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Darren Waller continues music career in addition to NFL success

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SANTA MONICA, California. — About 30 minutes into Darren Waller’s recording session, the music producer asked him to make a small correction.

Waller, the Pro Bowl tight end the Giants traded for in March, was at Interscope Records’ sprawling headquarters trying to finish two songs he’d created. He had only two hours left before flying to Las Vegas, where his new wife, Kelsey Plum, was waiting for him.

To Waller’s roaring song “Step,” he leaned into the microphone and uttered “skrrt,” an extended impromptu impromptu lyric that his local talent manager asked him to shorten and sharpen. Within two minutes, Waller fixed the problem, and the four music professionals in the room smiled and nodded in time with the rhythm Waller created.

The professional bowler is the great-grandson of Thomas Waller, the swing pianist and composer known as Fats, and his own music – mostly hip hop with a mixture of songs he reads, produces and writes – has recently become more than just a run from the football field .

He released four albums, recording them at home using only a computer, microphone and speakers, before sending the tracks to an engineer in Georgia. But in March, just a week after the Raiders traded him, Waller, and 21 other NFL players. attended a league-sponsored program learn about the music business by visiting Interscope, the record label that launched the careers of Tupac and Dr. doctor

There, the players met with label executives, learned about revenue and marketing, and toured the studios. David Nieman, senior vice president of sports and games at Interscope, listened to The Step for the first time that day and was impressed by Waller’s speech and insight.

“You could tell that he understood everything and took music seriously,” Neumann said in an interview. “You could tell he wasn’t just talking about it.”

Nieman brought in Waller again to fine-tune “Step” and another song, “Sweep”, on the label, which had curated an 11-song soundtrack created exclusively for the popular Madden NFL video game two years ago. For Madden 24 to be released in August, Nieman hoped to create a similar shorter album, known as the “extended game”, which would have six songs created by active NFL players; the game usually only featured songs from traditional artists.

“It’s great to give players some insight,” Waller said. “We take it seriously and we can make good music, so I love the fact that I’m one of the first people to figure it out.”

Waller, 30, a seven-year NFL veteran whose 6-foot-6 and athleticism makes him take on a multifaceted threat, has always used music as a pastime. He played the piano and was in a high school band that grew up in Georgia. But Waller’s passion for music became a necessary outlet when his life was at a crossroads. After the Baltimore Ravens selected Waller in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL Draft, he repeatedly failed mandatory drug tests.

He said he started abusing painkillers in high school and his addiction turned into alcohol, marijuana and other drugs. Following his second violation of the league’s substance abuse policy, the NFL suspended Waller for the entire 2017 season. According to him, in August 2017, he almost died after an overdose of fentanyl.

Waller underwent a 30-day rehabilitation program in Camden, Maine and music became a central part of his recovery process. While there, he juggled counseling meetings and wrote lyrics in his spare time.

“It was probably the best self-expression tool I had.“ Waller said. “Music was a way for me to almost say things before they happened and gain confidence.”

After rehab, Waller lived with his parents, Charlene and Dorian Waller for a while, and worked at a grocery store. His father heard him make beats and was filled with pride. “I was in seventh heaven because it’s part of my family’s heritage and seeing that in my son was really great,” Dorian Waller said.

Later in 2017, Darren Waller released his debut album,Better wall of calls”, 12 songs that he read with lyrics about his life. In one of his songs “Made Of” he read: “I had to let go of my pride, bend down to see what I was afraid of, because if I had never gone to war with myself, I would never have seen what I was made of.

After Waller was reinstated by the NFL, he signed with the Raiders in November 2018 and was named to the Pro Bowl for the 2020 season after receiving 1,196 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. He also broke the Raiders’ franchise record for receptions (107).

In one of the first major signings under general manager Dave Ziegler and coach Josh McDaniels, the Raiders signed Waller in September 2022 to a three-year, $22 million money-guaranteed contract extension, making him one of the league’s highest-paid players.

But Waller missed eight games last season with a hamstring injury. In his spare time, he began dating Plum, the star player for the WNBA Las Vegas Aces, shortly after meeting her last April while taping a podcast. He proposed to her in October during the Raiders’ farewell week, and Waller later told McDaniels and Ziegler that the couple were keeping their impending marriage a secret.

Before Waller and Plum could reveal their march wedding on instagram Ziegler and McDaniels spoke to reporters about their upcoming nuptials during an informal session at the NFL Scouting Combine. Waller said a public relations representative from his foundation told him that Las Vegas Review Journal a reporter asked about the couple’s plans days before the wedding and their first public announcement.

“It was frustrating because you share information with people and hope they keep it private, but I don’t think there is any malicious intent behind it,” Waller said.

