The Last Dance

[Alsacs]

Perk may want to buy some history books from the 60's and even 70's.

Curt Flood literally gave up his career for players that came after him to have the ability for free agency.
Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, Bill Russell, Elgin Baylor actually dealt with real segregation and racism.

LeBron wouldn’t speak up when China put their foot on the NBA over Daryl Morey and Hong Kong. He lambasted Morey for opening his mouth.
LeBron has done good work in Akron but he isn’t close to what Perk said.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Kendrick Perkins is a clown

 

[Arangeman]

im watching, but this is 1 big love letter from espn to jordan.

good lord...

did the brass at ESPN lose ESPN to jordan...and this is how theyre paying him back??

Couldn’t agree more. Enjoyed the Dream Team stuff but this is a 20 hour MJ bj. Yawn.

 

[Alsacs]

Do Knicks fans remember this?

Do you remember when Michael Jordan ‘almost' joined the New York Knicks?

The Bulls dynasty of the 1990s came to an end ahead of the 1998-99 season. After winning a whopping six NBA Championships in the decade, Michael Jordan retired, Scottie Pippen was traded to the Houston Rockets and Phil Jackson stepped away from basketball altogether. But what if I told you the...

www.nbcsports.com

 

[Knicks411]

Do Knicks fans remember this?

Do you remember when Michael Jordan ‘almost' joined the New York Knicks?

The Bulls dynasty of the 1990s came to an end ahead of the 1998-99 season. After winning a whopping six NBA Championships in the decade, Michael Jordan retired, Scottie Pippen was traded to the Houston Rockets and Phil Jackson stepped away from basketball altogether. But what if I told you the...

www.nbcsports.com

Kind of? It's vaguely ringing a bell.

In all honesty, I can't imagine it actually happening. Seems like a leverage move to get the Bulls to offer him more money? Which is exactly what ended up happening. I'm not sure exactly how the cap was working back then, but how would the Knicks even have had the cap space?

Was also thinking- When you're a kid (like I was in 1996) you could read these rumors that had no chance of happening either cause the cap mechanics made it impossible, or just something that was obviously floated as a BS rumor by an agent or a team to get some additional leverage, but you're 12, so you have no idea and think they are actually a thing that could happen

 

[upperdeck]

Didnt they say that Jordan for a majority of his career avg 3mill a yr.. Scotty was making 2 and complaining. He probably was a bit over paid at the beggining and underpaid at the end

 

[Cusefan0307]

Kind of? It's vaguely ringing a bell.

In all honesty, I can't imagine it actually happening. Seems like a leverage move to get the Bulls to offer him more money? Which is exactly what ended up happening. I'm not sure exactly how the cap was working back then, but how would the Knicks even have had the cap space?

Was also thinking- When you're a kid (like I was in 1996) you could read these rumors that had no chance of happening either cause the cap mechanics made it impossible, or just something that was obviously floated as a BS rumor by an agent or a team to get some additional leverage, but you're 12, so you have no idea and think they are actually a thing that could happen

I remember it, but I never got that excited as it seemed like one of the first true H0T Takes. Jordan signed for like 33 million and the Knicks grabbed Allan Houston.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

This documentary has not at all curbed the conspiracy theory that Jordan was stealth suspended for 2 years due to gambling imo.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Didnt they say that Jordan for a majority of his career avg 3mill a yr.. Scotty was making 2 and complaining. He probably was a bit over paid at the beggining and underpaid at the end

Jordan made 28 and 33 million his last 2 years. He was making about 4 million and Pippen 3 as late as 96.

 

[upperdeck]

MJ got money late but not early.. Pippen really had no complaint on what he made vs MJ..

 

[KaiserUEO]

Do Knicks fans remember this?

Do you remember when Michael Jordan ‘almost' joined the New York Knicks?

The Bulls dynasty of the 1990s came to an end ahead of the 1998-99 season. After winning a whopping six NBA Championships in the decade, Michael Jordan retired, Scottie Pippen was traded to the Houston Rockets and Phil Jackson stepped away from basketball altogether. But what if I told you the...

www.nbcsports.com

If I recall correctly, it wasn’t ever discussed.

that was the summer of Jeter’s rookie year and as a mid 20year old with a beach house & tons of hot drunk girls abound, the plight of the Knicks after they ripped my heart out again wasn’t a priority. There was no buzz, just after it was over, there was an article in the Post about how he leveraged the Knicks to get his deal.

Nobody thought he was coming and when it was over, people just dismissed that there was a chance. I kinda remember Mike & Dog just hanging up on people who wanted to discuss it...”oh please! people listen, there’s nothing to discuss, he’s a Bull and was never coming here, goodbye.”

 

[Cusefan0307]

MJ got money late but not early.. Pippen really had no complaint on what he made vs MJ..

That's when all the issues started to happen. Nobody disagreed about the beginning of that contract. It was around that time when there were mentions of him getting traded after they had signed Jordan to that huge salary and they gave Rodman a huge contract. There was also the fact he was paid less than Kukoc, Harper and Longley. He was the 2nd best player on the team.

