The X Factor host revealed he adopted a vegan diet back in April and his changing eating habits have certainly paid off!

Simon Cowell, is that you? The 60-year-old reality star shocked fans with his noticeably slimmer look on the premiere of The X Factoron Saturday, Oct. 12. Simon who was a self-proclaimed meat lover announced he had gone vegan in an interview earlier this year. The change in lifestyle was prompted by a severe accident: Simon fell down a flight of stairs in 2017, which later lead himto lead a vampire like lifestyle where he stayed awake until 8:00 a.m. each night.

After seeing a doctor, Simon was also informed he had a slew of food allergies, prompting him to eliminate some of his favorite foods. I cut out a lot of the stuff I shouldnt have been eating and that was primarily meat, dairy, wheat, sugar those were the four main things, he spilled to The Sun in April. His weight loss was also noticeable at a taping of Americas Got Talent in August, where he confirmed he had dropped 20 pounds.

HollywoodLife recently spoke with Simon on Aug. 20 and when asked for him to specifically name the diet he was on, Simon jokingly called it the Simon Diet. We spoke with him a few weeks later on Sept. 3 and he added, The secret is dont follow one of the fad diets because there are just too many and they contradict each another. The allergy tests are crazy dont have those. You have to just cut out the obvious . And once you get used to it you feel better. My memory is better. I feel betterI can still drink beer so I am happy.

The former A&R exec hasnt been shy about dabbling in cosmetic procedures either, admitting he had a facelift that hurt like hell but sharing it got rid of sun damage. He continued,Theres lots of things you can do now. You dont just have to stuff your face with filler and Botox, adding that he had too much filler at one point.

Fans quickly jumped on social media to share their thoughts on Simons changing appearance, expressing concern over his health. Mate I cant get over his is how Simon Cowell looks now surely its just a whole different person altogether, @benbradshaw1_ tweeted. Is Simon Cowell ok?? His face looks so thin. Hope he isnt ill! @LaurenJ77 posted, while @phooey_uk wrote Why does Simon Cowell look gaunt?

Hopefully I look better now, Simon also toldThe Sun. In addition to keeping busy withThe X Factor, Simon recently re-united with OGAmerican Idol judgesPaula AbdulandRandy Jacksonon formerIdol winnerKelly Clarksons new talk show. While theres no word on the trio doing another show again, the group seemed open to the opportunity!

Original post:
Simon Cowell, 60, Almost Unrecognizable With Slimmer, Fresher Look Before & After Pics - Hollywood Life

Brendan Romele can't remember a time when he was within a healthy weight range. Even as a kid, he was always the "bigger" guy in class. This fact never really bothered him until his late twenties, however, when his weight climbed to nearly 285 pounds. That's when he truly started feeling it: The extra weight that made his body behave like a much older man's.

Between the backaches and the shortness of breath, Romele decided it was time for a change. He also had his family history to consider: "My mother suffered from heart failure at an early age that almost cost her life, and my grandfather had diabetes," Romele says.

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"Even though it was scary at first, I began to track my weight and body fat percentage," he says. "When I started, I was 285 pounds with 37 percent body fat, which is in the obese range."

Romele also tracked his step count using a wearable, the Fitbit Versa. He went on walks every day to make sure he hit at least 10,000 steps, and quickly realized that fitting in physical activity didn't have to mean hours and hours in the gym.

"These walks would often be at lunchtime where I would go with coworkers to pick up healthier lunch alternatives, even to places a little further to get those extra steps," he says. "I began to take advantage of Fitbit's [coaching program], too, which helped motivate me through guided workouts and eventually became a regular habit."

With his workouts building momentum, Romele moved on to overhauling his nutrition. He started tracking his food, and to his great surprise, he had been eating around 4,000 calories a day thanks to copious amounts of takeout. He decided to start cooking for himself. Just four weeks into his new routine, Romele had already dropped 20 pounds.

"As a very data and visually focused person, once I started to see the downward trend in my weight through app, and I wanted to keep it going," he says.

Beyond losing weight, Romele also eased his back pain and found his lung capacity increasing. He even added running a few miles a week into his usual 10,000 steps a day routine. By combining tracking his calories and working out more, Romele was able to drop 100 pounds and 20 percent of his body fat to hit his new weight of 185 in just one year.

"A lot of friends and coworkers have told me how they have been inspired by my journey and helped them to lead a healthier life, which is great because so many have inspired and encouraged me," he says. "I feel better, mentally and physically. I've noticed I have more energy compared to when I started."

For people looking to follow his lead, Romele advises them to first get over the dread of exercise. "What I came to realize is that any exercise is better than no exercise, even if it means going on daily walks or doing as little as ten squats," he says. "Be patient, and stick with it. A lot of people are in the old mindset of thinking diet means temporary, but it simply isn't. Don't try to change everything at oncetake it day by day."

See the rest here:
This Guy Used a Fitness Tracker and a Daily Step Goal to Lose 100 Pounds in a Year - menshealth.com

The simple answer to this is that some peoples body requires more energy (faster metabolism) than others. For example, you and your friend are of the same age and weight but she can enjoy a scoop of ice cream every day without gaining any weight, while when you do the same, it may lead to weight gain.

