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For the second offseason in a row, the Milwaukee Bucks have come to terms on a contract extension with a member of the Antetokounmpo family. After giving Giannis Antetokounmpo a supermax extension last December in the lead-up to the 2020-21 season to keep him with the only franchise for which he’s played in his NBA career, the team announced that the reigning NBA Finals MVP’s older brother a new deal.

Thanasis Antetokounmpo and the team came to terms on a new two-year deal, ending the unrestricted free agency for the team’s spark plug forward off the bench. Per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the 29-year-old Antetokounmpo will receive a two-year deal. The team eventually announced the news on its Twitter account.

Antetokounmpo also posted a video to his Instagram to celebrate his return to the city where he won a championship last month.

“Thanasis brings energy, effort and tenacity every minute of every game,” Bucks general manager Jon Horst said, according to ESPN. “He’s a valuable part of our team and we’re excited to have him remain in Milwaukee.”

A fan favorite in Milwaukee due to the fact that he plays hilariously hard whenever he takes the floor, Antetokounmpo appeared in 57 games last season and averaged 2.9 points and 2.2 rebounds in 9.7 minutes per game.

While parts of the nation have re-opened, the pandemic isn’t over. The Delta variant is causing cases to surge, forcing many states to scale things back. Even people who’ve been vaccinated have reported getting relatively mild cases of the disease. One of them is DJ Khaled.

The producer broke the news on Instagram. “Fanluv, all our friends and family,” he wrote. “Thank you for your calls and prayers! My family and I recovered from COVID and we’re all good now! God is the greatest! God loves us and we love God!” Khaled, who is married to his wife Nicole Tuck, the mother of their two children 4-year-old Asahd and 8-month-old Aalam, did not reveal which member(s) in his family came down with the virus. In the caption, he expressed gratitude to those who helped them.

“Thank you, grateful for all the love grateful for everyone checking in on my family and I! Please be safe out there! Please take care of yourself,” he wrote. “Thank you to DOCTORS, thank you Dovi thank you to my Queen, thank you Rosa, thank you to my WE THE BEST team, my management ROCNATION, and My partners at EPIC RECORDS for holding me up while me and my family focused on recovery.” He concluded with a reminder to “be safe out there.”

One way to respond to an insult is to own it — to proudly embrace the nasty thing you’ve been called. Of course, that doesn’t always work. Case in point: The other day, Kevin McCarthy, the House Minority Leader, was dismissively called a “moron” by his sometime foe Nancy Pelosi after he opposed a congressional mask mandate amidst rising Delta variant cases. Now we have his comeback: He made T-shirts in which he tries to reframe a word Webster’s defines as “a stupid or foolish person.”

The shirt, which he’s been selling online, are MAGA red with the insult writ large. Under it lies his new definition: “A term coined by Nancy Pelosi referring to freedom-loving Americans who oppose mask mandates.”

Will it stick the way “deplorables” did? Probably not. McCarthy, despite his power and his willingness to let lawmakers like Marjorie Taylor Greene get away with whatever, isn’t as popular as many in his party. And one can spin “deplorable,” which is a subjective term and could be something to aspire to, depending on who finds what worthy of condemnation. It’s harder to spin a synonym for idiot. Who wants to be called a “moron”?

In any case, the Republican leader calling himself a “moron” might be the only time those on the other side of the aisle agree with him. Indeed, it was greatly enjoyed on social media.

Anyway, who says conservatives aren’t good at jokes?

(Via The Daily Beast)

There are plenty of things that Craig Reynolds will try to remember about Friday night’s preseason game between the Detroit Lions and the Buffalo Bills. The list of things include the touchdown he scored in the fourth quarter, and also, the names of his various teammates who he met on the fly.

Reynolds, who joined the Lions as a free agent on Thursday, took a handoff from David Blough in the game’s fourth quarter and made something happen, planting his foot in the ground when his apparent running lane was taken away, making one cut, and taking off. His 24-yard scamper saw the 25-year-old former standout at Kutztown University run past some defenders and dive for the end zone.

Pretty good! All the more surprising is the circumstances under which this touchdown came, as Reynolds was still in the process of learning who everyone else was in Detroit.

“I introduced myself in the huddle at one point. They were like, ‘Yo, what’s your name?’” Reynolds said, per ESPN. “A couple coaches introduced themselves to me on the sideline during the game. It’s definitely crazy, but they’ve just made it real easy. I’ve been comfortable being here.”

Lions starting quarterback Jared Goff is still on the to-do list — “I don’t know if I’ve met [Reynolds] yet; I think he got here last night,” Goff said after the game. “I know that sounds horrible, but he got here last night and I think we saw him today; I probably met him before the game. He did a great job. It was fun to watch.” Perhaps once Reynolds ends up meeting everyone else on the team he’ll go on to having a gigantic season in Detroit.

