In December of 2018 during the NBA's annual Christmas Day games, a trailer was teased for a ten-part documentary - "Coming June 2020" - about the last iteration of Michael Jordan's Bulls dynasty, the 1998 season that marked what would be the final chapter to the book of the last true sustained championship run that the NBA has seen.
With all sports currently on hiatus, the documentary was moved up two months, and will premiere tomorrow. "The Last Dance" will take us on a trip inside the Chicago Bulls of that '98 season, allowing us to relive - or, for the younger generation, live - that one final run to a championship, an inside track and behind the scenes look at the NBA's last great dynasty.
At the forefront, obviously, is Michael Jordan, perhaps the greatest athlete in the history of sports. Phil Jackson, one of the all-time great coaches who used Zen practice to keep his teams mentally sharp and focused, was at the helm, and Dennis Rodman - the wild, unpredictable off court persona but always dependable on-court Hall of Famer - and Scottie Pippen, Robin to Jordan's Batman, played vital roles, too.
This won't just be any sports docu-series. It's arguably the greatest athlete in history, and his psycho competitive nature and unquenchable competitive thirst, on his last run, the final journey that put a stamp on an exemplary career as a Chicago Bull. That in itself will draw people to their televisions. I would not be surprised if the ratings each Sunday break some sort of television record.
There will be a definitive lesson in all of this, something that we will learn from this documentary. Jordan, as cutthroat and as win-at-all-costs as athletes came, was one who demanded nothing but the best from his teammates. He was damn near perfect, and he wanted his teammates to be damn near perfect as well. If you couldn't play up to that, if you couldn't handle the pressures or the challenges, his use was little for you. Jordan himself stated the other day that when people watch the documentary, they will think he was "a horrible person". On the surface, we can assume that his competitive fire led to him berating teammates, demanding that they reach his competitive level, that they improve and focus so that when the time came to perform, they could be depended on.
We will learn that Michael Jordan was a super competitor, and that he makes no apologies for it, and, honestly, we shouldn't see anything wrong with it. When the stakes are high, and when you compete for a living, there is no choice but to give your all, there is no excuse for failure, and there is no time to play nice. It is competition, and when that is what you do for a living, you should meet the expectations that others have for you.
The other thing about this documentary series that I think will be important is for the younger generation to increase their knowledge of the game, which to me is crucial honestly to the future of sports coverage and analysis. Most 20 year olds now, they're aware of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Phil Jackson, Dennis Rodman, and also Steve Kerr because he coaches currently. But how many know about Ron Harper, Toni Kukoc or Luc Longley? Have they heard of Randy Brown, Jud Buechler, Bill Wennington, or Scott Burrell? Or Dickey Simpkins or Jason Caffey? Most likely not. It benefits the younger generation to know.
With all the current debates of the all-time greatest basketball players - debates that have gotten tired and far too common - I think that for a lot of the younger generation, they will get to know Michael Jordan like they never knew him before. Now, they don't have to just rely on basketballreference.com or YouTube highlights. They can actually gain an inside track, which I think will be very beneficial for them. Regardless of how old you are or who you grew up watching, it's always beneficial to understand and gain knowledge of the history of the game. Being a true fan isn't just being a fan of one team or player. It is knowing the history of the game on some level as well.
For me personally, someone who grew up a Jordan fan and who has all the Jordan and Bulls DVDs you can imagine, I have never been more excited for a sports documentary. It will be awesome to relive some of the things that I already knew, while gaining knowledge of some of the things that I didn't already know.
For Bulls fans and Jordan fans, it will be a sweet take back to the good old days, a chance to relive greatness.
For the players who played against Jordan or played against that team, it will probably be reaffirmation of the Jordan that they knew and played against, how great he and that team was, and how that era differs from the one that we see today.
The biggest take-way from this documentary I think will be the true understanding of who Jordan was. It is a Bulls documentary, but Jordan is at the center of it. It is a Jackson concert, but he is Michael and the rest are Jermaine and Tito. The things that drove Jordan, the competitiveness that emerged from that drive, and how he and the team ultimately succeeded in their final quest in 1998.
I have never been this excited for any sports documentary. It will be amazing.
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