Good afternoon, everyone. I am here to give you my thoughts on the third episode of “The Last Dance”, the documentary about the Chicago Bulls championship dynasty of the 1990s. Without further delay, let’s get started.
The first part of the episode talks about Dennis Rodman, who was known as a great rebounder and a great defender during his NBA career. There were plenty of people that thought negative about Rodman in some aspects, but he said that he created this “monster” himself. He wanted to do all of the dirty work for the team, including hustling for a loose ball and getting the rebounds. In November of 1997, the Bulls lost in the first game against the Pacers, who were coached by Larry Bird and starred Reggie Miller (more on them in a later episode). Jordan talked about being livid after Rodman was ejected from a game because Pippen was still hurt. In a hotel, Rodman went to Jordan’s room and asked for a cigar. That was Rodman’s way of saying he was sorry about what he did. After that night, he started helping the Bulls win more games.
The film then flashes back to 1970, when Rodman was a kid. His childhood life with his family was crazy, to say the least. At 18, his mother kicked him out of the house and he lived on the street for a couple of years. He witnessed a lot of drug dealing back then, but he did not do any of it. He worked as a janitor at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport before he decided to play basketball (after growing a few inches). He played his college ball (mostly) at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. The Detroit Pistons selected him in the 1986 NBA Draft. In Detroit, his role was to get the rebounds and play terrific defense. He studied and practiced exactly where to get the rebound after a missed shot (from multiple angles). He was known as a pest to other NBA players throughout his career. He had a great relationship with Chuck Daly, the coach of the Pistons. He was not known as a troublemaker in college, but he was in Detroit. He was a part of the “Bad Boys”, who also included Isiah Thomas, Bill Laimbeer and Rick Mahorn. The Pistons really did not care about the safety of the NBA’s top players, from Jordan to Larry Bird to Dominique Wilkins.
It then focuses back on the Bulls, who hired Doug Collins as head coach for the 1986-87 season. He was known as a coach with a lot of energy, which could easily be seen from his sweat after games. In Collins’ first game as coach, the Bulls faced the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Jordan scored 50 points to help lead the Bulls to a win in that game. Collins and Jordan had a great relationship with each other when Collins was coach. Jordan won the dunk contest in 1987 and 1988, won the MVP and Defensive Player of the Year awards in the ’87-’88 season. There is a great montage of Jordan highlights with Prince’s “Partyman” song playing during it.
The episode then focuses on the 1989 playoffs. The Bulls’ first opponent was the Cleveland Cavaliers, who were favored in that series. The Bulls and Cavs played to a fifth game in Cleveland in that series. Before Game 5, Jordan pointed to 3 beat writers for the Bulls. Those writers were Lacy Banks of the Chicago Sun-Times (who predicted Cavs in 3), Kent McDill of the Chicago Herald (who predicted Cavs in 4), and Sam Smith of the Chicago Tribune (who predicted Cavs in 5). The game was a back and forth affair that was decided in the final seconds. After Craig Ehlo made a layup with 3 seconds left, the Bulls called timeout. Everyone knew that the ball was going to Michael, who was defended by Ehlo in that sequence. Jordan made the shot at the buzzer and fist pumped in the air at everyone who doubted the Bulls. After they beat the Knicks in the second round, they faced the Pistons in the first of 3 straight Eastern Conference Final matchups. The Bulls won the first game of the series while the Pistons took Game 2 in Detroit, setting up Game 3 in Chicago. Game 3 was won by the Bulls 99-97 after Jordan made a game-winning shot in the final seconds. After that game, the Pistons devised “The Jordan Rules” to limit Michael’s impact on the rest of the series (it was devised in 1988, but was used more in ’89). Michael was forced left during this defensive tactic, and he was physically and mentally beaten up (along with the rest of the Bulls team). Detroit went on to win 3 games in a row to beat the Bulls in 6 (then won the NBA title against the Lakers in a sweep).
The episode then goes forward to February of 1993, when Rodman was found with a gun in his vehicle at the Palace at Auburn Hills. Authorities found him before he could do harm to himself. After that incident (in which he had second thoughts about himself), Rodman was traded to the San Antonio Spurs, who he played with for 2 seasons. During this time, he adapted a weird lifestyle (including crazy colored hair) and dated Madonna. Before he played for the Bulls, he met and talked with Phil Jackson at Jerry Krause’s house. When he started playing with the Bulls, he fit in perfectly with his rebounding and defensive play (even though he got suspended from time to time with his antics).
The episode then goes back to focus on the ’97-’98 season. During that season, Jordan was asked everywhere he went whether or not it was his last season in the NBA. He always had the same answers for the press. There were always security people that went everywhere with Jordan. The 3 that were highlighted were Gus Lett, John Michael Wozniak, and Clarence Travis. The equipment manager had a funny nickname for them: the “Sniff Brothers”. There was another funny moment where Rodman was given a $20 bill by Craig Sager to help pay for a fine. Pippen changed his mind about not playing for the Bulls and came back in January of ’98. After he came back, Rodman felt like everything was back to normal in terms of him being considered the “third wheel”. Rodman asked for a vacation during the season to give his mind a break for a couple of days. He was given a total of 48 hours for his vacation, in which he went to Las Vegas. The episode ends with Rodman riding off on a motorcycle.
In this episode, I learned a couple of new things. First, I really did not know about the incident in ’93 where Rodman had a gun in his car (thankfully he did not use it). The craziest thing that happened in this episode (which will be in the beginning of Episode 4) was that Rodman took a vacation in Vegas during the regular season. I liked a couple of the song choices in this episode: “Partyman” by Prince during the Jordan montage and “The Maestro” by Beastie Boys with Rodman’s introduction to Chicago. I also liked the way how Rodman described his method for knowing where the ball was going so he can get the rebound. It’s always fascinating to learn new stuff, and there are 7 episodes left of this documentary to go over.
Stay tuned for my thoughts on the fourth episode. Have a great day, everyone.
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