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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.

Discussions about gender reveal parties gone wrong seem to have reached a fever pitch lately, and between said parties and new narrow-minded legislative designed to hurt young trans women in sports, the emphasis on supporting those who identify as transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming individuals has also increased.

Such support is coming from one pop star, Demi Lovato, today, who re-shared a post by Alok Vaid-Menon, a gender nonconforming writer, performer, artist, public speaker and advocate.
“@alokvmenon with the real,” Demi wrote before reposting the caption. “Thank you for sharing your knowledge and educating us always.”

The lengthy post includes several slides breaking down how a binary celebration of coded and colored cis gender baby leaves no room for the other possibilities. “This is not about being politically correct, it’s about being correct,” Vaid-Menon wrote in the caption to their post that Lovato shared. “The refusal to acknowledge this stems from a misunderstanding of what transphobia is. Transphobia is not just prejudice or violence against an individual trans person, it is a belief system that presumes non-trans people to be more “natural” than trans people. Only individual people can self determine their gender.”

You might remember Alok’s work helping people understand the reaction to Harry Styles in a dress on the cover of Vogue, as cited by the inimitable AOC. Please scroll through the full slideshow if you’re still seeking to understand what’s at stake when assuming genitals determine gender.

The slides were designed by Nabi, and for any further questions considering purchasing Alok’s book, Beyond The Gender Binary and educating yourself.

In the before times, when 2020 was just going to be a normal year and not one marked irrevocably by an isolating pandemic, Taylor Swift was throwing a couple of music festivals. Dubbed Lover Fest east and west — after her album Lover which was, at that time, her latest album — the mini fests were slated for Los Angeles and Foxborough, MA. When the reality of the pandemic began to sink in last spring, Swift moved to postpone all of her tour dates, including the festivals. Sadly, we are almost one full year into this thing, and she has decided it’s time to officially cancel the dates permanently.

Taylor shared a post on Twitter today, letting fans know how disappointed she is as well, and hoping for some good news to share very soon. Check out her full statement below:

I love coming on here to tell you good news, or to share a new project with you. It’s not my favorite thing in the world to have to tell you news I’m sad about. This is an unprecedented pandemic that has changed everyone’s plans and no one knows what the touring landscape is going to look like in the near future.I’m so disappointed that I won’t be able to see you in person as soon as I wanted to. I miss you terribly and can’t wait til we can all safely be at shows together again.

New dates were never scheduled for the shows, and fans have had the option to refund their tickets since the shows were postponed.

Of course, there’s a nother reason the shows no longer make sense — during isolation Swift used her time quite productively (such a Sagittarius!) to make not one but two new albums, giving fans Folklore and Evermore to listen to while we all safely quarantine. Whatever live shows she does embark on next, in whatever form, will hopefully include “Invisible String” and “Champagne Problems” in their setlist. Thanks in advance, Tay.

The last we heard from Swedish sister band First Aid Kit, they released their critically-acclaimed 2018 album Rumors. Now, the duo are returning to commemorate the work of the late songwriter Leonard Cohen in a big way.

First Aid Kit announced the 20-track live tribute album Who By Fire Friday. It was was recorded across two nights at the Royal Dramatic Theater in Stockholm in 2017 with the help of fellow Swedish guest musicians, an eight-person band and string section, two actors, as well as a 20-plus person choir on two of the songs. According to press materials, Who By Fire not only includes covers of Cohen’s music, but is also a “theatrical staging” of Cohen’s songs, poems, and letters.

About the project, First Aid Kit said in a statement:

“We recently listened back to this concert and realized that this was something out of the ordinary for us. It was a challenge to create a performance that wasn’t centered around First Aid Kit songs. It was something we’d never done before, but everything came together so well. Dwelling deeply into Cohen’s world was a pleasure, he was so prolific as both a poet and a songwriter, and everything he ever put out held a very strong standard. He cared immensely for his work. The band, the guest artists, the atmosphere on stage…everyone had a great passion and it felt magical. This is definitely a record that is best enjoyed listening to back-to-back with no interruptions. Allow yourself to just disappear into Cohen’s world for a little while.

We decided not to edit any of the performances. The flaws are part of the live experience. In a time when you sadly can’t go to an actual physical live show, you can listen to this and imagine you were there…”

Listen to the lead single “Suzanne” above and find First Aid Kit’s Who By Fire cover art and tracklist below.

1. “Tired”
2. “Suzanne”
3. “Sisters of Mercy”
4. “Who by Fire / As The Mist Leaves No Scar”
5. “Twelve O’Clock Chant”
6. “Everybody Knows”
7. “Avalanche”
8. “The Future”
9. “Chelsea Hotel No.5”
10. “You Want It Darker”
11. “If It Be Your Will”
12. “The Asthmatic”
13. “Famous Blue Raincoat / Anthem”
14. “Show Me The Place”
15. “Hallelujah”
16. “Prayer for Messiah”
17. “Bird on the Wire”
18. “Who by Fire”
19. “So Long Marianne”
20. “You’d Sing Too”

Who By Fire is out 3/26 via Sony Sweden/Columbia Records. Pre-order it here.

A group of beachgoers in Mexico proved that when people join together and stand up for justice, you can triumph in even the direst of circumstances.

Municipal police in Tulum, Quintana Roo got received a tip that there were men allegedly committing “immoral acts” on the beach. So the officers, armed with AR-15 rifles, picked up two Canadian men.

“The officers approached a group of young foreigners,” local politician Maritza Escalante Morales recounted in her video. “After about 20 minutes passed, a patrol car arrived and proceeded to arrest them with handcuffs.”

