Hip Hop News

Cade Cunningham is setting himself up for a massive NBA career. The first overall pick in this year’s NBA draft will now get to play for the Detroit Pistons, and based on his Summer League play, he is looking NBA-ready. Fans are eager to see what he can do for this Pistons team that has severely underperformed over the last few years. He has excelled at every level he’s played, and the expectations are high right now.

Now that he is in the NBA, reporters are beginning to ask him the tough questions. Of course, we are talking about questions that could render him unpopular if fans don’t agree with his opinion. Perhaps the most polarizing discussion Cunningham has entered is the debate between Michael Jordan and/or LeBron James.

Joe Scarnici/Getty Images

When asked about who he thinks is the GOAT, Cunningham made sure to pay homage to MJ, however, he respectfully chose LeBron, which makes a lot of sense given Cunningham’s age.

“I’ve seen all the Michael Jordan stuff, dude is different,” Cunningham said via Marc Carman of Fansided. “I can’t argue with the fact that you think he is the GOAT, but in my eyes I say LeBron.”

Many fans will disagree with Cunningham here, however, people tend to be biased to whomever they grew up with. Cunningham is no different, and now, he will get to play against the man whom he deems as the GOAT. We’re sure that will be a full-circle moment for Cunningham, once the time comes.

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

It was announced earlier this week that rapper Eminem would be portraying the infamous “White Boy Rick” on BMF, the upcoming series from STARZ. The Detroit legend will reportedly appear in an episode that was directed by 50 Cent, who is the executive producer of the show.

As the hip-hop community continues sharing its excitement over Eminem’s upcoming acting role, the real-life “White Boy Rick,” whose real name is Richard Wershe Jr., has spoken out about the rapper portraying him on-screen.

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

“Of course, it’s Eminem so that’s an honor to have him portray me in a series,” says the man, who earned his nickname from his days as a young teenager, working as an informant for the FBI before getting busted for drug trafficking. “He was actually one of the first people that was looking at doing the movie about me so it’s pretty cool that later down the line, he gets to take on this role.”

Rick says that he’s been supportive of Big Meech for a minute, wearing a “Free Big Meech” shirt when he was released from prison last year. “I don’t believe anyone should get thirty years for a non-violent crime,” he said. BMF is a series based on Big Meech and his drug enterprise.

When asked what kind of advice he would give to Eminem for the role, Rick said that he doesn’t think he needs to give the rapper any tips, claiming that he’s a professional and will do a great job. “Everything he does, he does very well,” he said. “His music, it speaks for itself. He’s an icon, he’s a legend. This, for him, will be a small thing. I think he’ll kill it whatever he does.”

Draymond Green and Kevin Durant used to be teammates on the Golden State Warriors although back in 2018, there were rumors that they no longer liked each other. It was a truly bizarre saga that had many fans throughout the NBA wondering what Durant would do in the following offseason. Eventually, Durant went to the Brooklyn Nets, which further fed into the rumors that Durant and Green had a massive falling out.

Throughout the past couple of years, KD and Green have been adamant that nothing bad transpired between the two and that they were actually still on good terms. In fact, the two were all smiles in Tokyo as they won a gold medal together.

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

More recently, Green and Durant sat down for a lengthy conversation where they cleared the air about everything that went down back in 2018. As you can see in the clip below, Durant and Green deflect the blame over to Steve Kerr and Bob Myers as the two stars believe their head coach and general manager completely botched the situation.

“It wasn’t the argument, it was how Steve Kerr acted like it didn’t happen,” Durant said. “Bob Myers tried to just discipline you and think that would put the mask over everything.” Green ultimately agreed with this saying “they fucked it up.”

These are definitely some interesting comments, especially when you consider how Greenis still a member of the Golden State Warriors. Myers and Kerr won’t appreciate these comments, and it could lead to a very long season in San Francisco.

You can watch the whole conversation between Green and KD, below.

Last year, on August 28, 2020, the world learned about the tragic passing of Chadwick Boseman. In the time since his unexpected death, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom has been the only project in which he has appeared posthumously, and now, as we approach the one-year anniversary of the beloved actor’s death, fans are finally able to witness Boseman’s final performance as T’Challa.

