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How The NBA Can Shape Its Approach To Activism By Learning From The League’s Stars

Sun slips through the gaps in protest signs and raised fists, glancing into the lens of Damian Lillard’s phone camera to create a flare and flicker of light in the live video he’s recording of the Portland protest he’s joined. It was the 8th day and night of protests in Portland, a mirror to what’s happening across the country and worldwide, against the murder of George Floyd and the ongoing police brutality across the United States. Lillard’s voice echoes thousands of others in rolling, call and response chants of “Whose Streets? Our Streets”, “Black Lives Matter” and the individual naming of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. When the chorus shifts to “No justice, no peace”, while the audio in the recording of Lillard’s video has made his voice sound singular throughout, when he begins to repeat, “No peace, no peace, no peace” there is a pronounced emphasis on both words, a deliberate attention as his breath slows and gathers before each word, over and over — No. Peace. — that resonates.

Lillard has always been a master of control, in his steadiness and gift of foresight on court, his ongoing activism and exacting responses equating the sick to sports narrative with slavery. He is one of the most consistent players and people involved in the NBA and has worked, primarily through his actions, toward the legacy goal of his own words in “being a more solid person than a player”.

In his continued commitment to character, to being sincerely himself, Lillard is, much to the NBA’s luck, almost archetypal. He is an exemplary athlete, his activism and athletic skill are equally balanced, cooperative and endorseable. That’s why, when Lillard was accused recently of being a “spoiled and entitled brat” by ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky for saying he had no desire for the Trail Blazers to return to play in the league’s proposed bubble, he also exemplified the league’s current and blatant disconnect.

As a competitor, Lillard made it clear there was no point for him or his team to return once the season resumed if there was no numerical way for them to have a shot at the playoffs. At that point, like now, there were also no clear plans in place when it came to player safety given the ongoing spike of COVID-19 cases across the U.S., including Florida, where the league will make its return.

Orlovsky’s response centered mainly on a desperate attempt to draw gossamer parallels between what the ravages of the pandemic have taught us — to not take anything for granted, that frontline workers are required to “have to go do things” — and Damian Lillard deciding he was fine with not playing basketball right now. Aside from being grossly reductive to the work being done by those on the frontlines, all who would prefer Orlovsky’s breathless reaching be directed at pressure on, perhaps, government that can increase hazard pay or allocate more resources, it clarified a problematic point still entrenched within pro sports and those who push it, that the spectacle of performance is more essential than the people participating. That basketball, the act of playing it, and the structure it is encased in precedes the very engine, its players.

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The NBA announced the ratification of its plan for the season to restart in a bubble league in Orlando in July the same day the state of Florida recorded its greatest increase of COVID-19 cases thus far and while many American cities were smoldering. Despite the ongoing pandemic, Americans have been in the streets for two weeks demanding justice for George Floyd and the barbaric practices of policing Black people. Protests have been unilaterally met by more brutality from the police responding to them, which has increased the volume of protests, a rising cycle of abuse and response that NBA players have joined by lending their voices and platforms or physically showing up to march. Jaylen Brown, Tobias Harris, Malcolm Brogdon, Enes Kanter, Aaron Gordon, Kyle Kuzma, Terry Rozier, Lonzo Ball, Klay Thompson, Stephen Curry, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Lillard are just some of the players who have been protesting in demonstrations across the country. As a league, the NBA has a long and supportive history of civil unrest, with its players calling for change and reformative action in the face of social injustice. There have been times, however, when the league has been slow, and at times unresponsive, to backing its players in their efforts, especially if they represented a potential disruption to the continuity of the game itself.

