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The Dallas Mavericks had a wild ride this season, stumbling out of the gates due to a variety of absences due to injuries and COVID-19 protocols before hitting their stride late to earn the 5-seed in the West. In the playoffs, they took the first two games off the Clippers in L.A., but weren’t able to finish the job, losing in seven games and entering an offseason with questions abound about how they move forward and what changes are needed to a roster that couldn’t keep up with its star to get across the finish line in the series.

As soon as Game 7 ended, discussions began about who was at fault for their collapse. Luka Doncic was sensational in the series, but the toll of carrying the offense was evident in fourth quarters when his production waned and the rest of the Mavs struggled to pick up the slack around him. Kristaps Porzingis was a focal point as he was quiet in the series and failed to produce at the secondary star level the Mavs expected him to fill. The center rotation and inconsistent shooting on the wing also came into focus, as the roster is being dissected every which way to figure out why it can’t meet the expectations of their young star.

On Monday, a story from The Athletic dove into organizational dysfunction that the Mavs are dealing with beyond questions of the roster, centered on former pro gambler turned executive Haralabos Voulgaris, who has reportedly gained immense power within the organization, while creating tensions with others in the front office and even being a source of Doncic’s frustrations with the team. It was quite the account of an organization dealing with power struggles at the top and a star who has grown frustrated with some of Voulgaris’ input in team decisions — it was reported he goes so far as to dictate rotations and lineups at times.

Not long after the story began circulating, Mavs owner Mark Cuban — who it should be noted is quoted in the story — called it “total bullsh*t” on Twitter.

This is, of course, what you would expect Cuban to say. He’s not going to happily confirm that his organization has rampant dysfunction and much of the story focuses on Voulgaris’ relationship with Cuban and how he’s gained favor from the Dallas owner. It is a bit funny that a story that quotes Cuban on the record pushing back on its claims would get called “total bullsh*t” by that same person, but it is what he effectively has to say.

As with most things, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Voulgaris is not some omnipresent figure who is the soul reason for every mistake the Mavs have made in recent years, as the sources for the story seem to paint — and it’s not hard to figure out who are likely the main sources for that. On the other hand, his presence clearly is creating tensions if this story is even coming out from disgruntled members of the organization who seemed more than happy to pile on someone they see as over stepping their role as an analytics expert. In any case, it certainly creates some great fodder for conversation and sets the tone for what could be a wild offseason in Dallas.

A couple weeks ago, Amazon announced that they had recruited Billie Eilish, Kid Cudi, and HER for their “Prime Day Show,” a trio of exclusive performances set to drop on Prime Video on June 17. That’s just a few days away, and now, Amazon has shared a trailer for the program. Included in the video are snippets of each performance, all of which look more cinematic and narrative-based than most livestream or online-only concerts.

Amazon previously offered descriptions of each performance, saying of Eilish’s, “Billie brings a timeless, Parisian neighborhood to life with a series of cinematic performances. Set in the city known as the birthplace of cinema, it was directed by Billie Eilish and Sam Wrench, and features new music from Billie’s upcoming album, Happier Than Ever. This breathtaking musical tribute was inspired by Billie’s long-time admiration of a long gone era.”

They noted of Cudi’s show, “As he embarks on his biggest mission to date, Kid Cudi departs Earth to establish a new community on the moon in this intercosmic performance. Featuring music from his album Man On The Moon III, Cudi collaborates with the International Space Orchestra, the world’s first orchestra composed of space scientists from NASA Ames Research Center, the SETI Institute, and the International Space University as his backing band, in a musical collision defying sight, sound, and space.”

They also said of HER’s performance, “Once known as the hub of Los Angeles Black culture in the 1930’s and ’40s, the iconic Dunbar Hotel hosted some of the most prominent figures of its time, including musicians Duke Ellington, Lena Horne, Billie Holiday, and many more. In a modern day musical tribute to this legendary and important piece of history and culture, HER imagines what The Dunbar Hotel would be like if it existed in 2021 featuring new music from her album, Back Of My Mind.”

Watch the trailer above.

Jay-Z’s Made In America Festival is returning in September after taking a year off due to the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting shutdown of live entertainment, and today, the festival’s organizers revealed the rap-heavy lineup, headlined by Justin Bieber and 2020 MVP, Lil Baby.

