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(Spoilers will be found below.)

House of the Dragon has returned to spectacle after taking a break to get super messy in a way that prompted odd backlash. This week, it’s all about those temperamental, fire-breathing beasts and a sudden realization by a character who is known to keep a stoic air under difficult circumstances.

Of course, we are talking about Aemond here, who still kept his usual resting b*tch face, but his actions revealed second thoughts after spotting his half-sister’s growing army of “low-born” dragonriders. This is a guy (now a prince regent, acting as leader of the Seven Realms) who previously did not hesitate to hurl a “dracarys” at his brother during an air bound altercation. He has also unflinchingly, hilariously stared down his smirking uncle, and yet Aemond knew that he’d been outmatched. Even with the absolute unit of Vhagar on Team Green’s side, it would have been deadly to begin fighting with a group of winged beasts that now includes Vermithor, the so-called “Bronze Fury”.

This pulled punch stands in contrast to the rest of the episode, which was filled with burning humans and legs sticking out of dragon mouths. In most cases, the beasts have been unimpressed with humans who wish to ride them, but we already saw Seasmoke choose Addam of Hull, and this week, two new dragonriders (Hugh Hammer and Ulf White) ascended.

Mysaria’s advice to Rhaenyra paid off again, and Aemond’s sudden decision to turn around and return to King’s Landing tells the tale. Mr. Badass is freaked out, and people love to see it:

If it’s any consolation prize, however, Aemond can mount a horse like no other:

HBO’s House of the Dragon airs on Sunday nights.

Sunday saw the first day of action for the women’s gymnastics competition, which meant arguably the biggest name on all of Team USA was in action in Simone Biles. The greatest gymnast of all time arrived in Paris looking to reassert herself on the Olympics stage after her well-documented bout with the twisties while in Tokyo that limited her to just competing in some of the team competition and on beam, and on Sunday she did just that with a phenomenal showing despite an injury scare.

Biles began her night on beam, where she delivered a sensational performance that set the tone for an incredible night for both Biles and the American women with a high score of 14.733.

Her next apparatus was floor exercise, but disaster nearly struck as she hobbled off the floor after her warmup with a calf issue that required her to get taped up and had her using a foam roller trying to keep it loose. She was clearly bothered by it, telling her teammates she’s going to need “a wheelchair”, but never blinked once it was time to continue competing. Her floor routine was, again, vintage Biles, posting the highest score again with a 14.600.

Biles then went over to the vault, where she did the most difficult vault in gymnastics — the Biles II — and nailed it (if anything over-rotating just a touch to force a hop), once again earning the highest score of the round with a ridiculous 15.800.

Her final event was the uneven bars, where she removed the unique skill from her routine she had submitted to the International Gymnastics Federation earlier in the week. She still did very well with the routine she performed, earning a more-than-solid score of 14.433, but it was not quite enough to qualify for the uneven bars individual competition, as she ended up ninth, with the top 8 qualifying.

Still, Biles leads the all-around competition (59.566) by almost two full points over Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade (57.700), and could up her score some if she works her new skill back into the uneven bars. She’ll also be the gold medal favorite in floor, vault, and beam, leading in all three events in the qualification round.

In the team competition, Team USA (172.296) finished well ahead of Italy (166.861) in the qualification round, as they had three of the four highest all-around scores with Suni Lee and Jordan Chiles also having a great night, while Jade Carey qualified for the vault individual final. What’s scary is there’s room to get better if Carey and Hezly Rivera can post higher scores on floor, beam, and bars, but all eyes will be on Biles’ pursuit of four more golds and whether her calf will allow her to be at her best to do so.

One of the great things about the Olympics is that it can turn stars in relatively niche sports into icons on a national and international stage, at least for a few weeks. While we typically see swimmers, track stars, and gymnasts burst into the national consciousness at the Summer Games, sometimes other smaller sports (or, more accurately, smaller in the United States) can see an athlete turn into a household name.

