Here are five key points from episodes 7 and 8 of “The Last Dance,” a documentary series about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls’ championship season in 1997-98:
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1. So that’s why he was a jerk
This was more of a deep dive into Jordan’s mind and motivation rather than just a scoop. When he pushed his Bulls teammates harder than most Marine drill instructors pushing new recruits, he was doing it for his own sake, of course. He wanted to be certain that his team, the Jordanaires, were capable of winning championships.
However, it was also meant for them. We witnessed some of the harshest forms of “tough love” imaginable in Jordan’s expectations, ridicule, and face-offs with his fellow Chicago teammates.
Finally, we got Jordan to pull back the curtain on it.
“Victory comes at a cost,” Jordan articulated in his recent interviews with the documentary team. “So does leadership.”
“Once you became a part of the team, you adhered to the standards I set when I played the game. I was not willing to accept anything less.”
Bill Wennington, a center who joined the Bulls during Jordan’s first retirement, received a straightforward welcome when Jordan came back. Wennington shared that Jordan instructed him, “I want you to jump on the cape. But you have to hold on.”
This could mean punching teammates like Will Perdue and Steve Kerr, verbally mistreating Scott Burrell, or reducing Dennis Hopson to tears (which happened in 1990-91 but wasn’t included in the documentary) if necessary.
“He couldn’t be a nice guy with that kind of mentality he had,” said B.J. Armstrong.
As podcast king Adam Carolla often says about Jordan – it wasn’t about you performing at your best, but rather, you performing at his best. He was very clear that he never requested a teammate to do something that he himself didn’t do.
He got very emotional too.
“I desired victory, but I also wanted them to share in that triumph,” declared Jordan, his voice growing intense. “If that style of play doesn’t suit you, then don’t play that way.”
He paused at that point and declared, “Break,” effectively calling his own “cut” to the scene.
2. James Jordan never left his side
We were bound to revisit the summer of 1993, when James, Jordan’s father, was tragically murdered in a random assault on a Carolina highway. However, Episode 7 revealed that Michael’s decision to retire wasn’t directly influenced by his father’s untimely death. Rather, he had already been considering retirement following the ‘93 title, possibly even as early as fall 1992.
His venture into baseball was largely inspired by his father.
Michael's No. 1 fan from the beginning.#TheLastDance pic.twitter.com/nW4YeC1p7Y
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) May 11, 2020
Before his basketball career took off, Jordan had a love for baseball. He had watched athletes like Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders successfully juggle two-sport careers. However, it was his family’s support for baseball and his father’s advice to do what makes him happy that led him to take a leap of faith in a doubtful sports world and move to Birmingham, Alabama. There, he played for the Class AA Barons in the Chicago White Sox system.
At his retirement news conference in 1993, 10 weeks following his father’s murder, Jordan made two comments that were particularly impactful. He first stated, “The word ‘retire’ means you can do anything you want.” His second comment was, “He saw my last basketball game.”
The documentary intricately wove through time, highlighting James Jordan’s consistent presence at his son’s side, akin to Scottie Pippen’s role as a wingman. This was evident right up to Game 6 of the 1996 Finals against Seattle. As reporters covering that championship series, where Chicago secured a 3-0 lead before losing Games 4 and 5, forcing a comeback to the United Center, we retrospectively pondered if some unseen force was crafting poetry. The decisive game was on Father’s Day, marking the first time Jordan and the Bulls clinched a title without Michael’s father present.
We have witnessed NBA stars shedding tears and expressing their emotions when they achieve the championship victory. Yet, seeing Jordan on the floor of the trainer’s room, breaking into sobs as he clung to the basketball and attempted to avoid the cameras instead of performing for them, was an entirely different level of authenticity.
3. Pippen’s star turn, minus 1.8 seconds
At the time of Jordan’s first retirement, he was working in Minneapolis, where an unfortunate irony quickly unfolded. The Timberwolves, who had been amusing but essentially terrible during their first four years, were finally getting their chance to shine by hosting the 1994 NBA All-Star Game in February. This was a significant step up for the team.
And now, it was getting an All-Star Game without Michael Jordan, (gulp).
Of course, that was a narrow-minded perspective. Consider the emotions of Bulls fans when the best player in the game decided to step back while still at his peak. Both groups were agreeably astonished.
Pippen experienced the peak of his career in an individual season, guiding Chicago to an unexpected 55-27 season, especially considering they had lost Michael Jordan right before training camp. He secured third place in the MVP voting, trailing Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson. He also catered to Twin Cities basketball enthusiasts by filling Jordan’s shoes as the leading star, and even won the All-Star MVP trophy.
Pippen differed from Jordan as a player and in personality, which resonated with his teammates. However, our fixation on Jordan’s aggressive, demanding, and obsessive way of motivating his colleagues has made some of those Bulls seem somewhat soft for welcoming the change.
The entire team dynamic altered within 1.8 seconds when Pippen decided not to participate at the closing of Game 3 of the East semifinals series against New York. Coach Phil Jackson had designed the play for Toni Kukoc to take the final shot, without even using Pippen on the court as a distraction. Contrarily, he had Pippen — the team’s top passer — inbounding the ball.
After spending years as the second fiddle to Jordan and eventually ascending in rank, Pippen felt he was relegated to a supporting role to the new rookie, Kukoc. Kukoc was an European discovery of GM Jerry Krause, who was already a source of annoyance to Pippen.
