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NBA Top Shot has seen explosive growth in recent weeks, but with that influx of collectors has come a variety of growing pains for Dapper Labs. Its collector base for the blockchain-based digital highlights is soaring, with packs selling out faster than ever and a bustling marketplace in constant flux. But with more and more people — including several NBA players — getting interested in Top Shot, the company may have figured out a way to get everyone what they want first and foremost: packs.

Top Shot announced plans early Saturday for a massive pack drop preorder in an effort to get everyone interested in the collectable a base pack of Moments. The drop, which is scheduled for Saturday starting at 10 am PST, will allow collectors to queue up over a four-hour period before Top Shot will let them all preorder a $9 pack of common Moments from its Series 2 collection.

“Given the growth that the NBA Top Shot community has shown of late, copping packs through drops has been all kinds of tough,” Dapper said in a release early Saturday. “To address this, our team has designed a pre-ordering system that will allow each collector to reserve themselves a new Release 21 Base Set pack without having to rely on good fortune in the random queue generator.”

This process could take a while and it’s another change to the way Top Shot sells its base packs, but one that makes sense given the demand the company has seen. In recent weeks, a queue would open up for collectors to join that randomly assigns them a place in line at a set time. Once the supply of packs is out, though, anyone too far back in the line would simply be out of luck. For some “stress tests,” that pack supply could be as small as 5,000 packs. But the demand has far outpaced the supply to say the least.

A release of a rare pack drop earlier this week, for example, was delayed a day because of what Dapper called suspicious bot activity — basically people writing programs to game the system and act as several humans in line in order to secure multiple packs. When the drop happened on Friday, Dapper saw more than 200,000 people lining up for what amounted to a little over 10,000 packs that cost $99 each. It’s an enormous demand for a fast-growing product, but it’s also left a lot of collectors disappointed and caused complaints for many people who are still trying to just get their first base back and start collecting.

Saturday’s drop a smart way to get that base of people excited about Top Shot and more immediately involved in the ecosystem, especially at a lower cost. A $9 pack of three moments is much more affordable than buying on the market right now: as of Saturday morning, the most affordable Moment there was an Ish Smith assist for $17.

And there is some upside to the deal: the packs Top Shot is promising in this preorder contains 52 new moments in the Series 2 base set, including some rookies that will have just 4,000 minted. The full list is here, and includes Moments like a LeBron James assist, a Giannis Antetokounmpo block, and other highlights from stars that are likely to be in high demand once packs actually arrive.

That is the catch, however: the packs won’t be released until sometime in March. Dapper promised an update for people by March 6 on their status so Saturday’s drop, while likely to be in the hundreds of thousands of packs, won’t actually hit collections for a few weeks. Top Shot acknowledged that this method “won’t come close” to meeting overall demand for Moments, but they’re carefully tweaking the market and its supply while trying to account for growth. And, depending on how it goes Saturday, it could be the model for its Common drops moving forward.

If you’re on the fence about giving Top Shot a chance, Saturday might be your best (and most affordable) opportunity to get involved in the community. You’ll just have to be patient, both in what’s likely to be a lengthy queue and a long wait to actually get your pack in a fortnight or so.

The Lakers and Blazers squared off tonight in Los Angeles, with each team entering the contest on a losing skid and hoping to regain some traction as they head toward the All-Star break. Ultimately, it was the Lakers who would come away with the relatively easy 103-92 win, despite a 35-point night from Damian Lillard.

LeBron was even better, finishing with 28 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, four steals, and three blocks on the night to snap the Lakers’ four-game slide and extend Portland’s losing streak to five. But after the game, the conversation once again turned to comments made earlier in the day by soccer star Zlatan Ibrahimović, who criticized LeBron for being politically outspoken.

LeBron, with his usual poise, responded by saying he refuses to stay silent about injustice and proceeded to list some of the many social causes that he’s involved with and has invested so much of his time, money, and energy into, not just in the past year with the Black Lives Matter movement and the presidential election, but throughout his career.

“I have 300+ kids at my school who need a voice and I’m their voice…I’m the wrong guy to go at, I do my homework.” @KingJames weighs in on the recent comments made by soccer superstar @Ibra_official that people should “do what they’re good at” and “stay out of politics”. pic.twitter.com/Scfp6HhnP2

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) February 27, 2021

Zlatan’s comments echoed so many on the political right over the years who have told LeBron to “shut up and dribble” in one way or another, which LeBron has consistently ignored and instead continued to bring greater awareness to causes he cares about and believes in.

Jessie Ware released her dancefloor-ready album What’s Your Pleasure? last June, one of several disco revival LPs that debuted in 2020. Now following up on the project, Ware taps her doppelganger, actor Gemma Arterton, to star in a cathartic video alongside the What’s Your Pleasure? album closer “Remember Where You Are.”

