Basketball
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Ice Cube has earned plenty of plaudits during his nearly four-decade career, from a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and his spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with N.W.A. and BET Hip-Hop Awards hardware. But on Tuesday (Nov. 14) the rap legend was humbled when the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced the inaugural Ice Cube Impact Award.
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“Basketball has had a positive impact on my life in so many ways. Thank you to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame for establishing the ‘Ice Cube Impact Award,’ which will honor those who work to improve their community by using basketball as a tool to help kids,” tweeted Cube, the founder of the BIG3 basketball league, which pits former NBA and international ballers against each other in fast-paced 3-on-3 competitions. “I’m honored,” added Cube.
In another tweet, Cube wrote that the league — which he launched in 2017 with music manager and business partner Jeff Kwatinetz — was created for basketball fans like him who were tired of the long, hot summers after the end of the NBA finals. “Never in a million years did I think my efforts would land me in the BHOF. Honored & humbled. Thank you,” wrote the lifelong Lakers fan who grew up playing ball at the Inglewood YMCA.
The Hall of Fame said in a statement that the unique collaboration with Cube is aimed at honoring the rapper’s “extraordinary contributions to the world of basketball, his unparalleled passion for the game, and his unwavering commitment to encouraging crucial dialogues surrounding inclusivity, equal opportunity, and racial and social justice while contributing to initiatives focused on education and community development.”
The Cube Impact Award will be permanently housed at the HOF museum in a dedicated exhibit of each year’s winner featuring “in-depth storytelling about honorees who use basketball as a platform for good works in their own communities.”
“Ice Cube’s unquestionable passion for the game and his desire to see it utilized as a catalyst for positive impact on communities are unwavering,” said John L. Doleva, President and CEO of the basketball HOF in a statement. “His sphere of influence in both the entertainment industry and in the professional sports arena brings remarkable authenticity and value to this award. We are delighted to join hands with Ice Cube as he leverages his love of the game to inspire others. The Ice Cube Impact Award will stand as a testament to the power of basketball and the profound impact it can have on communities worldwide.”
Cube also got major props from his son, actor O’Shea Jackson Jr., who tweeted about his dad’s legendary grind. “You can not stop him! You can only hope to contain him! I’m so shook right now dude this is amazing news,” Jackson Jr. wrote. “Y’all don’t understand what he goes through man. The grind this dude has is just unreal. Dad I can’t wait to hug you man. Yo this is so incredible. What you do, not only for us as a family, but for others as well is so admirable. I really do have the greatest dad in the world. This man scores one triple double with his friends. And now he landed in the BHOF lol.”
Junior thanked the Naismith HOF for honoring his dad’s contributions to the game we all love. “I cant wait to see the future winners of this award,” he said. “As his son, i am overwhelmed with joy. As a fan of basketball, I am relieved that positive growth for the game is acknowledged.”
The Ice Cube Impact Award will be presented to Cube at the Naismith HOF on Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Jan. 15) in Springfield, Massachusetts.
See Cube’s tweet and the props from his son and fellow hip-hop icons below.
Basketball has had a positive impact on my life in so many ways. Thank you to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame for establishing the “Ice Cube Impact Award,” which will honor those who work to improve their community by using basketball as a tool to help kids. I’m honored. pic.twitter.com/qlIpRBN39B— Ice Cube (@icecube) November 15, 2023
I started the BIG3 for the fans of basketball like myself who were tried of suffering through the summer after the NBA Finals were over. Never in a million years did I think my efforts would land me in the BHOF. Honored & humbled. Thank you. https://t.co/0cAzjUPtXQ— Ice Cube (@icecube) November 14, 2023
You can not stop him! You can only hope to contain him! I’m so shook right now dude this is amazing news. Y’all don’t understand what he goes through man. The grind this dude has is just unreal. Dad I can’t wait to hug you man. Yo this is so incredible. What you do, not only for… https://t.co/dYgqSavSu7— O’Shea Jackson Jr (@OsheaJacksonJr) November 14, 2023
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The 2023 WNBA Finals was thought to be a slugfest between two elite squads that would potentially go for the entire length of the series. However, the defending champion Las Vegas Aces are up 2-0 in their best-of-five series against the New York Liberty after a lopsided win on Wednesday (October 11).
Led by A’Ja Wilson, who notched a double-double with 26 points and 15 rebounds, the Aces routed the Liberty 104-76 despite hope that New York’s star players would likely bounce back from the Game 1 loss on Sunday (October 8). As it stands, the Aces are one game away from repeating as the WNBA champions and would be the first team since the 2001-02 Los Angeles Sparks to win back-to-back titles.
Aces head coach Becky Hammon expressed admiration for her team’s execution and play in toppling the Liberty with relative ease.
“The character of this team and their absolute buy-in to the person to the left or right’s success is authentic,’ Hammon said in a postgame press conference as reported by the Associated Press. “And it’s tough to deal with when you share the ball and people are skilled and competitive. They were good tonight. They don’t leave me speechless very often, but they executed defensively, offensively shared it – everything we’ve been asking them to do.”
Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello congratulated the Aces on their win.
“Vegas is playing their best basketball at the moment,” Sandy Brondello said. “They’re playing with a lot of confidence, you see the chemistry that they have. And for us, we haven’t taken the steps forward, we haven’t shown it. We’re disappointed, very disappointed, because we’re a way better team [than] what we showed.”
Game 3 of the WNBA Finals heads back to New York on Sunday (October 15) with the Liberty hoping to extend the series and snatch back momentum. To do so, the team will need more heavy lifting from stars Jonquel Jones, Sabrina Ionescu, and Breanna Stewart.
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Photo: Ethan Miller / Getty
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The WNBA Finals kicked off Sunday (October 8) between the Las Vegas Aces and the New York Liberty in Las Vegas, Nev. with the home team showing off their champion form as they defend their title in this best-of-five series. While the first half was competitive and saw the Liberty up by a handful, the Aces turned things around in the second.
Coached by Becky Hammon, the Aces, led by guards Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young, and Chelsea Gray, the Aces came out the gate slow but managed to keep the scoring of Liberty stars Sabrina Ionescu and Courtney Vandersloot under their usual output.
The play from the Aces trio stood out as the Liberty used much of their energy attempting to contain Aces power forward A’Ja Wilson, who scored 19 points and hauled in 8 boards, allowing Young to go off for 26 points. Young played hard all 94 feet and hindered the usually productive Ionescu from a scoring explosion. Plum also scored 26, and Gray had 20 points with a team-leading 9 assists.
On the other side of the ball, Breanna Stewart scored 21 with 9 rebounds, while Jonquel Jones had a double-double of 16 points and 10. Ionescu scored 7 points with 5 rebounds and 5 assists.
Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello, leading the team back to its first WNBA Finals appearance since 2002, stressed in the postgame press conference that her players will have to adjust to the swarming defense of the Aces and reminded the reporters in tow that this isn’t typical New York basketball.
“We can obviously learn a lot from this and we can play better,” Brondello said. “That’s what we have to remember. We haven’t lost two in a row all season long, and we’re going to know that we responded the right way. I trust these players.”
Because of the two marquee teams, the WNBA Finals attracted plenty of star power with LeBron James, Sheryl Swoopes, Mark Wahlberg, and Aces minority owner, Tom Brady all in attendance among others. The Brooklyn Nets also had several players in attendance such as Ben Simmons and Mikal Bridges, proving that women’s basketball is growing in popularity in the States.
Game 2 of the WNBA Finals kicks off on Wednesday, October 11 in Las Vegas. The series returns to New York on October 15.
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Photo: Getty
Damian Lillard has officially been traded to the Milwaukee Bucks, just three months after he requested a trade away from the Portland Trail Blazers. To celebrate, the NBA player shared a new song, fittingly titled “Farewell,” with his fans. “‘Farewell’ out on @AppleMusic and @Tidal now. Hitting the rest of the platforms soon,” the athlete […]
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Fat Joe has managed to remain an important figure within the culture for the past three decades all while maintaining an authentic connection to the streets that raised him. ClashTV, a burgeoning livestreaming digital platform, announced Thursday (August 17) that Fat Joe will be its first Streetball commissioner.
With Fat Joe taking the helm as ClashTV’s Streetball commissioner, the Bronx native will enter the new role overseeing the platform’s coverage of the sport while also joining ClashTV’s board along with an ownership stake in ClashTV.
“I’m proud to team up with ClashTV and establish a new era of Streetball. The ClashTV team truly understands the cultural and community impact of Streetball, so I’m looking forward to helping them elevate the game and bring athletes, creators and fans together in an innovative and meaningful way,” the rapper shared in a statement.
ClashTV CEO Jonathan Anastas adds, “Clash is with the culture. Joe is a superstar in the culture, and a lifelong Streetball fan. Together, we are going to unite the basketball leagues of America. In our mission to own the category of Streetball, there is no one more suited for this role than Fat Joe. What first bubbled up from the courts of New York City has become a worldwide movement. Joe’s expertise at leveraging media to grow the culture is legendary and we look forward to his contributions to ClashTV.”
ClashTV has a number of notable moves under its belt as it continues to grow the platform. The company partnered with AND1, and has forged partnerships with Alpha Metaverse Technologies Inc., creating and promoting summer basketball content, and was instrumental in the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Drew League in Los Angeles among other moves.
Learn more about ClashTV here.
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Photo: Fat Joe
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Even though San Francisco’s Chase Center is Steph Curry’s home turf, he was the guest of honor at Paramore‘s Monday (Aug. 7) show. Staying true to the band’s on-tour tradition of bringing out one fan every night to assist frontwoman Hayley Williams in singing “Misery Business,” Paramore this time invited none other than the Golden […]
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Indiana is home to a passionate base of basketball fans as evidenced in a new video that showed a man coming from the stands to attack a referee on the court. The situation took place at a youth basketball game and the man who attacked the ref got taken down MMA style before it was broken up.
