There are many wonderful things about The Last Dance, ESPN’s 10-part retrospective on Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls’ 1998 season. Chief among them is the opportunity to relive some of the watershed moments of that dynasty and how they became one of the most dominant teams of all-time.

For instance, over at ESPN on Friday, Zach Lowe broke down one of the Bulls’ last major hurdles as they were en route to their sixth and final championship in 1998. Before Chicago had to face the Utah Jazz for a second straight year in the Finals, they first had to get through a feisty Indiana Pacers team, and according some players involved, it was one of their biggest tests during their time together.

The Bulls had only been forced into a Game 7 once before, a challenge they’d met and overcome against the Knicks previously, but this time, the Reggie-Miller-led Pacers had every confidence that they could topple the reigning champs. And if you ask Steve Kerr, he and the Bulls were no longer feeling invincible toward the end of their run together.

“That was the scariest game we ever faced,” Kerr said.

As part of the piece, Lowe talked to many of the players involved, and their memory for the specifics of each part of the game more than 20 years after the fact is by itself astonishing and well worth the read. It’s also worth it for just another glimpse into Jordan’s leadership and confidence, which never wavered, despite head coach Phil Jackson’s insistence that the team embrace the idea that losing this game was a possibility.

Jordan’s now infamous response to that has been well-documented:

At practice the day before Game 7, Phil Jackson counseled his players to find strength in vulnerability. “He said the important thing is to not fear losing,” said Steve Kerr, a backup guard. “Embrace the idea you could lose. Face that. But before he could get started, Michael just said, ‘F— that, Phil. We’re not losing.’ We put our hands in the middle, said ‘1-2-3, Bulls!’ and went home.”

Spoiler alert, but the Bulls would go onto win that game and, later, their sixth title. But as the Pacers raced out to a 20-7 lead to open, it’s a good reminder of just how tenuous the situation really was, and Lowe’s retrospective gives you an excellent sense of the chaos that ensued throughout the game, not to mention how many different things would have to go the Bulls’ way in order for them to win. The Bulls’ dominance seems inevitable in hindsight, but looking back, it was anything but.

(ESPN)

The Office creator Greg Daniels keeps getting asked about whether a reunion is coming for the NBC classic, and while a “yes” remains elusive the showrunner is still not saying no. In the same week that Parks and Recreation reunited for an emotional charity special, Daniels gave a pair of interviews where he discussed what could be possible with an Office reboot, which is both possible and also likely to underwhelm the show’s most fervent fans.

Daniels has a busy May with two shows coming out in Amazon’s Upload and Netflix’s Space Force. The latter has Daniels reuniting with Michael Scott — okay, Steve Carell, but the association between the two meant it was inevitable folks were to ask about The Office and a potential reunion show, much like Parks put together on Thursday night. Speaking with Collider’s Christina Radish, Daniels said he’s “given a lot of thought” to a reunion, mostly because it’s all he’s asked about. And he also said he’s not ruling it out.

“Oh, I’ve given a lot of thought to it because that’s what everybody’s been asking me, for a year or two. The first idea for doing this came after the Will and Grace reboot. At that time, it wouldn’t have been possible to get all of the actors together, in the same way that Will and Grace got the entire cast together. And I don’t really feel like there’s a need to do a reboot, from the standpoint of, there wasn’t a lot left hanging in the stories. I think people love the characters and they just want more of the characters.”

He goes on to say of a potential reunion that he simply “can’t rule it out,” which sounds like good news for fans on their third of fourth rewatch of the show. But in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the other side of The Office reunion conundrum inevitably comes up. Yes, there’s plenty of interest from both fans and many of the actors who made the show what it is. But what’s actually possible in reality is more like what Parks and Rec came up with, not another season of the much-beloved show.

“I think people were assuming that an Office reboot would [involve] … getting the entire cast back together and just continuing where we left off. We’re probably not going to get every single character back, they’re all doing all these cool things. […] I don’t think people’s expectations of getting back in the saddle and doing more episodes of the same show was going to be realistic.”

It’s more a request for tempered expectations than an outright denial of Office fans’ dreams of more sweet, sweet Dunder Mifflin content. But the fact of the matter remains that interest is high, and these things can sometimes happen if the money and idea are good enough to make it worthwhile. It’s clear, though, that it’s more likely what fans get is a small dose of The Office rather than something new to binge. That’s probably for the best.

