I grew up in small town in Iloilo. We had no cable and for a while there we had a black and white tv set and a radio with AM and FM stations as sources of non-interactive entertainment. The latter, especially the Bombo Radyo station, introduced Michael Jordan to me as a child. They had a blow-by-blow account of the events on the basketball floor and it was the main reason why I fall in love with the game of basketball.
One can say that I loved Michael Jordan and the Bulls before I even saw them in action. Thankfully, in less than a year, I saw them in vivid yet erratic colors of tv. And, boy oh boy! It was a magical show. Jordan was poetry in motion. Watching him made my jaw drop to the ground. I did not know that the game of basketball could be a transcendent experience. Scottie Pippen was like Lastikman (a Filipino superhero that bends and flexes at will, the male version of Elastigirl of The Incredibles). I cried when Jordan retired for the first time. But the Bulls had given me years of unforgettable and unparalleled happiness by that time. After Jordan’s fling with basketball and Dennis Rodman joined the Bulls, I must have watched almost all their games that my school and dorm schedules allowed (it was hard to balance chemical equations and being an NBA and PBA fan. I am not ashamed to admit that there was a moment in my life when I could not balance a simple chemical equation! Hahaha!). When my cousin had his Air Jordans, I volunteered to be his water girl when he played basketball, so I could hold his Air Jordan XII before and after the match. I also bought Rodman’s “Bad As I Wanna Be” (not in the same year it came out but I think two years after. It was hard to be a student!) because I discovered a few years prior that I liked basketball players who averaged double digits in rebounds. For further evidence, please read The Rey Evangelista Effect.
That child (and teenager) in me was awoken when I heard a few weeks ago that a series about Jordan and the Bulls would come out earlier that expected. My heart skipped a beat. Then, I found out it would be on ESPN. I was deflated. Just for a moment. I racked my brain for a couple of hours to find ways to fix our tv set. But then, The Last Dance magically appeared on Netflix’s Coming Soon list! I screamed and immediately pressed the bell to remind me of this momentous event.
I watched Netflix’s The Last Dance Episode I and II as soon as they dropped. Oh, man. The rush of memories. Good ones, mostly. The scrawny Jordan in 1984. Jordan against the gigantic outdoor advertisement in Barcelona for the 1992 Olympics (I also watched the Dream Team’s documentary at the start of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in Luzon). Those shoes which I guarded with my life worn by Jordan. Commissioner David Stern (RIP), who always seemed so nice, is the second main reason for NBA’s globalization. The McDonald’s Championship in France in 1997 (I think Jordan went back as the Charlotte Hornets’ owner and with NBA commissioner Adam Silver). Those kids who chose to watch the Bulls over a Christmas gift were adorable. TR is definitely the girl. That very familiar and goose-bumps inducing voice that announced, “From North Carolina, at guard, 6’6”, Michael Jordan!” Pippen’s voice is so smooth. OMG. He can give Morgan Freeman a run for his money. I chuckled at the seven minutes per half time limit with a stopwatch situation.
I did not know that Pippen was that underpaid (also Jordan up until maybe his last two seasons with the Bulls)! It is criminal. No wonder Jordan said something like he would keep the trophy and give the Ferrari to Pippen.
ESPN and Netflix’s The Last Dance is a walk down memory lane, and in times like these, there is nothing more comforting than that. But what makes The Last Dance more than just a heavily textured quilt of Bulls memories are the new revelations, the least talked about things about the Bulls, the old and new perspectives of the players, coaching staff, and management about their rise to fame, the revisit of the physicality of the 80s and 90s NBA basketball, and the soundtrack! The two-year wait for curating the almost 50,000 hours of film is worth it.
The Last Dance is one of the best, if not the best, series one can watch while indoors. I just wish there is more of it. Maybe ESPN and Netflix can make a documentary about making this documentary. Please.
For related entries, please read The Last Dance (Episodes 3 and 4).
