Good afternoon, everyone. I am here to give you my thoughts on Episode 10 (the final episode) of “The Last Dance”, the documentary about the Chicago Bulls’ championship dynasty of the 1990s. Without any delay, let’s get right into it.
The episode begins with the prelude to Game 1 of the 1998 NBA Finals between the Bulls and the Jazz. After Game 7 against the Pacers, the Bulls basically had to fly to Utah the following day. In contrast, the Jazz had 10 days of rest after sweeping the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. There was a funny moment where Jordan was jamming to Kenny Lattimore on the bus before Game 1. Mark Vancil, the author of “Rare Air”, said in the episode that Jordan had a gift of not letting anything beyond his control get into his mind during games. Game 1 was hard-fought by both teams, with the Jazz winning by a score of 88-85 in overtime after Pippen missed a three-pointer at the buzzer. In Game 2, the Bulls evened the series at 1-1 with a 93-88 win in which they had a big 4th quarter run. In that game, Jordan scored 37 points to lead the Bulls to the win.
Game 3 was not even close as the Bulls won over Utah by a score of 96-54. The best part of that game for Chicago was that every player scored points in that game. After the game, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan (RIP) said “Is this the final score” in disbelief. Dennis Rodman took a detour to Detroit to wrestle with Hulk Hogan instead of practice before Game 4. When he came back to the team, he was fined $20,000 by the NBA. He had to be led away from 300 media people through a back exit that led to the team bus outside the arena. In Game 4, Rodman helped the Bulls win by grabbing 14 rebounds and making clutch free throws. The 86-82 win gave the Bulls an opportunity to clinch the title in front of their home crowd in Game 5. Just like in 1993 against the Suns, the Bulls did not take advantage of this chance. Karl Malone scored 39 points for the Jazz to almost singlehandedly bring the series back to Salt Lake City. There was a chance for the Bulls to win at the buzzer down by 2. Jordan put up a long shot that ended up being an airball. With the 83-81 win, the Jazz forced the series back to Utah.
As the Bulls prepared for Game 6, they knew that they had to clinch it that night. On the very first play of the game, Scottie Pippen re-aggravates a bad injury after dunking the ball into the basket. From that point on, he had difficulty moving throughout the game. He had to go back to the locker room to give his back a break. After he left the game, the Jazz took the lead from the Bulls in the second quarter. The Bulls trailed by a score of 49-45 at halftime. Pippen was used as a decoy during the second half. He only scored 6 more points during the game, barely moving up and down the court due to the back pain. During the second half, Rodman and Malone had a skirmish with each other that ended up with both players falling. They were going at each other the whole game (and series). The fourth quarter went back and forth with key baskets and lead changes. With the game tied at 83-83, Karl Malone threw a cross-court pass to an open John Stockton for a three-pointer that gave Utah the lead with 41.9 seconds left. After a timeout, Jordan went all the way past Bryon Russell for a layup that cut the lead to one. With 18.9 seconds left, Jordan stole the ball from Malone in the low post and dribbled it down the court. Jordan then crossed over Russell and made the shot to take the lead with 5.2 seconds remaining on the clock. Jordan held the pose after the shot was made to signify that it would be his last shot ever (at the time). In my opinion, Russell was not shoved by Jordan. He was already going that direction as Jordan crossed the ball over. During the timeout, Jordan (after scoring 45 points) took a minute to himself on the bench. He was physically and mentally exhausted, along with the rest of the team. John Stockton missed the three-pointer, sealing the 87-86 win and the Bulls’ 6th NBA title in 8 years (their second three-peat).
During the Bulls’ locker room celebration, Leonardo DiCaprio was invited to come by and say “Hello” to Jordan. He congratulated him for the victory and Jordan said that he liked him in “The Man in the Iron Mask.” Before the team left for the hotel, Karl Malone came on to congratulate Jordan and the Bulls for their championship. Once they got to the hotel, they were surrounded by cameras and fans until they got to the elevator. In the room, Michael was playing nonsense on the piano while Carmen Electra was with Rodman and the trophy. Pippen said that Jerry Krause should get a lot of credit for building the Bulls’ championship teams. At the championship rally at Grant Park, Michael said to the crowd that his “heart, soul, and love” would be in Chicago no matter what happens. During the footage of the title rally, several people (including Andrea Kramer and David Stern) talked about the impact that Michael and the Bulls had around the world. Those Bulls teams helped grow the NBA internationally from 80 countries to 215 countries.
Jerry Reinsdorf, the owner, gave Phil Jackson the chance to come back for another season. Jackson declined, saying that he needed to take a break from coaching for the time being. He also did not want to go through a rebuilding process. Jordan was given a tablet for the final time in this documentary. This time, it was playing why Reinsdorf broke up the Bulls. He said that the market values for the individual players would be too high, especially for Jordan, Pippen and Rodman. Basically, he did not want to pay anybody. Jordan said that it was maddening for him to leave at his peak because he thought that the Bulls could win a 7th title. In the end, it did not happen. During the final part of the episode, “Present Tense” by Pearl Jam played in the background (great musical choice there). Phil Jackson led a ritual where every player was asked to write about what being with the Bulls meant to them. Jordan wrote a poem and was emotional with the guys. After the papers were put into a can, they were set on fire. Jordan helped turn the Bulls from a bad team (when he was a rookie) to a championship dynasty that is still celebrated to this day. The last shot of the documentary is Jordan walking away with a cigar in his mouth (then later his hand).
There were a few things that I did not know before seeing this episode. I completely did not know about Dennis Rodman wrestling with Hulk Hogan during the NBA Finals. I also dod not know that Leonardo DiCaprio visited the Bulls locker room after Game 6 of the Finals in Utah. I did not know about the ritual that Phil Jackson led with the team. I really liked seeing the footage throughout the documentary of not just the 1997-98 season, but everything that was in the film.
Overall, I really enjoyed this documentary. It was great entertainment that was needed during the COVID-19 pandemic. I do think that some of the stuff is not fully truthful, including the night before “The Flu Game.” I liked the in-depth pieces about Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, Steve Kerr and Phil Jackson, along with plenty of other former NBA players. It was nice to see the players talk honestly about a lot of stuff that happened. Jason Hehir and his team did a great job with this documentary. The musical choices that they chose for each scene were well done and fit the mood. In Episode 5, it was great seeing Kobe Bryant talk about how Jordan guided him and gave him great advice. The documentary is also a great reminder of how tough the NBA was in the 1980s and 1990s. Back then, there were intense rivalries with teams who did not like each other. In my opinion, the three toughest foes that the Bulls faced in the playoffs (excluding the Finals) were the “Bad Boys” Pistons, the Patrick Ewing-led Knicks (coached by Pat Riley), and the Reggie Miller-led Pacers.
There is no doubt that I will go back to this documentary again and again. I hope that you have enjoyed my series of posts on “The Last Dance.” Stay tuned for future posts. Have a great day, everyone.
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