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James Harden has developed something of a reputation for being a difficult teammate. His relationship with Chris Paul was chilly, to say the least, and Harden apparently didn’t take kindly to Paul’s penchant for criticism and holding his teammates accountable for their actions.

Even Russell Westbrook, a close personal friend to Harden, was reportedly appalled by the way the Rockets organization bent over backwards to accommodate Harden’s whims, an environment that led directly to his own trade request from Houston after just a single season together.

But the saga reached its nadir in recent weeks as Harden continued to try and force his eventual trade to the Nets, in the process alienating his Rockets teammates, who he described as “not good enough” in his now-infamous press conference following a blowout loss to the Lakers earlier this week.

John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins both fired back at that assessment, with Cousins calling his comments disrespectful. Harden, naturally, didn’t see it that way, as he attempted to explain in his first presser for the Nets.

“I wasn’t disrespectful to anyone.”

James Harden opens up about his recent postgame comments and departure from Rockets pic.twitter.com/LEamwbeNwc

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 15, 2021

Harden did, however, express some regret about the way the situation ended in Houston, saying broadly that some of his actions were “out of character,” but it’s not likely that there will be much reconciliation with the aggrieved parties anytime soon. The Rockets and Nets are currently headed in different directions, but both sides must be relieved to be able to put this behind them and move forward.

Skies may have looked clearer last year than in 2019 due to COVID-related lockdowns and a drop in air travel. But just because we were all locked inside, doesn’t mean our ecological problems suddenly vanished. Forests around the world continued to get cut down, protected lands continued to be threatened, and that island of plastic that’s been forming in the Pacific Ocean continued to grow.

Hawaiian blues balladeer Tavana is helping to put that into perspective with the video for his new single “Plastic Island,” which artfully combines stop motion animation with local microplastic sourced directly from the Hawaiian shores. Made in collaboration with fellow Hawaii-based musician Paul Izak, the Hawaii-based art collective Three Tree Creative, multi-dimensional artist Charles-Antonie Vallieres, and released in partnership with the Surfrider Foundation and Kokua Hawaii Foundation, “Plastic Island” is probably the coolest and most artistic display of the environment-ravaging effect of microplastics we’ve ever seen.

Alas, the incredibly creative video also acts as a bittersweet reminder that we’re slowly destroying our planet with our own waste. In fact, that was kind of the point. The video was made, in part, to raise awareness of the state’s continued efforts to battle single-use plastics, something that is increasingly becoming a problem for a state with an economy that revolves entirely around “island paradise” status.

“In the past, our beaches were comprised of natural materials like driftwood and shells,” says Lauren Blickley, the Hawaii Regional Manager at Surfrider Foundation. “Today many of these natural materials have been replaced with plastic — a material that is responsible for the large-scale pollution of our ocean and environment.”

The state is fighting back, though. In November 2020, the island of Oahu passed Bill 40, which seeks to ban single-use plastic on the island and would stand as one of the strongest bans on single-use plastic nationwide. The bill was supposed to go into effect on January 1st, but was delayed for a “90 day education period.”

Lawmakers are now facing increasing pressure from both the plastic industry and lobbyists who are attempting to delay the bill from going into effect for an additional two years. The Surfrider Foundation and its Oahu chapter are hoping to raise awareness to help ensure the bill takes effect not later than April 1st.

While the stakes are clearly high, Tavana approaches the track with a sort of laid-back plain-spoken approach that is both educational and supremely chill. “Plastic Island” opens with a cascading acoustic guitar riff that quickly dips into delta blues territory as Tavana directly addresses the origins of The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, without ever getting too heavy or preachy — delivering truths with laid back lyrics like: “How did it get there, man? How could it be? It’s the plastic thrown away by you and me.”

“I think it’s wonderful when art and raising awareness for a noble cause come together so seamlessly,” Tavana told us. “I hope to continue to find ways to use my music to heal the earth.“

That quote itself embodies the vibe of the song, which is sort of like if the Bill from Schoolhouse Rock smoked a joint and started waxing poetic about ocean pollution. It’s a whimsical, fun idea but also a painful reminder that all of the cute plastic in the “Plastic Island” video was directly harvested from the beaches of Tavana’s home state. According to Forbes, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch currently covers an approximate surface area of 1.6 million square kilometers, an area twice the size of Texas.

