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Kevin Durant is going to be a busy man over the next day or so. On Friday evening, Durant and Team USA will take the floor against France in the gold medal game at the Tokyo Olympics. Once that’s over, his attention will turn to Brooklyn, where Durant plans on getting his future all sorted out with a lucrative contract extension.

Durant’s media outlet Boardroom brought word that the former NBA Finals MVP will preemptively decline the player option that he has in his current contract for the 2022-23 campaign. Instead, he’ll put pen to paper on Saturday on a new four-year extension that will pay him $198 million.

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN noted that Durant will become eligible to do this on Saturday, while Bobby Marks of ESPN laid out the financials of the deal, which include Durant spending two years where his salary will eclipse $50 million.

Durant joined the Nets as part of a sign-and-trade with the Golden State Warriors in 2019 on a four-year deal worth $164 million. He missed the entirety of his first season in Brooklyn as he recovered from an achilles injury he suffered in his final game with the Warriors, but last season, Durant showed that he was able to come back from that injury in a big way. He was crucial to the shorthanded Nets nearly making the Eastern Conference Finals and averaged 26.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 5.6 assists in 33.1 minutes per game.

The Suicide Squad (Warner Bros. film on HBO Max) — David Ayer’s 2016 Suicide Squad confined itself to a PG-13 rating, but no one expected James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad to stay with PG-13, and in fact, this R-rated (and quite good) extravaganza is releasing simultaneously on streaming and in theaters. Enjoy the “horribly beautiful” assortment of supervillains as they undertake their latest Task Force X mission, and the cast is an enormous, eclectic, and electric. Not only do we have the returning Margot Robbie (as Harley Quinn), Joel Kinnaman (as Rick Flag), Viola Davis (as Amanda Waller), and Jai Courtney (as Boomerang), but John Cena, Idris Elba, Pete Davidson, and more joined the cast. Also: Sylvester Stallone as King Shark. Sold!

The White Lotus (Sunday, HBO 9:00pm) — Mike White’s new series skewers the ultra-wealthy in what turns out to be a brilliant satire on how obscene wealth rots everything that it touches. It’s like The Love Boat or Fantasy Island had a lovechild with Agatha Christie. This week, Armond’s working overtime at damage control while Paula’s disillusionment grows, and Rachel’s frustration reaches new heights.

Here’s some more regularly scheduled programming:

UFO (Sunday, Showtime 9:00pm) — Timing might not be everything, but it sure means a lot. Earlier this summer, the U.S. government’s so-called comprehensive report on Unidentified Flying Objects revealed, uh, nothing. Enter J.J. Abrams with this four-part docuseries that examines the cultural touchpoints of alien sightings and promises to examine possible motives on those parties who might be “shielding the truth,” and since this is coming from Abrams (Cloverfield, Super 8), it’s difficult to know whether to expect a levelheaded tone in a series that (most likely) aims to make Fox Mulder proud.

Wellington Paranormal (Sunday, CW 9:00pm) — What We Do In The Shadows fans rejoice because you’re receiving a spinoff mockumentary series with the same comedy-horror tone from creators and executive producers Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement. This week, zombies are afoot after the terrifying clowns wreaked havoc.

100 Foot Wave (Sunday, HBO 10:00pm) — This six-part sports-documentary series follows the decade-long journey of Garrett McNamara, the pioneering and iconic surfer who dreamed of conquering (as the title indicates) a 100-foot wave, which did more than push his sport to literally higher heights while also elevating a small fishing village.

Last Week Tonight With John Oliver (Sunday, HBO 11:00pm) — John Oliver… does Adam Driver?

Rick and Morty (Sunday, Adult Swim 11:00pm) — The episode title’s “Rickternal Friendshine Of The Spotless Mort,” so meet me in Montauk.

Here are more streaming picks for the weekend:

Mr. Corman: Season 1 (Apple TV+ series) — Joseph Gordon-Levitt has proven himself to choose his roles carefully after stepping away from blockbuster-land, and that makes his choice, in general, worth watching. In this series, he plays a public-school high school teaser who’s in the midst of an existential crisis. Granted, the word “existential” might make some eyes glaze over with assumptions that this show will contain a lot of naval gazing. However, Gordon-Levitt’s character is fueled by “a sinking suspicion that he sucks as a person.” That’s not only darkly funny but shows that there’s plenty of juice to mine from seemingly mundane life concerns and the fear, which many of us share, that we’ll all feel like impostors while pretending to grow up.

