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Ed. note: Every now and then, we’ll publish a piece from the Patreon account of our own Jackson Frank. This week, we’re running with his series of musings from around the NBA titled “To Be Frank,” in which Jackson identifies a number of trends in the league that have piqued his interest. If you’d like to follow along with everything he publishes, subscribe to his Patreon.

Keldon Johnson’s fearless slashing

Among San Antonio’s gaggle of delightful young players is second-year wing Keldon Johnson, who seized an opportunity during the Orlando Bubble last season — averaging 14.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.1 steals on 77.4 percent(!!) true shooting across eight games — and has parlayed that into a breakout sophomore campaign.

Despite a recent lull (12.6 points on 51.2 percent true shooting the last five games), Johnson is still averaging 14.2 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.2 rebounds, and 0.9 steals on 55.9 percent true shooting this year, solidifying himself as a cornerstone of San Antonio’s future.

He’s a 6’5 wing who operates with an unflinching disposition attacking the basket. Nearly 52 percent of his field goals have come in the restricted area and while tunnel vision has plagued his efficiency to a degree (56.7 percent shooting), his strength, contortion and 6’9 wingspan make for some tip-of-the-cap finishes.

Get him downhill and he becomes a bumper car in sneakers, plowing through or wriggling around defenders to convert inside. Despite his physical approach, he’s only committed four charges this season, showcasing body control and discernment to score around the basket.

Watch him have his way on these bulldozes to the tin:

My favorite part of his approach are the times he revs up off the ball, maintaining energetic feet to prime himself for a drive on the catch. It’s a subtle tactic, but one that sets him up to better seize the advantage created by teammates.

Developing a drive-and-kick game to turn off the blinders from time to time and growing even more willing as a long-range shooter (34.6 percent from deep, .277 3-point rate this year) are the next components of Johnson’s refinement. Whether those appear remain to be seen, but either way, I’ll continue enjoying the spunky nature of his rim-running game.

Larry Nance Jr., The Midwestern Thief

Just shy of the NBA’s quarter poll, Larry Nance Jr. is a contender for a silly, makeshift, defensive triple crown. He leads the league in steals per game (2.3) and deflections per game (4.4), and ranks fifth in loose balls recovered per game (1.5). He’s the best defender on the sixth-ranked defense and a legitimate All-Defensive Team candidate.

Whenever I watch the Cavaliers, I find myself drawn to Nance on both ends, but most notably, it’s his proclivity for defensive chaos that pulls me in. The 6’7 wing wields high-level instincts and hands made for cup-stacking competitions that seem lathered in Stickum, launching his limbs onto any ball near him.

Package those traits with acute awareness and timely reaction speed, and you have a versatile defensive playmaker who excels in the passing lanes, at the nail and on the interior:

The diversity of those takeaways resonates prominently and is exactly why Nance should be a prime trade target for many teams (hello, Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics). Maybe the Cavaliers stay put and ride their plucky, live-wire group to a play-in berth. Either way, Nance is exactly the sort of role player who shouldn’t have to hang up his kicks until deep into the postseason, and much of it revolves around his malleable, joyful thievery.

Terry Rozier’s elite off-ball shooting

After an inaugural season with the Charlotte Hornets that saw him handle significant on-ball duties and feature his decision-making warts, Terry Rozier is being deployed as a dynamite off-ball shooter in his second year. He’s netting 42.7 percent of his 7.2 triples per game and 46.3 percent of his 4.8 catch-and-shoot threes, the latter of which ranks 10th among 53 players launching at least four a night.

His usage has shifted to reduce his decision-making burden, and it’s unlocking him as a scorer (career-highs of 18.8 points and 59.5 percent true shooting). Only 33.9 percent of his field goals are unassisted this year, compared to 47 percent last year, and his catch-and-shoot three frequency has jumped from 25 percent to 33.3 percent. His spot-up frequency skipped to 24.5 percent (18.8 percent last year). His pick-and-roll frequency is down to 16.4 percent (26.9 percent).

Ranking in the 82nd percentile on spot-ups and 72nd percentile off screens, the sixth-year guard is prospering in a reconstructed role. He turns on the burners to create separation around screens and is capable knocking down jumpers from a variety of challenging angles.