This year, that athlete may be rugby star Ilona Maher, who is certainly not an unknown — she has amassed 1.3 million followers on Instagram — but wasn’t someone who came into the Olympics on the radar of a lot of sports fans. Maher’s built that social media following by being incredibly funny off the pitch, but on it she is an absolute beast. That’s a good combination of charisma and talent, and as Team USA got rolling on Sunday in a 36-7 rout of Japan, that saw Maher author one of the highlights of the day when she stiff armed a poor Japanese player straight to hell on a scoring run.

This is straight out of the Derrick Henry playbook and Maher looks like a similarly freakish combination of size, speed, and power on the rugby pitch that Henry is on the gridiron. There are few things American sports fans love more than a big, strong athlete that throws around opponents, so if Maher keeps doing this she will end up as one of the faces of this year’s Olympics — and maybe we can revive “JACKED UP!” for rugby.

Netflix cornered the market on addictive TV series for years, but Prime Video subscribers now know to not sleep on Amazon’s commitment to streaming crowd pleasers. From The Boys series to the cross-quadrant Reacher, the service’s abundance of appealing series is growing pleasurably ridiculous. Heck, the latter selection has even reignited interest in the not-as-well-received movies, but will that be the case with the new Cross series?

Aldis Hodge will star as the titular detective of James Patterson novels after multiple cinematic efforts starring Morgan Freeman and Tyler Perry. Let’s discuss why this show will be the next great-detective bingewatch.

Plot

Thus far, Amazon hasn’t revealed whether the show will make Alex Cross genuinely sexy (as opposed to Patterson’s sex-prose), so that Aldis Hodge might pull an Alan Ritchson by talking about naked-scene workouts, but TV’s Alex Cross will not be a slouch in the physique department, as an interrogation scene in a trailer reveals. Yes, that’s a superficial way to begin this discussion, although it’s fair to assume that Alex Cross’ guns will be the subject of online discussion. Amazon is so confident in the leading man’s magnetic ways, in fact, that this series has already been renewed for a second season.

Substance is also of the utmost importance, of course. James Patterson’s Alex Cross — who becomes laser-focused when he’s on a case — will surpass Jack Reacher’s (unexplainable and rather silly) powers of deduction as a brilliant and heralded forensic psychologist and detective who is “uniquely capable of digging into the psyches of killers and their victims, in order to identify—and ultimately capture—the murderers.” That descriptor will be familiar to Patterson’s readers, but Cross will assure a defendant that he is “living rent free” in this criminal’s head, regardless of whether he chooses to comply with a confession. Of course, due process is key to prosecution, but Cross is known to deliver results after working his interrogation magic.

Patterson has gone on record with LA Mag to reveal how the TV show, which he very much enjoys, will be slightly “edgier” than his novels:

“It’s a little edgier, which I really like, and it’s a little more realistic. I’ve said it before, but I don’t really write realism. Sometimes, people will go, ‘Well, this isn’t very realistic,’ and I go, ‘Well, that’s not really a relevant criticism because I don’t write realism.’ You can say, ‘I don’t like it,’ and that’s a reasonable criticism, but it’s not realism because I don’t write realism.”

Cross is also the subject of 30+ books, so (like Reacher) we can expect this show to continue into infinity as long as the audience keeps watching. We’ll find out soon whether this crime thriller satisfies enough to move beyond the already in-the-works second season. From the first-season synopis:

Based on NY Times Bestselling author James Patterson’s #1 hero, Cross is a crime thriller that follows the investigations of brilliant forensic psychologist and DC Metro Detective Alex Cross. Together with his best friend and partner Detective John Sampson, Cross delves into the psyches of America’s most insidious killers while fighting to protect his family from the dangers of the criminal world.

Cast

Aldis Hodge will make the Alex Cross role his own after multiple portrayals by Perry and Freeman. First season cast members include Isaiah Mustafa, Samantha Walkes, Jennifer Wigmore, Eloise Mumford, Ryan Eggold, Juanita Jennings, Alona Tal, Caleb Elijah, Melody Hurd, and Johnny Ray Gill.

Amazon has already announced second-season cast members Matthew Lillard, Wes Chatham, and Jeanine Mason.

Release Date

The eight episodes of the first season stream on November 14, 2024. The second-season release date has yet to be announced.