When Bill Russell and his Black teammates were refused service in a Lexington, Kentucky restaurant prior to a Celtics preseason game, Russell and his teammates boycotted the game. In 1966, when Russell became the head coach of the Celtics, he faced relentless bigotry and was deemed difficult by white media and unfriendly by white fans who would later break into Russell’s home to damage his trophies, cover the walls in racist graffiti, and defecate in the beds. The FBI held a file on Russell that described him as “an arrogant Negro who won’t sign autographs for white children”. During his tenure, the Celtics offered a survey to fans in hopes of increasing attendance, the over 50% of the response was that there were “too many black players.” He delivered the city back-to-back championships.

Craig Hodges was a pioneer in the NBA’s 3-point game and helped the Bulls to their first two titles with his leading 3-point percentage. As a social activist and Muslim, when the Bulls were invited to the White House, Hodges handed George Bush a letter opposing Desert Storm and raised concerns with racism within the U.S. Shortly after, Hodges was dropped by the team and his 10-year career came to an abrupt end. Four years later, he would go on to file a $40-million lawsuit against the league, claiming the league was embarrassed by his action at the White House. The case was thrown out on a technicality — the statute of limitations on racial discrimination cases was two years.

In the NBA’s current rulebook protests are “not permitted during the course of a game.” The rule book also states that players, coaches and trainers “are to stand and line up in a dignified posture along the sidelines or on the foul line during the playing of the National Anthem.” These rules were already in place when Colin Kaepernick began taking knee in the NFL, and many NBA players wanted to act in solidarity with Kaepernick and his protest against oppression, the overt killing of Black people and police brutality. The league didn’t yield on that rule, and players instead stood with arms locked during the anthem, heads bowed in silence.

These same rules were in place when Nuggets guard, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, refused to stand for the anthem in March 1996. Initially, Abdul-Rauf would linger in the locker room, or stretch when the anthem was played, and it was not until he was asked by media about that the gesture — his response to the flag being a symbol of oppression and systematic racism and that standing for the anthem would conflict with his beliefs as a Muslim — became a point of contention. On March 12, 1996, former commissioner David Stern suspended Abdul-Rauf. Days later he agreed to the league’s compromise of standing with his head bowed and eyes closed during the anthem. In response, two Denver DJs trespassed into a mosque and played the American national anthem with their trumpets “as a stunt,” Abdul-Rauf was traded in a career-high season to the Kings where he lost his starting spot and would be out of a career a year later at 29. Five years later, his house in Gulfport, Mississippi, was burned to the ground.

Claiming that these instances were of their time may be historically correct but not any less problematic or prime examples where the league placed the value of the continuity of play above the league’s players, its own people. Russell has somewhat since reconciled with the Celtics but after everything he went through, he had no responsibility to, and Hodges was ostracized anew by the framing he received in The Last Dance. Abdul-Rauf was a player at the height of his career who opted to use his platform and likely hoped it would afford him some measure of protection against retaliation, overt or surreptitious. Instead he received neither.

League-backed instances of activism and protest are often equated to the changing of the guard from Stern to Adam Silver, but many occurred while Stern was acting commissioner. What they have in common is that they, for the most part, happened off the court or, when they overlapped with the game, they were statements that sprung from a backstory and had a reference point needed in order to be understood.

When Phoenix donned their Los Suns jersey on Cinco de Mayo in 2010, it was to celebrate the holiday, but it was also a statement opposing the introduction of the state’s strictest anti-immigration law to date. The law, SB 1070, allowed local police to check the legal status of those they suspected to be undocumented immigrants at random, an action that led to increased and emboldened racial profiling of the Latino community in Phoenix. Fans and locals understood the gesture, but the jerseys, which had been introduced in 2006, did not raise much response of reaction beyond that instance. Similarly, when Trayvon Martin was murdered in February 2012, the roster of the Miami Heat would respond by donning hoodies before a game in late-March in honor of what Martin wore when he was shot in his family’s own neighborhood. It was LeBron James who would tweet the photo the team took together out.

