Prelude to the dance: What ESPN’s 30 for 30 on the Chicago Bulls should feature as it begins Sunday
On Sunday ESPN will debut its newest “30 for 30” deep dive on the NBA’s greatest dynasty of the modern era, the Chicago Bulls of the 1990s.
“The Last Dance” will chronicle the journey of the Bulls during the 1997-1998 season that saw drama from the front office and to the sidelines. The NBA had a film crew covering the Bulls during the season and had all-access to the struggles behind the scenes, Michael Jordan’s final days as a Bull and the eventual final championship for Chicago.
I’m such a fan of this era and like many, I’m fascinated at just how deep this 10-part docuseries on the 90s-era Bulls will go. Here are some things I’m looking forward to ESPN covering.
Showcase a slow build to the eventual Jordan-Bulls relationship
One of the best things that ESPN’s last extensive docuseries did was profiling the rise and fall of OJ Simpson was slowly built to the eventual climax of Simpson’s alleged murders. Although this subject is COMPLETELY different than that one, you can still build to Jordan getting drafted 1984 and go from there. It is absolutely worth the journey.
While Michael was having success at North Carolina winning national titles and becoming an ACC hoops legend, the Chicago Bulls were a struggling hard luck franchise. If not for some back luck with coin flips and missing out on homegrown talents, these Bulls we know may not even exist. That part of the Bulls journey is a very important foundation and background to this story.
The emergence of Scottie Pippen
From about 1987-1993, Bulls forward/guard Scottie Pippen was the Robin to Michael Jordan’s Batman. Once MJ retired the first time, Pippen had to become Batman and while it didn’t result in any titles but it did help build Pippen’s growth as a leader and once Jordan returned he wasn’t having to take the lead alone anymore.
The trade drama involving Scottie Pippen
Scottie Pippen’s draft night began with him becoming a Seattle Supersonic, but ended with him as a Chicago Bull. We should’ve known a tone would be set for Pippen’s run with the Bulls. While Pippen was a driving force with the Bulls, he was also a subject of many trade rumors that helped elevate an already volatile front office.
Here’s a look at what Scottie’s trade rumors looked like over the years…
1994: Pippen to the Sonics for Shawn Kemp
1995: Pippen to the Celtics
1997: Pippen to the Raptors but MJ stopped the deal
As you see, it hasn’t been easy being Scottie.
MJ was a jerk, finally on the record
If you know anything about Michael Jordan and his “competitive spirit”, it may have resulted in people getting punched (hi, Steve Kerr). If you’ve ever read, “The Jordan Rules” or any book connected to Michael, head coach Phil Jackson or anybody from the Bulls, you know for a fact that Michael was...difficult at times.
Just before Sunday night’s debut, “His Airness” all but confirmed that he was not only an icon but probably not the best teammate.
“When people see this footage I’m not sure they’re going to be able to understand why I was so intense, why I did the things I did, why I acted the way I acted, and why I said the things I said,” Jordan said in a story from The Athletic.
“When you see the footage of [me riding with Scott Burrell], you’re going to think that I’m a horrible guy. But you have to realize that the reason why I was treating him like that is because I needed him to be tough in the playoffs and we’re facing the Indiana’s and Miami’s and New York’s in the Eastern Conference. He needed to be tough and I needed to know that I could count on him. And those are the kind of things where people see me acting the way I acted in practice, they’re not going to understand it.”
And to think, we’re going to get 10-one hour episodes on how much of a jerk MJ was. I personally cannot wait.
Chicago Bulls: MythBusters?
If we’re gonna do a deep dive on the Chicago Bulls of the 1990s, there are a few things that could be revealed and some myths could be busted.
-Did MJ “really have the flu” vs. Utah in ‘97?
-What don’t we know about the Dennis Rodman run with the Bulls?
-How many times did Bulls management wanna get rid of Phil Jackson?
We’ve got 10 episodes to solve all of this, and it all begins on Sunday evening on ESPN at 6 p.m. PDT
This story was originally published April 17, 2020 at 5:30 AM.
