In February, the Los Angeles Lakers were among three teams in the NBA valued at over $4 billion on the Forbes franchise valuation list, ranking second, only behind the Knicks, at $4.4 billion. While franchise valuation isn’t necessarily representative of the cash flow ownership has at any given time, the Lakers are always near the top of the most profitable franchises in the league and few would think of them as a business getting hit the hardest by the current pandemic.

There is no doubt that sports franchises are feeling the effects and hurting like so many others, but when the federal government launched the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program, no one would have thought of the Los Angeles Lakers as an organization worthy of a cut. As it turns out, the Lakers did indeed apply and were granted $4.6 million by the PPP, but have since given the funds back after the coffers went dry amid various reports that large corporations and companies had received loans while many actual small businesses around the country struggled to get through the process, as they told ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz in a statement.

“The Lakers qualified for and received a loan under the Payroll Protection Program,” the Lakers said in a statement to ESPN. “Once we found out the funds from the program had been depleted, we repaid the loan so that financial support would be directed to those most in need. The Lakers remain completely committed to supporting both our employees and our community.”

The Lakers qualified as they are a business with 300 or so employees, but they certainly don’t operate or bring in revenue like what you would think of when you think of a small business. It’s not surprising that the Lakers and others looked into PPP funding and applied, and truthfully, it’s an indictment of the federal government’s planning and processing of the fund that they were given a loan while others were denied — and that there wasn’t enough set aside to help more businesses in need. Still, it’s the right move to give the money back, as many other larger businesses have, even if it shouldn’t have had to be their decision in the first place. The Lakers are surely being impacted tremendously by the current situation, but there are thousands upon thousands of businesses around the country that find themselves in far worse situations.

Even without a hard release date for Run The Jewels 4, El-P and Killer Mike continue the rollout for their next album undaunted. After releasing their unprecedented party track “Ooh La La” with Greg Nice and DJ Premier last month, the duo dropped the video today and despite being a fresh look for the ordinarily aggressive partners-in-rhyme, they infuse it with every bit of their anti-establishment rebel spirit.

While “Ooh La La” is ostensibly a party song, just shooting a bunch of people dancing in a club would be too pedestrian for the Run The Jewels crew. Instead, the people dance in the middle of Wall Street in the aftermath of a hypothetical revolution, burning huge piles of money and passing out champagne bottle to celebrate the downfall of financial institutions and corporations — you know, the ones who just got a $500 billion bailout at the same time as 11 million Americans filed first-time unemployment claims.

The video came accompanied by a statement from the crew, which you can read below.

We shot this video only a few weeks before the pandemic hit with no clue as to what the future held. The fact that we got the chance to do it is damn near miraculous in hindsight.

In conceptualizing the video with our friends Brian and Vanessa Beletic we imagined the world on the day that the age old struggle of class was finally over –a day that humanity, empathy, and community were victorious over the forces that would separate us based on arbitrary systems created by man.

This video is a fantasy of waking up on a day that there is no monetary system, no dividing line, no false construct to tell our fellow man that they are less or more than anyone else. Not that people are without but that the whole meaning of money has vanished. That we have somehow solved our self-created caste system and can now start fresh with love, hope and celebration. It’s a dream of humanity’s V-DAY… and the party we know would pop off.

Love, RTJ

PS: We’d like to thank everyone who busted their ass to make this happen from directors Brian and Vanessa Beletic to line producer Cat Restrepo to editor Biff Butler to the wonderful folks at The Mill who handled post production, as well as everyone involved in shooting, prepping and executing this video. You guys gave us so much of your energy and talent during this crazy f*cking time to make it all come together and we are truly grateful.

Watch the “Ooh La La” video above.

As much as times have changed in hip-hop, one name remains a constant when rap fans talk about the greatest MCs the genre has ever seen. The Notorious B.I.G. still appears on many fans’ all-time lists, a function of both the time-tested quality of his music and the manner of his untimely, still-unsolved death. You might think that with over 25 years passed since his debut album, we’ve all heard all there is to hear from the legendary rapper, but it looks like Biggie can still surprise us with new music, even decades after his death.