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James has become the NBA’s most prominent voice on social justice and inequality, and it has been through the prolific platform he’s cultivated. This initially came through social media, where James currently sits at 112 million followers across Twitter and Instagram, and later through his far-reaching philanthropic efforts and multidimensional media company, UNINTERRUPTED. James is his own network and it is hard to imagine his career being derailed by the act of speaking out. By and large he is looked to by the league itself and its community of players as a barometer of response, a role he has fully and meaningfully inhabited since his and the Cavs “I Can’t Breathe” shirts in response to Eric Garner’s 2014 murder, his turning Fox’s Laura Ingraham’s beautifully backfiring “Shut up and dribble” into a mantra and movement, his calling Trump a “bum”, and now, again, in standing up amid widespread unrest.

It is the platform of its players that the league understands to be the most powerful, and where, at times, it rightly takes backseat and lets players speak for themselves. In the peak of Kaepernick’s protest, Silver and former NBA Players Association Executive Director, Michele Roberts, wrote an open letter to players, encouraging them to speak up on “critical issues that affect our society also impact you directly”. The messaging was by no means hollow, but it was also a step that, intentional or not, diffused the question of whether or not NBA players would kneel during the anthem. As younger and more communication savvy generations are drafted into the league each year, fluent and in some cases better and more quickly informed on social issues as they develop than executives in the league, there will be less of an inclination from them to wait. They’ve grown up in a world where things don’t always get addressed or get better. They want what is actionable, fast and impactful.

Like James, the league’s own efforts in activism, championing progressive causes and social response have been far-reaching and genuine. In its Represent Justice campaign, it has brought teams into American prisons for games and to encourage dialogue and break down stigmas associated with those incarcerated, the majority of whom are disproportionately Black. It works with many non-partisan organizations to host voter registration events and through NBA Voices the league has partnered with community organizations working to address inequality including the Equal Justice Initiative, Athlete Ally, Innocence Project, Rise and many more. Internally, it is a league striving to create better resources for its players, investing in their performance as much as their mental health.

But still, where the league gets snagged is where these efforts don’t align with its business model and sole product — basketball. It was less than a year ago when Rockets GM, Daryl Morey, tweeted his support for Hong Kong protestors and their anti-extradition action. Morey was swiftly brought to heel. In his statement, Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta distanced himself and the team from Morey, and the league’s response called Morey’s statement “regrettable.” Silver lamented the economic impact of the tweet while insisting the league was supporting Morey, admitting that “China” demanded Morey be fired. The fallout grew even stranger, with right-wing U.S. politicians celebrating Morey for standing up to China, many who aligned themselves in policy and action with Trump, who the NBA’s players have spoken out against since he first took office. What was clear was that while Morey exercised a tenant of NBA to speak out and speak freely on critical issues, he did so where it stood to hurt expansion efforts and the league’s bottom line.

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The push by the NBA now to resume doesn’t just bulldoze over a pandemic, it bulldozes over hundreds of thousands of voices in anguish, demanding change. It is hard to know what the U.S. is going to look like in two weeks, let alone by the end of July when professional basketball is set to resume. Will protests continue to gain momentum? Will the pandemic?

The NBA is a large, private corporation. It can be easy to forget that because they employ some of the biggest personalities whose outspoken tendencies accelerate our familiarization and resulting fondness to them. That and the sport is so visible. Watching, you begin to get a feel for an individual player’s tics and range, you are tied up in their visceral triumphs. The NBA is also a global leader in progressive action that through its outsized financial gains, meaningful partnerships and independent initiatives, has contributed to some of the most profound change in the way sports are representative of something greater as much as they are played and consumed. What recent months have laid painfully bare, whether or not you watch basketball, is that there is no point to idle in the murk of the middle ground and its helpful obfuscation. To have staying power, people and corporations need to move in a collective direction where words match action.

