Month: April 2020
“What good is the privilege I have when I feel like I can’t do anything meaningful with it?”
The basketball world has been enthralled by the first four installments of ESPN’s The Last Dance documentary on Michael Jordan and the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls. The documentary hasn’t just followed that season, but has traced the history of the major players and how the Bulls as a franchise got to that chase for a sixth ring in a masterful bit of storytelling and structure.
Sunday night the world got to see the third and fourth episodes, that focus heavily on the Bulls having to conquer the Detroit Pistons and their various struggles in doing so. The journey Michael Jordan takes to his first championship and the criticism he faced as being just a scoring champ and not elevating his teammates were awfully similar to those lobbed at LeBron James as he was trying to get over the hump to win his first title.
While some like Dwyane Wade, Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum, and others have been active on Twitter during The Last Dance airings, LeBron — who stumped for the early release of the documentary on a podcast in March — hasn’t offered much public reaction. On Monday, James was watching the latest episodes and felt a special kinship to Jordan when they showed footage of the Bulls in the locker room after finally winning their first title in 1991 over the Lakers.
Watching Episode 4. Watching/Seeing MJ hold that first damn near had me tearing up ! That feeling and level of emotions is unexplainable when you been through the
— LeBron James (@KingJames) April 27, 2020
LeBron knows that feeling of finally getting over the hump to your first title after years of racking up individual accolades, so it’s not surprising that he connected to that moment especially. There are plenty — particularly Jordan fans — that would be quick to point out that LeBron’s first title didn’t come with the team he came in with, but was instead on the Big Three era Heat, which has been a constant critique ever since he left Cleveland for Miami in 2010. In the years since he has shed that label, most notably winning a title and bringing a championship to Cleveland in 2016, but that first championship still remains extra sweet whether people were happy about it or not.
Dennis Rodman was the star of this week’s The Last Dance episodes, and as such it’s brought him back into the spotlight as a new generation is exposed to his exploits on and off the court.
The documetary itself was actually pretty tame when it came to exploring Rodman’s history. I was glad to see it offer a glimpse into the basketball genius he was, as he discussed how he worked to become the best rebounder in NBA history. It also touched on his off court antics, most notably his Vegas vacation that culminated in him not coming back on time and Michael Jordan dragging him to practice while Carmen Electra hid behind a couch.
The Last Dance isn’t just giving us great stories in the two hours it airs each Sunday, but it’s also leading to great stories being told on podcasts, radio, TV, and in print as players and media members from that era discuss what that team was like. The Rodman episodes have now brought out some great Rodman stories, like Carmen Electra saying they once went to the Bulls facility on an off day and “had sex all over the damn place.” His legendary partying has also come up, as Kendall Gill recalled a night out at a gentlemen’s club with Rodman in New York the night before the Nets played the Bulls in an appearance on the Bulls Talk podcast on NBC Sports.
Us with hangover: do not talk to us
Rodman with a hangover: I’ma go get 20 boards
This @KendallG13 story from the Bulls Talk Pod: https://t.co/BPC1K8J3Ux pic.twitter.com/XJLNksUH5X
— Bulls Talk (@NBCSBulls) April 27, 2020
“So, I end up leaving at about 12:30, which was kinda late for me, but I knew one of the girls there — actually I knew several of them. But one in particular, I said, ‘Listen, I’m gonna call you in the morning, I want to know what time Dennis left.’ So, I call her after shootaround and she goes, ‘He was there til 4, 5 in the morning.’ I was like, ‘Oh, he won’t be able to run with us tonight. We got him.’ So I got the scouting report, and I go back and I tell all of the fellas, ‘You know Dennis was hanging out,’ this and that.
“Dennis comes in that game, and I believe he had like 20 rebounds, man. Runs like a racehorse.”
It’s a tremendous story and is one that tracks with just about everything else that’s every been said about Dennis. He was an unbelievable athlete and an unbelievable partier, and somehow had the stamina to do both when most can’t. Rodman was, truly, one of a kind, and while the documentary touches on that, there are countless stories of Rodman that are both hard to believe and, when put all together, make total sense.
Prodigal Son (Fox, 9:00 p.m.) — The show’s season finale sees Malcolm unraveling as the mystery of the girl in the box begins to unravel and the Whitlys banding together to take down Nicholas Endicott.
9-1-1 (Fox, 8:00 p.m.) — The team tries to rescue a blind woman trapped inside a burning building while Athena’s routine call turns into something more sinister and Hen performs a risky procedure on the set of a TV cooking competition.
The Bachelor: Listen to Your Heart (ABC, 8:00 p.m.) — The couples must decide whether they want to pursue a relationship before pairing up to perform for the judges.
The Voice (NBC, 8:00 p.m.) — The show takes a look back at the road to the finals with key performances from the best the competition has had to offer.
Roswell, New Mexico (CW, 9:00 p.m.) — Michael tries to convince Maria to seek help in understanding her vision while Liz is hit with a surprise visit from her mother.
Breeders (FX, 10:00 p.m.) — Stress takes its toll on the family as Paul and Ally wait for news about Luke’s worsening condition.
Dispatches From Elsewhere (AMC, 10:00 p.m.) — The group sets out to solve one final mystery.
Songland (NBC, 10:00 p.m.) — Two time Grammy Award-winning R&B singer/songwriter H.E.R. drops by to hear the contestants’ original pitches for her new album.