The Last Dance (2020): Season 1, Episode 1 - Episode #1.1 - full transcript

Thank you.

To all the fans in the city of Chicago,

if you guys remember in 1984
when they drafted Michael Jordan...

I said then, when I got here,

that we would be champions
by the time I leave.

- Here they are.
- This is what you're looking for.

Well, we are five-time champions,
going for six,

and we need your support.
Thank you very, very much.

You have any sense of destiny,
you know, why is all this meant for you,

and what's down the road,
or are you just taking it a day at a time?

I just want the franchise and
Chicago Bulls to be respected as a team...



like the Lakers or Philadelphia 76ers
or the Boston Celtics.

It's very hard for something like that
to happen, but it's not impossible.

But hopefully, I, and this team

and this whole organization
can build a program like that.

Michael Jordan...
with 30 points.

And the Chicago Bulls have won
their first-ever NBA championship.

There's Jordan for three!

They have done it again!

Now, Pippen gets a snatch.

There's Paxson for three! Yes!

For three straight NBA championships.

Debate will now rage about
whether they are the best team ever.

They're not just great athletes. They're
a fascinating assortment of personalities.

The most famous man on the planet is here!



My name is Michael Jordan.
I played with the Bulls from '84 to '98.

Took an 18-month vacation, hiatus.

So I would say that 13 years
that I played with the Bulls.

Please welcome from the Chicago Bulls,
all-star forward Scottie Pippen!

Scottie Maurice Pippen
from Hamburg, Arkansas.

Great passing! Oh!

Baby! It looked like
he shifted gears mid-air.

He has led the NBA in rebounds
for the last five years.

Please welcome back Dennis Rodman.

Dennis Rodman. What's up?

I was shocked the Chicago Bulls
even asked me to come.

I think
I was a little more eccentric for them.

There's something about you
that's frightening.

Is it because I'm different?

And Rodman just kicked the
photographer! The photographer is hurt.

That is the last
we will see of Dennis Rodman.

At the heart of this team
is a rare spirit, coach Phil Jackson.

We created an image
that people wanted to be part of.

I think that's all you can hope for.

The Chicago Bulls have won

the '96 NBA championship!

What's unique
about this particular dynasty?

I guess what's unique is that,
we're, uh...

You know, we've got Michael.

Michael! Michael!
Michael! Michael!

Why is everybody here?

- Michael Jordan.
- Michael Jordan.

Everybody loves Chicago Bulls
and Michael Jordan.

...was about to do.

Five seconds remaining in regulation.
The inbound...

Pippen rolls it to Kukoc!

Chicago Bulls have won
their fifth championship

in the last seven years!

It is bedlam here at the United Center.

To hometown Chicago fans,

winning the big one is starting to feel
almost like a constitutional right

as the Bulls took
their fifth NBA title on Friday night.

Count them. One, two, three,
four and five NBA championship trophies.

As hundreds of thousands
of fans cheered the Bulls,

the drama of what will happen

to this great dynasty
was apparent to all...

After the fifth championship,
which was '96-'97,

we were looking at this team
and we realized, other than Michael,

the rest of the guys were probably
at the end of their high-productive years.

We had to decide
whether we keep the team together or not,

and we realized
maybe this was the time to do a rebuild

and not try to win a sixth championship.

Can they
keep the team together?

Is there any doubt Michael...

Questions about
the future of Phil Jackson.

Will this be his last year?

How will the Bulls
deal with their aging stars...

...becoming something
transcendent, you can see it evaporating.

I just kept hearing this over and over,
and I was just getting irritated, like...

We were winning.

We felt like
we were the greatest team ever.

You have to wonder
why Michael Jordan,

who is surely the most popular player
in our time, would be, in effect,

driven out of professional basketball.

A spectacular move!

The game's over!

Chicago Stadium is going wild!

First of all, there's
no backstabbing going on here.

It's time for me to move on.

This will be Phil's last year
as coach of the Bulls.

- Are the expectations too high?
- Where do we go from here?

The only question:
how long can it last?

So, going into 1997-98,
the Bulls have won five championships.

