The Last Dance delivered a nice ending to what was the best sports weekend in a long time. It was also, probably, the last sports weekend we’ll have in a long time. There’s no end in sight to when actual people playing games in front of us will happen again. I know we all got giddy when we learned that the NBA will be allowing some teams to go back to their gyms, but I’m not going to get too worked up over that. That’s a negative way to look at this. Fuck it, the fact that the NBA is starting to slowly open things is up is fantastic news and I was a jerk to ever think otherwise.
Episodes three and four of The Last Dance happened last night and they were really good, as we knew they would be. We knew that episode three was going to be the Dennis Rodman episode and it was exactly what you would expect. It was a history of how Dennis Rodman began his Pistons days and how he got to the Bulls. Episode three didn’t really do anything to change anyone’s minds on Dennis Rodman. Everything we knew and know about Rodman was just rehashed. It’s why I actually thought episode three was a bit tired. We know about his antics, the hair, the partying, and his love for rebounding.
I thought this was an opportunity for Rodman to give something new about why he does what he does. But that’s not what happened. Here’s what I took away from episode three. Even though I knew it happened, I totally forgot that Michael Jordan played against Larry Bird the coach. I think it’s because I always think that Bird coached much later than the late 90s. Nope. That’s when he began coaching.
– Here’s Joey Crawford telling Dennis Rodman that you’re in for a long night and that he doesn’t give a rip what happens to him.
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js#TheLastDance Episode #3 – #DennisRodman
— Edilson J. Silva (@angolanmade) April 27, 2020
“There’s a lot of things I don’t see. Most of the time though, I see the sh*t you do.” – Joey Crawford – #NBA referee #LastDance#MichaelJordan #Jordan#Scottie#Rodman #ScottiePippen #ChicagoBulls #Bulls pic.twitter.com/B4zkHx37gZ
– I love the story that Rodman had about going to Jordan’s room to apologize. Dennis has been essentially dogging it, not playing with a lot of enthusiasm and it was upsetting everybody. Phil and Jordan even were talking about it to the media. Then, Rodman went to Jordan’s hotel room and said:
“do you have an extra cigar.”
He never actually apologized but that was his way of saying, yeah, I know I’m screwing up and I’m sorry. After that, the Bulls started wrecking teams.
– Like how Scottie Pippen ended up with his college team, Rodman had a similar story. That story was the coach for Southeast Oklahoma St. asked Rodman if he wanted to play. I’m sure it was a bit more involved than that, but I like to think that’s how easy it was to recruit.
– My reaction to how much Doug Collins sweats;
Besides the sweating, the team, especially Jordan, loved him. Collins really let Jordan do whatever he wanted and made the offense go through him. It’s a pretty smart strategy if you think about it. Get the ball to the best player as often as possible. But, it ultimately leads to his demise as the coach of the Bulls.
– I like how Jordan told Doug Collins he wasn’t going to let him lose his first game and he delivers. I sort of think that Jordan should have done that every game if he could just make it happen.
– We have our first shot of gambling on the bus. Fantastic
– If you weren’t thinking about this scene when Prince’s Partyman came on, then you’re a bad person. Simple as that.
– Craig Ehlo didn’t need to be reminded, again, that he couldn’t guard Michael Jordan. But it happened and Jordan let him know he couldn’t hang with him.
– I almost fell out of my couch after hearing Michael Wilbon drop that F-Bomb. I’ve watched him for as long as PTI has been around and never heard that. Startling I say startling.
– The Jordan Rules, according to the Detriot Pistons was to Goldberg Spear Jordan every time he went to the basket. That’s pretty much it and was allowed.
– Can’t believe Espn let Carmelo Anthony say Bullets when he was talking about the Bulls beating Washington. I’m surprised they didn’t dub it with Wizards.
– Pippen had a very Melvin Gordon like holdout. It didn’t get him anywhere and at the time he thought it would put the Bulls in a bind. It didn’t and eventually, he came back without getting what he wanted.
– Episode three ends with Pippen coming back thus relegating Rodman back to being the third wheel. Rodman couldn’t handle that, apparently, and decided he needed a vacation to Las Vegas to unwind. Phil gave him 48 hours to go do what he needed to do, which is to do everything illegal he can think of.
– We need to know more about this guy and how he exists;
– Speaking of the “Sniff Brothers” the name this guy gave Jordan’s security team, the guy talking about them really wanted to make sure we know the phrase Sniff Brother as if anyone else on the planet has ever used that phrase. He acted like it was the most common name ever and that it was super hilarious. Even Jordan didn’t know how to respond to it after he said 40 times in a minute.
I guess I just don’t get Rodman with all this. He does this whole thing where he plays the role of a guy that just does things differently because it’s just who he is while also being a guy that can control it. I, personally, think a lot of what Rodman is a guy who just needs attention. Don’t overthink him. He got pissed that he wasn’t Jordan’s second in command when Scottie came back so he decides to act like a child about it.
Episode 4
This is the Phil Jackson episode. It goes into how he was a solid player for championships teams to how he got started with coaching. The stories of him coaching down in Mexico are pretty remarkable. Seems like it wasn’t the safest environment down there.
– In case you didn’t know, Carmen Electra is still throwing heat.
– Easily the funniest thing that has come out with the whole entire documentary is how Phil would do acid and thin he was a lion and roar all over the place. I can’t get the image of Phil trying to do a Mufasa roar in some dude’s living room.
– I wish they got more into Phil taking Doug Collins’s job. There’s more to it than Collins just had a feeling it might happen. I’m willing to bet that Phil was a bit more active behind the scenes in trying to supplant Collins.
– Phil nestled right up to Tex Winters. The triangle offense was being tattooed on Phil’s brain and he knew it was the way to get the Bulls over the Pistons hump. he was right because it yielded the Bulls six titles.
– One of my favorite things that happen throughout the whole documentary is when the producer or director hands Jordan or someone else an I-Pad or phone and shows them footage of someone else saying stuff about them or a situation. That should be done more.
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsMichael Jordan on Isiah Thomas and the Bad Boy Pistons#lastdance pic.twitter.com/hU1xc46v9c
— NBA Hustle (@Hustle_NBA) April 27, 2020
– No duh, Isiah Thomas wishes that he didn’t walk off the court with the rest of the Pistons after the Bulls beat them. I understand hindsight 20/20, and there was no way of knowing that we’d still be talking about this 30 years later, but how about just don’t be assholes? Ever give that a thought?
– Jerry Krause dancing was some fun footage. Even though Krause was a huge prick, there were times that he could just hang out and be a normal non-loser of a person. This clip is like when you’re in high school and you’re with your friends on a team and you have the one guy no one really likes but you’re in such a good mood you let them in on the fun for just a minute. It’s all great but then eventually the day is over and things go back to normal like it’s The Breakfast Club.
I didn’t have as many notes on episode 4 like I did the others. It got heavy into the Bulls overcoming the Pistons. We knew all of that. I think things are going to really pick up in the next few episodes and the Jordan turn is coming. Jordan has been great through the documentary so far. His commentary, with him being loose has been great along with the old footage of him handling everything that went on back then. But, I think the footage of him berating his teammates with them coming out saying that Jordan was a dick and how cutthroat he was is upon us. Just a prediction.
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