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If anyone expected President Trump to idly spectate during his opposing party’s 2020 convention for presidential nominee Joe Biden, well, scratch that idea. No one expected that, and he predictably began the DNC by having a full-blown meltdown over Michelle Obama earlier this week. And on Wednesday night, Barack Obama’s presence (and his vigorous rebuke of Trump) sent the president into a real tizzy within minutes of his predecessor’s arrival on camera.

Yes, he went all caps style from the outset while tweeting out a false conspiracy about Obama concerning the 2016 election: “HE SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN, AND GOT CAUGHT!”

More non-fan fiction followed with Trump drawing his own conclusions about how Obama customarily waited to endorse his successor as the Democratic party’s nominee: “WHY DID HE REFUSE TO ENDORSE SLOW JOE UNTIL IT WAS ALL OVER, AND EVEN THEN WAS VERY LATE? WHY DID HE TRY TO GET HIM NOT TO RUN?”

And Trump lost it when VP nominee (and former prosecutor) Kamala Harris took her turn. He straight-up made up his own version of why Kamala and Joe Biden clashed over federal school busing at a Democratic primary debate. More fiction here: “BUT DIDN’T SHE CALL HIM A RACIST??? DIDN’T SHE SAY HE WAS INCOMPETENT???”

For her part, Kamala tossed her own barb at the camera when she declared, “I know a predator when I see one.” It’s not the first time that she’s used that term to describe Trump, but oh boy.

The DNC’s final night will unavoidably include Trump tweeting during Biden’s speech. Should be a good time.

Postgame interviews with players are rarely must-watch television. Players tend to speak in platitudes and get out of there without saying something inflammatory or coming off as selfish — every single walkoff interview will include some form of “it was a team effort/win” in it. For those that happen via satellite, it’s often awkward with a bit of lag between questions and answers, but on Wednesday we were treated to an all-timer when the Inside The NBA crew dialed up Boban Marjanovic after the Mavericks 127-114 win over the Clippers in Game 2.

What ensued was one of the finest five minute interviews you’ll see on a postgame show, with Boban offering basketball analysis of his role on the team, what he was saying to Kristaps Porzingis after his Game 1 ejection, how in real life he would kick Keanu Reeves’ ass, explaining why he’s so joyful on and off the court — plus a treat for Shaq at the end.

The “You Rang?!” moment was an all-timer and I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen Shaq this happy.

Boban has long been a beloved figure in whatever locker room he is in and a fan favorite of those teams, but this offered a glimpse into his delightful personality to the masses. His “thanks for choosing me and not Luka, it’s the first time” line was fantastic and he bounced back and forth between actual basketball topics and goofy topics in such a way that made him the perfect guest for the Inside crew that does the same.

Basically, Boban forever.

There were plenty of questions going into the opening-round series between the Mavs and Clippers, chief among them being just how the Slovenian wunderkind Luka Doncic would perform in his playoff debut, when the pressure of the postseason ratchets up the intensity of every possession and defenses try to put the clamps on the opposing team’s best players.

And after a rocky start that was sullied by seven first-half turnovers, Doncic responded by pouring in 42 points, an NBA record for a playoff debut, to go along with seven rebounds and nine assists. But ultimately, it wasn’t enough as the superstar duo of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George were too much to overcome en route to a Game 1 win and a 1-0 series lead.

It turned out to be a very different story in Game 2, and behind Luka’s incredible play, the Mavs were able to even the series at 1-1 with a 127-114 win on Wednesday night, despite a huge night from Kawhi Leonard (35 points, 10 rebounds) and a late surge from L.A. With Luka’s final box score of 28 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists, it made him the second fastest player ever reach 70 points in the postseason, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and sitting just behind George Mikan for the most points in the first two playoff games of a player’s career — just the latest mark in a historic career start for the 21-year-old sensation.

