NBA
The Best in Sports: Michael Jordan Ep. 7-8
Highlighting all the best things to know from the Michael Jordan "Last Dance" documentary Episodes 7-8 including his short-lived baseball career, legendary return, and more!
CBS Sports
‘The Best in Sports’ is a daily PSO original series showcasing the best highlights, facts, and stories going on in the NFL, NBA, & MLB every day (temporarily suspended). This is a special Michael Jordan Edition for Episodes 7-8 of “The Last Dance’ released on May 10, 2020. Check out the best things to know from Episodes 1-2, 3-4, and 5-6.
Below are the best things to know about Michael Jordan & the Chicago Bulls from Episodes 7-8:
Michael Jordan’s perception as a teammate, competitor, and person was a recurring theme on these two episodes. Jordan lived by the “Nothing is given to you, you earn it in practice” mantra and Scottie would fire it right back at him on the court. MJ said what Scottie “was lacking was seriousness, motivation” and Pippen even admitted, “I needed [MJ] to be the tough guy.”
Some teammates called Jordan “an asshole and a jerk, who crossed the line multiple times.” He had “the highest standards of a basketball player ever.” Michael’s mentality was to go out there and win at any costs, “if you don’t get on the same level as me, it’s going to be hell for you” he claimed.
“He’d be difficult to be around if you didn’t love the game of basketball” and some players got picked on more than others. Some of his teammates were legitimately “afraid of him.” The fear factor of MJ was so thick, but looking back now, everyone realizes he was pushing them to get better, and it clearly worked. MJ couldn’t have been the ‘nice guy’ with that kind of killer mentality.
This whole documentary was MJ’s chance to explain why he did what he did. Jordan figured “intensity was worth not being seen as the nice guy. Winning has a price. Leadership has a price. I pulled people along when they didn’t want to be pulled. I challenged them when they didn’t want to be challenged because they didn’t endure all that I endured. I wasn’t going to take anything less than my standard of the game. I may have to get in your ass a little, and I did that.”
Jordan never thought he “crossed the line since I would never ask someone to do something that I wouldn’t do… I wanted to win, but wanted them to win and be a part of it as well,” Jordan said, referring to his teammates. That was his mentality that proved to be the formula needed to win Championships. However, MJ got emotional when looking back and explaining why he played the game with that competitive drive, and simply said “if you don’t want to play that way, don’t play that way,” before needing a break as emotion began to overtake him.
The first subject the “Last Dance” documentary covers on Episodes 7-8 is the tragic passing of Michael Jordan’s father. James Jordan Sr. was a huge influence on Michael’s life and he recalls never getting in trouble growing up after Dad’s positive influence. He was always a voice of reason and they had such a close relationship, they were “like best friends.”
One day, Mr. Jordan pulled on the side of the road to take a nap. Unfortunately, the next time his body was seen was in a creek three weeks later as his car was left, stripped, and beaten. James Jordan was robbed and murdered at the age of 56 and the two teenage killers were later found and sentenced to life in prison. Mr. Jordan’s bizarre death got even more ridiculous when media began speculating that MJ’s gambling could have been related to his Dad’s death. This was a slap in the face to Michael, who not only had to deal with his Father’s death, but also received unwarranted blame for it as well, which further deteriorated his relationship with the media.
Before the summer of 1993, Michael Jordan established himself as the undisputed top dog in the NBA, and sports in general. MJ felt he fulfilled everything to the city, organization, his teammates etc. Jordan mentioned how his Dad saw his last basketball game and that meant a lot to him. There were other reasons that led to Jordan’s retirement, but ultimately he told Head Coach Phil Jackson “I’m done… There’s no more challenges. No more motivation.” Jackson told him he’s pretty much “denying a gift to society, but I understand.” General Manager Jerry Krause thought he was joking when being told of the news.
Jordan went to throw out the first pitch at a Chicago White Sox game that summer and sat in the box seats. The report of MJ’s retirement became public while he was at the game, so he left in the 7th inning to try to avoid being bombarded by press. The Chicago Bulls later announced a Press Conference for it that the media naturally considered the “News Story of the Year” in 1993.
After a decade in the league, Michael Jordan was already considered by many the greatest basketball player that ever lived. There was an insane amount of media, cameras, and people in general at the presser. Fans were crying at the press conference, yet Michael was all smiles. Bulls/White Sox Owner Jerry Reinsdorf said the “Greatest athlete to play a team sport is leaving the game, who I admire and respect. I’m convinced he’s doing the right thing.”
Other’s didn’t take the news so easy, but the silver lining was that Jordan left the chance of him coming back open by saying, “If I desire to play again, maybe I do. I’m not going to close the door.” As we all know in retrospect, that door got opened back up more than once.
