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LaMelo Ball had himself a monstrous rookie season with the Charlotte Hornets that had many fans excited for the future of the franchise. Ball was easily one of the most exciting point guards in the league and every single night, he came through with a highlight reel pass. His efforts were good enough to win him the Rookie of the Year trophy and heading into next season, Ball is expected to elevate his game and become one of the best young players in the NBA.

As for his father LaVar, well, he is extremely excited about his son’s accomplishment. LaVar has always been boastful about his kids, and after this Rookie of the Year award, you can be sure that LaVar is looking to cash in. Recently, the Ball family patriarch took to the Big Baller Brand Instagram account where he unveiled a brand new commemorative hat for LaMelo’s ROTY award. As you can see, the hat says “I Told You So” and even has the ROTY acronym on the side.

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“That’s right, I don’t even got to say nothing,” LaVar said. “It went down the way I said it was going to go down.” The hats are now being sold for a limited time on the Big Baller Brand website, and we’re sure there are plenty of LaMelo fans who are ready and willing to cop.

Needless to say, it’s a good time to be LaVar Ball right now.

Draymond Green has consistently been one of the best defensive players in the entire NBA over the last decade although when it comes to his offensive game, he has received a ton of criticism. Despite this, Green plays on a team with Steph Curry and Klay Thompson which means he doesn’t really need to be good on offense. All he has to do is come up with big defensive stops and facilitate whenever it is asked of him. This strategy has gotten him four NBA titles and next year, the Warriors could find themselves as contenders again.

During a recent appearance on The Shop, Green spoke about the criticism he has faced over the years and how a lot of it is pointless. As he notes in the clip below, he doesn’t shoot the ball often because he would rather let Curry take the shot, given that Curry is one of the greatest shooters of all time. Given the circumstances, you can’t argue his logic.

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“That’s why there’s a lot of unsuccessful people and a lot of fucking dumbass and you can tell by the criticism that comes to you,” Green said. “I found that solace in that in over the last couple of years and just like listening to people, and what they say, and the criticism, it actually shows you how f—ing stupid people are through their criticism. People would say, ‘Draymond, you should shoot!’ But if I can get Steph Curry the ball for a fucking shot, why would I shoot? You’re actually a fucking idiot for thinking I should shoot because I can get him the shot, and if he’s half-open it’s better than anyone else in the world.”

Green and the Warriors went to five straight finals and while they have had a lack of success over the last couple of years, there is no denying that their dynasty was one of the most impressive in the history of the league.

On Friday, Derek Chauvin was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison for the murder of George Floyd, a heinous act caught on camera during the early days of the pandemic last year that sparked a nationwide call for justice. From Chauvin being found guilty in April to President Joe Biden making Juneteenth an official national holiday earlier this month, Floyd’s tragic passing has inspired the United States to take some crucial steps toward mending the historically tense race relations, but Chauvin’s sentence of 270 months has many divided as to whether the judge made the right call.

Naturally, people have been waiting to hear from Stephen Jackson, one of Floyd’s close friends, about his opinion on Chauvin’s sentencing, and finally the All The Smoke co-host has posted an official video statement to Instagram. At the start of the video, Jackson pleads people to stop calling his phone for his input on the sentencing, and to make his stance clear, he offers his definitive thoughts on the situation once and for all.

“Long Live Georgie,” Jackson writes in the video’s caption. “I done seen brothers get life for a slab of crack. Smdh.”

Stephen Jackson starts his video off by saying, “I’m sitting here trying to work. Please stop calling my phone, I don’t give a damn about no 22 years. It ain’t gonna bring my twin back. It ain’t gonna bring GiGi daddy back. It ain’t gonna stop nobody tears. It ain’t gonna stop GiGi for asking where her daddy at and how much she miss him. So I don’t give a damn about no 22 years — it ain’t never enough.”

“But I’mma continue to step in his name,” Jackson continues. “And I’mma continue to do my part. I miss you Georgie. GiGi miss you, and we gon’ continue to ride…I’mma mourn you ’til I join you…We ain’t gon’ stop. 22 years ain’t enough. Can’t bring you back. I miss you bro.”

