Joel Embiid and Kevin Durant aren’t strangers to a little extracurricular chatter during a game, and on Thursday night when the two met in Brooklyn, things ended with some prickly conversations and shenanigans on behalf of the Sixers’ big man following an impressive 110-102 road win for Philly.
With the game all but decided and Embiid strolling to the free throw line in the closing seconds, the two were barking at each other and Durant came up to confront Embiid, who clearly was enjoying throwing barbs at KD.
It didn’t stop there, as Embiid remembered how Durant celebrated after beating the Sixers earlier this month, and gave KD and the Nets the same treatment, pointing to the tunnel and telling them to get off the court and “go home.”
joel embiid and kevin durant wishing each other a happy new year will warm your heart pic.twitter.com/WByslniqEZ
The best part is that Embiid was doing all of this while still dapping up Nets players and exchanging the normal postgame pleasantries with the likes of LaMarcus Aldridge. The double thumbs up they both gave each other at the end of it all was priceless, as even Durant had to laugh a bit at Embiid turning things around on him.
Joel wasn’t done celebrating at that point, and turned to exit through the visitors tunnel and gave the Brooklyn crowd one last crotch chop, a move he adopted last year as his own.
The two teams have just one more meeting on the schedule, way out on March 10 in Philly, but we can hope to see them face off in the East playoffs, because the basketball would be good and the shenanigans between the two sides might be even more entertaining. After the game, Durant even noted it was all done in good fun and out of respect, as the two bring out the competitive fire in the other.
Kevin Durant on his encounter with Joel Embiid: “We just respect each other so much that that natural competitive fire comes out.”
Thursday night’s matchup between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Orlando Magic went largely as expected. The Bucks entered the evening as 14-point favorites against the undermanned Magic, took an early lead, and kept a manageable advantage on the way to a 136-118 victory. However, some intriguing news emerged during the early portion of the fourth quarter, at least on an alternate telecast of the game. Jamal Crawford and Quentin Richardson were joined by Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady on an edition of NBA HooperVision on League Pass. In the middle of their discussion, McGrady made some news by revealing plans for a new professional basketball venture.
Tracy McGrady just announced on HooperVision he’s in the process of starting a professional 1-on-1 league, for 18 and over adults, called the OBA (Ones Basketball Association)
McGrady indicated that he is aiming to launch a professional 1-on-1 league called the Ones Basketball Association (OBA). At this stage, details are sparse, but as noted above, McGrady said it would involve adults ages 18 and up and would not be a tournament, but a full-fledged league. Both Crawford and Richardson seemed intrigued by the prospect, though this did not seem to be a pre-planned announcement.
In recent years, the BIG3 attempted to chase nostalgia in bringing an offseason pro avenue in the basketball world, and it achieved varying levels of success. This 1-on-1 idea could be intriguing, though details would be crucial, particularly when it comes to who would be participating, the format of how the league would work, whether there is television interest, and how grand the scale might be. As such, McGrady and any partners will need to showcase more of the background at some point, but even the existence of discussions is interesting.
Although it’s technically only been two years since Father Of The Bride came out back in 2019, the gap between that record and Modern Vampires Of The City was a whopping six years — so it’s okay for listeners to still be craving more from one of the best and most influential indie rock bands of the 2010s. So Ezra didn’t fully commit to a release date or anything, but he let fans know that another full-length is in the works.
“Yeah, we’ve been working on music and, yeah, we were just recording in England for a while, now back in LA working with everybody,” he told Hoppus. “And, yeah, I mean, I think we’re… I’m always hesitant to — sometimes I oversell how close we are with the record because who really knows? But we almost have an album’s worth of songs. And, as you well know, you could tinker with a song forever; change the arrangement, change the lyrics, whatever. But, in that sense we’re close. I have no idea how long it’ll take to finish, but we’re feeling really good about the new material. So, yeah, a lot of studio time to come after the holidays.””
That’s good enough for me! Listen to the full episode here for Ezra’s thoughts on seeing his friends the Haims in Licorice Pizza, and comparing the valley to New Jersey. Not a bad analogy, honestly.
The music world went two years without a new project from Roddy Ricch. He shot to stardom in early 2020 after releasing his debut, Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial, at the end of 2019. It spawned hit records like “The Box” and strong collaborations with the with Gunna, Ty Dolla Sign, Mustard, and Meek Mill. What followed was a period of near-silence from the Compton native, a time that was occasionally interrupted by guest features and the occasional promise that his album would come soon. Finally, earlier this month, Roddy arrived with his sophomore album Live Life Fast.