Ted Lasso: Season 2 (Apple TV+ series) — First thing’s first: Everyone who’s caught a glimpse of this Bill Lawrence co-created and developed series loves it. That’s a notable feat, considering that star Jason Sudeikis first portrayed the title character way back in 2013 for NBC Sports’ promos for Premier League coverage. Fast forward to the fresh hell that was 2020, and the show surfaced as one of the year’s lone bright spots. Ted Lasso is somehow both relentlessly and charmingly cheery, although the last season finale showed the team losing against Manchester City, which spelled bad news, since the team can no longer hang in English Premier League games. We’ll see how they can turn themselves around, and while considering that possibility, it’s best to remember that Ted Lasso (and Walt Whitman) once said, “Be curious, not judgmental.”

Val (A24 movie on Amazon Prime) — Yep, a Val Kilmer documentary surfaced from the indie studio behind Uncut Gems, Midsommar, Ladybird, and The VVitch. That’s news in and of itself, but now, the atypical doc has arrived to celebrate the Top Gun and Batman actor. The mercurial man’s life and craft will take center stage, since he recorded hours of home-footage (like Soleil Moon Frye did, only with more aviator sunglasses) while filming his most iconic roles and being, you know, Val.

The Last Mercenary (Netflix film) — Jean-Claude Van Damme gets flexible again while starring as an ex-secret service agent (in France) who turns into, well, a mercenary. There are mob hijinks and a reckless youngster and bureaucrats and an errant son and yeah, this sounds like 1980s movie that landed three decades too late, but hey, we could all use some silly action on our screens to make us forget about the effects of gravity.

The Walking Dead: Origins (AMC+ limited series) — This batch of episodes will bridge the gap between zombie-apocalypse-laden seasons with the origin stories of Daryl, Carol, Maggie, and Negan. Expect a lot of interwoven clips (along with cast interviews and narration) to remind everyone of these characters’ most pivotal moments as their stories head into the final season.

Vivo (Netflix film) — Netflix and Sony Pictures Animation paired up with a dream-team of filmmakers for a musical adventure that would be amiss if it didn’t star and feature new songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda. He portrays a one-of-kind kinkajou (a “honey bear” of the rainforest), who dreams of delivering a heart-shattering song to the long-lost love of his owner. Oscar nominee Kirk DeMicco (The Croods) is in the director’s seat with a co-directing assist from Brandon Jeffords (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2). The film also features the voices of Zoe Saldana, Michael Rooker, Brian Tyree Henry, Nicole Byer, and more. Ultimately, it’s a story about the universal languages of love and music and finding family in unexpected places.

Cooking With Paris: Season 1 (Netflix series) — If you wanted to watch a cooking show with not-so-wonderful cooking, then you’re in luck. Paris Hilton can’t cook too well, and she doesn’t pretend otherwise, but she has friends who can cook, so she’s aiming to brave the kitchen to screw everything up. Also, she’ll go grocery shopping, so hmm.

Michael Keaton’s TV roles since becoming a movie star with 1983’s Mr. Mom have been few and far between. There’s been the occasional voice acting role (The Simpsons, King of the Hill) and he’s not above a comedic cameo (30 Rock, Documentary Now, Last Week Tonight), but the Oscar-nominated actor has mainly stuck to the big screen. That’s what makes his lead role in the Hulu eight-episode series Dopesick so intriguing.

Created by Danny Strong (Empire) Dopesick “examines how one company triggered the worst drug epidemic in American history,” according to the official plot summary. “The series takes viewers to the epicenter of America’s struggle with opioid addiction, from the boardrooms of Big Pharma to a distressed Virginia mining community to the hallways of the DEA. Defying all the odds, heroes will emerge in an intense and thrilling ride to take down the craven corporate forces behind this national crisis and their allies.” It’s based on the Beth Macy book Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors and the Drug Company that Addicted America, and also stars Uproxx favorites Kaitlyn Dever and Michael Stuhlbarg. It’s surprising that he hasn’t already played her supportive dad in a movie.

Dopesick, which also stars Peter Sarsgaard, Will Poulter, John Hoogenakker, and Rosario Dawson, premieres on Wednesday, October 13.

Kawhi Leonard joined the Los Angeles Clippers in 2019 on a two-year contract with a player option for a third year. It was widely assumed that Leonard would not pick up said option and become an unrestricted free agent this summer with an eye on signing a new deal, one that would keep him in L.A. for some period of time.

Ultimately, Leonard decided to hit free agency, and on Friday, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reported that Leonard will indeed return to the Clippers, with the terms of the deal still up in the air.

