The Last Dance – Episode 5
The Last Dance Episode 5
The Last Dance continues, and today in episode 5, we continue on with the Bulls dynasty. After winning their first-ever championship, the Bulls look for a 2nd in a row. We learn about the Dream Team and how Jordan changed the basketball world.
Episode 5
This episode was dedicated to the late Kobe Bryant.
The episode opens during the 1998 All-Star Game in New York City in the world-famous Madison Square Garden. Even at this stage in his career, Jordan was still the most famous, most talented player in the All-Star game. Before the game in the locker room, Jordan and the rest of the East All-Stars were making fun of the 19-year-old Kobe Bryant.
“It was fun to be out there,” said Bryant. “It was a rough couple years for me coming into the league, because, at the time, the league was so much older. It’s not as young as it is today, so nobody was really thinking much of me. I was, you know, a kid that shot a bunch of air balls. You know what I mean? And at that point, Michael provided a lot of guidance for me. Like, I had a question about shooting his turnaround shot, so I asked him about it, and, you know, he gave me a great detailed answer. But on top of that, he said, if you ever need anything, give me a call. He’s like my big brother. I having the Jordan comparisons. I hate the 1v1 comments or the who’s better comments. What you get from me, is from him. I don’t get five championships here without him because he guided me so much and gave me so much great advice.”
Kobe saying that without MJ, there would be no 5 rings or the in-depth knowledge that Kobe has about the game, lots of it came from Michael.
Jordan won the All-Star Game MVP. “He’s still the star among stars,” said Bob Costas, the legendary NBC commentator. “Even though there were explanations offered, people couldn’t understand why he was going to step away. The public wanted him to keep going.”
We flash forward to March of 1998. This is Michael’s final outing at Madison Square Garden, which was his favorite place to play. So, for his final outing at MSG, he grabbed a pair of Jordan 1’s, his first-ever shoe that he wore in the Garden, to play in his final game.
We flash back to 1984, when Jordan was first entering the league. David Falk, Jordan’s agent for his entire career, said that he wanted to make Jordan more like a tennis player. He wanted to make him a singular brand. Falk wanted Jordan to have his own shoe. They first went to Converse, which was the official shoe of the NBA at the time. They had all the big name players like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Dr. J, and Bernard King. They said that Jordan would not be getting his own shoe.
Jordan wanted to go with Adidas. Adidas told Falk that they would love to have Michael, but they could not make a shoe for him at that point in time. Falk wanted Jordan to go with Nike, which was an upstart company known for track shoes. Jordan did not want to go to the Nike meeting, but his parents forced him to. Nike offered the best deal out of the 3 companies, and Jordan signed with Nike. Back then, the top tier guys might have gotten $100,000 or so, and Jordan was getting $250,000. A rookie, with no experience or showings in the NBA. $250,000.
Nike had just developed Air technology for their track shoes. So, they combined the two, and Air Jordan was born. At the end of year 4, Nike hoped to sell $3 million dollars of Air Jordan. By the end of year 1, they had sold $126 million. But, Nike was not the only one making money off of Jordan. Jordan had endless amounts of endorsements and photo shoots. Jordan already had deals with Wilson Sporting Goods and McDonald’s early on.
The Air Jordan culture was born. Nas said, “You needed that shoe to be like him. It was more than a status symbol. You knew this guy was the guy. It came in different styles, something that other brands didn’t do. Jordan changed with the time.” Justin Timberlake recalls doing jobs and saving up money and then he and his friends would go to Foot Locker and buy the shoes. Before Jordan, sneakers were for playing basketball. Now, sneakers were a fashion trend and a new cultural piece. In some of Spike Lee’s films, the characters are wearing Air Jordans. Spike Lee also made the commercials for Nike and Jordan. Suddenly, Jordan was all over America.
Flash forward back to March of 1998 where Jordan is playing his final game at MSG, wearing the shoes that he started with. Jordan was playing an amazing game. “By halftime, my feet are bleeding, but I’m having a good game. I don’t want to take them off,” recalled Jordan. Jordan continued to play great in those old shoes. Jordan finished with 42 for the game. “I couldn’t take those shoes off fast enough, and, you know, when I took the shoe off, my sock was soaked in blood.” After the game ends, the Bulls have 6 weeks until the 1998 NBA Playoffs.
