The Utah Jazz return home from a miserable night against the Dallas Mavericks and Luka Dončić to another tough test against the .500 Los Angeles Clippers back in Salt Lake City. Following an expletive-led assessment of the team, Coach Will Hardy will have to refocus the team as they welcome 3 sure-fire hall of famers.

Coming off a victory against the Denver Nuggets, the Clippers, who have gone 7-8 since the Harden trade after a 0-6 start, are finding their feet with this new line-up. The collection of talent the Clippers have make them a real threat in the West – with only the Timberwolves having a better record in the last 10 games.

Both Ochai Agbaji and rookie Taylor Hendricks hit 50% from beyond-the-arc and double-digit points with 21 and 10, respectively. The Jazz will be hoping they are able to bring this form back to Salt Lake after such a disappointing loss.

As Lauri Markkanen nears his return to fitness as footage of his practice was released, this would likely see minutes for Hendricks or Yurtseven drop – especially if Kelly Olynyk is in line to return too.

Given the depth of their team, the Clippers have players who can step up on any given night, last time out was Paul George as he led the team with 25 points as 4 other players hit double-digits. They did give up another Jokić triple-double on their way to a 111-102 victory.

Game Info

Tip-off: 8:00 p.m. MT

Location: Delta Center (Salt Lake City, UT)

TV Broadcast: ESPN

Radio: 97.5 FM/ 1280 AM The Zone

Uniforms: City Edition

Injury Report

The Jazz will be hoping to see the return of the top two offensive players in Lauri Markkanen and Jordan Clarkson, alongside the ball movement that Kelly OIynyk can provide. Olynyk and Clarkson appear to be close to coming back, and may even play in this one, while Lauri Markkanen will be out once again.

Sen. Mike Lee introduced a bill Wednesday that would see the United States stop payments to and give up membership in the United Nations.

“No more blank checks for the United Nations. Americans’ hard-earned dollars have been funneled into initiatives that fly in the face of our values — enabling tyrants, betraying allies, and spreading bigotry,” said the Utah senator in a press release.

The Disengaging Entirely from the United Nations Debacle Act, or the DEFUND Act, would repeal federal laws — like the U.N. Participation Act of 1945 and the United Nations Headquarters Agreement Act — that tie the U.S. to the U.N.

Not only would it stop financial support from flowing into the global organization, but it would also prohibit the U.S. from getting involved in the U.N.’s peacemaking operations and formalize a withdrawal from U.N. conventions like the World Health Organization.

“With the DEFUND Act, we’re stepping away from this debacle. If we engage with the UN in the future, it will be on our terms, with the full backing of the Senate and an iron-clad escape clause,” Lee said.

Sen. Lee: ‘UN has become a tool of antisemitism’

His proposed legislation follows the global organization’s refusal to condemn Hamas for the attack on Israel. Instead, several U.N. agencies have increasingly called for a humanitarian cease-fire, which earned criticism and pushback from Israel.

Israel’s foreign minister Eli Cohen has said U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is unfit to lead the U.N. since he refuses to hold Hamas accountable. Initially, Guterres said the terrorist attacks of Oct. 7 didn’t happen “in a vacuum” since Palestine has been “subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation.” More recently, Cohen said he decided to revoke U.N. Humanitarian coordinator Lynn Hastings’ residence visa to travel to Israel for not condemning Hamas.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Tuesday, Lee wrote, “The UN has become a tool of antisemitism.” He called it “an enemy of Judeo-Christian beliefs,” adding that the U.S. perpetuates the international peacekeeping organization’s “anti-American agenda” by giving it nearly $20 billion a year.

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, alongside Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala, is introducing companion legislation in the House. “This year, the United Nations’ corruption, and its despicable, brazen political agenda have been on full display,” the Texas representative said.

“From (U.N. Relief and Work Agency) actively protecting Hamas and acting against our ally Israel, delayed condemning Hamas, to China being elected to the ‘Human Rights Council,’ to the propagation of climate hysteria, covering for China’s forced abortion and sterilization programs,” he said, “the UN’s decades-old, internal rot once again raises the questions of why the United States is even still a member or why we’re wasting billions.”

Other GOP lawmakers and officials push to defund U.N.

Other Republicans, like Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, have also expressed interest in defunding the U.N. She introduced the Stand with Israel Act, which, Luna said, would first cut funding from the United Nations Human Rights Council.

She wrote in a Newsweek op-ed that the council was concerned about what was happening in Israel while appointing Iran to chair the Human Rights Council Social Forum “just a few weeks after Iranian ‘morality police’ reportedly beat to death a 16-year-old girl for not wearing a hijab.”

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has also vowed to defund the international organization “as much as possible” if elected. But she fell short of saying she supported the U.S. leaving the U.N.

“The only thing is we would defund the U.N. as much as possible,” the former U.N. ambassador told Fox News host Sean Hannity last month. “The only reason, Sean, you don’t get out of the U.N. is we’re one country of five that has a veto.”

“The number of things we were able to stop China, Russia and Iran from doing with that veto matters, and so you keep bad things from happening,” she said.

“But,” Haley added, “we don’t have to pay at the level that we’re paying, and we don’t have to be in any of those other organizations.”

Report from December 6, 2023

Yesterday I met up with Noah Gaffney & Jack at Alta with one goal in mind:  backflips.

I really wanted to land a backflip in the last days of this project.

Yesterday was ski day #304 – the 2nd to last day of the project.

My cut-off in December 8, 2023.

Noah was a gem and had already build a jump off the Wildcat cattrack by the time I arrived.

I rolled up, threw my boots on, road up Wildcat and it was backflip time.

Noah went first and stomped one of his signature, legs together backies.

I was next and I was nervous, but not too bad.

The jump was small to medium in size and just about perfect for backflips.

I was all in and luckily I landed right on my feet!

I was elated.

I skied down to Noah and hugged him and hugged Jack once he arrived.

We went right back up and Noah did a flat spin and I did another backflip.

Then we saw the traverse under Mt. Baldy opened so we traversed and hiked and sidestepped into the Bad News cliffs where I’d broken my face in 3 places back in 2011…

Noah did the Bad News Double and I hit a little rocky cliff.

We hiked back up to Bad News from the Wildcat side and hit another fun air and skied some pow.

I decided to go for one more Backflip before heading home.

I was able to stomp all 3 and it felt very right.

3 backflips for the 300 project on ski day #304.

I raced home to record a SnowBrains Podcast with legendary Alaska heli-ski guide Harlan Sheppard.

Yesterday was a full and terrific day.

Thanks so much to Noah and Jack for all their support yesterday and thanks, Utah!

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