Watching him work as a lethal off-movement shooter is a treat. Scheming threes for him is clearly a priority, and he’s delivering this season, using quickness and footwork for space and sprinting into jumpers.

The Hornets’ stable of playmakers — LaMelo Ball, Gordon Hayward, Devonte’ Graham and P.J. Washington — allow Rozier to be optimized and we’re seeing the dividends in a dazzling long-range exhibition over the first 17 games.

Be wary of Scary Terry, the jitterbug off-ball shooter.

Bam Adebayo’s scoring leap

Largely for reasons outside of their control (I.e.: injuries and COVID protocols), the 6-10 Miami Heat have not been good this season. Bam Adebayo, however, has been tremendous, building upon his All-Star season and playoff run a year ago, while ascending to new levels. Primarily, that ascension has arrived by way of an evolution as an individual scorer.

He’s averaging a career-high 20.7 points (15.9 in 2019-20) on 68.1 percent true shooting. Per 100 possessions, he’s at 30.8 points, zooming past last year’s career-high of 23.1. A career-low 63.8 percent of his field goals are assisted.

After just 89 isolation possessions and 52 jumpers off the dribble in 72 games last year, he’s already amassed 33 and 28, respectively, through 14 games. The efficiency has accelerated, too; he’s not just upping the volume in hopes of adding a long-term strength. He ranks in the 97th percentile in isolation (40th last year) and 94th percentile off the dribble (16th).

I don’t expect those marks to maintain the entire season, but increasing efficiency and volume in a pair of categories that generally requires self-creation is staggeringly impressive. He’s hitting mid-range step-backs, weaponizing rip-throughs, jabs and ball-handling for space, and demonstrating picturesque touch on his in-between game.

A level of comfort and skill convergence as a self-creator emerge on these buckets that lend credence to the forward-thinking viability of Adebayo’s scoring aptitude.

His rate of improvement is phenomenal. This potential development augments the value of his passing and hopes for blossoming into a genuine offensive hub. It adds a layer to his dribble hand-off prowess, too, if defenders have to worry about him stepping into a pull-up rather than solely focusing on containing Duncan Robinson, already a laborious endeavor.

How exactly he balances his traditional responsibilities with newfound talents once Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro return to the lineup is worth monitoring. But these flashes — terming it as such feels like an undersell? — for Adebayo inspire rosy daydreams of the future. And stripping away any long-term implications, they’re simply fun to witness and that’s how it always should be on the court.

Resident Alien (SyFy, 10:30pm) — Alan Tudyk (Firefly, Rogue One) is an alien. That might be enough to reel you into this show, but just in case, let’s keep going. Alan plays Harry, an alien who crash-landed on Earth and soon occupies himself as a small-town doctor while secretly plotting to murder humans. That doesn’t go so well, and he ends up helping to solve a local murder, which causes him to re-evaluate his morals within his mission. Yep, this looks like the best kind of ridiculousness and is based upon the Dark Horse comic of the same name.

Penguin Bloom (Netflix film) — Naomi Watts (Samantha) and Andrew Lincoln (Cameron) star in this story about a family who holidays in Thailand when tragedy strikes. Sam falls off a rooftop and ends up paralyzed, which sends her lifelong outdoorswoman status flailing. She falls into a depression that makes her question her whole identity, and when her children bring home wounded baby bird (that they call “Penguin”), the process of healing and hope begins for both bird and human family.

Nancy Drew (CW, 8:00pm) — Nancy and her gang are (obviously) hunting for clues on how to fight the Algaeca while George has an unpleasant run-in with Nick’s mother.

C.B. Strike (HBO, 10:00pm) — This series is adapted from the novels of Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling) and follows a London-based private detective who investigates the most complex cases with the help of his military training. This week, the story of the strangled child is aided by a startling discovery, but an interruption in the investigation may endanger its conclusion.

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert — Billy Crystal, Rep. Jackie Speier

Jimmy Kimmel Live! — Naomi Watts, Leslie Odom Jr

The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon — Rami Malek, Bridget Everett, Jesus Trejo

Late Night With Seth Meyers — Stanley Tucci, Kate Berlant, Jacqueline Novak

In case you missed these recent picks:

Flack: Season 1 (PopTV series moving to Amazon Prime) — Flack came out two years ago on Pop TV, presumably as a limited series, but all that has changed now. Amazon picked up the Anna Paquin-starring show for an unexpected second season, which will arrive later this year. If you are in need of some guilty-pleasure escapism, consider giving this series a whirl. It’s voyeuristic and at times thrilling to watch. Flack also feels like an amalgamation of many shows and movies you’ve seen before, including The Devil Wears Prada, Scandal, and Sex and the City.

