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Every single year, LeBron James should be an MVP candidate. No matter if it’s the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, or the Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron-led teams only seem to perform well when he is healthy. If LeBron is out of the lineup, you can forget winning games, and depending on how long the injury lasts for, you can pretty much forget making the playoffs as well. It’s the harsh reality of having LeBron on your team, however, when he is in peak form, you can be sure that your team will probably go all the way to the NBA Finals.

The most recent example of this was back during the 2018-19 season where LeBron spent his first campaign with the Los Angeles Lakers. Despite a mediocre supporting cast, LeBron was able to carry the Lakers to fourth place in the Western Conference. On Christmas Day, LeBron went down with a groin injury and it snowballed from there, as the Lakers faltered week in and week out. Eventually, LeBron returned, but it was far too late as the team was out of playoff contention, and for the first time since his days in Cleveland, LeBron would have to miss the postseason. The following year, LeBron was back in shape, and the Lakers went all the way to the NBA Finals and won the championship. This essentially proves just how much LeBron moves the needle, even in his 18th season in the NBA.

Now, let’s flash forward to this season, where the Lakers are the defending champs and arguably have a better roster than they did during their championship run. Just a few weeks ago, the team was sitting in second place in the Western Conference standings and seemed poise for yet another deep playoff showing. LeBron James was playing some incredible basketball and while Anthony Davis had a slow start, he was beginning to pick up some steam. Then, disaster struck. Davis went down with an injury to his calf. Some feared it was his Achilles, although it turned out to be a calf strain. Some thought he would be back after the All-Star break, although now, even his own head coach is unsure of his progress, saying “he’s still a ways away.“

Without Davis in the lineup, the Lakers struggled, although LeBron was still putting up solid performances and squeaking out wins whenever he could. Unfortunately, the Lakers faced another setback last Saturday when LeBron sprained his ankle during a game against the Atlanta Hawks. Now, LeBron is expected to miss between four and six weeks, which means the team will now be without his services for what could prove to be the most crucial time of the regular season. Normally, this would be fine considering Davis is on the roster– with him out, however, there is absolutely no one the Lakers can fall back on.

Since LeBron’s injury, the Lakers have lost four-straight games and have fallen to fourth place in the Western Conference standings. Fourth is nothing to panic over, because it would still mean home-court advantage in the first round of the postseason. Of course, the Lakers have 27 games left to play, and LeBron will be out for the majority of them, all while Davis’ status remains up in the air. This puts every single player on the roster in an extremely difficult position. LeBron and AD are both top five players, and now, their teammates will have to somehow compensate for their absence. The Lakers were built around these two guys, and without them on the roster, the Lakers are just ordinary. Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell, Dennis Schroeder, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope are all fine players, but you can’t expect them to carry the roster, whether it be offensively or defensively.

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Just by taking a look at the standings, you can clearly see that the Lakers have a solid cushion when it comes to a playoff spot. They are 28-17 while the ninth-place Memphis Grizzlies are 21-20. This means the Lakers are up by a comfortable margin, albeit, this could evaporate very quickly if the Lakers don’t snap out of this losing streak. If the purple and gold continue to fall flat when it comes to their performances, and AD takes a lot longer to come back, then the Lakers could be in a very uncomfortable position by the time LeBron returns to the roster. If you’re a Lakers fan, you can’t help but have a little anxiety over what happened in 2019, and this current predicament feels eerily similar. The main difference is this roster is better-equipped for this incredibly-difficult situation.

If you’re the Lakers, you can’t get too comfortable. There is always a risk that the teams behind you start to go on winning streaks, and if that happens, then the Lakers could find themselves struggling to stay afloat. No matter what happens, it’s clear that LeBron will forever be the league’s most valuable player.

Thursday’s NBA trade deadline was extremely busy as numerous players throughout the league were dealt to new teams. This was one of the biggest deadlines in the history of the NBA which makes sense when you consider just how many players were begging to be traded from their current situations. One of those players was Victor Oladipo who was sent from the Houston Rockets over to the Miami Heat, which was the team he wanted to be with all along.

Now, Oladipo will join a team that already boasts the talents of guys like Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro, and Duncan Robinson. As a little welcome to Miami, Heat legend Dwyane Wade took to Twitter with some words of encouragement for Oladipo, noting that his inclusion on the team is what’s best for the franchise.

