Thoughts on Part 1 and 2 of ESPN’s ‘The Last Dance’
Last night, the first two episodes of ESPN’s highly anticipated docuseries, “The Last Dance”, premiered. The 10-part series goes through how the Bulls’ dynasty and how the core group of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, and Phil Jackson ended up where the did after their final championship season together in 1997-98.
What a start to the series. The first two episodes didn’t disappoint, giving fans a look at how this dynasty was assembled. The storytelling was both engaging and unique, bringing us back in time through Jordan and Pippen’s early years, while also keeping us in tune with what was going on during Chicago’s final run during ’97-98. So here are my, and fellow Couch Guy writer Al Nahigian’s, main takeaways from parts 1 and 2:
Jerry Krause is a BIG Dummy (Al)
Space Jam makes more sense when you realize that Jerry Krause looks like Mr Swackhammer pic.twitter.com/gepu7hB3wk
— Charles J. Moore (@charles270) April 20, 2020
Jordan’s Greatness Isn’t Hyperbolic (Jarrod)
Most knew the story of Jordan going into the documentary: getting cut from his varsity team his sophomore year of high school, just to end up becoming the best basketball player to ever lace up a pair of sneakers. Still, last night really showed the younger generation (myself included) that didn’t get to watch him play what an absolute stud he was on, and off, the court.
Jordan’s intensity was unmatched. In episode one, they show him tearing his teammates apart at practice because he wanted to win so badly. But the part that really stuck out to me in showing Jordan’s the level competitive nature is in the clip below:
For MJ, his beef with Krause began in 1986, with what he viewed as management’s unsavory opportunism around Jordan’s broken foot — the idea that Jerry Krause wanted to extend Jordan’s absence in order to miss the playoffs and get a higher draft pick.pic.twitter.com/W6l8IqXKaC
— Jack M Silverstein (@readjack) April 19, 2020
Krause wanted to lose to get into the lottery, but Jordan wasn’t going to let that happen. Instead, MJ helped lead the 30 win Bulls into the playoffs, matching them up with one of the greatest NBA teams of all-time: the 1986 Boston Celtics.
Now, we all know the Celtics went on to win the series, but Jordan’s performance in that series was remarkable. As Larry Bird said, Jordan was basically God reincarnated during that series, and this was just the start of his illustrious playoff career: something we will all see in the next eight episodes.
| Season | Age | Tm | Lg | Pos | G | GS | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | 2P | 2PA | 2P% | eFG% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985-86 | 22 | CHI | NBA | SG | 3 | 3 | 45.0 | 16.0 | 31.7 | .505 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.000 | 15.7 | 31.3 | .500 | .511 | 11.3 | 13.0 | .872 | 1.7 | 4.7 | 6.3 | 5.7 | 2.3 | 1.3 | 4.7 | 4.3 | 43.7 |
| 13 seasons | CHI | NBA | 179 | 179 | 41.8 | 12.2 | 25.1 | .487 | 0.8 | 2.5 | .332 | 11.4 | 22.6 | .504 | .503 | 8.2 | 9.9 | .828 | 1.7 | 4.7 | 6.4 | 5.7 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 3.1 | 3.0 | 33.4 |
Scottie Pippen Got HOSED (Al and Jarrod)
The disrespect for Scottie Pippen was unreal pic.twitter.com/6ZsDX1DnM1
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) April 20, 2020
Conclusion
Great start to the series like I said. I kind of wanted to just sit in my chair all night watching the rest of the series, but we have to wait for that. I guess I’ve gotten too used to streaming services. Either way, after an exciting intro, I (like most) am ready for more of “The Last Dance” while the world continues to wait out COVID-19.
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– Al Nahigian (@BigAl2793), Jarrod Ribaudo (@Jribs53)