There's drama that summer

as to whether they're gonna come back,
although I think most of us

who are from Chicago and call Chicago home
knew somehow they'd be back.

Jerry Reinsdorf, the majority owner...

would have to leave town
if they didn't come back.

You can't argue with championship
after championship after championship.

They were still the best team in the NBA.

You have Scottie Pippen,
an incredibly talented athlete,

very skilled scorer.

His mental sharpness
and his court awareness

and his basketball savvy made him
the greatest number-two player ever.

Dennis Rodman was the defensive presence,
the rebounder,

someone who, on a team with big egos,
didn't need the ball.

And he never ran out of energy,
that was the thing.

Whoo!

At that point, Michael Jordan's
already the ultimate sports alpha male.

I mean, the only comparisons
that I can recall being apt

were to Babe Ruth and Muhammad Ali.

That's it. That's the list.
There's nobody else on it.

Michael, obviously,

in the wake of this
incredible celebration,

there'll be some
very difficult business decisions.

We are entitled to defend what we have
until we lose it.

If we lose it, then you look at it
and say, "Okay, let's change.

Let's just go through a rebuilding."

No one's guaranteeing rebuilding's
gonna be two or three, four, five years.

Cubs have been rebuilding for 42 years.

If you wanna look at this
from a business thing,

have a sense of respect for the people
who have laid the groundworks

so that you could be
a profitable organization.

We had just finished
winning a fifth title.

It's a lot of uncertainty,
and management started talking about

the franchise is gonna change
or we're gonna rebuild.

I thought it was unfair.

I would never let someone
who's not putting on a uniform

and playing each and every day dictate
what we do on the basketball court.

So, you know, my mentality was,
"Let's put things aside,

you know, from a business sense
and focus on that craft.

Let's give them a reason
not to think that way."

Michael Jordan waded into
the undertone of bitterness on the Bulls

when asked what the Bulls'
biggest challenge would be this year.

Um...

Michael glancing up
at the office of GM Jerry Krause.

Jerry Krause was the
general manager of the Bulls,

and he was certainly at the root of

what made the tension
of that season so severe.

Jerry Krause was a scout
for the White Sox.

He was there
when I bought the White Sox in 1981.

And after I bought the Bulls,
he came to see me.

Said he'd like to be
general manager of the Bulls.

If everybody's ready, we can get started.

I asked around the league,

and everybody I talked to said,
"Don't touch the guy."

Yeah, he had a way of alienating people.

But I wasn't hiring somebody
to win a personality contest.

I wanted somebody who
truly believed in building a team

the way I wanted to,
and Krause was the guy.

To his credit, he did his job.

But...

Jerry had the "little man" problem.

He grew up a little fat kid.

Not a lot of money.
He was always the underdog,

and he just couldn't control
that part of him that needed...

credit.

Michael!

All the attention
is going to Michael

and Scottie and Dennis and Phil.

And Krause was growing resentful
about this.

He was good,
but he wasn't good enough

to do it without Michael Jordan.

You could argue that Michael Jordan
was as good at his job

as anyone has ever been at their job,
ever, in anything.

And Krause wants to make the point,

organizations win championships,
not players.

Jerry Krause, Bulls general manager, says,
"Organizations win titles, not players."

Funny thing, I've never seen him post up
and hit a short jump shot.

This quote
that was attributed to you...

Well, as you know, David,
it was a misquote.

What I said was that players and coaches
alone don't win championships,

that organizations do.

I do sincerely believe that organizations,
as a whole, win.

One part of it can't win alone.

The guy left the word "alone"
out of there.

Right.

He admitted it later on.
"Yeah, I left a word out."

You dumb son of a bitch,
that's what killed the quote.

It sounded like he was making
a very specific point

to a very specific person.

We know that the team is much bigger
than the 15 players.

Those guys who work in the front office,
they were good people,

but the most important part
of the process is the players.

So, for him to say that is offensive
to the way that I approach the game.

Krause was picked on an awful lot
during this by Michael and Scottie.

I mean, they made fun of him.
They mocked him. They mocked him openly.

So those are the pills you take
to keep you short.

Or are those diet pills?

Was Jerry Krause a bad guy? No.

He was a good guy. He was fun.