At the time, Jordan’s last public appearance was a Press Conference for his retirement in October, 1993 before he reappeared in the public at another Press Conference in March, 1994. This time announcing he’ll be joining the White Sox for Spring Training. Jordan was following his dreams as a kid as he “loved baseball” and his Father always wanted him to play baseball. As he was debating with his Dad in the 1993 summer if this was something he should do, his Dad said “do it.”
They made it clear that the workouts and training are totally different. The trainer told him that it’s “going to detrimentally affect your ability to play basketball,” but Jordan didn’t care since he believed his basketball days were behind him. He didn’t appear at Spring Training until there were four days left, and was sent to Double-A since rookie league and A-Ball had inadequate press facilities. While he started out as an underpaid minor leaguer, Owner Jerry Reinsdorf paid Jordan’s NBA salary despite his retirement. Future World Series Champion Terry Francona was his Manager and is quoted saying “With 1,500 At-Bats, he would’ve found a way to get to the Major Leagues.”
However, the attention was more on his name than his game. Everyone was lining up to see MJ play from all over the world. Every ballpark he went to in Double-A sold out. He even started out his professional baseball career with a 13-game hitting streak, but then once pitchers adjusted by not throwing any fastballs in the strike zone, and throwing “breaking ball after breaking ball after breaking ball,” Jordan struggled.
The national media started ripping him, with a Sports Illustrated cover saying “Bag it, Jordan’s embarrassing baseball.” Jordan felt betrayed by the SI cover, but he shaked it off as “just their opinion.” To Jordan, he’s not going to do what they think he should be doing because “my father already told me I’m doing the right thing.” Adjusting to life without his Dad is what fueled him more than anything. The documentary showed his strong work ethic with blisters from batting too much, being beat all around, hitting off the breaking ball machine, and more, as his relentless drive allowed him to keep getting better.
He managed to bat over .200 with 50+ RBI’s, which isn’t great for any 30-year-old minor leaguer, but for a professional rookie, it’s kind of impressive. One of the biggest takeaways from his baseball experience was them playing ping pong in the clubhouse smiling, which he said he enjoyed “immensely… They treated me like one of the guys, which is how I wanted to be treated.”
While Michael Jordan was trying to learn how to hit a curveball in Double-A, the Bulls knew the game goes on, and “we have to look at basketball without Michael,” according to Scottie Pippen, who was aware that all eyes are on him now. Phil Jackson said “Scottie was a prime motivator, initiator, and stepped into that role great.” Pippen said himself that the “first year [without MJ] went great… We got up plenty of shots.”
Phil Jackson had to do his best coaching that season. Because Pippen wasn’t a true scorer and was a better facilitator, they ran the triangle to perfection. Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, and B.J. Armstrong all became All-Stars that season and also benefitted from the emergence of rookie Toni Kukoc. They felt like they had a chance to get to the Finals without Michael, but that all changed in 1.8 seconds.
In the East Playoffs against the eventual East Champion Knicks in Game 3, Jackson designed a play for Tony Kukoc to take the game-winning shot after Patrick Ewing just tied it with 1.8 seconds left. However, Pippen refused to participate as the inbounder and instead chose to sit on the bench to show his displeasure of Jackson’s decision in an act that was described by a teammate as a “twilight zone moment.”
Toni Kukoc ended up hitting the game-winner on that play (as he did multiple times throughout that season), but that’s rarely what’s remembered from that game. Kukoc said himself he was “happy for making the shot, but going to the locker room, everyone was pissed.” After an MVP-caliber season (Pippen finished 3rd in MVP votes in ’93-’94), Pippen thought he should’ve been the one taking the game-winning shot. His response to Jackson’s decision is one that had teammates rightfully claiming “he quit on us… We couldn’t believe that happened. It was devastating.” Jackson chimed in himself, “It’s something we never thought would happen. It affected the whole team.”
Bill Cartwright led a post-game speech to Pippen about how he let them down, and it ultimately led to tears from both Cartwright and Pippen. Pippen immediately realized he made a mistake and apologized. The team knew that wasn’t his character, but knew that’d be a stain on his reputation forever. Jordan called Jackson the next day and said “it’s always going to come back to haunt him.” When looking back at that infamous moment now, Pippen states he “wish it would’ve never happened, but if I could go back, I probably wouldn’t change anything.”
To his credit, Pippen played great the rest of the series, including a famous dunk all over Patrick Ewing. They all respected his apology and it helped them get very close to making a deep playoff run, but they ultimately lost in Game 7 in the Garden after another dreadful fourth quarter performance from the Bulls (without Jordan). Jordan was there in the locker room watching the game as a fan since he “would rather do it privately so no one thinks I’m itching to get back. I just like watching the game as a fan.” Of course, he became more than just a fan again soon enough.