Marvel’s new animated series What If…? has arrived on Disney Plus, and in its second episode, Boseman makes a posthumous appearance as the voice actor behind Star-Lord T’Challa. According to Complex, Chadwick Boseman recorded all of his dialogue for the series before his death at age 43, making it his last performance as T’Challa and his final role overall.

Rich Fury/Getty Images

Kevin Feige has spoken on Boseman’s performance in the episode, which explores the idea of T’Challa taking on the title Star-Lord after he was abducted from Wakanda at an early age. According to Complex, the Oscar nominee adopts an attitude different from the one T’Challa had in Black Panther and other MCU projects, and that was reportedly influencing Black Panther: Wakanda Forever prior to Boseman’s death.

“We didn’t know it would be his final performance,” Feige told Variety. “He came in, numerous times, and was so gung-ho about it, was so excited about it. Somebody [has] probably spoken about this already, but he came in, he read the episode that airs 24 hours from now and then came back and said, ‘I really love this version of T’Challa.’ We had a conversation with Ryan [Coogler] about how do we get some of this voice, not the storyline, into Black Panther 2.”

It turns out that Kevin Feige isn’t the only person feeling emotional about Chadwick Boseman’s final performance as T’Challa. On Twitter, fans have been reacting to the quirky MCU side project, with many fans saying that Boseman’s work is great, yet bittersweet. See what fans had to say about the new What If…? episode starring Chadwick Boseman below.

[via]

The top player ratings have been revealed for NBA 2K22, with LeBron James and Breanna Stewart taking the #1 spots among men and women, respectively.

The highly-anticipated upcoming video game update is rapidly approaching, along with the 2021-22 NBA season, and 2K has officially come through with a list of the top-ranked players for this go-around. On the men’s side, LeBron James shares a 96 overall with Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Stephen Curry. Kawhi Leonard is one notch down with a 95 overall, along with Nikola Jokić and Joel Embiid. Luka Doncic, James Harden, and Damian Lillard all have a 94 overall.

Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images

On the women’s side, Breanna Stewart has the best ranking with a 95 overall, while A’ja Wilson and Jonquel Jones follow with 94, Candace Parker with 93, and Brittney Griner, who has a score of 92.

Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

NBA 2K22 is also highlighting the best shooters and dunkers, exposing the ratings for the top three-point scorers and high-fliers. Stephen Curry has a perfect score from beyond the line, shooting with a 99 score. His teammate Klay Thompson follows him with a 95 shooting score, while Joe Harris, Seth Curry, and Duncan Robinson all have a 90 rating.

Zion Williamson has the top dunking score in the game with a 97 rating, being followed by Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon, who have 95 ratings. Derrick Jones Jr. and Ja Morant follow up with 94.

What do you think of the first player ratings announced by NBA 2K22?

Ever since Skip Bayless left ESPN back in 2016, Max Kellerman has been filling his role on First Take. First Take is ESPN’s flagship debate show and it is primarily led by the talents of Stephen A. Smith, who has largely been responsible for carrying the network over the years. While Kellerman and Smith had solid chemistry at first, it appears as though things have taken a bit of a turn as of late. Smith and Kellerman don’t have the spark they used to have, and rumors have circulated about Smith’s discontent with his co-host.

With all of that being said, it was reported yesterday that Kellerman could be removed from First Take in 2022. In fact, if this were to happen, Kellerman would probably take on a bigger role at ESPN Radio, and he would then go on and get his own ESPN television program in the afternoons.

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

At this point, there is still a lot that is unknown about Kellerman’s situation, however, fans are already giving their reactions on social media. For many, Kellerman was a welcomed addition to First Take, especially since he always had a good perspective on racism in sports. He was one of the few broadcasters who got it, and fans are certainly going to miss his commentary. Others noted that this is going to be a burden on Smith who will now have to go to greater lengths to carry the network.

Needless to say, we could be on the verge of a huge shake-up at ESPN, and fans are eager to see how this will all play out. You can find the reactions to the news, below.