Here’s what all we learned from Game 2:

Luka Is As Luka Does

Luka picked up right where he left off in Game 1, only this time, he didn’t waste any time before he got rolling, hitting three of his first four three-pointers to start the game as the Mavs raced out to a 15-2 lead. He was also much more careful with the ball, committing just a single turnover in the first half.

Good luck guarding @luka7doncic #MFFL | https://t.co/bM4Iab5fHv pic.twitter.com/i9G37WJ6po

— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) August 20, 2020

Luka was, once again, virtually unguardable. That included getting to the line. During one stretch, he took 12 straight free-throws for the Mavs. But there’s still plenty of room for growth, which is a scary thought indeed for anyone who has to face him. Luka got into foul trouble early, and he picked up his fifth personal at the start of the fourth quarter, forcing Rick Carlisle to sit him for much of the final period.

Fortunately for the Mavs, they’d built a comfortable lead by that point, but a late Clippers run forced Luka back into the game with just over three minutes remaining, where he continued to deliver the goods, hitting a couple of key buckets in the clutch to help keep the game out of reach.

Role Players Could Decide The Series

The Mavs’ supporting cast was was on fire in Game 2, with three of their six players who hit double-digits in scoring coming off the bench. Trey Burke, Seth Curry, and Boban Marjanovic scored 16, 15, and 13 points respectively, as Dallas got 47 points total from their bench unit. Burke and Curry were both huge in the second half, leading a 13-2 run to close out the third quarter and build a lead from which the Clippers would not recover, despite a few late pushes. The biggest question is whether this level of production and efficiency from Dallas’ bench is sustainable for the rest of this series.

Seth Curry is sooo nice #MFFL | https://t.co/bM4Iab5fHv pic.twitter.com/EFzkvQJO6f

— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) August 20, 2020

For the Clippers, it was no surprise, as their depth continues to be one of their key strengths. On a night when Paul George was struggling mightily and Pat Beverley was out with an injury, Lou Williams and Reggie Jackson helped keep the Clippers within striking distance in the first half, with Williams pouring in 12 quick points off the bench and Jackson knocking down 3-of-3 from behind the arc, including a timely one late in the second quarter to make it a four-point game, 52-48, with under three minutes remaining in the half.

Kawhi, of course, was the engine driving their offense, but it was the supporting cast that helped keep them afloat as they tried to claw their way back in the second half. Marcus Morris also stepped up in the third quarter to help close the gap. Morris is averaging 21 points per game against Dallas this season, and his contributions helped buttress the Clippers as George eventually got it going, scoring nine points in the third quarter after going scoreless in the first half.

Give Us More of the Bobi Show, Forever and Always

Boban had 10 points and eight rebounds off the bench for the Mavs in just seven minutes of action and missed just one shot in the first half.

Bobi is feasting #MFFL | @BobanMarjanovic pic.twitter.com/2EwofrbdMO

— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) August 20, 2020

Unfortunately, we didn’t see much more of Boban in this one, as he had a few fourth quarter minutes, a travesty that we can only hope will be remedied as the series progresses, if only for his phenomenal post-game interviews.

The Democratic Convention has seen a number of performances this week from big named artists including Billie Eilish and John Legend. Eilish used her performance to debut “My Future” and urge viewers to not only vote, but to vote for Joe Biden in the upcoming election. Legend, on the other hand, used his performance of “Never Break” to deliver “love, hope and resilience” to those watching. Bringing his talents to the convention as well, Death Cab By Cutie‘s Ben Gibbard performed two songs in an at-home performance, the first being Death Cab By Cutie’s “Northern Lights” and the second being Postal Service’s 2003 classic, “Such Great Heights.”

Gibbard also shared a message with viewers during his performance. “I think more than any election in my lifetime, this one is of paramount importance,” he said. “One of the many institutions — aside from Democracy at its very core — that is under fire is that of the United States Postal Service.” He would go on to dedicate his performance of “Such Great Heights” to the USPS amidst their recent issues as the upcoming election approaches. “We made a record using the United States Postal Service and therefore we called ourselves the Postal Service,” Gibbard said. “So I’m going to play a song by the Postal Service and dedicate it to the Postal Service.”