In this case, the new release came via New York producer Statik Selektah’s Instagram (what would Biggie’s Instagram be like, we wonder). After declaring himself “bored on a Sunday,” Statik — who has worked with Action Brons, Bun B, Freddie Gibbs, Joey Badass, and more over the years — posted the new verse with a question and a challenge in the caption, writing, “Some new Biggie for you? (Bored on a Sunday). Even the biggest Notorious fans prob don’t know this verse.”

Statik thanked Joe Lyons for the “reminder,” which apparently came in the form of a flyer the former DJ posted promoting his upcoming Instagram Live session playing rare and unreleased Biggie demos and freestyles. “If you are a huge fan and collector of Biggie’s music you likely have heard most of these tracks,” he disclaimed, “But tune in for a trip down memory lane to the early ’90s when #nychiphop ruled.”

You can listen to the “new” Biggie verse above.

Earlier this year, Jessy Lanza’s spacey lead single “Lick In Heaven” ushered in a new era following her 2016 record Oh No. The certifiable bop set the pace for Lanza’s upcoming dance-ready project. Lanza now returns with the shuffling single “Face” to announce her third record All The Time.

Crunchy synths and digital tones are at the forefront of Lanza’s off-kilter track. The accompanying video, directed by Winston Case, was filmed during their travels across the US. Hailing from Ontario, Lanza had an insightful journey across the US while on tour. In a statement, the singer said she drew inspiration for “Face” from watching the sea of people’s faces on the NYC subway:

“I was fantasizing about what everyone was thinking based on their expressions. I found myself projecting my own feelings onto the strangers I was looking at. I went home and wrote the lyrics imagining that the commuters were having telepathic conversations with each other. The questions I imagined them asking each other oscillated from sexual to confrontational: ‘Baby is it just enough? Tell me do you want it all? Baby are you feeling tough? Feeling tougher more than not?’”

Watch Lanza’s “Face” video above. Below find her All The Time cover art and tracklist.

1. “Anyone Around”
2. “Lick In Heaven”
3. “Face”
4. “Badly”
5. “Alexander”
6. “Ice Creamy”
7. “Like Fire”
8. “Baby Love”
9. “Over And Over”
10. “All The Time”

All The Time is out 7/24 via Hyperdub. Pre-order it here.

Like The Mandalorian before it, Disney+ is forgoing Netflix’s “all at once” model and releasing one episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars per week. More shows should be put out that way, but there is a downside: if you’re waiting to binge the final season, Twitter is a spoiler minefield on (in the case of Clone Wars) Fridays, especially last Friday, when many of the day’s trending topics concerned the new episode, “The Phantom Apprentice.”

I am one of those people who’s waiting to watch the season (the final season!) all at once, but I was aware of the buzz surrounding “Phantom,” which is not only apparently a series highlight, it’s also one of the highest-rated episodes in TV history on IMDb.

As with all things voted on by anyone with decent wifi, you shouldn’t take IMDb’s “User Rating” metric too seriously, but it’s still an interesting indication of what fans consider to be the best episode of a series (like “Homer’s Enemy” for The Simpsons) and the worst (“Lisa Goes Gaga”). “The Phantom Apprentice” is currently sporting a near-perfect 9.9 rating, where it’s in a second-place tie with the series finales for Six Feet Under and Chernobyl; “407 Proxy Authentication Required” (Mr. Robot); “Mizumono” (Hannibal); and multiple episodes of Attack on Titan, Game of Thrones (“The Winds of Winter,” “Battle of the Bastards,” “Hardhome,” and “The Rains of Castamere”), and Breaking Bad (“Felina,” “Face Off”), among others. Speaking of Breaking Bad, it has the distinction of having the only 10.0 episode on IMDb: season five’s “Ozymandias,” where [spoiler] is killed and Walt [spoiler]. I probably don’t need to include spoiler warnings, as the episode came out seven years ago, but I wouldn’t want to ruin the “Ozymandias” experience for anyone. It truly is the best episode of Breaking Bad, and that’s saying something.

It’s hard to get two people to agree something is good on the internet, let alone 113,939. How many thumbs up do Saul and Kim give “Ozymandias”?

(Via IMDb)

---

View Entire Post ›

As we hit what would be the peak of music festival season, plenty of music fans around the globe are missing their live music fix due to social distancing safety guidelines geared toward stopping the spread of COVID-19. Since large scale events like festivals guarantee a crowd — and close proximity — it’s been impossible for these annual staples to take place, and the sadness is getting real. In an effort to both replicate the experience of seeing our favorite artists perform live, and help raise money for the organizations that are working hard to keep everyone safe, Warner Music Group launched a virtual festival this weekend: PlayOn Fest.

