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Ben Simmons is still a member of the Philadelphia 76ers despite the fact that both parties seem to agree that a parting of ways is in everyone’s best interest. Reports have indicated the team is shopping the All-Star guard/forward around, while Simmons apparently sat down with the Sixers’ decision-makers recently and expressed that he wants a trade so badly that he’d skip training camp.

Everything happening around Simmons looks like it rubs Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal the wrong way. Barkley joined Shaq, Nischelle Turner, and Spice Adams on an episode of The Big Podcast with Shaq, and when the conversation turned to Simmons, both Hall of Fame inductees expressed their frustration with how things are going with him.

“I’m disappointed in Ben Simmons,” Barkley said. “When you give somebody $200 million to dribble a stupid basketball, and the only thing you ask him is be better as a player, and their first response is, ‘I don’t wanna play here anymore,’ that disappoints me as a player, that disappoints me as a fan. They’re not saying, ‘Hey, come over here and cut my grass,’ they’re saying, ‘Ben, we need you to learn how to shoot the basketball.’”

Shaq shared that sentiment, going as far as to tell Simmons he isn’t a great player.

“If you want to get to that next level, you have to be great, and to be great, you have to work on your game,” Shaq said. “Don’t be putting pictures on your Instagram of your Ferrari or what actress you hang around with. When you play in a town like Philadelphia, Boston, L.A., Miami, hard working towns, they don’t give a sh*t about none of that. They want you to come, work hard, and play hard.”

The Hall of Fame center then brought up Simmons’ Game 6 in the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Atlanta Hawks, saying that he looked into his eyes and saw a player who was “terrified of being fouled and missing free throws,” while Barkley expressed his annoyance at “the third year in a row they put up them bullsh*t jump shots during the summer.”

“A lot of these people, you hear from your followers how good you are, how great you are,” Shaq said to close. “But you’re hearing from some OGs right now: you ain’t that damn good. And I said what I said, and Chuck said what he said. If you don’t like it, do what you gotta do. But you ain’t that damn good.”

Jason Isbell is getting ready for a substantial acting gig, as he was cast in the upcoming Martin Scorsese movie Killers Of The Flower Moon (as was Sturgill Simpson). He got his acting beak wet ahead of that, though: the mid-season premiere of Billions aired earlier this week, and Isbell played a role that nobody could play better than him: Jason Isbell.

In the episode (as Stereogum notes), Isbell performed at a benefit hosted by Taylor Mason Capital, playing “Last Of My Kind” from 2017’s The Nashville Sound. Later in the show, he looks at some paintings by Nico Tanner (played by Frank Grillo) with Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis).”

Isbell later shared a behind-the-scenes photo from the episode and wrote, “Behind the scenes on @sho_billions. That was a really good time, and I appreciate Damian Lewis, @frankgrillo1 and the crew patiently answering my ‘acting questions.’ Generous and kind folks.”

If Isbell keeps landing more of these on-screen gigs, he might find himself leaving a “B-list,” which he may actually end up missing. Recently, somebody tried to insult Isbell by calling him a B-lister, but he responded by embracing the label, tweeting in response, “B list is the best list, though. I can go to the grocery store without being bothered, and I afford the good eggs.”

Watch a clip from Isbell’s Billions appearance above.

Looking for a vehicle to carry you to the gates of Valhalla? Give the Doof Wagon a shot.

A baker’s dozen of vehicles from George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road, one of the best movies of the 2010s (and all-time), are being sold at an online auction. As spotted by Luke Beard, the vehicles include the iconic War Rig, Immortan Joe’s Gigahorse, and the “Nux Car,” which sadly does not come with bonus Tom Hardy.

“Available for expressions of Madness is a Museum of Modern Masterpieces, these vehicles are survivors of the apocalypse that was the filming of FURY ROAD,” the auction page on Lloyds’ website reads. “Blown, super-turbo charged, and armed to the teeth with weaponry and War Boys, the machines that outran the end of civilisation have been unearthed in the greatest barn-find ever recorded. Nitrous, noxious, and no-nonsense harbingers of hell, marking man’s uncanny ability to wring beauty even from that designed for death and destruction, art from power, meaning from machine.”

