The 'Last Dance' fever: Poison pizza and Jordan's ‘Corona'
THERE are many takeaways from watching ten hours of “The Last Dance.” One hot take: We can’t take Michael Jordan at his word.
The mythos of Michael Jordan has all been fortified by this documentary. It was critiqued by renowned documentary maker Ken Burns citing that it was “not good journalism” and it was “in the opposite direction” of where we would want to be.
He had one glaring reason that should have been obvious for all of us: “The Last Dance” was christened by Phil Jackson, so it implies that it is about the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls season, but His Airness was heavily involved in the production. After ten full hours, we find out that it is actually about Michael Jordan himself.
Protecting the legend
Everyone keeps talking about the GOAT argument, and while Jordan keeps saying that he is secure about his legacy, and in an interview with veteran Chicago scribe Michael Wilbon, he is quoted: “If you ask me, I would never say that I am the greatest player. That’s because I never played against all the people that represented the league prior to Michael Jordan.”
Despite these pronouncements, “The Last Dance” producer Mike Tollin confided that His Airness gave the go-signal on the documentary after watching the victory parade that celebrated the Cleveland Cavaliers taking down the Golden State Warriors, overcoming a 3-1 deficit.
It is a curious coincidence that fits right in with what we saw of Jordan in probably the most-watched documentary in recent history.
Poison pizza?
Michael Jordan is the ultimate competitor — this is confirmed, to the point that he may no longer be completely honest. There were many instances that he alluded to incidents that motivated him — which actually never happened!
The incident where Jordan claimed that Washington Bullets’ rookie LaBradford Smith seemingly taunted him with a sardonic “Nice game, Mike” after hitting 37 points was denied by Smith himself, and this was eventually debunked.
It’s a great storyline, and there have been tales like this since Jordan’s high school years. There are always two sides to every story, and many times it has been Jordan vs. whoever else was involved.
The story behind the “Flu Game” was probably the most bizarre. You don’t need to binge watch CSI or Mindhunter to see the absurdity of five guys delivering a “poisoned pizza” and Jordan eating all of it.
Too many holes: Security personnel said it seemed wrong — why didn’t they do anything considering Jordan was very chummy with his security crew. Why did they not file any charges if the pizza was really poisoned? For someone as important as Michael Jordan, for it to affect an event that we’re talking about 23 years later, it’s puzzling how they just let it pass.
Jordan's 'Corona'
Jordan was the best at building at his brand, and he was way ahead of his time. We have to credit Deloris Jordan for the Nikes we wear and drool over today, but it’s Jordan and his commitment to building his legend, on and off the court, even way after his retirement, that has etched “Air Jordan” to greatness.
Being the Greatest of All Time is not just achieved on the basketball court — it is a lifelong commitment. This is Jordan’s personal creed, and he will protect it at all costs. Jordan had a different “Corona” virus—a need to always be at the top, an affliction to be crowned the greatest ever.
Saving sports and music
Sports is still on hold, but thankfully, music can carry on. Some of our top musicians have come out to lend a hand in their own creative ways.
“Musikaramay” is exactly what it sounds like — a fund-raising effort for the musicians and roadies disenfranchised by the cancellation of events. Visit the Musikaramay Facebook page for upcoming live performances from Paolo Santos Trio, South Border, Joey G, Nina. Juris, BRWN and others. (hat tip to Stanley Seludo of BRWN)
Once sports is greenlit, there will likely be charity games for the sports staff as well, the anonymous men and women who made us enjoy our NBA and PBA games.