Fate: The Winx Saga (Netflix series) — Based upon the Italian cartoon Winx Club (by Iginio Straffi), this live-action reimagining serves as a coming-of-age tale set in the Otherworld, at a magical boarding school. It’s essentially a journey for five young fairies at the Alfea school, and those with human parents don’t even know that this school doesn’t exist in the “real” world. Expect a lot of teenage drama as the young women hone their powers while dealing with all the usual stuff, like love, rivalries, and monsters.

The Sister: Season 1 (Hulu series) — ITV commissioned this series with Hulu, and it’s already a hit in the U.K. The show’s based upon Burial, a best selling novel by Neil Cross (Luther) and involves a family’s life being rocked into oblivion when a presence from the past literally shows up on the porch with some unwelcome and shocking news. This development, of course, transforms into catastrophic decisions and long-lasting effects that aren’t so desirable.

Now-former Seahawks offensive lineman Chad Wheeler was arrested on Friday for suspicion of domestic violence after attacking his girlfriend after she refused to bow to him, choking her unconscious, hitting her in the face, and dislocating her arm. According to court documents obtained by KOMO News in Seattle, police arrived at Wheeler’s apartment and had to force their way into the apartment and into a locked bathroom where his girlfriend was “crying in pain, her face was covered in blood and her arm was hanging limply at her side,” per the court records.

The details of the attack from the court records are brutal and Wheeler had been booked into jail on suspicion of assault and held with a bond of $400,000, which he has since paid.

Wheeler threw her on the bed and began choking her with one hand and trying to smother her with his other hand, according to the case file. Wheeler stands 6-feet-7, weighs 310 pounds and is an offensive lineman with the Seattle Seahawks. His girlfriend stands 5-feet-9 and weighs 145 pounds.

She began to lose consciousness and tried to fight back but Wheeler grabbed her arm and twisted it, the court file says. She then lost consciousness completely for an unknown length of time.

When she regained consciousness, the girlfriend saw Wheeler by the bed and he said, “Wow, you’re alive?” Then she jumped up and ran into the bathroom, where she called her family and dialed 911, according to the case file.

The girlfriend told police when they arrived that she thought she was going to die in the attack. The arrest prompted a response from the Seahawks, who noted he is a free agent and no longer a part of the team.

No. 1 overall pick Anthony Edwards has had an up-and-down start to his rookie season in Minnesota, as so often happens with rookies. The young swingman is averaging just north of 12 points per game on some rough efficiency, but the moments where he gets going downhill and plays decisively, you can see the potential oozing out of the 19-year-old from Georgia.

Like every rookie, there’s an adjustment period for Edwards in dealing with the speed of the NBA game, and on Monday night, he got a lesson in the form of seeing Stephen Curry up close and personal for the first time. Curry had 36 points in the Warriors win over the Wolves, and while much of the focus was on the Andrew Wiggins revenge game angle, the Steph explosion in the fourth, in which he rattled off 15 points in two minutes, was eye-opening for the young Edwards, who had a pretty tremendous scrum discussing what it was like seeing Curry in action.

There’s a lot of great stuff from Edwards here, from his “it ain’t fake” remark at the end about playing Steph after watching him on TV, but his astonishment at the way Curry is always moving is something that just about everyone points out when they first have to deal with the two-time MVP. Curry’s movement is what opens up most everything for the Warriors offense, and that gravity, which Edwards mentioned, helps his teammates just as much as those three-point barrages.

Everyone has a different “Welcome to the NBA” moment, which is usually when a top player gives them the business, but things as simple as just seeing how a star like Curry is constantly moving and working, even when off the ball, can also be a lightbulb moment for guys, recognizing all of the things that go into being a great player beyond just what you do with the ball in your hands.

There are few things as frightening to a parent than losing your child in a crowded place like a shopping mall, zoo, or stadium. The moment you realize your child is missing, it’s impossible not to consider the terrifying idea they may have been kidnapped.

