The Last Dance, ESPN's latest documentary has captivated America for the last two weeks. On Sunday night, part three will air. The ten-part docu-series is a deep dive into the career of Chicago Bulls legend, Michael Jordan. Almost unanimously considered the greatest basketball player of all time, Jordan won six NBA championships, the last in the 1997-1998 season.
For what would be his final season with the Bulls, he allowed a camera crew to follow him around. Throughout the season, using this unprecedented access, the crew captured hundreds of hours of behind the scenes footage.
Jordan In The Limelight
For almost twenty years, Jordan sat on the footage while filmmakers pined to get to it. In 2016, on the day of the Cleveland Cavaliers championship parade, Jordan greenlit the project. It is easy to imagine Michael Jordan's competitive juices flow as he watches LeBron James celebrate. As pundits claim LeBron is closing in on Jordan's G.O.A.T. status, Jordan pulls out the pocket ace that is this footage to cement his place atop basketball lore.
Jason Hehir (Andre The Giant), landed the project, and four years later we are given The Last Dance. Originally scheduled to be released during this year's NBA Finals in June, ESPN moved up its release as sports fans craved new content during COVID-19. The documentary toggles between important moments in Jordan's career and the tumultuous '97-98 season.
What To Expect
On April 19th, Parts 1&2 were released. They chronicled the early years of Michael Jordan. Starting from his days playing in college at North Carolina and his first few years in the NBA. It also sets the stage for the drama leading up to the start of the 1997 season. Bulls then-general manager Jerry Krause had made it known that this would be Phil Jackson's final season as the coach and he fully intended on blowing up the team and rebuilding at the end of the year. In response, Jordan stated that if Jackson wasn't welcome to return, then neither would he. With the end of the road nearing, as the Bulls mounted up to defend their title, Jackson nicknamed the season 'The Last Dance.'
On April 26th, Parts 3&4 were released. These two episodes focussed heavily on the Bulls rivalry with the Detroit Pistons. The "Bad Boy" Pistons stymied a young Bulls team for two straight years before the Bulls finally broke through en route to their first title in 1991. Dennis Rodman connects the two teams. The relentless defender and rebounder began his career with the Pistons and later, helped the Bulls achieve their second three-peat.
This Sunday night, at 9 p.m. ET, part five will air. One hour later, part six will air. Here is what to expect from this week's episodes.
A short clip released earlier this week hint at what viewers can expect to see this weekend. In the clip that is not more than a minute long, it shows various commercials MJ was in as he became a global icon. This week will most likely go into companies such as Gatorade and Nike, who buily brands around Jordan. It seems as if this week's instalments will focus on the celebrity of Jordan that took off during the first three title runs. Michael Jordan became "must-see" and he made fans out of everyone, everywhere.
The clip also shows the late Kobe Bryant. Their paths crossed toward's the end of Jordan's career and in the infant stages of Bryant's. In the first trailer for The Last Dance, it appears that Kobe sat down for an interview during the making of this documentary. If we do in fact see him on Sunday, it will be the first new Kobe content since his death in January.
Regardless of what is and isn't in this week's episodes, it is must-watch television. While we are lacking live sports, this is the closest thing to it. The Last Dance serves many purposes. For some, it is simply something to watch in the absence of anything else. For others, it will be received with the nostalgia of a time gone by. It is an education for the younger generations, who never saw Jordan play and have only heard stories of his greatness.
The Last Dance, directed by Jason Hehir airs Sunday, April 3rd, at 9 p.m ET on ESPN.
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