Another factor responsible for the same can be the resting metabolic rate (RMR). RMR is the number of calories that your body uses while you sleep, breathe or just sit. And you will be surprised to know that RMR accounts for 65 70 per cent of calories that you burn in a day.

RMR varies from person to person. How much lean muscle mass you have plays a major role in deciding your RMR. Other factors are genetic, age and size.

See the article here:
Explained: What is metabolism and all the buzz around it - Times of India

The poor potato has been through so much.

The Irish Potato Famine in the 19th century. The bastardization of it into Mr. Potato Head, a toy in which you anthropomorphize the tuber by stabbing it with body parts as an excuse for fun, in the 20th century. And now, in the 21st century, the potato has become a nutritional pariah due to the fear-mongering of anti-carb zealots.

Yes, potatoes are a carbohydrate. But they are so much more than a carbohydrate. And unfairly lumping taters into a class of carbohydrates also shared by sugar and refined white bread is not only misleading, its detrimental to overall health.

Its time to reclaim the potato from the experts who say that you should never eat the vegetable if you want to lose weight, build muscle, and avoid diabetes.

Its time to give potatoes a break after their long, hard road.

Its time to restore potatoes to all their nutritional glory.

Not unless youre eating a godawful amount of potatoes.

You can track this whole potatoes-will-make you fat myth from the proliferation of the glycemic index. Also known as the GI index, this system assigns a numeric value to foods based upon the speed at which they would affect your blood sugar levels.

If a food has a high GI index value, that food may spike your blood glucose levels. For people suffering from diabetes, spikes in blood glucose levels, and the crash that follows, can be dangerous.

If a food has a low GI index value, that food would release glucose much slower, avoiding the health complications associated with high and low blood glucose levels in diabetics.

(A quick note here that the GI index value of a food is not a universal value, and people may respond to certain foods differently, at least according to this 2016 study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. In short, the GI index may not be rock-solid in terms of reliability.)

Low glycemic foods include fruits, beans, and non-starchy vegetables.

High glycemic foods include white bread, cornflakes, rice crackers, and wait for it white potatoes.

In 2011, The New England Journal of Medicine made things even worse for spuds.

The review concluded this: Foods that contained higher amounts of refined carbohydrates whether these were added (e.g., in sweets and desserts) or were not added (e.g., in refined grains) were associated with weight gain in similar ways, and potato products (which are low in sugars and high in starches) showed the strongest associations with weight gain.

A chart in that study shows that potato chips followed by potatoes or fries had the greatest effect on weight gainmore than meat, butter, and even desserts.

But also in the study were these lines: Although dietary questionnaires specified portion sizes, residual, unmeasured differences in portion sizes among participants might account for additional independent effects on energy balance. For example, an average, large baked potato contains 278 calories, as compared with 500 to 600 calories for a large serving of french fries. The typical portion size of a specific food or beverage may therefore partly mediate its effects on weight gain (i.e., both average portion sizes and biologic effects).

And herein lies the potato problem: portions.

Although the debate over the glycemic index rages on, theres one thing thats clearif youre eating too much of any food, be it salmon or tofu or peanuts or potatoes, youre going to be adding an influx of calories to your diet. And if you arent expending those calories you may be at risk for weight gain.

Anyone who has ever eaten a large baked potato knows that its challenging to eat a large plain baked potato. You fill up quickly and your taste buds grow bored of the lack of flavor.

Kostyantyn Manzhura / EyeEm

Anyone who has ever eaten a large side of french-fried potatoes knows that its easy to eat a large side of french-fried potatoes. You can keep eating them in all their greasy, salty glory and never grow bored until theyve vanished from your plate.

Science has lumped processed and whole potato products together in the past, and experts within the nutrition world have further complicated matters by calling all potatoes belly-fat-producing gut bombs, when the truth might be more nuanced.

The question isnt only what kind of potato are you eating, but how much?

No.

In fact, no food that Mother Nature has created is nutritionally devoid. Not iceberg lettuce (antioxidants!). Not celery (fiber!). And sure as heck not potatoes.

Potatoes are an excellent source of potassium, a nutrient most people dont consume enough of, which can help regulate your blood pressure. Theyre a good source of vitamin C and vitamin B6, which aids your nervous and immune systems.

One large baked potato, with skin, contains 8 grams of protein and a whopping 7 grams of dietary fiberall for just 278 calories.

Yes, yes, and yes. Now youre getting it! Now your tater hatred is subsiding!

Theres a veritable field of potato varieties out there waiting for your enjoyment. Like white potatoes, sweet, red, and purple potatoes are all good sources of potassium and fiber. They also wont pile on the calories if you're eating them simply.

And like other colorful foods, the hues signify different disease-fighting antioxidants within the potato. Purple potatoes, for example, contain anthocyanins, an antioxidant that has been linked to cancer cell prevention.

So that adage, Eat the rainbow?

It includes potatoes.

Originally posted here:
Are Potatoes Healthy? | Nutrition and Weight Loss - Men's Health

A health and fitness influencer has admitted faking her workouts to hide a secret addiction which 'ruined her life'.

Ashley Beeman is a vlogger who runs a ' Fit and Fabulous ' blog giving tips on how to maintain a balanced and healthy lifestyle.

The 34-year-old has now admitted sharing misleading posts with her 32,000 social media followers after becoming addicted to a prescription drug she was given for attention deficit disorder (ADD) in 2015.

