Our economy is built on Americans of all class levels buying things. What happens when the ability — and desire — to do so goes away?

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When Michael Jordan retired for the first time in 1993, it was an earth-shattering event. After all, Jordan captained the Chicago Bulls to three consecutive championships and, unlike in 1998, there wasn’t any sort of public expectation that the best basketball player in the universe could even consider hanging up his sneakers. Jordan’s announcement caused myriad reactions, including his own coach saying he was “denying a gift to society” by retiring, but a nine-year-old LeBron James had a strong response of his own.

As the seventh episode of The Last Dance documentary aired earlier in May, James shared that he was moved to tears by Jordan’s decision and, like many, he was stunned by the news.

From there, James appeared on WRTS: After Party on Monday on his Uninterrupted platform and he was asked about his initial tweet and his feelings when Jordan unexpectedly stepped away from the game.

James notes that, like many youth, he looked up to prominent individuals for inspiration, citing athletes like Ken Griffey Jr. and Deion Sanders, as well as musicians of the day. Still, he makes it clear that Jordan was a different kind of admiration entirely, referring to him as an “angel sent from heaven” and speaking about Jordan in a way that could only be described as reverential.

Of course, James found enough inspiration to become an all-time great in his own right, and Jordan ended up returning to action less than two years later. In the end, though, it feels safe to assume that James wasn’t the only youngster that endured a similar feeling when his No. 1 idol chose to retire, and this is an interesting look behind the curtain to see the sincerity in which James discusses the situation, even more than 25 years later.

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Adam Sandler will continue his run of movies involving basketball stars with his upcoming Netflix project Hustle, which will be produced by LeBron James and SpringHill Entertainment as well as Sandler’s Happy Madison, per Collider’s Jeff Sneider.

The story follows an American basketball scout (Sandler) who is unjustly fired after discovering a once-in-a-lifetime player abroad. The scout decides to bring the player to America to prove that they both have what it takes to make it in the NBA.

The initial script reportedly specified the player was a “Chinese streetball phenom” but now simply says a “player abroad,” which Sneider notes may have to do with the ongoing rift between the NBA and China. Whatever they end up doing, it’ll be interesting to see how all of this comes together. Sandler has seen a career renaissance of sorts lately with a Netflix standup special as well as his critically acclaimed performance in Uncut Gems opposite Kevin Garnett.

Sandler’s love of basketball is well-known, as he plays regularly and frequents games both in New York and L.A. His love of basketball and LeBron having his hands in the production figures to be a great match for a movie about basketball and a more realistic portrayal of the process of trying to make it to the NBA.

Monday’s Community table read was miraculously able to get the whole band back together — well, the whole band minus Chevy Chase, as they did an episode after his character, Pierce Hawthorne, had both left Greendale and bit the dust. But the reunion, which was done in part for charity, wasn’t stolen by one of the central cast. It was stolen by guest star Pedro Pascal.

The Mandalorian star was a sub-hitter, filling in for Walton Goggin, who appeared in the chosen episode, Season 5’s “Cooperative Polygraphy.” Goggin played Pierce’s executor, who swings by Greendale to fill the gang in on the details of his will. Among the gifts was a container of Pierce’s “hyper-viral sperm,” intended for Gillian Jacobs’ Britta.

On the show Goggins was able to keep a straight face while revealing this absurd detail. Pascal, not so much. But everyone loves performers who break up during bizarre comedy one-liners, especially when the performer is known in part for playing a bounty hunter whose face is permanently hidden under a helmet.

Pascal’s epic flub of the line proved a delight on Twitter, but that wasn’t all people loved. They were also smitten with his many joyous faces as he crashed the party.

His line deliveries — i.e., the ones he was able to get through without losing it — were also very much enjoyed.

Show creator Dan Harmon, also in attendance, was also pumped that Pascal joined the group, and managed to slip in a reference to one of his own shows.

You can watch the full table read below, and please donate to the reunion’s charity.

Ever wonder if you’ve spent too much on a pair of sneakers? Maybe you told yourself they were worth it because of how good they’d look on your feet or because they were a particularly rare find. Well, with all of the fervor surrounding ESPN’s The Last Dance, mania for Michael Jordan — and his shoes — reached even bigger heights in the sneaker world. On Sunday — as the final two episodes of the acclaimed documentary aired — a signed pair of Nikes that Jordan wore during his 1984-85 rookie season was sold by Sotheby’s for $560,000, becoming the most expensive sneaker sale ever recorded.

According to CNBC, the sneakers sold for more than three times their original estimated price and beat the previous record sale established by a pair of 972 Nike Waffle Racing “Flat Moon Shoes” that went for $437,500 last summer. Famed shoe collector Jordan Michael Geller of Portland, Oregon reportedly sold both pairs of shoes, and decided that there was no better time to put the Nike Air Jordan 1’s on the market. The classic sneakers — left foot, size 13 and right, 13.5 — were in the classic Chicago Bulls colors red, white and black and signed by Jordan with a black permanent marker. The buyer’s name has not been disclosed at this time.

Nike’s Air Jordans are arguably the most iconic line of sneakers and are consistently sought after in the resale market. Of course, as the now well-known story goes, upon entering the league, a 21-year-old Jordan actually wanted to sign an endorsement deal with Adidas. However, as Jordan’s agent David Falk said in episode five of The Last Dance, “Adidas was really dysfunctional by that time. And they had just told me, ‘Look, we’d love to have Jordan, we just can’t make a shoe work at this point in time.’ I wanted Michael to go with Nike because they were the big upstart.” And so, at Falk and Jordan’s mother’s behest, the rookie took a meeting with Nike and the rest is history.