As the MLB was dealing with a major strike in 1994 where replacement players (Minor leaguers) stepped in at the big league level, MJ refused to partake. At the same time, former teammate B.J. Armstrong jokingly told Michael that he’d “kick his ass” in 1994 before they played 1v1 at a Bulls practice MJ was visiting. This started generating speculation that he was coming back, and Scottie famously pointed to the Jordan logo on his shoes in a way to say come back. Jordan’s agent wrote up a lot to announce his return, but Jordan was dissatisfied with the message, before his agent responded with “why don’t you write it.” So he did. He simply decided to go with, “I’m Back.”
Bulls were barely above .500 at the time without Jordan and after they lost PF Horace Grant to Orlando. Jordan came back “even more committed. More goal-oriented. All of his goals were winning a Championship, winning a Championship, winning a Championship.” He didn’t want to just be effective, he wanted to dominate.
His return game against the Pacers seemed like a global phenomenon that had an “electric atmosphere… It felt like the Finals,” according to Steve Kerr. Fans were being offered over 20 grand for their tickets and they were all lining up at the doors to see “Air Jordan”. He came back wearing #45 as he didn’t want #23 because his father wasn’t there to watch him anymore and 45 was his first number growing up. He had a rough return that started with his shorts on backwards and going 0-6 from the field, and ultimately lost in overtime after a clutch Reggie Miller bucket.
After that, the Michael Jordan Comeback Tour came to town in New York at MSG where “everybody who is everybody or anybody who is anybody” was there to see his return. He would score 55 points in his fifth game back that was described as “one of his best games,” according to Patrick Ewing.
In the Playoffs, Chicago faced eventual East champion Orlando with former Bull Horace Grant and All-Stars Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway. Magic SF Nick Anderson got a clutch steal from Jordan in Game 1, which was compared to someone landing a punch on Muhammad Ali, like “wait, you can hit this guy?” Jordan also infamously passed the ball away on the final possession, leading to a Game 1 loss. Anderson then said “45 isn’t like 23” referring to MJ’s numbers representing a less effective Jordan.
Jordan shocked the world by changing his number back to 23 after that and went off in Game 2. He was exhausted after the game as he was still working himself back into condition. It became one of his lowest points when the Bulls would lose three of the next four games, ending the series in 6. He took it to heart and used it to fuel his next season. Usually he takes some time off after the NBA season ends, but he was back with his trainer the very next day. The GOAT described it as an “obligation to fans, teammates, family, everybody that if you’re going to take 3 hours to watch me, I have an obligation to give you my best all the time.”
While training, Michael Jordan also filmed the famous movie, “Space Jam” that summer of 1995. He still needed to work out so they built him a facility with courts to workout, like a professional facility with trainers and everything. His schedule that summer was the stuff of legend. He would film Monday-Saturday at 7am with a two-hour break in the afternoon to go workout, and then would play for three hours after filming until 9-10 pm… and then weight lifted after. “Dude was like vampire,” said Reggie Miller.
Reggie Miller was one of the many well-known NBA players that would come to Hollywood to play in the famous pick-up games at Warner Bro’s studio after film sessions. Miller joined Chris Mullen, Patrick Ewing, Shawn Bradley, and others as they invited the best players out there for the Space Jam scrimmages. Jordan cleverly would do scouting reports during the games to figure out opposing players’ weaknesses. There were no officials, so players had to call their own fouls, which led to games getting a little physical.
Jordan was in the process of turning his body back into a basketball body which required more shoulders and chest workouts. He had to pretty much “reconstruct [his] whole body.” He liked having the younger players participate in the pickup games as the “younger players were full of energy. I had to get my talents back.” That became a theme of the Space Jam movie itself.
Michael came back with a vengeance in the Fall of 1995 after losing to the Magic. From the jump, training camp was amazing, Jordan was in incredible shape, and “frothing at the mouth angry at losing [to Orlando].” Everyday at training camp was a battle, to the point that Jordan punched teammate Steve Kerr in the face, the only time he got kicked out of a practice. However, that was part of “the certain standards they had to live by to win a Championship… Come ready to play.”
Kerr standing up for himself in the altercation earned Jordan’s respect and their relationship strengthened after that. It was like “now we’re going to war together,” said Kerr himself. They all fed off each other. “Scottie’s Scottie, Michael’s Michael, Dennis is Dennis” said Rodman, as his way of pointing out how they could all count on each other. They came out hot, starting the season 10-1 and chased the Lakers’ 33-game winning streak, but ended up maxing out at 18 games. However, they set their own NBA record with their 70th win of the season.
