THE GOAT

Examining what made 'The Last Dance' so fantastic

Examining what made 'The Last Dance' so fantastic
Photo by Alexander Hassenstein / Staff/ Getty Images.

Since 'The Last Dance' has come to an end, what were the most memorable moments? Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, and Phil Jackson gave us some laughs, intense moments, and sad situations. But what really stood out?

As the documentary started, it gave a great storyline of Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, and Phil Jackson in the first four episodes. This allowed people to see their storylines of their childhood and uprising of each individual.

Jordan was the start of the organization because of his star ability from North Carolina. People always wondered what Jordan was like behind the camera. Over the years there were stories that Jordan was not too fond of people off the court. 'The Last Dance' showed people that Jordan was entertaining, electric, and very comedic off the court. Jordan even battled different challenges of losing his father and retiring from basketball because of the media. Jordan played professional baseball for 14 months before returning to basketball.

But on a serious note, Jordan played the game of basketball on a high level. Episodes four through eight emphasized Jordan's competitiveness and how he challenged his teammates. He was extremely hard on his teammates, but each of them accepted his challenge to win championships. Michael just wanted to see his teammates to succeed.

Last Dance has shown that Jordan was a true successor on the court because of his hard work. He was looked at as a superhero off the court by fans and was big around the world. We cannot be too quick to make LeBron James the goat of basketball.

Scottie Pippen came from a small country town in Arkansas. It was incredible that he grew five inches in the summer and another two into the season. He worked extremely hard for a scholarship at Central Arkansas. As he improved, scouts started to notice his talent. Pippen was then drafted fifth by the Seattle Super Sonics. Then the Bulls had made a trade for Pippen, to give Jordan some help.

When Phil Jackson took over the head coaching position for the Bulls, he implemented the triangle offense. That offense caused Pippen to shine more in the NBA. Over Pippens early years with the Bulls, he was in the shadow of Jordan. Phil Jackson's offense allowed everybody to touch the ball equally. As the offense grew on Pippen, it allowed him to make All-Star games and be a great number two option for the Bulls. Pippen was a great two-way player as well. He was the main reason they were able to beat the Pistons and Lakers in 1991.

On a sad note, Pippen was underpaid for a great player. As a rookie, he signed a contract for seven years and 18 million dollars. Pippen signed a bad deal he could not get out of. It caused tension in the last season with the Bulls. Pippen and Krause got into multiple arguments because of the contract.

Rodman was a rebounding force. He brought his ferocious efforts from the Detroit Pistons. Rodman gave Jordan a tough time on defense when he played for the Pistons. Rodman was so talented that he could guard all spots on defense when asked. His hustling skills were unbelievable. Rodman was the toughest player on the court and forced his tenacious will on other players. He even shared his strategy on rebounding the basketball.

Now Rodman did come from a rough background growing up as a kid in Dallas, Texas. His mom kicked him out the house by age of 18. Rodman was homeless and staying with different friends while growing up. While he was homeless, it never stopped him from going to gym and playing basketball. As he kept playing basketball, a coach from Southeastern Oklahoma State started to recognize his talent on the court. Rodman later earned a scholarship at the university to play basketball.

One could argue that Rodman created load management as he took a trip to Las Vegas during the season. He was gone for 48 hours, so he could refocus. Rodman in general was just entertaining on and off the court. He was well known for the different outfits he would wear and his random hair dye.

When Doug Collins was fired surprisingly, the Bulls had to move Phil Jackson from assistant coach to head coach. He brought in the triangle offense that he learned from Tex Winter. Jackson had seen equal opportunity throughout the entire team. He did not want Jordan scoring 37 or 38 points per game. Jackson knew the Bulls could not win that way. Even though they went to the Eastern Conference Finals back-to-back years. Jackson knew that Jordan needed to trust his teammates when it came to beating Detroit. When Jordan believed in the offense, they were able to win championships.

Before Jackson started coaching, he played his college basketball at North Dakota University and for the New York Knickerbockers. He won two championships in 1970 and 1973. Jackson started coaching for Isabela as a head coach in 1984. Then he won a championship with the Albany Patroons in 1984 as a head coach. Krause later brought Jackson to the Bulls to be the assistant coach.

Fun fact about Jackson is that he has 14 championships on his resume.

As I go through the most memorable moments of 'The Last Dance,' it saddens me that the docuseries is over. It reminds us not to forget Jordan's greatness, that Pippen is the best version of Robin to Batman, and Rodman was incredible on the boards. Also, it reminds us that the 1995-1996 Bulls team is the best of all-time.

