The NBA is gearing up for its restart next week, with scrimmage games taking front and center in Orlando as a host of teams prepare to resume an eight-game regular-season slate in Orlando to help determine which teams will qualify for a postseason run on the Disney World campus.
It hasn’t been without its hiccups. A couple of players broke quarantine early on, but since then, a second round of testing revealed no new positive tests for COVID-19, indicating that the safety precautions put in place are currently working and the return of NBA basketball is upon us.
Still, several players have been forced to leave the bubble in Orlando for various reasons. On Friday, news emerged that Clippers guard Lou Williams is the latest player to have to do so, as he needs to attend to a personal matter, but is expected to return to his team and participate in the restart.
Lou Williams has left the Clippers and the NBA campus due to an excused absence. He is expected to return. Williams joins Montrezl Harrell and Patrick Beverley as Clippers who have had to leave to tend to an issue.
That makes Williams the third Clippers player to leave Orlando recently, as Montrez Harrell and Patrick Beverley have each departed for personal reasons. Zion Williamson is another high-profile player who has left the bubble and who has no clear timetable for a return.
The situation leaves the Clippers badly depleted as they prepare to restart the season, though it’s clearly more important that they attend to their personal matters first before returning to Orlando.
By some appearances, it looked like the New York Knicks were ready to turn over a new leaf. Rumors indicated that they had targeted Tom Thibodeau for the head coaching job going into next season, and while Thibodeau isn’t viewed as a perfect coach, he’s a former Knicks assistant who has a reputation for raising a team’s floor, something that is desperately needed in New York.
That, naturally, turned out to be short-lived. No sooner had those rumors emerged that they were followed by reports of the Knicks trying to low-ball Thibs during negotiations. But Knicks do, appear, to have a backup plan in place.
On Friday, the latest of New York was that they have now pegged Jason Kidd as a top choice to take over. Kidd, a former Knick, would reportedly be on a tight leash, however, and would be subject to having at least some of his staff picked for him by the organization.
The Knicks coaching search has turned messy with Jason Kidd emerging as a frontrunner after contract negotiations with Tom Thibodeau stalled, a plugged-in NBA source told the Daily News.
Kidd, an unquestioned Hall of Fame player, is viewed by the Knicks as a conduit to attracting free agents, but there are also people in the organization who are skeptical of his coaching ability following underwhelming stints in Brooklyn and Milwaukee. As a result, the Kidd hire would come with the caveat of the front office picking at least some of his assistant coaches.
Kidd is currently an assistant with the Lakers as they prepare for what they hope is a long postseason run in Orlando. According to the report, there is still some optimism that the Knicks could reach an agreement with Thibs, although it would entail him caving on some of his demands.
Kidd’s track record as a head coach hasn’t been without its controversy during both his stints in Brooklyn and Milwaukee, and sources for the Daily News say the Knicks’ choices for assistants to put in place could include Kenny Payne, Rod Strickland, and Mike Woodson, the latter of whom’s name has been brought up in conversations for the head coaching job of late.
Fresh off of his Verzuz battle with Snoop Dogg, DMX linked up with Casanova, one of his sonic descendants, on “Don’t Play Games.” Based on the title and the two artist’s gritty reputation, you already know a lot of pain was dished out over this track’s horror movie keys and head-snapping drums.
Kevin Gates — “Difficult”
Kevin Gates declares “this just in: I’m goliath” over “Difficult’s” triumphant horns, before floating over the four-minute track with a slinky flow.
Reese LAFLARE — “No Hook” Feat. Benny The Butcher
Benny The Butcher is near the top of most people’s lists of artists who’d excel on a “No Hook” song. Reese LAFLARE and Benny’s latest is a sonic diversion from Benny’s sonic wheelhouse, but he proves his versatility, bouncing over the flailing beat and letting the pretenders know, “You never been like that you draggin’ it.”
