The Last Dance on ESPN

[BBallF]

It's great that so many fans of the game are getting a chance to see MJ again in this series. Especially for those who were too young at the time or simply had forgotten, it shows an incredible athlete who was also incredibly driven to succeed and who was simply the greatest basketball player to ever play the game.

 

[HuskylnSC]

GOAT - Bill Russell he even won more NCAA championships than Jordan. He had so much passion and drive to win that he knew it was time to retire when he stopped throwing up before every game.

 

[SimpleDawg]

MJ is definitely the goat in my eyes, but his reign was during the goat period for the NBA......1984-1998. Not saying that lessens his goat status, but I'm just arguing one reason he's the GOAT is because he played against and beat so many GOATs like Shaq, Isaiah, Magic, Drexler, Miller, Barkley, Malone, Ewing, etc.

The one GOAT I don't think he ever beat is Bird. I mean, yeah of course he won a few games against him, but he wasn't responsible for ending the Celtics dynasty. The Pistons did that of course. I'm just saying he would've been the last piece in his pawn collection.

 

[bballnut90]

I bet 20 years from now there's a similar series about Lebron's journey which has been incredible in it's own right (8 consecutive finals).

It's really fun to see how certain players have defined certain areas, each with his own strengths. From Russell/Wilt to Kareem, to Magic/Larry, to MJ, to Shaq/Kobe, and now the Lebron era.

 

[temery]

Please do not use all caps.

 

[meyers7]

GOAT - Bill Russell he even won more NCAA championships than Jordan. He had so much passion and drive to win that he knew it was time to retire when he stopped throwing up before every game.

Oh come on, he's not even the best at his position. SMH.

 

[Littlemin]

Oh come on, he's not even the best at his position. SMH.

No, just the greatest winner of all time. With apologies to Larry Bird, everyone else is just playing for second place.

 

[meyers7]

No, just the greatest winner of all time. With apologies to Larry Bird, everyone else is just playing for second place.

Won the most NBA titles anyway. Doesn't make one the GOAT though. Otherwise Sam Jones was the 2nd greatest player of all time.

 

[ucbart]

This is amazing! I loved Jordan and the Bulls. I was 13 in 1991, so those 7 years of his super-duper-fandom were my teenage years. I absolutely love this trip down memory lane. I get to be a kid again.

 

[Littlemin]

Won the most NBA titles anyway. Doesn't make one the GOAT though. Otherwise Sam Jones was the 2nd greatest player of all time.

Never said he was, I said he was the greatest winner of all time, period. Just my opinion, but trying to name the greatest player of all time is silly in any sport but even more so in a team sport. Ranking winners is easy because they keep score and award championships based on them. And for the record, 2nd actually would be KC Jones, who was a teammate of Russell’s in college and the pros.

 

[HuskylnSC]

Oh come on, he's not even the best at his position. SMH.

The best win championships. He who wins the most championships is the greatest. Who's a better post? Wilt, he had seasons of averaging 50 points a game and season of averaging 20 assists a game. Considered by Hank Stram to be the greatest athlete he ever saw. He couldn't beat Russell. Kareem? Kareem was a loser at Milwaukee until they added the most dominant guard in the league. Patrick, Hakeem. The best players win. Like 1969 when an aging Russell as player coach took the 4th place team to the his last championship. Bill Russell the greatest of all time. The equation is simple; If you beat me, you are greater than me.

 

[JellyBean]

Yeah this Last Dance was a much needed break. I never really cared for Jordan until his famous "Flu" game and then reading some of the books about him, especially the psychology side of Jordan, made me come around on Jordan and really appreciate his greatness. I mean that epic Boston playoff game where he dropped 63 points against the legendary Celtics and their roster of defensive & physical players; DJ, Ainge, Bird, Walton, McHale, And Parrish.

Also, this Last Dance gives us a glimpse of the competitive nature of Jordan. Everyone says they are competitive until they are placed in a situation where they must show how competitive they are when they are placed on the 2nd unit and that team is down 15-20 points. That is what Jordan would do on many chances. Just his level of confidence was a thing to witness and it has been great for some players to copy. This has been awesome to watch.

 

[meyers7]

Never said he was, I said he was the greatest winner of all time, period. Just my opinion, but trying to name the greatest player of all time is silly in any sport but even more so in a team sport. Ranking winners is easy because they keep score and award championships based on them. And for the record, 2nd actually would be KC Jones, who was a teammate of Russell’s in college and the pros.

