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Rudy Gobert was upset after his Minnesota Timberwolves took an L against the Phoenix Suns Wednesday night, saying the NBA shows favoritism to certain teams, according to the (Minneapolis) StarTribune.
“It’s not fair. It’s really not fair,” Gobert said. “Every night. I’ve been in this league for 10 years and I try to always give the benefit of the doubt, but it’s hard for me to think they’re not trying to help [the Suns] win tonight. It’s hard for me to think they didn’t try to help the Warriors win the other night or Sacramento Kings the other night. It’s just so obvious. As a basketball player that’s been in this league for so long, it’s disrespectful.”
The Suns had 27 free-throw attempts against Minnesota’s 12. Devin Booker had 29 points and went to the free-throw line 15 times.
“We understand that we’re not the biggest of the markets and we’re a team that—I think you want to see KD [Kevin Durant] in the playoffs, Steph [Stephen Curry] in the playoffs, you want to see LeBron [James] in the playoffs,” Gobert said. “[The] Timberwolves are not there yet. We got to keep putting our head down, keep playing through that and it’s frustrating for sure, especially for me.”
“We work so hard to be in a position to compete with the best and we just get manipulated into those situations where it just impacts the game for the other team too much,” Gobert said. “We understand that it’s also a business. Unfortunately, it’s sad, but it’s good also. … We understand that we’re not the biggest of the markets and we’re a team that—I think you want to see KD in the playoffs, Steph [Curry] in the playoffs, you want to see LeBron [James] in the playoffs. The Timberwolves are not there yet. We got to keep putting our heads down, keep playing through that and it’s frustrating for sure, especially for me.”
“It was a tough one, man,” Timberwolves guard Mike Conley said. “It’s hard to talk and breathe at the same time. But we’re a competitive group and we don’t use that as an excuse.”
The iconic TSR role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is now a live-action film, one delighting both audiences and critics. But forty years ago, D&D had its very first outside media adaptation, in the form of a popular CBS Saturday morning cartoon. The Dungeons & Dragons animated show featured a group of precocious teens from our world who get sucked into the magical realms of D&D through a theme park ride. Look, it was the ’80s. It was a weird time on Saturday Morning cartoons. But what would the animated D&D characters make of their modern, live-action successors? Watch the video down below to find out.
All the main characters from the cartoon in are in this video, observing Chris Pine and company on their adventures. There’s the wizard/guide known as the Dungeon Master, using his magic to conjure up our cinematic heroes. Right there with him are our teen heroes. There’s Hank the Ranger, Eric the Cavalier, Diana the Acrobat, Presto the Magician, Sheila the Thief, and Bobby the Barbarian. Of course, there was also Uni, their unicorn mascot. Every ’80s cartoon needed a cute animal sidekick, and the Dungeons & Dragons show was no different. At least Uni was cooler than Scrappy Doo.
As fans of Stranger Things are well aware, back in the ’80s there was a whole hysteria surrounding Dungeons & Dragons. Parents freaked out about kids playing D&D and “learning black magic.” The cartoon was a way of making D&D more palatable to parents who didn’t know an Owlbear from a Wookie. And because of it, we’re able to have a live-action D&D film today. Should Honor Among Thieves get a sequel, maybe they can give those cartoon kids a role. Although we’d actually be ok with it if it was just Uni the Unicorn who shows up.
The post DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES Meets the D&D ’80s Cartoon appeared first on Nerdist.
Sheryl Lee Ralph’s DIVA 2.0: 12 Life Lessons from Me for You! is part memoir, part self-help sprinkled with motivation, encouragement, and downright cheerleading, which left me feeling like I could accomplish anything I put my mind to.
These days, it’s easy to feel discouraged by so many aspects of our culture. But reading DIVA 2.0 made me feel good. Reading this book is like sitting down to tea with your most beloved and glamorous mentor and getting the inspiration you need to take action. At less than 200 pages, DIVA 2.0 is a super quick read that you can devour at your favorite cafe. I can’t remember the last time I went out to a cafe on my own and read such a nourishing book. The author’s note redefines the word “diva” as an acronym. “More than big hair and an attitude, DIVA is an acronym for Divinely Inspired Victoriously Alive/Aware/Awesome and if it were Sunday, Anointed!”
