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In Game 6, the series-clinching win for the Milwaukee Bucks, Giannis Antetokounmpo put forth an all-time performance with a 50-point, 14-rebound, five-block night. When Milwaukee won, there was no real doubt that he would be named NBA Finals MVP.

What Antetokounmpo did in the NBA Finals, his first, is nothing short of remarkable. He became the first player since Shaquille O’Neal in 2001 to post a 40-10-5 line in any playoff game. He became the first player to post a 50-10-5 line since 1973-74, when blocks started getting tracked as a stat. And for the series, Antetokounmpo largely dominated, averaging 35.1 points and 13.1 rebounds across six games.

When he accepted his trophy, Antetokounmpo also made a point to shout out Khris Middleton, saying “Khris, we did it huh?” before going over to hug the teammate he’s been playing with since entering the league in 2013.

In his full speech, Antetokounmpo also thanked Milwaukee while being doused with MVP chants from the crowd.

“I want to thank Milwaukee for believing in me,” Antetokounmpo said. “You know, I thank my teammates, man. They played hard every freaking game. I trusted this team. I wanted to do it here. I wanted to do it with these guys. I’m happy. I’m happy that we were able to get it done.”

Antetokounmpo was, by far, the most dominant player in the series from start to finish, and by Game 6, nothing the Suns threw at him worked. As a result, he’s adding a couple of trophies to his rapidly-expanding trophy case.

It’s been a little while since Lupe Fiasco delivered a full-length project to his fans. His last album came back in 2018 with Drogas Wave and while three years isn’t an unusual amount of time to wait for a new project, supports of the rapper would certainly love a new effort from him. Until that time comes, they’ll have to enjoy his sporadic drops like his latest release.

Lupe takes on Kali Uchis’ “Telepatia” in a new remix. The track is a highlight effort from the singer’s sophomore album, Sin Miedo (Del Amor Y Otros Demonios), and on the remix, Lupe lays a couple of verses over the track’s colorful and breezy production. The song is not the first remix that Lupe has dropped in remix months. At the end of last year, he shared a triumphant freestyle titled “Mobb Deep,” which saw him rapping over Beanie Siegel’s 2001 song, “Nothing Like It.” He premiered the new track during a room on the audio-based social media app, Clubhouse.

Prior to the freestyle over “Nothing Like It,” Lupe dropped his double-sided Tape Tape EP with producer Soundtrakk. Before that, he dropped his “BBQ Chicken Freestyle” and his House EP with Florida producer Kaelin Ellis.

Outside of music, Lupe launched the first season of The Lupe & Royce Show, his joint podcast with fellow rapper Royce Da 5’9.” The duo announced the show last fall and described it as “half conversation between friends, half interview show, and 100% weird.”

You can hear the remix in the video above.

Giannis Antetokounmpo put forth one of the greatest performances in NBA Finals history on Tuesday night as the Milwaukee Bucks became NBA champions for the first time since 1971 with a 105-98 win over the Phoenix Suns in Game 6.

Antetokounmpo scored 50 points, tying Bob Petit for the highest scoring closeout game performance in NBA Finals history, carrying the Bucks to a championship. Antetokounmpo was 16-of-25 from the field and, maybe most impressively, was 17-of-19 from the free throw line, shrugging off all his free throw demons to put the Suns away in the biggest game of his life. He also added 14 rebounds and five blocks to put together a complete, dominant game when Milwaukee needed it the most, as the rest of the team was a combined 21-of-57 from the field.

The Giannis takeover began in the third quarter when he scored 20 to bring Milwaukee from down five at the half to tied going to the fourth quarter.

As Giannis went off, LeBron James and CJ McCollum couldn’t help but be taken aback by what they were watching.

As the game came down into the final minutes, Giannis continued to pour it on, punching home an emphatic dunk to keep the Suns at bay and send Milwaukee into a frenzy.

At that point, it seemed like just a matter of time before the coronation ceremony began, and NBA players were in awe of the Giannis performance.

Giannis wasn’t the only one getting love from around the NBA, as Khris Middleton’s dagger with a minute to play to give Milwaukee a six-point lead got serious love.

