Finally, The Last Dance got into the stuff about Michael Jordan that we wanted to see. We knew about his rise from UNC, how he had to get through the Detroit Pistons, and how that helped make him the player that he became. We knew he was a ruthless teammate that had no problem emasculating his peers in an effort to make them better. That stuff, though very cool to see from the footage from the ’97-’98 season, was nothing that we didn’t already know. What we wanted to see that we knew was coming were Jordan and his crazy gambling hobby. It wasn’t a habit, it was a hobby and I’ll get to that distinction later.
We’ve always heard how much of a gambler Jordan was but the level to which he took it wasn’t widely known. There have been a few tastes of gambling throughout this documentary with Jordan playing Danny Ainge before game two of the NBA Finals to seeing him play cards with teammates on the bus. But, episodes five and six (especially six) delved more into it. I think myself and many others find the gambling aspect of Jordan the most interesting because it humanizes him to our level. It doesn’t matter how much money you have, a bad beat is a bad beat and wins where you’re winning money just feel great. Also, seeing a guy like Jordan, who’s an untouchable have a vice like many of us just makes you like him even more.
Episode Five
– Episode five begins with Michael Jordan playing in the ’98 All-Star Game with Kobe Bryant talking about how awesome it was for him to play against him. It was sad seeing Kobe speak because we lost him in January. It’s fucking nuts to think that Kobe died this year with everything that’s going on. I got a hair sad having to think about Kobe not being around.
– Kobe spoke about how he got so much of his game from Jordan. Growing up, Kobe was most certainly the guy compared to Jordan. Everything about them seemed similar. Their body frame, their ferociousness when dunking, their moves, and even their demeanor on the court. They both had a confidence about them and they never lost their cool. Even when things got heated and guys got in their face both Jordan and Kobe knew they were better than everyone else. Knowing they always were going to have the last word, must have felt terrific.
– Jordan wore the Jordan 1s in what, at the time, would be his last game at Madison Square Garden. That was cool even though he said his feet were bleeding terribly in them.
– Jordan didn’t want to sign with Nike. He actually wanted to be an ADIDAS guy but his mother forced him to go and meet with Nike and the rest is history. I thought it was a wild risk that Nike did in investing so money into a guy that never stepped on an NBA court. It obviously worked out but damn that’s still a risk.
– It must have been tough to be a friend of Jordan or even acquaintance oh his because it seemed like there was never a time where he wasn’t going to let you know that he destroyed you at some point.
Michael Jordan completely owning Patrick Ewing part 5838264838 pic.twitter.com/78gD0XBPHg
— Rob Lopez (@r0bato) May 4, 2020
Am I to believe that Jordan never caught one of these guys at the wrong moment and they went upside his head? I guess not. Doing that means your blacklisted for life.
– The Finals against Clyde Drexler were another showcase of Jordan owning another guy the media and others thought was an equal. Jordan said that Clyde was a threat, but he knew. He knew he wasn’t and went on dominating him the entire series. This is pretty much the book on how Jordan went along his business. Every time the media talked someone up for even a second, Jordan came in and cut him down and reduced him to nothing.
– You can’t go a Last Dance episode without Jordan dunking all over Jerry Krause.
Bulls JUST won their second title and Michael Jordan tells Jerry Krause he can’t have a cigar because it will stunt his growth……. pic.twitter.com/J8fp63Z0px
— Rob Lopez (@r0bato) May 4, 2020
– The episode gets into the Dream Team and how Isiah Thomas was left on it. A couple of guys from Belly Up, Chaka Cummings and Tony Sutcliffe had a back and forth about whether or not Thomas should have been on the Dream Team. I think Thomas was the better player though it was close. My argument is; do you think if Stockton had been left off the Dream Team for Thomas would anyone care 28 years later? I don’t think so.
– I didn’t know just how much Jordan and Pippen didn’t like Toni Kukoc. Kukoc was beloved by Jerry Krause therefore, Jordan and Pippen hated Kukoc. They played Croatia in the Olympics. One game Kukoc did terribly but he came back in their second meeting and played much better. I enjoyed the idea that they thought they were going to teach Kukoc a lesson. Little did they know that Kukoc’s homeland was getting bombed every day so a little tough love from Jordan and Pippen didn’t matter to him. But the point was to send a message to Krause.
I need this Inside Stuff shirt and I need it a year ago.
– The Olympics really jettisoned Jordan into being a global brand. Nike figured this out along with the NBA. Big money was on the way for Michael Jordan.
– Nice to see Barack Obama graduate from a lowly resident of Chicago to President. And in only two weeks. Impressive.
– Harvey Gnatt was running against some racist asshole in Chicago and Jordan didn’t really publicly back him. Obama said in the documentary that it would have been nice for Jordan to be more vocal politically, but he understood why. He basically said that Jordan was juggling his own life and image so getting political wasn’t the move he wanted to make. You’re already seeing all over Twitter folks agreeing with Obama and those crushing him for perceived things he didn’t do. It would have been nice to not have politics get into the only thing going in sports, but it’s part of the story I guess.