Even though his reasons may seem correct now, he was absolutely mistaken. It was intriguing to watch both the footage from ’94 and the retrospective views of different Bulls players observing the reactions of mature men who felt betrayed by a teammate. Not to mention, this was following Kukoc’s successful buzzer beater that momentarily held off the Knicks.
“It was devastating. He quit on us,” said Steve Kerr.
Bill Cartwright, the center, was so upset when he confronted Pippen in the locker room that he cried.
Pippen immediately apologized and Kerr stated that the team accepted his apology. Despite the Bulls being eliminated, he played ferociously in the last three games of the series.
Pippen’s legacy is well-established. He’s a Hall of Fame inductee, was acknowledged as one of the Top 50 players in NBA history in 1997 – with seven more seasons of his career still to come – and is broadly recognized as the most significant second-in-command ever in an NBA team.
Even now, there are replica jerseys in Chicago that display “Pippen 1.8” instead of his usual number 33.
4. Comparing Jordan’s ‘bodies’ of work
The NBA’s top player took a break to play minor league baseball for a season. He might have continued if it wasn’t for the prolonged labor dispute in the sport that extended into spring 1995.
The sight of Jordan swinging his bat at curveballs was a stark contrast to his usual tongue-wagging after dunks. However, he maintained his signature style, reminding everyone of his baseball detour as the footage was revisited on Sunday.
However, he wasn’t. He had exchanged his globally recognized basketball physique for one more appropriate for baseball. And… was there much talk about this switch at the time?
Back then, it appeared that the notable part of the season from March 1995 until the Bulls’ defeat against Orlando was mostly composed of Jordan’s remarkable performances in his comeback. This included his temporary switch to jersey number 45 from his renowned 23. However, Jordan’s return was not simply about shaking off rust or adjusting to the revamped Chicago team.
Jordan had undergone training to become a baseball player instead of a basketball player. However, he had to physically revert back to his original form.
Good Guys Wear Black (& Red) #TheLastDance pic.twitter.com/gi6LnaJL3W
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) May 11, 2020
“Reflecting on it, I didn’t have sufficient time to get my body back into basketball shape,” said Jordan.
Jordan might not admit it, but no disrespect intended towards young Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway or former Bull Horace Grant.
The explanation was supported by Jordan’s personal trainer, Tim Grover, and the Bulls’ Chip Schaefer. They pointed out that the reflexes, strength, and agility required for one sport were considerably different from the other. The difference might not have been as noticeable as transforming Aaron Judge, a Yankees slugger who stands at 6-foot-7 and weighs 280 pounds, into an NBA power forward, but it was certainly present.
The document revealed Jordan’s involvement in “Space Jam” in the summer of 1995, demonstrating his determination to recover his peak form. He had a full court and gym, known as the “Jordan Dome,” built on the movie studio’s lot for his daily two-hour workouts. In the evenings, he organized high-level pickup games with NBA players, simultaneously refining his own skills and observing theirs.
5. Don’t look, talk or even breathe at Jordan
If you wish to stand a chance of defeating him, then it’s not advisable. Jordan’s habit of turning perceived slights, whether real or imagined, into fiery motivation was thoroughly showcased on Sunday.
In sports, we often hear about players and teams who are able to tap into their hidden potential on occasion, maximize their talents at just the right moment, or extend their peak performance periods. However, what they are not expected to do is dramatically increase their performance level instantly, similar to activating nitrous oxide on a drag racing car.
Apparently, this doesn’t apply to Jordan. He had a unique ability to transform immediate grudges into spectacular performances, and even found ways to instigate them. He was like Bruce Banner turning into the Hulk.
The LaBradford Smith story was early legend. That’s when Jordan got so incensed by the Washington guard’s big scoring night against him in Chicago that he torched Smith the very next night of a back-to-back. But the kicker was Smith’s alleged remark (“Nice game, Mike”) after the first game never happened. Somehow, Jordan convinced himself that it had and got his revenge.
Sunday was rife with the kind of incidents that caused a rift between Isiah Thomas and Jordan. One such example was Nick Anderson’s comment after the Magic won the first game of their ’95 playoff series, stating that “45 isn’t 23.”
Seattle coach George Karl was caught in a catch-22 situation involving a restaurant failure, where he was expected to stop by Jordan’s table as a gesture of respect. However, Jordan was indifferent whether Karl was from Carolina or not.
“That’s all I required,” he stated. “And it turned personal for me.”
Lastly, the series revisited Jordan’s previous reactions to a comment by Thomas, shown to him via video on a tablet. This time it featured Gary Payton speculating that the outcome of the ’96 Finals could have been different if Karl had assigned Payton to defend Jordan before Game 4.
Gary Payton thought he found a way to get to MJ … Mike wasn't sweating the Glove #TheLastDance pic.twitter.com/Z8NG7qN5hW
— ESPN (@espn) May 11, 2020
“Continuously striking and banging against him really wore Mike down,” Payton admitted. “That’s when the series took a turn.”
Ignore Jordan’s cackling. The real highlight was his patronizing pronunciation of Payton’s nickname, “The Glove”, as he returned the tablet.
However, the cackling was also quite impressive.
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Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.
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