Michael Jordan's Last Dance

Michael Jordan’s Last Dance episodes were without question the most entertaining two hours of my month long quarantine.

Jordan gave a camera crew unlimited access into he and his teammates’ lives throughout the 1997-98 NBA season. The first two episodes aired on April 19th after much anticipation that only intensified after the current NBA season was postponed. Even LeBron James was pushing for ESPN to release the documentary.

These first two episodes alone have exposed several facets of the Bulls' dynasty that I was unaware of. First and foremost, I had no idea that Scottie Pippen was so criminally underpaid.

During Bulls’ reign, Pippen was under a seven year, $18 million dollar contract. At the end of their tenure during the ‘97-‘98 season, Pippen made roughly $2 million. That same season Jordan made $33 million, which at the time was the highest paid single-season salary by a long shot.

Pippen led the team in assists and steals. He was also second in scoring, blocks and third in rebounding. However, that season Pippen was the 6th highest paid player on the team.

Jordan even went as far as to call Pippen “selfish” for considering to opt for surgery on his foot later in the season, in an attempt to renegotiate his contract. His claim towards Pippen’s situation seems a bit hypocritical when Jordan had the leverage to either help Pippen reconfigure his deal or to renegotiate his own deal to take less so Pippen could have more. Instead, Jordan did not such thing.

Eventually Pippen went on to earn over $100 million in his NBA contracts alone.

The strain between Jerry Krause and seemingly everyone in the Bulls organization was also surprising for me. Since I wasn’t alive for the majority of their dominance, I had no clue how much went on behind the scenes.

Though Jordan wasn’t willing to sacrifice any of of his own money, his loyalty to his head coach, Phil Jackson, was admirable. Krause wanted Jackson out and Jordan made it clear that if Phil was leaving, so was he.

I can confidently say that each hour long episode was captivatingly intense from start to finish. Basketball fans around the world are looking forward to seeing the next eight episodes to complete this 10-part series. There will be two episodes shown every Sunday night until all ten episodes have aired.