Earlier this week, Meek Mill became the first rapper to receive the Nelson Mandela Changemaker Award. The honor came via the invite-only entity PTTOW! (Plan To Take On The World!), who recognized the Philly native for his work through REFORM Alliance. After he received the award, Meek took to Instagram to celebrate. “Blessings… I got the Nelson Mandela Humanitarian Award,” he wrote. “Thank you … Rip to the great Nelson Mandela, ‘I ain’t grow up playing ball I had a Smith & [Wesson] because where I’m from it’s very hard to turn 27’ #survivors.” Shortly after he shared the post, the rapper returned with some new work.

Meek shared “Mandela Freestyle,” which finds him detailing his struggles with the legal system and his dedication to reform. “Motivate the people where I come from, my requirement / Say it loud, ‘I won’t be a product of my environment,’” he raps, later adding, “Took them bars they locked me in and made it a rap / I took them cells that they gave us and I made it a plaque.”

The freestyle comes a week after Meek dropped a video for “War Stories,” in which he details his harsh past while showing him eating dinner with his team and hanging out with other rappers, including Bobby Shmurda, Jim Jones, Quavo, Lil Uzi Vert, and more.

You can watch the video for Meek’s “Mandela Freestyle” above.

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

Conservative comedy has always been thin on the ground, but it’s been particularly fallow during the Trump era. When Greg Gutfield is your side’s leading comic mind, you know you’re in trouble. Even so, few, surely, were expecting the failed joke one right-wing radio host made on Friday, which involved Jeffrey Epstein and…well, just see for yourself.

Jesse Kelly, who started hosting the Houston-based The Jesse Kelly Show only in late June, decided to weigh in on a current popular meme, in which people joke about their fall plans being destroyed by the Delta variant. It’s a therapeutic way for people to deal with a possibly escalating surge on the horizon, although medical experts don’t expect it to be anywhere as bad as what happened last autumn. There have been lots of good ones, a lot of them involving movies and TV. And then there’s Kelly’s. In the “my fall plans” category, he put a picture of Jeffrey Epstein. In the “Delta variant” one, he put Hillary Clinton.

Kelly probably meant to invoke a conspiracy theory that has the former presidential candidate having Epstein, the financier and convicted sex offender, whacked. (He allegedly hung himself in his jail cell, prompting much, oft-wild speculation.) But most people didn’t really think about that. They thought about the part where he seemed to identify himself with a man convicted of sex trafficking minors — and at a time when a number of people in his party, most notoriously Matt Gaetz, are being investigated over similar allegations.

And so, in trying to contribute to a meme, Kelly himself was ratioed. Many asked what on earth he was planning this fall.

Some were almost impressed with Kelly’s epic comedy fail.

Others, however, weren’t surprised.

And some argued there wasn’t actually a joke.

Anyway, jokes! They’re not actually that hard to make.

Last month, DaBaby surprised the crowd at Miami’s Rolling Loud festival by bringing Tory Lanez onstage to perform with him. Many questioned the rapper’s decision to align himself with Tory after he allegedly shot Megan Thee Stallion last summer, for which he later received felony assault charges. It was also not a good move for Tory, as prosecutors that by appearing at the festival, he violated his restraining order against her.

As it happens, DaBaby and Tory’s performance occurred right after Megan’s set. Sources told TMZ that Tory came within 100 yards of Megan during the festival, which violates the order. However, TMZ also reports that a person close to Tory claims that the rapper not only stayed away from Megan before and after his performance but that he never saw her during the festival.

Furthermore, TMZ adds that an insider says authorities believe DaBaby and Tory planned to rush the stage during Megan’s performance, but details are unknown. Prosecutors are asking a judge to increase Tory’s bail or completely revoke it, with the latter resulting in the rapper’s imprisonment until the trial for the shooting begins. A contempt hearing for the possible probation violation has been set for next Thursday.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

For Tucker Carlson, no matter how low there’s always somewhere to go. The Fox News host has spread whopping vaccine lies. He’s told his viewers to harass people wearing masks. He’s downplayed the Jan. 6 Capitol siege. Speaking of which, he’s repeatedly sneered at Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s fears that day that she was going to be singled out by an angry mob who’ve been trained, by Carlson and people like him, to hate her more than most. On Thursday, he took that perspective next level.

On the most recent episode of his show, Carlson was talking about Ashlii Babbit, the poor woman brainwashed by Trump and Carlson and others into thinking the 2020 election was stolen, and who was one of the five people who died on that fateful day. She’s been turned into a martyr by the far right, and while re-itching that wound, Carlson pivoted to AOC, laughing at her fears of being raped by violent Trump supporters. (He also likes to call her “Sandy,” for some reason.)

“Get a therapist, honey,” Carlson said in a jeering tone. “These people were mad because they though the election wasn’t fair. You may disagree with that, but this wasn’t about you, surprise, surprise.”