Further down the lineup are Doja Cat, Megan Thee Stallion, Roddy Ricch, Bobby Shmurda, Baby Keem, Lil Durk, ASAP Ferg, Moneybagg Yo, Freddie Gibbs, Tinashe, Morray, 42 Dugg, and EST Gee, as well as the ever-enticing “and more.” Of note is the fact that nearly all the names listed are in the midst of huge career years marked by either breakouts as in the case of 42 Dugg, EST Gee, Baby Keem, and Morray, or resurgences, which came about for the recently-released-from-prison Bobby Shmurda, Freddie Gibbs, and Tinashe.

Then, of course, there are the huge favorites, Doja Cat, Megan Thee Stallion, and Roddy Ricch, who all had dominating performances throughout the year — each of them had at least one single go No. 1.

Made In America is celebrating its 10th year, and returns to Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, PA Saturday, September 4, and Sunday, September 5, with a portion of proceeds going to ACLU of Pennsylvania and The REFORM Alliance. You can find more information here.

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

On Sunday, we finally got to see a game that has been rumored for a long time and that was Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy from Square Enix’s, Eidos Montreal studio. It looked fun! There are still plenty of questions to have about the game as a whole, but what we saw from the game so far has created a lot of excitement. It’s also led to a pretty good question that needs to be answered. With Marvel’s Spider-Man being developed by Insomniac, Marvel’s Avengers coming from Crystal Dynamics, and now Guardians of the Galaxy, what Marvel heroes should get their own games next?

The Marvel universe is full of potential video game candidates. Plenty of them we know from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but Marvel has been around since 1939, and that means we have 82 years’ worth of comics to choose from. Some of these characters are well known and popular, others are on the rise, and at least one is a character most people have probably never heard of. On top of this, there’s going to be an attempt to apply a genre of game to each character. It’s easy to just say that a character should get a game, but what kind of game we’d love to see them in adds a whole new layer of fun.

Black Panther

Yes, Black Panther just got added to the Marvel’s Avengers game as an expansion, but that isn’t enough for this legendary hero. Black Panther needs his own game so we can get more of him, Wakanda, and that entire universe in a video game story. He’s also a character that in an open-world environment, in particular, would be a blast to move around with. Let him climb the way Spider-Man does, but make him move around quicker in combat and dash around to get around environments quicker. More importantly, just unleash him into the sandbox and let people go explore. Add a great story on top of it and a Black Panther game would be a delight.

Iron Man

There are two reasons Iron Man is on here. One is that flying around in an open environment would be extremely cool and his different suits would create for a lot of different and fun combat scenarios. More importantly, it’s fixing a wrong that was done to Iron Man’s video game career so many years ago. The licensed movie tie-in game that came out in 2008 is one of the worst superhero games ever made and Iron Man does not deserve that title under his name. Fix it and cleanse his video game carer with an original and fun game. Also flying is cool. Who doesn’t like flying?

Hawkeye

Here’s where we can start getting into some different genres away from the traditional open-world sandbox games that superhero games are known for. Hawkeye’s most well-known trait is his ability to fire arrows off with precision accuracy and incredible speed. So why not allow him to star in his own shooter? Want to add more characters? Throw in Kate Bishop too for some more arrows flying through the air. This would be a game similar to most other shooters where you’re taking Hawkeye from point A and getting him to point B with obstacles in the way. Obviously, we’d want an interesting story as well, but this would be a fun genre change from what is expected of most superhero games.

Black Widow

The Black Widow movie is coming out so why not give her a game on top of that? The best part? This would follow similar footsteps as the movie and be about her work as a KGB Agent. Think Metal Gear Solid stealth action, but as Black Widow instead. Stealth action would fit her perfectly, but maybe keep the story a little more grounded in comparison to Metal Gear. With stealth games in short supply these days, a AAA Metal Gear inspired game might hit the right mood for a lot of people.

Loki

Loki is mainstream popular these days thanks to the MCU, and he has a TV show currently going on Disney+, but there’s so much more room to explore the character. For starters, his personal choices have always had a major impact on the world around him. A third-person action RPG with branching paths where the player can decide to either be a villain or a hero would be excellent for Loki’s character. It could also make for some interesting combat scenarios since he’s had so many different powers across the MCU and comics throughout the decades.