At the end, Giannis got to put the game on ice with a late free throw to get his 50th point and the celebration was on, with NBA stars giving the two-time MVP (and the undoubted Finals MVP) his flowers for a legendary showing in the game of his life.

The Milwaukee Bucks put together three consecutive wins to erase a 2-0 series deficit against the Phoenix Suns and set up a chance to clinch the 2021 NBA championship at Fiserv Forum on Tuesday. Milwaukee and Phoenix traded runs throughout the evening but, on the strength of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s record-setting performance, the Bucks secured their first title since 1971 with a 105-98 victory in Game 6.

With sky-high stakes, both teams appeared to be nervy and uneven out of the gate. The Suns and Bucks combined to go 3-for-15 in the opening minutes, with seven turnovers and only eight total points in more than five minutes. The only real highlight came on the defensive end, with Antetokounmpo flying around with a blocked shot and a finish on the other end.

Milwaukee found their offense first, asserting control with an 11-2 run to close the first quarter. The Bucks committed seven first-quarter turnovers, but they shot 48 percent and Antetokounmpo produced 10 points and six rebounds in the opening quarter. Phoenix struggled mightily, shooting just 7-for-24 from the floor with five turnovers, and it was the lowest-scoring first quarter of the playoffs for the Suns.

In what was almost the exact inverse of Game 5 in Phoenix, things flipped to the Suns in the second quarter. The visitors scored the first ten points of the quarter, holding the Bucks without a point until the 8:25 mark, and Phoenix used a 23-5 run to take a 39-34 lead. Milwaukee scored just five points on 17 possessions across more than eight minutes, just as the Suns became more comfortable.

Chris Paul was a big part of Phoenix’s run, scoring 10 points in the second quarter and generating mid-range jumpers consistently when he used aggression off the bounce.

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Overall, it was a bizarro half for both teams, but the Bucks trailed by five points at the break. Much of that could be traced to Milwaukee’s 4-for-20 shooting in the second quarter, but the Bucks’ shot quality suffered, just as the Suns were shooting 11-for-18 from the floor in the period.

Out of the locker room, Antetokounmpo asserted himself and made a tremendous impact. He engineered an early 8-0 run, scoring the final six points on his own, and that allowed the Bucks to reclaim the lead. While Phoenix battled back to tie the contest at 77-77 after three quarters, it was a truly magnificent quarter from Antetokounmpo. He finished with 20 of Milwaukee’s 35 points, dominating the proceedings and allowing the Bucks to start the fourth quarter fresh and level.

The early portion of the fourth quarter kept to the theme of back-and-forth basketball, but Antetokounmpo continued to dominate at an obscene level. He threw down a dunk with approximately six minutes remaining, giving the Bucks a six-point edge and pushing him to 45 points.

Milwaukee extended its lead to as many as eight points on multiple occasions during the closing stretch, though Phoenix wouldn’t fade. Despite the continued absurdity of Antetokounmpo, the Suns were within four points in the last 90 seconds, but Khris Middleton knocked down what became the dagger in the final minute.

Myriad storylines emerged on this night, but the No. 1 focus was an all-time effort from Antetokounmpo. He became the first player since at least 1974 to produce at least 40 points, 10 rebounds, and five blocked shots in an NBA Finals game. The two-time NBA MVP finished with 50 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks in 42 minutes, making him the first player to hit that point total in a closeout game in Finals history. In addition to his productivity and the fact that he became just the seventh player to score 50 points in an NBA Finals game, Antetokounmpo converted a staggering 17-for-19 at the free throw line, helping the Bucks to post a stellar 25-for-29 mark as a team after struggling at the charity stripe throughout the playoffs.

It was a monumental performance from Antetokounmpo, and he wasn’t alone. Middleton and Jrue Holiday didn’t replicate their Game 5 showings offensively, but they were able to to contribute, with Middleton making big shots and Holiday delivering his trademark defensive impact the entire way. As a team, the Bucks did a fantastic job defensively, forcing the Suns into difficult shot attempts throughout the night, securing the glass and forcing 15 turnovers.

