the singer for four years, has also defended her on numerous occasions and the latest example of it came recently when he criticized past documentaries that focused on Britney Spears’ conservatorship battle.

“Apparently my opinion has increased in value over [the] last few days,” he wrote on his Instagram Story, referencing a past comment he made about Netflix’s upcoming film, Britney Vs. Spears. “Past docs left bad aftertaste. I’m hopeful this one will be respectful.”

He added, “I don’t blame CNN, BBC or Netflix (which got me thru lockdowns) for airing them because as an actor I tell other peoples stories too. I question producers who made them ‘just to shed light’ without input or approval from subject. Any credit for light being she should go to #freebritney.”

Just two days ago, Asghari shared his concerns with Netflix’s Britney Vs. Spears, specifically in regards to where the film’s profits would go.

“I hope the profit from these docs go towards fighting [against] injustice #freebritney,” he wrote under Netflix’s Instagram post promoting the upcoming documentary. Lady Gaga’s manager, Bobby Campbell, also chimed in with comments of his own, thoughts that Asghari agreed with as he endorsed it with a 100 emoji.

“There needs to be transparency about how or whether the filmmakers are profiting from this doc, or if they are donating their fees to Britney’s legal defense, or to legal defense funds to aide those who do not have the financial resources to fight against undue conservatorships,” Campbell wrote in part. “Even if it is in support of freeing Britney, this appears that it could be exploitative.”

You can view a screenshot of his message in the photo above.

Oleksandr Usyk maintained his unblemished professional record on Saturday en route to winning the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles. Usyk entered Saturday’s bout against Anthony Joshua as a heavy underdog, but by the time the judges announced their decisions following 12 rounds of action, the Ukranian found himself the winner by unanimous decision.

Usyk — who was previously recognized as the world champion at the cruiserweight division by WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO, and The Ring — handed Joshua his first defeat on British soil in front of the crowd at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The judges scored the fight 117-112, 116-112, and 115-113 in favor of the new champion.

While the cards showed a one-sided fight, Usyk nonetheless tried to send the fans home with a knockout in the bout’s final moments.

On the whole, Usyk landed 148 punches to Joshua’s 123, something that was mixed with being far more accurate — the Ukranian landed 28 percent of all punches he threw, while the Englishman landed 19 percent. That was particularly the case with power punches, as Usyk landed 96-of-220 (44 percent) and Joshua landed 71-of-214 (33 percent). Usyk entered the evening a +220 underdog, while Joshua was viewed as a -270 favorite.

Now, the eyes of the boxing world turn to Las Vegas, where Tyson Fury will put his WBC and The Ring heavyweight titles on the line in his third fight against Deontay Wilder. Fury was slated to take on Joshua in a pair of bouts to unify the world heavyweight titles, but those plans were postponed when an arbiter determined Fury was contractually obligated to fight Wilder once again.

The Weeknd has earned himself another unique award to add to his growing trophy case. The singer recently received the Quincy Jones Humanitarian Award which is an honor given through the Black Music Action Coalition. The Weeknd received the award during the Music In Action Awards in Los Angeles on Friday and organizers labeled the Canadian singer as someone who used their status to “call attention to racial and social injustice and raise awareness globally.”

In his acceptance speech for the award, The Weeknd was pushed to tears as he reflected on the first time he met the legendary Quincy Jones.

“I actually first met Quincy Jones in Vegas a long time ago,” The Weeknd said after watching a video from Jones himself. “He pulled up to one of my club shows, and when I got off stage, he was waiting on the side. I was so excited to meet him, and there were fans on the other side screaming and trying to get my attention, but I was so focused on him.”

It was here that Jones taught The Weeknd a lesson that he’d forever carry with him.

“[Quincy] said, ‘Go take pictures, sign autographs, and I’ll still be here waiting. They’re just more important,’” The Weeknd added. “And it stuck with me until this day. He was teaching me a lesson in that moment that nothing is more important than the people, and giving back is always better than receiving.”

To conclude his speech, The Weeknd labeled the honor as the “best award I’ve ever gotten in my life” as he wiped away tears.

You can watch his acceptance speech in the video above.

Despite a breakout season that saw Jerami Grant average 22.3 points per game as the team’s focal point, the Detroit Pistons struggled to an unsightly 20-52 record during the 2020-21 NBA season. Detroit underachieve when compared to its point differential, meaning they were probably a bit better than their record indicated, but the losses helped to pave the way to a lottery win and Cade Cunningham coming to the Pistons in the 2021 NBA Draft. Elsewhere, the Pistons churned through their roster a bit, but they will now build around Cunningham, with intriguing veterans like Grant and Kelly Olynyk to go along with youngsters in Isaiah Stewart, Saddiq Bey, and Killian Hayes.