When Escalante asked the officers why the two men were being arrested, she learned it was “because they were gay and they kissed.” However, two men are allowed to legally kiss in Mexico. The officers claimed they were being arrested because they did so in front of children.

“The policemen were violent, and gave arguments such as ‘there are families and children and they cannot be watching this,'” Morales later said.

When the police loaded the two men into the back of their truck, a crowd began to mobilize around the vehicle. They booed and jeered the police. The crowd rallied around the men chanting “No!” and “I’m gay, too!”

Morales captured the incident on video.

“We are gay, that is why they are taking us,” one of the arrested tourists says in the video.

“They were not committing any crime, we were by their side, at no time did they do anything wrong, simply by kissing like any other couple,” Morales later wrote. “I am FURIOUS because it is not possible that in the 21st century this type of oppression against the LGBT+ community continues.”

However, the protests worked. Even though the police were heavily armed they capitulated to the angry crowd and let the two men go. It was a beautiful display of the power a crowd can have when they stand up for what’s right. Especially when the two men weren’t doing anything wrong or illegal.

Homosexuality is legal in Mexico and same-sex marriage has been allowed for over a decade. But that doesn’t prevent some authorities from overstepping their boundaries and threatening LGBT people.

According to World Nomads tourism site, in Mexico “The culture is stronger than the printed law, and each Mexican state can override national decriminalization laws by finding ‘adjacent’ excuses — like public decency laws — for making an arrest in rare situations.”

The site urges LGBT people to be cautious about expressing public affection in the country.

“Basic displays of same-sex affection, like kissing and handholding in public (except for in or around a gay bar in, say, Mexico City), are invitations for scrutiny and potential backlash, which wouldn’t be much different from a small, conservative, rural town anywhere in the world,” the site continues.

The incident has resulted in several human rights groups filing complaints with Mexico’s government. It has also inspired a “kiss-in” at the beach to protest the actions of the police.

It’s been a brutal week for Lady Gaga.

The Chromatica singer (and presidential Inauguration performer) was targeted by robbers two days ago, who shot her dog walker and stole two of her three beloved pitbulls. Gaga was focused on making sure the walker, Ryan Fischer, got the care he needs and was going to make a full recovery, so her father went on Fox News and asked fans to help the family “catch these creeps.” She has also made it clear that a $500,000 reward will be given indiscriminately to anyone who can return the pups, Koji and Gustav.

“My beloved dogs Koji and Gustav were taken in Hollywood two nights ago,” Gaga wrote on Twitter. “My heart is sick and I am praying my family will be whole again with an act of kindness. I will pay $500,000 for their safe return. Email [email protected] to contact us. If you bought or found them unknowingly, the reward is the same. I continue to love you Ryan Fischer, you risked your life to fight for our family. You’re forever a hero.”

This kind of crime is horrific, particularly because it seems to be a calculated attack on Gaga herself. Here’s hoping the dogs are found and return unharmed as soon as possible.

Every American learns about the work of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr in their school’s curriculum. But there are countless Civil Rights activists and revolutionaries left out of the picture. One such organizer is Fannie Lou Hamer, a Mississippi native who was instrumental in rallying support around the Voting Rights Act of 1964. Now, Hamer’s story is set to become a documentary — and Common has signed onto the project.

The biopic is titled God’s Long Summer, named after the book written by Charles Marsh. The film will follow Hamer’s story as an activist and an organizer, as well as touch on the violent setbacks she faced along the way. According to Billboard, the synopsis reads, “she fought against the Southern political establishment, systemic racism and misogyny by exercising her right to vote and fighting for the rights of others. Labeled as plain spoken and unfit to lead the movement, Hamer captivated the nation with her powerful voice, sheer will, and faith in her fight against leaders at the highest levels of state and federal government and within the Civil Rights Movement itself to help secure passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.”

About his decision to join the film project, Common said: “Fannie Lou Hamer is a revolutionary figure we should all know. Her story and impact is evidence that Black History IS American History. We have all benefited from her work and dedication. I feel blessed to be working with this incredible group of producers to bring this story to the screen.”

Charles McLaurin, a fellow Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee member and close friend of Hamer’s, serves as a story consultant for the film.

“It’s impossible to talk about voting rights in America and not include Mrs. Hamer,” McLaurin said. “Her story will serve as a reminder of our long history of struggle to secure voter rights for all citizens in this country, and, add her powerful voice to the current struggle to pass new voting rights legislation.”

After a string of massive new singles that seem to be coming from a totally different mode, Justin Bieber officially announced today that he’s creating in a new space. These new songs are part of a larger collection called Justice, which Bieber said he sees as his chance to “provide comfort.” His late 2020 music includes singles “Holy” featuring Chance The Rapper, “Lonely” with Benny Blanco, and the track “Anyone” — but a new listing for the album at Walmart.com seems to indicate one more single called “Hold” will be coming shortly.

The listing also gives us a sneak peek at the collaborators who will be appearing on Justice. Aside from Chance and Benny Blanco, the pre-order description includes Khalid, The Kid Laroi, Dominic Fike, Daniel Caesar, Giveon, BEAM, and Burna Boy. That’s a stacked tracklist, and since the pre-order info also lets us know there are sixteen tracks on the album — plus one Walmart exclusive if you purchase the CD through them — it looks like roughly half of the album includes a collaborator.

We haven’t seen an official tracklist from the Bieber camp, but this kind of pre-order information is generally correct. So keep an eye out for “Hold” to drop between now and March 19, when the album is slated to be released. In case you haven’t checked it out yet, watch Bieber and Chance’s playful collab “Holy” above.