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The New Orleans Pelicans are getting ready for Zion Williamson’s third year in the NBA and the young star forward will be going into it with his third head coach in as many years. After firing Stan Van Gundy after one season, Suns assistant Willie Green is expected to be named the new Pelicans head coach once the NBA Finals are over, and he will be tasked with figuring out how to bring Williamson and Brandon Ingram’s talents together to make a playoff push.

New Orleans is already feeling the pressure to build a contender around Zion, as there are already rumblings that those around Williamson are not pleased with how things have gone in his first two seasons. As such, this offseason represents a big one if they are to make roster upgrades to crack into the hotly contested playoff race in the Western Conference.

An upgrade at point guard seems to be at the top of the wishlist for the Pelicans, as they seem ready to let Lonzo Ball walk in restricted free agency. As for who they will be targeting to replace Ball, Marc Stein brings word that Kyle Lowry will be their top free agent target.

Lowry would be a home run addition for the Pelicans, but it would almost have to happen in a sign-and-trade situation or by unloading either Eric Bledsoe or Steven Adams prior to a signing. The Pelicans will only have $15 million in space if they renounce all their cap holds and keep Adams and Bledsoe, which they very well could, and Lowry will command much more than that annually. The Pelicans do have plenty in the way of future picks (thanks to the Jrue Holiday trade) and salaries to make a sign-and-trade intriguing to the Raptors, but before any of that can be worked out, they’d have to get Lowry to want to join the squad.

That is a much taller order, as we know based on the teams the Raptors were discussing a Lowry deal with at the deadline that he’ll be looking for a chance to compete for another title. Convincing Lowry that they are just a player away from being a contender is going to be a tough sell, and while it makes all the sense in the world for New Orleans to make a strong push for Lowry, it’s a bit harder to see where the upside lies for the veteran guard in joining the Pelicans. Veteran stars are rarely all that excited about the prospects of playing with younger, unproven stars still finding their way, and while Zion is certainly special, Lowry’s window might not overlap with his and if other more apparent “win-now” teams come with a similar offer, it seems unlikely New Orleans will win that bidding war.

BTS’ hit single “Butter” has enjoyed a tremendous run at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart: Last week, it spent its seventh straight/total week at No. 1. Now, though, “Butter” is no longer the top song in the country, but that doesn’t mean that BTS’ time is over: On the Hot 100 chart dated July 24, “Butter” was dethroned by BTS’ own “Permission To Dance,” which debuts at No. 1.

As for “Butter,” it now sits at No. 7. The last time an artist replaced themselves in the No. 1 spot was Drake, whose “In My Feelings” took over for “Nice For What” on the chart dated July 21, 2018.

“Permission To Dance” is now BTS’ whopping fifth No. 1 single, all of which have arrived in a span of under a year (ten months and two weeks, to be exact). That’s the fastest accumulation of five chart-topped since five Michael Jackson songs, all from Bad, went No. 1 over the course of nine months and two weeks in 1987 and 1988: “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” with Siedah Garrett, “Bad,” “The Way You Make Me Feel,” “Man In The Mirror,” and “Dirty Diana.”

BTS is now just the fourth artist with at least four songs to debut at No. 1 (“Dynamite,” “Life Goes On,” “Butter,” and “Permission To Dance”). The others are Ariana Grande (who has five), Justin Bieber, and Drake (who have four each).

Since Ed Sheeran co-wrote the song, this is a big moment for him, too. It’s his fourth No. 1 song as a writer, following Justin Bieber’s “Love yourself” and his own “Shape Of You” and “Perfect.”

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

EDM supergroup Swedish House Mafia returned earlier this year with a new single, “It Gets Better,” and the announcement that they’d be releasing their debut studio album Paradise Again in late 2021 — their first project since 2012 compilation Until Now. Today, they released the latest single from the upcoming project, “Lifetime,” which features R&B futurists Ty Dolla Sign and 070 Shake reflecting on once-in-a-lifetime lovers over a pulsating production from the Stockholm-based trio.

Debuting the song on Apple Music 1, the trio told Zane Lowe: “This was the time where we sat down and we were just throwing ideas at each other of what kind of music we like, and this is boiling everything down to like, ‘What did we feel?’”

070 Shake, who sings the song’s electrifying chorus, returns after a year of near radio silence in the wake of her debut album Modus Vivendi. SHM member Steve Angello said of working with her, “We’ve never experienced an artist like her. She’s so far away from formula, but she’s right at the center of youth and we just love her, the energy, the vibe she has, the artistic integrity — everything about her is so unique… we would put her on every single record we did. She’s incredible.”

