The Last Dance

The NBA ( National Basketball Association ) Championships, held in The United States every year is one of the most fiercely competitive events in the game and in sports in general across the world. The quality of basketball is of the highest standards and as much as the Championships are competitive so is the massive viewership attached with the event. The NBA has inspired a whole generation of young boys and girls and given them a strong sense purpose to pursue, and it would be fair to say, the NBA has achieved cult status.

Today’s story is related to NBA’s most prolific teams The Chicago Bulls and to the greatest basketball player of all times Michael Jordan. In  1996 and 1997 Chicago Bulls won the NBA Championships on the bounce after a two year lean period which had ended their consecutive winning streak from 1991-93. Michael Jordan had hit a rich vein of form and had been exceptional in the 1996 and 97 seasons and so  were his team mates Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Toni Kukoc and Steve Kerr under the highly regarded and influential coaching of Phil Jackson. However, the team was ageing and more importantly Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman were on their last legs.

The Management of Chicago Bulls was in the know of the state of the players and looking forward to the future of the Club, they decided to go in for wholesale changes starting with the Coach and some of the key players like Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman, though leaving Michael Jordan untouched for one more year. Was this a just reward for the team and the players who had brought great laurels for the club, was a debatable question. Michael Jordan sensing the changes confronted the management. He wanted the Team and Phil Jackson to stay.  He knew that the team still had the energy and the desire to keep competing at the highest levels and writing them off was a bit too early.

The Management of Chicago Bulls, after some initial resistance, accepted Michael’s argument and gave the team one more year, before the changes could be made. Phil Jackson was there at the helm and so were the players together for one last time. The team now wanted to win the NBA more than ever and make it 3 in a row and 6 overall. There was a rejuvenated sense of belief bordering on desperation. For Phil Jackson it was the last project he was undertaking for Chicago Bulls and this team, and he very appropriately named it “ The Last Dance “.

The season began and unfortunately Scottie Pippen nursing a foot injury from the previous season was unable to take part in the first half of the competition which led to a scratchy  start for the Bulls. However the moment he returned, the team started making headway and eventually reached the Finals. Michael Jordan was again sublime and led the scoring  charts. Chicago Bulls had got their act together. They were once again competing against Utah Jazz, a rematch of the previous season’s Finals. And as it was destined to happen, the Bulls beat Utah Jazz, yet again to claim a second hat-trick of NBA Titles, their 6th in 8 years.

The stadium was going bonkers, the scenes were insane as the Team and Phil Jackson got together in a tight embrace. It was unprecedented, the team had done it again and  proved everyone wrong.  The old warhorses still had the gallop to go all the way. The unrelenting hardwork and toil had paid off. The leadership displayed my Michael Jordan was exemplary. He held the team together and instilled in them some monumental  self belief. This was Chicago Bulls best run at the NBA, never to be repeated.

As was the agreement, the team was dismantled. Scottie Pippen was traded to Houston Rockets, Dennis Rodman went to LA Lakers, Kerr signed up with San Antonio Spurs, Phil Jackson resigned as coach and the great Michael Jordan announced his retirement, not before proving his point. The Chicago Bulls Dynasty was over for good. It was an era of players seldom seen together under one banner.

Michael Jordan’s impact on the game and on sports in general has been resounding. He has been unmatched both in his abilities as a player and as a leader. In Sep’21, ‘Sun’, the UK tabloid conducted a survey on the greatest sportsman of all times. Michael Jordan was crowned  no.1, beating Muhammad Ali, the legendary boxer to second place.

The Last Dance is an exceptional piece of sporting history, of self belief, of perseverance, of strength of character, of teamspirit, of comaraderie, of professionalism, of leadership and of Michael Jordan. The Last Dance is truly inspirational and gives me great heart and I am sure it would be similarly impactful to all of you.

I could not find a better subject to write my 100th blog on rizkhan.in. Today I have reached a milestone too…though my Last Dance is a fair distance away.

Ref : Watch ‘ The Last Dance ‘, a 10 Part Docu Series on Netflix.