RSG's preview for NBA 2021-2022 season

Two days ago, Ben Simmons announced that he will not play another game for the Philadelphia 76ers. Simmons knows that he could be fined heavily, if he does not join the team for start of training camp and the preseason. Training camp is set to start on September 27; and the NBA preseason starts on October 3. As the NBA season gets underway in another three weeks, there may not be a single team for Simmons to join. Will the 76ers change Ben Simmons mind, when the season starts? Doc Rivers, the 76ers head coach; thinks he has a way of encouraging Ben to come back to Philly. In the Western Conference, the stars in LA could be aligned for the Lakers franchise to be the heavy favorite to advance to the NBA finals. The Lakers traded for Russell Westbrook, and Dwight Howard is coming back to the franchise. Carmelo Anthony; Trevor Ariza; Wayne Ellington; DeAndre Jordan; Kent Bazemore; and Rajon Rondo joined the team in the offseason also. Malik Monk and Kendrick Nunn joined the Lakers, and they could be guards that come off the bench. Talen Horton-Tucker will join the team for another season, but the Lakers are being termed as 'LAARP.' The funny nickname is given to the team, as most of the players are 32 years old and aging. Back to the Eastern Conference, Brooklyn appears to be the favorite to make the NBA Finals. Kyrie Irving; James Harden; Kevin Durant; Joe Harris; and Blake Griffin should lead the team unless injuries run their season. Last year, the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Brooklyn Nets in a tight seven game series. Can the Bucks repeat as NBA Champions this year? Giannis; Khris Middleton; Jrue Holiday; and Brook Lopez will be ready for opening night as they get their 2020-21 nba championship rings. The Bucks play their first home game on October 19, against the Brooklyn Nets. In the last NBA Finals, the Phoenix Suns were up two to zero against Milwaukee before the Bucks won the final four games. This year, the Suns will look to rebound from their NBA Finals loss to Milwaukee. Phoenix will bring back Chris Paul; Devin Booker; Deandre Ayton; and Jae Crowder among other familiar players. The Suns will play in Footprint Center, which is the new name of their familiar arena. The Suns organization did not make a splash on NBA draft night, but they signed JaVale McGee as a potential backup to DeAndre Ayton. McGee will enter his 14th season with his eighth different team, over his journeyman career. In this penultimate paragraph, all NBA teams are scheduled to play 82 games for the regular season. The Toronto Raptors played all of their home games in Florida last year. But, Scotiabank Arena will be home once again for the Raptors. LaMarcus Aldridge retired at the end of last season, but he has been cleared to play in the NBA again. He has rejoined the Brooklyn Nets this offseason. In closing, what other players will make an impact this year? The Golden State Warriors will depend on the Splash brothers duo to guide them back to the playoffs. Klay Thompson will be back with the squad, as he missed the last two years due to various injuries. Maybe, Ben Simmons will join the Warriors in a trade at the beginning of this NBA season. If that process happened, it may hinder the Warriors playoff chances.

OneRepublic; Drake; and Kanye West release new albums as Summer 2021 ends

In the past two weeks, OneRepublic released their new album titled 'Human.' Kanye West released his new album titled 'Donda'; on August 29. Kanye West's new album is #1 already. Drake released 'Certified LoverBoy' album on September 3. The album has twenty one great songs on it. Twenty-One Savage and other distinguished hip-hop artists are featured on Drake's new album. Going back to Kanye, he wants to change his name to Ye only. In the past six weeks, Kanye was living in Atlanta's Mercedes Benz stadium. Jay-Z and other cool hip-hop artists including the Weeknd are featured, on Kanye's new album. With his 10th chart-topping album, West once again ties Eminem for the most No. 1 debuts in a row. 'Donda' is at the top of the charts with 309,000 equivalent album units. West is one of only seven artists in chart history to release 10 chart-topping albums. Next, Drake's new album became a best-seller on Amazon. Certified LoverBoy became Spotify's most streamed album in a single day on September 3, 2021. Apple Music said Certified LoverBoy was the service's biggest ever album debut. Kawhi Leonard made a cool cameo in 'way 2 sexy' video; and the two time NBA world champion came through. Billboards across the U.S. appear to be teasing the names of Drake's features. Also, ESPN hinted at Drake's new album in a cryptic ad recently. In contrast, OneRepublic released their first new album, 'Human'; in five years. The album is a deluxe album, with sixteen tracks. Ryan Tedder is the lead singer of the group. He has written songs for Beyonce, U2, Paul McCartney, etc. Recently, Tedder sold his song catalogue for $276 million. KKR is Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, and they are a huge US private equity firm that bought the song catalogue. In this penultimate paragraph, let's talk about the net worth of these huge mega-artists. Kanye West has a net worth of $1.8 billion. Drake has released numerous hit songs and launched several businesses that have earned him more than $430 million. Drake founded OVO, known as October's Very Own; which is his very successful record label. Ryan Tedder owns a slate of commercial real estate properties across the country alongside venture-capital investments, in companies like salad chain Sweetgreen and Masterclass-style content company Monthly.com. Since 2013, Drake is a global ambassador of the NBA's Toronto Raptors. In closing, see the picture above in Houston. The hometown hero is most likely Travis Scott, in reference of that massive billboard. Drake's cover of the album is meme inspiring, to say the least. Enjoy listening to all three new albums, as Summer 2021 comes to an end.