Ralph shares the story of her upbringing in a middle class home in Hempstead, Long Island, with a Jamaican immigrant mother and a Black American father. It’s lovely to hear her talk about what it’s like being in a Black cross-cultural home. Ralph candidly talks about the challenges her mother faced from Black Americans, who at the time shunned and ridiculed Black immigrants from the West Indies. Through determination, grit, and finding love and marrying a Black doctor, she met working at Harlem Hospital, her mother created a strong foundation in which to raise little Sheryl with the resources to nurture her. At sixteen, Sheryl became the youngest student at Rutgers University, in the first class that allowed women as students. It was at Rutgers where she was able to develop her craft and become a working actor.
Saturday, March 18, 2023, was a cold sunny day in New York City, but the one hundred and twenty seat Billie Holiday Theatre was packed full of beautiful Black women who came out to support actor Sheryl Lee Ralph. The theater is celebrating its 50-year anniversary this year and is located in the iconic Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn. The Billie Holiday Theatre is one of the last surviving Black theaters formed during the Civil Rights Movement in the early 1970’s. The non-profit theater opened in May 1972, and several iconic actors like Samuel L. Jackson and Debbie Allen have graced its stage. It was the perfect venue to experience the pure majesty of Emmy- and Tony-award winning actor, Sheryl Lee Ralph. Not only did BGN have the privilege of attending the sold-out book launch event, we had the opportunity to chat with the actor backstage in between events.
Even in a simple pink blazer and black pants, Sheryl Lee Ralph was the embodiment of glamor. Her bright smile, legendary dimples, and radiant energy lit up the stage. In the fifty-minute interview on stage Ralph wove bits of wisdom from DIVA 2.0 through anecdotes from her long career.
She also told the story of how as she was getting ready for the 2022 Emmys, everything that could possibly go wrong did, from a dress issue to the person who did her nails not having her kit with her, yet everything fell into place beautifully. She ended up with the perfect gown and ensemble to meet the life-changing moment when she was named best supporting female actor in a comedy series. The crowd roared as Ralph took on the persona and voice of her Jamaican mother, who said to her, “You can be a doctor or a lawyer or you can marry one!”
And she told behind the scenes stories about Abbott Elementary with love and adoration with her castmates and the entire creative team. The book launch event was an incredible experience that left us all just beaming. That’s the impact of positivity and good vibrations that Sheryl Lee Ralph leaves on you.
I waited for the actor backstage and had just ten minutes to ask her two questions. Sheryl Lee Ralph is an actor I’ve admired since I was a teenager. In 1985, she was in this TV show I loved, Code Name Foxfire, a spy series where three strong women kicked ass, and I just adored her and that show. But I contained myself and didn’t ask about that show from the 1980s and stayed focused on the present. I heard her directing the staff, moving them along through some photos to keep everyone on schedule, and there she was sitting right with me in the flesh just beaming. I didn’t have much time so I dove right in.
First, so much of an actor’s life is beyond your control. Talk to me about how faith and intuition have guided your inner diva throughout your career.
Faith is like a mustard seed. People don’t even know how tiny a mustard seed is. But you’ve got to have that kind of faith that keeps hope alive, that keeps you in this industry, knowing that you are a creative that you belong here.
I also tell people not to rely on just one talent. If you sing, then you need to act. If you act, then you need to dance. If you dance, then you need to move, and if you’re any of those things, you need to write, you need to develop, and you need to use your voice. There’s so many parts about being an actor and surviving and thriving in this industry that have to be discovered. Sometimes you need to step in front of the camera and move behind the camera, but you have to be open to finding your space in an industry that is full of no’s and full of rejection. Sometimes if you get a thousand no’s, you know that doggone yes is coming soon, and you’ve got to hang on for it. Hang on and believe that it’s coming. People talk about, “You and this ‘believe.’” I’m like, “Did you believe in Santa Claus? Yeah, you did. Did you believe in the tooth fairy? Did you believe in the Easter Bunny? Yeah, you did. So you’re gonna tell me you got a problem with believing in yourself? Come on now? Come on.
When I interviewed you back in 2021 you said, “Remember Diva, go where you are celebrated. Don’t stay where you are tolerated. Choose joy because the burden we have been carrying was heavy.” How has choosing joy factored into nourishing your resilience in the entertainment industry?
No matter what, I’m happy; no matter what, I’m thankful, no matter what, grateful through good and bad times. I know that there’s something to be so thankful for. I’m happy to be alive, and I choose joy. I choose happiness. I choose me.
Sheryl Lee Ralph’s DIVA 2.0:12 Life Lessons from Me for You! is available wherever you buy books.