Less than two weeks later — a day after the newlyweds returned from their honeymoon — Ziegler called Waller and said he had been traded to the Giants in exchange for a third-round draft pick. The move surprised Waller, he said, as he prepared for the team’s off-season practice. But with the Giants, he is an instant target for quarterback Daniel Jones, who signed a contract extension with the Giants in March.

In April, Waller spent two days at a rented house near Scottsdale, Arizona with Giants hitters. The trip was organized by Jones and allowed Waller to practice and dine with his new teammates.

“I just met these dudes, but it already seems like we have great chemistry and these things are important,” Waller said.

Organized team events and a mini-camp in New Jersey keep Waller away from Plum, who still lives in Las Vegas. For now, Waller has said he plans to hang out with Plum every weekend and that she will join him in New Jersey when her season ends.

While the WNBA regular season runs from May to September and the NFL season opens on September 7, their cross country flights could continue until the end of October if the Aces are in contention for a second straight championship.

When Waller’s day at the studio ended, he left by car for Los Angeles International Airport for a short flight to Las Vegas, where he and Plum planned to attend a boxing match the next day.

“I heard a friend of mine once say that “blessings can stack so high that they start to look like problems,” Waller said. “Everything that I have in my life right now is a blessing, but there are times when it’s hard because there is always something to do and little rest, but it’s important to keep the right perspective.”

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SPORTS

Warriors vs. Lakers: Golden State have a problem with Anthony Davis and Jordan Poole could be the solution

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May 7, 2023

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Lakers vs. Warriors was billed as LeBron James vs. Stephen Curry. But in reality, the two had nothing to do with each other in the first three games of the series, which now has Los Angeles leading 2-1 after beating Golden State 127-97 on Saturday.

It has been and will continue to be a series of adjustments, meaning the most important match, at least so far, has been the minor match. In Game 1, Warriors coach Steve Kerr started his traditional five-man lineup with Kevon Looney and Draymond Green, two non-shooters, as double bigs and deployed Stephen Curry mostly off the ball.

Lakers coach Darwin Ham, unafraid that Curry would perform a pick-and-roll to draw Anthony Davis to the perimeter, leaned back and watched Davis take full control of the paint and take out the sluggish Looney at the other end, while The Lakers’ defense squeezed the Golden State’s spatially complex offense.

In Game 2, Kerr put the ball in Curry’s hands to get possession, throwing more pick-and-rolls to bring in Davis, get Curry to double teams and unleash the 4-on-3 advantage Golden State had earned so much hay from. compared to years.

The strategy became even more effective when Kerr launched JaMychal Green instead of Looney. This resulted in four shooters on the floor instead of three, and the added threat was too much for Los Angeles as he kept spinning after Curry got the ball moving. It worked wonders. It took Curry just 12 shots to score 20 points, and in doing so, he scored 12 assists as everyone was staring wide open across the court.

Since Looney wasn’t in the starting lineup, Kerr also put Draymond Green on Davis in Game 2, and it’s no coincidence that Davis only had 11 points and seven rebounds. He was basically a non-factor. Davis later said that he made all the same shots as in the first game, but that was not true. Green protected him to hell.

These were three huge adjustments from Kerr: Curry’s ball play, JaMychal’s starting and Draymond’s placement on Davis. It worked wonders. Golden State rolled over. The series is closed.

In Game 3, knowing that Kerr would stick with what worked in Game 2, Ham changed his defensive matchup with Davis by assigning his superstar big man to cover Jamichal Green instead of Jarred Vanderbilt’s Draymond Green.

What did it give? Well, now that Draymond is on screen in place of Curry, the Lakers are simply changing the action to Vanderbilt, who has been Curry’s primary quarterback for most of the series. So now, instead of the Warriors being able to film Vanderbilt off Curry, they’re taking Vanderbilt. To Curry, if they decide to use Draymond as an examiner, which is what they want to do. See below:

If it’s Davis covering Green, then it’s also Davis who has to go on the perimeter and protect Curry, which he can’t do, and that has a double whammy as it also eliminates Davis as a defender under the basket.

So why don’t the Warriors just send in whoever Davis is covering – in the case of Game 3, JaMichal Green to start – to set up a screen for Curry, forcing Davis into the fight? Well, maybe that will be one of Kerr’s adjustments in Game 4. But in Game 3, Kerr didn’t trust JaMikhal to be the offensive quarterback after Curry passed the ball and wants Draymond in that role. The Lakers want Vanderbilt on Curry and Davis in the paint. Ham effectively began possession with Austin Reeves on Curry, betting that Vanderbilt would complete it after the switch.

Ham bet correctly, and it threw everything off for the warriors. As you saw in the clip above, Davis was once again wreaking havoc as a rim guard and overall guard without worrying about being involved in pick ‘n’ rolls. Davis was everywhere. Curry’s pick-and-roll threat was relatively neutralized. The third round goes to Ham as the Lakers roll.

