If you’re a sports fan like me, you’ve been fixated on ESPN’s The Last Dance documentary. Outside the NFL draft and free agency, not much is happening in the world of sports. Sure, there’s entertainment elsewhere, but you can only laugh at hearing “Carole Baskin” so many times and as funny as it is, it cannot replace sports. Nothing can… except when the context is about sports. And the Last Dance delivers what we secretly love the most about sports… drama!
The Last Dance primary focus is the coverage of the Chicago Bulls 1998 championship year, a third in a row, and their second set of three-peat championships of the 1990s. The ten-part documentary series chronicles the 1998 season in addition to that championship season. The documentary examines several aspects of Michael Jordan’s years spent with the Chicago Bulls. The series reviewed the first three-peat championship years spanning from 1991 to 1993, only to have Jordan retire for the first time the following season to pursue baseball. There’s even coverage dating back to his college basketball days at the University of North Carolina under legendary coach Dean Smith.
The series also gives us the in-depth insight on Jordan’s relationship with his fellow teammates. From possibly the most underrated star in NBA history in Scottie Pippen to the man who said Carmen Electra wasn’t cute enough, Dennis Rodman. Relationship focus goes beyond the locker room with references to the 1992 US Men’s Basketball Olympic “Dream Team,” arguably the greatest collection of talent on one time of all time, and how Jordan the super-star related with other stars at the time. The “Dream Team” included not just basketball stars, but legendary figures such as Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Charles Barkley. With the inclusion of those greats and others came forever the controversial omission of Isaiah Thomas from being a member of that team, a feud he carries with Michael Jordan till this day.
The documentary brilliantly showcases how talented Jordan was, and how his drive combined with his talent led to him being the greatest basketball player of all time. Yes, this coming from a team LeBron guy, Mike is the greatest.
Michael Jordan has had the most successful career as a professional athlete in the history of all professional sports, and it’s not even close. His on-court dominance of winning six championships while never losing one and being the MVP of each championship season to his basketball brand of shoes and appeal being the premier brand worldwide will simply never be matched.
However, there is a matchup Jordan has not competed well against, and that’s social activism. And that’s OKAY. Yes, it is perfectly fine and okay that Michael Jordan is not thee face and champion for social change in the likes of Muhammad Ali and Lebron James.
It’s okay for Michael Jordan to simply dribble.
Back in 2018, FOX News Host Laura Ingraham stated Lebron James was stepping out of line for openly denouncing the actions of President Donald Trump. And that Lebron should focus on making millions playing basketball rather than being a political activist.
Lebron turned her comments into a full fledge documentary about activism amongst Black athletes.
What Laura Ingraham and others don’t understand… for Lebron James, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, and many other prominent athletes, social activism means just as much to me as their talent on the court. Definitely a passion of theirs.
That was and is not Jordan. And that’s ok. It isn’t as if Jordan didn’t CARE about being on the right side of history, it just wasn’t his PASSION.
Michael Jordan also isn’t the biggest hip-hop fan. Shocking right! The man whose shoes have literally been the standard footwear of every rapper from Rakim to Da Baby. Air Jordan’s (J’s) are mentioned in every other rap lyric.
And though MJ could easily sing deep tracks of an Earth, Wind, and Fire record before acknowledging Da Baby and Lil Baby aren’t the same person, he and his Jumpman brand are still very much a part of hip-hop culture.
This is because the greats like Mike know what they’re good at, and what they’re not. He knows the difference between voting and supporting a man like Harvey Gantt for Senate in North Carolina over Jesse Helms, the epitome of a segregationist. He even donated money for Gantt’s cause. Jordan never has nor never will be the one on a podium trying to excite the crowd about a candidate. He’s excited the crowd through his play, the best ever. And him simply being great at dribbling is great enough.
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I don’t know if anyone was expecting Jordan to lead the charge for social justice, but he certainly could’ve done more. Look at LeBron, you can make the argument that him being vocal on several issues has had no effect on his basketball career, and most importantly, his earnings and future earning potential.
Yes, Jordan could have done more, however that’s not his place if he chooses. His focus was to be the best basketball player…ever. He shouldn’t be shamed in not “doing more”, when he’s clearly just a more reserved behind the scenes type guy.