Chief Keef — “I Thought I Had One”
Chief Keef is back with his latest single, taking it easy over a dense 808-based production and rhyming menacingly about a “hole so big I see what he thinkin’.”
Dave East — “Believe It Or Not”
This week, Dave East dropped off “Believe It Or Not,” which is not a single about him and J. Cole being The Boondocks’ Huey and Riley grown up, but a summery, typically reflective track where he delves into the New York underworld but also notes he’s “rappin’ and actin’, I’m jus’ tryna keep up with Pac.”
Currensy & Harry Fraud — The OutRunners
Currensy and Harry Fraud are one of the rap game’s most reliable connections. They gave us another example of why on the effortlessly smooth The OutRunners, a nine-track lyrical exercise which costars Wiz Khalifa, Rick Ross, Conway, and Jim Jones.
Cambatta — LSD: Lunar Solar Duality
Cambatta is one of the rap game’s most gifted lyricists, ambitious creators, and spiritually in-tune artists. That intriguing mesh is on display throughout LSD, his latest project out on Mello Music Group.
Flo Milli — Ho, why is you here ?
Flo Milli is one of the rap game’s most intriguing personalities. Her confident lyrics and infectious charisma bursts through the seams of her latest mixtapeHo, Why Is You Here. The 12-track, 30-minute project is a fun introduction fo Flo for the unaccustomed, and a strong introduction for ardent fans.
Lil Skies — “Lightbeam” Feat. NoCap
Lil Skies and NoCap hit the track in the video for “Lightbeam,” an easy-going track where the two take turns over a smooth, hypnotic instrumental.
Wifisfuneral — “Lost In Time” Feat. Coi Leray
Wifisfuneral and Coi Leray collaborated on an ideal track for these solitary times on “Lost In Time,” a minimalist track which left room for the two to croon longingly for romance.
Skimask The Slump God — “Burn The Hoods”
Ski Mask The Slump God and Cole Bennet speak to the time, as he commandeers a piercing, thrilling soundscape and explores the peril of Blackness with his characteristically daring flows.
Liljitm3n — “Better Life”
Florida’s Liljitm3n explored some of his life’s travails on “Better Life,” an aspirational track where he simply reflects, “Remember I ain’t have it, I have it,” and gushes about making his mother happy. The single sets the tone for his upcoming debut mixtape.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Last week Michelle Obama announced that she would be launching her own podcast to stream exclusively on Spotify. It’s to be called Higher Ground: The Michelle Obama Podcast, which (unsurprisingly) has us psyched — it’s Michelle Obama! She’s great! — and for her first guest, she’s snagged a pretty high-profile personality. Her husband, former President of the United States Barack Obama.
Honestly, Michelle could’ve chosen anyone as her first guest and we would’ve been just as excited, but giving us the chance to hear her chopping it up with Barack feels especially satisfying. It probably won’t be as juicy as Will and Jada’s Red Table Talk, but folks are definitely eager to find out. According to Deadline, in the debut episode which is set to air on July 29th, Michelle and Barack dive into an intimate conversation that covers community, their love for each other, and their respective journeys after leaving the White House
“Given everything that’s going on right now, from the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and the ongoing protests and conversations that are testing our patience — and our consciences… not to mention all the challenges we’re experiencing due to the pandemic, I think that these days, a lot of people are questioning just where and how they can fit into a community,” begins the first episode, according to a preview obtained by Deadline.
While we’re sure anyone would jump at the chance to chat with Michelle Obama, it’s looking like most of her guests for this first season will be people she’s close to on a personal level. “I’m so excited to kick off my podcast on Wednesday — with Barack as my first guest!” writes Michelle on an Instagram post,
“Throughout this first season, I’ll be having more conversations like this one with the people closest to me… I’ll be having more conversations like this one with the people closest to me. My mother and brother stop by, as does my friend and mentor, Valerie Jarrett. You’ll also hear from many of my girlfriends, the women who’ve always been there with a shoulder to lean on, a perspective to think about, or simply an open line to vent to. In this time of social distancing, it’s more important than ever to invest in the relationships that make us who we are.”