It’s unclear if Leonard will be able to play at some point during the 2021-22 season. The do-everything forward suffered a knee injury in the Western Conference Semifinals against the Utah Jazz, and while there was hope that he could potentially return in the conference finals against the Phoenix Suns, that never happened, as Leonard needed to undergo to undergo surgery on what was eventually diagnosed as a partial ACL tear in his right knee.

Still, whenever Leonard returns, he’ll give his team one of the best basketball players in the world and someone capable of lifting a squad to a championship. A first-team All-NBA selection last season, Leonard averaged 24.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 1.6 steals in 34.1 minutes per game while connecting on 51.2 percent of his field goals and 39.8 percent of his attempts from three.

Last year Dominic Fike released his debut album, What Could Possibly Go Wrong, a record indicative of the dark-pop pathos that seems to be taking over culture in this era of global crisis and imposed isolation. Now, he’s expanding into a different medium while keeping the same energy by joining the cast of Euphoria for the show’s second season. In a new interview with Variety today, Fike talked about the process of auditioning for the show, not once but twice, actually landing a bigger role the second time around.

The character he’s slated to play in the second season of the show is a friend of characters played by Zendaya and Hunter Schafer, aka Rue and Jules. According to Fike, his two co-stars are “the nicest people ever.” As far as his own experience acting on the show, Fike said he’s been having an easy time of it — mostly because his character has a life story that’s relatable to the rising star. “I don’t have to do much acting,” he admitted. “He’s exactly like me. It’s shit I would say and sh*t I would do.” As far as Fike’s take on what it’s like to film on set? “It feels like a long music video.”

Check out his full interview with Variety here, and look for him on the next season of Euphoria.

Last year, our partners at Scoop highlighted the wonderful charity work of Brian Schwartz, 40, an advertising executive who lost his job during the first wave of the pandemic. Instead of sitting around the house, Schwartz decided to use his free time to give back to others during troubled times.

He started a lawnmowing service out of the trunk of his family’s Jeep for the elderly, disabled veterans, and underprivileged communities — all free of charge.

Taking care of a lawn can be difficult for elderly people, and those with physical ailments, and paying for a gardener can be expensive. Without help, a lawn can grow unruly and create a host of problems. In some communities, people can be fined for letting their lawns grow too high.

“I believe in putting some good into the universe,” Schwartz of Wayne, New Jersey, told NorthJersey.com. “I see what’s going on in the world, and I just want to help out.”

Over the course of a month, his charity quickly grew to become a full-blown non-profit.

In June 2020 he laid out his plans for the charity saying he had “a moonshot vision to scale beyond just one small area of the country — through the help of advisors, volunteers & other network partners.”

A year later he achieved his vision. His website, IWantToMowYourLawn.com now connects the elderly, veterans, people in disadvantaged communities, and people with health problems, to free lawnmowers in 16 states, including California, Colorado, and the Carolinas.

People who need assistance in those service areas can simply enter their zip code on the website and be connected to someone who can mow their lawn for free. Currently, he has a backlog of 350 people who’ve requested complimentary lawn care assistance.

Schwartz recently got a new job as the director of an eCommerce company so it’s been a little tough for him to handle both his professional life and the charity.

“We’re going through growing pains,” he said. “There’s a ton of new leads coming in every day.”

To help meet the increasing demand, Schwartz has begun to work with professional landscapers that have the means to take the occasional free job without it hurting their bottom line.

Christopher Fuller, 46, heard about Schwartz’s charity and now cuts the lawn of a veteran in his community. “It makes me feel great,” he said. “It’s really nothing for me to go over there.” His roster of clients expanded when the veteran’s wife asked if he could help a neighbor recovering from knee surgery.

“And I said, ‘Yeah, I can do that,'” Fuller said.

Schwartz recently announced on Instagram that he’s expanding the service to assist single working parents and medical professionals that serve on the front lines.

Schwartz is a wonderful example of someone who faced a hard time and didn’t take it lying down. He may have lost his job but he saw it as an opportunity to give back and it’s inspired dozens of people to do so as well.

While promoting her new Disney+ series The Mysterious Benedict Society ahead of its final episode on Friday, comedian Kristen Schaal opened up about her very brief time as a writer for South Park. The whole thing went down in 2007 when Schaal had just landed a role on HBO’s The Flight of the Conchords. At the same time, Trey Parker and Matt Stone had reached out after seeing her Penelope Princess of Pets web series and offered her a job writing for the Comedy Central staple.

