Quick quiz – can you name any sports documentary that received a 9.1 IMDb rating and a 97% Rotten Tomatoes score? Few shows receive such high scores, much less a sports series. It is The Last Dance, a 10 part documentary series of the career of Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest basketball player ever, with particular focus on his final season with the 1997–98 Chicago Bulls. The series features both interviews and never-released footage with over 500 hours of all-access footage during that single season.
The show was release at the perfect time by Netflix around April to May 2020 when Covid had disrupted everybody’s lives with no live sports available on tv – it was a great escape to watch it and I was one of millions who lapped it up week after week. The film affirmed Jordan’s dominance as we remember, while also confirming darker suspicions. To teammates, Jordan resembled Darth Vader in “Star Wars”, killing anyone who disappointed him. To adversaries, he was Michael Corleone in "The Godfather," unsatisfied in defeating all rivals. Validated by championship results, Jordan sanctified the template of the leader-as-monster, out of necessity. It has been mythologized in sports, by abusive coaches everywhere that punching down on those who are less talented is the champion's way and those who disagree are losers who simply lack what it takes. Business leaders are doing the same thing. Captains and kings of industry are now referring to it.
Yet all the fantasy glamorization of Jordan's single-mindedness lands differently now more then 20 years later. The obsessives like Jordan are now more isolated and even, at times, discredited. The culture still loves the result but is less tolerant of the genius-tyrant. Work-life balance is a thing. Even ballplayers now take time off during the season for the birth of their babies -- and the world doesn't collapse. Caring about one's family doesn't make you an unserious professional. You do not need to know or love basketball to enjoy the show. So what did you like or dislike about the documentary?