I have never been more hyped for anything in my life.

Featuring 13 iconic vehicles as seen in the movie:

1. THE WAR RIG: PRIME MOVER INC. TANKER AND BALL PIG-TRAILER

2. THE GIGAHORSE: W16 CADILLAC PAIR

3. THE DOOF WAGON

4. NUX CAR: 1932 THREE WINDOW CHEV COUPE, V8

5. CONVOY CAR: ELVIS

6. CONVOY CAR: JAG FLAMER

7. RAZOR COLA: 1973 XB FALCON COUPE (THE INTERCEPTOR REBORN)

8. POLE CAR: PONTIAC SURFARI WITH 20’ POLE COUNTERWEIGHT

9. SABRE TOOTH: F250 CLAW CAR

10. FIRE CAR: DODGE

11. CALTROP: EL DORADO

12. BUGGY: RATROD CHEV

13. BUICK: HEAVY ARTILLERY WITH HUMMER WEAPON MOUNT

The auction will be held on September 25 and 26, so you have a few days to get together enough money to buy the Doof Wagon and have the speakers play Vin Diesel’s “Feel Like I Do” on repeat (dibs). Oh what a day, what a lovely day that would be.

(Via Lloyds)

While discussing Kellyanne Conway’s refusal to resign from a cushy military board position at President Joe Biden’s request, The View co-host Joy Behar delivered what has to be one of the most savage burns in daytime talk show history. The moment came during Thursday’s morning panel where Behar and Whoopi Goldberg cracked each other up over Conway and Sean Spicer throwing tantrums over Biden telling them to “get out.” But it was Behar who dropped the most brutal blow. Via The Wrap:

“You know, I have to take up for Kellyanne though, because they say she doesn’t have any military experience. Didn’t she fight in the revolutionary war?” Behar said. A photo of Conway’s widely mocked red, white and blue inauguration outfit was simultaneously brought up on-screen, as Behar laughed at her own joke.

Goldberg kept the riotous mood going by dunking on Behar for having that line locked and loaded. “I just want to know what time it is, because this took a long time to get this one joke to come,” Whoopi quipped. “She had one joke the whole show, and then this was the one.”

It was definitely a more playful mood than The View has seen in a long time, and once again, the show was feeling the social media love as they reacted to Behar’s burn and mocked Conway and Spicer for not resigning.

And for the third day in a row, The View fans couldn’t help but point out why the show has been so great since returning this week. (Hint: It’s because Meghan McCain‘s not there.)

(Via The Wrap)

This Sunday, the 2021 MTV VMAs will take over the Barclays Center in Brooklyn for their first in-person awards show in two years. The night will feature a stacked performance lineup, with sets by today’s top stars like Justin Bieber, Doja Cat (who will be hosting the event), Lil Nas X, and Olivia Rodrigo. Lorde was originally confirmed to give a rendition of one of her Solar Power tracks, but ended up pulling out of the opportunity at the last minute. Now, the singer has given fans an explanation for why they shouldn’t expect to see her take the stage.

In a newsletter sent to fans Thursday, Lorde said she had an “insanely amazing” performance planned. But due to the pandemic’s safety guidelines, the singer wouldn’t be able to share her vision the way she intended it:

“I saw some people were very concerned about me pulling out of the VMAs, you’re so sweet, I’m totally fine! It’s just that we were planning this insanely amazing many-bodied intimate dance performance, not fully understanding the (very necessary!) safety protocols that are in place, and the masking and distancing just meant it wasn’t gonna be what I dreamed, and you know I can’t make something less than outstanding for you guys. I hope you understand. There will be many more TV performances, don’t you worry.”

This isn’t the first time Lorde had to shift her plans around a VMAs performance. In 2017, Lorde was slated to give a rendition of her Melodrama track “Homemade Dynamite,” but she ended up getting so sick that she instead gave an interpretive dance of the song. “You can’t tell in these pictures, but I have the flu so bad I needed an IV,” she tweeted before taking the stage.

The 2021 VMAs airs 9/12 at 8 p.m. ET. Watch it here.

