The Last Dance...the story of the 97-98 Chicago Bulls

[Con 5,719]

The Last Dance is a 2020 American sports documentary miniseries focusing on the 1997–98 Chicago Bulls. The series features film footage from a crew that had an unprecedented and all-access pass to the Bulls during the National Basketball Association season. A season in which the Bulls were attempting a second Three-peat....or Three Consecutive Championships. They had already had a three-peat from 91-93 and were going for a second one. 

Why should you watch it? Because as a basketball or NBA fan regardless of who your fave player was or currently is...there is no denying that one of the greatest players to ever play the game is named Michael Jordan. In 1987 a family moved in to the neighborhood and I met two cousins...one loved soccer and the other basketball, at that time as a 13 year-old all I wanted to do was play American Football, so I rarely followed the NBA. But by then MJ had been in the league three seasons and had shown that he was an absolute superstar. In 1987, MJ won  League MVP, Defensive Player of the Year and All-Star MVP...so my new neighbor moved in at the right time as now him and I would follow MJ the rest of his playing years. 

What makes this time so important is that that entire era was magical for me. I was hitting puberty. I was entering high school. Had my first official crush on a girl that wasnt a model in the SI swimsuit issue or Frederick's of Hollywood catalog, looking at you Leann Tweeden. I Started to get more freedom from my mother. So from 1987-1994, I can say those were the best years of my youth. From July 95 to Nov 96, things had flipped so the only real joy for me was manufactured in the form of watching MJ and the Bulls. So 1997-1998 season is one I paid attention to sports closer than any other year in the NBA. 

Whether you like him or hate him, MJ was a big part of our global sports culture. MJ was amazing. Best way I can put it is, as  NY Jets fan, you can imagine my sports hatred for Tom Brady when he was with the Patriots...I hated him. Always beat us....and made it look easy. I hated Brady....and then something funny happened like three-years ago, I realized how lucky i was to have seen him play. Brady is one of the greats and I have made peace with that...lmao.

Anyways, I'm starting this thread to share my thoughts and reviews of the episodes...the producers claim there will be 10-parts in mini-series style. Two episodes were released early this week and they were both phenomenal....I followed MJ and the Bulls as much as I could, I didn't have internet access and the web was primitive, so the new insight I learned was almost earth shattering...things like management wanted to dismantle the team, when I felt all they needed was reinforcements and they could have won a 4th consecutive championship, would not have been easy since they would have faced the San Antonio Spurs with David Robinson and the amazing rookie, Tim Duncan. Imagine that NBA Finals? MJ & Pippen vs The Admiral & Duncan !!! 

Please feel free to join me in posting anything relating to the Chicago Bulls or MJ or the miniseries or just your own experiences regarding the Chicago Bulls run. I saw MJ and the Bulls at Madison Square Garden in 1990...the same new neighbor was working with someone who was able to get us NY Knicks tickets....who was in town? MJ and the Bulls! Yes, I saw MJ play at MSG. Awesome game too, at halftime the Knicks were winning by 25 points but MJ and Bulls came back in 2nd half and won by 20 points! I'll never forget that Stacey King was the first player I spotted as we entered the arena. Also can still see the Wall Street dudes that sat behind us, they had brought in a bucket of KFC chicken. So you can tell the whole sh*t was magical for me and is why this new miniseries has me enthralled. 

 

Edited April 22, 2020 by Con

[Fido_le_muet 5,198]

Hell yeah ! 

I'm planning to watch that as soon as I'm done with 'The Universe', documentary about space on Netflix. 3 episodes left, watching The Outer Planets tomorrow.

The Bulls were my favorite team too when I was a kid growing up in the 90s. I still have my NBA cards at home. MJ is the best basketball player of all time. Really looking forward to the series.

Edited April 22, 2020 by Fido_le_muet

[Con 5,719]

So I texted my friend I mentioned above. I was shocked to learn he missed the episodes and told him how he could watch them right now. Anyways here are those texts. 

What I shared with him was the link to the YT vid above of the team intro theme song:

 

Edited April 22, 2020 by Con

[Con 5,719]

12 minutes ago, Fido_le_muet said:

Hell yeah ! 

I'm planning to watch that as soon as I'm done with 'The Universe', documentary about space on Netflix. 3 episodes left, watching The Outer Planets tomorrow.