Of Ty Dolla Sign, Sebastian Ingrosso said, “We love Ty Dolla Sign. We loved him from the very, very beginning. We actually talked to him kind of 10 years ago doing something because he did a remix of ‘One’ that came out on YouTube, I think, something like that. So we always had Ty Dolla Sign in mind.”

You can check out the new song above.

Ty Dolla Sign is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

In recent weeks, we’ve learned that Donald Trump reportedly wanted the person who leaked him hiding in an underground bunker to be “executed,” flipped out on his legal team over typos, and told his then-chief-of-staff that Hitler did “a lot of good things.”

Those shocking anecdotes all came from inside sources, published in tell-all books, and not directly from the former-president himself (hence the “reportedly”). But it’s believable that Trump would say those things, considering he claimed — on the record, mind you — that he would defeat George Washington/Abraham Lincoln in a presidential election. This, from a man who lost to Joe Biden by over seven million votes.

In an interview with Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker for their book I Alone Can Fix It, Trump said that his presidency was split in two: pre-pandemic and during the pandemic. “In the first, when the economy was roaring, Trump argued that he had been unbeatable, never mind that his approval rating was never higher than 46 percent in the Gallup poll during his first three years as president,” an excerpt published in Vanity Fair reads:

“I think it would be hard if George Washington came back from the dead and he chose Abraham Lincoln as his vice president, I think it would have been very hard for them to beat me,” Trump said.

Trump was recently named the fourth worst president ever by a group of 142 historians and professional observers. Lincoln finished first, followed closely by Washington.

Besides the obvious WTF-ness of this statement, my favorite part is that Trump clarified that Washington would have to come “back from the dead,” but he didn’t offer the same invitation to Lincoln. Maybe he meant another Abraham Lincoln, like one of the three people with that name who haven’t been dead for 156 years. That’s probably it. Even Trump knows he doesn’t have a chance against Zombies Washington and Lincoln 2024.

(Via Vanity Fair)

High in the lore of The Office is the movie that Michael Scott wrote and starred in, Threat Level Midnight. What started as a passing reference to an absurd thing Scott was working on morphed into its own episode and something the show’s writers had to actually create out of whole cloth.

On Monday, Peacock released a never-before-seen clip from the episode the script first appeared in, Season 2’s seventh episode, “The Client.” In it, Michael is out of the office on business and the rest of the crew discover his script for the movie. In the deleted scene, they decide to make copies, all take a part, and read it aloud like real movies and TV shows do while in preproduction.

The word “dangerous” is said again and again, Stanley bails and the president asks Michael Scarn, “How’s it hanging?” If you’ve seen the show, it’s really fun to see that the kernels of what became a beloved in-show joke had a lot more to it all the way back in Season 2. The release was part of Peacock’s “Superfan” episode series, which gives subscribers unseen clips and details from the show’s binge-worthy run.

In later seasons, the entire “movie” was shot in the show’s canon and featured a number of fun in-jokes and references, such as several of Scott’s significant others making appearances as production of the passion project dragged. You can watch the full episode from Season 7 below.

The road to the Aquaman 2 set, officially titled Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, has been a long and winding one. Filming finally begins this week, two freaking years after star Jason Momoa faux-threatened to not shoot the sequel because he was busy protesting construction on a sacred Hawaiian mountain. Little did anyone realize at the time that all of Hollywood’s blockbuster productions would soon be pushed back, and now, the Aquaman 2 cast and crew have officially gathered in London to roll camera.

To celebrate the occasion, Momoa did not post a customary “jacked” photo, and neither did Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who posted the opposite. Is Amber Heard the only one who’s hitting the weights for this sequel? Probably not, but on a more revealing note, Momoa decided to warn everyone that change is coming… for his hair.

In an Instagram post, Momoa revealed that Arthur Curry will soon have a new hair shade (or lack thereof). “This is the last day of the brown!” Momoa declared in a video clip. “I’ll be a blonde. Supposedly [they] have more fun. I don’t know about that. I’ll test it out.”

Well, alright? Momoa hasn’t every shied away from the sun-kissed look with highlights aplenty, but it’ll be a different vibe to see him as a blonde. Will his vibe appear to be more or less relaxed with the change? Will he go full McConaughey in the DCEU? Comic-book movies are getting strange, y’all.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is scheduled for a December 2022 release.

In January, Halsey announced to the world that she was pregnant. That was nearly seven months ago now, and she already had a bump in those pictures, so it would seem that she’s due soon. Indeed, that timeline is accurate, as Halsey revealed today that she actually had the baby, named Ender Ridley Aydin, a few days ago, on July 14.

On Instagram today, Halsey shared a pair of photos, one of herself holding the baby and looking at boyfriend Alev Aydin, and another of the baby breastfeeding. She captioned the post, “Gratitude. For the most ‘rare’ and euphoric birth. Powered by love. Ender Ridley Aydin, 7/14/2021.”

