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An injury Aron Baynes suffered while suiting up for Australia during the Tokyo Olympics could end up costing him the entire 2021-22 NBA season. Baynes got hurt during the Boomers’ group play matchup against Italy and ended up not taking the floor again in the tournament, although the team was optimistic he’d be able to “recover in the coming weeks.”

Baynes, however, did not join his countrymen when they accepted their bronze medals during their win over Slovenia in the third-place game, and according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, that’s because his injury is worse than previously thought. The now-former member of the Toronto Raptors is apparently in the hospital due to nerve damage in his neck, and now, next season is in jeopardy.

“I am really disappointed that I can’t continue in the Olympics,” Baynes said in a statement after he got hurt. “I along with the rest of the team have been working so hard in our quest for an historic Olympic medal and I am gutted that I can’t complete the journey with the boys, but I have every confidence that they will get the job done.”

The news comes a few days after the Raptors waived Baynes, who is now an unrestricted free agent.

Ben Shapiro isn’t only one of the loudest and most frequently dunked members of the far-right. He’s also a bit of a snot. He has a short temper and, when confronted, he gets flustered and responds with withering sarcasm and childish boasts. Maybe you remember the time he got slammed for telling noted British conservative journalist Andrew Neil, during a heated debate he was badly losing, that “I’ve never heard of you.” So of course when he ventured outside his bubble and humiliated himself on Real Time with Bill Maher, his only response was to be act like a jerk.

The Daily Wire co-founder and former Breitbart employee was granted a platform by Maher, there to promote his new book The Authoritarian Movement. Is it a tome about Donald Trump and the Republican Party’s descent into actual fascism? Of course not. It’s about…cancel culture and the left being mean to conservatives and such. One critic of Shaprio’s latest doorstop is Malcolm Nance, a former Navy officer and current MSNBC contributor. As it happens Nance was also on Maher’s show, sitting next to Shapiro.

“It’s a nice title for his book, and I think a lot of people who would assume that he’s talking about real authoritarianism could be trapped into giving you $28.99,” Nance quipped. He also pointed out that it would maybe be more apropos to write about Trump instigating a failed coup on Jan. 6, not, as he called it, “Twitter gossip.”

Shapiro did what he often does: try to change the subject. He attempted to move the conversation to Critical Race Theory. After Nance addressed it, Shapiro did it again. But Nance wasn’t biting. “Is this what you do on your show? Because it sucks.”

But Shapiro had a clever rejoinder: “You know, Malcolm, I… I appreciate that, but I will comfort myself tonight by sleeping on my bed made of money.”

The comeback earned lots of mockery on social media.

Others marveled at how thin-skinned Shapiro is.

And others enjoyed watching Shapiro get owned.

You can watch the full segment in the video above.

(Via The Daily Beast)

Weeks after releasing their summer song “Butter,” BTS returned with their third single of the year, “Permission To Dance.” The song is co-written by Ed Sheeran and Snow Patrol and it’s been a favorite of many. One of them is Elton John, who hopped on Twitter to share a cover of the track.

In the video, Elton John takes on the song’s chorus, singing, “When the nights get colder, and the rhythms got you falling behind,” before adding, “Thanks BTS, and Love to the ARMY.” His cover also seems to be a response to a video of BTS’ RM singing the part on “Permission To Dance” that says, “When it all seems like it’s wrong, just sing along to Elton John.” After RM completes the line, he swipes the camera away as if Elton John was beside him to continue the song. Only hours after uploading the video, John uploaded his.

The cover arrives after BTS earned the longest-running No. 1 song of the year with “Butter,” which it continued to do just last week. Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License” previously held the title for the longest-running chart-topper of this year.

You can watch the videos from BTS’ RM and Elton John above.

The United States men’s basketball team won its fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal on Friday evening. The Americans got the chance to exercise something of a demon in the championship match and made the most of it, taking down a France team that knocked them out of the 2019 FIBA World Cup and in their opening game of group play in Tokyo, 87-82.

In the aftermath of the game, two former NBA teammates who reunited on the international stage took a moment to celebrate by calling out those who thought Team USA was going to come up short. Kevin Durant and Draymond Green, while heading over to a postgame press conference, took a moment to hop onto Instagram Live and celebrate winning gold despite some folks expressing doubts.

Durant’s attention was on some power rankings that had the U.S. behind Slovenia, while Green focused his moment on IG on ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins.

“Talkin’ about they catchin’ up to us, like, are you serious?” Durant asked. “This skill is unmatched, you dig? Shout out to everybody that won this gold, everybody that chipped in and helped out. We goin’ to the press conference, but I had to talk my sh*t real quick.”