Trailer

As seen below, criminals will attempt to outsmart Cross, but they shall fail.

Tom Cruise‘s “previous” filmography on IMDb speaks for itself. But his “upcoming” projects aren’t too shabby, either.

Mission: Impossible 8 is the headliner, of course, but there’s also a rumored sequel to Edge of Tomorrow (Live Die Repeat and Repeat is the working title), the “gnarly” R-rated movie The Gauntlet with Scarlett Johansson, director Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s first English-language feature since The Revenant, and, maybe most intriguely, Untitled Tom Cruise/SpaceX Project, which for the sake of brevity I’ll henceforth call Tom Cruise Space Movie. (Top Gun 3 isn’t listed, but Glen Powell recently gave a promising update.)

Here’s everything we know about Tom Cruise Space Movie, including plot details and whether there’s a release date.

Plot

In Tom Cruise Space Movie, the death-defying actor is aiming to become “the first civilian to do a spacewalk” outside of the International Space Station, according to Universal Pictures head Donna Langley. She teased to BBC in 2022 that the plot, which Cruise and director Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow, The Bourne Identity) pitched to her during the pandemic, “actually takes place on earth, and then the character needs to go up to space to save the day.”

Cruise will play a “down-on-his-luck guy who finds himself in the position of being the only person who could save Earth.” Been there.

But who will be the one to send Cruise to space? Unfortunately, this is where Elon Musk — and his SpaceX company — enters the picture. “Tom Cruise has said he wants to do Mission: Impossible in space. We’ve had some discussions, but I’m not sure where his mind is at,” Musk said earlier this year, seemingly conflating the Mission: Impossible franchise with this stand-alone film. There haven’t been any updates on SpaceX’s involvement in years, however.

Earlier this year, Cruise announced a partnership with Warner Bros., but Universal will foot the reported $200 million bill for his adventures in space.

Cruise could earn somewhere between $30 million and $60 million, according to insiders. This would cover his services as a producer and star, and also be comprised of significant first-dollar gross participation over a windfall up front… The inherent marketing value around a global event like this is obvious. Similar to the historic launch of SpaceX’s Dragon crew vessel, the entire world will watch as Cruise is rocketed into space, forcing natural curiosity around the results. The stakes are also high from a filmmaking standpoint. As one person familiar with the project put it, “you can’t be sure what you’re going to get up there, and you have one shot to do it.”

There haven’t been many updates lately because Cruise has been focused on Mission: Impossible 8, and there’s always a chance the project could be scrapped. But in 2023, he told Variety, “We’ve been working on it diligently and we’ll see where we go.” Hopefully where no actor has gone before.

Cast

So far, the cast is Tom Cruise and… that’s it. Maybe it could be an Edge of Tomorrow reunion with Emily Blunt?

Release Date

Tom Cruise Space Movie does not have a release date…

Trailer

… or a trailer. So, instead, here’s the insane opening to Austin Powers in Goldmember, featuring Cruise as Austin Powers and Gwyneth Paltrow as Dixie Normous (and, uh, Kevin Spacey as Dr. Evil, emphasis on evil).

On July 26, the world collective mourned as the day marked Sinéad O’Connor death anniversary. It has officially been one year since the “Nothing Compares 2 U” singer and activist’s passing.

Since then the late entertainer’s friends and peers have come together for tribute during the Grammys as well as a concert. In January, it was shared that O’Connor died from natural causes. Yesterday (July 27), the details surrounding her cause of death were revealed.

According to The Irish, Sinead O’Connor’s official cause of death as listed on her death certificate was a combination of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma.

The report claims that prior to her passing, O’Connor was “suffering from a respiratory tract infection.” John Reynolds, O’Connor’s one time husband,
supposedly registered the information with the appropriate offices on July 24 in Lambeth, London.

The Irish also reports that Julian Morris, senior coroner for Inner South London, certified Sinead O’Connor’s death certificate following a post-mortem examination without an inquest (at the request of the family).

Additional notation on Sinead O’Connor’s death certificate reportedly outlined the extend of her respiratory infection prior to her death, sayinf: “Exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and bronchial asthma together with low grade lower respiratory tract infection.”