Flash back to November of 1991. The Bulls had just defeated the LA Lakers for there first championship in franchise history. Now, they looked for the 2nd one in a row. Only 3 franchises to that point had won back-to-back championships. The Bulls finished the season 57-25, and they faced the Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA Finals, setting up a classic matchup between Jordan and Clyde Drexler.
Going into that series, people were excited for the Jordan vs Drexler matchup. “Clyde was a threat. You know, I’m not saying he wasn’t a threat, but me being compared to him, I took offense to that,” said Jordan recalling the series. Magic Johnson was playing cards with Jordan the night before Game 1. Johnson was working with NBC that year. And Michael said that he was going to go at Drexler.
Game 1 started, and Michael was on a mission. He hit 3 after 3 after 3, and he kept looking over at Magic at the NBC table. After he made his 4th 3-point field goals he had already tied the record for most 3’s in a half. “Michael didn’t want anybody to have nothing over him,” said Johnson. Jordan continued his hot shooting from deep. After he made the 6th 3-point field goal, Jordan looked at the NBC table and shrugged at Magic Johnson. The Shrug Game was born, and it was one of the most iconic moments in NBA History. The Bulls thrashed the Blazers 122-89 and took a 1-0 series lead.
Jordan continued to attack Drexler relentlessly throughout the series. Going into Game 6, the Bulls were up 3-2. The Bulls held on to win Game 6, 97-93, and they had won their 2nd straight NBA Championship. Jordan had established himself as the top dog in the NBA.
Going into that summer, it would be the first year that NBA Players were allowed to play in the Olympics. The fabled Dream Team would be led by Jordan and coached by Chuck Daly. A controversial thing about the team was that Isiah Thomas of the Pistons was left off of the team. Many speculated that Isiah was not selected for the team because of his bad relationship with Jordan.
Jordan said that he respected Thomas, calling him the 2nd greatest PG behind Magic Johnson. “No matter how much I hate him, you know, I respect his game,” said Jordan. Thomas said that he felt like he was qualified for the team, and he doesn’t know why he was left off the team.
“At that point, Magic [Johnson] and Isiah had had their thing. [Larry] Bird and Isiah had their thing. And Scottie [Pippen]. It was half the team. They did not want to play with him,” said Michael Wilbon.
But, without Thomas, the whole Dream Team were laughing, and having fun with each other. Johnson and Jordan were especially close during the summer.
But, even with all the fun, all of the guys were very competitive. In a practice game at Monte Carlo, Magic and Charles Barkley’s team got off to a big lead early. There was trash talking from both sides, particularly from Charles and Magic to Jordan. Magic’s team was up about 8 points, when Magic said to Jordan, “If you don’t turn into Air Jordan, we going to blow you out.” And in typical Michael fashion, he responded. Michael scored every single time down the court, and his team won. When the referee called the foul, Magic threw the ball way up into the stands and was screaming how Jordan got all the calls, just like in the NBA. After they finished, they went on the bus and everybody was quiet for a few minutes. Then, Magic said to Barkley, “Hey, Charles, I guess we shouldn’t have pissed the man off.” Then everybody was laughing and having good time again. Jordan had already established himself as the alpha in the NBA, and now he was the alpha on the Dream Team.
Going into the 1992 Olympics, the Dream Team were the heavy favorites, but who would be their challenger. That would be Croatia, who had built a powerhouse of their own in the last few years. They were led by forward Toni Kukoc, who would play with Jordan and the Bulls in the NBA. They called Kukoc the left handed Magic Johnson. Kukoc was selected in the 2nd round if the 1990 NBA Draft by the Bulls. During the time, two of Yugoslavia’s republics, Croatia and Slovenia declared independence, igniting a civil war. Instead of going straight to the NBA, Kukoc decided to play in Europe for a little bit longer. Jerry Krause loved Toni and came to watch him, almost ignoring the team back home that was winning championships. This rubbed a few of the players the wrong way. When Pippen was trying to get a new contract, Krause was negotiating with Kukoc.