The digital event supports the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for the World Health Organization (WHO), powered by the UN Foundation, and features tons of the biggest artists on the planet, not performing in their living rooms, but by airing previously captured footage of some of their finest moments from the past.

None of these performances are available for streaming elsewhere, so there is a sense of exclusivity to the three-day extravaganza, and it brings together fans from all over the world by featuring shows at places like Texas’ revered Austin City Limits, and California’s gargantuan and beloved festival, Coachella. But what is any kind of festival without an official ranking of who did it best? Despite the performances happening across time and space, it’s still clear who had the most epic sets of the event, so we went ahead and ranked the top ten. Check out our picks below.

10. The War On Drugs’ 2018 Coachella Performance

Early on during quarantine, The War On Drugs’ frontman Adam Granduciel went live on Instagram to tease some early mixes of brand new songs from the band. While we wait for those to be polished up and released — hopefully later this year or early next — remembering the band’s epic Coachella set where they played lots of songs off their excellent 2017 album A Deeper Understanding is a good way to keep in mind just how great they are live. Yes, I really want to hear a new studio album, but that’s mostly so I can get out to a show and hear them wail live. Indie rock is not dead while this band is still doing the damn thing.

9. Paramore’s 2018 Bonnaroo Set

Hayley Williams has been focusing on her solo career so far in 2020, but she took some time to express just how much she loves her first band, Paramore. The iconic pop-punk group’s 2018 Bonnaroo set was a part of PlayOn Fest’s programming — and in such high demand that they showed it twice, once on Sunday evening and once very early this morning as an encore. The band’s propulsive energy has earned them a cult following, even when they took a long break between 2013’s self-titled release and 2017’s After Laughter. Though they’ve had lineup changes over the years, Williams’ impressive presence as a front person has never flickered even for a moment, and is on full display during this high-energy festival set.

8. Charlie Puth’s 2019 Rock In Rio Performance

The elephant in the room when it comes to Charlie Puth is that his first album wasn’t necessarily everyone’s favorite thing. But after his second record, Voicenotes, came out in 2018, the entire critical world changed their tune — it was one of the highest rated pop albums of the year, and proved once and for all that one fluke doesn’t have to define an artist forever. There is a sense of satisfaction and confidence that permeates Puth’s performance at Rock In Rio last year, knowing that he became the architect of his own sound and turned the narrative around. And it’s thrilling to watch a pop star perform at the top of his game, especially after going through so much to get there.

7. Ed Sheeran’s 2017 Austin City Limits Set

If you’ve seen Ed Sheeran live before, then you know his fans are some of the most passionate in the world. Haters be damned, the Ed heads just want to hear his clever guitar pop and sing along with the man who is arguably the most famous redhead in the world. When he played Austin City Limits in 2017, Sheeran was in his ÷ album era, you know, the album that had so many hits that when the single, “Perfect,” became one too, it was the fourth track off the album to do so. “Castle On The Hill,” the unstoppable force that was “Shape Of You,” and “Galway Girl” all lead the way, and Sheeran packs out his set with hits like these and many more to prove that even three years ago, he had the kind of songwriting chops that most artists dream about.

6. Lil Uzi Vert’s 2018 Lollapalooza Performance

I’ve never had the privilege of attending Lollapalooza, but watching Uzi’s set from 2018 has me kicking myself for not making it out sooner. Though his new Eternal Atake album dropped earlier this year, Uzi had plenty of hits to get the crowd screaming along with him, including the indelible hit “XO Tour Llif3.” That track became the lead single off his official debut, Luv Is Rage 2, which came out in 2017 and made up the bulk of his set at the epic Illinois festival. Fans will have to wait a little longer to see Uzi perform Eternal Atake tracks live, but in the meantime, watching this set was a nice reminder of just what he can do when he hits the stage.