The NFL changed up its rules on numbers earlier this year. The rule, which impacts everyone outside of quarterbacks and kicker/punters, adds some more flexibility to what players can where when they’re out on the field, and if you missed it when it was announced earlier this year, here are all the ways things are a little bit different now:

The expanded jerseys will allow running backs, tight ends, fullbacks, H-backs and wide receivers to wear numbers 1-49 and 80-89; defensive backs can choose from 1-49; linebackers 1-59 and 90-99; offensive linemen 50-79; and defensive linemen 50-79 and 90-99. QBs, kickers and punters will remain in 1-19.

While it’s not quite on the level of college football defensive linemen wearing single-digit numbers or anything, this is a change, and one that might take some time to get used to. The league’s most prominent player, in fact, has a pretty big issue with the whole thing, something he’s made clear on a few occasions.

Tom Brady, in a recent interview with the Tampa Bay Times, said that he thinks the NFL’s doing something “crazy” by changing its protocols here.

“The number rule is crazy,” Brady said. “Literally, guys changed their numbers today. I’m playing two guys who had different numbers in the preseason. So, yeah you’ve got to watch film and know who you’re studying but so do running backs. They’ve got to know who to block. So does the offensive line. So does the receivers who are adjusting their routes based on blitzes.

“So one guys has got a 6, one guy has 11, one guy has got a 9. And they change every play when you break your routes and get to your spot. It’s going to be a very challenging thing. It’s a good advantage for the defense, which that’s what it is.

“It would be like saying, ‘What if I let the offensive linemen wear 82 and No. 9?’ Brady continued. “They wouldn’t know who was eligible. Well that’s not fair. You’ll get your tail kicked. At least identify who the D-line, the linebackers and the safeties are. You’re going to have a lot of matchups where guys are blocking the wrong guys. I don’t know why that should be.”

Brady went on to make an appearance on a podcast where he took a more accelerationist route with the entire thing.

Gut feeling: Brady can take solace in knowing that is not happening. He will also probably be fine with the new numbers rules after, like, one half of Week 1.

(Via SB Nation)

He’s All That turned TikTok star Addison Rae into a movie star. Variety reports that Rae, who has over 80 million followers on the social media platform (that’s the third most after Charli D’Amelio and Khabane Lame), has signed a multi-picture deal following the success of Netflix’s gender-flipped version of 1990s romantic comedy She’s All That:

Netflix estimates that more than 55 million households will watch He’s All That within its first month of release. The film has reached #1 on the streamer in 78 countries, including Brazil, France, and Saudi Arabia, according to Netflix.

Netflix’s director of family film, Naketha Mattocks, praised Rae for her “charm and promise” and said that “we’re thrilled to be part of this next phase of her burgeoning career as an actress.” Not everyone shares her PR-speak enthusiasm, though.

This is the top reply to Discussing Film’s tweet about Rae’s long-term deal with Netflix:

I’ll admit that I have not seen He’s All That, but I have seen a clip from the movie where Rae covers Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” and, well, I can understand where the backlash is coming from. She’s also faced criticism for excitedly introducing herself to former-president Donald Trump at a UFC fight in July. “I’m Addison. Nice to meet you. I have to say hi, hello. So nice to meet you,” she said in the video. Whether it’s her interaction with Trump, or accusations of cultural appropriation, or her performance in He’s All That (which has been called the “monotonous, most uninteresting thing i have EVER sat through” by a Twitter user), or all three, Rae’s Netflix deal is being widely criticized. This is where hate watching gets us.

DMV area rapper Cordae has been busy cooking up the follow-up to his Grammy-nominated debut album The Lost Boy but starting next week, he’ll be taking a break to head to college — that is, on his Kickin’ It With Cordae HBCU campus tour in partnership with nonprofit Cxmmunity and Coca-Cola. In addition to previewing new music in live performances at each of the schools in question, he’ll also be participating in one of many college students’ favorite pastimes: Gaming.