A woman in New Zealand recently lost her son in a Kmart but was able to locate him because of a potentially life-saving parenting hack she saw on TikTok a few months ago.

The woman was shopping at the retailer when she realized her two-year-old son Nathan was missing. She immediately told a friend to alert the staff to ensure he didn’t leave through the store’s front exit.

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“Another friend searched the area he was last seen,” the mom wrote in a Facebook post.

The mother began looking for him by rummaging through clothes racks and running through the aisles.

It was the “scariest 10 minutes of my life” she later wrote.

via Mike Kalasnik / Flickr

But then she remembered a parenting hack she saw on TikTok by blogger Jess Martini. “If your child goes missing, screw the stares and start calling out their description,” the mother recalled.

“I’m missing a little boy, he’s wearing a yellow shirt and has brown hair. He’s two years old and his name is Nathan!” she called out to the rest of the store while reminding herself not to “break down” in tears.

“You need people to understand you loud and clear,” she said.

The mother’s calls immediately deputized everyone who heard them to begin looking for the child. It was like multiplying the search by a factor of 10. “I turned an aisle and heard ‘He’s here!'” she wrote. “I turned back the way I came and there he was. A man had walked past him after hearing me calling out.”

She immediately thanked the man, realizing that if she hadn’t called out he may have never known the child was missing. “Nate would have walked past him and he wouldn’t have blinked,” she said.

In November, parenting blogger Jess Martini posted a video sharing the best way for parents to locate a missing child. It’s great advice because the knee-jerk response is usually to just call out their name or silently run around looking.

“To all parents out there, if your child goes missing, do not search in silence or just call out their name,’ Martini says in the video. “Shout out loud and clear. Say they’re missing, give a description and repeat, repeat, repeat!”

“Everyone will be on alert, and if someone is trying to take off with your kid, it will decrease the chances of them getting away,” she added.

The advice is a great reminder to make a mental note of what your child is wearing when you go out, so if they go missing, you can easily provide a description. It also proof that when a parent needs help, most people are more than willing to lend a hand.

Just days away from her debut album’s release, Arlo Parks has already made a name for herself as an earnest songwriter through her recent singles like “Eugene” and “Black Dog.” Now, Parks returns to offer one last taste of her impending LP Collapsed In Sunbeams with a touching video alongside her track “Hope.”

Directed by Molly Burdett, Park’s “Hope” short film is a reminder of the value of friendship and perseverance. It follows a girl that Parks encounters who is struggling with mental health and fitting in. Parks takes the girl under her wing and proves that despair is only temporary.

Speaking about the meaning behind her track, Parks says she tried to convey the importance of remembering that things will always get better:

“This video to me is a warm, vibrant exploration of friendship and introversion. I think there’s something so powerful about the saturated, filmic textures, the human portraits and depictions of euphoria. The song surrounds isolation, being present in your pain and knowing that you’re not the only one on the planet feeling low. I think especially in times like these it’s important to focus on the inevitability that things will get better.”

Watch the “Hope” video above and check out the Collapsed In Sunbeams cover art and tracklist below.

1. “Collapsed In Sunbeams”
2. “Hurt”
3. “Too Good”
4. “Hope”
5. “Caroline”
6. “Black Dog”
7. “Green Eyes”
8. “Just Go”
9. “For Violet”
10. “Eugene”
11. “Bluish”
12. “Portra 400”

Collapsed In Sunbeams is out 1/29 via Transgressive. Pre-order it here.

Last week Selena Gomez teased her first Spanish language project with the release of “De Una Vez,” and today she’s shared more information about the upcoming project. Despite six full-length albums, the first three with her band, Selena Gomez And The Scene, and three solo albums, this is the first song she’s released entirely in Spanish. Now, she has an entire EP slated to come out on March 12 and is planning to share another single, “Baila Conmigo” which translates to “Dance with Me,” this Friday.

The new singles features guests Rauw Alejandro and Tainy, and both artists shared their excitement about the collaboration as well:

Gomez previously teased a Spanish-language project as something she’s been wanting to do for a long time, but it was unclear whether the release would be an EP or an album until now. This isn’t the first time Selena has collaborated with other Spanish artists though, back in 2018 she appeared on DJ Snake and Ozuna’s “Taki Taki” as a guest vocalist. This time, she’s the one bringing other stars in. Keep an eye out for the tracklist for her new EP dropping tomorrow, along with a new season of her cooking show coming very soon. Until then, check out “De Una Vez” above and tune back in on Friday to hear her latest song.