The mum-of-two said the weight loss results she achieved after being prescribed Adderall spurred on her addiction as she she dropped more than 16kg.

"I would fake my workouts for my social media followers and my business grew a ton, and I feel terrible about that now," said Ashley from Arizona.

"People were complimenting me which spurred me on and made me feel great.

"I thought I looked fantastic but I was just skin and bones."

Ashley's life quickly spiralled out of control as she began using her monthly prescription in just two weeks.

The addiction hit rock bottom when she ran out of the drug at a family reunion and became so anxious she couldn't interact with those closest to her.

She's now celebrating three years without the drug after enduring a 'nightmare' detox and has admitted the truth to her social media followers.

"A year after I had given up I knew I had to come clean on my Facebook page," she said.

"I had pretended to be living this really healthy lifestyle to all my followers and I owed them an explanation.

"I went live on Facebook and I received such a warm reaction. Everyone was really supportive and they started sharing their own struggles with Adderall.

"When I first got clean I felt guilty but now I've tried to forgive myself and move on.

"Now I genuinely love to work out and eat well."

Ashley is now focused on making up for lost time with her husband Dusty and children Dylan, eight, and Davin, six.

"I wasn't focused on my family in any way," she explained.

"When I was on Adderall I was selfish. I was just living my life and I wasn't present for my children. I wouldn't spend time with them.

"I feel like I've missed a lot of memories with my youngest one. I became obsessed with my business.

"I felt like I was being really productive but in reality I probably was just a tornado.

"I hate looking back at photos of myself during that time because I don't look good, even though I thought I looked amazing.

"When I watch old videos, you can tell by my eyes I'm not really there."

Ashley says she's had to do a lot of work on body positivity after putting on 20lbs in the first three weeks of quitting the drug, which she says was 'devastating' because her view of her physique had become so warped.

It also took time for her to stop 'crazy' diets and has now learned to love her body.

Ashley believes she was misdiagnosed with ADD after filing out a simple quiz at the doctors and says the drug is 'too easy to get' and needs to be taken more seriously after it took over her life.

Read more here:
Fitness star admits lying to followers by faking workouts to hide 'awful' truth - Mirror Online

This is one of those terrific fights that you didnt know you really wanted to see until it was announced and then youre like, Oh man, what a fight!

Reyes burst onto the scene in the summer of 17, following up a viral knockout on the regional circuit with a 29-second stoppage win in his promotional debut. In all, he went 3-0 in his rookie year, never seeing the second round. Hes posted two more wins since then, vanquishing veteran gatekeeper Ovince Saint Preux before edging out former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir by split decision earlier this year to establish himself as one of the top contenders in the 205-pound weight class.

While Reyes is looking to prove hes championship ready, Weidman is aiming to start a new chapter in his career. Six years removed from defeating Anderson Silva and nearly four years after losing the middleweight title to Luke Rockhold, the 35-year-old former champion is hoping a shift to the light heavyweight ranks can help him snap out of a 1-4 slump and spark a return to elite form.

A move like this always seemed like a possibility for Weidman, just as it did for his nemesis, Rockhold, but now the question is whether or not the Long Island native can avoid the same fate that befell his West Coast counterpart when he changed divisions. As for Reyes, squeaking past Oezdemir with a debated decision slowed his momentum, but with Jon Jones searching for challengers, a return to the electric form of his rookie campaign could position him for a title shot in 2020.

Read more from the original source:
UFC Boston: Fight By Fight - The Official Website of the Ultimate Fighting Championship

A personal trainer has spoken about his body issues that led to running a successful keep-fit business that helps others.

Luke Hewitt has spent the last five years running LH Fitness at Retford Leisure Centre, and Bircotes Leisure Centre, Doncaster, a company that employs three people.

The 30-year-old said: "When I started out on my own fitness journey I was very insecure about the way I looked and hated my body, but there were far less influencers on social media back then for me to compare myself to, so I treated myself as my only competition.

"One of my worries is the impact social media has on the way people perceive themselves.

Nowadays, people are far too quick to compare themselves to others and more often than not, what theyre comparing themselves to something that is not real.

"It can be so damaging for the mind so I make sure I spend time not only working with my clients to improve their fitness, strength and nutrition, but we also work on their mindset and confidence so they are equipped with all the tools to be the best version of themselves.

"I also believe that walking is one of the best remedies for clearing the head and reducing stress so I encourage all my clients to go out for an hour daily.

In my opinion, confidence in the gym translates to confidence in other walks of life and the absolute best thing about my job is seeing not only peoples physical appearance change week by week, but also their confidence and mental attitude.

Luke formerly worked in a supermarket but worked so many hours that he felt he was neglecting his own health.

He added: It was at this point, aged 24, I realised that I was motivated in all aspects of my life apart from work.

"I was stuck in a rut and knew it was time for a change, but having left school at 16 I was worried I might lack the skills to change career.

"After a job opening came up for a personal trainer I took the position and have never looked back.

Luke, from Retford, said: Like so many people, I had no idea what I was doing initially so I started out with five sessions of cardio each week, usually on the cross trainer.

"It was not easy after a long day at work to begin with, but after a while it became my therapy.