Emily In Paris established itself as a guilty pleasure when the world arguably needed it most (in 2020). In doing so, this show keeps with tradition from Darren Star, who has helmed decades of similarly soapy shows including Sex and the City, Younger, and Melrose Place. His newest protagonist, Lily Collins’ inexplicably irresistible fashionista, has been entertaining streaming audiences for three full seasons, but now, it’s time for the show to shake things up a bit. This goes beyond Emily attempting to finally get better at speaking French beyond an intro course.

As viewers know, the series has a tendency to gloss over consequences, including personal drama that should carry legit fallout. And Emily has obviously been carrying on-and-off for seasons with Hot Chef Gabriel (Lucas Bravo), who has also maintained having a girlfriend, Camille, with whom he actually arrived at the altar in the third season. This led to Camille calling out Emily and Gabriel and cancelling the wedding, after which Gabriel confessed to Emily that he and Camille are with child. Will the show use this climactic event to dive into drama, or will the show stay fluffy? Let’s find answers.

Plot

The series will have plenty of subplots like Mindy’s quest to Eurovision and workplace antics, but the love quadrangle will remain a key focus. How will that go? Sounds messy.

As the show’s newest trailer indicates, not everything will be rosy for Emily and Gabriel and/or Alfie. The latter is still reeling from finding out that his supposed girlfriend remains in love with Gabriel (the dirty skillet continues to charm), and he remains on the scene, but friction exists, since he asks Emily for some “time,” and you know what that means. Meanwhile, Gabriel is shown in the trailer hanging out in Emily’s shower (skeevy but a fun switcheroo, given that the series began with Emily having a shower catastrophe), but the two do engage at least one bitter shouting match.

Well, it sounds like there will be more than one fit of yelling and quarreling. As Lucas Bravo recently told Vogue, these characters will have to start acting like grown ups: “This season is all about maturity.”

“We really wanted to take it to the next level, not in terms of passion, but in terms of maturity and the connection between them. There’s a lot of problems that weren’t addressed for three seasons which we’re confronting now. We’re finally communicating and fighting and addressing things. That was great to shoot. We have a few scenes like that where we’re yelling at each other, and at the end of the scene, Lily and I were like, ‘This is so fun!’ We said to Darren [Star, the show’s creator], ‘You need to write more fighting scenes.’ It was all this tension being released.”

Bravo further revealed that “there’s a ballroom scene” involving Emily and Gabriel, and Bravo feels “such tenderness and adoration for her and what we built in that sequence.” Further, he’s not able to divulge where their relationship ends up, but “when I’m in Gabriel’s skin, I’m deeply, deeply in love with Emily. She’s the one–she’s my soulmate. So from Gabriel’s perspective, I think they’re meant to be together and I hope they will be.” Bravo did concede, however, that “from an outsider’s perspective, I think they need to communicate and be independent, and their relationship should be a bonus to them being separate individuals.”

Whereas Alfie actor Lucien Laviscount revealed (to Marie Claire) that Alfie will be present, and season-finale cliffhangers will “definitely get answered.” He added, “Fans can expect a beautiful train crash,” and Alfie will go through an “emotional” arc, and this season will be “a little bit more hectic than previous seasons in that true, daring style.” Cue theatrics.

Additionally, Darren Star revealed that Emily will be in travel mode “[f]rom the French Alps to the piazzas of Rome,” and “viewers will vicariously experience amazing new locations through Emily’s eyes.”

Don’t forget that this travel will also include odd fashion, gorgeous surroundings, and yep, there’s Alfie with Emily again:

Cast

The core cast will be back, including not only Lily Collins and Lucas Bravo but also Emily’s colleagues including Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu (Sylvie), Bruno Gouery (Luc), and Samuel Arnold (Julian) with William Abadie (Antoine) pushing everybody to be more luxurious. As already discussed, Lucien Laviscount will be back for more self-punishment as Alfie and Camille Rabat will continue to portray Camille’s bizarre quest for unhappiness. Thankfully, Ashley Park will be back as the ray of tolerable sunshine known as Mindy.

