Sports

Steve Aoki May Be The New Leader In The Battle For Worst MLB First Pitch Ever

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For the most part, ceremonial first pitches are wholly uninteresting in the world of Major League Baseball. Honorees run the gamut from celebrities to local heroes to relatively anonymous people but, every once in a while, true magic occurs. One of those instances happened on Monday in Boston when Steve Aoki strolled to the mound to deliver the opening offering before a matchup between the Red Sox and the Houston Astros.

The video is worth a thousand (or more) words.

This is an immediate hall of fame entry in the worst first pitches of all-time, simply because of where the ball landed. Aoki never seemed particularly comfortable with where his setup began, for some reason starting on the upslope on the back of the mound, but, as soon as he begin his move to the plate, there was an elaborate wind-up which probably was not the best idea.

From there, the angle set Aoki up for a disaster, and the ball’s trajectory got out of control with haste. In the videos above, you can get a glimpse of the horror and/or amazement from the patrons in attendance at Fenway Park, but onlookers probably just cannot get enough of this video. The debate will rage as to whether this was truly the worst of all-time since, well, Aoki at least made it to the plate, but it was a sight to behold.

Skip Bayless Said Lil Wayne Told Him Monty Williams Told Deandre Ayton ‘You Quit On Us’ In The World’s Weirdest Game Of Telephone

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Of the many subplots of the Suns disastrous Game 7 performance against the Mavs on Sunday night, the one that has the most bearing on Phoenix’s future is that of Deandre Ayton’s standing with the team.

Ayton played just 17 minutes and when Monty Williams was asked why Ayton got benched after the game, he sternly replied “it’s internal” and moved on to other topics. On Monday, Williams and Ayton had still not sat down to discuss whatever happened 1-on-1, although Monty had spoken with the team and seemed ready to move on, but given Ayton’s status as a restricted free agent this summer set to command a max contract, that entire situation complicates the Suns’ summer plans.

There were rumblings on Twitter from some fans in the Footprint Center near the Suns bench of an argument in the second half between Ayton and Williams in a tunnel, but no visual confirmation from TV cameras or anything that was noticed by those covering the game live. As such, that hasn’t become the massive topic it would if there were such video evidence and mostly it’s been a lot of shrugging and speculating on Ayton’s future.

However, Skip Bayless had a man on the ground in Phoenix sitting across from the Suns bench, none other than Lil Wayne (who got roasted for his “Luka a ho” tweet from earlier in the series), and was willing to report that Williams and Ayton had a spat that led to them being separated after Williams, allegedly, told Ayton he “quit on us.”

Now, this is a wild game of telephone going from Lil Wayne seated across the court and either hearing this or lip-reading it (Bayless wasn’t sure which) and then relaying it to his close personal friend Skip Bayless who brought this information to a national TV audience. At some point, especially if Ayton departs Phoenix this summer, we will likely get some stronger sourced reporting on what exactly happened that got Ayton benched, but this would certainly explain why Monty was clearly upset about it after the game and not willing to discuss the matter.

If it ends up being the case, then everyone better credit pre-eminent NBA newsbreaker Lil Wayne for having the scoop first.

Lil Wayne’s ‘Luka A Ho’ Tweet Got Dunked On Repeatedly As Doncic Buried The Suns In Game 7 With Him Courtside

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The Dallas Mavericks thought it would be fun to kick the hell out of the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night during Game 7 of their Western Conference Semifinal series. Dallas walked into Phoenix and put on a crazy shooting display, while the Suns’ offense could not get off the ground, as evidenced by their 27 first half points.

A number of famous folks in attendance, including Lil Wayne, who joined the Suns last postseason as they celebrated making the NBA Finals. Weezy has had a close eye on this series, as evidenced by this tweet he sent during Game 5.

Well, as it turns out, saying that about a dude a few days before he comes out and plays a role in launching the opposing team into orbit doesn’t work out great when you’re famous. Because during Game 7, people on the internet decided to quote tweet this ruthlessly and dunk on Wayne with such ease that you’d think he, too, was playing defense for the Phoenix Suns on Sunday.

It is not clear whether or not Doncic has seen this tweet, but given how well he played during Game 7, I don’t think anyone would be surprised if we learned that he was a little mad that Lil Wayne called him out.

LeBron James Posted A Video Of Himself Listening To Kendrick Lamar’s New Album And People Are Roasting Him

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Let’s face it, everyone is listening to the new Kendrick Lamar album. The Compton rapper made the world wait five years after Damn., before he dropped the already monumental accomplishment that is Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers this past Friday. The album officially had the most first-day streams for any album in 2022 on Apple Music, and even your Mom knows a factoid about it that she probably texted you with a bunch of emojis. So it’s only fitting that the NBA’s favorite Dad, LeBron James, is bumping that new Kendrick as well.

And not only is LeBron fully locked in to Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, but he posted a minute and a half video on his Instagram Stories of himself vibing the heck out to it. The first part of the multi-part clip sees LeBron dancing in his backyard to “Mirror,” the last song on the album. “@KendrickLamar VIBES!!! SO TOUGH [fire emojis],” he commented on the first clip. He dances with reckless abandon, rocking a durag and a Spring Hill Entertainment T-shirt (his media company). Then, the video just keeps going, and LeBron? Well, he just keeps dancing, this time to “Rich Spirit.” We see a very extra crown statue in the background and his dance moves just start to melt together into a fairly cringe-y and totally emo display.