"I would set myself small goals, trying to increase the intensity each time and I quickly started to notice changes in my body.

"I was losing weight but I would describe my appearance at the time as skinny-fat.

"I had a slim build but lacked muscle definition and whilst I knew that was something I wanted to change, I had no idea where to start.

"Everything fell into place and with hard work and commitment combining healthy eating, weights and cardio not only was my body shape changing, but I was growing in confidence and felt more motivated than ever.

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We have seen men and women of all different shapes, sizes and abilities walk through the door and in the six years I have been doing this, LH Fitness has helped over 500 clients reach their goals.

"Lots of people come to us with a weight loss goal, but there are many other reasons including to increase muscle tone, to learn correct form when weightlifting, to increase fitness or simply to boost their confidence."

Despite the demands of the job Luke said: My day in the gym usually starts at 6am and finishes at around 9pm, I try to find time to train myself in between clients and spend precious time with my family and friends whenever I can.

"It can be hard at times, but the transformations that I have been a part of and the amazing clients Ive met along the way make it all worthwhile, and I would not change it for the world.

"Becoming a personal trainer has changed my life in so many ways and Im so grateful I was given that push I needed to go for it.

The business runs an eight week transformation programme, called Transform 8.

For further information, or to arrange consultation contact Luke on 07875 608231.

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Meet the personal trainer who is helping people in Retford get fit - Lincolnshire Live

With the 2019-2020 NBA season quickly approaching, now is a good time to place your bet on which team will win the championship. Last season the Toronto Raptors overcame the Golden State Warriors 4-2 behind the heroics of Kawhi Leonard. It is important to mention that the Dubs did lose two core pieces, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson, which does put an asterisk on Torontos victory.

Winning the championship largely consists of three things; individual player skill, team cohesion, and injuries. Nonetheless, the Raptors claimed their first NBA Finals trophy, regardless of how it happened. But now that same Toronto Raptors team no longer exists because their most important player, Kawhi Leonard, signed with the Los Angeles Clippers during a crazy offseason.

Making matters worse, their second key player, Kyle Lowry, will be 34 before the 2020 Playoffs begin. Center Marc Gasol will be 35. Sure, Toronto still has their impressive core of young players in Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet, and Norman Powell. This pales in comparison to the loss of Kawhi and another year of age on the already-slowing Lowry and Gasol.

Putting all of this into perspective means that it is extremely unlikely that the Raptors repeat in this years Finals. As a matter of fact, they probably wont even be the team representing the Eastern Conference. William Hill has them at +4000 to win the championship this year, placing them behind 12 other teams in odds to win it all.

To reach last years Finals, the Raptors had to play the league-leading Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Bucks were led by soon-to-be MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. Toronto actually had their backs against the wall in the series because the Bucks jumped out to a quick 2-0 series lead. It took overtime for the Raptors to avoid a 0-3 series deficit in Game 3.

Despite losing the first two games of the series, Toronto did win the next four in a row to finish the series 4-2 and advance to the NBA Finals. Much of this had to do with how Toronto played defense on Giannis, essentially making anyone but him make the offense happen for the Bucks. They formed a wall around the league MVP, rendering him ineffective in comparison to how he dominated during the regular season.

One small thing to say about Antetokounmpo is that this was his first real deep run during the postseason. Since Giannis entered the league in the 2013-2014 season, the Bucks have made the playoffs four times. They missed out entirely during his rookie year and the 2015-2016 season, but they were bounced in the First Round in each of the three other years the Bucks made the playoffs (2015, 2017, and 2018). This is certainly no fault of the Greek Freak considering that the phenom is just 24 years old. For reference, Miami Heat legend Dwayne Wade was just 24 when he led the Miami Heat to their 2006 championship, but hes also the third best shooting guard of all time.

Giannis is certainly no slouch though, considering that he won Most Improved Player for the 2016-2017 season and improved that to MVP last season. The Greek Freak has steadily improved his statistical averages and play almost every season he has been in the league. This culminated in the Bucks best playoff run during his tenure a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Now that Giannis has some actual deep playoff experience, hell be sharper than ever and prepared for the 2020 Playoffs. Considering that the Raptors got significantly worse over the offseason, the Bucks have become the de facto favorites to represent the East in the 2020 NBA Finals. A majority of their core from last season has carried over to this season, with Malcolm Brogdon being the lone exception.

William Hill has the Milwaukee Bucks at +500 to win the 2020 NBA Championship, behind only two other teams (both LA squads). Behind them, the Philadelphia 76ers are tied with the Houston Rockets at +800 to win it all themselves. This means that a 76ers-Bucks matchup in the Eastern Conference Finals is quite likely. Its also what basketball fans really want to see.

Weve gone over the Bucks already, but its important now to take a look at Philly. The 76ers did lose star Jimmy Butler to the Miami Heat, but they received Josh Richardson in exchange. Richardsdon had a fantastic season with the Heat last year, averaging 16.6 points and 4.1 assists.

They also lost JJ Redick to the New Orleans Pelicans, but Redick had a terrible habit of shooting the ball every single time he touched it. Redick did average 18.1 points for the season, but he will definitely decline this season now that he is 35. Horford did just turn 33, but he is still one of the leagues best defensive players. He was Joel Embiids biggest nemesis during last years playoffs, but hes now paired alongside him instead.

