But Rockets been to the finals before in the 80s against the Celts. That 93-94/94-95 lineup was no joke. They gonna shoot 3's like a mofo.
As a very early 90’s baby, it’s really fascinating to see the personality of Jordan, Pippen and especially Rodman in this documentary. Rodman really fascinates me. I never imagined he was this much of a drama queen/diva. It’s crazy how the Rodman project worked for the Bulls. Another thing that strikes out to me is just imagine if these guys had the technology and the medicine that players have now. I think a lot of players, most notably Jordan and Pippen and Rodman would have been on a whole different level. Just imagining Jordan having the resources players have today in terms of post game recovery and medicine and workouts and just anything you name it, I feel like he could have won even more championships. That can also be said about other players as well, but let’s not kid ourselves, one thing is for sure that Jordan’s mindset and dedication to the game is unlike many others back in the day. I wish I was old enough to watch Jordan and appreciate his greatness and also Hakeem too. This documentary has been so eye opening. I don’t even like the Bulls but the game of basketball itself is so beautiful to me I am thankful I am able to play on a daily basis and watch it whenever I can too. This documentary seriously got me with tears sometimes. Seriously y’all, this game is so beautiful. Life is so short, if you wanna play, go play. If you wanna tell someone you love them, go do it ASAP. You wanna be tiktok famous? Well start posting daily. Your dreams can only come true if you put in the work. Don’t let the beautiful situation of opportunity and time make you do otherwise... because if it is your last dance, you better make it count.
Horace likely didn't need that but Pippen sure did pine for that enforcer on the court, pushing his game. Guy was sensitive. A bad boy that could control himself and others, that is what most contenders wanted. The Bulls had that in spades. Nobody would have wanted an ahole that wasn't capable of bringing in a title.
https://freebeacon.com/columns/the-end-of-history-and-the-last-dance/ The Last Dance offers a double escapism. Not only does it allow the audience to spend two hours a week thinking about something other than coronavirus. The film is also a time capsule, chockfull of highlights and characters from a previous historical epoch. Every so often one is reminded, subtly and unintentionally, that Jordan's rise to glory took place against the backdrop of the self-demolition of America's preeminent adversary, the marshaling of American military and diplomatic strength in Operation Desert Storm, and the tech boom. Jordan becomes both the exemplar and symbol of American achievement. His past glories coincided with national ones. Indeed, in the case of the "Dream Team" at the 1992 summer Olympics, they were one and the same. This exercise in nostalgia transports the viewer back to the "unipolar moment" when, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, there existed "a single pole of world power that consists of the United States at the apex of the industrial West." So wrote Charles Krauthammer in late 1990, developing Francis Fukuyama's argument from the year before that the world had arrived at "the end of History," with the victory of the liberal democratic model of governance over its ideological competitors. The end of History was short-lived. After 9/11, Krauthammer took to calling the 1990s not an end but a "holiday from history." What a pleasant holiday it was. And how large a part Michael Jordan played in it. I can't be the only child of the Reagan years for whom memories of Stormin' Norman Schwarzkopf, Bill Clinton and Gennifer Flowers, and H. Ross Perot are intermixed with recollections of Bulls Starter Jackets, pairs of Air Jordan sneakers, All-Star Weekend, and NBA Inside Stuff with Ahmad Rashad on Saturday mornings. To watch The Last Dance is to revisit America before the fall of the World Trade Center, before Afghanistan and Iraq, before the global financial crisis, Syria, Ukraine, and the rise of China. It was a stronger, more self-confident place. And a naïve and superficial one. This historical reflection is not meant to diminish the star of the show. Jordan is as beguiling and charming today as he was back then. His cigar stand and magically refilling whiskey glass at his side during the recent interviews, he offers a reassuring presence during a global emergency. And the archival footage remains jaw-dropping. His athleticism and performance under pressure is thrilling. He really did fly. What comes across most is Jordan's drive and willpower. Jonathan V. Last put it well in an essay on the star in the January 25, 1999, issue of The Weekly Standard. "The secret of Michael Jordan's greatness—of all competitive greatness—is not merely, as we now instruct our children, to do your best," Last wrote. "It is to make your best superior to everyone else's. You must cultivate your own talent, yes; but you must also search out and exploit the weaknesses of your opponent. Somebody must lose so you can win."
They should make a documentary on the drug issues in the NBA in the 80s and the Rockets would be a big part of it
Yep. The NBA is all about matchups. Rockets were a bad matchup for the Bulls. If Jordan weren't such an egotistical asshat, he'd admit that. Doesn't mean Rockets would have surely won...but NO ONE can say they'd have surely lost. Especially when they won every game with them the previous three years. Bulls had no answer for Hakeem, and Max guarded Jordan as well as anyone. And those Bulls fans discount how good Hakeem really was at his peak. You could argue he was a better all around player than Jordan (fewer points, similar assist and steals, more rebounds and blocks). It would at the very least have been a great series.
From when Grantland was legit https://grantland.com/features/an-oral-history-hakeem-olajuwon-ralph-sampson-1980s-houston-rockets/
Can you imagine if Jordan and Dream succumbed to the drug pressure in the 80s, the nba might be dead right now
Yeah, but like with social drinkers and smokers, there might be a limit, teams had to limit parties though.
This is has to be the GOAT sports doc. I will forever hate the j*zz for ruining fate. Even if the Rockets went on to lose to the Bulls in the Finals, i wish we were associated with this part of sports history. To have the Rockets tied to MJ/Bulls while having won b2b while he was retired would have risen our league wide prestige.