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I am not an MJ or a Bulls fan… but here is my belated list of the top ten positive things I have to say after watching “The Last Dance” (ESPN/Netflix)
1) MJ is the greatest basketball player and greatest player of all time. There, I said it. He’s the GOAT and in my book only LeBron, Kareem, Magic, Bird, Russell, Wilt and Kobe have a chance of being mentioned as possible contenders, and none of them had the impact of Jordan. He may also be the greatest team athlete any ANY sport as well (Gretzky is perhaps the only one who I could argue elevated his sport as much, or was as skilled as a player–averaging almost a hat trick in one playoff year with 47 goals as I recall.)
2) Scottie Pippen still doesn’t get enough credit, and far too many Bulls fans remember him for just two bad decisions. MJ would have only 2 rings without Scottie Pippen (or someone of his similar caliber, for instance, if John Stockton, Karl Malone were on Jordan’s team, he could have won perhaps 3 or 4, but the MJ/Pip pairing is the best duo ever, with Magic and Kareem as the closest competition. I was also impressed that Pippen didn’t throw ANYONE under the bus in his interviews. Class act. No wonder so many still love and respect him in the game today.
3) The Paxon and Kerr storylines were really great–and it is clear that MJ learned to trust other teammates in a way that not only helped him overcome the Pistons, but to permanently win as a team (while still taking over when he needed to.)
4) MJ and other Bulls interviewed gave credit where credit was due: the Pacers gave them the hardest challenge of any playoff team ever. As an Indy native and big 90s Pacers fan this was gratifying, and Miller was one of the more fascinating interviews.
5) It was awesome to see the teams of the 80s and 90s again. I would love to see a documentary like this on the 80s Celts, Lakers, Pistons. I do believe that the defense of these days was a huge part of the story. Say what you want to say about which era was hardest to play in, but I do think the 80s and 90s were the most physically demanding, and the fact that a finesse and precision player like MJ refashioned his body and Jackson the team to overcome that is a great accomplishment alone. They out bodied and out-defended the most physical teams of their era, which may have been the most physical teams ever, including overcoming the Pistons (eventually).
6) I liked how the nostalgia of the soundtrack worked–using songs that peaked near the events shown was a great way to get you into the “feel” of those days and it also mirrored the fashion… I forgot how many athletic men in their 20s would tuck their t-shirts into their belted shorts back in the day! (Jordan had some super-dorky outfits actually, hilarious). The series was well-crafted.
7) The behind the scenes jawing between the players before and after games was the most “insider” stuff I’ve ever seen. They truly had unprecedented access–and that word is thrown around too loosely, but they delivered.
8) The Pistons feud and rivalry, along with overcoming the Celts and Lakers, was all treated really fairly and there was a true sense in which those were the “teams to beat” of the 80s and it showed that MJ really couldn’t overcome them alone. This by it self underscores the critical necessity of teamwork–even the GOAT can’t go it alone. Good positive lesson of the series.
9) The Bulls lost a LOT of games they shouldn’t have lost–some of these other teams beat them just when you thought they were unbeatable. And while Jordan is never accused of being a nice guy–he and the Bulls were focused on the next game and using the loss as motivation.
10) I now think that Phil Jackson may be the top coach of all time in the NBA. I think this series shows he overtakes Red Auerbach in my book. The challenges of the modern NBA and the fame of Jordan, the way he coached them when MJ retired the first time, his ability to adapt to a league where players had more power, his leadership in key moments, all that stuff really impressed me. The person who elevated in my estimation the most in The Last Dance was Phil Jackson. I haven’t given him enough credit.
I say all this above as a die-hard Pacers fan who also cheered for the Pistons in the late 80s and early 90s because I thought the Bad Boys were fascinating. I loved that the Pistons teams were basically taking down the Celts and Magic from their holy pedestal at the time, and holding back MJ from carrying a team on his back into championship level basketball.
You’ll have to wait for my next post for anything I have to say that is NEGATIVE about the Bulls. Yes… I ended up with 10 in that list too.