If you saw him interact with your kids,
and saw him, you knew he was a good man.

Jerry Krause was one of the nicest,
kindest, sweetest men I've ever known.

But sometimes, he would love people
who really didn't love him back,

and it would disappoint him.

Did he love Phil?

Well, he loved Phil in the beginning,

but then, you know, they developed
a tension between the two of 'em.

Phil,

from a contract standpoint,

wanted to be compensated,

like the other coaches that he had beaten,
and Jerry wasn't going to do that.

In Jerry's mind,
you moved pieces in and out.

You didn't move Michael Jordan pieces.

Phil Jackson? You can move him in and out.
And he was wrong about that.

I said from day one,

if Phil's not coaching,
I'm not gonna be a part of rebuilding.

Phil should be the head coach,
and I shouldn't be put in a position

to have to make a choice to play
for another coach other than Phil Jackson.

Sadly as it may be, I have choices.

You know, and I will not choose to play
for another coach.

I think Jerry was looking forward
to having a clean slate

and going out and, you know, rebuilding.

His relationship with me
had become such a circus.

There was no chance for reconciliation.

All of a sudden, there's this guy from
Iowa State, Tim Floyd, the head coach.

He goes fishing with Jerry Krause,
and I'm like, "What?"

So, Krause clearly
is grooming the next guy.

He's gonna be the next Phil Jackson.

Krause's stepdaughter
gets married that summer.

He invites everybody from the team
and Tim Floyd...

and he doesn't invite Phil Jackson,
the head coach.

I recall that, and I think
that was bad form on Jerry's part.

I'm not sure it bothered Phil that much.

If somebody doesn't invite me
to a wedding, I'd like to thank 'em.

It was sad that there was
such an acrimonious relationship

because Jerry Krause started
Phil Jackson's NBA coaching career.

Jerry Krause brought him to Chicago
as an assistant coach.

If that hadn't happened, you never
would have heard of Phil Jackson.

You know,
things evolve, people evolve.

They don't stay stagnant
and static in any position.

And more than anything else,
coaches' salaries went like this

and general managers' salaries
might have gone like this.

Do you think
Jerry Krause resents that?

I'm not gonna speculate on that.

I have tremendous regard for Phil,
personally and professionally.

I really like Phil Jackson,

and I wanted Phil Jackson to come back
and coach the team.

And I just thought that the presence
of Jerry was counterproductive.

I just thought if Phil and I
would sit down and talk, we'd work it out.

And I flew out to Montana.

I offered him the opportunity
to come back.

After weeks of public debate,

many would argue that Bulls owner
Jerry Reinsdorf has come to his senses,

signing Phil Jackson to a one-year deal
to return as coach next season.

Phil is the coach, Jerry's the owner.
Those two needed to talk.

And we got it done,
and we're very happy to have it done.

This will be Phil's last year
as the coach of the Bulls.

At the conclusion of the year,
we'll look towards the future.

Jerry called me to his office and said,
"This is going to be your last year.

I don't care if you win 82 games in a row,
this will be your last year here."

So, I said, "Fine,"
and I walked out of the room.

And that was the only words
that were exchanged.

Michael... Hello, Michael.

- How much French do you know?
- Very little. But that's okay, I get by.

Michael, what do you think
about the Eiffel Tower?

The Bulls were coming off
this glorious season.

They had a three-peat
and they won two more.

And there they are in Paris,
where they were mobbed.

I mean, it was like
The Beatles had come to town.

- Come on.
- Don't stop. Let's go.

Quick step, quick step.

Michael was like the Pied Piper
walking down the Champs-Élysées.

I think he was wearing a beret,
because he's Michael.

How do you feel, Michael?

How do you feel?

The NBA champions,
Chicago Bulls,

were in Paris for McDonald's Championship.

Just one man is hogging
the attention, Michael Jordan.

"He's bigger than the Pope,"
screams the morning paper,

and everybody wants a piece of him.

- Uh, that's fine. Yeah.
- Pocket?

And for the translation.

- Right here is fine?
- Right. Yes.

Will you mind signing this, please?

No, no. Not now, not now.

You don't
have to be a connoisseur

to know the greatest basketball player
of all time.