Shang-Chi

For a long time, Shang-Chi was one of the more obscure Marvel superheroes. Clearly inspired by Bruce Lee, Shang-Chi was created in the ’70s but never reached quite the level of fame as his counterpart Iron Fist did. Then, Marvel Studios announced a movie for him and now he’s finally starting to get some recognition. Of course, video games can ride that wave and create a game for him too. As a kung-fu master, it’s pretty clear what kind of game they need to make for Shang-Chi here. An action-brawler style beat’em up. Have some sick combos, put him in a 3D environment, and let him wail on waves of bad guys foolish enough to get in his way. Think the Yakuza or Judgment series but with less crime.

Squirrel Girl

Now for anyone that thinks there’s no reason to put Squirrel Girl on this list, you need to ask yourself this. Has anyone ever managed to defeat Thanos by themself? Yes, and it was Squirrel Girl who canonically did it. The MCU meanwhile needed every single superhero ever to take down that purple monster. Squirrel Girl has the strength of a squirrel, making her extremely powerful, and is extremely agile. So she’s perfect for a side scrolling platformer game. Maybe a Metroidvania? She’s a goofy character and would be perfect for something more down to earth and less serious. She may be obscure, but she’s fun and video games are all about having fun.

Within days of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol building, Jason Riddle provided NBC10 Boston with photos of himself not only standing in the building and participating in the MAGA riot, but also chugging a stolen bottle of wine. Thanks to bragging about his exploits on the evening news, Riddle was arrested by the FBI and local law enforcement in February. While this turn of events has led to most of the Capitol rioters sitting in jail cells and/or regretting their decision as their lives fall apart, Riddle is going another direction: Running for office.

“In the long run, if you’re running for office, any attention is good attention, so I think it will help me,” Riddle told NBC10 Boston on Sunday. However, there are just a few catches to Riddle’s plan. For starters, he set out with the intention of unseating Democrat Annie Kuster in the 2022 midterms, but Riddle was under the impression that she’s a state representative until NBC10 corrected him. She’s actually a U.S. congresswoman.

“Oh, well, I guess I have to run for that then,” Riddle said, but there’s another significant issue there. Via NBC10 Boston:

One problem, though, is that Riddle is prohibited from going to D.C. while those misdemeanor charges for his alleged role in the riots is pending.

“Despite my ongoing legal problems, I’m supposed to live my life the way I want, and I want to do this, so why not?” Riddle said.

According to Riddle, he believes his participation in the riots will help his election chances with voters because “it tells them I show up.” He’s also confident that being a veteran and having a previously clean record will help him avoid charges for the Capitol riot. Good luck with all of that.

(Via NBC10 Boston)

If you’ve ever audibly groaned at a drive-thru speaker, you were probably at a McDonald’s and had just asked “are you still serving breakfast?” only to be told, “No, that just ended.” McDonald’s breakfast is pretty damn good as far as breakfast-you-can-eat-without-leaving-your-car goes, you could even argue that the breakfast offerings are better than McDonald’s standard lunchtime menu. However, over the last year, McDonald’s has ditched their all-day breakfast despite their website claiming otherwise.

I know this because for the last few months I’ve been routinely dining on McDonald’s breakfast items from multiple restaurants in my area in an effort to rank the entire breakfast menu. And on multiple occasions, I’ve had to leave empty-handed, which is painful and pretty embarrassing. It’s weird to leave the house to go to a fast food chain and even weirder to drive up to one and leave empty-handed. Eventually, I started ordering French fries, even though what I really wanted was a Sausage McMuffin with Egg.

Anyway, I’m happy to report that I’ve done it! I’ve tried every food item on McDonald’s famed breakfast menu and I’ve separated the good from the bad. Here is the entire McDonald’s breakfast menu, ranked. From oatmeal to sausage burritos to hash browns.

12. Fruit & Maple Oatmeal

Calories: 320

Coming in at last place on the breakfast menu is the Fruit & Maple Oatmeal. Have you ever stared at a fast food menu and wondered if some items were actually being ordered by humans, or if they are there merely for show? That’s how I feel about this oatmeal and most salads from fast food joints. Who is rolling up to a McDonald’s at breakfast time and ordering oatmeal? Something doesn’t add up!

