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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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.