The person who is the closest
to a god on Earth,

Michael "Air" Jordan! Please!

Michael! Michael!

Michael Jordan!

Michael Jordan!

You couldn't make
a shortlist

of the most consequential
and successful teams in American sports,

and leave Michael Jordan
and the '90s Bulls out.

But the Bulls who immediately preceded
the Michael Jordan era

could be characterized as mediocre.

Hi, I'm Bob Costas.
Join me and Johnny Kerr

for exciting Chicago Bulls basketball
action here on WGN Television, channel 9.

We weren't very good, uh,
during the time leading up to Michael.

The team was, you know,
on a downward keel, if you will.

They've obviously got
some problems.

The ball club has not been winning.

Back then, in Chicago,
everyone was a Bears fan.

Northsiders were Cubs fans.
Southsiders were Sox fans.

Blackhawks had fans scattered throughout,

but there was no buzz about the Bulls.

The Bulls were being outdrawn
at the Chicago Stadium

by an indoor soccer team,
the Chicago Sting.

Basically, the state of the team was...

It was Rodney Dangerfield,
it didn't get no respect.

The Bulls were in need
of a lot of reinforcements

if they were gonna be a contending team.

And here comes a young Michael Jordan,
brimming with charismatic talent.

When he was in high school,

Michael was one of the top recruited
high school players in America.

He decided to play at Chapel Hill

for one of the great coaches
of all time, Dean Smith.

At the University of North Carolina,
Coach Smith ran a very tight ship.

He was a disciplinarian.
A tremendous teacher.

Michael had a ton of respect for him

and he knew he had
the best interest for Michael.

I think Mr. Jordan's vision and my vision,

who is going to help him continue to grow
as a young adult,

not just basketball, but his education.

Because for me, then,
the first priority was education.

Penetrate. Look at the basket. That's it.

Michael's parents
did a tremendous job with him.

He was a fine young man.

A very conscientious student,
a very good student.

This is your mom
reading aloud a letter home from you.

"Dear Mom. How has life been treating you?
Fine, I hope. I am doing just fine.

I am sending you
my account number

so that you can deposit some money
in my account.

I have only $20 left.

Tell everyone I said hello and smile.

God and I love you.
Love, Michael.

P.S. Sorry about the phone bill.
Please also send me some stamps."

Is that not a college student?
"Please send me some stamps."

He was very inconsistent
as a freshman,

but he's one of the most competitive ones
we've ever had in our drills.

He wanted to get better,
and then he had the ability to get better.

Michael Jordan told me he wants
to be the best player to ever play here.

I said, "You gotta work harder
than you did in high school."

He said, "I worked as hard as everybody."
I said, "Excuse me.

I thought you wanted to be
the best player to ever play here."

He said, "I'm gonna show you.
Nobody will ever work as hard as I work."

After about two and a half hours
of hard practice,

I'm walking off the floor,
drenched sweat, tired,

and here comes Michael,
pushing me back on the floor,

wanting to play a little one-on-one,
wanting to see where his game was.

I was better than he was

for about two weeks.

Watch out!

He wanted to learn,
he wanted to grow quickly.

He's on a tear right now...

From month to month,
from game to game,

he was soaking up information.

Once he got something and added it
to the raw talent that he already had,

it was really explosive to see.

And by the time we got to
the national championship game,

he was a great player.

Forty-fourth NCAA
Division One

Men's Basketball Championship.

The largest crowd ever
for a basketball game,

an electric atmosphere.

We were getting out there
in front of 60-some thousand people.

I was young, but I had no time
to be nervous.

You had two great teams going
against each other, who were well coached.

Both teams were equally matched.

Michael had some big key buckets
and had some big shots.

Jordan on the... Oh!
What a lay-up!

He put that ball up about 12 feet!

It was about as tightly contested a game

as you could ever want to see.

And then, for the ending
to be the way that it was,

was rather amazing, as well.

Thirty-two seconds to go.
A one-point lead for Georgetown.

Dean Smith has said that's timeout.

Coach Smith called that timeout.
We're down one.

This was where Coach Smith
was extremely cool.

He was drawing up
a play for James.

