The Last Dance (Episodes 3 and 4) Takeaways

• Much of the details contained in the first two episodes of The Last Dance I was mostly familiar with. From Michael Jordan’s trek from childhood into NBA stardom, to Scottie Pippen’s contract discrepancies and the whole. Yet I feel I learned more in Episodes 3 and 4. It’s almost as if like we are now starting to get the devil in the details in the glamorous story of one of the greatest sports dynasties.

• Four episodes in and the most intriguing character in ‘The Last Dance’ in my opinion is not Michael Jordan, Dennis Rodman or Phil Jackson. It is Jerry Krause. And in all honesty, it doesn’t feel close. Say whatever you want about Jerry Krause. He made the right decisions for the Bulls franchise early on that set the stage for their dynasty. Who else fires a coach after making it to the conference finals and that the best player in the league is very close to. That took balls!

• Dennis Rodman is obviously the notorious one of the bunch. But on his portion of the documentary there’s a much better understanding into who he is and how much despite his eccentricities he was respected and in ways insulated by the Chicago Bulls culture.

• Carmen Electra still looks gorgeous.

• After tonight I think I’ve come away with a better respect of Phil Jackson than I have in a long time. With the unfettered coverage and insight we are able to get, it really does make me appreciate what the Zen master had to work with. Sure he had arguably the greatest basketball player in history at his disposal alongside a very well rounded cast of characters. But being able to balance those egos not just in the front office (Jerry Krause) but also on the roster is impressive. I know in recent years I’ve given more nods to Greg Poppovich as the greatest coach in the game but it’s wrong of me to totally write off Phil just because he had the better collection of talent to work with.

• Worth noting that while the Bulls upended Magic Johnson and the Lakers in 1991, that was in fact Magic’s 9th Finals appearance in 12 seasons. He won 5 of those. Just a little history lesson.

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• Isiah Thomas might’ve been an asshole for not showing any sorts of sportsmanship toward the Chicago Bulls after getting swept in the 1991 East Finals. That said you cannot tell me he didn’t deserve to be on the Dream Team. Bottom line. That was all politics that prevented that from happening. Michael Jordan by that point yielded the power in the league. Nearly 30 years later, he is still bitter about that. As evident by his comments on the documentary. Glad he’s being real about it.