In the United States’s first game, they played Kukoc and Croatia. Michael said before the game, “Hey, guys, Kukoc is for me and Scottie.” Michael and Scottie dominated Kukoc on the defensive end, not letting him go anywhere. “Jerry paved the way for a lot of hell for Toni Kukoc. Not only was it just me and Michael, but every guy on the Olympic Team looked at that kid and felt like he may not even come to the NBA,” said Pippen. “We were going to do everything we could to make Jerry look bad,” he continued. Pippen, Jordan and the rest of the team held Kukoc to 4 points.
The US won 103-70, but the antics with Kukoc did not stop. Scottie said that Kukoc might not be able to play in the NBA. “They didn’t know me. I mean, I don’t see a reason why would they try and take it of me. They don’t know me at all. That’s the first time we meet,” said Kukoc.
The next time the two countries met, it was in the Gold Medal Game. But, this time, Kukoc played a much better game. Kukoc had 16 points, 9 assists, and 5 rebounds. The United States still won big, but Kukoc had made an impression on many of the Dream Team players.
After the Dream Team had won the ’92 Olympics, Michael decided that he did not want to display the Reebok logo on his uniform. Reebok had spent millions making the uniforms for the United States Olympic members, and expected all US athletes to display the logo, especially the Dream Team. If they didn’t display the logo, you couldn’t accept the Gold Medal. Michael did not want to wear the Reebok logo in a global stage. So, he covered himself up with the American flag, a harmless gesture at first sight, but he was doing it for the wrong reasons.
Michael was the face of the dream team, and the Dream Team changed everything about basketball around the world. The Dream Team is the reason that the NBA’s profile took a massive jump forward. It shaped how the world felt about the NBA. Michael and the Dream Team also become a huge cultural influence around the globe. No longer was it just music and fashion from the US that was widely known and celebrated around the world, it was Michael Jordan and the NBA as well. After those Olympics, Jordan was the most recognizable and most popular sports figure in the world. Not only that, he was also a massive cultural figure, perhaps the largest in the world. He was a global superstar. Everybody knew who Michael Jordan was.
In the August of 1991, it was ‘Be Like Mike’. The Gatorade commercial that made everybody in America and in the world be like Mike. But, to be like Mike, you had to be clean as a person, and nobody was like that. One reason that everybody loved Jordan was that he never did anything that pissed everybody off. That changed when Harvey Gantt was running for the US Senate. Gantt was looking to be the first African American from North Carolina to serve in the US Senate. Michael would never come out to support of endorse Gantt. He was quoted as saying, “Republicans buy sneakers too.” Gantt’s opponent was Jesse Helms, who was a predominant figure on the terms racism. While Jordan never did a commercial, he did give money to Gantt. He said that he didn’t want to do something like that for somebody that he did not know. Jesse Helms won the race, but many African-American people were disappointed that Michael had not supported Gantt in the senate race.
“I set examples. If that inspires you, great. You know, I will continue to do that. If it doesn’t, then maybe I’m not the person that you should be following.
Flash forward back to 1998, and we see hundreds of people lining up to get tickets. In ’97 and ’98, ticket sales went through the roof because people were wondering if this was the last time that they got to see Michael Jordan. In 1998, they opened their ticket sales at 10 am. By noon, every home game ticket in the season was gone.
But, this became a problem. Michael needed tickets for his family and friends, and some of his teammates wanted some. At some point, they had to limit the amount of tickets that the players were getting. On the road, it was more difficult because you had other people wanting to see the Bulls. When the Bulls played in Atlanta, they had more people watching the game than at a football game in the Atlanta Dome. All just to see Michael. In a March game it Atlanta, there were 62,000 people in attendance.
Everywhere Michael went, there was a crowd of people. While walking to the team bus, he had fans screaming his name, just wanting to look at, or be in the presence of MJ. And with all this fame, celebrities came to see Jordan. Gary Sinise, Bette Midler, Sinbad, Dr. Dre, Danny DeVito, Chris Rock, Drew Barrymore, Bill Murray, Wayne Gretzky, Jerry Rice, Muhammad Ali, John Cusack, Spike Lee, Prince, and Jerry Seinfield were all mentioned in the doc as to being seen at Jordan games. But, there were a lot more that were there.
But, even with all the fame, all the distractions, Jordan still was focused on the goal, to win a championship.
What was your favorite part about Episode 5? What was your initial reaction to the episode? Leave all of your Last Dance comments down below.
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