The visual, shot on Valentine’s Day in London, depicts Arterton roaming around the empty streets of London. Speaking about the concept behind the visual, Gemma Arterton told BBC that inspiration stuck while walking in the park:

“I was walking around listening to it in the park, and I thought about how amazing is that in London, at the moment, there’s no-one around, especially at night-time, and how unique that is in the history of London. I don’t think there’s ever been a time where there’s been no cars, no buses, no people – even during the wars. I thought, we’ll never have this opportunity to shoot this again. And although the song wasn’t written specifically about the pandemic, it serendipitously felt like an anthem of hope in the middle of the third lockdown.”

“I didn’t really know what to expect because I hadn’t been in central London during the night-time for about a year,” Arterton continued. “And it was really sad but at the same time, kind of beautiful to see these iconic streets that have always been so populated – Carnaby Street and Regent Street – just having literally nothing and nobody on them. Also we shot the video on Valentine’s Day, which is the night when usually people go out for dinner and people are everywhere. It was kind of poignant, yet so beautiful, and hopefully it’s a bit of a love letter to our city.”

Watch Ware’s “Remember Where You Are” video above.

What’s Your Pleasure? is out now via Virgin. Get it here.

Earlier this week, the unthinkable happened to Lady Gaga. While her assistant, Ryan Fischer, was out on a walk with her beloved French bulldogs, a gunman shot him and made off with two of the three pups. The whole scene was caught on tape by a neighbor’s surveillance camera and Gaga, who is currently in Rome filming a movie, offered a $500,000 reward for their return. After two long days, Gaga’s furry friends, named Koji and Gustav, have finally been returned to her safely.

AP News reports that a woman brought the two dogs into the LAPD’s Olympic Community Police Station on Friday evening. Police Captain Jonathan Tippett, commanding officer of the elite Robbery-Homicide Division, claimed that the woman appeared to be “uninvolved and unassociated” with the initial attack, though it was unclear how she obtained the dogs.

Fischer was taken to the hospital after being shot by the thief and is thankfully expected to make a full recovery. In a statement, his family thanked Gaga for showing him love and support. “Ryan is receiving extraordinary care in the hospital right now and his doctors expect him to make a full recovery,” Fischer’s family wrote. “We cannot possibly say enough to thank all of the first responders, nurses and doctors who have worked so tirelessly to care for Ryan. Of course, we also want to thank Lady Gaga who has shown nothing but non-stop love and concern for Ryan and our family right from the outset. Ryan loves Gustavo and Koji as much as Lady Gaga does; so we join in her plea for their safe return.”

Is there anyone better at the internet than Vince Staples? At least in the realm of hip-hop, there are very few who can hold a candle to his posting game (his live show is pretty great, too). He knows just how to get a rise out of people, make jokes, and offer helpful and necessary cultural commentary when needed. However, that’s not what he was up to tonight.

Instead, his focus right now was on some internet haters, ones who would not stop falsely claiming that his mother has recently laid hands on him. The claim, Staples states, is simply false. The Long Beach rapper posted a snippet of a text conversation the two had about said haters, and Vince confirmed his case with a material witness to the truth.

“Mama these n—-s on Twitter trying to say you was just beating my ass,” Vince texted. “Can you please tell them I ain’t get a whooping since the 90s and I been turnt up since birth.” Not one to disappoint her son, or his legion of fans who thoroughly enjoyed the exchange, Mama Staples wrote back: “That’s just like n—-s, talking about something they know nothing about!! You always been turned up!!!”

There you have it. Have a great weekend and know that if your mom doesn’t have your back like Vince Staples’ does, she needs to get in gear.

There are many practical considerations that we tend to take for granted when it comes to putting on an NBA game. We just assume that the basketball will be fully inflated, that the lights will all be turned on, and everyone’s microphones will be working. But sometimes, it’s the little things that tend to stand out the most when they go wrong.

Take, for instance, the color clash that happened on Friday night during the Thunder-Hawks game. Apparently, there was some sort of miscommunication during the scheduling because OKC ended up taking the court in their orange jerseys, which looked nearly indistinguishable from the Hawks’ red uniforms.

It was enough to make your eyes bleed, and by halftime, the league had seen enough and requested that the Thunder change into their white jerseys, as the Hawks had only traveled with their red jerseys and did not have a change available. Needless to say, it was quite a relief to the visual palette.

who thought this was a good idea…? pic.twitter.com/AfROQpw4qS

— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) February 27, 2021

Wardrobe change at halftime.

Sound to hear @nickgallo22 explain it all on @FOXSportsOK pic.twitter.com/xWrRENmChd

— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 27, 2021

With so many things done on the fly in this compressed season, it’s wonder we haven’t seen more snafus like this. Thankfully, it was an easy fix, and our headaches have mostly since subsided.

Last September, Cardi B went public with some footage of a group of Trump supporters in the Hamptons who were seemingly harassing her sister, Hennessy. Cardi labeled the harassers’ actions as “racist,” and they promptly responded with a defamation lawsuit. The rapper reportedly now wants the lawsuit dismissed, claiming they’re only going after her money.