Check out the full video for Tavana’s “Plastic Island” above.

Sometimes the best new R&B can be hard to find, but there are plenty of great rhythm and blues tunes to get into if you have the time to sift through the hundreds of newly released songs every week. So that R&B heads can focus on listening to what they really love in its true form, we’ll be offering a digest of the best new R&B jams that fans of the genre should hear every Friday.

Emotional Oranges — “Bonafide” Feat. Chiiild

Mystic R&B duo Emotional Oranges is entering 2021 with their sweet vibe “Bonafide,” featuring fellow Avant Garden artist Chiiild. It’s a song robust in love, guided by vulnerable words filled with soul. “Bonafied” comes ahead of EO’s forthcoming project Juicebox, which is expected to have Vince Staples in the mix.

Tone Stith — “Devotion”

Tone Stith released “Devotion” at the tail-end of 2020 and this year, he’s taking the passion-induced cut to the next level with a live performance. In the visual, the talented musician, who also happens to be one of Drake‘s faves, shows off his guitar skills and flawless vocals. Please, pay attention.

Asiahn — The Interlude EP

If there’s anyone worthy of keeping an ear out for in the R&B space it’s Asiahn and she just dropped her latest EP The Interlude, featuring her previously released single “Gucci Frames.” The five-song collection is immersed in ethereal soul as she conveys everything about the battles of love and war with her crystal-clear vocals. “It’s important that as an artist I not only sing about love,” she says in a statement on the project. “There’s more to life than just being in a relationship and falling in and out of love with others, we also have to fall in love with ourselves and discover what we like and don’t like, explore our sexuality, get drunk and have fun!”

No1-Noah — “Ridin For My Love”

After appearing on Summer Walker’s EP Life On Earth last year, R&B newcomer No1-Noah arrives with a track of his own titled “Ridin For My Love.” Noah asserts his love for the object of affection while analyzing some of his relationships from the past. The song is Noah’s first release since signing to Walker’s Ghetto Earth Records. In 2018, No1-Noah popped off with “FaceTime for 30” and has been making his presence known ever since.

Dvsn — Amusing Her Feelings

Dvsn really didn’t have to, but they did. Amusing Her Feelings is the duo’s deluxe edition of A Muse In Her Feelings, and we are here for it. It’s just four songs and they’re all great, including their previously released track “Use Somebody.”

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

If the Top 10 list on Netflix is to be believed, the people are desperate for more Bridgerton. But actually delivering a second season of the soapy Shondra Rhimes-produced drama may be a bit harder because of, you know, that still-ongoing pandemic.

That’s according, at least, to the show’s star. Phoebe Dynevor, who played Daphne Bridgerton, thinks actually pulling off filming safely will be significantly harder, not to mention getting the same chemistry going while wearing masks. Dynevor spoke to Deadline about all things Bridgerton and detailed why she thinks filming Season 2 in the age of novel coronavirus could be more complicated than some might think. First and foremost, of course, is the sheer size of the show’s scale regarding cast and crew.

“I can’t imagine how it would be possible to film under these circumstances. There are so many extras and so many crew members, and it’s a very intimate show. It just baffles me how we would film it under Covid rules unless there was a vaccine beforehand,” the actress explains. Producers may have more confidence, with Production Weekly suggesting Season 2 could shoot in the UK from March.

Another significant obstacle is the locations Bridgerton shot in, which included a number of lavish British mansions appropriate for the period piece. One immediately thinks of the poor soul whose job it might be to sanitize all those ornate carvings and reliefs after a long day of filming. And then there’s the idea of recreating that kind of intimacy we saw in Season 1. The interview revealed that Dynevor and co-star Regé-Jean Page had six weeks of intimacy training to get those romantic moments looking right and feeling appropriate. She noted working on another show in the past year while wearing masks for safety often made things significantly tougher.

Dynevor says this was vital to the final performance and their chemistry could not have been achieved behind the shield of a mask, which is an experience she has had while filming TV Land’s Younger in New York last year.

“When I was filming, it was masks on in rehearsals. So you don’t take them off until you say action. Or at least we didn’t. It was a really strange experience. I didn’t see my character’s new boyfriend’s face until we were filming a scene together, which was really bizzare,” she says of the shoot.

