We are now seven episodes into The Last Dance, which continues to delve into the life of Michael Jordan and the 1990s Chicago Bulls, and of course that final 1997-1998 season, hence the title of the documentary.
Last night, we learned the additional details of Jordan's retirement, including for me personally, more about his father's tragic murder (I had not known that he had been missing for weeks before the case had been solved). We also saw in-depth and received in-depth about Jordan's interactions with his teammates.
Regarding Jordan's retirement and dive into baseball, I could totally understand where he was coming from. Having achieved the level of success that he had in the NBA and after exercising so much dominance above his competition, I could understand why he felt burnt out and felt like he had nothing to prove. I also understand his fatigue from a perspective of having to deal with media with regards to all of the stories about his gambling and the constant attention that he received every single day.
Regarding his baseball, I had no idea that he basically announced his retirement during a White Sox playoff game in which he threw out the first pitch. Regarding his baseball career, I have no problem with him trying it. I know people will look at it and say that he failed, but to me, it goes beyond the results. He accepted a new challenge, embraced it. and faced it head on and went all in. He worked out more than anyone, and did his best. We have to remember that this guy was the best player in the NBA, on top of the league, hadn't played baseball since he was a teenager, and he goes out and gives it a shot in Double-A, not in Rookie ball or Single-A. Also, it's not like the guy was a total embarrassment. He batted .202, which obviously isn't good by regular baseball standards, but Terry Francona - current Cleveland Indians Manager and Jordan's Birmingham Barons manager - said in the documentary that there were actual MLB prospects that couldn't drive in 50 runs in the span that Jordan played (he had 51 RBIs). He also stole 30 bases. In the Arizona Fall League, Jordan improved his average by 50 points, to .252. The Sports Illustrated cover that read "Michael Jordan is Embarrassing Baseball" was a total low blow and out of line.
Again, I have no problem with Jordan trying his hand at a new challenge, especially when he felt he accomplished everything he could at the time basketball wise. I did not know that the MLB strike of 1994 is what sealed his baseball fate and made him return to the NBA. Although I am a little disappointed that this documentary focuses on Jordan more than that final season team, I am glad that they included the baseball details and, furthermore, glad in a way that they are going through Jordan's career. It is giving the younger generation a glimpse into a player that they need to know more about.
The other aspect of last night's episodes that was a focal point was Jordan's competitiveness. In practice, he would mercifully go at Scott Burrell, and constantly challenge guys to get on his level mentally. While some people see this as a negative, I see it as the perfect leadership style. You aren't the nicest teammate, but you push your teammates to become stronger mentally so that they can handle the battles against the rivals. Also, i am sure that if you asked the teammates who said he was an asshole or not the nicest guy, that they wouldn't trade it for anything. As Bill Wennington said last night, "it worked", as those guys got six rings out of it all. I am sure they wouldn't trade that for a nicer, easy going, comforting teammate.
I also loved the back and forth with the Sonics that was shown in the final moments of episode seven. Gary Payton, the all-world Sonic defender, said that his mentality was to wear Jordan down. Seeing Jordan laugh off those remarks was hilarious, and it gave further insight into his mentality - that even though Payton did a better job on him than others, Jordan was both not going to admit it and did get the better of Payton on the court still. I also never knew the story about George Karl not acknowledging Jordan at a restaurant prior to Game 1 of the Finals, something that Jordan keyed on as a motivating factor in that series. It was very interesting, given that they both are alums of the University of North Carolina and golfed together.
As everyone gets ready for the finale episodes next week, I am really looking forward to seeing the behind the scenes of that '98 NBA Finals series against Utah, given that it truly was the last series that that group played together. It will be bittersweet to have the documentary conclude, however I feel like it's the best documentary I have ever seen, was timed perfectly given the current sports hiatus, and feel that they could honestly have ten more episodes.
I am definitely looking forward to next week.
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