Good afternoon, everyone. I am here to give you my thoughts on the second episode of “The Last Dance”, the documentary about the Chicago Bulls’ championship dynasty of the 1990s. Without further delay, let’s get right into it.
The first part of the episode focuses on Scottie Pippen, who was Jordan’s partner-in-crime for all 6 championships in Chicago. Despite his stardom, he was grossly underpaid (122nd in the NBA in 1997) and wanted more money. As a kid in Hamburg, Arkansas, he lived in a close-knit family with his parents and 11 siblings. He had 2 members of his family (his father Preston, and his brother Ronnie) who were in a wheelchair due to being paralyzed. Basketball was a way for him to get away from it all. He played college basketball at the University of Central Arkansas, although he was the equipment manager at first. After a couple of players were deemed academically ineligible, Pippen persuaded the coach to pay for the team. Eventually, he started playing for them, growing to 6’7 in the process. He was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics 5th overall in 1987, but his rights were traded to Chicago on draft night. During his rookie season, he was bossed around by Charles Oakley and given golf clubs by Jordan. In the summer of 1991, he signed a 7-year, $18 million deal. He used some of that money to build his parents a house, which is always a nice gesture.
Pippen was out for the first couple of months of the 1997-98 season due to surgery on a ruptured tendon in his ankle. He did not want to have the surgery in the summer partially to get back at management for being underpaid throughout the championship dynasty. Without him, the Bulls struggled in the beginning of the season. Jordan had to get his teammates to play harder to win more games. Eventually, they won more games, including a double overtime road win against the Los Angeles Clippers in which Jordan scored 49 points for the Bulls. The film flashes back to 1968, when Jordan was a kid in Wilmington, North Carolina. His parents wanted all of the kids to be active in sports and the community, even with the racism back then in the state and the country. Michael got his competitiveness and his toughness from his father James and through battles with his brother Larry. After being cut from the basketball team as a sophomore at Laney High School, he came back the next year taller and stronger. After his junior and senior years of high school, he was recruited by Roy Williams to UNC.
The film then goes to October 1985, during Jordan’s second year with the Bulls. He suffered a foot injury in the third game of the season against the Warriors. He missed 64 games after the injury occurred. He was tired of not doing anything but watching the games from the bench. He did get permission to go back to Chapel Hill to help rehab the injury. Eventually, he started playing 1 on 1 all the way to 5 on 5 basketball without the Bulls knowing about it. After he came back to Chicago, the doctor gave him a 10% chance of re-injury. The front office was worried about the negative and did not want to play him. Jordan was brought back from injury, but he could only play 7 minutes per half. On April 3, 1986, the Bulls had an important game against the Pacers in Indianapolis. Head coach Stan Albeck was told that he would be fired on the spot if Jordan played even one second over 14 minutes in the game. With the Bulls down 108-107 with around 30 seconds left, the Bulls had to come up with something due to Jordan’s time being up. John Paxson put up a lucky shot that went in and the Bulls won the game 109-108. Jerry Krause was kept out of the locker room by Albeck. From that point on, the relationship between Krause and Jordan turned sour.
The Bulls made the playoffs with only 30 wins and faced the top-seeded Boston Celtics (led by Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish) in the opening round. In Game 1, Jordan scored 49 points in a 123-104 loss to the Celtics. Before Game 2, he played golf and lost to Danny Ainge, who played for Boston at the time. Michael came back the following day and scored 63 points (still an NBA record) on the Celtics at the Boston Garden. LL Cool J’s “I’m Bad” played during the Game 2 highlights (great musical choice there). The Celtics won that series against the Bulls (and eventually the NBA title), but Jordan impressed everyone that day. A year or so after that series, the Bulls front office went to work rebuilding the team around Jordan. Pippen and Horace Grant was drafted in 1987 and Oakley was traded in 1988 to the Knicks for Bill Cartwright.
The film then goes back to 1997 (November, to be exact). Despite being inactive, Pippen still traveled with the team for support. There was a point when Pippen wanted to be traded from Chicago because he could not tolerate Krause anymore. The last shot of the episode is of Pippen in a suit while inactive for the team.
Once again, I learned a couple of new things during the episode. First was Pippen’s childhood life in Hamburg, Arkansas and 2 family members in a wheelchair. Second was the April 3, 1986 game vs. Indiana with Jordan’s time restrictions. Third was the golf match between Jordan and Ainge before Game 2 (the 63-point game). I liked the musical choice of “I’m Bad” by LL Cool J for the 63-point game in Boston. I still like the honesty and raw feeling that the episodes have.
Stay tuned for my thoughts on the third episode. Have a great day, everyone.
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