You implied by your comment and included my post. (which was about GOAT)

And no Sam won 10 titles, KC only won 8. (For the record)

 

[meyers7]

The best win championships. He who wins the most championships is the greatest. Who's a better post? Wilt, he had seasons of averaging 50 points a game and season of averaging 20 assists a game. Considered by Hank Stram to be the greatest athlete he ever saw. He couldn't beat Russell. Kareem? Kareem was a loser at Milwaukee until they added the most dominant guard in the league. Patrick, Hakeem. The best players win. Like 1969 when an aging Russell as player coach took the 4th place team to the his last championship. Bill Russell the greatest of all time. The equation is simple; If you beat me, you are greater than me.

I'd put Wilt, Lou and Bill above him.

So you think Sam Jones is the second best of all time. Hmmmm.

 

[HuskylnSC]

I'd put Wilt, Lou and Bill above him.

So you think Sam Jones is the second best of all time. Hmmmm.

It's a good thing that my opinion counts more than your opinion

 

[BBallF]

Yeah this Last Dance was a much needed break. I never really cared for Jordan until his famous "Flu" game and then reading some of the books about him, especially the psychology side of Jordan, made me come around on Jordan and really appreciate his greatness. I mean that epic Boston playoff game where he dropped 63 points against the legendary Celtics and their roster of defensive & physical players; DJ, Ainge, Bird, Walton, McHale, And Parrish.

Also, this Last Dance gives us a glimpse of the competitive nature of Jordan. Everyone says they are competitive until they are placed in a situation where they must show how competitive they are when they are placed on the 2nd unit and that team is down 15-20 points. That is what Jordan would do on many chances. Just his level of confidence was a thing to witness and it has been great for some players to copy. This has been awesome to watch.

Yes it certainly has been. I also like the focus on other players and I was stunned to discover that Dennis Rodman was such a student of the game. Spending hours in the gym at a time understanding the likely path of rebounds from shots taken all over the court and watching film of the players he was going to cover was unexpected and explains why he was the rebounding champion 7 years in a row (1992-1998) and also Defensive POY 2 times and 7x All NBA Defensive First Team. As for MJ, the film from the 63 point game against one of the greatest teams ever, the 86 Celtics, says it all. It was only his second year in the league. I also love the Sue Bird quote about the game. The Bobby Knight quote was unbelievable too. Jordan was fresh out of NC where he left as a Junior and playing for Knight on the 1984 Olympic team. Even then, Knight recognized him as the greatest player he had ever seen. Jordan was only 21 years old. If you love basketball, you will love this show.

 

[Steelerone]

GOAT - Bill Russell he even won more NCAA championships than Jordan. He had so much passion and drive to win that he knew it was time to retire when he stopped throwing up before every game.

Thank you Husky. Thrre are great players in every generation but as the years past by those players are forgotten. As difficult as it may be for the followers of Jordan, James, and Kolbe to believe thirty of forty years from now, to that generation, they will be afterthoughts. If the criteria you are going to use is the number of championships then Bill Russell is, without question, the GOAT and the others are not even close. Jordan had one college Ncaa championship and neither James or Bryant had any. And none of them even came close to Russell when it came to NBA championships.

 

[meyers7]

Thank you Husky. Thrre are great players in every generation but as the years past by those players are forgotten. As difficult as it may be for the followers of Jordan, James, and Kolbe to believe thirty of forty years from now, to that generation, they will be afterthoughts. If the criteria you are going to use is the number of championships then Bill Russell is, without question, the GOAT and the others are not even close. Jordan had one college Ncaa championship and neither James or Bryant had any. And none of them even came close to Russell when it came to NBA championships.

Sam Jones did though. Only 1 less.

 

[HuskylnSC]

Sam Jones did though. Only 1 less.

Sam had no NCAA championships. KC Jones played with Russell in College. He also won 2 ncaa's and 8 NBA as a player, 1 has an assistant coach and 2 as a head coach.