The album was met with underwhelming reviews by listeners on social media, but it still faired well on the charts as it debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200. However, for fans that were hoping for something different from Roddy, they might receive it on his next body of work. Less than two weeks after he released Live Life Fast, Roddy is already teasing his next project. In a tweet he shared on Wednesday, Roddy wrote, “FTS 3 coming 2022, u n****s playin wit my top.”
“FTS 3” is short for Feed Tha Street III, which would be the third installment in his mixtape series which he began back in 2017. Feed Tha Streets II arrived the following year and featured Roddy’s breakout single, “Die Young.”
You can view his tweet above.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
In fact, as Billboard pointed out, the song has so many songwriters that it’s actually broken a Grammys record. “Peaches” was nominated for both Song Of The Year and Record Of The Year at the annual awards ceremony (and the deluxe version of Justice also snagged a nomination for Album Of The Year). With eleven songwriters making contributions to the track, it has officially broken a record set last year by Beyonce for most songwriters ever on a song nominated in the Song Of The Year category.
Last year, “Black Parade” set the record with nine songwriters on the track, but Bieber has her beat this year by two. Here are all the songwriters on the track:
Justin Bieber, Ashton Simmonds (Daniel Caesar), Giveon Evans, Bernard Harvey, Luis Martinez, Jr., Andrew Wotman (Watt), Louis Bell, Matthew Sean Leon, Felisha King-Harvey, Aaron Simmonds, Keavan Yazdani. If you somehow haven’t heard the song yet, check it out above.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have seen their backcourt depth get shredded in recent days, as Darius Garland is in the NBA’s health and safety protocols and Ricky Rubio is out for the remainder of the year due to a torn ACL. Add in Collin Sexton’s season-ending knee surgery from earlier this year and Cleveland desperately could use someone to run the offense for spells when Garland gets back.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the team has decided to get a floor general and ex-NBA champion from the Los Angeles Lakers. No, not LeBron James — Charania reports that the Cavs are working on a deal acquire Rajon Rondo.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are in serious talks on a deal to acquire Lakers guard Rajon Rondo, sources tell @TheAthletic@Stadium. In wake of Ricky Rubio’s season-ending ACL injury, Cleveland has need for backcourt help and is working on the potential move.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski confirmed the deal is expected to get done as soon as Friday.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are nearing a trade to acquire Los Angeles Lakers guard Rajon Rondo — and an agreement is expected to be reached as soon as Friday, sources tell ESPN. Rondo would be able to join Cleveland as soon as he clears Covid protocols.
It is a curious fit, as Rondo has struggled mightily when he’s stepped on the floor for L.A. this season. While Rondo is currently in the league’s health and safety protocols, he has not started a game this year and has averaged 16.1 minutes a night when he has stepped on the floor. In that time, Rondo has averaged 3.1 points, 3.7 assists, 2.7 rebounds, and 0.7 steals per game while connecting on 32.4 percent of his attempts from the field and 26.7 percent of his threes.
It stands to reason that the Cavaliers will give Rondo a more consistent role due to their current point guard depth chart, although turning to him as a starter would probably be asking a little too much of the soon-to-be 36-year-old guard at this juncture of his career.
Semicolon Bookstore and Gallery was founded in 2019 with the primary goal of increasing literacy rates in Chicago. While working towards this mission, the store became a beacon of the community that puts literary works from people of color – including recognizable names like Octavia Butler, Colson Whitehead, and Toni Morrison, and many independent authors – directly into the hands of local students who may not have found their work otherwise.
As evidence of this, Semicolon has donated more than $350,000 in books to local students as part of its #CleartheShelves book giveaway — and this during a global pandemic that saw many bookstores struggle.
90% or more of the books found in Semicolon were written by authors of color and are personally curated by staff members, which only further helps bring attention to unique voices and perspectives. DL Moore, the proprietress of Semicolon, understands the responsibility that comes with running the only brick-and-mortar bookstore in the entire city to be owned by a Black woman. But she also wants visitors to understand that no two Black-owned businesses are alike.
“The pressure comes from a lot of non-Black people who like to think that every Black store or every Black-owned situation is going to look, feel, and be the same, and that’s not the case,” says Moore. “So we constantly have to remind people that, yes, I, am a singular Black woman and run my stores this way and that other singular Black woman or Black male can very well run their store differently, and you are allowed to love them both.”
She also wants to make it very clear that supporting a Black-owned business should be viewed as a fair exchange of goods and services instead of as an action that someone can then tout as their good deed for the day.
“You have a choice in where you choose to spend your money,” says Moore. “And I love that you’re spending it here, but you doing that is not doing us a favor. And that’s the main thing that needs to be changed in the mindset of people right now. You would be surprised by the number of people who ask us for a discount.”