While the U.S. were betting favorites during the tournament, there were some people who believed this was a vulnerable team. After they lost to France in their group opener, Evan Fournier said that the Americans were a bunch of excellent individual talents, “but they can be beaten as a team.” Perhaps that was true early on in their time together — they did lose to Nigeria and Australia during their pre-Olympic exhibitions — but whatever was going on got sorted out, and as a result, Team USA are champions once again.

Last week, Brintey Spears’ new lawyer Matthew Rosengart filed the necessary paperwork to begin the process of having the singer’s father, Jamie, removed from her conservatorship. The documents from her team called the case a “Kafkaesque nightmare” while pointing to “serious questions abound concerning Mr. Spears’s potential misconduct, including conflicts of interest, conservatorship abuse and the evident dissipation of Ms. Spears’s fortune.” While a decision has yet to be made, Jamie offered a blunt response to their efforts.

According to The Guardian, during a court hearing on Friday, Jamie claimed there are “no grounds whatsoever” for his removal from the conservatorship. He also claims that he’s “dutifully and faithfully served as the conservator of his daughter’s estate without any blemishes on his record.” Elsewhere, in the filing, Jamie says court-appointed professional Jodi Montgomery — who is in charge of Britney’s life decisions while he manages her money — called him last month to ask for help in dealing with the singer’s mental health struggles.

However, Montgomery claims Jamie “misrepresented and manipulated” the call for his own advantage in court. In a statement through her attorney Lauriann Wright, Jodi admitted to being concerned about the singer’s behavior and mental health but added that Jamie’s removal from the conservatorship would aid in improving Britney’s well-being.

The filing comes after Britney’s mother Lynne Spears said Jamie has “exercised absolutely microscopic control” on their daughter through the conservatorship.

Before she was an elected politician, Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene would do things like harass future colleagues and survivors of school shootings. She hasn’t changed since taking office. She regularly spouts the kind of oft-dangerous nonsense that gets people permanently banned on social media. And last week she took her shtick next level, suggesting to her followers that they greet government workers with violence.

At a Republican event in Alabama, the lawmaker — who has been stripped of all her committee work due to her propensity for threatening language — discussed President Joe Biden’s call to have government workers go door-to-door to offer people a free and potentially live-saving vaccine.

“You lucky people here in Alabama might get a knock on your door because I hear Alabama might be one of the most unvaccinated states in the nation,” she told the crowd, who whooped when she mentioned that their lives were in danger.

“He’s going to be sending one of his police-state friends to your front door, to knock on the door, take down your name, your address, your family members’ names, your phone numbers, your cellphone numbers, probably ask for your social security number, and whether you’ve taken the vaccine or not.
“What they don’t know is that in the South, we love our Second Amendment rights and we’re not real big on strangers showing up on our front door, are we?” she said, to a thunderous response. “They might not like the welcome they get.”

Greene carefully avoided saying what she meant directly, but people got the message.

Will she face any real punishment for effectively nudging people to threaten government employees, or worse? Knowing today’s GOP, probably not.

Last week, beloved actor Bob Odenkirk collapsed while filming the last season of Better Call Saul. It was later revealed he suffered a small heart attack. His condition prompted widespread concern, but he quickly rebounded and is currently on the road to recovery. On Friday, a week and a half after the incident, he took to Twitter to assure people that he’s still going strong.

“I am doing great,” Odenkirk wrote. “I’ve had my very own ‘It’s a wonderful life’ week of people insisting I make the world slightly better. Wow! Thank you, I love everyone right now but let’s keep expectations reasonable!”

After news broke that Odenkirk had suffered a heart-related ailment and had been rushed to the hospital, social media was flooded with people expressing concern for the longtime performer. Luckily his condition was such that he didn’t even have to have surgery. It’s not clear how long he’ll be out, but it’s heartening to see he’s in good spirits.

Odenkirk is best known for playing Saul Goodman, né James Morgan McGill, a scam artist-turned-shyster lawyer, who first appeared on Breaking Bad before getting his own, also cherished prequel spin-off Better Call Saul. He also co-created the pioneering ‘90s HBO sketch comedy series Mr. Show, alongside David Cross.

(Via THR)

If the top of your drink shelf features nothing more than a few dusty bottles of old whiskey that you’re too scared to actually drink the I have a message for you: stop sleeping on the wonderfully complex world of tequila añejo. Aged for one to three years in the same oak barrels that finish your favorite bourbons and Scotches, añejo is tequila in its most sumptuous and luxurious form. A great añejo has a distinct mellowness that recalls fine whiskey but still contains some of those bright vegetal qualities that give tequila its characteristic green pepper bite.

