The Last Dance has been an oasis in the sports desert since ESPN moved up their highly anticipated documentary series on the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls. The first installments pulled in 6.1 million viewers over the two hour broadcast last Sunday, and there was little dropoff for Week 2.

Episodes 3 and 4, focusing on Dennis Rodman, Phil Jackson, and the Bulls-Pistons rivalry, drew 5.9 million viewers across the two hours, with 6.1 million tuning in for the third episode and 5.7 million staying around for the fourth. That gives The Last Dance the four highest rating episodes of any ESPN documentary, as You Don’t Know Bo previously held that title with 3.6 million viewers.

ESPN also reported that the first two episodes added nearly 3 million viewers from “time-shifted and on-demand viewing,” meaning the total rating for those is 9.6 million and 8.8 million, respectively. Those are massive numbers for a documentary on a 20-plus year old subject, and is representative of how starved sports fans are for some original, new content to watch — provided it meets a certain level of intrigue.

Without live sports to offer constant viewing experiences, sports fans have shown that right now they are happy to set aside some time to settle in for whatever big event is able to be put in front of them. The NFL Draft pulled in record viewership from Thursday to Sunday on ESPN, the NFL Network, and digital platforms, and Sunday only kept the good vibes going at the Worldwide Leader.

ESPN’s The Last Dance continues to generate massive interest in the sports world, with sky-high television ratings for the third and fourth installments on Sunday and seemingly endless discussion on social media. While six (!) episodes remain, this week’s content didn’t disappoint, from stories about Carmen Electra and Dennis Rodman to the revelation that Michael Jordan hates the Bad Boy version of the Detroit Pistons “to this day.”

One of the reasons for that animosity is the now infamous decision by the Pistons to leave the floor early at the end of Game 4 of the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals, exiting without acknowledging Bulls in the final game of what became a sweep that sent Chicago to the NBA Finals. During The Last Dance, Jordan said “you can’t convince me (Isiah Thomas) wasn’t an asshole” for how things transpired and the discussion of the incident continued into Monday.

Former Pistons big man and current Las Vegas Aces head coach Bill Laimbeer visited The Jump on ESPN and, in short, he didn’t hold back or apologize for anything that transpired back in 1991.

“They whined and cried for a year and a half about how bad we were for the game, but more importantly, they said we were bad people,” Laimbeer said. “We weren’t bad people. We were just basketball players winning. And that really stuck with me because they didn’t know who we were or what we were about as individuals and our family life. But all that whining they did, I didn’t want to shake their hand. They were just whiners. They won the series. Give him credit. We got old. They got past us. But okay, move on.”

Laimbeer likely isn’t alone, especially when discussing folks that were rooting for the Pistons back in that era, in having this viewpoint, but it certainly isn’t the mainstream consensus after all of this time. That won’t stop the discussion from persisting on this topic and, while it has been three decades, there seems to be just as much energy on the two sides as there has ever been, particularly with how Jordan lit up when discussing the rivalry on The Last Dance.

In the end, though, it certainly isn’t a surprise to hear one of the enforcers of the Bad Boy Pistons taking this particular stance. Now, attention will turn to the final six episodes of the documentary series, with plenty of other avenues to explore for controversy.

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

Before they meet in the Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match one week from Sunday, Asuka, Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler will battle in a Triple Threat Match tonight on Raw.

All three women have been dominant in recent weeks, and they all bring their own devastating style to this huge showdown. They’ll surely be looking to punish their competition and leave them hurt before they risk it all at WWE Money in the Bank.

Who will leave with a statement-making victory heading into WWE Money in the Bank? Find out on Raw, tonight at 8/7 C on USA! (via WWE.com)

Place your bets: who hurts who in that triple threat? The only other things advertised are another in a series of nights of Triple H appreciation, and a segment where Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre “make it official.” Congratulations to the happy couple.

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!

One of the greatest things to come out of the coronavirus lockdown is the creative musical burst coming from our fellow humans. We watched Jimmy Fallon, Sting, and The Roots use random household items to play The Police’s “Don’t Stand So Close to Me.” We’ve seen parody takes on the Bare Naked Ladies’ song “One Week” and enjoyed Hamilton cast members peform “The Zoom Where it Happens.”

So many pandemic parodies, so much time.

Kelsey Walsh posted her at-home quarantine version of Tones and I’s global hit “Dance Monkey” on Facebook, where it’s been viewed more than 3 million times. Even if you haven’t heard the original song, Walsh’s performance is enjoyable and impressive in its own right. Check it out:

Clever use of homemade instruments, lovely voice, totally appropriate coronavirus mitigation and quarantine lyrics—this is one of the better pandemic parodies we’ve seen. Well done, Kelsey.

And for reference in case you’ve missed it, here’s the original “Dance Monkey” song. It’s been making waves around the world since it was released last year, topping the charts in 20 countries. In February, it became the first song written by a woman to hit the U.S. Billboard Top 5 since 2012.

TONES AND I – DANCE MONKEY (OFFICIAL VIDEO)

www.youtube.com

I didn’t invent them but a *huge* thank you to whoever did.

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You need this today, trust me.

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Sometimes the “stop” button is self-care.

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“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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