It's that time once again, when I your boy comes down from his cloud of nostalgic Chicago Bulls fandom and give you some of the takeaways from this weeks episodes of The Last Dance. And this one starts...heavy. I mean HEAVY.
*The death of James Jordan and it's fallout.
Alright this is the most tragic part of the episode obviously. What was most tragic to me is that before he could even put his father in the ground, there were rumors being reported as facts about his gambling being tied to his father's murder. I don't buy that for a single second.
First of all, if the mob or bookies are gonna send someone after you, they're not using two dumb 18 year olds who if caught would roll on everybody. Also, we know Jordan paid his debts. How do we know? There were certified checks to Slim Bouler paying his debts! You mean to tell me he will pay a Sam Jackson with a jheri curl wannabe but choose not to pay much more dangerous people for....reasons? Get out of here.
*MJ's baseball career.
Was Jordan's career a success? Not really but to me it was pretty impressive. Here we have a man who has been the greatest basketball player on the planet, quits and picks up a bat for the first time since high school and he didn't embarrass himself. He had 50 RBI, 30 stolen bases, and a 13 game hit streak. He only hit .200 but holy shit balls that is astonishing.
*The Orlando Magic were the shit.
During Jordan's return from baseball they were bounced from the playoffs by the upstart Orlando Magic. Now it's usually explained away by the Jordan was rusty narrative. Au contraire mon frère, the Magic were that shit. Dennis Scott, Nick Anderson, Brian Shaw, Horace Grant and lest we forget Shaq and Penny Hardaway.
Shaq was the most dominant big since Kareem and Penny was a dynamic guard who passed as well as anyone in the league and could score at will at times. Jordan even averaged over 30 that series. Gotta tip your cap, Magic were the better team.
*Scottie Pippen's disappointing 1.8 seconds.
I loved Scottie Pippen as a player, still do. But Scottie in this instance was wrong. It would be nice if the final play was drawn up for him but he was never a catch and shoot guy.
You know who was, and had been that season? Toni Kukoc. So I get the frustration but let's be real, Scottie probably doesn't hit that shot. Sometimes if you're the lead dog, you gotta know when to put the team in the best spot to win. In that moment, he failed.
*Scott Burrell, Ned Flanders of the NBA.
One of the funniest moments of the entire 2 episodes was the genuine befuddlement and slight disgust that MJ had with Scott Burrell.
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| Look at this nice bastard. |
Not because of some character flaw or shitty game but because Burrell was as MJ put "just a nice guy." The idea of being nice was such a flaw to MJ on the path to greatness. So much so, that he actually gets emotional at the thought of players not giving a fuck to the level he gave a fuck.
Alright there we go, another week with me, giving you, my unsolicited opinion of the Bulls documentary which is probably not going to change anyone's minds but I think will provide some context. Next week the ride comes to an end, but who knows maybe your boy will do another statistical deep dive to give you, my loyal people the content you need.
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