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"Is this the end of the Bulls as we know them?"
Those are the closing words of the fourth episode of ESPN's The Last Dance, and they may seem like an overblown media reaction to a regular-season loss to the Utah Jazz. But they would prove prophetic. And they came in the wake of general manager Jerry Krause questioning the team's future, as well.
That and the drama surrounding Dennis Rodman and Scottie Pippen took center stage during Sunday's two episodes. There is also plenty about the Detroit Pistons' Bad Boy era. And, of course, Michael Jordan is found throughout.
It was another night of stellar documentary viewing, and we have you covered with the biggest takeaways from it.
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Toward the beginning of Episode 3, Dennis Rodman explained that it took him a few years in the league to realize defense and rebounding would be how he'd make his biggest impact.
He told a story about how he'd invite friends to the gym with him and tell them to "just shoot." He wouldn't just rebound for those friends. He studied the angles at which the ball came off the rim. He worked on his reaction times and the tip-it-to-himself rebounding style he eventually mastered.
He even started to explain how the shots of individual players like Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan would come off the hoop.
Rebounding was more than just going to get the ball for Rodman. It was an art form. And no one did it better.
During his time with the Bulls, Rodman averaged 15.3 rebounds per game. The second-highest average over those years was Charles Barkley's 12.1. His 25.3 rebounding percentage over that stretch is also the highest ever for a player in his age-34 to age-36 seasons.
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"If you hit somebody, do it on purpose."
That's what Rick Mahorn told John Salley about throwing elbows, and that's the kind of team the Detroit Pistons were in the late 1980s and early '90s.
They took that approach to another level when they played Jordan and the Bulls. Pistons assistant coach Brendan Malone explained the "Jordan Rules" as pretty simple things like pushing the Chicago star to the elbow, doubling him when he caught it in the post and other ho-hum tactics.
The players didn't do quite as much sugar-coating.
"You have to stop him before he takes flight," Salley said. "Because you know he's not human."
When they didn't, it was the job of Salley, Mahorn, Bill Laimbeer and the other bigs to literally knock him out of the air.
"Every time he go to the f--king basket, put him on the ground," Rodman said of the Jordan Rules. "We tried to physically hurt Michael."
The Pistons explained that they knew the league was invested in MJ's ascension to stardom, and they wanted to do everything they could to stall that. Of course, they did for a while.
This squad won back-to-back titles in 1989 and 199, and it became the final bugaboo Jordan had to overcome before winning his own championships.
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When Jerry Krause hired Doug Collins before the 1986-87 season, he instantly injected energy into the team. Jordan explained that Collins would look like he'd played in the game when the final buzzer sounded.
A postgame scene in the locker room showed Collins in his dress shirt, soaked through with sweat as if he'd been attacked by a kid with a Super Soaker.
That intensity was a good match for MJ, who, as North Carolina head coach Roy Williams said on the first night of the documentary, "never turned it off."
Jordan recalled one tactic Collins used to push him in practice. During scrimmages, he'd have Jordan play with the starters and build up a lead before switching him to the reserves and forcing a comeback attempt.
Of course, Jordan generally pulled that off.
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Most NBA fans, even those who came to the game long after Jordan, have at least seen his famous buzzer-beater over the Cleveland Cavaliers' Craig Ehlo.
The documentary provided some background to that iconic moment.
ESPN's Michael Wilbon explained that a journalist had written a story telling the Bulls they'd be going home ahead of the series-ending Game 5.
When he hit the buzzer-beater, Jordan pumped his fist and screamed at everyone else to get out.
"Someone had written us off," Jordan said. "Tell those guys to stay home. Whoever's not with us, all you f--kers go to hell."
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In a 2003 interview, Krause explained that he wanted nothing to do with Dennis Rodman, who averaged 17.1 rebounds and 5.6 points during a two-season stint with the San Antonio Spurs. His assistant general manager convinced him that the structure provided by Jordan, Scottie Pippen and head coach Phil Jackson would be enough to keep him in line.
"Like a hand in a glove," Pippen said of Rodman's fit on the team. He immediately became the toughness the team needed.
Gary Payton described him as the "the f--k-up person" a team could put on the floor to simply "f--k things up," and that's what he did for Chicago.
"Dennis gave us exactly what we needed," Steve Kerr said. "Someone who gave us that edge on the front line."
Beyond the rebounding, Rodman defended at a level that was about on par with Pippen's. The Athletic's David Aldridge said he was the best on-ball defender he'd ever seen. Having both of those players in the same lineup, not to mention the 1988 Defensive Player of the Year (Jordan), gave the Bulls nightmarish defensive ability.