Sports are the ultimate distraction, and leagues are in the business of making their fans comfortable and happy. It’s why the NFL fought so hard to keep players from following Colin Kaepernick’s lead and kneeling during the anthem, and why the NBA preemptively reminded players of its code of conduct regarding the anthem. However, things like systemic racism and police brutality cannot be ignored or set aside at any time, particularly in a league made up of a Black majority. Money and effort to help activism and the fight for justice off the court is important, but the league knows it has the biggest impact when fans are watching games. Adam Silver recently joined Inside the NBA where he promised that the league would listen and learn. That commitment is the correct tack, but there comes a time when simply being responsive is no longer enough. When millions watch the NBA return in a matter of weeks it will be an unprecedented opportunity for the league to step up and use their greatest platform to further amplify and legitimize — to those who have difficulty reconciling the real world with athletes they already hold in a bubble — the work their players are doing within their communities and the messages they have been shouting alongside thousands in the streets.

There is a growing line of dialogue that says whatever happens this season, and whoever wins the title, it will have been an asterisk season. It will, in effect, not count the same. The NBA’s history of social action is an authentic one, and where it has missed the mark or come a step too late it has most often, where it counts, made up for it. How it chooses to move forward now when that motion seems entirely set will make all the difference on where that asterisk settles, and if it denotes a league identity referred to as before and after with hesitation, or with a pronounced emphasis, a deliberate attention — something that resonates.

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Terry Crews Is Attempting (Again) To Explain His Controversial ‘Black Supremacy’ Tweet

It’s been an, uh, eventful couple of weeks for Terry Crews, due to the discussions surrounding the future of wacky cop comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine and his “Black supremacy” tweet (not to mention his belated apology to Gabrielle Union). “Defeating White supremacy without White people creates Black supremacy. Equality is the truth. Like it or not, we are all in this together,” Crews tweeted on Sunday, causing an immediate backlash. His follow-up comments didn’t help, either. On Monday’s episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers, the John Henry star was asked about his comments. Here’s what he said:

“One of the big things that I tweeted was the fact that I felt, you know, defeating white supremacy without the help of white people could create a black supremacy. Now, the term ‘black supremacy’ was just destroyed. What I was trying to say is that I, as a member of the black community, there have been so-called ‘gatekeepers’ who decide who’s black and who’s not. And in this effort to really push equality and to end white supremacy and systematic racism, there are certain black people who have determined that what I’m doing has no bearing. I have been rendered moot because I am successful. And my point is just the fact that we need all of us.”

He also compared the situation to women’s rights, where “women’s rights without men, nothing changes. If men don’t understand how to treat women, we’re going to have a problem. And it’s the same thing with white people. If white people don’t understand how to treat us as a community, we’re going to have a problem. But, also, in our own community, we have to know how to treat each other. And we have to allow ourselves to agree, to disagree, to have different viewpoints.”

Crews also discussed the future of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, as he recently did with us.

“We actually all got on a Zoom call just the other day because of what’s happening in this country. We were witnessing so many abuses of power. We had some somber talks and some really eye-opening conversation about how to handle this new season.”

You can watch the interview above.

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Nipsey Hussle Was Originally Meant To Appear On Meek Mill’s New Protest Song

Meek Mill provided one of the musical highlights of last week with “Otherside Of America,” a politically charged tune on which Meek samples an old Donald Trump campaign speech and raps about racial injustice. Meek is the only rapper on the song, but now it appears that wasn’t always supposed to be the case, as Meek revealed he initially hoped to get Nipsey Hussle to feature on the track.

On his Instagram Story, Meek shared a text exchange he had with Hussle in early 2019. The two discussed the song, and Hussle suggested “Other side of America” as the title. Hussle later says, “ima go in,” and then he shared an MP3 file with Meek, presumably of a verse he recorded for the song, and noted, “Saint John got on it too.” Meek wrote on the post, “Nip was suppose to be on this!! rip king!”

While Hussle didn’t appear on this song, there may still be new material from the late rapper on the way. Hussle’s tour DJ, DJ VIP, recently discussed the music the artist left behind, saying, “First of all, if any music ever comes out, it’s going to be with the blessing of Sam [Asghedom, Nipsey’s brother] and the family. So, at this point, that’s something they would have to answer. Right now, there’s a ton of Nipsey music that hasn’t been released that is original Nipsey music. But, that’s up to them. At this point, there are no plans for anything to come out in the immediate future.”