And he says that, "When you get the ball,
swing it back, swing it around.

Michael should have a shot."

He looked at me and said,
"If you get the shot, take the shot."

He gave me the green light.

Thirty-two seconds to go.
A one-point lead for Georgetown.

They stay in the one-three-one,
with Ewing in the middle.

They've gotta look to get it in there.

They knew they'd be
focusing on the internal.

That's where the defense was collapsing.

Our offense shifted to one side.
The whole defense went that way.

And Michael was on the left side,

- the ball was reversed...
- And Michael's wide open.

I caught it in total rhythm.

They had no clue
that I was gonna take that shot.

...shot. Jordan!

Three! It's over! It's over!

North Carolina has won
the 1982 NCAA Championship.

And the man who hit
the crucial shot down the stretch

for North Carolina, Michael Jordan.
Those points proved to be the game winner.

Michael, how did it feel
when the ball dropped through the net?

It felt really good, that I did something
to help out the whole team

and maybe win the game, and I just felt
very excited at the time.

That turned my name from Mike
to Michael Jordan.

It gave me the confidence that I needed

to start to excel
at the game of basketball.

I'm just a freshman on the block,
and I enjoyed my freshman year.

And I hope in the next three years
that I'm here

that we can win
at least two or three more.

What Michael really did
was improve considerably

between his freshman and sophomore year.

North Carolina turns it over.

Dawkins trying to run past Braddock.

Look at Michael Jordan cover ground!

I think he hit his head on the backboard.

I heard a little bang. And that's how high
that young man got up,

he hit the back of his head...

I can't pick one moment. When I think of
Michael Jordan, yes, I think of the shot,

but I think of three years
of watching that youngster

get better and better and better.

Michael Jordan's the only player
that could ever turn it on and off,

and he never frickin' turned it off.

Jordan...
Look at that! Holy cow!

But after junior year,
I was planning on coming back to school...

What's up?

What's up?

...but Coach Smith
recommended I go pro.

He was very comfortable
in Chapel Hill.

But at the same time, he was hearing,

"You could be one of the top three
or four picks."

So, it was weighing heavy on him.

Well, to tell you the truth,
I really just decided,

uh, I guess, an hour and a half ago.

I didn't know, I was, you know, 50-50,

and I talked to Coach
this morning and, you know,

he helped me and my parents helped me,

and I felt that would be better for me
to start now, while I'm young.

The USA Network presents
the 1984 NBA college draft.

We are just about ready to go,
as we go to the podium

and introduce commissioner
of the NBA David Stern.

The Houston Rockets select

Hakeem Olajuwon
of the University of Houston.

Olajuwon would have been first
by anybody who picked, including me.

- Portland had Clyde Drexler...
- Clyde the Glide!

...who played the same position
as Michael.

So, Portland's feeling was that
they needed a center.

Now, the second choice,
owned by the Portland Trail Blazers.

Let's go to the commissioner, David Stern.

Portland selects Sam Bowie,
University of Kentucky.

So, I knew that, you know,
Jordan would be there for us.

Michael Jordan seems to be
the next one up.

The Chicago Bulls

pick Michael Jordan
of the University of North Carolina.

The Chicago Bulls,
having the third pick in the draft,

and went with the sensational
Michael Jordan of North Carolina.

Jordan, who led North Carolina,
now looking to step in to lead the Bulls.

You've got a great opportunity
to step in

and win a city
that is crying for a winner.

Perhaps you can turn
that Bulls thing around.

Hopefully, I can go in and contribute
and maybe turn it around.

I'm looking forward to that.

The reality is we were lucky the draft
was before the Olympics.

Michael became the most popular
amateur basketball player in the world

because of the Olympics.

Jordan gets it,
puts it in the hole.

Jordan...

Jordan...

He's the best athlete,
one of the best competitors.

He's one of the most skilled players

and that makes him the best basketball
player that I've ever seen play.

US has its ninth gold medal,

but it's been an all-USA show
in this tournament.

I came from a program in college.

It was about team game.
You know, it was a clean program.

It prepared me to go
into the Chicago situation,

which was totally different.