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Throughout the 1997-98 season, Jordan was constantly peppered with questions from reporters regarding his future. He was making $33.1 million. It was the last year of his deal and his age-34 season.
One reporter told Jordan in a presser that he was "required" to ask him every chance he got whether he would retire. Every time, Jordan's answer remained the same: He didn't know.
"It's not just basketball we have to deal with on this team," Rodman said at the time. "It's the bulls--t."
Pippen's trade demand, his return, Jordan's future, Rodman's 48-hour vacation to Las Vegas—this team was loaded with drama, seemingly more so than any other championship team.
Somehow, it all coalesced into one of the best teams in league history. That's something everyone involved likely deserves a little credit for.
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Shortly after Pippen's return from injury and the trade demand, Rodman told Jackson that he needed a vacation. When Jackson took the idea of a 48-hour vacation to Jordan, the superstar warned that Rodman wouldn't come back.
Well after the 48-hour period passed, it became clear he wasn't coming back of his own volition.
"We had to go get his ass out of bed," Jordan said. "And I'm not gonna say what's in his bed."
Rodman's girlfriend at the time, Carmen Electra, explained that Jordan personally came to the hotel room to drag Rodman back to practice.
"It was definitely an occupational hazard to be Dennis Rodman's girlfriend," Electra said. "He was wild."
After Rodman had spent three-plus days away from the team, all of which were spent partying in Vegas, Jackson put the team through a conditioning drill. Jordan was frustrated since he didn't take any time off. He tried to sabotage the drill by having everyone slow to a jog, but it was Rodman who ran like he never missed a beat.
Jordan explained that Rodman simply had a different psyche than any of his other teammates. When it was time to go, he always went.
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Jackson may have seen some of himself in his power forward.
He played a rugged, defense-first style as a forward for the New York Knicks in the 1960s and 1970s, and he had his own wild streak.
"Phil describes taking acid and feeling like he was a lion," Charley Rosen said of Maverick: More than a Game, the book he co-wrote with Jackson. "Phil was like a hippy."
That eventually developed into the Zen approach he brought to the Bulls, for whom he led pre-practice barefoot yoga sessions. Some of his methods were unorthodox, but so was he.
And so was Rodman.
Their connection was a critical component of three titles.
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There was significant philosophical tension between Jackson, who wanted to run Tex Winter's triangle offense, and Collins. So much so that Krause eventually made a change.
"I wasn't a Phil Jackson fan," Jordan said of the hire. "He was coming to take the ball out of my hands. Doug put the ball in my hands."
Jackson had seen teams effectively game-plan around Chicago's Jordan-centric approach, and he thought the triangle would make the team more difficult to defend.
"I'm not worried about you, but we gotta find a way to make everyone better," Jordan recalled Jackson telling him. "We gotta have more threats."
One of the players who benefitted most from the shift was Pippen, who developed into the Hall of Fame point forward everyone remembers under Jackson.
"The triangle offense allowed me to be more what I wanted to be," Pippen said.
During his first two seasons, Pippen averaged 11.0 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists. Under Jackson, he averaged 19.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.0 blocks.
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After the Pistons ended their previous three playoff runs, the Bulls absolutely dismantled the Bad Boys in 1991.
Following a sweep in which Jordan and Pippen combined to average 51.8 points, 13.1 rebounds, 12.3 assists, 5.3 steals and 3.8 blocks, the Pistons walked off the floor without shaking hands. In the documentary, Jordan made it clear that their actions still bother him to this day.
"Whatever he says now, you know it's not the truth," Jordan said when asked if he wanted to see Isiah Thomas' current-day reaction.
The Bulls destroyed the Pistons, and they felt they'd earned their respect. Not getting it hurt, but clearly not enough to distract them from what they were heading toward.
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With the Pistons in the rearview, Jordan, Pippen and the Bulls had Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers up next in the NBA Finals.
Chicago lost Game 1, but the team rolled after that, winning the series 4-1. It was Jordan's first championship.
"All those emotions that you wrapped into it, you can just kind of let go," Jordan said of his reaction to winning the title.
Shortly after the win, MJ hugged the championship trophy and cried. Jud Buechler said he and the rest of the Bulls were "stunned" to see that emotional display.
Jordan had poured everything he had into the pursuit of a title. It all came flowing out when the goal was achieved.
Of course, he didn't rest after that. Episode 4 foreshadowed the sixth title just before the credits rolled.
"from" - Google News
April 27, 2020 at 11:01AM
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Top Takeaways from Night 2 of Chicago Bulls Documentary 'The Last Dance' - Bleacher Report
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