The 1990’s Chicago Bulls, were featured in “The Last Dance”, a documentary series on Netflix. It goes in-depth about basketball star Michael Jordan and his winning team. The ten-episode series starting in the early 1990s goes behind the scenes of the team and covers the span of ten years. While the documentary focuses on Jordan, it discusses several other basketball players such as Dennis Rodman and Scottie Pippen, who were a few of Jordan’s most famous teammates.
I started watching this series because I wanted to see what was so entertaining about it. I had seen Space Jam, which was another movie that Jordan was featured in, and I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. This did in fact make me feel as though it came to the standards I had from Space Jam. “The Last Dance” was more information and wasn’t as family-friendly so it was a contrast from “Space Jam”.
The first episode focused on Jordan, showing off the several records he set and numerous championships he won while with the Chicago Bulls. Throughout the beginning of Jordan’s career, he felt like an outsider. In an interview, he discussed how his whole team was involved with drugs, unlike him, who stayed clean. His great work ethic helped get his team into several championship games.
It was easy to know who Michael Jordan was, but not other members of the Chicago Bulls. It wasn’t just Jordan who made the team, many other members had a part in their success in the 90s. However, they were more negatively shown to Jordan, which was expected, as he is an icon for the team and basketball as a whole.
After discussing Jordan in such a positive tone, it takes a major flip when discussing Scottie Pippen, Jordan’s most famous teammate. Pippen, who was traded off the team, while he was known for having hardships when it came to his family. He was the next best player at the time but was considerably underpaid compared to Jordan and other players not as talented as he was. Pulling in one of the lowest incomes on the team, Pippens’ attitude worsened. He had suddenly needed to be benched, due to an injury to a tendon in his ankle, and a huge disagreement with Head Coach Phil Jackson created this negative atmosphere around Pippen. After losing Pippen, Dennis Rodman was relied on heavily. Rodman was a very promising asset to the team and had the determination to win.
“The Last Dance” goes into the nitty-gritty of the 90’s Chicago Bulls team while sharing the backstory of the players, the hardships they went through, and the outcome on the court. Covering a team that broke records, won many championships in a row, and is widely known as one of the greatest basketball teams of all time, this documentary is one worth watching