Before Michael Jordan got to the
Bulls in 1984, drugs were prevalent.

Cocaine and recreational drugs
of all types.

So, they had a lot of partiers.

One of the articles I read,
they called it

"The Bulls' traveling cocaine circus."

I've never read that article.

- Accurate?
- Uh... Look...

Guys were doing things that I didn't see.

I had one event, preseason.
I think we were in Peoria.

It was in a hotel
so I'm trying to find my teammates.

So I start knocking on doors.

I get to this one door,
and I knock on the door,

and I can hear someone says, "Shh.

Someone's outside."

And then you hear this deep voice,
says, "Who is it?" I says, "MJ."

And then they all say,
"Oh, fuck, he's just a rookie.

Don't worry about it."
So they open up the door.

I walk in, and practically
the whole team was in there.

And it was like,
things I've never seen in my life,

you know, as a young kid.

You got all...
You got your lines over here.

You got your weed smokers over here.
You got your women over here.

So the first thing I said,
"Look, man, you know, I'm out,"

because all I can think about,
if they come and raid this place,

right about now, I am just as guilty
as everybody else that's in this room.

And from that point on,
I was more or less on my own.

His townhouse
was just a regular place.

And at the start,
his mom would be there an awful lot.

And Jordan's buddies would come by,

players and what have you, but he was
just living like he was still in college.

I enjoyed, you know,
just hanging out, playing cards,

watching movies, you know,
I wouldn't go into the clubs.

Whatever somebody else
might've been doing off the court,

if it was partying or whatever,
that wasn't part of what he wanted to do.

Orange juice and 7-Up was his go-to.

I don't smoke, I don't do lines.
I didn't drink at the time.

I was looking just to get some rest,
get up and go play.

When Jordan first came to the Bulls,
he was the number-three pick

so a lot of people thought, "Well, he's
only 6'6". So how much can he really do?"

We wish he were 7'1", but he isn't.

Michael gotta realize he's not seven foot,

so he's not gonna carry a team in the NBA.

I really don't think that, uh,

in the NBA anymore, there's really not
any such thing as a one-man team.

And I don't think that you can
come in expecting one guy

to turn the whole thing around.

There was no one alive, not Coach Smith,
not Rod Thorn, who drafted him,

no one, none of the experts, thought
that he would become what he became.

When I first got to Chicago,

I went in considering myself
the lowest on the totem pole.

Whatever people had been saying about me,
I still had to earn my stripes.

When he arrived into the gym
on the first day of practice,

you can see that this guy
is the best player here.

This cat is different.

When we drafted Michael,
I did not know how good Michael was.

The strength he had,
the physical strength, was amazing.

The first day of practice,

I got a call from the assistant coach,
and he said to me,

"Congratulations," and I said, "For what?"

And he said,
"You did not screw this draft up.

This guy is really good."

From the first day in practice,
my mentality was

whoever is the team leader on that team,

I'm going after him

and I'm not gonna do it with my voice
because I had no voice.

I had no...
I had no status.

I have to do it with the way that I play.

Twenty-three, Michael Jordan!

I felt like I earned my stripes
in the third game.

Milwaukee's always been
a nemesis for Chicago.

Every time we played 'em, they beat us.

They had Sidney Moncrief, who was
the reigning defensive player of the year,

and they had a tremendous defensive team.

I kind of thought I knew his potential

because I had played against
the best players in the NBA so far.

The Magics and the Birds and the Dr. J
and Kareem. There were some great players.

Then all of a sudden,
this rookie comes into the NBA,

and I watched the way he moved
on the court and his instincts,

I'm like, "Wow. That's going to be scary."

Milwaukee Bucks
have taken control here,

and they have a nine-point lead.

We were losing,
going into the fourth quarter.

Before, guys would get down on themselves
and then they just kind of give up.

"Okay, we just chalk this up.
We look for the next game."

I'm saying, "The game's not over with."

And Kevin Loughery sensed that in me,

and he just started feeding me the ball,
and I just started going.

Jordan now has 24
and is keeping the Bulls in it.

Jordan goes for it! Gets it!

There's Jordan driving...

Whoa! Unbelievable!