Twitter user Jeff Lytle shared a video via Twitter this past Saturday (May 20) from a youth basketball game at SportONE Parkview Fieldhouse in Indiana, according to a report from local outlet WANE which has more.
From WANE:
A witness told WANE 15 that the parent in the video was complaining about foul calls. After speaking to the referee, he was then asked to leave the game.
As the official attempted to get help in removing the parent, the man got in his face and grabbed the referee, according to the witness.
The witness then said the man was ultimately escorted out of the game and did not return. The witness claimed they showed officers the video of the incident.
The outlet adds that the eight-grade teams were playing in the Gym Rats Basketball tournament in Fort Wayne.
Thankfully, things were broken up at the scene as police officers were never called to the venue to intervene.
As we said, basketball is life in Indiana. Word to Larry Bird.
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Photo: Getty
Blxst and his Evgle record label have teamed up with NBA 2K23 to curate the new season 7 soundtrack. Two of the eight tracks from the soundtrack are from Blxst’s recent Just for Clarity 2 EP: “Passionate,” featuring Roddy Ricch, and “Keep Calling,” featuring Larry June. “Spend It” by Babyface Ray, Blxst and Nija is […]
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Source: Ezra Shaw / Getty / Stephen Curry
Unlike his teammate Draymond Green, Stephen Curry rarely makes a mistake on the court, until yesterday.
The best shooter in basketball, Stephen Curry, almost cost his Golden State Warriors the game, and they could have been down 3-1 heading back to Sacramento after making an egregious blunder.
With just 40 seconds left in the game, the Kings trapped Curry leaving him nowhere to go or pass the ball. So generally, in that situation, you will call a timeout, and that’s what he did.
But there was one issue, the Warriors didn’t have any timeouts left after head coach Steve Kerr lost the team’s final timeout in an unsuccessful challenge that even Draymond Green told him not to do.
“I didn’t realize when we lost the challenge that we didn’t have any timeouts left,” Curry said. Like a true leader, Steve Kerr took the blame for the moment, protecting his all-star player.
Curry still owned up to his mistake, adding, “[Coach] took the blame for it, but I ain’t going to lie: I thought it was the smartest play in the world. I looked at the bench, and everybody was shaking their head. It was an unfortunate situation.”
The Kings took advantage of what many call Steph’s “Chris Webber moment,” referencing retired hooper calling a timeout his team did not have during the 1993 National Championship game costing the Michigan Wolverines the chip.
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With a technical free throw and a three-pointer from the NBA’s most clutch player, De’Aron Fox, the Kings were only down one in a game that at one point looked like a sure win for the Warriors.
The Warriors did survive after Harrison Barnes missed a go-ahead three-pointer.
NBA Twitter Came With The Jokes
As you can imagine, NBA Twitter had plenty of reactions to Curry’s brain lapse and Harrison Barnes’s potential game-winning brick.
You can see those in the gallery below.
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Photo: Ezra Shaw / Getty
1. Accurate
2. Very true
7. Y’all aint right
As E-40 taught us, everybody’s got choices. The Sacramento Kings chose to eject the Bay Area rapper from the April 15 game against E-40’s hometown Golden State Warriors, and now they’ve released a joint statement addressing the incident.
E-40 made the trek to Sacramento to enjoy courtside seats at the Warriors’ game against the Kings only to be kicked out by security after a verbal altercation with a woman whom E-40 referred to as a heckler in his section. “Security saw a disagreement between a Black man and a White woman and immediately assumed that I was at fault,” he wrote in his initial statement, attributing the incident to “racial bias.”
Now, the Kings have released a joint statement with the rapper, born Earl Stevens, setting the record straight. “After a series of thoughtful and transparent conversations, both parties agree that there was a miscommunication regarding the circumstances that occurred during the Kings vs. Warriors game on Saturday night,” the statement begins.
“Contrary to speculation, Mr. Earl ‘E-40’ Stevens did not stand excessively from his ticketed courtside seat; the outcome resulted from an unfortunate misunderstanding between both parties. The Kings will continue to equitably enforce the NBA Fan Code of Conduct to ensure guests can comfortably enjoy games free of disrespectful heckling and other disruptive conduct. The organization has been a longtime leader in promoting social justice and racial equality with a track record of measurable results and community impacts. Mr. Stevens has previously attended games at Golden 1 Center without incident, and the Kings look forward to welcoming him back to our arena in the future.”
Following E-40’s ejection, the rapper received an outpouring of support, with the Philadelphia 76ers, the Warriors and TNT’s Inside the NBA playing his songs during games and programming. Jalen Rose also posted a video addressing the matter and demanding an apology from the Kings.
E-40 called the experience “jarring” in his initial statement. On Thursday, he released his latest single, “Front Row 40,” which a source told Complex was recorded months ago and was slated to drop “during the Warriors’ postseason.”