So the 76ers lost Jimmy Butler and JJ Redick, but they replaced them with Josh Richardson and Al Horford. Butler and Redick did have better statistical averages, but they both wanted a lot of touches. In actuality, the 76ers massively upgraded during the offseason because Richardson and Horford will be much better fits for the team.

On top of having a more-cohesive roster, Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid will both be a year older with more experience now. Simmons biggest flaw was his lack of an outside game, but hes been working on his jumper and is now being encouraged to shoot the three. Embiid is primed for an MVP season after improving his diet and losing weight. Hes also focusing in by avoiding trash talk on social media. Put all of this together and you have a downright terrifying Philadelphia 76ers squad.

Giannis and the Bucks definitely came close to advancing to the Finals last year. Had they held on in Game 3 of the ECF, they would probably be the reigning champions going into this season. Instead, they lost four in a row and will need to go through a tougher Eastern Conference this year. Giannis did have an impressive MVP season and is still favored at +300 to win another one for the 2020 season, but its hard to fathom how he can improve statistically from averages of 27.7 points, 12.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.5 blocks on 57.8% shooting.

On the other hand, you have Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons leading a new and improved Philadelphia 76ers team. In just his third season, Embiid averaged 27.5 points, 13.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.9 blocks on 48.4% shooting. Unlike Giannis, Embiid has plenty of room to grow. Dont be surprised to see a 30ppg/13rpg season from Embiid on above 50% shooting this year. Playing next to Horford will likely inspire him to be a force on the defensive end as well.

Then theres Ben Simmons. Simmons averaged 16.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, 7.7 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.8 blocks on 56.3% shooting in just his second season, all of this without a jump shot. As a true 69 point guard, Ben is dominant on the defensive end and absolutely unstoppable as a creator on offense. If Simmons jump shot really improved during the offseason, a 20ppg/8prg/8apg season is entirely plausible.

This means that the Philadelphia 76ers at +800 are the much better choice to win the Eastern Conference Finals, and as a result, the 2020 NBA Finals.

The rest is here:
Betting big on the Milwaukee Bucks? Think twice before making your wager - ATS.io

There is more than one possible answer. And given Chinas importance in the worldas a major economic power; as the country with the most advanced practice of surveillance authoritarianism, which it is now exporting to other countries; and as the home to 1.4 billion peoplea lot hangs in the balance, depending on which one is correct.

Lets dispense with the easy question. While the speed with which Western companies revealed that they lack even the most elementary hint of a spine is alarming, their behavior isnt difficult to understand. Basketball is big in China, and the country is a very important market for the NBA, such that team owners are already preparing for a drastically lowered salary cap with the lost Chinese revenue. China has made giant investments in gaming companies, and has many eager gamers. Apple depends on China for much of its hardware production and to juice its iPhone sales. Western companies (and governments) have deeply integrated themselves with an authoritarian regime without thinking through the consequences, and when push comes to shove, many will choose money over their nice mission statements. This is an unpleasant but clear-cut answer.

Understanding Western companies craven reaction might not be complicated, but the same thing cannot be said for China, which is known for strategic savviness. For example, after the 2014 Sunflower protests in Taiwan targeting a China-Taiwan trade pact, China started offering outright cash and substantive subsidies to young tech entrepreneurs in Taiwan if they would move to an incubator in mainland China. Thats smart thinking with a view to the future.

But none of that subtle approach or long-term thinking was visible in Chinas extreme reaction to a single tweet by Houston Rockets general manager, Daryl Morey, which was quickly deleted. Morey, simply wrote, Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong, a widespread plea in the Hong Kong protests and the first one I heard when landing at Hong Kongs airport at the start of my research into the protests.

Derek Thompson: The NBA-China disaster is a stress test for capitalism

And just like that, the Chinese state broadcaster canceled the planned airing of several preseason NBA games. Chinese digital giants such as Tencent have dutifully followed suit and wont stream them. Then, in the same week, Blizzard, the gaming giant, took drastic action against a Hong Kong gamer who wore a mask like the protesters when he was being interviewed after a tournament win. The company stripped him of his prize money and banned him from the gaming league for a year. Now employees are walking out and a boycott is being organized by gamers.

When mighty Apple joined the censorship, it did it with a zigzag. First, Apple banned a Hong Kong mapping app, HKmap.live, which helps protesters and passersby by crowdsourcing the locations of tear gas, police activity, roadblocks, subway shutdowns, and the like. After Apple encountered swift backlash, including from U.S. senators and pro-democracy Hong Kong legislators, it reversed its decision, saying that it had been a mistake. But when the Peoples Daily, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, blasted Apple for putting the app back in the iOS store and not so subtly stated that this decision would cause much trouble for Apple and damage its market appeal, Apple quickly caved again, pulling the app for the second time.

See the original post:
Are China's Tantrums Signs of Strength or Weakness? - The Atlantic

Greg Nelson/SI

Orientation is underway deep within the Toyota Center, where a team of oversized basketball players are enveloped by their even more oversized chairs. Rockets assistant Brett Gunning has the floor. On the video wall of the home-theater-style film room, he walks the team through the guiding philosophies of Rockets basketballa refresher for some, a revelation to others. Houston, which led the league in three-point attempts by a mile last season, doesnt want its players indiscriminately chucking threes. It wants them hunting open ones. Inside the arc, its not enough to get into the paint for a shot. Gunning makes a data-driven case for the extra step that turns a floater into a layup or a foul.