Stream the Michelle Obama Podcast on Spotify beginning July 29th.
Hudson Mohawke, the Scottish producer, DJ, and one-half of the duo Tnght, has offered fans a new project. With no warning, Mohawke shared the EP Heart Of The Night, which reimagines several laid-back R&B hits as revved-up electronic remixes.
Mohawke’s four-track Heart Of The Night breathes new life into tracks like Beyonce’s’ 2003 hit “Baby Boy” with Sean Paul and Christina Milian’s 2004 number “Dip It Low.” Mohawke hangs onto the integrity of each song but turns them up a few notches, increasing the tempo while adding in several layers of explosive instrumentals.
Announcing the surprise release on social media, Mohawke described the effort as “classic rnb bootlegs” he’s made over the years. The producer also mentioned the EP arrives alongside an exclusive t-shirt designed by artist Chris Simpson which reads, “I wish that hudson mohawke was dead so that he could be my wife.”
New newwww.
Little ep of classic rnb bootlegs I’ve made over the years is out todayyy for free giveaway + a new tee w my favourite boy @getbentsaggy
Ahead of releasing Heart Of The Night, Mohawke’s project Tnght with producer Lunice returned after a six-year hiatus. The collaborative duo released their second EP, titled II, which boasted eight tracks propelled by forceful beats, warped vocal samples, and room-filling bass.
Listen to Mohawke’s “Baby Boy” above.
Heart Of The Night is out now via Warp. Get it here.
After a two-month delay, the 2020 WNBA season tips off Saturday morning with an ESPN double-header featuring four of the most exciting teams in the league. Here to hail the return of the women’s game is an excellent ad spot titled “Make Way” that proclaims “It’s time to not just know the WNBA, but the women behind it.”
The spot features the Chicago Sky’s Diamond DeShields, the Las Vegas Aces’ A’ja Wilson, the Los Angeles Sparks’ Nneka Ogwumike, the Minnesota Lynx’s Sylvia Fowles, the Seattle Storm’s Sue Bird, and is voiced by Los Angeles’ Seimone Augustus.
The league signed a new collective bargaining agreement in January, and WNBA players came together to dedicate the 2020 season to the Black Lives Matter movement and formed a Social Justice Council that will design and carry out initiatives to beat back against racism in America over the course of the season and beyond.
The 2020 season begins tomorrow at noon when Diana Taurasi and the Phoenix Mercury take on Ogwumike, Candace Parker, and the Los Angeles Sparks on ESPN. That game is followed by the WNBA debut of Sabrina Ionescu, the No. 1 pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft, as her New York Liberty take on Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart, and the championship favorite Seattle Storm.
Tequila is summer in a bottle. This couldn’t be more obvious than July 24th — when National Tequila Day lands on our (very empty) calendars. This Blue Weber-agave spirit is fresh, light, and full of vegetal sweetness. It’s the base for some of the best summer cocktails, including the Uproxx-beloved paloma and the happy hour staple the margarita.
While we’re all about sipping cocktails while we sit on a patio or porch, preferably overlooking a large body of water, we also enjoy tequila neat or on the rocks. Which means that we’re often looking for the good stuff. No dyes or additives, please.
Just like with anything and everything on God’s green earth, there are overly hyped, properly hyped, and correctly hyped bottles of tequila out there. But with National Tequila Day upon us, we’re not here to trash brands or sing the praises of brands that don’t need any more press. We’re talking about the bottles that don’t get the respect they deserve — so we asked some of our favorite bartenders to tell us their picks for the most underrated bottles on the market.
Don Julio Reposado
Nestor Marchand, director of food and beverage at Plunge Beach Resort in Lauderdale, Florida
Don Julio Reposado. It’s aged for 8 months in American white oak barrels. The result is a very mellow tequila with hints of cinnamon and sweet agave. Excellent tasting tequila.