So now we’re looking at game 4. In particular, what will Kerr come up with to get Davis out of the picture and resume the offense under Curry? First, he could isolate Curry from Reeves and just let him go one on one. Reeves is a good defender, but this will most likely force Vanderbilt back to Curry. But then you still have a problem with who’s covering for Curry, as isolating Wando throughout the game isn’t such a pleasant option. They still need to get AD back on Draymond.

In my opinion, whether Kerr wants to isolate Curry or start a pick and roll, he should start a real fourth shooter who will adequately space the floor, not a big guy like Jamichal who can kind of shoot. Real shooter. A small one that Davis can’t guard. I’m thinking about Jordan Poole.

It’s true, Pool was terrible in the last two games of this series, and he was terrible against the Kings in the first round as well. His defense is attractive. His shot rebounding and insane drunken dribbling is infuriating. But he’s a threat. The Lakers must cover him for at least 25 feet. The floor is spreading. It worked against kings.

And again, most importantly, the Lakers can’t hide Davis on the Pool the way they can hide JaMihal. Poole’s security would have put Davis out of his sight completely. Besides, he’s just not going to go after a pest like Poole. He’s also not going to guard Wiggins or Clay. And definitely not Steph.

This will force Ham to bring back Davis against Draymond, who can then return to his usual two-man games with Curry. Now Davis is back in the same predicament as in the second game: move out of sight and keep Curry off the ball screen, or speak up and let Curry fire nukes into your season. If the Lakers decide to go for a full double with Curry, then Draymond will take them out of the short throw like he’s done for the past decade.

Kerr could also consider bringing in Donte Di Vincenzo or even Moses Moody instead of Poole. Any one of them, for the most part, would accomplish the same thing as starting Poole in terms of working as a brace on the fourth floor and forcing Davis to guard Draymond again.

But running Poole might have the added benefit of being able to get the most out of it personally. He plays better as a starter, and the bottom line is that the Warriors will most likely need Pool’s best player in at least a few games to win this series.

Will Ham prevent this potential Kerr adjustment with one of his own? I’m not sure what he could do. Some sort of pre-switch or clean-up strategy to maybe get Davis off Draymond before he has to mess around with Curry’s moves.

But these mechanisms require a kind of rotation; One way or another, getting the Lakers into the rotation is the goal of Golden State. Also, there are many mistakes that can be made with so many pre-action moving parts, to the point where they are possible even on a spaced floor with an instinctive cover-up like Draymond.

Davis wants to fire Green from the start, which allows Green to face dribbles with any of the Golden State snipers. The catch, of course, is that warriors become incredibly small. Andrew Wiggins would have been their tallest starter at 6ft 7in. Davis could potentially kill them on offensive glass. Green could have serious foul problems, as he did in Game 3. Again, this didn’t happen in Game 2.

It would be risky to go against Davis if he decides to go into bully mode, but in my opinion, Kerr should embrace it. Just as the Lakers need to deprive Curry of shots and shot making as much as possible, the Warriors need to neutralize Davis as much as possible.

Allowing Davis to cover JaMychal Green, which is an effective license to cover everyone else, invites him to dominate just as refusing to cover invites Curry to dominate. Kerr needs to make a move here. And I think that the launch of the Pool in game 4 is the most logical.

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After the “vortex” has stopped, Griner aims to use the “big” platform for good.

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5 days ago

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May 4, 2023

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  • Josh Weinfuss, ESPN Staff WriterMay 3, 2023 6:32 pm ET

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    • Covered the Cardinals since 2012.
    • Graduated from Indiana University
    • Member of the Professional Football Writers of America

PHOENIX. After spending days interacting with A-list celebrities, Mercury star Brittney Greener said on Wednesday that the result of her newfound fame can be “a little overwhelming” at times, but it’s also what she accepts as a “big” platform for helping others. .

Griner shared her feelings during Wednesday’s Mercury Media Day in Phoenix, which came a couple of days after attending the White House Correspondents Dinner in Washington on Saturday night and the Met Gala in New York on Monday night. In both places, Greener was a celebrity in her own right, dating everyone from President Joe Biden to First Lady Dr. George. Jill Biden to Usher, Kansas City Chiefs defenseman Patrick Mahomes.

Because Griner’s name was widely shared on social media, news and word of mouth while she was in Russian custody for 10 months, she is just as famous as some of the celebrities she met over the weekend.

“I didn’t think it could get that big, but I mean it’s cool because now I can reach even more people and get them into the WNBA and then also keep them up to date with other inmates who are still left behind right now. and that we are trying to get home,” Griner said. “So, just use this larger outlet to continue to support others who need it or don’t have the attention or media coverage they should have.”

At the Met Gala, Mahomes approached Griner, she was able to meet Usher, who she said was “pretty cool”, and spent time talking to Dwyane Wade.

