The Rock Chalkboard

Five-star Mackenzie Mgbako on campus for Kansas basketball visit
Kansas basketball is set to host one of the top available high school prospects for a visit this week. On Monday night, Mackenzie Mgbako arrived in Lawrence to begin his official visit to KU. The visit comes off the heels of Mgbako’s trip to St. John’s over the weekend. For the latest on KU's pursuit of Mgbako and the Jayhawks' chances, click here for a VIP preview.

Kansas alumni team to enter annual TBT this summer
A team of former Kansas basketball players will form a team to compete in The Basketball Tournament this summer. The team “Mass Street” will feature former Jayhawks and will compete in the Wichita Super Regional of the tournament, which will span July 19 through July 23. The team is organized by the Mass Street Collective, the main collective supporting current and former Kansas athletes.

A look at who left KU football during the Spring Transfer Window and the significance of those departures
It was a rather quiet spring transfer portal window for the KU football program. New transfer rules meant that non-graduate transfers who wanted to transfer from their current school would have to do so during a portal window, which lasted from April 15 through April 30. The window closed late Sunday night, though players who filed their paperwork before the deadline could still appear over the next 36 hours or so. Graduate transfers are not restricted by a portal window.

Bits o Chalk

James Harden leads 76ers past Celtics in Game 1: Philadelphia shines without Joel Embiid - The Athletic
The 76ers defeated the Boston Celtics 119-115 on the road in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Monday. Here’s what you should know:

Bickley: Suns arrive home with heavy mission after Game 2 loss in Denver
Alas, the Suns arrive home with a heavy mission. Following a disheartening 97-87 loss to the Nuggets on Monday, they need to win four of the next five games against the No. 1 seed in the West. They left Ball Arena to brief, silly chants of “Nugs in Four!” And before his postgame press conference had ended, head coach Monty Williams appealed to all ticketholders in the Valley to provide a raucous home-court advantage for his wounded team.

Nothing plagues LeBron James like Stephen Curry and the Warriors | NBA | The Guardian
In his 20th NBA season LeBron James has officially reached the ageist chapter of his hero’s journey. Since passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, the 38-year-old hasn’t been able to take a dribble without being declared the oldest to do this or that, as his son literally waits in the wings to take up his father’s mantle. But nothing plagues the elder James quite like the Golden State Warriors, a royal pain that simply refuses to go away.

Knicks might need Immanuel Quickley at point guard in Game 2
“Just doing anything the teams needs me to do to win,” Quickley said after practice Monday, before Brunson’s injury status was revealed. “It’s playoffs, so it’s not really about necessarily what you’re doing, but how you’re doing it and how you can help the team win. That’s what I’m here to do.”

Eraser Dust

Pedro Pascal Joins ‘Gladiator’ Sequel – Deadline
EXCLUSIVE: While a second season of HBO’s hit series The Last of Us is in the works, its star Pedro Pascal looks to have found the project he’ll shoot during the hiatus, and boy is it a big one. Sources tell Deadline that Pascal is in final negotiations to join the untitled Gladiator sequel for Paramount. He joins Paul Mescal, who will star as Lucius, as well as Barry Keoghan, Joseph Quinn, Connie Nielsen and Denzel Washington. Ridley Scott is returning to direct.

Texas shooting latest: Cleveland survivor recounts mass neighbor killing as Abbott walks back ‘immigrants’ line | The Independent
A man whose wife and son died in Friday’s horror mass shooting in Cleveland, Texas, has revealed how the nine-year-old boy died running to help his mother.

US surgeon general warns of next public health priority: loneliness | Mental health | The Guardian
US surgeon general Vivek Murthy released an advisory on loneliness and isolation on Tuesday and urged people and public officials to treat the matter with the same urgency as other serious conditions such as obesity or drug abuse as it continues to surge, affecting approximately half of the people living in the US.

AI 'godfather' Geoffrey Hinton warns of dangers as he quits Google - BBC News
"We're biological systems and these are digital systems. And the big difference is that with digital systems, you have many copies of the same set of weights, the same model of the world.

Hollywood screenwriters on strike after contract negotiations fail
Thousands of unionized scribes who say they are not paid fairly in the streaming era went on strike just after midnight Tuesday, bringing TV production to a halt. It comes after high-stakes negotiations between a top guild and a trade association representing Hollywood’s marquee studios failed to avert the first walkout in over 15 years.

Jess Margera Reveals Bam Margera Smashed Billy Idol Guitar
Former Jackass star Bam Margera's public battles with sobriety have been well documented, and most recently Margera turned himself into the authorities after threatening his brother, musician Jess Margera, and fleeing from his home. Jess Margera has been active on Twitter over the past 24 hours, calling out those aiding Bam's actions and revealing that Bam recently trashed a treasured keepsake during what Jess called "a psychotic episode."

Henryetta, Oklahoma: Jesse McFadden was due in court the same day 7 bodies were found at his home | CNN
Jesse L. McFadden, a registered sex offender who was thought to be traveling with two missing Oklahoma teens, is believed to be among the seven people found dead at a home on Monday, just hours after he missed a scheduled court appearance, records show.

Bringing Art Education to the Table - Flathead Beacon
The painted chairs are the product of Edgerton Creative Arts, a program created by former educator Barb Anderson to help bring hands-on art education to the local school while raising funds for art supplies, which are often left out of tight school budgets. Through the initiative, each class at Edgerton partners with a local artist, who comes into the classroom to teach about a famous artist and guides students through painting a piece of furniture in the style of their subject. Each year, the furniture is auctioned off to the community, and the proceeds go back to Edgerton, where they are used to buy art supplies. This year’s online auction will take place from May 4 through May 14.