This dish consists of oatmeal, diced apples, dried cranberries, and raisins, bound together with light cream with sprinkles of brown sugar across the top. You’ll notice that I didn’t mention any maple, and that’s because the Fruit & Maple Oatmeal has none! It’s weird for a menu item to outright lie to you, which is further proof that nobody orders this. That said, I was actually relieved that this didn’t have any maple, as maple in fast food usually means maple-flavoring, which is just corn syrup.

As far as oatmeals go, this stuff isn’t great. It’s a little too mushy and overcooked, though definitely a step up from instant oatmeal, but not really worth going to McDonald’s to order. Having two different types of apples, as well as cranberries and raspberries is a nice touch for a more interesting flavor experience, but when brown sugar is the best thing in your oatmeal, you’re in trouble.

The Bottom Line:

Avoid this at all costs. And don’t you dare get fooled into buying this as the “healthy” option.

11. Sausage Burrito

Calories: 310

There are all kinds of things wrong with this burrito — first of all, McDonald’s has no business having tortillas on their menu. I don’t think I’ve ever had a worse tortilla in my entire life. It’s overly gummy, that’s the problem. It’s also way too thick for its small size. And I swear to you that they don’t heat it up on a grill or anything. I think they actually open up a package, remove one overly processed tortilla, and then wrap some food inside of it. It’s all wrong.

To add insult to injury they put American cheese in it. What. The. Fuck. I’m no hater of American cheese, I think it’s the ideal choice for a burger, but American cheese on a tortilla is really weird, and it provides an awful flavor combination. Plus it’s the same texture as the tortilla. Honestly, this burrito is better without cheese, which is something I’ve never said about a burrito. Ever.

Inside you get almost-flavorless-peppers, some pork sausage, onions, and McDonald’s weird scrambled eggs. The innards aren’t horrible, but the tortilla makes this thing a slog to get through.

The Bottom Line

No amount of sauce can ever save this thing, if you’ve ever ordered a Sausage Burrito at McDonald’s, you must’ve been high and forgotten where you were.

10. Hotcakes

Calories: 580

I’ve seen some of the other McDonald’s Breakfast rankings floating around the internet and I gotta say, the fact that the Hotcakes generally rank highly is proof enough that all of those lists are just flat out wrong. Most reviewers point to a nostalgia they have for the Hotcakes, and I too have fond memories of waking up at my Grandma’s house in East LA on certain weekends to a surprise Hotcakes Deluxe breakfast with bacon and an orange juice.

But fond memories aside, these pancakes are probably the worst pancakes you’ll ever taste in your life. They’re dry and way too thick. I love my Grandma (RIP) but that has nothing to do with pancakes. The Hotcakes are served with salted whipped butter which spreads easily despite the pancakes being lukewarm at best (and I ate them immediately after ordering). Naturally, you’re given a side of “sweet maple-flavored hotcake syrup” which, you guessed it, is your standard corn syrup sweetener.

This meal results in a lot of waste thanks to the utensil, the individually wrapped butter, the styrofoam packaging, and the giant hot cake syrup which you’ll never use all of.

The Bottom Line

Don’t be fooled into ordering McDonald’s “Big Breakfast with Hotcakes” meal. Order those hash browns, eggs, sausage, and biscuits in something else, McDonald’s Hotcakes are essentially freezer aisle microwaveable pancakes — you can do a lot better.

9. McDonald’s Sausage

Calories: 174

I went ahead and ordered McDonald’s Sausage for all you keto heads out there and, considering it’s a side order on the pancake meal, I figure we should include it. I’d never order this thing on its own because it reveals how lackluster McDonald’s sausage really is, but… if you must!

The flavor here is one note — peppery. Aside from that it has a sort of grainy chew and offers little else. Not a great sausage, but what are you expecting from McDonald’s? I’d still take just the sausage over that burrito though. See that blown-up photo of a sausage patty above? (McDonald’s doesn’t have photos of just the patty) It tastes as grainy as it looks.

The Bottom Line

If you’re doing the keto thing, McDonald’s isn’t your place.

8. McDonald’s Bacon

140 Calories

McDonald’s Bacon is slightly more appetizing than the sausage, despite the equally horrible photo above. It has a decent smokey flavor and it’s nice and crispy but its weak point is that it’s incredibly thin. You might be inclined to order the sausage on its own, whereas you’ll never order the bacon by itself.