Grand Vida Anejo
Shawn Brown, General manager of Wine World in Miramar Beach, Florida
This is tricky. Grand Vida Anejo. The packaging is not the best, but the tequila is very smooth and significantly less expensive and tastes better than Patron.
Don Abraham Reposado
Mohammed Rahman, bar director, Kata Robata in Houston
When thinking of top-shelf tequila, brands such as Don Julio, Patron, and Clase Azul are quick to appear into the forefront. A brand I believe deserves to be in that line up is Don Abraham. With offerings from blanco to extra anejo, this brand has been around for decades. My personal favorite being their reposado.
This expression is a great bang for your buck and never fails to satisfy, exhibiting traits any tequila enthusiast would immediately dub to be worthy of their adoration.
Don Julio Blanco
Reniel Garcia, bar director of Havana 1957 in Miami
Don Julio Blanco has a very nice pungent roasted agave aroma. The taste contained an obvious herbal character combined with some spice/peppery notes. The agave does emerge towards the end to round things out.
One of the better blancos I’ve tried. Perfect for margaritas and maybe neat if it tickles your fancy.
Casa Dragones Joven
Seamus Gleason, bartender at Hotel Jackson in Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Casa Dragones Joven. It’s silky smooth with a full body that doesn’t overwhelm the palate. A great sipping tequila for summer (or pretty much any other time of year).
One of my favorite brands of tequila by far is Jose Cuervo. It might not seem underrated in the classic sense, but it definitely is since it sometimes doesn’t get the respect it deserves. Whether it’s in a cocktail, on the rocks, or in a shot with lime and salt, it gets the job done.
Great flavor and very smooth.
Olmeca Altos Plata
Kurt Bellon, general manager and beverage director at Chao Baan in St. Louis
Olmeca Altos Plata is 100% agave that is reasonably priced so it can and should be found on the speed rails of bars across the country. With that said, for a well tequila, it is smooth with a pleasant nose and bucks the usual danger of ordering a round of tequila shots for the crew.
Cimarron Blanco
Tim Wiggins, co-owner and beverage director of Retreat Gastropub in St. Louis
Cimarron. Their blanco and reposado are both super tasty. I love the grassy hay-like flavor of Cimarron. It is difficult to balance freshness, dryness, and earthiness in tequila and I think Cimarron strikes that balance really well.
I really like Siembre and I wish more people knew about their small-batch, artisanal tequilas. Made from the highest-quality Blue Weber agave, you can’t go wrong with a bottle of Siembre Azul.
Writer’s Pick:
Casa Noble Anejo
The hierarchy of premium tequila brands, Casa Noble deserves a spot alongside Patron, Casamigos, Herradura, and Don Julio. Its anejo is made from 100 percent Blue Weber agave and is exceptionally smooth and full of vanilla, honey, and caramel flavors from aging in French oak barrels for two years.
Flo Milli has taken Twitter by storm with standout hits like “Beef FloMix” and “In The Party,” and today, she follows up with another big swing for hip-hop’s hit-making fences. The 20-year-old breakout star released her debut EP, Ho, Why Is You Here? this week and to celebrate, she released the video to favorite the new favorite “Weak.”
The video sees Flo playing the matriarch to a loyal legion of money-making men in tank tops and jeans, who attend to her as she flexes and preens. Her love for currency is displayed right down to her wardrobe; while she makes it rain dollar bills, money print adorns her swimsuit and her impressive durag. Lyrically, she lists then dismisses he men in her life who have let her down romantically, crowing, “These n****s weak / They’ve been textin’ me all week.”
Among the names that Flo Milli shoos away are Dennis, who doesn’t like to listen, Maleek, who is boring, and Eric, who already has a girlfriend. None of that matters to the Mobile, Alabama-born rapper, who boasts that, “I’ve been in my bag, don’t got time to be in my feelings.” Independent go-getters like Cardi B, City Girls, and Megan Thee Stallion have a worthwhile successor in Flo Milli — judging from the response to her tape, she’s going to join them in the upper echelons of rap stardom soon.