“It feels right. Congrts my brotha,” Wade said simply. The Heat have been inconsistent at times this season although, with Oladipo on the roster, it’s clear that the team means business. This is a team that made the NBA Finals last season and if they get hot at the right time, perhaps they could make yet another NBA playoff push.

Let us know what you think about the Heat’s latest trade, in the comments below. Also, be sure to stay tuned for more news from around the NBA.

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Cancel culture has been a hot topic over the past few years; a controversial one, at that. We’ve seen plenty of people, including the former president of the United States, rail against the concept of being ‘canceled’ but in hip-hop and R&B, it’s been a particularly touchy subject. Artists like R. Kelly and Tekashi 6ix9ine, particularly, have been polarizing figures at large which have played a role in how they’ve maintained their relevance.

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Some people don’t appear to be on board with the ideas of canceling artists, especially if the art, itself, is worth consuming. During a recent interview with Fox Soul, the rapper explained that he’s able to separate the art from the artist in regards to artists like R. Kelly and Tekashi 6ix9ine. “How I would view him as an artist, he’s almost like a rockstar,” explained Bow Wow of his fandom of R. Kelly. “When I look at him as the artist, right? What he does in his personal life is what he does in his personal life but when I look at Tekashi 6ix9ine, I look at the artist.”

Shad explained that he doesn’t ‘hop on waves’ in terms of ‘canceling’ individuals in the limelight because he doesn’t know these people personally. “We know the story, we see what it is. That’s what it is. Cool. But, that’s not my business, but, you know, the music is something separate,” he added. “We all don’t agree with what happened to R. Kelly but do I still listen to his music at times? The artist? Yes, I do. It’s great music.”

Check out the clip below. 

On Friday night, a series of “chaotic” shootings transpired at the oceanfront of Virginia Beach, Virginia. Officers have since confirmed that 2 people are dead as a result of these shootings, and 8 more are seriously injured. According to Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul Neudigate, who conducted a short press hearing, shots were fired just after 11pm, and police were patrolling the area when they heard gunshots and found about 8 victims at “the original crime scene.”

While police were investigating the first shooting and transporting victims to the hospital, shots were fired about a block away, which resulted in “an individual being confronted by a uniform Virginia Beach police officer,” said Neudigate. This second shooting is supposedly related to the first and the confrontation was described as a “police intervention shooting.” 

It is unclear if the person confronted at the second crime scene was the original shooter. Additionally, a second person was shot and killed in a separate shooting nearby, which police do not believe is related to the first two. Another officer was also taken to the hospital after being hit by a car and sustaining non-life-threatening injuries. 

“What you can see is we have a very chaotic incident, a very chaotic night in the beach. Many different crime scenes,” explained Neudigate.No arrests have yet been made, but several people whose involvement is unclear are currently in police custody. 

[Via]

Chet Hanks has been a prominent personality on the internet, particularly for his Jamaican-accent antics that received mixed reviews from the audience. He’s remained relatively out of public scrutiny since he was confronted about the accent on Clubhouse back in December, sticking to his typical shirtless workout selfies. That changed yesterday (March 26) however, when he shared a video on his social media yesterday declaring it was going to be a “White Boy Summer,” setting off all types of reactions on Twitter. 

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Playing on Megan thee Stallion’s influential term “Hot Girl Summer,” the son of Oscar-award-winning actor Tom Hanks took to Instagram to offer his own take about what this summer’s slogan should be. “Hey guys, um, look I just wanted to tap in really quick, I got this feeling man” he began.

“That this summer, it’s about to be a White Boy Summer. You know, take it how you want. I’m not talking about Trump, NASCAR type white, you know,” he further explained. 

“I’m talking about you know, me, you know, Jon B, Jack Harlow type White Boy Summer. Let me know if you guys can vibe with that and you know, get ready,” he continued, referencing the Louisville rapper and the popular 90s singer. 

He finished, “Cause I am!” He penned in the caption of the video to further hone in his point, “Is it bout to be a White Boy Summer or am i trippin ??? Tag a REAL vanilla king #respectfully.”  

As you can probably already imagine, social media took no time to waste in roasting Chet. “I physically can not imagine Chet Hanks and Tom Hanks talking to each other,”  commented one user. 

Another hypothesized, “You will never convince me that Chet Hanks is anything but an elaborate prank designed by Hollywood execs to test the limits of Tom Hanks’ marketability.” Check out more reactions to Chet’s latest controversy and let us know what you think down in the comments.