It all started when Cardi’s sister Hennessy was looking to spend a casual day at the beach with her girlfriend. But then, according to Hennessy, she and her partner were approached by MAGA hat-wearing beachgoers who asked them to move their car. They obliged, but the altercation didn’t end there. Hennessy claimed that they were followed by the group and repeatedly told, “Go back to your own country.”

Cardi B shared Hennessy’s account of the argument and label them “racist MAGA supporters,” which the plaintiffs are using as grounds for the defamation suit. But according to TMZ, Cardi isn’t willing to go through with the case. The rapper reportedly filed a motion for a judge to dismiss the lawsuit because she believes they want to capitalize on the fact that she’s a celebrity. Cardi reportedly added that her heated words were just her “opinion,” and do not constitute defamation. “The remedy for thin skin is thicker skin, not a lawsuit,” the rapper allegedly stated in court documents.

Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

A report from Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report earlier this week indicated that the Dallas Mavericks are gauging the league’s interest in Kristaps Porzingis, just in case there is momentum for a potential trade. While both head coach Rick Carlisle and owner Mark Cuban have clearly stated that this is not the case, Porzingis doesn’t seem to be totally buying it.

The Mavericks’ big man spoke to the media on Friday, one day before a high-profile showdown with the Brooklyn Nets, and was asked about the rumblings going around. In response, Porzingis more or less said he wasn’t sure what was going on, saying he is completely in the dark and that he believes it would be counter-productive to think too terribly much about something out of his control.

An important note from Fischer’s reporting is that the Mavericks are believed to be doing their due diligence on every player on the roster outside of Luka Doncic, which is understandable as Doncic is the franchise’s best player at a young age and it wouldn’t make sense to not try and build the best possible team around him. Whether or not Porzingis — who is in year two of a $158 million extension — is a player capable of helping them doing that is one of the biggest questions that Dallas’ front office has to answer.

Still, for now, it seems like Porzingis isn’t going anywhere, and this is a bunch of informal conversations to gauge the market. On the season, the big man is averaging 20.5 points and 8.2 rebounds in 29.9 minutes per game.

The Boston Celtics have found themselves in a tough position here as we head toward the All-Star break. At 15-17 on the season, they’re currently in ninth place in the East and have lost three straight games. The organization’s CEO Wyc Grousbeck had a curious explanation for that, pointing the finger at Kyrie Irving’s departure two summers ago, claiming that it set off a “domino effect” from which the team is still trying to recover.

It’s not as crazy as it might seem on the surface. Of course, there are plenty of other factors that have led to them under-performing this season. Multiple players have missed significant time due to COVID protocols and/or injury, but for a team that was in the conference finals last season, they expectations were much higher for this point of the season.

To make matters worse, the universe has added both insult and injury to Brad Stevens’ woes as he tries to navigate the treacherous road ahead. In an appearance on a local Boston radio show on Thursday, Stevens revealed that he had to undergo dental surgery and was the victim of identify theft, both in the same week.

A week in Brad Stevens’ shoes according to him:
Root canal & identity theft >>> Celtics’ recent skid

(@ZoandBertrand) pic.twitter.com/SqC12QlPbG

— NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSBoston) February 25, 2021

“I was just telling my wife, I had a root canal and my identity stolen last week and I think those were two of my better days in the last eight days. Like, it’s just been what it is,” Stevens said.

Stevens and the Celtics will try to end their three-game skid on Friday night in Boston as they host the Pacers.

Shaquille O’Neal has his hand in any number of endorsement deals, many of which date back to his playing days when he began to capitalize on his enormous popularity and marketability. Some of them are purely for his own entertainment, while others carry greater historical significance.

Take, for instance, the Krispy Kreme store that Shaq owns on Ponce de Leon Ave. in Atlanta, which is often remembered for providing free doughnuts to local churches where mourners gathered following the death of Martin Luther King Jr. It’s also one of the first locations outside of the company’s North Carolina headquarters.

After a fire ravaged the store earlier this month, Shaq promised that it would “return stronger than ever,” and on Friday, authorities announced that arson was the cause of the blaze and have released two photos of a suspect they believe might be involved.

The fire that occurred at @krispykreme Doughnuts (295 Ponce de Leon) on February 10th, 2021 has been determined to be a result of ARSON. We are seeking the public’s help in identifying & locating the suspect in these pictures. Up to $10,000 reward. 1-800-282-5804 #AFRD pic.twitter.com/HotJquoNC1

— Atlanta Fire Rescue (@ATLFireRescue) February 26, 2021

Two employees were reportedly at the store when the fire broke out, but fortunately no one was injured. Cell phone video offered terrifying image of the blaze that caused significant damage. The Atlanta Fire and Rescue Department is offering up to a $10,000 reward for information.