Ex-Laker has inside scoop on Jordan film
Of course, Mychal Thompson has spent his free time watching television. The former Showtime Laker and current radio color analyst did a lot of TV viewing even before he was stuck at home because of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
But Thompson is not just watching anything these days.
For one, Thompson said he has mostly avoided watching old NBA games because he prefers the live ones.
But Thompson has tuned into ESPN for “The Last Dance,” a 10-part documentary that highlights the Chicago Bulls’ 1997-98 season.
The reasons go beyond wanting to see Michael Jordan. Thompson’s brother, Andy, is the vice president of content production for NBA Entertainment. He persuaded the Bulls, including Jordan, to let him have behind-the-scenes access.
Mychal Thompson spoke to USA TODAY Sports about what he thinks of his brother’s work, what documentaries about the Showtime Lakers and the Golden State Warriors would look like, as well as memories surrounding Kobe Bryant’s tragedy.
Q: How did your pull all of this off?
Thompson: He developed a friendship and camaraderie with Michael Jordan during the ’92 Olympic Games. They kept it up through the course of the years. He was introduced to Michael by Ahmad Rashad and he had that NBA connection with me. That opened up the doors for Michael. He was following Michael and his career after that.
Then when the Bulls knew it was going to be their last year, Andy came up with the idea to follow these guys around for the whole season and document “the Last Dance” they had together. It was a brilliant idea. Like I’ve told Andy, “It’s too bad you haven’t done this with every legendary team.”
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Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe should’ve had a year together when they fought and were breaking up. They should’ve done something on the Warriors last year and a couple years ago when Kevin Durant joined the Warriors. You have LeBron and Antony Davis with the Lakers.
Q: What do you think he could’ve captured had he done something with the Showtime Lakers?
Thompson: drama on and off the court. Everything was organized. Everyone understood the pecking order with Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, Michael Cooper, Byron Scott and the rest of us. There was no drama. Magic ran a tight ship. So did Pat Riley. We were kind of boring guys. We didn’t do anything crazy off the court. We just went to movies. Nobody was ever late. If they did a documentary on the Showtime Lakers off the court, people would’ve said, ‘What’s the big deal? These guys are ordinary guys.’ ”
Q: I talked to Warriors coexecutive chairman Peter Guber the other day and asked if he ever considered having Andy and an embedded camera crew for a Warriors documentary. He said the Warriors decided not to have that setup so they wouldn’t disrupt team dynamics and respect everyone’s privacy. What do you think of those concerns?
Thompson: That was a missed opportunity. That was such a special and historic team. They should’ve definitely documented the two years that KD was there, or just the last year. They were one of the greatest ever assembled.
They would’ve shown all the divergent personalities on the team and all those stars they had. Everybody was so different. Draymond (Green) was so colorful. Steph (Curry) is the family man. Klay is the quiet one. KD is the very introspective