Watch Gibbard’s performance in the video above.

Death Cab For Cutie is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Last month a series of strange social media posts from Britney Spears convinced her fans to believe the pop star was being held hostage under her court-ordered conservatorship. While a report denied rumors that she was being held hostage, documents obtained by the New York Times revealed that Spears asked the court to end her father’s role as the sole conservator. Just a day after this news broke, the ACLU has offered their support for Britney’s upcoming court battle.

“People with disabilities have a right to lead self-directed lives and retain their civil rights,” the group said in a post to their Twitter page. “If Britney Spears wants to regain her civil liberties and get out of her conservatorship, we are here to help her.”

Britney’s father, Jamie Lynn Spears, began his role as the pop singer’s sole conservator in 2008 and held the position up until last year, when he made the decision to surrender the responsibilities to Jodi Montgomery, a licensed professional conservator, due to his health issues. According to the documents, Britney is “strongly opposed” to having her father continue his role, requesting that it be “be changed substantially in order to reflect the major changes in her current lifestyle and her stated wishes.”

Britney is not seeking to have Montgomery completely removed from the conservator role. Rather, she aims to regain the power to make her own decisions such as calling off the conservatorship altogether if she so desires.

(via New York Times

Due to the coronavirus, the Democratic National Convention is online only this year, but they’ve managed to schedule a number of Maggie Rodgers, Leon Bridges, and John Legend. On Wednesday night, day three of the convention, Billie Eilish performed her latest single, “My Future,” delivering a chilling performance.

Prior to her performance Billie Eilish appeared on-screen to encourage Americans to vote — and specifically vote for Joe Biden — in the upcoming election to help correct many of the country’s problems. “We need leaders who will solve problems like climate change and COVID, not deny them. Leaders who will fight against systemic racism and inequality and that starts by voting for someone who understands how much is at stake… It starts with voting against Donald Trump and for Joe Biden,” Eilish said. “Silence is not an option, and we cannot sit this one out. We all have to vote like our lives and the world depend on it, because they do.”

Eilish’s performance comes after the singer joined Meek Mill, Anderson .Paak, and others to sign an open letter to government leaders in California, calling for the approval of two bills aimed at addressing police reform.

You can watch Eilish’s performance and statement in the videos above.

Meek Mill is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

A hard and fast rule of the broadcast industry is to always, always assume that a microphone is hot and to never say anything into it that might get you in trouble. One would have thought veteran play-by-play announcer Thom Brennaman, who calls games for the Reds as well as Fox’s national MLB coverage, would know this, but that is apparently not the case.

On Wednesday night, Brennaman was caught on a hot mic hurling a homophobic slur in a discussion with someone as the Reds broadcast returned from a commercial break.

Unsurprisingly the use of that slur led to plenty of justified anger from fans, and entering the top of the fifth inning, Brennaman announced he would be handing play-by-play duties off to Jim Day for the remainder of the game, issuing an apology (while still giving a home run call that made it a truly surreal moment) with the clear understanding that his idiocy may have very well ended his career right then and there.

There is no excuse for using that word and his “man of faith” apology rings pretty hollow as he was only apologizing for saying a slur because it ended up being broadcast to the masses and swiftly passed around social media. As he notes, he doesn’t know if he’ll put that headset on again to call a game and in fact it’d be fairly shocking if the Reds or Fox brought him back on their airwaves at all.

The Sixers came out firing on all cylinders to start Game 2, leading by as many as 14 points in the first quarter behind a magnificent performance by Joel Embiid. In somewhat classic fashion for both teams, though, Boston was undeterred by the deficit they faced, while Philly struggled to keep up their high level of play.

