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‘The Last Dance’ Debuts To Large Audience

On Sunday night, part one and two of the 10-episode documentary on the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls team, The Last Dance, aired on ESPN. Most of the series is based around the last championship season in 1998 and the rebuilding that was planned after the season was complete.

With the coronavirus putting a halt to the NBA season, it had fans excited about basketball for the first time in a while. It was all over social media, and it gave sports networks something to talk about on Monday.

How it Started

Many people realized that the 1997-98 season was going to be the end for Michael Jordan and Chicago’s run. Before the season started, the NBA planned to document the entire season to later be released.

The commissioner of the NBA, Adam Silver, used to be the head of NBA entertainment in the 1990s. He had to convince Michael Jordan that he would have total control over the film once it was complete.

“There was no negotiation whatsoever,” Silver explained. “All I said was, ‘I’m sure there’ll maybe be a tough negotiation at some point, but we don’t have to have it now.’ Because first and foremost, we have to capture the footage.”

Then he offered Jordan complete control.

“Our agreement will be that neither one of us can use this footage without the other’s permission,” Silver told Jordan. “It will be kept — I mean literally it was physical film — as a separate part of our Secaucus (New Jersey) library. Our producers won’t have access to it. It will only be used with your permission.”

Now, over 20 years later, with a lack of sports, it was the perfect time for the documentary to be shown. This would’ve been a big hit at any time, but with the current situation, everyone is tuned in.

Takeaways from Episodes 1 and 2

It didn’t take long for the show to get into the major conflict that the Bulls faced during that time, which was Jerry Krause. The GM of the Bulls didn’t have a great relationship with anyone in the organization, especially Phil Jackson.

He told Jackson that he would be gone after the 1997-98 season no matter what happened. After Jackson was told this, he created the theme of the season – “The Last Dance.”

The show also gets into the impact of Scottie Pippen. Jordan said that Pippen was the best teammate that he ever had. However, Pippen was not being compensated appropriately. He was quite possibly the second-best player in the league behind Jordan but wasn’t in the top 100 in salary.

This was in large part due to his seven-year contract that he signed with Chicago. Krause was not interested in renegotiating his contract even when he was showing greater value than he was receiving.

Fans also learned that Jordan wasn’t the kind of guy that approved of load management. The documentary shows his competitive nature and his will to win.

ESPN will be airing two episodes every Sunday until all 10 have been shown.

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