Quotes from The Last Dance Episode 1:
“I just want the franchise and Chicago Bulls to be respected as a team like the Lakers or Philadelphia 76ers or the Boston Celtics. It’s very hard for something like that to happen, but it’s not impossible. But hopefully, I, and this team and this whole organization can build a program like that.” – Michael Jordan
“My name is Michael Jordan. I played with the Bulls from ’84 to ’98. Took an 18-month vacation, hiatus. So I would say that 13 years that I played with the Bulls.” – Michael Jordan
“Scottie Maurice Pippen, from Hamburg, Arkansas.” – Scottie Pippen
“Dennis Rodman. What’s up?” – Dennis Rodman think that’s all you can hope for.” – Phil Jackson
“We created an image that people wanted to be part of. i
“I was shocked that Chicago Bulls even asked me to come. I think I was a little more eccentric for them.” – Dennis Rodman
“Jerry Reinsdorf, the majority owner, would have to leave town if they didn’t come back.” – Michael Wilbon, The Washington Post (1980 – 2010)
“At that point, Michael Jordan’s already the ultimate sports alpha male. I mean, the only comparisons that I can recall being apt were to Babe Ruth and Muhammad Ali. That’s it. That’s the list. There’s nobody else on it.” – Michael Wilbon
“We are entitled to defend what we have until we lose it.” – Michael Jordan
“The Cubs have been rebuilding for 42 years.” – Michael Jordan
“I would never let someone who’s not putting on a uniform and playing each and every day dictate what we do on the basketball court.” – Michael Jordan
“I said from day one, if Phil’s not coaching, I’m not gonna be a part of rebuilding.” – Michael Jordan
“Michael was like the Pied Piper walking down the Champs-Élysées. I think he was wearing a beret, because he’s Michael. – David Stern, NBA Commissioner (1984 – 2014)
“You couldn’t make a shortlist of the most consequential and successful teams in American sports, and leave Michael Jordan and the ‘90s Bulls out.” – Bob Costas, WGN-Chicago (1979 – 1980)
“Michael’s parents did a tremendous job with him. He was a fine young man. A very conscientious student, a very good student.” – Dean Smith, UNC Head Coach (1961 – 1997)
“Dear Mom. How has life been treating you? Fine, I hope. I am doing just fine. I am sending you my account number so that you can deposit some money in my account. I have only $20 left. Tell everyone I said hello and smile. God and I love you. Love, Michael. P.S. Sorry about the phone bill. Please also send me some stamps.” – Michael Jordan’s letter to mom Deloris Jordan
“I was better than he was for about two weeks.” – James Worthy, UNC Forward (1979 – 1982)
“That (game winning shot in the 1982 NCAA championship game) turned my name from Mike to Michael Jordan. It gave me the confidence that I needed to start to excel at the game of basketball.” – Michael Jordan
“Michael Jordan’s the only player that could ever turn it on and off, and he never frickin’ turned it off.” – Roy Williams, UNC Assistant Coach (1978 – 1988)
“The Chicago Bulls pick Michael Jordan of the University of North Carolina.” – David Stern
“He’s the best athlete, one of the best competitors. He’s one of the most skilled players and that, to me, makes him the best basketball player that I’ve ever seen play.” – Bob Knight, USA Basketball Head Coach, 1984 Olympics
“I don’t smoke, I don’t do lines. I didn’t drink at the time. I was looking just to get some rest, get up and go play.” – Michael Jordan
“There was no one alive, not coach Smith, not Rod Thorn, who drafted him, no one, none of the experts, thought that he would become what he became.” – David Falk, Jordan’s agent (1984 – 2003)
“From the first day in practice, my mentality was whoever is the team leader on that team, I’m going after him and I’m not going to do it with my voice because I had no voice. I had no … I had no status. I have to do it with the way that I play. I felt like I earned my stripes in the third game.” – Michael Jordan
“As a rookie, he was not a rookie. He proved, right out of the gates, there was none other like him.” – Pat Riley, Lakers Head Coach (1981 – 1990)
“He was like he had an extra levitation gear or something. It didn’t seem real.” – Isiah Thomas, 12-time NBA All-Star
“His balance, his footwork, his fundamentals. The dude was just mmm-mmm-mmm.” – Magic Johnson, 5-time NBA Champion