As the only team in NBA history with 70+ wins in a season (2015-16 Warriors have since won 73 games), the Bulls were being labeled the “best team ever” and “greatest team of all-time,” which Jordan famously responded by saying “it doesn’t mean a thing without a ring.” In the Playoffs, they swept Miami and lost only once to New York before sweeping the Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals after Jordan had Shaq’s squad on his mind all summer. Jordan coincidentally dropped 45 in Game 4, still remembering Nick Anderson’s “45 isn’t like 23” comment.
After a dominant showing in the East Playoffs, the Bulls were ready to challenge Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp, and HC George Karl in the Finals. Karl and Jordan had history together at UNC, but after he walked past him at a dinner before the first Finals game, “that’s all I needed, because it became personal” for Michael Jordan after that. He went on to dominate those first three games and took a quick 3-0 lead against the Sonics in the NBA Finals. “He ripped a whole in our ass” as Gary Payton put it.
However, the Sonics refused to go away quietly. George Karl initially refused to put “the Glove” Gary Payton on Michael Jordan defensively, as he wanted to save Payton’s energy for offense since they needed him to score. But Payton said, “you can’t control this anymore, I’m guarding Mike.” Payton’s best strategy was to “get him tired” and they continued to talk trash to each other on the grandest stage. Payton did as good of a job as can be expected as MJ went 6-19 FG in a Game 4 blowout loss. Sonics won again in Game 5 to make it 3-2 with Payton outplaying Jordan in both games before a Game 6 in Chicago.
Payton later remembered “hitting him, banging him, it took a toll on him,” which presented a humorous scene of Jordan chuckling at Payton’s remarks before saying “I had no problem with the glove. I had no problem with Gary Payton.” Game 6 was on Father’s Day and Jordan’s Dad would always be there in those moments, he was always right next to him. Jordan always kept his feelings close to the vest and held it together for his entire family. Michael knew his Dad was watching as reclaimed his throne in the NBA by winning a fourth Championship (despite shooting 26.3% FG in Game 6).
Jordan fell to the ground while being embraced by teammates on the court and had an emotional postgame interview. He said this one is for his Dad, and it led to the iconic visual of Jordan on the ground crying in the locker room about his Dad. While bittersweet, Chicago’s victory vindicated them as the greatest team of all-time, which they still are considered to this day. “The 1996 team was the best team I’ve ever been a part of” said Steve Kerr, who also later coached the 2015-16 Warriors team that surpassed their 72-win record.
While a big part of the Michael Jordan documentary shows his earlier career, it’s called the “Last Dance” for a reason – to focus on the 1998 Chicago Bulls season. The Bulls swept the Nets in the first round and beat Charlotte in Game 1 to start the Playoffs 4-0 after a chaotic season. However, former teammate BJ Armstrong “knew [Chicago’s] system and how to beat them.” Armstrong’s actions initially backed up those words with a Game 2 dagger that was followed with him letting “everybody know” on his former team what just happened… “Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Phil Jackson, everybody!”
The Game 2 win in Chicago was vindication for him after the Bulls let him go. However, BJ should’ve known better as now MJ had a bone to pick with him, and ‘his Airness’ dominated him for the rest of the series. It served as a flashback for when LeBradford Smith of the Bullets went off for 37 points against the Bulls in 1993 and said “nice game, Mike” afterward, but the two teams were scheduled for a back-to-back against each other the next game, and MJ obliterated him with 36 points just in the first half. He “torched and humiliated him in front of 20,000 people” and all those watching around the world. The whole “good game, Mike” slight might’ve been made up as Jordan somehow always finds a way to add fuel to the fire for himself.
Fast forward back to the 1998 Eastern Conference Semifinals, and Jordan brought that same intensity to Game 3 after Armstrong’s antics at the end of Game 2. It “woke” Michael Jordan up. “Expect all hell to break loose when you trigger Mike” said one of his teammates. Jordan came out with a different energy and said in the pre-game huddle “Payback is a motherfucker. Let’s play our best game.” He came after BJ the rest of the series and Armstrong had only 2 points on 1-7 shooting in that Game 3. It showed how truly dominant Jordan was when he was on his A-game.
“BJ forgot what drives us and we capitalized on that,” Jordan said as the Bulls went on to win three straight games to move onto the Eastern Conference Finals. MJ was feeling the momentum and said “we might go undefeated from here on out,” but the media built Indiana up by asking, “could the Pacers end the Bulls dynasty?” While everyone looked at the Bulls as the gold standard of success, Reggie Miller still believes “we were the better team” and believed at the time “the perfect storm was brewing. I was going to retire Michael Jordan.” The Bulls-Pacers ECF matchup will be featured on Episode 9 of the “Last Dance” Documentary.
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