The Bulls were my favorite team too when I was a kid growing up in the 90s. I still have my NBA cards at home. MJ is the best basketball player of all time. Really looking forward to the series.

Cannot wait to discuss the episodes with you!!! 

[zmurko 7,622]

Only managed to watch the first episode, but I plan to see them all. They are (will be) available on Netflix as well. It was fun to see some old NBA footage again. Can't wait to see them all.

Funny, I was not a fan of MJ (and the Bulls) at the time, but learned to respect and admire him during the 2nd three-peat. But he was amazing and best basketball player I have ever seen play (in last 30 years or so).

Had a similar experience with Kobe, did not like him as a basketball player during his career, but have huge respect for him after he retired. Sadly even more so after his tragic passing.

[Con 5,719]

2 hours ago, zmurko said:

Only managed to watch the first episode, but I plan to see them all. They are (will be) available on Netflix as well. It was fun to see some old NBA footage again. Can't wait to see them all.

Funny, I was not a fan of MJ (and the Bulls) at the time, but learned to respect and admire him during the 2nd three-peat. But he was amazing and best basketball player I have ever seen play (in last 30 years or so).

Had a similar experience with Kobe, did not like him as a basketball player during his career, but have huge respect for him after he retired. Sadly even more so after his tragic passing.

I sure hope you take time out to post your thoughts after every episode, Z!! I’ll look forward to the posts.

Yeah while I was a big MJ fan but one of my childhood buddies is a huge Knicks fan so he hated everything Jordan. Understandably. 
 

[DavidCore89 7,404]

Started watching it last night, 2 episodes in. Hate basketball, but love sports and can certainly appreciate what he could do. Same with anyone who stays on top of their game, gotta respect that.

Basketball has never been big in my country (rugby and then football), but we knew who he was.

Didn't know any of the story shown in this mini-series, so I'm finding it quite interesting. I just knew he was the greatest, was cool as f*ck in Space Jam and was the best character on the Space Jam PS1 game 

[pete_95973 4,386]

Saw the first two episodes. Loved it!

[Con 5,719]

6 hours ago, pete_95973 said:

Saw the first two episodes. Loved it!

Yeah bro. There is a clip of MJ as a rookie being asked how he finds the transition from college to NBA and he says...."I've found it easy..." well what we don't see is the rest of the interview where MJ is EXTREMELY humble and breaks down what he meant by "found it easy"...to me it sounded absolutely arrogant being a rookie, but I actually found the full interview and what he actually says is something to the effect of.... playing in the olympics against and with NBA players over that summer made the transition easier from college to NBA. Easily taken out of context through omission. I plan on rewatching both episodes tonight for my review notes. 

Edited April 23, 2020 by Con

[Fido_le_muet 5,198]

Finally got to continue watching this. Currently in the middle of Episode IX.

Learned a ton of stuff I didn't know back when I was just a kid collecting NBA cards. Being around 10 yo in France, I could never watch the games that were in the middle of the night. So I knew nothing about the behind the scenes of it all. 

• I didn't know Pippen was so underpaid.
• I didn't know Rodman won the championshps twice before joining the Bulls for the 2nd 3-peat. 
• I didn't know MJ's father was murdered and that's why he went to play baseball
• I didn't know MJ was such a trash talker and a bit of an *sshole to his teammates, although it proved efficient in the end
• I didn't know about the drama with Horace Grant and the supposed leaks to the media
• I didn't know Pippen went on a sort of strike and wanted to be traded elsewhere
• I didn't remember he got back to #23 after using #45

I love the series. It's a lot about MJ though and like in the old days, he kinda steals the spotlight. Phil Jackson is one hell of a coach. MJ is the GOAT of course but Pippen is definitely the best wingman of all times. He is just so loyal to MJ and the team despite his one outburst. 

There is a big nostalgia effect with this and I enjoy it a lot. Brings back the memories and how much I loved all these NBA stars like Malone, Ewing, MJ, Pippen, Payton, Miller, Shaq, Hardaway, Bogse, Stockton, Rodman...

I already know how it ends with the Bulls winning a second three peat but I'm curious to find out more about the how.

 

[Con 5,719]

I still plan to rewatch it all over and post thoughts on all the episodes.