However, as Schaal explained to The Last Laugh podcast, she had never been in a writer’s room before, and as a Colorado native and avid South Park fan, she felt compelled to hit the grounding by pitching way too much. “I was like, ‘How about this? How about this? How about this?’ And that’s not how it works.” Despite being let go for being a bit too overeager, Schaal said things are absolutely good between her and South Park creators Parker and Stone. Via The Daily Beast:

No, it’s all good. When I got the call that I’d been let go, it was devastating. Tig Notaro had this garage that she turned into a little guest house that I was crashing in. And covering rent was a little tough. So I was like, “Tig, I just got fired! Do I have to cover the rent?” She was like… yeah. [Laughs] So I was devastated, but I remember I talked to James Bobin, the co-creator of Flight of the Conchords, the day I got fired. We had margaritas. And he was like, “Ah, f*ck it.” He gave me good advice. He said, “You’re going to get fired, you’re going to get hired, it’s fine.” And then I flew home and—jeez, this year was incredible!—I flew home and then I met my husband.

Schaal even ran into Parker and Stone at a Comedy Central awards show, who made it a point to stop and talk to her backstage. “They recognized me. And I was like, ‘Hey dudes, congratulations!’ It was very friendly,” Schaal said. “So I always root for them. Everything they do is so good.”

(Via The Daily Beast)

Nas’ new album, King’s Disease II picks up right where part one left off, and this new installment has plenty of high-profile features to make it just as impactful as the first one. Since King Disease, which the legendary Queens rapper made with producer Hit-Boy, was the record that finally won him a Grammy after all these years, maybe he’s going for another with the second installment.

On board to help him in that potential quest is Eminem, on his first-ever collaboration with Nas, dropping bars so fire that people are losing their minds over his verses (including 50 Cent himself), and the one and only Ms. Lauryn Hill.

Though Lauryn has been back in the music world for a while now, she struggles with showing up late to her own shows, and that was the topic she wanted to broach on “Nobody,” her song with Nas. “My awareness like Keanu in The Matrix,” she rapped on the track. “I’m saving souls and ya’ll complaining about my lateness.”

Well, at least she’s aware of the problem… she just thinks fans should be more patient. Fair enough for a legend like her to ask for some grace in that area. Check out the song above.

The U.S. has been sliding into Delta chaos, and the right-wing’s focused on U.S.-Mexico border relations, so a little humor here and there might provide some necessary stress relief. Well, it’s Obama’s 60th birthday week, so what better way to put a bow on it by rocking a tan suit? That’s what Joe Biden did, nearly seven years after the outfit that actually has a Wikipedia page titled “Obama Tan Suit Controversy.” What a strange past decade this has been.

When Obama wore that notorious (and atypical for him) suit, people had a meltdown for still-unknown reasons. Even though it’s only a freaking suit, some wondered whether the “casual” color choice seemed too flippant while addressing military operations against ISIS in Syria. That suit became an unlikely cultural flashpoint, and it never made much sense. Whatever the case, Biden wore his own tan suit on Friday, and people definitely noticed.

For sure, the Biden Administration was aware of the fuss that this suit might cause. White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield referenced the positive jobs report today with this Twitter caption: “subsTANtial job growth today.”

From there, people pretended to freak out about this thing and had jokes aplenty. Some even tossed out half-serious theories about Biden trolling Fox News with his attire.

Yes, it’s very silly, but maybe we need silly these days.

Here we are again, desperately searching for new music to elevate our every day. With digital streaming platforms, we have all of the music in the world at our fingertips, but still can’t seem to figure out exactly what we want to hear. Lucky for all of us, Geoff Rickly is here to help with Making A Mixtape, the new video offering from Uproxx’s Indie Mixtape. As the singer for the post-hardcore band Thursday, Rickly has a unique and experienced perspective on what it takes to craft an impactful mixtape.

After creating mixtapes with Cloud Nothings, Bartees Strange, Gordi, and more, Rickly is joined by buzzing indie pop duo Magdalena Bay to craft a “Dark Pop” playlist perfect full of songs that prove that pop isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. After being pioneered by acts like The Cure and Depeche Mode, dark pop has taken a hold in mainstream pop over the last several years, with artists like Billie Eilish leading the charge.

Check out the seventh episode of Making A Mixtape above and the “Dark Pop” playlist below.

Doss — “On Your Mind”
Half Waif — “Party’s Over”
Billie Eilish — “NDA”
The Cure — “The Lovecats”
Magdalena Bay — “Chaeri”
Tirzah — “Tectonic”
Ally X — “Fresh Laundry”
Grimes, IO — “Violence” (Original Mix)

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.