Roster:

Saddiq Bey
Cade Cunningham
Hamidou Diallo
Luka Garza
Jerami Grant
Killian Hayes
Frank Jackson
Josh Jackson
Cory Joseph
Saben Lee
Isaiah Livers
Trey Lyles
Rodney McGruder
Kelly Olynyk
Chris Smith
Isaiah Stewart
Derrick Walton

Projected Vegas Win Total: 25.5 wins

Biggest Addition: Cade Cunningham

When a team adds the No. 1 overall pick, this answer becomes easy. The Pistons aren’t in “win-now” mode for the 2021-22 season, and they didn’t break the bank elsewhere, so there isn’t much competition for Cunningham in this space other than from Kelly Olynyk. Beyond that, the Pistons are hoping beyond hope that Cunningham is the franchise player that can lead the next generation in Detroit, and he profiles as a top pick that should translate relatively quickly given his shooting, high-end feel and defensive aptitude.

Biggest Loss: Miles Plumlee

No player started more games (56) for the Pistons last season than Plumlee. While it would be fair to point out that he isn’t a dominant starting center by any stretch, Plumlee is easily the best player that left Detroit in the offseason, and it isn’t a lock that they will fully replace his production. Isaiah Stewart is clearly the center of the future for the Pistons and Kelly Olynyk provides valuable offensive versatility, both of which should help to soften the blow.

Biggest Question: What’s happening with Killian Hayes?

Before Cunningham arrived, the Pistons used a 2020 lottery pick on a lead guard prospect in Hayes. His rookie season didn’t go according to plan, both with on-court performance and injury, and Hayes struggled during the Las Vegas Summer League in August. That isn’t a death sentence for his prospect status by any means, but he isn’t the most natural fit with Cunningham, and it could be a big year for Hayes. If he doesn’t show something, the Pistons could find themselves asking questions about his future.

What Makes This Season A Success

Cunningham looking the part would be the single biggest thing that could happen in Detroit this season. In keeping with that theme, the Pistons could also benefit from Stewart, Bey, Hayes and others flashing intrigue for the future. Because they already have Cunningham, ping-pong balls aren’t quite as necessary as for some other rebuilding teams, but progress is more important than wins.

What Makes This Season A Failure

This is a learning year for Detroit, so the downside isn’t terribly low outside of injury or enormous struggles from Cunningham. Aside from that, the Pistons could be worried if their other young pieces scuffle, or if Grant cools off from his explosive statistical showing last season. Patience is a virtue in Detroit, but there are still a few things that could go wrong, particularly with the non-Cunningham prospects.

The downside to the late college football slate this week is that there isn’t one particularly exceptional game. The good news, though, is that these sorts of Saturday nights mean you should bust out the laptop and the iPad, as there are a handful of games between conference foes that have the potential to pop off.

Here’s everything you can watch later in the day, all times EST:

#24 UCLA vs. Stanford, 6:00 PM, Pac-12 Network

Buffalo vs. Old Dominion, 6:00 PM, ESPN+

Charleston Southern vs. East Carolina, 6:00 PM, ESPN+

Louisiana vs. Georgia Southern, 6:00 PM, ESPN+

Texas Southern vs. Rice, 6:30 PM, ESPN3

Tennessee vs. #11 Florida, 7:00 PM, ESPN

Nebraska vs. #20 Michigan State, 7:00 PM, FS1

#25 Kansas State vs. Oklahoma State, 7:00 PM, Big 12 Network/ESPN+

Kentucky vs. South Carolina, 7:00 PM, ESPN2

North Texas vs. Louisiana Tech, 7:00 PM, Stadium

Navy vs. Houston, 7:00 PM, ESPNU

Southern Miss vs. #1 Alabama, 7:30 PM, SEC Network

West Virginia vs. #4 Oklahoma, 7:30 PM, ABC

Akron vs. #10 Ohio State, 7:30 PM, Big Ten Network

#21 North Carolina vs. Georgia Tech, 7:30 PM, ACC Network

Florida Atlantic vs. Air Force, 8:00 PM, FS2

UAB vs. Tulane, 8:00 PM, ESPN+

Indiana vs. Western Kentucky, 8:00 PM, CBS Sports Network

Troy vs. UL Monroe, 8:00 PM, ESPN+

Hawai’i vs. New Mexico State, 8:00 PM, Flo Football

New Mexico vs. UTEP, 9:00 PM, ESPN+

California vs. Washington, 9:30 PM, Pac-12 Network

South Florida vs. #15 BYU, 10:15 PM, ESPN2

Arizona vs. #3 Oregon, 10:30 PM, ESPN

Oregon State vs. USC, 10:30 PM, FS1

Colorado vs. Arizona State, 10:30 PM, ESPNU