Check out the All The Smoke co-host’s brief Instagram statement on Derek Chauvin’s 22.5-year sentence below.

How do you feel about Stephen Jackson’s position on the issue? Do you think that Chauvin’s sentencing was fair?

Since his introduction to the rap game, Lil Pump has always been about flexing his material wealth. Whenever he appears on video, you can expect him to talk about his jewelry, his cash, and his vehicles. He’s shameless when it comes to this kind of stuff and while he hasn’t released music in a very long time, he is still keen on letting fans know just how rich he is.

Unfortunately for Pump, it was revealed over the weekend that the IRS hit him with a $90K tax lien after allegedly not paying some of his taxes. This news came as a surprise to fans, and apparently, Pump as well. The rapper hit up social media and even called out DJ Akademiks as he claimed that the report was fake news.

“Listen, do not believe the internet,” Pump said. “That shit is all cap bruh. $90,000, that’s on my wrist right now. Another 90, that’s on my neck. Don’t play with my body.”

Needless to say, Pump doesn’t appreciate his wealth being questioned. However, it is important to note that one can still be wealthy and not pay taxes, as we have seen countless times over the years. Regardless, this is an issue between Pump and the IRS.

Stay tuned for updates on the situation as we will be sure to bring them to you.

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Tristan Thompson seems to have a lot of time on his hands. The pro baller recently split with his on-again-off-again girlfriend and mother of his child Khloe Kardashian after allegedly cheating on the reality TV star again. He’s rumored to have hooked up with two women at a massive house party in Los Angeles hosted by Drake. 

Shortly after the rumors began circulating, Khloe and the Celtics star called it quits–again. The former couple has certainly had their fair share of cheating scandals, most recently coming from an Instagram model known as Kim Cakery. Cakery, née Kimberly Alexander, accused the athlete of being the father of her son, which he vehemently denied. He then dished a $50k libel lawsuit against Alexander, eventually winning the case and forcing Alexander to raise the funds at a strip club. 

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Alexander, who previously claimed Tristan was the father of her 5-year-old son, will be hosting an upcoming event at Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club in New York. The club tells TMZ that the appearance fee may be just enough to pay off the nearly $53k ($50k settlement + nearly $3k in damages) she could soon have to cough up to Tristan. 

“Ask 50 Cent or the game for the money. I don’t got it. I’m a single mom of two young kids instead of trying to take from a mother just take a test to shut me up 50k won’t,” penned Alexander previously. 

In Tristan’s libel suit, he claimed her baby daddy allegations hurt his reputation and cost him endorsement deals. TMZ reports Alexander’s hosting duties will include photo ops and meet and greets, and she will be hitting the state with porn star Alexis Monroe and several strippers. The club adds she’ll also get “royal treatment” with bottle service and private dances. 

A few more appearances like these and Alexander will enough to pay Tristan and then some. 

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Coming out of the 2018 NBA Draft, the biggest story on everyone’s mind was the massive trade between the Dallas Mavericks and the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks had the third overall pick in the draft, although the Dallas Mavericks had their sights set on Slovenian superstar Luka Doncic. There was no guarantee that Doncic was going to be a star while he made a name for himself in Europe as opposed to the NCAA. Regardless, the Mavericks knew what they wanted and in the end, they got it, as the Hawks gave them the third overall pick in exchange for the fifth overall pick and a selection in 2019. With the aforementioned fifth pick, the Hawks took Trae Young out of Oklahoma.

As soon as Doncic and Young took the court for their rookie seasons, it became quite clear that they were both extremely special young talents. Doncic was doing LeBron-type things with the Mavericks all while Young was looking like the second coming of Steph Curry thanks to his three-point scoring capabilities. Throughout the season, Doncic had more individual and team success, which allowed him to win rookie of the year. In the following season, Doncic led the Mavericks to the NBA Playoffs, while Young and the Hawks missed the postseason, once again.

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Despite having a considerably weaker team, many pundits began to talk down on Trae Young as they felt as though he wasn’t doing enough to carry the team. Under normal circumstances, Young would have been able to escape criticism, however, since he was traded for Doncic, there was this underlying expectation that he had to rise above the Slovenian, at all costs. Even in the middle of the 2020-2021 season, most NBA fans agreed that the Mavericks won the trade as Doncic was taking the top spot amongst the league’s great young stars. While this is all well and good, no one knew what they were in for when the Hawks got themselves the fifth overall seed in the Eastern Conference.

