The Michael Jordan docuseries TheLastDance is finally on Netflix, and it proves that the NBA legend was the last worldwide celebrity of his kind
so much as his charisma, which seems at times to move independent of him. The nonfiction series, which was a sensation on ESPN this past spring ahead of its bow on Netflix this weekend, is flawed as documentary in all but one way: It provides a remarkable testament to the power of Jordan’s celebrity, a power morphed but not undimmed by time. His talent on the basketball court, massive though it is, may indeed come second to the sheer force of his personality.
The two were, naturally, linked — Jordan’s gameplay grew in power over time through the singlemindedness of his focus. And his celebrity derived from his gameplay with his Chicago Bulls, though that wasn’t the only thing. Among the more compelling aspects of “The Last Dance” is its use of contemporaneous media from the 1990s to show us exactly how mad the attention around Jordan could become.
“The Last Dance” was criticized, justly, for the nature of its access to Jordan in the present day; it’s less a journalistic examination of the Jordan phenomenon than a restricted view of the Jordan that Jordan himself would like you to see. It’s not that certain bits of Jordaniana aren’t touched on — the documentary doesn’t outright ignore his passion for gambling — but they tend to always land in a place that shows you Jordan in his best light.
It’s a fair note. But his side, perhaps, would have swamped the story — as it does here. Jordan is the hub of “The Last Dance,” and everything it has to say about the efforts of a team in the crowded world of the 1990s NBA ultimately flows through him.
Part of his silence is especially notable: Jordan has made the choice not to engage on topics in the news, which is itself a political choice. Watching the series now, in an era in which athletes are engaged in protest at the highest levels of sport, provides another striking counterpoint: Jordan speaks, ultimately, with such care that the only topic we end up hearing him on is himself.
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