When trailing 0-2 after back-to-back losses in Phoenix, the Bucks were seemingly on the ropes as significant underdogs in the best-of-seven series. They finished their run with four straight victories, however, and they did so in memorable and impressive fashion behind a transcendent performance from Antetokounmpo, just days after he suffered a scary knee injury in the Eastern Conference Finals. From there, he will assuredly be showered with deserved praise, and the NBA title is coming to Milwaukee for the first time in five decades.

The sentences for members of the cult NXIVM — whose exploits were detailed in both The Vow on HBO and Starz’s Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult — are still being doled out. Last week saw Allison Mack, one of its top brass, given three years for her role in the organization. Its leader, Keith Raniere, was sentenced last fall, and to a very long stint. But now, several months later, he’s been given an extra form of punishment.

As per The New York Times, Raniere, who was sentenced to a whopping 120 years in prison, was ordered on Tuesday to pay $3.4 million to a total of 21 victims. The court had seen about 100 people submit requests for restitution, which would have totaled some $33 million. At one point the court had whittled that number down to 25.

Of the remaining 22, 17 were deemed to be deserving of restitution under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, which applies to crimes of forced labor, sex trafficking, and document servitude. The other four were part of the Mandatory Victim Restitution Act of 1996, which applies to crimes including racketeering and wire fraud conspiracy.

The victims include people who had been coerced into joining a secret cult then known as The Vow, or D.O.S., details of which — contained in letters that had been sealed in envelopes, in the hopes of protecting the privacy of those involved — were finally made public. As per NYT:

D.O.S. members, known as “slaves,” were required to provide to “masters” sensitive or embarrassing personal material called “collateral,” according to court documents and testimony in the case. That material was then used to coerce compliance with orders, including some to “seduce” Mr. Raniere.

Some were branded with Raniere’s initials. The court-ordered payments would, in part, include attempts to have those brandings removed.

Because Raniere has long presented himself as a “renunciate,” someone who shuns material possessions, it is unclear if he will be able to pay the large sum courts believe he owes his victims.

(Via NYT)

Though Grimes has been known more for her partnership with Elon Musk of late, and has spent time focusing on their new baby, the producer, songwriter and singer is clearly getting back into the musical side of things. Never one to hold back when it comes to issues with her label, the producer shared a clip of herself dancing to a new unreleased track on TikTok today, asking fans what they think of the song because her “label thinks this isn’t a single.”

The track is called “100% Tragedy” and is a bit more of a straightforward electronic banger than Grimes tends to deliver. Which is why it’s a little surprising that her label isn’t excited about releasing the song… then again, we can only hear sections of it in the clip, so maybe they have their reasons for wanting to go in a different direction. Perhaps the title of this song indicates that the space opera Grimes is working on ends with a doomed romance and not a happy endding? While the artist and her team sort it out, she’ll have her hands full judging a new CGI talent contest in the vein of The Masked Singer.

Kanye West originally announced that his tenth album, Donda, would arrive last summer. But it never arrived. While some hoped the delay would be brief, nearly a year has gone by. At long last, we now know when the album will drop, and people won’t have to wait too long.

According to a press release from Kanye’s label, Def Jam Records, Donda is confirmed to arrive this Friday, July 23. The project will premiere at a sold-out listening event at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, which will also be livestreamed on Apple Music.

The news comes after Kanye teased a song from the album through a new Beats By Dre commercial. The ad features track and field star Sha’Carri Richardson while “No Child Left Behind,” which will presumably appear on Donda, plays in the background. The track appeared as one of nine songs that Kanye had listed on a whiteboard during a studio session with Tyler The Creator.

Donda is set to feature appearances from many artists, including Baby Keem. The reported cover art also surfaced and it depicts an abstract painting of what appears to be a woman painted in red over a grey background.

You can watch the ad in the video above.

More than two decades ago, Nas and Tupac were entwined in a short-lived hip-hop beef. It began in 1996, when Nas released his second album, It Was Written. It featured “The Message,” a track on which Tupac believed he was dissed. Tupac later released “Against All Odds,” with his own shots at Nas. But before they patched things up, Tupac was tragically killed in a shooting.