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

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Gunna And Lil Keed Dodge Gunfire At Their Recent Music Video Shoot

Social media is a buzz with chatter about Gunna‘s recent video shoot, where a gunman opened fire and sent bystanders scurrying. In a video that appears to have been shot by a crew member, Gunna can be seen performing in front of a dirt bike and its rider as another rider cruises around on an ATV in the background. Gunshots can be heard coming from off-camera and the assembled crew members hit the jets as the shots continue.

Gunna himself returned to social media shortly afterward, posting his typical ‘fit pics from his home studio and writing, “I had 99 problems I just scratched yo hoe off the list. #DontBelivetheCap”

Meanwhile, another attendee, Gunna’s fellow Atlanta trap rapper Lil Keed, also posted some stills of his own from the video shoot, seemingly suggesting that all went well before or after the gunshots derailed everything and promoting the video, “Fox 5,” writing that it’s coming “soon.”

Gunfire marred another recent Atlanta video shoot last week when a 15-year-old boy was grazed by a bullet on the set of YFN Lucci’s upcoming video. Gunna and his fellow ATLiens may want to stick to shooting their videos inside the house for a while — the way Gunna performed his livestream concert to benefit the family of George Floyd.

See videos and pictures from Lil Keed and Gunna’s video shoot above.

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

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King Princess Calls Out J.K. Rowling In Response To Her Tweets About Trans Women

J.K. Rowling, as she tends to do every now and then, generated some attention with comments made on social media.

Sharing an article titled “Opinion: Creating a more equal post-COVID-19 world for people who menstruate” on Twitter, Rowling wrote, ‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?” This did not sit well with a lot of people, including King Princess (real name Mikaela Straus).

After that post, Straus took to Instagram to pen a lengthy response to the Harry Potter author, calling out Rowling for her views on trans women:

“I am not the person you will find calling out people on the internet, but that being said this one is personal. JK Rowling …why I find your comments so disconcerting … damn there are so many reasons. First of all, I don’t think especially now, that you realize the accidental queer haven you created in your books for so many kids within the lgbt spectrum. Right now you are telling countless trans/femme kids that they basically didn’t deserve to be a part of that Utopia. That you pretty much negate the presence of their identities in this world. And the worst part of all is that you feel attacked? You feel like your womanhood is attacked by a movement towards trans equality? What does this AT ALL have to do with you and your womanhood and why do you feel so angry? Are you scared that the inclusion of trans femme people somehow erases you? Do you see the swarths of cisgender white woman agreeing with you on twitter and basically unifying over the erasure or trans bodies? Do you see that by talking you are refusing to listen to a group of people are being murdered, beaten, and left unprotected by the law everyday. Because I know, and so many others know that you, as a white cis gender woman, have had a lot more years of systematic privilege and power than trans folks. Separating cis women from trans women is exactly what allows this systematic privilege/hierarchy to continue. So please ask yourself why you are talking, why you are disrupting this movement with your confusing words, and why, as a writer, you feel the need to attack a group of people who most likely sustained your business for many years. Bye.”

On the same day as her aforementioned tweet, Rowling also wrote, “If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction. If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn’t hate to speak the truth.” Straus responded to that, “Why are you doing this?” She also added, “Please stick to wizards and such. It truly suits you better.”

Find Straus’ original Instagram post below.

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36 Then Vs. Now Pictures That Show How Different American Cities Look Compared To Just A Few Weeks Ago


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The Longest Summer: Where The Atlanta Hawks Go From Here

Our Longest Summer series will look at the eight teams whose seasons are now officially over, and will have to wait until mid-October to make decisions on what’s next and how to proceed after falling short of the cut-off for a continued 2019-20 campaign.

