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- ESPN and Netflix’s Last Dance documentary focuses on Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls success
- Ten part series introduces on a host of characters from Phil Jackson, Dennis Rodman, Scotty Pippen and more
- It’s great blast from the past but there’s only so many times you can hear Jordan go on a revenge tour against opposition players and even former teammates
“And I took that personally.”
And so an iconic meme was born in 2020, based on ESPN and Netflix’s The Last Dance docuseries detailing the Chicago Bulls’ unstoppable success in the 90s in the NBA.
It is a phrase that Jordan utters multiple times throughout the ten part series to show his ever-burning motivation during his career.
The Last Dance
- 10 episode series made by ESPN and Netflix
- Features archival footage mixed with present-day interviews of key characters
- Had over 23 million viewers on Netflix internationally when released
But it also serves to highlight the limitations of this glossy and engaging show. It follows in a long line of Netflix-led sports documentaries, including Sunderland ’til I die. Actually, while you’re here, read this list of the best sports documentaries ever.
To be clear, I liked The Last Dance a lot. The early episodes feature fantastic, old footage of Jordan and gives a great insight into his early years.
The Last Dance’s structure is built around timeline jumping between this early stage of his career to his later years in each episode.
And here in lies the biggest weaknesses of the show.
The timeline device wears the viewer down quickly enough. In addition, the producers really stretched the show to ten episodes, when in reality, it could have shaved a few off.
It is pretty clear from the episodes that Jordan was (and still is) the best to ever play the game but there really is only so many times you can hear Michael Jordan go on a revenge mission against a team or specific rival player.
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Rating:
There’s greatness in The Last Dance. The characters are richly brought to life, the old footage really pops and the overall story of such levels of success (and the pressures that accompany it) are really, really interesting.
However, it is a bit overblown to ten episodes, when less would have been more.
Check out The Last Dance here.