Partnering with each school’s Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference eSports program, Cordae will host a “Gaming, Music And Conversations With Cordae” discussion as well as competing with students in games directly. It’s a nifty tie-in to his rise to fame, which was boosted by his association with the YBN crew, which started as a group of online gamers who eventually decided to make music together. It also dovetails nicely with Cordae’s established involvement in educational initiatives, especially those focused on HBCUs.

Earlier this summer, Cordae partnered with Disney Dreamers Academy and ESPN’s The Undefeated by funding scholarships for HBCU students. Growing up as he did in Suitland, Maryland, he was relatively close to renowned institutions like Howard University (which is also one of his tour stops), which could have had a big impact on him in establishing the importance of education. You can check out the tour dates below.

A few months ago on Father’s Day, Showtime strongly suggested (in a teaser) that Dexter: New Blood would include the return of Harrison, and yup, this new trailer seals that deal. During the closing moments above, you can see Harrison, who’s now a teenager and portrayed by Jack Alcott. There’s no telling how, exactly, Harrison tracked Dad down under an alias and in an upstate New York location (remember, Dexter abandoned Harrison, leaving him in Argentina with Hannah), and we don’t know how much animosity and/or resentment is there, but the kid was born in blood, so oh boy.

The trailer also reveals plenty more, including how Jennifer Carpenter’s Deb will speak to him, much like Dexter’s dad, Harry, did all those years ago. Deb’s looking pretty good as a ghost, after being dumped into the ocean amid an approaching hurricane, which Dexter inexplicably survived before going to live the lumberjack life. Well, Dexter seems to be doing alright for himself, despite being unable to escape his past, both inside of his head and with the entrance of his son. He’s ingratiated himself with the small Iron Lake community, and that includes getting close to law enforcement while dating a cop and pretending to be freaked out by blood. Smart moves, but he (clearly) can’t hide forever.

From the Showtime revival’s synopsis with a nod to the Dark Passenger:

Are you ready for Dexter’s return? Set 10 years after Dexter went missing in the eye of Hurricane Laura, DEXTER: NEW BLOOD finds him living under an assumed name in the fictional small town of Iron Lake, New York. Dexter may be embracing his new life, but in the wake of unexpected events in this close-knit community, his Dark Passenger inevitably beckons.

As a side note: Harrison was previously portrayed by Jadon Wells, who got into Crossfit following his run as a serial killer’s kid. That must mean that he’s far more coordinated that his TV counterpart. Meanwhile, it’s nice to see Dexter’s new little world shaken up.

Showtime’s Dexter: New Blood premieres on November 7.

Twitter isn’t exactly the best place to get financial advice, but that doesn’t stop countless of users listing off their side hustle success stories, get-rich-quick schemes, and unsolicited house flipping suggestions. But one user’s recent assertion that a hypothetical dinner with Jay-Z would be a smarter financial move than taking $500,000 was so outrageous that it went instantly viral. Now, 21 Savage is aiming to turn the viral Twitter anecdote into a reality.

After 21 Savage was recently featured on Drake’s smash-hit Certified Lover Boy, the rapper took to social media to manifest his next career goal. 21 Savage shared on Twitter that his dream collaboration is with none other Jay-Z “Next Goal 21savage ft Jay Z,” he wrote.

Referencing the recurring “dinner with Jay-Z” meme, a listener responded to 21 Savage by advising him to instead “take the 500k.” But 21 Savage doesn’t see why he couldn’t have both. “I’ll get both,” he wrote. “I was blessed with the gift of gab.”

21 Savage having the opportunity to dine with Jay-Z isn’t too far from reality, as the two rappers have been in contact in the past. When 21 Savage was taken into ICE custody in 2019, Jay-Z was at the forefront of the fight to have the rapper released, calling 21 Savage’s arrest a “travesty” and enlisting various attorneys to sort out his legal situation.

After he was freed, 21 Savage even had the opportunity to meet Jay-Z at his house. “When I got out, I pulled up on Jay-Z at his house,” 21 said as a guest on the Big Facts podcast in 2020, according to Complex. “Him and Beyonce was in there. And we was kicking it. He a regular n****. I just was thanking him. When I first got out, I texted him like, ‘Imma pay you back.’ He was like, ‘I don’t want your money, pay me back by being great.’”