Release Date

Netflix’s two-part strategy will reign here with half of the season arriving on August 15 and the rest on September 12.

Trailer

The aforementioned “fighting” gets a special spotlight in this trailer.

In just a couple of weeks, a new season of Bel-Air will be in our hands. Peacock is finally returning with a new season of The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air remake more than a year after its second season concluded. The show’s third season is focused on Will Smith’s first summer in Bel-Air and the many highs and lows that come with it. Additionally, we’ll also get to see more of Carlton, Hilary, Ashley, Mr. & Mrs. Banks, Jazzy, and others as the year’s warmest months only complicate things for everyone in the show.

So, with the season three premiere date just around the corner, let’s get you up to speed with everything you need to know about the new season of Bel-Air.

Trailer

Earlier this month, Peacock released the official trailer for Bel-Air season three. You can watch it below.

Release

Bel-Air season three will debut on August 15. The new season will launch with the three new episodes before returning to an episode-per-week release schedule for the remainder of the season. The August 15th season three premiere marks almost a year and a half since the season two finale was released. New episodes in Bel-Air season three will be released weekly on Thursdays at 3am EST/12 AM PST starting on August 15.

Cast

You can expect all of the same cast members from season two of Bel-Air to return for the show’s third season. There will also be some new faces as revealed by Deadline. Vic Mensa (The Chi) will join to play Quentin while Alycia Pascual-Peña (Moxie, Saved By The Bell) will take on the role of Amira. Here’s the full cast list for season three and their roles.

Main:

• Jabari Banks as Will Smith,
• Olly Sholotan as Carlton Banks
• Coco Jones as Hilary Banks
• Adrian Holmes as Philip Banks
• Cassandra Freeman as Vivian Banks
• Akira Akbar as Ashley Banks
• Jimmy Akingbola as Geoffrey Thompson
• Simone Joy Jones as Lisa Wilkes
• Jordan L. Jones as Jazz

Recurring:

• April Parker Jones as Viola “Vy” Smith
• SteVonté Hart as Tray Melbert
• Tyler Barnhardt as Connor Satterfield
• Joe Holt as Fred Wilkes
• Charlie Hall as Tyler Laramy
• Jazlyn Martin as Jackie
• Vic Mensa as Quentin
• Alycia Pascual-Peña as Amira
• Marlon Wayans as Lou (Will’s father)

Plot

Season three of Bel-Air was detailed in a press released shared by Peacock. You can read it below.

Season 3 is summer season of Bel-Air! No school. No uniforms. Just summer sizzle. Pools, beach parties, bonfires, fireworks, Juneteenth celebrations and lots of summer lovin’.

Season 3 explores questions like, how do you prove yourself in a world that views you in limited ways? How do you reach beyond your comfort zone to create new opportunities for yourself? How does a family rebuild broken trust?

Bel-Air has always been a show with a strong cultural point of view. In addition to our soapy teen and family stories, this season we’ll have a lot of great discussion on the gentrification happening in South LA and how so many people are capitalizing on the economy at the cost of the community. And this convo will become a backdrop through the season.

Bel-Air Season 3 Episode Schedule

Season three of Bel-Air is expected to have ten episodes. If true, this is the expected tentative schedule viewers can expect for the new season:

• Episode 1: August 15
• Episode 2: August 15
• Episode 3: August 15
• Episode 4: August 22
• Episode 5: August 29
• Episode 6: September 5
• Episode 7: September 12
• Episode 8: September 19
• Episode 9: September 26
• Episode 10: October 3

How To Watch Bel-Air Season 3

Bel-Air season 3 will share episodes on a weekly basis on Peacock starting on Thursday, August 15 at 3am EST/12am PST.

Bel-Air Season 3 First Look Images

‘Bel-Air’ season 3 debuts on Peacock on August 15. Seasons 1 and 2 of ‘Bel-Air’ are available now to stream on Peacock.

Last month, Wiz Khalifa revealed that he is expecting his second child. However, the “We Dem Boyz” rapper’s partner isn’t the only party carrying something rather special.