[via Collider, THR]

In an unexpected twist of fate, Tesla CEO and multi-billionaire Elon Musk and art-pop musician Grimes started dating in 2018. Earlier this year, the singer revealed she was pregnant with their first child. While Grimes hasn’t had the easiest pregnancy, she even sought advice from working moms on Instagram, it looks like she won’t be with child much longer. Elon Musk confirmed that Grimes is giving birth very soon.

In a series of tweets, Musk confirmed the two are still together and said the baby is expected to arrive as soon as early next week. “Baby due on Monday,” Musk wrote.

The due date confirmation came just after Musk also revealed that he wants to sell all of his material possessions. “I am selling almost all physical possessions,” he claimed in a tweet. “Will own no house.” However, he has one exception to his rule. Musk said he owns the house that formerly belonged to the late Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory actor Gene Wilder. And he is not ready to part ways with it. “It cannot be torn down or lose any its soul,” he wrote.

When pressed about his decision to give up all he owns, Musk said he is “devoting” himself “to Mars and Earth” and doesn’t want to be “weighed down” by possessions.

Musk also said that Grimes was “mad” at his decision to get rid of everything. So, time will tell if he follows through on his minimalist quest once he becomes a father.

French Montana and Tory Lanez are a pair of cocky underdogs who’ve made waves during the coronavirus quarantine, so it’s only natural they would team up to bring fans’ focus back to where it should be — on the music. French — who stirred up controversy with his insistence that he has more hits than Kendrick Lamar — enlisted Tory for the summery single, “Cold.” In contrast to its title, the upbeat song is based on a warm, crispy beat, with lyrics that praise the two rappers’ favorite things: Women and jewelry.

It’s a nice, palate-cleansing party song that serves as a double reminder that while both French and Tory are good at getting attention with their online antics, they’re equally good at making fun, lighthearted rap songs. Both may have needed it, thanks to the results of some of their social media shenanigans. French found himself embroiled in beef with former favored collaborator Young Thug after responding poorly to Thug’s incredulous reaction to his Kendrick Lamar comments, while Tory was temporarily tossed from Instagram after this Quarantine Radio stream got a little too raunchy. Tory also took some heat for breaking social distance protocols for a visit with Megan Thee Stallion, who incidentally was one of Montana’s well-wishers when he found himself hospitalized last year. French was also sued for sexual battery alongside an employee who was accused of drugging a woman.

Listen to French Montana’s “Cold” featuring Tory Lanez above.

The calendar has flipped to May, and that means the clock is ticking for the NBA. Commissioner Adam Silver said weeks ago that May 1 would be the soonest he would begin to formulate a plan for what the summer might look like for his league, and a new report from Brian Windhorst and Tim Bontemps of ESPN outlines the various issues at hand as the league starts to venture out of the woods.

The NBA has loosely estimated that 1,500 people would be included in its “bubble” should some form of the regular-season schedule be completed. The ESPN report states that number could be cut in half, however, if the league moved directly to the playoffs. One concession that would include that has already been made, according to ESPN, is allowing families of players to live wherever games are played, inside the bubble.

This would kill two birds with one stone: Appease players wary of being quarantined away from their loved ones for months or weeks at a time, and put some semblance of a crowd into gyms that will be without fans for the foreseeable future. Still, there is plenty of skepticism about how all of it would work.

Via ESPN:

“There are so many layers that would have to come into play for [a bubble] to even happen,” Chris Paul, president of the National Basketball Players Association, said last week. “We would have to know exactly what that would look like. There’s a lot of hypotheticals out there.”

Such a bubble would also include a smaller, 28-person group of essential personnel, down from the 70 or 75 that might typically travel with NBA teams during the playoffs. In addition, according to ESPN, seven statisticians and PA announcers as well as two “ball boys” and 36-38 referees would be needed to ensure games run smoothly. Television producers told ESPN they would need 20-25 staff onsite in addition to others in trucks outside the building, who may or may not be included in the NBA bubble.

Should the NBA be stationed in massive hotels at a resort somewhere like Walt Disney World or the Las Vegas Strip, hundreds of hotel workers would also be needed, likely separated from their families and quarantined at the resort along with everyone else involved.

The enormity of the operation is not without cost, even as it offers much-needed business for many stakeholders. The main reason the NBA cannot yet move forward is that they expect to use at least 15,000 coronavirus tests over the duration of the contracted season — which could be as many as 88 days with a full regular season or 55 or fewer for just the playoffs — and the United States is not yet in position to open the floodgates on testing. Los Angeles became the first city in America to offer free diagnostic tests to every member of the community, a signal of how much progress must still be made for the NBA to consume such a quantity of tests.

