SPORTS fans all over the world got a reprieve from boredom last Monday (Philippine time) with the release of The Last Dance, a 10-part documentary featuring Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls’ 6th championship run during the 1997-98 NBA season.
The first two episodes were streamed on Netflix last Monday and two more episodes will be aired on Monday, April 27, at around 3 p.m.
So watch for it. This time don’t wear a Jordan #23 jersey or a Pippen #33 but a Rodman #91.
MJ HAS LANDED
Episode 1 featured the rise of Michael Jordan.
Hard it seems to believe that as a young boy, Jordan was cut from a basketball tryout. Instead of feeling sorry for the young Michael, his mother Deloris told him to work harder next time.
Well, he did work harder and eventually played in the NCAA for the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Of course, we all know that as a rookie he made the game-winning jumper in the final game against Patrick Ewing and the Georgetown Hoyas in 1982.
That was iconic.
After three years playing in college, his coach Dean Smith advised him to turn pro and join the 1984 NBA Draft.
Houston picked Akeem Olajuwon first overall in the draft and Portland, which already had a high-flying two-guard in Clyde Drexler back then, decided to get 7-foot-1 Sam Bowie at No. 2. Of course, the Bulls secured Jordan at No.3.
That turned out to be one of the biggest Draft “blunders” in sports history but who can blame the Blazers? Bowie was a logical choice for them back then. They needed a big man and Bowie was an outstanding player for the Kentucky Wildcats.
And by the way, Dallas picked Sam Perkins at No. 4 and Philadelphia hooked Charles Barkley at No, 5.
THE NUMBER TWO GUY
Episode 2 focused on Scottie Pippen who, going into the 1997-98 season, was deemed “underpaid” by league standards.
Despite being the number two guy in the team behind MJ, Pippen was the sixth highest paid player in the Bulls roster and 122nd in the entire league.
Well, actually it was Pippen’s fault that he was perceived as underpaid in 1997-98.
In 1991, he signed a five-year, $18 million extension with the Bulls. However, he still has two years remaining from his previous pact which were not erased by the new deal.
Pippen agreed to that contract because he was having “back problems” and a long-term deal would assure him of a decent paycheck until the 1997-98 season.
However, Pippen flourished as a point-forward and a solid defender under coach Phil Jackson that his value for the team skyrocketed.
Going into the 1997-98 season, Pippen wanted to renegotiate his contract but the Bulls front office refused to give in.
Take note that in the 1990-91 season, the salary cap per team was $11.9 million and in the 1997-98 season it ballooned to $26.9 million partly because his Bulls propelled the NBA to higher popularity.
During the “Last Dance” season, Jordan earned more than $33 million and the Bulls were obviously over the limit. Take note also that MJ became the highest paid player in the NBA only in the 1996-97 season when Chicago paid him $30 million after years of being “underpaid” .
The NBA’s salary cap today is $115 million.
There were a lot more stories told in the first two parts of the docu-series including the players expressing resentment on Bulls general manager Jerry Krause and the Jordan’s playoff rampage against the mighty Boston Celtics in 1986.
THE NEXT TWO EPISODES
For episodes 3 and 4, the story shifts to Dennis Rodman, his involvement with the Detroit Pistons Bad Boys team, his extra-curricular activities during his time with the Bulls and his huge contribution to the team’s second three-peat.
In college, Rodman was known as a decent scorer but with the Pistons, he accepted his role as a defender and rebounder and achieved great success in those departments.
Before signing up with the Bulls, Rodman played in San Antonio. Although he was still a monster rebounder and defender with the Spurs, his off-court antics and extravagant lifestyle were too much for coach Gregg Popovich to handle.
That is why when Krause offered to trade Will Perdue for Rodman in 1995, the Spurs agreed without much hitch.
In Chicago, Rodman remained eccentric and unconventional but coach Phil Jackson and Michael Jordan allowed Rodman to be Dennis Rodman. Meaning, he can be whoever he wanted to be outside the basketball court but when it comes to game time, Jackson and Jordan expected him to transform back to the player they refer to as “The Worm.”