It’s unlikely anyone is interested in waiting out the pandemic, especially given the hiccups in vaccine rollout we’ve seen in these last few weeks. Time is money, even if that means significantly more money spent on health and safety protocols. There’s a lot of small details in the Deadline piece about where the show’s second season might be headed, and what role her character plays in the drama given how her storyline wrapped up in the first season. But before we get to see what may lay ahead, it has to be filmed. Which right now sounds a lot more daunting than it was for Season 1.

[via Deadline]

WandaVision (Disney+ series premiere) — Marvel fans, prepare for the official launch of Phase Four with this show that will get very weird very fast, while two galaxy-crossed lovers take a rip-roaring ride through decades before this series turns into a full-on action affair. Our own Mike Ryan calls the series “a wickedly retro treat for fans of classic sitcoms,” and there are certain things that fans would like to see happen, especially while viewing the show against the backdrop of Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch and Vision’s respective roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Before you start watching, feel free to check out our timeline of what’s happened so far in the MCU.

One Night in Miami (Amazon Prime film) — Regina King directs this fictional account of a historic night, in which Cassius Clay, soon to be known as Muhammad Ali, celebrated a major boxing upset with three friends, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown. More than forty years later, the conversations that take place in this film continue to resonate, along with providing a chance to reflect upon the cultural upheaval taking place during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s

Search Party: Season 4 (HBO Max series) — Alia Shawkat’s Dory is missing in the continuation of this highly bingeable series that jumped from TBS to HBO Max without a hitch. This time around, the group of friends must confront their traumatic pasts and become a search party again, this time while attempting to track down Dory. Guest stars will include Susan Sarandon, Busy Philipps, and R.L. Stine.

The Ultimate Playlist of Noise (Hulu film) — A high-school senior must face up to the fact that his upcoming brain surgery will leave him deaf, and given that he adores music, he sets upon grabbing onto his own fate by recording the ultimate bucket-playlist. And then he takes a wild road trip alongside a struggling musician while they both experience transformative revelations.

Disenchantment: Season 3 (Netflix series) — Matt Groening of The Simpsons fame (and more) is still cranking away on this adult animated comedy fantasy series that digs into the many misadventures of boozy and feisty characters, including ogres, mermaids, walruses, and even human fools while exploring Dreamland. In this batch of episodes, the hard-drinking Princess Bean continues to explore her own destiny and identity as she comes into power. Don’t worry, Bean’s personal demon, Luci, and feisty elf companion, Elfo, are still a big focus.

Endlings: Season 2 (Hulu series) — Sci-fi fans will enjoy seeing the return of this crew, who must accept that they can change the future and (at least) make up for the mistakes of the past without achieving a full-on reckoning. The very fate of the planet and humanity depends on their continued fight, and the endearing group is here for it.

Outside The Wire (Netflix film) — Sorry to disappoint, this show has nothing to do with The Wire. It does, however, star Anthony Mackie as an android military officer, who must locate a doomsday device before the bad guys can get their hands on it, and all hell breaks loose. Damson Idris co-stars as a drone pilot who assists Mackie’s cyborg, and they’re both in full-on action mode.

What Would Sophia Loren Do? (Netflix film) — The title tells you a lot, but the structure of the series deserves a little explaining. Sophia Loren’s daughter, Nancy “Vincenza” Kulik, leads viewers down her inspirational path, which was carved by her mother, that she uses to guide all decisions, no matter or big or small. At times these questions are mundane (and involve pasta), but during other moments, Sophia’s enduring wisdom leads Nancy through moments of support, strength, and solace through tough times.

Here’s the rest of this weekend’s notable programming:

Supermarket Sweep (Sunday, ABC 8:00 p.m.) — Leslie Jones and every bit of her enthusiasm will host contestants in this revival of the grocery-shopping game show.

Batwoman (Sunday, CW 8:00 p.m.) — Javicia Leslie makes her entrance as the new Batwoman after Ruby Rose’s surprise departure, all while everyone wonders where the hell Kate might be. Her Batsuit’s still around, so Ryan uses it as armor while going rogue in Gotham. I guess that’s one explanation?

American Gods (Sunday, Starz 8:00 p.m.) — Season 3 continues with Shadow working hard to separate himself from Mr. Wednesday while the secrets of the Gods are messing with the brewing war.