Other smaller issues still must be sorted out, ESPN reports, including how to protect older basketball operations staff, broadcasters and referees who are more at-risk of major illness than the young athletes taking the court, and how to manage transportation without expanding the bubble even further.

Considering the entire operation must begin with ramping up practices, gathering the league together in one place, and quarantining for two weeks before games are even a consideration, the time to act is nearing. Should the NBA have a goal of playing in July, this process must start soon.

(ESPN)

Justin Bieber stirred up some major attention yesterday when he revealed that he had a “special announcement” coming today. Anticipation for whatever news he had to share really ramped up when Ariana Grande shared Bieber’s tweet and wrote, “see u there everybody.” The most obvious guess about what they were up to is that a new song on the way, and that was correct, as the two have teamed up on “Stuck With U,” which will be out next week.

Bieber shared the news — along with the simple, hand-drawn single art — and wrote, “Here is the announcement. Very excited because we have finally done it. And it’s really good. I’m releasing a new song #StuckwithU with my friend @ArianaGrande next Friday on May 8th. Working with our family at @sb_projects and universal music group proceeds from the sales and streams of #StuckwithU will fund grants and scholarships for children of first responders who have been impacted by COVID-19 in partnership with the First Responders Children’s Foundation @1strcf.”

He also noted that fans will be getting a preview of the song soon, as he ended his post, “Check back later today for the instrumental so you can be a part of this.”

This actually won’t be the first time the pair have appeared on a song together, as Grande previously hopped on a remix of Bieber’s “What Do You Mean.”

Candyman was unfortunately pushed back until late September, but don’t worry, there’s another Jordan Peele-produced project coming out before then.

Based on Matt Ruff’s novel of the same name, Lovecraft Country follows “Atticus Freeman (Jonathan Majors) as he joins up with his friend Letitia (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) and his Uncle George (Courtney B. Vance) to embark on a road trip across 1950s Jim Crow America in search of his missing father (Michael Kenneth Williams),” according to HBO. “This begins a struggle to survive and overcome both the racist terrors of white America and the terrifying monsters that could be ripped from a Lovecraft paperback.”

Excellent cast, excellent (and intriguing “humans are the real monsters, but also monsters are the real monsters”) premise, excellent behind-the-scenes talent, including executive producers Peele and J.J. Abrams and creator Misha Green, who previously wrote for Sons of Anarchy and created WGN America’s acclaimed Underground.

“When I first read Lovecraft Country, I knew it had the potential to be unlike anything else on television,” said Green when the project was announced. “Jordan, J.J., Bad Robot, Warner Bros, and HBO are all in the business of pushing the limits when it comes to storytelling, and I am beyond thrilled to be working with them on this project.”

Lovecraft Country premieres on HBO in August.

The name Harry Friedman might not mean anything to you, but it’s one you’ve probably seen hundreds, if not thousands of time. Friedman is an executive producer for both Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, arguably the two most iconic game shows in television history, and according to Variety, he “holds a Guinness World Record for having produced 12,540 game show episodes, more than any other individual, and is the only producer to have won two Emmys in the same category in a tie with himself.”

Friedman announced last year that he would be retiring at the end of his contract, which is today. In that same Variety piece, Sajak credits him as the guy who “quite literally” saved Wheel of Fortune. Back in the (early) ’90s, Vanna White had to manually turn the letters on the big board, which isn’t exactly the most grueling of jobs. But it was a cumbersome process, where “between puzzles, the crew would have to stop taping, draw huge duvetyn curtains in front of the puzzle board, and replace each letter in each light box. The process stretched out a half-hour show to 45 or 50 minutes of taping.”

But Friedman, who also discontinued the five-wins-in-a-row-only rule on Jeopardy! (paving the way for streak legends Ken Jennings, Arthur Chu, and James Holzhauer), had an obvious-in-retrospect idea: why not make the board electronic?

“Harry quite literally saved the show when it desperately needed a strong dose of creativity,” said Sajak.

No one is more thankful for Friedman than Vanna White.

Anyway, Wheel of Fortune is posting its best ratings in years, and the Jeopardy! GOAT tournament was a genuine sensation, and both are largely due to Friedman. I get that he’s retiring, but I mean, if he wants to help with the Supermarket Sweep revival…

You’ve gotta hand-wash, but you can make it feel a tiny bit less like the chore it is.

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