Heading into their matchup against the Knicks, it felt like every pundit had them losing. Of course, there was no basis for this kind of analysis when you consider how the Knicks have been terrible for a long time, while Young was easily the best player on the court. Regardless, Young had never been to the playoffs before and fans were curious as to how he would react. After all, although he had been nothing short of phenomenal this season, there were still questions as to whether or not he could be a true superstar and carry his team to victory. In Game 1 of that Knicks series, Young got his haters to shut up as he played exceptionally well, and scored 32 points. Throughout the series, Young consistently put up 30 points or more and made quick work of the Knicks in just five games. Not to mention, Young was able to become a villain in the city of New York, which is the true definition of a player who embraces the pressure and everything that comes with it.

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In the second round, no one was giving the Hawks a chance, and for good reason. They were going up against the Philadelphia 76ers who finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference. With Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons on the roster, these two bigs were supposed to be able to shut Young down and sweep him in four. Once again, Young shocked the world and took Game 1 thanks to an epic 35-point performance that proved just how dominant Young can be when he gets hot from beyond the arc. While the 76ers eventually took the lead in the series, Young stayed with it and came through with some incredible performances, including Game 5 where he scored 39 points. Unfortunately, his Game 7 performance left a lot to be desired, nonetheless, his team pulled off the upset, thanks to the foundation he laid with his play. Throughout that entire second-round series, Young averaged 29 points per game, further proof that Young is, indeed, a superstar in this league.

Now, Young and the Hawks are playing the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals and at the time of writing this, the Hawks are up 1-0 in the series. The Hawks’ Game 1 victory came on the back of Young, who scored 48 points to become the first player in NBA history to score that many points in their first Conference Finals game. In just his third season in the league, Young is showing tremendous poise and every single night he gives us shades of Steph Curry. If this is what he’s doing at just 22 years old, then we can only imagine what he will be doing when he hits his prime. With Luka out of the playoffs, it’s clear that Young has now shifted the conversation when it comes to who is the best player between the two. In addition to this, if Young can somehow overcome the odds and lead the Hawks to an improbable championship this season, there will be a very obvious answer as to who won the trade between the Hawks and the Mavericks.

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Streaming platform Netflix is bringing the heat this summer with a plethora of new and old shows, and movies, that will be coming to the site. Fan-favorite originals like Outer Banks and Masters of the Universe: Revelations are set to return for their sophomore seasons this month, while classic movies (Kung Fu Panda, The Karate Kid, and Twilight) will debut on the site as well. Adults and children are already excited to stream these movies and shows, like Grey’s Anatomy season 1-7, which they already know and love. However, let’s take a deeper look into what Netflix’s originals have in store for the summer.  

Outer Banks Season 2- Streaming 7/30

Tensions between the Kooks and the Pogues continue to rise in the Netflix original’s second season- and our crew of ragtag adventurers are stuck in the middle of it. The second season has a return to the well to-do Outer Banks community, though this time with a twist: the power went out for the whole summer. Catch up with the crew and see how it all ends July 30th. 

Sexy Beasts– Streaming 7/21

If Netflix’s Love Is Blind and Fox’s The Masked Singer had a lovechild, it would be this show. Contestants on this dating show are forced to build strong relationships and connections potential partners without superficialities of knowing what the other person looks like. This is done with the use of odd, and often grotesque, “beast” masks that the contestants must wear until they find their match. Find out if the beasts can find love on July 21st. 

Masters of the Universe: Revelations– Streaming 7/23

Fans of He-Man, Skeletor, and the rest of the Masters of the Universe finally have a new installment of the franchise in sight. This new season was created under the control of superfan, fillmmaker, and actor Kevin Smith, who does the franchise justice with his own take on the stories. He even enlisted Mark Hamill himself to play the role of Skeletor. Find out who wins the battle for Eternia on 7/23.

Are you excited for these upcoming originals? Let us know and check out a full list of shows and movies coming to Netflix below:

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