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The 10-part ESPN documentary series on Michael Jordan’s final championship run with the Chicago Bulls debuted on Sunday night, and fans are already counting the days until the next episodes air. “The Last Dance” lived up to the hype and had NBA players raving about the old footage of Jordan and the storylines surrounding his multiple three-peats.
If you missed the first two episodes, which will re-air next Sunday night, here are a few of the memorable moments:
1. Some time after arriving at Chapel Hill, Michael Jordan sent his mother a letter, which his mother kept and read aloud on camera in episode one. Like any other college student, Jordan needed money, and had just 20 dollars to his name. He sent his mom his bank account number so she could transfer funds, and also kindly asked if she could send him some stamps. Of all the Jordan memorabilia people have saved throughout the years, that letter might just be the best.
2. The pre-Jordan Bulls were a mess, but Jordan was so devoted to being great that he avoided the pitfalls of the mid-80s NBA and single-handedly turned the team around. Jordan recalled a story from the 1984 preseason his rookie year, when he walked into a hotel room filled with his teammates enjoying lines of cocaine, marijuana, and the company of women. Jordan walked out, worried that the place could be raided at any time, and said he was “on his own” after that.
The attitude of the team changed almost immediately once the season began. Jordan said he felt he earned his stripes in his third game, when he took over against the Bucks and overturned a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter. “From that point, everyone on the team felt ‘this young kid is not going to let us lose.'”
3. The player/GM drama we get excited about in 2020 just can’t compare to what was going on in Chicago in the 1990s. Jordan, and later Scottie Pippen, openly roasted and/or blasted GM Jerry Krause on a routine basis. Jordan was constantly picking on Krause for being short and heavy, while Pippen, who had grown aggravated with being unpaid after signing an ill-advised seven-year deal in 1991, “berated” and disrespected Krause on the team bus. Stephen A. Smith dreams of the day he can yell about LeBron James viciously mocking Rob Pelinka on a team plane.
Monday’s Big Winner: Michael Jordan
“The Last Dance” is introducing an entire generation to Michael Jordan’s greatness, and allowing longtime Jordan stans to shore up their GOAT arguments. Jordan reportedly worried that people would think he’s a terrible person after watching the series, and that may yet prove to be true, but the first two episodes only flirted with the Bulls’ dysfunction, and didn’t begin to Jordan’s character flaws at all. The best of this series is yet to come, and while it was nice to see a two-hour Jordan highlight reel, I can’t wait to see all of the behind-the-scenes drama unfold.
Quick hits: Deshaun Watson, Roger Federer, Barack Obama
— Deshaun Watson had NFL fans buzzing after he was photographed wearing a Dan Marino Dolphins shirt while working out in South Florida. The Dolphins have plenty of draft capital to trade away and need a quarterback, so a deal wouldn’t be the craziest thing to happen this offseason.
— Roger Federer conducted a Q&A session with fans and responded only using GIFs, because anything goes when you’re the GOAT.
— Two former Presidents of the United States appeared in the opening two episodes of “The Last Dance,” including Bulls superfan Barack Obama, who was introduced as a “former Chicago resident.”
Special editions of The Morning Win
The 2020 NFL Draft begins this Thursday, and we’ll be recapping and reacting to all three rounds this weekend on For The Win. On Saturday and Sunday, we’ll be rolling out special weekend editions of The Morning Win to cover all of the biggest news from the NFL’s first virtual draft.