However, nearly 25 years after their beef came to an end, an unreleased record by Nas was leaked, and it features him taking strong shots at the late rapper. His attacks arrive halfway through the song’s first verse. “From tube-socks in Timbs to blue rocks and Benz / Who got the ends, the type of n***a 2Pac pretends,” Nas raps. “To all n****s who shine, guess who got revenge / I won’t showboat, my flow choke you.” This marks the first time fans hear Nas directly, unambiguously diss Tupac on a record.

Last summer, Nas spoke about the moment Tupac confronted him about the alleged (though not confirmed) diss on “The Message” during an interview on Ebro In The Morning. “He explained that he thought I was dissing him on the song ‘The Message,’ and I heard he was dissing me at clubs,” the rapper revealed. “He was like ‘Yo Nas, we brothers, man. We not supposed to go through this.’ And I’m like, that’s what I’m saying.” He added, “We had a plan to squash it in Vegas. So I was out there when he was in the hospital, praying for him to come through. Rest in peace.”

You can listen to the leaked record in the video above.

Earlier this month, Sha’Carri Richardson tested positive for marijuana and was issued a one-month suspension, disqualifying her from participating in the Olympics in Tokyo. Richardson did have possible alternate routes to the United States Olympic Team, but every door closed and Richardson, who many viewed as a favorite to win gold in the 100-meter dash, sparked a great deal of conversation that included high-profile support.

With that as the backdrop, Richardson was back at the forefront of the discourse on Tuesday when she was featured in a new Beats spot scored and edited by Kanye West in anticipation of his new album, DONDA, during Game 6 of the 2021 NBA Finals.

Richardson was seen wearing Beats Studio Buds and she ran 100 meters with the backdrop of West’s “No Child Left Behind.” West’s album, set to debut on Friday, July 23, is also highly anticipated, and the combination of the two made for quite a launch.

As for Richardson, it will be interesting to see how she is discussed as the Olympics begin later this week, particularly through the lens of mainstream coverage of the track and field events. It certainly doesn’t seem as if she will be fading into the background, though, and a prominent placement in the midst of an NBA Finals telecast is a reminder of that.

Deadpool wasn’t Ryan Reynolds’ first comic book movie rodeo. Actually, technically that was X-Men Origins: Wolverine, in which he played…the character who becomes Deadpool (though he doesn’t talk, and therefore has no quips, or much of a personality). But we’re, of course, referring to something else: the 2011 movie take on Green Lantern. The actor has long been dismissive of his first aborted superhero starring gig, though when he belatedly watched earlier this year — while live-tweeting it, of course — he was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t that bad.

But in the ensuing months perhaps he forgot that. In a new appearance on the podcast SmartLess, Reynolds had a particularly colorful way of describing the stint, which was meaningful to him in one major way: It’s where he first encountered his future wife, Blake Lively.

“I met Blake on the darkest crease in the anus of the universe called Green Lantern,” Reynolds told fellow his all-star hosts Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, and Sean Hayes. It’s certainly a, uh, vivid way of describing the film, in which he played Hal Jordan, the everyman who becomes Earth’s contribution to the interstellar Green Lantern Corps.

Reynolds had nicer things to say about the film when he publicly watched it, back on St. Patrick’s Day. Over Twitter he largely stuck to good-nature ribbing (including over his sub-Christian Bale-as-Batman voice), sprinkled with compliments for his fellow cast and crew. He concluded that while “it’s not perfect, it ain’t a tragedy.”

But maybe that was the gin he had poured for himself talking. Now, it appears, it’s been downgraded to “darkest crease in the anus of the universe.”

Then again, it’s where he met Blake Lively. He told his hosts that on set they “were friends and buddies.” He was still married to Scarlett Johansson at the time, so it took another year and a half for them to go on a double date, with a catch: At the time they were actually dating separate people.

“We hung out and kind of, you know, we always kind of kept in touch but sort of casually. And then next thing you know, she was going to Boston. I was going to Boston. So I was like, ‘I’ll ride with you,’” Reynolds recalled. “We got on the train and rode together and then I was just begging her to sleep with me.

“Honestly, it was kind of one of those silly sort of … like out of a fairy tale,” he added. “Like a week later, I was like, ‘We should buy a house together.’ And we did.”

Love, it certainly conquers all, even questionable comic book movies.

(Via Yahoo!)