Michael Jordan’s ten-episode docuseries “The Last Dance” finished airing over a week ago. The Last Dance revolved around the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls spending their last year together before winning the franchise’s sixth NBA championship. Ownership wanted coach Phil Jackson to leave so they could start rebuilding. Michael Jordan made up his mind that he wasn’t going to play for another coach at the time and threatened retirement. Also, Scottie Pippen delayed surgery on his toe to seek a better deal and ownership wouldn’t allow him to renegotiate. Combining all of these circumstances the 97-98 Bull’s season was known as The Last Dance which was coined by Phil Jackson.
The timing of the release of this series was perfect. Sports have been shut down and fans have been hungry for anything live to watch. A lot of people are quarantined and stuck in the house. This gave an opportunity for younger viewers who didn’t get a chance to watch Michael Jordan live to be part of the audience, like myself. The new generation tends to be split as to who’s the GOAT and the debate is almost always between Michael Jordan and LeBron James. The people that side with LeBron haven’t seen Jordan live at all and they are victims of recency bias. Jordan’s career is better than the career LeBron James will ever have and was more dominant in his era and that isn’t up for debate.
Watching the documentary, young fans saw Michael Jordan’s upbringing in sports and the classic story of not making the varsity basketball team at Laney High School his sophomore year. Jordan excelled in college at UNC and won a national championship. The documentary showed viewers some highs and lows of Jordan’s early years in the NBA.
The Last Dance shifted back to the 80’s in scenes to give the viewer a sense of the culture of fashion. Players like Magic Johnson and Larry Bird rocked with Converse but Jordan ultimately, selected Nike. Nike designed a signature shoe in 1984 for Jordan and the success from sales were beyond their expectations going on to make $126 million in its first year.
Later down the road, Michael Jordan struggled against the Bad Boy Pistons who created the Jordan rules. These rules were to stop Jordan from getting into an offensive flow by fouling him aggressively. After three consecutive years of being eliminated by the Detroit Pistons, Jordan realized he needed to get stronger. Jordan put on 15 pounds of muscle prior to the 1990-91 season. In episode four, Jordan described how his mentality changed towards the Pistons for the following year: “And I wanted to administer pain. I wanted to start fighting back.”
The Bulls went on to sweep the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals and defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1991 NBA Finals. The Bulls won two more championships to complete a three-peat. This was the first time an NBA franchise has won three in a row since the Boston Celtics won eight consecutive from 1959-66.
In the summer of 1993, Michael Jordan’s father, James Jordan Sr. was murdered while taking a nap in his car. To fulfill the dream to his father, Jordan stepped away from basketball and joined the Chicago White Sox minor league affiliate Birmingham Barons. He spent a year playing baseball and his numbers improved and his coach Terry Francona noticed his improvement from game to game. During his time there, Jordan batted .202, totalled 51 RBIs, and stole 30 bases. Later, the MLB players’ association went on strike and Jordan didn’t want to become a replacement player so he quit playing baseball. Jordan returned to basketball in March of 1995 with a press release of simply, “I’m back.”
Jordan wasn’t in the best basketball shape but he erupted for 55 points at Madison Square Garden on March 28. Fast-forward to the 1995 playoffs, the Bulls fought their way to a fifth seed and made it to the Eastern Conference Finals to face the Orlando Magic. The Magic was a team of talented, young players such as Shaq and Penny Hardaway. The Magic finished the Bulls off in six games but Jordan hadn’t played competitive basketball long enough to put Chicago over the top.
During the offseason, the Bulls acquired Dennis Rodman from the San Antonio Spurs in return for Will Perdue. Rodman was an enforcer, a monster on the boards, and gave 100% when he was on the court. He was a great addition to MJ and Pippen. The Last Dance wasn’t about Jordan alone but Phil Jackson and his teammates, specifically Pippen, Rodman, and Kerr. You got a sense of their backgrounds and their journey to being a part of the Chicago Bulls and I appreciated how they had their own segments.
The first three-peat was challenging enough for the Bulls but to do it again, was astonishing. For Jordan and Pippen to still have the same hunger and drive after winning three championships, is something you don’t see often. Chicago finished the 1995-96 season with the best seasonal record ever of 72-10 at the time.
In the playoffs, the Bulls had vengeance in their eyes by sweeping the Magic who eliminated them last year. The Bulls matched up with the Seattle Supersonics in the NBA Finals. Jordan had his father in mind because Father’s day was around the corner and it was the first time he was in the finals without him. Despite that, Jordan and the Bulls won in six games.
The next two years, the Bulls battled against one of the best duos of all time in Karl Malone and John Stockton. Prior to game 5 of the first series between the two teams, Jordan was sick while throwing up all night. It was revealed in the documentary that Jordan ordered pizza in Utah and it sketchily took three people to deliver it. They tampered with the pizza but it didn’t stop Jordan from scoring 38 points. Chicago took care of business and eliminated the Jazz in game 6.
Coming into game six of the 1998 NBA Finals, Chicago led the series 3-2 and they looked to close out with a win in Utah. Pippen scored the opening bucket and his looming back injury was still present. Pippen was in and out of the game being checked on in the locker room. The offensive load was put on Jordan’s shoulders. Jordan didn’t have a great shooting night going 15-35 (42.9%) from the field. With 37.1 seconds remaining the Jazz led by one with the ball. Malone received a pass from Stockton and Jordan strips him from behind. On the other end, Jordan dropped Bryon Russell with a step-back and drained the mid-range jumper. The Bulls went on to win their sixth championship and completing their second three-peat.
You have to give the Bulls credit for remaining focused in the 1997-98 season. From Rodman disappearing from the team, Pippen holding out on surgery for a better contract, to Jerry Krause and Jerry Reinsdorf wanting to rebuild. Knowing that whether or not you bring home another championship to the city of Chicago, Phil Jackson wasn’t going to be the coach anymore. Michael Jordan said throughout the season that he will retire if Jackson doesn’t return. I hope young fans will recognize the obstacles that the Bulls had to go through and how they overcame them.
Michael Jordan had an illustrious career:
- Six championships
- Six Finals MVPs
- Five regular season MVPs
- 1987-88 DPOY
- 10x scoring champ
- 11x All-NBA
- 9x All-Defensive
- 1984-85 ROY
The documentary has exposed a lot of the younger fans today of Michael Jordan’s greatness. Although, there is no better experience than seeing a player perform live. Jordan gave everything he had to the game of basketball, and I hope they see how Jordan was an icon in Chicago and to the rest of the world.
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