“Last Dance”

With people now at home with little entertainment options left, ESPN decided to throw us consumers a bone with an early release of a documentary series chronicling the 1998 Chicago Bulls basketball season. Originally scheduled for release in June around the time of the NBA playoffs, this date was pushed up for obvious reasons. Instead of waiting for release when the series had been already been completed and ready to watch, and with the NBA season suspended indefinitely, ESPN decided that today, April 19^th, is as good as any day to debut the highly anticipated first two episodes. While a documentary series isn’t necessarily a movie, I decided that this culturally relevant work will get a pass and count toward the theme of my blog.

Although the series is targeted to tell the story of the last season of the impressive Bulls dynasty with the appropriate title, “Last Dance,” the series has been promoted heavily as a Michael Jordan documentary. Since Jordan is such a household name and holds a presence unlike any other cultural figure alive, the popularity stemming from this documentary chronicling his career appears to be through the roof. With people of all ages stuck in the house, this docuseries is a great bonding opportunity with family, as grandparents and parents must remember the aura of the 90s Bulls and people my age never experienced watching him play. The nostalgia stemming from older relatives and the new information and footage that us young people will see for the first time serves a great release from the current social climate and an excuse to spend time with family. Since tonight is the first episode, I’ll take a break from writing this and go watch with my parents and brother, then come back for a quick recap…

… Wow. In anticipating a full-on Jordan documentary, I was dead wrong. Of course the series will focus on him since the best player on the team has a huge role to play in the lead up of the last year of a dynasty brought to life through him, however the amount of time in the first episode focused on the coach Phil Jackson and the GM Jerry Krause surprised me. The episode started out with a focus on the ’97 season’s finale of the Bulls winning the championship and preseason of ’98 with the Bulls traveling to Paris to play an exhibition game. Then Michael’s college days were chronicled focusing on his rise from a modest home to a top 3 pick in the NBA draft to quickly becoming one of the best young players in the league. The airtime put toward the tension of Krause and Jackson shed a meaningful light on the tone that the filmmakers want to convey as a tense final season with much at stake. Since I was not around to see this as it was happening, I don’t know if this tension was as hyped up as it is in the episode, or if it’s simply for building the narrative, but I’m already captivated by the team and how everything will play out, knowing that they win the title in the end. The second episode featured the Bulls early years with Jordan before any titles, but also heavily focused on Scottie Pippen and his importance to the years leading up to and including ’98. With the episode ending on a cliff hanger of Scottie demanding a trade from the team, next week’s episodes are definitely at the front of my mind!