There are clips to demonstrate the spacing that makes such a thing possible, with driving lanes wide enough to fit a Volvo. Highlight reels show shooters running to stand in the corners and big men politely getting out of the way. Any effort to understand how James Harden managed the most prolific scoring campaign in the past 32 years or how Houston managed one of the best offensive seasons on record starts with that negative space.

Jeffery A. Salter for Sports Illustrated

The platonic ideal came in a January win over the Knicks in which Houston took 42 shots at the rim, 44 three-pointers and just four shots in between. (Incidentally, Hardenworking without Chris Paul and Clint -Capelascored 61 points.) Every year, the average NBA team inches closer toward Houstons shot profile. And in turn, the Rockets push the envelope a bit further. Gunning shows the team that even with the basketball world gaining on them, stylistically speaking, Houston was able to trim down its diet of midrange shots to just 4.2 per gamefewest in the league.

As if on cue, Russell Westbrook, the Rockets newly imported superstar, chimes in. Those 4.2? he notes slyly to the room. Those are mine.

The players crack up, as does coach Mike DAntoni. O.K.! DAntoni relents. Then nobody else gets one!

So begins the give and take of a radical experiment. Matchmaking mere superstars is pass. The Rockets, like the Warriors before them, landed an MVP to accompany their MVP. Its not exactly the subtlest of moves; both Harden and Westbrook have big, loud games, inarguably bigger and louder than when the two began their careers together in Oklahoma City a decade ago. Only through separation did they fully become the anchors their respective franchises needed them to be. By reuniting, they hope to now find security in each other.

Weve accomplished a lot of accolades, individually, Harden says. Now its time to accomplish something that we havent accomplished before. Its a long way to June. Yet through the very fact of being on the same team, Harden and Westbrook have already engineered one outcome that never should have been possible in the first place.

The deus ex trade machina, in this instance, was Paul George. A year after re-signing with the Thunder on a four-year deal, George requested a trade that would ultimately send him to the Clippers. What was a shocking development around the league wasnt quite so for Westbrook. I cant be surprised if me and Paul were in communication the whole time, Westbrook says. So I wouldnt say I was surprised at all. Im all for doing whats best for my teammates. If Paul felt like it was time for him to move on and explore options, then Imma back him. Thats the type of relationship we have.

Following a development of that magnitude, Houston began its due diligence. Once Paul went to the Clippers, I reached out to Oklahoma City and they said they were open to talk, Rockets general manager Daryl Morey says. So we talked. Harden and Westbrook did too. Over the years they had joked about playing together again in the same way two friends might daydream about a trip they know theyll never take. Harden was a stakeholder with the Rockets, and Westbrook was entrenched with the Thunder. (I just built a new house in Oklahoma, Westbrook says.) The very idea of two of the highest-paid, highest-usage players in the league on the same team was too preposterous to honestly consider.

Until George. There are no truly isolated events in the NBA, least of all where the movement of a star player is concerned. Harden checked in with Westbrook to better understand his friends situation. It wasnt like that was the first time they talked in years, Morey says. That was more like: Hey, is something different now that Pauls gone?

I guess [Russell] said that there was.

Westbrook and the Thunder worked together to find a solution that made sense: a trade to Houston. Morey told The Wall Street Journal that this latest move was the biggest strategic risk of his tenurea risk, he clarifies, having less to do with Westbrook than what the Rockets gave up. (A bigger risk, it turns out: tweeting in support of a democratic movement in Hong Kong, turning the preseason into a stage for geopolitical intrigue.) There was Paul, who had been instrumental to Houstons contention the past two years, a pair of protected first-round picks and two potential pick swaps. These were not inclusions made lightly.

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Sometimes we feel like were the Lorax, Morey says of life as a general manager. We speak for the future. In 12 years on the job in Houston, Morey has only traded away multiple first-round picks on two occasions. One was to acquire Harden, the move that made the Rockets as we know them. The other was to land Westbrook.

Ultimately, there were a certain amount of teams that were able to take on my contract that I was able to, I would say, pick from, Westbrook says. (Miami was another option, per Morey.) This was the best situation for me.

The last time Harden and Westbrook were teammates for actual, meaningful games wasnt in Oklahoma City but in London. Together they won gold in 2012 as relatively junior members of Team USA, just months before the trade that would send Harden to the Rockets and change their lives forever. Team USA was characteristically stacked, with only the problem of how to best cram talent upon talent into a given lineup. Given that kind of luxury, Mike Krzyzewski, then the coach of Team USA, rejected the very premise of a pecking order. I dont want you guys to conform to this, Krzyzewski told the team then. I want Kevin Durant the killer. I want LeBron James to go all-out. I want Defensive Player of the Year Tyson Chandler. I want Russell Westbrook to come in like a nightmare. I want you guys to be yourselves.

DAntoni, an assistant with Team USA in 2012, comes from a similar philosophical place. Who am I to tell Russ to change or tell James to change? DAntoni asks. Theyre MVPs. Best players in the league. So we try to make them as efficient as we can, try to nudge them in the areas we think we can improve in and we think they can do better at. But at the end of the day, they are who they areand thats pretty good. Youve got two MVPs. Now my job is to make sure theyre confident, they feel good together, theyre rested, theyre focused. If theyre that, were gonna be really good.

