Discussing ‘The Last Dance’: MJ’s legacy, Pippen’s deal, Krause’s ego and more

Alex Kennedy and Jarrod Rudolph discuss “The Last Dance” – from Michael Jordan’s legacy to Scottie Pippen’s deal to Jerry Krause’s mistakes.

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Alex Kennedy is joined by Jarrod Rudolph, who is the Director of Public Relations and Social Strategy for the NBA agency YouFirst. They discuss the premiere of “The Last Dance,” Michael Jordan’s greatness, Scottie Pippen’s frustration over his contract, Jerry Krause’s mistakes, what they hope to see in the remaining episodes and more. Time-stamps are below!

1:05: After years of hearing rumors about this Michael Jordan documentary, Alex and Jarrod talk about how exciting it is to finally watch it.

2:50: Props to Adam Silver (who was the head of NBA Entertainment) and Andy Thompson (a producer and Klay Thompson’s uncle) for embedding a camera crew with the 1997-98 Bulls and making this possible.

6:35: Rather than just focusing on the 1997-98 season, “The Last Dance” does a great job of providing context and telling Jordan’s complete story.

9:00: Alex and Jarrod discuss the look at Jordan’s family and upbringing (which explains a lot about his competitiveness).

14:25: Jerry Krause seems like the villain of this series, pushing Phil Jackson out of Chicago and breaking up the team. Alex and Jarrod discuss what Krause was thinking and how his ego caused him to make big mistakes.

21:00: Krause wanted to break up the team prior to the 1997-98 season, which sort of seems like self-sabotage.

25:45: Scottie Pippen has a tremendous story, going from equipment manager at a Division II school to Hall of Famer. Alex and Jarrod talk about his contract and his frustration over being underpaid after signing a seven-year, $18 million deal in 1991.

33:40: In 1997-98, Jordan made $5 million more than all of his teammates combined. Did Pippen resent Jordan for their large pay gap?

43:25: Alex and Jarrod discuss what they want to see in the remaining eight episodes of this series.

45:45: Jordan told director Jason Hehir that people will think he’s a “horrible person” after watching the documentary. But is there really anything that this series could show that would hurt Jordan’s image, considering what we already know about him?