It didn’t bother Jackson and Jordan much when Rodman partied for 48 hours and took “kamikaze” shots in Las Vegas with girlfriend Carmen Electra for as long as when it’s time for him to play basketball, Rodman was always with the team.
NO RODMAN, NO SECOND 3-PEAT
Rodman, himself, admitted that he created his own “monster” but claimed that without him, the Bulls would not have won three straight crowns from 1996 to 1998.
“I could have been a bum, I could have been in jail, I could have been dead but I whoop my ass to get here,” Rodman said. “You know you hear a lot of negative things about Dennis Rodman. But people don’t exactly know Dennis Rodman.”
In the 1990s, Rodman was the talk of the town both in the sports and entertainment sections. He was, especially during his playing days with the Spurs, viewed by his teammates as a distraction.
His focus was not in basketball and there are times that he got bored during games that he berated referees to be thrown out of the game.
But one thing is for sure, he knew how to get inside his opponent’s head and his energy, if he wanted to, is relentless inside the court.
There is no one in today’s generation of players that can be compared to Dennis Rodman as a player. He is truly one of a kind. And he was at his best under Phil Jackson, playing alongside Jordan and Pippen.
“You got the great Michael Jordan, the great Scottie Pippen, the great Phil Jackson but if you take me away from this team, do they still win a championship? I don’t think so,” Rodman said.
“I love Michael Jordan to death, I love Scottie Pippen, all these guys but they don’t really do the things I do. I’m the guy who goes out there and do all the dirty work.”
And I agree.
THE SHOT IN CLEVELAND
Telling the story about Michael Jordan will not be complete without mentioning “The Shot.”
Yes, that iconic game winning jumper made by His Airness with six second left in Game Five of the first round of the 1989 Playoffs that gave the Bulls a 99-98 victory and eliminated the Cleveland Cavaliers.
That win was important in three aspects for the Bulls.
First, it elevated Jordan as a clutch performer and a reliable closer.
Second, it ended Cleveland’s supremacy over division rival Chicago. The Bulls were also considered as the underdogs in that short best-of-five series and the Cavs had players like Brad Daugherty,
Hot Rod Williams, Larry Nance, Craig Ehlo and Mark Price. And oh, the Cavs also had in their lineup Ron Harper and Steve Kerr who would both sign up with the Bulls.
And third, it sent a message to Eastern Conference leaders Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics that the Bulls are coming to claim the throne.
HERE COMES PHIL
Episode 4 will also tackle on the emergence of Phil Jackson from a player who looks like a young Dennis Rodman inside the court to a fledgling mentor in Puerto Rico and the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) to being hired by Krause to become an assistant to Bulls head coach Doug Collins in 1987.
When Jordan came to the NBA in 1984 his first coach was Kevin Loughery. During his sophomore year his coach was Stan Albeck. But it wasn’t until 1986, under Collins that Jordan bloomed into a scoring machine that he was. Jordan first became the NBA scoring champion in 1987 and won his first Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in 1988 under Collins.
Collins gave the ball to Jordan but Krause thought that Jordan alone and his expensive shoes would not give them the championship.
THE TRIANGLE
Krause truly believed that the one who would lead them to the Promised Land was Tex Winter, the innovator of the triangle offense. In fact, Krause’s first move as Bulls GM was to hire Winter.
But Collins didn’t really buy Winter’s idea of motion offense. Collins knows that he has a superstar named Michael Jordan and the triangle would only hamper MJ’s movements.
On the other hand, Jackson showed interest in the triangle and learned the pattern from Winter.
So when Collins was fired, Jackson got the job.
As first, Jordan did not like the idea because it was Collins who put the ball in his hands and now, Jackson wants to distribute the ball and give other players like Pippen, Kerr, Harper and Toni Kukoc the chance to shine.
Well, we all know what happened. Jordan agreed to welcome the triangle and the Bulls won six NBA championships in eight years that culminated in 1998 which Phil Jackson had dubbed as “The Last Dance.”
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