In some ways, it really is that simple. Sharing the ball isnt exactly splitting the atom. The most pertinent question when stars converge is whether they wanted to in the first place. Considering that Harden lobbied Westbrook, his friend of 20 years, and that Westbrook chose Houston in large part to play with Harden, the verdict on that point seems quite clear. The next issue is how theyll manage it on an operational level. To take the ball out of Westbrooks hands is to take the keys out of the ignition. Houston doesnt mind. DAntoni and his staff actually take a certain pride in how little their team movesand, in particular, the idea that while covering the least ground of any NBA team, the Rockets were still able to produce the most open threes. All it took was one unstoppable force and four relatively immovable objects.

The electricity of a player like Westbrook changes the formula slightly, but not as much as you might think. Hell be standing a lot, DAntoni says of Westbrooks time without the ball. Houston needs him to help space the floor, which is to say it needs him to shooteven after making just 29.0% of his threes last season, the worst of any player with his volume. If you take the right shot, DAntoni says, we do not care if you miss shots.

For all the reasonable concern over balancing possession between two high-volume creatorsthe if and when and how, as Westbrook put itthese are two of the best basketball players alive, aligned at the perfect time in their careers. Time has shown Harden and Westbrook how hard it is to win, and just how many ways there are to lose. Harden has one of the more complicated playoff histories of any active superstar. Westbrook hasnt won a playoff series since Durant left Oklahoma City in 2016. Thunder U is over. Both are now in their 30s. This is the real world, where the weight of everyday life requires coming to terms with a certain amount of daily concession. Isnt it only natural that, now having really lived in the league, these two stars would reach for the trust they have in each other?

I thought it was the best decision for me and my career right now, and to be able to reunite with a brother, a friend, Westbrook says. To be able to do that is something that you dream about and live for.

The balance between superstars, at the end of the day, is a matter of shared experience. We can calculate how many possessions a player consumes and how many seconds they have the ball in their hands. What matters more, fundamentally, is the way it feels. And because basketball operates in that space, it becomes subject to the reality that Harden and Westbrook want to see, and their desire to make this work. If and when Im upset, hes able to talk to me, Im able to talk to him, Westbrook says of Harden. It just creates a bond. And knowing that its coming from a great place because we understand and we know what our ultimate goal is, for both us, and thats a championship.

This is how friends become coworkers. Its also, of course, how even some with strong bonds come to strain their friendship. Perhaps theres a world where the proposition of pairing Harden and Westbrook seems terribly naive. A world where Westbrooks posting a video of himself doo-wopping to Why Do Fools Fall in Love? before the season feels oddly prophetic. More likely, two of the sports most undeniable creators will find a working balance in a genuinely dominant offense. Its all about discussion, Harden says. Its all about communication. Its all about trying to get better. Throughout the course of the game, hes gonna have it going a lot. Im gonna have it going a lot. Well figure it out each and every game.

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There is a system in Houston that will not change. Under DAntoni, point guard after point guardfrom Harden and Steve Nash to Kendall Marshall and Jeremy Linhas tapped into its creative power. So were gonna have Russ-sanity? DAntoni asks. Its a harrowing thought. Westbrook has already scored better than 30 points per game, averaged a triple doubleand done both in the same season. What happens to his wildfire game when its finally given room to breathe?

Last year, he couldnt drive without double teams, says Rockets guard Austin Rivers. Its impossible to double-team Russell Westbrook here. We have too many scorers, we have too many shooters. The floors too wide. It just cant happen. Yet somehow a defense will attempt to corral him while preparing to shift at the moment Harden gets the ball. If the measure of a players basketball dominance is the absurdity of the tactics used against him, the case for Harden as the games best offensive player is crystallized by his contributions to the avant-garde. Milwaukees Eric Bledsoe attempted to defend him last season by stepping to one side and openly conceding drives to the rim. Consider the mental gymnastics required for an opponent to defend Harden by getting out of his wayhow terrifying his step-back must be for an all-league defender to abandon all hope, not to mention all pretense of traditional coverage. What Harden does with the ball is not, strictly speaking, guardable. The same could be said for Houstons offense more broadly, as Westbrook knows all too well from his years as an opponent.

What they do, Westbrook says, is put you in binds.

The Rockets never set out to be exemplars of isolation basketball. Things just wound up that way when opposing defenses, caught between their futile alternatives, started switching to stay alive. One of the great curiosities in Houston this season is what Westbrook, after struggling in iso situations last year and struggling with his efficiency in general, might do with those one-on-one opportunities. Well, hopefully the reason was that the floor was a little closed, DAntoni says of Westbrooks isolation blues. We hope thats it. Then comes the smirk. Now, if hes just bad at it, what the hell did yall give him the MVP for?

On some level, its a moot point. The beauty of the arrangement is that neither Westbrook nor Harden has to be all things at all times. James Harden is the best half-court offensive weapon in the league, Morey says. Russells the best transition weapon in the league. The two together, its a really special combination.