Still… the bacon tastes better, so it ranks higher!

The Bottom Line

If you want to get your Hotcakes meal with a side of bacon over sausage, I’d advise that.

7. Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit

Calories:460

It seems hard to imagine that a sandwich consisting of a biscuit, egg, and cheese could possibly rank this low but, here we are. A biscuit sandwich is a great idea, but there is almost nothing worth liking about McDonald’s line of biscuit sandwiches. First, we have the egg, McDonald’s has two egg styles, scrambled (though it’s really more folded than scrambled), and fried, of the two, the folded is the weak link. It’s way too dry, with a grainy texture that feels weird in the mouth, especially when you have no sauce binding the ingredients together. The brushed butter on the biscuit is a nice idea, but in practice, it just leaves your hands greasy, it doesn’t do much for the flavor of the sandwich.

A good gravy sauce would save this sandwich, but McDonald’s doesn’t have that. It’s so dry that you’ll need a drink to get through this thing. And to add insult to injury McDonald’s throw a slice of American cheese on the whole thing. Whose idea was that? Call me crazy, but I don’t think American cheese belongs on a biscuit. Under any circumstance.

Cheddar? Sure, gravy? Definitely. But American cheese? I’m not for it, and this sandwich proves me right.

The Bottom Line

Bacon, eggs, cheese, biscuits, all good things, but unfortunately none of it works here. Easily McDonald’s weakest breakfast sandwich.

6. Sausage Biscuit/ Sausage Biscuit with Egg

Calories: 530

While the Bacon, Egg, & Cheese biscuit tasted like a bunch of random breakfast foods thrown together, the sausage-topped version at least makes a little more sense from a flavor perspective. The pepper-forward savory qualities of McDonald’s sausage pairs well with the buttery slightly-sweet biscuit, and while I prefer the sandwich sans egg, if you want the whole thing to taste more complete, go wild, get that egg!

It would still work better with a sauce to hold it all together, but at least it doesn’t taste like it’s missing something like the bacon version. When paired with the egg, the sandwich provides more to chew but doesn’t really enhance the experience. It gives the sandwich a sense of completeness, but it still tastes like it missing something. Ultimately, I’d rather have each individual item on its own, which isn’t a good sign for any sandwich.

The Bottom Line:

Slightly better than the bacon-topped version but still a lackluster sandwich, If you really want a biscuit sandwich, go to Wendy’s.

5. Sausage Egg & Cheese McGriddles/Sausage McGriddle

Calories: 550 (Sausage, Egg, & Cheese) / 430 (Sausage)

Much of McDonald’s breakfast menu consists of different combinations of the same food, so I was torn on whether each iteration of the McGriddle, McMuffin, and biscuit sandwich deserved its own entry. I’ve decided unless the meat is different then no, they don’t. I don’t know how many words per sandwich I can muster when the only variation is egg and cheese, so I’m lumping them all together. That’s just the way it’s going to be.

The McGriddle definitely has its fans, and while I’ll admit that it’s a significant step up from the biscuit sandwich, it hasn’t completely won me over. The griddle cake that acts as this sandwich’s bun is essentially a thicker, chewier rendition of McDonald’s Hotcakes, with that artificial maple flavor that makes the sandwich a little too sweet for my liking.

However, if you’re indecisive and you want all of your favorite breakfast foods in one bite, the McGriddle is kind of perfect. You get the comforting sweetness of a warm pancake, savory and peppery sausage, and scrambled eggs (albeit dry scrambled eggs).

The McGriddle also used to have a fried chicken version, but McDonald’s has essentially given up on chicken as a breakfast meat option, as each chicken iteration version of their breakfast sandwiches is now discontinued.

The Bottom Line

All of your favorite breakfast foods in one bite, the Sausage McGriddle is a solid sandwich though it leans on the sweet and heavy side.

4. Egg McMuffin

Calories: 310

If you know the McDonald’s breakfast menu intimately, you probably have a pretty good guess at this point where this ranking is leading to. The McMuffin is McDonald’s greatest contribution to breakfast food, but the Canadian bacon topped Egg McMuffin is the weakest in the line. Featuring a fried egg, sitting atop a slice of American cheese, and a buttered English muffin, the Egg McMuffin is the “lean” version of this sandwich at just 310 calories.