Today (July 28), Wiz Khalifa took to X (formerly Twitter) to reveal his official musical plans. According to the entertainer, fans should expect two projects from him, an album and mixtape titled, Wiz Owens. On his page, Wiz Khalifa surprised fans with the forthcoming body of work’s tracklist.

The project is set to feature a total of 13 tracks. At this time, Wiz Khalifa hasn’t confirmed whether the mixtape will feature any guest appearances.

One fan however wasn’t amassed with the mixtape announcement as they wanted the album that was promised, to which Wiz Khalifa replied: “Clearing the samples still so this is for in the mean time.”

Yesterday (July 27), Wiz Khalifa first teased the project. “New mixtape before the album drops,” he wrote.

He went on to hint that the mixtape could drop as soon as Monday (July 29).

Continue below to view the full tracklist and artwork.

Tracklist

1. “Jet Lag”
2. “Crispy T”
3. “Yellow Diamonds”
4. “1200 To Smoke”
5. “Gym Getting Fine”
6. “Early Mimosas”
7. “Innit”
8. “Movie Role”
9. “When I Was Young”
10. “On Bro”
11. “PTSD”
12. “Dream About You”
13. “Smoke Break”

Artwork

Over the last few weeks we have watched the USA men’s basketball team play five exhibition games and look solid, winning all five games, but showing some apparent flaws in back-to-back close calls against South Sudan and Germany.

As such, there were some genuine questions about this USA squad coming into the first game of the Olympics group stage against a talented Serbia squad that won the silver at the World Cup a year ago without Nikola Jokic. Those questions were quickly answered on Sunday afternoon in Lille, as the Americans made quite the statement with a 110-84 win over Serbia, led by their two veteran stars as LeBron James and Kevin Durant were sensational, combining for 44 points in the win.

The first game gave us plenty to think about, and here we look at four takeaways/questions going forward

Kevin Durant and LeBron James are still outrageous

Not sure how anyone’s first thought could be anything other than this, but it remains worth pointing out how absurd it is that these two guys are still doing it at this level. Durant is on the Carmelo Anthony tier of guys who just dominate in international play, as his ability to score 1-on-1 is amplified playing on a team where you just can’t double off of anyone. In the first half, Durant wasn’t just cooking off the bounce but was a flamethrower from deep, and when he’s doing that there’s really just nothing you can do. Scoring 21 points on 8-for-8 shooting in under nine minutes of action is a hysterical first half stat line, and Durant’s one of only a few guys on Earth that could pull that off. We weren’t sure exactly how KD would look after missing the entire showcase schedule with a calf strain, but it’s safe to say he’s feeling good and remains one of the all-time matchup problems for defenses.

And then you have LeBron, who was in full control of the game when he was on the floor and looks like someone hellbent on reminding the world that, despite the Lakers not being a real factor for a title in recent years, he’s still That Guy. The physicality allowed by FIBA officiating can bother some guys, but I think it only serves to make James more dangerous. He eliminates most of the grifting from his arsenal and simply reminds every opponent that he is bigger and stronger than them when the Americans absolutely need a bucket. The scoring power stands out, but you can also tell he just loves playing on a team with this much talent around him, where his decision-making as a passer is almost always rewarded.

If Team USA lets it fly from deep, good luck

During the exhibition slate, Team USA was . Their 32 attempts against Serbia are the second-most attempts they’ve taken in a game (the most was 36, again against Serbia), and while they won’t hit 18 in every game, they were consistently creating great looks from beyond the arc. In their two close calls against South Sudan and Germany, they put up 7-for-28 and 6-for-17 performances from beyond the arc, which allowed the math game to close the gap. I think at times the Americans physical advantages can work against them when it comes to their play style, as there can be a feeling that they should be able to take other teams inside and dominate at the rim. The problem is, with more contact allowed, it’s not always as easy to do that as it would seem, and the best way for a less talented team to hang around is to trade threes for twos.

I’ll be interested to see if they keep this up against other teams, as this has been a trend to let it fly in two games against a slower, but bigger, Serbia team. That’s not to say they need to chuck pull-up threes, but when they’re flowing offensively they can create good looks for some of the best shooters in the world — especially now that KD is back in the lineup. Some of this goes to the next takeaway, which is they look way better when they can get up-and-down the floor and use their athleticism to put the opposing team on the back foot. That shows up the most in transition, but it’s also pushing off misses and creating mismatches to attack early in the clock, springing shooters free as the defense scrambles to get set.

