Episodes 3 and 4 of “The Last Dance” continued to exceed expectations of ESPN’s documentary series on the 1997-1998 Chicago Bulls. Viewers got an in-depth look at the unique and misunderstood character of Dennis Rodman, how Phil Jackson became the understanding, legendary coach he was, the Piston-Bulls rivalry and how Jordan won his first ring. We also saw more of why Michael Jordan was so respected by everyone, including his treatment of Rodman, his attitude to losing or his willingness to buy into Jackson’s new ideas.

The series continued to highlight, for us who weren’t alive during the Jordan era, how dominant he was in a league more physical and aggressive than what the NBA is today — ESPN also does it with the best music selection.

While we couldn’t do as much hating on Jerry Krause during these episodes, besides his dancing on the bus following the series win over Detroit in 1991, we gave more of our thoughts on the two newest episodes of “The Last Dance.”

Gabby Hajduk – Sports Editor

These two episodes were equivalent to the X-Factor rollercoaster at Six Flags. The number of twists and turns and up and downs Sunday’s episodes took while still staying on track was incredible. Rodman’s Vegas vacation, in the middle of an NBA season, is equivalent to when you fly through the air traffic control tower, and you nearly hit the water or the side of a metal structure. It feels like something is about to go terribly wrong, but it comes out just fine. Rodman’s little load management excursion could’ve gone incredibly south. Instead, Jordan and Jackson’s understanding of Rodman’s mental state instilled a trust Rodman had not felt before. However, it will be hard for this series to top Rodman showing up to practice in pajama pants and slippers the next morning.

That was the most important part of these episodes. Seeing Jordan accept Rodman for who he was and not ask too many questions gave me perspective on who Jordan was as a person. At the end of the day, he wanted to win and he knew he needed Rodman. But, instead of getting in his face as he did with some other guys, he took a more mindful approach, valuing Rodman’s mental health, something the Pistons clearly didn’t find important.

That’s why it was so fulfilling to finally see Jordan release his emotions after winning his first NBA Finals. He spent so much time and energy making sure everyone else was in line and mentally ready to go, the only emotion you really saw from Jordan was anger. Jordan deserved to feel every emotion after that win, as he did, being pictured crying while hugging the championship trophy.

@gabby_h11

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Nithin Reddy – Staff Writer

As a die-hard Chicago Bulls fan, episodes 3 and 4 of the Last Dance may have been my favorite two hours of television ever. Growing up in the post-Jordan era, you’re told that Michael Jordan dominated the 90s, going 6-0 in the NBA Finals and never needing to go to a game 7. It’s not until later in life when you realize Jordan had to go through his ups and downs like all of the greats. Episodes 3 and 4 were all about the Bulls going from David to Goliath.  

Favorite moment

I absolutely loved Jordan’s reaction to the Isiah Thomas clip in the documentary. Most of us have heard or seen the video of the Pistons walking off the floor before being swept by the Bulls in the conference finals, but in the fourth installment of the Last Dance, Thomas was allowed to share his perspective. Thomas claimed it was a different time, and he would have done things differently, knowing what he knows now. Jordan, still holding a grudge 29 years later about not receiving the proper respect or sportsmanship from the Pistons, only makes me love Jordan more.

Biggest surprise

I never knew how close Dennis Rodman was to the core of the Bulls, most importantly Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson. I always figured that Jordan and Rodman must have clashed since their personalities are very different, but learning how open the Bulls were to bringing in Rodman shocked me. Sure, Jordan and Rodman weren’t spending much time together off the court, but the fact that the team accepted Rodman showed what type of relationship they had. Throw in the fact that Jordan was willing to run around Vegas in order to bring Rodman to practice and you’ll understand their bond.

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Brendyn Jones – Assistant On-Air Editor

Another week, another two hours that my eyes were attached to the screen.

I think one of the best moments of the episodes was when the team finally eclipsed Detroit and went on to beat the Lakers in the Finals. When they beat the Pistons and there was the montage of the celebrations, and I loved seeing Jerry Krause dancing with Scottie Pippen. It was a great clip that obviously contrasted with how their relationship would be just six years down the line. 

Then, when they beat the Lakers, the emotions that came from Michael Jordan was what you love to see as sports fans. Jordan and the Bulls worked on their craft for years before being able to top the mountain, and that revelation was amazing to see. It reminds me of when LeBron James won his championship with Cleveland. Although it wasn’t his first one, his emotions of the Cleveland championship show that it was his version of the mountain he had to conquer. 

It makes me want to see stars like Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Derrick Rose win championships, players that have reached their prime already, but they haven’t won it all.

Lastly: shout out to Madonna. It sounded like she was an integral part of helping Dennis Rodman be able to show himself as he truly is, which could be seen in how his mental health changed for the better. This led to us seeing everything that Rodman would become. 

@brendyn_jones

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Josh Pietsch – Staff Writer

Most surprising

Never did I think I would be able to appreciate both the greatness and weirdness of Dennis Rodman fully. Then I watched episodes 3 and 4 of “The Last Dance.” He’s probably the only player that will ever ask for a vacation, be granted it, miss extra time, and get away with it. This was an event in his career that I’d never even heard of before tonight. But when he wasn’t riding out of the United Center on his motorcycle and partying in Vegas, boy, was he lockdown defensively. As we saw from his time on both the Pistons and Bulls, he was physical, mean, and disruptive. He would irritate players to the fullest extent, all while rocking the weirdest hairstyle in NBA history. To headline Rodman in episodes 3 and 4 and show us how gifted he was as an athlete and how weird he was off the court was genius.

