Last Dance takeaways:
MJ’S RETIREMENT IN ‘93:
•All these years later we finally see MJ explain in further detail why he retired after his 3rd straight championship in 1993. Turns out, it was a lot of personal reasons that outweighed any public controversy people stirred up like his gambling.
•Surprisingly, the GOAT in the NBA had lost his passion for basketball, saying in the doc that he had “No motivation” and was done with basketball, saying he had nothing left to prove, as some people in the media were already calling him “The best to ever play” as well.
•The death of MJ’s father and his dream to want Micheal to play baseball when he was finished his NBA career, further increased Jordan’s MLB interest. So with that, it was off to the White Sox Spring Training facility to prepare for a new career in baseball.
THE COMEBACK:
•Why did MJ return to basketball towards the end of the 1995 NBA season? Well, it seems like “The game came calling”. I’m sure we will see more of this in next weeks episodes, but from what we know, MJ missed b-ball so much, that it outweighed any baseball aspirations he had left at the time.
•MJ was rusty when he first came back, and it showed in the 1995 postseason, as the Magic defeated the Bulls in 5 games in RD 1, a playoff run that ended in the NBA finals at the hands of the Rockets.
•the movie Space Jam might’ve also been a reason why MJ returned, as his runs against pro-players while filming in the nearby gym, helped him get in full basketball shape, setting the stage for the 72-10 record setting championship season in ‘96.
WINNING HAS A PRICE AND LEADERSHIP HAS A PRICE”
We take a deep-dive into MJ as a leader, promoting the above quote.
• Micheal pushed his teammates to the absolute limit, and even though it did take a whole lot out of them physically and mentally, it proved to be successful on the court, as MJ won 6 championships in 6 seasons that he was there.
•However, there were still people that were disgusted by this style of leadership, to which MJ responded “Its because you haven’t won anything”. What I think he’s trying to tell us, is that once you win something “big” with someone else, you will realize just how tough it was to get to the top and how much you had to push each other to get there.
• MJ wasn’t perfect, as there were times where he did cross the line with his teammates , but the reason why I’m not holding these against him is because everyone makes mistakes, and nobody’s perfect. But also, MJ did a great job of learning from those mistakes, as he brought his team together on the court, leading them to championships.
Also, what I believe we should take away from this part of the documentary, is that maybe we can apply the drive and motivation and drive MJ had when it came to basketball, and apply it to our goals and challenges we seek to meet.
We can learn something from everyone right?
THE LAST DANCE:
With the series wrapping up next week, we will likely see the ups and downs of that championship season during the playoffs, and MJ walking away from the game after the 1998 season, as well the guys behind the scenes during that 6th title as well.
Comments