Brittney Griner still has it sitting in a case in her old bedroom back home in Texas. Nneka Ogwumike won it and showed her sister what was possible if she kept working. It was given to Sue Bird at a time when the concept of high-level pro basketball was just coming into picture. The Gatorade Player of the Year award has a long history of prolific winners.
The latest is Paige Bueckers, without a doubt the best high school female hooper in the country and a gold medalist at the age of 18. She’s on her way to the University of Connecticut this fall, but opened up her trophy case one more time this week when Gatorade named her its Athlete of the Year, chosen from a group of finalists across all sports as the high school athlete who demonstrated excellence on the court, in the classroom, and in the community. The honor was shared by Arik Gilbert, a five-star tight end recruit who will play his college ball at LSU.
Bueckers led Hopkins High School in Minnesota to the state championship game her first two years before ultimately pulling through with a title as a junior. Hopkins was headed toward a repeat this spring before the championship game was canceled due to the pandemic. Along the way, Bueckers started her own non-profit basketball clinic called Buckets With Bueckers that doubled as a training camp and fundraiser. And of course, any Athlete of the Year has to have at least a 3.8 grade-point average.
Though it was announced virtually and comes after a senior season that ended abruptly, Bueckers is proud to be honored.
“It means everything to me,” Bueckers told Uproxx over the phone. “This is the most prestigious award you can win in all of high school, especially being the female Athlete of the Year among all the sports. It’s really big for me because it’s not just the player I am, it’s also the person I am, and I take huge pride in that, just being a great person, being somebody that kids can look up to, being a great (member) of the community, and using my platform to make a positive impact in the world.”
Gatorade was determined to give Bueckers her moment, and a video released Thursday features faces of past winners congratulating the latest Athlete of the Year. The history of Gatorade’s top prize is a who’s who of women’s basketball: Maya Moore, Breanna Stewart, Skylar Diggins-Smith. It’s company Buecker is inspired by.
“It kind of shows that if I keep working hard and if I can keep staying on the right path, I can fill their shoes one day and hopefully play professionally and do the things that they’re doing,” she says. “To be in the likes of those athletes at such a young age, seeing what they did with it, it inspires me and helps me understand that I need to keep pushing so I can get to their level.”
Particularly in a year of progress and change for women’s basketball, the chance to welcome Bueckers into the ranks of great young athletes is important. Sabrina Ionescu’s record-breaking senior season at Oregon gave way to a new collective bargaining agreement in the WNBA, which led to the league and its players agreeing on a plan to save the 2020 season.
In interviews with Uproxx, Ogwumike, Griner, and Bird expressed the same sentiment: That the road was being paved for young players like Bueckers to surpass those that came before her in every way.
“We want it to be better (for) those who come after us,” Ogwumike said. “Being able to instill change that outlasts you, it’s something to be very proud of. I hope that what we’re doing now creates a better future for players like (Bueckers).”
As the president of the executive committee of the WNBA players’ association, Ogwumike was the face of negotiations on the CBA and the clean site in Florida, where the league will play its 24rd season. It’s where rookies like Ionescu will make their debuts, but even that is a far cry from where the league was when Bird was, in the late 1990s, moving from high school to UConn just as Bueckers is now.
Back then, there was nothing more than a few TV appearances over the course of the year and the vague sense that there was some money to be made playing professionally in Europe.
“I really had nothing to see, I had nothing to visualize, I had nothing to strive for,” Bird said. “That’s what’s so great about young players now. The WNBA is established, it’s here, the coverage is just continuing to get better, we just did this amazing CBA, and here we are in a Bubble about to have a season. It’s all going to be televised and you’ve got all these young basketball eyeballs watching it.”