Añejo takes you through a journey of flavors — a savory balance of sweet and earthy notes tiptoe and pirouette across your palate, making it an ideal spirit to appreciate neat and sip slow. But tequila añejo is also a rapidly expanding category with a lot of names on the shelf. To help you sort the better brands from the lesser expressions, we’re running a blind taste test of eight well-known (and relatively affordable) añejos.

Part 1: The Taste

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For this blind tasting, I grabbed eight great bottles of tequila añejo that fall within the $30-$70 range. We think that’s a fair and affordable entry point. In an effort to prevent it sweeping this competition, I excluded El Tesoro — I know this tequila too well and have no doubt that it would be my number one pick, so I’m going to have to exclude it due to my own bias.

Here is our class this go around:

• 818 Añejo
• 1800 Añejo
• Corazon de Agave Single Estate Añejo
• Dano’s Dangerous Añejo
• Herradura Añejo
• Partida Añejo
• Prospero Añejo
• Villa One Añejo

Taste 1:

On the nose I’m getting heavy vegetal notes, the agave really cuts through here. On the palate, enveloping notes of roasted nuts, agave, and oak greet you with open arms, with a slightly fruity and floral lift at the finish.

This one disappears quickly, without a lingering burn. Very smooth.

Taste 2:

The color is an alluring deep amber. A blend of vanilla and chocolate on the nose, this one hits you heavy with blunt oak notes. Lots of deep wood flavor here, thankfully that settles into comforting notes of burnt sugar and maple with a spicy finish. A sustained burn buzzes on the tongue between sips.

Taste 3:

Toffee on the nose, this one burns a lot more than our first two tastes. Across the palate, I’m getting floral notes peppered between a flavor that morphs from vanilla to marshmallow and settles into something herbal. Strangely, those sweeter flavors stick around like candy while the herbal notes disappear from the palate on the finish.

Taste 4:

If I took all the sweeter flavors from the last three tastes and combined them into one tequila, it still wouldn’t be as sweet as this one. On the nose, there is a sort of Christmas quality to this tequila, like a tin of caramel popcorn. Across the palate, I’m getting intense notes of sweetness, more caramel, butterscotch, and a slight hint of coconut. It’s very drinkable, but a little too sweet for my liking.

Taste 5:

Wow, when doing these blind taste tests it’s really easy to distinguish the great tequila from the more middling bottles. This is fantastic, smooth, and mouth-watering at the finish, the flavors greet you with light and bouncy notes of vanilla and juicy cherry with a floral jasmine lift. At moments, it’s like dessert but the flavors never stick around long enough for that to be off-putting, thanks to a lingering oak and cinnamon finish.

Taste 6:

Another one on the sweeter end (the plague of longer-aged añejos). This one has a very pleasing chocolate scent to it on the nose, it really pulls you in. Once on the palate, I’m getting flavors that bounce between hazelnut, vanilla, maple, and honey. Coconut dominates the finish for a very sweet close. There are a lot of similarities here with Taste 4, it feels like these brands were going for the same thing — sweet drinkability.

This one nails it way better.

Taste 7:

Incredibly harsh and chemical on the nose. I’m getting kerosene and something metal, it’s almost stomach-turning. Surprisingly this completely transformed as soon as it hit my tongue. This one retains a lot of the brighter more vegetal qualities of unaged tequila, I’m getting notes of lemongrass and tart green apple skin bathed in caramel, a distinct charred oak flavor, and a tropical finish of coconut and pineapple.

Nose was rough but palate was so great I asked for more!

Taste 8:

A nice and pleasing close for our blind taste test. Vanilla on the nose, this one starts spicy, with a sweet dried fruit quality that somehow settles into a caramel finish. It’s a little all over the place, but that’s what makes it interesting to sip. Really unlike every other bottle on this list.

Part 2: The Ranking

8. Tequila 1800 — Añejo (Taste 2)

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $39.99

The Tequila:

1800’s Anejo tequila is made using 100% Weber blue agave harvested at peak maturity and aged in French Oak barrels for 14 months or longer. 1800 is produced at the Casa Cuervo distillery in Tequila. This is easily the darkest spirit of the lot — in the glass, it almost looks like whiskey, it’s incredibly attractive.

Unfortunately, every ranking has to have a bottom and while we enjoyed this bottle, we didn’t like it as much as the other options.

The Bottom Line

If you’re already a fan of the 1800 brand, you’re going to dig on this as well. But if you’re going in completely blind with no experience with any of these brands, you have a whole host of better options out there.