Will Joel Embiid remain the starter all Olympics?

Joel Embiid played just 11 minutes in this one, and the Jokic matchup would, in theory, be when the United States would want to deploy their biggest center. However, there’s just no way around the fact that this team just looks better with Anthony Davis or Bam Adebayo at center, allowing them to run up-and-down the floor and run less of their offense through Embiid post touches. It is, simply, a matter of fit. Embiid is at his best when things revolve around him, and on Team USA that’s just not the case. This team is at its best pushing the pace, and Embiid prefers to do the opposite.

It’s not all that dissimilar to why Derrick White is on this team (and heavily in the rotation) and Jaylen Brown is at home (and not happy about it). At some point, you need to establish a hierarchy and have guys buy in to their role, who can thrive off the ball and with others making decisions for them on a team with this much talent. Embiid, for all his gifts, just looks uncomfortable being asked to take on a secondary role that he’s never really been asked to play.

In a game the U.S. won by 26, Embiid was a -8, largely due to the slow start as they tried (as Dwyane Wade highlighted on the broadcast) to get him involved and going early, leading to some stagnant offense. They came to life when he came out of the game, and that’s been a bit of a theme. This is a team that can overcome that and probably still win every game, but how long do they want to put themselves behind the 8-ball with slow starts because they’re not running their most optimal lineup?

The biggest difficulty in coaching Team USA is ego management, and I’m sure USA Basketball made quite the pitch to Embiid to get him to choose the Americans over France — which, he hears about from the French fans every time he touches the ball. I doubt we see a change in the group stage, as they should be able to cruise from here, but I do wonder if there will be a matchup down the road in the knockout and medal rounds that leads Steve Kerr to not being willing to tempt the fates with a sluggish start.

Speaking of ego management…Jayson Tatum DNP?

It wasn’t real hard to figure out who would be at the bottom of the pecking order of the rotation by the time the exhibition slate had closed, as Tyrese Haliburton got phased out of the lineup in favor of Derrick White’s defensive acumen. For a team that needs to push the pace, getting stops is of vital importance, and they have no shortage of shot creators or facilitators on the roster. However, because Kevin Durant was not part of the process all the way up to the opener, we didn’t know who would get squeezed out of the wing rotation. The answer, for Sunday, was Jayson Tatum, who had played at 14-21 minutes per night across the five exhibition games.

After the game, Steve Kerr said this was the choice for this game with Durant coming back and Tatum would have a chance to “make his mark” another time.

I will say, I feel like the DNP was better than giving him three minutes as a victory cigar at the end, as I think that would’ve hurt more. How he factors into the rotation going forward will be interesting, because Durant obviously showed his value to this team with his perfect first half. We’ll see how Kerr gets him involved, because Tatum certainly didn’t seem all that enthused on the bench — a contrast to Tyrese Haliburton who seems to have embraced his current role as “bench vibes guy”, popping up as the first one to greet guys and celebrate. That said, the rotation can’t be everyone and it’s not abundantly clear where the Tatum minutes come from.

Perhaps they pull back on some of the two-big lineups and that opens up a few minutes at the four. Maybe they look to give LeBron a lighter load over the next two games to keep him fresh for the knockout round. But I think Jrue Holiday’s minutes are etched in stone and Derrick White has quickly established himself as the other trusted “glue guy”, playing most of the minutes Holiday doesn’t. That leaves Devin Booker and Anthony Edwards, who both played quite well in this one and might just fit what they’re looking for a bit more. I do think in the next couple games you could see some of those two’s minutes going to Tatum, but I’m not sold on this being a one night deal for Tatum being at the end of the rotation (or out of it all together).

For a guy who just won broke through to win a championship and felt like he truly established himself as a top star, that’s perhaps a tough pill to swallow. But like with Embiid, fit is everything on Team USA and he’s not going to be taking KD and LeBron’s minutes in big games, which doesn’t leave a lot for him.