Shameless (Sunday, Showtime 9:00 p.m.) — This “Hall Of Shame” episode (one of several) breaks from the current season to dig into Lip’s history as a character, where he is today, and where he might go from here. Maybe bring your tissues for this one.

Tiger (Sunday, HBO 9:00 p.m.) — This documentary takes an intimate look at the rise, fall, and return of Tiger Woods. Our own Vince Mancini calls this an irresistible watch, and the film charts the prodigy’s obsession with his sport that led him to the highest of heights and fame, which led to a downward spiral, and eventually, an epic comeback.

Your Honor (Sunday, Showtime 10:00 p.m.) — Panic-Cranstoning is still in high effect with Bryan Cranston’s bad-breaking judge realizing that he’s being blackmailed while the mob family still aims to avenge their son’s hit-and-run death. This week, Michael’s blackmail problems do not find a solution but deeper problems for everyone.

In case you missed these recent picks:

History of Swear Words (Netflix series) — A Nic Cage series? Yes please. A Nic Cage series where he teaches us lessons about expletives? Give it to me now. Cage hosts here with an array of guests — including Jim Jefferies, Zainab Johnson, Nick Offerman, Sarah Silverman, Baron Vaughn, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Joel Kim Booster, DeRay Davis, Open Mike Eagle, Nikki Glaser, Patti Harrison, London Hughes — to dive deep into his proudly profane stance. Over the course of six episodes, you’ll learn about the origins of “F*ck,” “Sh*t,” “B*tch,” “D*ck,” “Pu**y,” and “Damn.”

Pretend It’s A City (Netflix limited series) — Marty Scorsese’s back on Netflix while directing this project revolving around long-time friend Fran Lebowitz. The series follows her “New Yorker to the core” brand of straight talking in what’s essentially a punchy guidebook that will appeal to true New Yorkers. Scorsese, too, gives his own takes on the Big Apple, so expect a double dose of attitude on everything from tourists to the subways to the arts to, yes, Times Square.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s inauguration will be one of the most hopeful days many of us have had in a long time. To acknowledge the optimistic outlook of their first term, the president and vice president-elect have commissioned a sprawling inauguration day playlist full of hopeful songs from across seemingly every genre imaginable. To help curate the list, the duo’s team brought on DJ D-Nice, whose Home School quarantine streams offered a warm distraction from the stress of the early pandemic, and Issa Rae, whose record label Raedio presents the playlist.

There are 46 songs on the list, nodding to the 46th President of the United States, ranging from underground rap like Kota The Friend’s “Lupita Interlude” to all-American rock legends like Bruce Springsteen. There are also some not so subtle messages to the American people in the titles of the song choices, as in the aforementioned Springsteen selection “We Take Care Of Our Own.” The incoming President wants to “Give The People What They Want,” courtesy of the O’Jays and promises to “Pick Up The Pieces” via Average White Band.

And while the feel-good vibes extend throughout the playlist, it’s probably also going to be fun to imagine Joe bopping along to the late MF Doom‘s “Coffin Nails” or SZA’s “Good Days.” Fortunately, there are plenty of well-tread classics for the older set, including Bill Withers’ “Lovely Day,” Curtis Mayfield’s “Move On Up,” Jackie Wilson’s “Higher And Higher,” and Sounds Of Blackness’s “Optimistic.” To put it bluntly, it’s a way better list than anything we could have expected from the other guy, and a smart move on the inauguration committee’s part to nab a purveyor of tastemaking cool like Issa Rae to select a collection of songs that speaks to the needed tone of the Biden-Harris presidency: One of unity, diversity, and hope.

Check out the list above.

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

The Sazerac is a classic New Orleans cocktail. It’s also just a bit harder to make (while requiring a little bit deeper bar shelf at home) than the most-straightforward drinks. It’s a great “we’re not beginners anymore” cocktail and a nice weekend project.

The Sazerac dates back to at least the early 1800s. Cognac, bitters, sugar, water, and absinthe came together to create an old fashioned variation that was very French Quarter (cognac being from Cognac, France, and modern absinthe hailing from francophone Switzerland). But cognac became scarce after the Great French Wine Blight destroyed France’s vines in the mid-1800s. So barkeeps in the Big Easy started using booze from a little closer to home: Rye whiskey.