McDonald’s — and this is weird to say about a food establishment — doesn’t really know how to do meat. Sausage and bacon, they do those fine enough, but this weird chewy ham just isn’t it. There are several ways McDonald’s could level this sandwich up, they could swap out the bland and chewy Canadian bacon with a more interesting cut of meat, I’m not saying we need Prosciutto di Parma or Capicola (though that’s an idea) but something better than this low-quality ham would go a long way to giving this sandwich a better flavor and mouthfeel.

The Bottom Line

If you’re on a calorie-restrictive diet and you’re craving a McMuffin this will definitely get you there and satisfy that craving. As far as McMuffins go though, it’s my least favorite and that’s all due to the lackluster Canadian bacon.

3. Bacon, Egg & Cheese McGriddle

Calories: 430

I was torn on the placement of this one, I think the McMuffin is vastly superior to the McGriddle, but gun to my head, I think I rather have the Bacon, Egg, & Cheese McGriddle as my last meal over the Egg McMuffin. Again, this one is all your favorite breakfast foods in one bite, assuming you like bacon over sausage (which I do). Because the bacon takes up less room than the sausage, this one is slightly lighter and easier to eat. I find the flavors of this one a little more complimentary, it’s smokey, sweet, and incredibly filling without weighing you down. The sweetness is less of a distraction here thanks to the smokey bacon flavor and crunch.

McDonald’s doesn’t offer the Bacon, Egg & Cheese McGriddle without the egg, though you can request it. I’ve never done that, the egg doesn’t bother me as much here because the sandwich isn’t as much of a mouthful.

The Bottom Line

All your favorite breakfast foods in one bite… part two!

2. Hash Browns

Calories: 140

When I embarked on this journey to rank all of the McDonald’s breakfast items, I was fully expecting to give the hash browns the number one spot. As far as I’m concerned, these are a must if you’re picking up McDonald’s breakfast. They’re so good that even if you weren’t planning on stopping at the Golden Arches for breakfast, the thought of biting into one of these hash browns might be enough to convince you to work your way through the always-long drive-thru line.

Crispy and golden on the outside and soft and buttery on the inside, the hash browns always provide the perfect crunch, making way for molten hot potato inside. You can eat them on their own, or smear ketchup all over them, or dip them in sauce — it’s very hard to hate these. If you grew up on McDonald’s hash browns, the first time you saw the griddle-cooked shredded version at a restaurant or at home, you probably freaked the f*ck out.

But as good as these things are, I can’t actually give them the number one spot because the idea that a hash brown can be better than a straight-up breakfast sandwich is absurd. They do however rank #1 on breakfast menu hacks. Just get hash browns as a side and then stick that sucker into whatever sandwich you’ve chosen.

These can even save the burrito. That’s saying a lot.

The Bottom Line

The McDonald’s hash browns are so good that it’s worth it to wait through a 15-minute drive-thru line just for this, which I’ve done multiple times. I’ve had so much McDonald’s breakfast in these last couple of months that I’m good for a while, but if you offer me hash browns right now, I’ll take them without hesitation.

On some days this is the best item on the whole McD’s menu.

1. Sausage McMuffin with Egg/Sausage McMuffin

Calories: 480 (Sausage McMuffin with Egg), 400 (Sausage McMuffin)

Here we are at the champ — the Sausage McMuffin with Egg may be the best breakfast sandwich in all of fast food. Savory and peppery sausage on top of a slice of melted American cheese, sandwiched by a fried egg, and then sandwiched again between two perfectly toasted English muffins… this is the only McDonald’s sandwich that isn’t in desperate need of a sauce to pull it all together. It’s protein-rich, salty, and doesn’t have the intense sweetness of the McGriddle or the so-dry-you-can-choke quality of the biscuit sandwiches.

The Sausage McMuffin is the best way to have breakfast on the go, and that’s due to its ingenious form factor. You can eat it with one hand while driving in a car, which means you can unwrap this sucker right after you buy it, which I highly recommend because that’s when it’s at its best. If the Sausage McMuffin with Egg isn’t quite heavy enough for you (calm down, Joe Rogan) feel free to toss a hash brown between it and be prepared to enter a wonderland of savory and salty flavors.

Even without the egg, this sandwich is still amazing, and would still rank as McDonald’s best.

