NBA Champ Masai Ujiri Talks Giants of Africa Fest: “There’s a Sense of Togetherness”

When Masai Ujiri, the former head decision-maker for the NBA champion Toronto Raptors, thinks back on his childhood, the word “freedom” comes quickly to mind. Ujiri, who was born in England but grew up in Zaria, Nigeria, says he was able to live more freely back then than compared to even his own children and their peers today. They could walk where they wanted, play basketball during their downtime, and go to a friend’s house and play ping-pong. Today, a child’s life seems much more claustrophobic.

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ProfilesJake UittiVice
“The Disconnect is Staggering”: Bush’s Gavin Rossdale on New LP ‘I Beat Loneliness’

Gavin Rossdale, the frontman for the British-born rock band Bush, says he’s been “obsessed” with loneliness his whole life. If you saw his handsome face on MTV in the 1990s, you might be hard pressed to think he would ever be lonely. That it was even humanly possible. But if you listened to his songs, you would’ve heard what Rossdale means. Think of their signature track, “Glycerine.” On it, he sings: I’m never alone, I’m alone all the time. It’s also something he notices in other people (cue: Paul McCartney’s violins).

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ProfilesJake UittiVice
The myth of the Big Dumper: how Cal Raleigh became a Seattle folk hero

It’s the dream of every kid who picks up a baseball bat. The score is tied, 1-1. It’s the bottom of the ninth inning. With one swing, you have the chance to make history. That’s the situation Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh found himself in on 30 September 2022. His manager called him up to bat with the game on the line. If his team won, they’d end a 20-year playoff drought. So, what did Raleigh do? He smacked a full-count, pinch-hit, walk-off dinger deep to right field. Cue: the victory music.

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Connection, normalcy and fierce loyalty: why life is sweet on small market NBA teams

Two-time NBA All-Star Reggie Theus remembers the 1981 playoffs. In a “big time” opening round series, his Chicago Bulls faced the New York Knicks. The first game tipped off in one of the world’s most famous arenas, Madison Square Garden, and it included stars such as Artis Gilmore, Bill Cartwright and Michael Ray Richardson. The Bulls won game one and went on to win the series, playing Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics in the next round. Theus scored 37 points in the clincher against New York, an overtime victory in the Windy City. But it was a thrill he never quite felt again.

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9 Big Name Bold NBA Trades We’d Like To See This Summer

Wow. That’s the only word that can be used to describe what happened Monday night in the National Basketball Association.

To start the night, the Dallas Mavericks, after trading away generational superstar Luka Dončić, won the 2025 draft lottery, giving them the right to take Duke standout Cooper Flagg. Then, just two hours later, Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum injured himself so badly that it’s likely he’s out for a long time. Things happen quickly in the NBA.

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EssayJake UittiVice
From Brunson to Ant-Man: the players who have defined a wild, brilliant NBA postseason

Welcome to Act III of the 2024-25 NBA season. It was a rough start for the league this year. People came out of the woodwork to criticize it, offering wild solutions, and pointing out the low early season TV ratings. But then the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers and things got real interesting in Act II.

Now, though, we’re in the third portion of the season and it couldn’t be more exciting. Indeed, we seem far away from those calls for sweeping change. Let’s look at five players who have wowed us and taken us to the edge of our seats in this third act.

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Dave Matthews Wows Solo at Wells Fargo Autograph Card Exclusive Event in Houston

Dave Matthews, the recently inducted Rock & Roll Hall of Fame legend, says he still gets nervous before a gig. Talking backstage at the Wells Fargo Autograph Card exclusive event in Houston, Texas, on Friday night (May 2), Matthews joked about his fear of stepping on stage and bombing. But of course, that was the furthest thing from happening when the songwriter took up his acoustic in front of an intimate audience of a few hundred fans at the White Oak Music Hall over the weekend.

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Pro baseball player Tarik El-Abour is everything RFK Jr says he can’t be

When Tarik El-Abour was in middle school, his teacher asked him and his classmates a simple question. What do you want to be when you grow up? When it was time for him to answer, El-Abour gave a reply that thousands of children have said before. He wanted to be a baseball player. But his teacher shot back with something less than encouraging: “You’d better have a Plan B.” El-Abour, who was diagnosed with autism at the age of three, remained undeterred. Rather than listening to his pessimistic instructor, he distanced himself from her.

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Bootsy Collins Reveals How the Wildness of Existence Inspires His Out-of-This-World Music

If you were to find some mysterious, enticing doorway—maybe it shows itself along a path somewhere you’ve taken a million times before—would you open it and walk through? And if you did, as you meandered through the dimly lit tunnels, hoping to find some magical end, some pot of gold or key truth that would change you forever, who might you hope to see at the end of the long hallways to greet you? Probably someone like Bootsy Collins, that’s who. Collins, who released his latest studio album, Album of the Year #1 Funkateer, on April 11, is the type of person who can illustrate an idea as if reading it from a tome of spells. He can pick up a bass and mesmerize. Or you can look into his eyes and simply ask, “What is the secret?”And then he answers.

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