Prior to the 2019-20 season, there was buzz (at least in some circles) about the Atlanta Hawks as a potential threat at the edges of the Eastern Conference playoff race. While that never materialized, Lloyd Pierce’s team enjoyed flashes of what might be to come, especially with the growth and development of Trae Young as the team’s centerpiece of the present and future.

In the end, though, the Hawks posted an unsightly 20-47 record, sunk by shaky roster building and other factors, including an unforeseen 25-game suspension to the team’s second-best player in John Collins. Maybe most frustrating for the Hawks is they never got to try and make a late season run with a new-look roster after an active trade deadline. Ultimately, Atlanta’s struggles paved the way for exclusion from the 22-team bubble in Orlando but, as the extended offseason arrives, there are many factors to evaluate.

2020 Free Agents

Jeff Teague (UFA), Damian Jones (RFA), Skal Labissiere (RFA), DeAndre’ Bembry (RFA), Treveon Graham (UFA), Vince Carter (UFA — likely retired)

2020 Projected salary cap space (assuming $115 million salary cap)

$47.75 million, per Early Bird Rights

Areas of Strength

The Hawks, unlike many teams in rebuilding mode, have a legitimate star in Young. Acquiring that No. 1 piece is the single most important piece of any rebuild and, after a strong sophomore campaign, Young is firmly entrenched as the face of the franchise. Atlanta also has another high-end offensive piece with John Collins and a bevy of young wings with De’Andre Hunter, Cam Reddish and Kevin Huerter. Atlanta’s combination of youth and flexibility makes the team quite intriguing this summer, especially once Clint Capela returns in full from the injury that ended his 2019-20 campaign prematurely.

Areas of Need

Atlanta doesn’t have a glaring positional need, which can be a good and a bad thing depending on how the team’s younger supporting pieces progress. The Hawks have a few lineup constructions that already make sense but, at the same time, the team struggled mightily without Young on the floor this season. Part of that is a lack of a legitimate primary creator aside from Young. One of the team’s glaring deficiencies in 2019-20 was the center position but, with Capela now on board, the Hawks should be looking for more shooting and, ultimately, continuing the search for the second perimeter star that almost every team is seeking.

Biggest Decisions

In a free agent class void of top-tier stars, the Hawks picked a challenging time to have the largest amount of cap space in the NBA. Atlanta doesn’t have to rush things and overspend but, at the same time, there could be internal pressure to take a step forward as Young’s third season arrives. The Hawks could improve drastically by simply adding one or two competent, starting-quality players at the 2 through 4 spots. The alternative is for the Hawks to do more of their work around the edges, using cap space in other ways beyond inking high priced free agents, and focusing on keeping the runway clear for their young players to grow. Beyond that, they team has a pick in the top half of the lottery to play with when the draft arrives and Collins is extension-eligible, though the Hawks have some incentive to take advantage of his (relatively) low cap hold in the summer of 2021.

Overall Offseason Focus

It’s a big offseason for the Hawks. The on-court results were brutal in 2019-20, but considering the team’s combination of star power, youthful talent and future flexibility, there is a lot to like in Atlanta. The goal should be to improve while doing so responsibly and avoiding the pitfalls that a team could make with a porous free agent class and a pocket full of cap space.

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‘Daily Show’ Host Trevor Noah Rips Into Cops For Responding To ‘Calls To End Police Brutality With Even More Police Brutality’

Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Trevor Noah returned from a two-week hiatus on Monday, and there was nothing to talk about. If only.

In an extended and emotional hour-long episode, host Noah discussed the recent protests against police brutality. “Never before in American history has there been an uprising like this, exactly like this, where you have huge numbers of people coming out every single day, in every single state in the country,” he said, later adding, “With all these protests sweeping across America, people have been comparing this moment to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. And much like the 1960s, law enforcement officers have met these calls to end police brutality with even more police brutality.”