 

[MSOrange]

Barkley doesn't see longtime rift with MJ ending

Charles Barkley, who criticized the way Michael Jordan ran the then Charlotte Bobcats eight years ago, doesn't see the rift with his old friend ending.

www.espn.com

 

[Knicks411]

I remember it, but I never got that excited as it seemed like one of the first true H0T Takes. Jordan signed for like 33 million and the Knicks grabbed Allan Houston.

You're right, I misread the story, thought it was saying this was prior to the 95-96 season, not after. Thats when they signed Houston, Childs, and LJ (LJ may have been a trade). That at least makes more sense capwise.

Obviously, the last few years have taught us never say never, but the idea Jordan would leave a 72 win team that just won a title to play for a good, but by no means great, Knick team. Especially with all the talk a year and a half later that he would only play for Phil.

 

[Cusefan0307]

You're right, I misread the story, thought it was saying this was prior to the 95-96 season, not after. Thats when they signed Houston, Childs, and LJ (LJ may have been a trade). That at least makes more sense capwise.

Obviously, the last few years have taught us never say never, but the idea Jordan would leave a 72 win team that just won a title to play for a good, but by no means great, Knick team. Especially with all the talk a year and a half later that he would only play for Phil.

The traded Anthony Mason for LJ. I think Falk no doubt used the Knicks to create leverage as MJ loved playing in the Garden.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Curt Flood literally gave up his career for players that came after him to have the ability for free agency.
Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, Bill Russell, Elgin Baylor actually dealt with real segregation and racism.

LeBron wouldn’t speak up when China put their foot on the NBA over Daryl Morey and Hong Kong. He lambasted Morey for opening his mouth.
LeBron has done good work in Akron but he isn’t close to what Perk said.

David Robinson started 20 schools and served in the Navy. I believe Mark Jones from ESPN called that out on twitter yesterday.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[Cusefan0307]

This is a good article on how much Pippen was underpaid with a table of the most underpaid players of the 90's.

Scottie Pippen Was The GOAT Of NBA Sidekicks

Pippen was the rare player who was nearly as good as Jordan.

fivethirtyeight.com

Pippen was one of the NBA’s most underpaid players

Largest negative differentials between actual and “fair” salaries (based on wins above replacement), 1992-98 seasons

WINS ABOVE REPLACEMENTSALARY ($M)PLAYERREG. SEA.PLAYOFFSTOTALACTUALFAIR*DIFF

John Stockton	110.3	19.0	129.3	23.1	75.5	-52.4
Scottie Pippen	96.4	23.7	120.0	19.4	71.4	-51.9
Mookie Blaylock	85.7	7.3	93.0	13.3	58.6	-45.3
Karl Malone	92.8	15.8	108.6	25.3	67.3	-42.0
Jeff Hornacek	66.0	11.1	77.0	15.9	47.8	-31.9
Tim Hardaway	63.9	4.1	68.1	16.1	44.6	-28.6
Gary Payton	80.5	10.4	90.9	32.5	60.0	-27.5
Hersey Hawkins	58.5	6.7	65.1	16.3	41.8	-25.5
Eddie Jones	36.4	4.4	40.8	6.7	31.6	-24.9
Charles Barkley	72.8	13.3	86.2	24.6	49.3	-24.7
Rod Strickland	57.2	3.0	60.2	13.8	37.5	-23.6
Clyde Drexler	67.7	15.0	82.7	26.7	48.9	-22.2
Terrell Brandon	41.0	0.1	41.1	7.0	28.9	-21.9
John Starks	45.2	10.8	56.0	12.1	33.7	-21.6
Dan Majerle	53.9	8.4	62.3	15.5	35.1	-19.6

 

[Knicks411]

Can't say I expected to see Mookie Blaylock's name anywhere when I woke up today.

 

[KaiserUEO]

Can't say I expected to see Mookie Blaylock's name anywhere when I woke up today.

Pearl Jam KNEW IT!!!

 

[Fireball Jr.]

Hahaha!

 

[OrangeDW]

Word.

lol. Good stuff.

And on that note, I think MJ has far and away the greatest commercials for an athlete. I’d watch a whole episode just on his commercials. He’s got the “off the ____, nothing but net” McDonalds one with Bird. He’s got “Be Like Mike” with Gatorade. He had the Spike Lee ones for years with Nike. He had some late career and post career classics for his shoes - “Frozen Moment”, the one with “Overjoyed” playing, etc. Commercial GOAT.

 

[upperdeck]

Imagine if our facilities people were creating those.. Not a Fan

 

[OrangeDW]

The original Dream Team lineup debate...

 

[donniesyracuse]

Michael Jordan Is the Antihero of Our Times
We can admire Jordan’s skill, but especially now we must reject his flawed approach to life.

Six episodes down, four to go. Over halfway through ESPN’s 10-part documentary, The Last Dance, it is safe to say that we know what we are getting. Entertaining as it is, it’s less a documentary about the 1990s Chicago Bulls than it is an exercise in brand management for current NBA franchise owner Michael Jordan.