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Amen Thompson looks like the real deal. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

Thursday night's one point loss at Memphis aside, what a run the Houston Rockets have been enjoying. Within a two week stretch the Rockets beat the last two NBA Champions (winning on the road in Denver and Boston), and twice beat the Cleveland Cavaliers who have the best record in the league this season and against all other teams are 39-7. Yes, the Nuggets were without Nikola Jokic in their loss to the Rockets but don’t nitpick. Entering February with a 32-15 record exceeds even optimistic preseason hopes. The preseason betting line for the Rockets' season win total was 43, give or take a game. They are on pace to win 55.

In the 2022-23 season the Rockets completed a three-year run as an on-court laughingstock with a 22-60 record. That tied for the second worst record in the NBA, following seasons of 20-62 and 17-55 which each were the worst record in the league. It was an embarrassing stretch for a proud franchise. The Rockets had just three losing seasons total in the 36 seasons prior to their recent three years in the toilet. Following the ‘22-’23 slog, the Rockets’ cross their fingers really hard hope was to win the draft lottery where the unquestioned grand prize was Victor Wembanyama. Alas, the Rockets drew only the fourth pick on lottery night. Wemby” hasn’t disappointed the San Antonio Spurs at all, and in this his second season he stands a strong chance of winning the Defensive Player of the Year Award.Prevailing sentiment had point guard “Scoot” Henderson as the second-best prospect in the ‘23 draft. The Charlotte Hornets took forward Brandon Miller at number two because they already had LaMelo Ball at point guard. The Portland Trail Blazers then took Henderson at three. Would the Rockets have taken him at number two or three? We don’t know with certainty. Other than for laughs they have no reason to admit they'd have selected "Scoot," any more than Nick Caserio would have to admit the Texans’ would have drafted Bryce Young over C.J. Stroud if they had picked first not second in the 2023 NFL draft. What we do know is the Rockets picked Amen Thompson fourth. Amen to that.

Thompson individually best mirrors the Rockets’ rapid rise from mediocre last season (41-41) to legitimate contender. Thompson was the fourth pick in his draft class, after the Rockets took Jabari Smith third the year before, with Jalen Green the second overall pick the year before that. It was Smith’s broken hand in early January that spurred head coach Ime Udoka to insert Thompson into the starting lineup. I’m guessing neither Thompson nor Smith know the story of Wally Pipp (or perhaps Lou Gehrig either), but how can Udoka put Smith back in the starting lineup? The race is on for which in hindsight will be general manager Rafael Stone’s greater move, taking Thompson at four or swinging the post-draft trade that netted 2021 number 16 selection Alperen Sengun. Sengun Thursday night was named an All-Star game reserve for the first time. One can envision Thompson joining Sengun on an All-Star squad as soon as next season. Credit to Jalen Green for some improvement this season, but the idea that he has made a huge leap and should have made the All-Star game is silly. Green has stretches where hot shooting combines with his explosiveness to make him look like a star, but that is not his body of work. Green’s shooting percentages remain below average from the floor overall and from behind the three-point line.

The Rockets are second in the Western Conference while getting essentially nothing from the third pick in last June’s draft, guard Reed Sheppard. He’s just 20 years old and there is no reason for a pure shooter to lose that skill before he can legally buy a beer, so bust talk is way premature. But Sheppard looked like a poor man’s Bryce Drew (that’s not a compliment) in his early season opportunities, overmatched physically with the game way too fast for him.

When you draft in the top four for four consecutive years, you’re supposed to assemble some stout talent. In consecutive drafts the Seattle Supersonics/Oklahoma City Thunder picked Kevin Durant (at number two), Russell Westbrook (at number four), and James Harden (at number three). Success is no given however even with a raft of high lottery picks. The Minnesota Timberwolves in successive drafts selected third, fifth and sixth the same year, fourth, and second. Their “haul” was O.J. Mayo, Ricky Rubio/Jonny Flynn, Wesley Johnson, and Derrick Williams. Yikes.

The current iteration of the Thunder is obviously the best team in the Western Conference, but until OKC breaks through and wins a conference title, it’s not unreasonable to think OKC can be had in a best-of-seven. That the Rockets make the list of teams who wouldn’t require a miracle to topple the Thunder is a phenomenal development.

Still counting down to the start of spring training, but we have taken no offseason from discussing the Astros. Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for a New Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!


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