Favorite moment

Aside from being enlightened on the character that is Dennis Rodman, we learned about a team that may have been Michael Jordan’s greatest competition during his career: The Bad Boy Pistons. Led by Rodman and other physical players, they were known for their defense and ability to frustrate other teams immensely. The most irritating thing for the Bulls, of course, was the Jordan rules. What I didn’t realize about this era of basketball was how much more players in the NBA could get away with from a physical standpoint compared to now. Their physicality fueled the plan against Jordan, as Rodman self-described the rules by saying, “every time (Jordan) goes to the f—— basket, put him on the ground.”

For two years the rules worked, and the Bulls couldn’t get by the Pistons, but we see that Jordan and his team were able to overcome them by sweeping the Pistons in the ‘91 Eastern Conference Finals before winning their first NBA championship, one of many parts of Jordan’s career that makes him so unbelievable and those Bulls teams so good. 

@Jpietsch14

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Jackson Janes – Assistant Sports Editor

I’ve never been a fan of the NBA. Even growing up as a massive sports fan in Chicago, I don’t consider myself to be a Bulls fan. But how can you not love the Bulls after these last two episodes?

The ups and downs of the organization after falling to the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals in consecutive years to triumphing over them and winning the NBA Finals in 1991 is a remarkable story. Speaking of remarkable stories, can we take a moment to talk about how Dennis Rodman took a vacation to Las Vegas in the middle of the season?! The ego that someone like Rodman had to go AWOL for almost four days is absurd, but the remarkable thing about this whole story is Michael Jordan’s ability to look past all of Rodman’s flaws and accept him for who is: an incredibly talented defender and overall NBA player.

Jordan’s ability to step out of the spotlight in Game 5 of the 1991 Finals really speaks to his character, as he was able to realize that he wasn’t bigger than the team. He was an equal part of the path to a championship. The emotion he expresses after finally bringing a championship back to Chicago, after years of getting so close yet coming up short in the end, is what truly makes him one of the greatest players of all time.

Also, can we talk about how much the game of basketball has changed in the past 25-30 years?! Everyone on the Pistons would get lengthy suspensions nowadays if they played like that in today’s NBA. The physicality of the game today has definitely decreased these days, and I embarrassingly found myself yelling at the refs to call fouls on plays that would be flagrant ones and twos in 2020.

Jordan watching Isiah Thomas’s response to walking off the court after losing in Game 7 of the conference finals goes to show how much passion and respect he had for the game. I hope we get more feisty Jordan moments next week in episodes five and six.

@JacksonJanes3

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Alec Busse – Assistant Video Editor

Each episode of “The Last Dance” seems to get better and go by even faster. Episode 3, The Dennis Rodman episode, was my favorite until episode 4 quickly followed. However, the story of Rodman and how he immediately gelled with the Bulls was eye-opening. Rodman seemed like an oddball, the one who didn’t fit in. Yes, he was the third wheel of the Bulls’ Big Three of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and him, but his importance is invaluable. Anyone who questions the importance of Rodman needs to remember that Jordan thought high enough of Rodman to chase him down in Las Vegas to get back with the Bulls. Pippen said, “like a hand in a glove” when asked about how Rodman fit with Chicago. It is amazing how a player can seemingly fit in with a winning culture when they care as much as Rodman did. Phil Jackson made Rodman feel welcomed, but Jordan and Pippen allowed him to be Dennis Rodman. Rodman didn’t ask questions about his role. He gladly accepted the challenge of guarding Shaquille O’Neil during his first days with the Magic. Rodman gave up about 100 pounds and over four inches, but his toughness and competitiveness are what allowed him to fit with the Bulls and why he was accepted in the locker room.

@Alec_busse

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Luca Ripani – Staff Writer

Nowadays, it can be argued that Dennis Rodman is better known for his rowdy personal life than his skills on the court. But tonight’s episodes of The Last Dance shined a light on just how “The Worm” was able to fuse his not-safe-for-television antics with his Hall-of-Fame-caliber play in both Detroit and Chicago. While Rodman certainly was a wild character (his mid-season, debauchery-filled romp to Las Vegas proves this), the episode shows that there was little variance in his dedication to winning when it came time to play, despite his off-the-court lifestyle. Especially with Scottie Pippen out in the early months of the 1997-1998 season, Rodman took his work ethic to a new level to fill the hole left by the irate forward. This helped the Bulls break out of their early-season slump and mold them into the dominant team that would complete the second three-peat.

But the breakthrough of the team was not simply because of an influx of talent. The second of tonight’s episodes showed how the team, in large part because of Phil Jackson and his cooperation-oriented offense, went from almost breaking through to becoming the greatest dynasty in the history of the NBA. This is part of what makes Michael Jordan and the Bulls so enthralling, even today. They were able to dominate not through one player carrying them, but by sharing the ball and improving as a team rather than only as individuals.

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Rich Eberwein – Staff Writer

What “The Last Dance” does well is include interviews from dozens of different sources. We get to see player reflections about the rivalry between the Bulls and the Pistons instead of just what the press wrote about. Conversely, through the perspective of sportswriters who covered the team at the time, for example, the overall thoughts of fans and their view of the Bulls organization come with it. Everybody knows how successful the Bulls were in the 1990s, but what you rarely hear about is how the city of Chicago reacted to the acquisition of Dennis Rodman or the infamous reputation the Bulls had for choking prior to the late 1980s. All the bad gets understandably swept under the rug with six championships taking the forefront of memory. However, these viewpoints are great for people that didn’t live through the historic Bulls dynasty to further understand the bigger picture.

@ebs_rich

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