He then continued to minimize and mock her very justified fears. “I was going to be raped by Ashli Babbitt,” he joked. He then busted out a false equivalency. “Imagine this was said by a Republican about BLM rioters—across the country, Kenosha, Green Bay, Wisconsin! What would happen if some Karen said that?”

He then concluded that AOC could make these claims “because the people rioting on Jan. 6 had the wrong political views.”

Carlson mocking a woman’s fears of being raped by his violent viewers did not go over well, especially from AOC herself, who took to Twitter to voice her concern — and mock Carlson a bit, too.

“I couldn’t care less about what this talking inferiority complex has to say,” she wrote, “but I do feel for the women and survivors in his life who now see they wouldn’t be believed or safe with him. Many survivors of assault don’t tell family, friends, etc bc of how they see others treated.”

Millions of people from around the world packed concert venues to witness a show that is filled with wild pyrotechnics and music. It has been nearly 50 years since the rock band KISS made their debut and now the band is ready to say goodbye.

Although Covid-19 is still impacting the lives of people it hasn’t stopped KISS from sharing their story to the world. On June 27 and 28 KISS released their two part documentary on A&E “Biography:KISStory” which gave an historical insight of who KISS is and how the band impacted the world with their music.

“Volume One” is the first episode and it taught the audience how bassist Gene Simmons was born in Israel and then later moved to the U.S. in 1958, whereas frontman Paul Stanley was born in Queens New York. Both Simmons and Stanley met in 1970 and in the documentary Simmons and Stanley spent time reminiscing about the early years through various clips, pictures and commentary from other people who are a part of the memories.

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Also “Volume One” highlighted the beginning stage of KISS. Through an advertisement in a newspaper, Simmons and Stanley found drummer Peter Criss and as for Ace Frehley he responded to the band’s ad on “Village Voice” for the lead guitarist position. The year 1973 brought momentum for KISS because they had their first photograph as a band and they created their earliest recordings and videos. During that period, KISS spent time in Electric Lady Studio and the documentary showed how KISS was inspired by the style of the band New York Dolls and KISS started to have the idea of having a full musical production on stage. Surely it did not take KISS long to add airborne dums, smoking guitars and pyrotechnics to their shows.

“Volume 2” discusses the constant changes with KISS’s music and band members. It was a wild ride of popularity and trying to spark the magic the band had during the start of their career. But KISS made a huge splash by making a name for themselves on MTV in 1983 because it was the first time people got to see the band members without their makeup on. But with Criss and Frehley gone, the band experienced another heartache when drummer Eric Carr died from heart cancer in 1991. With the help of current KISS drummer Eric Singer, the band continued to create music.

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In 1995 KISS shook the music scene by having a performance on MTV’s “Unplugged” and the appearance from Criss and Frehley not only pleased fans but the appearances from both musicians brought the idea of KISS having a reunion tour. Despite how successful the reunion tour was, it wasn’t strong enough to keep the band together. But somehow through the bad times, Simmons and Stanley always found a way to keep the band successfully rolling throughout the years.

Today, KISS has sold over 10 million records within five decades and through the hardships the band has faced, there wasn’t anything that could have stopped them from becoming successful. Although Criss and Frehley declined to be a part of the documentary, fans got to hear the story of KISS from Simmons and Stanley. “Biography:KISStory” is a great documentary that shows how KISS became one of the most successful bands in our time.

Athletes biting gold stuff is pretty common if you’re a fan of most international sports. Soccer players bite trophies, tennis champions bite plates, and Olympians bite medals. It’s just what they do. And while there are a variety of reasons they do it, one thing that should not happen is a mayor biting someone else’s Olympic gold medal.

Which is why, according to the Associated Press, a Japanese mayor had to apologize and an Olympian’s gold medal was replaced after a controversy erupted in the host nation of the 2020 Summer Games. As the story details, softball pitcher Miu Goto was visiting the city of Nagoya for a ceremony celebrating Japan’s win in the gold medal game against the United States when the city’s mayor got, uh, hungry?

Nagoya mayor Takashi Kawamura had praised pitcher Miu Goto during the Aug. 4 visit, but his eyes were glued to her medal. He asked her to put it around his neck. Kawamura then pulled down his face mask and bit into it.

“I’m really sorry that I hurt the treasure of the gold medalist,” Kawamura told reporters Thursday.

The mayor said the medal was undamaged, though he offered to pay for the cost of a new one.

Rather than take him up on that offer, Goto apparently took the International Olympic Committee’s offer of an entirely new medal. Which is good because, well, gross. And while the medal-biting fad may have hit the mainstream for any number of reasons — testing it like people once did gold coins, or maybe just because photographers like to yell at athletes to do it now because it makes for a good photo — don’t expect it to become a thing elected officials do again anytime soon.