“They may have lived ordinary lives, but they were extraordinary people.”

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“What good is the privilege I have when I feel like I can’t do anything meaningful with it?”

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The basketball world has been enthralled by the first four installments of ESPN’s The Last Dance documentary on Michael Jordan and the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls. The documentary hasn’t just followed that season, but has traced the history of the major players and how the Bulls as a franchise got to that chase for a sixth ring in a masterful bit of storytelling and structure.

Sunday night the world got to see the third and fourth episodes, that focus heavily on the Bulls having to conquer the Detroit Pistons and their various struggles in doing so. The journey Michael Jordan takes to his first championship and the criticism he faced as being just a scoring champ and not elevating his teammates were awfully similar to those lobbed at LeBron James as he was trying to get over the hump to win his first title.

While some like Dwyane Wade, Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum, and others have been active on Twitter during The Last Dance airings, LeBron — who stumped for the early release of the documentary on a podcast in March — hasn’t offered much public reaction. On Monday, James was watching the latest episodes and felt a special kinship to Jordan when they showed footage of the Bulls in the locker room after finally winning their first title in 1991 over the Lakers.

LeBron knows that feeling of finally getting over the hump to your first title after years of racking up individual accolades, so it’s not surprising that he connected to that moment especially. There are plenty — particularly Jordan fans — that would be quick to point out that LeBron’s first title didn’t come with the team he came in with, but was instead on the Big Three era Heat, which has been a constant critique ever since he left Cleveland for Miami in 2010. In the years since he has shed that label, most notably winning a title and bringing a championship to Cleveland in 2016, but that first championship still remains extra sweet whether people were happy about it or not.

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Dennis Rodman was the star of this week’s The Last Dance episodes, and as such it’s brought him back into the spotlight as a new generation is exposed to his exploits on and off the court.

The documetary itself was actually pretty tame when it came to exploring Rodman’s history. I was glad to see it offer a glimpse into the basketball genius he was, as he discussed how he worked to become the best rebounder in NBA history. It also touched on his off court antics, most notably his Vegas vacation that culminated in him not coming back on time and Michael Jordan dragging him to practice while Carmen Electra hid behind a couch.

The Last Dance isn’t just giving us great stories in the two hours it airs each Sunday, but it’s also leading to great stories being told on podcasts, radio, TV, and in print as players and media members from that era discuss what that team was like. The Rodman episodes have now brought out some great Rodman stories, like Carmen Electra saying they once went to the Bulls facility on an off day and “had sex all over the damn place.” His legendary partying has also come up, as Kendall Gill recalled a night out at a gentlemen’s club with Rodman in New York the night before the Nets played the Bulls in an appearance on the Bulls Talk podcast on NBC Sports.

“So, I end up leaving at about 12:30, which was kinda late for me, but I knew one of the girls there — actually I knew several of them. But one in particular, I said, ‘Listen, I’m gonna call you in the morning, I want to know what time Dennis left.’ So, I call her after shootaround and she goes, ‘He was there til 4, 5 in the morning.’ I was like, ‘Oh, he won’t be able to run with us tonight. We got him.’ So I got the scouting report, and I go back and I tell all of the fellas, ‘You know Dennis was hanging out,’ this and that.

“Dennis comes in that game, and I believe he had like 20 rebounds, man. Runs like a racehorse.” 

It’s a tremendous story and is one that tracks with just about everything else that’s every been said about Dennis. He was an unbelievable athlete and an unbelievable partier, and somehow had the stamina to do both when most can’t. Rodman was, truly, one of a kind, and while the documentary touches on that, there are countless stories of Rodman that are both hard to believe and, when put all together, make total sense.

With movie theaters across America shuttered due to social distancing measures, the release slate for major studios is still in disarray. Most movies have moved to fall releases, and the hope is that theaters will be reopened even if some distancing measures are necessary. Other smaller films, however, have taken different routes to see the light of day.

Pete Davidson‘s King of Staten Island, for example, is an unreleased film that will take a different route to moviegoer eyeballs. The film’s star, Davidson, as well as director Judd Apatow, announced on Monday that the movie would see a June release to on demand platforms. The film is loosely based off Davidson’s own life in the borough, including his comedy career and the death of his father in the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. The film also stars Marisa Tomei, Bill Burr, Bel Powley, and Apatow’s daughter, Maude.

The film was scheduled for mid-June theatrical run, but with the uncertainty about when movie theaters can safely re-open, Universal decided to move its release up a week and make it on demand only. King Of Staten Island was originally slated to premiere at SXSW, which was also canceled due to the pandemic earlier in 2020.

The announcement came via a YouTube video of a chat between Apatow and Davidson, which started with the latter announcing that he “quit doing drugs” during his quarantine, presumably to focus on his SNL music career. Apatow quipped that Davidson looked like he was “born to be stuck in a basement.”

Their video is more of a skit than anything. There’s a bit of confusion about what’s actually happening to the movie, and Davidson briefly suggests selling DVDs of it in Times Square before suggesting an on demand release. Apatow calls the studio, and it’s a go: June 12. There’s a bit of extended riffing about quitting drugs, and also a fun fact about Apatow punching up a Look Who’s Talking movie. It all makes a bit more sense if you watch the video above.