5. Roddy Ricch’s “Trap Symphony” Performance

As the reigning champion of the No. 1 song in the country for most of 2020 so far, Roddy Ricch is riding high despite the current chaos. But this performance showcases the rapper like you’ve never seen him before, as he runs through “The Box” and plenty more hits from his discography accompanied by a live orchestra for a “Trap Symphony” concert. Put this one on for your friend who claims that pop and hip-hop has nothing on classical music, and watch their skepticism melt away as worlds collide. And yes, “The Box” and its signature chorus sounds excellent on violin.

4. Bebe Rexha’s 2019 Rock In Rio Performance

For those who might still be underestimating Bebe Rexha, tuning in for one of her legendary international festival performances is sure to set the record straight. Performing at last year’s Rock In Rio festival, Rexha ran through hit after hit, showcasing the breadth of her discography and how many bangers she’s already released, while never letting up for a minute in front of a crowd of thousands. She emanated pure pop-star energy, and established herself once again as one of our era’s top tier live pop acts. This set was so good I wanted to watch it twice.

3. Cardi B’s 2018 Global Citizen Festival Performance

As the above clip from Cardi B’s 2018 performance at the Global Citizen Festival illustrates, her political voice is just another reason to love the Bronx rapper. She’s got radio hits, deep cuts, a fiery stage presence, and still speaks to the most important thing we can do with our freedom — vote. We’d probably be in a very different situation right now in America if more young people exercised their political voices in general, so aside from seeing her twerk and spit bars, Cardi’s motivational political speech was an affirming reminder.

2. Lizzo’s 2019 Coachella Set

I was lucky enough to witness this one in real life, but rewatching with maximum camera angles instead of at the back of a packed, over-crowded tent is definitely a more ideal way to experience the full energy of a Lizzo set. If you were around on Saturday afternoon, then you had the chance to relive all the twerking, belting and pure joy that is a hallmark of every Lizzo show, and especially at her Coachella debut.

1. Nipsey Hussle’s 2018 Victory Lap album release performance at the Hollywood Palladium

Another show I count myself incredibly lucky to have attended, the album release party for Nipsey Hussle’s last album, Victory Lap was half coronation party, half homecoming for LA hip-hop royalty — oh, and Diddy was there, too. A rap king’s career was cut too short when Nipsey died, and never has that been more clear than onstage at the Hollywood Palladium that night. There’s no other set that aired during PlayOn Fest that better encapsulates how music can bring us together, and how much an artist can impact their community, even after they’re gone.

The artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

While most of the basketball world was focused on the latest episodes of The Last Dance on Sunday, Aaron Gordon is still stewing over what he believes to be a second dunk contest snub in his career. Gordon and Derrick Jones Jr. put on a legendary show in Chicago in February, with Jones winning amid some controversy in extra rounds.

Dwyane Wade, former Heat legend, was part of the five-person judges panel, and gave Gordon a nine for his dunk over Tacko Fall, leading him to lose by one to Jones Jr. — although two others gave Gordon a nine as well. Afterwards, other judges said the plan was to have the two tie with 48s, pointing fingers at Wade as the one that screwed up the plan. The immediate reaction of everyone else at the judges table when the scores flashed — including Wade casually getting up and removing his headset — made that seem like it was the case and a controversy was born.

Gordon, naturally, was furious about the result and has vowed to never do another dunk contest as he’s felt he was robbed in two now — although, both Jones Jr. and Zach LaVine likewise put on spectacular performances that are more than worthy of the titles they have. On Sunday, Gordon released a diss track aimed at Wade, with a video shot at his home, in which he calls out the future Hall of Famer for the 9 out of 10 grade on his final dunk.

This, of course, made it’s way to Wade, who offered a level-headed response on Twitter, saying Gordon should trademark “9/10” and sell merchandise to make up for the million dollars he lost out on by not winning the dunk contest.

Don’t expect Wade to hop in the booth to respond to Gordon anytime soon, and it’s a bit funny that this is still eating at Gordon this much that he shot an entire video (while drinking Wade’s wine) during quarantine for his song.

Lil Wayne reveals how he’s been keeping busy during quarantine in the double video for his Funeral singles “Piano Trap” and “Not Me”: By going to the skate park and jumping off railings. The video is directed by Ricky x Willis and shot in a low-fi style reminiscent of skate videos — a creative way to circumvent the inability to hire a typical, multi-person crew for the shoot due to the coronavirus. As he told Rolling Stone, “I’ve found skateboarding to be a release from life and all this shit in general.”