The Bottom Line

McDonald’s best breakfast sandwich and quite possibly fast food’s best breakfast sandwich. If you haven’t given the Sausage McMuffin with Egg a try because you’ve been too tempted by what the McGriddle offers, give it a try and prepare to kick yourself over how dumb you’ve been for thinking a pancake sandwich could ever top this.

Bernie Mac, an original king of comedy, is getting the biopic treatment. Grammy-nominated singer John Legend’s production company, Get Lifted, is working with the estate of the late comedian on a film about The Bernie Mac Show co-creator and Soul Man star’s life. “It’s about the opportunities to tell a story that you feel are important,” Legend’s producing partner Mike Jackson said at the Tribeca Festival over the weekend.

Following the announcement, Legend and Jackson went on to reflect on Mac, who died in 2008, and his legacy.

Of The Bernie Mac Show, Legend said: “It was beautifully done… His humor was always edgy but it always had so much heart to it at the same time. You could tell he was a family man. You could tell that he loved the people he was talking about.”

Now the question is, who will play Mac in the biopic? It has to be someone funny, obviously, but also charismatic and gregarious with a hint of gleeful menace (not to be confused with Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood). Mac’s daughter has two suggestions. Je’Niece McCullough told TMZ that she would prefer either Aldis Hodge, who portrayed Jim Brown in One Night in Miami and MC Ren in Straight Outta Compton, or YouTube star Mark Phillips to play her dad.

Whoever doesn’t get the role deserves first crack at one of the other kings of comedy.

(Via TMZ and the Hollywood Reporter)

Last week, a mysterious billboard in Hollywood bearing the phone number to a cryptic audio message featuring Tyler The Creator and his mom led to speculation that he was rolling out the follow-up to his last, Grammy-winning album, Igor. Today, those rumors seem to be much more solid, as Tyler himself posted a new preview of… something… to his Twitter.

The post reads simply, “SIDE STREET,” and includes a short, hypersaturated video clip in which Tyler makes out with actress Helena Howard of Madeline’s Madeline before driving off in a hot pink sports car. Former Odd Future member and current Dave cast member Taco walks up and asks the actress, “Baby, who was that?” She dismisses his question before expressing excitement for some event, but the final part of her statement is overridden by a blast of sitcom-ish music and a title card reading “Call me if you get lost” — the same message from Tyler’s billboard.

It seems as though Tyler is gearing up for a big reveal, which might mean new music or another big project from the multihyphenate, who has his fingers in endeavors like fashion, television, and even ice cream. If he is releasing a new album, it’ll be just in time for the return of live music festivals, as he’s booked to appear at Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and Primavera Sound. Check out his teaser video above and stay tuned.

The failed MAGA coup continues to bring fallout following the deadly Janary 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol that was incited by Trump and multiple Republican senators. Many defendants await their trials, including the the so-called “QAnon Shaman,” Jake Angeli, whose lawyer is not painting the most flattering portrait of his client in order to convince the justice system that the far-right mob was manipulated by Trump’s propaganda and rhetoric. Well, another Trump supporter who was spotted entering the U.S. Capitol on that day saw his North Hollywood home raided by FBI agents, and details are starting to spill forth toward news outlets.

The Los Angeles Daily News reveals that federal law enforcement agents did visit the home of Siaka Massaquoi (seen above wearing a MAGA hat in LA on October 17, 2020), who was recently seen in two episodes of Netflix and Ryan Murphy’s Ratched (Massaquoi played a priest). As the outlet notes, Massaquoi (who is very active on social media) was spotted in social media videos that surfaced from the January 6 insurrection. The Los Angeles Daily News quotes Massaquoi as declaring, “I did nothing wrong on the 6th… They can paint something as wrong, but I did nothing violent.” Here’s more:

Laura Eimiller, a spokeswoman for the FBI, confirmed that agents searched the home of Siaka Massaquoi in the early morning hours of Thursday, June 10. She said no one was arrested.

Why the FBI raided Massaquoi’s home was unclear Sunday — a search warrant filed in advance of the raid was under seal, and the agency declined to comment about the investigation.

Well, Massaquoi has responded, sort-of, to this news. He’s gone on the defensive on Instagram while posting screencaps of news headlines about the raid. He’s provided no actual facts here, but he imagines that the headlines will describe him as an “anti-vaxxer.” He also inserted shots of Will Smith’s performance from Enemy of the State.

