'The Last Dance' Is an Outstanding Documentary Miniseries, but It Didn't Quite Deliver What Was Promised

With the current NBA season suspended due to the global pandemic, fans had been craving for NBA content. And those cravings had been somewhat satisfied by the early release of The Last Dance, the ten-part documentary miniseries about the Michael Jordan era Chicago Bulls, particularly during their final championship run (1997-1998 season), which coach Phil Jackson had dubbed their “the last dance” – hence, the title of this documentary.

It ran from mid-April to mid-May, with back-to-back episodes for five Sundays (Monday morning in my timezone).  It was one of the TV shows whose episodes I was excitedly looking forward to each week during quarantine.

While the title seems to suggest that it mainly focuses on that 1997-1998 Bulls season – the eponymous “last dance” – it actually encompasses the entirety of Michael Jordan’s time with the franchise.  The 97-98 season is merely used as a framing device for it.  As the progress of that “last dance” season is shown, it picks up a particular element or person that was relevant at that certain point, and it uses it or him as means to segue into exploring the past.  So, the documentary goes back and forth between the 97-98 season and the previous seasons, and tells the overall story of that legendary stretch for the Bulls franchise.  New interviews also provide supplementary insights.

It’s no denying that the whole thing is basically just a Michael Jordan puff piece.  After all, as what had been reported, he had “final cut” privileges.  Meaning, if something made it on screen, it only did because he approved it.  Thus, the story is mostly told through his perspective.  And that’s fine.  It’s still an opportunity to dive into MJ’s psyche – his drive for greatness, his obsessive competitiveness, what makes him tick, his ways of motivating himself, etc. – which is a genuinely fascinating subject.  Especially to a Kobe Bryant fan like me.

MJ is the player on which Kobe based his game – which includes the mindset.  Kobe’s “Mamba Mentality” has captured the masses’ imagination and has been a widespread source of inspiration, and it’s something that will forever be associated with his legacy.  But such mindset really originated from MJ.  Kobe only built upon it, and made it more relatable and romantic.  The Last Dance makes it a point to put emphasis on exploring MJ’s psychology, and in a way, show the younger generation that the “Mamba Mentality” – at least its crudest form – was originally his.

Moreover, The Last Dance is also special to a Kobe fan like me because it has delivered what is probably the very last Kobe interview we’ll ever see (episode 5 was dedicated to him).  Oh, how I wish we’ll get to see an uncut footage of this interview!

As a whole, The Last Dance is undoubtedly a very well-made documentary.  As far as storytelling is concerned, it’s quite compelling.  I really enjoyed it in general.

That being said, I was also disappointed that this wasn’t exclusively about the 1997-1998 Chicago Bulls, as I was led to believe.  The selling point of The Last Dance for me was the disclosure that, apparently, there was a film crew that followed the team all around during that final championship run, and that this documentary would supposedly show hours and hours’ worth of never-before-seen footage that were captured by that film crew.  I was expecting a very in-depth look into that season.  However, I don’t think it delivered that.  I have a feeling that Jordan blocked the release of much of the footage – where the juiciest reveals lie.

Thus, although I had fun with The Last Dance, I didn’t really learn something new.  Nothing blew my mind.  Whatever important details were revealed in the documentary, I’ve already had some knowledge of them as an NBA fan.  Nevertheless, again, as a documentary production, The Last Dance has proved to be an absolutely gripping watch.