Props to LeBron for being vulnerable and giving absolutely zero f*cks. But as they do, the haters have thoughts.

Say what you will, but at least he didn’t try to sing any of the lyrics.

DJ Khaled Gave Erik Spoelstra An In-Game Shoulder Rub During Game 5 Of Heat-Sixers

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The Miami Heat played host to the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinal series on Tuesday night. With things tied up in the series at 2-2, the game was of the upmost importance for both teams, as a win would put them on the verge of making the conference finals.

Because the game took place in Miami, the fans were raucous and clad in white shirts, something that has become commonplace when they host playoff games. One fan did not follow along with that, though: DJ Khaled, who had a seat right near Miami’s bench.

At one point in the third quarter, the ball went out of bounds behind Khaled, and he decided to spring into action. After making sure he gave the ball to Max Strus, Khaled started clapping, which got the crowd fired up. He then walked up the sideline towards the middle of the scorer’s table, but because he is not allowed to check in due to his not being a basketball player, Khaled turned around and went back to his seat. Before he could do that, though, he had to walk past Erik Spoelstra, to whom he gave a quick shoulder rub.

Between this and his airball during Heat-Hawks, it’s been quite the postseason for DJ Khaled.

NBA Ref Scott Foster Made A Jack Harlow Music Video After Saying He Didn’t Know Who He Was

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Rapper Jack Harlow’s appearance at Game 1 between the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks was one of the game’s oddest subplots. Harlow was courtside for the game and the game’s referees apparently had no idea who he was. (Which, considering the two referees heard saying they don’t know who he is are two older white guys, fair.) And then Jack Harlow had his own fun with them not recognizing him.

One of the referees, Scott Foster, then attempted to have his own fun with it, resulting in…this.

To someone’s credit, there was some effort put into the video. It’s somewhat a homage of sorts to a scene Harlow’s video for ‘Nail Tech’ with Foster playing the row of Harlow and the song playing over the scene.

And then it gets a little bit weird. It cuts to Foster in the car with three other referees, where Foster attempts to lip sync part of ‘Nail Tech’. Attempt is the key word here because he’s a bit off trying to rap just a few lines of the song and notably fumbles his way through the line “she down low three-point stance/I’m back there doing Jack dance.’ Which, again, makes sense as Foster is an older guy who almost certainly never had heard ‘Nail Tech’ before deciding to be a part of this social media stunt.

Really, this whole video is the Steve Buscemi ‘How do you do, fellow kinds?’ meme come to life. Credit to Foster for trying to have fun with it, but boy this feels forced. May I suggest, if Foster wants another crack at this, recreating the made jump shot scene from the song ‘Tyler Herro’ with Tyler Herro next time he’s assigned to a Miami Heat game? That feels more his speed.

Refs Had No Clue Who Jack Harlow Was When He Sat Courtside At An NBA Playoff Game

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The Boston Celtics had a rough opening game in their second-round NBA Playoffs series against the Milwaukee Bucks, as they struggled and lost 101-89 on their home court at TD Garden, falling to 0-1 on the series. As for who took the biggest L of the night, though, it may not have even been Jayson Tatum and company, as Jack Harlow had a humbling (and pretty funny) moment while sitting courtside.

During a break in game action, in a mic’d-up moment between referees Scott Foster and Ed Malloy (who have reffed for 27 and 19 NBA seasons, respectively), Foster turns to Malloy and asks, “Who’s Jack Harlow?” After Foster repeats the question, Malloy answered, “I have no idea.” After Foster points him out, Malloy asks who he is and Foster responds, “I don’t know,” then adding with a smile, “Go ask him.”

While Harlow is of course one of today’s most popular rappers with a recent No. 1 single in “First Class,” it makes sense he might not be on the officials’ radar: Both men are in their 50s and the National Basketball Referees Association website lists Foster’s favorite musician as Darius Rucker and Malloy’s as U2.

Check out the moment above.

Jack Harlow is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Diddy And The Weeknd Preview A New Collab In A Beats By Dre Commercial

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A new Diddy and The Weeknd single may be on the way. Fans got a taste of new music in the latest Beats By Dre campaign. The new Made In LA commercial features NFL prospect Kayvon Thibodeaux as he walks through Los Angeles, trains, and runs drills on a field.

The commercial opens with a voice narrating anecdotes about Thibodeaux’s life. “He didn’t arrive just from nowhere,” the voice says, “We put a lot of prayer into that boy.” In the background, we hear The Weeknd crooning and humming, before the audio cuts to a verse from Diddy.

“All I am is a man with ambition to be the best / When I failed they just gave me the vision to see the rest / Wasn’t even ready when God gave me the test / So I pray you find love in the pieces of me that’s left,” raps Diddy.

The screen then cuts to show a pair of the new Beats Fit Pro headphones, from Beats By Dre, as The Weeknd sings, “Another one of me won’t come around.”

Neither a title nor a release date for the collaboration was revealed, however, it is likely the song will appear on Diddy’s upcoming album, Off The Grid, Vol. 1.

Check out the new Beats By Dre spot above.