Every time we went to trap him,
he would split, go down the lane,

make a really difficult shot.

He was so explosive.

I don't think there's anybody
that could defend Michael.

We come back and we win the game.

From that point on,
everybody on that team felt like,

"This young kid is not gonna let us lose."

Everybody on that Bull team,
within a two-week period,

knew he was the best player we had.

And now the noise factor
begins to really increase.

Here is the man, Michael Jordan,
from North Carolina,

the number-three pick in the NBA draft.

Jordan... What a move!

Jordan on the breakout,
driving all the way and jams it home!

As a rookie, he was not a rookie.

He proved, right out of the gates,

there was none other like him.

Driving all the way in...

That's unbelievable! He's put it in...

It was like he had, like, a...

extra levitation gear or something.

It just didn't seem real.

His balance, his footwork,

his fundamentals.

To Jordan.
Looking for penetration.

The dude was just...

Mmm-mmm-mmm.

Bodies going flying.
What a move!

Jordan driving... What a move!

How's the transition been
from college to the NBA?

Well, I think it's been pretty easy.

♪ Your off-beat DJ, if anything he play ♪

♪ Sound familiar, I'll wait till E say ♪

♪ Play 'em
So I'mma have to diss and broke ♪

♪ You could get a smack for this
I ain't no joke ♪

He's only played
professional basketball a few months,

but at age 21,

Michael Jordan is the National Basketball
Association's hottest draw.

Since he arrived,
the stadium,

which used to be two-thirds empty,
has been sold out every game.

When Michael first came to town,

I didn't have the money to buy tickets
for a Bulls game,

even the discount ones, back in the day.
I was pretty broke.

But suddenly, you have a sports figure
that put Chicago on the map,

and that everybody
was able to rally around.

Chicagoans like to think
of themselves as being a little tough,

blue collar, roll up your sleeves.

You never mail it in.

So people love to see somebody
who gives it everything they've got.

Jordan did that.

Tonight's attendance: 18,688.

When Michael came in '84,
we got an immediate shot in the arm.

The city was just beside herself.

The interest just grew,
and it grew dramatically.

It was just a phenomenal thing
to watch it.

Country boy that comes into the big city
and makes the big city a special place.

Seems like it's exciting again.

He does some things
that I just never seen before.

Words can't describe him.
He's poetry in motion.

...sellouts everywhere they go...

The 1984-85 season will go down in history
as the year Michael Jordan came to town.

He has touched the hearts
of Chicagoland and the nation.

What's in his immediate future?

Coronation as
the NBA's Rookie of the Year.

A fitting tribute to a man who rescued
what some considered a dying franchise.

The 1984-85 NBA Rookie of the Year:

Michael.

Don't mess up.

Don't mess up. Don't mess up.

Come on.

- I like this. This is French.
- Okay.

- How's the wife?
- Good.

- You just get here?
- I was here for the game last night,

- when we came in.
- Really? Cool.

- Pretty great.
- Reading all about you.

- Enjoyed the photo of you.
- Yeah...

You guys are not allowed. Sorry.
Nah, I'm just kidding. Come on.

- Thanks.
- All right.

I'd like to thank you for coming along
on this ride, on this fabulous train.

You gotta set me up with a schedule
for when I get back.

Get this shit taken care of.

- Okay, so that looks good.
- Yeah.

Basketball fans
from around the world

have been gathering since early today,

here at the Palais Omnisports de Bercy,
here in Paris.

They're here to see
one man, Michael Jordan,

five-time NBA champion Chicago Bull.

Scottie Pippen wasn't there.
He had an injury,

and you figure,
"Well, they don't need him."

Dennis Rodman wasn't there either,
he was holding up.

But it was almost irrelevant

'cause you knew Michael was going to
annihilate everybody.

The Bulls
are without Dennis Rodman

and they're without Scottie Pippen.

Intimidation,
that's what this is all about.

These guys have never played
against a team like this.

Nothing but net for Michael Jordan!

Jordan... Look out! Three in a row!

Jordan...

Oh, baby!

Michael played every game
as if it was his last.

Every single game.

There was never a day off.

He knew that there was gonna be
somebody in that crowd

that never saw him play before.
That's what kept him going.