Wayne’s video lands on the tail end of a triumphant weekend for the 37-year-old rapper, who debuted his Young Money Radio on Apple Music Friday. The first episode featured appearances from the mayor of New Orleans, Deion Sanders, Travis Scott, Wayne’s favorite rapper Lil Baby, and Jessie Reyez. During the show, Wayne also announced his contribution to COVID-19 efforts, a $200,000 donation to New Orleans’ World Central Kitchen from Wayne’s One Family Foundation. He also appeared on a new song with Chance The Rapper — and Young Thug(!), perhaps implying that he and his former rival have buried the hatchet in light of the life-threatening disease.

Finally, Wayne also announced the deluxe version of his mega-sized recent release, previewing a pair of tracks that featured Canadian stars Jessie Reyez and Tory Lanez.

Watch the extended video for “Piano Trap” and “Not Me” above.

Funeral is out now on Young Money Records. Get it here.

Sunday evening brought the latest two chapters in The Last Dance, ESPN’s 10-part docuseries that gives a look into the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls. The anticipation for these episodes, which spent a ton of time discussing Dennis Rodman and the Bad Boys-era Detroit Pistons, was off the charts, and they certainly delivered.

Like last week, we’ve decided to adopt the Best and Worst format from With Spandex. Head over there to see how it’s done by those that’ve mastered it, and read on for the Best and Worst of the most recent episodes of The Last Dance.

BEST: Dennis Rodman, Basketball Genius

I’m always fascinated by how people talk about Dennis Rodman. He’s such a free spirit and such a gigantic, unique personality that the media — which always struggles to talk about things outside of conventional wisdom — was always going to overlook all the stuff he did on the basketball court to one extent or another and instead spend a ton of time talking about him off the court. It certainly says something about all of us, how that is the stuff we gravitate towards, and how we can sometimes lose sight of what makes someone such a good basketball player because we’re focused on stuff like “who are they dating?” and “what are they doing with their hair now?”

Episodes three and four of The Last Dance touch on this, of course, but spend a whole lot of time looking at Dennis Rodman, the greatest rebounder/defender the league has ever seen. The praise he gets from Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen for how he did something that every team that has championship aspirations needs — the whole “be a star in your role” thing — really does speak volumes, indicating that there is no second Bulls three-peat if not for the fact that Rodman was there locking dudes up and throwing his weight around on the glass.

Rodman talking about rebounding in particular is some of the best stuff in the doc. A huge part of rebounding is, of course, the tenacity and the desire to get the basketball, which Rodman possessed in droves. But he took things a step further, and his discussing how he studied the way basketballs came off the rim based on the players who shot the ball, the amount of spin the ball had on it, and where they shot it from is wild.

Rodman thought about rebounding the way that a composer thinks about harmonies or a director thinks about dialogue. These are crucial things that need to be mastered and refined in an attempt to become the absolute best at your craft. Not only did he manage to do this, but Rodman did this to such a level that he became a core piece to the Bulls dynasty despite formerly being a member of the Bad Boys Pistons and averaging 5.2 points per game during his time in Chicago. And beyond all of that, while the off-court stuff captured so much attention, Rodman truly did love playing the game of basketball.

Gary Payton put it the best, saying that Rodman was the Bulls’ “f*ck up person.” He was a brilliant, transcendent basketball player, and I could not be happier that the doc spent a ton of time diving into this.

BEST: MJ Highlights Set To “Partyman”

So this is more of a cumulative best through the first four episodes — my god, do the people involved in the music choices within this series deserve more money than they got. I do not care what the figure is, they deserve at least three times as much.

The first two episodes gave us a pair of all-time compilations over ridiculously cool songs: NBA youngster Michael Jordan doing bonkers stuff to “I Ain’t No Joke” by Eric B. and Rakim, and Jordan’s record-setting playoff game against the Boston Celtics set to “I’m Bad” by LL Cool J. I’ve specifically watched the Eric B. and Rakim video like 40 times since I first saw it. It transcends coolness.

Episode three of the docuseries included two more absolutely untouchable music choices. First, we got a bunch of MJ highlights set to “Partyman” by Prince, which, come on dude, that’s just stupid. Then, we got Dennis Rodman doing Dennis Rodman stuff while “The Maestro” by Beastie Boys played. Oh, and episode four began with “Still Not a Player” by Big Pun playing underneath Carmen Electra discussing Rodman’s Vegas hiatus.

