Michael Jordan’s story comes back to life like never before in a magnificent documentary detailing the trails, tribulations, and drama that fueled the Chicago Bulls to their sixth championship
Michael Jordan is in a pantheon of greatness in the world of sports. Whether you never watched one game of basketball in your life, or have been a fan of basketball anywhere in the world, you know the name Michael Jordan. Between the championships, shoes, or endorsements, MJ is a household name. The Last Dance takes fans back to the glory days while introducing a new generation to the juggernaut that was the 90s Chicago Bulls.
The Last Dance is a documentary 20 years in the making. With a camera crew given unprecedented access to film the 1997-1998 Chicago Bulls season. A rollercoaster final season for the historic Jordan Bulls, the documentary focuses on the trails, tribulations and internal politics the team went through while on its quest to win their 6th and final championship as a group. The rights to the footage belonged to Michael Jordan and after LeBron James captured his 3rd championship in Cleveland, MJ gave the green light to create the 30 For 30 documentary.
The Story of Michael Jordan Comes to Life
A 10-part documentary, The Last Dance tells the story of the Jordan-led Chicago Bulls in full. Using the 1997-98 season as the primary backdrop, the documentary seamlessly goes back and forth in time, telling the childhood stories of Michael Jordan and his team, footage from their college and early NBA careers serving as context for the primary story of the final Jordan-Bulls season. Directed by Jason Hehir, the documentary has an expert’s touch on it, paced perfectly and with strong commentary from players, coaches, management, journalists and icons embedded in.
While the documentary was always slated for 2020, the coronavirus pandemic shook the sports world in an unprecedented way. The NBA was one of the first leagues to completely suspend its season, grinding to a halt a season of strong storylines and hype. The coronavirus pandemic continues to rage through the world, many are at home with less to do as they practice social distancing. After pleas from the fans and fellow NBA players, ESPN made the choice to move the documentary up a few months. The result was a playoff-like atmosphere on social media. Sports fans around the world tuned into the documentary, trending worldwide as people relived MJ’s journey or experienced it for the first time.
The Last Dance does not hold back in any way. With a TV-MA rating, strong language, drugs, and an adult theme reverberate around the documentary, capturing an era and NBA that is quite different from the one fans experience today, At the heart of it was always Michael Jordan. The brutality, sheer will to win and greatness that MJ sought resulted in strained relationships with ownership, and often blows with teammates and opposing players. The Last Dance is the story of a team that has reached the mountaintop multiple times and was told that they were in their final year.
While fans can debate how many more championships Jordan and the Bull could have won if they kept the team together, the reality was the team knew they were in their final journey together in 1997 and made sure to go out with a bang. The Last Dance details that journey with precision, detail and unseen footage and commentary, shedding new light and truths to the world about one of the greatest teams in NBA history.
The Last Dance has only aired two parts of its ten-part documentary thus far, but these first two parts set the stage for whats to come. Air Jordan’s unquenchable thirst for perfection, we can’t ask for anything less with this documentary, buckle up.
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