It wasn't, "I went to see this guy play
and he only got 12 points." Didn't happen.

Call Häagen-Dazs 'cause
I want two scoops of this scoop shot.

The French players
just helpless out there.

The Bulls won by 26.
Jordan, il fait très bien.

Your first championship.
Congratulations, dog.

I'll get a bottle of champagne
with you tonight.

All right.

Can I get a hug, too?

- It don't count.
- I'm gonna hug Jeffrey and Marcus, then.

- I won a championship, I'mma go tell them.
- It don't count.

Good game. All right, man. Good game.

- Can I have your...
- Good game.

♪ We can go home, home, home ♪

- Is that going to the Berto Center?
- Get out of here.

- Is that going to the Berto Center?
- No. Phil, keep it.

- Don't let Jerry get it.
- What?

All right. For all you guys
who have never won before,

welcome to being a champion.

That's a good start. That's a good start.

Tonight, Michael put on quite a show.

And we're proud to go home and continue
on this quest for another championship

in 1997-98. Thank you.

Phil always looked for a theme
for every season,

and given that it was the last year
we were going to be together,

management had already made that decision.

In typical Phil fashion, you know,

he had a name for it.

We arrived
at the practice facility.

It's our first official meeting as a team.

Get the team handbook.

Laminated on the front page: Last Dance.

I talked to the players about,

particularly, how important
it was for us to really be together

in this last run
that we were going to have.

So, I called it The Last Dance.

That whole meeting was...

enjoy what's happening because this is it.

Good evening,
and welcome once again to Bulls basketball

as the Bulls open the home portion
of their '97-'98 campaign.

Game time programs tonight, folks.
Only two bucks on the outside.

If you don't go see Michael Jordan,
you're missing out on life. For sure.

She said do you want
Christmas presents under the tree

or do you wanna see Michael Jordan
and Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman?

- Yeah.
- We picked the Bulls.

Bulls caps, T-shirts!
Right here! T-shirts!

Tonight, Jordan and the Bulls
return to Chicago for the ring ceremony.

It's not like the first time,
but it ain't bad for MJ and company.

Ring number five and banner number five.

Your fifth ring ceremony
just as exciting as the first?

Even more so. You put it in perspective
so we're looking for number six.

Good luck tonight. Thanks for stopping.

Always nice to hear Michael

talk about the possibility
of winning number six.

And you'll see that ring ceremony.

It's only moments away,
here at the United Center.

This is the last night

we celebrate the championship
of last year.

It's going to be a nice celebration,
and we'll enjoy it.

What's important is winning this game.
We've got to start off with a win.

Okay. So get yourself back in tune

to what we have to do,
and take care of business tonight.

Okay. All right, guys.

David Stern,
thank you for talking to us.

Good to be here.

Talk about the perspective
you can put on this team

and what it has meant to your league.

There'll never be
quite another team like this.

They have gotten to be
the number-one sports team in the world.

It's a very exciting time in the life
of the league and in my life, too.

How's it going? You gonna warm up now?

Yeah, we just gonna warm up right now.

Look, Jerry, you wanna
do some layups with us?

Yep.

- They gotta lower the rim.
- Yep.

I'm here on behalf
of basketball fans around the world

to congratulate
the 1997 NBA champion Chicago Bulls,

a team for our time, the basketball team
of our time and one for the ages.

The architect of the 1996-97
Bulls championship team

and two-time executive of the year,
Jerry Krause!

Phil Jackson, the coach!

And now, your five-time world champion
Chicago Bulls!

Bill Wennington!

Steve Kerr!

Toni Kukoc!

Dennis Rodman!

Scottie Pippen!

From North Carolina,

at guard, 6'6", Michael Jordan!

If you guys remember in 1984

when they drafted Michael Jordan
to the city of Chicago...

I said then that we would be champions
by the time I leave.

Well, we are five-time champions,
going for six,

and we need your support.
Thank you very, very much.

That season could be the end,
you know.

It could very well be the end,
and we had to think that way.

Let's get refocused back in this game,
let's get out of the blocks quickly,

and let's do what we did last time.
Let's go.

- What time is it?
- Game time!