7. VIlla One — Añejo (Taste 4)

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $65.99

The Tequila:

Villa One is made using 100% blue Weber agave harvested from the highlands and lowlands of Jalisco and produced in the very crowded Fabrica de Tequilas Finos distillery. When I checked the brand’s website I was surprised to find that Villa One is Nick Jonas’ brand, to which I actually said out loud, “Nick Jonas has a tequila brand?!”

I had no idea. But like most celebrity tequila brands out there right now, this one is pretty solid.

The Bottom Line

If you’re looking for a smooth and sweet añejo that won’t turn off the people in your life who can’t stomach tequila, this is a great brand to try out. If you’re in love with those distinct flavors of agave, you probably won’t love this one though.

6. Prospero — Añejo (Taste 3)

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $43.99

The Tequila:

One of Wine Enthusiast’s top 100 spirits in 2019, Prospero comes from the Tequilera Don Roberto Distillery in Jalisco and is crafted by master distiller Stella Anguiano. The brand ages their tequila for a minimum of 12 months in oak barrels, resulting in a beautiful amber-colored spirit. I like this one and for the price, it’s a great bottle to start with, it just didn’t offer some of the complexity of the higher-ranked brands on this list.

The Bottom Line

Dominated by sweet floral notes and a toffee and vanilla character, Prospero will hit you with a burn, but it settles into something you’ll find hard to stop sipping.

5. Corazon — Single Estate Añejo (Taste 1)

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $31.99

The Tequila:

A 2018 and 2019 Gold Medal award winner at the Los Angeles International Spirits Competition, and awarded the Best Añejo tequila at the 2016 Drink Awards, Corazon de Agave’s Single Estate series is the brand’s lowest tier of spirits, but that’s nothing to scoff at — Corazon’s budget line is easily better than a lot of tequilas twice the price.

Hailing from the Tequila San Matias de Jalisco distillery, Corazon’s 100% blue Weber agave is grown on the Casa San Matias estate and features an intimate production process all the way from the harvesting process to the bottling.

The Bottom Line

Hands down, this is the best añejo you can buy for $30. If that’s your budget, this is an obvious pick-up if you’re interested in learning more about the world of aged tequila.

4. 818 — Añejo (Taste 6)

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $64.99

The Tequila:

With more and more of my friends getting vaccinated, my tequila blind taste tests have gone from just me and my girlfriend or a roommate into a mini party with a handful of friends. This most recent one led to a lot of debate about Kendall Jenner’s tequila brand, 818 — something I’m now extremely tired of talking about. While I can’t seem to convince people that Kendall Jenner’s tequila is actually good, once the party tasted it and it was revealed to them, all debate ended.

People are embarrassed to like this brand. Get over that, because it’s good.

The Bottom Line

Sweet and comforting with wonderful notes of chocolate and hazelnut without being overly candied to the point that it no longer tastes like tequila.

3. Partida — Añejo (Taste 8)

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $63.99

The Tequila:

Partida’s beautiful bronze-toned tequila añejo is made using blue agave grown in the Tequila Valley in red volcanic soil and harvested between 7-10 years. It is then slow-cooked in a stainless steel autoclave and distilled in traditional pot stills at the Autentica Tequilera distillery in Jalisco. To get to that añejo state, the tequila is aged for 18 months in ex-bourbon American white oak barrels.

The Bottom Line

I’ve now tried each of Partida’s La Familia line of expressions and the flavors presented are always really unique and memorable. This is really a tequila brand for people who love tequila and the flavor of agave, I think it’s a difficult bottle to start with but it tastes great and if you can appreciate this, it’s safe to say you love tequila añejo.

2. Herradura — Añejo (Taste 5)

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $59.99

The Tequila:

Across each of its expressions, Herradura produces some fantastic tequila. Made from blue Weber agave harvested by skilled jimadores in the volcanic lowlands of the Amatitlán region, Herradura cooks their agave in traditional ovens and utilizes roller mill extraction. The tequila is then aged for 13 months in American White Oak barrels, resulting in a tequila that is as stunning to look at as it is in its full-bodied flavor.

The Bottom Line

Sometimes people make their tequila purchasing decisions superficially. A cool bottle shape and a great label are sometimes all it takes to cause you to choose one brand over another. That can sometimes end in wasted money, but if you’re attracted to the shape and look of Herradura, go ahead and give in because this tequila delivers on all fronts — it’s smooth, complex, and endlessly interesting.

Every sip presents something new.