“When Michael first came to town, I didn’t have the money to buy tickets for a Bulls game, even the discount ones, back in the day. I was pretty broke. But suddenly, you have a sports figure that put Chicago on the map, and that everybody was able to rally around.” – Barack Obama, former Chicago resident
“Michael played every game as if it was his last. Every single game. There was never a day off. He knew that there was gonna be somebody in that crowd that never saw him play before. That’s what kept him going. It wasn’t like ‘I went to see this guy play and he only got 12 points.’ Didn’t happen.” – Ahmad Rashad, NBC Sports (1983 – 2002)
“For all you guys who have never won before, welcome to being a champion. That’s a good start. That’s a good start.” – Michael Jordan
“I talked to the players about, particularly, how important it was for us to really be together in this last run that we were going to have. So, I called it The Last Dance.” – Phil Jackson
“There’ll never be quite another team like this. They have gotten to be the number one sports team in the world. It’s a very exciting time in the life of the league and in my life, too.” – David Stern
“If you guys remember in 1984 when they drafted Michael Jordan to the city of Chicago, I said then that we would be champions by the time I leave. Well, we are five-time champions, going for six, and we need your support. Thank you very, very much.” – Michael Jordan
Quotes from The Last Dance Episode 2:
“I would love the opportunity of finishing my career out in Chicago, but if it don’t happen, then I’ll just have to look elsewhere. I’m one of the best players to ever play the game. I understand what my value is to this game.” – Scottie Pippen
“My day will come. My day will come.” – Scottie Pippen
“Scottie Pippen was the underrated, underappreciated Robin to Michael’s Batman.” – Michael Wilbon, The Washington Post (1980 – 2010)
“I would never be able to find a tandem, another support system, another partner in the game of basketball like Scottie Pippen. He was a pleasure to play with.” – Michael Jordan
“He helped me so much in the way that I approached the game, the way I played the game. Whenever they speak Michael Jordan, they should speak Scottie Pippen.” – Michael Jordan
“When everybody says, well, I won all these championships. But I didn’t win without Scottie Pippen. And, you know, that’s why I consider him my beat teammate of all time.” – Michael Jordan
“Dr. J was my childhood hero. I always wanted to play like him and dunk the basketball like him. I felt like, that one day, I was gonna be in his shoes.” – Scottie Pippen
“First time I saw him, he could hardly string three words together, he was so shy.” – Bill Clinton, Former Arkansas Governor
“Scottie talked a lot of trash. Scottie came in and said, ‘I’ll be better than Michael Jordan’ as a rookie.” – Charles Oakley, Bulls Forward (1985 – 1988)
“I don’t know nothing that I need or want. Some of the things, I don’t have to ask him for. So I feel like he love me. I know I love him.” – Ethel Pippen, Scottie’s Mom
“There was a lot of anger from Scottie. He’d been one of the best players in the game for many years. He had done so much for the Bulls. So his frustration bubbled over.” – Steve Kerr, Bulls Guard (1993 – 1998)
“Scottie was out. My voice had to be the loudest. I let my anger motivate the players by saying, ‘I want this! Do you guys want it?’” – Michael Jordan
“Every day that Scottie wasn’t playing gave someone else the confidence that they could beat us. And if you’re trying to maintain dominance over people, you don’t want to give them a chance to gain confidence. So that drove my energy. Let’s get this thing rolling.” – Michael Jordan
“My innate personality is to win at all costs. If I have to do it myself, I’m gonna do it. Every time I step on that basketball court, my focus is to win the game. It drives me insane when I can’t.” – Michael Jordan
“If you wanna bring the best in Michael, tell him he can’t do something. Or he can’t do it as good as somebody else and I think that he takes it as a personal challenge to go out and do it, just to prove you wrong.” – James Jordan, Michael’s Father
“When he got here, we knew of him, we’d heard he’s pretty good. Five days later, when he left, we thought he was the best player in America.” – Roy Williams, UNC Assistant Coach (1978 – 1988)
“That wasn’t Michael Jordan out there. That was God disguised as Michael Jordan.” – Larry Bird, Celtics Forward (1979 – 1992)