It certainly helped the Celtics that Tatum was nuclear hot. Despite getting hounded by Matisse Thybulle — who was inserted into the team’s starting lineup with the explicit goal of checking Tatum — Boston’s young star went for 18 points on 6-for-9 shooting in the first half. He also knocked down five of his six attempts from deep. While Embiid was terrific, scoring 22 points on 8-for-14 shooting with seven rebounds and three assists, the Celtics went into the half up 65-57.

After the two teams came out of the locker room, the Celtics began pouring it on. They hammered Philly throughout the third quarter and stretched their lead to as many as 22 during the frame. By the time the fourth started, all that could save the Sixers was a miracle that never came. Final score: Boston 128, Philadelphia 101. Here are three takeaways from a game where the overarching takeaway was “one team looks like a title contender, while the other is stuck in a rut at the worst time.”

Jayson Tatum Can Score Against Anyone On The Sixers

With Ben Simmons out, the task of checking Tatum — who was primarily marked by Simmons during their previous matchups this year — was going to fall on a hodgepodge of players. Josh Richardson wasn’t able to get all that much done during Game 1, while Tobias Harris is just not the kind of guy you want to check a crafty scorer like Tatum. Matisse Thybulle did a nice job in spot duty in Game 1, and as a result, Brett Brown inserted him into the starting lineup.

The result: Thybulle battled admirably, but there wasn’t much he can do, because Tatum played like an All-NBA scorer. Tatum had 33 points on 12-for-20 shooting and hit eight of his 12 attempts from three. No matter what Philly threw at him — Thybulle or anyone else — Tatum was locked in.

Now, Philadelphia’s best answer for guarding Tatum is hurt. Their two best answers among players who are able to play got cooked back-to-back. Their best answer going forward might be to just accept that Tatum is going to score in droves and try to slow down everyone else. The Celtics, however, will happily take that trade, because when Tatum is in a groove, there aren’t many guys in the league who can get buckets like him.

Boston’s Going To Be Tough To Beat If Its Bench Plays Like This

Enes Kanter, Romeo Langford, Brad Wanamaker, and Grant Williams all gave the team good minutes. Boston has a lot of ways that it can beat teams, something that is particularly true when Gordon Hayward is healthy and able to suit up. Obviously single-game +/- is a risky stat to use, but…

Kanter: 22 minutes, +24
Langford: 23 minutes, +26
Wanamaker: 23 minutes, +28
Williams: 21 minutes, +13

Brad Stevens is a very, very good coach who knows how and when to throw different wrinkles into a gameplan. Their starting five — and, let’s face it, Marcus Smart is basically a sixth starter — can help them win any game. Having a bench that can consistently get them over the hump would be gigantic, particularly against deep squads like Milwaukee and Toronto. I am assuming those matchups might happen because…

I Can’t Believe It’s Come To This In Philly

Here’s a tweet.

Here’s another.

There was a time when the Sixers were in a position where, barring something completely insane happening, they’d be title contenders every year. And then, a whole lot of wrong decisions were made, putting them into the situation they’re in now. It certainly feels like we are two games away from Boston sweeping them, at which point a gigantic overhaul — of their front office, of their coaching staff, of their roster — seems on the table. Maybe even more damning, it feels necessary unless something radical changes before Friday night’s Game 3.

Billie Eilish, Meek Mill, Anderson .Paak, Leon Bridges, James Blake, and other names in the music, entertainment, sports industry have signed an open letter calling for police reforms in California. According to Pitchfork, the letter asks California Governor Gavin Newsom and state legislators to approve a pair of bills that aim to address reform on the state’s police force. The bills mentioned in the letter are SB 731 and SB 776. The former looks to create a system that would strip an officer of their certification based on serious misconduct or a criminal conviction. The latter seeks better transparency with the types of force police officers used in certain incidents.

