I’m lucky that I can watch The Last Dance on ESPN when it comes on on Sundays. The first two episodes touched nerves, triggered memories. Great documentary.
Hot takes are all over the place. What fascinates me in those 90s Bulls is how fragile the balance was for them to win it all, and that everyone played a role and did better than they thought they would.
The best example of this is Scottie Pippen. MJ is drafted by the Bulls and he demands a better Center. He argues that this is what he needs: a big to protect him and to feed the ball to. It makes sense. The Bulls organization however, thinks differently: they invested in Michael Jordan who is doing all the scoring. They are scared to death to lose him to injuries and whatnot. It’s big money. The Bulls are not the Bulls yet.
Instead of fulfilling MJ’s wish, they find Scottie in the middle of Arkansas. So The Bulls organization didn’t listen to their superstar, went all the way down to nowhere to find a very raw, athletic and promising Forward. Obviously, Michael wasn’t happy but quickly changed his mind thanks to Scottie’s ability to follow and keep up with #23.
That’s amazing to me. This all thing could have gone wrong in a million ways! No Scottie, no six titles. No Steve Kerr’s suffocating defense, no six titles. No Horace Grant in the paint, no six titles. No Rodman with his 15mn, 15 rebounds stats, no six titles. Not a single team wanted Phil Jackson –deemed too weird- in the NBA, The Bulls organization gave him his job and the rest is History. It could have gone wrong in a million ways.
Despite the drama, they all together hold up to get those championships. When the Bulls got Rodman, I thought the team’s chemistry would just explode and that they would not even make the playoffs. Was I wrong. Look at Toni Kukoc going 2/30 from three in the 1996 playoffs, and imagine how MJ felt about the Bulls drafting that dude. He stayed on the team, hit some big shots later on and they won three titles in a row. Trust is crucial.
That’s the legacy that I wanted to see being broken with the Warriors. I wanted them to go for 4 titles in a row, not to celebrate basketball hegemony, but because it would really have proved that they’re a complete, strong ass team. Despite an absurdly great roster, they couldn’t do it. Trust was an issue.
It makes the two Bulls 3-peat even more unreal. And the perfect score –6 finals, 6 rings– absolutely nuts.
Thanks to a lot of talent, a lot of comprehension, and a whole lot of luck. It is inspiring.