The move follows something that many movies in theaters at the time of shutdowns did to make the most of its box office potential. Movies like Disney’s Onward, which likely still has advertisements plastered somewhere around your city, were moved to on demand and later given an early release on Disney+ because the box office was completely shuttered. Other films like The Lovebirds will see a Netflix release rather than one in traditional box offices as well.

Prodigal Son (Fox, 9:00 p.m.) — The show’s season finale sees Malcolm unraveling as the mystery of the girl in the box begins to unravel and the Whitlys banding together to take down Nicholas Endicott.

9-1-1 (Fox, 8:00 p.m.) — The team tries to rescue a blind woman trapped inside a burning building while Athena’s routine call turns into something more sinister and Hen performs a risky procedure on the set of a TV cooking competition.

The Bachelor: Listen to Your Heart (ABC, 8:00 p.m.) — The couples must decide whether they want to pursue a relationship before pairing up to perform for the judges.

The Voice (NBC, 8:00 p.m.) — The show takes a look back at the road to the finals with key performances from the best the competition has had to offer.

Roswell, New Mexico (CW, 9:00 p.m.) — Michael tries to convince Maria to seek help in understanding her vision while Liz is hit with a surprise visit from her mother.

Breeders (FX, 10:00 p.m.) — Stress takes its toll on the family as Paul and Ally wait for news about Luke’s worsening condition.

Dispatches From Elsewhere (AMC, 10:00 p.m.) — The group sets out to solve one final mystery.

Songland (NBC, 10:00 p.m.) — Two time Grammy Award-winning R&B singer/songwriter H.E.R. drops by to hear the contestants’ original pitches for her new album.

“Saturday Night Live” aired its second “At Home” episode over the weekend where cast members cleverly shot their own segments from the comfort and safety of their own homes. Pete Davidson’s offering was a rap song, “Stuck in the House,” but Adam Sandler stole the show bit with his hilarious verse.

Stuck in the House – SNL

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“Never go outside coz I might see my neighbor / Using both sides of my toilet paper” Sandler raps in a segment that also has him wearing underwear on his head and refusing to let fellow SNL-alum Rob Schneider in his house.

Pete Davidson may be the SNL cast member getting all the headlines these days, but in the video it’s plain to see this old cast member from the ’90s still has’t lost a step.

People experiencing homelessness are among the most vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic. Surviving often depends on being in densely populated areas where they can panhandle or use public facilities such as restrooms. These days, people aren’t out in public and many businesses with restrooms are closed.

Shelters have become breeding grounds for the virus so many unhoused people have been avoiding them to prevent themselves from getting sick.

The unhoused population also disproportionately suffers from lung disease, heart disease, hypertension, and cancer. These are all risk factors for experiencing the deadly symptoms of COVID-19.

Matthew and Jeremy Jason of Houston, Texas found an ingenious way to help the unhoused stay safe during the crisis. They are collecting yarmulkes, or kippahs as they’re known in Hebrew, and turning them into face masks and giving them to people experiencing homelessness.

They call their campaign “Kippahs to the Rescue.”

The idea came to Matthew during a religious observance.

Kippahs to the Rescue – Jeremy

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“We were sitting down for Shabbat, thinking about COVID-19, and thought this would be a great way to help out,” Matthew told the JHV. “We knew there was a mask shortage, so we started our own production, tried making a couple, and then really launched into it.”

The Jason family had a large collection of yarmulkes they had received over the years. They are commonly handed out at Jewish events such as weddings and Bar Mitzvahs. The family then asked members of their congregation, Congregation Brith Shalom, to chip in and donate theirs as well.

A drive-thru collection box was set up at the temple for congregants to drop off their extra yarmulkes.

“I guess you can say we’ve stockpiled kippahs over the years,” said Matthew, 15, said. “We thought it would be a great time to be really productive with all of these. It’s been a real family effort.”

To convert the yarmulkes into face masks, the family first started sewing elastic bands on the sides. But they switched to using clips because it’s faster and the masks are just as strong. It takes about five minutes to make each mask.

“In less than a week we were able to collect enough of them to make 160 face masks,” said Matthew. “My parents, brothers and I worked very hard to sew elastic bands on them, and they were ready to be delivered by Friday.”

via Kippahs to the Rescue

Matthew and Jeremy had already been part of an organization that helps the local homeless population, Food Not Bombs, so it was easy for them to get the face masks to the people who need them.

According to its website, “Food Not Bombs is an all-volunteer movement that recovers food that would otherwise be discarded, and shares free vegan and vegetarian meals with the hungry in over 1,000 cities in 65 countries in protest to war, poverty, and destruction of the environment.”

The Jason family has collected nearly 700 yarmulkes and turned over 300 into face masks.

Everyone has a special skill, talent, or, in the Jason family’s case, collection, they can use to help the most vulnerable during the pandemic. The Jason family is a great example of people using their creativity and connections to find a unique way to help.

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