Despite the occasional visitor who comes to Semicolon with their own interests in mind, the store and gallery space has built a strong, vibrant, and loyal community over the past two years.
“I would say about 70% of the people who support us come back and support us again,” says Moore. “And we know their names and we know what they like to read. And that’s what happens when you support any community business. You get to know the people who own it. You get to know the people who work there and you get to have the time of your life.”
The support from Semicolon’s community has been so strong, in fact, that its operations moved from its original location of 1,200 square feet to one with 5,000. The original location has since been turned into a used bookstore with prices of $8 or less with long-term plans to turn the shop into a book library for Chicago Public School students.
In regards to other long-term plans, Moore is currently exploring the possibility of opening two additional locations in New York City and Miami in 2022. Her hopes are that she can eventually get a location in Times Square and use the proceeds to create more magical experiences for visitors.
Watching these superheroes and super-villains onscreen, and in live-action and animation can and often does inspire fans to seek out the comic books that inspired these stories. Though there are many bookstores for these fans to give their money to, those stores usually aren’t owned and operated by minorities, and any comic-book fan who isn’t an able-bodied white man isn’t always made to feel as welcome or appreciated when they come through the door. Nor are they likely to find as many curated options from indie creators of color who are trying to get some much-needed exposure. That’s why we wanted to create this list, highlighting some of the best and most celebrated Black-owned and Black-operated comic book stores across the country, giving you an opportunity to seek them out and spend your money there while discovering stories from both familiar and all-new characters and creators.
Since it first opened its doors in December of 2015, Amalgam Comics & Coffeehouse has gained media attention for being the first Black-owned comic-book store on the East Coast owned by a Black woman. “I want to be very proactive and conscious to make sure we are carrying diverse titles,” stated Ariell Johnson, the store’s owner in a 2016 interview with CNN. “The smaller stuff, the independent stuff, the more diverse stuff that you really have to look for and I think it’s worth it. Seeing people representative of you can be important in your development and your self-esteem.”
In addition to shopping Amalgam, you can also help support operations as the shop continues to weather the pandemic via their GoFundMe.
For those fans who love tabletop games as much as they do comic books, Challenges Games And Comics has a large selection to choose from. Games such as Warhammer, Dungeons & Dragons, and Magic: The Gathering can be found next to the usual Spider-Man, Batman, and X-Men books. And the store’s owner, Tony Cade, is never not busy, getting into the comic book publishing space as the founder of Terminus Media (here he is talking all about that effort with Bleeding Cool in 2014) and conventions as the promoter of The Atlanta Science Fiction and Fantasy Expo.
Not many comic-book stores can claim to be owned and operated by a professional wrestler, but Destiny City Comics can thanks to Ethan “HD” Diaz, who has been running the store with his wife, Stephanie, since 2019. (The store originally opened five years earlier.)
Diaz is excited about the increasing diversity in comics, telling We R Tacoma in February 2020 that, “growing up as a comic book fan in the 90s, every hero was white or an Asian who knew karate. I remember being a fan of Luke Cage because he was the only black superhero I knew. He must have been special because they gave him superpowers. Now, seeing this more diverse palette – and seeing how women have developed in comics – is great for people to see themselves in comics.”
Not only is the store openly supportive of the African-American and LGBTQIA+ communities, but Diaz also views the store’s importance in convincing readers to care about and become invested in certain topics when they’re discussed and detailed in comics, as opposed to textbooks that seem more intimidating and less appealing due to the massive page count and the lack of imagery. “A lot of times the imagery can help set the tone and give you a feeling and gravity about what’s going on. I think when you can put a face to things or you have visual aids it helps you imagine,” he told Rosie Mendoza Bautista of the Tacoma Ledger in June of this year.
Acme Comics is an Eisner nominated shop that’s been a community fixture in Greensboro, NC since it opened in 1983. But they haven’t rested on their laurels, branching out with a podcast, an appearance in the documentary My Comic Book Country, and various other media appearances led by its operating manager, Jermaine Exum, who even has an alternate identity as Lord Retail and the super ability to engage fans of all levels. So much that those talents even grabbed the attention of legendary comic-book writer Brian Michael Bendis, who connected with Exum through his Jinxworld message board, and was impressed with Exum’s passion and knowledge whenever he shared his thoughts about anything and everything related to comics. Which then resulted in Bendis doing a rare in-store appearance and book signing at Acme Comics. According to Bendis, by way of a quote he gave to Greensboro.com‘s Joe Scott for a 2015 article on Lord Retail, Exum’s enthusiasm is one of the things that sets him, and by extension, the store apart. Something that will surely be noticed if you have the chance to check out Acme Comics.