“While the killing of George Floyd inspired sustained outrage, protests, and reporting, the people of California have long understood the need to properly address the actions and accountability of police,” the letter reads. “For too long, courts have undermined the intent of the State’s laws, allowing bad police officers to violate the rights of those they are meant to protect. In addition, a lack of transparency and a deficient recordation system has shielded officers who abuse their authority and tarnish the integrity of California’s law enforcement. We can fix this.”

The letter arrives two months after Billie Eilish and Meek Mill both signed another open letter, this one to the New York State government, calling for government leaders to repeal its statute 50-A, which concealed police officers’ personnel and disciplinary records from the public.

The entire letter can be read below:

Dear Governor Newsom, Speaker Rendon, Assembly Member Jones-Sawyer, and Assembly Member Cooley,

Occasionally, we are presented with an opportunity to make a genuine difference in the lives of millions. It may have taken the glare of a national spotlight to bring us to the threshold of change regarding abuse and injustice within law enforcement, but the moment is here. On behalf of all of us in the music and entertainment communities, we are asking you to seize that moment by passing Senate Bill 731 and Senate Bill 776.

While the killing of George Floyd inspired sustained outrage, protests, and reporting, the people of California have long understood the need to properly address the actions and accountability of police. For too long, courts have undermined the intent of the State’s laws, allowing bad police officers to violate the rights of those they are meant to protect. In addition, a lack of transparency and a deficient recordation system has shielded officers who abuse their authority and tarnish the integrity of California’s law enforcement. We can fix this.

SB 776 will establish the transparency and reporting needed to ensure that officers who engage in wrongful activity are removed – and kept – from these valued law enforcement positions. SB 731 will implement an effective system to revoke an officer’s certification based on criminal conviction and certain acts of serious misconduct and will also reinstate the original objective of the Bane Act to properly protect the civil rights of all California citizens.

Fixing the Bane Act will give closure and relief to families like that of 19-year-old Pedro Villanueva, an avid guitar player who was killed by police who fired indiscriminately from an unmarked car into his friend’s truck, in which he was a passenger. Families like that of Steven Schiltz, killed by police for holding a stick near a softball field after arriving to play a game. Families of Frankie Greer (military veteran and successful professional drummer), Luke Smith, Mauricio Barron, and to so many others who have faced – and will face – violations of their civil rights without any recourse.

These bills are meaningful responses to a critical problem and glaring inequity in our law, reflecting the Legislative Black Caucus’s efforts at reform. California is renowned for seizing those opportunities that make a genuine difference and must not abandon its stature here. We implore you to vote “Yes” on SB 731 and SB 776.

Meek Mill is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Since 2013, Drunk History has covered the past in a most novel way: by getting real historians black-out drunk and restaging their deranged attempts to remember stories they know better than anyone else. But this news is all too real: As per Deadline, the beloved Comedy Central staple is abruptly ending, and will not be back for the seventh season that was ordered last year.

The news came during Deadline‘s Emmy season virtual screening of the show, during which creators Derek Water and Jeremy Konner broke the sad news. No official reasons were given, but Deadline claimed they’d heard that it had to do with the station scaling back on live-action programs in favor of adult animation, among them reboots of Beavis and Butt-head and Ren and Stimpy, as well as the Daria spin-off Jodie. Another reported issue was the high cost of each episode, including period re-enactments. That leaves Comedy Central with only one live-action program, Awkwafina is Nora from Queens, which proved to be an instant hit.

The end of Drunk History means that the show actually ended over a year ago, with its Season 6 finale in early August of 2019, which featured guests Aubrey Plaza and David Wain acting out a soused version of a chapter from the life of Cleopatra. It also, eerily, featured a bit about Typhoid Mary, a half a year before our future’s own outbreak. Drunk History is currently in the running for three Emmy nominations, of the 17 its racked up over its six seasons. Bid Drunk History adieu fittingly by pouring one out in its honor.

(Via Deadline)