1. Dano’s Dangerous — Añejo (Taste 7)

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $54.99

The Tequila:

The ridiculously named Dano’s Dangerous provided the biggest surprise of this blind taste test. It’s not that I have anything against the brand, but the smell was so offensive on the nose that I thought a cheaper bottle snuck into the lineup by mistake. Dano’s is made using eight-year-old blue Weber agave harvested and hand trimmed by skilled jimadores at peak ripeness. The agave is cooked in stone brick ovens, utilizes roller mill extraction, and distilled in copper pot stills at the Casa Reyes Barajas distillery in Jalisco.

To get to its Añejo state, Dano’s is rested in French Oak barrels.

The Bottom Line

As I said in the last entry, looks can be deceiving. Dano’s Dangerous has a weak name, and the bottle shape and label leave a lot to be desired. Once you taste it though, you’ll realize why bottle shape and label design don’t really matter. This tequila takes you on a journey of flavors, it’s deep and complex, but still bright and vegetal. In our proposed price line, this is a great pick-up that offers a lot.

You won’t be disappointed in this bottle, whether you’re a seasoned tequila drinker or someone who is merely interested in getting started.

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Kevin Durant’s 29 points led the United States to a fourth straight Olympic gold medal on Friday night in a 87-82 win over France.

Team USA started 0-for-7 from deep, including open misses from Devin Booker and Damian Lillard, before they started to finally work it inside. Meanwhile, France was able to get comfortable, work the ball inside, and control the tempo.

That is, until Kevin Durant went into takeover mode and scored seven quick points to tie the game at 15 with about two minutes to play in the first. Durant played most of the first quarter and the U.S. needed every second from him. He closed out the period with 12 of Team USA’s 22 points.

As was to be expected, Rudy Gobert had a field day on the glass because of the lack of a traditional center in Team USA’s rotation. Gobert had four boards in the first period. The U.S. extended its lead in the second period, with Jayson Tatum getting hot and pouring in a few jumpers early to put his team up nine.

France left Gobert out of the game for a while (some might say too long), and right when he checked back in, Gobert picked up a technical foul out of frustration.

To close the half, France was able to get into the bonus and catch up to the U.S. by piling on free throws. France closed the half down just five, having gone 12-for-19 from the line.

Gobert continued to get to the line to open the second half, but Durant’s response was better. With Jrue Holiday pressuring full-court and Devin Booker holding up well in point-of-attack defense, Team USA was able to force France to trade two for threes. Durant led the way.

Team USA followed that up with some smart team ball that allowed them to get inside for back-to-back paint shots for Zach LaVine and Tatum. They pushed the ball off misses and turnovers by France and quickly converted them into points on the other end.

After the U.S. took a 71-57 lead, France responded with a 6-0 run to end the third period that ended with a clutch three from Nicolas Batum in the corner. The U.S. led by just eight heading into the final quarter.

Soon after the fourth began, Gobert went to the bench with about 8:30 to go after picking up his third foul. A moment later, Khris Middleton was called for a travel, giving France the ball with a two-possession deficit. From there, it was a defensive battle for a few minutes until Frank Ntilikina hit a triple to cut the lead to three.

Somehow, Gobert remained on the bench throughout all of this, and did not return until the 3:59 mark with France down seven again. Tatum hit a huge three after that to put Team USA up double digits again.

France got some luck late with a three from Evan Fournier, but he got a little too comfortable and tried an even deeper jumper the next time down that missed. From there, a failed in-bounds pass may have put a scare in Team USA, but the lead was padded enough at that point that the U.S. walked away with the gold.

Amid the ongoing Damian Lillard saga in Portland, general manager Neil Olshey and the Trail Blazers are not “actively shopping” Lillard’s backcourt mate, CJ McCollum, despite Lillard’s request earlier this offseason for the team to upgrade its roster.

This is according to Jason Quick of The Athletic, who added in a recent report that Olshey and the Trail Blazers “won’t move (McCollum) just to have a different look next season.” A potential deal, Quick reported, would have to make Portland better, not merely get McCollum off the roster.

There is nothing wrong about ascribing high value to a player in McCollum who has been near All-Star level for several seasons and is a consistent playoff performer. The issue, as Quick also lays out in the piece, is that trading McCollum is one of the only ways that the Trail Blazers could hope to improve the roster according to Lillard’s wishes.

With about three years and $100 million left on his current contract, McCollum maintains cost control for what is an eternity in NBA time, and his big salary could theoretically be used — along with young players and draft picks — to fetch a star.

Yet the most commonly discussed deal among NBA fans, with McCollum going to Philly for Ben Simmons, represents a clear step down from the price that the Sixers seem to have for Simmons. And as the dust of free agency clears with players like Pascal Siakam still seemingly unavailable, there is not an obvious option for McCollum via trade that would improve Portland’s chances in 2022.