Ryan Lippe - Staff Writer
During the 1997-98 NBA season, the Chicago Bulls granted unprecedented access to a camera crew to follow them around, referring to it as “The Last Dance.” The Bulls, at the time, were coming off their second straight NBA title with five total titles in the past seven seasons. Jordan was becoming one of the greats; he was reaching levels that players like Magic Johnson and Larry Bird have only reached. He had finally brought basketball back to a city that used to struggle putting a twenty-win season together. But of course, he couldn’t have done it alone. Jordan was assisted by two of the best to ever play in Dennis Rodman and Scottie Pippen. Before he was injured and held out, Pippen was Jordan’s go-to guy, always right there with the assist to help him out or providing that extra pass which was needed to get some points. When Scottie was out, Dennis Rodman became the man. After coming from a very physical Detroit Pistons team, Rodman was ready to get up and get dirty to get other guys the ball.
The documentary, released in two-episode increments over five weeks, shines a light on how the dynasty was more than Jordan—how it takes a certain mindset to work with a guy like Dennis Rodman, and how despite being second on the teams scoring list and first in assists, he was only sixth on payroll. You can also see how, as time went on, Jordan became more than just an icon in the NBA but around the world as well after he participated in the Dream Team for the 1992 summer Olympics. In episodes five and six, the documentary crew follows Jordan to the All-Star game and the Olympics; the episode focuses on how his only chance for solitude was when he was alone in his hotel room.
As the season continued, tensions grew on and off the court between the players, coaching staff, and front office. It didn’t help when Jerry Kraus, the Bull’s General Manager, took a firm stance that the ‘97-’98 season was going to be the last for Head Coach Phil Jackson, regardless of the outcome of the season. They ended up going to and winning the NBA finals, but that didn’t change the mind of Kraus.
While the stats may have suggested that the team was doing well, that doesn’t mean that everything was going smoothly behind closed doors. Jordan was a once-in-a-generation player, and that meant going on to win six titles and beating out one of the greats in basketball, Magic Johnson. But just because there was so much success on the court doesn't mean that there is some bad blood behind closed doors.
The documentary shed light on many parts of Jordan's life. At the end of the day, Michael Jordan is still human. He still goes through loss, struggle, triumph, and success. His life is always in the spotlight, which is something that only a handful of people can handle; and Michael Jordan did the best that he could while inspiring the next generation of NBA players along the way.
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