Fast forward to 2021 and Sazerac’s are generally served either with cognac, rye, or a 50/50 mix of the two as the base spirit. We’re going to make the latter riff today. Why? Because that version of a Sazerac is the most delicious — pairing the vinous, floral, and almost chocolate/nutty nature of a good cognac next to the peppery and fruity rye. It’s a perfct combination with the Peychaud’s Bitters, absinthe, sugar, and lemon oils.

That being said, don’t be afraid to play around with 100 percent cognac or rye versions or create your own golden ratio for this drink. Let’s get mixing!

The Sazerac

Ingredients:

• 1.5-oz. rye whiskey
• 1.5-oz. cognac
• 4 dashes Peychaud’s Bitter
• 1 barspoon raw sugar or demerara sugar
• 1 barspoon water
• 1 barspoon absinthe
• Ice
• Lemon peel

This is sort of dealer’s choice when it comes to booze to use. I have a bottle of Hennessy VS and Woodford Reserve Rye on the shelf, so I’m using those. Both bottles are affordable and very easy to locate at any liquor store. Use whatever cognac or rye you have.

As for the absinthe, I’m using a local brand that’s 66 percent ABV. I usually use Pernod but my bottle was empty. Generally speaking, you want to find a bottle that’s between 65 and 75 percent ABV and from France. And no, it’s not going to make you hallucinate. It’s just high-alcohol booze with a lot of herbs in it that never made anyone hallucinate (folks just got very very drunk). In fact, by today’s standard of high-ABV barrel proof whiskey, it’s not even that high of proof anymore. This year’s Buffalo Trace Antique Collection had higher proof whiskey in it than the absinthe I’m using for this cocktail.

Finally, you really need to grab a bottle of Peychaud’s Bitters. The red bitter is what gives the cocktail its reddish hue and subtle bitters edge.

You’ll Need:

• Pre-chilled rocks glass
• Mixing jug
• Strainer
• Barspoon
• Fruit peeler or pairing knife
• Jigger

Method:

A couple of quick notes before we dive in. You really need to pre-chill your glass in the freezer. The frozen glass will help the absinthe wash adhere better, allowing a better coating. Think of it like a tongue sticking to a frozen flagpost on a cold winter’s day.

I’m also using demerara sugar, which dissolves pretty quickly. Take your time stirring to make it dissolve fully before you add ice. It’ll be worth it in the final product, trust us. In a pinch, you can use simple syrup. You’ll see a lot of bars (even “good” ones) using simple syrup to keep the flow of drinks going out quickly. It’s fine. But, since this about at-home mixing, take your time and use real sugar.

• Add absinthe to the pre-chilled glass and swirl around to coat the inside of the glass. Pour off excess absinthe.
• In a mixing jug, add in water, bitters, and sugar. Stir until sugar starts to dissolve, creating a reddish base.
• Add cognac and rye and stir until sugar dissolves.
• Add in ice and stir until the cocktail is chilled (the mixing jug should be frosted over on the outside).
• Strain the drink into the waiting rocks glass.
• Spritz the lemon oils from the peel over the cocktail and rub the peel around the glass. Discard peel.
• Serve.

Bottom Line:

This is a really, really tasty drink but might be an acquired taste for some. The anise and fennel are just there but fade as you drink, and those flavor notes will be what turn some people off. The nuttiness of the Hennessy is a great counterpoint to the peppery rye and both are smoothed out by the bitters and sugar. The lemon oils bring it all together and really help it feel both very light and bright.

This always goes down too easily and you’ll find yourself making another before you know it. If that’s the case, try it with only the cognac or rye. Maybe adjust the ratios a little to lean into certain flavors. It’ll be a fun mixing session no matter what you try!

The James Harden saga in Houston came to a merciful end this week when the Rockets orchestrated a four-team deal that will reunite the disgruntled guard with Kevin Durant in Brooklyn. It was the culmination of a months-long debacle that has left a sour taste in the mouths of many fans.

Harden made it clear on multiple occasions that he wasn’t happy with the team’s direction this season and that he had no interest in trying to make it work with new teammate John Wall. He was late showing up to training camp, arrived out of shape, has looked disinterested and disengaged on the court, and let the world no after a loss to the Lakers this week that the situation can’t be fixed.

