“The Last Dance” Airs Its Final Episode

The Chicago Bulls 10-part documentary series ended on Sunday night. There were five weeks of episodes that highlighted Michael Jordan’s Bulls, especially the 1997-98 championship team.
Many of the players were outlined and behind-the-scenes footage was shown of the 1997-98 season.
The Flu Game
Many fans referred to Michael Jordan’s Game 5 performance in the 1997 NBA Finals as the Flu Game. He was noticeably ill, but no one has ever been sure exactly what from. There were even rumors that he was just hungover.
During the documentary, Jordan told his side of the story. He ordered a pizza the night before the game and was the only one to eat it. He said that the reason for his sickness was from food poisoning.
His pizza was delivered to his hotel by five guys from the restaurant. Jordan’s trainer, Tim Grover, took this as evidence that they may have tampered with his food.
But why was he the only one to eat the pizza? Many guys around MJ at the time say that he used to spit on his food to claim it as his own.
Could The Bulls Have Won A Seventh Title?
The question remains whether the Chicago Bulls could’ve run it back one more year and won in 1998-99. Many things would have had to fall in place for this to occur, and they didn’t.
Jerry Reinsdorf, the Bulls owner, eventually asked Phil Jackson to come back and try for the four-peat.
“I asked Phil to come back,” Reinsdorf said. “And he says, ‘No, it’s time.’ That was the expression he used, ‘It’s time.'”
Scottie Pippen was also underpaid and coming off of his back injury. Jordan would’ve had to convince him to return on a one-year deal. It seemed at the time that his relationship with Jerry Krause was all but over.
Jordan mentions in the documentary that he could’ve convinced Pippen to return. But Reinsdorf thinks differently.
“I know in Episode 10, (Jordan) says, ‘They all would’ve come back for one year.’ But there’s not a chance in the world that Scottie Pippen would’ve come back on a one-year contract when he knew he could get a much bigger contract someplace else,” said Reinsdorf.
Jordan carried the 1997-98 team on his back down the stretch. Many of his teammates were gassed by the Finals. The team was getting older, and they had some young talent they would’ve had to go through for another title.
It’s hard to think of them not running it back. Basketball fans would’ve loved to know whether Jordan could’ve done it or not.
GOAT
This documentary has brought up a lot of “greatest of all time” talk. Experts are again starting to compare Jordan and LeBron James.
The series put many arguments for LeBron to rest. The pure competitiveness and drive from Jordan in his prime was astonishing.
But as LeBron continues his career, so will these comparisons. The difficulty of discussing the play of top talent in different eras is at an all-time high.