After the boredom of office life led to him co-creating an unfortunately short-lived comic book, Jean David Michel was struck by another lightning bolt of inspiration, and decided to open up a comic-book store like the ones he regularly shopped at when he was younger. One that would be a resource for the community and for creators.
“It was important for me to have a well-stocked LGBTQ section, a really good selection of BIPOC comic books and graphic novels, and, as a Black man, a wealth of Black comic book creators,” Michel told the Times Union’s Juliet Izon in a May 2021 interview.
Not only was he able to make this dream a reality by opening Megabrain Comics in 2017, he soon became business partners with local contractor/rock musician/video game enthusiast Brian Tamm, and the back room of Megabrain Comics was transformed into a video arcade for customers who enjoy being pinball wizards and kicking ass in Street Fighter 2 as much as they enjoy reading about One-Punch Man kicking the asses of his enemies.
There are many other Black-owned comic-book stores that are deserving of attention and of business, including Comic Cosmic Collectives And Games (Bowie, MD), Game Over Comics (Burlington, NC), and Wizard’s Wagon (University City, MO). Those three, the above-mentioned shops, and any you can find near you are all a good place to get started for comic book fans who are in need of representation, not just in the stories they read, but in the places where these stories are bought and sold.
The NBA, much like the rest of the United States, is seeing massive spikes in positive COVID tests and the result has been one of the strangest months of basketball in recent memory. More than 100 different players have signed a hardship 10-day with various NBA teams, as the league instituted new rules not just allowing but requiring teams to fill COVID-vacated roster spots with replacement players.
For some teams, they’ve arrived at games with more active replacement players than those who were on the roster to start the season, and the product has understandably suffered as teams have hastily cobbled together rosters playing for the first time without any practice in real, live NBA games. The new rules have had the intended effect of preventing mass postponements, as the league trudges on, hoping that the wave will subside soon enough, but sometimes the suddenness of cases and the travel time needed to get replacements in still keeps teams from reaching the eight-player minimum for action.
That happened to the Heat on Wednesday, as their game with the Spurs became the 10th postponement of the season, and on Thursday we had the 11th as the Nuggets’ roster crunch dipped them below the eight required with the Warriors coming to town. With Denver’s G League affiliate in Grand Rapids, Michigan, rather than a car ride away, there wasn’t a chance to get players into Denver in time for the game.
There has been some frustration about what teams have gotten postponements and what situations haven’t, as the Hawks have been hit hard recently but have been able to fill their roster spots with replacement players and the games have gone on. That is, in part, because their G League affiliate is in College Park, a 15-minute drive away (pending Atlanta traffic), whereas teams without a local affiliate find it far more difficult to make day-of call-ups.
The Lost Daughter (Netflix film) — Olivia Colman portrays Leda, a vacationer who becomes obsessed with a young mother and daughter who also hang on the beach while their extended family isn’t so idyllic. Leda also becomes consumed with her own past, which arrived with a difficult bout of young motherhood, and she falls into an impulsive act that rocks her inner world. Maggie Gyllenhaal finally becomes a first-time director here with her adapted script of the Elena Ferrante novel of the same name. Expect to also see plenty of Dakota Johnson, along with Jessie Buckley, Ed Harris, and Peter Sarsgaard.
Stay Close (Netflix series) — This suspenseful thriller series revolves around a group of four supposedly close people who all harbor dark secrets. That includes a working mother, a faded documentary photographer, a detective who can’t get over his coldest case, and an old friend of the working mom. They can’t escape the past while moving toward the future, but the thrills won’t wait for them to catch up.
Seal Team (Netflix film) — The voices of Jessie T. Usher, J.K. Simmons, Matthew Rhys, Kristen Schaal, and Seal take us on a tale of a seal who loses his best friend to a shark attack. The fearless protagonist must assemble a gang to take the ocean back and defend their territory from other adversaries while proving that seals are as badass as sharks.
In case you missed this streaming pick from last week:
Reno 911!: The Hunt for QAnon (Paramount+ special) — Is it time for some more New Boot Goofin’? Probably not, but Lieutenant Dangle is back for the third incarnation of this show after the Quibi adventure and the Comedy Central storied history. In this special adventure, the Reno Sheriff’s deputies will somehow land on Jeffrey Epstein’s island and attempt to hunt for Q of QAnon fame. The gang will largely be back, so expect to see Thomas Lennon, Kerri Kenney-Silver, McLendon-Covey, Niecy Nash, Mary Birdsong, Ian Roberts, and many more to return to one of the most beloved mockumentaries of all time.
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