I really hope that film/TV majors learn from this, because good music choices in film can elevate it, and that has certainly happened so far. The music folks for the doc are legitimately some of the best parts of this series, and I cannot wait to see what they have in store over the next six hours of footage.

WORST: The Lack Of Tea Spilling

One of my only real critiques of this documentary, which again has been incredible and entertaining and just about everything we could’ve hoped for, has been how there are still folks, 20+ years later, holding back in telling these stories. There’s Mike not wanting to go into details about going to Vegas to get Dennis Rodman out of bed, which they circumvent by talking to Carmen Electra, who was the one in the room with Rodman. Then we get to the section on Phil Jackson getting elevated to head coach and Doug Collins getting fired, and Collins simply says he could sense “Phil could be the coach,” and says it was just a feeling and he didn’t go into it any more.

It was wholly unreasonable to expect a completely unfiltered look at all of these stories, but I really do wish we were getting a bit more from these interviews instead of picking and choosing when to hold back and when to let loose. More Jordan torching Isiah Thomas and less Doug Collins being demure about getting fired and his assistant taking over.

BEST: MJ Dunking On Writers Courtside

Prior to Game 5 of the 1989 Eastern Conference Finals, Sam Smith recalls Michael Jordan — right before the biggest game of his career — strolling to courtside and pointing to the three Bulls beat writers, who had picked Cavs in 3, 4, and 5 games respectively, and calling them out. “I got you, I got you, and we’re gonna get you tonight,” before scoring a late go-ahead bucket and, eventually, hitting “The Shot” to win the game. Speaking of!

WORST: Craig Ehlo

Listen, Craig Ehlo played very good defense against Michael Jordan on “The Shot,” all things considered. The issue was he was guarding an all-time great player who just did an all-time great player thing. He gets unnecessarily hated on for being the guy who was on the other end of this moment, especially considering he had just scored a bucket to put Cleveland ahead. Having said that, there is no coming back from this. Apologies to Craig Ehlo.

BEST: Doug Collins’ Playcalling

I’m a big fan of self-aware coaches, and Doug Collins recognizing his job was to get Jordan the ball and let him do his thing was why Jordan, at times, loved him. This quote is the ultimate example of that, as he deftly explains his play call was to get Michael the ball and tell everyone else to “get the f*ck out of the way.” Also, I love how much young Doug Collins had very strong DGAF vibes, from the perm to the sweat to cursing in pressers. Sadly, this would come to a swift end.

WORST: This Announcement Of Doug Collins’ Firing

Absolutely bodied this man on the news. Doug Collins was just trying to catch the weather and had to be reminded he’s now unemployed while the rest of society is gainfully employed and preparing to head into the office.

WORST: This Guy’s Hair

The most aggressive blonde perm mullet-mustache combo the world has ever seen.

BEST: Craig Sager’s Bribe

To start: I have never done this. I, also, am not Craig Sager, so I could never even consider getting away with something like this.

Anyway! Craig Sager is like the only person in this industry’s history who could ever get away with handing a basketball player money like this, and Dennis Rodman had a sense of humor about it. Also shout out Craig Sager forever. We miss him.

BEST/WORST: Rodman Smashing A Beer Before Taking Off On His Motorcycle

It is hard to express how cool the Chicago Bulls were. You had Michael Jordan, the coolest on-court player to ever live. Phil Jackson, one of the coolest coaches ever. Scottie Pippen, who lived to punk fools on the court with aggressive defense and aggressive dunks. And then there was Dennis Rodman, who had dated Madonna, Toni Braxton, and Carmen Electra, left for an in-season vacation to Vegas where he disappeared for four days, and would regularly stroll around the arena smashing Miller Lites after games because that’s how he got down. However, drinking and driving is bad — and drinking and driving a motorcycle is especially unwise — so this must also get a Worst distinction.

BEST: Phil Jackson, Understanding Human Being

The look at the relationship between Phil and Rodman was one of the most interesting portions of this week’s episodes. There was clearly respect and appreciation for what Rodman did from Jordan and Pippen, but Jackson had a connection with Rodman on a different level. The two bonded over their appreciation of Native American culture, and Jackson understood Rodman’s needs as a person, not just a player, better than anyone had since he played for Chuck Daly in Detroit.