– Of course the “republicans buy shoes too” line is mentioned. It sort of has to be. Here’s the thing, Jordan didn’t seem to care too much about politics. He cared about what he was doing. Can that be perceived as selfish, I suppose, but it’s his life. He can do whatever he wants to do with it. Also, since retiring, Jordan still hasn’t become involved in politics. It just was and hasn’t been an avenue of life he wanted to get into. I don’t recall him ever publicly endorsing Obama when he was running for president. I can’t blame him at all for that. Politics suck and aren’t a lot of fun.
– I love that Jerry Seinfeld makes an appearance. Also, it was funny what he said about that one random play not going to work. That’s gold Jerry, gold.
Jerry Seinfeld being acknowledged during this Michael Jordan docuseries #LastDance is something i wasnt expecting but glad to see. pic.twitter.com/RPpwWzMkSj
— UrbanNoizeRmx (@UrbanNoize2) May 4, 2020
Episode Six
– Episode Six is about setting up the idea that maybe the greatest athlete on the planet life may not be as awesome as you’d think. Jordan was made up to be a superhero with no flaws. The guy kids can look up to and strive to be. But Jordan was a human being just like us. He does things that many would find unbecoming and one of those things was his gambling hobby.
– Potentially the star of the whole documentary but easily the sixth man of the year award winner of The Last Dance,
This may be the best part of “The Last Dance” so far. Perm guy breaking out the Jordan shrug after beating him in quarters gambling. pic.twitter.com/FuukklLyIG
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) May 4, 2020
Imagine you’re Micahel Jordan and you’ve vanquished everyone that’s ever been put in front of you. Then you play quarters against this guy and he does your own Jordan Shrug right to your face. So fun. Here’s a little back story on our MVP;
John Michael Wozniak was a decorated narcotics officer who won Michael Jordan over after damaging his car. He had two MJ tats. He was nicknamed Hollywood.
— Matt Fortuna (@Matt_Fortuna) May 4, 2020
His son pictured him smiling Sunday as the world learned of his swagger, and his hair. https://t.co/8zaCiVNa7R #TheLastDance pic.twitter.com/pEZTeLtNWU
It’s a really cool story how John Michael Wozniak came to be one of Jordan’s security guards. Sadly, John passed away earlier this year. Fuck 2020
– Sam Smith’s book The Jordan Rules came out and highlighted Jordan’s gambling hobby along with how players on the team didn’t like him for being a maniac. Horace Grant gets the brunt of the blame but he strenuously denies it. It’s hard to say who spilled to Sam Smith. Chances are, it wasn’t just Horace Grant.
– Jordan was hanging out with some nefarious characters. One of them was Slim Bouler who was a golf hustler.
This gets weird. Jordan had to go to court because he was being accused of being in some sort of gambling ring. Slim here actually went to jail for eight years and said if he didn’t Jordan’s life would have been all types of messed up.
James “Slim” Bouler in a 2017 story that ran in The Athletic implied that the Feds wanted to take Michael Jordan down for gambling, however, he didn’t cooperate with authorities. pic.twitter.com/Utx6S0GX5B
— Ben Maller (@benmaller) May 4, 2020
There are some deep dives you can go into to learn more about this situation. I suggest you do.
– Then there was Richard Esquinas who was another guy who Jordan gambled with. I suppose that if you’re going to be a part of high stakes gambling, you’re not going to be doing with many honorable people.
New to "A Shot on Ehlo" —
— Jack M Silverstein (@readjack) May 3, 2020
The 1993 book "Michael & Me: Our Gambling Addiction … My Cry For Help!" shook the NBA.
The author, Richard Esquinas, has not given an interview in 27 years.
Until now.
For subscribers:https://t.co/fmFVhLRGJ2#TheLastDance
Esquinas seems like an all-time scumbag. I love how he tried to say he wrote the book as a friend. Spin Zone like you read about.
– The bottom line is I believe Jordan when he said he didn’t have a gambling problem. Instead, he had a competitive problem. That’s why he is the way he is. That’s why he’d leave his high stakes game in the back of the bus to go up to the dollar buy-in game in the front of the bus. The reason he did it was because he wanted to have their money in his pocket. It’s certainly weird, but not illegal. Also, he had hundreds of millions of dollars. He could lose it.
– That line where the sports anchor said if Jordan eats pepperoni the media burps. I bet he loved that line.
– I’ve never seen any two people sitting in a golf cart like this. I’ll never see this ever.
– Dan Majerle was another guy that Krause really liked. He made the All NBA Defensive Second Team twice. Jordan made it a point to destroy him in the ’93 Finals. He did this to once again show Jerry Krause that he was better than anybody he thought was good.
– John Paxson nailed it. He said that winning championships wasn’t that joyful for Jordan. It was more of a relief than jubilation. Jordan was even alluding to that a bit while he laid on the couch with the cigar. He couldn’t be a regular guy and was only really at peace when he confined to a hotel room. It’s a tale as old as time but not many people have ever had to deal with a level of fame quite like Michael Jordan.
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