It was the final straw, and the organization was able to close the chapter on his time in Houston and set themselves up for the future. But despite all that drama, Harden is apparently pressing forward on his plans to open up a new restaurant in the Houston area called Thirteen, a reference to his jersey number.

As you might imagine, angry fans have responded in kind, with several giving bad reviews on Google before the restaurant has even opened its doors.

The reviews on James Harden’s restaurant pic.twitter.com/T4dklM51Mg

— 𝓛𝓸𝓸𝓴 𝓪𝓽 𝓒𝓾𝓻𝓻𝔂 𝓜𝓪𝓷 (@GSWRevenge2021) January 14, 2021

Some are certainly more clever than others, but the sentiment has largely been the same.

Some of the reviews on James Harden’s new restaurant in Houston pic.twitter.com/J40yecURdT

— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) January 14, 2021

The reviews of James Harden’s restaurant is going to be running like this for quite awhile. pic.twitter.com/CvCM2Jtg08

— Lance Zierlein (@LanceZierlein) January 14, 2021

There were, however, a few diehards who came to his defense.

I get that people are annoyed at the bad reviews on Harden’s restaurant in Houston. But you can’t judge a whole fan base on some fans handling the situation wrong. As you can see from some of the reviews there’s a lot of appreciative fans out there. pic.twitter.com/YDUv7FSSDc

— Scottish Rockets Fan (@RocketsScottish) January 14, 2021

In fairness to Harden, the restaurant hasn’t even opened yet, so there’s no telling whether it’s any good, but once it opens for business on Jan. 22, it’s a safe bet that spurned fans will continue to let their voices be heard.

The Warriors are probably lucky to be 6-6. If not for Steph Curry’s heroics and the saving grace of Draymond Green’s institutional knowledge, Golden State would likely be in pretty rough shape. But for a group whose third-best player has been Andrew Wiggins, the Warriors have started to congeal into the team we thought they would be, one that defends well, moves the ball, and lets Curry cook.

As we might expect from a team that has beaten playoff sides like Portland and the Clippers due to bonkers nights from Curry, the numbers bare out that this team has been quite lucky, as the win differential metric at Cleaning the Glass shows the Warriors have played more like a 4-8 team. But that’s sort of the exact point of having Curry on your team. The Warriors were always facing an uphill battle to mesh a hastily formed team without much star power, especially after Klay Thompson went down with a ruptured Achilles’ tendon. But in many ways, their start is also reason for optimism. Most of that optimism derives from Curry, who has answered critics unequivocally through the first three weeks of the season.

After looking hapless to start the 2018-19 season before a hand injury, the two-time MVP looks healthy and rejuvenated, using nearly one-third of the Warriors’ possessions and scoring 1.25 points per scoring chance. That’s despite making an uncharacteristically low 39 percent of his triples and not keeping the defense as honest with fewer assists (6.2 a night) than usual. The difference is so far, Curry is trading in some of his rim attempts for mid-range shots, a symbol of a slightly more diverse offensive game than we’ve seen in the past.

Of course, when I put it that way, I sound like an absolute square. Anyone who’s watched Curry this season has gotten a reminder of what it’s like to feel joy. The guy who went supernova in 2015 and 2016 is absolutely back, and nobody in the NBA can take over a game like him. With Curry at peak form again, third quarters in Oakland are must-see TV once again, opponents’ transition defense looks like five guys late for a train, and Warriors games are a nightly picture book of defensive packages previously unseen in NBA games. It’s a blast.

Since Green returned, the Warriors have really come alive. He has demanded better ball movement and looks like his old self on defense. Golden State is 8.5 points per 100 possessions on defense when Green — who is only averaging four points per game — is on the floor, per Cleaning the Glass. More than anyone else, it’s Curry and Green who cemented the identity of this era of Warriors basketball, and now that both look like their usual selves, everything else has begun to click into place.

Without Thompson or Kevin Durant, though, those “janky defenses,” as Curry recently called them, are plugging things up. Despite stepping up as a shot-blocker, Wiggins is still shooting just 43 percent from the field and rates out as an overall (if slightly improved) defender statistically with a minus-1.1 Defensive Box Plus-Minus. Kelly Oubre Jr. is looking like his offensive progress in Phoenix may have been a facade. James Wiseman is learning how to affect the game offensively and is hard to count on consistenyl at 19.

