Documentary-worthy teams of ’90s
The absence of sports caused by the COVID-19 pandemic played the largest part in “The Last Dance” transcending television to become a ratings smash for ESPN, if not an outright national phenomenon.
Another factor was the show’s ability, over the course of 10 episodes, to tap into a powerful sense of nostalgia for viewers who witnessed Michael Jordan’s dominance during the 1990s.
Even for those who came of age after the end of the Chicago Bulls’ dynasty, the series kindled offshoots of debate over how that decade’s best compares with the NBA’S biggest stars of the present.
As it turns out, the 1990s are ripe for the documentary treatment. It made us wonder: What other teams from the decade, across all sports, are worthy of being dissected across multiple hours of programming? Here are a few worthy of a trip down memory lane.
The whole decade is ripe for the picking. The construction of the dynasty. The fallout between Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones. The Super Bowl under Barry Switzer. Limping into the 2000s under Chan Gailey.
With Johnson, Jones and Switzer joined by a parade of high-profile names ready to provide commentary – Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Deion Sanders and more – this might match “The Last Dance” for meme-ready moments and soundbites.
1990s Atlanta Braves
The Braves were the epitome of consistency from 1991 through the end of the decade, which makes for an interesting if not entirely engrossing topic for an extended documentary series.
The juice would come from the decade’s failures, relatively speaking: Atlanta won just a single World Series, in 1995, out of five trips during the 1990s.
1990-92 Duke basketball
Former Duke star Christian Laettner has already been the subject of his own “30 for 30” documentary – the wonderfully named “I Hate Christian Laettner” – but the story of the Blue Devils’ first two championship teams under Mike Krzyzewski could devote an entire episode just to the famous overtime win against Kentucky in the 1992 East Regional.
These were the defining college basketball teams of the decade, the back-toback champions left a legacy that still resonates 30 years later.
1995 Nebraska football
Nebraska’s national championship wasn’t without controversy, namely in the midseason suspension and return of star running back Lawrence Phillips.
That story line and others would add drama and intrigue to the tale of the most dominant team in the past halfcentury or more of college football, one that outscored opponents by an average of nearly 39 points per game in winning its second title in a row.
1996-99 Los Angeles Lakers
Picking up where “Last Dance” left off, the late Kobe Bryant would be the centerpiece of a documentary that could detail his humbling transition to the NBA and development into stardom alongside teammate Shaquille O’neal.
As the accompanying piece to the documentary focusing on the Jordan dynasty, this series would close with Bryant and O’neal ending the 1990s and ushering in the 2000s with a championship under former Bulls coach Phil Jackson.