The highly anticipated debut of the documentary series focused on Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, ‘The Last Dance,’ was nothing short of spectacular.
NBA fans have been salivating at the idea of unseen Michael Jordan footage, and it finally happened. For two straight hours, hoops heads were in quarantine bliss as ESPN televised the first and second episodes of The Last Dance. We were gifted with highlights, interviews and analysis of Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. It was a special two hours. Here are the five best moments.
5. Jerry Reinsdorf’s hatred of weddings
Jerry Reinsdorf is a lot of things. He’s a husband, a father, a businessman, and also… a wedding hater?
There’s an interesting story told in the first 25 minutes or so about how Jerry Krause — the man who will undoubtedly take the brunt of the post-airing internet hate storm — invited the whole team and a prospective head coach to his step-daughter’s wedding but didn’t invite Phil Jackson.
Reinsdorf isn’t the main point of any part of this story, but he made an extremely odd and telling comment when prompted to speak on the situation.
"“I’m not sure it bothered Phil that much,” Reinsdorf said. “If somebody doesn’t invite me to a wedding I’d like to thank them.”"
Um… okay?
4. Phil Jackson’s fashion
A relatively small portion of the first episode focuses on a preseason trip the Bulls took to Paris to play an exhibition game ahead of the 1997-98 season. There’s a nice montage of footage as the team arrives. There’s cool music playing, some nice pictures of France, some clips of the Bulls walking through the airport in matching sweats, and MJ was rocking a fabulous earring and a big smile. It all pales in comparison to approximately three seconds of glorious Phil Jackson footage, though.
As Jackson walks off the team bus, he’s sporting an incredible trench coat and a matching fedora to go along with it.
Jackson has a lot of great moments in the opening two episodes, but his unparalleled sense of fashion is what stood out to me the most.