Altogether, the bench has been a surprising positive, with Damion Lee, Brad Wanamaker, and Kent Bazemore the top three Warriors in individual net rating. Maybe that doesn’t hold, and the Warriors’ sterling fifth-ranked rim defense may be a product of having played bad teams and getting lucky. It’s not exactly a risky prediction to say maybe the Warriors fall off a bit once the schedule gets tougher.

This reveals what the true purpose of Golden State’s season is, and it’s not too different from last year. Because Curry is good enough to carry the offense and the team is full of veterans, the goal every night is still to win. More broadly, though, the Warriors remain on the lookout for their next trade.

Wiggins’ improvements are best looked at as an increase in his trade value, and more than the development of Lee or Oubre’s progression, Thompson’s recovery still ranks among the most prominent subplots here. Toss in a Minnesota first-round pick still in Golden State’s stockpile, and the Warriors theoretically have a chance to find another co-star for Curry to finish out his career. Maybe that player never becomes available and the Warriors go into more of a rebuild around Curry and Wiseman, but the bottom did not fall out once Thompson went down, as some expected.

To that end, the season is still somewhat of an audition period for the role players. Lee and Mychal Mulder look like somewhat capable options, as does second-year big man Eric Paschall, a small-ball center who can score from the second unit. Everyone is getting plenty of playing time, and Steve Kerr isn’t beholden to anyone outside of Curry and Green. With a more cohesive supporting cast than he had last year, Curry (whose health is, to be fair, always a question) has made it seem silly that we even wondered whether he could will a team to the postseason.

There are plenty of worse ways to use what could have been a lost season. Curry’s nightly magic show keeps the team interesting and in the playoff mix, the young guys keep improving, and the Warriors’ trade package gets a little more interesting bit by bit. No team can afford to get stuck in the middle that way for long, but there’s no real impetus or pathway for Golden State to crater to the bottom right now anyway.

After years of being an inevitable and endlessly scrutinized superpower, it’s fascinating and exciting to watch the Warriors punch above their weight and climb uphill again.

Less than a fortnight removed from an attempted coup sparked by Donald Trump, the president has been impeached a second time and dozens of the rioters that breached the US Capitol have been arrested and charged with a variety of crimes. In the days following the MAGA riot we’ve learned more about the planning and potential for the insurrection to be much worse than the already terrible reality of five people dying as a result of the attacks.

We’re also learning more about the individuals who were arrested, including the woman from Texas who took a private plane to DC to take part in the coup attempt. Jenna Ryan, a life coach and real estate broker from Frisco, Texas, was arrested on Friday after taking a private airplane to DC and documenting her part in the riot, which was an attempt to prevent the election Donald Trump lost from being certified.

As The Daily Beast detailed, Ryan has been publicly speaking about her actions for a while now, though in the aftermath of the riot she claimed she “answered the call of my president” and implied you can’t get arrested for trespass at the Capitol because “we the people own this building.” But as it turns out, you can get arrested, especially if you heavily document yourself committing crimes.

According to a criminal complaint filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Ryan diligently documented her participation in the mob—starting from her flight on a “small private aircraft” on Jan. 5.

The next day, she posted a bathroom mirror selfie on Facebook with the caption: “We’re gonna go down and storm the capitol. They’re down there right now and that’s why we came and so that’s what we are going to do. So wish me luck.” She added: “This is a prelude going to war.”

In one now-deleted video, she filmed herself in a crowd going into the Capitol through the Rotunda entrance. She walked past broken windows, up some stairs, and said, “We are going to f*cking go in here. Life or death, it doesn’t matter. Here we go.”

Ryan’s name was trending on Twitter on Friday, perhaps in part due to federal prosecutors unsealing the charges against her. They have some pretty incredible details, including photos of her quite literally boarding a private plane to a coup.

Though perhaps the most startling fact is that Ryan basically did an ad-read for her business while in the middle of an attempted insurrection. Either way, it’s yet another good reminder not to film yourself while committing federal crimes. Or any crimes at all, really. Maybe just not to do crimes at all. And definitely not to make it an ad-read for your employer.

That might make it a bit easier for authorities to track you down in the aftermath of your attempt to undermine the very seat of American democracy.