The comments were flooded with congratulatory comments, including some from music peers like Demi Lovato and Olivia Rodrigo, the latter of whom wrote, “the most beautiful family! congratulations [heart emojis].”

This comes after Halsey declared that her new album If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power (which features nipple-freeing cover art) is about pregnancy and childbirth, saying, “This album is a concept album about the joys and horrors of pregnancy and childbirth. It was very important to me that the cover art conveyed the sentiment of my journey over the past few months. The dichotomy of the Madonna and the Whore. The idea that me as a sexual being and my body as a vessel and gift to my child are two concepts that can co-exist peacefully and powerfully. My body has belonged to the world in many different ways the past few years, and this image is my means of reclaiming my autonomy and establishing my pride and strength as a life force for my human being.”

While Jonathan Majors (Lovecraft Country, The Last Black Man in San Francisco) appearance in Loki might have come as a big surprise for folks not yet expecting to see Kang (or at least a variant of him) make his big MCU debut, it turns out he actually made it even earlier than we thought. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Loki executive producer and director Kate Herron revealed Jonathan Majors provided his talents elsewhere in the Marvel series as the voice behind all three of the fabled — and non-existent — Time Keepers:

“Something that was really fun for me was we hadn’t, for example, cast the voice of the Time Keepers yet, because you know Wizard of Oz was an obvious reference of ours. I was like, ‘Oh, let’s get Jonathan to do it, because he’s an amazing character actor,” she said. “We sent him the art of all the characters and it was really fun [because] he was sending us all of these different voices he could do for each character, which was great.”

For those left wanting even more of Major’s charismatic performances, the great news is his MCU career doesn’t end with Loki. In addition to potentially being in Loki season 2, you can look forward to seeing Majors reprise his role of Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania. He could even make an appearance in both Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Mutliverse of Madness, both of which are rumored to contain multiple dimensions, which sounds pretty Kang like to us. Either way, you can rest assured we’ll be seeing plenty of Kang in Marvel’s near future.

(Via Entertainment Weekly)

Former Fox News reporter Carl Cameron is blasting his old network, and more specifically, Tucker Carlson for “putting people’s lives at risk and potentially killing them” by casting doubt on the COVID vaccines. While appearing on CNN New Day on Monday morning, Cameron echoed calls for Carlson and the other Fox News hosts to reveal their vaccination status if they’re going to continue to tell viewers that the vaccine is unsafe.

“It is inconceivable to me that people won’t explain what they’re doing for their own health when they’re trying to inform the United States of America,” Cameron told New Day host Brianna Keilar.

When Cameron left Fox News in 2017, he was the network’s senior political correspondent and been at the network for over 20 years. However, at the time of his departure, he said the “opinion hosts in prime-time and elsewhere on Fox had become more than I could stand.” Now, he’s calling out his former place of employment for carelessly playing with public health in pursuit of ratings. Via Mediaite:

“It’s about ratings,” Cameron said. “And ratings ultimately become revenue. And that’s the name of the game. Whoever gets the most clicks on social media gets the most money, gets the most fame, gets the most attention. And that type of activity is not journalism. It’s not news. It’s gaslighting. It’s propaganda.”

Citing the increase in COVID infections from the Delta variant, which is significantly impacting the unvaccinated, Cameron said, “This is literally the metaphor of the lemmings running to their own slaughter.”

(Via Mediaite & Brianna Keilar on Twitter)

Mark Hoppus offered a positive update surrounding his cancer diagnosis, writing on Twitter, “Scans indicate that the chemo is working,” though he “still has months of treatment ahead.”

The full statement reads, “Scans indicate that the chemo is working! I still have months of treatment ahead, but it’s the best possible news. I’m so grateful and confused and also sick from last week’s chemo. But the poison the doctors pump into me and the kind thoughts and wishes of people around me are destroying this cancer. Just gonna keep fighting…”

A few days ago, the Blink-182 bassist and singer revealed what specific cancer he was battling, telling Chilean fans in a Q&A that he had been diagnosed with “diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.” He continued, “My classification is stage IV-A, which means, as I understand it, it’s entered four parts of my body. I don’t know how exactly they determine the four part of it, but it’s entered enough parts of my body that I’m stage IV, which I think is the highest that it goes. So, I’m stage IV-A. […] The cancer isn’t bone-related, it’s blood-related. My blood’s trying to kill me.”

Hoppus first shared the news that he was undergoing cancer treatment back in June. “For the past three months I’ve been undergoing chemotherapy for cancer,” he wrote on social media. “It sucks and I’m scared, and at the same time I’m blessed with incredible doctors and family and friends to get me through this.” He added, “I still have months of treatment ahead of me but I’m trying to remain hopeful and positive.”

Blink-182 is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.