Massaquoi has played brief roles not only in Ratched but also NCIS: Los Angeles and S.W.A.T.. He’s been active in the effort to “recall” Democratic Gov. Gavin. Newsom in California.

(Via Los Angeles Daily News)

When the Dallas Mavericks lost in Game 7 to the Clippers in L.A. in the first round, having seen a 2-0 series lead evaporate over the next five games, the frustrations were clear, particularly on the face of young superstar Luka Doncic.

Plenty has been written in the last week about what went wrong for Dallas, from Kristaps Porzingis not holding up his end of the bargain as the secondary star to others who posited that Doncic, for all his Herculean efforts, was doing too much and that contributed to the feast or famine efforts of the Mavs’ role players. From a long view perspective, the Mavs seemingly have time, with Doncic going into his fourth year and almost assuredly inking a $200-plus million supermax this summer, but NBA fans have grown increasingly aware of the realities of these moments, which is to say that young stars don’t have a lot of patience for waiting for teams to build a winner around them and the speculation on how many more early exits Doncic would tolerate has already begun.

On Monday, The Athletic’s Tim Cato and Sam Amick dropped a lengthy piece diving into exactly where the tensions lie between Doncic and the Mavs and the concerns within the organization about them, and the focus was on a figure few considered as the flashpoint for many of the young star’s issues with the team: former professional gambler and Bill Simmons podcast regular turned Mavs executive, Haralabos Voulgaris.

Per Cato and Amick, Voulgaris, while holding the title of director of quantitative research and development, wields an immense amount of influence within the organization, going as far as being someone who dictates lineups and rotations for Rick Carlisle and signs off on just about any move made by the front office. That’s quite the power for someone in an analytics role to hold, and his presence and influence has reportedly created frustrations up and down the Mavs organization, from players and coaches to others in the front office.

Multiple league and team sources point to the 2020 draft as a particularly egregious example of Voulgaris’ power, an evening one source described as “embarrassing.” Most members of the scouting department joined the team’s war room remotely through Zoom and were surprised when Voulgaris, attending in person, didn’t consult them for either of the team’s first two selections (Josh Green and Tyrell Terry) despite disagreements they held with at least one of the players he picked.

“What did (he) sell to Mark to make him believe (he) can do this?” asks one source with an intimate knowledge of the situation. “Nobody knows.”

It marked another throughline of Voulgaris’ tenure with the Mavericks: that his personality and decision making has steadily irritated and exasperated the team’s front office employees and players over the course of the three seasons he’s been employed. “He doesn’t know how to talk to people,” that same source says.

They also detail Doncic’s issues with Voulgaris, focused on a pair of incidents involving him sitting courtside at games and drawing the young star’s ire — once for leaving a Mavs loss early and another time for giving Doncic a “calm down” motion from his seat. However, the biggest issues seems to be that latter point, which is that Voulgaris, who previously was self-employed and only had to answer to himself as a gambler, isn’t an effective communicator beyond having the ear of Mark Cuban. That’s all he needs to wield influence, but it also will lead to people not liking you and, whether fully true or not, makes him a very easy target for folks to pile on and point to as the chief agitator of Doncic within the organization. If no one likes you, plenty of people will be more than willing to talk about issues you’ve had with the team’s franchise cornerstone, even if those issues likely cut deeper than just Voulgaris.

The piece as a whole is a fascinating look into the ever-shifting power dynamics of a team that, for all the talk about culture and stability, seems to have been pretty easily knocked off course by one hire of someone who the man with all of the money is particularly intrigued by. Everything from bad rotations to bad free agent pick-ups to bad draft picks finds its way back to Voulgaris in this story, which raises some eyebrows but also seems to paint, as much of anything, the picture of an organization happy to pin him as a scapegoat for their current conundrum.

Doncic is a superstar who brings with him massive expectations, and the Mavs’ timeline is suddenly different than was even expected when they traded up to select the young Slovenian star in 2018. Playoff appearances won’t suffice anymore, and there is plenty of blame to go around for why they fell short this year. For now, they seem content to make Voulgaris the face of that blame, for which he surely deserves some, but what comes next is going to be fascinating in Dallas as they enter a critical offseason with tensions clearly high internally.