BEVERLY HILLS (MI) — We are 60% thru the ESPN/Netflix doc “The Last Dance” and the 10 part chronicle of the Chicago Bulls’ final championship season continues to deliver for a sports starved American audience. And with such national attention a lot has been written and said about the film. “FTS” is here to dive into the feedback and backstories:
— Chicago sportswriter Sam Smith, the author of “The Jordan Rules” explains all things MJ in an interview with Jeff Goodman and Bob Ryan:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=12&v=pI_6I7ny9FM&feature=emb_logo
— The most prominent Dayton connection in “The Last Dance” is obviously John Paxson and rightfully so. In a brilliant bit of free-lance basketball, Horace Grant rotated the rock to a wide open Pax for the 1993 NBA Championship penultimate game winner, when everyone in the city of Phoenix expected the ball to be in MJ’s hands. Here is how John explained it to Bucky Albers of The DDN back in 1993:
— Another Gem City cameo from the 1993 Phoenix series? Former Flyer Negele Knight can be seen briefly as the camera is panning down the Suns’ lineup during the national anthem.
— “The Last Dance” director Jason Hehir shares what it’s like to work with Michael Jordan:
https://www.boston.com/sports/media/2020/05/01/last-dance-director-jason-hehir-newton-native
Hehir also explains where the ‘Former Chicago Resident’ reference to Barack Obama came from:
https://www.boston.com/sports/media/2020/05/01/obama-former-chicago-resident-last-dance
— New York Times critic-at-large Wesley Morris with an in-depth look at “The Last Dance”:
— The Ringer chimes in with two pieces: ‘The Last Dance’ Details the Grudges and Grievances of Michael Jordan:
https://www.theringer.com/nba/2020/5/3/21245917/michael-jordan-the-last-dance-episodes-5-6
And Retracing the Histories of “The Next Michael Jordans”:
https://www.theringer.com/nba/2020/5/4/21246021/next-michael-jordan-last-dance-kobe-bryant-lebron-james
— Master documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, not a fan of the cozy arrangement that the subject had with the producers, had this to say about “The Last Dance” to The Wall Street Journal:
In a similar vein, The New York Times ponders the question Is Michael Jordan Playing Defense in ‘The Last Dance’?
— One of the more revealing segments was the treatment of future Bulls’ teammate Toni Kukoc by Jordan and Pippen during the 1992 Olympics. Here is a lengthy look at Kukoc’s side of the story:
— Of all of the Jordan adversaries, none is portrayed in a more negative fashion (and deservedly so) than the Pistons’ Isiah Thomas. Among the mistruths that IT spouted was regarding the Celtics’ early exit during the clinching game of the 1988 Celts/Pistons series. Former Celts staffer Jon Jennings tweeted thusly:
Watching The Last Dance. Isiah was dead wrong about the Celtics walking off the court in 1988. Coaches had Larry, Kevin, Robert, and DJ leave due to security concerns. Thousands rushed the floor at the Silverdome after we lost. It had nothing to do with losing the series.
Thomas is also dead wrong in his rankings of the 5 best players he ever faced (and this is coming from a longtime Larry Bird fan):
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Larry Bird
Magic Johnson
Michael Jordan
Julius Erving
— How Air Jordan 1 became the sneaker king:
— Zion Williamson, Jason Tatum and Elena Delle Donne will star in updated versions of the Gatorade ‘Be Like Mike’ commercial:
That’s it “From the Swamp.”
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