Noah spotlighted the video showing 75-year-old peaceful protester Martin Gugino being violently shoved to the ground by two police officers (he’s currently hospitalized in serious but stable condition, even if a certain mush-brained someone thinks it’s all a hoax). “I don’t care how many times I see that video; I will never get used to it,” the Daily Show host said. “Because it’s bad enough that these cops push an old man who is walking over to them. But the fact that they walk over him, they walk past him while he’s bleeding out on the sidewalk. Who are you protecting and serving, if not that old man?”

And to disprove the “bad apple” theory, Noah showed footage of the two cops getting cheered by their fellow officers after being released on bail. “What are they cheering for? Something I think people need to understand about the police is that in a way, they have the same code that a gang does in that above all, you are loyal to your crew,” he said. “That is a culture that is within every police department. That’s the heart of this issue.”

“If good police are willing to look the other way or even join in when the bad police abuse their powers, you can make new rules and regulations all you want but if it won’t matter. America’s not going to be able to fix this problem until we have police whose first priority is protecting and serving the people instead of protecting and serving themselves.”

You can watch clips from the episode below.

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Drake’s Albums Were Ranked By Noah ’40’ Shebib, But Now He Has Changed His Mind

Perhaps nobody is as important to Drake’s career (aside from Drake himself) as Noah “40” Shebib, the man who has produced all of the rapper’s albums. So, when he speaks about Drake, people listen. He talked about his high-profile collaborator in a recent Rolling Stone interview, and during the conversation, he ranked Drake’s albums.

From best to worst, Shebib ranked Drake’s discography as follows: So Far Gone, Take Care, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, Scorpion, Nothing Was The Same, Views, and Thank Me Later, excluding More Life because it’s a “playlist.”

After the fact, though, Shebib didn’t actually support his rankings. DJ Akademiks posted about Shebib’s list on Instagram, and in the comments, Carl Chery, a Creative Director at Spotify, wondered why Nothing Was The Same was placed so low. To that, Shebib responded, “Yo @carlchery I was driving when he asked that question. I would never have NWTS that low. Some days that’s my favourite project we did but it’s whatever lol I have different reasons for why I’m attached to different projects then everyone else and that’s understandable but that list ain’t right I don’t stand by that. And also I ain’t giving a list cause as I said I have a different perspective.”

@akademiks/Instagram

Read the full Rolling Stone interview here.

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‘Bill And Ted’ Get The Heck Out Of 2020 In This Most Excellent ‘Face The Music’ Trailer

Strange things are afoot at the Circle-K? Maybe. The good news, though, is that it’s “Bill And Ted Day,” as foretold by Alex Winter, one of the two stars of Bill And Ted Face The Music, the long-anticipated threequel of the greatest damn franchise ever. Yes, “greatest” is a subjective term (fight me, Vin Diesel), but is anyone going to argue that the reteaming of Winter (as Bill S. Preston, Esq.) and Keanu Reeves (as Ted “Theodore” Logan) is an unwelcome sight in 2020? Nope.

Orion Pictures is here for us. These two righteous dudes are back, finally, as Wyld Stallyns, who actually are the greatest band on Earth. That’s not even owing to taste, for their music will transform Earth and encourage peace and prosperity. With this trailer, they’re presumably operating in real time, which means that they’re ditching 2020 (to steal their music from themselves in the future), and that sounds like a fantastic idea. The film’s first trailer also features… Prison Bill and Ted? Alright.

Not only are Winter and Reeves aboard for this film, but William Sadler will return as Death (with the air guitar moves intact). Brigette Lundy Paine and Samara Weaving will be portraying the daughters of Bill and Ted, respectively, and we’ll also see Anthony Carrigan, Kid Cudi (as himself), and some archival footage of George Carlin as Rufus.

Bill And Ted Day is also taking place on the perfect day: 6/9. Nice. And excellent! Enjoy this righteous poster.

Bill And Ted Face The Music will arrive on August 21.