After days of discussion over comments Shaquille O’Neal made to Donovan Mitchell postgame on Inside the NBA, the Lakers legend and NBA Hall of Famer decided to use Instagram to make his point that he’s played alongside guards who are at the level he believes Mitchell needs to ascend.

“I played with the best ever-to do it,” he wrote in a post full of photos of everyone from Kobe Bryant to Penny Hardaway. “You know I know what best look like.”

Shaq also made it a point to stress that his credentials when he tries to discuss greatness are nigh unparalleled in the league.

In reality, the issue had nothing to do with whether Shaq had the bona fides to analyze Mitchell’s game, but more so that his timing was rather odd. The question came after Mitchell had just put up nearly a 40-point double-double in a win for the Jazz, and was not even part of a special interview or panel segment, but in the heat of a postgame interview that did not include specifics as to where he thought Mitchell had to improve his game. None of that has anything to do with the fact that Shaq was on the same team as guys like Bryant and Hardaway during his career. Shaq is, undoubtedly, an all-time great, but as both LeBron James and Kevin Durant recently pointed out, there will be times when younger players will just not want to hear what players from his era have to say, and it has nothing to do with the respect (or lack thereof) they have for them.

Calls for newly elected Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene to resign increased on Wednesday after activist Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter was murdered during the Parkland school shooting in Florida, posted a video of Greene harassing one of the survivors. Greene can be seen accusing Parkland survivor David Hogg of being funded by George Soros while Hogg was in town to petition congress for stricter gun control to prevent further school shootings. Greene is also heard calling the young man a “coward.”

Along with the video, Guttenberg dared Greene to ask him her questions in person and to be ready to record his response. You can watch the clip below:

Guttenberg’s video arrives on the heels of a damaging CNN report that took a deep dive into Greene’s social media activity. Like incoming Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, Greene is a believer in QAnon conspiracy theories that portray Donald Trump as a heroic, messianic figure who’s fighting a shadow war against a satanic cabal that consists of Hillary Clinton, Hollywood celebrities, and other liberal politicians. What makes those beliefs particularly dangerous for someone like Greene is that she has an online history of calling for Democrats and FBI agents to be executed. Via CNN:

In one post, from January 2019, Greene liked a comment that said “a bullet to the head would be quicker” to remove House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. In other posts, Greene liked comments about executing FBI agents who, in her eyes, were part of the “deep state” working against Trump.

Considering the January 6 attack on the Capitol was the direct result of QAnon beliefs and violent online rhetoric, it’s not hard to see why members of Congress must now pass through metal detectors when Greene and Boebert are among their ranks.

(Via Fred Guttenberg on Twitter, CNN)

The most recent Porter Robinson album, Worlds, dropped in mid-2014. That was nearly seven years ago, which is an eternity in the music world these days. Fortunately, Robinson is set to make his return: His second album, Nurture, is set for release on April 23.

He previewed the album today with “Look At The Sky,” an uplifting number on which Robinson addresses his creative insecurities, singing on the chorus, “Look at the sky, I’m still here / I’ll be alive next year / I can make something good, oh / Something good.” Robinson says of the track:

“‘Look At The Sky’ is fundamentally a song about hope. There’s no shortage of fuel for despair, but you can’t take meaningful action to improve things if you don’t have some belief that things might get better. That’s what hope is, and I think it’s an emotion worth nourishing. I wrote this song at my lowest point emotionally, when I thought I couldn’t make music anymore, and I wasn’t sure if my existence would have any meaning if I couldn’t make music. In the lyrics, I’m sort of imagining what life would be like once I was on the other side of all that fear and anxiety and sadness. I’m happy to report that it’s amazing on the other side of all this, and I’m so glad I had hope and persisted.”

Listen to “Look At The Sky” above and check out the Nurture art and tracklist below.

1. “LL”
2. “Look At The Sky”
3. “Get Your Wish”
4. “WT”
5. “Musician”
6. “DRM”
7. “Mo”
8. “DS”
9. “ST”
10. “Mirror”
11. “Something Comforting”
12. “B”
13. “U”1
14. “TtFA”

Nurture is out 4/23 via Mom+Pop. Pre-order it here.