The Last Dance


A story I had been told but I had never really paid attention too.  The last dance, an ESPN documentary on Netflix is the story of Michael Jordan leading the Chicago Bulls to their record winning victory in the  NBA playoffs of 98. 

I actually watched the last game. I was up late one night, and feeling lonely. I even wrote my friend Rob a letter, about it. I had returned from the USA, weeks or days earlier, and I had nothing to do. 

I remember my friend Chris trying to explain how important Scottie Pippin was. I never paid attention to him  The devastating effect of the Triangle defense. The enigma that is Dennis Rodman. I never realised how hard Rodman and Pippins upbringing was.

It is a history of the 1990s. We see Carmen Electra, and Hulk Hogan in WCW colors. 

It was nice to see North Carolina again, and to see the nineties, before the net, changed the world. The long suits, the long shorts. Gatorade. God Gatorade was disgusting, The Dream team. I never realized Larry Bird was still playing professionally at the time of the Barcelona Olympics. I never realized that Larry Bird, was coaching the Indiana Pacers.  Jesse Helms and Mudville! I remember oddly that David Hasselhoff was a huge Utah Jazz fan- John Lithgow being a Chicago Bulls fan 

Oh and cigars. Do people still read cigar aficionado magazine? Or Pompous arsehole magazine

This is a hagiography. If I could be like Mike!  I felt sorry for Mr Jordan. A professional athlete not the saviour of the USA. He wanted to play basketball, play it well and get rich. Surely it is for Bill Clinton and Barrack Obama to right the ancient wrongs  But it was not just politicians who wanted a piece of MJ . I have a copy of Sports Illustrated from Dean Smiths' retirement. If you do not know |Dean Smith was Jordan's coach at UNC Basketball.  There is a sportswriter talking about - A Michael moment.. A moment when you realized he (MJ)  was very special. Imagine that. Imagine strangers talking about you in that way. I do not doubt Michael's athletic genius  You get to see some of Michael's competitive streak. That touch of nastiness. That a lot of great sportsmen have-See Roy Keane, or the late Jack Charlton and like Big Jack, Michael never forgot a slight.

The violence, the orange suited men on new casts, County sheriffs making statements to a newsroom  Michael Jordan's father murdered on a quiet country road on the Carolina borders
The Rain, The Rain, Coaches I mean buses. Magic Johnson, Karl Malone, Reggie Miller, the late Kobe Byrant. Bill Clinton,

All forgotten and all absorbed. A metaphor for my time in America. The world had changed, and I did not notice. I never really understood what was going on

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