Good afternoon, everyone. I am here to give you my thoughts on Episode 7 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 Jerry Krause responding to a question from Craig Sager about whether or not there is any backstabbing going on within the organization. He said that there is none of that going on and then left the pre-playoffs press conference. The episode then focuses on Game 1 of the first round against the New Jersey Nets, which the Bulls won in overtime by 3 points.
It then goes back to June 1993, after the Bulls won their third straight NBA title. During that time, Jordan was debating with his father James about walking away from basketball and getting into baseball, which his father wanted him to do. His father was there anytime that he needed advice or support, including after Michael was suspended 3 times in 9th grade. The two of them were always together, including after Michael and the Bulls won the championships. July 23, 1993 started the 3 weeks where Michael’s father went missing. He planned on visiting Wilmington for a couple of days, then came back. He took a detour and took a nap. His car was then broken into by a couple of people. He was shot in the chest and put into a creek near the border of North and South Carolina. His body was found on August 13, and his memorial service was 2 days later. After his death, some media people tried to connect that tragic event to Michael’s gambling, which was really uncalled for. During this time, Michael was not thinking about basketball at all. Michael then told Phil Jackson (plus management) that he wanted to retire at the age of 30 to play baseball. Jordan was scheduled on October 5th to throw the first pitch before a playoff baseball game between the Chicago White Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays. People found out about his plans to retire, which prompted him to leave before the game was over. The following day (October 6th), Jordan announced his retirement from the game of basketball to the shock of everyone. That day was considered a “Where were you” moment because of the impact that Michael had to many people around the world. Jordan was at peace with his decision. After the announcement, there was a theory that the retirement was a secret suspension by David Stern (the NBA commissioner). In my opinion, that theory is totally false. I believe that Jordan left the NBA of his own volition back in October of 1993.
On February 7, 1994, Jordan was announced as part of White Sox training camp in Sarasota (after training for a couple of months). His personal trainer, Tim Grover, helped Michael transform into a baseball player. During this, Grover told him that the workout routines will be totally different and that it could be a detriment to his basketball career. At that point, Jordan was all-in on baseball. He was sent to the Double-A farm team of the White Sox, the Birmingham Barons in Alabama. He started the season with a 13-game hitting streak, but then saw an endless string of breaking balls. For those who don’t know, a breaking ball is thrown by the pitcher in a way that it drops or curves right before it gets to the batter. Michael struggled with them so much that the media went after him. Sports Illustrated showed a picture of him missing a pitch by a lot on their cover. The words that were put on that cover were “Bag it, Michael.” The problem was that Jordan was not interviewed for that at all. As a result, he did not talk with anyone from Sports Illustrated again. Later on, after plenty of practice hitting, he got better, eventually having a batting average of .202 (driving in 50 runs). A change that he liked very well was that his teammates treated him like a normal person, not like a God.
The episode then goes back to April 1998, after the OT Game 1 win. Jordan’s teammates were afraid of him because of the way he sometimes talked to them in practice. Jordan talked a lot of trash to Scott Burrell, who stayed strong through it all. In the end, Jordan wanted his teammates to work hard win at any cost. Episode 7 then goes to October 1993, when the Bulls were preparing for their first season without Jordan. This time, the leader of the team was Scottie Pippen. Pippen was more of a nice guy when compared to Jordan. He was a facilitator, not a scorer. Chicago won 55 games in the 1993-94 season while being coached very well by Phil Jackson. During the season, Toni Kukoc made a number of game-winning shots for the Bulls. After the Bulls swept the Cavs in the first round, they faced the Knicks for a fourth year in a row. The Bulls lost the first 2 games at Madison Square Garden, setting up a Game 3 in Chicago that they had to win. With 1.8 seconds left, the game was tied at 102-102. Phil Jackson drew up a play for Kukoc to shoot the ball, which was done during the season. Pippen saw it as an insult because he thought that it would be his shot. He opted out, and Pete Myers was put in his place. Luckily, Kukoc made the shot to win the game. After the game, Pippen was told by Bill Cartwright that he let the team down. He apologized for his actions and the Bulls moved on to the next games. The Bulls tried their best against the Knicks, forcing them to a Game 7 after a Game 6 win (highlighted by Pippen’s dunk over Patrick Ewing). Unfortunately, the Bulls fell short in Game 7 at Madison Square Garden. That series win by the Knicks was the only time that they won over the Bulls in the postseason during the 1990s.
The episode then goes back to April 1998. The Bulls took care of business against the Nets, winning Games 2 and 3 to sweep them and move on to the next round. In Game 3, Scott Burrell scored 23 points for the Bulls. Michael was always tenacious on the court, but he can be approachable when he is not playing. The final part of the episode is a great speech by Jordan about his intensity towards his teammates. He had to get at his teammates, but he did not want them to do anything that he did not do. He wanted to win, but he wanted his teammates to win and be part of it as well. Jordan got a little emotional at the end of his speech, asking for a break in the last shot of the episode.
This episode had a few things that intrigued me or were new to me. First, I really did not know about the stuff that happened before Jordan’s father was killed. That stuff is always heartbreaking, no matter who it is. I still think that it was completely false that Jordan was secretly suspended from basketball. He was at peace with his decision to retire in 1993. I also did not know that Terry Francona was the manager for the Birmingham Barons before he went to manage MLB teams. This episode showed the most of Michael’s trash talking toward his teammates, who included Scott Burrell. I did not really know about Scottie Pippen’s decision to sit out the end of Game 3 against the Knicks. The weird thing was the fact that he would not change anything about that decision at all. Finally, I loved the speech that Jordan had at the end of the episode. I understood that he wanted to win at any costs, even if he has to yell at his teammates from time to time. I liked the fact that he got emotional at the end of the speech.
We are almost done with these posts. Stay tuned for my thoughts on the eighth episode. Have a great day, everyone.
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