Jackson was understanding enough of how Rodman was and what he needed that he allowed him to take a midseason vacation to Vegas, and when they had to go get him and bring him back after he went AWOL, his reaction was, “that’s just how it went that season.” That kind of acceptance was so big for Rodman, and he got it from Phil, Michael, Scottie, and everyone else because when it was time to play, he did everything they needed that no one else could do.

WORST: The Mayor Of Quebradillas

Shot that man in the leg.

WORST: MJ Trying To Pretend He’s Still Not Mad About Scottie’s Migraine

There are two things about this doc, one incredible and one that can be kinda frustrating (but still pretty good!), that I want to highlight. The kinda frustrating one: Michael Jordan knowing that this is a reflection of him, and as such, he can be a bit too image-conscious. That mask will sometimes slip a tiny bit, like when he was asked about the migraine Scottie Pippen had in Game 7 against the Pistons, which Chicago would go on to lose.

Now, Mike caught the mask slipping a bit, so he couldn’t quite lean all the way in. You can tell that he thinks that Scottie should have, I dunno, reached into his brain and pulled out the migraine or whatever, but he was still careful with how he addressed this. It’s something that has happened a few times in the doc, but this might be the best example of it. I wanna be clear: This is hilarious, but it’s not as funny as him going all-out.

As for number two? Well, you can probably guess…

BEST: MJ Actually Being Mad About Isiah Thomas

Oh god yes this is the primo stuff. Here is the thing about Michael Jeffrey Jordan: Despite the fact that he is among the most aware humans that have ever walked the earth, the man is a hilarious psychopath who could only achieve the highs that he has reached by being wired in a very specific way. I swear to god, this is a compliment — it has led to him being considered the greatest basketball player of all-time and a billionaire behind an empire that has his name and silhouette on it. You cannot achieve this by being normal.

Part of the reason this documentary was so highly-anticipated was that everyone thought Jordan would give us the kind of ridiculously bitter stuff that only he is capable of still caring about after so many years, championships, and direct deposits worth more than my car and apartment combined and multiplied. That largely has not happened through the first three chapters — he’s gotten close, but he has not quite gone all the way in. However, at no point prior was he talking about Isiah Thomas. To Michael!

The hatred that Jordan still has for the Bad Boys Pistons still exists, which makes sense, because they beat the hell out of him physically and mentally. Jordan reigned his emotions in, for the most part, while discussing them in here, but this was a glimpse into the ruthlessly bitter MJ that became an icon. It’s unsurprising it involved Thomas — they have some history! — but god, I am glad we got to see it. Best moment of the doc. It deserves a Pulitzer.

WORST: This Shirt

Maybe the best argument for Michael Jordan in the GOAT debate is that he was so good at basketball and looked so cool playing it that it didn’t matter that he wore shirts made from your grandmother’s couch, he still was an international icon of cool and launched the most legendary athlete sneaker and apparel line of all time.

BEST: “Straight Up Bitches”

It’s incredible the amount of disdain the members of those Bulls teams have for the Pistons. They hate them. Like, really, truly, hate them. Bill addressed this in the MJ-Isiah section, but it’s not just Mike. Horace Grant was asked about the walk-off incident, and delivered one of the lines of the episode.

BEST: Dancing Jerry Krause

This documentary is not kind to Jerry Krause, but seeing him this happy and dancing with Scottie Pippen was a nice moment.

BEST: Ragging On Scott Burrell

Look, bullying is bad, but this is objectively hilarious. Jordan, noted person who regularly spent late nights out drinking and gambling, just airing all of Scott Burrell’s laundry to the documentary crew while Burrell pleads that his parents and family would be watching this. That only prompts Jordan to say, “Mom, Dad, he’s an alcoholic,” to Burrell’s dismay.

WORST: Jerry Krause

Oh, Jerry. My man just could not get out of his own way. The end of Episode 4 takes us to an early February game against Utah, their top competition in the league, and prior to the game Krause decides to double down on his “Phil’s not coming back” stance by trying to put pressure on Jordan to come back with a different coach. Jordan continues to insist he won’t do that and that if Phil leaves, he leaves, which leads to further speculation that it may be Mike’s last year and creates only more internal turmoil for the Bulls to deal with.