While Bueckers is getting settled in Mansfield and Zooming with new Husky teammates, it’s a safe bet she’ll be among the young people watching the league. But Griner believes Bueckers is already in an elite class of human beings who just so happen to play basketball.
“(She’s) coming out of high school and is already hitting all of the criteria to be an elite, prestigious athlete,” Griner said. “She’s ahead of the curve, and a lot of us can learn from her.”
Griner is happy to bet on Bueckers to continue growing the game, but she hopes there’s less to fight for by the time Bueckers is on WNBA radars in a few years. The new CBA increased maximum salaries and the rookie scale, and the league hopes the coverage and business keep building, too. Players like Moore and Bird are on the national radar in a way they never were before.
Many already know Bueckers’ name, too, but Ogwumike hopes the Gatorade award can be the first stepping stone toward people seeing Bueckers as someone on the rise in the world of sports, regardless of her gender.
“It’s an award that shows no discrimination, and I feel as though that’s what we need more of,” Ogwumike said. “There’s a history of so many WNBA players receiving this, and there’s a reason. It’s because we go on and we do great things, and having an organization like Gatorade that continues to support women in sports, it’s exactly what the world needs right now.”
It’s hard to say now what will come of the WNBA season, which tips off this weekend, or Buecker’s UConn career. But there is undoubtedly momentum around women’s sports, with many fighting toward equitable coverage and treatment of female athletes. It won’t always be as uncomfortable or challenging as it was for Bueckers’ predecessors.
Said Griner, “I hope the platform that she’s walking into if she gets all the way there, to the pros, is (past) the injustice of equal pay, the injustice of just being a woman in sports, I hope she doesn’t have to fight that fight that hard.”
“What I hope for her and her generation,” Bird said, “she can do even bigger and better things than what we’re doing right now.”
While Bueckers prepares for the challenge of the bright lights of NCAA hoops and thinks about what comes next in the community work that earned her the Athlete of the Year award, the Gatorade family as well as the women’s basketball community is looking out for players just like her. It is, for better or worse, the work of female athletes not only to play the game but build it up.
In Bueckers, the game has another great leader.
“She is changing the way, she’s the new way,” Griner said. “Where we lack, she’s going to pick up the slack and she’s going to push through for us.”
As of this writing, The New Mutants is still set for an August 28th release date in theaters, which becomes increasingly unlikely by the day. Just this week alone, Mulan and Tenet were pulled from August, and both films currently sit in limbo as Disney and Warner Bros. take a “wait and see” approach while the pandemic continues to spike in America.
But even more blockbusters started abandoning, uncertainty around the The New Mutants making it into theaters was already mounting, which revived speculation that the long-delayed mutant movie would be released on Disney+ or video on-demand. Fans were certain that a streaming announcement would be made during The New Mutants panel at Comic-Con, but nothing materialized. The film stood firm on its August release date.
However, in a new interview with Comic Book, director Josh Boone doesn’t shy away from questions about The New Mutants releasing on streaming, and in fact, he’s all for it as long as fans finally get a chance to see the film after all of these years.
“Well, I mean, I don’t really get scared about stuff like that. I just want as many people to see it as possible. And for everybody who wants to see it to be able to see it,” Boone explained. “So obviously if we can do it theaters, that’s always my first choice. But like Disney came to me and said they were gonna stream it I’d be like awesome. Then everybody can watch it. It’d be great.”
Of course, just releasing The New Mutants on streaming is easier said than done. As we reported back in April, the streaming rights are most likely locked down by HBO, which had a deal with 20th Century Fox that doesn’t expire until 2022. That arrangement would prevent Disney from releasing The New Mutants on Disney+ or Hulu unless it somehow works out a deal with HBO, which is certainly possible. That said, Disney does have the option of releasing The New Mutants on VOD where it would be available for purchase or rental. But once that happens, it will start the countdown for the movie to hit HBO once the streaming window begins.
In short, it’s a messy situation with no easy answers like everything in these pandemic days.
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