 

[HopJim]

Yes it certainly has been. I also like the focus on other players and I was stunned to discover that Dennis Rodman was such a student of the game. Spending hours in the gym at a time understanding the likely path of rebounds from shots taken all over the court and watching film of the players he was going to cover was unexpected and explains why he was the rebounding champion 7 years in a row (1992-1998) and also Defensive POY 2 times and 7x All NBA Defensive First Team. As for MJ, the film from the 63 point game against one of the greatest teams ever, the 86 Celtics, says it all. It was only his second year in the league. I also love the Sue Bird quote about the game. The Bobby Knight quote was unbelievable too. Jordan was fresh out of NC where he left as a Junior and playing for Knight on the 1984 Olympic team. Even then, Knight recognized him as the greatest player he had ever seen. Jordan was only 21 years old. If you love basketball, you will love this show.

I wonder if the comments about Rodman being a student of the game were overstated. Lived in Detroit during Dennis' Piston days and my company received a sky box for providing equipment to the Pistons. We also were guaranteed a player to speak to our customers before every game. Typically the younger players showed up, Rodman in particular his first few years. I got to know him relatively well and at least during those days he relied totally on physical gifts and a relentless approach - no basketball strategy had entered his brain. With all the extra curricular stuff that surrounded him later in his career, would be unusual he would rely more on strategy, but who knows. I only knew him in the pre tattoo era (yes, when he entered league, no tattoos).

 

[Willie E.Gold]

Must have forgotten the Big O

 

[Littlemin]

You implied by your comment and included my post. (which was about GOAT)

And no Sam won 10 titles, KC only won 8. (For the record)

Well for the record, I said winner, not NBA winner. KC won two NCAA championships and an Olympic gold medal in addition to the 8 NBA championships. As for including your initial comment, your disparagement of Russell with the snarky “smh” at the end of your comment, like Russell shouldn’t even be in the conversation was the reason. Players had better stats but NO player beat him as was pointed out by another poster. W’s and L’s are the proof, the rest is bar talk.

 

[BBallF]

I wonder if the comments about Rodman being a student of the game were overstated. Lived in Detroit during Dennis' Piston days and my company received a sky box for providing equipment to the Pistons. We also were guaranteed a player to speak to our customers before every game. Typically the younger players showed up, Rodman in particular his first few years. I got to know him relatively well and at least during those days he relied totally on physical gifts and a relentless approach - no basketball strategy had entered his brain. With all the extra curricular stuff that surrounded him later in his career, would be unusual he would rely more on strategy, but who knows. I only knew him in the pre tattoo era (yes, when he entered league, no tattoos).

He could never have led the league 7 years in a row in rebounding at 6'7" with only athleticism and not without basketball acumen. Watch the show and especially Jordan's comments about him and then tell me if you think the comments were overstated. I was basically quoting from the show. Remember what Bill Russell said about getting most of his rebounds before the shot was even taken. It didn't just have to do with boxing out. It had also to do with probable ball trajectory, bounces, and angles. Hey, I was stunned also about him but it really does make sense.

 

[weyuo]

The GOAT in the NBA was of course "The Doctor", Julius Irving. There is no way that Jordan or the latest wannabe James could have stopped Dr. J from doing whatever he wanted to and.... unlike those two the Dr. actually played defense. How many blocked shots do Jordan or James have compared to the Dr? He averaged a block a game for his entire career. How many steals? My favorite of all time was Wilt"the Stilt" Chamberlain who I was able to see play in person against the Celtics in the early 70's. But the Dr, he was special. Probably had the longest "hang time" of anyone who ever played the game.

 

[j66kicker]

The GOAT in the NBA was of course "The Doctor", Julius Irving. There is no way that Jordan or the latest wannabe James could have stopped Dr. J from doing whatever he wanted to and.... unlike those two the Dr. actually played defense. How many blocked shots do Jordan or James have compared to the Dr? He averaged a block a game for his entire career. How many steals? My favorite of all time was Wilt"the Stilt" Chamberlain who I was able to see play in person against the Celtics in the early 70's. But the Dr, he was special. Probably had the longest "hang time" of anyone who ever played the game.

Loved Dr. J, but c’mon - really? Jordan was 1988 NBA Defensive POY, and was first team NBA All Defensive Team NINE (9) times. So saying he didn’t “actually play defense” is a little silly, don’t you think? Oh, and LeBron has been All Defensive first team FIVE times so far, and was 2009 Defensive POY.

To be fair, Dr. J did make the ABA All Defensive first team ONE year (1976), none in NBA.

Dr. J DID have unreal hang time, but so did Michael - so much so that Mars Blackmon (Spike Lee) famously attributed it to Michael achieving a low altitude earth orbit.