By Miles Friedman
On Sunday, April 19th, the first two episodes of the most anticipated sports documentaries ever were released. The ten-part series about the 1997 Chicago Bulls has been a tremendous hit. The ‘97 Bulls season was important because it was the end of the most dominant dynasty in NBA history, the Chicago Bulls. The documentary is headlined by Michael Jordan, the greatest NBA player of all time. This documentary is called The Last Dance. Two hour-long episodes from The Last Dance air every Sunday from 9 to 11 PM, with each episode being one hour long. The documentary was originally supposed to come out later in the summer but with everyone stuck at home, ESPN believed it was the right move to release it now, when everybody is stuck at home, craving sports. This turned out to be a good decision as the documentary garnered 6.1 million viewers in the first two episodes that aired on Sunday, what date.
The first two episodes cover the beginning of Michael Jordan’s basketball career. It shows his career in high school and college. One of the greatest quotes from episode one came from Roy Williams, North Carolina’s assistant coach when MJ played there in college. When talking about Jordan, he said, “Michael Jordan’s the only player that could ever turn it on and off … and he never freakin’ turned it off.” In episode one, MJ is seen as the savior of the Bulls. In 1984 Jordan was drafted by the Bulls, a terrible franchise at the time. However, that quickly changed. In just 6 years, the once dying Bulls would win their first championship. The second episode highlights Jordan’s teammates and just how good he was. One of the biggest moments in the first two episodes is the disconnect between Jerry Krause the general manager and the players. This proved to be a toxic relationship and caused this to be the last season of the dynasty. Fans immediately began to compare Krause to Carole Baskins, a character from another viral hit series during this quarantine. The two drew similarities, as they ruined dynasties, those of the Bulls and of Joe Exotic.. The documentary gives a behind the scenes of the “Jordan era” in Chicago. So far, the documentary has received amazing reviews. Some say it is one of the best sports documentaries ever, which fits its topic of arguably the greatest player of all time. On Rotten Tomatoes it got 100% the best possible rating. On IMDb, it got a 9.8 out of 10. The only knock on the series is that they could have done more content about actual games throughout Jordan’s career. However, it is clear that this documentary has captivated the entire sports world, and will have all sports fans waiting for Sundays.