The advent of the smartphone has given everyone the ability to document acts of discrimination. Now, it seems like there’s a new story every week of a black person being harassed by white people for simply going about their day.

In the recent case of Ahmaud Arbery, simply jogging through the wrong neighborhood led to his death.

Travis Miller, 43, a black man who delivers furniture and appliances was held against his will in a private housing development in Oklahoma Metro City, Oklahoma on Monday, May 11. After the delivery, Miller and a co-worker, attempted to exit development when they were stopped by a white man who identified himself as David Stewart, a board member of the Home Owners Association.

Stewart parked his white Subaru in front of Miller’s truck so he couldn’t leave. So Miller documented the interaction from the seat of his truck.

Black Truck Driver held up and blocked in by White Homeowner Association President in Oklahoma

www.youtube.com

“I’m trying to leave, and I got Super Neighbor over here blocking me in, so I’m going live,” Mr. Miller said at the beginning of the video. “This is what I’m dealing with right now.”

“Got me blocked in so I can’t leave,” Miller continued. “I want to know where you’re going?” Stewart replied.

“It’s none of your business, Miller said. “I’m going out. That’s where I’m going.”

Miller told Stewart a resident gave him the gate code so he clearly had reason to be in the complex. Without a code, he never could have entered.

About 15 minutes into the standoff, Stewart returned with another white man who continued to pepper Miller with questions. Both Miller and Stewart reported the incident to the police and sat in a standoff while awaiting their arrival.

Eventually, the customer Miller delivered the package to spoke with Stewart, and he called the police and told them the situation had been resolved. But Miller was still hesitant to leave the complex.

“He said that he called the cops back and let them know that everything was clear but I didn’t want to leave and have it seem like I was fleeing the scene or anything like that,” Miller said to dispatch.

via YouTube

Miller posted the video to Facebook where it has been viewed over 600,000 times. Many of the commentators believe that the residents’ actions were racially motivated.

“I think things would have gone differently if I was white,” Miller said according to the New York Times. “His issue was with the people inside the truck.”

Miller’s wife agrees. “What my husband went through Monday was some scary, unnecessary, blatant racism, but the outpouring of love and support has been overwhelming,” LaShawn Miller, said in a Facebook post on Wednesday. Miller also filed a police report on Saturday, according to Capt. Larry Withrow, a spokesman for the Oklahoma City Police Department.

The video is another example of black people being harassed while simply going about their daily lives. It’s also a tribute to Miller who stays relatively calm during the entire interaction. A major reason is probably because as a black man right now—any threat of physical intimidation or outrage—could immediately have jeopardized his very existence, to say nothing of his personal liberties.

“I knew if I get out this truck, no matter what happened, I would have been in the wrong,” he said. “I always say to myself, ‘I’m going to go home to my wife and my kids.'”

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Tonight, in the With Spandex WWE Raw open discussion thread:

Last week, Billie Kay & Peyton Royce made their return to Monday nights, crashing “A Moment of Bliss,” then defeating WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross in a non-title match.

Now, The IIconics will get their chance at reclaiming the titles tonight. Can Bliss & Cross fend off their challengers, or will Kay & Royce make Mondays IIconic with a championship win? (via WWE.com)

We need to fix the slumping ratings on Raw. How can we do that? Why, with more appearances from KING CORBIN, of course. In addition to the Women’s Tag Team Championship match, King Baron Constable will take on WWE Champion Drew McIntyre as part of the “brand to brand invitation.” Also, the Street Profits are facing The Viking Raiders in a sequel to last week’s basketball game: an axe-throwing contest, which I hope the Profits pretend to be bad at, only to reveal they’re actually axe EXPERTS. Axperts. Whatever.

As always, +1 your favorite comments from tonight’s open thread and give them a thumbs up and we’ll include 10 of the best in tomorrow’s Best and Worst of Raw column. Make sure to flip your comments to “newest” in the drop down menu under “discussion,” and enjoy the show!

Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld recently called out Marvel Studios for having “zero” plans for Deadpool 3. According to Liefeld, these remarks did not go over well with Deadpool fans, who angrily turned his social media accounts into a “dumpster fire,” so the longtime comics creator sat down with io9 to hopefully clarify where he’s coming from while also doubling down on his opinion that a third Deadpool is a long ways off:

“Do I know that there is no movement on a Deadpool 3 right now? I know that. Yes,” Liefeld told io9. “And does that worry me? No. Not at all. What I did was I answered a question honestly. And what I learned this week is just lie. Just tell people everything is lollipop and unicorns and rainbows and you’ll be better off in your life because people want to be lied to. Just because some guy goes, ‘Yeah, We’re still moving along’ that’s code for ‘There’s nothing to see here.’”

As Liefeld goes on to claim, fans should be mad at Marvel Studios, not him, if a film doesn’t materialize. And Liefeld is confident that will be the case because he says he’s seen Marvel’s schedule for the next five years, and it notably doesn’t include his foul-mouthed creation. “Regardless of whatever inside perspective I may have, what I do know is that until a movie is put on a schedule, it’s not taken seriously.”

While Liefeld says his main concern is that Marvel is letting fan interest in Deadpool “dissipate” by not treating the property as a priority, he does freely admit that he has a financial stake in seeing a third film get made. Although, he says that’s irrelevant because he already has a steady revenue stream from Deadpool merch and the recent collaboration with Fortnite. “I already get paid,” Liefeld says. “If you make this movie [or not], I’m getting a fat check.”

(Via io9)