The Beginning of “The Last Dance” Doesn’t Disappoint
Last night, ESPN premiered the first two episodes of “The Last Dance”, and it was everything you would’ve expected and more.
The name “The Last Dance” was created by Phil Jackson at the beginning of the 1997–98 season when he was only given a one-year contract as the coach of the Bulls and was told that it would be his last season. Jordan had also expressed that he did not want to play for any other coach at the time, making it almost certain that the team would be breaking apart after the season.
From Scottie Pippen signing a very questionable seven-year, $18 million contract, to Michael Jordan denying hugs from Scott Burrell and ignoring fans’ request to sign autographs, all the way to Jerry Krause being the stubborn factor on why the entire Bulls team was broken up because he didn’t want to re-sign Phil Jackson, every moment from the documentary had your eyes glued to the television.
Overall, my ratings from “The Last Dance” would have to be an outstanding 10/10. From the first two episodes alone, I think the show deserves an Emmy. It was THAT good. I also really loved the fact that it was uncensored because it gave the documentary such a fresh and authentic feel.
“The Last Dance” reminded us just how iconic Michael Jordan was (as if Bulls fans didn’t already know), giving us a perspective of just how big the stage was and how many people awed at his greatness. It also gave many Generation Zers their first glimpse at Jordan since it was highly likely they didn’t get to witness much of his greatness firsthand, and they probably have only heard stories but might not have actually watched film.
Fascinated by every clip, the one part that caught my attention the most was Scottie’s decision to sign a seven-year contract for only $18 million, which is almost the equivalent a year to what Ryan Arcidiacono has made this season. (Editor’s note: Adjusted for inflation, that contract would be worth $34 million today. That translates into $4.9 million a year, with Wendell Carter Jr. coming closest to that on the 2019–20 Bulls at $5.2 million). Scottie had very humble beginnings in Arkansas, and he wanted to make sure his family was taken care of. He cared the most for longevity, so he wanted to guarantee his money instead of taking a shorter-term deal where he could keep his options open.
Scottie choosing the long-term deal that quickly lost its value and made him only the 122nd-highest paid player in the NBA when he was clearly a top-five talent really made Scottie resentful of his situation and caused him to have jealousy against Jordan being the superstar while he was the undervalued runner-up. In the last year the dynasty was still intact during the 1997–98 season, Pippen selfishly sat out during the beginning of the season, choosing to get surgery on his foot, which Michael explained was something he could’ve done after the previous season.
His choice really hurt the team because they were nowhere near as powerful without him, and the Bulls were brought back to normalcy where they lost many games early on by large margins.
I found it surprising during Jordan’s rookie season that his teammates were doing cocaine, drugs, and alcohol while being considered a losing franchise seeing that these were top-level athletes and professional basketball players. I also was more perplexed to find that MJ didn’t get involved seeing that he was a rookie, and younger people tend to fall into peer pressure.
Another facet that made “The Last Dance” even more fun to watch were the conversations, memes, and jokes that were blasted across Twitter, Facebook and other social media. It was truly hilarious and provided some enlightening forethought.
At the end of the two episodes, most Bulls fans were left hungry for more. I, for one, certainly wanted to see a couple more episodes because it was just so amazing! ESPN provided a recap as well shortly after, and now, I am even more excited to see the next two episodes next Sunday.