Tyson Chandler, who agreed to sign with the Rockets the day after they traded for Westbrook, has experienced the business end of both options. As far as guarding James, its a nightmare, Chandler says. He knows all the tricks. Hes strong, but then he knows how to play finesse, so he catches you on your heels. When youre trying to not touch him, he bulls you. Then when youre too aggressive, he exploits it. Hes smart as s---. When players such as Chandler talk about Harden, they often start to imitate himhis handle, his footwork, the contact he createsas if his game itself held some animating force.

Attempting to slow down Westbrook, in Chandlers experience, draws on an entirely different set of considerations. To be honest, when we played against Russ, the whole thing [was about] getting back and controlling the paint, says Chandler. Giving him a wall. He has to see a wall. And even if the defense builds that wall in time, Westbrook might just run through it anyway. (Harden, by contrast, might have the wall removed by city ordinance.)

One of the motivating factors in Houstons trading for Westbrook was a desire for a more dynamic presence. For as brilliant as Paul was with the Rockets, hes ultimately a micromanager of a point guardand 34 years old at that. Those in Houston speak of Paul reverently, though its telling when center Clint Capela incidentally describes him as a guard who really needs a screensomething the Warriors certainly noticed when they played the Rockets in the conference semifinals. Houston was 27th in pace last year, and DAntoni and his staff are urging a faster tempo this season, in part because Westbrooks game lends itself to the break so naturally. Training camp was filled with drills to simulate uneven fast breaks and accelerated by attempts to get the ball moving up the floor quickly off makes and misses alike.

Simply having Westbrook on the floor shifts an opponents priorities. When Chandler, then with the Mavericks, played against Westbrook in the 2011 playoffs, sprinting back to batten down the hatches became his primary focus. Thats what hes gone against, Chandler says. But now, having James, you cant do that. The 19-year veteran has a special admiration for Westbrook, whom he describes as his favorite player in the league. When the schedule allowed him a night at home, Chandler would tune in to Thunder games and call his son in from the next room. Come watch this, Chandler told him. Thats how you should play.

The autopsy of the Rockets 201819 season is long since finished. Yet even now, after rewatching and reliving their six-game loss to the Warriors, no one with the team seems quite sure why their run ended the way it did.

S---, Rivers says. Thats a billion-dollar question. Its always in style to lay a loss at Hardens feet, no matter that he averaged 34.8 points for the series and went for 35on just 25 shotsin the elimination game. Perhaps Houston didnt adjust to the stylistic shift of the series as nimbly as it should have. Its certainly fair to call the defense or the rebounding into question, considering the way that Golden States reserves conjured enough points from chaos to effectively swing the series. Theres always a complexity in why, and in this case a mirroring account from Occams razor: Maybe, just maybe, the defending champions were a good basketball team.

The simpler matter, for Rockets defensive ace P.J. Tucker, is pinpointing the exact moment when everything fell apart.

It was all in Game 5, Tucker says.

When Durant limped into the tunnel late in the third quarter with an apparent Achilles injury, he left a series tied 22 and the Warriors leading by just three points. This is our season right here, Tucker told his teammates. Either we take advantage of it, or we think like were just gonna win but they kick our ass.

It was the latter, Tucker says, swallowing his disgust. Houston allowed a shorthanded, freelancing Golden State team without its best player to score 36 points in the final 14 minutes, when even a single stop could have saved their season. It was a lot of letdowns, Tucker says of the 10499 loss. Then, when you come back for Game 6, either youre going to be resilient and tough and fight through it, or. . . . Tucker searches, and then shrugs. Its hard to put in words, even now.

Houston has a way with the inexplicable. How did the Rockets manage to lose their edge when Durants injury gave them just the break they needed? How do you even make sense of a team missing 27 straight three-pointers, as Houston did in Game 7 of the 2018 Western Conference finals? These are the ghosts that contending teams are forced to live with: unsatisfying- endings chased with unsatisfying answers. Some franchises would have taken those losses, baffling as they were, as reason to alter course. Were not doing that here, DAntoni says. Well double down. We missed 27 threes in a row? Weve gotta take 30.

And if the Rockets couldnt quite break through by pairing Harden with Paul, then how about the rare guard in the league to rival Hardens level of ball dominance? The idea behind acquiring Westbrook isnt addressing a specific shortcoming. Its an adherence to a broader mode of thinking. The goal in Houston is and always has been to flank Harden with the most talented superstar teammates possible. Westbrook, in this way, is undeniable, even if Pauls game made for a simpler fit. Tension is the heart of any great collaboration. Freud had Jung. Lennon had McCartney. Basketball, too, is best understood as a dialogue between peers who push and pull on one another, a sort of existential pick-and-roll. There will be moments when Harden and Westbrook struggle to unlock the best in each other. There will be inevitable bouts of frustration.

I think thats the best part about me being here, is to be able to challenge him and him being able to challenge me, Westbrook says. To become better players. When Westbrook balks at taking an open three in a practice scrimmagea cardinal sin of RocketryHarden insists that he shoot next time. When an isolation step-back later leaves Harden deep on the wing and slow to get back on transition defense, Westbrook chides him for it, and both move on. The benefit of shared history is knowing what to say or, sometimes, when to say nothing at all. Its what brought Harden and Westbrook together again after all this time, to resolve all theyve become with what might have been.

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