“It was an honor to be there,” Griner said. “It was magical, just meeting everyone, seeing all the stars that were there, I mean, it was pretty cool.”

It was also tiring to be a Griner for a few “crazy” days.

She flew home from Washington late Saturday night and did not land in Arizona until 4 am. She went home and slept until 9 a.m., and two hours later Mercury had her first training session at training camp. After training on Sunday, she flew to New York for the Met Gala and flew back the Monday night after the event, landing in Arizona around 1 a.m. to be in training on Tuesday.

“It was a whirlwind,” Griner said. “I have a lot of respect for the stars who do this. It’s not me. I don’t understand how they do it, but it was amazing. there, but it was a long couple of days. I’ll take a nap tonight or tonight.”

Greener flew to both events privately and hopes such amenities can eventually be extended to the entire WNBA during the season.

There is speculation that Griner will have to fly charter this season due to safety concerns. On Wednesday, Griner said she couldn’t talk much about these security issues, but added that “it’s definitely going to be different this year.”

She was asked if she was comfortable flying commercially and if she would be available this season.

“In terms of comfort, it’s just weird,” Griner said. “It’s just always a different experience that makes you feel different, but the league does a good job. and all will be well.

“But we would definitely like to make all these flights private. It would be good not only for me and my team, but for the entire league. We all deserve it. when we finally get to the point where we will be rewarded on this side as well.”

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SPORTS

Results of the playoffs in volleyball among the boys of the city and the Southern section

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5 days ago

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May 4, 2023

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BOYS VOLLEYBALL

CITY

OPEN DIVISION

Quarter-finals, Wednesday

Chatsworth D. Narbonne, 25-19, 25-21, 19-25, 26-24

El Camino Real d. Tafta, 25-12, 18-25, 25-20. 25-16

University of Los Angeles d. Granada Hills, 25-16, 25-17, 25-22

Palisades, Eagle Rock, 28-26, 25-23, 26-24

Semi-finals, Tuesday, 16:00

#4 El Camino Real at #1 Chatsworth

#3 UCLA at #2 Palisades

NOTE. Championship, May 13, 6:00 pm, UC Northridge.

SOUTHERN SECTION

DIVISION 2

Quarter-finals Wednesday

hill e. Orange Lutherans, 25-23, 17-25, 25-18, 25-23

Redondo D. Santa Barbara, 25-15, 25-22, 25-22

Tesoro d. Dos Pueblos, 25-22, 25-19, 25-22

San Marcos d. Servit, 23-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-19

Semi-finals, Saturday, 18:00

Redondo in Upland

San Marcos at No. 3 Tesoro

SECTION 3

Quarter-finals, Wednesday

St. Margaret v. Fountain Valley, 25-18, 25-21, 25-18

Alemany d. Trabuco Hills, 25-23, 22-25, 25-21, 16-25, 15-12

El Segundo d. Vista Murrieta, 25-15, 24-26, 23-25, 25-23, 15-13

Anaheim Fairmont D. Mission Viejo, 25-17, 25-22, 22-25, 25-15

Semi-finals, Saturday, 18:00

#1 St. Margaret’s in #4 Alemany

#3 El Segundo at Anaheim Fairmont

SECTION 4

Quarter-finals, Wednesday

Eldorado d. Claremont, 25-23, 25-20, 21-25, 25-22

Calvary Santa Ana Chapel d. Troy, 25-22, 25-22, 20-25, 25-14

Dana Hills Perekrestok, 25-11, 25-17, 25-19

hard d Quartz Hill, 19-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-21

Semi-finals, Saturday, 18:00

Calvary Santa Ana Chapel in Eldorado

Dana Hills at #2 Hart

SECTION 5

Quarter-finals, Wednesday

Da Vinci Senior Fullerton, results not reported

Nordhoff v. Godines, 21-25, 25-18, 21-25, 25-10, 15-11

paraclete d. Samueli, results not reported

Chino Hills d. Rancho Verde, results not reported

Semi-finals, Saturday, 18:00

No. 1 Da Vinci in No. 4 Nordhoff

No. 3 Paraclete in No. 2 Chino Hills

SECTION 6

Quarter-finals, Wednesday

Leitzinger d. Trinity Classic, 28-26, 25-18, 23-25, 25-21

Santa Monica Pacifica Christian D. Wildwood, 25-20, 25-15, 25-20

Hawthorne Math/Science d. Pilgrim, 25-23, 25-20, 25-19

Glendale Adventist d. KAMS, 25-14, 25-19, 25-17

Semi-finals, Saturday, 18:00

No. 1 Leuzinger in Santa Monica Pacifica Christian

#2 Glendale Adventist at #3 Hawthorne Math/Science

NOTES: Championship May 13 at Cerritos College (separate divisions) and home courts.

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